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Hercules
in the 21st Century ~ Virgo

Hernando
C. Kulez and the Earth Mamas
"Thank you
so very much," Hernando Carlos Kulez said as quickly as he could into
the microphone, while the banquet room of the London Hilton filled with
applause. Kulez was on stage to pick up the 1992 international Pulitzer
for a series
of compelling photographs of civilian casualties in the Gulf War.
Throughout
his career, the middle-aged Chilean had worked hard to become one
of the
preeminent photojournalists covering frontline world situations, and
had followed the crisis in the Gulf, once the war itself had ended,
to
nearby Serbia.
Over and
over that evening, Kulez kept asking himself, "what am I doing here?"
His firsthand experience observing the cruelties of war was nothing of
which he was proud. For while having covered stories of devastation
in
his native South America, hed seen the deaths of thousands in the
huge natural and man-made disasters he had photographed. But it didnt
prepare him for the sheer inhumanity hed witnessed recently covering
the volatile situation in Bosnia-Herzegovena.
Returning
to his seat, Hernando was pulled into a flashback memory that
recurred
for him day in and day out, since four months ago when he taken photographs
of terrorist Croatian firing squads killing innocent people.
This evening,
almost every time there was a round of applause, he heard gunfire and
saw the senseless killing once again. To his damaged emotional
body,
shell-shocked
from recent events, it was as if he were right there again, watching.
| "...
the Mamas, the priests of the Kogi Indians, say their home in the
Sierra Mountains of South America was once the Garden of Eden," Hernando
was pulled out of his trauma by a young BBC filmmakers acceptance
speech. "From this place, which they call the Heart of the Earth,
all that they do in their civilization, every simple task, is done
in a special way, in order to ensure health and fertility in the world.
And after making this documentary on the Kogi, I think it just well
may be true: theyre responsible for the fact that were
still here today." |

** |
Kulez
recalled seeing this
BBC documentary on the Kogi tribe a
few months before; it had revealed to the world the story of their
ancient civilization.
Something about their story had stirred Hernandos interest.

* |
He
didnt know whether it was his journalists instinct or
his souls cry for help that compelled him to learn more about
this pre-Colombian civilization and its people. After the horrors
of the massacre of innocent people he had eyewitnessed since fighting
had broken out in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the quiet simplicity of the
Kogis lifestyle seemed to beckon Hernando.
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Elder Brothers,
the "Mamas" or shaman of the Kogi, believe their civilization to be the
guardians of life on Earth, and the Earth is Aluna, mother of all life.
As spiritual leaders for their tribe, the Mamas have maintained their
ancient ceremonies over centuries in order to balance the spiritual and
material forces of nature, and in so doing, the actions of all humanity.
If everything
— every tree, every stone — has a spirit, as the Kogi believed, then
what kind
of spirit could possibly explain the brutality of the wars hed
chronicled, Kulez wondered as he thought more over the next few days.
Now that his
traumatized condition had brought his assignment in Eastern Europe to
an early end, and drawn him more and more to finding a way to heal his
nervous condition,
he decided to fly home to Chile and meet with his editors.

