Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q'Ero of Peru

Whatever you think of the content of this book, you can't fault the author for poor scholarship. One reviewer who does is so wrong on so many fronts that I feel compelled to correct several false and unfair charges. That reviewer obviously hasn't read the book, or he or she would know that Wilcox makes it a point in her text to discuss her choices for transcribing the Quechua. She tells the reader outright that she is using an English convention for plurals instead of the Quechua "-kuna" ending. Quechua is not a "sacred language" as the reviewer suggests. It is among the most widely spoken languages in South America, the language of the indigenous Andean peoples, and was adopted by the Inca during their rule as their administrative language. To claim it is some kind of "sacred language" is not only naive, but is wrong. However, Quechua wasn't a written language until after the Spanish conquest, and so there are various schools of spelling. The author even tells us which academic dictionary she is relying on for her spelling choices, so she covers that aspect of her scholarship, too! Wilcox also mentions why she calls "outsiders" to the indigenous culture "Westerners," which is a catchall term used by some in the Andes to refer to mestizos and to lump together others from the developed, non-rural world who come to work with the indigenous paqos. What is more, Wilcox hired a world expert on gathering Andean oral histories, Ricardo Valderrama, as her Quechua translator, so you can't fault her for the translations. And just to educate the reviewer about his or her own errors, the Spanish word "don" (which means something like "Mr." in English and is a sign of respect) is always lowercased except at the beginning of a sentence, as is the word "indigenous." Again, you may not like Wilcox's views on things, but if you are going to trash her scholarship you should at least be accurate and informed! In my view, if you want a carefully researched and respectful approach to the Andean spiritual tradition, and not some New Age sentimental interpretation, this is a book you can trust in both its scholarship and its respect for the tradition and the paqos she interviewed.

This is a valuable book written by a Westerner who, for a change, allowed the Q'ero to speak for themselves. The book is composed of several sections introducing the Qero reality archetypes, energy body, the system of energy fibres (ceques) connecting the awareness and material world and working with the spirits of the mountains (apus). Another section is devoted to the Qero mesa and its stones; this includes very practical advice on how to establish rapport with a stone and about the importance of reciprocity (ayni, a key concept of Andean shamanism); at the end there are some additional instructions on clearing the luminous body of unhealthy energetic imprints, "metabolizing" heavy energy, communicating with the ancestors and gathering energy from nature. A large part of the book is devoted to interviews with a group of respected Qero pampamesayoqs and altomesayoqs. Taken together, the book is a valuable (easily obtainable) resource for people interested in altiplano shamanism. For people more interested in the practical aspects of the Northern Coastal tradition I'd recommend Matthew Magee's Peruvian Shamanism; there is also the more scholarly Joralemon's work). The book is respectful of the Qero but at the same time shows them with their human faces, humor and foibles. Thankfully it avoids both the supernatural crap that one finds in the New Age market and the dryness of professional scholars and sceptics... There are problems with this book, too. The author herself, a member of the so-called "Nunez mafia", is a beginner and is not in a position to achieve a synthesis of what she heard from the paqos (healers) and her experience. As a result, the accounts are sometimes inconsistent and at other times unclear. The material for the book seems to have been collected in a single interview conducted over 3 days with a single group of Qe'ros; not speaking Quechua Wilcox was forced to rely on translations of her mestizo companions, who sometimes pushed their own (incorrect) interpretations (see the section on "pushing the kausay") which are duly recorded in the book. Basically, Wilcox is trying to run before she has learnt to walk and one could, perhaps somewhat uncharitably, attribute to her self-promoting motives which are not necessarily in line with self-effacement that characterizes altiplano shamans. Moreover, the book appears hastily written and would definitely benefit from more editing. Be that as it may, there is a lot of valuable information (particularly in the chapters written by Freddy Puma) and the book is worth reading. it was written by an amateur committed to the Andean worldview and practices.

Yes, this IS the same book as Keepers of the Ancient Knowledge, BUT it contains a sizable new section about the mesa and the path of the paqo, written by Freddy "Puma" Quispe Singona. This book is wonderful, and in my opinion the new material merited buying this new edition. If you are interested in the spiritual traditions of the Andes, this book is a MUST!