My teachers in the Andean tradition.

 
Elisabeth B. Jenkins; MA, MFCC, is a licensed psychotherapist, founder/director of the Wiraqocha Foundation for the Preservation of Indigenous Wisdom, author of Initiation: A Woman's Spiritual Adventure in the Heart of the Andes, (Putnam, 1997) and Journey to Q'eros (2004), and a contributor to Shaman's Drum magazine. In 1997, her book Initiation was an international best seller and has been translated into eleven different languages. Jenkins, also a singer/songwriter, has just completed her first recording project, the CD Inka Spirit. The sound is contemporary Latin jazz using traditional Andean instrumentation. Jenkins, an initiated fourth-level priest of the Andean tradition, has led Initiation Training trips to Peru for the past 13 years. She teaches and lectures internationally, and is a frequent speaker to groups on ecopsychology, creativity, and spiritual experience.

Juan Nuñez del Prado;                                    Anthropologist and Kuraq akulleq (Andean Master).
Following his fathers steps, Oscar Nuñez del Prado, Juan Nuñez del Prado studied anthropology at the Univesidad del Cuzco and specialized in the study of the religious culture of the Q'eros community, direct descendants of the Incas. His contact with this town made him abandon his atheism to initiate himself in the Andean tradition. During more than 10 years he became an apprentice of Don Benito Qoriwaman, famous Indian healer of the Cusco Valley, who through Hatun Karpay (Great Initiation) converted him into bearer of this tradition. Since then, and after receiving the teachings of great masters, such as Mr. Andres Espinoza, he has acquired experience in the usage of different working methods with the living energy (Kausay Pacha). A blessing that, following the principles of Ayni (reciprocity law), he feels obliged to share and transmit.

Doña Maria Apaza Machaca;                                         Q'eros Indian. When she was 18, one day she was walking in the mountains on her own looking for a lost llama when she heard a big bang. She was hit by lightning and struck unconscious. When she woke up she heard the voices of the Apus. She walked home and after a while she told her parents about what had happened to her. Her father started initiating her at all the Sacred Mountains. During her initiations she felt the Nusta Elogia and the Apu Carbajal take her inside the earth and afterwards they made her fly around the mountains. These two spirits are still with her now that she is an Altomesayoq.

Don Alejandro Apaza;                                                   Q'eros Indian. He is Donna Maria's younger brother, and is a Pampamesayok, well-known and respected in the Qero nation. Don Alejandro is especially known for his strength of having passed most of the known Paqos (priest healers) in the Qero Nation through the Karpays (initiations). He is also known to be a very good coca leaf reader!

Don Umberto Sonco Quispe;                                         Q'eros Indian. At the age of 8 Umberto got seriously ill and his parents consulted high healers. The illness was taken as a first indication that he should walk the path of Pampamesayok or Altomesayoq. As part of the healing an initiation and an apprenticeship were started. A few years later Umberto was struck by lightning and the healers recommended a second initiation. A personal turning point was when he with the help of reading the coca leafs found a group of long lost llamas. From here on, he learned to trust and grow his skills step-by-step. Don Umberto is also lovingly called ‘the Old Condor’ by his fellow shamans.