Photo by Dana Nollsch, www.PhotoZen.us

In October of 2011, I began a deeper journey into the medicine wheel, filling a deep longing I’ve had nearly all of my life. The medicine wheel teachings from the Four Winds Society  and Jeffre TallTrees Ph.D. of Sacred Rainbow Mesa, offer “an exploration into the nature of time, energy, and the essential self. The shaman believes that only by stepping outside of time can we experience the mystery of creation and the beauty of our lives.” Many of our shamanic traditions come from the Q’ero of Peru. Upon the night of our “graduation,” Sunday, April 28, 2013, Jeffre shared the passage below with our ayllu (family), from Joan Parisi Wilcox, as told to her from Don Agustin (Pago, shaman). This passage describes the Hatun Yan, the heart of the Andean paqo and the great, happy path that we are on.

I hope that you, as you read, feel the winds of beauty carry you higher and higher, so that you see your world with more clarity from the heights above the clouds, bringing more joy and love in ever-expanding abundance. I feel so much gratitude to walk the hatun yan, enjoying the cosmos, while also being responsible for them, with countless others who walk the path from the old world and from the new…

To the stars of the morning, only give love. Love opens your consciousness. It gives you jewels that touch the heart. Fear paralyzes you, makes you unable to act. The more paralyzed you are, the more fear you have. It’s a vicious cycle.

The fragrance of the flowers is abstract and is connected with love. Love gives you wings. It turns you into an eagle. It allows you to see from high above, and at the same time it makes your body humble. It helps you relax in life. It gives you courage to experiment in life in all its different dimensions.

Love is a k’uychi, it’s like a k’uychi – a rainbow in which are clearly visible all the different colors of feeling, which transport your heart to the hanaq pacha [upper world]. A rainbow contains all the colors of life.

Think of liberty. Think of the infinite. Don’t think of small things, of trivialities. Trivialities are every small, they’re very silent – so silent that they are like cockroaches scurrying around. Fear always makes you think small, but love never thinks small. Love is able to sacrifice everything. Just think of the impeccability of the eagle flying into the wind, into the unknown, into the mystery.

And also have humor – that laughter under the stars, that laughter by the sea. Grasp the grandest emotions of life. This is the sense of humor that ought to be man’s future religion. Don’t allow miserable opinions to sway your vision of the world and of life.

Be happy. Be happy. Be happy.

Believe in love, in life, in God.