Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Hey there caravaners,

It has been a little while since my last post. Things have finally begun to stabilize in Lima. I have 2 more weeks to the day here, before I will hop a red eye flight back to Philadelphia. That would put this journey at right around 4 months. Since I have basically been doing nothing but going in circles here in Lima, and struggling, far away from the plant medicines of the jungle it seems wise for me to return to the US to regroup. I had planned to do this anyways, just that I had hoped it would not be on such dire terms for leaving. At any rate, I am happy and content to go back. In the states I will have the opportunity to seriously save money and plan for my next trip to Peru. I intend to get my organization's website going proper, and when I return to Iquitos a year from now more or less I have some business opportunities that I can finally begin. I intend to make my apprenticeship of a very high priority, but of the highest, and this trip has taught me this, is to make sure I have long-term lodging. Even my own apartment or house looks promising due to the extrememly low costs down there. Once I know where I am going to be living, I am looking to open up either a backpacker´s Inn/hostel in Iquitos and offer excursions into the jungle and shamanic experiences, or a small retreat center directly in the jungle and offer the same things. The ultimate goal is to have the fully sustainable retreat center and community, the Wheel of L.I.F.E., but I believe learning the ropes in Iquitos before I take on that huge venture is a good idea. One of the positives during my Lima detour is I made friends with an Iquitos native who shares a similar vision. His father owns some jungle property an hour boat ride on the Amazon river from Iquitos. I also have been put into contact with a reputable Shaman in Iquitos by a facebook friend, actually the author of a book I read a while back, Plant Spirit Shamanism. This particular shaman has been known to take on long-term apprentices which, at this point, I am. I am beyond visiting the jungle for 2 week Ayahuasca retreats and now am ready to begin the years long work of becoming a true shaman and healer. We have begun email correspondence and perhaps he and I will form a teacher/apprentice relationship and who knows, maybe he will factor into the business ideas ;)

So in 2 weeks I will be back on US soil. I am glad that spring will be in full swing by then. The nights have begun to get chilly here in Lima. Keep an eye out for a wrap up of my trip that I will do before I return home. Be well.

Love and Light,
Joey

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Dreaming Tree Has Died

I said it before, and I will say it again... Iquitos may lie in the rainforest, but Lima is the real jungle. I am going back to Iquitos ASAP. There is nothing here for me in Lima except for contamination. I felt very much like I was being held prisoner here, and my circumstances did in fact do that, but the clouds are parting and I am going to go back to the jungle. From there I can stay as long as I need before my trip back to the states. I gave it a valiant effort here in the city, but it is not for me...

Sunday, April 12, 2009

There´s No Easy Way Out.... There´s No Short-Cut Home.

7 Chuen

(Uuc is the number seven in the Mayan Sacred Calendar. It represents Reflection, the Source of Creation, and the Flow of Divine Will.

Chuen is the 11th day sign of the Uinal. It means ´Monkey´ and carries a colorful Western energy. In the middle of the 20 signs, this day often brims with creativity and exercises a great variety of talents and skills. Known to the Maya as the the weaver of time, monkey can hold and manipulate many different threads at once, intertwining new ideas, patterns or inventions into the fabric of our reality and changing our lives with the products of their innocent curiosity.)

Hi Caravaners,

Hope everyone is feeling well and happy. I myself have had a 3 day respite to finally sleep and recuperate from all the traveling and walking i have been doing lately. I have been fortunate enough to find a host family here in Lima to live with for a while. This is truly a blessing because I was so worn out. Now i have a safe place to rest my head everynight, and also to store what little stuff I have left!

You know, I have been thinking alot about making my return trip to the states sooner than I had said in my last blog. Part of me sees this as throwing in the towel, but if you have been following from the beginning you will see that I just need the resources of the US to regroup and accomplish what I need to before i relocate down here to begin building the Gaian Wheel of L.I.F.E.

So anyways, I will keep this one short. The deal is I am safe and secure for a while, and am going to focus my intention on manifesting a way back to the States for the summer and fall at the least, and possibly the holidays. I have resolved within myself the issue of throwing in the towel... perhaps you will get the symbolism between this saying and the title of this blog... it is a song from a famous soundtrack.... think boxing...

