Following on from “Munay-Ki for Newbies -Part Two”, this is the tenth in my weekly (every Friday) series of blog posts ‘For Newbies’, in which I attempt to outline the basic practices and terminology of shamanism, in as clear and easy to understand prose as I can. Last week I discussed the final five shamanic initiations of the Munay-Ki. This week, I’ll be providing some insight into the indigenous communities from which the Munay-Ki rites were drawn.
How did the Munay-Ki Rites originate?
As I stated in Part One, Alberto Villoldo, out of respect for native tradition and to avoid propagating the notion that westerners could become traditional shamans, stripped the rites of the indigenous cultures from which they came. Their roots, however, are in the initiatory rites and traditions of the paquos and shamans of the Andes and the Amazon, principally the Q’ero.
Who are the Q’ero?
The Q’ero people live in villages in the clouds between 11,000 and 14,500 feet in the mountains of Peru. They are often referred to as the ‘last of the Incas’ because they still dress, converse and live as the Incas did.
How did they manage to preserve the Incan way of life?
To answer that, you have to know something about the end of the Incan Empire and it’s a fascinating story. Essentially, Francisco Pizarro (pictured) and just 168 of his Spanish conquistadors defeated the Incas, a nation of millions. He did this by cleverly exploiting the schism, which had been created by the twin decimation of the Empire, through plague and through the Civil War between the brothers, Huáscar and Atahualpa.
Pizarro then took the victor of the Civil War, Atahualpa, hostage and, then, after seizing his gold, publicly executed him by garrotte, before systematically defeating his demoralised armies. The Inca Empire was, thus, overthrown and Peru would be forever changed by the Spanish assimilation.
Why were the Q’ero not assimilated?
Many know the story that I have outlined above, of Pizarro’s astonishing conquest, but far fewer are familiar with the story of the Battle for Q’ero.
At Wiraquchapampa, the legendary Altomesayoq, Garibilu Q’espi, alerted the villagers to the arrival of the conquistadors and the people fled into the mountains, leaving no food or water for the exhausted conquistadors. Consulting with the apus (mountain spirits), Q’espi built a saiwa (a column of stones), which was struck by lightning and crushed many of the invading force who, unnerved, never returned.
Thus, it is claimed, certain Incan traditions were uniquely preserved by the Q’ero, amongst them, some of the rites of the Munay-Ki.
How do we know of their rites today?
Much of our knowledge and understanding of the Q’ero is owed to Alberto Villoldo, a psychologist and medical anthropologist, who lived amongst and trained with the Q’ero shamans and who, subsequently, played a key role in bringing their rituals and prophecies to the attention of the modern world.
What other communities contributed to the Munay-Ki rites?
By far the biggest departure from the Q’ero traditions is the Seer’s Rite which is practiced among the North Coast peoples of Peru, (the descendants of the Chimú and Moche cultures), and by the seers and trackers of the Amazon.
Can you tell us about the Moche?
The Moche culture flourished in northern Peru from about 100 to 700 AD. Irrigation was the primary source of wealth, so the Moche culture emphasised the importance of circulation and flow. There is also evidence of some interaction with the Inca-Nazca culture (Cf. the Nazca Lines depiction of a whale).
Human sacrifice was common, often to the ‘decapitator’, a sea monster. It seems that their sacrifices were ultimately in vain, however, as there is evidence that their demise was due to a super El Niño, which caused an astonishing 30 years of intense rain and flooding.
In 2005 an elaborate gold mask, thought to depict a sea god, with curving rays radiating from a stone-inlaid, feline face, was recovered in London. Experts thought that the artifact may have been looted in the late 1980’s from an elite tomb at La Mina (a Moche site). Recovered by the Police, it was returned to Peru in 2006.
And what about the Chimú?
The Chimú appeared in the year 900, in roughly the same territory where the Moche had existed. They were a coastal culture and (in contrast to the Q’ero) considered the moon, ‘Si’, more powerful than the sun. The Sea, ‘Ni’, was another primary deity.
The spiny shell of the Spondylus jellyfish (pictured) was particularly valued for its connection to the sea. Considering the depths they reside, the Chimú free divers must have been experts to recover them.
The importance of the sea and of fishing in the Chimú culture, is further evidenced in the extensive fish carvings (pictured) at Chan Chan (near Trujillo), their capital.
As with the Moche, there was clearly a dark side to the Chimú too. In 1997, for instance, members of an archaeological team discovered approximately 200 skeletal remains on the beach at Punta Lobos, Peru. These figures were blindfolded and had their hands bound behind their backs. Their feet had been bound together and their throats had been slashed. Archaeologists suggested that these figures had been sacrificed to the sea god, Ni.
What does the Chimú and Moche connection mean, with regard to the Seer’s Rite of the Munay-Ki?
When I first encountered difficulties with learning the Seer’s Rite (as noted in a previous blog here), I felt strongly that there was something ‘missing’. I even undertook a ‘quest’ to Iceland to learn more (please see the relevant blog post here). The revelation that the rite is not of Q’ero extraction justifies my instinct, years ago, that the rite had something to do with the ocean and with cetaceans, and this fits with my recent research of the Chimú and Moche.
If you’re teaching the rite, my advice is to make some kind of connection with water (visit a river, a stream, or a beach, if you can), in order to connect your students with this lineage. Consider playing a bit of whale music in the ceremony itself, or make use of a pre-visualisation, or journey, that connects your students with a cetacean power animal (you can email me to request a copy of a shamanic journey I’ve created for this purpose at chacarunadanwaller@gmail.com).
Do any of the other rites depart from the Q’ero traditions?
Alberto tells us the Harmony Rite is connected with the Huachipayre people of the Upper Amazon. The Huachipayre, unlike the Q’ero, have a strong tradition of using the plant medicine, Ayahuasca (see my previous blog here). Their shamans work with the plant medicine to conquer the fear of death, which was very much connected with my own experience of taking Ayahuasca (see previous blog here).
To my mind, however, the Harmony Rite is not such a departure from the Q’ero, as the Seer’s Rite, because the archetypes sewn into the luminous energy field are all recognised by the Q’ero and are the allies of the Q’ero paquos, just as much as the Huachipayre shamans.
Obviously, the illegality of hallucinogenics in this, and most countries around the world, means that we cannot experience the world through the eyes of the archetypes in quite the same way as the Huachipayre (that is, through the assistance of Ayahuasca, pictured). However, we can experience it through a pre-visualisation, or journey (again, you can email me if you would like to request a copy of a shamanic journey I’ve created for this purpose at chacarunadanwaller@gmail.com) and I would encourage you to make this connection for your students, in honour of this lineage.
Okay, I’m in. When can I receive the rites?
As luck would have it, I’ll be leading a Munay-Ki course with my good friend and fellow shaman, Theresa Scully, over two weekends (the 7/8th July and 14/15th July, 2018) in Warwickshire. That’s us, below, just above Machu Picchu, during our ascent of Waynapicchu together, in Peru, 2015.
For more information on our course, please see the attached link here: https://www.facebook.com/events/777336332470402/or contact me at chacarunadanwaller@gmail.com, or my co-host, Theresa, at tasteresa@icloud.com for further information.