The Mysterious Doorway
of Amaru Muru (Part 1)

by Mark Felder

In southern Peru, high in the Andes Mountains at 12,800 feet, cut into the reddish brown sandstone thousands of years ago, is a shallow mysterious keyhole shaped opening called The Doorway Of Amaru Muru. The doorway has many legends surrounding it, including the stories that it is an active working portal that transports beings into and out of this world.

The doorway can be found about a mile from the shores of Lake Titicaca, in a field where a sharp vertical outcropping of sand stone rises straight up out of the Altiplano. This region is in the middle of nowhere. The local inhabitants are very poor farmers and they farm the fields right in front of this doorway. They are afraid of this place and will not come near it at night, when it becomes active. There are stories of children playing at the doorway and disappearing into it, never returning. Strange looking beings dressed in unusual clothing have been reported walking in and out of the doorway for centuries and sometimes they headed right towards Lake Titicaca, only to disappear into the darkness.  

Last August I was with a small group of seven exploring ancient sites and temple ruins in Bolivia and southern Peru in the legendary southern region of Lake Titicaca where we planned to stop in at the doorway one evening where some of us would attempt to activate it. Our tour guide, Jerry Wills had gone through the doorway about ten years earlier. His experience there was incredible. He also had such a respect for the doorway that he did not want to go through it again.

Jerry had met an old local shaman named Pedro who told him about the doorway and how to activate it. Pedro told Jerry that the doorway is activated at night, and that he must kneel in it, place his forehead in a special recess in the back side of the opening. Then placing his hands on either side, he was to chant three tones.

The sound from these tones resonates in the cavity which activates it. Pedro said that one must have a clear idea of their destination, and they would go there instantly. When the three tones are done correctly, the user will suddenly experience the feeling of falling forward. That can be very unsettling, as there will be no way to brace yourself once this happens.

When Jerry did this the first time, in front of several witnesses, he shimmered and faded from view. About one and a half minutes later, he reappeared, shimmering. For him, his journey seemed to last many hours, and took him to an incredible place beyond this universe. His journey back was not so smooth, and he was stuck behind the doorway, unable to find a way out. He was in a small dark cavity behind the doorway, and could see out one side. He could see Lake Titicaca in the distance, yet the opening was solid and would not yield.  
He found it difficult to breathe and as he felt around with his hands, he realized that there was a opening carved into the wall that was just like the opening on the other side. He found the depression where his forehead was to go, and he knelt down in the opening and started chanting the tones. Moments later he was on the outside of the doorway.  

We were planning on going to the doorway near then end of this leg of the tour. Finally the day came when we would activate the doorway. I was with a group of eight; one local guide, the tour operators, Jerry & Kathy Wills, and five others. Out of the group, initially only three of us were planning on accessing the doorway. The doorway becomes active after dark. For some reason, light seems to diminish or even stop it from working, so we planned to use it in the dark.

We arrived by our small private bus about an hour before dark. We parked in a field and walked across the field to the doorway where we explored the area and got familiar with the site. At dusk, we made our plans, went over the three tones needed to activate the door and then the contingency plans, in case someone went through, but didn’t return in a reasonable amount of time.

If someone didn’t return, we were going to leave rocks near the doorway, one for each hour we waited. That way, if the person returned and no one was there, they would know how long we waited before we left. We decided we’d wait at least three hours before leaving. Supposedly, we thought that if one went through, they would return, on this side’s time frame, within a minute or two, even though it may have seemed much longer on the other side. The fact is, we knew very little about how it works, what actually happens, and whether or not one could return, depending on what their experience was after passing through. All we had to go on was Jerry’s experience from ten years ago when he went through. And he was not planning on trying it again.

We were all going to stay about 40 feet back from the doorway while someone was using it. There was an area with large rocks on which to sit, watch, and listen. We would wait until total darkness, use absolutely no lights, and just let things play out as they will. Kathy was going to shoot video with a night vision camera of each of us after our turn at the doorway. This video will be available on the net sometime in the future.

We all gave our word not to reveal the three tones to anyone, and then agreed to a disclaimer of liability in case anything happened. This was all recorded on video as well. Then we went over the three tones several times, including Jerry’s account of how he got stuck in the doorway, and how he was able to get out.

