Stone Soup

Tomte Tummetot illustration by Harald Wiberg

What is a manifestation or a creation but an idea or thought that has taken form and shape. The form and shapes, although appearing solid and real are actually energy in motion, and are constantly changing, moving, and transforming. I find these realities very comforting when I'm down, to know that the feeling I'm currently experiencing is temporary. Once I realize my states are transitional, and that my thoughts and ideas are the precursors to all that manifests in my life, life gets very interesting. I get to choose how I feel and to think and dream and imagine my world any way I like, and what's more interesting is my world shifts and changes to each of my ideas. In the Abraham teachings, it is said that one of the reasons we are here on the leading edge of thought, is to experience the contrast of the world, and joyfully direct the manifestations of the universe with our thoughts, desires, wants, and ideas. In that way we can continually evolve and grow in ways that are most pleasing to us. However, it is very easy to get caught in the contrast, and forget that we are creators, and co-creators with the universe.

I'm not sure about you but I want to create the world of my dreams. Since I know that every thought, every feeling, every emotion, every desire, every wish of mine are ingredients that create my reality, and that I tend to dream bigger and feel better when I'm happy, happiness therefore becomes my goal no matter where I am in the plethora of feelings found in my world. Happiness becomes my goal because I like to see my dreams manifest, and I know that if I stay a long time in feelings and moods that aren't suited to my dreams, then soon my dreams will take on those shades of ill tended thoughts. The best way I have discovered to refocus when I get too tied to the dramas of my life is to begin with undivided attention to think about what I do want, how I want to feel, things that would make me feel the way I want to feel, and so on. Another awesome tool is to write down everything you want, dream, and desire, so that what we want is easily accessible at all times, and like divine first class passengers on a river we are constantly enjoying the views of our creations, recreating, and moving towards our dreams. If we are not enjoying our creations, simply knowing that everything is constantly changing on this life's river is helpful, and so deliver your request how you'd like life to be because the view does change as your ideas change. Keep imagining beautiful ingredients, the most perfect ingredients, going into the cauldron that is your life, and soon you'll have the best stone soup in the world! For those of you who don't know the stone soup story, here is my rendition:

There once was a man passing through a town very hungry but he had no food or money, so he decided to make some stone soup. He set up a large kettle right in the center of town and got busy. People slowly started gathering around asking him what he was up to, "stone soup" he replied. They had never heard of stone soup before. "How do you make stone soup?" they asked. "Well," said the man, "I'm going to need some carrots for this stone soup." One lady replied, " I have carrots, I'll go get some." Another person asked, "What else is in stone soup?" "Let's see said the man, potatoes, yes, I'll need potatoes." "I have potatoes volunteered one man, I'll be right back." Soon most of the villagers were excitedly gathering every ingredient this man could think of for his stone soup. One person brought beans, one brought broccoli, one brought salt, etc. Whatever the man decided he needed to make stone soup that day it arrived. Not only that, but it was the best soup, stone soup, that he and these villagers had ever tasted.

Any dream is possible, dream big, because life will deliver. What do you want to create while we are here on the brink of the universe? Stone soup is a great recipe for any occasion.

Cuzco: The Land of the Sun

Our spiritual journey to Peru began in the jungle of the Amazon and flew to the great heights of Cuzco. Cuzco is an amazing city of heart, spirituality, festivities, beautiful intentions, stones, sun, rainbows, hummingbirds, condors, and Incas. My beautiful friend Carrie has been living in Cuzco for a couple of years, and she arranged many of our adventures there. She connected us with her friends, shamans and Q'ero Indians, and together we lived days full with glory, ceremonies, prayer, love, friendship, healing, laughter, joy, art, and so much more. Part of my picture journey in this land is recorded below. A major portion of my time in Cuzco was spent in ceremony, and with the exception of a cermony we did with the shaman Basilo, we were asked to leave our cameras at home and to just experience the journey. Although I'm sad not to be able to upload the photos in my head that I took those days and share them, I am glad that I focused on the ceremonies and my intentions without being sidetracked trying to capture the perfect photos. I hope you enjoy browsing some of my experiences. I would like to make this an annual trip, so please let me know if you'd like to join me for the next time.

