Signs and Symbols in Marcahuasi

...Perhaps its a warning sign, a secret entrance,
an epitaph, a symbol of perfect geometry
or the scars of whiplashes from "Soctacure"...

There they are and they you will find these signs and symbols.
An unintelligible language.

---

All of the signs and symbols that you find in Marcahuasi, still are far from being understood. When we've been in front of the Chinese ideogram, the mystical cross, The seven-lined stone, or any other sign and symbol with an infinite dose of admiration and afterwards, like a moonless night in Marcahuasi.

All of the time that I've visited the plateau, I've never found anybody investigating this subject, except the mysterious Imelda Pomphiu, a Chinese lady that spoke to me about it, but her conclusions were taken to an absolute level and now I need time to think over that particular post.

In all of the large and small civilisations they have been identified by some sign or symbol to remember it by, to distinguish it, or to represent something about its social, political or religious life. They used colours, marks, and signs like the Tao, the Jewish cross, the swastika, the crucifix, the eagle, the sun, etc.

In Marcahuasi there existed a civilisation and its stone monuments are a proof that here there was life and that these signs and symbols are messages left for our time, besides which they are placed in strategic places indicating the start or the end of "SOMETHING". That isn't a coincidence.

The Chinese idiogram, the name that Ruzo gave it, is a sign of low prominence in the centre of the plateau, a sleeping forgotten message ... What Chinese sign will it be?





The Mystical Cross
This mystical cross, situated in the hills of the lake of "Cachu Cachu", generates a lot of admiration and amazement from all tourists for its strange demarcation. It definitely is a sign that we don't know the why and the what it was made for, but it is like a reconnection with the past, the enigmatic and divine. Some visitors arrive at the extreme of crucifying themselves on that cross, and they say that they feel the rock beating, and certain vibrations ...

I've never felt anything ... but some say that they have felt it. The UFO followers have gone further and imply that it is a sign for the space ships to land!






The seven lined stone
An eccentric tourist performed a ritual in front of this seven lined stone, that you can find at one of the sides of the Monument to Humanity. Afterwards I approached him and he said "This is an entrance that opens at some predetermined time, ... and I wait for the key to be able to communicate with its sovereign.". He left me with the cold of the morning, more and more confused ...

Other say that there existed a treasure and if you enter it enchants you and you disappear. If this was the truth Marcahuasi has and will have that mythical depth and legend, like the stone of the 12 angles found in Cuzco, or the monolyths of Ollantaytambo.





The Mural
The stone is the one that most supported the punishment of the weather through the ages, for these civilisations we are left with a language of signs and symbols that say "something" to us, something like this mural that is waiting in Marcahuasi for a studious illuminated person. I hope that we decifer it all and we know the truth of this mural.

Perhaps the mural is a plan of the plateau, a warning sign or SOS, a chronological register of information, an epitaph, ... or a message that arrived here and they left. These and other hypotheses occur when we are in front of this joining of figures, lines and points. Everything that this shows isn't just a question of nature, and I hope the unbelievers will pardon me once more.





Joined Cross
This joining of lines where a cross stands out, and some other Chinese idiogram. This is in front of the Monument to Humanity, some say that they are the scars from whiplashes of "Soctacure" ... a secret key that hides the enigmas of Marcahuasi, if some day you are in front of this geometric labyrinth, just give freedom to your imagination and perhaps you will be able to decifer the truth in the company of the silence and the wind.





Symbol with seven sides...
It is the entrance of luck! The door to the ark of salvation! It is the shield of Marcahuasi! It is perfect geometry! There is a treasure hidden here ...!

So many exclamations follow from the visitors ... I don't know about all of that, whether it is some delirious state that Marcahuasi produces at the height of almost 4000 metres above sea level, or simply a metaphysical exaggeration; an essence of an internal force that this place emanates.

And if this symbol is true or a lie, here it is and here you will find it. It is a figure with seven sides, jealously protected by the Monument to Humanity.

[Read the original blog post (in Spanish)]

Next part : The fortress.

Photos : John Ysrael Guevara

A Chilean in Marcahuasi

... a meeting in Marcahuasi isn't by chance, your opinion, and mine. At these heights it was a reality ...

In September 1996 we went up to Marcahuasi with a group of students, some with a yearning to know the place, and others to be far away from the classroom. We left Lima late, and it was late when we arrived at the mountain. When the rays of the sun bid goodbye to the plateau the hut waited for us. One by one we were arriving with the approval and with the welcome of the imposing monument of humanity...
An arrival never to forget. The cold and the night arrived together to this place ... and further a sole visitor was happy to see us. I don't know if Marcahuasi arranged that meeting with him, but more likely that he was in a position ready to leave, because he only had a small case and light clothes ...

-Haven't your friends arrived yet? - I asked him.

No ... he was silent for a moment, to say to me: "I'm Patricio Marambio Torres, they call me "Pato", and I'm Chilean, I work in an agency in Miami..." The silence returned, and with a sparkle in his eyes he continued, saying: "While in Miami I saw a video of this place by chance, and it had such an effect on me that I said to myself I had to see this place. And here I am ...!"

