This Thanksgiving, why not add a gratitude ceremony to your litany of activities? I'm going to see if my family is up for some version of a despacho.
A despacho ceremony is a Peruvian shamanic, sacred ceremony that involves the creation of a prayer bundle that is burned in a later fire ceremony. It's very complex and lengthy done the traditional way, but over the years I've created some short versions that anyone can do.
Instead of creating seven layers as they do in the Andes, I do three: one on red tissue paper to represent the underworld; one on green tissue paper to represent the middle world, and one on blue to represent the upper world.
Here's what these worlds, or different dimensions of our lives, mean: The lower world is the earth, the Pachamama, and on this layer I place symbols of the things we love about the earth, and also symbols of potential, or that which has not been manifested yet.
I'm grateful for the sweetness of the earth, so we'll sprinkle sugar on the first layer. The earth has many wonderful smells and produces delicious things to eat, so we'll put in fragrant cinnamon and rosemary, and some dark chocolate (yes, it's okay to eat some). They say Pachamama loves red wine, so sprinkling some of that is good too. (Sipping is permitted, if you drink wine.) Seeds represent all our wishes; sesame or whatever you have in your spice cabinet will do. Blow some prayers into trios of bay leaves and place those on the layer.
Then cover the whole thing with a piece of spread out green tissue paper, and start loading on symbols of the middle world. That's the one we think is real. I get stickers, but you can cut out pictures or put little plastic toy cars, soccer balls, golf tees, musical notes, hearts, animals, birthday candles, pictures of loved ones... whatever you're grateful for in this world we can see and touch.
The blue tissue paper goes next, and this is the celestial layer. So the kids will tear up cotton balls to make some clouds, and we'll add feathers, miniature angels, foil stars, pictures of departed loved ones or spiritual masters, and some gold and silver glitter for the sunlight and starlight.
Got the idea? It's a creative venture that's both fun and serious. When you're done, you wrap the whole thing up like a package and tie it with ribbon, yarn or cord. This is your bundle of gratitude prayers. It's an offering to Spirit. It's full of the power of love. You can bury in Mother Earth, or you can burn it.
If you choose to burn it, do this outside, since you may have put in toxic things like plastic. And, do it reverently. It's a ceremony where you will allow your symbols of gratitude to be transformed into spirit and returned to the universe. In Peruvian shamanic tradition, it's said that everyone should turn their backs when the package is put into the fire. Looking at the power of all those prayers could be as overpowering as looking right into the face of God.
I've done despacho ceremonies for birthdays, for healing a broken marriage, for setting intentions and blessing a new home, and for a memorial service that was incredibly moving. (See my blog about this ceremony.) Rather than being worried about changing the Peruvian version, I think whatever we can do to offer our love and gratitude is holy and beautiful. Just do it with respect, and you'll be fine.
And, know that if an occasion comes up when you'd like a more involved ceremony, you can call on me if you live in the Tucson area!
Here's your recipe for making a despacho.
- Tissue paper in white (if you want to put white down first, then when you wrap it up, the outside will be white). Red, green and blue
- Spices: seeds, spices, bay leaves
- Stickers, pictures, notes, prayers, or small burnable objects
- Cotton balls, stars, angels, suns and moons, glitter
- Cord or ribbon
- Whatever your imagination adds!
What are you grateful for? What do you love about your life? What will go in your prayer bundle? May whatever you include and offer back be returned to you a thousand fold.
Blessings to you and your loved ones at Thanksgiving.