After nine festivals this summer and living in the van for months, traveling both coasts, going into debt to make it to the burn, then barely escaping LA, it didn’t make practical sense for me to go to Earthdance.. but it was also more necessary for me than any festival has ever been. It became a catalyst for getting to Norcal immediately; It was something to look forward to in a dark time, a way to meet up with the rest of the LiS crew that’s come west and connect with the community I’m going to be living in. I desperately needed to purge a lot of negative energy that had built up fighting through the streets of Babylon, a lot of personal pain and frustration, which I hoped to do at the spiritual, peace-themed fest.
You will hear a lot of debate and complaint about the new venue, the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo, CA, minutes from San Francisco, in sight of freeways, shopping malls and Six Flags. The Electronica Temple was a giant warehouse that was sparsely filled; the Unity Stage was an indoor venue with great sound, and the Lotus Sanctuary was a conference room with a decorated altar and stage. There were real bathrooms and showers, but everything was paved and man-made.. Not very Earthy if you ask me. The Geo-Dome was cool but smaller than I’d imagined and the sound system in it was turned down with an early curfew. The Main Stage was outdoors but fenced in with metal grandstands in the back to chill on. It had huge speakers and an infectious party atmosphere, especially for Ziggy Marley and Ghostland Observatory.
I quickly got past any offsetting factors and focused on the immeasurable quality of artists, performers, presenters and attendees gathered in one place at one time. Everyone was stylish, talented and interesting in their own way, each bringing something different to the mix. Most were there for a lot more than a party, looking for learning experiences and personal connections with like-minded and very different-minded folk. I found it a fun and enlightened crowd; the vending was full of incredible crafts, clothes and costumes and the people I met and saw were surely the best parts.
They plan to grow into this venue I guess and attract more people from the city to come for just the day. Unfortunately I feel they lost as many hardcore festival people that would attend every year with the move as they gained bay-area concert goers coming to see Brett Dennen for some reason. The lineup was amazing, but still heavily underground and appealing to the small tribe of people that lives for this stuff, many of whom I saw at Raindance and The Bounce earlier this summer. Most disliked this venue, and all the wristband checkpoints. I prefer to be in nature for my festivals, as do most, especially for a Native American-themed Earth fest. No convenient infrastructure or 20 minute drive from the city will ever replace being surrounded by trees in a beautiful natural setting, like the legendary Laytonville venue the event just outgrew.
That said, it was awesome to dance on hard, even surfaces, and if it had rained, it wouldn’t have ruined anything. After the whole festival season and the burn two weeks before, it’s hard enough to muster the energy to do another event, let alone road trip or camp another weekend. So proximity to the city and the hotel next door hosting pool parties made it possible and appealing for a lot of people who were done roughing it. Regardless of setting, I found some of the most powerful musical and spiritual experiences I’ve ever had at this one, and I’ll definitely be back, though I hope they can find a home for it that incorporates the best of both worlds.
The presentations and speakers, including Incan shamans, a Native American Elders Wisdom Council, Crystal Skull Keepers, and Jamie Janover presenting Nassim Haramein‘s Unified Field Theory, were FOR REAL and consistently interesting. The international prayer for peace, a satellite linkup with over 350 Earthdance events happening worldwide, was an uplifting and unifying moment. These happenings were a major focus and triumph of the event, setting it apart from all others in mental complexity and spiritual depth. I rarely make time for these, but am glad I did this time, it opened my eyes to a lot and excited me about the awakening community I have been seeking and connecting with.
Among many other discoveries, Bird of Prey (Torin Goodnight) blew me away with his new Birds of Paradise project with Tyler Gibson.. Cerebral, mind-expanding stuff, it hurtled me through the cosmos, inspiring my mind with images and my body with dance moves.. This guy is one of the best in the game right now, and to suddenly realize that in a live setting at 4 am with a handful of people in a warehouse was really special. I’ve been onto his stuff for a while, but it’s clearly being taken to new levels and I’m excited to see what comes next. His wife KiT is a Goddess and professional hooper, often performing next to him, for an added touch of the feminine badass. See the rest of the vids HERE..
