The ANCESTRAL COCA

For at least 5000 years Coca represents a privileged emblem of the Andean culture: it’s considered a prodigious sacred plant, rich in many beneficial properties. 

The Andean communities are strongly tied to cultural traditions and Coca is a protagonist in ancient ceremonies and rituals; many signs of reverence can be found everywhere; also important it’s the economical role Coca plays, binding the different climate zones from the Andes to the Amazon, through the dynamics of production and marketing, even in terms of exchange of raw material, on the basis of Andean cultural reciprocity, in benefit of all the population, without any unfavorable mediations.

Coca leaves are used by Andean priests, the great sages, to perform rituals and spells, to invoke the favor of gods towards the sowing and harvest and the blessings of the social life of the community, at weddings, births, funerals and other events.

On those occasions the major one in the community, called achachila presents prayers and libations as an offering to Pachamama, the Mother Earth , honored with the traditional music in front of the gathered community, while the other elderly ones tell of myths and legends, transmitting the oral tradition from generation to generation.

The sacred Coca stands into the very heart of the celebration and represents the main spiritual nourishment for the community, according to the prophecy of Andean sages: the sacred Coca of the Andes, in its traditional use, has never ceased to be more than a symbol of strong cohesion and social gathering in Andean identity.