Many families in the Andean highlands of Peru keep the ancient tradition of offering ceremonies. One of them is the offering ceremony for Pachamama, which means Mother Earth and it’s normally held in August. Through the offering ceremony Andean people “pay” to Mother Earth for everything she gave them. In this ritual, they can also say if the harvest will be good or bad. The most common ceremonial bundles are coca leaves, candies, and sometimes dried llama fetuses. They store these bundles in special places in their houses. In the past, people used to have fine textiles, but now, paper is more common.
The ritual or the offering ceremony is also dedicated to the Apus which is what the Incas used to call the spirits of the mountain. The Apu represents the masculine aspect of nature and the Pachamama the feminine aspect.
Even though the official ceremony is held in August, some Andean communities are willing to show to visitors a demonstration of the offering ceremony. We went to a village Coya close to Pisac in the Cusco region and visited a friend’s family. They took us to their Intiq wasikuna lodge with a rounded clay house. In the middle of the house were a fireplace and seats all around the wall.
Before the ritual, the place needs to be cleaned with flowery water. All the important things, like coca leaves, musical instruments, and chicha de jora (corn beer) are prepared for the ceremony.The shaman holds four coca leaves while making wishes in the indigenous Quechua language. Chicha de jora is offered first to Pachamama (Mother Earth). The coca leaves need to be prepared on a traditional textile. Then the shaman starts to sing in Quechua and plays some traditional instruments. Andean people say, that those who can do such rituals are specialists and must be chosen. For example, this woman was struck by lightning when she was a kid, her mom was struck by lightning and she was struck by lightning when she was pregnant with her daughter. That’s the sign that they are meant to become shamans.Everyone needs to drink the corn beer from the same cup to drop some on the earth first and then drink the rest from the cup. Normally, the shaman has an assistant who helps to prepare the environment to receive the spirits. When the ceremony bundle is ready the package is put on the head of someone, who is cleaned by the flowery water. The bundle is then put into the fire and “send” to Pachamama. Depending on the strength of the fire and a special sound, the shaman can say whether it was received by Mother Earth or not.At the end of the ceremony, the shaman drinks the rest of the corn beer and blesses all present people.