Kalya Scintilla is another rising talent I’d been wanting to catch live, and he did not disappoint. The Australian producer is quickly gaining a reputation in the West Coast community for his unique brand of tribal dubstep-infused beats. Using horns and his signature violin, as well as a wide array of drums and womps, he creates deep and diverse compositions that patiently build through different moods and landscapes. Check out our spotlight on him HERE..
Just when I thought I’d seen Beats Antique‘s show, they whip out more tracks and choreography and make it new again. Playing songs off their new album that dropped Oct. 4th, the trio mesmerized us with the possessed movements of Zoe Jakes and her dancers, impeccable string work by David Satori and Sidecar Tommy‘s raucous beats. Lafa Taylor came out and rhymed on a track, getting the crowd hyped and ready for the weekend. This is “Alto”:
Desert Dwellers is another act that brought new, tribal, consciousness-themed material to the mix. Amani and Raja laid down a worldly downtempo set accented by live instrumentation and the dancing of the lovely Sophia Thom, among others.. More from them HERE!
EOTO’s shows at the burn and Earthdance toned down the vocals and put Michael‘s exotic strings to the forefront compared to their Big Up performance. The burn show was hard and dubsteppy, this one more laid-back and melodic. I really enjoyed it, and can’t wait for their Lostinsound podcasts to begin!
The festival featured a massive playa art installation created by artist Karen Causolito, including three huge statues of people in different poses made of welded scrap metal.
“Epiphany” was the tallest, dramatically raising her face and hands to the sky. On Saturday night at midnight, she burst into flame as part of a ceremony that celebrated our unity and prayed for our evolution in this challenging, exciting time.
Ghostland Observatory has never been my cup of tea, but there were great jammed-out moments during their show that I caught while getting a beer, particularly during “Midnight Voyage”..
Faun, a German medieval folk band, was part of the faery element that the festival incorporated.. Going for a Renaissance faire vibe, a few bands of minstrels were commissioned to set a magical mood, which they did with flutes and harps and bagpipes. Interesting, talented and unique, I appreciated what they were trying to create, but its hard to have a ‘Faery Masquerade Ball’ in a building instead of the woods – its no wonder I only saw three fairies in attendance. This type of music is welcome in the right setting; when they played the Main Stage at dusk, it set a surreal mood in the campgrounds, a prelude to a mystical night.
What a summer for Dave Tipper.. He established himself as the king of bass music world without going mainstream or compromising his sound. Getting top billing at every festival he played, he stole hearts and headlines across the country. Mixing up old and new material and putting on a completely different show in every spot, he got his music out to tons of new fans and left no doubt that he is a master of both composition and performance. Congratulations to him and his team for a hell of a tour, for finally getting the recognition and respect he has deserved for so long.
The best part is that he’s still completely obscure in the mainstream while being so revered amongst people that know what’s up. He still feels underground, but thriving, and I hope he stays that way.
The first half of the Earthdance set started out as ambient downtempo, mashing up a lot of the material from his classic Shambhala 2005 set with tracks from his latest album, Broken Soul Jamboree. It then picked up pace and flowed into classic and unreleased dance beats, more like the stuff he played at his shows earlier in the summer. Here is a peek:
Midnite, my favorite Roots Reggae band still touring, was given a golden time slot, closing out the festival at Midnight on Sunday. I was stoked for this, and told everyone to be there. I’d seen them once before in LA and it had been a great show, if a little slow and obscure at times. This time around it seemed even slower and more obscure to me.. I don’t know if they were playing new material or just stuff I don’t know, but only one of my faves from Seek Knowledge Before Vengeance or Unpolished, two of the greatest Reggae albums of all time in my opinion, was played, “Love The Life You Live”. Now I’m never one to ask a band to just play its hits over and over, but drop somethin in a big spot like that in front of so many people that have never seen you!