Sitting
on a hill in the highlands above Santiago, Kulez thought back
to the Pulitzer Awards banquet; since the ceremony a week before,
he hadnt had another flashback episode. Taking this as a
sign he was on the right track, he convinced his editors that
he would bring back a scoop of a human interest story if they
sent him to photograph the Kogi.
So
with only a few personal items, cameras and film, he traveled
by bus out of Bogota, Colombia, and from the last busstop by burro
to the Kogi town of Pueblo Viejo.
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Until
the BBCs documentary, the Kogi had remained hidden
to the rest of the world, where they continue to live under the
strict
regime of their
traditions. Following the Spanish conquest and with the growth of the
modern world, their ancient prophecies hold that the Earths
technological developments will bring catastrophe. For centuries
they have also believed
that they are roped to the rest of civilization, and all the world will
sooner or later be yanked to destruction.
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"Ive
come to see the Mamas. I'm here because I want to learn from them,"
he explained to the constable after finding his way to the meeting
hall. The constable agreed to summons one of the Elder Brothers, who
listened as Hernando explained that he had come to learn how they
work through their spiritual practice to heal the world. |
Mama
Jefe listened to Hernandos request, and agreed to take it
to the Mamas meeting hall, the nuhue, to their assembly
that evening. And he offered Hernando lodging in a small hut in
the village.
That
night at the nuhue, Mama Jefe told the other priests of
Hernandos
request. As he seemed full of pain and worry, many of them
at first felt his request was intrusive. According to their
custom, they
consulted Aluna, great Mother of all, through their formal divination
technique of tu-tuma — reading bubbles in a bowl of water.
A hallow bead, the tuma, is dropped into the water, and the Mamas
listen for the answer to come through the bubbles that surface.
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Indeed,
what came through was surprising to them: instruction to bring their visitor
to meet Elder Sister, the high priestess of the tribe, whose very presence
is one of the guarded secrets of their religion. This would require journeying
high into the Sierra, to an elevation over 7,000 feet, where she lived
and
maintained the tribes high temple. There, her foremost duty was to
raise and teach the chosen child who would replace her. This took 11 years,
and during these years the child was not permitted to leave the temple in
a cave. From birth, she would be the only contact, the only human allowed
to touch the child.
The next
day Mama Jefe told Hernando that he would be escorting him to the mountain
temple, to meet Elder Sister. They arrived two days later, and from the
grueling climb, Hernando had become weak, with a high fever. Mama Jefe
wrapped him for the night, and while asleep, Hernando had a most vivid
dream.
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In
the dream, Kulez saw himself inside the cave, and he first noticed
a young Kogi child, who pointed to the center of the temple, where
the light was so bright it nearly blinded Hernando. This light emanated
from a spectacular object, and he saw that it was a mineral, in
crystal form, glowing with electric blue-green luminescence. He
was impelled to look at it, and as he did, Hernando felt the radiating
energy from the crystal enter his body.
Immediately
he was healed. Then the next thing he knew, he was outside the temple
and somehow found himself holding the incredible crystal above his
head, with both hands.
When
Kulez woke up, the fever had indeed broken, and Mama Jefe was sitting
next to him. "You can bathe at a creek nearby," he showed Hernando.
"And then we shall go to the temple."
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| There
was a secret prophecy handed down to Elder Sister when she was
in
training by her own mentor to take over as the high leader of the
Kogi, many years ago, that told of a Younger Brother who would
come
in the future and would ask for help, and who was really coming there
to help the world. Three years ago, when the BBC had come to
tape,
she'd wondered if they might have been the fulfillment of that prophecy.
But the tu-tuma beads never told the tribe it was any of the
crew,
and as for Kulez, the tuma at the Mamas meeting had sent bubbles
rising high above the water and whispered it was right to take Hernando
to meet Elder Sister. |
 |
| Now,
as he followed Mama Jefe into the cave, Kulez recognized its interior
from his dream. There was no child in sight, but once again the first
thing he noticed was the shining blue green crystal. And once again,
its radiant energy captivated him. |
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Ever
the frontline journalist, Hernando went to do what was instinctual from
his many years covering the war: "get the photograph." And before
the high priestess even began to comprehend any of what was happening,
he reached into his pocket for his camera.
Suddenly
aware of all the horror Hernando brought with him, she was frozen
in fear.
Having never seen a camera before, the woman watched Kulez raise the
black metallic rectangular box to his head. Instantly concerned for
the sacred
crystal, which she knew to be unstable, she held up her hand to Hernando,
beginning to wave it as a warning of the crystals power. But
he snapped the photograph, and in a brief moment, the reflection
of the flash
ricocheted from the crystal into the open palm of her hand. The jarring
impact was so incredibly intense, she fell instantaneously to
the ground.
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Mama
Jefe, who had seen cameras when the BBC were filming and recognized
the flash, observed the whole encounter, and was shocked by the
suddenness and force of what hed just seen. He knew immediately
that the force of the crystal had amplified the energy released
by the flash and had somehow zapped her, for Elder Sisters
connection to the sacred stone was extremely powerful.
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The
two men tried to revive her, and Mama Jefe worked together with Kulez by
his side — both were fully mobilized to action. All in the same passage
awed by the tragedy he had unwittingly caused, Hernandos focus went
to the task of trying to undo his impetuous action.
But their
efforts at resuscitation were futile, she was indeed dead. Hernando stumbled
outside into the light, sat down and tried to get still, looking over
the valley below. Now that he was no longer engaged in the task of trying
to revive the woman, he was pulled back into his old familiar place of
despair. Recalling the horror of the atrocities he had witnessed in
Serbia, he effectively had murdered Elder Sister, whose sacred ways
hed
come there to study and learn.