Hasta Pronto,
Joey

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A Sort of Homecoming

2 Cimi
(Ka is the number 2 in the Mayan Calendar and it represents duality and balance between opposing, yet complementary elements. Cimi is the 6th day sign of the uinal. It means `Death` and carries a powerful northern energy. This is the sign of the cycle of Life , Death, and Rebirth. The Maya saw death as the creator of life, and contact with their ancestors served to activate inherent psychic abilities. This day sign is particulalry gift with these abilities.)

Dear Caravaners,

Today marks day ten of waiting for the arrival of my new ATM card. So far no dice, but what I have gotten now seems so much more. I have been attempting to process what it was exactly the had drawn me here to Lima and kept me as if a prisoner. A prisoner free to leave if he wishes, yet kept in waiting for something that would certainly help out along the journey.

With that said I have begun to formulate a 6 month plan or thereabouts. I am choosing to seek out a job here in Lima... in fact, one offer literally fell into my lap in the form of an add for an inside sales job with a US company that wants native English speakers here in Lima. Another potential option is English teaching, which may be a bit more rewarding but with less potential for earning. I will weight out all the options. The goal is to save up enough money to begin the next grand leg of my journey. I have come to the conclusion that I must return to the states for some months to fund raise for my organization, get the website going, record my album, sell artwork, spend time with loved ones, etc etc. So instead of taking the funds I earn in Lima to purchase a plane ticket back to Philly, I will instead begin a trek from South America up through Central America, Mexico, Florida and up the East Coast of the US. I plan to do this on foot, by boat, train and by automobiles. I will most likely leave room for longer stops in Guetamala to further my research and experience of Mayan Culture, hike the tallest peak in Costa Rica through the cloud forests and have a view of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans simultaneously, and then when I reach Tulum, Mexico, set up home base and hopefully spend time learning special massage techniques from Mayan Shaman Daniel Pol Pech at the Maya Spa. Once I am through in the Yucatan I can boat or take a short flight to Sarasota to visit one of my mentor/friends on Siesta Key, then take the train to Philadelphia. I don`t have a rigid time table but I would like to be back in the states by mid-october to see the leaves change color.

Once again, as I have so many times on this trip, I feel such a profound sense of gratitude for beaing alive. What seemed a major hassle and trial, the theft of my wallet, has opened up a door to accomplish all the things I have wished to accomplish this year-- as many and as impossible they may seem to complete. I must thank my friend Gina for having a dream about me going on walk-about because that opened my mind to the idea of both the trek, and earlier today I realized that it would be OK to stay in Lima and work. I had been torn between going back to Iquitos and staying here in Lima. I felt as though I would be foolishly turning my back a bit from my aoprenticeship if I should remain here for too long, but now I can see that I can have my cake and eat it, too.

So sports fans, stay tuned for my updates about my new job and a journey of several thousand miles through up to 12 countries!

Love and Light,
Joey Jaguar

Sunday, April 5, 2009

El Puesto Del Sol

I just witnessed my first setting of the sun over the Pacific Ocean. I believe it will burn an imprint in my heart and mind for the rest of my life. I was sitting atop a garden wall, with 3 or 4 terraces of cobble stones and flowers and trees running along the cliffside below me to my left as the sun began to drift closer to the horizon. The coast of Lima curled to my right north and out to sea like a crescent. What I had previously thought was a mountainous portion of the coast that jutted out into the sea reavelead itself as a mountain island just offshore to the northwest. The sky was a soft peach color with hues of pink and violet and the ocean a pastel green with slate blue. The waves rolled in from the sea in large ripples, mimicking the effect of a pepple thrown into a pool of water. There were hazy wispy clouds just above horizon that changed in color as the sun passed through them. As the sun was about to meet the horizon a humming bird joined me for the show and a drink in the rose bushes below before flittering away. A single sailboat appeared in my field of vision and headed out towards the now large, brilliant magenta sun. When the sun finally nestled beyone the horizon I felt in my heart that this view was worth all the difficulties I had experienced in Lima over the past 2 weeks, and any and all difficulties I have ever had endure. These are the moments that make life beautiful.

Friday, April 3, 2009

This too shall pass...

