The peak spiritual experience of my trip to the Sacred Valley of Peru was a journey to a waterfall. A simple, everyday walk up a mountain unlocked memories and renewed my sense of self. How is that even possible?

I’ll attempt to explain, but please remember: putting words to experience pales in comparison to the actual experience. Though poets and writers have tried for lifetimes, anything written cannot capture the true essence of what it means to love. Same is true here; it’s nearly impossible to accurately explain everything that happened in any way that will make logical sense.

That’s because it’s not logical. It’s experience. It’s in the moment. And in that brief moment, lifetimes unfurled. For real.

First, the magnificent setting:

Along the spiritual path, it’s not uncommon for people to participate in past life regressions. I did one back in the 1990s, and it helped me make sense of my general fear and distrust of team of horses hitched to a wagon. A memory of the aftermath of an earthquake, and of being trampled by a team of runaway horses definitely put a damper on me enjoying my family’s love of horses.  Of course, that memory isn’t the only reason I didn’t like horses: I was stubborn, moody, and unhappy teenager who preferred books and clothes and music.

The story revealed in the regression made sense to me. It was more than a story, though, the memory fit like a favorite pair of jeans. I knew the story, remembered details of the entire life, and could snap pieces into a puzzle I didn’t know I needed to complete. So why is it that we left-brain, logical-centered humans don’t accept such memories as real?

That’s a big question that you’ll have to answer for yourself. Go meditate on it.

These memories are real to me, as real as an impressionistic painting, as real as a blue sky, as real as the cat sitting on my lap and purring as I type. The spiritual path is one you walk alone. Yes, there are traveling companions, but you re-create your own puzzle of memories.

In Peru I trudged along the narrow, rocky mountain path with friends. I silently sang Om Mani Padme Hum because the rhythm kept my feet moving when every muscle wanted to stop. The mantra also kept me focused and alert, making the journey both a physical and a spiritual walk. By the time we reached the side of the waterfall, I was keenly focused and prepared. I also had a hard time staying balanced. As in, hope-I-don’t-fall balanced.

I wear glasses. While they help me see better, they also inhibit peripheral vision. So unless I kept my eyes mostly on the ground, on the path ahead, I was likely to stumble.  And did I say it was a narrow, rocky mountain path? Yep, and I’m not fond of heights either.

I stripped down to a bathing suit and carefully stepped onto a narrow ledge of slippery stones. I slithered across then sat on the low wall that gathered the cold water and channeled that water to the retreat center. The frigid waterfall mist covered me. Curandanda Wilma Penado placed chumpi stones in my hands and I held on as tight as I could. Wilma doused me repeatedly with the glacial water and quietly chanted words of blessing and cleansing.

Memories and admonitions flooded into my consciousness. In a few brief moments, I knew that I’d been to this area of the world before. I understood why I felt so comfortable in the Sacred Valley: it was home. Not that I’d been there this lifetime, not that I’ll relocate there, but rather the feeling of arriving home after a long trip. It was good to know that the Andes were home.

In seconds, I knew I’d bathed in this waterfall before, and knew that I had to visit more waterfalls. I knew waterfalls were important to me in ways that I still don’t understand. There are more than 200 waterfalls in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, and I’m going to have to visit a whole bunch of them to unravel more of my life’s mysteries.

On that mountain side in Peru, pieces of my personal puzzle snapped into place. I felt whole and stepped into my power. And all that in only a short hour long walk on a mountain.

My Peru journey was organized and facilitated by Ashera Sefarty at Luminosity Healing Arts. The retreat was co-led by Daina Puodziunas Awakened Potentials for Woman. I’m only getting started with telling you about the amazing spiritual journey to the Sacred Valley of Peru. Subscribe now so you won’t miss a single post.

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Tipon and Pumamarca are two archaeological sites in the Sacred Valley of Peru that are far less popular – and therefore far less populated – than Machu Picchu. And if you’re heading to Peru for a ‘spiritual’ experience, I’d add these sites onto your agenda. The energy at both locations is clean and clear.

Tipon

This archaeological site was my first real ‘retreat’ experience with a group of women organized and facilitated by Ashera Sefarty at Luminosity Healing Arts. The retreat was co-led by Daina Puodziunas Awakened Potentials for Woman.

As we climbed the stairs out of the parking lot into the site, and then continued to climb along ancient stairs, I felt the altitude. Normally I walk with a certain amount of speed and urgency; I’m a little slower on stairs, but still.

It was hard. Very hard at times. So hard that I was usually one of the last ones to arrive at a destination. I wanted to sit down and pout. I don’t know if it was 100% altitude, or because I wasn’t in amazing physical shape, or what. Chewing coca leaves gave me energy, but this body just said, “Um, nope, not gonna climb that fast. No way.”

