We will pick you up from your hotel and go to a beautiful site located in the outskirts of Cusco. All the ceremonies are presided over by Q’ero shamans from a small village a few days walk up the mountains. Each is specially chosen by a shamanic family to follow their profession. The Q’eros are the closest living descendants of the Incas and still maintain many of their ancient traditions.
To begin, the shaman must start with the Coca Leaf Reading Ceremony. The shaman will start by asking questions regarding your home life, health, family, friends and occupation. The shaman will say a prayer to the mountains with his satchel of coca leaves held high above his head. He next places them down on a flat surface and gently opens the fabric. The placement of the leaves is his direct insight into your past, present, and future. This is a long-standing practice in Andean culture and a one-of-a-kind experience
Next is the Flower Cleansing Ceremony done with sage and yellow flowers. Sage is common around houses and businesses here in the Andes, often found by the front door, and is used to ward off bad spirits. In our ceremony, it is used to clean the negative energies from your body. The shaman creates a cover of sage over you while saying a prayer in his native Quechua language. The next step is to cover your body with yellow flowers for protection. Many say they can feel the strong energy as an after effect of the ceremony. It is quite a moving experience.
The final and most important ceremony is the Offering to Pachamama. Pachamama is the Andean word for Mother Earth. We give thanks to Pachamama for our crops and everything we have by putting our intentions back into the earth below. This is done through the prayer of the shaman and his pouch of sacred Andean offerings. All are symbolic of aspects such as protection of travel and relationships, occupational success, and many more. The shaman, with the help of the translator, will go over each offering and its significance in Andean culture before wrapping them all up to go into the bonfire. Once all three ceremonies have finished, it is time to celebrate.
