The ancient Andean prophesy—that the Eagle of the North and the Condor of the South will come together as we meet the “pachacuti,” or turning over of the world—is a powerful guide to shifting your perception and walking a path of heart-mind.

The heart of the Southern hemisphere, the Condor, represents the munay—unconditional, eternal, unreasoned love. Munay is an attitude of respect and appreciation for everyone and everything. We are all connected. This munay, our open-heartedness, is and reciprocity expressed in daily life in the Quechua-speaking Andes.  Condor manifests, for example, as the Ecuadorian heart that has written the “Rights of Nature” into the constitution, and the Amazonian tribal people who dedicate their lives to protecting pristine rainforest from extraction and destruction.

Far-seeing Eagle is a metaphor for vision, and for the analytical, linear mind of the Northern hemisphere—the mind that invents, the mind that solves problems through science, the mind drowning in ego and power over others, the mind separated from the heart. This path sees mind as a valued ally, not an egotistic bully. It sees heart as a guide to loving, compassionate peaceful ways of being in the world. 

The prophesy is a bridge to being whole and holding the whole.  It offers a way out of the the troubled, chaotic times we are experiencing. It offers a way into dreaming a sustainable, reciprocal, light-filled world together. It is crucial to our resilience, our relationships, and our future. Without both mind and heart, we cannot survive. With both, we find sacred union.

Finding Heart Through Shamanism: Bridging Worlds

A shaman listens and receives guidance in this world—from reading nature, energy, dream—and outside space/time as well— from spirit journeys, ancestral memory, myth, story, and song. All these threads are woven into perceptual, heart seeing that goes way beyond mind, and entwines our hearts in our actions.

As a child I dreamed of “seeing like an eagle.” I didn’t tell anyone. I’m not sure I’d ever even seen an eagle, yet I knew about far-seeing and wanted that kind of vision.

More practical, culture-based expectations took over as I grew up: get an education, then a job. Feed myself. Find a partner. Nearing my fortieth birthday, I was given the gift of a young Eagle during a shamanic journey. Sharing the story, I was afraid I was being too arrogant with such a gift, so I said, “Maybe it was a hawk.” Everyone jumped on me: what you are given is what you are given. Don’t reject it!

Over time, both Eagle and Condor became power animals for me. They guided me in shamanic journeys as I sought to solve problems, perform healing, and bring balance to myself and the world.

Cultivating Your Heart, Vision, and Sacred Power

By paying special attention to developing my relationship with these two far-seeing birds, I kept learning how to bridge the energies of mind and heart.

I began being shapeshifting into their forms: I found myself as a Condor baby in the nest, being raised by a Condor parent; I was lovers with a Condor. More gifts came in my journeys: an Eagle Mother helped me learn how to mother my daughter. A juvenile Condor (again, spiritual not physical) was given to me to care for during a visit to the sacred site of Tipon, in Peru.

All these experiences expanded my perception, my understanding, and my wisdom. They took me out of my small human mind and opened my heart to broader views of the world. Flying high with Eagle and Condor helped ground my actions and taught me how to cultivate my heart, vision, and sacred power. 

You, too, can find your way back into harmony with the universe and your own soul. You can build sacred, reciprocal relationships that nurture the planet.

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