In Ceremony with Don Manuel Quispe

written by Paul M. Sivert

     I have been waiting for many years to meet the master Q'ero Medicine Man Don Manuel Quispe, and now that moment is about to happen. I have seen his picture and heard stories about his healings and teachings.  He is acknowledged by many medicine people as the most venerated of the Q'ero nation shamans of the Andes Mountains in Peru.  A medicine person colleague of mine, Denise Kinch has sponsored Don Manuel and his apprentice Porfilio Sequeiros (Chino) to come to the United States and sit in ceremony with the mesa carriers of this land.  Actually it was part of Don Manuel's vision to come to the United States again and sit with us, so he could share his wisdom, power, and humor.  He is very old (we don't know how old exactly) and he is sick with emphysema from the constant smoke in his home, which is high in the Andes Mountains.  Their homes do not have chimneys, so the smoke from the wood fire is absorbed by the thick reed roofs, and dries the potatoes which is the major source of nutrition.  It is a place where the harsh environment had proven to be safe, for the descendants of the Inka.  They escaped from the Spanish conquest of the Inka Empire by relocating to the most remote areas of the High Andes Mountains.  In these villages the people have adjusted to the environment by aligning themselves with the forces of nature.  They live in ceremony embracing an organic cosmology.  Thus I have traveled to Providence, Rhode Island and met the man that has truly embraced the relationship between what we call matter and energy.

     My first observation of  Don Manuel is he is short.  Of course most Peruvians appear short to me, I'm six feet two; and he is probably not even five feet.  The next observations are he is kind and happy;  he has a serene quality in facial expressions and demeanor.  He has the look and attitude of the "benevolent grandfather."  The wise, gentleman who we are attracted to because of how he makes us feel; happy and accepted.  Don Manuel by his very presence radiates a feeling of love that touches me in a very personal and perhaps a sacred way.  He is quite possibly the first human being I have ever met; that is free from fear.  Now that I have had time to contemplate on the experience of the ceremony, this is one of my awareness.  He is a man, without fear, so he is free to embrace and be a channel of love from God.

     I think history has shown us that all great master teachers have been able to demonstrate how to love by first becoming through remembering how to be in the presence of love for our personal soul and detached from ego.  The medicine people call this love Munay, it transcends; infatuation, romance, and sex.  It's unconditional.  Don Manuel appears to me to have mastered for at least himself to love unconditionally.  Furthermore he is teaching us how to love unconditionally in how we live and how we die. What makes him different from so many other "teachers," is his capacity to love unconditionally is so much greater.  The capacity is not limited to a healing session or a lecture, it there flowing, feeding, supporting his luminous body and consequently his emotional/mental and physical body all the time. Remember he is a descendant of people that were required to surrender to the forces of nature, and align themselves with that force, so they could survive. By surviving they discovered and remembered how to align, integrate and be in harmony with rhythms of spirit.  Don Manuel epitomizes the relationship between spirit and human.  How does he do it?  Unfortunately I do not possess all of the answers but I know he is trying to guide me and teach me.

     One of the methods that he informs, teaches and guides other medicine people through is an initiation ceremony.  While we were together, Don Manuel performed one initiation after another for the medicine people who had gathered.  One initiation ceremony that stands out for me , it has the interesting title - Hatun Karpay; which means Grand Initiation.  All initiations have a similar aspect, energy is transmitted and an energy seed is planted into the one being initiated.  It is the initiate's responsibility to care and tend to the seed and its growth.  I think the seed from the Hatun Karpay has many facets; it may appear as a gem or crystal, it dissolves into the medicine body of the individual and continues to inform and reveal its knowledge as the initiate develops the capacity to hear and utilize the power that has been transmitted to him or her.  I believe the Hatun Karpay is a great gift of love from spirit delivered through Don Manuel, unconditionally.  He personally does not have any expectations he "simply" gifts the energy.  On the other side, I hope and trust myself to receive the energy sent unconditionally too.  This means if I can receive the transmission openly and freely then the seed will be properly planted and I can assume the responsibility of tending to the seed.  While being informed from the energy.  It is a truly beautiful process of transformation for the initiate on every level of his or her being or consciousness.  This process of course will vary in its manifestation from individual to individual.

     It's been about six weeks since I met Don Manuel and when I reflect back upon the experience I realize the ceremony is never over.  He has taught me a great lesson that with every thought, dream and with every step I take, I too can be in ceremony; aligned with the forces of nature with opportunity to express Munay.

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