NORTH DIRECTION MODULE 7 | THE WAY OF THE ANCIENT …

MODULE 7 | THE WAY OF THE ANCIENT WISDOMNORTH DIRECTION

MODULE 8 | WORKING WITH THE SACRED

BEYOND PSYCHOLOGY, BEYOND THE MIND, YOU LEARN TO WORK AT THE LEVEL OF MYTH AND ARCHETYPESThe archetypes are the gods of old. They are the forces of nature that shape and mold our lives in the same way the wind and tides shape the landscape. In Working with the Sacred, you will acquire tools that allow you to engage the mythic realm, including the seemingly “negative” elements, so that you can draw timely lessons from them and bring healing, transformation, and balance to every life. We explore the shaman’s archetypes, and how to interact with them creatively. We learn about the masculine and feminine journeys for becoming whole, by following the stories of the ancient gods and goddesses.

OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES• Learn the archetypal journey to wholeness for men and women.• Psyche: The tests and trials of the feminine.• Parsifal: The tests and trials of the masculine.• Learn the techniques of shamanic dreamwork.• Understand the Hero’s Journey.• Learning how healing entails saying yes to your calling.

REQUIRED READINGHe: Understanding Masculine Psychology by Robert A. JohnsonShe: Understanding Feminine Psychology by Robert A. Johnson

RECOMMENDED READING Island of the Sun: Mastering the Inca Medicine Wheel by Alberto Villoldo

WORKING WITHTHE SACRED


TAROT AS A MAP OF THE SACREDDiving deeply into the archetypes can be terrifying for some. However, they are a powerful tool for personal discovery. Archetypes, ancient types, is a term coined by the psychologist C. G. Jung. They are symbols for universal themes that exist in our lives across time. Archetypes can give insight into what forces drive you and what power is available to you. In this way, they can become maps of the sacred. These maps for the realm of the sacred have been drawn in many cultures across centuries, so they have a validity that goes beyond the invention and use of a divination deck like the Tarot or the Mystical Shamans Oracle itself.

HOMEWORKLay out two concentric circles with a Tarot deck. Pick a card from the outer circle to reveal the power that drives you and from the inner circle for the power that is available to you. Ask your partner/yourself three times “why is this card exactly right for me right now?”.

WORKING WITH THE SACRED

BREAKING AWAY FROM FATEShamans do not only divine the future, but they also select destinies. We bring certain destinies with us shaped by what happened in our past lives. If we do not consciously select our destiny, we are likely to fall into the grip of fate defined by our genetics or our family drama. But how to break out of these dynamics? You guide destiny by consulting an oracle. Watch Alberto demonstrate how to conduct a three-card tarot reading observing the past, present, and future possibilities.

ORACLE CARD READING


FROM INQUIRY TO ACTIONA concern that lies at the center of shamanic work and the healing process is how to be in the world but not possessed by the world. How can we observe what’s happening in our lives and bring it to the level of hummingbird to alchemically convert it to a source of power and wisdom? Learn to turn your question into a quest. Watch Alberto conduct an oracle card reading to support this process.

TURNING QUESTIONS INTO QUEST

GROW OR DIEHealing is a journey, not an intervention. And it can be a hero’s journey. To evolve and rise up the spiral, we must go from the normal/middle world where we ordinarily reside, to the upper and lower worlds. We need to leave our comfort zone and enter the unknown. This is where we encounter the road of trials. If we stay where we are familiar, we might as well die, we will not grow. Often destiny will come get us and we can decide to go kicking and screaming or to go with intention and land on our feet. Joseph Campbell once said, no creature can achieve a higher grade of being without ceasing to exist. Transition, recognition, and atonement are essential for our development.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY


THE STAGES OF THE HERO’S JOURNEY

DEPARTURE1. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE EXAMPLE SAKYAMUNI.Destiny has summoned the hero to transfer his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown...A region of treasure and danger. A distant land, a secret island, a forest, a mountain top above the sky…

2. REFUSAL OF THE CALLWhen the subject refuses the call, he loses his power and becomes a victim to be rescued. “Because I have called, and you have refused... I will also laugh at your calamity...”

3. SUPERNATURAL AIDThe first encounter of the hero is with a protective figure who provides the adventurer with amulets or passes along wisdom which will be key in being saved from latter dangers.

