This is the eighth in my weekly (every Friday) series of blog posts ‘For Newbies’, in which I attempt to outline the basic practices and terminology of shamanism, in as clear and easy to understand prose as I can.
This blog post is about the first four shamanic initiations, known as the Foundation Rites, of the Munay-Ki. In Part Two, next Friday, I’ll discuss the final five rites. Finally, in Part Three, the following Friday, I’ll discuss the indigenous communities who inspired the Munay-Ki rites.
What does Munay-Ki mean?
In simple terms, ‘Munay’ means ‘love’ and ‘Ki’ means power.
What are the Munay-Ki Rites?
They are the nine great initiations of the Incan tradition. They bring a student into balance, or ‘ayni’ (that is, right relationship) and encourage the key Incan attributes of Wisdom, Love and Service. They also serve to ‘inform’ their luminous energy field.
Where do these rites come from?
The roots of the Munay-Ki rites are in the initiation rites of the shamans and paquos (Q’ero priests/practitioners), which have been practiced for millennia. The practices of the Q’ero people are arguably the closest we will get to knowing Incan medicine practices because the Inca wrote nothing down, preserving their teachings via an oral tradition. Inevitably, time, the influence of the Spanish invaders, the imposition of Catholicism and the various impacts of the modernworld have changed how the Q’ero deliver the rites but, because of their long years of isolation in the mountains, theirs are still seen as the purest. However, the Munay-Ki, whilst predominantly drawn from the Q’ero, also reflect other traditions.
Who created the Munay-Ki?
Undoubtedly, the biggest influence on the Munay-Ki, as we know them, is Dr Alberto Villoldo, the Cuban-born psychologist, medical anthropologist and author who lived and studied with the Q’ero. His seminal work being Shaman Healer Sage: How to Heal Yourself & Others with the Energy Medicine of the Americas. He based the Munay-Ki on the initiatory practices of the shamans of the Andes and the Amazon.
However, out of respect for native tradition and to avoid propagating the notion that westerners could become traditional shamans, he effectively stripped the rites of the indigenous cultures from which they came. Having done so, he offered them to his students with the permission of his teacher, don Manuel Quispe, who was widely regarded as the last of the great medicine men of the Q’ero Inca nation.
What happens in these rites?
They are bestowed in beautiful ceremonies, which echo those performed by indigenous shamans. Ancient knowledge is then ‘downloaded’ in these rites, which aids one’s spiritual progression.
Downloaded from whom?
From those who have walked the healing path before us, the ancient wisdomkeepers of old, and from those who are yet to come.
Yet to come?
Yes, the Q’ero believe that the rites exist outside of time, so that what you need, be it from the past, or from the future, can be accessed now. Indeed, there are some who believe that downloading these rites is an important step in human evolution – to our becoming ‘Homo Luminous’.
Whatever you believe, to feel directly connected with a tradition of love and brotherhood/sisterhood is a very special experience and often proves surprisingly emotional. In modern Western culture we have lost so many of the ‘rites of passage’ that our ancestors routinely undertook, that it is easy to feel disconnected from one another.
The proliferation of social media and electronic devices has only served to increase our sense of isolation and schism. This is why, I think, so many people are drawn to fire ceremonies and to the shamanic path – there is an intrinsic need to reconnect with one another and to find our place in the universe.
Is there anything I’ll need?
Just yourself and an open mind. If you are learning to gift the Munay-Ki rites, you will need a ‘Pi stone’ – a small stone with a hole in the middle, whose doughnut shape is said to be reminiscent of the shape of the wirracocha. Your shaman may provide you with one, or they might just use their own, if you are just being gifted the rites.
Okay, let’s get going! What is the 1st rite?
The first four rites are known as ‘The Foundation Rites’ and the first is known as:
1. The Healer’s Rite
Alberto Villoldo tells us that, ‘The Healers Rite is known as the Hampe blessing and comes from the highland Q’ero people’. This is the first initiation, which sets you upon your healing journey. It ‘charges up’ your pi stone and reminds your hands of their innate ability to heal. They also serve to make the first connections with the lineage of great healers in the Incan tradition, assisting you in your personal transformation, as well as the healing of others.
How are they performed?
The shaman will connect with their own belly and the ‘power to manifest’ and connect your pi stone to this power. Then they will connect your pi stone with their heart and with the ‘power of love’ and, finally, with their third eye and with the ‘power of vision and clarity’.
What is the 2nd rite?
The second rite is known as:
2. The Bands of Protection
Alberto Villoldo tells us that, ‘The Bands of Power were transmitted by Juan Victor Nuñez del Prado, a friend and colleague, whose father was one of the discoverers of the Q’ero nation’. In this rite, 5 energy belts are woven into your luminous energy field by the shaman’s pi stone and they act as a source of personal power and protection. The idea is that these act as filters to break down any negative energies which enter your luminous energy field.
