Q'ero
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Shamanism has been practiced widely throughout South America for many thousands of years. High in the Andean mountains of Peru, the Q’ero people are living as they have for untold generations. Many believe that they are the direct descendants of the Inca and that their spiritual practices originate with this ancient wisdom culture. They tend flocks of sheep at high elevations, and migrate down to lower elevations to grow corn and other foods. They spin and weave wool as their ancestors did, in the traditional Incan styles. Because of their isolated lifestyle, they have been able to preserve more of their original culture than other South American peoples, and the living spirit of ancient wisdom is still thriving there.
In Return Of The Children Of Light (2001) by Judith Bluestone Polich, the author discusses the Incan and Mayan cultures, their prophecies and world view. Here she tells us about the radical difference between the perceptions of western people as compared to the Q’ero;
“What we can learn from Andean mysticism is amazing. However, to grasp even the basics of their teachings we need to step outside the little box of limited perception that makes up what we call reality and learn to perceive our world—as they do—in terms of living energy fields. This involves learning to see the energy that exists behind all forms in the manner that Juan Nunez Del Prado instructs his students, not with our physical eyes, but with our spiritual or third eye. This avenue of perception is what the Indian people call gawag, an ability that leads to direct perception and interaction with the world of living energies."
This idea of seeing the energy behind form is central to shamanistic teachings. Quechua is the original language of the Inca, and it is the language the Q’ero speak. The Qechua speaking people call the energy universe “Kausay Pacha,” (Pacha means cosmos or earth in Qechua) and, according to Polich, it is divided into three energetic worlds. Here we see the universal three tiered cosmology represented, the divisions fitting into the common themes of the upper, middle, and lower worlds of the shaman. For the Q’ero, the first world is called “ukhpacha,” the interior, or underworld. This world exists within the earth as well as within the individual. It is considered the place of the heaviest energies. The second world is called the “kaypacha,” and includes the ordinary world of form. Within the kaypacha is contained the “pachamama,” Mother Earth as the Great Cosmic Mother. This world nourishes and maintains all physical life. The third world is called the “hanaqpacha,” and is considered the higher realm of spiritually evolved beings and highly refined energies.
The Q’ero are commonly able to navigate these worlds, and experience a multidimensional reality. They can shift from one flow of consciousness to another, from linear time progression to the simultaneous flows of consciousness within other realms. Polich quotes an article from Magical Blend Magazine on the Q’ero Worldview, written by Joan Parsi Wilcox and discussing the teachings of Alberto Villoldo:
“…Culturally and certainly shamanically, they [the Q’ero people] tend not to make the Cartesian distinction between subject and object, between inner and outer, between the signified and the signifier, between the secular and the sacred. Thus they are able to slip the bounds of the causal and are able to literally step outside of linear, monochronic time into nonlinear polychronic time. They have not lost the sensory foundation of knowledge, and so they perceive synthesthetically—bridging the five senses, so that looking at a mountain they can feel its texture. They perceive totalities, which are by definition, nonlinear, rather than the fragmented, causal realities the West apprehends."
This ability to perceive totalities is a shamanic skill as well. It is intimately tied to the ability to see the energy behind form. On the energy level, the reality of interconnectedness is obvious, and the totalities of various energy systems are perceived clearly. The development of the abilities of perception and discernment, the ability to perceive outside the narrow perspective of consciousness that so limits Western perspective, is essential and central to the shamanic reality. Polich speaks to Westerners’ limited perceptions, and the possibilities of breaking through these self-imposed barriers:
"To navigate in non-ordinary realities, we need to alter the concepts we have about ourselves and others. The conceptual framework we have been taught by our parents and our culture is based upon perception of ordinary reality. Not only are we taught to perceive primarily through our five senses, we are also taught to rely almost exclusively on our sense of sight. If we can't see it, we believe it does not exist. We are also stuck perceptually within the confines of linear time. But what if we could see the world energetically and multidimensionally? What if we to could step beyond linear time? To some extent, many of us already have had experiences that give us a glimpse of dimensions beyond ordinary perception experiences our rational mind has denied or minimized. Such experiences sometimes occur during meditation, through the discovery of gateways to a higher world; or through inspired writing, music, or artwork. On such occasions we experienced the central truths of existence, what the Q’ero and the Inca before them called the kausay pacha, the energy universe."
Polich discusses the ideas of Americo Yabar, as quoted in an interview by Hal Zina Bennett in Shamans Drum Magazine(1997), for ways that the teachings of the Q’ero can benefit the people of the world today by connecting with the great archetypal energies available to us. “The message of the Q’ero is that people need to reconnect with the matrix of the cosmos—with the spirit of Pachamama, which is the Earth, with the spirit of the mountains, or apus, and the spirit of the stars. We know that the Andes is a source of tremendous spiritual light and that these filaments of light—or threads of energy—are part of a tapestry of spiritual awakening across the planet, the birthing of a new light on earth...there is already a network of a very strong spiritual energy happening on the planet now. But we need to meditate, to reflect on it. There are many kinds of meditation, but the form I am speaking of involves meditating on being in the lap of the Pachamama, the Mother Earth, the Cosmic Mother. This form starts with meditating on the simple but profound awareness that we are living on the lap of the Pachamama and we feed ourselves from her strength. Once you feel the Pachamama, you begin to have a very clear awareness of your place on the planet. This is why we work with the Pachamama, the Cosmic Mother, the mother of all mothers."
Because of the industrial world’s blatant separation from, and disregard for, our origins and what sustains us, because we have chosen to enslave the Earth and the other beings upon the earth, instead of taking our place in the lap of our Mother, this meditation, and this awareness, are of utmost importance for humans to once again come into balance, and reap the benefits of the great wisdom, love, and abundance of Pachamama. This is the gift of the ancient Incan culture, passed on to us through the Q’ero, descendents of these wise ones, who have kept alive these truths by living them, and who, through these teachings, can help us find the pathway to our true nature.
Another Q’ero teaching Polich discusses is the concept of Ayni, which she describes as “reciprocity or exchange of energy." She tells us: “The goal of the practice is to walk in the perfect harmony (ayni) in all three levels of existence. The practice of ayni involves communicating and sending your love to another, whether it is the Earth, another person, a dog, or a tree. Although this is done without expectation, in the pure spirit of giving, each time you practice ayni, miraculously you do receive something back." She gives a description of ayni as quoted by Antonio Morales:
“The Sun is the Father and the Earth is the Mother and their parents are one—‘Illa Tici Viracocha’—neither male nor female, energy in its purest form...this is the basis of all Andean shamanism. It is the principle of reciprocity. You make ayni to the Pachamama, the Mother Earth, and she is pleased and returns your gift with fertility and abundance. You make ayni to the Sun, and he returns your gift with warmth and light. The Apus, the great mountain peaks, give you strength to endure your work; the heavens give you harmony. Make ayni to all people and they will honor you in return. It is a wonderful principle. They say that the Shaman lives in perfect ayni—the universe reciprocates every action, mirrors his intent back to him, as he is a mirror to others. That is why the Shaman lives in synchronicity with nature. The Shaman’s world mirrors the shaman’s will and intent and actions."
The concept of ayni is a highly valuable teaching for the Western mind. Combining meditating on Pachamama with practicing ayni, we can begin to understand this ancient legacy of wisdom of some of the first and greatest healers, teachers, and wise ones, the Andean Shamans.