Time is elastic. Stretching and concertinaing with different memories of my trip to Peru last month. The Amazon jungle feels like a lifetime ago. Cusco is a blur of constant joyful parades leading up to the Inti Raymi Festival. The trip ended with 4 timeless days to integrate in Gaby’s cottage nestled in an exquisite garden near Urubamba. (A must-stay when visiting the Sacred Valley.)
Last week, when doing a despacho I was transported back to Apu Chicon in the Sacred Valley, to the sound of the mountain stream, the yellow daisies peaking between the grass and the sunlight streaming between the clouds as we did our first despacho high in the mountain. Time compresses when I close my eyes and travel to the magical places we visited with Kamaq Wageaq. I still carry the sense and energy of the places within me.
A despacho ceremony is an ancient ritual still carried out in the Andes of Peru. It’s a prayer in the form of offerings that are placed with intention and love in a kind of 3-dimensional mandala. As with prayers, there are many different reasons for despachos but they are always done in a space of sacredness, gratitude and anyi (reciprocity).
August is Pachamama month. It begins on the first day of August when offerings and despachos are made to the earth (Pachamama) to ensure good harvests for the coming season. I was told by a Paqo (shaman from the Andes) that August is also the month that his family walks high into the mountains to look for new kuyus (sacred stones) to add to their mesa (bundles containing kuyus and precious objects).
In the Dagara tradition, this is a Mineral year. The Mineral element holds our ancestors’ stories and wisdom, the reminder of our gift we came into this life with and communication. I love how the magic of minerals/stones flows through different traditions. One of the consequences of an out-of-balance mineral element is difficulty in rooting.
Symbolically we are going into the darkness of the new moon allows one to plant seeds in the Despacho Ceremony. Seeds which need the darkness of the earth to germinate. In the Constellation Circle in August we explore what is needed in your life to really root so the fullness of life may expand. (see Workshops – Link on Home Page for more information)
