NAVIGATION TIP:
Use
the Firefox
browser with the CoolPreview add on. CoolPreview will give a
magnifying glass icon at every link when you put your cursor on the
link. Click on the icon and it will open a separate, smaller window
with the definition of the term in it. You can either lock the window
by clicking the padlock icon in the top bar of the little window, or
move your cursor off the window and it will automatically close. This
is almost as good as mouseovers.
Lady
of Candelaria: See, Mama Igneos.
Lady
of the Three Fires: See, Mama Igneos.
lagarto
ronsapa: (n)
The lizard bee, a mariri
used in marupa
sorcery as well as by healers to convey messages. AYV
laica:
See, layca.
Lake
Titicaca:
(n) Considered the Womb of Pachamama, the seat
of the feminine polarity of the planet. The masculine polarity is in
Tibet. IGMP
Located on
the Bolivian/Peruvian border, the lake is central to the Inca
creation stories. From it sprang the sun and the moon, Inkari
and Collari.
The waters of the lake are said to be the tears of the Creator. A
narrow strait, Tiquina, separates the lake into two bodies of water.
The smaller, in the southeast, is called Lake Huiñaymarca in Bolivia
and Lake Pequeño in Peru; the larger, in the northwest, is called Lake
Chucuito in Bolivia and Lake Grande in Peru. More than 25 rivers empty
their waters into Titicaca. One small river drains the lake at its
southern end. This single outlet empties only 5 percent of the lake's
excess water; the rest is lost by evaporation under the fierce sun and
strong winds of the dry Altiplano. WBC (See,
Appendix B and Titicaca.)

LANDSAT
shot of Lake Titicaca.
lanla:
(n) (1) A type of sorcery characterized as trickster, using confusion
and misdirection.
(2) Earth elemental that eats hucha. JLH
lanlaku:
(n) Bad ghost.
lanti:
(n) Idol, graven image. PSL
lantin:
(n) Radiant wrapping. CHAM
laqhayay:
(v) To get dark. PSL
Lanzón (Span):
(n) The Lanzón is the colloquial name for the most important statue of
the central deity of the ancient Chavin
culture of the central highlands of Peru. The Chavín religion was
the first major religious and cultural movement in the Andes mountains,
flourishing between 900 and 200 BCE. The Lanzón takes its name from the
Spanish word for "lance," an allusion to the shape of the sculpture.
See, wanka.
Lanzón detail done with laser
scan. WIKI
The Lanzón in
situ.

The
Lanzón is housed in the central cruciform chamber of a labyrinthine
series of underground passages in the Old Temple of the ceremonial and
religious center of Chavín de Huántar. Devotees would be led into the
maze of pitch-black tunnels, eventually coming face to face with the
sculpture's
snarling mouth and upturned eyes. The worshipers' disorientation, in
addition
to the hallucinogenic effects of the San
Pedro cactus they were given before entering, only heightened the
visual and psychological impact of the sculpture. The central image of
the Lanzón functions as axis mundi, or
pivot linking the heavens, earth and underworld. Position within the
building also suggests centrality of image. The television show Ghost
Hunters International recently (2012) made a trip to Chavín and the
Lanzón and recorded odd heartbeat-like sounds coming from the stone on
a piezoelectric microphone. WIKI
SYFY

Las Huaringas: The most
important sacred lagoons to curanderos,
located above the town of Huancabamba, near the Peru-Ecuador border.
Many curanderos have been initiated at Las Huaringas and make periodic
pilgrimages to the area to collect herbs. Initiation and curing rituals
here involve a midday bath in a lagoon, during which one “sows” one's
soul in its waters. When one works with or bathes in the lagoon, the
herbs themselves “call” one. If the curandero is for good, the good
herbs are attracted to him and come near; and the bad herbs come to him
who is for evil. All this is according to the affinity of the herbs,
according to their function and their application. The word huaringas
is formed from the word Huari, meaning “god of force” or “thick
water.” The other root of huaringas is the colonial Spanish
version of the word “Incas” (Ingas, meaning
“lords,” or “kings.”) Thus, Las
Huaringas means
something akin to “place of the archetypal lords of life force and
water.” WOFW

