Sacred Sites of Peru & Machu Picchu: Merging with the Divine October 7th-18th, 2009 Led by: Dr. Sheri Rosenthal and Lee McCormick Sheri is author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Toltec Wisdom and Banish Mind Spam!. Lee is the founder/co-owner of The Recovery Ranch and the author of The Spirit Recovery Meditation Journal.

Our Travel Destinations Bimini Dolphins Heli-Hiking, Canada Havasupai - Grand Canyon Sacred Southwest Sites Sedona, Arizona Baja, Mexico Oaxaca, Mexico Palenque, Mexico Teotihuacan, Mexico Tepoztlan, Mexico Tulum, Mexico Yucatan and Belize Photography Travel Guatemala Peru Egypt Israel Santorini, Greece Turkey Bhutan Vietnam and Cambodia Journeys by the Month December: Guatemala March: Palenque, Mexico May: Mesa Verde/Chaco/Canyon De Chelly June: Women's Retreat: Oaxaca, MX July: Women's Retreat: Bimini Dolphins August: Havasupai-Grand Canyon October: Peru December: Egypt Receive our Updates! Sign up by clicking here View a sample newsletter

Of all the sacred sites, Machu Picchu is amongst the most talked about and mysterious. Truly there are more questions asked than answered regarding its purpose and ultimate demise. Imagine a city of incredible structures built using 50 ton blocks of stone fitting so perfectly together (without mortar) that you cannot fit a hair between the joints! Five square miles of astrological perfection sits majestically on top of a misty mountain in the Andes (8000 feet). Located two thousand feet above the rumbling Urubamba river, the city remained untouched and undiscovered until Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham explored it in 1911.

On this spiritual journey, we will be using the energies of this amazing country to assist us in experiencing the divine within. Peru is the perfect place for this adventure of ceremony and inner exploration of the heart. We will be joined by Jorge Luis Delgado, author of Andean Awakening, Peruvian Shaman and great source of the ancient Inca teachings and traditions. By the end of this journey you will consider Jorge family. You can learn more about Jorge on his website AndeanAwakening.com. Also, if you are interested in his book it is listed below in the book section!

Using the three levels of the Inca's mythology of transcendence, we move from the dark underworld of our own minds to the clarity of spiritual consciousness. The snake, puma and condor will be the symbols we use to represent our spiritual ascension for these 11 sacred days together.

Cusco, Ollantaytambo, the Sacred Valley, Moray and Tipon are some of the locations we will explore. There will be ceremony, and deep personal exploration on this incredible and sacred spiritual retreat.

As is typical for a Journeys of the Spirit retreat, you will experience class time daily, time for sharing with the group, reflection and meditation time, and one-on-one personal time with your group leader (along with fun and shopping time too of course!). It is our intent that you return home with an open heart and mind along with the tools you need to make the changes in your life you desire. Please feel free to take a peek at some pictures from our last journey to Peru: Photo's of the Sacred Sites of Peru!

Here are two websites you can explore for more information: MachuPicchu.com. Click Here to Send This Page to a Friend and/or Receive our Newsletter! Sign up here!

Day 1 Oct 7-8th (-/-/-) ARRIVAL LIMA / FLY TO CUSCO / SACRED VALLEY Today we arrive in Lima where we will gather for our morning flight to Cusco. Then we arrive in the Sacred Valley by bus, have lunch and a wonderful rest. We all meet for dinner and our first lecture and gathering in the evening. We will be staying at the wonderful Hotel Pacaritampu in the Sacred Valley. (9360 ft)

Day 2 Oct 9th (b/-/-) SACRED VALLEY - PISAC We will visit Pisac today and visit the ruins and the market. This market has evolved into one of the biggest, artesania markets in all of South America. It begins every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 9 a.m. The town's main square is filled wall-to-wall with stalls selling the full range of Peruvian artesania: felt hats, alpaca sweaters and blankets, carved gourds, ceramics, musical instruments, paintings, antiques, a huge variety of trinkets, weavings and jewelry.

