2013’s Top 5 Natural Destinations for the Spiritually Minded Traveler.

This post come via our sponsor, Dance of the Deer Foundation.

Brant Secunda, a traditional Huichol shaman and healer has spent the past thirty years traveling around the world honoring some of Nature’s most powerful locations. According to indigenous Huichol teachings; by correctly approaching these special places, the gods of the land will offer gifts of increased energy, health, strength, balance, and desire to live.

This year, Brant will be leading groups to some of the most energy-filled places on the globe. The list includes:

1. New Zealand
One of the Earth’s most diverse landscapes, New Zealand is ripe with unbounded energy. Within only a few hours of travel one can visit dramatic sea cliffs and white sand beaches, walk through impressive rainforests teeming with life, and tour a sacred island in a the middle of a freshwater lake surrounded by geothermal pools. Perhaps the most timely attraction for the spiritual adventurer is Mt. Tongariro, an active volcano that has had two small eruptions in the past six months.

2. Island of Crete
The largest, and arguably most beautiful, Greek island juxtaposes the warm turquoise waters of the Mediterranean with the snow-capped peak of Mt. Ida, ‘The Mountain of the Gods’. Swimming in the healing waters of the Mediterranean relaxes the body while calming the mind and renewing the soul, allowing for increased health and energy.

3. Italian Alps
Only a few moments sitting amidst the sheer power of Europe’s largest mountains, Mount Blanc and Gran Paradiso, is sure to bring clarity and silence to the mind, allowing space for wisdom and balance to take root. Budding with life of roaming Ibex, mountain wildflowers, and running brooks, these mountains also remind one to appreciate the gift of life.

4. Alaska’s Inside Passage
Referred to as “a shaman’s dream”, Alaska’s Inside Passage is one of Brant Secunda’s favorite places to pilgrimage. When camped along Alaska’s protected shores, you are surrounded by bald eagles constantly soaring overhead and whales breaching only yards from the shore. Alaska is a particularly powerful place during the height of summer when the sun shines almost all night long. This land of endless light offers the perfect place to celebrate the summer solstice.

5. Mt. Shasta
Rising abruptly out of the Northern California landscape, this sacred mountain has been long revered by indigenous people and is now known around the world as “the Healing Mountain”. Here you can absorb the healing properties of the mountain while walking the same paths as the ancient people who would return each year for their summer gatherings.

Brant Secunda’s shamanic retreats to places of power, including those listed above, are open to anyone interested in learning the indigenous teachings of the Huichol, while being surrounded by some of the world’s most spectacular scenery.

Brant says, “why else do we browse through tour guides looking at photos of exquisite natural spots in unspoiled locations? Those are the places where our souls can most easily connect with Mother Earth and where worry, stress and fear disappear.”