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The Way of the Altomesayoq Research Project

In 2005, I traveled to Peru for the third time having spent the previous five years in an intense apprenticeship studying Andean shamanism. This time to experience the elusive Altomesayoq tradition.

ALTER EGO WEBSITE

Another Day at Machu Picchu!

11/22/2019

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Today is a National Teacher’s Strike. All trains, flights and roads are closed until at the afternoon. Yippee!!!  I decided to spend the morning photographing at Machu Picchu, so after breakfast I packed and left my bags at the hotel’s front desk. 
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Then joined Eva, Leontine, Greg and Adrille for the bus that took us up the mountain. Once through the main gate, we split up — Greg and Adrille headed off to climb Huayna Picchu, Eva went off to work with her mesa, and Leontine and I went our separate ways photographing.

My first stop was another favorite place. The following information is from Jose Luis two-years ago when I was here with him.
Temple of the Condor
The niches above the temple could have been where mummies were stored so that the “condor” could take their souls to the Hanaqpacha.
The “head” and “beak” of this condor were used in ceremony — chicha or corn beer was poured into the trough at the “head” and allowed to run down the “beak” and absorbed into Pachamama. Condors are monogamous in their mating.
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A trademark of the Inka was to organize human expression around the expression of Pachamama (nature). The altar above the Temple of the Condor would be used to embody the archetype of the condor; to find personal vision.
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Vision is a “map” of a domain of consciousness that includes the process of Creation. Therefore, when one asks for vision they are asking for a map of Creation. The less attachment one has to outcome, the more open they are to receive vision. When vision is received, passion must be generated to “grow” it. 
Then one must practice responsibility in order to direct the passion into the inspiration. In our Western culture we have many attachments to outcome, which limits our “vision.”

Many areas within Machu Picchu were crudely reconstructed and do not reflect th original precision of the Inka stonework. Today, more precise restoration is employed. There may have Reconstruction of stonework been adobe houses for the workers as well. There is a hypothesis that Machu Picchu was already part of religious/scientific culture before Pachakuti’s reign, which would make the site much older than is generally accepted. It was designed as a nation onto itself. Archeologist Maryann Kendall, who lived for more than 10 years in the vicinity, concluded that there must have been a large population that needed all of the agricultural production that was produced at Machu Picchu and at its 30+ satellite sites along the Inka Trail. Machu Picchu may have been the capital of this mini-nation.

Next, I headed to the House of the Chosen Women — the Virgins of the Sun.
Virgins of the Sun
The women at Machu Picchu were responsible for the preparation of food and clothing. They lived in the lower area adjacent to the grass plaza. The men lived above the plaza. The “chosen” women served either the Sun God (Inka ruler) and were pure. 
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“Virgins of the Sun” is also an expression of Pachamama (eternal feminine) in service to the sun and keeper of the sacred fire that burned continuously, representing the four quadrants of consciousness. The women that lived in the “House of the Chosen
Women” were vital to the empire because they could be given to a conquered ruler in order to seal the conquest and make the alliance secure.
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The two circular basins in the “House of the Chosen Women” were possibly used as mortars to tell time. They are in orientation to the equinoxes and solstices. At these times the sun would cast light across a basin and illuminate the corresponding doorway.
The basins are also in alignment with the “llama eyes” of Alpha and Beta Centauri, according to archeologist Brian Bauer. Possibly the windows create a triangulation that allowed for the celestial mapping. It was originally believed that only the remains of women were found at Machu Picchu, however, there is debate whether or not this was an accurate interpretation.
Also on my list of must-visit is the Pachamama Stone. Enroute are lots of opportunities to photograph the wonderful staircases and vistas.
Pachamama Stone
This is a sacred rock; an apu stone that mimics the shape of the mountains that are directly behind it (yanantin). It was hoisted up and moved to this site.

Having paid my respects at each of these places, I ran around trying to photograph where tourists weren't ...
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Shortly before our group’s agreed upon lunch, I took the bus back down to Agua Calliente. Afterwards, we reconvened at the hotel for a final meeting. There, Jose Luis told us:

  • We have been the first Westerners to receive Altomesayoq rites in the traditional way from Altomesayoqs as well as converse with apus.
  • Our homework assignments:​
  1. JL will send us two prayers to call Senor Toreychayoq (Waikay Wilkey);
  2. Create cekes to our ito apu and the winged-ones that we’ve begun working;
  3. Share our experiences only with those people we know hold high affinities; disclose only that which is necessary;
  4. To be done monthly:
  • ​​Create despachos on full moons, from our heart, to create cekes of higher power;
  • Sit in darkness for 20 minutes to find light in our heart — other senses will
  • Begin to develop, especially hearing — and develop relationships with the apus and Santa Tierras  — we may not be able to manifest them, but we will begin physically hear them through our mesa. What is needed is prayer, to hold space, and stillness — move beyond thought.
  • Bathe kuyus in red wine (infuses kausay) and then expose them to sunlight — always in prayer;
  • Stay in touch with this allyu (i.e. dreamtime, synchronized despachos, mastay, etc.) — hold space for each other;
Jose Luis goes on to tell us that we have been instructed by the apus to stay together as an allyu — as such, we will meet again, a “building block” to this journey in order to awaken the mountain spirits of the United States; sometime during the winter at a location in the U.S. for 2 days.

He then went on to give us each personal instructions, and charged us with assisting each other to attain these goals. He reminded us that this is an allyu and our journey is “collective.” My instruction was to: “Sit longer with your heart. Go beyond the model of loving that you have mastered in order to find the essential so your kausay flows strong. This will improve your health."

Then Adolopho told us to:
  • Exercise patience;
  • Create and hold sacred space — the winged-ones will come;
  • Hopes the seeds flourish in our hearts so we can feed others;
  • By coming together we can create a full garden;
  • Pachamama and the apus are continually assisting our transformation;
  • As we create cekes to higher affinities and become more open and available, God will have a more tangible manifestation in our lives;
  • We all have apu benefactors — we need to find ours in dreamtime. To do this, we need to look inside of our hearts;
  • We must work to bring our mesa into its full expression. Go past denial. Love will bring us wholeness.
​
In summation Jose Luis said:
  • Don’t create meaning from your head; only your heart.
  • Join me and other paqos energetically on August 1 for a nighttime celebration by doing a full accounting of the previous year (8/04-8/05); take it to the fire; renew your kausay; create/strengthen your cekes to the mountain spirits and conditions that empower us. Put everything that disempowers you into a despacho that holds elements of your land/reality, and burn it at night.
  • Your mesas are ready to communicate with Spirit due to the rites that have been sealed by all of the blessings of the apus.

The train we were to take back to Ollantaytambo was postponed until 5:30 p.m. due to the volume of people who have been inconvenienced by the National Teacher’s Strike. When we finally reached Ollantaytambo, Walter was waiting to drive us to Cuzco where we quickly dropped off our luggage, and then went on to Jose Luis’ home for a late dinner, thank you’s and “farewells for now”. 

By the time we returned to the San Agustin Hotel, I was too tired to pack — a job to tackle in the morning!
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Machu Picchu

7/13/2005

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A very early morning, with no time for breakfast. Walter drove us to Ollantaytambo to catch the first train to Aguas Caliente and Machu Picchu. Our first-class tickets gave us seats in the Orient Express cars and breakfast! Greg and I sat in the first row seats for a relatively unobstructed view 
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— this was his first trip to Machu Picchu, and we was excited — Eve kept warning him not to shoot all of his film on the train ride, as it only gets better!
Once our train arrives in Aqua Calliente, we walked to the Hatuchuy Towers, which is the same hotel I stayed in two years ago. Eva’s and my room had a view overlooking a small plaza and the Urubamba River — beautiful! After unpacking, we met the others for lunch at a restaurant that is around the corner from the internet café. Though I had breakfast only hours ago, I was famished and had a delicious tomato soup with Parmesan cheese, garlic trout, potato frites (french fries), and créme brûlée for dessert — excellent!
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Our room with a view!
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Death Stone @ 2003
Then we were off to catch the 2PM bus to Machu Picchu.

