Journal

The Winter Solstice - Andean New Year

Today is June 21 - the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The day when the axis of the earth reaches its furthest tilt from the sun, and then - in the same moment - begins its return. In t...

On Pilgrimage - Walking the Intention

In the Andean tradition, pilgrimage is not travel to a sacred place. It is the act of becoming the path. To walk to Chavín is not to visit a monument. It is, as the tradition teaches, caminar la in...

Before the First Piece - Taking the Samples to the Temple

Before a single piece was sold, before the website existed, before the packaging had been decided or the photographs taken - I took the samples to the Temple. Each one. Wrapped carefully. Carried t...

The Kantuta - Flower of the Andes

High in the Andes, above the treeline, where most things struggle to grow, there is a flower that thrives. Vivid, hanging, red and yellow and sometimes purple - the kantuta, or Cantua buxifolia, ha...

Patsamama - Not Only the Earth

In most contexts where you encounter this word, it is translated as Mother Earth. That translation is not wrong - but it is incomplete in a way that matters. In the tradition of Chawpin, Patsamama ...

What is Chavín de Huántar?

High in the Áncash highlands of Peru, at the meeting point of two rivers and two mountain ranges, stands a ceremonial center that is over three thousand years old. Its name in Quechua is Chawpin - ...