Don Apolinar Ramos Quispe

Written by Tim Mussche

Don Apolinar was born in 1949 in Hanaqwayku, nowadays called Lunlaya, which is a small community near Charazani, the heart of the Kallawaya region.

Close to his parental house lived an old lady, who was a famous curandeira. By observing her, assisting her in her healing practises, collecting the plants, don Apolinar learned all there is to know about the medicinal properties and applications of the plants.

Also early in his life, he was fortold by a Cato wise man that he was to become a famous and succesfull curandeiro.

The Kallawaya spiritual knowledge was passed on to him and his uncle through his grandfather, who was a renowed wise man and healer. Pilgrimages are essential in the Kallawaya spiritualism; one undertakes these journeys to sacred mountains, lakes, rocks, in order to ask for blessings, strenght and protection.

Don Apolinar has cooperated to several books and studies on the Kallawaya people and assisted Dr. Ina Rösing who performed a decade of studies on the topic.

Nowadays, as a maestro Kallawaya curandeiro, his work embraces the two main aspects of his rich tradition: - medicinal work: plants, herbs, treatments, herbal baths, massages,.. - spiritual work: rituals, burnt offerings, coca readings, pilgrimages, cosmovision…

His fame brought him all over Bolivia, as well as to Equador, Peru, Argentinia and Brasil.

His philosophy speaks of the necessity of the acknowledgement to live in a round world, instead of a square one and to live in constant reverence to Pachamama, to Mother Earth.

This is his prayer:

“The earth is a living being
the stones are her bones
the water is her blood
the wind is her breath
the clouds are her hair
we are born from the earth
we will return to her.”