Masters Of The Living Energy: The Mystical World Of The Q'ero Of Peru

Rating:
Summary: Your guidebook to fantasy island
Review: Dear author, reader, brother, sister, friend,

I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but the traditions in the Andes just aren't quite what they used to be. The author of this book conducted her so-called research in 1996, but a lot has changed in less than ten years. The communities of Qeros have changed a lot too, and the supposed Reality the author tries to come to terms with in this book is very different from what she describes.

Tourism and the Mystical Tourism industry in Peru have severely transformed the spiritual climate in Qeros, as well as elsewhere. Most, but not all, so-called traditions that exist today are for the benefit of foreign tourists with money. (I find it hard to believe that the author is unaware of that fact, though she doesn't mention it much.) The supposedly mystical experiences and knowledge herein Must be received as one receives a report from a tourist. In other words, take this book as the information gathered by someone who does Not speak the language, hasn't done her homework, got some of the names wrong, and interpreted what she saw through decidedly western eyes.

While claiming to present the Andean Mystical tradition as a self-contained and unromanticized whole, the author does little more than reveal her own lack of cultural immersion and over-simplifications in the face of an entirely alien religious, mystical, and spiritual system (as bound, importantly, in a deep, ancient, and wholly unique cultural framework). What little she does to reveal spiritual insights (and frankly, many of these insights are just cases of poor interpretation, or simply incorrect, period) is perverted by a lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity, paramount in giving the spiritual issues context.

For many years I have studied firsthand with and have close friends among the Qeros, conversing in their language (Quechua), not mine. What I have come to understand is that it is NOT vital that we understand their spiritual tradition-- in our western arrogance and self-importance, indeed it is insulting-- unless we are willing to do what it takes to KNOW the traditions.

The author seeks to explain and understand, but just doesn't know at all. I wish her well on her continued spiritual journey, but truly wonder what she hopes to gain by furthering a romanticized and westernized image of a very distinct spiritual and cultural tradition. I give her the benefit of the doubt, though, and lament that perhaps she truly has no idea how far from the truth she is.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I found this book to be an intelligent and respectful, as well as enlightening, overview of the Andean tradition, which I have studied for many years both here in the States and in Peru. This is not a romantic, New Age version of a mystical tradition, but a well-researched and fair presentation that is based on interviews with the paqos (Andean practitioners) themselves (Q'ero and one non-Q'ero). The paqos come across not only as masters of their tradition, but as human beings, too, each with their own personality. I appreciate that balance. The author isn't at all starry-eyed dealing with the paqos, putting them on a pedestal and taking everything they say at face value. She isn't afraid to prod them for clarifications or more information.

I also was impressed that the author, who doesn't claim to be an expert, hired experts to assist with translations during the interviews. For instance, her Quechua translator was Ricardo Valderrama, an anthropologist from Cuzco who is known in the academic community as an expert in gathering the oral histories of the Andean indigenous peoples and whose book "Andean Lives" is an acclaimed oral history. I noted, too, that Dr. Jorge Ochoa, another major figure in the anthropology community of the Andes, is among those who have written an endorsement for this book (see the back cover).

The information in this book has a depth and breadth that I have not found anywhere outside of academic tomes about the Andes. Most of the meat of the book is found in the two long sections where the paqos speak for themselves, and Wilcox only expounds on her own theories or understandings of the tradition to set the stage for these interviews. She also provides a very useful glossary of Andean spiritual terms at the back of the book. If you are interested in the Andean sacred tradition, this book is an excellent resource.

Rating:
Summary: Qe'ros speak for themselves
Review: This is a valuable book written by a Westerner who, for a change, allowed the Q'ero to speak for themselves. The book is composed of several sections introducing the Qero reality archetypes, energy body, the system of energy fibres (ceques) connecting the awareness and material world and working with the spirits of the mountains (apus). Another section is devoted to the Qero mesa and its stones; this includes very practical advice on how to establish rapport with a stone and about the importance of reciprocity (ayni, a key concept of Andean shamanism); at the end there are some additional instructions on clearing the luminous body of unhealthy energetic imprints, "metabolizing" heavy energy, communicating with the ancestors and gathering energy from nature. A large part of the book is devoted to interviews with a group of respected Qero pampamesayoqs and altomesayoqs.

Taken together, the book is a valuable (easily obtainable) resource for people interested in altiplano shamanism. For people more interested in the practical aspects of the Northern Coastal tradition I'd recommend Matthew Magee's Peruvian Shamanism; there is also the more scholarly Joralemon's work). The book is respectful of the Qero but at the same time shows them with their human faces, humor and foibles. Thankfully it avoids both the supernatural crap that one finds in the New Age market and the dryness of professional scholars and sceptics...

There are problems with this book, too. The author herself, a member of the so-called "Nunez mafia", is a beginner and is not in a position to achieve a synthesis of what she heard from the paqos (healers) and her experience. As a result, the accounts are sometimes inconsistent and at other times unclear. The material for the book seems to have been collected in a single interview conducted over 3 days with a single group of Qe'ros; not speaking Quechua Wilcox was forced to rely on translations of her mestizo companions, who sometimes pushed their own (incorrect) interpretations (see the section on "pushing the kausay") which are duly recorded in the book. Basically, Wilcox is trying to run before she has learnt to walk and one could, perhaps somewhat uncharitably, attribute to her self-promoting motives which are not necessarily in line with self-effacement that characterizes altiplano shamans. Moreover, the book appears hastily written and would definitely benefit from more editing. Be that as it may, there is a lot of valuable information (particularly in the chapters written by Freddy Puma) and the book is worth reading. it was written by an amateur committed to the Andean worldview and practices.



Rating:
Summary: Stories, research, but not fantasy island
Review: This work is a serious research into the Q'ero mystical tradition of Peru. There are a few folks out there who claim that everything we read in English on the Q'ero is just wrong. They decry even mixed bloods (mestizo) who are the current leaders of getting the Q'ero ways out into the world. Problem is, most of the complainers are not explicit in what is 'wrong' with the material presented and do nothing themselves to promote understanding. It's easy to complain, not so easy to communicate mystical or spiritual truth. And in today's world pure-bloods are disappearing and so too would all their spiritual traditions if not for works like this.

What the author has done is to document her experiences in talking directly with the Q'ero who represented a genuine lineage behind an ancient tradition which probably reaches back to the Inka. This book is a combination of interviews and reliable information on Q'ero worldviews. The challenge here is that to really step into a living tradition such as that of the paqo/shaman, you need something more than a book, you need some face time, not necessarily in Peru, and not necessarily speaking Quecha, but time with someone who knows their stuff. The author presents information in this book that she knows hers.

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Summary: Revised edition features a wealth of new material
Review: Yes, this IS the same book as Keepers of the Ancient Knowledge, BUT it contains a sizable new section about the mesa and the path of the paqo, written by Freddy "Puma" Quispe Singona. This book is wonderful, and in my opinion the new material merited buying this new edition. If you are interested in the spiritual traditions of the Andes, this book is a MUST!