The 5 Animal Allies of the Pachakuti Mesa

Across the world shamanic traditions have flourished and persevered in times that have been favorable to them and also those during which their existence was deeply threatened. Yet, in spite of attempted eradication and the wider prevalence of cultural amnesia, many practices of this global lineage have survived – often greatly transformed through their adaptation to the shifting sands of culture.

Despite changes in appearance and the frequent adoption of aspects of the “new” religions and belief-systems that have accompanied the transformation from hunter/gatherer, pastoral, and subsistence cultures to agricultural and urban life-styles, core shamanic beliefs and practices continue to sustain people throughout the global ecosphere.

Within the Peruvian Andes and coast the synthesis of millenia-old shamanic practice and modern religious belief is found in both the traditions of the paqokuna and huachuma curanderismo. These traditions have, to varying degrees, incorporated elements of folk Catholic belief, cosmology, ritual, and liturgy. While this certainly ensured survival in a changing and persecutorial environment it also points to the wisdom of recognizing the inner syncretic nature of the shamanic universe as a principle of action.

The salient feature of both the highland paqokuna and coastal curandero traditions is their focus on the ritual and ceremonial mastery of the mesa. In each case the mesa is an altar-like collection of shamanically invested artifacts arranged according to the teachings of the lineage and the personal insight of the healer. Though somewhat different in form, both traditions engage the culturally acknowledged powers of the natural and ancestral worlds through the mediating instrument of the mesa.

Through propitiatory ritual and invocational ceremony, states of contact are reached with these powers in which balance, health, prosperity, and fertility are restored within the community. Underpining all practice is the recognized law of ayni, as it is known in the highlands, in which it is understood that there exists a delicate state of interdependance between all levels of the physical and spiritual worlds. Perhaps best expressed as the “Law of Right Returns,” or, more colloquially, “today for me, tommorow for you,” the notion of ayni succinctly encapsulates the knowing that within the intricate matrix of interdependance that is our universe, an inbalance is created when a return “payment” is not offered for the intervention of the spiritual realms. Since practically everything within indigenous and shamanic culture is seen as a result of actions and dynamics taking place within the spiritual realms, one of the primary pursuits of a people becomes the maintainance of proper “payments” to those “causal” realms. The person for whom this becomes a specialty is the paqo, pampamisayoq, and altomisayoq, or the curandero depending on their tradition.

Shamanic Practice

The Pachakuti Mesa itself originated through Oscar′s many-year apprenticeship with his personal mentors in Peru, maestro curanderos don Celso Rojas Palomino and don Benito Corihuaman Vargas. Emerging from his apprenticeship within the coastal huachumero and the highland paqokuna traditions, the Pachakuti Mesa embodies distinct elements from each of these specific traditions of medicine practice.

The wisdom of these two lineages, representing related yet disctinct ancestral cultures, creates an organic structure that serves to anchor the vast array of shamanic practices existing to serve life from the personal dimension to that of the community, while harmonizing these with a global vision and the celestial sources of guidance and support. Strenghtening this ancestral heritage and cross-cultural relevance are insights drawn from the world′s many wisdom traditions and the growing understanding of quantum dynamics and consciousness.

Following its original birthing from the cultural and shamanic lineages of Peru, the applied practice of the Pachakuti Mesa has evolved through its service to non-indigenous Western culture. It has become a true repository for the unfolding experience of its dedicated practitioners and community. The Pachakuti Mesa can truly be said to be a continual birthing of the wisdom of sacred community dedicated to a shared Earth-honoring path of service in which the ancient nourishes the present, birthing the creative expression of contemporary practice.

Pachakuti Mesa Healing Service

The mesa is the instrument by which the mythic power of prophetic time and the profundity of the three cosmological worlds is harnessed in practice. It is the medium of translation for the spiritual wisdom and understanding of the Andean cosmovision, allowing them to transform into practical applications and effects within a community.

