“Pedernal to Fire”

Standing on the cliff edges of Abiquiu Lake, facing the southeasterly sky, the galactic center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, seems to burst from the famous Cerro Pedernal, a prominent, flat-topped mountain (mesa) in northern New Mexico. It is known in the indigenous Tewa language as Tsee P’in (obsidian mountain). It holds deep spiritual importance and is considered one of the sacred birthplaces of Changing Woman, a key figure in Navajo creation stories. Famous for its distinctive flat top that is formed by an 8-million-year-old cap of andesite and basalt lava flows. These lavas originated from the northern Jemez volcanic field. Cerro Pedernal translates to “flint hill” in Spanish, referencing the Pedernal Member of the Abiquiu Formation. This 4- to 8-meter thick layer is composed of colorful chalcedonic chert that formed via diagenesis. Billions of years ago, silica-enriched groundwater flowed through the volcanic ash and sediments, precipitating and replacing the calcareous soils with chert. This material was a primary resource for indigenous peoples for thousands of years to create arrowheads and stone tools.  It was also made famous by the late, great artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who included it in many of her paintings. It is also the location of her ashes, which were spread there after she died in 1986. She called it her private mountain, saying, “It’s my private mountain. God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it.”