Nature has its own consciousness. This is one of the things I’ve learned from traveling to sacred sites. For a long time, I thought I had to go to these faraway places to experience the refined energy, but I was wrong. It is possible to cultivate a relationship with nature in your own backyard or neighborhood.
I’ve always been drawn to places with water. Many people enjoy the relaxing qualities of the beach or lakes, so that is a given. On a psychic communication level, I have found that nature spirits will communicate if there is a sacred water source nearby.
It is no coincidence that on my past travels, the first place I remember seeing was a body of water. When I first arrived in Paris, I walked to the Seine River. The first picture I took in Peru was the Pacific Ocean. At home, I walk daily to a freshwater pond where many animals and plants.
When they say water is life, this is more than just words. Water has its own spiritual essence, thousands of years of people worshipping it, medicine men and women tending to it not only as a physical life giving essence, but a spiritual being.
#sacredwater #sacredsites #nature
I want to live in a society that rewards people for being good to the water, air, land and animals and people.
I want to live in a society where equal rights for all is rewarded, and shaming or ostracizing others is criminal behavior.
I want to live in a society where people frequently talk about the other realities that shamans experience. For example: What do you see in the Ukhupacha (lower world), Kaypacha (middle world), Hananpacha (upper world)? How do I know which is which? What does this mean? Who is helping right now so I can thank them?
I would like to live in a world where shamanism is respected very deeply–perhaps because it’s tens of thousands of years old and is effective when done properly.
I would like to live in a world that has respected and researched standards for shamanism so that everyone has the right teacher and learning program for them.
I would like to live in a society where I am financially and socially rewarded for all the unseen, energetic, shamanic or esoteric hurdles I’ve had to overcome since I was born.
I’d also like to live in a society that has other people like me who have overcome a great deal and who are positive and healthy. Perhaps we can all learn from each other.
You may sense that something is out of balance and it isn’t just climate change. We are poisoning the Earth to such an extent that we are poisoning ourselves. Instead of feeling helpless about this situation, we as people must renew our relationship with the Earth in a healthy positive way. Like any healthy relationship, it starts with listening.
Learning how to listen to Nature can be challenging in a society that doesn’t teach us how to do so. Even if we do listen to Nature, sometimes it can be a challenge applying the knowledge. I serve as a catalyst helping my clients with shamanic guidance from Nature. Here’s an inside look at one client’s experience. (Her name is Ellie.)
Client Background:
Ellie has a growing tarot and shamanism business. She has tarot clients but wants to start to integrate more shamanism into her business. She is extremely skilled and talented in both areas. She has been initiated into the Q’ero (Peru) Pampamisayoq tradition and is a misa carrier, so she has received the blessing of this indigenous tradition to be a shamanic healer. While Ellie has confronted some obstacles about using her shamanic gifts, she regularly performs shamanic journeying and taught a workshop in this area. She also has an interest in sacred sites and held a ceremony and workshop about relating to sacred sites.
I asked Ellie what were some of things she was looking for in regards to our session. I also asked if there were any obstacles and what kinds of things would she want to talk about for an effective session?
Ellie: I have been working with the San Pedro Cactus [plant spirit] and dreams and would love to share these with you for feedback. Also, I am working on connecting with the Bayou (a local power spot) and connecting with Spanish Needles as plant spirit healing. I feel that I am trying to integrate something new into my tarot offerings but can’t tell what it is. I feel blocked or like I am waiting. I also am not sure how to move forward with my tarot work with others. Others have asked for some shamanic work and I would love to offer some things. But it is hard to center. My other issue is that I have felt called to learn or do some ancestral healing, but am confused about this as well. If I could understand the messages I receive from nature and from dreams/journeys as well as my joy in doing the workshop, I would feel better about taking my next step.
First Question:
Ellie started to talk about how she felt about the Journeying workshop, what she liked and didn’t like as much. As she spoke, I received a message from the guides:
The guides said, “Zero in on the Shamanic Journeying workshop, especially what it was about the workshop that was the most joyful for you.” This relates to what client will do with bringing in shamanism to what she offers in her business.
