 Sacred
Union With The Land In The Andes
Awakening In The Dream
by
Cayelin K. Castell
How
do I describe the experience of a journey that occurred inside the dream
of a reality so profound and so far reaching it is beyond the limits
of any language I know? What I can say is the land dreamed me. This
Andean land of the ancient civilizations that existed long before any
recorded history we have is alive and waiting for us to remember our
place within the dream. There are so many levels and layers of ongoing
symbols and points of power built into these ancient sacred sites that
we can only begin to guess at how these people actually lived and what
they experienced in their conscious relationship to the land and to
all life. They were attuned to the essence of the mountains and valleys,
to the plants and animals, and all the natural forces including astronomical
and cosmological alignments. They designed and built these structures
in harmony with the land and the sky to enhance their relationship with
the power, potency and magic of the natural world. Many of the details
are still actively present in these sites, many are yet to be remembered.
My experience here was beyond mental concepts
and words, beyond anything I had ever experienced before as I
felt the land remembering me and I felt myself remembering the land.
Picture Series observing
Inticcahuarina or December (Summer) Solstice at Ollantaytambo
I felt the intention, I felt the connection, I felt the mystery of these
places still breathing in the land waiting to be remembered. I felt
the land claim me and activate within my body, within my cells, within
my blood, within my bones, and within my very breath. I began to realize
I was not just a respectful and fascinated visitor
but rather I was a part of the land and the land was a part of me.
The process accelerated when I engaged the plant spirit San Pedro through
ceremony first at Winya
Wyna near Machu Picchu and then again on the
 Isle
of the Moon on lake Titicaca. My only intent for this journey was
simply to show up and experience what was mine
to experience.
I felt the intensity of the life force
of the land activating me and recognizing me; and because I was open,
receptive and willing it then infused itself more fully and completely
into the depths of my being. I can still feel it inside my body and
if I shift my attention just a little I can feel the blurring of the
lines of our space/time reality. It is a softening, a blending, an infusion
of spirit into matter, a place of acceptance, where the spirit of the
land claims me as witness to its magic and mystery. I felt loved by
the land and by the people in ways that I have never experienced before.
I was welcomed and embraced, taken care of and kept safe even in the
wildness of the thunder, lightning, wind and rain that surrounded us
as we climbed to the other side of the Isle of the Moon. I knew I was
safe, and I knew I was being initiated into something I couldn�t explain
or understand with my rational mind.
Even now, back at home in the Northern Hemisphere, I feel I know this
land, I know these mysteries and yet I have no words to describe them.
I can feel them, witness them, value them, and love them as a part of
myself and I know that is all that is necessary.
I
know I am a living breathing conscious embodiment of this land and her
mysteries.
This experience continues to deepen for me even
now nearly three years later. On
my first morning home in December 2002,
I remember awakening with visions of the megalithic stone
structures of Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman, Amaru
Muru, Tiwanaku, Cutimbo, Sillustani, and others. I felt them
breathing inside of me and I heard a voice that said �the land is inside
me, the land is me, the land has claimed me�.
The land, the stones, the mysteries want to live inside of me, breathe
me and express through me. I feel the movement of light,
of
life, of knowing beyond ordinary knowing, of being beyond ordinary being,
of shifting beyond what is accepted as reality all
so alive and so present and growing stronger. I have awakened
inside the dream of the land and the land is dreaming me.
 It
is an amazing feeling � �the land is me,
dreaming me and claiming me�. Is this how the ancient
people felt? Did they feel the passion of the land move in their blood,
in their bones, in their very life expression
in ways that inspired
them to build these sites, these places as
manifestations of that passion,
of that intensity of love and knowing that it is all so interconnected?
The stones, the animals, the plants, the cycles, and seasons, the astronomical
calendars, are a living demonstration
of their full knowledge of their interrelatedness to all life, above and
below, within and without. Where they lived, how they lived, what they
lived was a conscious relationship, a passionate, alive conscious relationship
in a co-creative dream with the All of life, with the fullness and joy
of life. It is vibrating in
 every
cell of my being, breathing itself alive
through me.
How do I continue to stay present and attentive to these mysteries in
ways that are most beneficial and supportive? How can I live a healthier,
more conscious and fully present relationship with the Earth, with the
land, with the spirits and with life? How can I be a conscious dreamer
in equal partnership with the dream? How can I deepen my connection
with the Earth, meet her as an equal partner, building new mystery schools
in concert with the land and the fulfillment of the dream? How can I
do this while also expressing new ways, creating new forms and new shapes
that exist in harmony and balance with one another? How can I draw upon
the wisdom of our ancestors, of their lives, and what they have left
behind as witness to the mysteries they lived? How can I experience
the wisdom of their life journeys in ways that support the current unfolding
expressions of the Great Mystery? How can I be a conscious expression
of the dream as it is manifesting now? These are the questions that
I am living and that are living through me.
I don't know the answers yet. What I do
know right now is the miracle of how I truly
love the land and the land loves me. And
for now that is all that is necessary.
For current itinerary of next Peru Journey visit
http://ancientenergies.com/tours.htm
Written in January of 2003 updated June 2005
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