*** |
Mama
Jefe, who had felt Hernandos sincerity, saw the ironic consequence
of the situation. He put his hand on Hernandos shoulder. "We
must send her back to Aluna, and then you will take her ashes to Pueblo
Viejo," he said tenderly. "You will consult the tribe, and you will
know what to do." |
| Hernando
must return to the village alone, Mama Jefe explained, for the
shaman
would need to stay there with the young girl now that Elder Sister
could no longer care for her. Late that afternoon, Hernando
built
the pyre outside the cave as Mama Jefe watched over the remains of
the high priestess and conducted the Kogi death ritual in the
temple.
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Emerging
from the cave after sunset, Mama Jefe asked Hernando to help him
bring
the body outside, and the two men conducted her cremation ceremony in
silence. And while the fire raged, Kulez had a vision. He saw the
spirit
of Elder Sister come to him, and she told him to stay with the Kogis
and master their ways. Even though it seemed hopeless, for when they
found
out what he had done they would probably inflict due punishment, he was
thusly guided to approach them when he returned to Pueblo Viejo.
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Kulez
made his way back to the town alone, and went directly to the
nuhue.
He told the Mamas exactly what had happened, how Elder Sister had
been struck and died when he took a photograph of the amazing
crystal. They
gasped in shock as he told the story, for it was the first time one
of the Younger Brothers from the modern world had learned of
their
most sacred healing stone. |
Kulez
knew from the BBC documentary that the Kogi trained their holy
leaders in a cave from birth, and Mama Jefe had told him of their tribes
dilemma. Since the child was still nearly two years from being of age to
take over for Elder Sister, they would need to consult Aluna to find out
what to do in the meantime.
| They
told Hernando more of their ancient prophecy about the devastation
of the Earth, which explained why the Mamas had in fact sent
the BBC
away after the documentary was filmed. Afterwards, when the negative
spirits of the outer world began to creep into their society,
they actually
had cut down the bridge by which those from the world of the
Younger
Brothers could easily reach their land. They saw the coming destruction
of the planet and told him they believed the Younger Brothers,
of
whom he was one, were going to cause this catastrophe. |

****
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As they wept,
Kulez felt the priests revulsion towards him and his inadvertant,
callous act. He quietly and sincerely told them how sorry he was, and
humbly asked for their forgiveness. Then he told them he would like to
stay there and study their religion.

