MANCHU PICCHU, THE CONDOR, AND THE CRYSTAL CITY

In the energy schools of India/Nepal/Tibet, I learnt how to feel my chakras.  Not as an intellectual concept but to actually experience them energetically. Since early childhood I had been fascinated by the names Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. Yet in twelve years of world travel I had never been there. Settled comfortably in Nevada City, California, I began to wonder if I ever would travel to  Peru. Then my friend Daniel Giamario, announced that he was leading a journey to experience the solar eclipse on the high altiplano of Bolivia. It would also include a tour of the famous power places of Peru. I had next to zero interest in the solar eclipse, but I loved hanging out with Daniel, and I figured anyone drawn to an adventure with him would be far out enough for me. On an impulse, I signed on.  "Yo ho ho, I'm off to Machu Picchu."

The most surprising discovery at the long dead and abandoned ruins of Machu Picchu is that it is not dead at all. Machu Picchu is a living initiation center. The power points and energy connections are still very much alive and accessible.

The secret is to find the power spot. It always seems to be a natural stone, which to the novice seems nothing more than a random rock jutting out from the earth.  The trick is to lean against the rock, with as much bodily contact as possible, and "run your energy." (for explanation of this refer to the section on Running Your Energy, or attend one of my workshops).

And just how did I discover all of this?

Our tour arrived at the first place of power. Well I'm here, what shall I do?  I never hear voices or see visions. I do get feelings, vague ideas, I suppose others might call intuition. So this idea came to me. "Feel your chakras." So I monitored each in turn and to my surprise, one of them  was absolutely lit up.

The term "Places of Power" immediately ceased being an abstract metaphysical concept.  This was real and I could feel it, almost measure it.  I began to check out other "important" spots and sure enough, some of them did indeed affect my chakras. 

This burgeoning theory came together magnificently at Machu Picchu. We had a local guide who  took us to "important places" and each seemed to affect a different chakra. As we walked from one spot to the next I caught up to him and mentioned what I was feeling. He smiled and said nothing, but at the next place we came to, before he began speaking, he looked over at me and pointed to a seemingly innocuous rock sticking up out of the soil. I took my cue and sat in front of it.  The spot was indeed powerful and I basked in the energy as he lectured the others. At the end of his talk,  he looked over to me and I gave him the thumbs up sign. He smiled, and in passing me said, "most power is when you lean against the rock." At the next stop he again pointed out a rock to me, but at the one after that he said nothing, seemingly testing me to see if I 'd find the power spot on my own. I must have passed the test, for he smiled, and when we later  arrived at another place, from our party of nearly thirty people, he pointed to me and said "you come here!"  I walked over to him and he said "sit here!" Pointing to a rock the Incas had cut into, forming a seat.  This seemed to be a common Inca practice, cutting into living rock to form a seat, or niche, or even flattening the top of a  huge  rock to make a platform.

I sat in the seat, and he then pointed to notches cut at either side. "Put your arms here."  I extended my arms to either side and sure enough, they rested in ridges cut into the rock.  "Now look out there," he commanded and pointed to a pass in the distant mountains.  I could  see some ruins way  up there. Aha. That was the pass where the original Inca trail came through the mountains and down into Machu Picchu. It was called the Gateway To The Sun.  Sitting there facing it, arms spread out from my sides and chest exposed, I imagined what it would feel like if I were sitting there at dawn on Winter  Solstice and the first rays of the morning sun rose over the gateway and struck me in the chest.

Immediately, my heart chakra burst into vibrant activity. An open heart chakra feels wonderful, and I smiled in ecstasy. Thinking others in our party would want such a powerful  experience I threw caution to the winds and briefly described my experience, before relinquishing my seat.

This was a first for me. I had always operated out of the belief that if I fully let my light shine, and spoke my truth, I would frighten or offend others and lose their respect and love.  I had shared with Daniel and a few others my discovery,  back at Ollantaytambo,  but to announce to everyone in our tour that I actually felt energy was a huge departure from my former persona of keeping my weird and often uncommon reality to myself.

