Shamanism in Moche Art and Iconography - Maya Exploration Center

&RH 395Spring 1994

Tntr~ductiori..................................,........~~TabLe-~-f-C~nt~!_t.z.7Modern Peruvian Shamanism ............................... 4F'The Shaman and His Deity in Moche Ark ...................JThe Hur~ners.................................,............BTiahuenaco-H1.1ari..................................~.....9Psracas Necropolis/Na~ca........~. u~...........o.sv.....il~JCha~in..................................~.......~......l.3'The fires~?ntation Ceremony. .............................Floating Spirits .................................u...n.,, 17.I&I'he Decapitator. ....................................... 19I: 7 -2The Puppy........ ..........................................Se>:~tal Pnttery..... .................................... 2317 r-The Mesa de Hrujo.. ...................... .............Manioc....... ...................................... #-..26~The Sione Novice E:cperience.. ..........................28L.~?Conclusion...................................u..s..v..,,2YBibliography ............................ "........m......31.List of Figcu-cs.. ....................................... .,7r ..

that Elizabeth Nenson called the Fanged Ueity(Penson 1972;27).The snaC::es caming off the Del t of th@ h@sler in Figl..rre 5 are alsoreserved sol el y for the depictions of shamans..The four individl.lalcs in F'ig~lre 6 wear both l.::'inds ofheaddresses shown in the previous figures.Three of the men nitwi.th lime gourds while the fourth stands head and hands held Liptowards a dout:)led headed arch which represents the sk:y.Floating.ara~lnd ~1.1.1. fo~lr men are lar'gv9 dots which may be e:.:plainecl asentoptic forms seen in the first stages of hall~~ciriations(Ostcr:l.Y?0;87).Supporting e!vj.dence for that e::pl.anat,ion can be foundj.n the lower- 1,rf.t carner of Fig~.tre 4. 'The two plants thrz.rc maybe identified as; San Pedro cactu!ii; and the Misha Negra plnn.t, both';are lhal lucinogr?nic plwnts employed by the moder-n Mochc? shaman inhr.a:l..i rlrJ r'i. tual so. The ?jt~\r~cli rlg man's moi.lth is oper~ I. t is proposec:l'that he i s singing. Singing is a standarF.d methnd of cal.lin$; oi.lCrthe spirit.: enlp:l. oyecl by modern shamans irl west.ern Sontt~ lAmerica.Tri OLI% i ~na and IMatisigenl.:a healing ri t~.ra:ls, the shaman reqr.rires achart-1% n,i women whn call the spirjts out of the forfist w5.t.h theirsing:ing (1'01 lock 1992~33 arid Haer 1992; 90). Ilodern Nazca andPlorhr? ter-ritory shamans do the singin9 them~elveg wh1.1~. . -a-ktendarits perSorm the actions(Hadingl1arn 1987i247 and G i l l in1947; 121). Tn S:i.ona society each spirit has a speci.iic song, themore song:;one k:nows, the mnre pawer he has!Matte!son L.angrlon1'7c9;lg 5::;) "There are many ntheie- depictions of men weari.nc] a jag1.1ar

headdress such as the one displayed in Figure Si;(Figures 7-9).There is, however, another contest in which the same headdress isworn by a deity(Figurrs 1Ct-13).This deity has charactel-isticswhich separate him from the depictions of shamans.Round eyes,elongated fangs, wrank:le lines an his face, snake earrings andthe jaguar headdress are his principal elements. The "FangedUeity" is Elizabeth Benson '5 term for this Deity (Denson 1972;27) ..In the same way as the deity is the master 0.f the spiritrs, theShaman emulates him in costume to identify himself as a humanmaster of spirits.The Desana say that a deity named Viho Hahse was placed intne Milky Way by the Sun a5 an intermediary between the worlds.'iHis name comes from the word Viha which means hallucinogenicsnuf.f.He is lord of the spirit world whom the Deeana payesvisit during trance(Heiche1-Dolmatoff 1968; 411). It is also saidthat th19 Sun created the jaguar as his representative onEarth (ReicheX-Dolmatoff 1968; 28).~ukdreds bf milea to the southin Bolivia, Aymara is the name of a great feline deity that isboth a protector and a destroymr(Hadingham 1987;247).Modernlil~lechua sick are said to suffer from attacks by Ccok, flying.-feline minions of the Mountain/wcather Deity (liadingham 1987; 248).All of these beliefs may well be relatmd to concepts aboutshamanism and the other-world that developed long before Incasociety began.Music is another component of ritual well known to be

