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Today was a rest day before leaving for Cayambe base camp. Kimberly and I had a few items left on our Ecuadorean bucket list and created a plan of action for the remainder of our trip. One thing we both wanted to do was visit a Curandero, or shaman spirit healer. Curanderos have practiced healing since pre-colonial times (millennia actually) and the tradition continues today blending elements of native Inca religion with Catholicism. It's as close to the real deal (as far as spiritual cleansings go) that you will find; not some wacko new-age hippy garbage.
Climbing and skiing volcanoes requires confidence in the variables you can control and faith in those you can't. Prior to venturing out on an expedition, you train, plan and acclimate to prepare yourself for the rigors of the extreme environment you are about to subject yourself to. You have to be in shape, you have to focus on good decision-making and you have to get in the right state of mind. You can't let fear and doubt cloud your judgement. It's why I mentioned yesterday that my recon on Cotopaxi's glaciers was so important. It removed uncertainty and instilled in me the confidence of knowing that I possess the necessary abilities to accomplish what I'm about to attempt. In the backcountry, you control everything you can, but where do you find the faith that the things you can't control will work out? This is not a throw-away question. We all have faith, we just rationalize it in different ways. Ultimately things work out, and we don't always know why.
All cultures have turned to religion as a place to exercise their faith through worship. In Quito, the Catholic church is alive and well, in an old-world sense. Last night, Kimberly and I toured the city by foot (something you're not supposed to do), but we had seen a church from our hotel window that we wanted to explore and it seemed pretty active. So we walked to Santo Domingo Cathedral and stumbled into a weekday mass. Kimberly took communion and I observed the sacrament from the back of the church. We listened to the Spanish prayers and songs for a while, and then walked for another hour dropping in on any church that was open. In Ecuador, church isn't something you do on Sundays, it's a constant, endogenous part of your existence.
Country: Ecuador
Elevation: 18,996 Feet
I try to stay away from talking about religion and spirituality, because I don't know a lot about it, but a little bit is necessary for this blog entry. So I'll start with something that I learned a few years ago: you need faith and you have to pick something to worship. One of my favorite authors, David Foster Wallace said it best:
“Because here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship—be it Jesus or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles—is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you."
So what do you worship? I've tried to replace faith with confidence, and chosen to worship science and the aesthetics of the natural world (creation, if you will). It's why I love astronomy, geology, exploration, adventure and the backcountry. Preparing for a climb is my liturgy, working closely with my guides is my fellowship, and climbing volcanoes is one of my sacraments. My tithing is paying for the trips and my confessional is this travel blog.
I hope no one takes my comments as being dismissive of religion or flippant. I have tremendous respect for most faiths, and those who practice them faithfully. So where am I going with this post? Simple. I've mentioned being prepared physically and mentally for Cayambe, but I almost forgot the third leg of the preparedness stool: being spiritually prepared. So Kimberly and I took advantage of our rest day and traveled three hours by bus and taxi to a remote village between Otovalo and Cotacachi, where local shaman still practice spiritual cleansings (at least that's what some guy on some web page said).
We left the hotel at 10:00 without a guide and with no plan other than to take a bus to Otovalo, and hope we didn't waste a day or get mugged. And by the way, neither of us speak Spanish and Otovalan taxi drivers are not known for their English skills. Being ill-prepared was not for a lack of research. We read as much as we could and talked to as many locals as would listen. It appears shamanic healings are on the way out, just like the glaciers of Ecuador. Ultimately, we left this morning on a bus confident things would work out. I guess that's faith.
The Quito Bus Terminal Bus Passengers
The bus ride was more pleasant than I had anticipated. Ecuadorean buses are pretty much locals-only, and as such, tourists are usually advised to take cabs or use guide services that provide transportation. The only significant issue I saw was that the buses were Spanish-speaking only.
Kimberly passing time on the bus.
The ride was nice and we arrived in Otovalo to a light drizzle and no clue what to do, so we walked. We saw a local market and realized we were hell and gone from Quito. And before the day was done, we would get farther than we ever imagined. Eventually, we decided to grab a taxi and ask him to take us to a Curandero, which we were led to believe were everywhere in the nearby town of Cotacachi. What ensued were two conversations. Us talking to him in English and him talking to us in Spanish, which was problematic. Here's why. We don't understand Spanish and he didn't understand English. After re-hashing the events of the day with Kimberly, I think I have deciphered what was said. The "transcript" of our conversations is presented below in English for your amusement.
Us: Hello!
Him: Hi! Where would you like to go?
Us: Can you take us to a shaman/Curandero in Cotacachi that might perform two authentic spiritual cleansings for us?
Him: I can take you to Cotacachi, but you won't find a Curandero there, would you still like to go?
Us: Sure! We look forward to meeting our Curandero in Cotacachi!
Him: You know, there are authentic Curanderos in a small town that is closer. I can take you there instead.
Us: Yes! Take us there!
Him: Ok! Cotacachi it is.
Then he has a long conversation with his buddies on the radio. Lots of serious conversation about where to find a Curandero in Cotacachi, I think.
