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All Bolivia La Paz Bolivia's Witch Market

Bolivia's Witch Market

Popular tourist destination where witches in dark hats sell dried llama fetuses for good luck.

La Paz, Bolivia

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Nick Jackson
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Bolivia’s Witch Market   Jimmy Harris/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Jimmy Harris/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Revolution_Ferg/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Josh Newman/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   psyberartist/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Revolution_Ferg/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   psyberartist/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Revolution_Ferg/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Josh Newman/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Revolution_Ferg/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Josh Newman/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Jimmy Harris/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market   Mark Rowland/Flickr
Bolivia’s Witch Market  
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Mercado de Brujas, La Paz, Bolivia   gorday24 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Located on Calle Jiminez and Linares between Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz in, it's impossible to miss the Witches' Market of La Paz, Bolivia, which is found right in a lively tourist area. Dozens of vendors line the streets to sell a number of strange and fascinating products and the raw ingredients used in rituals to call on the spirits that populate the Aymara world.

Among the many items sold at the market are dried llama fetuses that are said to bring both prosperity and good luck, dried frogs used for Aymara rituals, soapstone figurines, aphrodisiac formulas, owl feathers, dried turtles and snakes, herbs, and folk remedies. Witch doctors in dark hats and dresses wander through the market offering fortune-telling services.

The dried llama fetuses are the most prominent product available at the market. These animals are fairly large and are used throughout the country, buried in the foundations of new buildings as an offering to the goddess Pachamama. It is believed that the buried llama fetuses keep construction workers safe, but these are only used by poor Bolivians. Wealthy Bolivians usually sacrifice a living llama to Pachamama.

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Memento Mori Intriguing Environs Cultures And Civilizations Shops Purveyors Of Curiosities Occult Markets Witchcraft Ecosystems

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Located on Calle Jiminez and Linares between Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz.

Community Contributors

Added By

nbj914

Edited By

SkareMedia, hrnick, Allison, Ursula...

  • SkareMedia
  • hrnick
  • Allison
  • Ursula
  • gorday24

Published

October 31, 2016

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Sources
  • Neatorama: Bolivia's Witches' Market: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/11/13/bolivias-witches-market/
  • Sacred Destinations: Witches' Market, La Paz: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/bolivia/la-paz-witches-market
  • Adventure Life: Witches' Market of La Paz: http://www.adventure-life.com/articles/La-Paz-Bolivia-49/
  • National Geographic Today: "Witches' Market in Bolivia Sees Brisk Sales in Spells" (May 2003): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0530_030530_tvwitchdoctors.html
  • Oddee: "Bolivia's Witches' Market: Llama Foetuses and Dried Armadillos" (November 2008): http://www.oddee.com/item_96500.aspx
  • Travelmag: "Bolivia’s Witch’s Market" (June 2003): http://travelmag.co.uk/?p=366
  • https://yoko.edu.vn
Bolivia's Witch Market
Santa Cruz
La Paz, Zona 9
Bolivia
-16.496199, -68.13922
Get Directions

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