Curandero
at Laguna Shimbre, one of the Las Huaringas lagoons.
lausahacha, yerba de
San Martín, verbena:
(n) Hyptis
verticillata Jacq. The
Indians employ this plant medicinally for many purposes, especially to
treat fatigue and chest ailments and pains. REPC

Lausahacha.
layca,
layqa, laica, laiqa, laika (AYM): (n) The term is understood as a
negative magician who practices black magic. That might be a concept
that the Spaniards gave and would like to imprint to the native healers
in order to give a bad connotation and be able to accuse them to the
Inquisition in order to destroy them. TP
A paq'o who is a sorcerer. A black magician. WOFW The
word is a loan from Aymara. In a contemporary context, the word carries
a malevolent connotation. The term umu can
sometimes be used interchangeably with layca. FPRA Sorcerer
or sorceress. VLA Female
sorcerer and healer. ACAI Wizard; witch; sorcerer, brujo.
RS
ASD Female
sorcerer and healer. ACAI See,
vtucani layca.
laycachatha
vmochatha
(AYM): (v) Bind with spells. ASD
layqa:
See, layca.
layqay:
(v) To practice witchcraft. PSL
leche
caspi, leche
huayo, sorva, cow tree: (n) Couma
macrocarpa is a
species of tropical plant native to tropical, humid Central and South
America. In the Peruvian Amazon, it is cultivated for its sap. The
sticky white latex is eaten for treating diarrhea and skin ailments. It
is used for patching and sealing and to waterproof canoes. The latex
has been harvested for use in plastics and rubber. The fruits are
chewy, milky, and sweet-tasting and attract monkeys. WIKI
The
latex of leche caspi running from the trunk. WIKI
Leche
caspi tree.
lechuza (Span):
(n) An owl, considered to be the alter-ego [nagual] of a curandera. WOFW See, therianthropy. See, also, huachuma for another picture.

A Moche period owl pottery vessel showing a
woman-owl,
the
alter-ego of female curanderas. WOFW
levantada (Span):
From levantar (to
raise).
SEES A ritual
step in a curandero session requiring
nasal ingestion of the tabaco by patient
and/or healer or assistants so as to pull out the evil from deep within
the patient's body and to strengthen the person or object being raised.
Generally, the tabaco which has been macerated in alcohol, is
nasally imbibed through first the left and then the right nostril. If
healer and/or assistants are raising the patient, they do so from his
feet to his head. The patient is instructed to shake out the evil after
the raising (see, limpia). Sometimes the healer employs strong
language or instructs the patient to shout profanities during the
levantada or while shaking out so as to counteract the
influence of the evil in his life. GOL
Bringing
the dormant energy of the mesa, or a khuya, sepka,
etc., to an animated state. PSPM
levantar
la mesa (Span):
(phrase) Literally, raise the mesa.
The subjects performing a curing session snuff through the nostrils (a
mixture of cane alcohol, scented water, and jasmine perfume. This
procedure is believed to purify the mesa (def. 2) and protect it from
evil influences. WOFW
Compare, raise the staff. See, perla.
level
of abstraction (Eng): (n)
In the curandero's mesa, objects
are arranged according to two levels of abstraction existing in the
same space/time: (1) the psychological level of the campos is linear mediation or balance (the
dialectic of good and evil); and (2) the cosmological level of the
four winds and the four roads seen as four triangles whose points
converge in the center of the mesa forming a cross representing
cyclical regeneration (death and rebirth) and metamorphosis. This
crucifix is the junction of the four roads that lead to the four winds.
Despite the contrast, this second level is an extension and refinement
of the dualism of the first level which is implicit in the strategic
grouping of power objects of the
mesa. Together the levels of abstraction mediate the tension between
opposites symbolized by power objects and rituals. [See, Tawantinsuyu, Appendix
D (for map of the four roads), Inca
medicine wheel]. WOFW

The
three campos, or fields, of the first level of abstraction of the
curandero mesa.

