“This book is a ferment.” It gathers the stories of seven plants and the experiences of a group of women who cultivated their relationship with them during a deep study process. Their encounter produced a system that weaves analogies between the body itself and how non-human people relate, whether they are plants, animals, fungi, places in the territory, or telluric forces. Each text reveals the hunger, wounds, and poisons of the person who studies and offers intimacy and work, as well as secrecy and witchcraft.
“In some traditions of the Amazonian foothills and the highlands, dry corn is chewed and spit into a ceramic bowl when preparing chicha. Then water and panela are added; the mixture rests in a cool place where direct sunlight does not reach, waiting for fermentation to begin....] In certain places, on the occasion of mingas or some collective agreement, everyone prepares chicha. The people present chew and spit into the bowl. This is how the will to come together is declared and embodied. Each family or person takes home a part of the seed and asks for what the collective body and the agreement need: more material or sweetness, lightness or firmness. The chicha speaks and often says what people don't.