So I let go of any expectations I had for this awesome body. I slowed down. I chanted Om Mani Padme Hum. I paused to catch my breath and enjoy the view. I laughed with a traveling friend who also found stairs challenging. And I got where I needed to get, as you can see from the photos.

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More About Tipon

Academics may tell you that Tipon was home to royals, and an ‘agricultural’ site. My traveling companions and I, however, saw and felt other things. We scooped water by the handfuls out to bless ourselves. We lunched high above the site. The weather turned from hot to cool, and I pulled out my lightweight winter jacket and hat. We finished our visit to Tipon with a despacho: a formal way to send prayers to Pachamama and the Apus (earth and mountains.) We also received the first of two Munay Ki rites.

• The Spanish language Wikipedia entry
• Also in Spanish this website has many pictures.
• From Cusco Online, more information about the archaeological park of Tipon.
• Don’t miss this professional video on Vimeo; can’t for the life of me make this video appear here.
• Here’s another, older video of Tipon:

Pumamarca

Also spelling Pumamarka, this archeological ‘park’ is at the opposite end of the Sacred Valley from Tipon, a short van ride from Ollataytambo, and just as deserted. The only other people we saw were some boys playing soccer.  I don’t have pictures to share because I didn’t take my camera; suffice to say, another mountain top and a feeling of deep connection.

DO NOT MISS this professionally shot video. Never mind the professional cyclists (unless you like that kind of thing) THE VIEWS.

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A spiritual journey to Peru is not complete without interaction with the Q’ero and participating with a despacho or munay ki rites.

The Q’ero

The Q’ero are an ethnic group of Peru that live in remote villages high in the Andes mountains and, until recent times, did not visit populated areas. All of that is changing with advent of new roads and modern technology. The traditional culture is undergoing a seismic shift; children leave the family home to escape hardship and experience life in the big city. As a result, traditions have the potential to die away unless preserved. A deeply spiritual people, they are sharing their beliefs with anyone who is interested to learn in the hopes that the knowledge will be retained. One method of sharing that knowledge is through despacho and (sometimes) munay ki ceremonies.

Munay Ki

The Munay Ki rites were developed by anthropologist Alberto Villaldo and, as Wikipedia explains are a series of nine empowerment rites based on the initiatory practices of the Q’ero shamans.” In Peru I received two of these rites (descriptions from the Munay-Ki website.)

• Rite Three: Harmony Rite: A transmission of the 7 Archetypes into the Chakras. First you receive the archetypes of serpent, jaguar, hummingbird, and eagle; next you receive three archangels: the Keeper of the Lower World (our unconscious,) the Keeper of the Middle World (our waking world,) and the Protector of the Upper World (our super-conscious.)
• Rite Eight: Starkeeper’s Rite: This rite helps your physical body evolve into Homo Luminous: the aging process is slowed down, your DNA is re-informed, and you become more resistant to disease. You accept the seat around a holy fire at the center of the Sun, a place that has been held for you since the beginning of time.

To receive the rites, you stand and the shaman moves their collection of sacred objects bound in a cloth (called a medicine bundle) around your energy field and says prayers. The rite is individually transmitted, so repeated for each person in your group. Frankly, it doesn’t look like much happens. But energetically, invisibly, you are altered. The Harmony rite received at Tipon shuddered through my body. A fellow traveler was brought to tears.

The Starkeeper Rite was received at Pumamarka, and was a far subtler transmission. Not only did I experience deja vu at Pumamarka, the transmission of the Starkeeper rite helped me feel even more at home in the Sacred Valley.

These rites were performed by shaman Don Basilio. Click the big triangle and a video of Don Basilio calling in spirit at Pisac will start.

Despacho

Another aspect of Q’ero spiritual life is the despacho ceremony. What is a despacho? This four minute video from the Center for Shamanic Education and Exchange is an excellent introduction.

Curandera

The Q’ero tradition is also inclusive of women, and (given that this was a female led retreat focused on awakening the divine feminine,) we were privileged to work with Wilma Penado. She performed that ceremony during the journey to the sacred waterfall.

Another day, we journeyed to a lakeside temple site and Wilma performed a despacho specifically for woman.

Clouds gathered as Wilma told the story of how the lake was formed. We got into our rain gear and proceeded with the despacho.

This despacho was not started on white paper. Instead, it was laid out on a large circular bread loaf. After the ceremony, it was placed in a spot sacred to women.

My Peru journey was organized and facilitated by Ashera Sefarty at Luminosity Healing Arts. The retreat was co-led by Daina Puodziunas Awakened Potentials for Woman. I’m only getting started with telling you about the amazing spiritual journey to the Sacred Valley of Peru. Thank you for reading.  Subscribe now so you won’t miss a single post.