* |
They
asked him to leave while they consulted the tu-tuma. When the
bubbles
spoke, they said for Hernando to stay, and many were in fact disappointed.
Their tribe holds a verbal tradition and none of them even writes,
and so they told him he must as well give up his cameras and film. |
At
this point Hernando would have done anything they asked in order to stay
and atone for his impetuous, foolish act. And so for the months ahead the
tribe simply allowed him to observe. Unable to just watch, during the days
he
joined
the other men tending the crops in the fields. And when the Mamas met each
evening in the nuhue, Kulez stayed and cooked with the women and
the non-religious
vassals.
Soon the
Kogi noticed Hernando worked harder than any of the other vassals, and
the tu-tuma told the Mamas to invite Kulez to attend their holy meetings.
He met with them and studied, and slowly but surely began to recognize
the spirit in every object, every plant, every mineral.
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The
highest ritual of the tribe was the Mamas annual pilgrimage
to the high temple, from where they journeyed slightly further
on, to
a nearby peak above the Sierra. There, there is a spring from which
waters flow into the Amazon valley below.
According
to their ancient sacrament, by placing the potent crystal in
the
spring, powerful healing energy would bestow health and fertility
to the waters that then drains into the populated valleys of
Peru,
Colombia, and Ecuador. Thus, the world once again would be renewed
for the coming year ahead with these recuperative properties.
And
as the time of year of the secret pilgrimage was approaching, Hernando
was amazed to be asked by the Mamas to join them on their journey.
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Together
with the rest of the Mamas, Kulez climbed the Sierra and arrived once again
at the temple where Mama Jefe had stayed on to teach the holy child. In
silence, and with a shroud over the childs head, the two left ahead
of the pilgrims to go to the spring at the top of the mountains. When they
all had arrived, everyone grew still to see how the ceremony would be different
this year, without Elder Sister to preside.
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As
he joined the assembled Mamas, Hernando was amazed at the
majestic
beauty of the sacred place. To everyones surprise, the child,
who had been trained by Elder Sister about the ritual, removed
her
veil to look. The holy youth pointed almost immediately at Hernando,
and asked for him to come to the altar where she and Mama Jefe
were
standing.
The
child led as Mama Jefe assisted in what was coming through, and
the youthful priestess asked for Hernando to help with the next
part of the ritual. Touched and honored, he followed the girl to
the altar where sat the crystal, underneath a woven blanket. She
pointed for him to remove its cover.
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Hernando
did exactly as he was asked, and she then passed her hands all around
the crystal, as Elder Sister had taught her always to do when about to
touch it. Now she asked him to lift the sacred object for the ritual,
and motioned him to place it under the waterfall coming out of the spring.
In traditional manner, the potent mineral charged and blessed the Amazon
valley below.
Once the
ceremony ended, and the Mamas had prayed together for the world as they
did each year for the highest outcome on Earth, Mama Jefe and the holy
child turned to lead the other Mamas away. Hernando Carlos Kulez wrapped
the crystal once again in its cover, and walking with the others, carried
it back to the temple in the cave.
Later,
after the child had gone in to sleep, Hernando joined the Mamas in their
evening ceremony around the campfire. As they chanted, he was in awe of
the beautiful ritual and his own participation in it. Then suddenly, the
ground began to shake. It was an earthquake.
Thinking
only of the child in the cave, Kulez ran inside the temple and yelled
to her. As the ground continued to shake, the walls of the temple began
to cave in. Just in time, he saw her sleeping in a small alcove in the
back. Without even looking at the glowing crystal that had been returned
to its place in the center, he picked up the child and ran for the door.
Awakened
by the commotion, the child screamed as they reached the entrance, and
pointed at the luminescent mineral. In instant response, Hernando passed
her to Mama Jefe, and ran back into the cave for the crystal. This time
he picked it up with the blanket and fled again for the entrance. In a
flash he remembered the scene from his dream, at the end, when he was
holding the crystal. Now that part had also come true.
When the
ground stopped shaking, the temple cave had been ruined. But miraculously
the child was saved, and Hernando watched as the Mamas joined hands in
a circle to rejoice. He followed, and together they all prayed.
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From
that time, Kulez has never left the Kogis.
He
stayed in the Sierra with several of the other Mamas to restore
the mountain temple, and when they finished rebuilding, the wise
child came of age to take over as the Kogi tribes new Elder
Sister.
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Loosely based
on Alice A. Baileys book, The Labours of Hercules,
and on
the true story of the Kogi tribe in Colombia.
Graphics:
title image adapted from "Kogi Mask" by Marc
Korell
images marked with * from
Drunvalo Melchizedek,
** from Llabyrinthina.com,
*** from Journey to the Heart of the World press
release,
**** from Explore.com,
all the rest are from University
of Wales, Bangor
To
read The Message from the Kogi, click
here
More
links about the Kogi, lost tribe of pre-Colombian America:
Labyrinthina.com,
Entheogen
Dot
Tairona Heritage Studies Centre
Drunvalo Melchidezek
Journey
to the Heart of the World
The Kogi People
Water
and the Kogi
To read
the classical myth, as given by Alice Bailey, click
here
with interpretations of the Virgo Hercules myth, from The Labours
of Hercules
Click
here to read synthesis on the Zodiacal Deity Virgo
The
Labours of Hercules and Esoteric Astrology
are from the collected writings of Alice A. Bailey;
©Lucis Publishing
Co., 120 Wall St., 24th Floor, New York, NY 10005
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