Country flags have political aspirations. They are meant to inspire and unify in relation to a political form.  The reason they have deeper impact, however, is the mythic symbology as an underlying, spiritual core.

The flag on Peru is formed from two colors: red and white. This national banner consists of two vertical bands of red, bordering a central stripe of white.  Symbolically, these colors represent the deep, natural experience of the Andean people.  Those from the Andes live close to the earth as farmers, herders, and weavers; they are of Pachamama.

To the people of the Andes, therefore, the red color of their flag embodies the red road all people walk upon this earth. We are born with the blood of creation, we walk a path traced along Pachamama’s belly, and we come to our final steps when the swirling circulation within us ceases to move. Our road comes to a halt, but the road of the Ayllu continues.

The white band at the core of Peruvian flag is the path of Pachamama, navigating the celestial firmament. This is the path of the stars that accompany the earth on its journey, and forms the ‘Wilka Mayu’, the Milky Way. This star studded pathway in the sky contains our great Ayllu, our precious earth, as it hurtles through the cosmos.

The Peruvian flag, therefore, is overtly political, yet inwardly woven with the threads of Spirit. Our individual and collective journey is expressed in these forms. Our terrestrial and celestial pathways are here inscribed. Our sense of mutual journey, our shared quest, is the woven language of this mythic form.

Motion is woven into Andean cloth.

Energy Weavers

The Q’ero, shamans of the high Andes, are weavers of energy patterns.

These depicted figures represent the breath of Creation. The dark bordered image is the in-breath; the image bordered in white is the out-breath. Together they are life and describe a natural process.

These figures give us guidance: there are times when we are collecting energy, other instances when our energy is projecting. Sometimes we absorb, other instances we radiate.

In the cloth, both dualities are happening at once – we are not only naturally collecting energy from all around us, but we are also projecting who we are into the world. There is an absorptive quality of our being, combined with a natural radiance.

These energy cloths are teaching volumes

Collecting / Projecting
Absorbing / Radiatin