Midnight Bathing Ceremony

Last weekend my host family took me on a crazy and unforgettable adventure: ritual bathing at midnight in a "hot" spring to celebrate the festival of Inti Raymi. The purpose of bathing at midnight in this vertiente, as they call it, is to purify yourself and make your body strong and resistant to illness. I refrained from sharing with them my thought that being wet and outside at midnight in the coldest month of the year might actually invite sickness. Around 20 of us--my family and all of their cousins, aunts, uncles, friends-- piled into the back of a big truck at around 11pm, my sisters assuring me that we were going far, far away and that I'd better bring my pillow. No more than 15 minutes later, the truck stopped.

I was confused, but followed everyone else as they climbed out of the truck and started along a path into the woods. Carrying candles, we descended muddy switchbacks into a valley. I was told that if I didn't gather firewood along the way, I'd be charged admission. I knew they were just kidding me, but I gathered as much firewood as I could carry anyway. I began to think that there would be a lot of people where we were going, and wondering what exactly they meant by "bathing". Was this going to be a freezing cold stream? Would I be told to whip myself with an ortiga nettle? Would I really be invincible to illness afterward?

When we arrived at the bottom of the switchbacks, we were in a pasture-filled valley bottom. Only a few yards away was the spring, bubbling and steaming. Sweet, I thought, this isn't going to be freezing and miserable after all. Even better, we built a huge bonfire and sat around it on benches.

Meanwhile Santos, my host dad sprinkled rose petals around the edge of the spring and in the water too, preparing the ceremonial area. He called us all over, and we stood contemplating the dark forest we had come from as he chanted in Kichwa. He got into the pool and blew several long, deep blasts from the conch shell.

Then they said it was time to get in, so I changed into my suit and came back with my towel. The air was chilly but I thought it would make it that much nicer to get into the steaming water. One by one my cousins and sisters and uncles waded out to the middle of the pool, and Santos poured water over them from the conch, sprayed water from his mouth onto their faces, backs and arms, shook dry leaves over them, and sent away any bad energy with a big whoosh from his mouth.

I watched several people go before me, getting cold but excited for the hot water. Finally I put my foot in, and discovered that the water was only slightly warmer than the air!

Yikes, that discovery called for a cigarette. Actually, smoking the cigarette was part of the ceremony, along with "wine" that tasted like rubbing alcohol mixed with grape perfume.

When it was my turn, the water wasn't too bad, and I felt myself if not literally then at least emotionally cleansed. This was like the start of a new chapter, the summer months. No more runny nose and homesickness (I hoped).

Not everyone bathed-- Estela and Pacha preferred to hang out on the edge and watch. Margarita and Cristina, two of our cousins, were there for moral support.

Brr, time to warm up by the fire.

No sooner had I gotten out of the pool, it started raining. The dry eucalyptus leaves provided a short furious blaze, then fizzled out. Then it started pouring. We gathered our things and scurried up the switchbacks to the truck. By the time we got home it was 2am--the perfect time for chicken and potato soup!