4. THE CROSSING OF THE FIRST THRESHOLDYou meet the Guardian of the unknown landscape ahead.Oftentimes is a monster-like being of the collective unconscious. But if you befriend it, it will not only open the way but might also offer keys to find treasures.

3. SUPERNATURAL AIDThe first encounter of the hero is with a protective figure who provides the adventurer with amulets or passes along wisdom which will be key in being saved from latter dangers.

5. THE BELLY OF THE WHALEAfter crossing the first threshold you arrive at the possibility of rebirth -- the archetypal image of the Womb in this case the Belly of the Whale. Sometimes not just the renovation of oneself but the renovation of the World...a sacrifice is called for.

INITIATION6. THE ROAD OF TRIALSOnce in the landscape of the deep unconscious come the trials. Example, Psyche through her four trials or Inanna. This can be the beginning of the long and perilous path of initiatory tests and moments of illuminations. There will be many tests to pass, dragons to encounter, and many victories. Example, Tristan in the myth with Isolde.

7. THE MEETING WITH THE GODDESS (Also Woman as the Temptress or Hag). She will take care of you if you surrender to her.


8. ATONEMENT WITH THE FATHER. The wrath of God. One example is Sodom and Gomorrah. On the other hand, is the possibility of the Mercy of God and by the Grace of God.

9. APOTHEOSIS The Ultimate Boon is the Buddhahood we attain once we go beyond the terrors of our ignorance. It is the promise of becoming a Bodhisattva or the immersion in the untroubled pool of nirvana It is the mind that has transcended opposites and is basking in Oneness. The gods and goddesses are the embodiment and custodians of the imperishable Being, of the elixir.

RETURNThe hero now begins the labor of bringing the wisdom into the kingdom of humanity, where the boon may benefit the renewing of the planet.

10. REFUSAL OF THE RETURNThe return has been frequently refused. Even the Buddha doubted whether the message of realization could be communicated.

11. THE MAGIC FLIGHT /RESCUE FROM WITHOUTSpiritual assistance comes to help the hero on the return journey. Will the world be the same as the one I left before my initiation? Will I make it home?

12. THE CROSSING OF THE RETURN THRESHOLDThe hero crosses the barrier between the worlds, is allowed passage, and learns the way between the worlds.

13. MASTER OF THE TWO WORLDSThe hero is now in the world but not of it. The adventurer has returned transformed.


ANYONE CAN TALK TO GODWhat happened when we stopped living in the sacred world, in the mythic? Western cultures judged indigenous cultures as being simple for being illiterate, but you do not need to read or write to go to nature and convene with the divine. In these cultures, everyone could talk to god and directly negotiate a fate or destiny. But then that power was lost following the settling into cities, after we discovered agriculture and the domestication of animals. The shamanic teachings can show us a way to reconnect with that ability.

WORKING IN THE MYTHIC WITH A CLIENT1. BE TOTALLY AWARE

2. SURRENDER TO NOT KNOWING WHAT COMES NEXT

3. HEAR THE MYTHIC STORY THEY ARE TELLING• Know your own shadow.• Be a sacred witness to your client.• Breathe with them. Feel what happens. Deep rapport is key.

4. HAVE THEM FIND WHERE THE STORY LIVES IN THEIR BODY. • Go into the discomfort zone.

5. COME INTO PROPER RELATIONSHIP• Where they are hurting and how that needs honoring.• Everything is exactly as it should be.

6. ACKNOWLEDGE THE GIFTS• How has this story served you? Why are you holding on to it?• What is the benefit? Is there a secondary gain? • What is the Sacred Medicine (the lessons) the story holds?

7. HELP THEM TO EXPERIENCE THE GIFT THROUGH CEREMONY AND RITUAL: • Sand Painting• Rites of Passage• Fire Ceremony• Despacho• Dance/Music/Art

LIVING IN THE MYTHIC


8. ENVISION THE NEW STORY• Ask “What do you want to create now?”• Birth of a new destiny

KEY PIECES:• Remember you are on a mythic journey.• Our goal is to find a new language. (Language of poets, not only facts).• Live in right relationship — AYNI.• People are afraid to let go because there are no new myths they can live by.• The Shaman’s art is to dream the world into being by mythmaking.

