Peru Shaman and Despacho Ceremony: Andean Spiritual Guide

What a despacho is, who the paqo is, coca k'intu, August and the Pachamama, our Aymara Baptism on Titicaca, etiquette, and why ayahuasca is something else.

A despacho, or pago a la tierra, is an offering to the Pachamama, Mother Earth: coca leaves, seeds, sweets and llama fat that an Andean ritual specialist, the paqo, wraps and then burns or buries. The main date is August 1. Amantaní Island on Lake Titicaca (3,817 m / 12,523 ft) keeps a heritage-listed ritual. Nothing psychoactive is used.

A despacho prepared in Chinchero, in the Sacred Valley, just before it was folded closed. Photo: Cielle Cindy Backstrom, CC BY-SA 2.0

Quick facts

The short version

• "Peru shaman" is what travelers search for. In the Andes you meet a paqo, a ritual specialist, not a healer handing out drugs.
• A despacho is a gift. You give coca leaves and a wish. You drink and take nothing.
• August is the month. Cusco holds a big public offering at Sacsayhuamán on August 1.
• Llachón and Amantaní, on Lake Titicaca, are the Quechua-speaking communities where our mystical programs hold their ceremonies.
• Ayahuasca is an Amazonian tradition with real health risks. We do not offer it or recommend retreats.

What is the Andean worldview behind these ceremonies?

Reciprocity: the earth feeds people, so people feed the earth back. Andina, Peru's state news agency, explains that pacha means earth, world and universe in Quechua and Aymara, and that Andean towns thank the Mother Earth for food, crops and water.

Pachamama is the living earth, generous but also hungry and thirsty. The municipality of Maras, in the Sacred Valley, describes August 1 as the time "for the earth to eat, drink and smoke".

Apus are the mountains that guard a place. When paqos made an offering at the Qorikancha in Cusco in 2017, Andina reported that they raised the gifts toward Salkantay, Ausangate, Pachatusan and Huanacauri, the apus around the city.

Ayni is help given and returned. The MINCETUR tourism inventory notes that the weavers of Huilloc, near Ollantaytambo, still live by ayni and minka, communal work, as "fundamental values of the Andean worldview". Peru's Ministry of Culture calls the Amantaní ritual "the annual renewal of the relationship of reciprocity" between the hills and the people. A despacho is ayni with the earth, which is why it feels more like paying a debt than watching a show.

Who is a paqo, and is "shaman" the right word?

A paqo is an Andean priest who makes offerings for a family or a community. "Shaman" is the traveler's word. Peruvian sources say paqo, altomisayoq or sacerdote andino, Andean priest.

The 2017 Qorikancha offering was led by altomisayoq and paqos from the Q'ero Nation and the district of Ocongate, Andina reported. In July 2026 the Ministry of Culture launched a cultural and spiritual route in Hatun Q'ero, in Paucartambo, where visitors can join a Haywarikuy, the Cusco name for the offering, led by the community's own members.

On Amantaní the officiants are islanders. The Ministry's 2020 resolution explains that the community collects money and food a week ahead to buy the offering and to pay the paq'os, who act as intermediaries between the sacred beings and the people. Paying a paqo is part of the tradition, not a sign of a fake.

What happens in a despacho, step by step?

Every paqo has his own way. This is the sequence Peru's Ministry of Culture recorded for the Pachatata Pachamama ritual on Amantaní, with details from Andina's reports on Cusco.

1. Permission. Everyone stands, takes off their hats and goes quiet while the officiant asks the Andean and Christian deities for permission to begin.
2. The cloth. He spreads woven cloths, the lliclla, and lays many k'intus of three coca leaves on them.
3. The gifts. Helpers add flowers and sugar sweets. The Amantaní table also holds llama fat and wool, incense and wine. In Cusco, Andina lists coca, llama or alpaca fat, huayruro seeds, maize, wine, sugar and sweets.
4. Prayers in Quechua, while coca is shared among those present.
5. Wine and smoke. The bundle is blessed with incense and sprinkled with red wine, then passed to each authority, who kisses it.
6. Fire or earth. It burns until only ash is left. In the August community version Andina describes, it goes into a hole about 50 cm (20 in) deep, wrapped in a lliclla, burned and covered with soil.
7. The signs. White ash means a good year, the Ministry notes. Dark ash or black stains mean a bad one.
8. Sharing food. On Amantaní everyone eats together: potatoes, dried oca, broad beans, chuño and small quinoa breads.