​Once we passed through the entrance gate, our group veered off from the crowd and hiked up past the Death Stone to a secluded terrace where Jose Luis began lecturing:​
  • Machu Picchu was probably rebuilt around the 1300s according to carbon dating, but no ceremonial items have been found at the site from that period.
  • Halkeymalkeys and palkeymalkeys are winged-beings (angels) that live in high mountain ranges and have been around for a very long time.
  • Machu Picchu has many mountain representations. These are yanantin or dissimilar equivalents — such as a stone that has the same shape as the mountain behind it, like the Pachamama Stone, or a celestial / solar feature.
  • The Hitching Post of the Sun or Inti Huaytana serves as a connector of ceke lines and denotes the four cardinal directions, magnetic north, and the winter / summer solstices. 
  • Inti Huaytanas at other Inka sites were destroyed by the Spaniards, who did not find Machu Picchu.
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Inti Huaytana
  • There are three stages of development at Machu Picchu. The Temple of the Sun is Inka or pre-Inka (1000+ years old). At that time it would have been in perfect alignment with the solstice. As time goes by, that alignment creates a growing gap because of celestial movement.
  • Altomesayoqs are the bridge between Spirit and man.
  • A kurek akulleq is a master of vision; has the ability to create new seeds; new structures. This domain is found in paqarinas.
  • Paqarinas are the domain of Santa Tierras or nuest’as. They have to do with conception; where life emerges; the place where enka and illya are held. The Virgin of Conception is also another name for paqarinas.
  • The Temple of the Uhupacha (beneath the Temple of the Sun) and the Temple of the Condor are paqarinas. In the cave of the latter temple, sand and shells were found that have been traced to Ecuador, which indicates that high ceremonies were conducted there.
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Temple of the Uhupacha
  • High paqos (shamans or medicine people) hold these same types of spondelous shells (salmon color in the inside) in their mesa, which symbolize the feminine and paqarinas. Shells are used in despachos to symbolize the paqarina as container that holds the next evolution of form. The Christian representation of a paqarina is the Madonna, which is seen in churches and homes everywhere.
  • Santa Tierra Quillabamba and Santa Tierra Wakapaqa are expressions of the feminine and paqarinas that always show up in Adolpho’s mesa.
  • Machu Picchu was carefully selected as the location to “tie” the mountains / apus to earth / Pachamama.

​Jose Luis then went on to describe the three Celestial Mesas:
CELESTIAL MESAS
  • Kollana
1st Level Mesa
Senor Collya R’iti
Senor de Huanca
​Senor Toreychayoq
  • Payan
2nd Level Mesa
Ausangate
Salkantay
Pumacillo
Urusaiwa
Yanantin
Machu Picchu
Pachatuscon
Huayna Picchu
  • Kayao
3rd Level Mesa
Huayna Picchu
Macho Mandur
San Miguel
San Gabriel
Pitu Siray
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Three Levels of Mesa kollana holds most bandwidth of consciousness
  • Today, there are 4th, 5th and 6th  level mesas — these have not fulfilled their ayni or right-relationship and gravitate to paqarinas and apus (e.g. Pachatuscon) in order to re-establish their harmony. Apus that come through these mesas are just voices.
  • Don Martin brings forth the voice of 4th mesa beings when he calls the apus — this helps them regain their ayni.
  • Adolpho presently has a 3rd level mesa. Apus that come through a third level mesa can manifest, but not be seen. At this level, prayers and despachos are needed.
  • Adolpho has the possibility of attaining a 2nd level mesa — the apus have charged Jose Luis with teaching him the cosmology. In exchange (ayni), we were told, Adolpho must only work with Jose Luis. When a mesa rises to the second level, it has the ability to heal immediately. At this level, despachos are no longer needed.
  • The cosmology of the Inka did not include demons and devils. Since the Spanish influence, the modern cosmology of Peru has taken on Christian mythologies.
  • Apus gravitate towards power; light; consciousness. The quality of one’s mesa attracts apus of a reciprocal level of power.
Always be mindful of a medicine person’s quality of power.
​
Next, Jose Luis talked about cekes and affinities.
CEKES & AFFINITIES
  • All relationships have qualities and condition that define it. These affinities exist in time.
  • Kayao affinities are the most common. They have form in time/space and become rigid (dense energy). RIGID
  • Payan affinities are more fluid and negotiable; at will there can be changes, but they are still held in time/space.
  • Kollana affinities are not limited by perceptions in time/space. They are completely fluid and always in a state of creating.
  • Using the metaphor of a floorplan, Jose Luis described affinities this way: fixed walls/doors/windows (kayao); moveable walls/windows/doors (payan); totally open space with no wall/doors/windows (kollana).
  • Humans need a place to belong. Memories keep us anchored. In contrast, the Universe is continually evolving; fluid.
  • The ultimate test is ones ability to shape-shift. This is the domain of 1st level mesas — the highest level.
  • The ability to embody ritual allows us to access higher frequencies and the state of fluidity.
​
​Mapping was the next theme Jose Luis shared with us.
MAPPING
  • Greater than solar-based relationships are celestial relationships. The Southern Cross represents the hanaqpacha and is one of the oldest symbols. It also describes the homecoming of all pachas on Earth with the Universe, as well as our Earth's position in relation to Sirus the Dog Star (resets every 52 years).
  • When the constellation of the Llama (Alpha Centauri) raises its head — its black nebula — it denotes the start of the dry season.
  • When the Southern Cross is at its apex (around May 2), the portal to the hanaqpacha opens and shamans track his or her destiny.
  • When the Pleiades (Colca) rises, about thirty days before the Winter Solstice, the festival at Collya R’iti occurs — it is usually scheduled now about 30-45 days before the Winter Solstice.
  • The Pleiades hold the seeds of fulfillment (destiny). A mesayoq’s job is to retrieve the seeds and find the one that will nurture and bring him or her into fulfillment.
  • A person who has mapped their affinities in the Kaypacha knows what their future is about.
  • Persons of high power map the Hanaqpacha in the stars to know his or her destiny.
  • Through salka — the part of oneself that is not pre-conditioned to anything — one can retrieve their highest possibility. As you embody more and more salka, you escape the grip of time.
  • A 1st mesa is held by those who have returned to Pachacamaq (Creator of all Pachas: God) — they are the ones who command and embody pachas (cycles within life).​
The greatest gift is to map your own transpersonal nature.
At this point, we began walking back to the Death Stone or Funeral Rock. Here, Jose Luis reenforces that at the Death Stone is where Inkas mapped their transpersonal nature. Where, in the past, I've been privileged to do just that during nighttime ceremonies. The process involves symbolically dying to one's "old" self, so they can be reborn in the morning to the fullness of NOW — to map our transpersonal nature so consciousness expands and there are no obstacles / friction in life.

