Service
Golden Threads is the reciprocity heart of Eagle Condor Council.
Through Golden Threads, we weave the virtue of llank’ay (YAWN-kai; sacred service) into our studies, ensuring the teachings we receive are matched by real support for the Andean communities who share them.
Golden Threads began with a mountain.
In 2017, Lea Motlow took her first pilgrimage to Ausungate, one of the most sacred apus (mountains) in the Andes. There, she received a calling to walk in ayni (sacred reciprocity) with the local communities and the land of Peru.
She returned to the mountain year after year, bringing textiles home to share with ECC students, and bringing students back with her to experience Ausungate for themselves. These visits grew into decades-long relationships with the weavers, healers, and elders who carry the traditions that ECC’s teachings are rooted in. Today, Golden Threads keeps these relationships alive through textile exchange, ceremony, pilgrimage, and direct community support.
Ayni (EYE-nee), n. : Sacred reciprocity
A Quechua term for the law of mutual giving and receiving. The Andean belief that all things are linked in an ongoing energetic exchange.
Golden Threads puts ayni into practice.
Direct, ongoing partnerships with lineage carriers from Chinchero and the Q’eros nation are at the center of how Golden Threads operates.
Every weaving purchased, ceremony joined, or pilgrimage taken becomes part of a loop of exchange: the communities that have given us these teachings are given our support. This exchange is channeled through four primary avenues:
Textiles
Traditional weavings and other objects, brought to the U.S. through fair trade. Purchases support Peruvian artisans and allow ECC students to utilize and learn through authentically handcrafted objects in their studies.
Pilgrimages
Guided, annual journeys to Ausungate (walked in partnership with Pacos, Andean medicine carriers) as well as to other sacred sites that align with ECC teachings.
Ceremonies
Hosted by Golden Threads and conducted by Peruvian lineage carriers. Ceremonies, healings, and seasonal offerings (despachos) are available to experience both online and in-person.
Direct Support
Food and goods sent to partner communities through initiatives like holiday drives and disaster relief funds, in an effort to help meet everyday needs as they arise.