The Foundations of Andean Civilization

The families gather on a cold winter’s day. They huddle in their thick capes, greeting fellow kin quietly, as they enter the small, one-roomed shrine. Snow is deep on the nearby hills at Huaricoto, but the tightly fitting door keeps out the worst of the cold. The audience looks down on a smoking hearth, located on the higher level of the split-level floor. The shrine is dark, except for the flames, redolent with the scent of wood smoke and roasted chili peppers. The shaman chants, ingesting the powerful elixir of the hallucinogenic cactus. Nausea overtakes him, his pupils dilate, he sweats and speaks in strange phrases. An assistant helps interpret his words and movements, conveyingthe messages from the ancestors, the guardians of life .