Day 3 Oct 9 (b/-/-) SACRED VALLEY - MORAY - OLLANTAYTAMBO Today we will go to visit the sacred terraces of Moray where there are four huge natural depressions that have been sculpted into deep terraces. These circles represent for us the Cosmic Spiral, and we work with the energy of this place to connect with the womb of the Mother Earth (Mama Pacha). Time to do a ceremony in order to offer something to her and asking permission to be there. Overnight at Hotel Pacaritampu.

After lunch we travel through the Sacred Valley, with its breathtaking vistas of the Urubamba River to Ollantaytambo an incredible ancient Inca city. Two hundred steps lead up terraces to a double-jamb gateway and the Temple of Ten Niches, a long wall with odd protuberances. Above this is the unfinished Temple of the Sun, considered one of the masterpieces of Inca stonework.Six giant monoliths of pink rhyolite are perfectly slotted together with thin slices of stone and oriented to glow with the rising sun.

At Ollantaytambo we will discover the surprising Astronomical Watcher, which lies under the Tunupa's glance (Part of the Wiraccochan myth) who is sculpted on stone in part of the Pinkuylluna mountain in front of the archaeological complex. In this place of power we offer Coca leaves which are used to send love and thanks to the Spirit of the Mountains, the Apus and to Pachamama (Mother Earth). We will take a beautiful walk to see the famous Pacarectampu Pyramid.

Day 4 Oct 10th (b/-/d) BY TRAIN - AGUAS CALIENTES Catch the morning train for 1.5 hour ride through beautiful mountains and jungle scenery of the Andes before arriving at Machu Picchu. We will have our first ceremony to ask permission of the Entities of the place: The Puma, The Condor and Lights of Spirits. We visit the Seven Places of Power at Machu Picchu. This entire stone complex is a high voltage magnetic focal point and every invocation made at Machu Picchu is amplified to incalculable proportions. We will spend a few days here merging our energies with this sacred site and deepening our understanding of the Inca mythology. Evening visit to the healing hot spring of Aguas Calientes. Overnight at in Aguas Caliente. (7500 ft)

Day 5 Oct 11th (b/-/-) MACHU PICCHU Some of you may want to climb the sacred peak of Wayna Picchu to the top today. We'll also have the opportunity to hike to the Temple of the Moon, partway down the northern side of Wayna Picchu. We will continue our explorations of the Royal Tomb, the Funerary Rock, the Sacred Plaza, Condor Temple and the Inihuatana Stone (known as the "hitching post of the sun" is a carved rock pillar whose four corners are oriented toward the four cardinal points. The Inca were accomplished astronomers, and used the angles of the pillar to predict the solstices). Overnight in Aguas Caliente.

Day 6 Oct 12th (b/-/-) MACHU PICCHU Today we continue to explore the amazing site of Machu Picchu. Time to go to Mandor (water falls). It is a nice walk of 25 minutes more or less. We will do a ceremony in order to connect with the spirit of the place. Overnight in Aguas Caliente.

Day 7 Oct 13th (b/-/-) BY TRAIN TO CUSCO Unfortunately we must leave Machu Picchu behind and continue on our journey to Cusco by train again. Tonight we overnight in Cusco at the Ruinas Hotel. (11,500 feet)

Day 8 Oct 14th (b/-/-) CUSCO /ALTARS Today we will visit several sacred sites including: Tambomachay; where we will be cleaned and purified, Kenko; where we experience an awakening at the altar of the Puma, Amaru Machay; where we visit the Temple of Rebirth and connect with the Mother Earth. And lastly we visit Kusillucchayoc, the sacred Moon temple that was used as a place of initiation by the Incas. Tonight we overnight in Cusco Ruinas Hotel.(11,500 feet)

Day 9 Oct 15th (b/-/-) CUSCO /ALTARS Today we have the opportunity to explore the grand city of Cusco, the navel of the earth. Cusco was laid out on a grid plan to reproduce the shape of a puma, their sacred mountain animal. The pre-Inca site of Sacsayhuaman, high above the northern edge of the city, forms the head of the puma and the Coricancha temple forms the center of the grid. At Sacsayhuaman; (a hilltop fortress looming over Cusco to the north with three ramparts of zigzag walls that run for nearly 300 meters on its north side) we connect with the rocks which contain messages and lessons for a new era through geometrical symbols. Here we make a connection with fire. Tonight we overnight in Cusco Ruinas Hotel.