Hi Caravaners,

I was a bit rushed when I wrote my last post but I wanted to let everybody know the situation so that everybdy did not think I was still doing this miracle work with the parapelegic girl. It seems that I was a bit bamboozled as far as that job is concerned. They were seriously looking a gift horse in the mouth! But oh well, my job is to serve, and those who do not wish to receive service are on their own. It is no longer my concern.

I am still just passing time in Lima, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new Atm/Visa card. This card really will spell my freedom at this point. I have a flight credit with back to Iquitos with Star Peru awaiting me for whenever I choose to use it. I was a bit torn up until now if I should remain in Lima and search for a job or go back to Iquitos and resume my apprenticeship. Then I got back to basics-- I called upon the medicine and remembered the plan I thought out over a month ago. So my choice now is to fly back to Iquitos early next week when my card arrives; I need it to pay for the flight change of 10 US, which is about my 3 day allowance here in Lima for room, food and transportation! Once in Iquitos I am going to reconnect with the medicine and the plants, make new contacts, and then figure out a way to raise enough money for a visit back home to the States. I seriously need to get my organization´s website going, fundraise, sell my artwork, and record an album and play gigs. This will earn me plenty of money to move back down here permenantly and not have to be scraping by day to day like a pauper. I have had it with that gig. Don´t get me wrong, the experience has been wonderful not having any money to worry about, and although I do not need to be rolling up in a Rolls Royce, I believe the middle road of having sufficient money next time around is the way to go. Not to mention that most of these long-term apprenticeship programs cost US greenbacks. So that is the plan, man. Like the name of my band: Constant Change. I should know by now!

Phew! That is a great weight off of my mind. I am looking forward to being back in Iquitos, surrounded by the magical jungle, the amazing natural food options, Mapacho (I am just about out), some familiar faces , pesky mosquitoes, and to reconnect with the ayahuasca and other plant medicines.

Some things I´d like to do in Lima before I depart: hit the beach a few more times, and visit the Apple computer outlet that is rumored to be here. My laptop charger was stolen in Iquitos before I got down here. I need to get on my computer!!!!!!!!

Until next time gang. Thanks for tuning in.

Love and Light,
Joey

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The less I have the more I gain...

So it has been a little over a week since I arrived here in Lima and things have not panned out as I originally expected. It´s like this... ´know how to make God laugh? --- ´tell him your plans!´
So here´s the deal. I spent the first 2 nights in Lima living in the nice apartment with the girls and helping Teresa out with some of her therapy. Then things began to take a turn... after coming to Lima for what I thought would be a full'time live-in caretaker position I was told my second day that they did not have the funding to pay me full-time and that I could simply work 3 hours as a PT and get payed for that. Things then deteriorated further until the story became ´we do not have enough funding period and do not need another caretaker nor can afford to pay one.´ So let´s just get this straight... I made this trek to Lima out of the goodness of my own heart, had my wallet stolen in Iquitos one hour before my flight which included about 90 US and my Atm-Visa card, shelled out an additional 200 to make arrangements to get to Lima, and then I get here to be told no dice. Grrrrreat.

So here´s what happens next... the girls offer to buy me a plane ticket back to Iquitos and give me 20 bucks which I accept because I was not about to live in that apartment all irritated as I was. I also had this feeling in my gut that I did not come down to Lima simply to have a 2 night vacation from the jungle in a fancy high-rise apartment. So the next day before my flight I head to the beach early and wound up meeting a super awesome girl and hanging out with her at the beach all day. She offered to help show me around the city and to find I job teaching english if I wanted to. I guess this was the sign I was looking for. I decided to put the flight on hold for later and to tough things out here in Lima. I had to wait 7-10 days for my new atm card to arrive and now I am expecting it between Friday and Monday.

Don´t get me wrong here... I am really enjoying the city life so far. It will be much nicer when I have a steady job and an apartment or something. I am still a little torn because I really wish to get back to the medicine and resume my apprenticeship in the rainforest, but without any soney saved up I don´t this would be possible. I may have to stay here a number of months before it will be time to make the move back to Iquitos. As for right now, I am taking it day by day--very literally. I know that everyhing will all work out. It always does. Just depends if I am gonna spend the time in between worrying, or have ing fun and living life. I think I will skip the worrying...

