In the Peruvian Andes, at 12,800 feet above sea level, lies one of the great mysteries – and it’s not Machu Pichu! It’s called Markawasi. It sits on an ancient plateau that is three miles long and less than a mile wide. The landscape, rocky and barren and mostly shades of brown, is punctuated with massive, enigmatic carved statues, like the one in the photo. That figure is known as Peca Gasha, which in Quechua means witch, sentinel or guardian. Peca Gasha is 80 feet tall.
Other statues are those of animals – camels, tortoises, winged sphinxes, elephants, sea lions, a fallen horse, animals that aren’t indigenous to the area. Then there’s The Prophet, the Druid, the Alchemist, Nefertiti, a Chinese ideogram, the profile of an Inca, the face of Mars, the Face of Humanity. In all, there are hundreds of such statues. They are found in clusters and due to the progression of the sun through the day, look different at different times of the day. Here’s the amphitheater where you camp.
There is some controversy about how these huge statues were created. One theory: wind and erosion. Another theory, put forward by Daniel Ruzo, the man who discovered the area in 1952, is that these megaliths, like those in the Sacred Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Stonehenge, Tepotzlan in Mexico and other sacred spots,, were created by a race that lived around the time of the great flood and Noah.
Ruzo, using astrological cycles, determined that human life has consisted of five humanities, each one lasting 8,608 years, with four sun cycles of 2,125 years each. At the end of each major cycle, humanity suffered a catastrophe. “Following the zodiac, humanities have survived catastrophes of earth, fire, and water,” wrote Lisa Rome in Markawasi: Peru’s Inexplicable Stone Forest.”According to Ruzo, who died in 1993, the next catastrophe will be by air and will occur between 2127 and 2137.”
There are at least 22 energy vortexes on the plateau, called cruces – crosses – and all are healing vortexes. Here’s a
picture of one of them. These crosses are divided into three distinct types of energy. The first type, the most powerful, can be experienced at three of the crosses. In the second type, there are 7 crosses that are tied to the days of the weeks. In the third type, tied to the phases of the moon, there are 12. Each one has a particular healing power.
Carlos Seclan, a Peruvian who studied under Ruzo, had been researching Markawasi for fifteen years when he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed for nearly a year. The doctors basically wrote him off and told him he would never walk again. But he was convinced that there was a certain energy at a certain vortex that could heal him. He convinced his friends to carry him up the mountain – no small task, since it’s a walk of nearly three miles upward 2,800 feet. They carried him to the vortex he indicated and left him there for a week.
On the seventh day, a stranger, an ordinary Peruvian man, appeared. They talked about Carlos’ injuries. The man gave him some exercises to do and Carlos felt heat rising up through his body, experienced a buzzing in his ears, then a tingling throughout this limbs. As the heat and buzzing reached the top of his head, “he was aware of a light entering the top of his crown.” And then he fell asleep. When he woke awhile later, the man was gone. Carlos was able to sit up and then stand and made his way down the mountain. Today, he’s the most important living scholar about the vortexes.
Not too surprising, Markawasi is known for its UFO activity. If you Google the name and UFO, you’ll find some firsthand accounts. In fact, a travel agency in Lima leads a Markawasi Mystical Tour – 4 days, 3 nights – that takes you to the UFO areas. Apparently the villagers in the nearest town, San Pedro de Casta – consider UFO sightings business as usual.
This fascinating place is detailed in a book by Kathy Doore, Markawasi: Peru’s Inexplicable Stone Forest. Our friend Bruce Gernan, with whom Rob co-authored The Fog, met her, dropped the book by the house yesterday, and we’re all going to have lunch next week. We knew that she and Bruce were going to be on the second season premier of Ancient Astronauts, so we set up the TiVo. Shortly after 10 PM, we tuned in – and realized it was the wrong episode. Rob flicked back through the recordings, found the right one, and we came in right at the instant when Kathy Doore began talking about Markawasi. Synchronicity.I have a feeling this place may be our next trip.