Mario Polia
Among the many scholars who have investigated the ancient and contemporary use of the psychoactive San Pedro (Huachuma) cactus in Peru, we would like to remember, in particular, Italian Archaeologist and Anthropologist Mario Polia. His impeccable ethno historical investigation of the ancient sources and records – many of which translated/published for the first time over many centuries – cross-referenced with important archaeological data, presented a corpus of precious documentation essential in understanding the practice of contemporary curanderos, as well as the ritual, mythical and religious context where the traditional healing practices that had at their core the ceremonial use of the San Pedro cactus originated.
Achuma – alias Trichocereus Pachanoi B&R – in ancient times
The archaeological records
The most ancient records that we have to date as testimonial of the use of a cactus belonging to the genre Trichocereus in ancient Peru, go back to 1643-897 B.C., in the archaeological complex of Garagay, Lima, where spikes of the aguacolla cactus where found mixed in the clay of adobe bricks (Polia, 1999: 137); two spikes represented what were possibly the staffs of a small idol whose eyes were formed by the shells of the mullu conch (Burger, 1992:64, in Polia, Ibidem).
In the circular, sunken plaza of the ancient temple at the oracular complex of Chavin de Huántar, traditionally dated from 1300 B.C. (or from 850 B.C., as other researchers tend to say) an anthropomorphic being, with harp-eagle claws, feline fangs, and wings, is portrayed in a low-relief slab, in the act of holding with his left hand a columnar cactus generally identified as San Pedro.
The ancient sources: the ARSI archive
Achuma, Santiago-Illap’a and the power of lightening.
Two unpublished documents from the Archivio Romano de la Compañia de Jesús (Roman Archive of The Jesus Society – or “ARSI”) contains reference to the use of achuma – a word of dubious origins with which in Colonial times people referred to the San Pedro cactus. Of these documents, both referring to the use of the plant in the province of Potosi’, in modern Bolivia, one in particular mentions the existence of a syncretic cult that included the communal ingestion of the achuma juice rotating around the central figure of the Achumeros, the ministers of the cult. In this cult, the administration of the Eucharist was substituted by slices of the San Pedro cactus, within which it was believed that the power of lightning – addressed with the syncretic name of Santiago – secretly dwelled. This figure derived from a syncretic assimilation of the image of the apostle Santiago with Illap’a, the ancient indigenous Andean divinity of lightning (Polia 1999, 138). The power of Santiago manifested itself with the appearance/look/features of the homonymous apostle whose arrival was announced by the shaking of – and tremors in – the ceremonial area. The theophany of the achuma spirit in the devotee – in a similar way – was perceived as a fulguration of the conscience of the ceremony participant, a lightning force that pierced his consciousness like a thunderbolt. Before ingesting the juice of the achuma, and experiencing their ecstatic communion with the divine plant, devotees danced around the sacred area, where slices of the sacred plant were put. The Christian commenter who reported the event at the time (in 1637-1638), did not spare his judgemental views on the topic of the ingestion of the achuma juice, which he perceived tout court as an invention of the Devil, after which cult participants would “loose their mind”.
According to the type of vision one had after drinking the sacred beverage, the response of the Santiago deity to a participant’s query – given through the intermediation of the Achumero – could have been either auspicious or unfavourable. The vision of a garden or of a forest would represent a happy omen, the vision of dead people, an un-auspicious one. The mythical, timeless and spaceless dimension of the visionary “garden” is matched by the vision of gardens in today’s Andean curanderos. The plants of these visionary gardens blossom all together, in the same place, regardless of the specific growing season peculiar to each botanical specimen.
San Pedro Journeys today
Huachuma Journeys with Maestro Sampedrista don Humberto
As part of our unique Ayahuasca healing journey in Ashi Meraya we offer the option of experiencing a blissful Huachuma night with Peruvian curandero shaman – Sampedrista and Ayahuasquero – don Humberto. The ceremony begins at around 9 pm and may be arranged for all those wishing to take part to it – as integration and complement to the Ayahuasca rituals. Click here to read more.
References:
Burger, R.L. “The Sacred Center of Chavín de Huántar”, in: The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes. R.F. Townsend, ed., pp. 265-78, Chicago 1992
Polia Meconi, Mario: La Cosmovisión Religiosa Andina en los Documentos Inéditos del Archivio Romano de la Compañia de Jesús (1581-1752), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Fondo Editorial, Lima 1999
Polia Meconi, Mario: Despierta, remedio, cuenta: adivinos y médicos del Ande, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. PUCP, Lima 1996
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