Ellie liked that she had a system for journeying. She doesn’t want to do that as a service for clients, but there are aspects of it that were interesting. I let her know that she can be confident in the knowledge she taught a journeying class and this will also help with healing her wound.
Second Question:
At this point in the reading, I contacted the stones and Misa spirits to give her guidance. Ellie told me about a dream where she was walking the streets of Cusco. She saw Incan walls and touched them as she did when she was in Peru. Ellie asked Huachuma (San Pedro Plant Spirit) what she needed to do to center and pull down the imaginary into the practical. The answer was shamanic healing. As she was telling me this I said, “Verdad” –that is the truth.
I received a message:
Most important aspect of this dream is walking the streets of Cusco & touching the stones of Cusco. This is a circuit, like someone taking a plug, and plugging it into the wall. She plugs into the Misa, contacts the stones & Huachuma (Plant Spirit). The Misa plugs her into the ancestral wisdom hidden within the walls of Cusco. I mentioned the ceques are like the spokes of a wheel to get to the center. This relates to her future healing of clients.
One possibility is that when she journeys with a client, doing shamanic healing for them, contacting her Misa & Huachuma, she will plug in directly to the Apus and Cusco ceques (i.e. Plaza de las Armas). I had a vision of Ellie looking at her Misa, praying to Huachuma, using her dream as a template of energy so that she knows she’s there when she journeys. I think she can use her connection to the portal energies of Cusco for shamanic healing.
Her message is: Go ahead and do this, you are ready to start shamanic healing. Here is a suggestion and she has blessings and encouragement from Huachuma and the Misa to go ahead and start. She is ready to heal by journeying.
She can also do ancestral work, but work on herself first. But she will be able to do ancestral work on others very soon. She can do shamanic healing right now. She can do the nuts and bolts of it right now. (My hands motioned as if making adjustments). Go ahead and start, you have their blessing. Start the baby step process. I heard a message that I should tell her to draw or write that she is a shamanic healer and place on her wall.
Ellie asked: Can she do the same protocol for her own healing?
Start with lower world journey and middle world journeys. Soon after, she will be dealing in the upper world. Build lower and middle world first and then upper world. She can start to practice shamanic journeying, like practicing using a muscle, building strength using incremental steps. Journey for yourself first, consider that practice. Then you can start. You can still work on yourself while you are working with other people.
Third Question:
When Ellie is out walking and interacting with nature spirits, she leaves an offering, dialogues with them and asks them to bring energy into her third chakra. At Place A, her telepathy feels jammed up a little.
Message from Pine and Oak trees: There is lots of chaotic energy at Place A because of traffic. There is a small amount of personal energy interference from her, but in comparison to the chaotic energy at this place, she is experiencing empathic distortion from traffic.
I asked her to compare the energies at three different locations where she interacts with nature spirits: Place A, B & C. No distortion chatter at Place C, some distortion chatter at Place B, a lot of distortion chatter at Place A. Ellie told me that between the three places, that Place C was the most peaceful in terms of energy.
She is empathically receiving communication from the land both about the unhappy energy and happy energy. It’s harder to tap into the peace of a place when the place has its own chaotic unhappiness. This doesn’t change the fact that she still has a positive and powerful connection with the land and water!
I’m offering free fifteen minute consultations to people who want improve their relationship with nature. You can contact me at nowmomentjourney@gmail.com.
Click here to learn more about Cusco Huacas
One of the benefits of connecting with the Earth and with sacred sites is connecting with the ancestors. When I visited Cusco, Peru, I had a conversation with one of my ancestors, but before I tell you about it, I must provide a little background to that experience.