Day 10 Oct 16th (b/-/-) CUSCO / TIPON Today we will have a 40 minutes bus ride to Tipon, a little known Inca ruin complex southeast of Cusco. It consists of a vast walled enclosure with some of the most complex Inca drains, water works and baths, some of which are still functioning. The location is superb, with stupendous views of the mountains and Valley. Uphill from the enclosure is a magnificent Inca aqueduct which we will use for a purification ceremony. We will visit the Coricancha temple which was designed to be used as an astronomical observatory and calendar for precisely calculating the movements of the sun, stars and planets. It is said that forty or so lines emanating from the temple, running absolutely straight for hundreds of miles linking to significant celestial points on the horizon. Tonight we overnight in Cusco Ruinas Hotel.

Day 11 Oct 17-18th (b/-/-) FLY CUSCO / LIMA / HOME Back to the airport to depart from the Land of the Apus and return home. We say our last goodbyes, hugs and kisses as we prepare to take our new dream of heaven back to our lives!

This schedule is tentative! Due the remote areas we are traveling to, weather, bad roads and other unseen obstacles may cause us to make changes in the schedule or to visit different sites. We understand that if this happens we were not meant to be where we were going!

Only breakfasts are included in this program. These are noted next to each day of the above itinerary and are in parentheses. Non-included meals may need to be paid for in cash so plan accordingly. All spiritual teachings are included. All tips for the drivers, guides, and bell boys are included. All ground transportation is included on this journey; our buses. Your international roundtrip air flight is not-included in the cost of the journey, but your internal roundtrip flight from Lima to Cusco is included. Entrance fees to all the ruins are included. Non-included items would include souvenir shopping, personal phone calls. laundry and the tips for your room maid (recommended $1.00 per day).

The actual schedule of spiritual teachings and what we will be doing day to day is not published. This is because we teach by channeling spirit which comes in the moment. Every day will be a magical experience for all of us, teachers included! Keep you heart and mind open to the experience life brings us.

Regarding international flights: We will be taking the American Airlines flight from Miami on October 6th leaving Miami at 11:25pm arriving in Lima at 3:53am. This is an overnight flight. Then we will be catching a morning flight to Cusco and then our bus to the Sacred Valley. Going home on October 17th we will be catching the flight from Cusco in the late afternoon to Lima and then we will be taking the AA flight # 918 departing Lima at 11:25pm arriving back in Miami at 6:00am on October 18th.

2009 trip cost is $3295.00 per person double occupancy. The single supplement for this journey will be $325.00. A deposit of $500.00 is preferred by: August 1st, 2009. Final payment is due: September 1st, 2009. Any cancellation made in writing from: August 1st - September 1st, 2009 will result in a cancellation fee of $250.00. Any cancellation made after: September 1st, 2009 up to the date of departure or after will result in total loss of deposit plus the loss of any non-refundable costs incurred from our hotels and internal flights. Trip cancellation insurance is recommended to cover such issues. We reserve the right to cancel the trip if it is not meeting the trip minimum. Please know that we are happy to create a monthly payment plan for you - if that works better! Just email us and we can charge a specific amount monthly to your credit card.

You may print each form separately, or download all 7 forms at the same time and then print them from your computer. All the documents are in Adobe PDF format. If you don't have Acrobat Reader in your computer (most people do), please go to CLICK HERE to download it.

Dear Spiritual Traveler
Don't Forget Me List!
Statement of Health
Trip Application
Limitation of Liability
Release of Liability
Terms & Conditions
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(NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE)

These are a few books that I feel will help you prepare for your upcoming journey. Please enjoy these recommendations. If you have any of your own, let me know and I will consider posting them! If you click on the book itself it will link you to Amazon.com.

Having experienced many Spiritual Journeys, it is nice to have all the information you might need before you go! I have included a list of online resources that will prove to be useful as you plan and prepare for your next Spiritual Journey. Simply choose a link from the drop down menu below and the corresponding website will open in its own window making it easy for you to return to this site and continue your exploration.

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