A Vancouver travel company, Sacred Earth Journeys, has been offering pilgrimage travel experiences since 2003. Its president, Helen Tomei says “people want more from a holiday than simply lying on a beach. They want to change their lives for the better.”

“The purpose of the pilgrimage is to make life more meaningful,” wrote Phil Cousineau in The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred (Conari Press, 1998). “A journey without challenge has no meaning; one without purpose has no soul.”

Phil Cousineau will be leading a group tour of Ireland in September, 2010. Dubbed “Land of Myth and Mystery - A Pilgrimage Into the Heart of Sacred Ireland,” the 12-day tour will include a walk on Croagh Patrick, the mountain where Saint Patrick is said to have fasted and prayed for 40-days. There will also be visits to Irish pubs, concerts of traditional Celtic music, a trip to the monastery of Clomacnoise, founded in 545 by Saint Ciaran, and the most famous prehistoric site in Ireland, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Newgrange.

People with a passion for yoga can visit its birth place. Sacred Earth Journeys is offering a “Yoga & Spirituality Tour of South India” February 13 through 28, 2010. One of the tour leaders, Michele Labelle, is a Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher based in Vancouver. She will be joined by Tour Guide Aman Singh, a follower of India’s ancient spiritual practices with a deep interest in philosophy and culture. In addition to yoga and meditation sessions, the group will explore ancient Hindu temples, witness herds of wild elephants, take a boat ride in a tiger reserve, shop in a 600-year-old marketplace, attend a colorful, traditional dance show, travel by train to a fishing village and possibly meet with Mother Amma “the Hugging Saint” in her ashram.

Information about other pilgrimage travel opportunities is available online at http://SacredEarthJourneys.ca

Here is how Ms. Dodson describes the experience:
Home to Queztacoyatl, the plummed serpent god, this area is a place of transformation and regeneration. It is a sacred women’s power site where Aztec Priestesses were trained. Today you will see holistic and alternative medicine businesses throughout the quaint town.

The Mayans served as the messengers of the cosmic knowledge universal philosophy that teaches us that the human body belongs to the Earth, and the human spirit to the Universe.Now is the time of the Maya, the knowledge that has been embedded in the sacred Mayan temples and in our own cellular memory is reawakening and preparing for 2012 - the end of the Mayan calendar and a time of great transformation.According to the Mayans, these changes will permit us to make a quantum leap forward in the evolution of our consciousness.

This is our destiny and so it is encoded in our genes. This sacred journey will help you understand this cosmic process, the wisdom of the Maya and how to connect with your sacred self.

Highlights:

Linda Caswell will teach her simple and unique meditation practice, “Finding Time Sitting Still.” You will learn how to make peace with your mind, improve your health and link to your divine inner Presence…in only 10 to 20 minutes a day. Linda, a daily meditator for over 30 years, teaches workshops and private classes in Dallas, Texas. Over 1,000 people have taken Finding Time Sitting Still since 2001.

You will also take a day trip to the Xochicalco Pyramids and other archeological zones where Shaman Eduardo Morales will lead us through a Mayan Initiation Journey to tap into the true power of the Mayan culture, to learn how you were created and to worship Mother Earth and Father Sun.
Special Guest Presenters:

luci salyer
Fire Ceremony Luci Lara Salyer, craniosacral therapist, shamanic practioner, bodyworker, world craniofacial foundation. During this retreat, Luci will lead us in a shamanic fire ceremony to help us release our fears and give birth to our power, and she will give individual healing sessions.
laurenYoga Trance Dance Lauren Embrey, president of the Embrey Family Foundation, is an actor, singer, dancer, human rights advocate, theatre and film producer. Lauren will share with us how to have fun and rejoice in the sacred “Yoga Trance Dance.” Yoga Trance Dance flows into an exploration of free-form, breath driven movement to liberate one’s creative life-force and cultivate embodied freedom. This is a powerful dance to open you up to more of who you really are.

mari Feng Shui Fashion Mari Bowlin, image consultant with 30 years in beauty, wellness, fashion and spa industries, has a degree in women’s studies and is a facilitator with the Clarity Insititute. Mari will present a Feng Shui Fashion Show, which integrates the sacred into the everyday ritual of dressing. Dress with intention and transform your look and your life.