connected to shamanism and the calling out of spirits.Many ofthe individuals playing flutes or horns displayed in Moche artcan be seen wearing the jaguar headdress(Figure5 14-16).Musicians are most often shown in ceremonial or processionalscenes.Fj.gure '17 shkws a Yanamamo shaman playing a set o.F pipes, .over three piles of Banisterapsis vines, a hallucinogen boiledinto a drink used during healing rituals all over the fimazon.Tb!-!.u_r,!e_rrThe Runners are a frequent theme in Moche vessel paintinge.The 5tandard runner scene shows a singe file row of men runningI.across a landscape of cactus and pllnts(Figures 18-20).tanalternate sccne is one in which the men are replaced byanthropomarphs(Fig~~res 21-24). In both versions nf the scenemost of the runners wear the jaguar headdress of the shaman.Some marly rcholars connected them td ths iniza and chimumessengers who ran along the roads(Way1e 1965;67).Othersbe1 ievad them to be warriors (Ubbclohde-.,Doering 1992; 183).Elizabeth Benson suggested the bags the runners carry may holdLima bvans ~tsed for divination purposes (B@!nson 1972; $13).. .The bagof herbs found on the Nesa de Erujn of the modern Moche s.hamansis anothmr possible eandidwte(Gill in 1947;23).The landscapeitself indicates the runner are indeed shamans, as Wensonimplied.The plant epocics depicked may once again be identified

as the hallucinogens, San Pedro cactus and the.Misha Negrr plant.Examined through the 1 enss of shamanism, the anthropomorphs whoreplace the men in the runner scenes may be explained as shamansin the process of transformation.The runners are consistently shawn running over hi 11 ylandscape or uphll l (Figure 24).'The ethnographic record islacking in accuunts describing ceremonies of this nature thaughthe follnw two examples may be related. First, in th~! NazcaVal l cy community of Puquiu, the Portgo {the most powerful shaman inthe village) and fellow brujos used to climb a sacred mm.~ntainnear Puq~tio each August to make offerings for water (Hadingham1987;247). Secand,in 1985, Johan Reinhard witnessed a ceremony~.in a Bolivian village in which a line'(1ike the Nazca lines) wasfollpwed single file to higher ground where the people prayed forwater from the Mountains (Hadingham 1987;294).It is possiblethat the Moche shamans depicted on vessels as the runners mayalso be going to make of+erings for water.Tiah~~anaco-Huari euJ. ture dominated Peru from thc sixth to- ..tenth centuries. Moche art was heavily influenced by Tiahuanaco-kluari style in its final phases and bscomes the Lambayeq~.teculture.The Gateway of the Sun (Figure 27) , Tiahuanaco cul turer,most famous monument, appears to display shaman iconography suchas the types previously discusshd in Moche art,The central

individuals as the individ~~als on the te:ctiles,Early scholarshave referred to them as deities, demons and spirits.EvanHadi,ngham has suggested that they are in fact shamans intrans+ormation (Hadingham 1987; 178). The paper agrees withHadi ngham's int.erpret'ation and purposes further supportingevidence by linking the costume of the Paracas shaman with thatof the previous1 y identified Moche shaman.Figure 35 showsflying Mache shamans with animal headdress, one jaguar, one bird,,snakes extending off the waist and out of the mouth, just re inthe standard Faracas textile image.The headdress of the Faracaeshaman.;is an abstracto?d jaguar head with elungated whiskerswhich are sometimes snakes. Images painted on pottery from the';Nazca, the inheritors of Paracas c~~lture, strongly sl.~pport thisobservatl on (Fig!.~res 37-3'7).An image from a Nazca mural showsshamans trarisforming in the same costume as portrayed in theF'aracas textiles of centuries earlier (Figure 36).Though rare,images of both Paracas and Nasca shaman can 'be found in which theabstracted jaguar headdress is replaced with a more recognizabledepiction !Figure 40 and 41). The abstracted jaguar headdress wasan important enough imaye to be displayed in one of the famous. . .Nazca Lines(Figura 42).The Paracas/Nazca style of depicting shamanrs differs fromthe Mocha depictions in one important way; the incluaion ofsevered head%.They are displayed in the shamans hand or hangingoff his waist i,n many examples. Severed heads were apparently

