ISSUE 116

RELEASE DATE: 30 Jun, 2021

EDITORIAL BY Charles Bladon

Our cover: Iván Rodriguez

ENGLISH VERSION 

In the 1960s-70s, much of the English speaking world was undergoing a revolution of thought that largely owed itself to the increased popularity of psychedelic music, literature, film, and, last but certainly not least (seeing as it had inspired the aforementioned media), psychedelic drugs. It’s an era in history that saw the increased opposition to war, at a time where the threat of nuclear war felt very real, as people also stepped up in their fight for rights for black people, women and the LGBTQ+ community. It was a crucial time in social history and a lot of it was indirectly inspired by psychedelics, something that had been used centuries prior in Bolivia.

In 2010, archaeological evidence was found to suggest that ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug, had been used more than a millennia ago. Evidence for this was found in a cave in Cueva del Chileno in the south of Bolivia, near its border with Chile. The findings suggested that ayahuasca was used through ritualistic practices that are still common in Bolivia today. During my time in La Paz, I’ve come across many people who have used Ayahuasca. It is seen as something to do at least once in your life as it rebirths you into the world with a new outlook. Users often feel very connected to the natural land around them and report a new understanding of conscience collectivism, a thought that looks at the way everyone and everything is connected, one way or another. These concepts are extremely important in understanding why the world took on a new way of thinking in its postwar era. 


While it broadens one’s understanding of consciousness and has led to this movement in the west, that isn’t ayahuasca’s sole purpose, especially not in Bolivia. It was initially used as a way of divination and communicating with spirits and forces beyond the material world. Today, some of these practices remain, such as the necessity of a shaman in order to have an ayahuasca ceremony and the drawing of a circle of safety to keep away the bad entities that linger. Ceremonies sometimes take place in places of spiritual importance, it is important to note that Andean religion and cosmovision is so inexplicably linked to the lands its believers inhabited. 


In the west, the psychedelic movement in the mid-60s to mid-70s furthered their understanding of the conscious collective and took to the streets to protest against the looming destruction of war and increased rights for their fellow man. These sentiments can find their roots in the realisations people had come to through the use of these psychoactive drugs, used thousands of years ago by the Pre-Colombian Andean people. It seems almost fitting that a compassionate movement spurred by the unfathomable connection to the people and world around us has its roots thousands of years ago a whole continent away. Perhaps, everything is tied together after all.


This month’s edition of the Bolivian Express looks at more than the elusive ayahuasca. We take a journey through Bolivia’s more spiritual side and get into the world loving mood with a story on local greenhouses that sustain whole villages. Peace and love! 


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VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

En las décadas de 1960 y 1970, parte del mundo de habla inglesa estaba experimentando una revolución de ideas, en gran medida por la creciente popularidad de la música psicodélica, la literatura, el cine y, por último, pero no menos importante (y que había inspirado a los medios de comunicación mencionados), las drogas psicodélicas. Es un tiempo histórico donde se vio una mayor oposición a la guerra, en un momento en que se sentía muy real la amenaza de una guerra nuclear, donde también las personas intensificaron su lucha por los derechos de las personas negras, las mujeres y la comunidad LGBTQ +. Fue un momento crucial en la sociedad y mucho de ello fue indirectamente inspirado por psicodélicos, algo que ya se usaba siglos antes en Bolivia.


En el 2010, se encontró evidencia arqueológica que indica que la ayahuasca, una droga psicodélica, se usaba hace más de un milenio. La evidencia se encontró en una cueva, la Cueva del Chileno, en el sur de Bolivia, por la frontera con Chile. Se piensa que es algo que tienes que hacer al menos una vez en tu vida, porque te hace renacer con una nueva perspectiva. Quienes lo hacen a menudo se sienten conectados con la naturaleza y consiguen una conciencia comunitaria, un pensamiento que percibe que todos y todo están conectados, de una forma u otra. Estos conceptos son importantes para comprender por qué el mundo adoptó una nueva forma de pensar en su era de posguerra.


