“Pachamama” means “Mother Earth”. The indigenous people of the Andean mountain regions honor her and pay daily respect to her.
I recently took a trip to Peru. The above picture is a view from the drive from Cuzco to the Sacred Valley. Pachamama at her finest! I visited a village tribe near this area, called Ccor Ccor. When they toasted us being there, they gave some of the chica (corn beer) to the earth, said a short prayer to Pachamama–thanking her–and then they drank. It was a humbling and important message for me. A reminder. I grew up evangelical Christian, and we would say the Lord’s prayer (“our daily bread”), or versions there of, as thankfulness and appreciation to God for bringing us all that we had. Sometimes, many times, we move away from what we were raised with to then find the same message later in life, seeing it through new lenses via a different culture and people.
I have been reawakened to the importance of humbling myself before meals/beverages to not just “cheers” each other but to “cheers” the earth and the process of getting the food to my table.
I teach this same concept to my students, in connection with massages and facials: To say a little prayer at the beginning and end of a treatment, alpha and omega style, to wrap the treatment and the person in something higher/bigger than ourselves. This way we can become vessels for change instead of just do-ers.
Speaking of my realistic connection to Pachamama: Mon Jardin. I’m irking to get in my garden. I hope you’ll join me, when you start planting in your garden, to remember to thank the earth and the plants, thank the sun and the clouds, thank the wind and the rain/snow for all they do–for the process of life that you’re part of.
Kap Kun Kah (thank you!),
Hillary O. Hilliard, Director/Founder/Discount Fairy