With two more days in Peru, Lulu and I signed up for a couple of optional tours which were being offered to us. Here are some of the tours Lulu and I joined which I thought were the best optional tours in our trip.
Spiritual Healing with a Shaman:
I was so intrigued with the description of the tour which said " .. you will have the opportunity to meet with an Andean shaman and witness a real offering to mother earth and the sacred protectors to thank them for this trip." Jesus told those who will join this tour will get a " shaman blessing ". It did not take a lot of convincing for me to join this tour.. Lulu and I immediately signed up.
What is a shaman?? A shaman ( or a healer ) is a person who interacts with both the normal world and the world of spirits, usually acting as a sort of intermediary between the two. Shamans are common in many tribal cultures, although shamanism may also exist in other types of culture. The shaman is often responsible for both the physical and spiritual health of people, and may also be called upon to invoke spirits for aid, or to predict the future and interpret omens.
We were ushered into a room and quietly took our seats around the shaman who was sitting on the floor. What a sight!!! a true to life Shaman sitting on the floor right in front of me!! I felt so lucky to be able to take a lot of photos of this ritual to show what I have experienced.
He started his ritual while I watched in awe and listened to Jesus' explanation of what he was doing. The symbolism of each of the herbs, flowers, stones which he was taking out one by one and placing it in front of him.
Then he went to where we were sitting and gave us 3 coca leaves, told us to make a wish on these leaves and return them back to him which he included in his ritual.
The Shaman wrapped the offering, slowly stood up. Holding the offering in his hands, he went into a light trance and started to chant. His chanting took around 10 minutes. The whole group were mesmerized. Not understanding what he was chanting, we watched intently to what he was doing.
After his chanting, we were called one by one to the center of the circle in order to get our ritual blessing. We had to tell him our name, then he would repeat our name and start chanting once more. It seemed like forever when he started chanting!! He asked me to bow my head, close my eyes, make a wish while he went around me smudging the offering all over me.
