complex of farm houses. The patients sat passively on rough 

 benches along one wall of the enclosure; at their feet lay the 

 offerings that each must bring for the ceremony: a bottle of 

 alcohol, a bag of white sugar, and one bottle each oiaguaflorida 

 (scented water) and agua cananga (red perfume). Each of the 

 patients had already consulted the maestro and the healing 

 process began at that first encounter; some of the patients had 

 been waiting all day, and this period of inactivity before the 

 ceremony appears to be a deliberate part of the ritual. There is a 

 space specified for the purpose, and the maestro, while 

 providing food, remains aloof and interacts very little with the 

 waiting patients. 



The patients exemplified the ecletic troubles treated by the 

 maestros. There was a father and a daughter from Mendoza, 

 near Chachapoyas in the Maranon basin. Until recently, the girl 

 had been paralyzed, and though partially treated by a brujo 

 ("witchdoctor") from Bague, she still suffered severe back and 

 stomach pains and a general psychological depression. Further, 

 a mysterious ailment had reduced the family's cattle herd from 

 58 to six head; and, to make things worse, an aunt had recently 

 gone mad. The aunt had been too sick to travel; hence the father 

 presented coins and hex stones in her proxy. Another patient 

 was a business man from the coastal city of Sullana who wanted 

 to discover the identity of the culprit who had embezzled 

 800,000 soles (US-1 500.00 then) from his business. The final 

 patient was insane. Several weeks before, he had discovered his 

 wife in the arms of another man. The forsaken husband had 

 gone for a gun, but the temporary lover was quick of tongue. He 

 had cursed the husband, warning him that a murder would be 

 avenged in heaven, and that, in the meantime, he would face life 

 in a Peruvian jail. According to don Pancho, the words had 

 fallen "like clumps of sod across a hollow coffin". The husband 

 had collapsed in convulsions, during the course of which he went 

 mad. 



The maestro appeared shortly after ten. His body was 

 wrapped in a deep blue poncho, and his enormous hat added 

 years to his aspect. All that was visible was his elephantine nose 

 and a chin that resembled the toe of an old boot. Holding a 



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