Follow our Hearts Home
I watched a new documentary film: Mama Irene, Healer of the Andes, made when Irene was 86 years old and still living a life of loving service, as she was called to do from birth.
As a little girl she made a mistake that cost a neighbor some of his crops. Her father beat her within an inch of her life with the handle of a hoe, then sold her to a man in the jungle. She worked hard for that man and reported that her own father clothed and fed the rest of the family with the money she earned, which was 10 cents per month.
She lives and works in Cuzco, but loves the land outside it, the mountains and the mountain Spirits (Apus) that guide her work. She loves the herbs that she gathers and prepares with reverence to aid her in her healing work. Her work is devoted to helping women and children. She also prays to the Christian trilogy even though she says the Apus “don’t like those prayers”.
The legacy of colonialism, of the domination by the Conquistadores is deeply embedded and now part of indigenous healers like Irene. Truthfully, though, there are few like Irene, meaning very few women. Sexism and misogyny is still rampant there, as it is here. This was talked about by Puma, her translator. He is a shaman with a beautiful spirit and I’ve enjoyed learning from him through courses at the Shift Network, which reminds me, do stay tuned for my next series there (to be announced soon!).
I’m always struck by the both/and of things and by our genius at adaptation. And yet, I felt such sadness hearing her call herself a sinner more than once as she prayed for a patient’s healing.
The concept of original sin
does not truly fit into an indigenous
(or green witch’s) world view.
I heard a seeker ask the Dalai Lama a question about self-judgment and self-loathing being so rampant in western people. The Dalai Lama paused for a moment before he spoke and I often think about the import of his reply. He explained that he used to think all people were the same, and that though this is true, in essence, there is one fundamental difference.
He said that “We have as much neuroses in our people, in our culture and society as you do, but the difference is we believe in our basic goodness—that our core is our Buddha Nature.”
The plants help us remember who we are.
Unsullied by appeals to the worst in us, to fears of “otherness” and the violence and greed which is running rampant in our time, we are, at heart, naturally creatures of compassion, connection and caring for one another.
Given a safe space to be,
given nourishment of body and soul,
given acceptance and encouragement,
We blossom and grow.
We find and share our gifts,
We contribute to our human and more than human community
with respect for all the life on our beautiful planet.
Have we come just “a little bit” away from this? Out of harmony into disharmony, into what I call “pathological disconnection”? Yes, we have. But this goodness is still the homing vibration of our being.
We can follow our hearts home to our true essence, which is Love.
Nature and the healing plants are the magnificent healers and teachers who can guide us back to our hearts and to what I currently consider the three essential steps to personal and cultural transformation:
Become who you came here to be…
Yourself.
Share your Gifts.
Trust Life.
“Human beings have lived in community since the beginning of time. When their relationship to the world has grown cold, or lost, it is time to warm it up. Getting into community is a good response to that, to bring life back into your life.”
−From Heard Around the Fire− Teachings of Grandfather Fire, compiled by Jeff Baker.
I’ll close by sharing
teachings from my Plant Allies:
