A Journey of Discovery at Machu Picchu by Gayle Lawrence founder of Journeys of Discovery: Mind, Body, Spirit Travel Adventures
An Outer Discovery… An Inner Journey
Read  more about her company and tours on offer here

The engine strained in low gear as the bus climbed the steep twisting dirt road up the mountain. Gazing out the window I could feel the presence of the Apus, the mountain spirits, looking down on me. Below was a spectacular view of the Urubamba River (the Willkamayu or sacred river) winding its way between the majestic peaks of the Andes. The mountains stood before me like living beings, the aware intelligence I felt left me humbled.
As we neared the top and rounded the last curve, my breath caught with my first glimpse of this place that beckons me to keep returning time and time again. My eyes filled with tears, I sighed and relaxed, once again I felt like I had come home. This place, the Lost City of the Incas, the Crystal City in the clouds….Machu Picchu, Peru, calls to me like an absentee friend when we are apart. Now it was time once again, for us to be together.
Machu Picchu’s aura is like a fairy-tale place, enchanted, magical; shrouded in mystery, remote, alone, and breathtakingly beautiful. Perched high on a mountaintop in the Andes, it is the Tibet of the Americas. This lofty city, sitting at an elevation of around 8,000 ft, eluded discovery until the Yale University archeologist, Hiram Bingham, revealed it to the world after he “stumbled” upon it in 1911. Destruction and looting of the major Incan sacred sites were a result of the Spanish conquest of the prosperous Inca civilization in 1532; but they never found Machu Picchu. Even though they searched for the most sacred spiritual center of the Incas, it’s isolation and difficult mountainous accessibility spared Machu Picchu from ravage and dishonor. Peru is often referred to as the most powerful feminine energy vortex on the planet. Perhaps the spirits of the ancient ones hid Machu Picchu away like a blessed virgin. Holding her in silence like a mysterious secret, keeping her protected, unblemished, holy. So that modern day pilgrims like myself would have the opportunity to experience the spell of her innocent beauty and the transformative power of a place so pure. For those seekers, on a path of personal and spiritual growth, Peru offers a pilgrimage journey. There is an unavoidable route, seemingly designed by the Apus of the Andes, that you must take if your final destination is Machu Picchu. This naturally designed overland journey takes you symbolically from an “outer to an inner” focus as you travel from Cusco to Machu Picchu.
My journey begins at an elevation of 11, 200 feet in Cusco, the ancient Incan capital. Having just come from my everyday job, home, obligations and stress I am still feeling strongly connected to my “outer life”. Seeing this as an archetype, beginning this journey of self-discovery at such a high elevation symbolizes my “high superior attitude”, my ego, the aloofness of looking “down” on others. Being very focused outside myself. I wander down cobblestone streets, passing street vendors, and children leading llamas. Entering the Koricancha – Temple of the Sun, I am astounded by exquisite stonework, unsurpassed anywhere in the world. Immense stones fitted together so perfectly without mortar that the thinnest knife blade cannot be inserted between them. Placing my hands on these ancient walls I feel a tingling energy emanate from them. A shift from outer to inner has begun. At the huge ceremonial center of Sacsaywaman, outside of Cusco, I make an offering of 3 cocoa leaves, representing love, work, and wisdom to the Pachamama, the Mother Earth. A small very dark cave invites me into the womb of Pachamama. Feeling my way along the wall I must begin to trust that I will be guided to an opening, an exit from the darkness….self-enlightenment. I finally emerge into the sunlight, symbolically reborn as an innocent child. An inner cleansing process has been triggered.
At the waters of Tambo Machay, which represent the male and female consciousness coming together, I allow the energy of the water to flow over my hands. I touch my forehead and lips with wet fingertips and focus on bringing my own male and female aspects into harmony. Inner discord will surely block the flow of wisdom waiting for me on my journey. Traveling overland, my descent to the Sacred Valley of the Incas prompts me to focus on descending deeper within myself. The road twists and turns, sometimes offering spectacular vistas and then suddenly my view is blocked. Could this be a metaphor for my life, a series of emotional peaks and valleys? Often I resist the valleys of my experience finding them undesirable. But this Sacred Valley, so fertile and rich with crops reminds me how “rich with revelation” my own emotional valleys can be if I relax and enjoy the view. Later at Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, I ascend a trail of stone steps which take me to the temple at the top. Before me stand enormous pink granite stones with carvings of large Puma’s which