Inti with seven rays

Inti with seven rays
rising on a boulder wet
with Illapu's rain

After our bus gets stuck in the mud in a cow pasture, we hike the rest of the way to the site of the Temple of the Moon on a hillside in a remote area of the Cusco region. The temple is marked by low stone walls with a lovely waterfall at the far end. After we pay our respects to the faqcha, we climb up to a group of volcanic rocks overlooking the falls. Amaru shows us a beautiful seven-rayed sun carved into one of the andesite boulders. He tells us it represents Inti, the Inka sun god, who is married to Mama Kilya, the moon goddess. We sit to meditate and it begins to rain, an auspicious sign. Illapu, the god of rain, is blessing us with his purifying waters.

yachac Amaru

yachac Amaru

sends healing light from Killa, 

Inka moon goddess

After performing a group ceremony at the Temple of the Moon, Amaru gives a healing to one of our members. Amaru is a traditional Inka yachac, or medicine man. In Inka mythology, Killa, the moon goddess, is the sister of Inti, the sun god. This beautiful open-air temple contains elements of both of these deities in the form of a fajcha, waterfall, associated with the feminine moon, and a carving of the sun on one of the large boulders.

on a rain drenched hill

on a rain drenched hill

the bus gets mired in mud

among curious cows

On our way to the temple of the moon, the bus turns off the highway at a little Juntos pueblo with its one wide stone paved street. Beyond the pueblo the road turns into a dirt track winding through pastures as it climbs the steep hill. It's been raining and threatening to rain some more. The bus goes slower and slower the higher we climb. We start to pass a herd of cows when suddenly the bus slides off the road onto the grass, tilts to the right and stops, with the front wheel sinking into mud. The driver tries to back up but the wheels just spin, digging in deeper. We all pile out of the bus to lighten the load, but it's no use, the bus is really stuck. Animated discussion between the driver and Amaru. Finally, Amaru motions us to trek on up the mountain where we come to the secluded site of the temple of the moon with its lovely waterfall. After a ceremony and meditation, it starts to rain again and we reluctantly leave this special spot to walk back down to the bus. A couple of indigenas have brought a wheelbarrow full of stones in an attempt to fill in the deep ruts dug by the tires, but to no avail. Amaru pulls out his mobile phone to arrange for another bus to pick us up at the highway. Silently I say thanks to Claro, the mobile phone company, for providing service to this remote area. We hike back down the hill in the rain to the pueblo to wait for our bus. I am completely soaked from my immersion in the waterfall and from the rain, but after my experience at the temple of the moon, the whole adventure with the bus just seems like an amusing episode in a film. 

forged iron, whittled stick

forged iron, whittled stick

joined together to secure

a plain wooden door

The latch on this door in Temple of the Moon pueblo is meant to keep it closed, yet anyone could easily remove the stick to gain entrance. It is a study in contrasts. The stick thrust through the latch is rather flimsy and rough compared with the forged iron. But the simple iron latch, though much stronger and more elegantly designed, is a bit rusted and nicked around the edges. The wooden door is covered with scratches, grooves, stains, and marked by a knot in one of the boards. The simplicity, imperfections and transience create an earthy beauty that the Japanese call wabi sabi.

high on a white wall

high on a white wall

a small window filled with bundles

blocking the view

Windows are usually designed to let light in and allow those inside to see out, though not always those outside to see in. This small window placed high on a white adobe wall seems designed to allow a view of the main street of the pueblo, while disallowing a view inside. However, the pile of bundles would make it difficult for anyone to see out. The entire place feels unusually empty and quiet for an Andean pueblo: no mototaxis, no triciclos, no people, no dogs, not even chickens roaming the street. Perhaps everyone is taking a siesta, or out working in the fields and pastures. Later, we do see two women and then a group of children coming home from school. But even then, silence prevails. Perhaps it is the influence of the temple of the moon on the mountain above the pueblo, a place of deep solitude and silence.

a weathered blue wall

a weathered blue wall

on an adobe house

is more than a wall

I am soaking wet from head to toe, my Goretex hiking boots squishing with water from my fully-clothed immersion in the waterfall at the temple of the moon, and muddy from our hike down the mountain to wait for a bus. Now it's raining and we're plastered against a wall under a narrow overhang, sitting on sacks of quinoa. Antwan produces an incredibly ripe mango and I use Amaru's knife to slice it up to share with everyone, including a couple of chickens who snatch up the fallen bits. Now my hands are sticky with orange pulp and I am as a happy as a child making mud pies. Across the street there is an adobe house painted the color of the Andean sky when it's not raining. As I gaze at the wall, I see snow falling on snow-covered peaks, and then, floating in the azure sky, the letter "P," and further to the right, "L," and below and between, "S." It is like a pentimento, where the artist has painted over the original painting and later the previous version begins to bleed through. In the same way, memories and fantasies seep through surface thoughts, coloring them with a unique and mysterious melange.

JUNTOS and the flag

JUNTOS and the flag

painted on every door in 

moon temple pueblo

While we are waiting in this small pueblo to be rescued from our bus stuck in the mud, children in school uniforms begin arriving and walking up the long, wide street to their homes, to enter doors painted with JUNTOS below a red and white flag. Juntos means "together" and I wondered if it was some sort of political campaign slogan. I always thought junta was a small, secret group united for a common purpose, but the signs on the doors are anything but secret and the Peruvian flag seems to indicate a national association. I find out from our guides that Juntos is a national program created in 2008 to support Peru's poorest households. Each family receives 100 soles (about $30 US) per month in cash after agreeing to send their children to school and provide them with basic healthcare. For many women it is the first time they ever held 100 soles in their hands at one time. Many people invest the money to generate more income for their families, so it is a win-win situation for everyone.

moon temple pueblo

moon temple pueblo –

white crescents cascading down

adobe brick wall

The temple of the moon, on a hill beneath a mountain, is a magical place, and even the little pueblo at the foot of the hill is full of mystery, like this adobe wall beneath a tile roof. Someone has painted some words on the brick wall and over the words, a series of overlapping white crescents, the paint dripping down and nearly obscuring the letters. I can make out "Altalde" below the crescents, but not the letters above. Is this a political slogan? The presidential election is about to take place and the names of candidates and parties are painted on walls everywhere. But if this is a name, did someone purposefully cover it up? The white paint looks like crescent moons, and the temple of the moon on the hillside above is dedicated to the mysterious, changeable feminine aspect. The roof tiles repeat the feminine curves of the crescents. The entire wall looks like an abstract painting, an act of creativity, intensely feminine.