Cuando el diablo mete la cola: k´horo, chamanismos y mundos liminales en los Andes centro sur

Abstract

This paper explores the trajectories and relationships of a plant mentioned in the early chronicles of the conquest of South America as “coro”. It compiles background information on the subject, analyses herbarium specimens, lexicographies and specimens obtained in markets in the central-southern Andean area in the last decade. Focusing on this area, the paper explores the relationships and links that the coro or khuru proposes, as it is present in situations and trades (childbirth, illness, shamanism, war and mining) that indicate moments of transition, passage and movement between the limits or edges of the inner and outer worlds of both, space-time and bodies. It is proposed that the “khoro” refers mainly to roots and secondarily to stems of wild plants that are linked to the inner world and its connection with the outer world, the anatomy and physiology of these organs being the faithful reflection of their force that enables the movement of elements and substances between states or sides of the world.

Keywords

• tobacco
• vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil)
• childbirth
• fright