represent the physical plane. Sacred rock altars, each specific to certain areas of the body, are said to energetically heal. Lying down on a huge stone, I feel a vibration run through my spine and I rest in a meditative state for a short time. After this session, my back does not bother me for the rest of my journey and I literally……sleep like a rock. Early the next morning I board the train that will take me to Machu Picchu. Geographically descending to lower elevations; symbolically descending to deeper “inner” realms of awareness and transformation within myself. The beauty of the Andean scenery captivates me during the course of my train ride. Majestic snow capped peaks tower over me. The Andean glacier called Veronica, watches as the train moves into the edge of the tropical rain forest. The flowing water of the river represents my consciousness carrying me forward, deeper into my own inner mystery. Boulders in the river could represent obstacles in my life that block my path. But the water easily glides over or around them….this river of awareness never stops moving forward. I ponder on this.
Arriving at the small town of Aguas Calientes, I board the bus that will take me up the mountain to Machu Picchu. I am filled with excitement, anticipation, and deep emotion. This ancient city is calling me and I am impatient to be in the midst of this breathtaking place. Machu Picchu’s allure is its mystery, filling your head with question after question, yet revealing very few answers. Machu Picchu is a stone city made of white granite, composed of 40% quartz crystal. In essence you are sitting on top of a giant powerful crystal and you feel this energetic vibration emanate from the natural structures all around you. I seem to be continually rejuvenated by this source of crystal energy and information stored in the stone surrounding me. Serenity washes over me as I stroll through maze like stone passageways and climb inviting stone staircases revealing well kept secret rooms. The Intiwatana or hitching post of the sun, the highest point in Machu Picchu, my personal power spot beckons to me. After a short meditation I continue to explore. Visiting the Temple of the 3 Windows, the sacred Pachamama stone, and marveling at the circular stone architecture at the Temple of the Sun.
I view the long grass plaza where gatherings and ceremonies were held and I sense the presence of the ancient ones still there. The tall feminine mountain, Huyanu Picchu sits on one side of the plaza, and the masculine peak of Machu Picchu mountain sits at the other end. The smaller peak of the Putakusi, the place of balance, sits between them, drawing the male and female energies together in harmony. Peace is found when everything is in balance…. Machu Picchu offers this healing message to the world. Time stops here for me, remnants of discord churning around inside me dissipate, leaving only complete love and acceptance. This magical place is truly alive; the stones speak silent messages, giving insight and clarity to my own inner questions. Sitting quietly in meditation is effortless. I don’t fidget and resist being with myself as I do at home. Confusion and cobwebs disappear from my mind, my thinking is so clear. Revelations and creative ideas pop into my awareness, it is truly startling! Never before have I felt so wise. I sense I am not alone. I often stop and turn around, feeling as if someone is walking behind me. This is not scary; it is a comforting experience. Feeling a familiar presence, an invisible personal guide, a mentor, a teacher, escorting me to places in the Crystal City that have what I am searching for on a consciousness level. Trials and tribulations of the “outer” material world are released….genuine wisdom is found in simplicity…..reality is found “inside” myself and that is where I create what I see and experience in my “outer” life.
Machu Picchu, once again reminds me that life is not complicated…..I’m the one who makes it so. All the answers are inside of me….I just keep forgetting to look there……..Machu Picchu has once again taken me to that place of love inside myself. These ancient stones are old and trusted friends, giving me feedback, reconnecting me with simple truths that I have blinded myself to with outer distractions. Spirit elders welcome me with open arms like a wayward child coming home for comfort and assurance. I sit with them in council, in ancient temples of stone and feel their wisdom flow into my subconscious; once again I feel whole. Being at Machu Picchu is like therapy for me. My consciousness shifts as I move into a deeper level of my own self- knowledge. I carry this energy with me back into my day to day life. I know that it will ooze out of me like rich thick honey spreading its sweetness to all I come in contact with. The wisdom and power that the Lost City in the Clouds…..Machu Picchu, has shared with me will sustain me until I return once again as a humble pilgrim. Traveling on an “outer” discovery adventure but most importantly on an “inner” journey for my spirit and soul. Story By Gayle Lawrence Used with Permission

