Three Leaves and a Flower
9 days.
17 women.
1 husband.
1 guide.
3 Q’ero-a-day.
34 nature parents.
8 sacred sites and ceremonies.
6 Qoya sessions.
102 intentions blown into 306 leaves and 102 flowers.
Countless offerings made.
Countless steps climbed.
Countless connections forged.
Countless coca leaves chewed.
And now…2 questions and 1 integration process;
“How will you walk in the world as someone who’s had the experience you’ve had?”
“Is there something that happened on this trip that wants to have a deeper root?”
I don’t yet know the answers to those questions, and I’m still integrating. But this much I do know:
This 1 woman continues to blow 3 times, 1 prayer a day into 3 leaves and a flower (a kintu) and offer those to nature, by way of gratitude, by way of asking for help, by way of practising new habit-forming patterns that she trusts will serve.
This 1 woman now has 4 parents rather than 2 (2 nature parents and 2 biological parents). And having those 2 extra parents has changed the way she feels about where comes from and where she belongs in this 1 world.
This 1 woman continues to feel a deeper connection to nature, and therefor herself, and therefor others. She is deepening her experience of knowing that she IS nature, there is no separation – no 2, only 1 – the story of separation is old and dying.
She is crucially more aware on a daily basis of the 1 law of Ayni – sacred reciprocity – the energetic exchange of giving and receiving. She see’s it in motion and meets it with 1 big smile.
She is now aware of the 3 powers – Yanchay (wisdom), Munay (love + will) and Llankay (service) and she knows that the will part of Munay has been her 1 missing link in her heart. She now feels a determination, a focus, a commitment coming through that has been absent, or perhaps dormant, until now.
This 1 woman knew that she came to Peru to learn about 1 thing, 1 thing with many threads all weaving together: commitment… to the people, places and things in her life…and to herself and her dreams and desires.
Add 1 ayahuasca ceremony and 1 dose of salmonella into the mix, and this 1 woman has been doing a hell of a lot of processing and purging!
She already knew this would be 1 significant turning point in her 1 life, 1 more period of transformation for this next stage of her life…the 3rd of 3 stages… as she dances her way from mother to crone.
But now it can be different. Now she can move as someone who’s has been fortunate enough to have had these experiences. It can’t be undone. Now she can keep taking 1 step forward…
3 leaves and 1 flower at a time.