Ecstatic Fire Ceremony

The Fire Ceremony is conducted as a means to offer healing to a community, the land it is performed on and offered up for the healing of Pachamama as our communal home. The intentions brought forward in the fire ceremony are those of deep healing for all those in attendance and for Mother Earth Herself.

This ceremony can be performed in any location; I lead the community in calling forth the deep connections I have made with the powerful mountains and elements of Pachamama for the communal healing.

Yachak is a Quechuan word for Birdperson Shaman. The Yachaks are a very powerful circle of indigenous shaman whom live in the various low and highlands of South America including the Ecuadorian Amazon and Andes Mountains.

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I have studied at length with the Quichua Shaman that live in the Andes of Ecuador, in the foothills of powerful volcanoes, in a village called Carabuela very close to the popular market city of Otavalo. It is in their tradition that we celebrate with a Fire Ceremony.

For the Yachaks all things of nature are sacred, their belief system and ability as powerful healers comes directly from this earth honoring spiritual practice and their belief in the power of all of Pachamama. Pachamama is another Quechuan word, which has broad and deep spiritual significance. However in our non-spiritual based language it is simply translated as Mother Earth. However Pacha is a measure of time, which represents periods of meaningful spiritual times for all people, and mama is just that; mother, earth, and universe. Pachamama represents the universal earth/time continuum encompassing all, leaving nothing of spirit, therefore nothing at all, excluded.

In this Fire Ceremony we will celebrate all of Pachamama utilizing one of my teachers favorite elements – Fire. The Tamayos, Don Esteban and his two sons Don Jorge and Don Jose work with fire as a means to transform energy, or spirit. For them, as for many healers who work with the energy of the elements of earth, fire is found to be a powerful way to cleanse a persons body, physically and spiritually. Fire works by destroying or chasing away bad (mal) spirits and calling in new healthy connections to all the elements – to all of Pachamama. In their belief system it is the healthy connection at all times to Pachamama that keeps us clean, healthy, alive, safe, strong, focused and happy.

The Quechua also believe in the Seven Gods – they are – Earth – Air – Fire – Water – Rocks – Plants & Birds. The birds represent all of animal life on the earth. The Seven Gods are all the sacred items of Pachamama and all the elements and tools with which the shaman source their power. The shaman’s connection to the spirit of the Seven Gods, the rocks, the water, the birds etc. is used in each and every healing.

There is another word, Huaca, which means a sacred item – many of us have many Huacas; crystals, stones, shells, beads, feathers etc. we may create an altar elaborate or simple using our Huacas. For the Yachak Shaman, all things of Pachamama are Huacas, they are sacred and should be held in respect and gratitude.

We form three fires in sacred celebration. The three fires we will work with honor the three mountains, powerful volcanoes of the Valley of the Dawn, the homeland of my teachers in the Ecuadorian Andes. The Tamayos work with these mountains as guides; I myself have become married to them in sacred ceremonies so that I might source their energy and guidance in my personal journey and in all my healing work. Through your participation in this ceremony you will also become connected to their energy allowing you also to work with them as guides on your journey and in your work, all you need do is open your heart and ask for them to enter.

By opening your heart to these powerful mountains they will be able to serve as a lifelong resource of connection and strength to Pachamama. While it may be more powerful to be present with the volcanoes in their home and place yourself in their caring heartbeat and hands, we will be able to bring forth their spirits with our focused intention and celebration. In doing so we will aid each person present, the land, the community and the extended communities we all touch, helping to heal Pachamama and ourselves.

Not only can you receive the energy of each of these powerful spirits you can release challenges, obstacles, fears, illnesses into the fire for transformation and cleansing.

First let me introduce you to Imbubura. Imbubura who lives in the East embodies masculine energy. Working very closely with Don Esteban, the elder, Imbubura is the father figure, the leader and the protector for the area known as the Valley of the Dawn. His two female companion mountains, Huarmeraso and Mojanda are his female consorts. Imbubura is home to the Cascade of the Eagle – a waterfall high up on the mountain and deep in the heart of Imbubura where many sacred offerings have been made and many initiation ceremonies held. The Eagle spirit represents us, the eagle people, people of the north who are blessed with great intellect, able to see from great heights for long distances we can see a broad view, but our Eagle minds often lacks a heartfelt view. Imbubura is represented by the color red, a symbol of its power and ability to aid in deep cleansings.

Huarmeraso – in Quechua means woman of snow. This beautiful snow-capped mountain lives in the west, across from Imbubura to whom she is wed. Huarmeraso, also known as Cotacachi is home to the sacred lake of Cuicocha. It is in this lake that three mini mountains, islands, live. With each of these islands there is a deep spiritual relationship with one of the Tamayos, the three Yachak Shaman of the Andes. Huarmeraso was the location of Don Esteban’s vision about his destiny to work with the white man. It was here that Don Esteban was instructed that he must share and teach the ceremonies of his ancestors with the eagle people, it was here that Don Esteban was instructed to train his two sons as Shaman and to then open his heart to the “white giant” compadre that would arrive. Later to be known to be John Perkins, a shaman in his own right who helped turn Don Esteban’s vision into reality. Pink (rosada) is the color of Huarmeraso.

Mojanda is a range of mountains that border the Valley of the Dawn in the South. The overall Energy is feminine, however Mojanda represents the balance between masculine and feminine energies, and between the young and the old. Mojanda is said to represent the family, the father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, and the boy and girl children. Mojanda is home to many beautiful and sacred lakes (largos), and it is often to this mountain range that the Yachak Shaman will pilgrimage to obtain sacred water to be used in their healing ceremonies. Of the Tamayos it is Jorge that has a close relationship with Mojanda, using the energy of the family as one of his main sources for connection to the spirit world. Mojanda is represented by the color white (blanco).

Note – During the ceremony many sacred items, Huacas, of Pachamama are utilized. They each represent a facet of the elements and the connection to the elements for cleansing on a physical and spiritual level. Usually a combination of flower colors is used, white, red, pink and yellow. The significance of the colors is as above with the yellow representing all of Pachamama, mother earth. The traditional Andean healings utilize various items representing the sacred mountains and the various gods of Pachamama and therefore the person is connected to each spirit and energy. This ceremony has a long history of tradition utilized by many generations of earth honoring healers descendant from the Incans.