A Birdseye View of a Despacho Ceremony
http://www.woowoochronicles.com/articles/9/1/147/A_Birdseye_View_of_a_Despacho_Ceremony/Page1.html
John David Balla
John David Balla is a corporate dropout, freelance writer, marketer, web designer, business consultant, and volunteer committed to spiritual principles and practices.
Among his current activities, Mr. Balla is an Internet business consultant, strategist, copywriter, web designer and marketer. He services both large and small business alike and assists them in achieving their revenue goals.
Dubbed, Project Eagle/Condor, Mr. Balla is working with the indigenous people of Peru, including shamans, college students and entrepreneurs to better leverage the Internet so that people who are looking for their unique services can indeed find them, all while maintaining the integrity of their heritage.
Mr. Balla also has his own online column and website, dubbed "The Woo Woo Chronicles." He also regularly advises small business and entrepreneurs on marketing strategies and best practices. In addition, he is currently working on a novel/screenplay, entitled, "Beyond the American Dream."
By John David Balla
Published on 08/11/2008
Videotaped despacho
ceremony with the blessings of the Q’ero shaman who conducted the
ceremony. A great introduction to what a despacho ceremony is, along
with relevant commentary. Article contains both personal experiences as
well as shaman interviews. A despacho can be compared to “Thanksgiving
Day,” except that it is a way of life, celebrated every day, and bereft
of food gorging and football.
Pisaq. Peru, August 2, 2008
Today, only about 500 Q'ero, the direct descendants of the Inca, remain. And of that, only about 50 shamans. Needless to say, I was fortunate to have access to three of them, especially when considering the seemingly insignificance of my tiny group of three.
1) personal integration (or self actualization)
2) social integraton (through group participation to amplify social cohesion via shared principles and intentions, i.e., common ground)
3) cosmological integration (which includes paying homage to the Pachamama (Mother Earth), the Apus (mountains), that form the bridge between the material and spiritual realms.
In other words, despachos, and the shamans that conduct them, lack cultish characteristics that, despite their rhetoric, create dependence, obliterate the very notion of "self", and moreover, are heavy on righteousness for which further divisions, i.e., us versus them, are celebrated as virtues. These distinctions cannot be overemphasized. Cults, and by this I mean any group, be it religious, scientific or political, always proclaim to have exclusivity on what's right, whereas truly spiritual practices, at the end of the day, concern themselves only with a greater and more profound understanding of the truth.
A despacho is created during a celebratory ceremony. In the cosmology of the Andes, all life is perceived as one grand, infinite ceremony. Because physical survival is so hard in the high mountains, life is experienced as a true gift to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
There are at least 300 variations of despachos in the Quechua-speaking Andes (primarily Peru and Ecuador). While there are certain elements common to all despachos, the particular healing intention--such as bringing harmony and balance to the earth, honoring new beginnings, or getting rid of an illness--determines the design of the offering, some of the contents, and even the way that offerings are added.
The ceremony brings participants into alignment with their personal intent, the group intent, and gratitude to the earth, which supports us in all our endeavors. It also brings participants into internal alignment with the "three bands:" physical (yankay), feeling and heart (munay), and spirit, or energetic wisdom (yachay). (The alignment of these bands is comparable to alignment of the seven chakras or the fifteen chakras of other cultural frameworks.) Finally, the despacho harmonizes the community through the sharing of coco leaves and gifts of stones, all of which strengthen the luminous fibers that connect us all.
A traditional despacho is created by medicine people who work in alignment through their spiritual power. As the ceremony begins, red wine and white liquor (pisco) are offered to the spirits of the mountains and to Mother Earth. The medicine persons and all the participants feed each other coco leaves--the sacred plant of the Andes--into which their prayers have been blown. These gifts are a sign of community and strengthen connections.
The offering is created on Andean weavings that represent the masculine and feminine in balance (mastanas and uncunas). White paper, for clarity, is placed on the weavings for a base. A bed of incense is laid, to carry the prayers of the offering into the cosmos. Flower petals (red for Pachamama, white for mountains) are laid in a pattern, commonly in a circle, four directions, cross, or flower pattern, depending on the intent. Sets of coco leaves, called kintus, are prepared with intent by each participant, then collected by the medicine people and placed in a pattern on the offering, again reflecting the particular intent.
After the initial "bed" is created, some or all of the following symbolic representations are prayed over, offered up, and added: fruits of the earth (seeds, raisins, grains, nuts, corn, quinoa); sweets (wrapped candy, sugar); representations of the sea (a shell) and the stars (a starfish, the five-legged star of return, unfolding into the Fifth world); silver and gold papers representing threads to the earth and the cosmos; confetti; miniature tin figures of animals, people, and tools; beads; llama fat from while llamas (symbolizing the sun); a baby llama fetus (representing that which is unborn or not yet manifested); white cotton (for the clouds that surround the mountains and bring rain); many-colored wool (for the rainbow bridge into the cosmos); condor feathers; and so on.
