Sedona

The US Capital of New Age Metaphysics

In our book, Sedona is the most New Age town in America. We haven’t been to Salem, Massachusetts or to all of the schools and centers, such as Esalen outside of Big Sur (which you can’t visit unless you officially attend a meeting), but for the volume and density of metaphysical practices, Sedona is hands down the winner.

So, if you’re searching for guided journeys into the astral plane or time travel with the Lemurians, Sedona is the place. And it’s stunningly beautiful. How the valley escaped national park status, we don’t know. The settlers beat the government. As visitors, we’re lucky. It’s cultivated a spiritual community rare in the world.

There is so much focus on the metaphysical in town that no matter our efforts, we will miss some wonderful energy workers and psychics and yogis.

One caveat to Sedona, as much as we love it for its New Age vibe (and as unpopular as this statement will probably be), is that the purity of the ambience has been diluted. Separating the true practitioner from the opportunist is more difficult. We’ve made an effort in our listings, but we aren’t perfect. We suggest you go, check into different stores and practitioners and share your experience.

A Little History

We’re keeping it to the name. According to the tourist site, VisitSedona.com:

As the story goes, after Theodore Carl Schnebly and his wife, Sedona, moved to Sedona from Gorin, Missouri, the few families living here convinced T.C. to establish a post office in his large home, which already had become the community’s hotel. Various interpretations of this story suggest that he asked the government to name the post office Schnebly Station or Red Rock Crossing. Subsequently, he was told the names were too long, and following a suggestion by his brother, Dorsey Ellsworth Schnebly, he submitted his wife’s name, Sedona. And so it was.

Hiking

There are trails all around the town and easily accessible. A few of the trailheads do have limited parking, so if you want to snooze, we’d recommend going to one of the less popular trailheads. They’ll still be cool and if you have the legs you’ll find a way to climb. And of course, there are the vortexes, which we would expect to be on the checklist of any new age explorer. For more information, check out sedonahikingtrails.com