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).
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.
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.
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 |
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Adolpho |
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Juan |
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Francesco |
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Jose Luis |
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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.
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.