Meanwhile, darkness came swiftly. Along with the darkness came a perfectly clear sky and stars, but no moon. There was a drastic drop in temperature as well. We were expecting it to drop to just below freezing. Then a cold wind started to blow through. The entire group fell uncannily silent as we pondered what we were actually going to attempt, and the uncertainty of what was waiting for each of us. During this, energy started pouring out of the doorway. The outer edge of it began glowing a very soft whitish green. The interior of it went exceptionally black.

The energy was coming out in waves, literally, as if we were standing neck deep in ocean surf. It became difficult to keep our balance and we stumbled about in the darkness on the rocks and uneven ground. Even sitting down, which helped provide stability, didn’t alleviate the strong push/pull of the doorways energy. Our eyes adjusted to the starlight and it was possible to just barely see enough to get around. The air was so cold and crisp. Even the tiniest sounds were easy to hear from great distances, as there was a highway, about a quarter of a mile away, which ran miles farther, and long before headlights were detected miles away, we could clearly hear the trucks.

Finally, it was time for someone to activate the doorway. I volunteered to go first, much to the relief of the other two guys. Jerry came up to me, offered his support and well wishes for safe journey. Then the others did the same and I stumbled off to the doorway in the blackness. I had my backpack with me. In it were my 35mm camera, a flashlight, my journal, and a digital voice recorder. I was going to try to document my journey as well as possible. Photos, if they worked, would be awesome, recorded sounds or conversations would be priceless, and lastly journal notes would be an excellent resource for recalling details later.

The access to the doorway is up a 4 foot steeply rolling ledge of sandstone which runs parallel to its face. The ledge then flattens out and becomes a rather narrow foot and a half wide. There are loose rocks scattered all over the area below the ledge, making walking a bit tricky. I found the ledge, and crawled up. There, just inches in front of the black portal, I stopped. The energy was pouring out of the opening in huge waves. It was difficult to stand up on the ledge and keep my balance. I steadied myself on the opening, took one last look up at the incredible starry sky, and knelt down on the stony sill. The group behind me stopped talking, the cold wind stopped blowing. Utter silence closed in on me.

I found with my hand the indentation where my forehead was to go. The smell of Wachuma was strong, as someone must have splashed it on the inner portions of the door from some previous ceremony. Also, there was virtually no air to breathe. It was if I was in a vacuum. I struggled to inhale, to fill my lungs. So I leaned back, my head out of the opening, and I could breathe, and back inside, no air. It wasn’t my body’s position preventing me from breathing, it was my location. I leaned back sucked in a lung full or air, placed my head in the pocket and started the first tone. Meanwhile, the air temperature started dropping rapidly.

I adjusted the tone to get the maximum resonance, as this was the key. Quickly, I was out of breath, and not wanting to move, I struggled to suck in more air, and started the second tone. I chanted this one a bit quicker. The doorway began to pulse slowly, sucking me in, and pushing me out, as if it were breathing in long deep breaths. I concentrated on making the tones the best I could, repeating the first two, adjusting them intuitively. Meanwhile, my knees were very uncomfortable, without padding on the rough rock sill, and I was having a very difficult time breathing and making the tones. This was not as easy as I was hoping it would be.

My mind was grokking the intense reality of what I was attempting to do. I was trying to pass through a portal made of stone, in total darkness, alone, without any real preparations for such a journey, thousands of miles away from home, in a strange country, high up in the mountains, with a tiny group of newly made friends watching. This may very well be my last moments in this world. My thoughts then were of the beings that must have come through this very spot from other worlds, and of those who chose to exit from here, and the thoughts of uncertainty and the unknown that they too must have had.

There was only one story of anyone ever returning from going through from this side. That person was Jerry, who fortunately was there watching. Not that he could do anything if I encountered a situation, but he was there, just the same.

I was now completely on my own. No one could help me if I were to have problems. No one would know where I went or what happened to me or why, if I didn’t return. I had to trust completely in myself with no reservations, trust in my knowledge, and trust the universe. I firmly fixed my destination in my mind and chanted the first two tones again, and followed immediately with the third. Everything started moving in all directions at once.

To be continued with Part 2, in the next issue…