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In the wintry pre-dawn of a
mid-June morning, the city of La Paz looked sadder and grayer than ever.
At precisely 7 a.m., just like every day, the first heavily laden
cholitas
(country women) arrive in the alleys that encircle the Church of San
Francisco to open their stalls, thus beginning the mysterious daily
spectacle known as the Witches’ Market. Others spent the night there, in
improvised bedrooms on the street. The variety of products, plus the
colorful dresses that these women wear, make this place one of the most
visited and admired by the dedicated travelers who make it to highest
capital city in the world.
Before the Spanish
colonization, mostly Aymara people inhabited Bolivia. The Aymara are
descendents of the Tiahuanaco, a civilization more ancient than the Inca.
In the Aymara society religion and witchcraft are closely linked. Their
beliefs are based in the existence of one supreme god that they worship
through various other deities related to nature, such as water, the
mountains, the sun, the wind, the moon and the
wa’yas,
or sacred places.
When the Spanish invaded
the Americas, they brought European traditions and belief systems with
them. The Witches’ Market is stark proof that the imposition of
Catholicism on native peoples was often less than completely successful at
supplanting existing traditions and rituals. Although Bolivia is,
officially, a Catholic country, the beliefs of the pre-Hispanic
civilizations are alive and well.
As I watch the women
getting their products ready for sale, children smile at me, their faces
burned by the sun and cold wind. Mothers and children wear colorful
dresses. Red, fuchsia, yellow, purple and orange banish the grayness as
the sun explodes over the horizon.
Claudia, 46, is a
cholita
from La Paz. She has seven children and a pair of black eyes that speak
for themselves. Every morning she comes from El Alto down to the market,
where she has her casita,
to sell charm products, as she has since she was a little girl. Now her
two youngest children are learning their mother’s vocation. Claudia’s
stand is a real museum of medical plants, aromatic incenses, amulets and
other artifacts.
Though it is common to see
Bolivians with crosses hanging around their necks, it is perhaps equally
common to see these people spilling alcohol before drinking it. This is a
pre-Hispanic gesture of respect for Mother Earth, known as
Pachamama.
According to local beliefs,
Pachamama
is the mother of us all, the origin of everything. Animals, vegetation,
people… everything comes from Her. Consequently, one must take care of
Pachamama,
worshiping and respecting
 Her,
so She will protect us. To make
Pachamama
happy, some people make sacrifices or
wilanchas
and other offerings, called
wax’ta,
of food or deeds.
Winding my way through the
market’s streets, I count at least 32 stands that offer witchcraft
products. I stop in one to talk to a strange-looking man named is Marcial.
He is 62 and he is wearing a large and colorful tunic. He tells me he’s a
yatiri,
a particular type of Andean
witch gifted with ancestral wisdom.
Yatiri
are highly respected inside their social circle, and he is the most
successful vendor. Women, men, couples and even visitors ask him to use
his wisdom to intercede for them with the gods.
A riot of colorful and
disturbing products crowds the stands. Pens, herbs and a pack of
desiccated goat skulls defy understanding. I find some amulets in the
shape of a naked woman and man. Their function obviously is to improve the
sexual act. Right beside them hangs a plastic bag filled with dried toads.
They come in various sizes, and they are hot sellers because their purpose
is to attract money.
There are also armadillos
from the Altiplano. People buy these and put them in their houses to ward
off burglars. There are candles in a rainbow of colors, each with its
special magic. The blue ones give good luck in the workplace, the yellow
ones in health, the green ones in money, the purple ones in happiness, and
the white ones provide protection. At the end I decide to buy a yellow one
and a purple one (they just happen to coincide with my favorite colors).
Now, to make the magic work, I have to light them and let them burn down.
I promise myself I’ll do it when I get to the hotel room.
One of the most amazing and
interesting offerings in the Witches’ Market is the
sullus,
which is a dried llama fetus. Bolivian people bury them under a new house,
as an offering to the
Pachamama
for permitting construction. The
sullus
used in this way are believed to give protection to the owners and bring
good fortune to its inhabitants.
For “blessings” on a new
car, a cholita
will prepare a mixture of incense, herbs in little car shapes for you.
Then, you have to set it on fire next to the recently bought auto and
leave it to burn out on its own without looking at it.
As I walk down the street,
the smell of incense reminds me of the church in my hometown. If I close
my eyes, I can almost imagine I am back there. But I’m not. I open my
eyes and find my self in a place of convergence, where traditions and
rites inherited from different cultures meet and mingle.
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