“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
— Meister Eckhart
What is a Despacho Ceremony?
A Peruvian tradition brought down from high in the Andean mountains, a despacho ceremony is a ceremonial offering of our intentions and prayers to the mountain spirits (Apus), Mother Earth (Pachamama), and other spirits of nature in reciprocity, reverence, and thanksgiving. In the spirit of Ayni (meaning reciprocity), a despacho is an act of love and a reminder of our connections with all beings, elements, spirits, and sacred places. The despacho ceremony, in its physical beauty, is a journey to the soul of nature.
All despachos have common elements, and yet each has unique intentions. A despacho can be a simple offering with few ingredients or it can be an elaborate affair. During a traditional despacho ceremony, participants build the despacho together by assembling various ingredients (each representing a symbolic element) and adding their own individual prayers of gratitude.
Join Us
We will gather together on this special night to co-create our despacho—an Andean ceremonial practice of making offerings to Mother Earth in the spirit of reciprocity, reverence, and thanksgiving. As we move into autumn and the bountiful harvest season, we will align in our intentions and gratitude, a gift to the earth to honor all we receive every day.
The ceremony involves preparing the despacho, setting forth our intentions, and then “feeding” those intentions with symbolic items that co-create a beautiful mandala bundle. We’ll then burn the bundle under the night sky, watching our intentions “dispatch” to the cosmos. This is a heartfelt and celebratory ceremony that will leave you feeling connected and joyful.
Details
Sunday, September 17th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm
This gathering will be held outside at a private residence in East Haddam
Bring a yoga mat, blankets, cushions, and/or whatever will make you comfortable in the Circle.
Please feel free to bring any crystals or beautiful gifts from the earth that can support our space in feeling safer, more welcoming, more tolerant, or more sacred.
This gathering is limited to 12 women.
Investment: $45
About our Guide
Elaine Gast Fawcett of RootedNatureRituals.com (website coming soon) is an author, nature-based ceremonialist, and shamanic practitioner with a deep reverence for the natural world. Elaine crafts and facilitates customized ritual experiences that mark life’s milestones and that connect us with ourselves, each other, and all living things. As a certified life-cycle celebrant, Elaine has designed and officiated dozens of ceremonies including new beginnings (weddings, new mama/baby blessings, new homes), endings (memorials, cord cuttings), and other important life transitions. Elaine has extensively studied yogic philosophy, Tibetan Buddhism, and Peruvian shamanism, and she is a sanctioned Mesa Carrier through the Pachakuti Mesa tradition. With a master’s degree in writing, Elaine brings a love of language and storytelling to every ceremony she co-creates, infusing it with meaning and intention, and holding space for healing, growth, and connection. In her working life, she is a communications consultant and a philanthropy advisor to families who give, and a recent author of a children’s book about the concept of having enough.