Something in me said enough was enough, and it was now time to speak my truth. This time I spoke out with no regard for the consequences.  I'm sure many on our tour thought I was completely crazy, but a few resonated with what I was claiming  I  was experiencing, and our guide absolutely beamed. And that’s just the way it is.  A few will understand you, most will not, and the few will have to be enough for you.

This was my initiation into the next level of receiving energy at a place of power. The first level of experience is sitting on  the power spot, and receiving energy from Pacha Mama, (the earth) up through your base chakra, and on up through your chakra system.

This next level is to focus on a specific point in the distance, as I had just done, and thus complete an energy circuit from that place to this.  Your consciousness is linking the two places, energizing each  place  and you become a conduit for the energy, and energized in the process. I had achieved this level with a bare minimum of guidance from our guide.  I was elated.

The morning tour was soon over and we were on our own. I resolved to return to an area called the Condor, as when our guide had taken us there, I got a strong message that it was actually a place of initiation. The initiation was to die to the past and present, and to be reborn into the next phase of your life.  I had no real idea of why I had come to Peru.  But I did know it would be a death and rebirth of some sort. The Condor told me this was the place.

Birthing from the womb at the condor

I mentioned this message of the Condor being an initiation site to a few in our party, but no one seemed interested, or more likely they just didn't believe me. But to my surprise, Renee, the quietest member of our party, joined  me as I walked towards the Condor.  I mentioned what I intended and she joined me with enthusiasm.  Several other times during our two week tour she was the only one to show up at the power spot I had discovered.  Despite her quiet way,  Renee seemed nearly as much of an energy freak as I was.

But I still feel that such stories not only demean the tourists, and severely limit their potential experience, but more importantly,  such tall tales don't do justice to the wisdom and technology of the ancients who created and utilized this sacred place. 

To walk it in the correct direction, you come first to a hole at the top of the complex which represents conception.  As you descend into the complex, a niche in the wall represents the womb.  You then proceed through a tunnel, which is tall and very narrow.  This cave is a perfect representation of a vagina in the earth.  You make your way through this birth canal and just before exiting there is yet another power spot, and finally you emerge into the light of day, hopefully reborn into the next phase of your new life.

3rd Chakra Power Point

I was guided to stop at each of these "stations," do a simple ritual and meditate, before moving on to the next.  I invite you to do the same, ask what is appropriate for you, and then follow your guidance.

Renee, and I stayed in the ruins of Machu Picchu until quite late, then made our way in the fading light down the steep hiking trail  back to Aguas Caliente, and our group. Everyone was assembled in a local restaurant for dinner by the time we arrived and the only seat left for me was at a remote table off in a corner.  In one of those coincidences so aptly alluded to in "The Celestine Prophecy”, the seat next to me was occupied by our guide.  He asked me how my day went and I threw caution to the winds and told him all of the above story.  To my relief, he didn't look at me as if I were mad, nor did he politely get up and move seats.

He listened, smiled and asked me to tell him more. His English is far from perfect and my Spanish at that time was almost nonexistent, but we talked for quite a while.  After listening to my story, he volunteered that Machu Picchu was called by some  “The Crystal City” and had various rocks that made up the points of the Crystal. 

He then asked me what I thought of his guiding us this day, and that provided me with not only the opportunity to thank him for his "tour on two levels" but to invite him to share with the others what he had shared with me. I shared my opinion  that though most of our group wouldn't have a clue about feeling power,  there had to be at least a few besides me who would feel it and love it.

We were scheduled to spend tomorrow morning with him , and I suggested that perhaps he could show us more energy spots on the following mornings tour.  He smiled and said nothing.  Next morning we all took the bus up to the ruins and assembled just inside the entry gate.  Our tour leader announced that we had the day free to wander, and for those interested in being with our guide, he would spend the morning with us.

Our guide  didn't say a word, he just began to walk off.  I scooted after him like a puppy chasing food, and  we headed up hill towards the reconstructed shepherds hut at the top of the hill. I was pleased to notice that there were about ten of us tagging along behind him.  We reached the summit, and he briefly explained about the Crystal City.  That it was not a metaphorical story but an actual energetic experience, and if we wanted to, we could re-create it,  thus honoring and energizing this area, and ourselves as well.