part of the Paracas shaman's equipment or costume.A briefdiscussion of the Jivaro culture of the Eastern foothills of thsEcuadorian Andes may shed light on the practlee of headhunting.Up unti Xthis century, the Jivaro culture practiced bloodfe~tds which resulted in the decapitation and shrinking of theenemy heads. They are now broken of that habit by the Ecuadoriangovernment. The Jivaro revolted in 1599, twenty thousand strong,killing everyone in the closest Spanish village and pouringmolten gold down the throat of the unfortunate Alcalde.6s aresult, they were left alonr unti 1 anthropologist Michael J.Harner 'tuuk an interest in them in the 1950's(Hadingham 1987;163--164).':Harner spent fourte~n months among the Jivaro and acquiredsome. intriguing information about their culture. All men takecDaturata powerful hallucinogen) at a young age, around six, andacquire an ancestor spirit called an Arutam. It comes t thenovice as a menacing jag{-~ar, an anacdnda or 'a severed ~ L I an head.It lodges itself in the chest. The experience en~pwwers ndenrages the man. Within a few days of the ilcq~~isition of anArutam the novice must participate in a killing raid on enemies...Participation entitles him to ano'ther Arutam and "locks in" the,first soul.Killing is a dal.?yerous busi~iess because if not: donecorrectly the man's SOLII becomes a i.lui+ak or avenging soul.Itcomes out in the form of venomous snakes if not controlled.After death thfs head must he chopped off and shr~tnk in hot sand.

At 10,200.Ft, the site of Chavin de Huantar is named for theri~arby v:i.ll.age u+ Ckiaviri and was occupied from 1200-90t:)BC.In196'7 John Howe wrote a paper entitled "Form and Meaning In ChavinArt" in which he attempted to identify the iconographic programof the sculp't~~re at the temple ~itr~ictt.\rcs of Chavin de Huantar.'The ianzi.~~, is the- central image in the Old Temple at ~havin deH~~anter, Rows calls it the Great 1mage(Fig~~tr&43).. Tht? image has.c?.longatecl fangs and snakes extending off its head and waist.Rnwe .then st.\ggests that the hlew Temple is dedicated to another:image with elongated fangs and sn;~kes e:.:tending off its head andwais+ he nwmes the Sliaf.6 God (f'j.g~.~re 44). HI? al.so identiSies athird deity in the Old T'??fliple's courtyard he names the Smilingr., , -"?c.)d (I-igurc:? 413).I:Thc three images are separated from one anotheron th6.? basis of: post~lre and .faciill. o:pre:;riion.Rowe tool.:: thefanged mr~l.cth as a general. indictor of deity status.I't is thr?position of this paper that post\.ire and facial. ~xpressior.1 are nntre1 iable indicators of iclentity and that the 'three imager, are in+:act +:he same deity.Further, t,his "fanged deity" is the same ~4s;;the fanged deity Moche ghamans imitate in costume centurieslater. Other- scholars have notd the connection bekween the. ..f i3rlged r magss in Cl~avin and Moche art (Kublcr 1984; 394).'Thr? co~trtyard of the old temple at Chavin de H~tantwr isflankcd by bird anthrapomorphs. Howe calls these figuresg:..!ar.i::l:i.,7n.;::l:i n ancl .Chi $5 paper agr-~?es with hi!; assessmfi?r o w ? 19h7; .'The Plonhs Fanged Deity is fl-eq~~ently depicted with bird

