peru Archives

Spain will win World Cup predicts Peruvian Shaman

July 10, 2010 by Andrew Leave a Comment

A gathering of Peruvian shamans in Lima resulted in self-proclaimed master Juan Osco predicting Spain will win the World Cup.

However, not all the shamans who took part in the colourful ceremony agreed and a number of senior shamans came out in favour of the Netherlands.

This isn’t the first time Osco, sometimes known as “Shaman of the Andes”, has led a ceremony in which the shaman disagreed. In October 2008, the Peruvian shaman devined the results of the American election; 9 came out in favour of Obama and 2 for John McCain. Juan Osco predicted the Obama win.

In 2003, Osco predicted that Osama bin Laden would not be captured or handed over and would remain a mystery.

The healer shamans of the Amazon Basin are fairly common in the coastal regions and hills of the country and are known as curanderos.

The word “curandero” transates directly from Spanish to mean “healer”.

Within the Curanderos there are different types of shaman. The “Yerberos” as specialise in herbalism, “Parteras” who act as midwives and the “Hueseroes” and “Sobaderos” who are bone and muscle therapists. All types of Curanderos are believed to have supernatural powers.

The Pishtacos of Huallaga

November 23, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

: Image by Sublime Dharma via Flickr

Police have arrested a gang believed to be responsible for more than 60 deaths.

Bizarrely; the gang is said to have murdered people, hung their body on S hooks and drained them of fat. This fat was then sold to European laboratories for up to $15,000.

One of the gang member is said to have been in possession of 17 litres of human fat when he was arrested.

Authorities in Peru are calling the arrested “witches” and “pishtacos.” From Andean myth the pishtacos are ghouls.

It is said that the fat collecting gang gave themselves the name the Pishtacos of Huallaga.

Police admit the reason for the murders is strange but insist the arrests are real. Prosecutores told press; “We are not making this up. They have confessed to this. That’s what’s coming out now.”

Despite these comments from the police there is some doubt to the arrests. A dean of a Peruvian medical college has gone on the record to say that hundreds of litres of human fat are obtained every day at cosmetic clinics. The price of US$15,000 seems unrealistic.

In Pure Spirit

Do you think the police have managed to arrest members of a mass murdering gang or is something else going on here?

Mysterious Incan artefact surfaces in rural English village

June 26, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

An auction house running a valuation day event was surprised when a rare 400 year old pottery flask was brought in.

: Incan artefact – Express and Star

The owner of the 16th century artefact, believed to originate from Peru, hails from Shenstone, near Lichfield, a small Staffordshire village.

Charles Hanson, who manages the auction house, told press; “We don’t know how the vendor acquired the object,” but there is speculation that the owner’s grandfather may have brought it home after decades of travel in the late 19th century.

The flask is in good condition, with some minor wear around the rim, despite travelling so far and pre-dating the reign of Henry VIII.

In Pure Spirit

Would you ever consider bidding on an artefact like this or would you be hesitant given the flask’s unknown history and purpose…

The Chotuna-Chornancap sacrifices

June 5, 2009 by Andrew 2 Comments

: Image by Vincent Ma via Flickr

Carlos Webster and his team of archaeologists in Peru working in the exavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap have discovered the remains of around three dozen people believed to be sacrificed over 600 years ago by Incas.

The remains of Incan and pre-Incan sacrifices are not rare but the size of this find makes it unique. The Chotuna Chornacap is a large site some 12 miles from the coastal city of Chicalyo.

Sacrifice was common in Incan culture and occured in the lands which are now known as Peru, Chile and Ecuador between 1400 and the middle of 1500. The 33 bodies found by the archaelogists are likely to belong to sacrifices made just before the arrival of the Spanish explorers.

“Most of the remains belong to young women, around 15 years of age. One of them appears to have been pregnant because in her abdomen, the collarbone of a fetus, probably around 4 months, was found,” said Webster as he described his find.

“The majority (of the bodies) are in good condition – skin tissues and hair have been preserved. They were found in a dry area more than 7 feet underground,”

In Pure Spirit

Are you glad that the Spanish encountered the Icans? As a result we might argue the Ican culture is now lost to us but these sacrifices no longer occur.

The rain god Chaac and the 10 most important archaeology discoveries of 2008

December 29, 2008 by Andrew Leave a Comment

The Archaeological Institute of America has published their top 10 list of the most important archaeological discoveries of 2008 via the Archaeology Magazine. Here’s the list;

Sacred Maya Blue – Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Wari Masked Mummy – Lima, Peru
Kuttamuwa’s Soul – Zincirli, Turkey
American Genes – North America
Oldest Oil Paintings – Bamiyan, Afghanistan
First European – Atapuerca, Spain
Earliest Shoes – Tianyuan Cave, China
Portuguese Indiaman – Namibia
Imperial Colossi – Sagalassos, Turkey
Origins of Whaling – Chukotka Peninsula, Russia

In Pure Spirit is pleased that the Maya Blue pigment made the list. Blue was a sacred colour to the ancient Mayans and associated with sacrifice and deities. In particular, blue was the colour of Chaac the rain god.

Unlike Chinese blue and Egyptian blue, Mayan blue is stable and retains its colour even after hundreds of years and weather conditions.

In 1904 the archaelogist Edward Thompson dredged the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá he found a 14 foot thick layer of blue silt. This is now believed to be the gathered remains of Maya Blue washed off thousands of sacrificial objects. It is thought that sacrifical objects would have been heated by the ancient Mayans, then painted or brushed with blue dye before being thrown into green water.

Chaac

Chaac represented each of the four cardinal directions and each of the four cardinals had their own Chaac – a synchronicity common with Maya deities.

He was the patron of agriculture and carried a lightening axe. He was also associated with maize.

The rain is Chaac’s tears of regret.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Which is the most important of the ten discoveries above or would you suggest an alternative discovery?