Machu PicchuSacred Site and Mountains By Gina Gafford Through the Lens Photography Sponsored by the Literary Committee of the Arts Consortium of Carver County ACCC Gallery at the Chaska Community Center (artsofcarvercounty.org) July 1, 2025 – August 31, 2025
I took these two photos of Machu Picchu while visiting Peru in June 2025. Machu Picchu is sacred because the site was inaccessible, and the Incas had deep knowledge of nature and spirituality. It is one of the world’s seven wonders, and it has around 5,000 visitors a day. There are around 1,600 stone steps up to the Machu Picchu site.
The Incas worshipped their gods, including the sun, the moon, the mountains, and the earth. People visit Machu Picchu to experience the sun’s healing energy, admire the stunning mountains, and explore the Inca farming terraces. It is commonly believed that Machu Picchu was used as a royal estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti.
Chaska Community Center ACCC Gallery (11×14 photos)
When I was at the ayahuasca retreat, our shaman teacher gave us the option to see Donna (not her real name), who offered coca leaf readings for $100.00. The coca leaf comes from the cocaine plant, and many Peruvians chew the leaves. I was curious about Donna after one of the retreat attendees said it was worth having the reading done. She also said Donna was very open – she told the retreat attendee that she’s often too tired to have sex – her boyfriend is 20 years younger than her.
On my way to see Donna, a Peruvian woman who spoke perfect English, I walked with a retreat assistant for 10 minutes through the lush jungle, the sun shining through the branches, and heat mixing with the smell of moss. Upon arrival at her home, a large Brazilian Mastiff greeted us. I was a little frightened because I didn’t know if the dog was friendly or not.
Donna’s boyfriend, a tall man with a long black ponytail, took me into their cozy house to wait for Donna. I noticed a small kitchen with a yellow teapot, a fur rug on the floor outlining a small coffee table, and wooden stairs made with deer antlers leading up to the second floor.
When Donna was ready for me, her boyfriend came to pick me up. I followed him outside to meet Donna. Donna was a petite woman with gray hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She had a sleeveless purple shirt, capris, and no shoes. I followed her to a small maloca (a circular building with wooden supports in the shape of a hexagon). She said I could take off my shoes, which I did.
As I entered the maloca, I noticed white sand beneath my feet. In the center of the maloca, a small table and two cushions were placed. Donna invited me to sit. I sat across from her as my feet sank into the sand. Donna said she wanted sand in her maloca because it helps to ground the people who visit her. She continued to say that many times we want to see the ocean, but it’s the sand that makes us feel good. So, she had a vision to put sand in her “office.”
I brought three small bundles of white sage to give to Donna as a gift. She was happy to receive them. My shaman teacher said they don’t have sage in Peru.
Donna asked me to grab a bunch of dried coca leaves from her zippered pouch. Then she instructed me to hold the leaves between my palms and blow on them three times. After I blew on them with my warm air, I opened my palms to let the leaves fall onto the table.
I looked at Donna as she stared at the leaves. She asked me, “Are you a healer?” I said, “Yes, in a Western sense of the word. I work for a hospital helping people who are dying.” Donna shook her head as she understood.
Donna said, “The leaves tell me you take on too much sadness from your patients and their families. But I also see you were born a healer.” I wasn’t expecting her to say I was a healer. But I was pleasantly surprised that she was intuitive. At that moment, I felt a deep connection to Donna. She also told me to look up paintings by Alex Grey. She said he captures the human spirit in his paintings.
I had prepared four questions in my small dollar store notebook. The first one was, “Is there anything I need to work on for my spiritual development?”
Donna said I need to breathe. She said, “Breath is spirit, and you need to connect with your spirit without any concepts.” She continued to say that meditation will help me. In my head, I agreed with her.
Then she looked at me with concern. She asked me, “Why do you doubt yourself so much? You need to stop that!” I agreed with her – I do doubt myself sometimes. I also get into my head way too much. I need to let go more.
My second question was, “Do you have any insights on my marriage?” Donna smiled a little. She said my husband, Jeff, is a good man, and he loves me very much. She also said I should stay married to him, and we were married in a previous past life.
Donna encouraged me to have more fun with my husband and to breathe together. My thoughts went back to when we were dating. I remember Jeff and me lying together in bed, in my newly rented townhouse, with the soft light of the sunset. I felt warm as we held each other and practiced tantric breathing. We would breathe together on the inhale and the exhale, creating a natural rhythm.