They jammed out all their songs for ten minutes, something I would usually encourage.. But it often felt like it was dragging on and I am constantly frustrated that the lead guitarist wont step up and SOLO; the guy is really talented but so shy, used to deferring to the prolific Benjamin brothers on bass and vocals, playing little licks and tricklings, but never a strong and dynamic solo that adds another voice to the mix. I am thankful for the offering, it led me to discovering new songs and more sides of this interesting group, I just see such powerful potential.
The most powerful experience I had there, or all summer for that matter, was listening to the cosmology of the Q’ero Shamans from Peru. The moment I heard about this I was interested, and hoped it would be more than a ceremonial homage to their culture or some abstract metaphorical tale like most of the native mythology I’ve encountered. After staying up all night Friday (Couldn’t sleep after the BOP show blasted me into hyperspace), I ate some ganja candies this guy gave me and slipped into a mellow reverie, determined not to miss the presentation at 11 am. I dragged myself there seeking something that would cleanse me of my paranoia and lack of faith, of my fear of and hatred of my fellow man that I’d been feeling so much of recently.
What I found was a most sacred space created by the mere presence of these elders and medicine people from an Inca tribe that’s been isolated and maintaining their old ways and stories for 500 years. I was hoping that I would hear something or interact with them somehow or feel something there that would mysteriously purge it from me, but what I witnessed achieved that via my mind.
I’m hesitant to try to impart this with my rudimentary understanding of it, through the written word, third hand from the mouth of this shaman. Its truth, power and scope can’t possibly be captured and I fear it will sound like the New Age hooey I was so glad it was not. Though I’ve heard parts of it in books and school, from my parents and others interested in such things, it was presented more clearly and completely than anywhere else. I have only just discovered it and begun to explore and process it, so I only aim to spark an interest and explain how it affected me. It is a story, a way of looking at things, new information, a paradigm for interpreting what is going on that rings truer to me than any other I have encountered.
This is what I can remember:
There was a time when man lived together in relative harmony with each other and the Earth. We had balance and a sense of reciprocity with nature, or God, or however you look at the karmic whole. During this time a great civilization rose with bases in different parts of the world. The Incas, Mayans, Tibetans, Egyptians and other tribes developed extremely advanced technologies and medicinal wisdom.
There have been four great ages of civilization so far, of varying lengths and themes. Each leads to the next along the evolution of our collective consciousness, experimenting with different ways to be human and conscious, sleeping and awakening, learning and forgetting, dreaming, reaching, and cutting away the excess. The age that we are at the end of, which began with the European conquest of the New World, is one where things have been upside-down; barbarians have ruled while kings and medicine men have been hunted and enslaved.
Governments have been successful in perpetuating lies and rewriting history, suppressing the simple truths that would free each of us so that they can control and exploit the masses, but people everywhere are waking up. The great achievement of this time is our unprecedented global communications and universal access to information. This is key to spreading consciousness and ensuring that the inevitable fall of the fundamentally flawed systems we have built results in evolution and not destruction. We are on the verge of the next great age; during the transition, things are bound to be difficult and chaotic. This “Pachakuti”, or transition between eras, is described as nature shaking things out to right and cleanse them.
This sounded beyond familiar the first time I heard it, it sounded like truths I’d long known but forgotten, that I’d been trained to forget and discouraged from seeking. I’m sure you can feel that right now something is happening in our community; people that see what is going on are banding together in places like NorCal, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Brooklyn, Asheville, even Austin, TX and pockets everywhere, talking about it, preparing themselves for something, gathering information and spreading it with an urgency and sense of duty I’ve never seen.
The prophecy speaks of the luminaries of society, the most conscious, enlightened beings, gathering at this time to help spread the simple yet elusive realization that we are all one energy, and all of the applications that realization brings in terms of treating your fellow men like brothers, and living in reciprocity with nature and the universe. This true transcendence of ego gives the only true relief from feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and worthlessness that our egos are designed to constantly combat.
