Paying It Forward The Incan Way: Ayni

Don Humberto Sonq'o, Kurak Aquellak and Alto Mesoyaq Q'eros Nation

Ayni is a traditional form of mutual help practiced by the descendants of the Inca and the indigenous peoples of Andes. It is a philosophy of reciprocity.  In the Inca tradition ayni is practiced amongst its peoples with each other as well as with nature and the spiritual world.  For example, within villages or communities men and women work together for the benefit of all. So, when it comes time to harvest a plot of land for a particular family, all families within the community come together to work the land. When two Paq'os (Shamans) meet, one will be determined to be more powerful than another. The one with more poower is then obligated to teach the other all he knows.  In both examples there is a direct benefit that not only helps the individual, but also helps the community as a whole.

Comments

[Beate7]

"When two Paq'os (Shamans) meet," wonderful story detail abt sharing knowledge, so here is me sharing knowledge. When I met Don Humberto earlier this month, I was told he is NOT a Shaman, because shamans use drums and also sacred plants for visioning. Paq'os use flutes, not drums, and no visionary herbs at all. Maybe it's easier to say Shaman, but the definition is in this case inaccurate. All the Best,

[Seti Gershberg]

Hi Beate7, I am glad you had a chance to meet Don Humberto last month. I have been working with him in Peru personally for over 18 months and just last night returned from the Qoyllur Riti Festival where I had been camping with him and his sons Guillermo and Rolando as well as much of the Q'ero nation over the four day event (you can read more about the Qoyllur Riti Festival here http://tinyurl.com/ogwe9s5).

In my opinion as an Anthropologist and one who has studied shamanism both from an academic perspective as well as an experiential one as I am fully initiated with the Q'ero, Don Humberto and all of the spiritual leaders of the Q'ero Nation including Pampamesoyaqs and Altomesoyaqs are in fact "Shaman". The term "Paqo" is simply their term for a spiritual practitioner used to describe what they do in much the same way a Rabbi, Priest Imam or Monk use a label to describe what they do, yet in a general sense they are all Religious leaders.

When analyzing the Q'ero belief system, ritual and ceremony under the lens of the definition of what it is to be a shaman they qualify. It is not accurate to say that because the Q'ero do not use drums or sacred plants for visioning they are not shaman, as the term shaman is a "general" or "umbrella" term that describes the varied practices and beliefs of many types of non-religious yet spiritual healers. In this sense a Paqo is a type of shaman.