Your Activities Include:

pyramid
Xochicalco Pyramid
goddess Sisterhood Goddess Ceremony. Honoring yourself, the Art of Being Authenthic with Sherri Reed (goddess photo at left).

The Five Tibetan Rites/yoga for health, energy, and longevity long considered, “The Fountain of Youth” by Dr. Dariah Morgan

Shamanic Pyramid Tour. A day trip to the Xochicalco Pyramids, known for it’s observatory with “a stairway to the gods,” and a tomb for our Goddess Xochiquetzal, goddess of love and beauty, led by shaman Eduardo Morales.

Finding time Sitting Still. Meditation practices led by Linda Caswell

Drumming Classes and Sacred Circle Dance in the mountains at the home of Mo Scian and Helida Burstein.

Temazcal Sweat Lodge to purify body mind and spirit with curendero Carlos Gomez.

Goddess Celebration. Evening performance in full native costumes by Onilu Ache and Chelsea Madrigal

Sacred chanting and music by Chelsea Madrigal.

Integration and Spiritual Reading with Alma Weaver Jones

The Sacred Power of Beauty with Elaine Dodson

Photography by Sherri Reed

Optional: bodywork, acupunture, polarity therapy, craniosacral, massage, shiatsu, spiritual response therapy.

Sign up now! Contact Elaine Dodson at:

(214) 948-7266
Toll Free (888) 362-6827
E-mail: elainedodson@sacredjourneyretreats.com
visit the website: www.sacredjourneyretreats.com

Join us on a pilgrimage to the sacred sites of England to deepen the power of your intuition and inner knowing. Travel from the gentle embrace of Somerset, considered the legendary heart center of the world, to the wild and rugged beauty of Cornwall, known as the home of the ancient Britons. Awaken the energies of the Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine within yourself and restore the balance of this Divine Union.

Imbibe the nurturing energy of the healing waters of Chalice Well and immerse yourself in the mesmerizing reflections at Bath. Feel the loving embrace of the Lady of the Lake in the sacred Isle of Avalon and the strength of Lady Guinevere. Connect with Mother Nature and the Sacred Feminine at Silbury Hill, delve into the womb of the earth at West Kennet Longbarrow, and honour your inner divinity through an Initiation into the Lineage of Mary Magdalene, Isis and the Rose.

Explore the home of mighty King Arthur at Cadbury Castle in ancient Camelot, honour his final resting place at Glastonbury Abbey, and retrace his lineage at Tintagel Castle. Harness the power of Excalibur in a special Sword Ceremony and awaken the warrior within yourself.

Travel back in time to experience the mystery and magic of the Holy Grail, sing the beauty of the English countryside from the top of Glastonbury Tor and honour your ancestors at the holy place of St. Michael.

Join your new brothers and sisters to re-light the Sacred Flame of Camelot, and be led into Meditation with Sacred Oils amongst the great oaks. Participate in a special Grail Initiation Ceremony during our Private Entrance at Stonehenge to invoke the power of our ancestors and help activate a vision of peace and harmony on Earth.

Discover the mystery and magic of the stones at Avebury, Stonehenge, Madron and Bodmin Moor and become acquainted with the “Stone People”, the ones who store knowledge and information that will provide a key to the destiny of mankind.

Connect with your “Anam Cara”, the Celtic word for soul friends and kindred spirits, and re-awaken the energies of rebirth, power, healing and love. Go within yourself and touch the sacred stillness of your own being which will assist you in awakening your consciousness to deepen the understanding of your life’s purpose. Share in songs, stories, ceremonies, blessings and meditations as you weave the inner with the outer to create a tapestry of beauty, mystery, inspiration and purpose.

If you would like to get full details about this highly recommended experience, please visit www.sacredearthjourneys.ca. And if you decide to go, Helen and I would appreciate it if you would let her know you heard about the trip from my website.

Thanks and best wishes,
Robert

The “Places of Vision: Initiation of Innocence Pilgrimage” is scheduled for July 28 to August 1, 2009.  Included in the itinerary are visits to the lesser-visited sites — Bandelier National Monument, the El Santuario de Chimayo, and Jemez Pueblo — as well as the better known Chaco Canyon, and Taos Pueblo, admitted to the World Heritage Society as one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world, thereby joining such sites as the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramids, and the Grand Canyon

Native elders, who ordinarily keep their ancient wisdom closely guarded, have agreed to share some of their secret knowledge with outsiders. As tour members explore ancient ruins, meditate in sacred kivas and explore mysterious landscapes, they will be accompanied by Phillip Chavez, Jicarilla Apache Elder, as well as spirits of the ancient teachers.

