This blog is probably going to cover one of the most important topics I will ever discuss. This salka experience is at the very core of this path, what all Andean Nature practices, workshops and ceremonies are created for.

Now it is not going to be easy for me to write about this. Especially in English, a naming language. I call it that in comparison with Qechua, the native language of the Andes- which is a phonetic language. Phonetic languages are about the sound they create, the experience they call – not about the spelling. Making it a powerful language to describe the  ‘energetic’, invisible world. In fact I made a video about this topic in a very salka environment, if you would like a taste. Here’s the link.

So compared to it’s origin, describing salka in English, even using words and not audio, is going to be a little heady. But at least its a start.

I am going to attempt to describe it in words, and secondly, speak about experiences to give you an idea. Something you may never understand, but hopefully one day experience- embody even.

Let’s start with words, to address your brain trying to understand it. In the Western world we aren’t even aware of it’s existence. Very symbolic that we don’t have a translation- a word that offers this experience. Symbolic because, in the western world , our culture lives and expresses from the head and expanded egoic state. We’ve been tamed to live in our heads- not in our hearts. To override salka! And so a translation doesn’t exist. But the quality is there!

So the best words we can bring together for a description of salka is, it is:

Wild

Natural

Pure

Undomesticated

Unmanifested

Feminine – in that it is a way of being

And unlimited.

 

“Salka is like a wind

that blows through our reality

carrying the great mystery and beauty of existence”

Ref. *Oakley Gordon

I would add that it blows through us too.

It is part of us, and we are part of it.

All beings have salka at the very core of their being, waiting for us to tap into it. But most of us have become domesticated. Salka has never gone from us, but it has been smothered, overcome by the head and dominated by egocentricity.

Now being a domesticated human is required, in order to operate in our society.  After all, the language of the ego is what gives us an identity, a way to function, live, strive and succeed in this material reality. It even sounds successful, as it’s been functioning like this for many decades, 100’s, if not 1000’s of years even.

But to live this way, this way of defined success is damaging our planet, and is based on appearances. Limiting us to domesticated, outward forms of success! Even our concept of self has become domesticated, losing our understanding of who we are as beings in this beautiful cosmos.

Now, if you are like me, searching for a meaningful & engaging way to live your life, then it is time to discover and explore salka.

And….let’s be clear. We always need one foot in the domesticated world but it doesn’t mean we can’t have the other foot in the world of salka. Constantly connected, bringing light to ourselves and the world.

When we are able to to embody it, it gives others a chance to experience it too. It ripples from you, and awakens something in them! They won’t necessarily know what it is or recognise it (because there is no definition in our culture) but respond we do. Let me give you an example.

When we engage with a baby, we have an experience. Babies are pure salka – they haven’t developed their concept of self yet. No dominating ego to override yet. And so this little bundle radiates salka. And when we sense this on deeper levels, we respond with our salka. Giving us an experience, a flash of this beautiful ‘energy’. It’s not an energy per se, but an experience

We have the same with animals- our pets, a dog, a cat too. Even in nature when we get out of our own way.

So if we can discover ways to consciously be salka, we offer others an opportunity to experience it too when they engage with us. (Such a clever Pachamama, the way this is all ‘designed).

Salka is our heritage as human beings within Pachamama. We are expressions of nature at our very core. Our very essence is salka. We and salka  are beyond definition, beyond comprehension. Vastly more mysterious than society would have us believe. *

To reach the full expression of being human, we need to experience both salka and domestication.

Andean practices get us in touch with our salka, so we can blossom into our unique selves, expressing our true nature.

Now the people who live high in the Andes are very salka. You can see the light in their eyes. Feel the peace in their energy. I feel it within myself when I’m with the Q’eros. They live, work and build with it everyday. Their houses are made of Pachamama, their feet touch the earth. They take care of their animals, tend fields and grow grow crops on the beautiful mountain sides all day. And it’s amazing even after they have domesticated that earth- it still feels salka! Why is that?

Well there’s a secret. You see when you know how to engage with salka, to have an experience of it- you naturally radiate- share it with Pachamama. So it is re-cycling all the time. The Q’eros are well aware of and fully embody salka, they also have a VERY strong connection with Pachamama and nature around them. So they live in full Ayni (See Ayni video/blog) in reciprocity- giving and receiving -and therefore it doesn’t domesticate. And so salka is always around them.

Let me show you the other side of that coin- which you have most likely noticed.

Over the time of COVID, after lockdown opened up, 100’s of 1000’s of people swarmed out into the nature parks outside of Johannesburg. IAt that point I had of course, been engaging there for many years, so I knew the forests and river’s energies very well. It was a deeply exposing experience- watching nature get drained. I could feel it was no longer vibrant, after only a few months of the hoards hiking through nature. Why?

All the townspeople, who of course are not in a salka state, but knew they were craving something, poured into nature and took from it – and didn’t reciprocate. And when enough people have taken and taken and taken, it drains the area. I am sure you have been to places where 100’s/1000’s of people have visited, notice how drained it feels. There’s usually tell tale signs that come with it. Like litter strewn around, etc.

Once you know about salka, you can’t unsee it. Yes, it is very subtle, but slowly you will see how our western civilisation is taking and not giving back.

So salka is vital to life. It is a way of being that we can learn about, that we can experience. Some people can go through life and never have one flash of it. Some may be lucky, and have it just once- so strong that they never forget it, and don’t know how to get back there.

But on this path, it is something that we begin to experience.

It expands within us.

And even more importantly, that we can consciously begin to access!

We can tap into it,

drink from it,

open up to it fully- allowing a deep healing.

Because it’s profoundly transformative.

It’s inspiring, bringing us closer to home within.

We begin to experience the oneness we have with others, and all of nature.

A knowing begins to grow, that we are one with the living cosmos!

So please know, the workshops and ceremonies I offer, are ‘designed’ in such a way to uncover this domestication, bypass the ego and begin to offer you an experience of salka. Through this Andean Mountain Medicine, we can clear away what smothers salka, and with guidance, find our way back to your true essence.

In the last years, I have suffered traumas and burnout, and Nature not only has helped me heal, but has brought me back to this place of home within.

To discover salka.

And fill my cup again.