Symbolic death allows us to get past impending engagements, promises, fears, etc. Obstructions create structures of beliefs around engagements that feed on one's life-force.
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Looking across the Death Stone to the mountains beyond — yanantin
​Jose Luis continues with his teachings:
  • As consciousness expands, so does our mesa. We become less pre-conditioned by everyday life.
  • In the shamanic tradition, you need to be twice-born. In this way, death becomes an ally — so when you physically die, you can have a gentle and elegant passing.
  • In the Kaypacha (Middle World), life is about relationships and engagements = archetype of Chokinchinchay — jaguar who knows the way across the rainbow bridge that connects this Kaypacha (Middle World) to the Hanaqpacha (Upper World).
  • The archetype of the Hanaqpacha (Upper World) is Apuchine. Life is about the expression of nature (i.e. mountains, rivers, etc.), one’s allyu or community.
  • Behind the Death Stone is the main cemetery at Machu Picchu. Bodies buried here were embalmed along with animals to help the deceased cross over the “bridge” to the Hanaqpacha. The “ring” on the Death Stone was used to tether the animals that were sacrificed.
  • Archeologists have found non-native stones that were left as offerings around the Death Stone, which leads them to believe that Machu Picchu was a sacred site that attracted people to come from throughout the empire.
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Death Stone
Aspects of the Death Stone:
  • It is oriented on an East/West axis with the rise / fall of the sun (Kaypacha);
  • Three steps, representing the three worlds, take you up to the small altar;
  • A ceke connects the Death Stone to the animistic force of nature Chokinchinchay.
  • Chokenchinchay is the organizing principal (symbolized as a jaguar) that allows one to merge pachas into Oneness — the celestial pacha. From this vantage point, Pachamama is omnipresent and the Uhupacha (Lower World) is found in the heavens;
  • Another ceke connects the Death Stone to destiny. In the cosmology of the altomesayoq, we need to die so we can re-member — so we can “see” the Hanaqpacha (Upper World).​
Everywhere in the landscape around Machu Picchu and embedded in its architecture are yanantin (dissimilar expressions of equivilence) and masintin (similar expressions of equivilence) relationships to mediate duality.
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Even the roof lines create yanantin expressions of equivalence with the surrounding mountains
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Huayna Picchu wraps around the sacred site.
The trails that go up to the mountains of Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu and others have cekes that connect them to the center plaza of the site. In order to bring these cekes into a tangible dialogue of power, one needs to actively mediate duality.
Machu Picchu is the place to do yanachakuy with all of our yanantin symbols in order to activate an altomesayoq mesa.

For more information about cekes, Jose Luis suggested that we explore the writings of Gary Urton.

​​This conversation led Jose Luis to talk more about the relationship of the vertical axis of the Tiwantinesuyu Cosmology or four-fold path to wholeness. He told us:
HANAN & URING
Once cekes have been established, an active communication with power arises — Hanan (above; Hanaqpacha) and Uring (all that is below).

Hanan is the upper portion of the vertical axis that allows us to map our vision so that we can bring it to fruition. Uring is the lower portion of the vertical axis by which our cekes dictate how we create enact our relationships and engagements in life. In this way, our mesa becomes Point Zero — the midpoint of the vertical (hanan/uring) axis in the Tiwantinesuyu cosmology.

The more power (kollana cekes; consciousness) held in our mesa, allows us to become less dense, more negotiable and resilient, and able to master time. To do this, we need to become consciously aware of which cekes are connected to our vision; infinite, and which are connected to our relationships and engagements, in time.

Mastering the domains of hanan and uring provide the road map to transcendence:
  • collectivity — the ability to connect with all domains that constitute an allyu or community;
  • reciprocity — the degree of affinity one has with ayni or being in right-relationship;
  • luminous awareness — being present in the NOW; and 
  • essence — conscious awareness of the essential in everything.

Ranti is the term used to describe the state when dissimilar qualities of energy or equivalents (yanantin) are brought into perfect resonance. The result is highly organized congruence.

Hapu is the term used to describe the state when similar qualities of energy or equivalents (masintin) are in perfect harmony.

This conversation led to mapping the Seven Worlds of the Hanaqpacha or Upper World.
SEVEN WORLDS OF THE HANAQPACHA
The seven Worlds are:

  • Stone people
  • Plant people
  • Animal people
  • Humans / Dogs / Frogs / Whales
  • Taripay Pacha — Consciousness that has acquired awareness through transcendence; Time we will meet ourselves again. This is the realm of:
    • Ascended masters
    • Enlightened beings
    • Halkey Malkeys, Palkey Malkeys, all winged-ones such as angels
    • Weakuna (Talking Heads)
    • Kilkeys (small fairies such as the ones we experience at Machu Picchu during nighttime ceremony)
  • Huamanese (luminous ones)
  • Christic/Buddha energy
  • Wiracocha, God, Creation itself
Leaving our secluded spot above the Death Stone, we made our way to the Hitching Post of the Sun. 
Once we had this area all to ourselves, Jose Luis shared its significance, in general and to us regarding our earlier conversations.
Inti Huaytana / Hitching Post to the Sun
  • It is oriented perfectly to the four cardinal directions;
  • Andean people only measured sunrise and sunset — not the linear hours in between;
  • On Winter Solstice the sun “sits” in the “chair” of the Hitching Post;​
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  • The Hitching Post is aligned with the Llama constellation (Alpha and Beta Centauri) and the cycle of rain/precipitation throughout the year;
  • All Hitching Posts (i.e. Pisaq, Machu Picchu, etc.) work independently as well as in conjunction with one another to map the celestial landscape.
  • The Hitching Post of the Sun is where one restructures their coordinates —memberships to Pachamama and light; Uhupacha/Hanaqpacha; Hanan axis.

Next, we headed to one of my most favorite places — the Temple of the Uhupacha.
The rest of the day was open for us to explore Machu Picchu and to spend quiet time to consider all that we heard. I spent a few hours running up and down the Inka stairs heading to various areas of the site to photograph.
Then, I hiked up to the Temple of the High Priestess to sit in my mesa, surrounded by my kuyas and meditated some more.

In late afternoon, I hopped on one of the bus’ to take me back to Aqua Calliente where I checked email before going back to our hotel. That night, we all met at a designated restaurant and ordered five large pizzas — all yummy!

Afterwards, we walked across the train tracks to a friend of Adolpho, who has an apartment in a  concrete tilt-up building, There, with the windows blocked with heavy black fabric that allowed no light in, Adolpho called in the apus. As Adolpho prayed in Quechua the apus and  Santa Tierras joined us — bursting through the concrete walls and floor. Jose Luis interpreted the apus’ messages. He told us that the they have been very pleased with our work. Meanwhile, in front of us on the altar where our mesas were laid out, soda bottle and beer caps popped off. When I would peek a look into the pitch black darkness, all I could see were colorful sparks flying as crystals were rubbed together blessing our mesas. During the ceremony, we learned that Adrille was given 60 days to decide whether he wanted to become an altomesayoq and take on that level of responsibility. 

Our hike back to the hotel was in complete silence. Something extremely powerful and at the same time, unexplainable, happened for me during this ceremony. I was left with the knowingness that the work I have been doing is restoring my health back into perfect balance (no more leukemia) and that the road map Jose Luis laid out today, along with a more concentrated focus on fully embodying the saiwas, was the next big piece of my earthly journey.

​I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, which was encircled by my kuyas like a halo. My intention was for them to more fully inform my Becoming and make me available to a “see” a more expansive vision.
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Last Day on the Mountain

7/11/2005

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I woke this morning feeling wholly better — no more coughing, stuffy head, vomiting or worse — and totally refreshed. I also woke with the knowingness that the “fight” over which apu will be my benefactor had to do with Ausangate and Salkantay. I have a distinct memory of a man and woman coming to me in my dreams from opposite directions and both beckoning me to “come”. In that dream, too, I saw myself indicating to both that they come to me. In an oblique way, at the time the scene reminded me of when Harry Potter put on the Sorting Hat and it was a dilemma whether he belonged in Slitherin or Griffendor.
During breakfast we heard a “boom” like during last night, and witnessed a dramatic avalanche. Salka energy at work, as it was last night breaking apart any resistance to experience what my unconsciousness already knows.
After breakfast and packing my gear so our ground crew could break up camp, Jose Luis sent us off to the dry streamed to make a sand painting that ties all of our work together and allows for more availability to “see.”

