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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Y. Mara Teresa Hernndez

Burnt offerings, whispering to mountains: Inside Bolivians' rituals for Mother Earth

APTOPIX Bolivia Pachamama - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Neyza Hurtado was 3 years old when she was struck by lightning. Forty years later, sitting next to a bonfire on a 13,700-foot (4,175-meter) mountain, her scarred forehead makes her proud.

“I am the lightning,” she said. “When it hit me, I became wise and a seer. That’s what we masters are.”

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