In the Andean world, everything known is expressed in pairs. Unity is a transitional state on the path to encountering something else.
Everything we can conceive from our consciousness always has a duality. Even when we focus on ourselves, there will always be an observer and the observed. At their core, they are one, but they also recognize themselves as separate. This is true in all aspects of life.
Life is movement. Opposition generates movement and, therefore, life. That is why the cosmos manifests as a spiral, much like the particles of atoms. For this reason, opposites are complementary. In this way, there is no conflict—not even in our mind or in the face of adversity, such as illness. We understand that everything comes to create movement, which is necessary to preserve fullness and well-being.
In relationships, it is the same. Our differences can complement each other. Sexuality is the physical manifestation of this complementary dualism. Thus, the union in a couple can be channeled as a way to transcend oppositions.
By observing and venerating natural elements, we learn about this complementary duality or parity. This can be seen in studying the cycles of the Sun and the Moon, the attributes of the four elements—air, water, earth, and fire—and other rituals derived from the natural order.
Our ancestors also made decisions through consensus, where conversations were circular, allowing for the expression of different viewpoints and avoiding unidirectional dialogues. Reason and truth were understood as complementary aspects between different parts in the present moment, without relying on pre-established attributes that often lead to abuses of authority.
When one person is always right, another is inevitably wrong. Thus, understanding and practicing complementarity is a path to freeing ourselves from conflict and reconnecting with our natural way of being.
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