THE KERO AND ITS REMOTE HABITAT.

The Andean people comprise a large number of ethnic groups who inhabit the Andean Mountains in present-day Peru. The Andean cultures developed here for thousands of years before the invasion of the Europeans in 1532.
The Kero are the Andean people of Quechua ethnicity who live in one of the most remote places in the Peruvian Andes in the province of Paucar'Tambo, one of the 13 provinces in the Cuzco Region in the Southern highlands.
The Kero live in an area that stretches over several climates, with elevations from under 1800 meters to over 4500 meters. Their one-room houses are not larger than 20 square meters, and they are made of clay and natural stone with roofs of hard grass. Depending on the climatic zone, corn and potatoes may be grown, while the only means of transportation, the llamas, are kept in the high areas. The fields are plowed with a type of foot-plow tool named "chaqui taclla."
According to the 10-year census, there are six major villages, which are home for 600 Kero people and approximately 6,000 llamas and alpacas. The travel-time on the mountain trails between villages ranges from only an hour to a full three-days journey. The lower areas of the community are inhabited seasonally, in order to till the fields; accordingly the housing there consists of temporary huts made of clay and branches.
The Kero people practice an active tradition of oral literature, with stories passed down from generation to generation. According to Kero mythology, their ancestors defended themselves from the invaders with the aid of the spirits of the local mountains that devastated the European army near the pampa of Viracocha by creating an earthquake and subsequent rock-slide that buried the invaders.
The Kero people do not practice any particular religion, though they are highly spiritual. Their beliefs are not dogmatic. There are no shamans among them, as they are more mystical than shamanic level.
They call their spiritual leaders 'paqos," a term that may be translated as "priest" or "practitioner."
A major distinction between mystic and shamans is that shamans need to enter a trance state which is induced by either a medicinal plant, dancing, drumming, meditation, or some other type of transformational activity that allows the practitioner to transcend into a trance-like state in order to heal or diagnose disease.
According to Kero's myth, until now there were two great ages that replaced each other by big turning points in history (Pacha'cutec) while a new age is still approaching. During the first age, the time of the first men, only the moon (Quilla) existed. Within the first big turning point of history the sun (Inti) made its appeareance and dried out the time of the first men. The Inca was the son of the sun (Inti) and father of the Inca and therefore ancestor of the Kero people. When the Inca founded the city of Cuzco by throwing a golden rod, a new civilization arose. The current age was initiated by the arrival of the Europeans and the violent death of the Inca. This age will end with another turning point when the Inca returns converting the souls of everything into gold and silver. The sun will burn the world with bad people while good people will ascend to the sky.
The Kero people live in complete balance and respect for all living things (reciprocity). It is based on the idea of always giving and knowing that in the end you yourself will receive. Reciprocity (ayni) is also practiced with the spirit world and this puts one into the right relationship and harmony with all living things. The spirit of life around them is what they respect and honor. They understand deeply the balance of nature, its power and beauty, otherwise they could not exist in such a harsh and difficult environment in which they are enclosed like a walled spiritual city.

THE ANDEAN SACRED PLANT: COCA.

The Coca plant is native to the Andean Mountains of South America. It plays an important role in the Andean societies who live on the Eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia that chew the leaves as a way of life in the high altitude in which their communities are placed.
The knowledge of the sacred Coca plant's virtues has been passed on from generation to generation by way of mouth without any formal knowledge of chemistry. The plant has been used by the Andean people since ancient times.
The leaves are selected or chosen by their high concentration of sweet, aromatic compounds which give a better flavor in the mouth when the chewing process is on. It is still a common practice for a mother to introduce her young to the consumption of the coca leaves by preparing a wad of leaves in her mouth and then transferring it to the mouth of her child. First by chewing the coca leaves they are moistened by the saliva and easily broken facilitating the removal of the stalks and strings. Then a pinch of lime prepared from calcinated seashells, plant ashes or bicarbonate of soda is added pinch by pinch, until the proper mixture is achieved. The amount of lime is critical to the taste and to the concentration of alkaloid released. The wad of leaves is then kept relatively still between the teeth and the cheek; it is sucked on rather than chewed. When the mother transfer the wad from her mouth to the mouth of he child, the proper amount of lime will be presented in the first wad of leaves the child uses, which ensures that the first experience with the coca leaves will leave a positive introduction. Since lime is caustic, an excess will burn the mouth. The process itself involve the extraction of alkaloids from the leaves making them alkaline. The lime is the mechanism by which absorption of the alkaloids could be controlled. Thus, if while chewing the leaves a little too many alkaloids were released, one had only to easy up on the lime and let the saliva wash out some excess lime into the stomach. The lower concentration of lime would result in a slower absorption of alkaloids.
The same cautious and selective procedures are taken when the Coca plant is used in conjunction with other medicinal plants as a natural health enhancer and in the strict context of religious rituals for their various psychoactive effects that target certain neuronal receptors that alter perception, emotion and cognition.
The Coca plant began to be used for negative purposes at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the leaves with high concentration of the alkaloid used as the raw material for cocaine production were selected. The ones with the very low content are the sweet and flavored ones used for chewing.
The sweet and aromatic leaves help to maintain the teeth and gums in a good state of health; they also keep the teeth white. They are rich in vitamins, particularly thiamine, riboflavin, and vitamin C.
Coca tea has a beneficial influence on respiration and is said to effect rapid cure of altitude sickness. It also rids the blood of toxic metabolites, especially uric acid.