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Peru:
Scenes From A Journey On the evening of August 12, 2000, one-by-one, our tour group ducked out of the rain into a stone-walled room at the rear of the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. There we were greeted by savory curls of smoke and a smiling Don Victor Estrada, dressed in a white suit and feathered headdress. Flanking the shaman were two assistants also dressed in white. On the floor at the end of the long narrow room was a large cloth or manta, crammed with medicine objects: pipes, shells, stones, feathers, bottles, lighted candles, photographs... As I stepped into the sacred space, my crown chakra began to vibrate, leaving me dizzy. I also felt a distinct tickle of energy in my right shoulder blade where Unconditional Love enters when I do emotional healings. Without a doubt I was in the presence of something large! This was my first trip to Peru, though I had been practicing Peruvian-based shamanic healing for two years. During those two years I was asked many times, “Have you been to Peru?” I could now answer yes to that question. Once we were all assembled on cushions around the room, Don Victor positioned himself at the south of the medicine wheel or mesa and in soft sing-song Quechua, the native language of the Andes, summoned Mother Earth, Grandmother Moon, the great spirit Wiracocha, Sun and Rainbow to join us. He then signaled his assistants, one to hold the jeweled pewter chalice and the other to pour into it a thick green liquid from a large plastic milk jug. The liquid was boiled San Pedro cactus leaves, revered indigenous plant spirit medicine. The idea was to drain the cup in one swallow. When it came my turn, I was pleased that the taste and texture were benign enough so I didn't gag or throw up. Then I settled back to wait. For some, the spirits had already arrived. One person was crying in deep wrenching sobs. Another was being shuffled outside to commune with the animals and trees. After about thirty minutes Don Victor came over to pour scented water on my head, at the same time pressing his thumb firmly on my crown. The water dripped down my hair and rained rivulets down my neck. With his index finger, the shaman drew three crosses over my third eye, pushed some of the fragrant water up my nostrils, on my earlobes, chin and higher heart. Then, without a word, he moved on. Images of ancient faces whirled toward me like a kaleidoscope, exploding into sparked nothingness just before hitting me in the face. One after another they came: Easter Island faces, masks of monkey men, the bald and beaked condor... Then just as suddenly they disappeared, making way for two majestic mountain peaks swarming with space ships, all flashing eerie blue iridescent lights. I moved in and out of awareness. At one point I noted the medical doctor from New York City to my left was mumbling that alien beings were adjusting his DNA with lasers. Then Don Victor was back to inform me to remain receptive as “portals” opened for me. For the Quechuan people, “star brethren” are as spiritual as mountains, coca leaves, pumas and llamas, for Andean spirituality is cosmic and all that exists originates in the stars. Mountains are sacred because from them flows water for the farms; therefore, many ceremonial sites are located on mountains. Before I traveled to Peru I knew that for shamans everything has consciousness; nonetheless, I was amazed to hear stones calling out to me at Machu Picchu and other places. We were told by our Peruvian-born guide that when a stone asks to be taken, in ayni or sacred reciprocity, we should leave a hair. Thousands of years ago, ritual sites in Cusco and the Sacred Valley were constructed in the shapes of sacred animals such as the puma and the llama. At one site, colorfully garbed shamans from Inca lineage performed an elaborate coca leaf ceremony. Each of us offered a triad of leaves, which were then arranged, sprinkled with fragrances, blown, prayed and sung over, folded in gift wrap and finally burned. Excavations of ancient graves show coca leaves being used ceremoniously in much the same way. The leaves also have a practical value, for when they are chewed, alkaloids are released, which ease altitude sickness, diminish hunger, thirst and fatigue, and supply Vitamin B and C. When I returned home, I brought back stones, coca leaves, medicine items and wall hangings gathered from sacred sites and shops for my mesa room, and nothing has been quite the same since. People who enter the sacred space notice something is different in the room and in me. Some are drawn to pick up a stone and feel its power; others spontaneously spill long-guarded secrets that lead them toward new health. I remain astounded at the power of a two-week journey to the navel of the earth: Peru. For
private sessions, workshops or other shamanic services, contact Judy
at 770-391-0991. |