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Okay, now we're about five minutes from the Rainbow Forest Museum and Visitor Center. In the meantime, remember that curse I mentioned earlier for stealing petrified wood? That curse is probably just the result of a guilty conscience. What if it's not? If you ask the Diné, or Navajo, they might say there's some truth to it.

For a long time, they stayed clear of the petrified wood, or what they called Yebitz'in. According to Diné mythology, Petrified wood are the bones of an ancient and terrible beast named Yeitso, who met his end at the hands of twin brothers, whose names were Monster Slayer and Born of Water. 

The Anaye were a monstrous race of alien gods that devoured people, and Yeitso was the worst of them all. He was as big as a mountain, and was covered head to toe with armor made of flint and precious minerals. He also carried a basket of thunderbolts, as if the rest of him wasn't terrifying enough. When Monster Slayer and Born of Water were young, Yeitso passed by their home. Their quick-thinking mother hid the twins out of sight. 

"Who made all these little footprints?" Yeitso asked her, glancing at the dirt.

"I made them myself" their mother replied. "I get so lonely, I pretend that I have visitors." 

I guess when you're a giant man eater, that sort of logic checks out. So Yeitso kept moving. After all, there was lots of stomping and devouring to do.

Later, when the twins grew up, they visited the home of their father, the Sun God, Jóhonaaʼéí. After some trials to test their strength, Jóhonaaʼéí gave the twins a quiver of magic arrows. And with these arrows, they hunted down and destroyed the Anaye one by one, until only Yeitso remained.

One day, Yeitso came to a lake and knelt down to take a drink. As he did, he saw the reflection of the twins in the water. "What a pretty little snack you are," said Yeitso. "Why haven't I seen you before?" They took turns, taunting each other, until Yeitso hurled his lightning bolts at the twins. They dodged, and fired their magic arrows at Yeitso.

Their arrows hit the mark, and the giant fell dead, and his armor shattered to pieces. It's said that the Diné used his flint scales as armor, arrowheads, and knives for generations. And his bones? Well, as you can see, they're strewn across the land as petrified wood. Wow, that's some story, huh? 

Now, maybe you're thinking, 'but there's petrified wood in the gift shops, will I be cursed if I buy it?' you'll be relieved to know that the wood for sale at the Visitor Center, and other gift shops, is 100% curse free. Why? Because it was found outside the National Park. A good rule of thumb for buying petrified wood, or anything for that matter, is asking yourself 'who profits from this?' That'll help you make the best souvenir decisions anywhere you go - curse or no curse.

Want to hear more like this?

Find more on our Petrified Forest National Park tour!