Today was pretty much spent in deep connection with the Spirit of Retail! We have a gift giving ceremony at the end of every trip and much of today was spent shopping for others. It is a lovely focus to think about individual people and what might be a really great gift for them. Some of us have only known each other for a very short time so we have had to use our intuition and get connected to our feelings of each person travelling with us.
We joke about it being Sacred shopping, but actually it is. When you are in alignment with your highest self you are in connection with God... and God clearly loves to peruse the markets! Some of our group members did all their Christmas shopping today. Paivi's colourful hat was surely the best buy of the day.
We were pretty chilled out because God also loves to dance all night at the disco for Cusquenans! I take my passengers to the Peruvian disco because it is such a different atmosphere than the touristic nightclubs, of which there are plenty in Cusco. Cusco has a great night life and we were treated to a hilariously fun late night with our shaman Roberto, his lovely brother Rene and their teacher Victor.
Roberto collected us at 11:30 and took us to a karaoke bar where people sat at tables and passed a microphone around to whoever’s song came up next on the screens that were strategically placed around the bar. No preparation, no stage, no warning, just ‘here’s the mic, now sing!’ Neither Dawn nor I had ever sung in a karaoke bar and I am sure we are glad it was a random one somewhere in Cusco for our first appearance!
Victor had a way of toasting his Pisco sour drink every ten minutes or so which meant everyone at the table had to toast and have a drink. This went on for some time...eventually we went to the disco. Peruvians are very tactile. Everyone dances with everyone, I felt my six weeks of Ceroc dancing in Brighton had really paid off as it was very easy to follow all the spinning around and different varieties of dance steps.
During one of the many continued toasts all night, we asked why they toast holding the glass with both hands and Roberto said, “You don’t hug someone with one arm, that is just giving part of yourself, when you toast, you toast with all of yourself.” We liked that. I managed to make my one caipirina last all night topping it up with Sprite which seems to be my saviour from alcohol here. These Peruvians eat big and drink fuerte (strong), neither of which any of us do so we were all feeling a bit challenged.
The three singing shamans walked us home at 4:30 in the morning pausing while we stopped to hug an ancient wall, as one must do under the moon and stars in the deserted streets of Cusco in the early hours. We were like giggling teenagers and recounting the stories today while shopping was Divine.
In Peru it is very easy to find a sense of the sacred almost everywhere you look as it is so integrated into the culture here. Nature is sacred for a start, but singing, laughing and dancing are so fundamental to your health. Nourishing your soul, by gifting yourself and others is also a wonderful way to tap into your own joyous abundance and honour the people you love. So get out there and discover the sacred in your delicious cup of perfect coffee, the energy of an ancient stone wall, a fabulous hat or simply in a random karaoke bar. Whatever makes you smile inside is indeed Sacred.
No comments:
Post a Comment