The despacho ceremony is the core of the ceremonial practices and healing interventions of the Andes. The word “despacho” means to dispatch a message of great importance. Despachos can be done as offerings of thanksgiving or atonement, or as petitions for assistance or guidance. The despacho is used as an energy field healing. Prayer along with a variety of ingredients are employed to restructure reality – the elements of nature and spirit are engaged to redesign sacred landscape at the mythic level. Intention is set to help organize the energetics of the universe. It is not a forced act – it is allowing and enlisting of the energies of nature and spirit to collaborate and conspire to bring things back to balance.
A despacho is created starting with a piece of paper as the base and holds the contents of the ceremony along with the prayers and intentions. Typically a despacho will have 40-50 types of ingredients which are symbolic and related to the elements of our lives.
Despacho ceremony is:
Energy Field for Healing
Prayer, Engagement of Spirit and Gifting
Redesign of Sacred Landscape
Direct Communication with the Sacred
Re-aligning of All Aspects of Self
Engagement of Power and Act of Love
Embodiment of Intent
There are about 250 types of despachos. The Ayni Despacho creates balance and harmony with nature and between all our relations (the finned, the furred, the feathered, the two legged, the four legged, the multi-legged, the no-legged, the stone energies, the plant energies, the tree energies, ancient ones, future, ones, invisible one). An Ayni Despacho (like most despachos) is created with the clockwise movements and the right hand placing ingredients. There are also many protection herbs, candies, corn, sugar, raisins, alphabet noodles, sprinkles, confetti, etc to represent good wishes, abundance, joy, right relationships, evolving consciousness, harmony and right relationships, etc.
An important element of all despachos are “K’intus” which are created to carry your intention to Spirit, Source, Divine One. There are exceptions, but typically a K’intu is made from three leaves (in Peru this is coca leaf, in the USA it is bay leaf, I use Privit Tree Leaves) that are joined together (with llama fat in Peru, I use lard) and represent the unity of the worlds (lower, middle, upper) as well as honor the mystery of time (past, present, future as simultaneous).