Twenty five years ago, the Achuar, an ancient indigenous dream culture deep within the Amazon rainforest in South America, began receiving warnings in their dreams. Their ancestral lands were at risk, not only potentially destroying their way of life, but all life, which depends on the rainforest, he lungs on Planet Earth. Receptive people in the North began receiving dreams of people with painted faces. When they eventually met these people, they knew them.
The Pachamama Alliance was born.
At the invitation of both the Achuar and Sapura people, we set out on a journey in search of wisdom, a journey that would take us into the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest to encounter the wisdom of Pachamama and our own dreams. I've always been fascinated by dreams, the unconscious speaking to us and offering insights and so was drawn to this journey.Pachamama means "Mother Earth" or more precisely "life force of mother earth."
The mission of Pachamama Alliance is to empower indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their lands and culture and, using insights gained from that work, to educate and inspire individuals everywhere to change the dream of the North--to bring forth a thriving, just and sustainable world.
Inventory of Fears
The journey into the Amazon at the invitation of these people really began the minute Loretta and I decided to go. In retrospect the time of preparation was just as significant as the journey itself.
We were encouraged to keep a journal. Before the trip I wrote this:
"This journey is meant to be about LOVE not FEAR. But if I am honest with myself, I am pushing aside real fears.
I'm afraid of not knowing how to communicate when I do not know the language.
I'm afraid of being bitten by mosquitos and contracting malaria
I'm afraid of Anacondas, Caymen and Piranha in the river
I'm afraid of feeling foolish and self-conscious... having to slog through mud
I'm afraid of coming face to face with the fact that I love the ideal of Mother Earth more than the actual muddy bug-infested connection with Earth
To give myself a little credit, I am trying to release all expectation"
Just in case, I install Google Translate Spanish Version on my iPhone.
Before we left California, I lost my keys, our hotel reservation was mixed up, I got us lost in the hotel parking lot on the way to the airport it was as if dream time was reaching out to me and I hadn't even boarded the airplane yet.
A jungian once told me: "when the true self emerges... ego takes a hit" So the trip was starting on the right foot.