One of the most fascinating enigmas the group will study is that of the EarthKeeper Rites. “They are the preparation rituals before sitting with child like innocence with the Elders,” says Gypsy Healer and EarthSpirit Photographer Lynda Yraceburu, who is one of the tour leaders. “The rituals conducted in the ruins bring us back to the understanding of our true lineage as Children of Earth.”

Helping the group discover the connection between the rituals and Anasazi ceremonial sites will be Maria Yraceburu, who is a 13th generation Apache diiyin, and has studied with traditional wisdom keepers around the world, now teaching about Quero Apache tlish diyan philosophy, medicine, prayers and healing.

“This tour is a rare opportunity to absorb the evolutional understanding of the Indigenous EarthKeepers,” said Joe Montoya, representative of Yraceburu EarthWisdom. “This sacred journey will help people connect with the power of the Changing Mother earth and encourage their own personal growth and transformation.”

They invite attendees to awaken the divine feminine during a week of rejuvenation, beauty and fun and to join them for a truly transformational spiritual journey designed to regenerate, restore and rediscover the authentic self.

Their home base is in romantic Tepoztlan, a well-known spiritual center where energy and mysticism converge.  For three millennia this valley has been home to shamans, healers and artisans. The power that drew the ancients remains.

Home to Queztacoyatl, the plummed serpent god, this area is a place of transformation and regeneration. It is a sacred women’s power site where Aztec Priestesses were trained. Today you will see holistic and alternative medicine businesses throughout the quaint town.

The Mayans served as the messengers of the cosmic knowledge universal philosophy that teaches us that the human body belongs to the Earth, and the human spirit to the Universe.

Now is the time of the Maya, the knowledge that has been embedded in the sacred Mayan temples and in our own cellular memory is reawakening and preparing for 2012 - the end of the Mayan calendar and a time of great transformation.

According to the Mayans, these changes will permit us to make a quantum leap forward in the evolution of our consciousness.

This is our destiny and so it is encoded in our genes. This sacred journey will help you understand this cosmic process, the wisdom of the Maya and how to connect with your sacred self.

Highlights:

in a rare opportunity, Linda Caswell will lead guilt-free, joyful meditations. Linda has taught over 1,000 people how to sit still, do nothing for five minutes and change their lives. Her 31 years of daily meditation are her gift to you. Linda is a Master Neuro-Linguistic Programmer, master gardener, teaches a class in gardening with Spirit and loves daily walking and talking with her husband of 26 years.

Participants will also take a day trip to the Xochicalco Pyramids and other archeological zones where Shaman Eduardo Morales will lead a Mayan Initiation Journey to tap into the true power of the Mayan culture, to learn how we were created and to worship Mother Earth and Father Sun.

Actvities include:

Sisterhood  Goddess Ceremony. Honoring yourself, the Art of Being Authenthic with Sherri Reed.

The Five Tibetan Rites/yoga for health, energy, and longevity long considered, “The Fountain of Youth” by Dr. Dariah Morgan

Shamanic Pyramid Tour. A day trip to the Xochicalco Pyramids, known for it’s observatory with “a stairway to the gods,” and a tomb for our Goddess Xochiquetzal, goddess of love and beauty, led by shaman Eduardo Morales.

Drumming Classes and Sacred Circle Dance in the mountains at the home of Mo Scian and Helida Burstein.

Temazcal Sweat Lodge to purify body mind and spirit with curendero Carlos Gomez.

Goddess Celebration. Evening performance in full native costumes by Onilu Ache and Chelsea Madrigal

Sacred chanting and music by Chelsea Madrigal..

Acupuncture meditation and Reiki One by Jennifer Walz

The Sacred Power of Beauty with Elaine Dodson

Photography by Sherri Reed and Marla McDonald

Optional: bodywork, acupunture, polarity therapy, craniosacral, massage, shiatsu, spiritual response therapy.

For more details about this Mayan Prophecy Retreat, visit www.sacredjourneyretreats.com.

The Dalai Lama will give a three-day teaching on the Six Paramitas (”Perfections”) on September 8, 9 and 10.