CONNECTING TO THE FEMININE IS CONNECTING TO EARTHWestern mythology suggests women are evil and Mother Earth will not support us. Shamanic traditions are inherently feminine, where everything is spiritual and the Great Mother cares for us. In the West, the separation from the divine came with agriculture. Crusades were directed at expunging heretics, the followers or Hera, of the old ways, that disagreed with the idea of the superior masculine. We are only slowly returning to the notion that the divine can reside inside of us.

THERE ARE 4 STEPS OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT:1. God is outside of us; we have to placate with offerings.2. God can be in us; this is where we are now.3. God can work through us.4. God can work as us. We are not separate.

THE FALSE FAULT OF THE FEMININE


BRINGING CHANGE THROUGH STORIESIf we tell stories of the disempowered feminine, like Little Red Riding Hood, then that is what we cultivate within our society. To change the world, we must change the stories we tell. The archetypes, the old types, are images of concepts that exist within our psyche and in our collective consciousness on a deep level. How a culture values certain archetypes communicates to its members certain values. Archetypes also reside in certain numbers. Watch Marcela elaborate on the relation of archetypes and sacred numbers.

HOMEWORKChoose an archetypal number and create an embodied drawing.

ARCHETYPES OF SACRED NUMBERS

QUEST AS A PATH TO TRUTHAlberto uses the story of Siddhartha/Sakyamuni to illustrate the 4 steps of turning question into quest:

1. Awakening, realizing something needs to change2. Great Departure, leaving behind the comfort of home3. Test & Trials, overcoming the doubts, facing the challenges and temptations, staying

committed to the path4. Return Home, to integrate new insights into your life

These steps are contained in every archetypal story.

STORY OF THE SAKYAMUNI


SAKYAMUNI RETURNED WITH THE GIFTS OF THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS:1. Dukkha, the world of things, is never ultimately satisfying.2. The origin of suffering is craving and clinging and avoiding the displeasurable. 3. Cessation of suffering is putting an end to the craving and clinging and ending the cycle of

rebirth.4. There is a path to this cessation, the 8-fold path: right view, intention, speech, action,

livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration.

Western spirituality offers a path of suffering and penance. Eastern spirituality is directed at the relief of suffering and finding peace with all of creation.

THE OPPORTUNITY OF TEST AND TRIALSIn the process of embarking on our quest, if we can awake and depart with courage, and let go of the clinging, we can avoid creating big drama in our lives. The tests and trials that follow this departure guide us toward what we must do to grow. As long as we are holding another responsible, we are not facing the tests and trials. It can be convenient to remain in denial but moving forward implies seeing tests and trials as opportunities. Embracing this process with all its potential duress is what allows us to come into our full potential. In any moment it lies within our power to resist and suffer or embrace and enjoy.

THE GREAT AWAKENING


HOW DREAMS REVEAL OUR INNER WORKINGSDreamwork is not about interpreting but about exploring, about discovering the inner self through the dream. Dreamwork helps to launch the client on their journey. It isnot important to find resolution to conflicts or literal guidance but about helping clients to learn more about their inner processes. This work allows us to look at what we are integrating, what’s coming up as a shadow, and what opportunities might be presenting themselves. Watch Marcela demonstrate the process with a student.

HOMEWORKPractice shamanic dreamwork with a partner.

SHAMANIC DREAMWORK

CHANGE THROUGH STILLNESSWhen we work with the sacred, we witness, we don’t repair. In witnessing, we create spaciousness. We are tempted to bring things back to the level of Jaguar or Serpent. Our aim should be to remain at Hummingbird. Pure witnessing enables change.

Pacha means space-time. We create sacred space by opening the Wiracocha and stepping outside of ordinary space-time. For Andean people, space and time are one. Pachacuti is a legendary ruler-king, and his name means ‘the one who stepped outside of time”. With a linear concept of time, you can only look to the past but not access the future. Once we learn to step out of linear time and beyond a dualistic understanding of reality, the realm of what we are able to understand, and access expands immensely.

THE WITNESS


WHAT LIES BEYOND DUALISMPachacuti is the turning of space-time, an inversion of the established order. The last Pachacuti was the coming of the Europeans to the Americas, turning the Inca civilization upside down. The Pachacuti taking place currently, is said to enable the rebalancing of the earth. This upheaval is tied to crisis, as any large-scale change of the familiar is bound to be. It is, however, the basis for returning to right relationship with the earth and all life on the planet.

