Moonlight seeps through the palm-thatch roof of the maloca, a circular communal house in the village of La Pedrera in southern Colombia. Sitting in the centre of the space, a shaman from the Murui ethnic group chants and hums, deep in concentration.
The shaman passes around a white plastic container filled with green powder. Each of the young men in the circle scoops a pinch of the powder into his cheek and moistens it with saliva. The older man’s lips are coated with the powder, a mixture of pulverised coca leaves and ash called mambe, an integral part of rituals that helps the participants focus.
