The San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pabhanoi) is a powerful
hallucinogen used particularly on the Peruvian coast; it gives
the curandero the ability to discover the cause of an illness.
In the highlands the diagnosis is still made by rubbing the
body of a sick person with a guinea pig or with substances
such as maize powder. The cure was effected through the use
of medicinal plants. Today, curanderos complement their an-
cient remedies with modern pharmaceutical products.
Divination was often performed under the influence of
hallucinogens or coca. Several studies, among them those of
Alana Cordy-Collins (1977) and Ralph Cané (1985) specu-
late that the intricate art of Chavín originated in hallucino-
genic experiences.
Institutionalized worship gave rise to a rich range of folk
magic. Thus, for example, there were magic love-stones (gua-
cangui). Small stone sculptures of domestic animals, used to
propitiate the spirits of abundance, are still produced. Ce-
ramic figures representing vigorous bulls (toritos de Pucará)
are still placed on rooftops, where they signify prosperity and
fertility and offer magical protection of the home.
MESSIANISM. Andean mysticism and ritual experienced a
vigorous rejuvenescence some thirty years after the Spanish
conquest in the form of the nativistic movement called Taqui
Oncoy (see Duviols, 1977; Millones, 1964; Ossio, 1973;
Curatola, 1977; Urbano, 1981). The aims of this sixteenth-
century messianic movement were to drive the white invad-
ers from the land and to reinstate the structures of the lost
Inca past. The movement’s power was based on the worship
of huacas, the popular form of Andean religiosity after the
Sun had lost its credibility with the defeat inflicted by the
Christian God. By a kind of magic purification, Taqui
Oncoy sought to free the land from European intrusion after
it was no longer possible to do so by force of arms. The
movement’s adherents believed that, with intensified suppli-
cations and increased offerings, the huacas could become
powerful enough to help reestablish the old order. This
movement declined after ten years, but the hope of a return
to the Inca past is still alive, although it is confined more and
more to middle-class intellectual circles in Peru and Bolivia.
The messianic myth of Inkarri (from Span., Inca rey,
“Inca king”) should also be mentioned here. Originally re-
corded by José María Arguedas (1956), the myth centers on
a figure, Inkarri, who is the son of the Sun and a “wild
woman.” According to Nathan Wachtel (1977), this arche-
typal “vision of a conquered people,” although of native ex-
traction, seems to be immersed in syncretism. The cult of In-
karri lacks the action that characterized the Taqui Oncoy
movement. Inkarri is not an Andean god but rather a pale
memory of the deified sovereign of ancient times, who after
patient waiting will rise to life to vindicate the Andean world.
SEE ALSO Atahuallpa; Inca Religion; Inti; Viracocha.
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