A mesa is the consecrated arrangement of ceremonial power objects that make up a curandero′s “tool set,” and is also the point of focus for the spiritual forces engaged through ritualized action. It is simultaneously the seat for spiritual vision and the multi-fold powers of creation, and by being the locus of intention is directed by the healer. Two elements in particular come together within the mesa, blending into its unique form: the transmission of traditional wisdom given by the teacher and the idiosyncratic initiation that characteruzes the individual path. From the integration of these two sources of inspiration a healer′s mesa is born.

Travis Wright's Pachakuti Mesa

The Pachakuti Mesa, as an embodiment of global earth-honoring service, integrates within its primal structure the five alchemically venerated elements of the universe: earth (Allpa), water (Unu), wind (Wayra), fire (Nina), and the fifth transcendent element which is produced by the harmonious intermingling of the originating four – the aether (K′uychi). Each of these elements is focussed in one of the five directions of the quadrangular mesa – South, West, North, East, and Center – and is embodied by one of the five primordial powers of the Andean cosmovision: Pachamama (Earth Mother), Mama Killa pronounced Mama Key-yah (Moon), Wiracocha (Creator), Inti (Sun), and K′uychi (Sacred Rainbow). When these powers are united by vision and intention – lovingly anchored within the physical repository of the mesa – the Pachakuti Mesa blossoms as a transformative agent within the world.

Each of the directions of the mesa hold a particular archetypal form, energy, and healing medicine, arranged according to a dynamic understanding of the mythic and energetic universe. They therefore provide a vehicle for the initiatic apprenticeship of the fundamental forces of creation and, more importantly, the means by which their transformative presence is directed in the world. As an experiential mirror of the dynamically self-aware universe the, Pachakuti Mesa contains within itself both the map and the mapmaker, and ultimately becomes the primary source of instruction and guidance for the healer.

The Power of Ritual

Beyond the base structure of the Pachakuti Mesa and the aligments contained within it, it is the unique experience of the healer that determines the shape it assumes. As a continuously unfolding source of initiation and a reflection of the soul experience of the carrier, the mesa itself will naturally evolve and transform over time. Indeed, a mesa can never remain static – to do so would contradict one of the fundamental experiences of creation: all is in motion. While a mesa will hold certain patterns over time, it must ultimately be recognized as an expression of transformation itself, which cannot be boxed within a static form.

As mentored by don Oscar, the Pachakuti Mesa is a ceremonially consecrated imaginal map of the universe, an archetypal cosmic landscape, which “energetically” anchors both seen and unseen dimensions of the anima mundi (i.e., World Soul) before the shamanic practitioner. It is a beautiful container of spirit, and it is also a soul-infused artifact of the material world. It is a living, dynamic pattern upon which and within which we can consciously do our transformative personal and planetary healing work. As a global community of Pachakuti Mesa Carriers we embrace this ancestral lineage not because it is superior to all other traditions, yet because its effects are healthfully liberating and aesthetically graceful. It is a visually dramatic and sensually rich millennial heritage, which appeals to those who resonate with the healing power in natural patterns, earth rhythms and cosmic cycles. It is also a syncretistic shamanic tradition, which is openly tolerant and widely inclusive of diverse cultural ideologies, religious beliefs and all world wisdom paths. In essence, the Pachakuti Mesa is meant to be a pristine reflection of the individual practitioners ontological sense of belongingness within the Great Sacred Web of Life.

Via Don Oscar Miro-Quesada

Nature's Balance

Being in balance in all areas of our lives is a perennial topic for discussion and contemplation. Often we may find ourselves over-committed, under-rested, over-fed yet under nourished, generally or very specifically unhealthy in some way and the key to clarity and wellness turns out to be that magic word – Balance.

Finding balance in a world where we are either pushed or pushing to be performing at our peak 24/7 365 can be a major challenge for many of us. It’s important to Take Back Control of your own life. To remember that you and you alone are responsible for creating your own reality and that you have the power to change what isn’t working can be the greatest gift you will ever give to yourself.

