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Chapter 6
Spirituality and the
Pachamama
in the Andean
Aymara Worldview
Vicenta Mamani-Bernabé
Abstract
This chapter shows the importance of cultural values and the role of
traditional religion in the daily life of the Aymara people of Bolivia and lifts up the
special importance women have in continuing traditional culture. Aymara life is
framed in rituals regarding the
Pachamama
or mother earth, planting and harvest-
ing, especially potatoes, and is based on a close and communicative relationship
with nature. The Andean worldview is based on male- female pairing because reci-
procity, duality, and complementarity form the defi ning principle in which harmony
and equilibrium are fundamental values. Likewise personhood is not granted to the
individual but to the couple. Only when a young man and woman marry are they
considered complete and are recognized as adults. Collective complementarity also
is the basis of labor relations and forms of collective labor continue to be an impor-
tant dimension of community life. This worldview, the values that sustain it and the
traditional religious rituals, reinforce community solidarity and seek to protect the
fi elds in order to respect the
Pachamama
as a living being, and to assure a good and
abundant harvest for the Aymara communities.
Keywords
Aymara •
Pachamama
• Potatoes • Reciprocity • Rituals
6.1
Introduction
The
Pachamama
is sacred life; to destroy it, is to destroy ourselves. As Llanque-
Chana (
1995
, p. 29) sustains:
The Aymara knows the earth as a fertile mother because life springs from her, whether it is
animal or plant life; she herself is life that generates life, because only something that is
alive is able to nourish life. For this reason the Aymara love, respect, venerate, and protect
her with all their strength.
For the Aymara person or
jaqi
, the
Pachamama
is the reason for being. Since
the
Pachamama
is a living being, she must be fed and nourished, if she is to
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