There’s a quiet revolution happening in women’s self-care. Women are seeking respite and healing from the stresses of daily life through taking well-earned retreats. Imagine taking a week-long retreat dedicated to rejuvenating your body, mind and spirit. Imagine taking this retreat somewhere lush and tropical and at an affordable price.

That’s what we decided to create when we created Soulful Woman Regenerative Retreats in beautiful Bali: A space where you can indulge your sensual self, have fun and relax, and nourish your inner self through guided meditation, inspirational talks, journaling, sensuous yoga, and meaningful connections with other women.

Women are the emotional and psychological hubs in their families and communities. When women nurture themselves, everyone around them benefits. After our Regenerative Bali Retreat, we guarantee you’ll return with vitality, new energies and ideas, inspiring everyone around you.

Read about them and the dates of the tours on Women Travel

The Soulful Woman is a collaboration between Gemma Summers PhD and Shushann Movsessian MA.
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesoulfulwoman

Our vision is to support and nourish women’s sacred inner life and self-care. We provide workshops and retreats designed to replenish a woman’s body, mind and spirit, and to create greater balance in the cycle of giving and receiving.

Join us for a 6-night retreat in October 2010 or March 2011.
You can read more about our women’s retreats at: www.thesoulfulwomanbaliretreat.eventbrite.com

Gemma

Shushann

Travel Toward Wellness is a women-owned travel company specializing in health and wellness travel programs for women living with, working through, and surviving a cancer diagnosis.

Image this:
sharing time & space
with a cozy collection of
ever-evolving “creative community”
at an artists retreat in Hawaii

Cristina Salat invites you to visit and stay at her home-for-the-creatively-&-spiritually-inclined on the Big Island Hawaii!

Cristina wanted to let everybody know, the Goddess cabin  at Kulana (with its private deck, private parking, two phone line hook-ups, etc.) will be opening up again after 2+ years of having the same wonderful resident in it…& thus will be available to welcome its next special occupant(s) soon!

Kulana’s  rates still holding steady at $15-40/night/visitor; $450/month/resident… & they’re always happy for personal referrals as well!

We’ve been doing a good deal of recharging on this end to keep in balance…swimming with sea turtles, making new friends, hiking lush valleys & mountains, painting, singing, sanctifying the meditation trails…along with putting energy into the continued manifestation of our dreams.

Would love to hear how things are going for you…?  Warm hugs from the Big Island till we meet/meet again– www.discoverkulana.com

Cristina & Kulana

“Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth.”

More information here

Dianne Sharma-Winter Writes:

Every cloud has a silver lining, sometimes even gold.

This belief had sustained me through the first month of a course of training in Ayurveda in a small-unexplored area of Kerala, India’s premier state for the practice and study of this ancient science.

Even though I was aware that one-month course would barely scratch the surface of the vast ocean of knowledge that is Ayurveda, I was more interested in learning about the practical forms of massage and herbal treatments to adapt to my own massage practice in New Zealand.

I have lived and travelled in India for many years and always avoided the courses offered specifically for tourists. My reasoning is that the marketing of the mystical east doesn’t always come with a quality control certification. Also, there is always bound to be a cross-cultural confusion. Students from the west want to be explained why the east is east and how they can cross the ocean of western ideology to the east. That can take a lot of class time.

