After many hours, 9 of us from Arizona converged in Lima, Peru around 5 a.m. (5 a.m. EST) on March 15, and then to Juliaca, Peru we were welcomed by our Peruvian host, Jorge Delgado who transported us by one of his company tour buses to the village of Chucuito on the shores of Lake Titicaca about an hour later. Lake Titicaca, high amid the Andes, is 12,507 feet above sea level. We were thankful to be staying at the Taypikala Hotel, with its wonderful amenities and owned by one of the sponsors of this event, Jorge Luis Delgado, an Incan spiritual and ceremonial leader.
In the days prior to the general public arriving for the ceremonies, our group was privileged to meet in private council with acknowledged spiritual leaders and elders of the Eagle, alongside the spiritual elders and shamans of the Condor. One of these meetings lasted over ten hours leading to the "Bridging of the Americas", melding the North and South Indigenous cultures. These powerful and spirit-driven discussions, ceremonies and conversations would often include the early-arriving "pilgrims", a term the elders used to refer to those who were supporters and participants. Disharmony was abandoned as we sought ways in which we might help everyone moved forward through the coming years with more ease and gentleness.
Everyone arrived in Peru with no specific agenda, trusting that Creator would direct the course of events. We gathered together with one heart and one mind with the intentions of uniting the Condor and the Eagle, the South and the North, as well as exploring the future of humanity and Mother Earth.
As the gathering officially began, the meetings were opened up to everyone. Don Alejandro of Guatemala, 13th Generation Quiche Mayan High Priest and representative of 23 different ethnic groups, and his wife Elizabeth Araujo, and numerous other Peruvian and South American indigenous spiritual leaders prayed and spoke with great eloquence alongside Adam Yellowbird and his wife, Carmen Gudin, Uqualla of the Havasupai Nation, Ruben Saufkie Sr. of the Hopi Nation, and other North American spiritual leaders and Elders. The meetings were always spiritual, always a sharing of the heart from each leader and elder, and always profoundly touching the hearts of those involved.
The first formal day of the event, March 19, found us participating in a huge welcoming ceremony at the hotel for the more than 300 people who had arrived from every continent in the world to participate and contribute to this gathering. The Condor people opened their hearts and welcomed us all warmly as we all gathered together with one heart and one mind.
Incredibly, it quickly became clear that Spirit had taken over the gathering and given it a life of its own.
Each day began with a sunrise ceremony at an ancient Incan sacred site adjacent to the hotel followed by talks by each elder, sharing his or her wisdom and knowledge. The days were also filled with day trips to various sacred sites with powerful ceremonies led by the Condor leaders at some of the sacred sites or personal devotions at others.
One outstanding trip to Lake Titicaca allowed us to go out onto this 3600 square mile body of water. This lake, the highest and largest navigable lake in the world, is said to be the mother of all waters, Machamama. As we moved out on the lake in our motor launches we transferred to several very large reed boats with elevated observation platforms. A circle of these boats was formed and the people navigating those reed boats held that formation in place for over two hours while we did ceremonies and prayers over and for the water. The North American Hopi, Havasupai, Apache, and others of us made our offerings to the water for the healing and blessing of the water. The South American shamans and elders also made their offerings to the water in a collage of incredibly memorable sacred moments.
After the water ceremonies, we visited the villages on the floating reed islands with the villages of reed houses continued their ancient spiritual ways of life and living. Some of the indigenous elders there have never been off the islands.
It was like stepping back in time 10,000 years, where there were no modern conveniences of any kind.
The people crafted and sold us wonderful artful weavings and beautiful reedwork.
Over the days, Don Alejandro, 13th Generation Quiche Mayan High Priest and representative of 23 different ethnic groups, led several ceremonies including fire ceremonies. We were entranced by this simple and humble man who carried so much wisdom which, thankfully, he shared with us. In the fire ceremony, he led all of us to make our prayers to the spirits of the fire and Mother Earth through our offerings of three kernels of corn which we offered to the fire with our breath and prayers.
