Yagé Encounters

Carlos Miguel Gómez

That night Lucho had six cups. When he went to ask for the seventh, the taita, drunk on firewater rather than the medicine, got upset and didn’t want to give it to him. “Who do you think you are to have seven cups? Not even the elder has seven cups. You are only a child. I’m not teaching you and I’m not going to teach you.” The evil deep in his gaze hurt even more than the rudeness that followed. This is a fake taita, a mediocre one, he thought. What is the use of putting on the necklaces and the crown? Anyone can be crowned. He doesn’t know anything. He hasn’t taught me anything... continue reading.