Today I paid a visit to the witch's market in La Paz. This is a market where all kinds of esoteric objects are sold, most of them connected to the belief in the earth mother Pachamama.
There seem to be numerous occasions when offerings have to be made to Pachamama. One of them I noticed during carnival in Sucre, when everybody was burning offerings in front of their doors. There also seem to be two ways to make offerings: burning and burying.
One of the most significant or valuable offerings that can be made are llama fetuses:
There are also many pre-compiled sets of offerings where you don't have to worry about selecting the ingredients yourself. Note the wine - the label says that it is wine specially made for offerings to Pachamama. My guess is that this is wine that is too bad to drink ;-)
Finally, there was an incredible variety of powders and perfumes for a million different purposes. For erotic uses, for example, there were dog tongue powder and "Sexovit" - a combination of vitamins and yohimbine:
There were also powders for salesmen, to summon money, to forget, hate, unblock, and many more:
In a country that is supposed to be deeply catholic, I wouldn't have expected such a market and the corresponding belief system. I guess the Spanish weren't so successful in their evangelizing efforts after all ;-)
There seem to be numerous occasions when offerings have to be made to Pachamama. One of them I noticed during carnival in Sucre, when everybody was burning offerings in front of their doors. There also seem to be two ways to make offerings: burning and burying.
One of the most significant or valuable offerings that can be made are llama fetuses:
There are also many pre-compiled sets of offerings where you don't have to worry about selecting the ingredients yourself. Note the wine - the label says that it is wine specially made for offerings to Pachamama. My guess is that this is wine that is too bad to drink ;-)
Finally, there was an incredible variety of powders and perfumes for a million different purposes. For erotic uses, for example, there were dog tongue powder and "Sexovit" - a combination of vitamins and yohimbine:
There were also powders for salesmen, to summon money, to forget, hate, unblock, and many more:
In a country that is supposed to be deeply catholic, I wouldn't have expected such a market and the corresponding belief system. I guess the Spanish weren't so successful in their evangelizing efforts after all ;-)