So before I enrolled on the course, I had an understanding that in terms of Indian society and caste, someone who earned their money in this way was somewhat lower on the social scale than the doctor who supervised the treatments. The idea of rich white women arriving to learn what is not such a well-respected job could result in some cultural and professional confusion, at least that was the risk I knew I was taking.

It proved to be correct, so I won’t dwell on the details of my course of learning there. While the doctor who delivered the lectures seduced me into learning and adopting the practices of Ayurveda into my life, I found the practical classes in the afternoon less than useful.

There was a lack of boundaries between some student and the instructor based on this cultural confusion added a lack of respect or dignity offered to anyone who offered to be a massage model. One woman would practice the massage movements accompanied by her pseudo orgasmic moans that she thought the model should have been exuding instead of whimpers of embarrassment.

By the time the end of the week began to loom, I would make plans to put as much distance between myself and my classmates as possible.

Malabar Gold

I took it upon myself to begin to explore this little visited part of Kerala and learn a bit about the place. While I was unhappy with my course, the locals looked friendly and their food was sublime.

When I first arrived in Kannur, I had gone to the Kannur Beach house, a lovely home stay run by Rosie and her husband Hazzir. They gave up careers in Singapore to come back to their home place to open up the heritage house they had bought on the beach when after tourists began to knock and ask for rooms. Sensing that tourism could be a viable income and lifestyle for them, Rosie and Hazzir relocated their family back to Kannur and opened the Beach House. They are both wonderful and stimulating conversationalists and the most charming of hosts. Their business has paid off for them although rose admits that their parents living nearby both still ask them when they are going back to Singapore to get a real job. Meals are superb and Rose will go out her way to organise anything you may wish.

Kalarippayattu- a divine martial art

Olivier, a dancer from Paris who photographed every meal that was set before us in the guest house had come to Kannur especially to see two things, the ritual festival of the Theyyam and the oldest form of martial art in the world, the Kalarippayattu.

He was disappointed to hear that his schedule didn’t allow him to stay another day for the Theyyam but Rosie had organised for him to go to a local dojo to watch a training. We set off in a rickshaw along rutted roads, got out and walked when the hill got too steep, followed a path through coconut tree lined paths to a humble mud and hut which was the dojo.

There were kids of all ages tumbling around on a hard dirt floor, an altar set in the corner and a wiry looking black belt Master standing around.

The training began with an elaborate offering to the deity in the corner, including some amazing body movements which were something like a karate kata but a hundred times faster and more elaborate. Then the real fun began! The leading fighter in this dojo was the twelve year old daughter of the master himself, she fended off four boys at one stage and leapt and jumped so fast that our cameras could only catch a blur. Having studied the Chidokan form of karate for many years in New Zealand, I recognised forms from that style echoed in the movements of these kids on the hard dirt floor.

We were impressed to the point of having tears in our eyes, thanked the kids for their performance and left like kids who had shared a secret world as we oohed and ahhhed and giggled our way back to the rickshaw.

But there was more to come

Theyyam

That night as Olivier headed off to the airport I took a rickshaw in the opposite direction to a village square where there was to be a performance of a Theyyam.

Seems that the origin of the Theyyam has been lost in the mists of time, so ancient is the practice. In more recent times, Theyyam have evolved into the form it is now because of the lower caste people being barred from entry to Hindu temples. Nothing daunted, they created their own individual forms of worship and celebration the most spectacular of which is the Theyyam.

Every village will tell their story in a different way but the event is staged around a story of the Hindu gods or a local god, as the story is enacted the dancers take on the paint and the part of the god in an elaborate ritual which happens back stage while the crowds mill about and picnic and pass babies around, all waiting patiently for the moment to come.

