The Journey of Spiritual Awakening and the Birth of Tiwaz Awakening
- Luke Jensen
- Oct 10
- 6 min read
High in the Andes Mountains of Peru I have found great healing and a space to embody and share the warrior spirit with others. I served in the Marine Corps Reserves for six years and the National Guard for two years, where I deployed with an airborne infantry unit to Afghanistan. After this deployment I was in a spiritual crisis, I had PTSD symptoms and a total lack of direction. This feeling of lack of purpose led me to Peru.
My first visit in 2014 coincided with my first experience with Ayahuasca in the jungle. This desperate search for healing changed the whole course of my life. Looking back, there seem to be so many stories and threads that led me to new places and experiences. The suffering I felt led me on a quest for my own healing, that was nothing like I had ever experienced before. At times I was living in the jungle, at other times I was hiking the Andes mountains, searching to find myself and find my way. Only now, when I look back do I truly appreciate what I went through.
These journeys of healing were not what people often think. In many ways it led to more torment, more suffering, more pain. But this pain was like a cleansing fire burning away the trauma and what I would call “dark energy” that accumulated inside of me. These were my own shadows, my own failures and my own need to accept myself and face myself. I think this is where the power of shamanism lies. It lies in the power to burn away what does not serve you so that only the TRUE YOU remains.
