The final day of travel around Peru would be one of unexpected adventure. Early in the morning we woke up and made our way up to site that was pretty far removed off the beaten trap. I'll call it the Heart of the Condor Temple since that is the most apparent part of the Temple. It was here we would do a final ceremony and where we would do San Pedro, a stimulant similar to Peyote. What an experience it was!
First the site itself is very reminiscent of something out of old Britain. With stones placed in certain locations giving emphasis to the rocks shaped like a condor revealing its heart. The area is surrounded by an old stone wall and there are many tiny caves underneath the rocks in the surrounding areas.
For the ceremony I was the first to go. It was based on how you wanted to grow and recognizing self value. All the symbolism was tied to that since the Condor is supposed to represent enlightenment. Each of us held the rock that was the heart one at at time while Puma did the ceremony.
After the ceremony I wandered around for a while. It was a time to observe the effects of San Pedro from a rational perspective. What I found was it was very difficult to do, but that it did seem to heighten senses while at the same time stimulating creative centers of the brain. I saw animals in the minds eye which was pretty cool.
For me the ceremony ended in a cave simply reflecting and trying to clear my mind. Which was difficult with the San Pedro, but was great nonetheless. It gave me chance to look more critically at myself since my defenses were a little down from the drug. I could definitely understand why it was such an important part of ceremony.
Historically it also had a darker side as well. If a youth wanted to go to the afterlife he or she could overdose on San Pedro and the tribe would support it. I don't know if taking something will allow going to another world, considering I don't know if other worlds beyond the physical world even exist, so with that it is difficult not to see it as supported youth suicide. Thankfully that isn't done today, but it showed more of the darker side of religious emphasis especially on the young who might not know any better or see beyond how amazing the experience of a religious trip can be.
Afterwords we all walked back in silence. Suffice to say, it was an intense experience.
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