To my delight, everyone in our group of ten said yes.  Our guide said "wait here, I'll come back in ten minutes," and he returned bearing a paper sack.  He led us beyond the area frequented by tourists and behind a rock wall.  Once there, he  donned a ceremonial robe from his paper sack, created a small alter, and  with a huge condor feather led us in a brief purification ceremony.

We paused at the edge of the fertility site and our guide explained that the Crystal City was formed of two triangles.  He pointed out the six power spots, scattered throughout the city, and told us we would station people at each spot, then he would go to the center place and wave his arms, at which point we should "meditate for 1/2 hour and  see what happens."  The brevity of his instructions proved to me that he was a true teacher.  For he did not program us to have a particular experience.  He did not force his concept of religion on us.  He had the faith and the wisdom to know that we would each have the perfect experience that we were spiritually ready for.

We walked past the fertility site, which clearly registered to me as a second chakra activator site that would be perfect for tantric ritual.  Just below this spot was a huge boulder, it's top cut off, forming a large platform.  We went down to it and our guide said "OK, two of you stay here."  Then to a huge rock, where Eleanor volunteered to climb up and sit .  Our group peeled off at each place until finally only our guide and I were left.  We had walked practically to the far end of Machu Picchu and he approached a pinnacle of rock and proceeded to pick his way through a thicket and on up towards the summit.  This was odd, I thought.  There is no trail at all and the top appears to be a jagged point of rock.  But like the good puppy,  I tagged along behind.  We reached the top and I discovered what he already knew.  The ancients had cut away a back of the pinnacle and created a bench to sit or lie upon.  When I later checked, I discovered that from no vantage point below could one suspect this spot was anything other than a sharp pinnacle of rock.  Only having ascended through the trail-less thicket, did one discover the hidden bench.

4th Chakra Power Spot

Lying back on the bench, I discovered I was orientated directly facing Huyana Picchu, the majestic peak just outside the confines of the “city” of Machu Picchu and the most dominant feature of the landscape.  When I later asked Eleanor  if her vantage place orientated her in a particular direction she replied "yes the rock seemed cut so it  pointed me towards that white spot on the mountain way over there.  I am sure its a deposit of crystals." Lance also later reported that his spot was so constructed that the comfortable way to sit naturally orientated him towards a distant peak.  From this, I came away with the realization that there was another level to the Crystal.  If we had all consciously focused on our appropriate distant points, while bringing up the energy from the spots we were on, I suspect the effect would have been even stronger.  However, we were at the stage we were at and so our experience was what it was.

Our guide left me at my spot, and returned to his central rock, whereupon he waved his arms, and each in our own way, we re-created the Crystal City. 

5th Chakra Power Point

The most fascinating discovery came when I reflected upon the fact that there were six sites, and a seventh where our guide stationed himself, at the center.  Hum, I thought.  According to the beliefs of the East, and my own experiences, our bodies have seven major chakras.  How possible is it that each site corresponds to a different chakra, and together these sites, and we, create a complete energetic body?  I reflected upon which chakra I felt the strongest while at my site, and intuited which might be the dominant chakra of the other sites, then later queried my friends.  Most had experiences supporting my hypothesis. Since this initial experience, I have returned to these sites countless times, and guided many others.  Their experiences tend to support my theory to the extent that I am confident in stating that the ancients knew how to create or intensify these sites, in order to create exactly the effects I am describing.  In fact I suspect that Machu Picchu was a training monastery for feeling, developing, and working with the chakras.  It certainly can act as that today.

Beyond the powerful experience available to the participant in this ritual is the wonderful realization that as we re-create the Crystal City, we are enabling the site to receive energy, as well as receiving energy ourselves. Thus, performing the ritual of the Crystal City is our gift of energy back to Machu Picchu, to replenish what we have received.

My one experience at Machu Picchu left me feeling humble, honored, fulfilled, and very grateful.

I invite each and every one of you to journey there, and receive whatever Machu Picchu has to teach and offer you.