Late that night, the phone kept ringing while I was trying to solve a problem that had me reviewing some documents and talking on the other line. As soon as I was free, I looked at my phone to find out who had been calling so I could return the call the next day. To my surprise, it was my P'aqo, so I called him back immediately.
- Hello, Eduardo? –I was wondering where he was, as it didn't sound like he was in Cusco, it was more of a quiet place instead, like he was inside a room on his own instead of surrounded by his family.
- What happened in your heart? –my P'aqo's keen intuition has always amazed me, he seems to see through people and situations with such clarity that can only be explained through honest innocence.
- My grandma passed away, my boyfriend and I split, then my mom passed away, then a close friend committed suicide, then we all went into lockdown, and I haven't been able to go back to Nature...
- I'm here.
- What do you mean by here?
- I'm in Lima, in Miraflores...
The next morning, when I picked him up from the hotel in Miraflores where he had been quarantined upon his arrival from the U.S., he told me all about his trip, how he got stuck for three months in Kentucky without being able to return, how he finally got into one of those humanitarian flights, and how much he wanted to go back to Cusco, to his family. But life had other plans for him... so I brought him home, made him lunch, and offered him some rest.
It is beautiful how life plays itself out in our favor and even more beautiful when we are conscious enough to realize this.
After sending out a Personal Missive telling everybody he was here, in case any of you wanted to join us for the next couple of days, we allowed life to unfold naturally. I was worried about his return to Cusco; but then he's a P'aqo, Apus guard their guardians, I would be reminded of that later.
The next day we decided we would go to pay our respects to the Apu that guards Lima city, the capital of Peru. I was a little ashamed that I had never been there, having been born in Lima and initiated a Ñusta more than two years ago, where I was taught the importance Apus bear for our wellbeing.
Apu San Cristobal, located in Rimac district, is a 409 mts-tall hill in Lima that has a viewing area at its summit. To get there, you have to walk through a kind of "favela", which can be intimidating, and then hike up about 20-minute stairs from the bottom to the peak.
Once at its summit, my P'aqo and I unpacked our things and set them side by side, then looked for a place to offer our ceremony.
- Forgive us, Apu San Cristobal, for covering you with trash, please guard us from Covid-19, may no more deaths come these people... –my P'aqo started talking to the Apu in the same way you would talk to a friend. Besides the "favelas" covering a big portion of it, you could see trash and insects around. That's when it hit me: nobody pays any respect to our Apus anymore, living in the city has made us spiritually weak and self-centered in regards to Nature, we have forgotten the ancient ways in which respect to other living beings was key to our development and survival, we have forgotten that Apus are alive. And here he was, interceding for all people in Lima, asking for guidance and protection, unseen by the city he was holding in his prayers.
If you read my previous post, What are you hiding?, you know how the last sun and moon eclipses affected us all.
As we started our gratitude ceremony for Apu San Cristobal, I wondered what shifts and changes were in store for me. Truth be told, I have been through so many shifts and changes already –when working in international business, when studying psychotherapy and different healing techniques, when walking the path that led me to become an initiated Ñusta– that I was wondering was else was there for me to process and heal.
Following my P'aqo's lead, as I started to look around for my piece of this Apu, I noticed a little stone standing close to me. It was really beautiful but I felt it was not for me. I grabbed it because I liked it, but kept on looking until I "felt" another one calling for me. It was immediate recognition. But, unlike the first one, this one was in a somewhat dangerous place, right in the outside corner of the Apu, nothing holding its ground. I wondered how was I going to get it. I looked around me and saw my P'aqo easily walking around looking for his. I'm definitely neither that acrobatic nor feel that safe when walking around a mountain, so I "tapped" into the Apu for guidance.
As I wondered how was I going to get my stone, a clear "feeling" came through me: Faith.
I looked again at where my stone was standing and realized I didn't think it was an easy thing to do. My P'aqo had no doubts about finding or reaching out for his. There was so much for me to learn from him... I stood still and connected with the Apu, in the way I had learned when hiking with him around the Inca Apus. My mind showed an image, immediately. I knew it was the Apu talking to me.
A friend of mine had taken us to Apu San Cristobal. He's not much of a spiritual person, so while we were doing all of this, he was busy looking at his phone.
In the image, I was reaching out for the stone, while he was holding my arm in a peculiar way.
Immediately, I felt resistance. I'm used to doing everything in my life on my own. Part of my training with the Inca Apus had to do with remembering how strong and capable I am, and how I can rely on my-Self when things get difficult, so since then I hold my ground and find solutions in a conscious way. But afterwards, I reached the next step, where I met two Apus who explained to me the importance of duality, transcendence of duality, and the whole purpose of Ayni. But still, I didn't want any help.
I looked at the path to where my stone was and thought maybe if I sit and approach it slowly I can reach where it is without falling all the way down. I turned and looked at my friend, to make sure he was still glued to his phone, and went for it. I walked closer to my stone and started sitting down, slowly. It was then that I heard my friend coming to where I was...
- Please don't fall down the mountain –he said, while trying to grab my arm. I resisted as I tried to get closer to the stone. Eventually, I turned to him and asked for his hand, but he grabbed my arm in the very peculiar way I had seen in the image shown by the Apu. Again, I resisted.
- This is a safer, better way, let me show you –have I told you I like to do things my way? I love to learn, at my own pace. So yeah, I resisted, again. I've known this friend for quite some years, so when he told me –again– that I should try his way, I let him. To my surprise, it was exactly what the Apu had shown me: because he was holding my arm and not my hand, I was able to stretch easily to where the stone was, without even putting my weight in the loose area.
- Faith –I was reminded, once again. Things are meant to be better than what I can imagine. I just need to let go and allow, instead of putting my-Self in the way. Does this ring a bell in you?
It was then that I knew what to do with the first stone. I turned to my friend and gave it to him. I could see how clueless he was. Every bit a westerner, he received the stone and looked at it like, you know, a stone.
My P'aqo came back with his stone and I gladly showed him mine. I also asked my friend to show him his. And so, the ceremony took place with the three of us, both my friend and I being initiated by Apu San Cristobal, the Apu guarding Lima, through my P'aqo –my friend never saw it coming, nor did I, but I think it was like a spiritual recognition from this Apu, as up to then he had devoted his life to saving people from fire wrecks in Lima. Apus are guardians that oversee parts of Pachamama, and because we are cells living within her, they are very aware of our individual challenges and good deeds, very much like reading our souls.
As we were heading back after offering our gratitude on behalf of Lima citizens and asking for the Apus's protection for our paths, I pondered about how life works in synchronic ways. We think we know so much, but in reality, we know so little...
With this Apu's blessing, I am now equipped to work with people seeking for healing, especially that which hinders their experience of faith in this lifetime.
Are you ready to fly?
~ Luciana.