The High Andes from the plane
I got to play Inca Queen for a moment near the famous 12 sided stone in the Inca wall in Cuzco.

This is me and the city of Cuzco below. I'm wearing a ceremonial hat, hand crafted by the Q'ero Indians. The Q'ero's live high in the Andes Mountains. They migrated there when the Spanish came back in the 1500's to protect their way of life. They are considered the last of the Incas. Many of the Q'ero have never been down from their high altitude dwellings. About 10% of their population comes down to trade or buy goods or decides to live in the city. My friend Carrie is godmother to many Q'ero's and their families. While we were in Cuzco we were blessed to meet many of her Q'ero friends. They accompanied, guided, and watched over us during our time in Cuzco & during ceremonies. This photo below is of Carrie with one of her godchildren.
Above is a photo of the shaman Cesar at the remains of the Inca palace in Cuzco. He's showing us what the guards use to do some of the time, sleep. Nestled in these rocks is where we had our coco leaf readings. The readings helped clarify and guide our personal intentions for the ceremonies that we would all do together.

Above is a photo of Cesar & Wuira as they prepared coco leaves for our readings. From the way the coco leaves would fall insights would be interpreted about our lives. They were very accurate. Cesar & Wuira were the shamans for many of our ceremonies. Cesar, also known as the "child of light" and Wuira our Condor, are two beautiful souls that I'm glad I got to meet.

The photos above are of our Cuzco gang in a really funky cosmopolitan restaurant/bar in Cuzco. Some of our Q'ero friends are there. This is the day when we all met for the first time. It was the night before our ceremonial journey with San Pedro. San Pedro is a cactus in which a sacred medicine is made that is ingested during ceremony for health. It is cousin to the peyote cactus.

Machu Picchu in the early morning

Another angle of Machu Picchu

Me at the gates of the just recently voted wonder of the world, Machu Picchu. This was taken after climbing that high peak seen in the background, and I did it in flip flops much to the giggles of my friends and passer-bys on the trail.

I'm in love!

This is a despacho ceremony with the Q'ero shaman Basilo. He invited us to his home, and we spent the afternoon with his family. The despacho ceremonies are very beautiful and sweet. The spirits of the mountains, and the land, nature, and the cosmos, and the ancesters are called into guide as we pray for what we want in our world. Then the offering is given to the fire.

Basilo & his family enjoying a cake we brought for him for Father's day.

The prayer soles of Cesar our "nino de luz"

This is "The Lovers" painting I bought from a master spiritual artist from Cuzco, Antoni. We visited his studio one afternoon, and he was just getting ready for a gallery exhibit. Our group ended up buying a major portion of his exhibit. Each of his pieces are exceptional, spiritual, and have so much intention behind them. The painting above captures love in the three worlds. In the painting is love being made in the earthy flower, love being made in the mind of the lovers, and the love shining down from the moon in the cosmos. Antoni also explained why his series of current paintings are done in the shape of the diamond. The diamond shape represents the Star of David. Within the Star of David you have the balance of feminine & masculine energy. The two forces, one energy gravitating to earth and one to the cosmos. Also, within the 6 pointed star shape the seven chakra systems are embodied, as well as their rainbow colors, which are depicted in the painting above. It was so nice to meet an artist who at 21 years young had so much soul pulsing through his art & life. Visiting his studio was a lot of fun, he played music for us, and we danced like wild people.

Antoni the Artist

Sun God Sculpture made for a shamanic event we attended

Our Gang

One of the largest hummingbirds I've ever seen greeted us as the sun began to fade on one of our final days in Cuzco. It is a fitting tribute symbol to carry with us of the wisdom, magic, and soaring beauty that marked every moment of our time in this land.