"Don´t Seek the Truth. Just drop your opinion." Zen Saying.
We arrived in Puerta Vallarta last Thursday. This was to be the gand finale of my spirited travels for the moment. I was scheduled to return to Toronto on April 15th but the generous support of many devoted readers, friends and family has made it possible for me to continue my travels for another month. Many thanks to those who have supported the Wirriraca people and myself through the purchase of one of their sacred yarn art pieces.
We came to Puerta Vallarta at the invitation of Julian, Masauke´s ´adopted´ son and my spiritual brother. I first met Julian two years ago at the Sundance and had taken him as my spiritual brother while we were both visiting at the Morning Blessing Way healing centre in Prescott, Az. I was glad to have the chance to visit with Julian who had planned to visit us in the desert, but a sudden family matter had diverted his trip.
We arrived in Vallarta to crowds and crowds of tourists,mostly Mexicans, as the second week of the 2 week Easter holiday was coming to a close. We connected with Julian, a 30 something scuba diving instructor, at the hotel where he was giving an in pool scuba diving lesson, and were immediately invited to spend the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Later that evening Julian took us out on the town. Puerta Vallerta is a typical tourist town ith crowds of foreigners, lots of resteraunts, craft stores and places to go drinking and dancing. Julian took us to eat at a resteraunt owned by one of his friends, for a walk through the crowded downtown boardwalk and to one of the local bars that played blues, jazz and reggae. At first it felt like I could have been back in Toronto, or New York or Anylargetown but later the energy of the place really hit me.
What I saw was hundreds and hundreds of people who were lost, who had left where ever they lived to come to makebelieveland, to do what they would not or could not do at ´home´. These were lost people looking for themsleves in all the wrong places. Don´t get mewrong, the setting in Puerta Vallarts is quite beautiful-- too urbanized to maintain any natural coastal beauty, it is a beautiful though artifical paradise that people flock to in droves. It saddened my heart to see and more to the point to feel the energy of so many people who were so far outside of theri centres, so disconnected from themselves. "There is much work to do with people like these" my spirit guides told me. Not exactly what I had wanted to hear.
After spending one night in the hilltop apartment Julian shares with his friend and roommate Javier, a thirtysomething fellow seeker on the spiritual path, who is working as a photographer for one of the local outdoor adventure games, and Javier´s girlfriend Michelle, a recently graduated yoga instructor, we left the crowded noisy downtown for the peace and quiet of a small street between luxury condos that deadended on the ocean. Ah, an ocean side view of La Abuela, the Grandmother Ocean as she is known. Sleeping in the two bed, no bathroom luxury van with none of the conveniences of home was wonderful as it was soo close to the ocean that we could get up in the morning and in 5 minutes we were on the beach for the sunrise ceremony .. more to follow on this later!
No sooner had we arrived than Julian and Javier asked Masauke if he could do the opening prayer at a temascal, sweatlodge, ceremony that they regularly attend. the ceremony was being held on Saturday night. Not one to ever turn down an opportunity to take part in a ceremony or a healing, we were off to assist with the set up of the fire. Having decided he was going to have a vacation for the first time in a long time, Masauke had not brought his feathers. I, on the other hand, having only recently received my pelican feathers.. more to follow on this later, carry them around with me everywhere I go. Just when it looked like Masauke would have to use my feathers one of the group pesenteed him with a mogeri, the feather wands used by the Huichols. He called in the spirits and said a blessing at the beginning of the ceremony.
It was very interesting to me to see how many non natives, mostly Mexicans but also one Canadian tourist [not me!], who were taking part in this North American Native ceremony. There is a traditional of temascals in Mexico among certain indigenous groups, but the ceremony was being done in the North American native tradition which is quite different. I was torn between feeling that this was an apppropriation of another indigenous tradition and being amazed at how ´popular´native spirituality and native ceremonies are around the world and wondering why people who have never met the native people whose traditions they are following are so drawn to those practices. I did not have an answer for my many questions.
The next day Javier and Michelle took us to a nearby Huichol village. It was a very small village an hour outside of Vallarta. We took the highway then drove over miles of bumpy dusty windy mountain roads, not nearly as far or as isolated as Las Latas, but certainly off the beaten track. We arrived mid afternoon. There was no one home! Not a single person in the whole entire village. There were many dogs and chickens runing around but not a person to be seen. Javier suggested we drive to a local beach some hlaf an hour drive away. He thought they might be there. Sure enough he ws right. We arrived, parked and headed towards the beach wehre Javier suggested they would be. I was completely saddened to see the group of Huichols sitting around a fire playing music, most with a large cerveza in their hand. They were gathered right in from to their calaway, their sacred ceremonial centre that they had built on the beach, there had been a very sacred ceremony the night before and the atmosphere was not at all like the attitude at Las Latas.
It made me really apprecaite what the pilgrims at Las Latas had told me which was that they were one of the few communities that continue to maintain their traditions. I felt that I was seeing the loss of a culture and a tradition and it saddened my heart. The people were friendly, inviting us to partake of the fish they were frying aand to join in the circle wehre they were singing but I needed to stand back and just observe as I was so struck by the differences in communities of people who come from the same culture.
We stayed a while. I bought a few yarn art pieces from two of the women and Masauke bought some bracelets. Like in many other places, one of the women told us that she didn´t even want her husband to see how much money she was getting because he would want to use some of it to buy beer and she wanted to buy food for their children.
Traditional knowledge being lost to the world of beer, soft drinks and catering to tourists. It was sad to see but it felt good to be able to talk to the women and to assist them in even a small way.
Lessons Learned: so many lessons.. I am still reflecting on them
Stay tuned. Staywell and Travel with Spirit, Spirit Traveller..
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