The peasant community of Ccamahuara in Calca, Cusco that through a work in conjunction with the Bartolomé de Las Casas Center has been able to position multiculturalism in the tourist map of Cusco.
To learn more about a very important aspect of the Andean culture, its spirituality, on a full day tour from Cusco to a local indigenous community just 1h30min from Cusco. You will participate in several local ceremonies. the locals will welcome you with a welcome ceremony.
There are coca leaves lying on a colorful blanket. Around, there are also two bottles of wine, field herbs, tissues and a pututo which is a musical instrument. Cuzqueño Avelino rubs his hands and not just to get warm from the intense cold. It is the signal. The oldest divination technique in South America is going to start: the reading of coca leaf.
"But first you have to ask for permission," says the coca-growing expert. Although in every ritual the stamp of an Andean virgin which represents the Pachamama is used, for this traditional Inca custom it is not necessary. We are on the shore of Laguna Tiracocha or Wiracocha and at the foot of five apus that surround the mirror of water, in the rural community of Ccamahuara, San Salvador district (Calca). So any license that you want to apply for must be requested from them.
Then he grabs a handful of coca leaves and spreads them on the blanket. After several sentences in Quechua, observe the shapes of the leaves as a crystal ball. The self-absorbed man is silent. Next, look up at the nearby mountains. It is lost on the horizon. Then it comes back to itself as if it were returning from another Andean dimension. His answer is this: "the sheets indicate that you are in good health. We've asked you to do well in everything. " Grab more coca leaves. Repeat the session.
The ritual seems simple and the ingredients to perform the process, easy to get. But is not. There are hundreds of years of history in these readings that divine the past perfectly and predict the future. Love, money, infidelity, work or health, any consultation is possible for the teacher Valerio, who exercises, consents, this ancestral practice inherited from the ancient Incas.
That statement gives rise to a question: can anyone learn to read coca leaves? No !, answer. It's not like learning to read the Tarot cards. The faith of those who codify the messages that transmit the coca is given to the Pachamama and the Apus, who is then rewarded with the gift of interpreting the world. An Andean worldview typical of the Andes.
The offering to the land and the reading of coca is nothing more than an introduction of the Ccamahuara community to the Andean syncretism. And like Valerio, the rest of the members of the association Sumaq T'ikariy also join the experiential meetings promoted by the comuneros through the travel agency on this side of the Chuecamayo micro-watershed, located on the right margin of the Vilcanota basin. The focus they want to show is a rural community tourism.
Thus, in the midst of dances that follow the rhythm of a drum and a flute, each national or foreign tourist is well received by the hospitality of flirtatious and chacasas ccamahuarinas.
In this community, life in the countryside continues to be reciprocal between men and women, and continues to date to the characteristics of the ayllu, allowing them to live harmoniously with nature. The most amazing thing of all, says Pilar Ccuro, another peasant, as we ascend a path, is that despite climate change, her people have been able to adapt and acquire new knowledge over time to deal with natural events.
The problem that most afflicts the population is its location. At higher altitude, more intense rains and frosts. The challenge was great, but now they control it with techniques that allow to capture better the water of the precipitations. Neglect that we will detail it in a following chronicle, meanwhile remember to breathe slowly and wrap yourself well when exceeding 4,000 MASL.
After crossing several hectares of pastures and crossing the last streams, Wiracocha or Tiracocha appears. Gigantic, clean and quiet. Its water reflect the face of the sky like a mirror and, in turn, relive the stories that are told about it.