Until next time... hopefully I will have a new job to report!!!
--Joey

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The West is the Best

Hey all,
Joey here checking in from my new digs in the Miraflores District of Lima, Peru.  I am here until mid-May working with Teresa doing physical therapy and helping her on her quest to walk again.  Teresa broke 4 of her cervical vertebrae in a snowboarding accident 4 years ago and became a quadrapelegic.  Through the charity of others she raised enough money to come to Lima to receive cutting edge therapy from a doctor/shaman who, many years back, suffered a similar injury but through this therapy she now has fully recovered.  Yes, fully.  Teresa has been here since Oct '08 and at that time she had no movement or sensation in her torso or extremities.  Now she has regained some movement in her core, legs, arms and hands.  She is a remarkable individual.  I am living now with Teresa, her sister Amanda, and their best friend, Alecia.  We are all care-takers but my specialty here is the therapy that she must do daily at home in the apartment.  I am using my exercise and health science background with my knowledge of eastern medicines and yoga, plus shamanism and plant medicine to heal her body, mind and spirit.  Teresa has made astonishing gains in her quest.  She was at one time on a ventilator and now resides in magical Peru to receive therapy and be healed with the great plant teacher medicine Ayahuasca. Through Ayahuasca's spiritual and physical healing her gains have been rapid, bordering super-human.  I am truly blessed to be a part of her recovery and am answer the divine call to aid her.

You can read more about her story here:  http://www.Peruvianproject.org  Funding for her in-clinic therapy runs out within a week and beginning May 15th Teresa's funding for the apartment in which she lives will be run dry.  She has no intention of returning to the USA until she has made a significant improvement in her recovery and can once again walk.

As for me being in Lima is a great avenue for me to advance in many ways.  The climate is similar to that of coastal Northern California.  The view of the mountains jutting into the ocean from our 19th story balcony is gorgeous.  I am grateful to have a break from the rainforest climate because I have a few nagging infected mosquito bites which were only kept aggravated by the humid jungle air.  I am also happy to put my skills and knowledge into practice for a cause that I know is worthy and not simply to make money to stay above water in the western civilization dunk tank.  I have never lived in a large city so that is going to be a new experience as well.  Lima is home to 8 million inhabitants and sprawls out for miles surrounded by large mountains.  Being back in the city will also allow me to earn money selling art, playing music, and keep everything organized by have phone and internet access.  These are not crucial for survival and not appropriate when focused on deep personal work, but currently I see this as a good break from my apprenticeship and time to regain touch with the outside world.  The apprenticeship, however, does not really end or take breaks, just changes it's approach for teaching/learning.

So I guess that is all I have you you now, Caravaners.  I am off to stroll the beach and explore the neighborhood.  Take care.

Love,
Joey

Friday, March 20, 2009

Remember the Celestine Prophecy? Yeah, it's a lot like that.

Dear Gang,
Wow it seems like a veritable eternity since the last time I had access to the internet! Sorry for such a long delay in between posts. I have not been back here in the city of Iquitos for nearly 2 months. Originally I had anticipated checking back in with civilization every 10 days, or so, but that just did not pan out. First of all, our group infinite light has their own boat but, we rent the outboard motor and it is not cheap, so if we do not have a decent size group coming down then they do not rent the motor and that means to go back to Iquitos from Jenaro Hererra one must take the overnight ferry which takes 12 hours and is like being packed like a sardine in a can. So let's just say I opted to stay in the village and really focus my attention on my apprenticeship. There have been some casualties in the time I have been here so let me get those out of the way. Lost/Stolen articles: Favorite hoodie, silver bracelet, LED headlamp, keyboard and mouse, router, cables, camera charger, web cam. Most of those were stolen out of my bag when it was lost by one of the airlines. I can say, though, that despite the inconvenience of the losses I really have been so absorbed in my personal and spiritual work that it did not phase me much.

