The Mesa is one of the foundational pieces of the Mountain Shamanism practice. Simply put, it is a collection of stones known as khuyas and other sacred and/or ceremonial objects wrapped in a cloth that is said to contain the owner’s healed state. How one uses and interacts with their Mesa varies from person to person however, it is a way for that individual to perform rituals, ceremony, healing for others, and a way for that person to connect and work with themselves.
The Mesa comes from the Paqos of the Q’ero, high in the Andes mountains of Peru. This medicine bundle contains khuyas or stones from each of the sacred apus or mountains. Gathering these khuyas from these places creates sece lines or ley lines. These are energetic filaments that help the owner of the mesa weave these places into their energy body and become a way for that Paqo or person of power to draw on the potency of these places when they are doing their healing work.
There are two ways that Paqos work with the Mesa, as Pampa Mesayoqs or Alto Mesayoqs. A Pampa Mesayoq is one who works with Pachamama, the earth, and the community, in the present moment, in the middle world or Kaypacha, where we are all living right now. An Alto Mesayoq is one who works more with the Apus, the mountains, not only in the Kaypacha but also in the Hanacapacha, the upper world. This is the place of the Star Nations and destiny so Alto Mesayoqs work not only with the present but with the future as well.
In Mountain Shamanism, the Medicine Wheel and Teacher Training walk participants through four directions or gates, where we build this Mesa together through a personal healing journey that uses energetic processes, expressive arts, and yoga. This personal healing journey is quite simply a reclamation of power, facilitating each participant in letting go of that which no longer serves them so they can walk forward into the life that is waiting for them. The Mesa becomes the culmination of this work, containing the participant’s healed state and perhaps most importantly, their healed heart. As the Mesa lives with them it can help them to remember again, and again, and again, the wholeness that belongs to them, that is their birthright, just waiting to be claimed.
Resources to learn more:
- Masters of the Living Energy (1999). Parisi Wilcox, Joan.
- Peruvian Shamanism: The Pachakuti Mesa (2002) Magee, Matthew.