Earth Day Despacho

Earth Week is well under way. I was privileged to start the week with a despacho ceremony on Friday night at Creative Eye on James Street in Wallaceburg. I wanted to get things going with a dose of good energy. It has been a few years since I have set the time aside to perform such a ceremony and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do this again.

The creation of despacho or gifts to express gratitude is an ancient Andean tradition. If you have been following my column and blog you will have read about my belief and understanding of reciprocity. The creation of a despacho is the golden rule at work. It is an act of gratitude, of treating the earth and its resources the way that, hopefully, you would want to be treated, with respect.

In Andean traditions Mother Earth is fondly called Pachamama and she is regularly honoured along with the mountain spirits, Apus. For our ceremony from Wallaceburg we expressed our thanks for the Earth and her resources and added a “Hello” to the Apus even though they are many Canadian miles away. From the cozy confines of the Creative Eye art studio in the downtown core on James Street in Wallaceburg we gathered and made beautiful packages filled with natural items such as seeds, spices, flowers, feathers and some other objects such as beads.

Each item was placed with the intent of offering gratitude upon a piece of white paper and arranged in a beautiful way. When the arrangements were complete we offered our thoughts of gratitude and imbued them with prayers. With great care, the paper was then folded upon itself and wrapped with colourful thread, each movement undertaken with care and positive intentions.

In many despacho ceremonies the gifts are burned over a sacred fire allowing the flames to quickly transform the offerings into energies that are carried by the smoke to Pachamama and the Apus. Wallaceburg is a land among waters so on Friday evening, instead of burning the offerings, we released them into the river behind the studio. The waters of the Sydenham will carry the packets of gratitude through the community allowing the energy to disperse slowly along the way.

There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day this week and I hope that you participate in some that are meaningful to you. If you would like to perform your own despacho ceremony remember to hold respectful intent throughout – this is the key.

Check out these links for more information:

http://dreamantilles.blogspot.com/2009/05/extremely-beautiful-despacho.html
http://www.labyrinthina.com/show.htm
http://www.shamanportal.org/article_details.php?id=160

I have worked with the power of despacho ceremonies and I can report that positive changes did indeed manifest in my life and in the community because of this work. As I drove home last Friday night, I thought I was alone in the car driving down the darkened Hwy. 40, but just when I arrived in the rural open section of the road I began to feel fingers of energy blessing and balancing me. When I realized what was happening, and queried it internally, I received a more forceful, yet still gentle tapping on my head, to affirm that indeed I was receiving energetic gifts in return for my despacho offering. So call me Shirley MacLaine – I would be honoured!