Start right now-are you willing-right now- in this moment – to take a time out? – To come back into balance? We are taught by some of the greatest of teachers to literally “stop the world”. It is our world, our creation, and we can and do have the power to stop everything right here, right now and ask some soul searching and very serious questions.

The first question you might ask yourself is this – When was the last time you took some time just for you? Not just a day off from work but some serious time out – 3 – 4 days, maybe even a week or two that is totally and completely unscheduled – time to reflect, to journal, to meditate, to rest, to review your life, to see where you are and where you’ve come from, to decide, really consciously decide who you are and who you want to be, to see where you are and where you really want to be going.

When we make the choice, the conscious decision, to stop, to take a time out and to deeply contemplate our passions, our purpose, our soul’s journey, we may find that there are some changes that need to happen and soon. Change can be very frightening for people and yet it’s the most natural thing in the world. Nature herself is a perfect example of the ever changing nature of our universe. All too often we busy ourselves to the point of exhaustion and collapse, merely because we are afraid to face the necessary steps that we need to take in order to change our lives, change our world and bring things back into a place of balance.

In the Peruvian Tradition of the High Andes we are taught about a concept known as Ayni. Ayni is a way of living in the world that is in balance with our own nature as well as with the natural world around us and all of our relations. The native peoples believe that we are all connected and strive to live lives of balance and communion with all that is.

A simple way to start the process of breaking through to balance is to track for yourself your own natural energy rhythms. Using a calendar and a scale from 1 – 10, each day mark a number for that day that is a measure of your energy level,. For example today you might be feeling very lethargic, not really wanting to do anything – maybe today is a 2 day. Tomorrow you might get up and feel all full of “piss and vinegar” as my mom would say – ready to take on the world and accomplish mighty feats – tomorrow might be a 10 day. When you have tracked your own energy for a month or so (at least 30 days is recommended) you then have a picture of your own flow – perhaps during the full moon you are totally charged, later in the month might be your down time. Chart the flow and begin to match your commitments and activities to your own true nature. Don’t say yes to that party when you know if falls on a day when you will likely be in the 2 zone. Go for it and book three appointments with clients and host a dinner party on your usual 10 day. Just bringing some consciousness to your own energy will start you on the road to balance. Make it a prayer – Lord may I bring a little more balance to my life and to the world today and may I begin with me.

Amethyst Wyldfyre, MsD Is a Multidimensional Metaphysician with a thriving practice in the Merrimack Valley of Southern NH – she can be reached through her website at http://www.amethystwyldfyre.com

Greetings.  Here we are on the edge of infinity, our destination into the realm of action and deed.  What are we traying to prove?  We chase, play, brood and breed.  Off to countless fruitless endeavors shackling the pain of a thousand generations before us.  For the sole purpose of assigning value to a valueless system.  Nothing has any worth as it is handed to us as some wretched discard from the wrong suit.  Money, Jobs nothing is of value because we do not assign any anymore. Not even in “work” do we create a product of value, just get it done and put a zero behind it, a zero.  The value of nothing.  Where is our value though?  In our waste.  The most effective wasters on the planet, the Americans.  To qouth a Hippian “reduce, reuse, recycle.”  Only shout.  We may chill in this forum all day if you wish, hostage taker I am.  Binding your thoughts.  Seriously. I am talking of human sensation.  I enjoy feeling the pangs of hunger, a superlative cup of coffee, the great outdoors and that chill, grey March air. Experience is where value is then it is a short jump to wisdom.  The primal kicks in and I know I am living when my hands begin to feel as sculpted marble, then I draw off a cigarette and I can’t tell which is smoke and which is the vapor from my breath.  I think of winter camping.  I think of that first boat ride in the spring.  Sailing as the gust and froth conjure chills, ice, wind into the face and hands.  I feel the human creeping out; the fragile wants to recoil, the comfort wants to be sought, yet on I go gritting and daring, base as those primal needs and instincts. Y has it right, X has to fix what the boomers did, done kids.  All in all I would rather freeze out and dig the civil unrest.  There is the tranquility, serenity and advice from the Sage of Newport.  Dig Fermi, Monroe.