​My sand painting connected me to each of the saiwas — was increasingly informing my being-ness to an even greater extent. They are the operating principles — manual for living life — I’ve yearned for since childhood. The saiwas are:
Cheka
Distinction between relative truth and absolute truth
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This saiwa establishes that while there are many relative truths in the realms of consciousness, there is only one Absolute Truth — munay or unconditional love. Fundamentally, cheka describes the crossroads where our “little self” (ego) is subordinated by our “higher Self.”

This luminous marker teaches that when right-relationship occurs between our purest visions and selfless actions, our personal power increases ten-fold. This saiwa challenges us to truly “know thyself.”
Kausay
Life-Force : Fuel
Everything in the Universe — visible and invisible — is animated or infused with kausay. No thing is absent of life. Kausay is the life-force that creates galaxies, suns, mountains, plants, animals and even humans through its diverse expressions of vibrational frequencies. 

​This luminous marker describes the gift of life — knowing who one is in the tapestry of life.
Kollary
Embodiment : Motion : Flow : Timelessness : Coming into One's Fullness of Being
We live in a Universe that is alive, dynamic and in constant motion. Nothing is in perfect stillness. Everything in the realm of time/space has a cyclic beginning and end (pacha). For shaman, it is imperative to recognize and map these cycles so his or her journey through life continually evolves towards more essential meaning and fulfillment. They know that by being present in the process of life, rather than in a desired future outcome, we can change our relationship to time.

This luminous marker teaches that sourcing externally through form creates experiences of suffering. In contrast, co-creation + responsibility = embodiment.
Munay
Unconditional, Impersonal & Timeless Love
The energetic vibration of love is the preeminent affinity that brings together all levels of consciousness and the connective tissue for everything in the Universe — atoms, particles, galaxies, succession of seasons, flow of rivers and tides, and the very cycle of life. Unlike the romantic expression of love that is known to use through enculturation (cause and effect; duality), munay is impersonal, unconditional and timeless.

​This luminous marker conveys the guiding principle that frees us from consensual imprints and our ego.
Nüna
Spirit : Right Action
Everything in the Universe — collectively and individually — is animated by Spirit, and therefore, sacred. Spirit is understood to be the timeless cosmic blueprint that contains the architecture of life. Practicing reverence grants us the ability to recognize Spirit manifested in everything. It also enables us to create and embody high level (kollana) affinities to our trans-temporal and temporal natures.

​This luminous marker enables us to articulate the language of Spirit — through our vision, thoughts, intent and actions — thereby making it possible for us to embody the other saiwas.
Yüya
Wisdom of Power
This saiwa describes knowingness and acceptance — at all levels of consciousness — of the wisdom and perfection of the Universe and its organizing principles. It also relates to practicality, efficiency, common sense, and remembering our inner and uncorrupted wisdom. For shamans, this represents the path to primary (kollana) meaning, which in turn, organizes form. Observation, detachment and stillness are key.

​This luminous marker teaches us how to learn directly from Spirit — to create rainbows without knowing the science of molecules or refraction.
Chullya
Oneness : Communion : Connectedness
This is the Law of Unity — everything is connected and nothing is isolated. For shaman, this saiwa is about aligning heaven and earth — vision and action — so their energy is no longer invested in, or subtracted by, the seductions of the “little self” (ego). Alignment occurs when vision is fueled by unconditional intent (open heartedness), and immediately followed by right-action.

This luminous marker challenges us to step outside of duality and commune with the Creator’s creation by developing our ability to synthesize and integrate the essential (kollana) qualities of energy; Oneness.
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Once my sand painting was complete, I began the second part of our assignment. I found a place in the meadow, looking towards Umantay, and sat in stillness within my mesa, and connected with each of my kuyas. At some point, I sensed the medicine people coming over to give me the Altomesayoq rites. It was a profoundly powerful experience.
After a span of time allowing what had energetically just taken place to sink in deeply, I humbly and silently walked back to our first campsite at the foot of Salkantay.

I must confess to always being surprised at how hungry I get from working energetically. Also, I literally hadn't eaten much, at least solid food, in several days. Therefore, I was quite thankful when I reached the location of our first campsite to find lunch was being served — hot soup, bread and other tasty accompaniments!

Afterwards, we hiked back to the road where Willy picked us up in the van and drove us the several more miles to our bus.
On the way back to the Sacred Valley and hotel in Urubamba, we stopped briefly in a small village where we bought snacks and Walter had a flat tire fixed.
A funny thing happened while in the village ... Jose Luis was walking down the road with Holly, Randi, Leontine, Harriett and me in tow. Several men looked admiringly at Jose Luis, as if they were wondering how he had “scored” to have five western women walking in single-file behind him!

​By the time we arrived back at our hotel it was late, with only enough time to change into warmer clothes before heading to the dining room for dinner. Afterwards, I tried to call Rick, but no one answered. Before showering and bed, I packed an overnight bag, for our journey the next day to Machu Picchu.
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Umantay

7/11/2005

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Woke this morning to another gorgeous, blue sky day — though still feeling queasy with not much energy. After breakfast (matte de coca and some plain bread), I packed up my gear for a short hike to Umantaycocha (glacial lagoon), which is located between Salkantay and Umantay.
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After taking a group photograph, we divided up to hold chuyaska (water purification) ceremonies — the men on one side of the lagoon and women on the other.  Our instructions were to make individual apachetas (cairns) that contained 49 stones.​
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 Each stone was imprinted with a prayer to leave our tiredness behind, continue to strengthen our cekes to the memberships we hold in preparation for the work we were about to do on the mountain, and to be more fully in a continual state of creativity. After the ceremony, my energy is stronger and lighter! Thank you Salkantay and Umantay.
After lunch, we hiked around an escarpment to the other side of the moraine where we were to camp for the night. While waiting for our ground crew to arrive and set up tents, Jose Luis shared with us the hierarchal order of apus that altomesayoqs call in, which has to do with levels of power held in their mesa. 
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They are:
1st MESA
Collya R'iti
Lord of Huaca
​Toreychayoq
2nd MESA
Ausangate
Salkantay
Pachatucson
Sacsayhuaman
Huayna Kauri
Pitu Siray/Sawa Siray
Illimani
​Huayna Potosi
3rd MESA
Illampu (Bolivia)
Yanacaca (Waykay Wilkey)
Santa Tierras
4th MESA
Maria Huaman Tika
The hierarchy of apus that come to Adolpho's mesa is: Sacsayhuaman and Señor Yanakaka de Palulu. The latter is his benefactor/negotiator apu. Don Martin, we were told, has a fifth level mesa, which I've no idea what that means.

While our ground crew set up the tents, I headed off to photograph our surroundings.
Meeting back as a group later in the afternoon, we gathered in a circle for a coca leave reading. As the sun was setting behind the mountains, a fire was built in the center of our circle to keep us warm and provide illumination. The reading indicated that some of our mesas needed restructuring as these held the energy of ambivalence — a lack of certainty to call power. 

“It is important,” Jose Luis told us, “to stay in a state of communion. Paqarinas, such as this, are places to anchor our cekes. It is important to be in dialogue with faith and intent.” The living embodiment of our our mesa is faith. We ask for an apu benefactor through faith and prayer. And, it is through faith that the medicine that is held in our mesa becomes activated. 

Jose Luis asked us what kind of mesa would we like to embody. He then told us to invite an apu benefactor into our mesa. “Mountain spirits are here to speak and work with us,” he said. Last, we were told to create an individual despacho to the apus in preparation for calling in our apu benefactor later that evening. Beautiful!
After dinner, while we sat around the fire calling in and making ourselves available to an apu benefactor, Jose Luis and the medicine people hiked up to a cave above our campsite with our mesas and despachos. There, they burned our despachos. 

