Stones Who Love Me

In Quechua- and Aymara-speaking communities of the high Andes, certain small stone objects contain the well-being of their human owners. Described as “living ones” and “loving ones,” they are thought to be gifts bestowed by powerful places that control the vitality and reproduction of herd animals. These objects originate in times of cosmic readjustment and transition. In these moments a fortunate individual may come across a beautiful animal that, when captured, shrinks until it becomes a tiny stone. This paper explores the animacy of these stones, emphasizing challenges to our established modes of thought, analysis and practice posed by the living quality – the personhood – of these “loving stones.” Andean culture, Quechua, Aymara, animism, ontology, talisman