World Unity

Are we really all so different?
Are we really that hateful,
greedy, violent, petty, and self-serving?
Does it really have to be this way?

NO.

A world filled will love, joy,
respect, wonder and adoration—
has been hiding under the surface all along…

Under the surface of YOU.
We are all connected,
and for each day-

Each day you choose,
to live in unity,
to live your truth,
answering to your higher self-

Those repercussions are felt and echoed,
the world over. Somewhere.

As you add your unique sense of being,
of love,
of light,
of giving, kindness, compassion,

and RADIATE it-

to the human collective,
it benefits all.

You are powerful,
you are glorious,
YOU do make a difference.

Every day.

Grandfather's Clock Stopped - It's always 6:05!

I‘ve been thinking and dreaming a lot lately about time – in the teachings of my medicine lineage we work in the North Direction with Hummingbird Medicine and Hummingbird teaches us about how to move back and forth through time and how to step outside of time.  The three areas that I’ve been pondering are Measurement, Management and Mastery.  We have organized our reality around the Gregorian Calendar for quite some time now – we measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years that are not exactly aligned with our sweet Earth Mama’s cycles and rhythms.  Our bodies – natural extensions of the Earth – created from her elements – have their own internal clock – they know when to rise, when to rest, when to eat, when to go inward, when to act, when to be still.  We can actually bring the light of our conscious awareness to our own natural rhythms – track them and see how much alignment we’ve created in our outer world with our inner clock.   What if we consciously chose a more natural way of measuring – perhaps in alignment with the cycles of the moon, the earth’s rotation on it’s axis, the rotation around the sun – what would happen if we threw out the calendar all together – put the clocks and the watches in the trash and just tuned in to the rhythm that has rocked the cradles from the beginning?

Hatun Kinte - Sewa Kinte - Great Hummingbird - Teach Us To Move Through Time - Step Outside of Time - to Embark on Our Epic Journey

How about Managing Time – how often do you feel as if you are squeezed for time, pressured into moving at a pace that is just not who you are at your core, do you try to schedule every moment of your life – breaking up each precious moment of the day and allocating something to DO for yourself in those moments?  What if you took a different view of time – and realized that there is no race – there is no need to rush – there are no “dead”lines other than the ones you make for yourself.  Death is the BIG CLOCK that is ticking for everyone – notice we use the word “dead” in deadline – to put the pressure on – to bring on the fundamental fear that is at the core of our fear matrix – that we must “get it all done” before we run out of time!  What if instead of trying to manipulate, manage or manhandle time to suit your purposes, you instead allowed yourself to surrender to a larger view – a larger perspective of time and a larger perspective of life, death and the way the Universe actually works?

Mastery of Time is when you Re-member that this whole concept is MADE UP IN YOUR HEAD!  You get to decide – about everything!  You can, if you wish to expand your conscious awareness, begin to see how you can move through time, bend time, stretch time, move back in time, step forward in time, and even if you really wish to hone your skills step outside of time all together.  Time I have found, is highly elastic.  Sometimes I set an “appointment” for myself here in the 3D and discover (sometimes to my consternation when I’ve let myself re-attach to the collective notion of time) that I’m not going to be arriving at the appointed hour.  Some would say “I’m late!”  some actually do speak about themselves and say “I’m ALWAYS late!”  When we speak to ourselves in this way – of course we are – we create our own late!  Every TIME!  I have come to understand much better (I think that the 9/11/01 example was a wonderful clue for us to see) that there is Man Time and then there is DIVINE Time – In DIVINE Time – thousands of people who would normally have been to work “On TIME (in Man Time)” didn’t get there – and of course were spared from the experience.   When you become a Master of Time – you RE-Member that you are ALWAYS EXACTLY ON TIME!  Because the only place you can ever be is HERE, NOW.  Time (as is Death) is an illusion.  Being is the Truth.  BE – HERE – NOW.  Bring the fullness of your presence to this and every moment – let go of time and you will be immeasurably blessed by the river of life that is timeless.