When they returned, we learned that Adolpho had gifted a kuyu to each of our mesas. After several hours, I headed to bed with the hope my apu benefactor would reveal itself during dreamtime. I had a restless sleep as calving avalanches roared around us.

DREAM: 
Two apus are having a heated discussion over my sleeping body. One, I sense, is Sawa Siray and the other Sacsayhuaman. They were arguing about which apu would be my benefactor. I’m not sure if either were being discussed as a possibility. I do remember hearing myself finally ask that they have the discussion elsewhere because I really needed to get some sleep and deep rest.
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Salkantay — the Wild Feminine!

7/10/2005

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Woke this morning feeling awful … sore throat and up during the night vomiting. Could have been the ceviche last night didn’t agree with me. Or, perhaps Salkantay is already helping me to shed my “shit” — literally and figuratively!

Fearful of eating breakfast, I had two cups of matte de coca in hope that it would settle my stomach for today’s journey to the holy mountain whose medicine is to “teach” us to ride the wild, chaotic feminine aspect of energy (life).
Along the drive, we stopped to take photographs of this powerhouse mountain of feminine energy. She is certainly breathtakingly beautiful!
We also stopped in a village along the way to view the original Señor de los Temblores (Lord of Earthquakes).
The road up to Salkantay is narrow and dirt. A dust cloud follows us. It is also a rather busy road as lots of trekkers are heading to Machu Picchu via Salkantay since limits have been set on the number of people that are allowed to do the more popular Inka Trail from Urubamba.
After what seemed to be a long time, Walter, our bus driver, was unable to go any further with our bus. A too narrow curve and too steep of an incline were the culprits. Being Peru, there are no worries, as Willy, another of the Rainbow Jaguar drivers picked us up in a van while we watched another large bus, several vans and jeeps navigate the curve and steep incline.​
We also watched with breath held as Walter miraculously turned the bus around with sometimes only three wheels on the ground, and parked it further down the mountain and safely out of the way of other vehicles. Later on, Walter arrived at our campsite having hiked the several miles.

Our campsite is set up in a large field with views of Salkantay and Umantay. When lunch is served, I stick to a bit of bread with nothing on it. Then, go off with Eva to organize our tent. Funnily, this large field in which we are camping is a major thoroughfare with pack trains of hikers and supplies continually going by.
Later in the afternoon we rendezvous near the creek to learn more about salka energy and hold a despacho ceremony. There we learn that Salkantay refers to the oldest state of pre-creation that is willing to come into form. The energy quality of this premiere sacred feminine mountain is “salka.” 
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Salka energy propels one beyond ecstasy and into the “NOW.” The medicine teaching of Umantay is the power of knowledge and wisdom. Uman means “wisdom and knowledge that comes from the divination of light (intellect)”. Tay means “power of.”
Don Martin
  • Shares that he, too, is here as a student since he doesn’t hold cekes (luminous threads) to this sacred mountain, as well as to pay homage.
  • Tells us that each apu becomes a portal to invite other spirits or apus to come forth.
  • “Everything has antiniyoq — personal power — especially old sacred sites that allow us to access it.
  • You must do your personal work. We come here to clear, cleanse and release.
  • The mountains bless us. If there are new realities we would like to map, this is the place to do it.”
Adolpho
  • “Here we are all paqos, apprentices before this mountain.”
  • Umantay holds the medicine of wisdom; information. It is the brother of Salkantay — a wild mountain that embodies tukumunayniyoq (the all encompassing power of unconditional love). “You need to master this energy.”
  • Wamanay is the third mountain. These two work like brothers and are mentioned in every prayer. These are the biggest mountains in this region, and they provide service and order. Once this mountain was wild, too. 
  • When Salkantay opens her arms, the mountain is clear like today. She also can enshroud herself with clouds. Then she comes to the mesa in a white poncho.
  • Long ago, this place was the place of high mountain rites. Giving rites at Salkantay is difficult — as no one can fully embody her wildness. My mentors told me this was a place to do pilgrimage, like Collya R’iti. This mountain is so popular. It is one of the most powerful apus. 
  • Only accomplished shamans are able to invite the mountains into their mesa. If you have faith, maybe the mountain will come to your mesa.
  • Salkantay is the king of k’intus (agricultural); the protector of coca leaves; and is in charge of the germination process of seeds. Conversely, Ausangate is the king of herds (animal husbandry). These two premiere sacred feminine and masculine mountains, respectively, work in conjunction with each other to form the north/south axis of the Tiwantinesuyu cosmology.
  • Everything revolves around the mastery of k’intus — it is tremendously essential. A k’intu directs the quality of a ceke — thus an outcome. It is so powerful you can heal someone with this skill. 
  • So, we must be careful with the k’intus we do together in this despacho. Be conscious and present with your prayers.
  • Salkantay reveals herself during dreamtime. You may be shown a location in dreamtime. Or, a kuya may show up in an interesting place. Once upon ago, this was the benefactor mountain of great altomesayoqs; not anymore.
  • This mountain looks beautiful from the outside. Inside lives the accumulation of yachay (knowledge/wisdom). Here, we receive kausay, which will come from either the Kaypacha (hands or solar plexus) or Uhupacha. If the latter, take off your shoes because the root chakra will become very sensual.
  • When a paqo comes to Salkantay, they do so to take back their essence — pre-manifested illya (energy before form; pure potentiality); enka (life-force).​
  • Everything I speak comes from my heart. So we are going to work now to cleanse our heart.
Juan
  • Greeting to all of you and Salkantay. We come to this mountain. We bring love from the mountain to our homes. In this love there is knowledge.
  • We call upon this mountain when we want to reinvigorate our yachay (third eye: vision: dreams) or when love in the home is missingn. Salkantay is a great healer.
  • We have followed the threads (cekes) to this mountain. Ausangate, Salkantay and Huayna Kauri are big mountains. These apus are in constant communication.
  • The Santa Tierras are not separate from the apus, so through the means of Pachamama we, pampamesayoqs, can request help from the mountains.
  • Only your best prayers are welcome, little doves of my heart.
Francesco
  • Apu Salkantay has tremendous munayniyoq (unconditional love). Be absolutely present. Bring your love and prayers.
  • This mountain has a counterpart in Ausangate. Please don’t forget to bring Ausangate into your prayers.
  • Pachamama is the Creator of all Worlds, and provides us with nurturing.
  • And, there are other domains of salka.
Jose Luis
  • Enka is energy of the highest refinement and brings forth the essential. Enka is the domain in which the paqo dwells so they can create — a constant state of inspiration. Enka allows shamans to shape-shift the moment.
  • Salka is about reclaiming kausay; resetting; rewiring in order to come into fullness. This requires that we disconnect and heal everything that takes our kausay.
  • To understand salka is to understand passion; to have passion with no attachment; actively participating in Creation at a different level of engagement.
  • Conversely, when you create out of already existing conditions, you put blinders on.
  • Salka is not conditioned by time. It is everything that lives in nature outside of form.
  • Payan is a body of knowledge that needs to be learned; it is the “right” side of our mesa; masculine energy.
  • Llokey brings forth illya (formless energy; pure potentiality) so you can create magic; it is the “left” side of mesa; feminine energy. Illya allows one to navigate salka.
  • Altomesayoqs knows the Universe is fluid and have mastered the left side of the mesa so they can summon illya and enka.
  • Salka allows one to go beyond yachay — outside of space, time and our thinking mind — to the non-existent (unmanifested) present. This is important for Pampamesayoqs because they work within the domain of form.
  • Accessing salka energy is predicated on our ability to un-harness and expand our heart. It is also the domain of dreams and our highest destiny, and allows us to become active participants in Creation.
  • Don Eduardo Calderone says that salka is where you want to live — the place of infinity that can be brought back into the stream of time. When you can bring salka into the present, you can shape-shift into a tree or a prayer.
  • To understand salka means you must be dis-membered from all identities. This is imperative to be brought into the Great Mystery. “Empty the receptacle, the container in which you live, so you can contain the “without” within. Dismember from all of your conditions.”
  • What are your affinities? Look at the saiwas ... ​
  • cheka — what are the truths you hold);
  • kausay — how does life-force dwell in your sickness;
  •  kollary  — are there momentums that you are not available to pursue;
  • munay — how does love live within you; do you hold relationships that bind you — let all of them die so they can be created with more consciousness)
  • nuña — what holds you conditionally;
  •  yüya — what are the conditions that define you;
  • chullya — can you afford to loose your identity in time and space. 
  • Bring these saiwas into your k’intus. 
  • Don’t dismember conditions by creating other conditions.
  • Create k’intus with five coca leaves — five refers to five-pointed stars.
  • We will burn the despacho tonight and perhaps salka will come as a large, black feline.
  • Write a job description for each of your kuyas (stones). Understand each and every one of them — even those that have not shown up yet. This will given you a full understanding of the coordinates that are held in your mesa.
  • Re-enact ceremonies and themes.
  • Regain your kausay as an active dialogue of life.
  • Your mesa needs to have life. Develop an articulation of power. Make your mesa part of that articulation — it is a living aspect of our cosmology and carries the imprint of power.
  • Power talks to you.
  • Create a sandpainting — what are the conditions that define you? These are what needs to be dis-membered.
Tonight, after dinner, we hiked to a small, one-room stone hut with a dirt floor. Herem Adolpho called in the apus. It was something out of National Geographic!