In honor of the Dalai Lama’s visit, a spiritual travel opportunity is being offered by the Marquis Reforma’s “Enlightenment” package, which includes admission to the September 9th teaching by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and accommodations for two nights, September 8th and 9th.

Marquis Reforma’s “Enlightenment” spiritual travel package is priced at $450 or $550 per person, depending on the seating section in the Metropolitan Theatre, a 10-minute drive from the hotel.

To reserve the “Enlightenment” spiritual travel package call the Marquis Reforma toll free at 877-238-9399 or directly at 011-52-624-144-2000. For more information on Marquis Reforma please visit Mexico City Hotels (www.marquisreforma.com).

The Marquis Reforma (www.marquisreforma.com) is a 209-room boutique hotel on fashionable Paseo de la Reforma. The hotel is a short walk from the City’s finest museums including the renowned Museum of Anthropology.

Marquis Reforma’s spacious, elegant spa is the largest in the region and recently introduced ayurvedic treatments to its extensive menu. For dining, the hotel’s new Los Canarios restaurant is one of the City’s top dining spots, where live canaries serenade guests. La Jolla restaurant serves a savory Mexican buffet and an a la carte menu of international favorites, and the Lounge on the lobby level offers a chic ambience for evening cocktails and lavish Sunday brunch.

Marquis Reforma’s unique mix of Mexican art with Art Deco designs enhances its charm and warmth. Its glowing pink granite and glass façade has welcomed celebrities including Salma Hayek, Sting, Liza Minelli, Phil Collins, and Elton John. All rooms and suites offer dramatic views over Mexico City’s rooftops or Reforma Avenue.

It is said that the positive energies of pilgrims visiting a site help contribute to its energies, so perhaps the fact that the Dalai Lama and his followers will be at the Metropolitan Theater may help make it a future pilgrimage site.

Today, I heard of about a yoga retreat that is opening up in Costa Rica. Here are some details…

When the Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort decided to hold their first yoga retreat, they called upon the renowned yoga instructor, MeShall of Mystical Sojourn Retreats, who combines being an Environmental Specialist with teaching yoga and wellness consulting, to launch her signature Mystical Sojourn Retreats at Tabacón’s magical, mineral-rich thermal springs setting. Scheduled October 19 - 23, 2008, the Mystical Sojourn Yoga Retreat pairs Tabacon’s rainforest setting at the base of the Arenal Volcano with a spirituality-based wellness program. Highlights of the five-day program include:

• Temazcal rituals with Tonatiuh, the Grand Spa’s Shaman (Tabacon’s trio of traditional Mexican sweat lodges are the only ones in the world embedded in the empowering energy of an active volcano)

• Guided meditation and meditative walks with MeShall and exploration of the volcanic springs
• Immersive instruction in Angel Yoga and The Five Tibetan Rites including yoga and meditation
• Therapeutic outdoor and introspective indoor activities
• All meals, accommodations, special farewell dinner, unlimited use of the hot springs

Rates start at $1,500* per person, based on double occupancy; single rates are available. For information, www.tabacon.com, www.mysticalsojournretreats.com, 888-62-COSTA or 888-622-6782.

“I chose to introduce my Mystical Sojourn Retreats at Tabacón because the setting is, quite simply, unlike any other place in the world,” said MeShall. “By engaging participants in a peaceful getaway where they can recharge, empower themselves and experience mindfulness and serenity without interruption, we can achieve a collective goal to attune the heart, mind and energy and begin to unwind, release and remove blockages. By drawing on ancient rituals led by Tonatiuh, Tabacón’s resident Shaman-Master, as well as on Tabacón’s fusion style of international contemporary luxuries, we create experiences designed to elevate the senses and create awareness of living in the moment.”

A certified Hatha yoga instructor and former environmental consultant, MeShall is best known for her unique style of Angel Yoga, which connects participants with the unseen presence of angels through guided visualization. “This therapeutic style of yoga produces a peaceful awareness of being divinely supported and healed,” she said. Another MeShall signature, The Five Tibetan Rites, introduces powerful breathing techniques paired with continuous flowing movement similar to Vinyasa yoga, speeding the spinning of the chakras and stimulating the endocrine system.

