The Open Body – A Hydraulic System: Alcohol and Bodily Fluids as Nourishment for Non‐Human Entities in the Bolivian Andes

Based on a broad fieldwork in the Bolivian Andes, the aim of this article is to analyse the concept of the body as a hydraulic system, and more especially the drunken body. The latter is considered a vessel where bodily humours as well as ingested beverages circulate. To allow these liquids to enter and drain away, the body must open itself, a dangerous act since it provides demons with the chance to penetrate it. Nevertheless, it may be assumed that, at the same time, this opening furthers a chain of reciprocity with the dead as well as non‐human entities. In this context, the drinker places himself in an interaction with the social world but also creates a sacrificial relationship with the sacred world.