Pay attention to your home, your community, your water source, and your own truth. Live in your truth, stand firm in it. Common sense, the simplest things, and yet so hard to remember and achieve sometimes.
The Earth will one day become a star, enveloping all of our consciousness into a brilliant ball of radiance.
Light = Information, and they say the “light beings” will gather and spread the truth, and the lies will topple themselves, and man will return to a simpler time of pastoral living and community, and oneness with each other and the earth. Our Ancestors understood our symbiotic relationship to the Earth and the Elements and foresaw the collapsing of an unsustainable world. This can result in our evolution instead of destruction with great work and sacrifice.
They understand, as the greatest philosophers have, that the world we see is a reflection of what truly is, calling it the “temporary, fading residue of what has already manifested”. Getting beyond this ‘world of forms’ frees one from the tunnel vision that contributes to our separate, isolated minds. Meditation, use of sacraments, study and understanding of these principles has allowed medicine people and other enlightened spiritual beings throughout history the ability to live in oneness with all around them, past and present, far beyond the scope of what one person can see before them or conceive of in their individual mind. Many of us can achieve this for moments, but living this way all the time is to literally become the light, spreading it by breathing it.
This is not something we can impose on people that aren’t ready or seeking it, it sounds like a bunch of nonsense unless you need to hear it. I remember him looking at me directly and saying “We each have a choice whether we want to open ourselves and awaken to this, and we can’t make that choice for others, not even for loved ones.” So I don’t mean to preach or propose that we start printing pamphlets about this to give out.. I just like looking through this lens, and seeing the challenges and opportunities at hand in this way. I felt the power of these timeless words heal my soul and immediately focus and activate my mind.
My feelings of mistrust and hatred for men were lifted completely for a moment as I basked in the potential of what could be, in total unity and love, in complete truth and acceptance. I have long identified my adventuring and psychedelic explorations as part of the medicine tradition, and sought meaningful spiritual experiences within them, lamenting our society’s fear and oppression of them, but have never found something that filled me up and inspired me as much as these words and this movement. I identify with it and see the ancient wisdom in it. I’m also fascinated with the way the oral tradition has shaped the story in an artistic way while maintaining the meanings and important points. Also, prophecies and visions and lost secrets of the universe are just fucking cool – People understood vast amounts a very long time ago and its vanished until now..
Don Humberto Soncco Quispe and Elder Grandmother Dona Bernardina Apaza Flores at Earthdance
Read some texts compiled from various sources here:
A Q’ERO PERSPECTIVE
Our beloved planet, the Pachamama, is going through a period of purification and transition that the Qero Indians of Peru call the Pachacuti or ‘turning over’. This is being accomplished through events, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, that release the heavy energies absorbed from humanity over the eons.
The Qero prophecies speak of humanity shifting during this transition from Homo Sapien to Homo Luminoso – from bodies of matter to bodies of light or energy. As beings of energy experiencing this material world through the human form, this interpretation means that we will be transforming this body and embodying our Essence.
The Q’ero believe that the perfected template for our physical form lies within the “Viracocha,” the luminous energy bubble that surrounds the body. They believe that the Viracocha is the key to healing the physical body, which can more elegantly assimilate the higher vibrations and ease into the shift in form.
The 5th Sun:
The Golden Epoch of Human History
Please note this information has been gathered from a variety of sources.
In the mid 20th century the elders of the Q’ero Nation descended from their 17,000 foot Andean villages for the first time since the fall of the Inka Empire. Signs of “The Time to Come,” the beginning of a new era foretold by their oral teachings, were coming to pass. High mountain lagoons were drying, the great condor was near extinction, and the raw power of the sun seeped through a tear in the ozone layer above their three mile high villages. The elders knew it was their destiny to tell “white people from the North” and modern people the world over about the ending of the 4th Sun and the coming of the 5th.
