Feeding a Shaman's Mesa

I


















I began building my mesa as I danced the medicine wheel with 'The Four Winds Society'; I'm still building it. I cherish my mesa; it does feel personal. According to this path of the Inca Shaman, I'm my Mesa; my Mesa is me. A mesa holds a medicine woman's collection of sacred objects and stones (khuyas). This is the Medicine and is used for healing the self and clients. Each item has a different energy, purpose and ability. It is like a Native American's medicine bundle. It is my bundle that is used for healing, it is truly the Shaman's tool.

So how does one take care of one's Mesa?

I do breath work with / without it every day. My mesa sits open being fed by my breath, wishes and connection to spirit. Some times if I'm feeling agitated about something I blow that into my mesa stones and usually I do a chakra clearing following that and I feel cleared. When I feel lazy to do the chakra clearing (it usually takes an hour for me each time) I can blow the issue into my mesa or write it out and put it in my mesa and it will mikhuy (mulch) the issue for me; or, in other words, transform it for me. I'm supposed to take my mesa with me everywhere. I definitely have it with me during fire ceremonies.

A common question among energy workers who carry Mesas is if it is OK to use the Mesa stones for reiki. I was told by my teachers that it is an individual decision; one should ask the Mesa about it. Personally, I use mine for reiki healing too.

I feed my mesa ... I'd put a bunch of dry sage in there at the very beginning and also had added some lavender flowers at some point. The feed that looks wasted, I remove and feed to fire or to Mother earth. I've fed my Mesa with a box of chocolate and pack of sugar in the past. Currently I have a bunch of used cactus thorns in it to mulch a certain issue having to do with cactus thorns.

Today, we had a gathering for fire breathing at one of our Tucson Pacha and collectively, we each fed our mesas and did breath work.

I let the sage, lavender flowers, oak leaves, cedar wood shavings and a few other herbs remain in there for now. The feed that looked wasted ... fresh basil leaves and some white flowers, I removed to feed to fire or to Mother earth.

I fed my Mesa with coffee beans ... this was a first time food for my Mesa.  I also fed it with a Native American Nine Grain Mixture, Myrrh, Sunflower Seeds, Willow flowers and seeds, dried herb of rosemary and essential oils of sweet orange, lavender and lemon grass. 
I cleansed it with smudging smoke of Palo Santo, Sage, Sweet grass and a clearing mist and played bells and tibetan sound bowls over it. When done, I closed my mesa, tied the Peruvian ribbon around it and wound my pi stone around it. Then I fed it over fire; the same fire that I'd used to feed the seeds of my Munay-ki rites.