Mysticism and Spiritual Syncretism in Ancestral Andean Cultures

Abstract submission deadline

1 April 2027

Manuscript submission deadline

1 June 2027

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1096

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

This topic seeks to problematize conventional approaches that frame Andean spiritual traditions as a bygone form of “intangible cultural heritage” or as mere ethnographic curiosities. Instead, we propose a paradigmatic shift: to understand Andean mysticism and syncretism as dynamic, living epistemologies—that is, as complex systems of thought and practice that actively negotiate their continuity within contemporary contexts, shape ecological relationships, and articulate substantive critiques of current cultural crises. Moving beyond functionalist and structuralist interpretations, we suggest approaching these traditions as matrices of social consciousness that integrate the human, the more-than-human (the Apus or mountain spirits; Pachamama; qochas and wetlands), and the cosmological within a continuous and relational reality sustained by ayni (reciprocity) and allin kausay (harmonious coexistence).

We aim to explore the living core of ancestral Andean spiritual traditions, examining both their mystical foundations and their contemporary syncretic vitality. We invite reflections and studies that analyze how profound spiritual knowledge is preserved, re-created, and transmitted through the following:

• Ritual synthesis embodied in practices such as Pago a la Tierra and patron saint festivals;
• Landscape mysticism, linking the Apus and other sacred sites to concrete forms of devotion and communal experience;
• Symbolically encoded knowledge expressed in healing practices, harmonious coexistence, and agricultural cycles;
• Contemporary processes of revitalization through art, ecology, and cultural activism.

Contributions may examine how these traditions articulate processes of preservation and social adaptation, proposing models of resilient spirituality that challenge modern dichotomies between nature and culture, as well as between the sacred and the profane. We seek interdisciplinary approaches that recognize Andean mysticism not as a remnant of the past, but as an embodied, situated wisdom in ongoing transformation for the present.

Dr. Edgar Gutiérrez-Gómez
Dr. Aldo Bazán-Ramírez
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Genealogy genealogy	0.6	0.7	2017	25.1 Days	CHF 1400	Submit
Histories histories	0.2	-	2021	36.8 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Humanities humanities	0.3	0.5	2012	33.4 Days	CHF 1400	Submit
Humans humans	-	-	2021	25 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Religions religions	0.6	1.3	2010	24.5 Days	CHF 1800	Submit

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