assist his side in the battle.Figure 52 is another battle scenein which the only figure in the scene with a jag~lar headdressconjures a spirit to aid his side.The shaman blows into a conchshell over a Nisha Negra plant as a spirit,'throwing a spearmakerializes above him. In Figure 53 a spirit floats over thehead of the opponent of a man who wears the jaguar headdress.This shaman has his weapons held away from tho opponent and looks.up tnwards his protector spirit.These are but a few examples ofa common theme in Moche art in which Moche shaman are depicted anthe process of calling out the spirits.TheDe_~.,s~~tatora.The Decapitator is the name gicen to an individr.lal who isfreq.uently depicted in Moche art.In his most standard pose hestands arms outstretched, a severed head in one hand a tumi knifein the other (Figure 54).Elizabeth Benson notes diffic1.11ty intelling gods apart and considers the'Decapiifator simply theFanged Deity in another circumstance(Benson 1972;JO).Donnanseparates the Decapitator from Benson's Fanged Deity calling it asupernatural being relatod to sacrifice(Alva and Donnan, ..1993; 139). The Decapitator is frequently shown capturing an -opponsnt.In some scenes the opponent is a terrestrialcreature(Figures 55-57), in others the opponent is an oceandweller (Figures 58-62).A1 1 opponents of the Dscapitatnr are%c..~pernatural as evidenced by human limbs on sea creatures and

other indicators.Henson notes that the Fanged Deity asderapit.atc~r taker; many form:;.'The crab is one of the mostfreqr..rent forms taken by theI.nterest:.i ng observat,ionthe Fanged Dt2j.t~ is thecaptures the crab (figurepostulated tl.lst the crab isof the FangedDeity wi.t:h whom he str~rggl edepictions of decapitators captl-ring decapitators seem to SLIP~OItierhypatkiesis(fj.gures 57 and 59). The Nazca "St,orm God" is, ase:.:plairied by modern Nazca V

the Moche shaman (Figures 54-62). Modern inhabj. tants 0.F the townnf Moche believe that when a c~rring shaman journeys to thcr!otherworld he w i l l be in conflict with the bad shaman or spiritresponsible for the illness.Caminn ~alderon in 1752 and Gillinin 1?47 both witness Moche +haman assistants pick up a ct?remonialbife 0f.f: the filesa de BruJo and flash it at invisible spiritstrying to disrupt the ritual (0illin 1Y47; 127-129). Modern Naicashamans have swords as part of their Nesa:? for the samepurpose(Hadingham 1987;174).The Wamani~, or spirits, theysummon are both feared and revered., They are gensrot.[s andde~trtrctj.ve (l-.lmcfirighc7m 19137; 240) . The Jivaro ~~1.1 ture o::ample anclthe 1527 island account already discussed both seem to ctmriecta.shamanic practices with severed heads. Possibly the mostconvincing hit of evidence that the Decapitator- scener, may bedc?picting shamans cnmes from the Nazca/Paracms art. 1.6, aspropozed earlisr and si.!pportcd by the worl.: of iladingham, theritandard inclivid~.tal depicrted on Paracas ~ecrnpol is te:.:ti leci c:a17be identified as a stlamarl, then ~~sversd heads is a majorc:ompnnent of F'aracas shamani. sm.Similar to the Ji varo shaman%,the acq!.iisiti on of sevc:rmd heat.]% m ay have boen essEnn'tia:l. to..gai.ning pc!wer- in the spirit:. world. :Tt seems e:jpeci;~ll.y pla~.[sit~:le2000 years. The Pl'loche Wi:?c;.~pitatnr scenes are purpnrsecl toi l:..c!z,kra%e trio same bt?l ief s.ILcmking once agaj.r? to Donnet? 'r,r:::c!r.ltr-a1 e::iamp.l e i mage (Fi g~..~rc 43) , the 1 ower registar incl~.[cle.j

scenes of prisoners in the process of losing their heads as wellas severed h~iman heads hanging from a kitty.+Gs a final point of ethnographic evidence from the Mochearea itself, in the June 1990 ~ational t so graphic a Moche shamanhis shnwn blowing wat'r-and perfume on a skul ;l .from a pre-hispanicruin.The article explains that he does so to release thespirits from the skull to protect those involved in theceremony (Long 1990j46).This incredible example demonstrateseven today in the Moche areii shamans use human heads as portalsthrough which spirits may enter our world, over 1000 years afterMoche artists painted the Decapitator on their ceremonialvessel s.Ih-ee.2%-umzxA recurrent character in Ploche art related to shamanism is ap~..~ppy. He is usually asrjnciated with men who wear the jaguarheaddress or Lhe Fanged Deity whom tk{ey imp&-sanate (figures 63-65). Figr..ir-e 56 is apparently an effigy vessel made to honor thepuppy,The puppy is also included in both examples of Donnan'sPresentation Ceremony included in this paper(Figures 40 and 49).. ..but decided it: was a punla nr jaguarnotes the puppy 's presence in bothth@ Pree~nta Lr-' ion theme c;lr~d the Burial theme but re+ars to them asdogs.In most depictions it is clearly a p~lppy and in one imageit is even shown chasing its tail (Figure 49).

