MY SPIRITUAL SEARCH ON THE INCA TRAIL
Plans of mice and men.
August of 2014 was to be the Month of my Journey on the Inca Trail. I had no prepared very well for this trek through the lands of the ancients in Peru. Sure I had my pack and good boots, clothing that would take me from hot valleys to freezing mountain tops. Water was not suppose to be a problem nor was food, since I had paid for a guide service to provide meals and a place to sleep. My disillusion with my self was the ill preparedness I am speaking of here.When undertaking a trek of this nature, as a "Normal" person, you pick up a book or two on hiking and read about what is best for a journey like this. You might also seek out a friend or two and ask some questions of what to expect. There is where the journey, or so I thought, would begin. REI and my friends would send me in the right direction. I never considered this journey to be one of allowing my self to be found by God or any form of spirituality. I felt it would be me, searching for who I am in this beautiful wildness of the Sacred Valley of Peru.
The trek was to begin in Placitas, NM in Mid August flying from NM to Peru via Dallas, TX. This was a holiday as well as a culmination of reading and reading about the Ancients of Peru. The Amara, the Quechua, The Inca. Their feats. Their constructions. The lost nature of who these ancient ones were.
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| Consumed by the Shadows of the past and future. |
It didn't happen.
The travel agency I had picked to handle all my travel during the three weeks in Peru had a small SNAFU, and their broker had forgot to buy the tickets to make the trek on the week I was there. So I had to make some decisions on what to do. It wasn't easy since the agency was offering some very interesting alternative hikes on less traveled trails and will all the amenities not normally associated with these hikes.
No, I came to hike the Inca Trail and that was what I wanted to accomplish. So the decision was made to return the following year in October, since spring would be starting and the weather would be more favorable than August's winter end. James, guide I spoke to during this decision making process was convinced that all things happen for a reason.
"Things happen for a reason" this became a new mantra of mine. I had never fallen into that frame of reference, since I was a very self confident person. I had worked for myself for many years, was a charter kind of employee when I worked for others, and didn't really let SNAFU be a part of my mind or spoken language because I was in control! Ha, then you go to hike the Inca Trail and the control mechanisms get hit with a monkey wrench.
It seems God was in control, not me. There were other plans for me in Peru.
Forward to planning for 2015
The arrangement I had made with the amazing travel agency (Kuoda Travel in Cusco) was to come back to do the Inca Trail the following year. After getting home in 2014, I figured since I was going back it would be just be smart to add to this new trip and really make it a journey to rival my 2014 Peru adventure.
My personal spirituality has very little to do with religion or the dogmas and commercialization of what religion promotes. Not to say I haven't studied. I do read my Holy Books. I have four I consult, yet I seem to favor the personal approach of spirituality of meeting with God on a one on one basis. This new journey would be one of meeting with my spirit leaders in Peru at those places where the energy of the world is still very much in a state of vibrancy.
The list was growing. I needed three weeks to get done what I wanted to do, and had only two weeks to get it done. It would be up to God to help me decide where my Journey would take me.
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| Puerta de los Magos. |
It seems the life I have lead has twisted and turned and allowed me to conform to the teachings of the Ancients in ways I still at times have difficulty in understanding. I am drawn to the ancient constructions like a bee to nectar. I find the sweetness of the energy that these places bring is a luxury to my understanding of what we are, where we have been and where we are going. The stones speak to me.
The life of the stones has become a symphony of feeling. I can't begin to describe all the emotions or thoughts that come to me when I feel the stones and the indelible mark left by the energy coming to me from these stones and the spirit of the Earth contained within them. I had to let the Earth Energy direct my path. That was just the way it would have to be. This was not a journey of making the tourist rounds and seeing everything and feeling nothing. Some of these sites were a hike to get to. No air conditioned bus to drop you off . These were going to be paths of rocks and manure. Kids playing and locals drinking Chicha and generally having a great time at some of the most sacred places in the world. Yet these modern socialistic capitalists really don't know what they are in for.
The energy of the Earth is in transition. Man in in transition. The soul that binds us to our place is wounded. Few are willing to heal this wound. They are lost and have lost hope in seeking the love of the inner soul. Modern humankind I fear is living its last days.
To be continued......