Before going to Cusco, Peru, I had a difficult 2 months with a health problem. I had been planning this trip for over a year and was nervous about being well enough to go out of the country. During this challenging time, I had the love of family to help me through in addition to something else that may be considered unorthodox to some–psychic communication with the spirits of my grandparents and mother. During this time, I had noticed that my grandfather’s spirit was absent and spirit communication was primarily with my mother and grandmother. But, once I was on a plane to Peru, I felt a stronger connection with my grandfather’s spirit.
One of the most amazing experiences I had in Cusco was at the Plaza de las Armas, which is in the center of Cusco. As I approached the fountain in Plaza de las Armas, my grandfather’s voice grew louder and louder. I turned around and saw a dog trotting past me towards the fountain. The closer the dog came to the fountain, the louder I heard my grandfather’s voice saying, “Hello! You made it!” I thought in my head, “Where have you been the last few months?!” He replied, “I’ve been hanging around here and waiting for you!”
Bear in mind that while I have many psychic communications with my ancestors, this particular communication was unique in that it was so vivid that I felt as if my ancestors were alive and in human form. My curiosity was piqued as to why did I have such a communication in the middle of the town plaza of Cusco?
It’s true that Cusco is a magical city as I’ve described from my experience at the fountain at Plaza de las Armas. A deliberate and intricate design of seq’es and huacas in Cusco acting as dimensional pathways to the ancestors allowed psychic communication with my own ancestors. I am convinced we are all connected.
References:
Bawden, Garth. (2003). University of New Mexico Anthropology 324: South American Archaeology [Syllabus]. Retrieved from http://www.unm.edu/~gbawden/324-syll/324-syll.htm & http://www.unm.edu/~gbawden/324-shamanism/324-shamanism.htm
Staller, John (Ed.). (2008). Pre-Columbian Landscapes of Creation and Origin. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
Williams, J.E. (2012). Light of the Andes: In Search of Shamanic Wisdom in Peru. (n.p.) Irie Books.
(Q’ero Paqo Shaman Don Sebastian Pauccar Flores, video courtesy of http://www.takiruna.com)
In our western society, having a relationship with the Earth is a rare topic of discussion or thought. Perhaps, due to technology, we have distanced ourselves so that now we are being challenged to renew our relationship with the Earth. It is a challenge well worth pursuing as I have discovered in my learning about the indigenous Andean teachings of the Q’ero people.
For the indigenous Q’ero of the Andes, I have noticed that it all starts with Pachamama. In J.E. Williams’ book Light of the Andes: In Search of Shamanic Wisdom in Peru, he describes Pachamama as “the earth mother in space-time, the all creative cosmic mother”. Pachamama is very important to the Q’ero and they frequently make offerings to her. When they say, ‘Gracias Pachamama’, you can hear their heartfelt gratitude echoing through each syllable. I have tried to emulate this concept when I offer thanks to Pachamama, whether through a tobacco ceremony or when I am praying to the Mesa (the Andean Medicine Bundle). I have noticed that the more I feel in my heart the love for Pachamama (as one would feel for a loved one), the deeper my connection. This has most certainly led me to a deeper relationship with the Earth.
Stay tuned for the next blogpost about sacred sites or huacas, in Cusco, Peru.
In honor of World Indigenous Peoples Day, here is a sampler of indigenous wisdom teachings from the Q’ero (Peru) and Onandaga (NY). Click above to enjoy more videos and quotes in magazine format.
Ayni is a Quechua word meaning reciprocity. Ayni permeates daily life among the indigenous people of the Andes Mountains as it is not just a sustainability principle but is also practiced in despacho (offering) ceremonies to the Apus (mountain spirits), Awkikuna (nature spirits) and Pachamama. To learn more about Ayni, watch this video from Dr. J.E. Williams at Ayniglobal.
Seven Generations Principle Native North Americans honor the sacredness of all life through the seven generations principle. “Seven generations ago somebody was looking out for me and that’s why I am here. Seven generations from now, I hope, there is somebody there.”-Oren Lyons of the Onondaga Nation
Over the last five years or so, I have become more aware of sacred sites both locally and abroad. In an effort to understand my experiences at sacred sites, I have looked for information about the native cultures that lived at those sacred sites.