When the dancer who has been ritually prepared observes his face in the mirror he is said to become at that moment a vessel of the god, then he is lead out in a costume of flames and towering headdresses.

Impervious to the fact that half of his costume is on fire, he runs and leaps and his eyes roll wildly, he has two bodyguards on either side to protect his physical body.

Eventually things calm down and the god is bought to again, People line up to make offerings and ask for blessings or advice.

By five in the morning, the excitement is over and people start dwindling back to their homes, I find the rickshaw wallah and go home with my head full of sparks. Imagine that kind of ceremony in the days before electricity, before television, before we all got so sophisticated! It would have scared the living daylights out of most kids!

Early morning at the chai stall

To be closer to the course of study, I moved into the township of Kannur. It’s rare to see another foreigner here who isn’t here to study Ayurveda or the Martial Art, most of the food is local and it’s difficult to get a meal in the evening. The locals are big on breakfasts though, I begin, a pre-breakfast ritual with the owner of the place where I take a room Mr Rajan Kumar.

We both wake early and it’s cooler outside my room than in. We both share some hot water together, and then I make coffee while he gets himself ready.

Then together we drive to a local chai stand where locals in the know await the early morning delivery of hot vada, crunchy fried round doughy bite of delight. Usually taken with sweet milky chai

He smokes and we watch groups of locals all out in the early morning air walking for their health. We laugh at ourselves for being so lazy and keep promising that one morning we will walk to the chai stand for our fried bread and cigarette but we never do.

By the time we have returned to the house, Rajan’s sister has prepared breakfast tradition style. Every day brings a new delight, a new way to eat rice or banana or coconut.

Evening meals create a bit of a problem; so I go to a local Muslim dhaba and order whatever is vegetarian on that day. They make a wonderful little sweet that I can never seem to get enough of and I end my meal of curry and rice and curly crunchy paratha with that.

The men who eat there are mostly workers from nearby building sites and the meals are slapped down on tin plates, Hot water laced with Ayurvedic spices is served all over North Kerala is a healthy alternative to icy cold water. I begin to get a taste for it, the heat and the herbs reassure me as to its safety.

Backwater Bliss

The next weekend I set out for an overnight float in a boat in the little known Valiyaparamba or Bekal Backwaters is in the far north of Kerala in the district of Karsagood.

Bekal was once the opening for the spice trade route, its wide river stretched from the forests where pepper grew in wild indigenous abundance and the dreamland of early Arab explorers. Pepper was then the valuable Malabar Gold; in Europe it often doubled as currency in the height of its dizzy rise to the top of the tradable. The Portuguese were the first to wrest control of the monsoon soaked forests of Malabar from the Arabs, after came the Dutch and the English. Forts dot the northern coastline, canons still perch like hopeful overs on aging battlements. Bekal Fort is one of the most impressive examples of forts in India. The Karsagood district is only a short train ride from Kannur. The owner Jaganath meets me at a local station.

He seems a little sorry for me to be having a houseboat to myself. I tell him I am more than happy to be out of town, on water and with the cool ocean breeze in my hair. There are two men on the boat to take care of my every need which seemed a bit extreme but I was too charmed by the boat and the watery landscape ahead to be bothered by aloneness, I just revelled in it!

The food continued to delight and confirms my opinion that South Indian food is one of the most delightful cuisines in the world. The staff are unobtrusive and discreet, I laze and watch the world float by in shades of green. Islands interconnected by bridges and roads form a system of four rivers where mail and bread is delivered by boat, where fishermen repair their nets against the sea that pounds one island in the distance. We get off and walk through preserves of forests hiding the very herbs I was learning about in Ayurveda and coconuts drying on the beach, covered in nets to keep the birds away.

As I drifted off to sleep there was the sound of the pounding of drums from a village Theyyam, there was the resounding echo of the sea and the quiet creak of the boat as it listed lazily with the tide.

