On Saturday, September 29, 2012, Ilchi Lee spoke at the Sedona Spirit Day Festival at the Red Rock High School Performing Arts Center in Sedona, Arizona. Inspired by his New York Times bestseller, The Call of Sedona, Sedona Spirit Day was proclaimed by the City of Sedona, with the event itself being hosted by the Sedona Meditation Center. In his five-minute address, Lee told participants that Sedona is a place where you can easily discover the greatness and beauty inside of you. He reminded them that although Sedona is beautiful, the soul they have inside is even more beautiful.
Ilchi Lee gave the audience a sense of the Sedona Spirit, which the Mayor of Sedona, Rob Adams, said in his congratulatory message was “manifested through the sharing of talents and skills of individuals and the appreciation of diverse cultural heritages that come together to form the mosaic of the Sedona community.” Mayor Adams read the Sedona Spirit Day proclamation and described the many ways Sedonans are coming together in peaceful dialogue.
During the afternoon, from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm, artisans, psychics, healers, restaurants, and vendors from around Sedona catered to 500 attendees of an outdoor fair. During the fair, a silent auction, raffle, and souvenir sale raised money for the non-profit meditation center. A local band, Blues Dawg, and flutist and Cherokee Shaman, Randell Stands with Bear, entertained the people strolling between brightly colored tables. A play area and face painting was set up for the kids, who participated in a Sedona Spirit art contest, the winner of which was a girl named Sedona.
Some of the visitors stayed for the evening event, and a total 500 people watched performances of dance, song, and drumming from from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Emceed by Sedona entertainer, Shondra Jepperson, the performances were followed by a collaborative healing meditation. It culminated in a group jam and dancing session that had the audience off their feet.
“It seemed like a really good festival. It seemed to represent what’s best in humanity if you look at it. It’s all positive. You didn’t see conflict, you didn’t see egos, you just saw people trying to be joyful,” said David Arnold about his experience.
The spirit of the festival applied to Sedona in general according to one visitor from Canada: “Sedona is the heart of the world. You see it in the eyes of the people as you walk in the store or down the sidewalk. I haven’t seen that anywhere. I see it in glimpses here and there but in Sedona you see it regularly.” Megan Plante, also from Canada, concurred that the Sedona Spirit is “absolutely joyful and loving and accepting and soothing. It’s very healing.”
The Sedona Meditation Center, whose mission is to help people find the Sedona Spirit inside themselves and the earth, will host the third annual Sedona Spirit Day next year on September 21st.
You can watch videos of the Sedona Spirit Day Festival performances on YouTube or watch the news summary below.