PACHACUTI

HOW TO BECOME PART OF THE PROPHECYThe Q’ero are the keepers of the prophecy of the Pachacuti. They were \ meant to deliver it when the time was right, which they did in 1949. The prophecy said that the next Pachacuti would be complete when North and South America came together, when the ‘eagle and the condor flew together again.” . The task of the Q’ero included to set the start of the prophecy into motion. For us as students of energy medicine, this poses the question of how to become part of the prophecy rather than being bystanders.

THE PROPHECY


LISTENING TO THE BODYThe healing journey can be like a spiral, so the four stages of the medicine wheel might recur throughout our lifetimes and in the various areas of our life like family, work, or relationship. The spiral mirrors the four directions and archetypes. The more we can listen to our body and trust the information it gives us, the more connected we can be to this process.

HOMEWORKEmbody where you are at in your story.

EMBODYINGTHE SACRED JOURNEY

THE MAP OF THE MYTHICALMyth is truth. Not necessarily real, historical truth, but true. It is truth outside of time, manifesting in time in a particular form. It can serve as a map on our journey to become whole. Two myths we will look at in more detail are the masculine, Parsifal, and the feminine, Psyche. Masculine and feminine are not gender descriptions but aspects that all of us carry inside ourselves, independent of our gender.

PSYCHE


THROUGH HARDSHIP TO MATURITYIn the story of Psyche, she must face the trials cast upon her by Aphrodite, the mother of her beloved, Eros. When she decides to accept the tasks and go on her quest, she awakens to the great journey of initiation, even if her departure is somewhat forced upon her. Once she agreed, even if the tasks seemed impossible, supernatural help, help beyond what she could have imagined, became available to her. But only once she was fully invested. She did not receive the comforting assurance of this help being available beforehand. So, the decision to embark on the journey had to come from a determination to face the trials entirely on her own if necessary. In the shamanic tradition, freedom can be earned but is not a given and time is limited. There is no entitlement.

THE FEMALE QUEST

THE MASCULINE NEED FOR QUESTListen to Karen sharing with us the story of Parsifal. This is a story of generous gifts squandered through neglect. But the gifts can be recovered through discipline and self-control, through withstanding temptation and convenience. The masculine is initiated in blood but matures by understanding it does not need to kill to attain its status. The masculine continually needs a meaningful quest to help direct its energy towards something positive and creative. Today, many of our instincts have gone bad and are unreliable. The archetypes help to regain our instincts.

PARSIFAL


EXAMINING ARCHETYPICAL HARMONY IN THE BODYWe can test the integration of the archetypes and their harmonious relationship to each other within us through muscle testing. All 7x7 relationships can be tested in both directions. One archetype conflicting with another does not have to be mutual. After mapping all relationships, choose 2-3 to check in with and have a closer conversation. Watch Karen demonstrate the process.

HOMEWORKPractice working with the seven archetypes with a partner.

TESTING THE ARCHETYPES

PASSING THE THRESHOLDRites of passage happen in ceremony. You create an altar and invite spirit to a feast. There is a purpose -- going from one state of being to another by crossing a threshold. Today we rarely celebrate the crossing of these thresholds but many of them exist and are obvious. Witnessing and community anchor these passages. Some changes can be painful (adolescence comes from, a dolor, in pain), but completely change our outlook and relation to our place in the world and our biography and can be recognized positively as such.

RITES OF PASSAGE


A DEMONSTRATIONWatch Marcela conduct the Rite of the Womb with a group of female students.

THE RITE OF THE WOMB

BUILDING SPIRITUAL CREDITThe despacho ceremony builds spiritual credit that you can use for healing. Taking on stewardship of the earth connects us to resources of powerful lineages of medicine people. For this ceremony, you are encouraged to create your own sand painting with regional offerings that you can find wherever you reside.

THE PRAYER OF THE CEREMONY MUST CONTAIN FOUR ASPECTS.• 1st we call to spirit and pachamama and all nature to receive this prayer• 2nd we express humbleness and acknowledge our role as students• 3rd we express gratitude• 4th we ask for that which we desire

Trust yourself to take on the role of earthkeeper and steward, of doing what you can do to bring about world peace.

Watch Alberto and Marcelo conduct and explain the steps of an ayni despacho ceremony in detail.

HOMEWORKPractice making a Despacho.

