Thank you Pachamama, Thank you Apus!

I just returned from spending time in Peru with a lovely group, traveling to many different sacred sites and hiking one of the Holiest Mountains in the Northern regions of Peru, Ausangate.  The people of this region who still practice the old traditions and Medicine ways of the Inca, refer to the mountains as Apus (ah-poos). They recognize the spirit of the mountain as the one who protects them, and each Apu offers a quality that can be worked with to integrate or cultivate into our own lives.  In this case Ausangate is considered masculine and has the quality of personal authority, and personal power. 

It was amazing to connect with this energy for a week. To hike for 5 days alongside this magnificent energy is something that is hard to put into words. We could all feel it, and for each one of us it had an invitation for deeper connection to ourselves and to the spirit of the Apu and the land. 

There were many days when I knew it was the energy of the Apu carrying and pulling us up the mountain. We were trekking through passes from 15,550-18,000 ft daily, and we all did it with no real issue or incident. We were definitely protected by Apu Ausangate.

I have visited Peru three other times prior to this trip and every time I return, I am reminded of the active energy of the land in the Sacred Valley and surrounding areas.  It is palpable as soon as you settle in. The land holds wisdom from thousands of years of ceremony, and recognition from the people. It is alive in ways that is different from other places I have visited, including some places in North America. 

The land, mother earth known as Pachamama is honored all the time, “Gracias Pachamama, thank you Pachamama for all that you provide, for all you have given to us”. This is what you will see and hear daily. There are small offerings called kintus (kin-toos) made up of 3 coca leaves that prayers and gratitude are blown into and tucked into all kinds of places in nature.  As you wander through different sites and spaces you will see these kintus tucked into cervices, under rocks, bushes, placed at the base of trees, they are everywhere. This is a sign of the reverence the people have for the land. It is so commonplace and done so naturally. 

The mountains of revered and called on for protection and strength as an everyday normal occurrence. It strikes me every time, the difference between our two cultures regarding the connection to the land, mountains, and all of the nature spirits. For those practicing the old ways, this is just another normal day, give thanks to Pachamama, commune with the Apus, thank the mama cochas (the waters) and get on with your day as usual. 

Out for a hike and need some water, first you offer a sip to Pachamama, then you take your sip. This is just how it is. There is a natural connection that I find is missing in our culture. Yes, there are plenty of people who love nature and spend a lot of time in nature, respect it, protect it etc., but there is a difference in the act of communion with the land between our two cultures. 

We do not automatically offer Pachamama our first sip, our first bite of food. We do not talk to the Apus and mama cochas as part of our daily experience. The wisdom of the ages passed down from the pre-Incan and Incan times is that we can directly dialogue with all of nature. That we can speak to the land, rivers, oceans, mountains and the like. We are not separate from them but in a deep relationship with them.  

What would shift for you if you actively engaged with the land and nature spirits around you? Who knows, this is the experiment you get to embark on. What I do know is that as I have integrated this way of connecting with my surroundings and the land, I am on at any given moment, there is a sense of being held and nurtured. I can call on Pachamama to assist me in so many ways. To take the heaviness or weariness I no longer need to carry, to drink of her wisdom and light and pure energy to sustain and feed me. It is a game changer – I promise. 

It is something that many of us must cultivate and integrate into our lives because we have been raised as being separate from earth and nature. This is what is so refreshing and inspiring whenever I visit Peru. The old ways are alive and well, and the people know there is no separation. They know how to live in ayni, or right reciprocity with all of nature and with each other. The motto in community is “today for you, tomorrow for me.” There is much to be learned from this. 

I invite you to begin to build an active relationship with the land and Apus that surrounds you. Offer your prayers and gratitude daily for all the ways you are supported by Pachamama. Create a sacred relationship wherever you are through your dialogue with the nature spirits. Allow this to inform and shift the way you engage, are held, and fed by the land, the Apus, and all of nature. Your life will start to shift no doubt. 

Thank you Pachamama, Thank you Apus for an amazing experience.