The archaeologiral record also bears witness to theimportance of puppies.In 1967, at a cemetery site namedChavina (in the Narca Valley) , eleven shrunken skulls were foundin a burial with a mummified long yellow haired puppy (Hadingham1987; 169). Duri'ng th& 1987 excavations at the site of Sipan, thernnst celebrated Moche f~lnerary site today, two of the tombs fo~lndincllrded dogs in the burial party (Rlva and Donnan 1993).The Inca had a superstition that if one tied up their dogsoutride their crying would guilt the gods into sendingrain (Hadingham 1987;258). The most widel y held be1 ief , however,was that dogs were the guides to the otherworld.Whatever theirfunction might have heen in Moche c~~lture it seems certain itrelated to their concept of shamanish.Sexual PotteryKubler remarks that only 2% of ail Mochi pottery is sesuallyexplicit (Kuhler 1984:385).Donnan's opinion is that all rroticMoche art is ceremonial (Donnan 1990123). This paper agrees withDnnrian's assessment and suggests further that the purpose of theceremony is healing.E. Renson notes that the Fanged Deity isshown having sex with a woman in an enclosure on a number ofvessrls(Fignre 67). Shs separates these images fram the rest ofthe so:~.~al. pottery pointing out low relief, unlike the normal 3-Derotica vessels. Shc also noted a connection between sex and..

skeletal death figures(Henson 19723144-148).Donnan shows threedifferent versions of the same scene describing it as a ceremonyi r~volvirtg se:.:ual intercourse and human cannibal i Em (f igure 68) .Therie tt.~ree scene% have most a11 of the components this paper hasshnwn were cnnnecteij tn the Moche concept of shamanism.Attendants stand outside the enc:lnsLlre with spirits fl.04a'kingoverhead. The puppy scratcher, at the outside wall. In two ofthe thrr!~:? scenes severe13 heads +%oat nearby.In a nearbyc?riclc~!;r..~r-e, wnmen appear tn be singing, i j. I::@ the Cul ina andMalisige?nka wnmerl of the Peruvian Clmazon who cal l out the spi~".itr;of the f orest wi ,kt1 their- singing .to as!;i .jk the shami?n tjr.~r:i.nghc?aling r-:i.'tuiilr,.Most important1 y, the j.ndividua1 sl'inwn havingI:sex wi.,kh the woman wears .the jag~~ar headdress and snaL::es hangfro111 his waist.In the f irs'lz picture the indivitli.1~11 lonks hr.rmanbut in the ,follc~wing two it rnay well he the Fanged Deity hi.msc?l,f:at the center 04:the scene(or the shaman fully transformr?cl intothe Fanged Deity).In a part.ie~.~larly am1.1sirig pierre 04Plochc? art,the pappy who accompanies the Fanged Deity has se:.: with a willir~gwo,nari (Fi gnre 69) . This i rnage s~lppnrt the contenti on that pr.rppiesimcl irltercourse are both rmlated to sham~~ni.:sm - siinul. tariern.~sl y at* ..that!The 1::)el I. i:!f ,that semen ha% drs zihamani c power has Qrna;:nr~i ans~lppnrt. Dori, the word for power in Cc~lina society rnay be lostby the novice during coi,ku.i, thus celibacy is maintained (F'ol1ncl.c1Yc?2;28).The Uesnna speak of the supreme deity's power to

