Opening
Cuentan nuestros mayores, que Nej nuestros abuelos creadores Uma y Tay aconsejan ofrecer, brindar y hacer pagamentos a nuestros espíritus guardianes, con comidas, bebidas y remedios, así evitamos que los cóndores quienes son los nietos del Nej, sobrevuelen su espíritu dejando enfermedades y energías negativas sobre nuestra madre tierra, provocando hambrunas, conflictos y enfermedades. La ley de origen Nasa dice que todos los seres de la naturaleza deben permanecer en armonía para que la madre tierra siga siendo generosa; por eso los rituales y las ceremonias sagrados, desde el pensamiento, sentimiento y las prácticas espirituales, siempre han permitido la relación armónica con nuestros espíritus guardianes creadores del universo.
Our elders tell that Nej our grandparents and creators Uma and Tay advise to offer, toast, and make payments to our guardian spirits, with food, drinks, and remedies, so as to avoid that the condors, who are the grandchildren of Nej, fly over his spirit sowing sickness and negative energies in our mother earth, causing famines, conflicts, and illnesses. The Nasa law of origins states that all natural beings must coexist in harmony in order for mother nature to remain generous; because of this, the sacred rituals and ceremonies, from the spiritual thinking, feeling, and practices, have always ensured a harmonious relationship with our guardian spirits creators of the universe.
(CRIC, Gran Ritual Sagrado Saakhelu Kiwe Kame, translation into English by the author of the blog post)
The Saakhelu is a ritual that celebrates fertility, fecundity, and prosperity for the Nasa people. But it’s also a community practice for the protection of life, the territory, and nature. But how can a ritual protect the life and territory of the Nasa people, who have been caught in the midst of a more than 50-year-long armed conflict?
From a Euro-centric or Western perspective, it can be difficult to understand protection practices that rely on spirituality. However, the Nasa people believe that these practices are fundamental to ensure their survival not only as individuals but, most importantly, as a community. The armed conflict in Colombia has caused – and continues to cause – what the Nasa people refer to as disharmonies in their ancestral territories. Cultural and spiritual protection practices aim to bring, restore, or maintain harmony into the indigenous territories, without recourse to weapons or violence.
The Ritualising Protection Project (RPP), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Creating Safer Space Network, aims to understand how certain Nasa spiritual and cultural practices protect Nasa communities, and to what extent the Colombian state could better support these practices.
This blog will document the research process and record some reflections of the RPP team throughout the duration of the project.
Piergiuseppe Parisi
