The Pachamama Offering Ceremonies are held during the month of August. It is one of the most important rituals in the Andean world.
During the first morning of August, Cachi dawns under a dense cloud of incense. With the intention of cleaning and curing their homes, families begin to smoke their homes early asking for strength, prosperity and that Pachamama always provide the best.
The ceremonies of offerings are rituals of ancestral origin, part of a system of reciprocity. The purpose is to give back to Mother Earth what she has given. The offerings to Mother Earth have as a fundamental source the relationship between the Andean man, specifically the rural man, and the Pachamama. The offering is a symbolic way in which man returns to Pachamama what he has taken from her. The primary purpose is the restoration of reciprocity between the human being and nature.
This photos were possible to Otilia Burgos, Nieves Mendoza from Fuerte Alto and Rojas – Soruco families from San Nicolás neighborhood of Cachi, in the province of Salta, northern Argentina.
Thank you very much for your hospitality and generosity.
“Pachamama” and also “La Señalada” are part of a long term project. The objective is to photograph different moments of the Calchaquí Valley´s life, moments crossed and constructed by the ritual. The Valley, a cultural landscape with unique characteristics, inspires me and invites me more and more to know its inhabitants, to know and learn more about their ancestral knowledge and their ways of life.