create the wor-ld his "yellow intention" or "yellow purpose", areferencm to semen.They also speak of the shaman's journey aspenetration into the otherworld and in other passive sexualcontact terms (Heichel -Doimatof f 1971; 47).The Conibo novicesucks phlegm out 0.f his master throat after the master has dranktobacco juice.This happens nightly for a week and the novicesoaks up Nihue, or power, from the master which he may now buildupon(lllius 1992;65). Though from different areas and contexts,a.11 of those stories eli.tde to a concept that the fluids of ashaman have power in and of themsrlves.A scepter found in the 1987 Sipan @cravation also shows theFanged Deity having sex with a human woman inside an':er~clusurc?(F'ig~ire 70). Donnan suggests that it may represent anerotic legend involving the deity.This paper agrees withDonnan's hypothesis and %uggests further that the scene involveeritual healing in which part of the patient's treatment isintercourse with the shaman.The Mesa d~ Brujcr of the m~dern Moche shaman is 'notably .r .-absent from the depictions of pre-Inca Moche shamanism. As it isthe central el+?rnr:'nt of modern Moche healing rituals, it shorrXd bepresent in the ancient art if the two are indeed related.It. isproposed hpre that the ancient eq~livalent of the klesa de Brujn isthe enclosures roofed and/or surrounded by spears so frequently

depicted in association with shamans.The scepter from the tombat Sipan discussed in the previo~ls sectian is a perfectexample(flgure 70). There are many other examples.Around themodern Mesa de Bruju are swords and knives stuck into theground(Figure 71).She wrapone are meant to keep the bad spiritsat bay during the ritual (Hadingham 1987;174).The Spanishmirjsionaries no doubt frowned upon healing rituals and both good .and bad hrujeria is against the law in the modern village ofMoche.What once could be done in a permgnent location was thusforced to become more mobile, hence the creation of the Nesa deBrujo.t?_a.~.~oo~'iWenson noted that the Fanged Deity is sometimes depicted ascorn and other vegetables(Figures 72 and 75). The Treasurer ofSipan exhibition currently traveling through the U.5.includes anceramic image identif icd as "the ~anioc ~od'~. It is the FangedDeity's head emerging from the tubers.In the ceramic pieceshown in Figure 72 the Deity emerges from the manioc roots eatingmanioc.Turning one more time to the image Donnan: uses to. ..explain the Fresentation ceremony (Figure 48), one can now seethat the animal heads on either end of the sky band are eatingwflnicJc.Manioc dnes not grow in the coastal i-egi.ons and fallsintn the same category as jaguars and snakes; 0.FAmazon:ianorigin.To find reasons why manioc would be involved in scent!+

of known shamanic content in Moche art, the enthnographies of themade!rn Amaaoni an tribes are once again of invaluable assistance.Koidza is fermented manioc and Culina women make it(the samewomen are the ones who sing to call the spirits of the forest incuriny ceremonies). 67 cup of Knidra is part of the cul.inahealing ceremony.As menti,oned earlier, the fermented manioc isfor the visiting spirits; and is said to q~~ell their violenttendencir?s(F'ollocI.: 19C?2;34).Matisigcmka people with special so~~ls are said to have "eyesouls" lucated in the pupils.Those peop1.c are said to livema]. r1l y on divi nc! manioc, the non-poisunous variety given to theMatisigenkia by the Father Moon ( B~er 1992; 81).4.Ilesana patismts drinl: hoi led manioc juice t r ~ cleanse thc!m,purg.".' them tnetaphorically o.f illne%~;(Huchil kt 1992j2113).Mochcshamans and attendants bnth snuff alcohol out of a flat shell inthw prnrszs do!.icribed as raising the tabla. T~F! purpnsc? c ~ f thisaction ie; to purify and protect the table."raised"(Gi1lin 1947;20).' .The pati.ent is alsoThe cnnnection between the series of accounts above is theprocess of ritually purifying the area in preparatinn for. ..hea1,ing. In eai:::h case 1.t. involves the use of alcohol. Despite,tl,r?fact that in the jungle it is made from manioc and in modernMach?? i t is bo~lght at the store, alcohol as LISC~ in healincjritual i.5 similar in both contexts.The ancient Mochc? may haveLISC~ *:hi'cha, or corn beer, considering manioc dues not grow in

that part of the coast.he sacredness of manioc, however wasstrong enough for it to remain in the shamanic portrayals inMoche art and stand as one more prsce of evidence that Mocheculture had its origins in the Amazon.The Si ona Novice Experi enreAs the final section of this paper, the story of a Slonanovice shaman's first experience in contacting the ntherworldw i l l be recounted:A person apprentices to a master shaman and becomes hisattendant.To prepare for the first journey to the otherworldthe novice goes through isolation, fasting, enemas and celibacy.':Next comes days of drinking YagolBanisteropsis). The novice hasvisions of his death and of being reborn as a child of the JaguarMother. Its frightening and exhausting. The first two days ofthe drinking prudl.rce visions familiar to every Siona hecatase theyare compared tu an often told creation story.'In Sionamythology, stars once walked on the Earth.They were called thePleiadcs people and they were the first to drink Yage. Theyoungest brother, a trickster involved in a n~~mber of- stories,was the first to drink it. He vomitad, feinted, urinated andwent crazy, rubbing feces over himsel+.The Moon is said to havegone through the same process and he was taught by hisgrandfather, the 9~1n. During the visions of death the apprenticehas visions of snakes p~tl ling him underground, wrapping aro1.1nd

