For Dr. Alberto Villoldo, anthropologist and shaman, personal transformation is not about decision or will, but about experiences that act on the deep layers of the psyche. Ceremony is one of these ancient forms of reconfiguration, and fire, present in all cultures, functions as a central symbol of passage and regeneration.
Dr. Alberto Villoldo. Photo source: thefourwinds.com
Villoldo talks about what he calls “cultural trance”: habits, reflexes and patterns with which we are educated from childhood and which keep us away from the real experience of life. They make us live more in the mind than in the body, accumulate senselessly and lose touch with the senses and nature. The solution, in his opinion, is not to reject the modern world, but to return to the body, to nature and to the senses.
The “cultural trance” that holds us captive
“We need to wake up from this cultural trance and find our true selves. Let's reclaim our natural soul, not that over-domesticated Western soul that says whoever collects more things wins. That's why we need to go back to nature and feel life again.” he explained.
He recalls the lessons he received from Antonio, his mentor, whom he describes as a combination of fatherly authority and compassionate old-age wisdom. “I spent 20 years around him. Only the two of us know how little I really knew. One day he invited me to accompany him on a journey to his birthplace near Lake Titicaca, where his people were, because he was on his last journey.” he tells.
According to him, there are very old structures in the human brain, called the limbic brain or the mammalian brain. “This archaic brain operates according to four fundamental programs: fear, fight or flight, the need for food, and sexuality used as a tool of influence. In terms of food, these involve the feeling of lack, the desire to accumulate, and greed. In terms of fighting, they manifest in aggression and the tendency to project the enemy onto others.”
Sexuality, in turn, is often used as a method of control or influence, a phenomenon which, according to Villoldo, is extremely present in the contemporary world.
The power of ceremonies
This old brain doesn't just change by will or intention, he says; but it needs ceremony. “This is precisely why we find rituals everywhere in the world: from graduation and weddings, to birth or death. They are symbolic steps that mark the passage and enable internal reorganization. Research shows that genuine transformation depends more on how these internal mechanisms are reconfigured, not just on the desire to change.”
The fire ceremony remains the oldest and most powerful form of ritual. “Practice it at home, bring it with you into your life”, recommends Villoldo.
He points out that we have been raised in a kind of cultural experiment without our consent. The American or Euro-American educational system trains children to become efficient consumers, but limits their mental potential. “This pattern must be broken. We need to wake up from the cultural trance we were brought up in and reconnect with nature, with fire, water, wind and light.”
An essential way out of this cultural trance is a return to ancient ceremonies and practices. “There are days when I wake up and go straight to the fire for a ceremony, because today's world is disconnecting us more and more from our authentic, original selves. That's why we have to go back to nature and rediscover our senses.” Villoldo explained.
In the Andes, Villoldo recalls walking with his mentors to the sacred mountain Ausangate. “Before the solstice, all the fires in the surrounding villages were extinguished for three days, leaving the darkness to last. On June 21, when the Pleiades reappeared in the sky, their light reflected on the glaciers of the mountain top. Only the shamans were allowed to climb and dance at 7,000 meters high, capturing this firelight from the stars. They would each take a piece of ice and they brought it down to the villages in the foothills. Each community thus received a piece of ice and the cosmic fire, which they used to rekindle the fire in their homes to feed themselves. It was a symbol of reconnecting with their original source, with the stars where they came from.” says Villoldo.
Villoldo proposes a practical exercise inspired by Andean traditions. “Take a little water in your palms. For each chakra, hold your hands over it and gently move them in a circle, as if you were swirling water, to activate and purify the energy. After you finish one chakra, rinse your hands before moving on to the next. Start with the first chakra and follow the order: first, second, third, back to the heart, then the throat, sixth and seventh chakras. All this is done first in a circular motion in reverse to the needles After you finish, wait a few seconds and repeat the exercise from the heart, this time clockwise, to rebalance the energy of each chakra. On the final descent, the circular movement activates the chakras: the third, the throat, the third eye, resetting the system and, by implication, the biological level.”
Guardians and the energy of space
When you call the four guardians, symbolic beings from the shamanic tradition, each associated with a cardinal direction and with different qualities: the Snake for the South, the Jaguar for the West, the Hummingbird for the North and the Eagle for the East and “install” them in your home or meditation space, they act as energy filters: they purify and restructure the surrounding energy, transforming it into a life-supporting one and blocking negative or chaotic influences.
It works like the water that flows naturally in a stream: spiraling, alive and full of energy, says Alberto Villoldo. “If the same water runs through straight pipes, it's chemically identical, but it's lost its life force. So it is with the energy that surrounds us: that from electrical cables or antennas is linear, rigid, and not life-supporting.”
Through the presence of the guardians, the energy becomes healing, supports health and harmonizes the space. “An Amazonian shaman once said to me, 'Alberto, where have you been for the last 20 years?' I answered puzzled: “What do you mean?” He said to me: “You slept.” I replied: “Yes, we sleep for about a third of our lives.” He concluded: “But I dreamed.”
Even in sleep, the body continues to regenerate. “In deep sleep, the brain shrinks by about 20% so that the cerebrospinal fluid can remove toxins. This process becomes much more efficient in a harmonious environment. Melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal gland, helps repair the brain's DNA. If the surrounding energy is chaotic or unstructured, this repair is impaired, and access to higher states of clarity and consciousness remains limited. The more you learn to consciously interact with the energies in I swear, the easier it is to transform spaces into places that support health, healing and communion with life in all its forms.”
Villoldo recalls that the only British female astronaut to reach the Space Station, chemist Helen Sharman, was asked if we would ever meet extraterrestrial intelligence. “I can't wait”she replied, “because earth intelligence is extremely boring.Sharman added that these beings have existed among us for 10,000 years, they just live on another octave, invisible to the human eye.
He points out that encounters with these invisible beings depend on how you organize your home space and meditation place. “These are the Buddhists, shamans, saints and angels who will visit you,” he explains. After a few weeks of practice, “you will begin to wake up from your cultural trance and recognize all the areas of your life where you have accepted untruths. Then it will be time to bring truth, not healing, into every aspect of your existence.” he says.
Villoldo advises people not to wait until the last moments of life to begin rituals. To do them now, to call upon their protectors and connect with heaven and earth, aware that we are divine beings on a journey on Earth.
“Then release the guardians of the four directions of the medicine wheel: Serpent, Jaguar, Hummingbird, and Eagle. To the south we say: Great Serpent, mother of waters, thank you for your spirals of light and lesson of beauty. To the west: Jaguar, teach us courage and integrity. To the north: Hummingbird, show us the hero's way. To the east: Eagle and Condor, open our eyes to truth. Great Mother, thank you for life, water and breath, for another day.” he concludes.
