These rituals, related to the annual agricultural cycle, are characterized by the Atacameño traditional rituals, which have blended with Christian beliefs, constituting an expression of Andean-Christian syncretism.
Gerónimo de Vivar, chronicler - secretary of Pedro de Valdivia conqueror, comments:
«They speak with the demon they take for a friend...»
This description refers to the shaman practice in which he communicates with the spirit or supernatural being.
Possibly, the figures that adorn the typical snuff boards are representations of mythical Atacameno beings.
It is believed that the shamans inhaled a powder made, by means of these beatiful utensils, of the seeds of a kind of acacia or tobacco; they also ingested a small libation of liquor in order to reach a state of trance.