The Longest Night Holds Your Deepest Wishes. It's Time to Release Them.

On the Winter Solstice—the moment when darkness reaches its peak and light begins its return—you're invited to participate in one of the most sacred ceremonies from the high Andes of Peru.
The Despacho is an ancient Q'ero shamanic practice of creating a living prayer bundle as an offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the Apus (Mountain Spirits). It's not about asking. It's about giving first—the Andean principle of Ayni, sacred reciprocity.
What happens in ceremony:
You'll hold a k'intu—a fan of three leaves—close to your lips. You'll breathe your deepest wishes, your gratitude, your intentions into these leaves. Three breaths. Three prayers. Then you'll place them into the mandala we create together.
Layer by layer, we'll add offerings—flowers, seeds, sweets, and sacred items—each one carrying meaning, each one a gift. The despacho becomes a visual tapestry of our collective prayers, a work of art made from intention.
As the Q'ero Elder Don Manuel Q'espi taught: "The despacho is a gift—a giving back of what we receive every day in our lives."
When complete, our offering will be released to fire—transforming matter into spirit, darkness into light.
Details: Sunday, December 21, 2025 | 12:30 PM The Urban Ashram
Facilitated by Lisa Nezneski, PharmD, Certified Shamanic Energy Healer