Analogous to the 4th and 5th Worlds of the Hopi and prophecies of many indigenous people, “Suns” designate grand planetary epochs in which humanity and its institutions have certain characteristics, values, challenges, and opportunities. These ages build one on the other over thousands of years and are both the impetus for and the result of the evolution of consciousness and the unfolding of the Plan of the Great Spirit here on our home planet.
The transitions between these periods can be challenging, especially for individuals and groups having difficulty assimilating the incoming energetic information and growing in ways that mirror and express the new possibilities. Don Humberto, Grandfather of the Q’ero Nation, has spoken that “the upheaval and chaos, characteristic of this period will last through the year 2012. At that time the world will be turned right side up again. The pillars of European civilization will collapse, and the ways of the Earth Peoples will return. “The Conquistador will perish by his own hand and his own blade.”
For modern Westerners this next Pachakuti (the transition to the 5th Sun) holds the possibility of chaos and the end of the world as we know it. But it also promises the emergence of a new kind of human at the end of this period of turmoil. “The end of the world as we know it” is an ominous prediction. Could the Inka past be an indication of our near future? Don Humberto described the transition from the 3rd to the 4th Sun for the Inka Nation 500 years ago.
“The last Pachakuti was triggered by the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors. Throughout the Americas, the world of the Indian was turned upside down. Kings and chiefs were subjugated and turned into slaves, and barbarians became rulers. Medicine people were tortured in the mines and fields. Order in the Americas was replaced with chaos.” This is the world the indigenous peoples are looking to be “turned right side up again” soon.
Many modern interpreters of these ancient prophesies, acknowledge the fear and alienation of these trying times. We quickly add, however, that expanded consciousness and healthy, positive changes for individuals and modern Western society can win the day if the opportunity is taken. The Inka Prophecies tell us that reintegrating the “Ways of the Earth Peoples” and embracing the Medicine Teachings are keys to a con-structive conclusion to the challenging in-between time. The aging Q’ero Medicine Teachers abandoned their beloved traditional way of life high in the Andes after 500 years…. to travel the world spreading the news of the 5th Sun. The are arguably the most untarnished original persons left on the planet.
At the time of the origins of the Inka Empire, a Golden Staff came to the original Inka ruler who planted it into the earth at the site that became the capital of the Inka Empire and is now the modern city of Cusco, Peru. The Staff’s great ability and highest purpose was to designate, birth, and potentiate a new civilization, the site of a new unfolding of human history. This has happened four times, resulting in four new civilizations, or four Suns.
According to Q’ero and Hopi elders and many other indigenous leaders, humanity is now in a momentous time of planetary transition from the 4th to the 5th Sun. This newest incarnation of the Sun’s purpose and energy, however, is not about a particular place, a new city, or an emerging nation as it was in the past. The next Pachakuti, the Inka word for a human epoch, will not be a new empire. Rather the next human epoch will be characterized by the invocation and reception of new consciousness available to all humanity. It offers the possibility of the “end of the world as we know it” and the emergence of a “new kind of human being.”
The opportunity exists for each of us to find a way of life with a more loving heart, a keener more intuitive mind, and an expanded consciousness through a closer connectedness with the one energy, or collective consciousness. The opportunity awaits each of us to become “light beings.” New ways of thinking, feeling, healing, loving, teaching, acting, following, leading, working, relating, and governing are ripe for the picking. Each of us can help “bring balance and beauty to the Earth” and a “world where our children can live in peace.”
The First 5th Sun Prophecy:
The Resurfacing of the Medicine Teachings
It is the destiny of the Indian Nations and all conscious peoples of the Americas to release Huascar from the Underworld (Ukhupacha) where he has lived since the fall of the Inka Empire. One of two sons of Huayna Qhapaq, Inka ruler at the time of the invasion of the Conquistadors, Huascar was head of the Medicine Schools. Ambushed and killed by his only brother who had struck a fateful deal with the “half human, half animal white men,” Inkan tradition required that Huascar be banished to the Ukhupacha for not fulfilling his life’s destiny; namely, the safekeeping and development of the medicine traditions.
