En tiempos de alasitas, ekekos e illas….magic-religious festivals in Bolivia

Back in 2007 Karen and I were in Bolivia for a few weeks and met Jessica, a good friend of hers who, during the evening, gave us a miniature passport and money – euros, and dollars – that, she said, would bring us luck and become a reality. ‘Who knows’, she said, ‘you might even be able to use your passport to come back to Bolivia’.

Two months later Karen was applying for a job in Bolivia that she eventually got. So this is how I became interested in ekeko, alasitas and illa. The first is a little person who, it is said, during the Inca empire, acted as some form of adviser whom people would ask for help. With the arrival of the Spanish empire, the real figure disappeared but small figurines of ekeko became common and people would revere these.

Alasitas, (to buy, in Aymara) is now the name given to the festival that every year begins on 24th January. In it, people buy miniature models of all those objects of desire – a house, a car, money, food, certificates of good health and so on. So last Saturday Karen and I went to buy all those things that we think we need and that we want to wish on friends such as a black cockerel for those looking for a lover and a little frog for those who need better luck. The idea is that you get those object blessed through a traditional ch’alla - just like the ch’alla we had for the flat back in July - and then give them to your friends at midday.

Te idea is that the ‘illa’ or spirit of the object of desire represented in the miniature will become a reality during the year for the person who receives it. Not bad eh? Now, what did we get this year???