Some time back in a nearby village a daughter suffered greatly under the abuse of her father. By custom, leaders in the hamlet ordinarily would intervene but worried that killing the father as punishment would unleash a vengeful ghost, the type of ghost that was loudest in its frightful sigh when far away and unmercifully soft in its horrifying murmer when close. And so the daughter in dispair took her own life to become an avenging spirit. There were many disturbing sitings of her demon over time in many places and so the locals summoned a shaman to assimilate her spirit into Waqaywillka Mountain - the only way to restore harmony to that wretched soul. To this day the daughter is peacefully within Waqaywillka.
Co-worker Heather Teater and I have just trekked twenty-six miles along the Inca Trail to reach Machu Picchu. We crossed three passes, the highest being Dead Woman's Pass at 13,828 feet, over four long days and three nights of tented camping. Mile after mile, uphill and down, with steep steps on and along an unforgiving irregular cobbled granite path. Dispair of the toll on our bodies was always balanced by the joy of constant vistas of astounding beauty near and far.
Russell and eleven porters, including Chef Moses, of the Llama Path expedition company provided us with an amazing culinary, historical, and physically demanding trek. Also on our journey were sisters, Maddi and Natalie, as well as Karolis from Lithuania.
The Incas understood people transited first from within the earth "Uku Pacha," then traveled to the world of the living "Kay Pacha," then rose to the world of the gods "Hanan Pacha."
The immense Inca Tahuantinsuyu Realm from a half dozen centuries past, extending 2,500 miles from north to south and lie connected by a road network of 25,000 miles, was centered in its middle at the Q’osco or bellybutton now known as Cusco, Peru. A lovely town where I could easily live.
Cusco is within the Sacred Valley along the Vilcanota and Urubamba Rivers. The east west Vilcanota River aligns with the transit of the sun and the Milky Way and so was protected by Inca fortresses.
The Incas followed movements of the sun and moon as units of time and calendar to plan for agriculture and herding.
We all are familiar with star constellations in the Milky Way, but the Incas revered the dark blotches of the Milky Way as silhouettes of animals that came to drink from celestral waters obscuring the heavenly glow.
As seen from above Cusco is laid out as the Puma dark constellation. Similarly, another dark constellation is the Serpent – Mach’acuay. On our trek we saw the Mach’acuay ruins from upon high with the lower most portion laid out in the wavy black ribbon of a serpent. Seen from above Machu Picchu is laid out as a condor. "Pichiu” can mean bird or mountain. Machu means old. So, old mountain or old condor. Whichever, Machu Picchu was built as a country estate forin Inca emperor Pachacuti.
The granite at Machu Picchu is severed by crossing fault lines resulting in rectangular rock assembled with hard labor, without mortar, into staggered trapezoidal shaped structures withstanding centuries of earthquakes.
Coda. We took the train back from Machu Picchu. The same train which delivers thousands of fashionista tourists to this sacred site. They wear newly bought Peruvian jobona, bright wool ponchos, tunics, and chullos. They are not bone weary, sweaty, and smelly as us. For me this trek was a purge and purification to reach this spiritual site. We readily intermixed, but I am confident our experience was far different.
