We welcome you to this series of Online Teachings with andean Kallawaya aboriginal master Don Aurelio Ortiz.

Aurelio will introduce us to the rich knowledge and practice of his culture, applied to the day to day life, to create a better health for ourselves, our family and world.

For the first time we are excited to bring this wisdom to English speakers, first on an open talk we will have with Aurelio the 24th of May, and then for those who wish to continue on a workshop the 24th of June and an Online Course starting the 7th of July.

These teachings will be translated without adding or over-interpreting things, so that we hear and learn from the actual way an Andean Aboriginal Master transmits. During and after the meetings you will also count on our support for questions and clarity. Sessions will be given live and you will also have access to the recordings.

To find out more about the contents, schedule and price of the programs please keep reading.

Sign up for free talk with Aurelio May 24th

Don Aurelio Ortiz Huaricallo

Since young, Don Aurelio has learnt the art of the ancestral ritual medicine from his elders, and has practiced it for more than 40 years traveling in the region and to other countries. In this time he has also openly shared the Kallawaya ways with thousands of pilgrims and students that visit him. Because just like his laughter, his teachings are generous, practical and clear, as we have witnessed in the past few years organizing several trips and online teachings with him.

"I am a Kallawaya doctor, and the teachings of my practice come from the uninterrupted ancestral lineage of my people. Since I was little, my grandfather Manuel used to take me to the mountains and lagoons, so that i would connect with the visible and invisible forces of my land. Once I grew older he started inviting me to the healings, teaching me the use of rituals, prayers and the medicine of herbs, minerals and animals. I am over 50 years old now, and I live with my wife Justina 6 hours to the north of La Paz in Bolivia, in the valleys that lie in between the highlands of lake titicaca and the jungle".

We live in an ayllu, a larger family of neighbors, where we grow our own food in the terraces next to the river and up the mountains, we care for our animals and participate in holding the social ties of the community and the region.

Don Aurelio has kept this wisdom alive, and practiced it for more than 40 years traveling in the region and to other countries in Southamerica and Europe. He has also taken on different roles as leader of his community and for many years as social and political leader of 8 ayllus of the Kallawaya Nation.

Aurelio recalls this lovely story:

One day my grandfather woke me up in the middle of the night and told me: ‘get ready, we are going to search for gold’, Surprised I asked: ’what, where abuelo?’ ‘Up in the Pachaqota Lagoon’ he replied. So we left, it was a long trip up the mountains, but I was really happy holding this little bucket of mine, thinking of filling it with gold and all the things we could acquire with it.

When we arrived I was breathless, and I saw my abuelo sit on a rock contemplating the lagoon. As time went by and the night started approaching, I wondered ‘Abuelo, when are we going to get the gold?’ He looked at me and with a rattling laugh said ‘oh no Aurelio, I didn’t mean that kind of gold, now come, sit here and look at the lagoon’.

I sat and after a while I had to rub my eyes, I could see something in the water was shining, a golden something. ‘You see Aurelio, that’s the gold of the Pachaqota Lagoon. Now this Brightness will walk with you for the rest of your life, as long as you are humble and you help others, you will always have this gold’

I was maybe too young at the time, but eventually I understood what he was trying to teach me. He used to tell me ‘everything is medicine, you are stepping on medicine right now’ and I didn’t see anything, but as I lifted my foot and saw the earth and stones, my grandpa said ‘you see, that’s also medicine’ And so was the gold he showed me then.

The Kallawaya

In the depths of the Bolivian mountains, to the north of lake Titicaca, lives one of the most remarkable aboriginal people from the Andes, the Kallawaya. Full of rituals, myths and values, the Kallawaya are known for their natural medicine and profound connection to the spirits of the earth and sky. They possess the knowledge to work with thousands of herbal species, minerals, animals and other elements used for healings, for offerings and spiritual purposes.

The Kallawaya used to serve the Inca royalty as their personal healers in Cusco, they were known to heal paralysis, blindness, pneumonia and mental illness. With access to a vast knowledge they prepared medicine equal to terramicyn or penicillin. But after the spanish conquest, they had to take refuge in their original communities, allowing big part of this knowledge to survive from generation to generation, transmitted in the secret language of Machaq Yuyay. Their mastership shows as they help people from different places to cleanse, heal and grow, in matter and spirit.

