This is an enhanced re-post from a year ago.
My friend Paulita, once left a wooden triangle painted like a mountain glacier on my table with the words:
"The Mountains are Calling, and I Must Go."
Everything and everyone is spirit—a living, conscious being of loving light. We are spirit in human form. Mountains are spirit in mountain form. In Peru, mountains are called apus. They are "people" with a scope of awareness and power beyond my comprehension. I am blessed to have relationships with a few of these people whom I connect with daily—when I pray, open a ceremony, participate in a spiritual healing. While walking my dog. Apus are extraordinary beings. They not only enhance my life; they have saved it.
Let me introduce you to some of my friends.
Apu Phutu Cusi
Phutu Cusi is the only female mountain at Machu Picchu. Her name means "Flowering Joy." I hadn't realized it was she who first called me to Peru in 1996; I thought it was the Andes mountains in general. But when I met her in person, the energetic magnetic was palpable, and I instantly fell in love.
Phutu Cusi contacted me the following year and asked if my group would perform a specific task. She said that over 2000 years ago, magicians had placed a seal where her form meets Pachamama/Mother Earth. The purpose of the seal was to stifle Pachamama's feminine energy flow. Prevent it from moving up through Phutu Cusi's body and out into the universe for all to receive. "Would we remove the seal?" she asked.
That summer, a group of friends and our Teacher, Juan Nunez del Prado, created a despacho/traditional ceremonial offering to Phutu Cusi. After lovingly presenting it, we stood directly across from her, opened our qosqos/spiritual stomachs, and ate the hucha/ heavy energy of the seal. This freed the sami/refined energy and allowed Pachamama's energy to flow freely through Phutu Cusi, out into Earth's atmosphere and beyond.
Phutu Cusi is a loving aspect of the Divine Feminine in Nature, a nusta who continues to bless my life.
This is Juan and me right after the seal was removed.
Apu Huaynu Picchu
Some say that Apu Huaynu Picchu is the husband of Phutu Cusi. The highest peak at Machu Picchu, he exists in all three realms—the middle, lower, and upper. You can walk up, up, up small stone steps to the very top, as well as go down, down, down through subtropical jungle to the sacred caves built into his body.
During that first Peru trip, we spent three designated days at the ruins of Machu Picchu. On the "Day of the Masculine," after ceremonies at caves and sacred sites along the path up Huaynu Picchu, we finally made it to the top, where Juan performed a ritual for each group participant. When it was my turn, I lay on the flat stone, the peak of the apu, and closed my eyes. Juan stood on a rock in front of me and called to the surrounding masculine apus. Humpue. Humpue. Come. Come. He then placed his mesa/medicine bundle on my solar plexus. On/off.
To my surprise, a profound energy began growing within me. The energetic intensity became stronger and stronger, similar to a contraction during childbirth or an orgasm. There was nothing to do but surrender. Breathe. Moan. I heard my voice grow louder and louder, until a primal scream spontaneously erupted from the depths of my soul. My eyes flashed open. My entire body was buzzing. Even my earlobes.
I later learned that these pure masculine apus had entered me and devoured the wide spread, childhood hucha—distorted masculine energy—that had been living within my body since childhood. Without a doubt, they saved me from a future systemic illness. (Read the story in Unity Begins Within.) I am eternally grateful.
Four months later, I was thrust into a shamanic initiation, and to my surprise and delight, the cave beings of Huaynu Picchu devotedly attended to me during my long integration.
Apu Ausangate
Often called the most sacred of the apus, in September of 1997, I rode a horse up steep, cliff edges to visit Apu Ausangate. That evening, in a small stone hut at the base of the holy mountain, we participated in more despachos and ceremonies than I could count. Exhilarated, exhausted, and freezing, when we finally entered our thin, canvas tents, I snuggled into my down sleeping bag and immediately fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, I was startled awake from the depths of slumber and found myself surrounded by an all-encompassing energy. It was Apu Ausangate! Adrenalin pumped ferociously throughout my body, and I realized I had to make a decision—have a nervous breakdown or choose to trust. I chose the latter. Thank you, Apu Ausangate, for the gift of your presence.
Apu Veronica
I first learned about Apu Veronica, also known as Wakay Willka/Sacred Tears, in 2004. She is the Keeper of the Black Light, which, in the Andean tradition, is said to be the most powerful healing light that exists. I had to meet her and did so the next year. And every year since—with groups, Q’ero paqos, and friends. In 2023, Apu Veronica asked me to envision her black light unifying with white light during my healing ceremonies, a partnership that consistently reaps amazing healing results. The next year, she wanted me to offer karpays/energy transmissions of her light to my groups. And then this past year, 2025, Apu Phutu Cusi led me (a story not yet written) to Apu Veronica's healing waters where she officially baptized me.
Apu Veronica and her black light are very much alive within me.
Apu Yanantin
Yanantin means "union of dissimilar energies" and is my favorite Quechua word. Apu Yanantin reigns over Ollantaytambo, a town in the Sacred Valley where I spend a lot of time and offers me limitless opportunities to remember and live Unity.
Apu Kailash
I can't complete this post without mentioning Apu Kailash. He lives in Western Tibet and is the most sacred mountain to numerous spiritual/religious paths. Apu Kailash came to me in 1998 in the form of a crystal, a gift from a student, that—once I finally surrendered to channeling—had a passionate plea. As a result, in March 1997, I traveled with three friends to Northern India, Nepal, and finally, to the Tibetan Plateau, to meet him. We responded to his plea by performing a ceremony at his North Face, where we journeyed to the Earth's core and released a strand of dormant love energy into the atmosphere. (You can read this story in detail in my book, Unity Begins Within.)
I hope you've enjoyed learning about some of my apu friends.
If you'd like to meet them yourself, join me on a trip to Peru.
4 comments
I too felt and saw something before the mother rock at Machu Picchu in 2019. That and the work we did there changed my life. Those mountains are very powerful.
Yes. We call that large carved rock the Pachamama Stone. She’s a huaca, a receiver of energy from a number of apus. So, when we touch her, WE RECEIVE way more energy than we’ll ever know.
I would like to receive information when you have dates for your Peruvian trip. I have been wanting to go and today I listened to your talk at the Symphony of Nature Conference. Thank you!
Wonderful! I’m in the midst of planning the trip now. Sign up on my mailing list to receive the post as soon as I’m clear about the dates. Plus, I’ll be in touch with you to talk about it. Annie