Let me tell you a little bit about ayahuasca shamanism as I have come to understand it after have partaken in 22 ceremonies. This by no means complete, but just what is on my mind for right now. Ayahuasca is purest, the most potent, and most effective spiritual and shamanic path there is (in my opinion and those of many others in the know ;). It is known as La Purga, the purge, because unlike other spiritual practices like yoga or meditation, Ayahuasca actually purges dark, evil or crossed energies and spirits from your spiritual, energetic and physical bodies. these 'bodies' are often referred to in Ayurdevic and Ancient Chinese medicinal practices as well as shamanism in general. It may take one an entire lifetime through yoga practice to achieve enlightenment or to open the 3rd eye. During Ayahuasca ceremony, however, the chakras are balanced immediately and the 3rd eye is open the whole time. Ayahuasca is not a "hallucinogenic drug" so get that outta your head right now. Note: Nothing Cannot Not Exist. May sound redundent but mull that one over for a while. We live in an infinite, ever expanding universe. i have come to know God, the Great Spirit, or which ever term you wish to use as a great void. The Ancient Maya and Egyptians have been teaching me this directly. the Maya refer to this as Hunab Ku, or the womb of Creation. It is a Void where nothing exists yet the potential for all things to come into being resides. The Egyptians refer to this as Ptah, and the Taoists as the Tao, or the Unknowable. It is neither Man nor Woman. It is both. think about the Taoist symbol of the Yin Yang and the Maya Hunab Ku, which is actually much older then Lao Tzu's discovery of Yin and Yang and the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, which is worth a read if you have never done so. I also have xtensive knowledge linking advanced Ancient civililizations, the Maya in particular, all they way back to Atlantis and Lemuria before it. Yes, this is real and they did exist. The clues and knowledge is there; however due to religious fanatacism, conquests and other means of subjugation this knowledge was lost, destroyed and otherwise deemed as heresy or false.

Now more about the purge.... so what actually gets purged? Well the first things to typically go are dark or evil spirits that may have attached themselves to your spirit. These stand zero chance with Ayahuasca, which is a pure pure medicine containing no less than 15 sacred medicinal plants. Ayahuasca is the benevolent serpent and keep in mind the snakes contain bothe venom AND the anti-venom. This is representaive of the duality in nature. After all the bad guys are kicked out, then Ayahuasca goes to work on the parts of us that hold us back from following our soul or highest self's true life purpose. These include, but are not limited to: fear, doubt, pain, ego, urgency, anxiety, confusion, anger/rage, depression, addictions, and others. Let me tell you how this works when purging is taking place, and it is important to keep in my mind that this is very challenging. When the nasty stuff is getting purged from your body (throught vomiting and elimationand also to a lesser degree through perspiration, urination, burping, and passing gas) you receive in the Ayahuasca visions intense images of the bad stuff leaving. I say it is a challenge because it is tatamount facing your fears and doubts, for example, head on. Ayahuasca opens us up energetically but not in order for dark energies to enter the body, but in order for them to be purged out. Often it is very frightening or sad and painful when these things are leaving the spirit. they often simply do not want to leave there nice comfortable nest where we have repressed emotions and stored them often for many many years. But again, one must remember that they are leaving for good. Ayahuasca shamanism is the ONLY known plant medicine, or any method of therapy for that matter, that purges dark and toxic energies from the spirit. Period. I know some people may want to disagree with this, but I can guarantee that that comes from a western-mind construct which has spent the past 2000 years thinking and analyzing and trying to prove though science what cultures who live harmoniously with nature have known for eons. The spirit realm exists and is real. We are spiritual beings. We are not Terminators-- you know, highly advanced robots that look human but ultimately are limited by their computer processor and when the battery runs out, it is curtains for good. Not so for spiritual beings!!! Good thing, too. That means that we are actually.......yes....... Immortal :) Western society has instilled in a us such a sense of fear of death and the unknown and through religious fanaticism and manipulation/control that it really has crippled our very spiritual natures. This is a sad sad reality. This poem by the Sufi master Rumi says it very well: "What strange beings we are! That sitting in Hell at the bottom of the dark, we're afraid of our own Immortality."
So what he's trying to say here is that the concept of hell is an actual place that can be created here, on Earth, in this universe, in the 3rd dimension. It is a place for those whose spirits have not fully awakened. Once the awakening has occured, we can begin to see why we are actually here! And that, my friends is a beautiful realization. Knowing why you are alive again this time, in this incarnation. Being able to embrace your life's true purpose, or Path with Heart. Ayahuasca helps us to wake up and get back on that path if we have strayed from it and don't know why. Or if we sit in the dark hell and forget our immortal nature. Be ready to kiss all the dark stuff goodbye for good. You would be utterly AMAZED at the capacity for which our bodies can hold onto all these negative energies, especially from living in our heavy western society. Dietetic and lifestyle changes like exercise and spiritual seeking are typically not enough to purge this shit OUT. It could take years and years. Why waste another precious day of life??? I cannot answer that for anyone, but I am eternally grateful that I have embraced my path . I choose to live my LIFE.

