The Spiritual Traditions of the Andes; an Interview With Doris Rivera Lenz – Part 1
A look at the rich and powerful spiritual legacy of the Andean civilization which is only now being properly recognised after 500 years of obscurity. This interview of Doris Rivera Lenz, was conducted by Howard G. Charing & Peter Cloudsley. This interview appeared in Sacred Hoop Magazine Issue 57, and the book Plant Spirit Shamanism (Destiny Books USA).
Doris has lived in Cusco for many years conducting ofrendas and reading coca leaves for dozens of people every week – both local as well as from far flung places.
Millions of Indians have chewed coca on a daily basis for many hundreds of years, yet never has a plant been so misrepresented and its use so controlled by prejudice and ignorance, including up to the present day. The Conquistadors considered it an idle and offensive habit to be prohibited, but it was soon seen that the Indians could not work without coca even when forced to do so.
Chewing coca has continued to be a custom not because it is a ‘habit drug’, but because it is a part of Andean culture which, most importantly, knows how to make work a sacred activity. The Indians chew coca just as they do everything else, very deliberately and systematically. A mouthful of leaves is carefully chosen from an exquisitely woven coca bag or chuspa. Llipta, or lime, is intermixed with the leaves while chewing to liberate the active ingredients.
The Incas regarded coca as ‘the divine plant’ mainly because of its property of imparting endurance, nevertheless its use was entwined with every aspect of life; the art, mythology, culture and economy of the Andean civilisations, including the Inca Empire.
Even today, distances are