In Chile, Luzclara lives in a round wooden temple that overlooks the Maipo River and faces the Andes mountains. Buddhist flags, statues of goddesses, and an organic garden planted in the shape of a spiral lead the way to Luz del Maipo, the temple that she calls home. This is where she meditates, does yoga, prepares for ceremony, and rides on horseback into the mountains to a special retreat. But shamanic leader Luzclara Camus is a globetrotter who hasn’t been home much lately. She’s been in Poland, Spain, Portugal, and France recently, facilitating ceremonies of the sacred feminine. Her next stop is California, with weekend workshops planned in the Los Angeles area (June 17-19) and in Mount Shasta (June 24-26).
A Priestess of the Goddess, Luzclara is on a mission to bring women together in old-fashioned ways. Imagine a circle of women chanting and drumming around a fire under the full moon. “It’s time for women to come together again,” she says. “This is a moment of a great awakening to the feminine, and we are responding en masse. We’ve been living in a patriarchal system for thousands of years, where we had to develop our masculine side in order to survive. We had to learn to compete, for instance, and we had to forget our feminine essence.”I met Luzclara in a medicine journey in Chile a few years ago. That same night, after I’d met her, she came to me in a dream as a condor. Over the next few days, I participated in fire circles, sweat lodge, sound healing, and a labyrinth ceremony that she led. I learned of her ways of viewing sexuality, menstruation, manifestation, healing, Pachamama, plant medicine, menopause, and magic. I also found out that the grand Condor is her totem, and that, before going to sleep, she gives her light body permission to travel. Luzclara has unforgettable presence and I’m looking forward to her landing at Los Angeles International Airport in a few days.
Responding to an email interview while taking a break in Saint-Tropez in the French Riviera, Luzclara explains that ancient ones said that the way energy enters the planet changes every two thousand years. Masculine energy entered Earth from the Himalayas, and now feminine energy is entering from the Andes mountain range. “Feminine energy is not just for women,” she says. “It’s for everyone, and it’s time for the feminine qualities to develop once again.”A native of Chile, Luzclara was mentored by an indigenous Mapuche Machi (shaman), Antonia Lincolaf, after the Machi came to her in a dream in 1981. Machi Antonia taught her how to hold ceremonies and how to heal with herbs, flutes, and sound. She initiated Luzclara with the kultrún, a feminine ceremonial drum in the shape of a bowl with symbols that represent the universe that holds medicine in its womb. Luzclara has initiated hundreds of women kultrún carriers since. “Sound heals by harmonizing our bodies, as the musical vibration penetrates deeply into each organ, into each cell,” she says. She does an adaptation of the Machitún, a healing ceremony done by the Machis, where people receive healing within a circle of drums, rattles, dancing, and intentional chanting.
She is also schooled in Chinese and Tibetan spiritual practices and has learned and shared ceremonies with indigenous groups from North America, Peru, and the Amazon. “My relations and contacts with native tribes in North and South America gave me the memory of how to be one with the Earth, how to feel the spirit in the elements, and how to see Her as a living being and respect Her as my Mother,” she says.
“Right now, European and American multinational corporations are pillaging our lands in Chile,” says Luzclara. Monsanto has claimed ownership of the country’s native seeds, and AES Gener has bought the rights to waters of the Maipo River, with a hydroelectric project that is sure to damage the environment, diminish water supply in Santiago, and enrich the company. Additionally, corporations are vying to build reservoirs in Patagonia. As a Guardian of the Earth, Luzclara has participated in her community’s protests against these assaults on the land.
“I am committed to caring for Pachamama and to teaching others how to connect with Her,” she says. Luzclara is a co-founder of the Guardians of the Earth Women’s Shamanic School in Chile, which began this year. (The school has two sessions every year; one in English, and another in Spanish.) She also takes on apprentices for one-on-one training in Luz del Maipo. “My most important work is empowering women, assisting them in the discovery of their sacred feminine and their roots with the Earth.” Her teaching methods include working in sacred circles and doing ceremony with the moon, solstices, and equinoxes.
“My relationship with Mother Earth has been a love affair. I have so much love and gratitude for her,” she writes. A central part of her message of embracing the feminine is in embracing Mother Earth herself. “To align with the Earth, we need to align with ourselves first and see Her as the living being that she is. We need to walk upon Her with love and respect, and to care for Her waters and Her nature. We need to quit exploiting Her for profit. We need to curb our consumption. And we need to be grateful and conscious of Her generosity.” In Luzclara’s world, all women are goddesses and all people can become one with Pachamama. She views the female experience as a visionary by turning “menopause” on its head by naming it “plenitude.” The idea of useless shriveled up hags gets replaced with plenitude, “a grand initiation for women, a time for a woman to birth herself and claim her power. It is a time of plenitude and the beginning of a marvelous phase of life.” She explains that during plenitude, blood rises to the upper chakras. The third eye chakra, which corresponds to vision, and the crown chakra, which is the connection to the divine, are engaged. This, in a nutshell, is what it means to be a “wise woman”--a woman who actively “sees” and who is consciously connected to her internal goddess. From everything I know about her, I’d say Luzclara, who’s going to be celebrating her 70th birthday in August, is a wise woman embodied.
Following is information about upcoming events by Luzclara Camus. Individual appointments are also available.
LOS ANGELES AREA EVENTS, June 17-19, to be held at 3732 Sapphire Drive, Encino, CA. See http://innerflowerchild.com/. RSVP 818-905-7789 or susan.bernardo@gmail.comFriday, June 17, 5:00-11:00 PM. Sound healing ceremony and potluck. All are welcome. $25; kids attend for free.
Saturday June 18, 2:00-8:00 PM, Opening to the True Power of Your Feminine Nature: Learn to deepen your connection to your own healing power and the healing of Earth. Includes rites of initiation, Machitún transformational healing, cleansing with feathers and smoke. $115
Sunday June 19, 11:00-6:00 PM, Woman’s Wisdom, Power and Mysteries, Riding the Serpent Through the Years of Plenitude: Learn to harness the transformational fire energy of menopause to seed your wisdom years with wonder and power. Includes lunch with foods that support all phases of this potentially powerful and transformative time in our lives. $145
MOUNT SHASTA RETREAT: June 24-26. In Spanish. Songs, dances, healing rites, sound healing, fire ceremony, and sweat lodge. Participants should bring sleeping bags and camping equipment. Facilitated by Leticia Elicea at Portal de Luz.$175 for weekend, including meals. Contact Leticia Elicea 408.261.3272, instituto@isehn.org
Peregrinación a Machu Picchu. Un peregrinaje de mujeres por el Valle Sagrado visitando Machu-Picchu y otros lugares de poder. Inscripción: soco@cascada.net o luzclara777@yahoo.com
Contact Luzclara directly for information about the Guardians of the Earth Shamanic School for Women or private apprenticeships. luzclara777@yahoo.com
Beautiful work. So good to meet you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful article! I am so looking forward to meeting Luzclara when she come to Encino to work her wise and healing Earth magic.
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