Healing with Nature and the Misha

Barbara Hess is a Medicine Woman, Pampamesayoq, healer, and teacher whose work is rooted in the Andean tradition of healing through sacred relationship with nature and the living world.

At the heart of Barbara's work is Animo Waqhay, the Inka practice of soul retrieval. Within this tradition, experiences such as childhood or birth trauma, abuse, grief, serious illness, medical procedures, accidents, or other profound shocks may cause a part of one's vital soul essence to become separated or withdrawn.

Feelings of depression, low self-esteem, loneliness, fear, grief, or a loss of personal power may sometimes be experienced as signs that a person has become disconnected from an essential part of themselves.

Through Animo Waqhay, these missing soul fragments are lovingly called back, healed, and reintegrated with the support of the nature beings — the Apus, or mountains; the Nustas, waterways; and Pachamama, the Earth. The intention is to restore connection, vitality, empowerment, and a deep sense of peace.

The Misha

The Misha, a living sacred bundle, is central to Barbara's practice. It represents the relationship between the practitioner and the nature beings and contains Khuyas, sacred stones understood as carriers of power, wisdom, and healing. Barbara's own Khuyas come from local Irish Apus, Nustas, waterways, and sacred sites. She describes them as physical representations of the nature beings and as a way of carrying the nectar, healing power, and wisdom of the places from which they come.

Her Misha was created through pilgrimages and the development of sacred relationships with twelve local nature beings, receiving the Khuyas as gifts along the way. Within the Andean spiritual path, the Misha is used to invoke equilibrium and support healing in areas including health, relationships, abundance, cleansing, empowerment, and wellbeing.

A Healing Session

Barbara's healing sessions draw upon a series of traditional practices and invocations, beginning with Wachariquy, an invocation of the nature beings and a request to receive their Sami — healing blessing and wisdom.

This is followed by Hoocha Pampa Chaquy, a flow of cleansing energy associated with the water beings, wind, condor, and eagle, supporting the dispersal of heavy energy.

Kalpachaquy then brings a flow of empowerment and healing to the energy centers, drawing upon the support and qualities of the Apus, Nustas, and Pachamama.

Through this work, Barbara offers a pathway of reconnecting with nature, sacred relationship, and one's own vital essence — inviting those who come to her to move forward with greater peace, empowerment, and connection.

Barbara's work is an invitation to remember that healing can also be a return: a return to ourselves, to the Earth, and to the living relationships that surround us.