Si bien la ayahuasca amplía la comprensión de la conciencia en Occidente, no fue su único propósito, especialmente no en Bolivia. Inicialmente se usó como una forma de comunicación con espíritus y fuerzas del mundo inmaterial. Hoy se mantienen algunas de estas ceremonias, con la guía de un chamán para alejar a los malos espíritus que perseveran. Las ceremonias a veces se hacen en lugares sagrados, porque la religión y la cosmovisión andina está misteriosamente ligada a las tierras donde habitaban sus creyentes.


El respeto que tienen por esta tierra sagrada los indígenas quechuas o aymaras es comparable a la conexión con la naturaleza que experimentan los practicantes de ayahuasca y otros psicodélicos. El movimiento psicodélico de mediados de los 60 a mediados de los 70 amplió su conciencia colectiva y tomó las calles para protestar contra la guerra y el aumento de los derechos de sus semejantes. Este conocimiento puede tener sus raíces en la conciencia que la gente había adquirido a través del uso de estas drogas psicoactivas, utilizadas hace miles de años por los pueblos andinos. Parece casi lógico que un movimiento impulsado por la conexión de las personas con la naturaleza, tenga sus raíces hace miles de años y a todo un continente de distancia. Quizás, después de todo, todo esté unido.


La edición de Bolivian Express de este mes examina más que la esquiva ayahuasca. Hacemos un viaje por el lado espiritual de Bolivia y nos adentramos en el ambiente afectivo del mundo con una historia sobre los invernaderos locales que sustentan pueblos enteros. ¡Paz y amor!

ARTICLES FROM THIS ISSUE

IN THE ARMS OF THE MOON GODDESS / EN LOS BRAZOS DE LA DIOSA DE LA LUNA

30 Jun, 2021 | Nikolaus Hochstein Cox

ENGLISH VERSIONThe elderly Aymaran woman runs about the circle with almost supernatural vigour, touching each of our bowed heads with the wrapped sacrifice. She whispers a breathless incantation, and...

DARK GODS, DARK RITES / DIOS OSCURO, RITOS OSCUROS

30 Jun, 2021 | Alex Walker

Photo: Iván RodríguezSubtitle: WHEN UKRAINIAN MODEL AND BARBIE DOPPELGÄNGER VALERIA LUKYANOVA PROCLAIMED HERSELF TO BE A REINCARNATION OF THE TIWANAKAN GOD WIRACOCHA, LITTLE DID SHE KNOW THAT SHE WAS...

OLD MARKET, NEW MEDICINE / VIEJO MERCADO, NUEVA MEDICINA

30 Jun, 2021 | Toby Clyde

ENGLISH VERSION The name, El Mercado de las Brujas or the Witches Market, does little to accurately describe the bustling medicine and ritual trade just off Plaza San Francisco. In reality, the m...

HEALING SPACES / ESPACIOS DE SANACIÓN

30 Jun, 2021 | Elsemieke de Boer

ENGLISH VERSION Local Produce Feeds the Urban ThrongsDoña Berta’s greenhouse is part of a smart solution to today’s global urban challenges. The rapid urbanization rates of the last decades, especiall...

PALO SANTO

30 Jun, 2021 | Sophie Hogan

ENGLISH VERSIONThe miracle tree and its usesThe smell seeps easily into my nostrils as we light the wood and put it in the holder. The smoke begins to flurry out of the holes in the cup and the fragra...

THE CHURCH OF AYAHUASCA / LA IGLESIA DEL AYAHUASCA

30 Jun, 2021 | Valeria Wilde

Illustration: Marco TóxicoENGLISH VERSIONFor Andean and Amazonian indigenous cultures in Bolivia, hallucinogenic plants are synonymous  to medicine, spirituality and even religion. Ever since anc...

‘Apacheta Nº8’

30 Jun, 2021 | Curated by: Marisabel Villagomez

ENGLISH VERSION by Max Siñani: Making the invisible visibleConnections are rarely established anymore. They are scarce, like those mysteries in which the invisible emerges from other dimensions. They...