As Don Aurelio Ortiz , Kallawaya master, always says: “the medicine men of our land, the Kallawaya, are only recognized as such when their practice is effective. This is our mission, to be in reciprocity with the mountain spirits, the Earth and the communities”,

In 2008 UNESCO recognized the Kallawaya science and cosmovision as Intangible Heritage of mankind.

Main Program: THE 4 KALLAWAYA WISDOMS

This is a complete introductory formation into the bolivian Kallawaya medicine, through its 4 practical wisdoms. In these series you will understand the processes of Purification, Connection, Nourishment and Strengthening, as shared by the Kallawayas elders. You will receive explanations and personal stories from Don Aurelio, as well as rituals for each one of the topics.

This teachings are directed both to newcomers to the andean path, as for those who wish to complement and go deeper after studying with other andean masters such as the lineages from Cusco.

4 live and recorded classes:

-Friday July 7,

-Thursday July 13,

-Fridays July 21 and 28

Duration of each class: 2:15 hs aprox. 12 pm USA east coast, 9 am west coast; 5pm UK; 18 hs Deutschland, Italia.

PURIFICATION/ Friday July 7

For the Kallawaya is evident that every place you visit, every person you meet, has different kinds of energies that can influence you. Either through heritage or day to day interactions, as humans we attract and hold on to negative energies. Eventually if unattended, these energies can affect your body and cause illness, this is why the practice of frequent purification is important.

In this class Aurelio will teach us different ancestral practices to cleanse heavy energies, through the use of natural elements and rituals.

White and Light Teal Graduation Program.png

CONNECTION/ Thursday July 13

To sustain our physical, mental and emotional body, we need to be in constant connection with Mother Nature. Aurelio claims: “ The stones are the bones of Pachamama, Mother Nature, the earth is its flesh, the rivers its blood, the wind its breath and the clouds its skin”. The world of the Kallawaya is full of powerful and delicate nature beings that allow our existence as individuals and communities on this earth. The great elders, the mountains, the lagoons, the stars, the elements, the sacred animal spirits, and so many other forces share this space with us. So it’s in everybody’s best interest to recognize and respect them, to create a harmonious bond with the visible and invisible forces whether you are living in the countryside or in the city.

In this class, we will learn about the most important nature spirits for the Kallawaya and some of the daily practices that they use to connect with them, so that they can support us in our path.

NOURISHMENT/ Friday July 21

The biggest gift of Pachamama is the nourishment she gives us in the food that comes from the ground and the animals. Everything that goes in our system should be treated sacredly, from the seed to the fruit The Kallawaya are aware of the process of caring for your own food, in this way you will receive the actual strength of mother nature. In the cities many times we don’t know the origin of what we eat, and so according to Aurelio most of current western world diseases have a base on poor or bad nourishment

In this class we will study different kinds of food and their function according to the balance we need in our body. We will learn about the different male and female foods and how they complement each other, Identifying what kinds are hot, medium or cold foods according to the Kallawaya medicine.

STRENGTHENING/ Friday July 28

Nothing we have learnt so far will hold unless we remain strong in life. Our fragile human nature sometimes disconnects us to the sacred cycle of life, and nowadays we may become fragmented in our thoughts, anxious or depressed, and give up easily when faced with challenges. So for the Kallawaya in order to be healthy long term, we must build a strong physical and mental Will and power of decision.

In this class Aurelio will teach us how his community connects to the cosmic and telluric forces to strengthen their health, family and work.

Workshop: Material and Spiritual Abundance in the Andes

In our modern lifestyle sometimes we are bound to always wish for more of everything: more knowledge, more possessions, more power, more love. This culture and the idea we have of being abundant, may at times create a cycle of consumption and emptiness in us.

One of the gifts of the andeans is how they relate to the energy of abundance of the earth, the cosmos and the human interactions in their communities. The deep understanding of how each relation we create with the visible and invisible beings, can manifest either scarcity or abundance for us as individuals and as humankind.

In this Workshop, we will discuss with Don Aurelio different subjects that connect with the western idea of abundance, but from a Kallawaya perspective.

-What is abundance for the Andean people?

-Kinds of Abundance: Material and Spiritual.

-What is Ayni?
-Energies that block abundance.

-Debt and abundance.

-Energy debt.

-Bad luck and its influence on abundance.

-What is poverty from the Andean perspective?

-How to cleanse the energies that affect abundance?

-The ekeko.

-Kallawaya rituals to connect with the energy of abundance.

-Saturday June 24.
Duration: 4.30 hours. 10 am USA east coast, 7 am west coast; 3pm UK; 16 hs Deutschland, Italia.