Amethyst Wyldfyre is a multidimensional shaman, healer, artist, author, blogger, performer, speaker and psychic who lives and works in the Merrimack Valley of NH.  She can be reached through her website or blog for more information.  She can also be followed on Twitter at @AWyldfyre.

(An Excerpt from The Visionary Vibe Report from my own blog dated 12/15/08)

Stillness – cultivating stillness.  Being still even in the midst of much activity, even in the midst of major shifts and adjustments going on all around us, even in the midst of external crisis both large and small.  Breathing and being.  Breathing and being.  We are now called to still ourselves and to be the Eye again.  So much is being shifted and re-configured both externally and internally and we are being called to allow the “upstairs team” to work on us – helping us to heal and recharge from the work of the last year and to allow the clearing of the canvas as we look towards the new.

How can we best cultivate stillness?  Time in nature – watching and observing the moment by moment movement of the Earth.  Being in touch with the heartbeat of the Mother – the Schumann Resonance is a great start.  Can you go inward and focus?  I’ve posted here an audio meditation that will help you to connect to the deep feminine, the heart core of the Mother that is the place from which our ability to be still lies.  

Connecting With The HeartBeat of the Mother – Meditation

Sometimes (usually!) the biggest challenge to being in a state of stillness is our mental body!  Our mental body is highly enmeshed with the idea of time and is like a caged animal – pacing and fretting that there isn’t enough.  There isn’t enough time to get A B or C done, there isn’t enough resources to go around, there isn’t enough room for everyone,  these are some of the thought forms that our mental body sends through our minds that cause us to be continually in a fight or flight mode.  When we are in fight or flight mode – there is no way that we can be fully present to what is unfolding in the moment.  When we are in fight or flight – that pacing, frustrated, caged beast place -  we are very ineffective in what it is we wish to manifest and all of our creations are tinged with this energy.   When we are in fight or flight it can be very difficult to disengage too and to settle into the place where nature/Universe just brings us all we need synchronistically.   We are caught, trapped, emotionally and mentally either paralyzed or running in circles and not really getting anything accomplished at all other than raising our blood pressure and often “stirring the pot” and causing those around us to have the flight or fight response activated too!  Ultimately the fight or flight mode leaves is in a place where all we can concern ourselves with is survival – the impetus for this is the fear of death.

Cultivating a practice of coming into stillness at least once each day (more often is even more wonderful!) will allow your body/mind time to re-set and relax – and provides great benefits – physically, mentally and emotionally.  Be like the great trees – grow slowly – enjoy each unfolding moment – bring awareness and presence to your days.  Breathe, take time and make it your friend.  Make death your friend.  When you can befriend death you can bring meaning and purpose and presence to each and every moment – you can realize that you are eternal, immortal and everlasting at the core of your being and that your consciousness can never be extinguished.  From this mindset you begin to thrive in the world, you begin to truly step into your power and become eminently effective in the world.

Amethyst Wyldfyre is a multidimensional shaman, healer, artist, author, blogger, performer, speaker and psychic who lives and works in the Merrimack Valley of NH.  She can be reached through her website or blog for more information.  She can also be followed on Twitter at @AWyldfyre.

Awaken Humanity to One Consciousness!

Part of the reason that OneConsciousness.org is set up, is because of the constant message in my brain to help awaken others.  Most people in the world have totally forgotten their soul’s power and have yet to reawaken to certain Laws of the Universe.

Perhaps it is our responsibility to help awaken the sleeping people?  Let us bring to their attention waves of influence and information that helps unlock the hidden perfection within the mind/body/soul of all living people.

Next, ask yourself “What am I doing RIGHT NOW to help awaken others to path of spirituality?” Perhaps you could do a blog post, comment on someone elses post with additional clarification to help lead someone down the path with a link, maybe you could tweet something other worldly or something fresh that comes your mind from your spirit guides.

