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Situated in Western South America, Peru has a diverse and ancient spiritual culture. From the Incan civilization to the modern-day practices of Peruvian shamans, Peru offers many spiritual practices to help you to connect with the divine, nature, and your inner self. Check out these five spiritual practices from Peru and add them to your travel bucket list!
Despacho Ceremony
The sacred despacho or dispatch ritual is a traditional Andean ceremony that honors Mother Earth and Spirit by creating a mandala-like bundle or offering, according to Quest Magazine.
The ceremony begins with creating a sacred space, calling in the helping spirits of the earth, mountains, elements, animals, sky, and ancestors. Flowers, leaves, and seeds create the Despacho, embodying items that symbolize the ceremony's intentions.
Offerings are then infused with love and wrapped in sacred cloth before being offered to fire or water. At the end of the dispatch process, the sacred shaman decides whether to offer the bundle to fire or water based on the bundle's energy. As a receiver, you'll encounter harmony, balance, and blessings.
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Pachamama Offering
In Andean mythology, Pachamama represents earth and fertility, according to a blog on Machu Travel Peru. As an ancient deity, she is considered the Mother Earth, providing her inhabitants with food, support, and shelter. The Incas believed that Pachamama was related to fertility and agricultural production, and they worshiped her before the arrival of the Spanish.
Today, Pachamama still receives offerings during planting and harvesting times, and her worship continues in Andean cities such as Cusco. Offerings are made to Pachamama to show respect and gratitude for the land and its resources. The offering typically consists of food, drink, and other items symbolic of the earth and nature. To return the offerings to the earth, they are placed in a hole in the ground and covered with soil.
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Flower Bath Ritual
Peruvians have used flower baths for centuries as a spiritual and health practice. Around the world, ancient cultures have practiced this cleansing and nourishing ritual to promote life's blossoming and flourishing. Flower baths could remove negative energies, relieve insomnia, ease the nervous system, and reduce symptoms of anxiety,according to Yoga Journal.
Choosing flowers for the bath requires intuition, and some flowers are thought to have specific health benefits. In the Shipibo culture, an indigenous tribe of Peru, the bath rituals are taken in the morning or daytime. It's recommended to avoid alcohol and meat for three days before and after the bath, as they are energetically disruptive. To navigate the chaotic and disconnected world, the flower bath is believed to be a wildly transformative and healing practice.
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Andean Energy Healing
Peruvian Andean energy healing sessions aim to restore the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being of individuals seeking positive changes and inner peace, according to the Energy Healing of the Andes website. External factors such as family, culture, education, work, and social norms can influence decision-making and how people respond to the world. As a result, you may feel disconnected from your true self. Life experiences, including those of your ancestors, can also impact your overall well-being.
Among Peru's energy healers are those trained in the ancient healing practices and rituals of the Q'ero (who live in remote areas of Peru. These healing practices aim to address and heal crises, struggles, and the suffering that many people are experiencing during this time of significant change.
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