Prior to each ceremony, a blanket was laid down and covered with coco leaves for sacred purposes and usage. After the blessing of the leaves, we would each gather some of the leaves to chew throughout the day. The remainder was used to make copious amounts of coco tea, or gifted in thanksgiving, or kept to be used in ceremony, much like the northern indigenous nations might use cornmeal or tobacco. We chewed the leaves and drank the tea because it helped to offset the many physical effects of the extremely high altitude, allowing us to function better.
Powerfully profound is all that comes to mind to explain the manifold spiritual experiences we all had in these ceremonies. They were far greater than anyone could have anticipated. When Spirit takes over and takes control, profound things happen and indeed, all of these ceremonies were spiritually powerful.
On the Solstice, March 21, we arrived at Amaru's Doorway for the earth activation ceremony to connect the powerful ley lines that flow through this area with other ley lines in the body of Mother Earth as well as to offer prayers for the unification and bridging of the Americas and for the healing of the ancestral memory. With spiritual awareness we felt a unity with the prayers of all the many people around the world who were holding concurrent ceremonies. All of our prayers were amplified and manifested in a most ecstatically beautiful way.
Our closing ceremonial evening, a lavish banquet of Peruvian cuisine that satisfied sensate needs of flavor, sight, and sound as Peruvian dancers and musicians performed. Traditional clothing in Peru uses a lot of color, with each color carrying a significant meaning. The dancers that night changed their colorful costumes six or eight time during the evening, creating a rhythmic montage of color, and the beautiful Peruvian music filled the air carrying the spiritual fragrance of the previous days.
The next day we caravanned with tour guides to Cusco through the Andes which took about twelve hours and was filled with breathtaking scenic experiences. Along the way, we stopped at ancient sacred ruins and sites, doing short ceremonies led by Jorge Luis Delgado. This day was one of the highlights of my entire life.
We stayed several days at Cusco, sometimes shopping, sometimes traveling to sacred sites where we would do personal devotions. The government-directed ever-vigilant Incan guards normally would not allow group ceremony at many of these sites. Nonetheless, we could and did pray individually and everyone remarked on the palpable feel of the land and mountains as they each received profound spiritual experiences amidst these ancient Incan ruins.
At a few sites, the Condor elders did perform ceremony for purification as well as to align us all with the dynamic nature of the puma and the reflective nature of the serpent. Another ceremony, deep in a small cave, helped us to re-connect with the healing energies of the loving and nurturing Pachamama, Mother Earth.
On March 26, we visited Machu Picchu, one of the most powerful places I've ever experienced in these sacred, sacred mountains and the old, old cities of the Inca. One mountain there, in the center of Machu Picchu, was solid crystal, although only brief indications of that were visible through the dense vegetation. Everyone received nearly-overwhelming, unique spiritual experiences there as we visited the Temples of the Sun and Moon, the Temple of the Condor, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Hitching Post of the Sun. Later in the day, full of the sacred energies we had received, we were part of a special Andean shamanic ceremony led by Jorge Luis Delgado and the Condor elders.
The next morning we gathered for our last sunrise ceremony together, a healing ceremony, and we regretfully began to bid our goodbyes afterwards. Many of us would go back to Peru immediately if we had the opportunity, to revisit and renew our commitments made there. All of us felt that we had indeed been blessed in special ways and that our goals of reuniting the Eagle and the Condor were well underway. As we parted to go back to our homelands of Great Britain, Germany, Japan, the United States, and all the many countries represented, we knew that we will still remain powerfully connected and bonded with one heart, one prayer.
Since then, many of us have had a difficult time returning to this mundane world and that is part of the reason for the delay in getting this information onto the internet. The mind-shift has been very slow, our spirits slow to return from that state the Lakota call, Wowakan, that sacred space of spirit, prayer, and connectedness. But please know that we love you and that we kept you and your spiritual support always in our hearts. Moreover, we are continuing our prayers for each of you and all of your prayers, that they may be renewed and that you will all be blessed.
Mitakuye oyasin, We Are All Related. -Jim Beard May, 2007
Travelers specifically from Arizona through Earthworks for Humanity:
Adam Yellowbird DeArmon and wife, Carmen Gudin, Uqualla of the Havasupai Nation, Ruben Saufkie Sr. of the Hopi Nation, Jim Beard, Gary Palisch, Artie Looking Horse, Alan Hicks, and Iru Graham.