One apu whipped Walter because he had not prepared the room perfectly. Then, the apu whipped Adrille because he hasn't stepped up spiritually to become an altomesayoq. I had heard this could happen, but it was a very weird and unsettling experience. The ceremony, however, was powerful — to be so remote in the high Andes and experience apus bursting through stone walls and Santa Tierras rising out of hard-packed dirt floor was beyond supernatural.

We were told to hike back to our campsite in silence — no worries as we were all speechless. With only the light of the moon and stars to guide our jaguar eyes, again I thought of National Geographic articles I had read as a child and now was living such an adventure of discovery. 

In dreamtime I came to understood that our relationship with apus is commensurate with our cosmo-vision. The apus are an expression of energy, which by its very nature is benign. It is only our affinities with duality that we create “stories” about good energy and bad energy or good spirits and bad spirits. In Truth, duality is an incomplete understanding of Creation — All is One; energy. Everything we perceive is an expression of energy based upon our interpretation of the affinities we hold.​

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Pachatucson • Lord of Huanca

7/9/2005

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This morning we drove to the Basilica of the Lord of Huanca, at the base of Pachatuscon, for mass. En-route, we stopped at concession stands near the Basilica to buy figurines and items that will be blessed by the priest, candles to hold prayers for ourselves and others, and flowers for the altar.
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Father Huaman Wilka (Sacred Falcon), who is Quechua, blessed us all. Then we gave all of the recently purchased figurines and religious icons to the priest, who put them on the altar to be blessed later.

After attending mass and taking holy communion, I headed off to the chapel to light candles and ask for blessings for my family, everyone in our allyu (group), and me. Next, I stood in line with scores of others to touch the huaca or large stone that is the representation of the creative force of energy that is in perfect ayni (right-relationship) upon which the Basilica is built. I also imprinted my huaca kuya to energetically connect it (and me) to Pachatuscon.
A little bit later, I met up with the rest of our allyu for an informal chuyaska (water cleansing) ceremony at a sacred spring (paqarina) on the Basilica’s grounds. On the lawn above the spring Adolpho created a flower despacho that held our prayers and gratitude.
On the way back to our hotel in Urubamba, we stopped in Pisaq where I bought a Moshika-era sculpture (or so the “antique dealer” told me) of a condor for Rick, and a delicious brownie from a European woman who owns a nearby café.
After a late lunch,  Adolpho and Adrille did coca leaf readings for me.

From Adolpho, I don't ask anything specifically at first. He tells me:
  • “Very good mesa; needs more prayers before going to the mountain (Salkantay); be open so you can listen more to the mountain.”
  • ​“Need to complete bringing my munay, yachay and llankay energy centers into alignment.”
  • “Not doing good tupay; need more practice; I am wasting power (life force); not using it efficiently.”
  • “Salkantay is waiting for me; I need to be open and available to that apu.”
  • “My job right now is to gather and be in relationship to feminine energy; it is important to me because of my country.”
  • “In my mesa is a beautiful apu (mountain spirit); beautiful. 
  • “Work little by little so my energy does not get blocked.”
  • “I need to channel knowledge and allow it to grow little by little.”
  • “Take care of my feet and lower back (stomach and kidneys) — cleansing is good for my stomach.”
Adolpho asks if I have any specific questions, so I ask about the state of my health (as it relates to leukemia). He tells me:
  • “The treatment you are doing is good; however working with your mesa and apus is also necessary.”
  • “The apus are already taking care of you. You are under their protection. Be more open to this path”
  • “Eat foods that are not too salty, fatty or sweet.”
  • Your yachay and llankay energy centers are almost in alignment.”​
Next is my coca leaf reading by Adrille. I ask him specifically about my husband Rick and showed him a photograph of him with our two Boxer pups Bello and Cody. He tells me:
  • “Your husband is on a spiritual path. He is kind. He is also very connected to nature. He is a simple man; his needs are simple.”
  • “He is held in love by the power of God, angels, and nature.”
  • “Your dogs connect us all together like a family. They protect us from dense energies.”
  • “Your husband will be coming to Peru with you next time.”
  • “He will attain a spiritual foundation. He will have human sponsors/teachers, who will help him create a spiritual foundation.”
  • “Your husband has no problems with money.”
  • “You and your husband will work together spiritually. You are both healers and teachers.”
  • “Neither of you have any problems in the future with healing.
  • "I need to go to a chiropractor.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing the camping gear I would take with me to Salkantay in the morning. Around 6PM, we all gathered in the bar for conversation. Once Jose Luis and the medicine people arrived, Merta, our logistics coordinator, took a beer bottle and we played “ask the apus.” Some interesting information came forth such as: “Adrille will be the next altomesayoq; Jose Luis will become a father; Eva will be in a relationship next year; Adolpho has the best communication with apus, etc.”

Dinner. Shower. Bed. Before falling asleep I say a prayer to Salkantay and ask Spirit to help me stay open and available to the experiences ahead, and to bring more congruence between my thoughts/beliefs and actions by opening my heart more fully and unconditionally.
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Back to Urubamba

7/8/2005

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This morning I woke from a very sound sleep with the memory of my lucid dream clearly in my mind and the sound of matte de coca being delivered to our tent. It is an exquisite crystal clear, blue sky kind of morning ... and very cold. The kind of morning that makes getting out of my warm sleeping bag nearly impossible, especially since my morning sponge bath will be in icy cold water! So instead, I spent time catching up in my journal and rummaging the bottom of my sleeping bag where I put my clothes for today so they would be body temperature.​

After breakfast, the morning was spent packing up our gear and doing individual chuyaska ceremonies along the creek — discharging, cleansing, imprinting and re-balancing our energy centers and the kuyas held in our mesa.

