By Mikel Bruce
I recently took a weekend trip to a small town in Idaho to visit a friend who is also on the Shamanic path. When I walked into his house, the first thing that I noticed was a large rock collection sitting on a shelf near the entryway. I remember thinking that it was very impressive, but didn’t give it much thought beyond that.
After walking past it three or four times, I noticed that one of the rocks was shaped like a heart and at closer look, I realized that every rock in the collection was shaped like a heart! I was instantly blown away and when I inquired with him, he told me that it was his Heart Rock collection and that he’d found them all in the area while walking and hiking. There must have been well over 100 rocks and I was so impressed because never in all of my years have I ever stumbled upon a single rock that looked like a heart.
The next day we had plans to spend the day hiking in the backcountry of central Idaho, which is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. I had set a very strong intention and was determined to find a Heart Rock while on our adventures.
After hiking for about an hour or so, I found my first rock that was shaped like a heart, and then shortly thereafter, another and then another. Over the course of the day, I found many Heart Rocks, and I eventually got to point in which I realized that every rock contained the shape of a heart, depending on which way it was twisted and turned. Some of the rocks looked like well-shaped hearts and others looked like broken hearts – but they were equally as beautiful.
The search for Heart Rocks turned out to be a very powerful Shamanic experience. It reminded me, and reinforced three very important Shamanic principles. The first is that everything that you search for with an open-mind will eventually manifest – or that your beliefs and intentions truly shape your perceptions and reality.
The second lesson is when you focus on the heart it always feels good, and is also very healing. And thirdly, everything has beauty, essence and a heart.