OK, so to get back to some more goings on here. BIG news: I have been offered a job in Lima, tha capital city of Peru, being an aid to a girl who had a terrible accident and now is a parapalegic. She is receiving cutting-edge government funded therapy available only in Lima, and I will be helping her with daily living activities and therapy along with 2 other girlfriends of hers. Included with the job is my own room in their 19th floor apartment over looking the Pacific Ocean. The pay is excellent by Peruvian standards and even US since I am living in Peru, afterall. $2100 US dollars per month, or 6300 Nuevo Soles. To give you a good idea of how far that goes here, I have been living off of 3 soles or less per day and that feeds me 3-4 delicious meals. Yes, folks I have been living for a US dollar a day. Wow.

Ok Ok, more advancements. Later this year or early 2010 I will begin construction of the Gaian Wheel of L.I.F.E. (Love.Intellect.Fitness.Ecology, my organization). This is going to be a fully sustainable intentional community and eco-resort revolving around a world-class Natural Healing Center and Mystery School. I will be building this in the high jungles of Peru. All staff who work for me will have the opportunity to buy into the community and live right there in the compound, amonst the beauty of nature. Since all power will come from renewable sources (passive solar, steam, wind, etc), and all food and medicine can be grown or obtained directly from the rainforest, this will be easy pure and natural living. The wheel will be comprised of 100 hectares, or 1 square km of land within the "city" walls, with an additional 100 hectares of jungle surrounding. The diameter of the circle is 1.13 km so it is not a bad little walk or bike ride to the opposite side. The circumference will be 3.55 km, again, totally doable on foot or bike. The community is going to be built in the shape of an Earth Medicine Wheel, hence the name of Gaian Wheel of L.I.F.E. I also plan to include restaurants, a spa, a medicine shop, botanical and food gardens, amphitheater and dance hall, a martial arts dojo and archery range, pools and baths and much much more. Please contact me if you are interested in making this vision become a reality. If you are a healer, teacher, a Warrior of the light, spiritual seeker, have a talent or skill that you could lend to this project, or just a True Human Being as Rumi says, I would love to hear from you.

That's all for now, Caravaners. I leave for Lima tomorrow morning and will check in again once I get settled in my new digs. Peace Out! :)

Love and Light,
Joey

Friday, January 30, 2009

Wide Awake in Peru

8 Cuauc (storm) 12.19.16..0.19

Dear Caravaners,

It has been 14 days since I arrived here in Peru. So far it has been filled with many highs, and a few lows revolving around misplaced luggage in Lima, and just total physical and mental exhaustion. All in all it has been an incredibly awarding experience thus far and this is only the very tip of the iceberg.

It took nearly 36 hours to arrive in Iquitos from Philadelphia. I had layovers in Ft. Lauderdale, Bogota' Colombia, and Lima, Peru. I packed all I would need for now into 2 carry-on bags and even used vacuum sealed bags for my clothes so that I could bring twice as many. I wanted to avoid feed for checking the bags and not have to wrry about getting delayed or the bags being lost. Before I got on the plane to Colombia, however, I was told that they were only allowing 1 carry-on per person, to be placed at the feet, because the flight was so for. Naturally, the bag did not make it to Iquitos when I did! And to boot the flight was cancelled an I had to spend 13 weary hours in the Lima airport. I had been up for almost 2 days straight and they bright, unnatural fluorescent lighting made for difficult napping. I did manage a few cat naps which helped.

