Despacho:
a ceremony of healing and blessings
High in the Andes, around Lake Titicaca, live a group of
people called the Q'ero. They live a very simple and hard
life but they live it with great beauty. They live in a
way that honours and remembers the spirit of the land in
which they live and in particular the Apus, or mountains
and Pachamama, or Mother Earth. Although the impact of settlers
and conquistadors has hit them they still retain many ancient
ceremonies. The despacho is one of them.
The word despacho literally means 'offering' and it is
the practice of making offerings to spirit. This is done
from the heart as it is seen as an act of love and a reminder
of how we are connected to all things. For the person performing
the ceremony it is like holding a first child, or sitting
at your grandfather's knee, the flight of a song bird, the
hum of summer, gazing into the eyes of a lover; and yet
essentially it is a very simple ceremony, usually done with
a lot of humour!
There are many reasons for performing a despacho: to ask
for healing or blessings, to give thanks, and other specific
purposes such as attracting love, if your business is struggling
etc. Likewise, there are many different forms depending
on the purpose. Whatever the intent, the heart of the despacho
is always done to bring the person or community back into
alignment with spirit and the dream of life and to establish
a 'right relationship to spirit'. The despacho works on
many layers and is a community ceremony done in cooperation
with a sacred teacher plant. While the form varies depending
on the type of despacho being performed all despachos involve
the collecting together of certain items which become the
recados that are bundled together during the ceremony in
a particular way as on offering.
Hartwell is pleased to offer this ceremony to individuals
or communities.The person leading the despacho does so in
service to the community and out of love for spirit and
our mother the earth and for this reason the service is
offered free. We do however ask for a donation to enable
Hartwell to continue its work to keep remembering our true
relationship to spirit through ceremony and to call all
to listen to our mother,the Earth and all our relations.
Despacho ceremonies are led by Willa Harlatt who, following
a vision, travelled to Peru in the 1980's. While she was
there she was taught to do despacho by the indigenous people
living around Lake Titicaca as well as doing ceremony in
the desert area and deep in the rainforest. She continues
to receive guidance from Brother Father Coca, the teacher
plant that carries the form of the despacho. She has also
worked with the medicine wheels of Turtle Island and weaves
these together with the traditions of this land. Over the
last 20 years she has been taught by many different teachers
and for the last few years has been working with Annie Spencer.
