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Dear friend,

This is the fourth issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!

ECUADOR Part 2 . This is part 2 of my recent trip to Ecuador with the Pachamama Alliance, an organization dedicated to preserving the rainforest and the indigenous peoples who are its natural custodians.

Ecuador is a land where indigenous peoples, who make up about 40% of the population, actually have some political power. There are eight tribes in the Amazon basin, and another eight in the Andes. In the last ten years, indigenous people overthrew two presidents; there are indigenous political parties. Shamans were persecuted until ten years ago, but not now. Twenty-five years ago, the Homestead Act granted people land if they agreed to farm it. Many of the indigenous mountain people survive through farming. Still, within Ecuador, education is needed to increase recognition of the needs of indigenous peoples, and also to make them aware of their rights.

In Ecuador, the mountains are said to have spirits, which may be either masculine or feminine. Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano, and towers over the villages nearby. It has glaciers 150 feet thick. The shamans draw upon the spiritual medicine of the mountains to do their healing work. The Andes are said to have, now, the same spiritual power as the Himalayas--since a group of Tibetan monks did a ceremony in the Andes.

Traveling by bus, we saw corn, cattle, and pigs near the roadside. A thatched shrine with a large white cross inside probably commemorated someone killed in a car accident, in this 90% Catholic country. Many orchids grew wild. Here and there, in the villages, people near the road were cooking sausages, chicken, and corn on smoky barbecue fires.

Our next destination was Otavalo, famous for its mountains and its huge outdoor market. Otavalans have had contact with the West since 500 years ago, yet retain their indigenous ways. The men have long hair, white pants, sandals, and ponchos; the women wear embroidered white blouses, many gold necklaces, colorful shawls, and black skirts. These people are good businessfolk, making a living from selling their crafts. They are small in stature, especially the old women, bent over carrying enormous loads on their backs. A tiny old man herded sheep on the cobblestone road. Our destination, Casa Mojanda, at the base of Mt. Mojanda, was beautiful to beholdorganic gardens, llamas grazing on the steep hillsides, spectacular mountain views, white adobe buildings. The meals were vegetarian and delicious, with fresh milk and yogurt from their own cows.

Saturday was market day, and we gringos had a great time bargaining and buying everything from sweaters to handwoven rugs, hammocks, ponchos, shawls, jewelry, painted boxes, knives, and musical instruments (including a digeridoo!) The food market was a fascinating mix of sights and smells, although we didn't buy there; I was tempted by the huge mangoes, but we were being very well fed. Most of the vendors seemed to be women. There were old women beggars there too, tiny sad looking people who would follow me, tap persistently at my elbow, and extend a hand for a few coins.

At a nearby restaurant, a father and his children entertained us with traditional Andean music. It is wonderful to watch how each person deftly switches between two or more instruments, such as flute and pan pipes.

In the Otovalo area, the shamans work with the spirits of the mountains, such as Imbabura and Cotacachi. Our group visited Don Esteban Tamayo. He wore a headdress of feathers. His accuracy in diagnosis was astonishing. After rubbing an ordinary white candle over the patient's body and head, he lights it and then reads the candle flame. In a simple, dark room of concrete with dirty white walls, he and his helpers call upon the spirits of the mountains, which represent harmony and relationship. On the table in front of the shaman are candles, bottles of alcohol, rose water, paperweights, carnations; above it is a print of an American Indian on horseback. The altar (on the adjoining wall) has candles, a picture of Christ, dead carnations, and on the shelf beneath, a Colgate toothpaste box marked "fresca, confianza." On one wall are several certificates, including one from the "Dream Change Coalition," signed by John Perkins. Women were chattering matter-of-factly in the background, children and dogs ran in and out of the room. The shaman's wife wore the traditional embroidered white blouse with flared sleeves, a black skirt with side slits revealing a white underskirt, and many gold necklaces which highlighted the gold in her teeth.

After hearing the astoundingly accurate diagnoses of others in the group (everything from migraine headaches to sciatic pain and ringing in the ears), I couldn't resist, and rushed up saying, "Uno mas!" (One more!) Don Esteban did not mention any illnesses, but told me I was "strong like a man, like a shaman spirit, with a hand of art or knowledge." He told me my spirit was sad, not at peace, because of too many thoughts; that my spirit was going around in circles, looking for a new path, the path of peace. "So you will have new energy, transformation in all areas of your life through ceremony. All the shamanic work is opening doors so your spirit can move forward on a new path." . We were told "With all your faith, think of your desires and needs." We stripped down to underwear, shivering in the cold room. The shamans then blew trago (sugar cane alcohol) on our bodies, sometimes invoking the spirit of fire in a dramatic way by blowing the alcohol spray through candle flame, creating a cloud of fire. We were asked to face each mountain in turn. The sacred stones were rubbed on our bodies to help take away the bad energy. After the fire blowing, we were given carnation petals and rose water to rub over our bodies. Then the plants spirits were called in with whistles, and bunches of leaves were tapped vigorously all over us. Tobacco smoke was blown into our hands, and the crowns of our heads, with loud sound effects. Finally, bells were rung, wool hats placed on our heads, and the shamans intoned (in English, incongruously)"Mission complete!" The wool hats, which we were asked to buy, were to help hold the energy in place.

The next day we drove to a lake on Mt. Mojanda at 11,700 feet, and climbed the Fuya Fuya peaks, ascending to 14,068 feet with magnificent views of Mt. Imbabura, the azure blue Lake Mojanda below us, and snow-capped Mt. Cayambe. It was a challenging climb for those of us over 50! At the top, Makarena (Juan Gabriel's nimble girlfriend) handed each of us a carnation or rose, to scatter the petals and offer a prayer to the mountain.

From the bus window on our way back, we saw a large group of people forming a human chain... tossing stones hand to hand for a building. A sign on a wall: "Libertad, dignitad y microempresa." (Liberty, dignity, and microenterprise.) . Maria Juana (yes, that's her name!) was our final shamanic healer. She is also a midwife and is consulted by many women for their problems. Paloma, white dove, is her spirit ally. It is said that Maria Juana cried aloud from the womb, to signify that she was a shaman. In addition to the usual candles, carnations, eggs, trago, cigarettes, and leaves, she also uses soda pop and cookies; the soda is poured into a cup, sacred stones from the mountains are added, and carnations dipped in while she prays and chants and blows tobacco smoke over it. At the end of the healing, the patient drinks the soda and eats a cookie. On her altar, an airline safety brochure is displayed, from her recent flight to a U.S. convention of shamans.

Maria wore a feather headdress, gold necklaces, beads, and embroidered blouse with a black jumper over it. Little five-year-old Olga, her granddaughter, was irresistible, in her gray wool sweater, knit cap, earrings, black skirt and winning smile. We were asked to stand and hold a spear in our right hands to give us strength. Maria's husband and son did most of the vigorous work of spraying trago, swatting us with leaves, and chanting "Chungo, chungo, chungo" (spirit) and "Corazon, corazon, corazon" (heart). Tobacco smoke was blown into our hands, then our hands were pushed gently against the heart and the forehead. We were each given a couple of red carnation blossoms which she had blessed, tied on a string to wear over our hearts, "until they fall apart." After the cleansing, Maria took each of us into another room for abdominal massage. All of us were told: for three days, no red meat, onions, or hot spices, no showering, don't shake anyone's hand.

To close our experience of being together, we had a little ceremony outdoors at Casa Mojanda with incense from copal wood, while the llamas peered curiously at us from time to time. We took turns telling each person what we had learned from him or her, what we appreciated about him/her, and a life-affirming action we planned to take. My life-affirming action, I decided, was to give away my polluting old car-- to move away from the over-reliance on fossil fuel which I used to take so much for granted. Remembering that oil exploration is a huge threat to the Ecuadorian rainforest and its inhabitants, I felt that this was a way to start living my commitment to preserving these precious and endangered natural treasures.

My old red Toyota is history now. As I write this, I am feeling stronger and more energetic, relying much more on my bicycle, and often just my feet, to get me around! And I had a dream in which someone asked me what was different now, and I said "I am moving forward into my life."

Click here to return to Ecuador, Part 1.

Read more about the value of the natural world in The Circle of Healing. (see below).