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Are there any 'spiritual rules' when visiting the Sacred Valley, Peru?

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A friend is travelling to Peru and will be visiting sacred Mayan grounds. I'm sure I heard/read a long time ago that you are supposed to say a 'prayer' of some kind and observe some gentle rules so as to pay respect to the dead and not anger the gods. Does anyone know about this?

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  1. I don't mean any offence but firstly, the Mayas didn't get to Peru, and secondly, all of the spiritual stuff is complete rubbish. I went to the sacred valley and I appreciated it, it was lovely, did not say any prayers to any gods I do not believe in, and was absolutely fine, nothing bad happened, no gods were angered. If your friend does end up going to a shaman (witch doctor) or anything like that, make sure they are really careful. Those guys can be complete creeps.

    As I said, no offence intended, but I feel that most of that stuff is merely spread around to either scare people or make Peru sound more "mysterious" and stuff. Your friend will have a really great time without doing any of that witchy stuff. Plus if he/she wants to pay respect to the living, who are far more important, get him/her to do something nice for someone begging on the street, or even better, say a prayer to the real living God for them.


  2. First of all, there are no Mayas in Peru. If I remember correctly, the Mayas reached as far south as Costa Rica in Central America. So your friend will be visiting sacred INCA grounds.

    Common practice in this situation is to find a local shaman (he will be called a "brujo" or "sanador") to speak for you to the Apus (the tutelar gods of the region). A more common and easy practice is to make an offer to the Pacha Mama (mother earth) and Inti (sun). You take some good wine or "chicha de jora" (a fermentation of maize very popular in the andes) and you pour it on the ground thanking the earth for its approval and then you dip your fingers in the liquid and sprinkle it in the direction of the sun, thanking Inti for his approval.

  3. In the andes, machupicchu or the sacred valley there is a custom to drop any kind of drink on the earth before you drink, so mother earth drinks first and then you but this custom is more alive among the peasent farmers at the countrysides, not necesarily at the cities.

    http://www.southamericamyjourney.com

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