One of Costa Rica’s premier spa resorts, Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort is located at the foot of the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna de San Carlos. Among the resort’s singular features is a three-unit Temazcal, the only one in Central and Latin America. Other highlights within Tabacón’s rainforest setting are 12 natural hot spring pools, natural waterfalls, lagoons, thermal river pools and exotic gardens.

Tour leaders are Mark Amaru Pinkham and Andrea Mikana-Pinkham. My wife and I went to sacred sites and power places of Peru with Mark and Andrea, and the experience was both life-changing and unforgettable.

Mark is a renowned researcher, lecturer and spiritual teacher as well as being the author of “The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom”, “Conversations with the Goddess,” and “The Truth Behind the Christ Myth.”

The dates of this trip are August 25 – September 6, 2008.  This will be a wonderfully small group. The number is limited to 10 people and they currently have but 2 spaces left, so it is recommended that interested pilgrims should register quickly to assume their place. The closing date for registration is August 11, or earlier if the group is filled sooner.

Every time I listen to the Bob Seger song “I’m going to Kathmandu” I long to see that legendary place, and it is where this itinerary begins. Here are details of the tour:

Day 1. Monday, August 25. Arrive Kathmandu / Introductory Group Meeting & Mysteries of Nepal Lecture with Mark Pinkham / Durbur Square & Syambhunath Stupa / Welcome Dinner (D) Overnight Kathmandu.

Day 2. Tuesday, August 26. Kathmandu: Bodhnath, Pashupatinath, Patan, Bungmati (B) Overnight Kathmandu.

Day 3. Wednesday, August 27. Kathmandu: Meditation Caves (B) Overnight Kathmandu.

Day 4. Thursday, August 28. To Medieval Temple City of Bhaktapur/ To Dhulikhel (B/L/D) Overnight Dhulikhel.

Day 5. Friday, August 29. To Lhasa: Barkhor Market (B/D) Overnight Lhasa.

Day 6. Saturday, August 30. Lhasa: Sacred Mysteries of Tibet Lecture with Mark Pinkham / Jokhang and Barkor Temple Circle(B/D) Overnight Lhasa.

Day 7. Sunday, August 31. Lhasa: Potala Palace and Drepung Monastery (B/D) Overnight Lhasa.

Day 8. Monday, September 1. Lhasa: Drak Yerpa Meditation Caves (B/D) Overnight Lhasa.

Day 9. Tuesday, September 2. To Gyantse: Yamdrok Tso, Khumbum Stupa (B/D) Overnight Gyantse.

Day 10. Wednesday, September 3. To Shigatse: Tashi Lunpo Monastery (B/D) Overnight Shigatse.

Day 11. Thursday, September 4. To Lhasa. Free Time (B) Overnight Lhasa.

Day 12. Friday, September 5. Free Day in Lhasa; Farewell Dinner (B/D) Overnight Lhasa.

Day 13. Saturday, September 6. Return to Nepal; Depart Nepal (B)

More details are available at the Body Mind Spirit Travel website, or call Andrea Mikana-Pinkham at 800 231-9811 or 928 284-2384. Her email address is: BMSJourneys@aol.com.

The small handprints on the rock seemed to be reaching out to me. More than a dozen Ang-Gnarra boys had put their hands on the sandstone wall, sprayed mouthfuls of red ochre over their outstretched fingers and left behind their signatures in the form of hand silhouettes, and they did it some time between 12,000 and 30,000 years ago. I was near the town of Laura in the Cape York peninsula of Queensland, Australia, hiking among the world’s oldest Aboriginal rock paintings.

The petroglyphs were unknown to white Australians until the 1950s when an air ambulance pilot, Percy Trezise, spotted them. Percy was a renowned artist, who illustrated a series of children’s books about Aboriginal mythology. He also owned Jowalbinna Bush Camp, where many of the galleries of rock art are located. Percy passed away in 2005. I was fortunate to visit Jowalbinna in June, 2000 and will treasure the short time I was able to spend with Percy.

June is the first month of winter down under, and it is the most pleasant season for travel to tropical north Queensland.

“This was a boys’ initiation site,” our guide said, “and the paintings under this rock illustrate some of the Ang-Gnarra’s most sacred, secret ceremonies.” Allan, who was explaining the rock art to us, had to lie down on his back to point with his walking stick at the stylized human images, and we crouched low to see them. There was grotesque monster, a voluptuous female figure, and a man with a missing front tooth. Allan explained that these pictures told the story about circumcision rites. After an adolescent boy was circumcised, he had to live in isolation, not speaking to anyone nor touching anyone else’s possessions, until his scar healed. Afterwards, he would be taken away by an older woman and taught about sexual intercourse. The rock picture of the monster showed the kind of horrible creature the boy would become if he violated sexual taboos.

