Q'ero Maestro, Don Mariano Quispe's Pilgrimage in 2009

Message Added on May 1, 2010

The following information is about don Mariano's journey to the US last year in 2009.

We are adding this note to avoid the possibility of confusion about the dates of workshops that are scheduled for don Mariano's visit here in June 2010 (which are shown above in the recent postings) with those from last year in 2009.

We hope to see you here this summer!

With munay, Anita and Sam

It is with deep joy that we invite you to be part of the flowering of a vision, to share the journey of don Mariano Quispe, beloved Q’ero elder as he travels to North America from Peru for the first time in summer of 2009.

His pilgrimage is in fulfillment of his commitment to the sacred places of North America, a promise born of a dream-vison to connect our mountain peaks with the Apukuna, the sacred mountains of the Andes. Don Mariano will offer teachings and ceremony in Atlanta and North Carolina from July 25 to August 3, 2009.

It is a rare privilege to share this pilgrimage in the United States with don Mariano, an esteemed healer, visionary and ceremonialist of the Q’ero Nation. He has been called here by a dream to feed North America’s sacred places and to expand our awareness of how to continue to nurture those relationships long after he returns to the Andes.

You are invited to experience the teachings, humor and healing presence of this traditionally trained maestro, who came of age in the remote mountains in the days long before the modern world of telephones and the Internet came to the Andes. After his lifetime of service as a Pampamisayoq, healer and ceremonialist, the Q’ero community has formally recognized don Mariano as a Kurak Akulleq (a title reserved for the most highly esteemed visionary healer-ceremonialists of the Andes) in recognition of his clear spiritual vision and healing gifts. Yet when asked about his work, he laughs and softly says, “I’m just a paqo,” which is the Quechua word for a white llama or alpaca and also the name the Q’eros use for a simple healer/shaman/ceremonialist.

Here in the Southeastern United States, we will have a rich opportunity to plant seeds of visionary understanding among the ancient mountains and alongside the rivers of our own land. The roots of these shamanic practices are ancient, yet at the heart is a dream of a fresh and living future – a gift for our contemporary world, with powerful medicine to heal our separation from Pachamama here and now, in the present moment.

Newcomers as well as those familiar with Andean or other mesa-related paths are all warmly welcome!

If you feel a call to re-engage in intimate conversation with the earth, wind, rivers and stars, we invite you to share don Mariano’s pilgrimage, nurturing your own soul as you feed the living land of North America. Ancestral wisdom-ways of the Andes offer a luminous awareness that opens our hearts. As we come together to nourish the sacred landscape, we re-vision and re-write the dominant, governing myth of our times.

In ceremony and beauty, we awaken together into a vivid new Dream, our hearts opened and our lives illuminated by an awareness that recognizes our deep relationship with each other and the Earth.

Ancha Munay Sonquoymanta,

Anita and Sam

Ongoing updates for events in Atlanta and in the North Carolina mountains are included here: NativeVoicesSouth.blogspot.com

Or call us to discuss possibilities ~ We look forward to seeing you in just a few weeks!

Anita Stewart: (404) 373-1219, samanita@mindspring.com

Sam Austin: (678) 476-1284, pumaruna@bellsouth.net