For example, when I went to Peru and visited Machu Picchu, I was enveloped in the most wonderful energy, but noticed that the energy improved as one climbed higher in altitude. However, even mountains as powerful as they are, have to be honored from the work of the shaman, and by giving offerings and performing ceremony, the mountain spirits, and their energy are transformed. “The wellbeing of huacas [quechua word for sacred] depends on the constant flow of offerings from the living to deceased ancestors, and the spiritual domain as a form of reciprocity.” (Staller, 2008, p.276)
Here in Florida, the mounds here as well as throughout the mound culture in the rest of the US, are places of great power and complex energy. The complexity is most likely a result of years of environmental degradation and disrespect for these special places. Because there is a highly elevated energy associated with power places or sacred sites, when the land they are on is disrespected or degraded, the energy becomes more turbulent and sometimes very unhappy. “Sacred sites are living places. They have their own feelings like humans. And just like humans, they can be happy or sad” (Sabella Kaguna, Custodian, Tharaka, Kenya)
Also in Florida, it is the Gulf of Mexico that is a very powerful nature force instead of mountains. It is the Gulf of Mexico, the palm trees, plants, minerals and animals among many other things to whom we can offer our thanks. In historical context, the Seminoles in Florida had core beliefs of giving thanks to the land and having a deep connection with the land as if it is one’s mother. “Traditional Seminoles consider their environment a sacred source of life, and they themselves believe they are its guardians.” (Caufield, Catherine, “Selling a Piece of Your Mother”, 1998)
As I continue to learn more about sacred sites, I hope to integrate the same beliefs of reciprocity to the land as the native cultures who lived here before us.
I would like to share my experience at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Peru since Responsible Travel week is happening from 2/11-2/17/13. Before I do that, I’ll share some of my ideas about responsible travel:
1) It provides all involved a means of enjoying the place, giving back to the place visited in some way.
2) Travel organizations employ local workers, while providing competitive wages, training and mutual respect in a safe environment.
3) Travelers seek out experiences to commune with nature, learn about the local indigenous culture, and hopefully feel prompted to give back to those cultures, places or people that they learned about during their travels. The giving back doesn’t always have to be money–it can also be time directed towards their newfound interests gained on a responsible travel trip.
With the above principles in mind, I picked Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel as an example of responsible travel. At a time when most hotels are the exact opposite of responsible travel, Inkaterra at least makes a steady effort in the areas of conservation and biodiversity as well as hiring local employees. I visited Inkaterra Hotel in 10/11 and was able to see these principles in action.
It is highly probable that the Inkaterra resort is so serene because of its proximity to Machu Picchu. However, I will say that by hotel and resort standards, Inkaterra has done an amazing job preserving the natural atmosphere of sacred beauty that is inherently found in Machu Picchu. Once inside the entrance, it’s like stepping into another small room inside the ‘house’ of Machu Picchu. The local village, Aguas Calientes, seems miles away. The plants, trees and animals are lively and serene at the same time. The environment is truly a sanctuary with its beautiful stone walkways past the Vilcanota River. Here is a picture I took while inside the grounds looking up at the small mountains along the river:
While this is a luxury hotel with its spa, pools, sweat lodge, gift shop, etc., I don’t know too many hotels where it is an absolute joy to wander the grounds feeling as if in another world.
For the responsible traveler, there are many activities which provide enjoyment of the local biodiversity. There is a fully staffed Eco Center with expertly guided tours through the orchid gardens, herb garden, tea plantation, to name a few. I was very impressed by the level of expertise and dedication of all of the staff whether they were in reservations, hospitality or in the Eco Center.