As a visitor you mostly stand quietly, give your k'intu and accept what is shared.

Why three coca leaves? The k'intu

A k'intu of three coca leaves, the smallest offering you can make. Photo: Raffanat, CC BY-SA 4.0

The k'intu is the unit of an Andean offering: three leaves of the sacred plant held together, as Andina puts it. At the Qorikancha, the mayor of Cusco and visitors in the crowd held up their k'intus, spoke their wishes and handed them to the altomisayoq, who wrapped everything in a small cloth for the fire.

When a paqo hands you leaves, pick three whole, green ones, put them together like a small fan and think of what you want to ask or give thanks for. Then hand them back with both hands. At the end, Andina adds, the paqos read the coca leaves, so you may see the officiant study how a handful falls.

Why is August the month of the Pachamama?

Because the earth wakes up for planting. Andina reports a belief from Puno that the Pachamama rests from June 21 and wakes on August 1, hungry and thirsty. The Maras municipality adds that August is when furrows are opened for the new seeds.

Andina also notes how deeply the ritual has blended with Catholic faith. If you are in Cusco in June, our Inti Raymi guide covers the festival season.

What is the "Aymara Baptism" in our packages?

A purification ceremony on Lake Titicaca, then a gratitude ceremony on the hill of Pachatata and a night with a family on Amantaní. Here is what our itineraries say, and only that.

Morning, Llachón. A boat from Puno takes you to Llachón, on the Capachica peninsula, for what our itinerary calls "a purification ceremony and connection with Pachamama and Mamacocha", the lake as mother.

Afternoon, Pachatata. On Amantaní you climb Pachatata for "an Andean ceremony of gratitude to the universe guided by an Andean master", then sleep in a family home. Our itinerary gives 4,130 m (13,550 ft) as the day's high point. MINCETUR lists Coanos, the Pachatata hill, at 4,115 m (13,501 ft) and the Pachamama hill at 4,130 m. Either way, walk slowly.

Next day, Uros and Cochamacho. Back toward Puno you stop at the Uros floating islands and join the Cochamacho, a ceremony "full of music, dances and traditional costumes" in gratitude to water.

About the name. The program says Aymara, the people the Ministry of Culture places mainly in six provinces of Puno. Llachón and Amantaní, though, speak Quechua: Andina calls Llachón a "Quechua-speaking community", and the Amantaní ritual is prayed in Quechua. Your guide explains both cultures.

What it is not. This is a ceremony arranged for visitors with local officiants, not the islanders' own January ritual. The two hilltop enclosures used for that one stay closed the rest of the year, the Ministry says.

Late afternoon on Pachatata, Amantaní. Bring a warm layer for the walk down in the dark. Photo: Abelchristian111, CC BY 4.0

Titicaca is higher than Cusco, so read our Cusco altitude guide and our Lake Titicaca guide before you book.

How do you take part respectfully?

Follow the paqo, stay quiet while he prays and treat the offering as his work, not a photo prop.

• Ask before photographing. Never film the prayers without a clear yes.
• Hat off when he asks the mountains for permission.
• Do not touch the table unless you are invited to add something.
• Leave stones where they are. Stacked stones and hilltop altars are offerings.
• Stay outside closed enclosures, like the two ceremonial centers on Amantaní.
• Dress for the cold. Hilltop ceremonies end at dusk. Our Peru packing list covers layers.
• Thank discreetly. If you want to give more than your tour pays, do it afterwards. Our guide to money and tipping in Peru explains what is normal.

A stone altar on the summit of Cerro Pokopaka, decorated after a pago a la tierra. Look, but do not touch. Photo: H.dav.are, CC BY 4.0

How can you tell a real ceremony from a staged one?