The next step in the Ang-Gnarra initiation process was to have one of his front teeth knocked out. This is because they believed in life after death, as most Australian Aborigines still do. When someone dies and is buried, their spirit rises up three days later and flies to the entrance of Woolunda (Heaven.) The door is guarded by a spirit, whose real name is so sacred it must never be said out loud, so they refer to him as “Big Boss” or “Big Uncle.” When Big Uncle confronts you, he tells you a story that’s so funny you can’t keep from laughing. And, of course, as soon as you start to smile, Big Uncle sees whether or not you’ve had a front tooth knocked out. If you haven’t endured the tooth avulsion ceremony, then you can’t get into Woolunda.

At another rock art gallery we saw a spirit believed to be Big Uncle. He was a very tall, thin figure, painted with a white outline, in-filled in red. His long arms and fingers were outstretched, and his eyes bulged white. There were several layers painted one upon the other, so it was difficult to tell whether Big Uncle was supposed to have an enormous penis, or whether a garfish or crocodile painting had simply been superimposed between his legs. Allan quoted what Tommy George, the head Ranger for the Ang-Gnarra Aboriginal Corporation, said about the painting: “He’s the big boss for all people - white man too!”

The rock paintings are created during magic ceremonies. It is not the paintings themselves that have magic powers, but rather the magic powers are invoked while the pictures were being painted. This is why many of the images in the paintings are overlapped.

The area near Jowalbinna is the only place on Earth with rock pictures of Quinkans - supernatural spirits so powerful that some Aborigines even refuse to pronounce their name. Quinkans are said to lurk in caves and only come out at night. The first Quinkan we saw didn’t look very menacing, though. She was a rock painting of a female whose arms were raised above her head and her knees were bent, as if she were jumping up and down. “She’s an Imjim Quinkan, sometimes called Anurras,” Allan told us. “They’re short and fat, and bounce around at night like kangaroos.” According to Tommy George, “they can bounce half a mile in one hop.” Other varieties of Quinkans are tall, skinny Timaras, who protect children, and the nasty Turramulli, a no-necked giant.

We were told crystals are used for protection against Quinkans, and that crystals had been found in the periphery of ancient Ang-Gnarra camping sites.

The graphic at the top of this website is a picture of an ancient Ang-Gnarra rock painting I took during my stay at Jowalbinna. As of June 2008, the camp is now operating as Jowalbinna Rock Art Safari Camp, located near the town of Laura, Queensland. Its cabins, camping, café and rock art tours being operated by Wilderness Challenge. For more information visit www.jowalbinna.com.au

Robert Scheer is a freelance writer who specializes in spiritual travel to sacred places.

“A pilgrimage is founded on reason or purpose for wanting to connect with something magnificent that will alter the course of your life.” Shaman Maria said. “We leave our cares and concerns of everyday life and travel to places of power where the energy of creation seeps into our world and where we can affect changes in our global consciousness, which is desperately needed in our world today.”

According to Shaman Maria, pilgrimages are growing in popularity in response to changes in the world’s climate, economies and politics. With stability and security being increasingly threatened, she believes the masses are yearning for something on which they may anchor their faith, trust and hope. Pilgrimages to sacred places allow people to focus on spiritual instead of material things.

The difference between a pilgrimage and an ordinary tour is that a pilgrimage is conscious journey in which the pilgrim learns to accept the natural terms of the universe. A pilgrim must be open and flexible, willing to change their lives and discover their purpose for being.

“The experience can be incredibly life transforming and you must be aware that unexpected change will occur,” Shaman Maria said.

The pilgrimage tours she leads blend traditional Shamanic and spiritual experiences, including ceremony and ritual in the natural landscape. She combines traditional Inkan, Q’ero, Native American Sacred Pipe and Cabana de Sudor (sweat lodge) and Goddess & Lords ceremonies, set in the natural beauty and of the Andes.

Maria’s website is www.PachamamaOneWorld.com. For more on Shaman Maria email Maria_Gurule@comcast.net.