The blanket of the night wrapped us and the emotion of the Chilean continued: "I had the luck to be commissioned to undertake some photography work in Machu Picchu, and the first thing I did when I arrived in Lima was to speak with a friend; but since he wasn't able to accompany me I came alone, and here I am beside this monument that enchanted me and perhaps more besides ..."


Patricio "Pato" (with the beard) together with the students in a hut of the fortress.

Forgetting everything that the long walk gave us, and what the Chilean said and did, how did Marcahuasi take control of him? - Of course it wasn't just with him what happened ... confirmed once more when Marcahuasi traps you and enchants you, and makes you prisoner of its mysteries. Those of us who listened to the Chilean we said "You are a pure Marcahuasino" and it only remained for us to invite him to share a light evening meal, a small bonfire for the weather, the fireside chat of tourists and good friends. The night didn't matter, nor the cold, to speak of politics, religion, philosophy, the events of the time, and the most important was Marcahuasi and its petrified world. If here at these heights Mariano Ignacio Prado, president of Perú, and Anibal Pinto, president of Chile, had met I swear that the "War of the Pacific" of 1879 would never have happened!

A meeting in Marcahuasi so that we all speak the same language. The cold, the wind and the sun also ...

The next day after a breakfast-lunch we presented ourselves to honour the monument of humanity ... everything that we say of it will be little or nothing, with its fixed look to infinity and its shout that the sky hears, being the silent accomplice of the mystery! "Pato" approached me and said: "well, ... I like how you describe that personality, you don't pigeonhole people, you let them know everything and allow the tourist to choose what they want to believe ... just permit me to continue with your group". With every encounter with the forms, and the crags, the admiration of the Chilean grew; the dialog was brief yet bewitched, because ... His camera operated every minute, and committed him with each click to return and to spread more about Marcahuasi, to help the community of San Pedro de Casta. The sacred mountain gace him a mission to fulfill; one more foreigner committed to the mountain.


The fortress was one of the places that enchanted the "pato", here you see him in the upper part

It was four o'clock in the afternoon when we returned and contemplating once more the lake of Cachu Cachu, he met with his friend who had come looking for him - we said goodbye with the thanks that Marcahuasi gives and with the promise to return and meet again. I'm convinced that Marcahuasi give s and takes everything from you, and also from those mystical experiences en every post that I write I will share with you. Not much time had passed and I hadn't returned to Marcahuasi, when I found out about a tragedy, the plane coming from Miami to Lima, somewhere around Huacho, had disappeared into the sea. In that plane returned Pedro Marambio Torres, the Chilean that I met in Marcahuasi. Later some family member of his called me to let me know of the tragedy and that Pato spoke to them a lot about me, that he came to Lima to meet with me so we could go to the sacred mountain ...

In this space that produces pain, I tried to pass on my condolences ... to listen with a strong rotund voice "HE HASN'T DIED, HE'S JUST GONE MISSING". Every time that I go up to the plateau, I go with the hope of meeting, together with the Mayoralas in the fortress, ... The friends that give Marcahuasi, they live the time that you live ... Where you are "Pato", choose the path of "kiska kumo" or "Portachuelo" and arrive like that September; again excited and enchanted by Marcahuasi. And if I'm not here, someone will be there waiting for you.

"Pato" ... if this truth didn't satisfy your anxiety, i'm really sorry.
Perhaps I didn't know how to express this mystery and it confused me.
And everything goes ...

[Read the original blog post (in Spanish)]

Next part : Signs and symbols of Marcahuasi.

Photos : John Ysrael Guevara

The Amphitheatre (Marcahuasi Hotel)

"Imagine yourself ascending kiska kumo
and the hut, from another world,
in Huacracocha with no way of camping
the Amphitheatre, nobody wants to get lost ..."

The majority of visitors that arrive at the plateau for the first time do it by the route of portachuelo (long route), which brings us to the Amphitheatre, better known as "Marcahuasi Hotel"

This is one of the entrances to the Amphitheatre... Welcome!

To spend a night in this place is unforgettable. The cold, the wind, and the moon, it inspires us to break the silence of the place with tunes that the Amphitheatre leaves behind ... I hope that Soctacure (the lightning God) pardons those happy singers, the inexperienced, and the first-timers.

Nobody can forget their first night in this Marcahuasi Hotel. It's a hotel with infinite stars, and a quiet company of "lovers" and "the indian" (petrified sculptures). A true stirring of passions, and of feelings that you can feel and experience only here.

"The night is escaping ...
but we all want to stay in the Amphitheatre.
The cold we leave behind ...
And the fear at these heights also disappeared."

This capricious opening is the favourite for all of the tourists for camping. Here they fulfilled a concert of which we will speak later. Right here end all types of conversations, and during periods of high tourism like in easter week and 28th of July the Amphitheatre is totally full.

The first arrivals to "Marcahuasi Hotel" have the privelege of choosing where to camp.

Some Peruvian tourists, and strangers to the Amphitheatre, after living this experience, say
"... to spend the night here, is to find yourself, away from the madness and the uneasiness that it produces. I believe that internally you find a peace ... despite the cold that there is in the Amphitheatre, still i don't regret it. The night here is beautiful ... it exceeds beautiful ..."


