Hummingbird Journals

sacred perspectives

December 18, 2009 

     I spent the day at the most sacred temple called Qorikancha. I am fascinated by the way the indigenous beliefs were incorporated by the Catholic church here. Literally a huge cathedral encompasses the ruins of this sacred place. So different from the obliteration in the US at places like Chimayo..
     The golden statue of a 12 year old boy with a door in his chest that held sacred ashes is gone. As well as the silver and gold which once adorned the temples.
     On the solstice people brought a rock to receive blessings and to gather the energies of the universe. They would later sculpt it into a figure.
     They went to a river to purify and they fasted while here eating only a type of porridge. They held a bowl in one hand and a stick in the other that caught the energy of the sun on this auspicious day.
     Kollanas were the leaders of all of the temples and being here we connect with everything that was lost from their books of knowledge  because it is still alive in this place. Their teachings include three levels of awareness.
          Imata- living in communion with the highest perfection of the universe. (Enlightenment).
          Imaru- Your own knowledge. Many responsibilities come with knowledge.  The most pure energy is here and it calls the energy of the stones so they can speak with us to increase our understanding.
          Ime-Is reciprocity. You give your best to the world and the world gives the best to you.
     Jesus explained that you have to look with your heart because this place calls in the spirits of each person who enters. We chewed coca leaves to begin our prayers and chanted, “hiyo boya” 3 times. Coca connects us with the universe to guide us and build intuition. It was used for initiations. Coca in the bath purifies.. The shape and size of the leaf gives it meaning. Determines if it is used for good or bad purposes.
     The puma, snake and hummingbird are venerated here and there is a beautiful garden outside where they are sculpted into the grass. Puma walks in silence. Many temptations come when you walk a spiritual life, he explained. The puma brings humility. Puma gives us strength for our earth walk.
     We chanted, “Com kitachay” as we began walking through the sacred temples. First was the temple of the lightening bolt which opens you. The next temple of water was used by high the priestess. Next, Sophia, who walks with rainbow medicine, drummed in the temple of the rainbow. Then we entered the temple of the stars which holds a special doorway to the time of the sun
     There is a beautiful painting of Mau, the Milky Way. The Inca focused more on the dark spaces in the night sky called yana phuyu, (black clouds). There was a frog, snake, llama with a baby in their cosmology. They believed that all animals had a representation in the night sky.
Jesus guided us in chanting and feeling the presence of energy in each space. Unlike the other tourists moving through the space we took time to be present to it and to try to connect with the ancient wisdom that reverberates through these massive halls.
     Sweet charity met me at the door when I arrived home. Rajne had asked if I could pay both months up front so that he could buy a refrigerator. I felt happy to see that my contribution had delivered a brand new machine to make life easier for he and his family. I did a thorough job of cleaning the kitchen this morning and got to take a little Spanish lesson with his five year old daughter over breakfast. I am becoming a part of the family. I am blessed to call this my home until March.