In La Paz, Bolivia there are series of famous ¨Witches Shops¨. They sell interesting-spiritual- thing-after-interesting-spiritual-thing. It was a nice investigation into more localized spiritual practices of both Bolivia and Peru. The month of August is when many Peruvians and Bolivians create offerings for Pachamama or Earth Mother and burn them. I was able to ask this mother-daughter pair question after question, then I purchased several myself.
The whole situation captured quite nicely.
The shops had a mixture of amulets, figurines, incense, statues, oils, wood, novelty stuff, and stone carvings of various dieties. My inner anthropologist got nerdy.
Many of the products on this wall are used to bring ¨vitality¨ and health. Also, notice the ever-present packages of Coca leaves for chewing or making into tea.
A traditional August offering includes a specific mixture of incense, stones, and pieces of wood. This young girl measured out amounts for me to buy.
These are what the final offerings look like including colored pieces of sugar with messages i.e. salud or health. As the ladies explained to me, they are then burned completely and buried.