As the original capital of Peru, Cusco boasts a number of exceptional sites, including its old city centre built around the Plaza de Armas. The Spanish influence is everywhere but underneath the veneer, the Quetchua and Inca traditions pop up: in the clothing, the instruments, the stonework, and of course the language since Quetchua is enjoying a revival, taught at both the Cusco University and the Quetchua Language Academy (among other options). It might be easy then to miss a smaller, less well-known site, the Temple of the Moon.
Our two guides, Yerson and Germán, led us to the outskirts of Cusco, to a quiet place where eucalyptuses grow majestic and shepherdesses bring their flocks. This would be the first of many times when we would jump from modern to ancient times, crossing some invisible boundary. At first glance, the temple does not look like much, a discreet rock outcrop in which hides a cave... the cave is in fact the very heart of the temple where lies an altar illuminated by the Moon when she shines bright on a clear night. Our guides explained to us that a Serpent guards the entrance (unevolved humans slither inside the cave) while a Puma lives inside (regenerated humans regain their strength). Offerings were left behind on the altar, usually in the form of coca leaves.
The site is still being uncovered with new archaeological elements appearing every year. We climbed up the cropping, peered into the cave from above marvelling at the precision of moonlight meeting stone, and admired the landscape from up above. Then our guides led us a bit farther down along an old Inca road to a huaca (sacred site) where we did our ceremony.
Grandmother Ceremony
There are several items required for ceremony: music, which Germán graciously provided with his flute and panpipes, palo santo and Florida Water for cleansing, coca leaves, and kantu flowers. Yerson provided us with coca leaves: we had the choose three of the finest. They represent Knowledge (both acquired and imparted), Work, and Love. He then handed us each a kantu flower, the sacred flower of the Inca and today, Peru's national flower. In this case it was the representation of the Feminine Divine as we meditated on the women who walked before us. I had a thought for my grandmothers, Nine et Nane, for my great-aunts and my dear aunt, Madé. Yerson then took our humble gifts and packaged them in a woven scarf, recited a prayer, and placed our offering at the huaca, a large stone near a refreshing, crystal clear, bubbling brook.
