Communication with the Spirit World.

Shaman in power stance,  chewing coca leaves.

Communication with the Spirit World and its relationship with sacred plants: the coca leaf.

The leaf of the coca plant (Erithroxilum coca) was chewed in order to contact the spirits by the indigenous societies of Ecuador. It was used by initiated people to access a trance state conducive to meditation and divination, in which it is possible to "see" or "hear" the gods and ancestors (Ontaneda and Espínola, 2003). For this reason, it was used as a ritual offering, in ceremonies at huacas (sacred places) and to cure various ailments of the human body.

The common people used it to alleviate hunger, thirst and fatigue during long days of work and travel, so it was considered a highly valued gift.

In Ecuador, the oldest evidence of human figurines representing the act of chewing coca leaves corresponds to the last stage (1800 – 1500 BC) of the Valdivia culture. However, its greatest artistic representation occurred in other cultures of the Ecuadorian coast during the last centuries before the beginning of our era, as there are a large number of characters carrying the necessary tools for chewing; that is, the box of llipta (a mixture of salt and ashes) in one hand and the spatula in the other, showing the preparation of the shaman to enter into ecstasy and thus be able to communicate with the spirits.

Among the representations of coca growers, those from the Cosanga culture (400 BC – 1532 AD) also stand out, located in the foothills of the Ecuadorian Amazon. These are figures modeled on vases, which generally have protuberances on each of the cheeks - which indicate the chewing of coca leaves - unlike the coca growers of the Capulí tradition (700 – 1500 AD) of the Sierra Septentrional, who show this protrusion on only one side. This could be interpreted in the sense that, possibly, there is a relationship between the greater consumption of coca leaves and the greater power of the Amazonian shamans, compared to the mountain people.

Recent interpretations suggest that Capulí pottery was used as a funerary offering by religious leaders (shamans), while Piartal pottery was used by political leaders (caciques) not only in their tombs but at all important events. The two main groups of lords were part of the same society that preceded the Pasto culture, which existed at the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
Other evidence of its use by indigenous cultures of Ecuador can be found in the Bahia, Jama-Coaque, Panzaleo, La Tolita cultures, among others.

Without looking beyond the contemporary borders of the Republic, history confronts us with many examples of coca consumption by indigenous people of diverse ethnic origins; a use almost always described by historians, archaeologists and anthropologists as a religious, astrological and medicinal ritual. If we extend to the aboriginal customs of other Andean countries we find the same: other indigenous cultures closely linked to coca, a leaf as present in the economic and commercial structures of South America as corn, achira, beans, yuca, seashells or fabrics and wool from the highlands.
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