Having returned to my normal life, after my journey to Peru, I realized that the Paqo tradition is different than the training at the Medicine Wheel, in Greece or at the Four Winds. A lot of the things used in the Wheel/shamanic practitioner training come from various traditions, including the Paqo tradition. I will mention some of them, the ones that have come up to my attention. And I am sure there are many more. I will start with something that is distinctively different from the 2 training, the one made up by someone and the other being a tradition practiced for thousands of years. How to work In the Medicine wheel program we learn strong and deep healing tools for sessions to others. When we have an issue, we ask for a session. The personal practices are: sand painting, huaca, journeying in the 3 worlds, fire ceremony, breathing exercise, bands of power, jaguar stone, working with the assemblage point, self decoupling, etc. In the Paqo tradition we learn to work on our own any time any place. We learn to work within us. We can work with Pachamama, with sami and with saywa, with hoocha, the sun, the moon, the air, the fire, with the full moon, with our 8 personal guides, with the 3 centers, with salka energy, with our misha, with khuyas, with waka, etc. A lot of these exercises are healing processes at the same time. Sacred space We open sacred space and we create a field of energy with intention/invocation and we work within this. In the medicine wheel training we learn to open sacred space with the 4 directions the Earth and the Heavens (Sun, Moon, Stars, Great Spirit). In the Qero tradition we call Wiracocha, Pachamama, the 5 elements (earth, water, moon, air, and sun) and our 2 personal power places (Itu apu and Paqarina) adding all the karpays we have received over the years. Mesa/Misha In spanish the word mesa means ceremony/table. Mesa is our personal sacred, our altar, our medicine bundle. This symbolizes our growth, evolution, uniqueness and ourselves. In the Wheel we create a mesa with 13 khuyas that have been initiated during the 4 directions training. One of them is the lineage stone. We do not learn how to work with our misha personally. We usually work when giving healing sessions. It is a healer’s mesa mostly. In the Paqo tradition the misha includes as many khuyas as we want, and as many sacred objects we want. We can work at our own will any place and any time, using at least 2 different ways. We can remove and put inside it as many khuyas as we want. It is a personal misha. Initiations/karpay An initiation is an energetic transmission and empowerment. The initiations of the wheel are given during each direction and they are specific for each one. Bands of power, archetypes, kawak, Pampamesayok and Altomesayok, Taytanjis, Mosoq karpay, the Rite of the Womb. The tradition’s beginning karpays are: Ayni karpay, Water karpay. And following these, there are endless initiations that we can receive. In my journey to Peru I received Wayra karpay, Pachamama karpay, Nusta karpay, Apu karpay (Ausangate, Huaman Lipa, etc), Tawanti karpay, 3 worlds karpay, Healer’s karpay, Mystic karpay, etc. Qeros do not use rattles, they use bells. They do not work with plants (no plants grow in 5000m altitude), they work with stones (there are plenty in the mountains). In Peru they are not called shamans, they are called paqos. Both training are equally important for our healing, our empowerment and our growth. The medicine wheel/shamanic practitioner program is constantly evolving. The Paqo tradition is becoming more widespread and more Paqos teach worledwide. The Wheel/shamanic practitioner is a training for healers mostly. The Paqo tradition is about the mystical part of life and can be practiced by anyone individually.