Love & Light and everything bright...

FROM URUBAMBA, PERU

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Day 11: Preparing a Celestial Despacho

MT. AUSANGATE, Peru, July 8, 2008 - I had every reason to worry about the first night in a tent at 15,500 ft.  By the time dawn arrived, I had barely slept all night.  What a night to remember...

The worse part was my feet.  They felt like icicles.  Eventually, I wrapped them in my down jacket, which helped a bit.  I had also received some well-intentioned, but ultimately bad, advice about how to dress for the night.  A friend who had been to Peru before told me to sleep in just underwear in my sleeping bag.  Bad idea!  I kept adding layers all night.  Underwear may work at say 9,000 or 10,000 ft elevations.  But up here at 15,500 ft, the more, the merrier.  My roommate Jeff was much smarter.  He just slipped into his sleeping bag with all clothes he had on. 

And now, want to hear something funny - about how stupid and literal yours truly can be?  I did have HAND warmers with me.  But I never thought to use them on my FEET until someone else had suggested it this morning.  Duh... I did it the next night.  And Linda, a nice lady from Canada, also gave me some of her extra foot warmers.  (That's the kind of comradeship that went on all the time between 35 of us).  So I managed to sleep much better the next two nights.

After breakfast, we trudged off to a site about half a mile away where we were to build a Celestial Despacio, a huge offering of love and gratitude to the Creator and the mountain spirits (left shot) as part of our Rites of Passage process.  This took up pretty well most of the day.  For me, personally, that was probably the most emotional day on the whole journey.  For, Jose Luis had asked us to go back in our minds and hearts to where we source from - to thank those who gave us love and light of wisdom, and to dump those who inflicted us with dark energies.

I remember going through seven categories of people who stood for love and light in my life - my cousin Bora, my father, my teachers - from Grade 1 to the university; great composers and writers who inspired me with their soulful music or stories, etc.  I then surprised myself by thanking all of the people who were my enemies at one stage of my life or another.  For, I have learned a lot from them, too.  And with a great satisfaction, I noted that I no longer hold any resentments against them whatsoever. 

I then went around the circle and sent my message of love to each and every one of my 35 new shamanic brothers and sisters.  This is what I wrote to them about it afterward (July 12):

Before this trip, I would have never believed possible that one could meet three dozen or so total strangers, and after spending 11 days with them practically 24/7, end up loving them all – no holds barred; no resentments; no reservations.   I would do anything for you, the way I would for my own family.  All you need to do is ask.  For, you are my new shamanic family now.   And that’s how I feel about each and every one of you.  “Love Is All You Need,” as that 1967 Beetles’ song goes. 

I realized that during the July 8 Celestial Despacio ceremony.  My eyes went around the circle and my heart sent an “I love you message” to each of you.   I then double-checked with my mind to make sure the messages were not false or contrived.  Because with some of you I spent more time than others.  It’s just the way things are in large groups.  None of the “I love you” messages returned as false.  I truly feel honored to have gotten to know you and share 11 days of my life with you.  Thank you for that. 

All this took hours of emotional purging.  Nobody talked.  Occasionally, we would get up and give each other hugs or exchange kintos (three coca leaves over which you blow your breath and prayers).  Once I got up and went for a short walk around the nearby lagoon.  That's where I saw two Andean geese.  Later on, Jose Luis explained that they mate for life.  "When one of them dies, the other starves himself to death," he explained.  How romantic. A "Romeo and Juliet" story of the bird world.  Later on in the afternoon, I also built a little altar facing Mt Ausangate (right two shots).  I imagined myself trying to find it at some point in the future if I came back.  Overall, it was a wonderful day of mediation, solitude and contemplation for all of us.

Later on in the afternoon, we were each asked to prepare individual despachos as part of our Rites of Passage.  Dawn, a shaman from Britain, and I pared up and spent about over an hour doing it.  Later on that evening, in pitch darkness, a small group of us hiked from the base camp back to this site to burn the despachos, with the help of the Inka shamans.  The latter were always there for us, wonderfully supportive and loving each step of the way during the Rites of Passage and other activities.  Back at the base camp, we found a bunch of local women displaying their handcrafter wares for sale.  I bought an alpaca hat even thought I did not need it (right picture).  My ski took was warmer.  But it was is a souvenir that will always remind me of one of the most poignant days of my life - the day of the Celestial Despacio.

And that's all she wrote from this Day 11 of our Peru adventure. 

Love  Light 

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