Strange Sacrifices in Catholic Bolivia
By “Awake!” correspondent in Bolivia
ON A recent sightseeing trip, a group of friends and I visited the city of Oruro. While most of the inhabitants of Bolivia are Roman Catholic, Oruro is known internationally for its folklore celebration during carnival time, a part of which is the Diablada, or dance of the devils.
“Does the Catholic Church permit a dance of the devils?” you may ask. Actually, Bolivia is a place of many strange religious customs. This is especially true, we learned, at Oruro.
At a certain mining camp, for example, workers offer prayers to the Virgin of Socavón at ground level. Underground, however, they offer cigarettes and coca leaves to el tío, the god of the underworld, that is, the Devil.
It was our goal to view the city of Oruro from the highest point overlooking it. So we went up the mountain of San Felipe. Upon reaching the summit of this mountain, we saw a unique example of the strange religious sacrifices made by Catholics in certain parts of Bolivia.
At that point of our journey, we noticed a family group consisting of a grandmother, her daughter and her husband, and two children, a five-year-old boy and a babe in arms. They had with them a full-grown sheep. We began talking to them and learned that they were Catholics. But why had they come to the top of the mountain, bringing along the sheep? The mother explained that they were about to offer the animal to San Felipe. But this did not turn out to be true.
We noticed that the grandmother appeared to be mumbling to herself. However, it became clear that she was reciting something. Was it the rosary? No, for the language was not Spanish but Quechua. These were Quechua Indians. We watched as the grandmother stopped her recitation, lifted a bottle and took a swig of pure alcohol mixed with soda. She also stuffed coca leaves into her mouth. The husband likewise drank and put coca into his mouth. This combination has a powerfully intoxicating effect.
By now the daughter too had begun praying fervently in Quechua. We noted repeated mention of the name Pacha Mama (Mother Earth), which refers to a goddess of the earth worshiped by these Indians. In reality the sacrifice was not for San Felipe, but for this goddess. They were invoking Pacha Mama to cause an increase of potatoes, sheep, llamas and other things of nature. We were told that the goddess needed a live heart and blood before she would answer prayers.
Then we saw another peculiar aspect of the ceremony. A small fire was lit with alcohol such as they had been drinking. The young woman threw pink and white molded blocks of sugar on the fire. On these were impressions of things such as demons, houses, trucks and llamas. These people were, in effect, asking Pacha Mama for protection, for a bigger house, and for more material goods.
Meanwhile, the grandmother and her son-in-law had gone a short distance down a hill to an altar. This was a flat area overshadowed by a large rock that had become blackened from the smoke of many sacrifices. We also noted pools of cold sheep fat from previous ceremonies. The grandmother and son-in-law then agitated a bottle of beer and sprayed it over the whole altar area to “sanctify” it. This reminded us of the use of holy water in other religious rites. Then confetti was strewn about and the boy was sent atop the altar with paper streamers. Now everything was ready.
The sheep, legs bound, was placed on a nearby rock. At a signal from the grandmother, the man slit its throat. Then he passed the knife to the grandmother who opened the sheep’s belly. As we stood by astonished, she plunged her hands into the opening to tear out the heart. It was necessary, they explained, to offer the heart to Pacha Mama while it was still beating and while blood was yet running from the jugular vein. Thereafter, the heart was buried in the ground. Also, a cup of blood mixed with sugar was given to the boy, who ran back up the hill to pour it at the base of a cross that dominated the hill.
The grandmother now placed coca leaves in her cupped blood-drenched hands and, with outstretched arms, offered them at the altar, along with further prayers in the Quechua language to Pacha Mama. Later they burned parts of the sheep on the altar. The remainder of it would be taken home and eaten during a two- or three-day fiesta of dancing, drinking and coca chewing, in hopes that this goddess of the earth would accept their sacrifice and give them good luck.
We asked these people how they could harmonize being Catholic with making such a sacrifice to a pagan goddess. They replied that if they failed to do so the goddess would become angry with them. Also, they said that it was to appease el tío, who, as noted earlier, is the god of the underworld, or the Devil. These people saw no conflict in being Catholic and offering such a sacrifice.
After leaving the area, we thought seriously about what had taken place. This ceremony had been performed by persons who professed to be Christians. Yet, according to the Bible, Jesus’ sacrificial death rendered unnecessary all animal sacrifices. (Dan. 9:27; Heb. 10:1-10) As for doing an act of worship to the Devil, or to any other god or goddess, Jesus declared: “It is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’”—Matt. 4:10.
We pondered over how serious has been the failure of the Catholic Church to instruct humble people of many areas in basic Christian teaching. Weighty too, we reflected, is our responsibility as Jehovah’s Witnesses to seize every opportunity to share Bible truth with our neighbors here in Bolivia.