We Arrive in Cotacachi and there were no shaman left in the city...
Him: Shall I take you to the other place now?
Us: Yes.
Shamanic spiritual healings are the real deal. Fire, smoke, eggs, scents, candles, chanting, maybe a chicken sacrifice or two, &c. Our Curandero, Enrique, first read our ailments. He said I suffered from a lack of spirituality and faith and had a broken heart, which requires a specific spiritual cure to rid my body and mind of what ailed me. Even though he only spoke Spanish, it was mostly clear what he was asking me. Kimberly apparently sufferers from an eating disorder and sleeping disorder, as well as general stomach and back pain. She is slender, but seems to eat pretty healthy, so maybe we translated that part wrong. She has had some trouble sleeping and a little neck pain, so maybe that's what he was picking up. Her cure required a different type of ceremony. I was able to sneak a few pictures during the ceremony and I will publish them without explanation.
We both had our cleansing. Enrique was professional, respectful and attentive. He offered us a fair price for his services and gave us our money's worth. It's easy to be cynical about such things, and I don't blame you if you are... I usually am. It did, however, make me take pause and process the importance of religion in peoples lives. Was it cathartic? Not really. Trans-formative? Probably not. A legitimate religious experience? Maybe so. Do I feel mentally, physically and spiritually ready to attempt Cayambe now?
Hell yeah I do.
Geek notes
I've done a lot of thinking about hope vs confidence and fear vs respect. Not that hope and fear aren't useful emotions, but they really have no place in the backcountry. I've seen people succumb to fear at 13,500 feet and it's not pretty. I've heard many people hope to do something and never follow through because they lacked the confidence or initiative. The more I replace hope with confidence and fear with respect, the more I tend to be rewarded for it. It's nice to hope something will work out, but it seems a little lazy. Hoping things will work out absolves you of the responsibility of actually working for it sometimes. Having true confidence only comes from preparation and work. When you have put in the hours, at some point, it just dawns on you that things are going to happen as planned.
Fear is analogous to hope in that it is sometimes the lazy way out. I typically fear things I haven't taken the time to understand. Once you replace fear with a learned respect, you appreciate things more and give yourself permission to act. When I first got into backcountry skiing I hoped I would be able to do it. Now I know I can. When I first learned of Cayambe, I was afraid of it. I understand the dangers it presents and respect them. I may not reach the summit tomorrow for reasons I can't control, but I am prepared to get there if the opportunity presents itself.
-Some church things:
I said I had tremendous respect for most faiths. This gives rise to the question, where do I draw the line? Where do you? Suicidal cults are obviously not worthy of religious respect. Nor are some televangelists who use religion solely for monetary gain and power. I'm ok with some rich televangelists though.
My cousin David Rogers is a successful minister at a large and growing church in Valdosta GA. He does great work and I'm a huge fan of his steadfast faith. His Unseen Project is worth your attention. I had lunch with him a few years ago and we made a deal that I would be his economic adviser if he would be my spiritual adviser. I think I'm doing a much better job than he is.
Apparently I'm cast as a wiseman in a Christmas Eve service celebration in Myrtle Beach next week. I look forward to my acting debut and look forward even more to celebrating the Holiday with my friends.
-The Curandero dedicates their life to the administration of remedies for mental, emotional, physical and spiritual illnesses based on their evaluation. Since the 1990s, it is more commonplace to see Curanderos in 'northern'-tier cities in the United States. The acceptance of traditional services of Curanderismo is noted by US regional health care plans accepting services of Curanderos as part of their insurance benefits and coverage. The role of a Curandero can also incorporate the roles of psychiatrist along with that of doctor and healer. A good representation of this is found in the documentary film Quantum Men filmed in Peru, Venezuela and México. Some Curanderos, such as Don Pedrito, the Healer of Los Olmos, make use of simple herbs, waters, and even mud to effect their cures. Others additionally employ Catholic elements, such as holy water and saint pictures. The use of Roman Catholic prayers and other borrowings and lendings are often found alongside native religious elements (Wiki). Enrique's practice relied heavily on elements of Catholicism. As an economist, I often try to predict trends in the economy with a combination of math and economic theory. I'm probably not as successful predicting changes in GDP as Enrique is with curing stomach cramps.
-Notice that in the first paragraph under the "church" section, I used the phrase "This gives rise to the question." A lot of writers and speakers choose to use the phrase, "This begs the question," because it sounds smart and cool, but technically, that's a misuse of that term. Begging the Question is actually an informal fallacy of logic akin to circular reasoning. It's translation from Latin is "assuming the conclusion." A formal definition of Begging the Question is: Presenting the conclusion of an argument as a premise. It's my favorite fallacy. My second favorite fallacy is the Fallacy of Fallacy. This one states that just because your argument is fallacious, your conclusions are not necessarily wrong.
Formal Logic is no longer taught in public schools, which begs the question: should it be? Eventually the phrase will be officially adopted for it's alternative use because it works and everyone seems to like to say it. Ultimately, the evolution of the English language is a positive development because most people find Shakespeare hard to read anyway. :-)
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