My husband and I drove separately to the Philadelphia airport in the pouring rain to pick up our guests from Peru.
Not knowing what to expect, I felt an open anticipation. A few conversations had led to this moment. It struck me that these men were traveling far from home to meet a woman they didn’t know, live in an unfamiliar home, and spend an immersive week in service. I considered how much trust they had in Spirit and commitment to the path of the paqo (shaman) to say ‘yes’ to this call to Seed the Light in New Jersey. To show up within the unknown and share their wisdom, love, and healing energy.
I recognized this familiar ‘yes.’ It had led me to this highway and with that awareness, all that was unsettled within me washed away.
In that moment, I knew I’d spend the week being instructed how to live in beauty, trust, and love.
We met these beautiful, tired men with warmth and received the same. Connected, yet strangers, we gathered luggage and headed home. As Pascual played the flute in the backseat, we drove slowly through the torrential downpour. The rain offering cleansing for the Philadelphia area as the healing of the Earth, Pachamama, and all Her creatures began.
Once settled, we called our friends to lunch. They showed up with gifts.
This is the way of living in Ayni (eye-knee), the Peruvian cultural and spiritual practice of living in right relationship with Pachamama and each other. In gratitude for our caretaking, we were wrapped with bracelets and draped in shawls made by their families. Giving and receiving. Receiving and giving. After lunch, Chino did the dishes while others played flutes and rattled, cleaning and blessing the space.
Centered in our intent to care for the paqos, my husband and I consciously opened to make space to receive every blessing and gift offered.
As the days unfolded, we entered a joyful rhythm of relaxed friendship, laughter, give and take, shared meals, and quiet time on the deck. Eager to work, the paqos headed to Soul Sanctuary or our Weekend Gathering with enthusiasm. After long days and nights, they laughed and joked in the backseat on the way home. Their camaraderie and genuine enjoyment of their time together was obvious.
When I showed Francisco my “magic closet” filled with overflowing bookshelves, binders housing my creations, and mini altars, he offered to bless it.
Returning with his bells, he blessed my closet and all the wisdom within. He blessed the altars in my office. I was ready to offer my gratitude, but he quickly moved on. Generously blessing the plants and crystals in the bathroom, cleaning the energy within our clothes closet, and moving on to the bedroom and altars within. I trailed Francisco as he blessed our space and then looked to me with a question, “okay?” Okay indeed, papa, as we shared a hug.
Morning, evening, and throughout the day, I felt the delight of every greeting. I witnessed how the paqos greeted us and each other in genuine friendship and loving attention.
How different this was from the rote greeting often observed in daily living. That ‘how are you?’ without much attention to the answer.
With every meeting, something lit up in the face as the handshake or hug was offered
This wasn’t only offered to people.
It was apparent in how the paqos greeted each day with reverence , enjoyed the busy birds in the backyard, and felt nourished by the greenery of the neighborhoods. Pascual and I walked along my gardens and down the street to the pond. Curious about what was naturally growing and if fish were present, he greeted the plants and the waters with “Munay Sunqo!”
This “love from my heart” greeting was often heard and sent off in all directions to all aspects of nature, including the beautiful participants in the Gathering.
As the days unfolded, in the midst of a busy schedule with many moving parts, I became still inside.
I began receiving lessons directly from the wisdom of Life Itself. The kind of teaching that quietly states, “This is how you live. This is how you love, relate, work, play, and grow.” I felt generosity move through my being in a constant flow with so many different forms of expression. Laughter bubbled up frequently without cause and tenderness claimed my heart as its home.
Witnessing the preciousness of each participant as they received a blessing or initiation threatened to dissolve me.
My eyes soft, my inbreath deep, I felt Life Itself delight in the scene before me. Like a proud Mama watching Her children enter an exchange with such sweetness and open hearts. Pachamama breathed deeply and exhaled long and slow Her acknowledgment that healing was happening and magic was returning to the world.
Something profound was seeded during these interactions, welcomed in the belly with the promise of nourishment, safety, and love.