The third question was about my job: “Any messages about my job?” Donna encouraged me to think about starting my own business (like a death doula). She also said I have too much education. I need to focus on spirit and not on more education. I have everything I need to work with people who are dying. Instead of seeking more education, I need to work with my intuition, open my heart, and mind. I need to work on staying in the present moment.
My final question was, “How can I become enlightened in this lifetime?” Donna said I must let go and return to spirit. She said we have things backward. We should cry when a baby is born because of the challenging life that awaits, and be happy for people who die because they are done with their journey on earth.
She didn’t answer my question directly – whether I will become enlightened in this lifetime. Instead, she said that this is her last life on earth – she will not be returning. Maybe she has reached enlightenment.
Donna answered all my questions. I gave her $100 in US cash (which I thought was a lot of money for a thirty-minute reading). She placed the cash under her tablecloth. We both stood up, and Donna led me out of the maloca.
I found the coca reading intriguing, and I’m glad I decided to do it. There are some things to consider, especially her comments about my marriage and returning to Spirit. I am working on positive thoughts and letting go of things in the past.
I just got back from a 11-day ayahuasca retreat in Tarapoto, Peru. I was nervous about going on the retreat because I would be far from home and experimenting with an unknown plant medicine. I remember my husband, Jeff, saying to me before I left, “Don’t do anything stupid.”
A week before I went to Peru, I stopped by my parents’ grave marker and asked them to keep me safe while I was there. And now that I’m back, I feel like I was protected.
The retreat center is on the edge of the regional conservation of Cordillera (the edge of the Amazon). The lush forest is full of animals, birds, and insects. At night and during the day, I could hear different kinds of birds, roosters, monkeys, and coyotes. The forest is never quiet. The mosquitoes were out in full force, and they loved me!
The goal of the Ayahuasca retreat is a purify the physical, mental, and spiritual bodies so Mother Ayahuasca can do her work. The main reason to do ayahuasca is to become strong and experience transformation. Many people want to seek solutions to their depression, physical aliments, and drug addictions.
During the retreat, eight other participants and I followed a strict diet (no oil, salt, sugar, or meat) and a digital detox (no cell phone for eight days). We weren’t allowed to use beauty or bath products. To keep the mosquitoes away, we used a natural citronella spray.
I had several conflicts about taking ayahuasca. First, I don’t like taking psychedelics. And second, as a Buddhist, I’m not allowed to take any intoxicants. Honestly, I had doubts as soon as I arrived at the retreat center. I wish I had gone on the yoga retreat instead.
The retreat felt more like an “ayahuasca boot camp.” Many times, I felt peer pressure to take ayahuasca. The shamans treated ayahuasca like liquid gold, and it would cure everything. However, as a tourist and Westerner, I did not grow up in the Amazon. My relationship with plants is different—I didn’t grow up drinking ayahuasca like the shamans did.
I was also given a second plant medicine called “Boa Waska.” The shaman said it will help me open my chakras (the boa is like the kundalini). I was instructed to take it in the morning and before sleeping. It tasted like dark rum. I ended up taking it occasionally.
During the retreat, there were four ayahuasca ceremonies (two during the day and two at night). The first ceremony was at night. I remember feeling anxious about taking ayahuasca. A black and orange butterfly landed on my shoulder as I walked along the path from the cafeteria. I took it as a good sign – that I would be okay with my first ayahuasca ceremony. The butterfly is one of my spirit guides.
The ceremonies were held in a large circular building called a “maloca.” Each person had two mats, a pillow, and a blanket. There was also an ice cream bucket and a roll of toilet paper. Before I entered the maloca, I was smudged with tobacco smoke. There were two shamans and four helpers. The helpers brought people to the bathrooms or filled their water bottles.
Maloca – gathering place for ceremonies
We all began on our mats. Each person was offered Rape (a powdered combination of dried tobacco, ash, and herbs administered up the nose) and special eye drops. I tried Rape up only my left nostril and I didn’t do the eye drops. Then, each person, one by one, went up to take the cup of ayahuasca. When I went up, the shaman asked me how I was feeling and how much I wanted to take. I said, “I was nervous and wanted a small amount.” Ayahuasca is mixed with chacruna, and it tastes like thick molasses.
Then I went back to my mat to meditate. The ayahuasca made me feel dizzy with a mild burning sensation in my stomach. Most people take enough ayahuasca that they eventually vomit or have diarrhea. Ayahuasca creates an inner volcano that eventually erupts.
I sat and cried a little after repeating, in my mind, “Mama Ayahuasca.” I was crying because when I said, “mama,” it reminded me of my mom who recently passed away.
