In the Arms of the Pachamama - A Pilgrimage to Peru By Andrea Mikana-Pinkham Andean Shamanic Practitioner We trudged up the barren hillside in the enfolding darkness as Mama Quilla, the full moon, was rising over the horizon. The lights in the valley below sparkled with the warmth of activities of the people of Cusco. The fresh air helped us clear our minds of worldly concerns and prepare us for the important work we were about to undertake. We silently followed Jorge, our shaman, around the hill and climbed up two steep stone benches, finally standing breathlessly in front of our destination…a small opening into the cave of the Pachamama (Mother Earth). Our diverse group of spiritual seekers had come from many far away places to be here on this special night to enter the Temple of the Moon, the Amaru Machay, the “Place of the Serpent” in the local Quechua language. Each person had made the decision to travel in the company of other spiritually-minded people, not only for the emotional warmth and safety they felt it would offer, but also for the enriching opportunities of sharing both the daily and the peak experiences of travel. Certainly during our few days that we’d been in Peru, the bonding had been easily happening, and the resulting synergy had been building. Now…here we were, on the night of the full moon, ready to share again. Perhaps this time at one of the most profound levels experienced during our pilgrimage so far. We knew we had been called to make this trip to Peru in order to receive gifts of personal healing. We each had our unique saga of how we had stepped through our limitations and fears and had joyfully made our commitment to make this sacred pilgrimage to the mystical land of the ancient Incas. We were here to reclaim ourselves as Sons and Daughters of the Sun, the Moon, the apus (sacred mountains), the rivers, the trees, the flowers, the stones, and the Pachamama Herself. Now as we stood outside the womb of the Mother in silent anticipation, each of us reflected on what had brought us to this moment and wondered where it would take us. Jorge quietly interrupted our individual reveries. “It’s important to hold a very clear focus for your healing when you enter the cave. Try to hold that focus throughout your time inside the body of the Pachamama,” he solemnly told the group. “Pray with care, for you WILL get what you ask for!” He then took out a small bottle of agua florida (flower water), and poured a little in my upturned palm. I offered a splash to the earth, rubbed my hands together, clapped three times, placed my hands in front of my mouth and nose, breathed in deeply several times, and began to cleanse my aura. Jorge moved to the other members of the group, giving them their portions of the precious shamanic liquid, urging them to cleanse away their stress and worries so that they could enter the cave ready to receive their special gifts. Jorge then asked me to lead the group into the cave. I turned and walked down three ancient stone steps into a narrow corridor, stopped and placed my hands on either side of the entrance, on smooth rock carvings – the slender and powerful bodies of the serpents, the guardians of the Lower World in Andean cosmology. Whoosh! I felt their strong energy surge into me, almost taking my breath away. I took a few deep breaths to calm and center myself and silently offered my thanks for being able to enter into this most holy of places. Continuing forward into the beckoning darkness, I felt at home. I had been here many times in the past with my previous groups, so I knew that I was in a small circular antechamber that led into the main altar of the underground temple. I also knew that the crackles that I heard under my feet as I walked were the many offerings of coca leaves that had been left here in the past by the shamen of the area who used this cave to commune with the Earth Mother. I reached into my tapestry coca leaf pouch that I wore around my neck, pulled out a few leaves and gently offered them. As they fluttered to the ground I prayed, “Please Pachamama, Bless me and my Sisters and Brothers as we enter into your Body and give us the healing that is for our best and highest good. Gracias.” As I continued forward, I heard the others behind me stopping at the entrance and offering their prayers. Stepping quietly into the deeper part of the cave, I looked up at the dimly lit natural rock formation resembling the yoni, the female genitalia. I felt powerful energy flow into my opening crown chakra and immediately felt the joyous blessing of the Mother, as she poured Her exquisite life force into me, her Daughter who had come home. Tears filled my eyes as I stepped forward and looked up into the crystal blue light of Mama Quilla streaming down through an open shaft in the cave and onto the stone altar in front of me. I raised my arms and continued to take in the healing feminine energy…allowing it to pour into every welcoming cell in my body…washing through me and out my feet into her body, unstoppable, and cleansing me on a very deep level of fears that had shadowed me for what I was sure were lifetimes. I gladly gave them up to the Mother; I gladly allowed her to rejuvenate me by filling those now empty spaces within me with her nurturing Unconditional Love. “Thank You, Pachamama. Gracias a ti, Pachamama.” I chanted over and over in my heart and mind. I then became aware that Jorge was standing next to me. Reluctantly I opened my eyes, took the matches he handed me and lit my candle, placing it on the stone altar. I turned around and saw that all of the others in the group were now with us in the cave, standing mutely lost in their own personal reveries, their own connections with the Pachamama, each one listening, seeing, feeling and in turn receiving their own well-deserved gift of healing. As Jorge used his fan of condor feathers to cleanse our auras, I heard the whooshing and fluttering of the feathers as he quickly and adeptly did his shamanic work. Then in his quiet yet commanding voice he urged, “Now is the time, here is the place. Let go of your fears, open once again to your true nature, to Love, that which you are. Remember who you are. You are the child of the Pachamama, and She loves you unconditionally.” He then began singing an ancient Quechua chant as he now shook his rattles in our auras, stirring up the remnants of the old energies that it was time for us to release. There were tears, crying, sighing and even laughing! Release was happening! As Jorge began to chant in Quechua, we spontaneously gathered in a circle with our arms around each other and joined him. We didn’t know how to pronounce the words, but we did. We didn’t know the meaning of the words, but we did…we knew in our hearts. As we sang the stones echoed our voices and filled each of us with a rhythm and energy that bound us forever in this timeless healing moment to each other and to this cave, the loving body of our Mother. Not to be contained, the energy then begged to be carried out into the world to love and to heal. Each of us felt it, swelling and deepening. We knew that this moment would last forever in each of our hearts and souls, as well as in the lives of those we would touch when we emerged anew…born again “From the Arms of the Pachamama.” We closed our ceremony in the usual Andean way - with hugs - laughing and crying, with words spoken heart to heart. We knew we would always remember this night and the special gifts of healing we had received from the Ancient Mother, and from our Selves. One by one we turned and hurried out of the sacred Temple. As we emerged into the night, we again saw the lights of Cusco in the valley below us, beckoning us to come back and join that life. We had a remarkable gift that we were ready to share with the world, and we ran giggling to our bus! Was the world ready for our gifts, those that we would be passing on from the Pachamama? We silently looked in to each other’s eyes and smiled; we knew the answer. Copyright Lapis Inc. 2004 From Journeys to Sacred Sites: Transformational Adventures of Spiritual Seekers by Andrea Mikana-Pinkham Andrea Mikana-Pinkham has been traveling and leading spiritual pilgrimages to Peru since 1993. She is currently the National Director for Body Mind Spirit Journeys and is leading Mystical Journey to Machu Picchu August 2006 and An Incan Shamanic Journey to Peru June 2007. 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