The next weekend I took the evening train to Goa where I had planned to meet a friend. The train was air-conditioned and the conductor promised to wake me when the train halted briefly at Canacona so I could leap off at the station closest to Palolem, the beach where I like to stay in South Goa.

Its not always a good idea to arrive in India anywhere at that hour but I was encouraged to think there might be some rickshaw action when I spotted some tourists obviously waiting for a train. Eventually one arrived with another two passengers for the train yet to arrive. He charged me outrageously but I didn’t complain. I was happy to know that my pre arranged room would be open and all I would have to do was walk in and go to sleep.

Kannur is so centrally located; I think to myself that it’s amazingly still unexplored. Most tourists to Kerala head straight to the south, which is just as fine, but Kannur still has that untouched kind of feeling. I was beginning to feel that I was on a journey of how many places can you reasonably visit from the township of Kannur for a lovely weekend break?

The Western Ghats

With nothing left to do but head for the hills, I did exactly that. Booked myself into Wynberg Resort in the tea and spice growing highlands, an area called Wayanad in the Western Ghats of Kerala. This area shares a border with Tamil Nadu and though the distance from Kannur to Wayanad is short, the road is steep and winds through ancient forests.

Mr Rajan had offered to drop me by car on his way to Bangalore but the plans fell through at the last moment and I decided to go by bus.

Wynberg Eco Resort

As the bus wound itself around the hillside in spirals that rose like the pepper vines around the Western Ghats, I began to wish I had taken a car. That this would have been the wisest course of action was confirmed when I got to the assigned place to meet the owner of the resort and than had to go halfway back by local bus! But after another mere twelve or so kilometres in a rickshaw and I was there and being welcomed into my little eco hut at the Wynberg Resorts.

Lunch is served and as I eat the owner’s daughter arrives home from school and introduces herself. She is wonderful self-assured and an uninhibited conversationalists. She takes me on a walk around the property built by her father Vanchy who is a wildlife enthusiast and photographer

He is also a bit of an eco warrior; the resort has organic gardens, a methane plant and runs on solar power.

Within half an hour I am bamboozled by the girls knowledge of the plants and the jungles around her that my pen could hardly keep up with her flow of information.

Although the resort edges both the National Park of Nagahole and the Nature Reserve area of Tholpetty both areas had suffered fires and were closed to the public at that time. Apart from swinging idly in my hammock beneath towering acrea nut trees, I took a day to drive around and sightsee. A brief sweep of the brilliant green curve of tea gardens, the impressive 13th Century Jain temple at Sultan’s Battery, where a man explained how the construction of the Jain was involved cosmic alignments amongst other things. The ancient rock art atop a winding staircase built into a limestone mountain at Edakkal Caves are said to date from the stone age.

North Kerala the land of loom and lore is the ancient enigmatic India from every fact. There is the legacy of the various nations they traded with and still do today, there are ancient traditions and secret people flashing in the monsoon soaked forests and a cosmopolitan lot of locals.

As we flashed around the countryside, where wild elephants can and will roam freely across the road there was glimpses of the “tribal” people. These are the descendants of the original Dravidian race of people and ‘very secret people” said my driver.

Such is North Kerala, a secret place just waiting to be discovered!

Diannes websites:

• http://diannesharmawinter.com/
• http://diannesharmawinter.com/blog.html

I have just updated the Tour Calendar at Women Travel the World with her latest tours and what a choice there is:

• Meditation and service in Bhutan
• encounters with Humpback Whales in the Dominican Republic  (get in early for 2011 these sell out very fast!)
• Women’s Quest to Avalon in Britain
• A writing retreat in Mexico

As Gayle describes on her website, these tours are not for travel junkies, they are for those on a journey:

A Journey of Discovery is for the individual who is longing for deeper meaning and purpose in their life. Not only are they searching for an extraordinary travel experience but also a journey that speaks to their spirit and touchestheir soul. They are ready to find answers to their own “inner questions” and also open to learning and new experience. Whether it be with a Shaman in Peru, gazing into the eye of a dolphin, or a short group meditation at an ancient sacred site in Greece. All of these life-changing experiences made available to them within the contextof personalized small group, specialty travel that takes you off the beaten path.

