shell into the brew and instructed each patient to inhale the 

 liquid through his or her left nostril, a procedure immediately 

 followed for the right nostril. This florecimiento was repeated 

 periodically throughout the night. After inhaling each sample, 

 we were instructed to walk to the open end of the veranda, to 

 shake our bodies vigorously to "release the force". That end of 

 the open aired temple appeared to represent the interface 

 between the inner and the outer; the shrine as sanctuary and the 

 outer world as the place of darkness and spirits. 



The next hour was punctuated by numerous invocations and 

 litanies reflecting both Roman Catholic and indigenous origins, 

 which were invariably followed by florecimientos. At one point 

 close to midnight, we were told to rise; and a large cauldron of 

 liquid was brought from the kitchen. A single cup of the San 

 Pedro preparation was passed repeatedly in a clockwise 

 direction, until each patient had drunk three cupfuls. By now, 

 the night was growing, and the temptation to sleep struck all 

 patients. The maestro talked incessantly, beseeching us to 

 refrain from sleeping, and as the San Pedro began to take effect, 

 a dialogue began between each patient and the maestro during 

 which the particular ailments were diagnosed. Each participant 

 was considered individually, with don Pancho pausing to 

 massage or suck on various parts of the patient's body to extract 

 the supernatural source of the afflictions. The diagnosis was 

 accompanied by ritualistic songs and chants and the rhythmic 

 shaking of the sacred rattle. After the diagnosis, the patients lay 

 down around the mesa, and attempted, sometimes in vain, to 

 heed the maestro 's warning to remain awake^. Just before dawn, 

 the man from Sullana lept to his feet, and rushed with a pair of 

 wooden staffs to the edge of the veranda yelling: 



"Away evil, away things of the night. We now have the power 

 through the grace of don Pancho Guarnizo and so away things of 

 the night!" 



A long series of grandiose accusations, boasts and threats 

 followed, which he accentuated with violent thrusts of the staffs. 

 Then, as the man returned to the mesa, each patient orally 

 sprayed aguadiente and perfume across the staffs. 



374 



