Not only have I got the Virgin Mary on my side but some Inca Gods on the bench just in case. Copacabana, Bolivia is a place of great religious significance because both the Virgin Mary performed a rash of miracles there and it also lays on the shore of Lake Titicaca, where the Incan Gods and people were born.
This Garden of Eden is nothing like a garden. The deep turquoise lake is surrounded by 4,000 meter (14,000 feet) mountains. After the long bus ride I stretched my legs by walking to the obligatory cross-on-top-of-hill-overlooking town. Along the path there were depictions of the 12 stations of the cross, at each station there was a larger and larger pile of stones that people had left as offerings.
About halfway up the trail there was a bunch of drunks having some sort of bizarre party. I did not pay much attention because they were pouring beer on each other’s heads and I thought it best just to keep moving. While I was resting after reaching the top I finally began to notice what was really happening around me. People were buying little handmade cars, houses, fake bundles of hundred dollar bills and with the aid of a shaman were giving these to the Virgin Mary in hopes that she would help them in the next year.
I thought “what could it hurt,” and hired two shamans (so I would be doubly insured) to help me pray. The ceremony involved praying into and breathing into a small charcoal grill and lots and lots of beer. I bought two 40 ozs which at different points were poured into my hands like holy water and I threw it into the wind. The howling wind flew the beer straight back into our faces while I shouted my prayer to the Virgin.
Having already performed several ceremonies that day my shamans were already pretty well soaked in beer. Each shaman took swigs of beer and poured some into the four corners of the small garden that held mine as well as other prayers. They offered a little to the wind after each round. The Wind kept refusing; pouring the beer back on us, but no one seemed to mind. We took turns doing this until two forty oz bottles were gone. My shamans Jose, and Jesus (I am not kidding) suggested I buy two more forty ozs to make sure my dream came true. This seemed like a good idea.
For a mere 3 dollars I got a beer soaked religious ceremony, which is sure to make my dream come true.
Applying the “then it won’t come true” theory, I am not going to tell you what I wished for.
Photography and Narrative by Kevin Patterson www.sonofpatter.com