The Seeding the Light Gathering, every part and each location, offered an alchemical crucible for a shifting of such magnitude that I was surprised the weather remained calm. The subtle movement of thunder and lightning was present in the invisible power of every ceremony, yet poured into each person like a gentle mist.
At some point, I became conscious that the desire to serve inhabited my whole being.
It was easy. No thought required, no idea of how or why, just an abiding love that wished to move in service to Life. No instruction, preparation, or even intent was required in this natural tendency.
Just the awareness that Life serves Life in all of its myriad forms. And that strangers becoming family is the natural order of things.
When the Gathering was complete, we rested, enjoyed some shopping and a taste of Philly cheesesteaks. Arriving at the airport, I moved to retrieve their bags from the hatchback. I was stopped as Francisco and Pascual adorned me with bracelets and a headband. I don’t know why I was still surprised at their grateful exchange for the ride to the airport. Receiving graciously, giving generously. Ayni in constant practice is the way for those in tune with the overflowing abundance of life.
Arriving home, my husband and I compared notes. 8 days of living in love and we were shifted.
There was no end to the gratitude we shared. With a full heart, a tired body, and many seeds of light, I settled onto my back deck. I thought to offer Munay Sunqo and Muchas Gracias to Pachamama, the beneficence of Life, our beautiful teachers, and every participant who called forth this shared experience.
Since no words were needed, Life rested as I promptly took a nap.
Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.
The Andean Wisdom Path invites a commitment to live the Beauty Way. As a practice, you make a daily commitment to take action to bring beauty to every situation you are in. Moment by moment you have the opportunity to notice how beauty emerges through you. As well as every space within you that withholds or denies beauty within yourself, another, or life. This is a practice of perpetual correction. A graceful bowing to the true harmony as you clean up each perception. Living in Beauty aligns you with the principle of cosmic harmony. Let’s create beauty together.
Learn the one essential skill that allows you to face any challenge with confidence, sturdiness, and inner calm.
More than a technique. It’s a game changer.
ia Sophia has arrived. This “Way of Wisdom” offers an invitation to step upon a Living Spiral Path and discover a new understanding of what it means to embody the Mystical Feminine.
For the past fifteen years I have lived and taught within the Mystical Feminine. I have sat within many circles and immersions with women as we explored how to practically and powerfully engage Feminine wisdom in everyday life.
When my daughter was in eighth grade, she and her Girl Scout troop were beginning to explore ideas for their individual Silver Award projects.
Around our dinner table, we tossed around possibilities. Nothing landed. Nothing stirred real interest. So we encouraged her to do what we have always trusted. Stay open. Listen. Pay attention to what people are talking about in the world.
Driving into Soul Sanctuary last weekend, I noticed the trees were engaged in a wild dance.
I should have paid closer attention as I got out of the car, because the wind nearly took me with it. Walking to the door, I had to lean in and brace myself for a moment just to stay upright. The cold whipped through my clothes and found every uncovered space, sharing its bone-numbing chill.
We recently had a big snow in my neck of the woods.
Everyone was hunkered down. The fridge was full, chicken soup was bubbling on the stove, and my book pile sat patiently on the coffee table. As the snow covered the neighborhood and the plows dumped fresh mounds over our carefully shoveled walk, we took turns peeking outside.
As a kid, snowstorms were pure joy.
“I think we need to be friends.”
Those were the first words out of my mouth when I introduced myself to Rev. Hilda Covington. We’d just finished a county meeting of nonprofit mental health and social service agencies. She was the presenter that month. We almost didn’t meet because Hilda arrived an hour and a half late to a two-hour meeting.
Life has a rhythm. It speeds up and slows down according to mysterious forces.
Your personal rhythm dances with the celestial bodies, seasons of the year, developmental phases, and the pulse of your Soulful evolutionary process. Living in harmony with these rhythms is in many ways hard to understand as it is a complicated and deeply personal process. Your rhythm dances with everyone’s rhythm in the grand Cosmic Dance.