I spent the night in Iquitos before departing for what will be my primary new home, Villa de Jenaro Hererra, which lies on the banks of the Ucayali River soome 300 km's upstream and to the south of Iquitos. It is a beautiful village spanning a few square miles and surrounded by unspoiled jungle on 3 sides and dotted with several farms. It is home to 5000 people although you would never imagine that many dwelled here--everything is so nicely spread out. I live at the Chinchilejo Lodge, which is Infinite Light Peru's main hub. Chinchilejo means 'dragonfly' in Quechua, which is the language of the ancient Inka Empire and still spoken by many modern day Peruvian groups. Spanish, of course, is the national Language. Less than a 5 minute walk from the lodge leads to a rainforest trail lead into a living, breathing pharmacy. Also nearby is a deep creek for swimming spanned by a Templ of Doom style bridge. I had planned on fix the bridge, since it is great spot to jump in, but only a few days after my idea many of the locals where already making repairs and laying down fresh boards. It only goes to show how the energy of your mind can quickly manifest things here. The rainforest is a place of your dreams. Magic is real... in fact, it is all that is real in the universe. Despite the west's best efforts it lives on here and is the ruler. Pachamama is the queen--Mother Earth.

I have returned to Iquitos for a week and will head back with the next group to Jenaro on monday. I have been sleeping here in Iquitos, but for the the remainder of the weekend will be staying in the much more trranquil Villa Padre Coche. In Iquitos the buses and little mototaxis zip around constantly like when Frank Dux is in Hong King in the movie Bloodsport. The programs last 9 days and then there is the option for me as an apprentic to return to Iquitos on Luco's long boat, which gets us there in about 3 hoursw depending on the currents. We are in the rainy season and it rains most days but not all day long usually, although the nights a generally cloudy which is frustrating because I hope to start monitoring and charting the night skies. To earn some cash I draw and creat Mayan Calendar and astrological charts for people, and teach private English classes or tutor. My official English classes in JH (Jenaro Hererra) will began next week and will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; 2 classes per day at 10 Am and 3 PM, with a office hour after each so people can ask questions and receive extra help.

Today I am putting in a shift here at the Cyber Cafe because it is the first day where i have the brain fuel to write. Later, i will be setting up a stand in Plaza Del Armas, the main town square, to sell my fine wares ;)

I will check in again before I leave on Monday, and hopefully will be able to post photos. My camera charger and USB cable is in the bag that got help up somewhere between Bogota and Lima. I have a slew of pics already!

In La'Kech,
Joey

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Greetings, Traveler! Join the Caravan...

Dear Friends,

This is an invitation to all of you to join me as I embark on what will no doubt be a remarkable and magical journey into the Amazon Rainforest, the very womb of the world. This journey will mark the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in my life; a return to my true path with heart, and the completion of a 10 year cycle marked by loss, abandonment, separation, and death. I embrace this path as the Cosmic Warrior. I am answering the call of the shaman to become a healer. If you are unfamiliar with what shamanism is read the Wikipedia definition in the links below.

To quote the late Carlos Casteneda:
A warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior must ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?'

My flight to Peru is only 4 days away so you can expect steady blogging from me once I arrive in my new home in the jungle. I would also like to note that I will be dating all entries not only with the Gregorian calendar dates that we use in the western-consumer-industrial world, but also the Mayan Sacred Calendar, the Tzolkin, and the corresponding date in the Long Count (which is what "ends" in 2012, or rather completes a creational cycle of some 5,025 solar years). I have harmonized myself with the Mayan calendar and I can say from experience now that it truly is a divinely inspired tool for humanity. Each day is sacred and possesses a distinct energy and tone that influences creation and life. The Gregorian calendar simply does not possess this--it is purely arbitrary, a correction by Pope Gregory XIV in the 1400's of the Julian calendar created by Julius Caesar. Ever wonder why October is our 10th month and not the 8th? It was in fact the 8th month in Caesar's calendar, the root 'oct' of Latin origin meaning 8. The best and easiest web resource to follow about the calendar is the Mayan Calendar Portal page (see link below). It was created by Carl Johan Calleman, the premier western scholar on the calendar. The page features a fully interactive Mayan Calendar complete with rotating rings and descriptions of all the days' energies, tones, auspices, and how it all works in general.

So with all that said I again invite you to join the caravan, traveler! Let's make this a journey to remember!

In La'kech,
Joey