The converging triangles of the second level of
abstraction of the curandero mesa.
The four winds are
the four cardinal directions of the compass, and the four roads
are the diagonals that run from the central crucifix. WOFW
(See, magnetismo and transistoriality.)
ley
line: See, ceke
light
body: See,
luminous body.
Limacpampa:
See,
Rimacpampa.
limanda:
(n) A portable sacred object representing a pledge to the ayllu
-- taken home and displayed in the home by the pledger -- as a reminder
of the debt and of the pledger's membership in the ayllu. When the
donor pays the pledge, s/he returns the limanda. (Origin of word
unknown.) AWE
limpia (Span):
(n) From Spanish limpiar (to clean). A therapeutic act
performed in a curandero session.
Cleansings with staffs and artes from the
mesa help draw out the daño and also help
the healer see the cause of affliction. In the picture below, the
limpia is done not only by the healer's assistants, but also by other
patients and family members. Limpias involve the vigorous rubbing of
the patient's body in an up-to-down motion with various artes,
especially staffs and swords. After each limpia, the patient is
instructed to shake him or herself vigorously by jumping and fully
extending the arms and legs so that elbow and knee joints pop. This
action helps to disengage the evil from the patient's body. Meanwhile,
the healer and/or assistant, using their mouths, kamay the patient and/or the arte with cane
alcohol, rubbing alcohol, or another liquid appropriate to the
particular healer's ritual, so as to send the evil from the
patient's body. GOL

Limpia
performed on a patient in a curandero session. GOL
limpia
con quwi: Literally, cleansing
with guinea pig. The use of a guinea pig in divining disease (sp). On suspicion of witchcraft (generally expected with an
illness), the patient is rubbed with a live guinea pig which is
vivisected and the entrails divined, since the sensitive guinea pig is
believed to take on the body “humors” and ailments of the patient. If a
patient has an organic disorder, the corresponding organ of the guinea
pig is believed to become spotted or to turn black. In a case involving
witchcraft, the spine of the animal is broken, indicated that a hex
removal is necessary. WOFW
Compare, soba
con quwi at kacuni, which is a
different, yet similar, procedure.

Eduardo
Calderon performing limpia con quwi on a woman who dropped by his house
for a diagnosis. She brought her own guinea pig and perfumed spray. The
animal's back was not broken (see definition above). Vivisection of it
revealed that woman had a medical problem with her liver. ETH
lineage: (n)
Lineal descent from an ancestor or predecessor. RHCD The shamans of one's tradition who have gone
before and those who are yet to come; the accumulated akashic knowledge of this lineage. PGO

[T]he
awakening of the ancient memories ... is not you, the individual,
remembering, because you will only remember the events of your life. It
is, rather, stepping through the crack between the worlds and taking
your place among the twice born, all those who have conquered death.
They are those who have done battle with the archetypes and the forces of nature to
become the persons of knowledge. They
are our ancestors, the trustees of the Earth. They are the ones who
have come before us and who will follow. Become them and allow them to
become you, and their memories will grow in you, for they are who you
are becoming.
-- Alberto Villoldo, Dance of the Four Winds

Little
Pachamama: (n) A
spirit chosen by a community around Lake Titicaca. In
colonial times, each community was encouraged to pick a saint or a
Madonna as a protective spirit. IGMP
liutu, Peruvian
lily, lily of the Incas: (n) Alstroemia
ligtu. The
Chileans extract a white starch from the roots which provides a soft
food for babies and the elederly and those suffering from stomach
ailments. This flour is very easily digested. REPC

