[Genre]: Dungeon Synth, Dark Folk Metal [Country]: Ecuador; Quito [Released]: 01st March, 2025 [Label]: Independent
The Pichka is performed when someone dies. The mourners assume that the soul of the deceased has not left for good, it is among them and can see how much their loved ones do and say.
Based on this ancestral Andean belief, three days after the death, the Pichkachiy is performed at the doors of the house where the ceremony takes place, with the light of a lantern or a fire.
On a table, some of the deceased's clothing is placed, simulating the body of the deceased and surrounding it with candles as if the corpse were present. Friends and relatives watch over him in this way: among those present, they chew the highly valued coca leaf. Everyone praises the virtues of the deceased, convinced that he himself hears them and needs such praise to be happy and satisfied.
Ashes, corn flour or quinoa flour, are thrown near the table and in the room where the death took place, with the aim of finding in said ashes the traces of the deceased's passage.
The ancient practice and belief emphasizes that if this ceremony called Pichkay is not performed, the spirit of the deceased will not leave them in peace since it will continue to wander in this world.