A despacho contains symbols of everything: elements, weather, clouds around mountains, rainbows, the four directions, lakes, rivers, fruits of our labors, earth, stars. Every item represents a part of the Andean cosmology, is imbued with intent for connection to the mountains and the cosmos, and affects the totality of energy in the universe.
When the offering is complete, the bundle is folded, tied, and wrapped in sacred weavings. The shaman may circle the group with the despacho bundle, cleansing the luminous bodies of each participant to remove any heavy energy, and blessing everyone. These heavy energies, or hucha, become part of the offering, as the earth eats heavy energy and composts it. Finally, the offering is burned. Participants do not watch the offering burning, so Apuchin (the old condor) can come to eat any remaining hucha, and because watching might hold back some of the filaments being sent into the cosmos.
Q'ero Elder Don Manuel Q'espi, in a presentation at Canyon de Chelley in May 1997 (translated by Jose Luis Herrera), spoke of despachos this way:
* * *
What is a Despacho ceremony?
A despacho ceremony (sounds like gespacho, the cold vegetarian soup) is a celebration of life in a context that transcends the egoistic domain of problems/solutions, right/wrong, and the desire to possess. The underlying theme is integration, which can be discriminated into three main factions as follows:
1) personal integration (or self actualization)
2) social integraton (through group participation to amplify social cohesion via shared principles and intentions, i.e., common ground)
3) cosmological integration (which includes paying homage to the Pachamama (Mother Earth), the Apus (mountains), that form the bridge between the material and spiritual realms.
In my most recent despacho ceremony, for which prompted this writing (and video below), we were asked to create three intentions vis-a-vis kintus (See Despacho Nuts and Bolts Below for more information):
1) physical health
2) business health
3) spiritual health
Of course, we were all free to interpret and refine these basic categories to best serve our "perceived" needs. For me physical health morphed into psychological health of setting wise boundaries, so that I don't do get sick, literally. Business health was more about "finding balance" in my life since of late, business concerns have lately been overwhelming. And consequently, I focused not on business as a problem, but rather, establishing better boundaries (1) and spiritual practices (3) to render these ironic divisions as a seamless self. And as I did, and with great symbolic assistance from the shamans, (see video below), I began to understand what "wealth" truly is, and how financial health is but one of many factors that either contributes to or exacerbates the very "essence" of wealth. After all, how wealthy am I truly if I have a surplus of money but a huge deficit of time?
(To participate in an authentic Q'ero despacho ceremony, and for complete spiritual and archeological tours of Peru, I highly recommend Luceros Tour. They have extraordinary access to Q'ero elders and can arrange many "off the beaten path" expeditions that few tourists, and even locals, ever see)
Despacho Overview...
Despachos are refreshingly bereft of dogmatic undertones. As such, one can participate regardless of religious affiliation, or lack thereof. The key principle of integration is seen as "self evident", a theme that pervades every realm of life, from the technological, e.g., computer integration, the scientific, e.g., the Grand Unification Theory or "GUT", which aspires to unite relativity physics with the strange world of quantum mechanics, psychological integration, e.g., the conscious mind and unconcious impulses and desires... the list goes on ad infinitum.
In other words, despachos, and the shamans that conduct them, lack cultish characteristics that, despite their rhetoric, create dependence, obliterate the very notion of "self", and moreover, are heavy on righteousness for which further divisions, i.e., us versus them, are celebrated as virtues. These distinctions cannot be overemphasized. Cults, and by this I mean any group, be it religious, scientific or political, always proclaim to have exclusivity on what's right, whereas truly spiritual practices, at the end of the day, concern themselves only with a greater and more profound understanding of the truth.
How can you tell the difference?
Cultish movements are big promoters whereas spiritual ones, truly spiritual ones, promote literally nothing. They make no attempt to convince or argue their points. After all, debate is simply a dogmatic exercise that aspires to create further division by producing winners and losers, those who are right and those who aren't. Spiritual practices, on the other hand, create certain resonances that others who are on a similar wavelength will be attracted to, both consciously and unconciously, which is how I, and I'm sure countless others, find themselves in places like Peru, with people like the Q'ero.Despacho "Nuts and Bolts"... The Details
Despacho describes the Andean practice of making offerings to the mountains (apus), Mother Earth (Pachamama), and other spirits of nature in reciprocity, reverence, and thanksgiving. A despacho is an act of love and a reminder of the connections we share with all beings, elements, spirits, and sacred places. At the deepest level, it is an opportunity to enter into the essential unity of all things, the living energy of the universe.A despacho is created during a celebratory ceremony. In the cosmology of the Andes, all life is perceived as one grand, infinite ceremony. Because physical survival is so hard in the high mountains, life is experienced as a true gift to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
There are at least 300 variations of despachos in the Quechua-speaking Andes (primarily Peru and Ecuador). While there are certain elements common to all despachos, the particular healing intention--such as bringing harmony and balance to the earth, honoring new beginnings, or getting rid of an illness--determines the design of the offering, some of the contents, and even the way that offerings are added.
