temple of the moon

temple of the moon –

Pachamama murmuring

in the waterfall

Amaru, our Inka guide, has been leading us to places very few people ever visit, and the Temple of the Moon is one of my favorites. This ancient temple to Pachamama, Earth Mother, sits high on a hill, miles from anywhere, guarded by an apu, a mountain spirit. The bus toils up a muddy road and gets stuck three axles deep in a cow pasture. We climb the rest of the way to the site, where Amaru, a yachac or medicine man, performs a ceremony to allow us to enter the stone walls enclosing the sacred fajcha, Pachamama's waterfall, cascading at the far end. It is beginning to rain. Most of the group seeks shelter under some huge boulders to meditate, but I sit on a little bridge over the stream pouring down into the fajcha, with rain pattering down my poncho. Afterwards, I descend to the pool below the waterfall, step up to the falls and thrust my whole body into the cold, rushing water, which nearly knocks me off my feet. I emerge, completely soaked, my whole being resonating with the murmuring of Pachamama. When we return to the bus, local campesinos have failed to extricate it with shovels and stones, so we hike down to the highway to wait for another bus to pick us up. I am cold and wet but completely happy.