 Next, we were told to find a place to sit in stillness, within our mesa  arranged in suyus or quadrants — Salkantay (north), Ausangate (south), Pachatucson (east) and Huayna Kauri or Mama Simone (west) -- and wait for the apus to make themselves present. As a final instruction, Jose Luis told us to “Keep it simple; go into prayer and stillness.
I chose a location with expansive views of the mountain range. Once my mesa was arranged according to the instructions given, it was easy to slip into prayer, gratitude, and stillness. As most likely you already know, there is “no-time” in sacred space.
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View from my meditation site
After lunch, we hiked down the very steep cliff face to the Urubamba River, where Walter, our driver, and bus were waiting. Eva, Greg A. and I were the last to leave our campsite — not wanting the deliciousness of this location and sacred work just completed, to end. We were also some of the first to reach the bus. Midway down the steep and often uneven “staircase” trail, Juan told me it would be much easier on my knees, if I found a rhythm and let my feet just do the rest. By jove, it worked … I sailed down the rest of the way!
Back in the town of Urubamba, I quickly dropped off my duffle and daypack, and hurried back to the lobby to meet up with Holly, Randi and Eve for a walk into town. forgetting to bring my reading glasses, I was unable to check email, but did buy and devour a bag of chips. Back at the hotel, a hot shower was needed to scrub off three-days of sweat and dirt before dinner. One of the very simple pleasures of life after hiking and camping is a hot shower, another is eating at a table with a real chair!

That evening, we all gathered in the chapel for haipay, followed by Adolpho calling in the apus. Before beginning the ceremony, Adolpho told us: 
​“Salkantay is a big mountain. To bring Salkantay to our ceremony requires us to open our hearts and make ourselves available. Continually align to the energy of light (consciousness) and bring forth the energy of love that you hold. We need to continue developing our relationship to Pachamama and the Santa Tierras (Earth spirits) so that we strengthen the coordinates held in our mesa.”
After the room was completely darkened, Jose Luis instructed us to hold our mesa on our belly and pray continuously! Then ceremony began. One by one, apus burst through the chapel walls — even Senõr Mucho Ausangate and Salkantay -- and Santa Tierras emerged from the earth through the concrete floor. During the ceremony, we were each given an opportunity to ask Adolpho’s apu benefactor, Senõr Yanakaka de Palulu, a question. 
My question: “How can I open my heart more fully to Oneness?”

The answer: “You have collected lots of information. Now you need to rediscover the gem that has always been within you.”
Walking back to my room, I've no doubt that it will be an interesting dreamtime ... Senõr Yanakaka de Palulu  planted a "seed" that is already stirring and needing to sprout. My job will be to nurture it so it will grow and become visible!
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Huchy Q'osqo

7/7/2005

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Everything is damp from moisture in the overnight air. Thankfully, the horsemen bring hot cups of matte de coca and coffee to our tents. This morning, though clouds still linger, it is thankfully not raining. After washing up in icy cold water and brushing my teeth, it's time for a hearty hot breakfast. 
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Juan, don Martin and Francesco
Afterwards, Eva and I take turns stuffing gear into our duffle bags and daypacks. Soon our campsite is filled with upside down tents drying in the morning air before being packed away for later.

​Our hike, to Huchy Q’osqo, we learn was re-directed based upon a dream Adolpho had last night. The horse wranglers confirm that a spring he “saw” does exist by the village of Pukamarca. It is to this spring that we head.
After an hour or so, we glimpse the village of Pukamarca in the distance.
When we reached the spring (paqarina), we found a small frog. Sitting around the spring eating snacks, our morning discussion commenced:
  • Jose Luis: Spoke about the cycles of water, and told us that dogs and frogs are the only animals that are considered to have souls. Thus, they are believed not to be part of the third domain of the Hanaqpacha (Animal World), but part of the fourth domain that includes humans.
  • Don Martin: The frog is a symbol of Pachamama and the nuest’a dõna Mukala. When he saw the frog, he wondered aloud how it causes him to contemplate how he brings fertility and production to his people. “Frogs,” he told us, “are the keepers of the cycles of water. Everything depends upon water. Water is essential to animals and to people. We are made out of water. We are part of the great river of life. And, since we are all medicine people, we must examine how co-creation is held within us.” Don Martin’s teacher, don Benito Qorihuaman, taught him how to read the cycles of water. He tells us, “when water stops flowing in our life, we get ill. We need to find how our new life cycle (pacha) embraces and participates in Creation.” 
  • Adolpho: Pukio (springs) are the way into the belly of Pachamama. Medicine people in the Andes (paqos) are also considered pukios. We need to develop our relationship with Pachamama. When there is a scarcity of water, a kollana paqo (high-power medicine person in the Andean tradition) makes an offering to Pachamama, and then uses meteorites (qorititi) to strike the ground and water is born. “This is the spring I dreamt of last night, which brought us here,” he tells us. "There are pukios that heal, cleanse and transform (e.g. Tambo Machay, Tipon, etc.). This frog may be one of the spirits of the apus or a metaphor to bring forth the pukio in us so that our families, friends and communities may thrive."
  • A local villager: Hearing our conversation, the man sat down and told us that Pachamama creates relationships with frogs and snakes. Farmers, such as himself, read the little frogs with they get ready to plant crops. “If the frogs are skinny, that tells us we need to add the fertilizer of guinea pigs and llamas. If the frogs are big, we know it will be a good harvest.” He also told us that farmers in his village have learned from farmers who use commercial fertilizers that they are not seeing the little frogs or worms that transform the quality of soil. “We have been praying for rain, and perhaps this frog is an indication that it is coming.”
  • Adrille: “We have lots of very little frogs in January and February when there is a lot of rain. When they stop singing, we know the rains will be stopping. When it is too dry, we call the anima of the frogs, and the rain comes.” He also told us there are two types of frogs — ones that call rain and ones that stop rain.
“Let’s do a haipay,” Adolpho suggested, “and call this pukio as well as the pukio that is within us all!” Within moments, bags of coca leaves are pulled out and we feed each other k’intus with our prayers that the river within flows long and strong, and leave one k’intu each at the spring.
After thanking the spring and the local man, we continued our hike towards Huchy Q’osqo. Before entering the canyon, we stopped on a large escarpment to do another haipay ceremony.
The canyon is beautiful, an old Inka "road" cuts through it along a small creek. Adrille assisted us on the steep descent by playing his recorder. At the base of the canyon, we stopped to look for nesting condors. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any. Once through the canyon, the road traverses a mountainside that runs parallel to the Urubamba River that is hundreds of feet below. Height challenged, this portion of the hike is teeth-clenching. Summoning the memberships I hold in my mesa, I calmed myself and proceeded with confidence.
Huchy Q’osqo is an archeological site that is also referred to as Little Cuzco. It is also the mythical home of Wiracocha.  Merta and Adrille took us on a short tour of the site, with its gorgeous views, while lunch was prepared.
After lunch, we organized our tents in readiness for nightfall and relaxed.
Late afternoon, Adrille read the coca leaves, which indicated that Jose Luis lead today’s despacho ceremony. JL asks us to make individual despachos, which are burned later that night in a cave alongside a creek that spills out of the mountain.
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Another exhausting day — on all levels — and filled with so much to ponder. After our despachos were burned, I headed off to the warmth of my sleeping bag.

During the night, I lucid dreamed. In the dream, JL has been tasked, by Spirit, with bringing the altomesayoq cosmology into contemporary Western articulation  In doing so, the cosmology shifted towards sourcing directly from cosmic consciousness by unifying the feminine and masculine expressions into one ... 1+1=1. In my dream I saw a large dial, like a sundial, which was engraved with many symbols. An unseen “hand” moved the dial, which was pointing towards a shape that resembled a child’s drawing of mountains, to the right at a symbol denoting the Pleiades constellation. What does this mean? Medicine people would instruct me not to suffer pre-mature evaluation. For now, this will marinate in my subconsciousness.
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Preparation for Salkantay

7/6/2005

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3:30AM ... awoke with a lump in my throat and head draining. Instantly I realized that I was not ill, a mew pacha was starting. In fact, I am being bluntly told it is time to step up, be visible, and most especially articulate Truth.

