Member-only story
Sacred Reciprocity
One of the most dangerous things about the Judeo Christian tradition is the crazy notion that all of creation exists for our human convenience and pleasure….And this narcissistic mentality has led to ecocide and to the brink of extinction.
— Annabel Ascher
*
The primary spiritual principle of the Q’eros is “ayni,” or sacred reciprocity. They believe that we must give and receive from nature in equal measure. If we are greedy and we take more than we return, we will suffer. Disease is seen as the result of an interruption in this harmonious relationship, a violation of ayni. Therefore, the first step in treating illness or adversity is to restore this balance….
Ayni includes daily gratitude practice, even if scarcity strikes. This is not an artificial gratitude or justification for “toxic positivity,” where we pretend to be thankful and deny our misery…Ayni is a genuine acknowledgment that, even in the worst of times, we still have breath and water, Earth still gives us gravity so we don’t float away, the moon waxes and wanes, tides rise and fall. Birds sing. We have one another….
…in the modern world, we live in a culture built upon the foundation of “not enough.” If someone is sick, one of the first interventions recommended by the paqos is an offering. Rather than inhaling and asking for what we want from…
