My trip to Wisconsin was fantastic! In my last post, I wrote about leaving for yet another shamanic workshop this year, this time with my teacher's indigenous teacher from Peru.
Adolfo is a wonderful man. He's my height, which is to say, on the short side, and just a beautiful and light-filled man. As far as I know, he is the first Peruvian shaman of his rank to leave the mountains to teach. He worked us like dogs.
This workshop was for
mesa carriers, those people who have been initiated into the Andean shamanic tradition. The mesa, really misa, is a shamanic sacred bundle of special stones, or
khuyas. This workshop turned out to be all about the ceremonies for the care and feeding of the mesa and about working with the khuyas on a deep and intimate level. We spent four intense days in ceremony, most of it outside in the cool, misty drizzle of the Wisconsin dells. One day we spent almost entirely outside, leaving the Prairie Center of our retreat place at 9:15 and not returning until about 6:00pm. It was a day of almost nothing but ceremony with our mesas.
The thing that stuck with me about the teaching received from Adolfo and his lineage is how connected everything and everyone is. We learned the small ceremony of
hallpay, the ritual chewing of coca leaves when you meet someone, when you need to foster balance and harmony with yourself, another, or in a group. For the obvious reason, we used dried banana chips in place of the traditional coca leaves. For the record, banana is nasty and usually makes me throw up (really). Every time in my life when I've eaten raw banana in any form, I've heaved. When I saw the enormous platter of banana chips on the very first morning, I thought, "oh, no. What in hell are we going to do with those?", but it worked out OK. I ate more banana in that one class than I have in the past four decades and didn't even get queasy.
The teachings we received were all about connection, decision, intention. Connecting to each other, connecting to the sacred energies of the landscape, connecting to our mesas and khuyas, and connecting to the sacred energies of the Apus, the mountain spirits. Connecting, connecting, connecting. Thanking, thanking, thanking, expressing gratitude and joy.
And in addition to all of the hours and hours of ceremonial work, I took more notes than I've ever taken at a workshop lasting a comparable time. I'm telling you, he worked us hard! And I came back with more than I had anticipated! I made tons of new shamanic friends, many of whom are within a half day's drive. I'm seeking out mesa carriers in my area now, too, since I know that there are some here.
It was pretty wonderful stuff, and it has changed the shape of my daily routine. It has changed the way that I look at many things.