In this 3-part Episode of “Beyond Survival” (aired on Discovery Channel), Les Stroud travels to the annual festival of Q’olloriti held at the foot of the mighty glacier on the slopes of Mount Ausangate in Peru. The episode features the sacred traditions and one of the initiation ceremonies of the Inka.

In this episode, Stroud is guided by Don Humberto, one of the senior Q’ero paqos (medicine person or shaman) from Q’eros. the Q’ero are one of the indigenous nations whose members to this day still live in the High Andes in villages above 15,000 feet and practice the ancient traditions of communion with Nature spirits (santa tierras) and Mountain spirits (apus). Of all communities, theirs is reckoned to have kept the old ways closest to how they were practiced in Inka times for the simple reason that the Spanish catholic influence never reached their lands. The small villages of Q’eros (today there are less than 200 people remaining in the villages) are a day-and-half walk from the nearest village that is connected by road to other communities.

The Q’ero paqos have shared their wisdom teachings and shamanic practices beyond their own lineage for the past 30+ years, including with now well-known teachers and practitioners such as Juan Nuñez del Prado, Américo Yabar, Elizabeth Jenkins, Alberto Villoldo, Joan Wilcox Parisi, and others (many of whom have authored accounts of these teachings and initiations). To my knowledge, this is the first time that the Q’ero have made themselves available to be filmed during one of their most sacred ceremonies.

In this first episode, Les Stroud first undergoes purification at a site called Killarumiyok (the place of moon power). It is a striking site, where the energy of Ilia (thunder) is omnipresent: http://sacredhoophealing.tumblr.com/post/953495097/lightning  

Part 2 of 3 of Les Stroud’s “Beyond Survival” Episode with Q’ero Shamans at the annual Q’olloriti festival in the High Andes of Peru.