Bolivians have a very indigenous and superstitious culture. This is one country that the conquering Spaniards never really were able to win over. To this day,native beliefs continue to thrive right alongside modern ones. A family will have their new baby baptized by a priest, and then visit the Mercado de las Brujas, or the Witches Market, to have a yathiri, or medicine woman, construct an offering to Pachamama to bless the new arrival.
Curious, I wanted to see the old 1500’s cobblestone Calle Linares and the famous Mercado de las Brujas, or Witches Market. On this street, Medicine women, or Yathiri in Aymara, sell medicinal herbs, llama fetuses, dried armadillos, and all manner of potions and talismans for every malady and condition imaginable. There’s a puzzling assortment of statuettes and cloudy old yellowed bottles with potions concocted from animal parts like boa constrictor heads and bat feet.
One of the most popular items is a cholla, or an offering featuring dried llama fetus to bury underneath any new construction for protection.
I bought a pachamama (earth mother) statue which the Yathiri inexplicably wrapped in yellow and red yarn before giving to me.
I also bought an Ekeko to show my students. The Ekeko is a little statue of a traditionally dressed Andean man completely loaded with bags and baskets of food, household objects, currency, and basically anything that a person is thought to need to have a comfortable and prosperous life ; He is said to evoke a full year of prosperity. Every Bolivian household will have an Ekeko in some corner of the home.
Little did I know how much these indigenous beliefs would touch every corner of my visit to Bolivia..
To be continued...