My enjoyment of this resort prompted me to search online for more information re: whether they hired local workers, conservation and other issues. I found that Inkaterra was awarded the first Green certification from the Peterson Control Union Green Choice Sustainable Tourism Standard. While this sounds like a distinguished honor, and perhaps it is, I am somewhat skeptical of certification standards in the business community regarding responsible travel. I did some more digging and was able to find the following:
1) According to http://www.sustainabletrip.org/profile/inkaterra-reserva-amazonica (Inkaterra’s Amazon River location), 86% of the staff is local which supports my observations of what appeared to be mostly local staff at the Machu Picchu location. I did find a source that stated Inkaterra was “built and staffed by locals” who used local materials. Profits from other Inkaterra resorts, in both the Amazon and Cusco locations, are put back into conservation. Source: http://www.wtmwrtd.com/files/spotlight07_lr1.pdf (p.27)
2) According to another source, employee salaries are twice the local rate. I also sensed that employee morale and happiness was apparent in the way employees related to guests. Staff members seem to be very proud of their work and have a real commitment to this place. Source: http://tilz.tearfund.org/webdocs/Website/Campaigning/Policy%20and%20research/Policy%20-%20Tourism%20CSR%208%20Pager.pdf (p.4)
These independent online sources support my experience at Inkaterra–a business that knows that without its natural surroundings and local citizens, it would be nothing. Of course, there is the price tag, which is my biggest complaint simply because quality responsible travel should be accessible to all socio-economic groups. Perhaps in the near future, there will be more places such as Inkaterra all over the world, offering lower prices without compromising better responsible travel standards.
For more information on Responsible Tourism Week and how to participate, check out Ron Mader’s website, Planeta.com. Another exciting way to participate is through Google Hangouts. Check out Responsible Travel Week on Twitter for real-time updates on what’s happening this week. Facebook also has two wonderful groups, Responsible Tourism Networking and Planeta.com where you can participate and share global views on responsible travel.
Ever since I came back from my trip to Peru, I’ve been looking forward to the release of Light of the Andes by Dr. J.E. Williams. While visiting the Andes Mountains, I felt a deeply spiritual connection to the land of Peru. Reading Light of the Andes helped me understand and place my experiences in Peru within a broader context. It was a feeling of being in a land that I had never visited before, yet it felt like home.
While every person experiences things differently, there may have been similarities between what I experienced and what Dr. Williams experienced upon his first trips to Peru years ago. Perhaps it was this feeling of being home, that led him to the very special Q’ero people, and his his soul brother, Don Sebastian Pauccar Flores. Dr. Williams has chronicled his initial encounters with Don Sebastian in his 2005 book, The Andean Codex. Light of the Andes continues this journey with Don Sebastian to the great Andes mountain, Apu Ausangate.
While storytelling is a very effective form of communication, it is the principles interwoven within the stories that create a deeper understanding. This is the very difficult technique that Dr. Williams employs in his writing style in both The Andean Codex and Light of the Andes. While there are many principles within the Q’ero tradition, I was most interested in the concept of ayni (reciprocity). In the preface to Light of the Andes, Dr. Williams writes: “Ayni is the touchstone of the Q’ero worldview who hold it as the code of life, an innate imprint discoverable in nature and ever present in the universe where it forms the content of every thing—the matrix of all being.”
In The Andean Codex, Dr. Williams ventured into the land of the Q’ero to experience life from their perspective. Most importantly, the relationship between Dr. Williams and Don Sebastian forms a basis for their journey. In Light of the Andes, Don Sebastian takes his first trip to Lima, the capital of Peru, and experiences urban city life. When I returned from my first trip to Peru, I experienced some of the same culture shock. Once I felt the deep spiritual connection with the Andean world, it felt very disjunct and spiritually barren when I returned to the US. While I had missed the familiarity of modern 21st century Florida, I instantly felt a longing to have the spiritual energy of the Andes with me as well.
Most of all, I was impressed by Dr. Williams’ profound spiritual, physical, emotional and mental preparation. His initiation process at Apu Ausangate was the result of years of dedication. He had to integrate the Q’ero principles into his life before venturing up the mountain. It is because of his dedication over many years to this process that we as readers have been given a gift.
Now Moment Journey 