Huascar and the ancient healing ways have been distilling and maturing in the dark fertile Underworld ever since. They are awaiting a new opportunity to integrate the best of the wisdom teachings with the best of modern culture and science.
The Inka Elders suggest that the resurfacing of the ancient ways can only occur as the result of a surge of intention and an act of power by large numbers of humans now living in the Middle World (Kaypacha) of everyday waking life. The elders say they need our help. The elders say it is up to us.
Reemergence of the ancient ways has been anticipated across the planet for hundreds if not thousands of years. Many Indian Nation elders in the Americas and sages across the world have predicted the resurfacing of the Medicine Teachings for this very time in human history. What the Q’ero Elders call “Ways of the Earth Peoples” and “Medicine Teachings” are known by a thousand names and have taken various forms around the world.
The First Inka Prophecy for the 5th Sun foretells the return and flourishing of these powerful ancient teachings that have been distilled and updated during centuries of seclusion, clandestine development, and maturation.
The beliefs and practices of ancient civilizations were far from perfect and they should not be romanticized. They seem to offer imaginative solutions to modern dilemmas however.
The Q’ero believe that many ancient spiritual paths embody creative maps of consciousness and powerful spiritual techniques that can be used for the good of all life here on our planet. Forming and evolving out of sight from the modern, Western world for many centuries, these time honored methods can be used to harmonize the best of the ancient traditions and the best of our modern, scientific society into a new consciousness and a new “civilization,” the 5th Sun. What is the essence of the “Ways of the Earth Peoples?” What are principles and daily practices that could benefit modern individuals and society?
The Medicine Wisdom Teachings…
§ believe that of all of creation is “alive” and equally valuable in the mind of the One Creator.
§ encourage making important individual and group decisions informed by the wisdom of our ancestors and in light of the welfare of our “grandchildren’s grandchildren.”
§ are inclusive in nature and tend to promote healing of differences and transcendence of opposites.
§ propose openness to infinite possibilities and acceptance of circumstance and environment
§ value Mother Earth as a great being and loving advocate and guide by tuning our consciousness and daily lives to her rhythms and cycles.
§ value balance and harmony, walking “the beauty way” in all that we are and all that we do.
For modern individuals seeking a better life for themselves, their family, and “all their relations,” the First 5th Sun Prophecy suggests two areas of exploration and transformation.
First, wisely incorporating principles of the Wisdom Teachings into our inner and outer lives could greatly benefit ourselves and all those around us.
Second, we can realize that the prophecy not only describes a promise for the Inka, the Americas, and humanity, it foretells a truth and a possibility for each individual human. By the simple fact of our humanity we have a genetic lineage that connects us to the Medicine Teachings and the “best of the ancient traditions.” This collected wisdom is in our unconscious, in our DNA, and in our body. Each of us has ancient wisdom and powerful spiritual techniques deep within us waiting to be acknowledged and called. We all have our own “inner Huascar” who has been distilling and maturing for eons and is now ready to join forces with our conscious self. It is time for each of us, all of us, to begin living our destiny.
The Second 5th Sun Prophecy
The Eagle and Condor Will Once Again Fly Wing to Wing
Known by Indian Nations across the Americas as the Reuniting of Eagle and Condor, the Second Prophecy foresees southern Condor and northern Eagle flying toward a long awaited reunion. It is said that the vision of the Great Spirit Allies flying wing to wing signals the end of a time of separation and conflict and the beginning of healing, reconciliation, and empowerment for the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Tribal Elders say Indian brothers and sisters will come together with loving power to emphasize their common heritage and shared values. Significantly for all of us, they say that not only will the ancient traditions and values bring healing for decimated Indian Nations but also for modern western culture at large.