How are they performed?
A black band is woven at the level of the base (1st) chakra and provides a connection to the earth and the soil in which the ‘seeds of your becoming’ are sown.
A red band is woven at the level of the solar plexus (3rd) chakra and provides a connection to the blood of the mother and the waters of the earth, which nourish the ‘seeds of your becoming’.
A gold band is drawn at the level of the heart (4th) chakra and provides a connection to the warmth of the sun, which nurtures the ‘seeds of your becoming’ and allows them to grow strong.
A silver band is drawn at the level of the throat (5th) chakra and provides a connection to the reflected light of the moon and to the stars. They also provide a connection to the wind, which blows and sends out the ‘seeds of our becoming’ on a wider journey.
A white band is drawn at the level of the third eye (6th) chakra and provides a connection to the snow-capped mountains and the wisdom, which the ancients believed was contained there.
What is the 3rd rite?
The third rite is known as:
3. The Seer’s Rite
Alberto Villoldo tells us that, ‘The Seer’s rite is practiced among the North Coast peoples of Peru, (the descendants of the Chimú and Moche cultures), and by the seers and trackers of the Amazon’. This rite activates new cerebral pathways, so that we can, ‘see through the eyes of the heart’.
How is it performed?
The shaman will draw golden threads of connection between your occipital bone (base of your skull) and your third eye chakra, seeking to draw a connection between your visual cortex and your third eye. They will then draw gold threads of connection between your visual cortex and your heart chakra. How do you think you would view the world differently if you saw it through the filter of compassion?
What is the 4th rite?
The fourth rite, the last of the foundation rites is known as:
4. The Harmony Rite (or ‘Ayni Karpay’)
Alberto Villoldo tells us that, ‘The Harmony Rite comes from the lowland Q’ero, the Huachipayre people from the edge of the Amazon. I learned it from don Alejandro Cahuanchi, a renowned healer’. This rite brings balance to your luminous energy field and thus, also, to the world’s luminous energy field. Key Incan archetypes are sown into each of your chakras, which you can call upon to aid you in your healing journey.
How is it performed?
In your 1st chakra, the archetype of Serpent is blown, who assists you in unbinding the past – all that which no longer serves you.
In your 2nd chakra, the archetype of Jaguar is blown, who assists in your understanding of the cycles of life, of both death and renewal.
In your 3rd chakra, the archetype of Hummingbird is blown, who assists in aiding your spiritual growth and evolution, teaching you to find the joy in life.
In your 4th chakra, the archetype of Eagle is blown, who assists in your transcendence and connects you with Great Spirit.
In your 5th chakra, the archetype of Huascar is blown, who assists in connecting you with the lower world and brings you into a harmonious relationship with your Shadow.
Huáscar was the 13th Sapa Inca (1527-1532) and was murdered by his younger half brother, Atahualpa, in the Civil War, which effectively allowed the conquistadors to conquer the Inca Empire. He was traditionally seen as the keeper of the medicine teachings.
Presiding in the Lower World, Huascar is often seen as a bear, or a shaman wearing a bear skin.
In your 6th chakra, the archetype of Quetzalcoatl is blown, who assists in connecting you with the middle world and brings you into a harmonious relationship with Time.
Quetzalcoatl is a winged serpent (the combination of Quetzal, a jungle bird, and Coatl, a serpent). The worship of a feathered serpent is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BC. The Inca believed that the arts of irrigation, medicine plants and stonework were gifts of Quetzalcoatl.
Presiding in the Middle World, Quetzalcoatl is most often seen as a winged serpent, or a dragon.
In your 7th chakra, the archetype of Pachacuti is blown, who assists in connecting you with the upper world and the ‘Time to come’.
Pachacuti was the 9th Sapa Inca (1438-1472) – in Quechua Pachakutiq means, ‘he who overturns space and time’. He is linked to the origin of the Inti sun cult and created the Incan Empire. Many archaeologists believe Machu Picchu was his summer estate.
Presiding in the Upper World, Pachacuti is most often seen as an angelic figure, or as a being of pure light.
Okay, I’m interested – where & when can I receive the Munay-Ki rites?
As luck would have it, I’ll be leading a Munay-Ki course with my good friend and fellow shaman, Theresa Scully, over two weekends (the 7/8th July and 14/15th July, 2018) in Warwickshire. That’s us below, looking exhausted at having climbed Waynapicchu together, in Peru, 2015.
For more information on our course, please see click here or contact me at chacarunadanwaller@gmail.com, or my co-host, Theresa, at tasteresa@icloud.com for further information.