Below Sea Level : The Magnetism of Badwater Basin

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America - 282 feet, 85.5 meters below sea level.
Photo Credit: Rose Muenker

The thought of standing on land, in the open air, 282 feet below sea level intrigued me. 282 feet. In terms of height, that doesn’t sound all that impressive. Not when the Rockies have scores of peaks above 14,000 feet in elevation.

282' Below Sea Level Sign
Photo credit: Rose Muenker

But something about going down in elevation is impressive. When we got to Death Valley National Park, the place I most wanted to experience was Badwater Basin. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is the lowest land elevation in North America. The Amargosa and Panamint Ranges flank the basin’s east and west sides.

I can understand wanting to stand on the lowest place in North America. But once I was there, for reasons I’m still trying to grasp, I literally felt pulled out onto the basin. The place was magnetic!

Yes, the crystallized, reticular pattern of the salt flats is unique. Discovering that the crystalline grains taste just like table salt is fascinating. In fact, they are pure sodium chloride—table salt. Catching sight of the Sea Level sign midway up the mountain slope emphasizes the area’s depth.  All this adds to the excitement of being there.

Badwater Basin boardwalk.
Photo credit: Rose Muenker

But I felt something deeper. Was it the awe of being that much closer to the core of the Earth? Or was there something about this place that made me feel closer to my core? Closer to my essence?

Whatever it was, I relished being there…being drawn out onto the basin and feeling the immensity, yet the containment, of it all. 

Where have you felt magnetism? 

Creating A Mandala Provides Guidance and Clarity

The women around me designed and painted beautiful intricate mandelas while I worked with basic forms—two circles, one heart and a couple of colors. Like a school kid, I caught myself feeling inadequate amid their talent. And then I shook it off.

The purpose of this workshop wasn't to create a work of art. The purpose was to create a mandala whose elements and design would give me clarity about my life purpose and guide me in how to show up in the world.

Before we started designing our mandalas, the workshop facilitator led us through a guided meditation during which the symbols, colors and essence of our mandalas surfaced. My symbols and their colors were clear white circles and a red/purple/pink heart. Themes that bubbled up during the meditation were wholeness, radiance and expansion.

I placed a circle (wholeness) within my heart, and my heart within another circle, the wholeness of life. I added the feathers, which my husband gathered on our travels, because for me they symbolize soaring, expansion and vision. My husband also invited me to select stones from his beautiful collection. In the center, I placed an amethyst, symbolic of divine connection. Many of the stones in the outer circle also have powerful spiritual qualities, but the stones' overriding significance in this mandala is the quality of being grounded or anchored within the unity of all life.

After I completed my mandala, the message became clear. When my thoughts and actions are heart-based, I am whole—aligned, centered, connected and grounded —within the wholeness of life. And when I am whole, I am radiant and expansive as I express my purpose with the ease and grace of a bird riding the thermals.

The design using a heart, two circles, stones and feathers is simplistic, but its powerful message is a work of art to me.