At one time Eagle of the North and Condor of the South flew wing to wing. At one time trade flourished among the indigenous people of the high desert of what is now known as North America and the Indian nations of Central and South America. At one time great nations communicated with mountaintop bonfires across thousands of miles. While there were great battles and cruelty among various tribes and nations, generally men and women lived in harmony with Mother Earth and the natural world of Animal People, Plant People, Stone People, and Spirit People.
The coming of the white man brought a dark era of disruption, alienation, powerlessness, and loss of traditional values in and among the Indian Nations. The conquerors sought to settle on Indian lands and gradually assimilate the native peoples into European culture and religion. In the process the Indian religion, culture, and livelihood, and in some cases even dignity, were nearly extinguished. Eagle and Condor were wounded and estranged.
Reunion of the great winged Spirit Allies and the resultant re-empowerment of the indigenous population have been anticipated by Indian Nations for centuries. Reconciliation has been quietly prepared for across the two vast Western hemispheric continents. Now, say the Inka Elders and their Second Prophecy, the times are changing.
The Eagle and the Condor are approaching. Those with vision can glimpse the grand birds soaring majestically above deserts, mountains, villages, and cities. The great winged ones are catching sight of each other. A new way is coming clear. The journey of reconciliation has begun.
This Prophecy can be understood as a description of a long standing problem and its solution for the native people of the Americas. It can also be taken as a metaphor of planetary problems and a planetary healing. The worldwide challenges are self evident on the nightly television news. Along with scientific advancements, loving individual actions, and creative group projects, we see mistrust, hate, violence, greed, hunger, rampant materialism, and separatist belief systems.
Applying the Second Inka Prophecy for the “Time to Come” to our modern world’s pain and dysfunction; part of the solution stands out. Put in the simple terms of the Inka, humanity needs to come together as brothers and sisters under Father Sun living in harmony and balance with each other and all our relations around our Pachamama, Mother Earth.
Far sighted elders of various Indian Nations have been meeting in counsel for centuries planning for the reconciliation and empowerment of indigenous peoples. Projects are uniting Indian people in joint efforts and bringing their message to the culture at large. Many Shamans, keepers of the ancient healing ways, are opening their teachings and rites to spiritually thirsty Westerners and a dysfunctional modern world. The elders of the Q’ero Nation of Peru, the inspirational and energetic foundation of the bloodline descendants of the Inka, are a key example.
Many modern Westerners are also working with creative solutions to our individual and cultural ills. Our society has produced miracles in the areas of medicine, science, technology, and public health. In many parts of the world equality of race, ethnicity, and gender as well as freedom of religion are generally more developed now than in the past. More people have education and knowledge available. Yet individually and collectively we suffer various ailments of an urbanized, technological, often paternalistic, and overly “progress” oriented culture.
The Inka Prophecies suggest that we have much to learn from our native elders whose societies Western European ancestors conquered and tried to assimilate centuries ago. The ancient traditions of our native elders offer many ideas, principles, and ways of life that are treatment and antidote for the toxic by- products of our modern, busy lives.
Marvelous tools are becoming more available to indigenous peoples and modern Westerners alike. Tools that are ancient, modern, and an ever-growing blend of the two. The need is obvious and the desire for change is mounting. The Inka Elders are lighting the way with their loving nature and the wisdom of their prophecies. Through a creative synthesis of the best of our modern ways and the power of the resurfacing wisdom teachings, we all can facilitate the unfolding of an enhanced kind of human and the reality of a magnificent golden age.
“You can only find truth if you seek it for yourself,
for the truths of history are the truths of others.
But truth is like a mirage in the desert.
For us, the task is not to chase truth but to create it.
Truth is a stance, an act of power that you bring to all your actions.
Truth is what the person of knowledge brings to every moment.”
—The Q’eros
Check out the International Q’eros Foundation and experience the presentation in person the next time they are in the states: Qerofoundation.wordpress.com