DESPACHO CEREMONY


MAKING A DESPACHO

THE STEPS TO CREATE YOUR OWN DESPACHO ARE SIMPLE:• Begin with a large piece of white or colored paper. This will be the “wrapping” for your

offering – think of it as a present. Flip chart paper or non-foil wrapping paper works well.• Fold the paper into thirds one way and then thirds the other way so you have nine squares.• Working within the center square, you begin to layer the burnable objects that have been

enchanted with your breath, so the essence of your prayers is within each one.

A suggested list of contents, order, and their meaning is below; however, there really are no rules. Create your prayer bundle in a way that is meaningful to you. Once you have filled the despacho with your offerings and prayers for yourself and the Earth, fold the bundle into the shape of a gift; left to right, right to left; then bottom-up and top-down. Tie it with a white cord and add one “Qintu” (three leaves from a local tree, blessed with a prayer) tucked into the yarn for any “forgotten prayers.”

INGREDIENT SUGGESTIONS AND THEIR REPRESENTATIONS:• Large piece of white paper: Envelope of dreams in which we “wrap” our prayers. Blow your

intent for reciprocity and balance into each offering.• Sugar: Represents sweetness and love.• Qintu: In Peru, they use three coca leaves, but you can utilize three small leaves from trees

native to your area. We often use bay leaves, so look for leaves about that size.• Red and White Carnations: Red for the Earth and white for the mountains. Place a red and

a white carnation petal on top of the Qintu (to represent the snow-covered mountains reaching the Heavens) on top of the red petal representing the Earth.

• Build the foundation of the despacho with the Qintus, informing each with your prayer (use a minimum of 12 Qintus).

• Cover the Qintus with a little sugar, representing even more love and sweetness.• Place one open shell in the middle of the prayers, representing the womb of the Earth, our

source and birthplace. This holds us, nourishes us, and provides opportunity and safety.

NOW FEED YOUR PRAYERS WITH A HANDFUL OF WHAT SUSTAINS YOU:• Rice: Fertility and abundance, to bring your prayers into fruition.• Various grains: Sustenance.• Nuts: Gifts for the Plant People.• Beans: For protection, abundance, and the springs that nourish us.• Corn: Sustenance, gift back to the Earth for what we have been given.• Raisins: Spirits of our ancestors, power places, our blood lineage.• Figs: Spirits of the ancient ones who dwell in the sacred mountains.• Alphabet noodles: To step outside and beyond language.• Animal crackers for animal spirits, and health.


AND THEN ADD A FEW MORE PINCHES OF “SWEETNESS”:• Candies, candy hearts, sweet gum drops, candy corn, etc.: Represent everything we are in

relationship with.• Chocolate: Pachamama LOVES chocolate.• Loose sage or other incense: To feed the elements of the Earth.• Black licorice for protection.• Gummy or candy frogs: Represent messengers, envoys to carry our prayers; and cycle of

waters.• “Play” money (one piece): To ensure success of the despacho by ‘paying off’ debts to spirits.• Unraveled cotton balls (clouds): Represent awake-time and dreamtime.• Confetti stars: Represent connection to the stars.• Colored confetti or sprinkles: To celebrate all life.• Rainbow yarn: Represents the bridge between the worlds.• Red and white cord: Represents the “red” road and the road to the stars.• Flower petals for healing.

When you have placed all your items in the despacho, the corners of the large paper are folded over the contents so that they all overlap at the center to form a smaller square. Tie the despacho without flipping it over so that all the prayers remain in balance. The despacho can be either buried (for slow, steady results), burned (for quicker transformation), or fed to the running waters ceremonially within a few days after it is prepared. When the despacho is placed into the fire, participants do not look towards the flames until after the offering has been burnt. This symbolizes non-attachment to the outcome and release of all claim to that which has been given away.


WHAT YOU LEARNED IN THIS MODULECongratulations on completing the Module ‘Working with the Sacred’. We saved this module for the end of the training so the basic skills would be in place already and you could now learn how to dance in the world of the sacred. By turning your wounds into sources of wisdom and stripping yourself of your ego you can access this world. These archetypes and techniques will assist you in stepping into the luminous world. For we came here not to grow corn but to grow gods.

MODULE 8 SUMMARY

NORTH DIRECTION MODULE 7 | THE WAY OF THE ANCIENT …

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