Andean Ritual Experts and Native Views on Sacred Mountains and Priests

Abstract

Modern Andean ritual experts have been described as a combination of priests and shamans, sorcerers and diviners. They are likely to lead fairly ordinary lives, performing their sacred duties in harmony with the usual activities that guarantee their daily subsistence. Magic and healing rituals are performed at night; offerings and sacrifices are presented at sunrise; and the most demanding tasks, like the healing trips of the Kallawaya medicine men, are scheduled to take place in winter, without interfering with the agricultural activities. The highest form of Andean ritual expertise involves the ability to summon the mountain spirits. The Aymaras and the Quechuas, who acknowledge the proficiency of their yatiris and altomisas in communicating with the sacred landscape, still have the catholic priests as mediators with the spiritual forces of the heavenly realms, including God, Virgin Mary and the patron saints. In this chapter we will consider Andean traditional religious experts of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and Argentina, and their role in pilgrimages, initiation, divination, healing rituals, as well as sorcery and witchcraft. We will extend the analysis to briefly cover the traditional Andean views on catholic priests and Franciscan missionaries.