BeSimply…Despacho for the Intentional Peruvian Dinner

During our dinner on the 18th of February,

We will explore the ceremony of Despacho.

Here is a ceremony that you can connect with to create inspiration.

The Intention for these dinners is to gather communities and families around the global. 

These dinners will provide ‘US’ with an opportunity to connect on a deeper level with each other.

 Rebuilding these connections or opening with our close relations provides all of US with the opportunity

to inspire and transform the world around US. The exploration of different countries and cultures will

set the stage for these gatherings and provide ‘US’ with an opportunity to create community.

During this gathering we will explore Peru and the Andean traditions:

Gratitude, Giving & Receiving from the Peruvian way of Life.

Gratitude for Egypt, North America, Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Philippines,
Romania, Jamaica, UK, Italy, and Hawaii.

NO Time for a Big Gathering..You Still Have to Eat…Go to a Peruvian Restaurant or cook a simple meal

and include potatoes with your meal, take the time to ask the questions and give thanks.

Items to gather for a Despacho:

 The Despacho (the supply list is below) at this time you can collectively start preparing your Despacho.

Ask each guest to place the items they have brought as an offering around the center piece of paper.

Then, you can begin your Despacho Ceremony.  (You can do a community Despacho or individual)

Despacho Ceremony: The parable will give your guests an understanding of what the Despacho for the evening. 

I have gathered some information here for items to bring. 



Resources to gather these items:
 -Kits: Shamansmarket (No matter where you are in the world you can gather these items that
are similar in your country). In addition, you can make your own variations. Express inner self.
 - Seeds: Local Nursery, JohnnySeed or Blue Plant Garden.
- Grains: Quinoa, Rice, Corn, Nuts, Raisins, Sugars
(Purchase at farmers or air market or natural food store)

-Flowers: Red and White Petals (local market)
(Flower petals (red for Pachamama, white for mountains are laid in a pattern
 commonly in a circle, four directions, cross, or flower pattern.)

-Wrapped, sugary candy--special and rare in a culture where nearly everything is 

home made--is used, whereas in the north, what is more special is the purity of the organic. 

( Use local candies wrapped find at air market or local grocery store in the bulk section)

- On a more practical level, we substitute local leaves for the traditional coca leaves, 

which are illegal in the North America. Our resident Peruvian friend recommends bay leaves.

- The offering is created on Andean weavings that represent the masculine and feminine in balance 

(mastanas and unkunas). White paper, for clarity, is placed on the weavings for a base. 

A bed of incense is laid, to carry the prayers of the offering into the cosmos.

-Flower petals (red for Pachamama, white for mountains) are laid in a pattern, commonly in a circle, 

four directions, cross, or flower pattern, depending on the intent. Sets of coca leaves, called kintus, 

are prepared with intent by each participant, then collected by the medicine people and placed in a pattern 

on the offering, again reflecting the particular intent. Weavings (you can take something from your home or 

find something at a local import store: natural fibers). Paper (printer paper is fine)

- Representations of the sea (a shell) and the stars (a starfish, the five-legged star of return, 

unfolding into the Fifth world);

- Silver and gold papers; confetti (full spectrum mixed colors)
 - Miniature tin figures of animals, people, and tools; beads;  (local shop or online store above)

- White cotton (for the clouds that surround the mountains and bring rain);

many-colored wool (for the rainbow bridge into the cosmos);

Send Suzanne an email to request a
Dining Within Alchemy-Menu-Parable and Ceremony Packet
at suzanne@omtoro.com

“The despacho is a gift – a giving back of what we receive everyday in our lives.  

We seek, through the despacho ceremony, to bridge the ordinary and non-ordinary realms; 

to establish new patterns of relationship and possibility.  The despacho places us in right relationship, 

right Ayni, with the Pachamama and all of her manifestations” (Presented at Canyon de Chelley, May 1997).