SEEKING THE MAGICIAN

I had come a long way to find that the master had died. A long way being from the States to Lima, Peru and Cusco too. Then it's train, boat and bus down to La Paz, Bolivia. From La Paz it is an all day bounce on a dusty dirt road in a rattling old bus as we climb the spine of the Andes to a pass at 15,000 feet above sea level called Puma Sani, the place of the puma.

This old Bolivian bus is a true luxury now. In the years past I made the journey flagging down, to ride in the open back, various farm trucks that were headed north to Ulla Ulla near the world bio-preserve. Dropped off in the night up on Puma Sani, with ice on my sleeping bag, I would wait for morning light to make my descent. The pass and valley, dropping toward the rainforest, frame the view of Mt. Aka Mani, the sacred peak and a main source of power for the Kallawaya healer magicians and the extreme beauty of these descents were well worth the frozen nights. Then, when down in the central village of Charazani, the warm greetings in the plaza, the hot springs baths and the salsa in Sophia's kitchen serve well to thaw the frozen traveler.

But now the sad news, Juan de Dios had died just after my last visit. The magician is dead, long live the memory of his magic!

This ancient tradition of healers, called the Kallawayas, are ceremonial therapists of all aspects of life. Through many millennia they have traveled from Panama down to Tierra del Fuego, healing and gathering knowledge of healing. During the Inca empire they were the doctors to the kings and the ruling class. Their knowledge is of many forms of natural healing, including the use of more than 1,000 herbs. However, today they are most sought after for their practice of ceremonial magic. The power of positive prayer best describes the work of the Kallawayas. Though they will build elaborate offerings and ceremonies that may last most of a night, it is their prayer that is in action. The masters have no doubt about their connection and it works.

Now Juan is gone, a Dios no doubt. The man had become such an important part of my life that I found myself at a bit of a loss. At first light I climbed a hill above the village to an ancient offering site. I went to pray, say farewell, to be happy for him and to cry just a little. When done there came a condor flying back and forth below my feet as I stood on the edge of the mountain. Someone unseen was holding my hand while, in a profound joy, I shed parting tears.

I was remembering one time that I had made the Charazani journey and beyond to the home of Juan de Dios. As I walked up the door opened up and Juan pulled me in. There the offering was all laid out and ready to go in specific detail, because in a dream he had already seen what was troubling me and exactly when I would arrive. That magician was well plugged in.

To try to explain, the Kallawayas see into the patterns of life. Where there is imbalance they build a new pattern through the focus of their prayer, then we call it magic. For example there was the first time I met Juan de Dios because the family of one of my Goddaughters had told him about me. They were concerned about a long term dis-ease I had suffered called 'soltero', meaning that I was still not married, which is a very strange state of being in this culture. Juan said yes, that he could see into me and that quote," I was not letting the feminine into the center of my heart". It was true that for some time I had been avoiding the trouble I had often found in relationships. I was quite amazed to hear such talk from a seemingly simple mountain man in the way outback Bolivia. Juan claimed that he could fix the problem and fix it he did! Suddenly I was being hit up for a lot for dates and or marriage! This opened the way for me to explore, in rapid succession, many of the fear based patterns that had been blocking me, multitudinous syncronisities testifying to the power of the magic. No need here to go into account of all the adventures brought on by his opening my heart to the ladies, suffice it to say that I became a fairly satisfied man.

Diagnosis will come through some form of clairvoyance, usually through the casting of coca leaves. Then they can offer their repatterning of most aspects of life; health, love, family, work, money and so on. When they first brought me into their training and initiations the Kallawayas near wore me out sending me up and down various mountains so I asked for strengthening through cleansing. The ceremony was made and then without any herbs or diet for two weeks I eliminated cords of 'unusual stuff'. Though I didn't feel sick I got well reamed out. The healers are working in traditions passed on by their masters before them and they by the old ones before them. Unbroken roots reaching back through tens of thousands of years according to their own histories. Having been proven and perfected through many millennia these practices, in the minds of the people, are a solid certainty.

In a small village, a climb over the ridge towards Mt. Aka Mani from Charazani, there lives another of my goddaughters. Her grandfather, Papa Pablo is a healer of a long and respected line of magicians and I also work with him. So I decided to go to the family for advise, if anyone they should know where to find another magician to work and study with.

One of Papa Pablo's often voiced complaints and warnings concerns the many sham shamans (scam mans). There are any number who will say "Oh si, soy Kallawaya, pagame". "Yes, I am a healer, pay me". There are many who can fake the ceremonies but a precious few who truly work with the force. Most of the local people feel that it is too hard if not impossible to find a genuine magician. A strange thing about the women and men who are the most accomplished and powerful of the healers, shamans and magicians scattered through the Andes and Amazon, is how quiet they are. All that I have met show an exterior sweet and unassuming. Perhaps that they have been humbled is a sign of the enormous powers encountered during the initiation process. In Andean tradition it is thought that only the humble are open to receive, then share the Divine powers. There are some that we now work with that I had passed by unknowing for years. My only clue was a deep intuitive endearment. That's another thing about some of the wise ones here. At times they've been willing to first watch me for a few years. Only with the ripeness of time and evidence that I remain the good path, do they step forward to begin our work. As if there is no hurry because we really do have all of eternity.

So now how to seek a magician? Rather than wait for eternity's unfolding I decided on a more direct, even if hurried route. I sought the advice of another magician. Actually I first went to the magicians apprentice, my compadre, the father of my goddaughter. Together we went to Papa Pablo. They knew of a few and suggested some names but I could hear in their voices that the men mentioned aren't all that impressive and subsequent visits proved this to be so. They are OK but... well, Juan de Dios had spoiled me and that kind of magic is rare. Fortunately we still have Papa Pablo.

At the time of my seeking I had another task to ask of Papa Pablo, regarding a missing article. An artifact very rare and precious had been given to me by a High Priest in some way- outback mountains in the area of Machu Picchu. In order not to lose it to the U.S. Customs while crossing their border lines, I left in the 'safe keeping' of someone I used to work with. When I returned to the Andes he said that he didn't know where it was and continued giving that answer for next year and a half of my asking. So I requested Papa Pablo to look into it for me. Papa saw that the man had it and that maybe I could get it back but that I would need to go ask for its return three or more times. We then made the necessary ceremonial magic.

Right afterwards I 'chanced' to encounter the man holding the bag in a town other than where he lives. When I asked he said yes he had found it! When next I could I went to his home but he said that he had lost it again. On the third visit it had been found and now I have it, thanks to the clear sight and prayers of Papa P.

Some months later I was in the nearby rainforest and on the way out I swung into the magician's mountains to visit the family and share the news of the magical recovery. My Compadre told me that they had discovered another healer for me to work with. In the midst of ceremony Papa announced again that this man will be good for our work and they volunteered to go talk with him for me. Later as I was climbing the ridge to leave the mountains I happened to meet up with Papa Pablo and he was able to point out where this other healer lives. At that moment a condor flew by and circled back close, the third I had seen that day.

Signs of prayers answered? I'll find out this year when I return seeking the magician.