Super Power of Gratitude: The Andean Secret to Happiness
Qero Shaman, Don Basillio opens the Despacho
Since 2010, we have traveled to Peru with our students to work closely with the shamans of the jungle and the Q’ero Shamans of the High Andes. First lured by their bucket lists of seeing Machu Picchu, the Amazon or Lake Titicaca, our students, once in Peru seemed to be more moved by the spiritual transformation they receive from the Peruvian people themselves. Though in North American standards, many Peruvian people live in physical poverty, they seem far more spiritually rich, filled with a child-like, genuine happiness. What is their secret to happiness? I call it the Andean “Super Power of Gratitude!”. Saying muchas gracias (thank you) and ritually honoring everything in Andean shamanism is a daily way of connecting and relating to the circle of life and to practice“Ayni”, the Quechua people’s understanding of right relationship.
During the opening ceremony of our recent 2016 “Birth of the Luminous Spirit” 21 days Shamanic Training Program, our Q’ero Shaman, Don Basillio handed me a wrapped bundle of herbs and seeds and said in broken English, “Despacho, tomorrow, Quinsacocha”. In Spanish, the word despacho literally means “dispatch or shipment”. In the Andean shaman traditions of Peru, a Despacho is a ceremonial offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the Apus (Mountain Spirits). You could perhaps think of it as a focused, formal way to “dispatch” or “ship” your prayers off to the powers that be.
I hoped after six years of working closely with Don Basillio in our ceremonial practices, I would be able to give honor to making this beautifully intentional Quechua mandala prepared as a meal for Mother Earth and offered to her in a ceremonial fire. This mandala is a detailed microcosm of every aspect of Peruvian’s physical and spiritual life woven in prayer into a visual tapestry of flowers, seeds, leaves, herbs and candies. To the Qero Shamans, a Despacho Ceremony is true medicine. When going to see a Q’ero Shaman, no matter what the condition – to heal from losing a loved one or break up, to call in love, to start a business, to experience physical healing, to welcome a new soul to the earth, to honor a birthday, whatever the cause for the visit, the first thing often done is to offer thanks through a Despacho! This is like first preparing and offering a Thanksgiving meal before you ever ask for anything!
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.
”-Meister Eckhart
So while our students prepared for their first initiation, I prepared to lead my first Despacho Ceremony. Later, we launched on a hike to the three stunning alpine lakes of Quinsacocha. As I began the opening prayers for the Despacho, something utterly magical happened. An entire herd of sheep, llamas with babies, wild horses and donkeys came flocking to our circle. Two rare condors flew directly overhead and a perfect ring of clouds encircled the lake from overhead. Moon and sun were out together and two cormorants birds flew by and as these are coastal birds, it was very rare to see them high in the Andes. Even a baby sheep came so close that she stepped onto the paper just as I began making the mandala! I felt like I was launching on a Noah’s Ark of Gratitude! It was an utterly magical day to witness what happens when gratitude is our daily focussed act. The next 20 days that followed were more of the same and truly transformational for us all. Each year for us gets stronger and we return for a few months annually to bring groups to the magical Sacred Valley of the Inca and to once again fill our cups with the simple and deep love affair Peruvians have with life, with each other and with Pachamama.
More than previous years, my arrival back to the US was a radical jolt back into the North American mindset. With presidential elections approaching, and immigrant issues soaring in Europe and around the world, I wondered what it will take to awaken us to the gentle heart-felt Andean medicine as our true Super Power. In addition to offering a Solstice Despacho Ceremony and Munay Ki Rites in my local home town of Homer, Alaska last week, I am even more committed to bringing people annually for an immersion back to the values of love, community and deep gratitude that are as strong a fabric in the Andes as the weavings of their colorful Peruvian blankets. And I know this kind of love is contagious. So while our global community decides on unity or separation, I will continue to offer my deep gratitude, focus on what IS working and cultivate ways to make goodness the daily hot news stories I tell.
White Eagle Medicine Woman is an international healer, teacher, musician and ceremonial artist that has toured a million miles as the DrumKeeper of the Grandmother Drum International Peace Project and has taught in 20 countries. She facilitates, “Birth of the Luminous Spirit,” an annual 3 week shamanic training program in the Sacred Valley of the Inca in Peru.
