From Word to World – Q’ero Magic!
Picture this: November ’23 and I’ve just arrived in the Sacred Valley in Peru after a 33-hour planes-trains-and-automobiles journey. To say I’m knackered is an understatement. But I’m also excited to meet the 16 other women from all parts of the world who have each heard the call for this retreat, to gather in circle for 10 mornings of Qoya Inspired Movement and 10 afternoons of visiting sacred sites accompanied by a small group of Q’ero who will share with us the ways of their indigenous Andean culture.
Our base for the retreat is the incredible ‘Munay Sonqo’ retreat centre, complete with a spa and salt cave built into the side of the mountain, and a large circular glass walled room known as ‘The Temple’ where we will spend our mornings exploring our relationship to the teachings of the Q’ero through somatic movement and dance. The views are stunning, nature in all its forms surrounds us… mountains, waterfalls, lush flora and fauna…it feels like another world.
And so, the stage is set for some deep exploration of our connection to ourselves and our connection to nature. This IS the teaching of the Q’ero who live in total harmony with Pachamama – mother earth. They live in sacred reciprocity with nature, they make daily offerings to it, they ask for what they need from it, they remind us that WE ARE NATURE, that there is no separation, in fact Q’ero translates as ‘bridge’ (from the material to natural world)
Fast forward to mid-way through the retreat, and I find myself sitting opposite a Canadian woman called Martha. We are preparing to share our oracle cards with each other, the cards that have been lovingly and artistically placed in the centre of our space each morning, an invitation to pick a card by way of further connecting with our theme for each day.
Now, Martha and I had already established a connection on one or many of our bumpy, lunch-regurgitating-mini-bus rides up and down Andean mountain passes. We held our collective breath as we peered out of the windows, stunned by both the views and the sheer drops. In conversations on those bumpy bus rides, Martha and I also discovered we shared an outlook on the world that went beyond sharing the views of Peru’s Sacred Valley. We both felt a connection, a meeting of our minds and hearts.
And now, as we shared the meaning of our cards, Martha revealed the one that she had picked. It was entitled ‘From Word to World’ and it had an image of an ammonite in the centre – which just happened to be identical to the one I was wearing on a silver chain around my neck. Immediately it landed in me, “Wow! That’s a great title for a retreat!” I exclaimed. Her eyes widened, and she smiled her great big smile in full-body agreement. And just like that, a seed was sown.
Now, like all seeds, sometimes they grow and sometimes they don’t, it all depends on two things; how we take care of them, nurture them, cultivate the correct conditions so they can take root and sprout… but it also depends on the part that mother nature plays in determining those right conditions. Some of it is up to us, some of it is up to nature. We can do our bit, but ultimately the seed will only sprout if something bigger than us deems it is so.
And in the weeks and months that followed the retreat, as we returned to our respective ends of the earth, Martha and I must have nurtured that seed with just the right amount of WhatsApp messages and Zoom calls. Together we must have fed it just the right plant mix of trust, excitement, openness, energy, and attention. And that thing that is bigger than us; Pachamama, God, Great Spirit, The Universe, The Divine…call it what you will, must have played its part too. Because sure enough that seed took root. Then it began to sprout through the soil. Then it grew branches. Then it began to flower.
And here we are just 11 months later, getting ready to set off to the North-West coast of Ireland, where we will be holding the first ‘From Word to World Retreat’ together in October! The women who have heard the call so far have signed up to join us, the playlists and programme are coming together in perfect co-creative flow, and Martha and I are excited in an is-this-really-happening kind of way. Well, yes, it is. And we both know it’s because a little bit of Q’ero magic was sprinkled into that seed when it came through that card in a retreat centre in the Sacred Valley of Peru, and landed in our grateful hands.
‘Urpi Chai Sonqollay’ means ‘thank you’ in Quechua. Its’ literal translation is ‘doves fly from my heart’. I’m not sure exactly what that feels like, but if I did, I think it would feel like this.
The From Word to World Immersion Retreat is happening in Donegal, Ireland from 2nd to 9th October 2024. There are still some spaces available for women who would like to come along and be part of the magic.
Click here for more information and bookings.