The mule transportation to get to the Amphitheatre is provided by the locals.

But also, this "Hotel ..." converts every time in a market where they sell food, soft drinks, and more besides, water, logs, and cooking implements [chamarascas], dung for the fire, and also something that they allow here in Marcahuasi. The mule transport from San Pedro de Casta to the Amphitheatre costs more than the journey from Lima to San Pedro de Casta! - prices that the tourism committee control. But the most serious is that in the Amphitheatre they are constructing a hut/kiosk as property of the community. They say that it is a form of payment for a debt of services that they provided to Daniel Ruzo; how capricious and opportunistic!

We, the tourist lovers of Marcahuasi, always arrive at the plateau to find something natural without change, nor owners that gain from this sacred place, and today converted in the 5th natural wonder of Perú.

I demand from my position that they respect this plateau, especially the rocks, and that they conserve the Amphitheatre exactly how it is, and how it should be always. The "hotel" is used by all visitors that enjoy the night, the cold, the wind, and the discovery with a generation that existed here, and the most important of all, the human warmth that concentrates in the Amphitheatre.

[Read the original blog post (in Spanish)]

Next part : A chilean in Marcahuasi.

Photos : John Ysrael Guevara

Daniel Ruzo and Marcahuasi

"... superior beings from the cosmos will have lived in Marcahuasi, and the only stone documents can be interpreted" - Ruzo

A significant proof that Daniel Ruzo dedicated so much to the plateau is the large flow of tourists from within Peru and from abroad that today arrive at this place with the hope of corroborating the theories he spread. What's more the cabin that he constructed and where he lived alongside the Monument to Humanity also now serves for visitors. Moreover the photography that travelled the whole world due to him is a sample that today the society of those who love the sacred mountain are very grateful for.


In the cabin where Ruzo lived during the time he dedicated to investigate the plateau.

All of the people from San Pedro de Casta that worked with him tell me the deep love that he had for the rocks, and that his happiness was immense whenever he discovered something new ...

On one occasion Ruzo proposed to the community of San Pedro de Casta to purchase Marcahuasi but this idea was rejected because they said that he wanted to take ownership of the treasures that existed there. They also didn't permit him to investigate underground constructions that he affirmed were present.

Ruzo ... I ask only that people accept his conclusions as a simple hypothesis.

Despite all of the negatives he continued his investigations and wrote "Marcahuasi : the fantastic history of a discovery", then in Mexico published "The Manifesto de Tepoztlan" making known his discoveries of anthropomorphic sculptures, zoomorphic; sustaining that the Masma culture wasn't a Peruvian culture, but instead an American protohistoric culture, earlier than the Sumerians ... and also affirmed that the sacred forests are places for spiritual salvation of the chosen ones and that there are treasures and natural forces hidden in places where the telluric currents of the world are concentrated.


... many people will arrive at the plateau, quite prophetic since this has indeed happened. What an adventure there is at these heights!

Such were the affirmations of Daniel Ruzo that we continue visiting the sacred plateau to enjoy this marvellous landscape that captivates us more with each visit, and more still the secrets that the sculptures guard.

[Read the original blog post (in Spanish)]

Next part : The amphitheatre

Photos by John Ysrael Guevara

The Sacred Plateau Awaits You

At the heights of Marcahuasi, I'm going to tell you the truth, all of the truth. The waiting, waiting for the day and the hour when we find ourselves in the hut, the amphitheatre, in Cachu-Cachu, or the fortress ...

I first arrived at the sacred mountain in the 1980s, caught by the stories spread by Daniel Ruzo. But hearing those stories was different to actually being there, and those differences and the experiences that I lived in the flesh during those trips ... they will define what I will be sharing with you all in this journey.

Suddenly to see yourself in this enigmatic countryside, your imagination transports you to past eras, and a rain of questioning seizes you ... these are the silent people of Marcahuasi that oblige you to return here many times, many many times.

If you were the lifelong visitor to Marcahuasi, you would understand that every time that you arrive at the plateau you will discover something new. It's not clear if it's the rock formations, or the shadows, or the effect of the light but there is something that traps you, enchants you. The stunning magnetism that the mountain emanates makes you forget the harshness of the journey and what you endure to get there, and aids you in understanding the many visitors with different backgrounds, the eccentric, the opportunistic, ...

I consider myself a lover of Marcahuasi. I respect its rocks, its dry-stone walls, and its people, and this is a feeling that I learned through more than 80 visits that I have made, and that I continue making to this day.

Finally I want you to appreciate and understand this place, to ignite that spark of imagination, it's the most pure contact possible between man and nature, your God, and something more. This isn't a eulogy to this place, it's a truth that lies in wait for you. It's a shout for freedom that you will find in Marcahuasi.

[Read the original blog post (in Spanish)]

Next part : Daniel Ruzo and Marcahuasi

Translation assisted by eagle

Marcahuasi Slide Show

To aid those who haven't visited Marcahuasi in gaining an appreciation of the place, its ambience and the principal points of reference there is a slide show from Alan Matthew