Last night, after don Martin's altomesayoq ceremony, Eve told me I should teach. Now, a few hours later, while standing under a hot shower an aha moment strikes — teaching comes in many forms.

​Today we’re off on our first camping trip. Thankfully, the lump in my throat and running nose from last night is no longer. After driving about 45 minutes, we reached our starting point. The horsemen were already there to meet us and pack their horses with our gear for a three-day adventure. Also there are young children selling thread bracelets, which we all buy and tie on each other's wrists.
Instructed to pair up, Holly and I begin hiking slowly, acclimating our lungs to this higher altitude.
From the ridge top, we saw the lagoon that we will be camping beside.​ Boosted by the realization that we are almost to camp and the stark beauty of the landscape, I practically ran down the mountainside!
After lunch — renewed by food and rest —we climbed to the top of another ridge where there is a cave (paqarina) to hold a despacho ceremony to strengthen our cekes to the memberships held in our mesa. Apu Señor Ausangate told us, during last night’s ceremony with don Martin, that we must cleanse, clear and strengthen our mesa before going to Salkantay. 

Sitting in a semi-circle, we are told that the prayers going into this despacho need to address what our mesa holds — do we have kuyas that need to heal? Are they connected to places or symbols of power? How are our memberships tangible to us? How do we create meaning from them?

Adolpho tells us the love and prayers we put into our k’intus is proportionate to the apus who show up. Though he has the power to call in the apus, he needs our prayers to call in still higher powers. We are also mesayoqs — kollanas — so we must show up!  “Simply open your hearts,” he says.

Because the land is so parched, the medicine people have been calling in rain. As our ceremony comes to an end, darkened clouds swiftly move in. Will it rain? As much as Pachamama needs rain, I’m hoping it doesn’t while we are camping the next few days.

Meanwhile, the horsemen have been busy. Our tents have been set up and our duffle bags inside. Dinner has been prepared, so all our weary bones need to do is head for the dining tent for hot quinoa soup and dinner. Exhausted, Eva and I head to our tent for an early night sleep. Not a moment too soon, as the sky opens to rain — the medicine people's prayers have been answered. Bundled in our sleeping bags, Eva and I recapitulate our experiences last night and today!
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Moray Circles & Temple of the Moon

7/5/2005

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This morning I awoke rested and refreshed. After breakfast we boarded our bus and drove up to the Chinchero Plains to the Moray Circles. These agricultural circles fascinate me — both for their beauty and the incredible feat the Inka achieved here through the hybridization of potatoes so people throughout their empire — regardless of altitude — would be able to produce food
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There, we hiked down to one of the smaller circles to hold ceremony that further connected us to Pachamama. Much progress has been on rebuilding the stone terraces since the first time I was here in 2002.
Our next stop was to the huaca known as the Temple of the Moon (Quillaromano or Mother of the Rock). This was my first visit to this sacred site. During lunch, we learned that the altar of this huaca is connected to the sacred mountain Salkantay.
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 Carved into it is a half-circle delineated by seven segments that represent the seven saiwas or organizing principles that make up the Andean cosmology. Loosely translated, the word saiwa refers to a stone obelisk used as a marker. The seven saiwas are conceptual maps that provide orientation to understand the nature of power and consciousness.
Like the Noble Truths of Buddhism, the saiwas are truths for enlightened people. Through embodiment, these seven principles transform information into power that can “grow corn” and serve, too, as the backbone of Andean energy healing practices. The seven saiwas are:
  • Cheka reveals that while we may each hold and be guided by many relative truths, there is only one absolute Truth. This luminous marker denotes the level of consciousness  where the illusion of the ego or “little self” is abandoned for the Absolute Truth held by our “higher Self” — that we are not separate from Oneness. To embody this state of consciousness requires distinguishing out the different levels of truth, especially those enculturated beliefs and judgments that act as filters and narrow our awareness of the infinite possibilities that are always available to us. 
  • Chullya describes the law of unity as well as a state of being — everything is connected and nothing is separate. This luminous marker establishes the route our journey must takes to reach our destiny — to co-create with Creation.  This requires stepping beyond the illusion of duality. To embody this organizing principle we must develop congruence between our three energy centers by sourcing from: (a) Absolute Truth (yachay); (b) the unconditionality of our emotions (munay), and (c) right-action (llankay) so our energy is no longer invested in or compromised by the seductions of our ego. 
  • Kausay states that everything in the Universe — visible and invisible — is animated or infused with life-force. This luminous marker describes the fundamental energy of Creation that brings galaxies, suns, mountains, flowers, humans, as well as everything else, into being. It also reveals the universal law of attraction that governs all existence. To embody this organizing principle it is necessary to map and refine our affinities so we attract high-powered (kollana) frequencies of energy into our lives. Why is this important? Because in order to realize our destiny, we must come into the fullness of our power, which requires managing optimum life-force. 
  • Kollary teaches that the Universe is dynamic and in constant motion. Nothing is in perfect stillness. In the time/space intersection, everything has a cyclic beginning and end. This luminous marker confirms that life is a continual process of embodiment. Our ability to distinguish and map these transitions is important in gaining power, which makes the journey through life meaningful and fulfilling. Vision, trust and intent are key to reaching our destiny: coming into the fullness of our being.
  • Munay affirms that unconditional love — the unhampered bi-directional flow of energy as a state of being — is the underlying affinity that bridges all levels of consciousness and frees us from woundings by others and from our ego. This luminous marker establishes this expression of energy as the connective tissue for everything in the Universe — atoms, particles, galaxies, the cycle of seasons, and the ebb and flow of rivers and tides. Unlike the expression of love known to us through the dualistic belief of cause and effect, to embody this organizing principle  we must be impersonal, unconditional and timeless. Shamans know that the past, present and future is accessed and healed through munay.
  • Nüna informs us that everything in the Universe — collectively and individually — is animated by Spirit. This quality of energy enters our luminous energy bodies through the three primary energy centers — yachay (third-eye: thoughts, dreams, beliefs and intent), munay (heart center: emotions and feelings), and llankay (belly: actions). To embody this organizing principle necessitates our recognizing  Spirit in everything so we create the most refined (kollana) affinities to our essential Self (soul). In this way everything is experienced as sacred.
  • Yüya encourages us to know and accept, at all levels of consciousness, the wisdom and perfection of the Universe.This organizing principle describes our innate ability to learn directly from Spirit so we can create rainbows without knowing the science of molecules and refraction. Embodying this saiwa allows us to transform information into wisdom so we know how to “grow corn.” To gain wisdom, we need clear filters so Absolute Truth (not relative truth) organizes our reality and our life-force flows unimpeded. This level of clarity requires us to develop the skills of observation, detachment, and stillness so we remember the unconditional wisdom we hold within.
Sitting in this gorgeous location, it is easy to understand how these saiwas came to  be. The Universe, the earth, and all of us are inextricably connected. The energies of Pachamama rise up into me as I am seated on the ground mesmerized by the landscape.
Don Martin conducted a despacho ceremony honoring Pachamama. Afterwards we individually worked with our mesa to anchor our medicine bodies to this huaca. Then, each of the medicine people — don Martin, Adolpho, Francesco and Juan — blessed our mesas.
On the drive back to our hotel in the Sacred Valley, we passed the village of Surétey, which has numerous agricultural terraces and a sophisticated water irrigation system.
As previously mentioned, how the apus come to don Martin is very different than how they come to Adolpho. Tonight, the apus talked through don Martin, and with each his voice took on new tonalities, speech mannerisms, and inflections. Even the dialect shifted between Quechua and Spanish. After the ceremony was over, don Martin told us that, according to the apus, many of us are starting new pachas — a new cycle.
Tonight I slept with my mesa open to accelerate all that has been taking place within my mesa and my unconsciousness. I easily fell asleep.
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