The ceremony brings participants into alignment with their personal intent, the group intent, and gratitude to the earth, which supports us in all our endeavors. It also brings participants into internal alignment with the "three bands:" physical (yankay), feeling and heart (munay), and spirit, or energetic wisdom (yachay). (The alignment of these bands is comparable to alignment of the seven chakras or the fifteen chakras of other cultural frameworks.) Finally, the despacho harmonizes the community through the sharing of coco leaves and gifts of stones, all of which strengthen the luminous fibers that connect us all.
A traditional despacho is created by medicine people who work in alignment through their spiritual power. As the ceremony begins, red wine and white liquor (pisco) are offered to the spirits of the mountains and to Mother Earth. The medicine persons and all the participants feed each other coco leaves--the sacred plant of the Andes--into which their prayers have been blown. These gifts are a sign of community and strengthen connections.
The offering is created on Andean weavings that represent the masculine and feminine in balance (mastanas and uncunas). White paper, for clarity, is placed on the weavings for a base. A bed of incense is laid, to carry the prayers of the offering into the cosmos. Flower petals (red for Pachamama, white for mountains) are laid in a pattern, commonly in a circle, four directions, cross, or flower pattern, depending on the intent. Sets of coco leaves, called kintus, are prepared with intent by each participant, then collected by the medicine people and placed in a pattern on the offering, again reflecting the particular intent.
After the initial "bed" is created, some or all of the following symbolic representations are prayed over, offered up, and added: fruits of the earth (seeds, raisins, grains, nuts, corn, quinoa); sweets (wrapped candy, sugar); representations of the sea (a shell) and the stars (a starfish, the five-legged star of return, unfolding into the Fifth world); silver and gold papers representing threads to the earth and the cosmos; confetti; miniature tin figures of animals, people, and tools; beads; llama fat from while llamas (symbolizing the sun); a baby llama fetus (representing that which is unborn or not yet manifested); white cotton (for the clouds that surround the mountains and bring rain); many-colored wool (for the rainbow bridge into the cosmos); condor feathers; and so on.
A despacho contains symbols of everything: elements, weather, clouds around mountains, rainbows, the four directions, lakes, rivers, fruits of our labors, earth, stars. Every item represents a part of the Andean cosmology, is imbued with intent for connection to the mountains and the cosmos, and affects the totality of energy in the universe.
When the offering is complete, the bundle is folded, tied, and wrapped in sacred weavings. The shaman may circle the group with the despacho bundle, cleansing the luminous bodies of each participant to remove any heavy energy, and blessing everyone. These heavy energies, or hucha, become part of the offering, as the earth eats heavy energy and composts it. Finally, the offering is burned. Participants do not watch the offering burning, so Apuchin (the old condor) can come to eat any remaining hucha, and because watching might hold back some of the filaments being sent into the cosmos.
Q'ero Elder Don Manuel Q'espi, in a presentation at Canyon de Chelley in May 1997 (translated by Jose Luis Herrera), spoke of despachos this way:
"The
despacho is a gift--a giving back of what we receive everyday in our
lives. We seek, through the despacho ceremony, to bridge the ordinary
and non-ordinary realms; to establish new patterns of relationship and
possibility. The despacho places us in right relationship, right ayni,
with the Pachamama. It establishes a linkage between our three centers
of interaction in the kaypacha (the physical universe); our llankay
(our personal power and source of action, located in our solar plexus),
our munay (the source of our love, located in our heart chakra), and
our yachay (wisdom, sourced from our foreheads or "third eye").
"The
contents of the despacho are in part determined by its purpose. The
various elements that comprise the despacho energetically interact to
permit access to portals or bridges from the ordinary and non-ordinary
worlds. When working in ceremony with the despacho, one is accessing
the non-ordinary energetic dimensions, the source of things. Though the
contents may have symbolic significance, the despacho, when performed
with the correct intent, transcends literal and symbolic domains and
directly accesses the archetypal and energetic realms.
"In order to build a good co-existence with nature, the only real choice we have is to enter with our heart, wisdom, and our action. We call upon the spirits of the waters, of the mountains, and of the Pachamama to come and help us prepare the offering. We have the intent of seeking to establish and maintain a continuous dialogue with the Mother and to bring balance and harmony to our lives, and to all our relations. It is through the dynamics of love, of right thinking, and of right action that our lives become bountiful.
"In order to build a good co-existence with nature, the only real choice we have is to enter with our heart, wisdom, and our action. We call upon the spirits of the waters, of the mountains, and of the Pachamama to come and help us prepare the offering. We have the intent of seeking to establish and maintain a continuous dialogue with the Mother and to bring balance and harmony to our lives, and to all our relations. It is through the dynamics of love, of right thinking, and of right action that our lives become bountiful.
* * *
With the current global climate crisis, political unrest, not to mention the Mayan calendar prophecies looming, it is easy to take on a sense of alienation and powerlessness. That is, unless we realize that "change" is an inside job. The despacho has been, and will continue to be, a great tool to this end. So if you want to change the world, don't. Change is an "inside job" that paradoxically changes everything.