Peru: A Journey to the Within


It all began with the book “Dish & Tell: Life, Love and Secrets” and two of the author’s life-changing experiences in Machu Picchu, Peru, twelve years ago.  Mercedes Soler, one of the authors (a TV reporter at the time), writes a story called “Epiphany” which tells of her and co-author Patricia San Pedro’s spiritual experiences in Machu Picchu.  The following are two excerpts from that story; the first recounts Mercedes’ encounter with the Pachamama stone (the Mother Earth stone), the second tells of Patricia’s strange reaction to her visit to the sacred ruins.


“I climbed up on top of the altar, deliberately profaning it, and just stood there. But, despite my best attempts at sneering at the alleged supernatural powers of Machu Picchu, I began to notice a strange attraction.
Before long, I started to feel the mammoth stone pulling me in, almost magnetically. It was a very strong, yet gentle draw. I put my arms on it, so as to resist, but the force of the pull continued. So began an invisible tug-of-war, a “mano a mano” with the Pachamama until I was face-to-face with her, my nose crunching under my breath. I was feeling light-headed.
A crazy notion came over me that at that moment I could either fly or get out of my body as I had heard some people claim they could do.                         

But my mind kept saying, “No way is this really happening. Get a grip.” Yet I couldn’t or wouldn’t escape the attraction. I stayed there until suddenly my head started pulling away from the wall, but my waist remained somehow attached to it. I started arching backward with my arms extended in an open and embracing pose. Farther back my body went, and I was convinced that I could just let myself go and levitate over the Andes…

“Throughout the night, I stayed with Pat in her room and tried to nurse her back to health. I really felt the need to help this woman, though I barely knew her. I offered some of the medicine I had brought with me, but nothing worked. Pat continued to vomit for hours. She later confessed that she felt so horrible that night, she actually thought she was about to die and was embarrassed at the thought of how difficult it would be for the rest of us to transport her body from the Andes to Lima and back to Miami.

After a while, a fellow journalist, Parisina, who had also experienced a strange encounter with the Pachamama, and had talked about it on the train, asked about the stones. “You shouldn’t have taken them out of Machu Picchu,” she told Pat. “That is sacred ground. They need to go back.” I jumped in to help this poor woman, who, at this point, was grayer than anyone I had ever seen. “Well, we can’t very well go back to Machu Picchu; there has to be another way,” I rebutted.

By this time, a couple of hours had passed and Pat had stopped vomiting so violently. “Where are the stones?” I asked her.

She pointed to a little pouch next to her nightstand and I handed it to her. As she opened the bag and let the stones fall into the palm of her hand, the vomiting resumed, almost immediately. I grabbed the stones with a cloth, not wanting them to touch my own skin, and gave them to Parisina to take outside. While she was gone Pat’s condition worsened…

“DISH & TELL” READERS RESPONDED TO THIS STORY AND ASKED TO BE TAKEN TO PERU.

2006: Miami Bombshells prepare “Dish & Tell” readers for their journey to Peru:

Ladies,

At this point you should be getting pretty darn excited about what we’re about to embark on, reading up on Peru on your own (recommended reading: Dance of the Four Winds by Alberto Villoldo) and getting psyched about a strong encounter with yourself. This will be an amazing trip on many levels, most importantly a journey to the within.

We’d like you to start getting ready by starting a journal, meditating and thinking of the primary “heavy weight” issue that you want/need resolved. Try to bring this one issue to life in your dreams (as in sleeping) and envision possible resolutions. It is also time to start connecting again with the Pachamama or Mother Earth. Take walks in parks, beaches, lakes, sit on the grass, touch the earth and begin to share each other’s energies. Our main objective on this trip will be to shed burdens. We will do this with the help of all that is nature.

Bring a journal!!! Bring an open mind and an open heart. Bring your sorrows and burdens and plan to leave them behind. For whatever you take from Peru, please plan to offer a gift back (physically and metaphorically). Pay attention to any animals calling to you in the next few days. They may have something to say. 

The Miami Bombshells