A number of years ago I had a discussion with a shaman who explained the concept of the cup and the sword in relation to how we achieve our goals or bring things into our lives. In a sense it is a life-path dialectic. The path of the sword is one where you set a goal and then do everything in your power to achieve it. This was my path for many years. I was indoctrinated to decide what I wanted - I would set a goal that would include a time frame and tasks, and finally I would set out to do everything I could to make it happen. I was very good at it and achieved literally every goal I set out to achieve. However, what I expereinced frequently was that when I acheived a goal I was typically disappointed with the end result. I achieved the opposite of what I desired.
The reality of a goal is that what it is that you think you want is just perceived and therefore not real. When you achieve what you think you had wanted it is not necesarily what you thought it was in the first place. In other words, the expectaton does not meet the perception and the result is disapointment rather than happiness.
The apporach of the cup is more intuitive and therefore more difficult to accept in a materialistic reasoned world. This path is one of allowance, where we become intuitively aware of our surroundings. We learn to read the signs the universe offers and walk toward what is brought to you or what is "attracted" to us. This approach helps us walk in the right direction, what Joseph Campbell called our "bliss."
He said, “If you do follow your bliss you...
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...put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.”
In other words, following your bliss or the cup is simply another way of applying the law of attraction which states we all vibrate at a certain frequency and "like" frequencies attract. Through shamanism I have adopted this approach and the end result is a continual stream of open doors or synchronicities.
My collaboration with Shimshai is the result of one of these synchronicities.
A number of years ago, prior to leaving for Peru, prior to my introduction to the Q'ero and prior to the idea of The Path of the Sun, I was invited to attend an ayahuasca ceremony. It was to be the first of many. About fourty minutes after drinking the magical brew it started to kick in hard. I had heard ayahuasca was the "bull" of the entheogenic or psychadelic realms, and this expereince confirmed it. It was to say the least intense and after some time it took a dark turn. I will not get into the details of my visions, but they were distrubing. Especially since what I was expereincing was a mirror of my life. I held on and accepted what was happening, but it was not easy. After some time passed, the shaman began playing some music I never heard before. The lyrics were profound and helped change the visions from dark to light. In the end it was an amazing expereince that changed my life. I learned some things about myself and the medicine in conjunction with the lyrics showed me the way.
Although the shaman had a name of the songwriter it turned out she did not have the name of the song and the songwriter's name she gave me turned out to be a psuedonym. For many years I tried to find the song online, but without success. Then, last Fall I was invited to see Shimshai in concert in Nevada City. I had not heard of Shimshai, but went to see the show. During the concert he played "the song" and it turns out he was the songwriter. The name of the song was Las Flores. I was very happy to finally expereince this synchronicty.
At this point in time The filming of The Path of the Sun was completed and I was well into editing mode. Initially I planned on narrating the film myself and had not considered collaborating with a songwriter, but at some point it occured to me it would make sense to do so. I had not met Shimshai nor had shared words at the show, but I sent him a message though Facebook inquiriing about his potential interest based on my experience with his music and my first ayahuasca session. Shimshai is very dialed into the sacred and he enthusiastically agreed to collaborate.
If you have not heard of Shimshai I encourage you to explore his music. Bruce Pavitt the founder of Sub Pop Records and Nirvana's first record label says he is a musical prodigy and one of the most gifter performers he has seen. I personally think very highly of his talent in both delivering interesting instrumentals with lyrics that come from the heart and talk of personal journeys and a sacred life. He sings in many languages incuding ancient ones like sanskrit and hebrew. He sings medicine songs from South America and has a global audience that transcends age, religion and culture. You can find his music on Spotify or buy it directly from his website.
Shimshai will be narrating the introduction to the film as well as a voiceover for an animation that explains the Andean Cosmovision. He is also providing three songs, and all of them are variations written for The Path of The Sun.
The following songs will be a part of the film:
Las Flores (This is a reggae version of Las Flores, however Shimshai is creating and accoustic guitar and flute version, similar to that which I heard during the ayahuasca ceremony)
I Sense Your Presence (An instrumental version of the song will be created for The Path of the Sun)
Here is the translation of Las Flores:
The wind brought me here this morning
I didn’t know why, nor did I care
In the way that I learn, so I teach
And through my eyes, now I can see
So is the truth, there is nothing else to do
Just keep living from the essence of your being
When you get to the end, the end of what, I don’t know
There you will find yourself again at the beginning
So is this life that comes and goes, like the flowers growing
It carries where we must be, like the river flowing
With every gift I find myself full of gratefulness
And I pray that it always is this way
When you look in the center of your being, tell me what do you see
Letting go of what you were yesterday, let it be
With the current of the river, we are all just a drop of the sea
Just a drop of this great existence flowing to the sea
And the mystery of creation lies in the depths of your heart
There you find healing, and so we accomplish our mission
To be, be human, be alive
Be whatever, as we learn what it is to exist
To be human, be alive
Be whatever, at least we are here
Observing this life that comes and it goes…
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