Look at who leads it, what is promised and what is added. A real offering is run by someone from a named community who explains each element. Warning signs:

• It promises a cure. A despacho asks for a good year. Nobody honest guarantees healing.
• It comes with a psychoactive add-on. Ayahuasca or San Pedro "after the despacho" mixes traditions that have nothing to do with each other.
• Nobody can name the community the officiant comes from.
• It sells you a title, such as a "shaman" certificate after one afternoon.
• The price grows halfway through the ceremony.

Is ayahuasca part of Andean spirituality?

No. Ayahuasca comes from the Amazon. In 2008 Peru's National Institute of Culture declared the traditional knowledge and uses of ayahuasca by Amazonian native communities national cultural heritage, to protect that sacred use from "decontextualized, consumerist" Western uses with commercial aims.

The health side is serious. The US National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that DMT from Amazonian plants is used to make the tea called ayahuasca, lists nausea, vomiting and a racing heart among short-term effects of psychedelics, and warns of interactions with medicines that raise serotonin. The US State Department's Peru advisory warns that people in ayahuasca and kambo ceremonies have reported sexual assault, rape, theft, serious injuries and even death.

We do not offer ayahuasca and do not recommend any retreat. For general safety, see whether Peru is safe for tourists.

Frequently asked questions

What is a despacho ceremony? An Andean offering to the Pachamama and the mountains. A paqo arranges coca, seeds, sweets and fat on a cloth, prays and burns or buries the bundle.

Is a despacho the same as a pago a la tierra? Almost. Pago a la tierra is the ceremony, and the despacho is the bundle offered in it. In Cusco the offering is also called Haywarikuy.

What is a Peruvian shaman called in the Andes? A paqo, or an altomisayoq for the highest rank. Peruvian sources usually say Andean priest.

When is the Day of the Pachamama? August 1, with offerings through the whole month. Cusco holds a large public one at Sacsayhuamán that day.

Do you take any drugs in a despacho? No. You hold and give coca leaves, and nothing psychoactive is consumed.

Can tourists join a pago a la tierra? Yes, when a paqo or a community invites visitors, as on the Hatun Q'ero route or in our mystical programs. Community rituals like Amantaní's in January are not tourist events.

What is the Aymara Baptism? A purification ceremony in our mystical packages, held in Llachón on Lake Titicaca and followed by a gratitude ceremony on Pachatata, Amantaní.

Are Llachón and Amantaní Aymara communities? No, both speak Quechua. Andina calls Llachón Quechua-speaking, and the Amantaní ritual is prayed in Quechua.

How high is the Pachatata ceremony? Between 4,115 m and 4,130 m (13,501 to 13,550 ft), depending on the source. Acclimatize in Cusco first.

Do you offer ayahuasca? No. It is a separate Amazonian tradition with risks reported by US authorities, and we do not recommend retreats.

Join an Andean ceremony with us

At Viajes Cusco Perú, the Cusco tour operator behind this blog, our spiritual programs are cultural: coca, music and gratitude, led by local officiants, with a bilingual guide who explains each step. We do not run plant-medicine ceremonies, promise healing or sell certificates.

Start with the Aymara Baptism from Cusco to Puno in 5 days, from US$917 per person, with Machu Picchu, Llachón, Pachatata and a night on Amantaní. The complete 12-day version, from US$1,377, adds a Sacred Valley community day and the Home of the Gods tour, also sold alone from US$117 as an introduction to the Andean worldview. In Puno, the Aymara Route day tour, from US$127, visits the Inka Uyo temple and Amaru Muru. See all our mystical activities, and to stay with families rather than visit them, read our guide to community tourism in Peru.

Updated October 2026. Facts checked on October 20, 2026, against Peru's Ministry of Culture (Resolution 000099-2020-VMPCIC/MC, the July 2026 Hatun Q'ero route note and the Aimara people record), MINCETUR inventory records for Isla Amantaní and Huilloc, Andina (2008, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2026), the Maras district municipality, the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and the US State Department's Peru advisory as quoted by OSAC. Package details come from our own itineraries.