Gayle’s tours for 2010 and 2011

Other Tours on Women Travel the World

Buy the Book here: The Cuban Chronicles: A True Tale of Rascals, Rogues, and Romance

Some girls have all the fun. Calgarian writer Wanda St.Hilaire has taken her passion for travel, especially to Spanish speaking countries, and has given readers an opportunity to experience Cuba from an original and spirited perspective

In the infancy of Cuba’s tourism, Wanda St.Hilaire takes a trip to the tiny island. In spite of her love of all things Latin, she puts herself on a travel ban to Castro’s Cuba, one that lasts twenty years.

When she is forced to cancel a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico at the last minute, she finds herself in Cuba twice, on back-to-back trips. Walking into the backstreets of Havana, eyes wide open, she is pulled into a dalliance with a charismatic cubano.

In The Cuban Chronicles, St.Hilaire’s travelogue/memoir, she describes that underneath the façade of Cuba’s tourism lies the desperation of a society living mostly in abject poverty. When tourists mingle with locals, we get a glimpse of what underlies the frivolity of Cuban entanglements. St.Hilaire speaks with an authentic voice and doesn’t mince words; she recounts her own activities, emotions and opinions with refreshing honesty. The author is a natural storyteller and her vivid descriptions of people and her surroundings make Cuba come alive for the reader. Being an epistolary composition (the book is based on a series of letters to a friend in Paris), the author’s tone is warm and confidential, and peppered with touches of humor.

Think Eat, Pray, Love meets Bridget Jones’s Diary
with a dash of cayenne!

Wanda St.Hilaire supports her travel and writing habit by working as a reluctant sales and marketing representative. She spent four blissful winters away from the frozen landscape of Canada living in the barrios of Vallarta, Mexico, and she has traveled throughout the world. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

What intrigued me most was the “Ayahuasca ceremony”. Ayahuasca is a Quechua word meaning “vine of the soul,” and is a powerful, vile-tasting drink made from a jungle vine. The shamans use it as way of unraveling the self, and it is supposed to be able to cure anything, from physical illness (like cancer) to psychological pain (depression) – or put simply, it is a good way to clean up any baggage, big or small, in your life… I felt like fate had thrown an unusual opportunity onto my path.

You have to be brave to take Ayahuasca because of what you may face. Visions, hallucinations and vomiting are all part of it – it cleans you from the inside out. But whether your experience after drinking Ayahuasca is scarey or not, depends on how many demons you have to purge out of your mind, body and soul. You may face all sorts of past trauma, self-destructive beliefs, or emotions. One thing is for sure though: the end result is always positive. Now I am not a kook, or a recreational drug-taker, but what convinced me to do it was a positive National Geographic article about Ayahuasca on the internet. It turned out to be the most mind-blowing, fascinating and beautiful experience of my life.

I had fasted all day to prepare myself for the ceremony that night. Myself, 3 shamans, and Angel my translator were seated on cushions, with vomit buckets in front of us. The shamans puffed away on jungle pipes, preparing themselves for the long night ahead. I was given a cup of Ayahuasca – disgusting, brown, fermenting sludge, which I gulped down very reluctantly. Lights were turned out and the shamans started to sing icaros (ancient spirit songs) to me. Their voices vibrated and reached high or low notes effortlessly, and each voice sounded like at least two people – truly beautiful to listen to, they sounded like angels. I could feel myself float off to another realm, their voices carrying me like a drifting feather to another world.

After about 20 minutes I vomited up the Ayahuasca, which is part of the bodily cleansing. In some strange way it felt good to get it out of me, all sorts of toxins seemed to come out. I started to have trouble breathing. I am not asthmatic, but have suffered odd stress-related breathing difficulty in the past couple of years. The shamans told me not worry, it would pass. It did. Twenty minutes later my lungs felt 10 times bigger and I was gulping deep breaths. Amazing.

