The Despacho Ceremony

Following the ritual cleansing, the group hiked up to Pumamarca, a sacred site that honors the jaguar, the animal associated with the world of humans, which the Q’ero call the Kaypacha (middle world). There, the group prepared a despacho. In the Andes, a despacho ceremony is performed after each earth cycle to renew the powers of nature in our body, and to attain balance for each of us and our loved ones. A despacho brings the shaman into harmonious relationship with heaven and earth, aligning the shaman with the archetypal organizing principles of the Universe.

In this ceremony the shaman’s work is similar to the work of a collage artist.  He uses symbolic elements such as seeds, flowers, shells, and candies to build a colorful and sweet prayer bundle that is sent back to the earth and up to the heavens as an offering at the end of the despacho ceremony. In this process, we are able to dream our world anew, fostering health and empowerment on an energetic level.