Mother Earth has received quite a beating these past 110 years. Cities have grown at an obscene pace, people spend most of their time in a 9-5 haze, and most people have no ideas who their neighbors are… In a way, we are very secluded, yet always very connected.

Rediscover your inner wisdom and help others discover the same. Chances are, that by helping others, that you will move down the path to enlightenment a bit quicker?

In Love, Guidance & Oneness…

Travis Wright

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The sun on the winter's solstice.

By Betty Kreeger

For decades, Rachel Carson and other visionaries concerned about the effect of pollution on earth and its population recognized and warned about the environmental devastation now facing us today. Millions of chemically injured around the world are the final evidence of this environmental catastrophe.  Power and greed have brought us to this place, and we have felt powerless to stop it due to our physical limitations.  However, we are more than our physical limitations. 

Recently I have been inspired by many teachings on the power of intentional thought, energy healing, and raising of consciousness. These energies are transformational, and unlimited.
 

Then a few nights ago I was inspired by one of the Everyday Super Hero stories.  The act of one woman, Irania Martinez Garcia, transformed the city dump in Guantanamo into an eco-friendly garden by separating organic and inorganic materials. The organic material was used as compost for the garden and the inorganic matter was stripped down to its core and recycled or re-sold. Her action was first just a thought – an intention to manifest a reality. And this thought inspired her and others to action. No “thing” ever manifests without first being preceded by a thought.  Have any of you ever accomplished something that was not been preceded by an intentional thought? 

Our physical limitations may prevent the millions of us from showing up for demonstrations at the various city halls or capitols around the world at a specific time, but we can use the power of the energy of our mind (thoughts) – sometimes called prayer – at a specific time to make a difference. We have a better resource for effecting change – conscious energy. Thoughts are energies that vibrate through the universe, whether negative or positive. They either raise the consciousness through the emotion of love or lower it through the emotion of fear. 

I believe there is an awakening of consciousness right now and with very little effort, the global MCS community could harness the power of our thoughts and make a difference.  By a very conservative estimate at least three percent of the earth’s 6 billion people have been chemically injured.  Therefore, at a minimum we are at least 18,000,000 strong.  
 

Many have researched the power of raising our consciousness. All is created through the power of two thoughts – love and fear. One physicist, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., author of “Power vs. Force,” writes: “The difference in power between a loving thought and a fearful thought is so enormous as to be beyond the capacity of the human imagination to comprehend … even a few loving thoughts during the course of the day more than counterbalance all of our negative thoughts.” Energies vibrate from 20 (shame) to 700+ pure enlightenment, with critical consciousness being 200. He has shown that one person with an energy vibration of neutrality counter-balances (positively affects) the energy of 90,000 individuals with an energy level of 200 or below. Potentially, the 18,000,000 plus individuals in the MCS community has the potential to counterbalance 16 billion people (or nearly 3 times the earth’s population) vibrating below critical consciousness! There is no limitation when we raise our consciousness and thus raise the consciousness of others. 
 
Therefore, I would like to propose to the MCS community around the world that we set aside just one minute (more if you like) at a given time on January 1, 2009 (noon PST in the U.S. & other countries to decide their own time) to send an intentional healing of the earth, ourselves and all others. Everyone should choose wording with which you feel comfortable as long as it is consistent with promoting this healing. 

If you have no wording you would like to use, I offer something like the following which is fashioned after the 2,500-year-old Buddhist Loving Kindness Meditation. 

“May all of the earth’s inhabitants be filled with Loving Kindness toward themselves, all others and the earth.” 

“May the earth and its inhabitants be well in body and in mind.”

“May the earth and its inhabitants be safe from inner and outer dangers.” 

“May the world leaders promote peace and healthful practices for the healing of the earth and its people.”

“May all be happy and truly free.”

This post likely will generate a lot of thoughts – and hopefully participation. However, your decision whether to participate in this event is your personal choice. 

My hope is that January 1, 2009 will be just the first of several days we work together to raise global consciousness.  Together we can make a difference!