Eventually I began to hallucinate, seeing fluorescent colours and cartoon-like insects swirling around me. I watched them, as they closed in on me, trying to suppress me, constricting my body. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I asked. I got the message back that it was negative energy attached to me, and to flick it off. I did, and it all disappeared. The shamans believe negative energies are actually spirits who attach themselves to you to create trouble.

Then the visions started. People and events came into my mind, things that had happened in my past that I needed to make peace with. In my mind I would ask questions – why this or that happened, why this person had been in my life. For every question I asked, I got a very clear, precise message back. It was like having a direct phoneline to God. Anything I asked about my past, present or future, I was advised on.

The whole ceremony lasted around 8 hours, with the shamans taking turns to sing to me as I worked though my past. I was visited my deceased friends, I found answers to many questions, and I felt an intense bliss. Now, several weeks later I still feel the positiveness and relief of old baggage gone. I feel privileged to have been part of an ancient ceremony and to have listened to the amazing, beautiful icaros, and I know I will go back to do another ceremony to open my mind to bigger things.

Keep an eye on Venus Adventures website for a future trip to Peru!!!

Julie Paterson Venus Adventures – Global Trips for Women who Love to Travel

Our Motto:  “Life is uncertain – eat cake!” Venus Adventures specializes in women-only holidays and short breaks to fascinating destinations:  Morocco, Egypt, India, Ethiopia,Turkey, Mali, Jordan, Vietnam, New Zealand

Carol Christ and the Ariadne Institute for the Study of Myth and Ritual run several tours a year for women around the theme of  “Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete.”

Spend two weeks with twenty women exploring the ancient pathways of the Goddess as embodied in Crete.

• Walk on the stones of the ancient sites of Knossos, Phaistos, Malia,
• Kato Zakros, Archanes, Mochlos, Myrtos, and Kato Symi.
• Discover the matrifocal subtext of Christianity at Paliani with its sacred myrtle tree, Kera Kardiotissa, and Kritsa.
• Nourish your soul in the museums of Heraklion, Agios Nicholaos, and Siteia.
• Descend into the caves of Skoteino, Amnissos, Psychro, and Ida.
• Hike in the mountains at Zaros, Zakros, Archanes, Psychro, and Ida.
• Stay in small villages, meet local people, dance to Cretan music,
• feast on freshly cooked fish, tsatsiki, taramosalata, feta cheese, tiny olives, fried potatoes, local wine…

Feel Her power in holy mountains,
sense Her mysteries in the darkness of caves,
pour out libations of milk and honey on Minoan altars.
Contact a sacred energy that will transform the way you feel about women, yourself.

Carol Christ, Ph.D

Carol visited New Zealand several years ago and stayed with me – she is a pioneer and founding mother of the Goddess, women’s spirituality, and feminist theology movements and directs Ariadne Institute which seeks to:

Address the mind, body, and spirit, encouraging “embodied thinking” and personal transformation. Several hundred women of all ages—including artists, writers, educators, students, businesswomen, and homemakers— have participated in our programs since 1993. We are joined in the Ariadne sisterhood and keep in touch through our newsletter Ariadne’s Thread.

HUMPBACK WHALES of the Silver Bank

Life changing encounters
Marine Mammal Sanctuary
Dominican Republic

Some spaces available on other weeks through Feb. and March….not discounted.

Gayle Lawrence Writes: My first snorkeling encounter with the humpback whales in Silver Bank was in 1999….  it changed my life.

I’ve been back 7 times to spend very intimate, very up-close-and-personal encounters with one of the worlds most captivating and awe-inspiring creatures…..the humpback whales.

This is an experience that mere words cannot begin to describe. For me it is a sacred encounter with these intelligent, gentle beings of the sea.

click on this link, video and complete trip details: