Adorned in traditional Andean ponchos and elaborate headdresses, a group of shamans convened on Monday atop a sacred hill overlooking Peru’s capital city.
The annual ritual saw them perform a ceremony on the treeless San Cristobal hill, where they offered their predictions for the upcoming year, encompassing international relations, ongoing global conflicts and the fates of prominent world leaders.
This year’s prophecies included a significant forecast regarding Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with the shamans asserting he would be removed from office. They also indicated that global conflicts, such as the protracted war in Ukraine, are set to continue.
Shaman Ana María Simeón elaborated on one key prediction, stating: "We have asked for Maduro to leave, to retire, for President Donald Trump of the United States to be able to remove him, and we have visualized that next year this will happen."
The group has a mixed record with its annual predictions.
Last year, they warned a “nuclear war” would break out between Israel and Gaza, where a ceasefire is currently in place.
But in December 2023, the group correctly predicted that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who had been imprisoned for human rights abuses, would perish within twelve months.
Fujimori died from cancer in September 2024 at the age of 86.
Before Monday’s ceremony, the shamans met to drink hallucinogenic concoctions derived from native plants — including Ayahuasca and the San Pedro cactus — which are believed to give them the power to predict the future.
During the ceremony, they placed blankets with yellow flowers, coca leaves, swords and other objects on San Cristobal hill, asking for positive energy for the new year.
After dancing in circles and playing ancestral instruments, the shamans asked for peace in the Middle East, an end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the fall of President Maduro.
The prayers to the gods, performed amid flowers and incense, as well as dances, are intended to encourage leaders to make good decisions.
The shamans also predicted natural disasters, such as earthquakes and climatic phenomena.
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