A blanket of incense smoke covers the city of Salta and a large part of the provincial territory, on the first day of August, and the rituals in honor of Pachamama multiplied, which will last throughout the month, with more than 40 activities programmed in different places to thank Mother Earth.
“This is an important day for all of us who venerate life throughout the earth,” said Severo Báez, who together with his wife Rafaela Gaspar perform each year, at the Vallistos and Puneños Residents Center, Located in the Villa Primavera neighborhood of the capital of Salta, the traditional invitation to Pachamama.
For Báez, this ceremony seeks to “raise people’s awareness, so that they love the land,” and not lose sight of ancestral customs and “the values of Andean cultures.”
At the Center for Vallistos and Puneños Residents of Salta, a landmark opens in the first minute of every August 1, to begin receiving all those who want to make their offering to Mother Earth, until 9:00 p.m.
In addition to the hole in the ground, there sand you can see tables with bread, coca leaves, chicha, drinks, charqui cigarettes and other products that are specially prepared for the offering, next to the tree that represents life.
Hundreds of people pass through there, throughout the day, to venerate the Pachamama, as a phenomenon that exceeds the north of Argentina, to be part of an important extension of South America, where the rites of gratitude to Mother Earth endure.
Rafaela Gaspar said that, after two years of the pandemic, the center once again made public access, both to people from Salta and to tourists, who come to perform their rituals.
Throughout the day, there you can listen to songs and bagualas, which add the color of music to the blanket of smoke generated by the incense, already from the first minutes of the morning.
Sahumar is a way to clean the energies to start a new year of gratitude for everything that has been achieved, and it is made with herbs such as rue, rosemary, myrrh, lavender, incense and cinnamon, among other ingredients.
The rite of Mother Earth. (Photos: Javier Corbalan)
This Monday, there was another ceremony of gratitude to Mother Earth in the San Martín Park, in the city of Salta, where in addition to tourists and the general public, there were students residing in state shelters.
In this rite, which has been carried out for 15 years, They were the Minister of Social Development of Salta, Silvina Vargas; and the Secretary of Indigenous Affairs, Luis Gómez Almarás; among other authorities.
In the vicinity of the Fair of artisans from the different native communities of the province, the popular offering to the cairn was made to thank Mother Earth, and which marks the beginning of planting times for the native peoples.
The treat, also known as Waska, represents an offering of food to Pachamamain return for what it gives us, and the masters of ceremony pointed out that it is an ancient rite, which encompasses all the original peoples, where it is sown, not only products to feed the body, but also affections, feelings, humility and respect, for the soul.
In Salta, more than 40 activities were prepared throughout the month of August, in 18 municipalities, within the framework of the tributes to Pachamama.
The Central Festival of the Andean Peoples is scheduled for Saturday, August 6, at 2:30 p.m., in the Community neighborhood, in the town of San Antonio de los Cobres, which is 185 kilometers from the capital of Salta, in the Puna.
The traditional invitation to the earth will be held there, while the closing will take place in the town of Tolar Grande, on August 31, with an offering and thanks to the Sacred Mother Earth in the Sacred Hill of Pachamama, with food tasting typical ancestral and the performance of Andean artists.
The Artisan Market of the city of Salta was another of the scenarios where Mother Earth was honoredled by associations of artisans, members of native communities and the troupes Los Alegres del Mercado Artesanal and Los Incas del Tawantinsuyo.
The activities began at 8 o’clock, with free admission, with the incense of vehicles and visitors, then a treat of cocido mate with rue, and, at noon, there was a folkloric show and a lunch with typical dishes such as locro, spicy chicken, pique macho, hot Andean salad and lentil stew, among others.
At 2:00 p.m., the Tribute to Pachamama was performed, by the Comparsa The Incas of Tawantinsuyoafter which the traditional treat and delivery of the yoki thread took place.