nim. lhey are sald to symbollzu the vine. The many littlesnakes transform into one big snake called the Drinking StickSnake who is recognized as the owner of Yage.Since both thesnake and the shaman are the master of Yaqe, the apprenticerealizes that they are one in the same,The snake is then riddento a water tube (Mil1::y Way?) that the shaman goes up into andarrives in heaven with the Sun people, who befriend him(LangdonThis example is important beca~~se it demonstrates that t h ~otherworld is not entirely mysterious but is instead rather wellI.::nown.Shamans and their patients ~[nderstand what they wi 1 l seein trance and know how to interpret it. The Sj.nna examp1.e o? thef:irst vi~jions of the novice duplicating the actions r-ecc'l~.!ntc?d inmyth demnnstr-ates how ,the %me perception o.( the otherwor:ld co~.lld';persist for long periods of time transmitted through oralItradn t~ on.u_sAo_nYworshipped in ancient Moche cultureand he is lor13 o,f the o+.herworld, the master of 5piri.t~. Bensonidentifies him as the Fanged Deity and ancient shamansimpersonated lhirn in costume arid in having attczndants/apprenti~es~Uocapjtiition was done to variqi.~j.sh avenging spirits be+ore theywere created.Prisoners were i~ral.lght to areas where their headsrrn~~ld be i-emoved in si.lch a way that the power of their so1.11,s was

caught in the head.Once trapped, the power in the head could beharnessed by shamans and used in the otherworld.Alcohol mayhave been used to purify sacred space before ritual began andhallucinogenic drugs such as San ~edro cactus and Misha Negrawere used in order to allow the shaman to communicate with thespirits.Singing and music was used to call the spirits ta theceremony. In certain healing rituals, intercourse with a shaman ,was necessary to enact or divine the cure?.Finally, individualsin Moche art who are portrayed wearing the jaguar headdresswnd\or snakes hanging from the waist are capable of contactingthe otherworld.These costume elements are iconographic devicesthat wau1.d be used q~tite carefully by an a-literate culture suchat the Mache.Not all shamans wear'the jaguar headdress but noone .else but shamans may wear it.The nature and methods of shamanism in Peru were essentiallythe same in Chavin, Pitracas, INazca, Moche and Tiahuanaco-Huaricul 'cures, spanning over 2000 years. Chavin, 'Paracas, Nazca,Tiahuanaco-Huari and even Chimu art can be said to display thesame iconographic programs ae in Moche art when representingshamans and their associated deity. Tho gansi ett+!r~t .theme of.jungle animals throt.~ghout all of pru-Incia art sclggests that theabove rclltures share a deeper Amaronian heritage going backthousands of years. By proxy, thc Inca mc.~st be: irlcl~~ded j.n thisgroup. Af ter over 20C)O years, the Amazonian coric:ep'k 0.F %hamani smhad covered all uf western South America and must be viewed as at

