Peru was not on my bucket list. I’m usually not a fan of the over-achiever, most popular or famous. So Machu Picchu was not on my list. But last year was my year to re-enter the world of international travel and spiritual pilgrimage. It had been four dark years with tragic family deaths, a divorce, and the death of my beloved dog, and I was ready to Eat, Pray, or Love anywhere besides the US. That’s when Peru showed up as an option and I said yes.

I love it when a place finds you rather than you seeking it out. When we landed between the Andes Mountains in the spiritual center of Peru, Cusco, we were greeted by Coca tea leaves, beautiful flowers, and a Q’ero healer a foot shorter than me with a huge toothy grin. I didn’t know what was appropriate in his culture so I stuck my hand out to greet him. Instead I was embraced with a hug so full of love that I knew I was mistaken. I was not traveling to a foreign country to have a break from my own but rather I was being welcomed home.

We left immediately for the Sacred Valley and settled into our hotel there. That evening we gathered as a group outside to perform our opening ritual. As the healers prepared the grounds, I wondered around the almost tropical gardens, relieved to be away in January. Without thinking much I looked down the valley and in my spiritual eye I saw a tribe of people running to welcome me back. In the front were children and a boy was waving a tattered rainbow flag. The flag, I would later find out, was inherited from the Incans and is now flown in Cusco.

How did my ancestors know where to find me? How did they know I’d be back? How did I not know I was from here? Thank goodness I said yes. I believe and have rich connections with people from past and future lives. These connections are often recognized in people or animals I know. Something inside says, “we’ve done this before,” and on occasion I’ve caught glimpses of what “this” looked like. This was the first time, however, that a group of ancestors welcomed me from another time in this one. My heart broke open for these people and this land and I entered my journey now fully aware.

We traveled to many temples, each time grounding in the elements surrounding us and meditating with Pachamama, the Divine Mother Earth. We got to know our Q’ero healer through smiles and nods and beautiful invitations to open our hearts to him in ceremonies. We visited Machu Picchu, yes, and she was magnificent. All the more because I knew now that I had been here before and that I was part of the honor and reverence given to the power of the Divine Feminine in this place.

At the end of our trip we visited the Moon Temple. This time the healer’s wife joined him, she a healer as well. Again, they set to preparing our ceremony and I walked around the large stone known for bringing fertility and new life. The thought went through my head, “These are my spiritual parents.” I have parents after all. Tears flowed down my cheeks and my heart was filled with gratitude. The healers still live in their Quechua speaking community and know very little Spanish. Yet when I returned, the healer who greeted me first once again gave me his big toothy grin and said, “Sí familia.”

I wondered if I’d ever see him again but then knew what a silly question that was. Whether in this lifetime or another I knew I would. And now I find myself preparing to leave in a month to lead my own group along with him. We will meet a day or two before and in that universal language he’ll bless me with his energy and teach me what I am ready to learn from him. Then we’ll spend 10 days with a group leading rituals and meditations and seeing what secrets Pachamama has to reveal. I feel so blessed to return again. I wonder who will be waiting for me this time around.