03/21/2025
If we claim to honor the wisdom of ancient traditions, then we must also honor their responsibilities.
Spiritual leaders of the past did not separate their wisdom from the real-world struggles of their people. Elders, shamans, and healers did not retreat into meditation while the village burned. They were at the heart of decisions, speaking for the land, the ancestors, and future generations.
To be a wisdom keeper was never just about acquiring esoteric knowledge, giving oneself a mystical title, or claiming to channel high-dimensional beings. It was never about encoding energies, activating light codes, or accumulating spiritual techniques as if they were badges of enlightenment.
"Some say, "Spirituality should not be political." Others insist, "We should focus on the light, not the world's problems."
But ancient wisdom, earth-based traditions, and deep spiritual work were never separate from the land's well-being, the people's, and the sacred balance of life.
For thousands of years, elders, shamans, medicine people, and spiritual leaders understood that spirituality was not an escape from reality but a way of being in the right relationship with it. They advised councils, protected the land, and stood for justice when the vulnerable were threatened. They knew that spirituality was action, not just contemplation, and wisdom was responsibility, not just personal enlightenment.
But much of modern spirituality has lost this truth in today's world. Many have been conditioned to believe that being spiritual means staying "neutral," avoiding discomfort, and focusing only on personal healing while turning away from the suffering around them.
Yet neutrality is not a virtue when injustice prevails. Silence does not create peace in the face of destruction, it allows harm to continue unchecked.
In the Andean traditions that I have been studying for decades, there is a sacred principle called Ayni, the practice of living in reciprocity with all of life. Ayni teaches that everything exists in a web of exchange: We give to the Earth, and she gives to us; we care for each other, and we are cared for in return. Life thrives when there is balance, and suffering follows when that balance is broken.
Ayni is not just about gratitude—it is about responsibility. It means that when we take, we must also give back. When we receive wisdom, we must use it in service. When we are nourished by the land, we must protect it.
It is clear that modern society has largely abandoned Ayni. Instead of reciprocity, there is exploitation. Instead of balance, there is extraction. We take from the Earth or others without asking, offering, or listening. And now, the Earth is calling for balance to be restored.
To walk a spiritual path is to remember Ayni, not just in ceremony but in action. To be in the right relationship with the Earth means standing for her, listening when she is in distress, and understanding that silence in the face of destruction is not neutrality; it is a break in sacred reciprocity.
If we claim to honor the wisdom of ancient traditions, then we must also honor their responsibilities.
Spiritual leaders of the past did not separate their wisdom from the real-world struggles of their people. Elders, shamans, and healers did not retreat into meditation while the village burned. They were at the heart of decisions, speaking for the land, the ancestors, and future generations.
To be a wisdom keeper was never just about acquiring esoteric knowledge, giving oneself a mystical title, or claiming to channel high-dimensional beings. It was never about encoding energies, activating light codes, or accumulating spiritual techniques as if they were badges of enlightenment.
These practices are not inherently wrong, but they are not the foundation of traditional spiritual work. They are not what have held communities together for millennia."~
~Angell Deer