Liutu,
or lily of the Incas.WIKI
loa (Span):
(n) The praisemaker of an Ecuadorian festival. He rides around the town
on a horse, praising the patron of the festival and others. He is
pelted with candy and sugar by yumbos,
who try to draw blood. His only defense is to duck his head and ride
quickly. TAV

lo
andino (Span):
(n) A culture complex that has survived the colonial period and the
technological changes of the modern world -- a complex that has at its
cultural ecological core an agropastoralism that takes advantage of
environmental diversity to minimize risk and foster self sufficiency.
It is the most profound meaning of the Andes and comes not from a
physical description, but from the cultural outcome of 10 millennia of
knowing, using and transforming the varied environments of western
South America. NCA
The timeless Andean way of doing things. Rituals are an integral part
of daily activities and there is no clear delineation between the
sacred and the profane. One enduring belief is in the circulation of
life-giving forces throughout the world. JAR
The
Inca and pre-Inca did not
think of the physical and metaphysical as being different realities. IGMP (See,
ayni and Appendices H and N for some info
on pre-Inca cultures.)
loco(a) (Span):
(adj) Crazy; amoral. GOL
love
magic: See, enredo.
lucero
ayahuasca:
(n) Literally, star
ayahuasca.
Also called cielo ayahuasca.
EMM
lucid
dream (Eng):
(n) A dream wherein you are aware that you are dreaming and can direct
the dream. Ludic dreaming is taught as a higher
cognitive/psychospiritual skill on many seemingly different paths, i.e.,
nagualismo and Bön
(Tibetan shamanism). Also called dream yoga, it is considered that
skill with lucid dreaming will lead to a better conscious death
experience. PGO
luluwen
(Mapuche): (n) Subtle or material entity affecting those who sleep. CHAM
luminous
awareness:
(n) See,
zero point.
luminous
body
(Eng), runa kurku k'anchay : (n) A
cocoon that only [qhawaqs]
can perceive, a cocoon that gives us the appearance of giant luminous
eggs. TEG
Runa
kurku k'anchay differs subtly in meaning from poq'po (human energy bubble) in that it
refers to a light body that is juxtaposed with the physical
body, whereas poq'po refers to the living energy fields that
are intimately tied into and connected with the human body. ANON1

luminous
warrior , warrior
of light (Eng): (n) The basic difference between an ordinary man and a
warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an
ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse. The
self-confidence of the warrior is not the self-confidence of the
average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the
onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks
impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness. The average
man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to
infinity. The average man acts only if there is a chance for profit;
warriors say they act not for profit but for the spirit. The art of
being a warrior is to balance the wonder and the terror of being alive.
CCVW Character
is a muscle that must be developed and exercised. The character of the
Luminous Warrior consists of integrity (a self-created code of honor
and conduct), impeccability in the practice of this code, the use of
intelligence and compassion in lieu of force, quantum
consciousness, courage and a healthy frequent connection to a
spiritual practice that helps the Luminous Warrior achieve and maintain
enlightenment. PGO
The
Luminous Warrior has faced her fears and stepped into the power and
freedom that comes from confronting and embracing her own death. She
has conquered her anger and the violence within, transmuting them to
compassionate action; she has no enemies. She is adept at sending her
consciousness into other dimensions. AVO
See,
intention, personal power, puma runa, impeccability.

A
[luminous] warrior is not just a person who has learned some moves, is
able to kick at 90 miles per hour or who has won the world
championships at kick-boxing. A warrior must earn his title, . . . who
knows things that go far deeper than just self defense, he is someone
who walks into a room full of people and an immediate calm falls upon
that room, he is a person who can touch a person's head, or arm, or
hand and cause an inner stillness and peace to fall upon that person.
We know the warrior by his presence and the healing he automatically
gives to everyone he meets. His energy is touching you, you don't feel
anything physical, but rather the internal effect of this touching, and
peace is with you. The warrior looks upon the earth in a different way
than those who are not warriors, everything, from the smallest insect
to the largest mammal, and the most insignificant rock or tree is
important and has life, the grass he walks upon he thanks for softening
the rough path, the trees he thanks for giving him shade and oxygen.
Everything has importance because it was put there by mother earth for
some reason. EMTW

lupitha:
(v) Sunny (make sun). ASD
lupuna
colorada:
See,
puka-lupuna, palero.
luratapa
(AYM): (n) Creature of God. ASD
lurin:
See,
hurin.
luylu:
(adj) Clean. QP