New York.Raer, Gerhard1992 "'The One Tnt:o:,:icated Xy Tobacco - Matisig~nl,::aShamanism",, F_grtals.of Power - Sliam~~_.i.~.mmmmm~inSouth . Flmeri ca. University of New Me:.: i cn F'resc,,A1 buquerqae.Bensnn, Eli sabeth P. , Edi tnr177:k ~!~!.~~.arton.-~~E~.r,r,Cr.~~..C.-~~~~n_c:c:~-.~_n_nC~~~.v~Z6t.h and 27th. 19hg. Dumbarton flal.:s ResearchLi hrary and Cnl lecti on. Trustees for HarvardUnLversity. Washingtan D. C.Rsnsnn, Elizabeth P.*.1972 ~b.c_-M.u_g-h2~r-?~,g :...p-Q~~.Lti.~re of Peru. Pr aegerHenson, Elizabetl'i P,F'1.1bl j.sherc,, New Yorlr, Washingtorr.1974, fL..lg_n_-fi,n_cl A Fel. i ne f n Mochi ca Art,.. Dumbar-tonUaks Truste!es for ~arvard Unj:versity,Washington, D. C.1972 "Nobody Is There To Listen - Desaniv Therapei.ttic, .Incantation"". !?o.r..L,&L? G.? E:9-~.~.r-z..,~h&~&~i.xm-i~So1.1th A m e m . University uf New Me:iico Press,CachcltHebeca Carri nri1949 F)~i-*~3.r,.-Cj.L.f~.~,~3,1. ~,~l;.~~r_;n,~:i,.Corporation Nacional

1947 -- Moche - A Pert-~vian Coastal Comm~~nity. GreenwoodPress, Publishers, Westport, Connecticut.Grieder, Terrence1978 Z!Iz!--&-t 3ncl,-.. fi1::.~.t!,~~e.0_1.._og,~-of eihash.. Un i ver s i t Yof Texas Press, Austin.Hadingham, Evan1987 tll.~~~~.-To.~he.Mount~~.~~.~G.~!~d_~-~..M~~_cM~~~t~!ri es ofRandom Ho~~ue,, hlew Yor-I::.I1 1 i !-1s , 51-\.!no1992 "'The Concept of Nihue Among the Shipibo-Con i bo of. Ea?st ern Per LI " . ~ ~ . ~ . ~ f , ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ F F F ~ ~E!h.!?E.?.r.i...3fK i.n_ .,.n_. S_P.I!.:~.!~ A_m.(1;r.i.r:..7. Uni versi ty of New';Me:< 1 cn Pre~r,, A1 b~lquerq~ue.Kano, Chiaki1977 11-IF? Or jl,g.j.,,, nn:~--eeffff~_h_.~ Chavi n Cult~~rs.. Dl-lmbat-t e3nPIirk:pa.trirl.:, Sidney D.13ai::s 'Tr~.~st:ea.i for Harvard University,Washington, D.C.:lY92t:::roeher , A. I. .Lords of Sipan - A Ta1.e of F're-Inca 'T~nitrs~Archaeoloq~~-apd CC:ri me. Wj. l l j.am Morrow and? - -Cnmpany, l'nc., New Yorl::.1 '.?5.3 a sC I Sa n h a .University o-f:K~lb:ler, Gc?(nrgr?California Press, Berkeley, Los Angele~.

1984 The Art and Architect~~r~-.of An=Le_n_tAmm@.r.II..r..t:~.~tscher, GerdtThird Edition. Peng~lin Nooks, Mi ddlrse:: ,England.1083 ~~!,~~~X?.~,~:!~~,E.~:~~~.~~~~~~?~~-~~ :-%~.l-!:~Verlag C.H.Beck, Munchen.La Farge, 1-lt-rnr.y A.,Editor19 R :I. Museur, ef .Tt!f;,.~.U_n~;!.~r,.. Newswee k , In c , andKodansha Ltd. , Tokyo.Langdon, E.Jean1992 "URU - Shamar~ic Power in Siona Religion andLal-co Hoyl e, Raf ar.1Nedicine". mr.trc?l.c-.._a~-F"ow_~r~S_h~-ma.n1~2,!!! 1.ca.South America.... ....... University of New Ile:.:ico Press,kl buquerque.196% ~~:!.~~~.e.~_=~.s;r~~~~~~Er~e.~~~~~~._Long, Michael E.&r_t_. Nagel F'LI~~. i st'ler-, Geneva-Par i. si-Ml..lni, ch.199(:1 "End~~rj.ng Echoes of Per~.t'ci Fast". N~~.COE$~Oster. Geraldf3r;cng,~~.~,L?.:L~rvo1. 177, nn. 6, June 1990.. ..1 C970 "Phosphenes". f i c m e c ,p, ,31.11. , AnneY Editorv. 222,.1971 F~':ac;c~~ - Rrt and Rrchi-t~&g~~~~!r~? - I'Jt~jects anG.C~:mtc?:.:t in Soc~th Cc12:15t:zJ-.-p.g-r_t1.. LJniversity of