Eventually, I received the message to let my mom and dad go. It was time, and I didn’t want to hold them back energetically. Then I had a vision. I saw a gold cross in a tunnel, and my parents were walking towards it. It was a peaceful image, and it made sense that I saw a cross, given that my parents were Catholic. However, the cross is seen all over the world. The cross has a Christian meaning, but it can also represent the human body, the four cardinal directions, eternal life, female anatomy, the chakras, and the union of heaven and earth.
My vision during the ayahuasca ceremony (AI generated from my sketch).
During each ceremony, the shaman sings Icaros – magical songs. The shaman comes to each person to sing directly to them (for about 15 minutes). I hummed along to open up my chakras, especially my throat chakra.
After the ceremony, I had a headache and I felt slightly nauseous. When I lay down to sleep, my heart was racing. I felt anxiety, and I wished I hadn’t taken ayahuasca.
That night, I dreamt that an older shaman gave me medicine in cream-colored powder. The shaman had straight black hair in a bob and was dressed in colorful traditional clothing. My dreams, during the retreat, were vivid and memorable.
The second ayahuasca ceremony was during the daytime. I decided to hold the cup but not drink the ayahuasca. However, as I sat on my mat, I could feel the energy of the people around me. I kept reminding myself to “keep my health and follow my intuition.”
On Sunday night, June 8, I dreamed of an ambulance with lights flickering passing me by. When the ambulance stopped, I looked into it and saw my dog, Liam, on the stretcher receiving help from the paramedics. He was still alive but not doing well. Then, on Monday morning, the shaman said my husband had called last night, and she told him I would call him back in the morning.
Jeff said Liam was acting weird and falling over. I told him to bring Liam to the vet. Later, Jeff said Liam was struggling to breathe, and he had to put him to sleep. It was the first time I’ve ever heard my husband cry. I cried, too. I felt so sad.
My dog, Liam, was a 14 years old miniature schnauzer. He was on medication and was declining for several months. I knew he might not live too much longer. I felt super sad for the rest of the retreat, but I decided to stay calm and stay in the present moment. I didn’t want to always be sad and bring people down. Unfortunately, grief was my companion during the retreat.
The Buddhist Salla Sutta states that wailing does not attain peace of mind. It only brings grief and hurt to the body. Mourning only makes the mourner emaciated and pale. It does not help the departed. Therefore, mourning is meaningless.
The Salla Sutta continues by saying that even if humans were to live a hundred years or more, they must still yield to their lives, at last bereft of friends and relatives. Therefore, listening to the wise and the holy and seeing a beloved one departed, control your weeping. Reflect on the departure of your beloved ones by thinking that separation is natural.
We grieve because we love.
During the next few days, I realized I needed to be in control. And I have a lot of fear about my health. My roommate, Rosanne, said maybe it’s because I see dying people all the time (in my work as a hospice massage therapist). I get too concerned about my body moment by moment. It’s hard to let go. I wanted to remain in homeostasis.
The shaman said I must be more “child-like” and let go. I need to trust. But I have difficulty trusting people, especially since I am far from home. I have travelled all around the world, and I have seen people get sick, and it’s not fun.
I kept telling myself, “I must be strong and healthy” – nothing can disturb my commitment. I will let go of taking ayahuasca to remain stable.
The third ayahuasca ceremony was during the day. Again, I held the cup and prayed for my family, friends, and pets. The fourth and final ayahuasca ceremony was at night during a full moon. I decided to take a small sip. I wanted to have the plant medicine in me – to give it a chance.
Sitting on my mat, I imagined using sign language to communicate with Mother Ayahuasca. I read somewhere that Mother Ayahuasca likes to communicate in images. I signed to her in my mind, “Show me what I need to know.” I know that ayahuasca will continue to work with me in the months to come.
When I thought about what makes a good shaman, I thought of my mentor, Sister Lucy Bruskiewicz, who passed away in 2022. She deeply cared about people and honored them. She never forced things and met people where they were in life. I hope I can follow her example.
I learned a lot from the ayahuasca retreat. For example, I learned to stand on the ground despite being shaky. I saw my weaknesses and knew I wanted to improve myself. I also realized that I am strong amid peer pressure. I want to work on loving-kindness toward myself and others.
The retreat restored a sense of gratitude in my heart. I am so thankful for my health, my devoted husband, my beautiful family and friends, loyal cat, and my country.
I am happy to be home. I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Like shamans worldwide, I can reconnect with the land around me and learn about medicinal plants. I am home, sweet home.
Tunnel Vision 8 