OBJECT SPOTLIGHT 🔍 | Shamanic transformation, Cupisnique Culture (1250 BCE – 100 BCE) This ceramic bottle portrays two half faces. On the right is a human face, with deer ears and a snake protruding from the nose. It morphs into a jaguar, on the left, producing a hybrid, supernatural being. The feline face refers to the earthly plane, while the human face with the snake and deer ears refers to the inner world. Priests of this time would have consumed San Pedro cactus juice that had hallucinogenic effects. This juice allowed them to have transcendental experiences such as the transformation into animals with special powers that could mediate between worlds. This practice explains the representations of shamans acquiring jaguar traits in Cupisnique art such as this. At the AM, you can see this object and over 130 other ancient Peruvian artefacts in Machu Picchu & the Golden Empires of Peru. Book here 🎟️: https://bit.ly/3Bu6iUr
