There’s a Ceremony for That

So, how should we begin this blogging journey, this open-hearted search for ways to honor our sacred connection to Mother Earth?

Ceremony comes immediately to our minds.

We recently shared a powerful despacho ceremony, a spiritual blessing from the lineage of the Q’ero shamans of the high Andes in Peru. Participating in this ceremony was an expression of gratitude to Mother Earth, bringing us into “right relationship” and balance with all of Nature.

We began our ceremony outside by opening sacred space. We called in the Four Directions, Mother Earth, Father Sun, Grandmother Moon and all our relations.

Kathy had prepared a table with an interesting array of symbolic symbols – gifts to spirit – for us to place inside our individual despachos, or prayer bundles. Each of us had a sheet of paper onto which we carefully placed and arranged the items, one at a time. There were animal crackers for all animal spirits, cotton ball clouds to represent conscious time and dream time, an open shell for the womb of the Earth, and coins to ensure prosperity. We tossed on bright colored sprinkles to celebrate life, flower petals to honor the Apus (mountains), and chocolate… because, like us, Mother Earth adores chocolate!

We added Quintus to our bundles. These are made by puttingfire, gratitude three leaves from native trees together, then adding a white petal and a red petal – to honor the Earth and Mountain spirits – on top. We blew our prayers and intentions of gratitude into our Quintus. Next, we positioned a piece of string to surround the elements, representing the circle of life. Finally, we folded the corners of our papers over the contents and tied our packages with colorful string.

Usually a fire ceremony comes next, but we decided to allow our despachos to sit for a few weeks. We took them home, each of us placing our bundle in a resting space where it would remind us daily of our deep intentions.

The time arrived to again gather at Kathy’s house and bring our despachos to the fire. She lit a small fire in her outdoor pit and we circled close. She again opened the four directions. One by one, we placed our bundles into the flames, our intentions carried by smoke and released to Mother Earth.

The evening was damp, so the fire burned leisurely, the sound of rain gently dripping off trees overhead, mimicking the irregular pop and crackle of wet kindling. We held hands as the packages eventually blackened, then turned to ash.

Smoke hung low in the chill night air, smelling woodsy and sugary from the candy in our despachos. A single beam of light from a neighbor’s patio shone through bare tree branches, illuminating the sweet haze.

A humble, hopeful beginning.