In honor of Spirit Quest Tours’ upcoming Peru trips in June & July 2013, spiritual tour leader Angela Mandato is guest-posting on Halle’s blog this week!
“Welcome back to the garden… you were never kicked out.” These were the first words I heard when I arrived in the Amazon Jungle for the first time. I didn’t just hear the words, I FELT them! In that moment I felt my very DNA light up and echo a welcoming home to my deepest truth.
Most of my life I had been taught an ideology of separation; that just by being born, we automatically carry an implied guilt from the sins of our ancestors. That idea was the perfect foundation to teach me that I had to work really hard to put things right. That kind of thinking never felt in alignment with me, but finally in the Amazon Jungle, I had the EXPERIENCE of understanding a higher truth.
I have always been driven to gain a higher understanding of the workings of the universe. Just by being in the Amazon, I have gained more insight about higher truth than most of my spiritual trainings combined. It began with “welcome back…” and continued every day while I was there. And it lives in me still.
With some of the highest concentration levels of bio-diversity, one might ask, “how do all these forms of life get along? The short answer; very well! To get the long answer, you will need to immerse yourself in the stunning beauty of this sacred place.
Within all the wild energy along the riverbanks of the Amazon, there is compete order. The native people of the Amazon have a respect for all the life forms and are open to being taught by the plants and the animals. Just like the structure of a family, in the jungle, there is a MOTHER TREE and a FATHER TREE.
The Mother Tree is a huge tree with bark like the skin of an elephant. The first time I saw the Mother Tree, I literally dropped to my knees with tears streaming down my cheeks. Being in the presence of her energy, I understood how she got her name. I felt loved by this tree, I felt held by her energy, and I felt like she knew everything about me. I even had the sense that she would always watch over me and keep me safe, no matter where I would go.
Our guide would tell us stories about the graveyards of the bones of little children that were found around the Mother Tree. When a child died in the jungle, the ancient ones knew that the Mother Tree would take their children home safely and always watch over them.
The Father Tree is the protector of all the other plants. It rises taller than any other tree and is filled with iron. He works as a lightening rod, drawing powerful electric currents down his trunk to keep the other trees and plants safe. He also stores these powerful currents to give energy to people when they need it.
Our guide would invite us to stand within the huge roots of the Father Tree to be restored and energized. He would also tell us stories of how the natives would sleep in the roots of the Father Tree to have erotic dreams.
There is so much natural wealth and abundance in the Amazon that even the river is filled with gold. On our boat ride, we come to a bar in the middle of the river that contains mineral rich, black mud that glistens with gold flecks.
Of course we have to get out and play in the mud! It doesn’t take us much time to find our inner four year old as we slip, slide and play until we are so covered that it is difficult to discern even our previous skin color. We take turns painting each other and finding our primal roots in the natural joy of the experience.
As we sink in to the childlike bliss of soaking in mud, the fact that our bodies are being treated to a fabulous detox bath is completely secondary.
The rinsing off is easy as we wade back in to the river. Then the guides carefully rinse our feet as we climb back into the boat and head towards our next adventure.
We take our boat down the river to the next tributary to connect with the fresh water pink dolphins. Seeing these beautiful creatures puts me into such a state of awe and wonder that I feel like I am living in a fairy tale. Such beautiful colors! Our guide tells us that these pink dolphins are protected by the locals. No one is allowed to harm them in any way. They believe that the male pink dolphins are so charming that they could easily persuade the young maidens to swim away with them. This idea was not a far stretch of my imagination.
Heading back to the lodge, we finally meet our famed healer who is ready to share his wisdom of the plants that take us on a journey through the universe.
More to come…
Spirit Quest Tours is taking two wonderful (and very different) trips to Peru in June & July, 2013.