SEDONA, Ariz. – There is negative energy in the air here, which the channelers, mystics, healers, psychics and other New Age practitioners of Sedona are grappling to identify and snuff out. It has to do with the recent dearth of visitors to this spiritual mecca in search of enlightenment.

Nobody is sure exactly what is keeping people away from Sedona’s four vortexes, those swirling energy sources emanating from the earth, but the effects are clear: Far fewer crystals are being purchased, spiritual tours taken and treatments – from aura cleansings to Chakra balancings – ordered.

That an earthly power – the economy – is a culprit is not in doubt. But some do not discount the lingering effect of an awful incident from a year ago that put Sedona’s New Age community in a bad light and that, to some degree, still lingers, despite efforts by metaphysical people to cast it away.

Last October, a celebrated New Age practitioner held a sweat lodge ceremony that ran dangerously amok, shattering the tranquillity of a spiritual center hidden in a forested valley here.

Packed into a circular hut on the grounds of Angel Valley were red-hot rocks, seething steam and scores of followers of James A. Ray, the California self-help guru who encouraged them to finish the final test in his "Spiritual Warrior" retreat, even though they might feel as though they were going to die.

Three of them did. Numerous others were rushed to hospitals. Angel Valley, a place designed to bring harmony into the lives of visitors, was soon visited by homicide detectives not interested in the retreat’s vortex circle, angel connections or Chartres labyrinth. Their questions were about who did what to whom.

"It was a very unfortunate and sad situation that could have happened anywhere," said Janelle Sparkman, president of the Sedona Metaphysical Spiritual Association, who attributes the woes that New Age practitioners are experiencing to the lack of disposable income tourists have for spiritual needs and not what happened that afternoon. "It was not indicative of Sedona or Sedona’s practitioners at all."

But sweat lodges are now far less common, with authorities shutting some down to avoid further trouble. And the spiritual association is pushing the importance of ethics among spiritualists.

Still, the tragedy of what occurred, along with the barrage of lawsuits, has caused some outsiders to look elsewhere for fulfillment.

"Initially, I didn’t think it was going to affect business and, a year later, I know I was wrong," said Deidre Madsen, who runs a New Age travel company in Sedona and a website devoted to inner growth. "I’m shocked at the impact. My business is down 20 percent."

She is optimistic though, as New Age people tend to be.

"It will come back, in its own time," she said.

Sedona’s Chamber of Commerce said that tourism overall was bouncing back, but that spiritual business still lagged.

Some, though, are leaving nothing to chance. Two weeks ago, after months of spiritual cleansings, prayer and channeling sessions, the retreat where the sweat lodge victims died held a memorial aimed at turning the page. About 50 people joined hands at the site of the lodge, which was torn down soon after the deaths. Rocks were laid out in the shape of a heart where the bodies were found, and three large crystals representing the victims were placed in the center.

"We do not want an energy that we’re sitting on a graveyard," said Amayra Hamilton, co-founder of Angel Valley. "This is about learning and appreciating life. That means expanding our understanding of life and death."

One of those who participated in the memorial was in the lodge that day as a volunteer for Ray, and he shared why returning to the scene was such a challenge.

"It’s been a long process of coming back here," said the volunteer, Mark Rock, who has since broken with Ray. "It was a step by step thing. I didn’t want to come back at first. This is a powerful place for me. Having three good people transition from here is a lot to take in."

Despite the memorial local practitioners say there is still much wrangling that is keeping the incident from fading away.

Ray faces three manslaughter charges for the deaths of Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman. He pleaded not guilty and faces trial in February.

Meanwhile, civil lawsuits abound. An American Indian group has accused Ray and Angel Valley of damaging the sacred Indian tradition of sweat lodges.

Some of Ray’s customers filed suit after he canceled his inner growth sessions without refunding their money.

Ten people who were either in the sweat lodge or were relatives of those who died sued Ray and eventually settled. Angel Valley, however, remains a defendant, with its owners rebuffing any settlement.

Hamilton and her husband, Michael, also sued Ray, accusing him of damaging their struggling retreat’s business of helping people find inner peace. After the sweat lodge deaths, the suit says, many spiritualists began keeping a distance from Angel Valley and it began losing as much as $35,000 a month.

Several months back, the Hamilton made a spiritual appeal to end the lawsuits, e-mailing those who were suing them and asking them to consider the implications of what they were doing.

"Let’s come together," the e-mail said. "Let’s find a new way to do this."

Their effort drew no takers, although it did rile the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

The Hamiltons also came up with the idea of holding a large grieving ceremony this month for sweat lodge participants and survivors at the one-year anniversary of the deaths, and they planned to use their insurance money to pay for it. They insisted, however, that all attendees agree to drop their suits. Nobody agreed, so the smaller ceremony was held.

"We were waiting for a miracle to happen, but it didn’t happen," Amayra Hamilton said.

She and her husband speak of how everything happens for a reason. And of how this event might serve as a lesson to other spiritualists that following gurus should be done with caution. They said they expected to be called to the witness stand in Ray’s case and, if asked, would lay out their belief in communicating with angels and other nonphysical beings.

"That event happened," said Michael Hamilton, who said he was speaking to a reporter only after consulting the archangel Michael, his spiritual muse. "The real question is what have we learned from it."

© 2010 The New York Times Company