
These incredible pictures offer a fascinating insight into the rich and diverse traditions of Peruvian shamans, known as Curanderos.

Shamans are believed to be a bridge between this world and the next, able to communicate with spirits through magic, rituals and spiritual visions.

In the Peruvian Amazon Basin, shamans use medicine songs called icaros to evoke spirits, communicating with them using totemic items such as rocks that Curanderos believe have special powers.

Although shamans are not as common as decades past, they continue to shepherd their communities across remote Peruvian regions.

Dona Juliana, 85, makes an offer to the mountain spirit with her 100-year-old husband Lorenzo, in Ocongate District, Peru

Juliana, pictured in previous image with husband Lorenzo, collects her things to leave on the way to the annual Qoyllur Ritíi festival in Ocongate Disctrict, Peru

Dancers gather at the Qoyllur Ritíi festival in Sinakara Valley, Peru. Known as the Snow Star festival, the gathering is held every year shortly before the Christian feast of Corpus Christi

A young shaman called Isidro plays with a chicken in the farmland off her family's house in Taquile Island, Peru

People go to Qoyllur Ritíi to make a wish. They believe that if you go there at least three times in your life, then your desire will be fulfilled

Dona Juliana is offers the mountain spirits some of her wine in sign of gratitude and sharing. She performs the ceremony close to her husband Lorenzo, 100

After the Spanish conquest and the subsequent indigenous repression in Peru, pagan traditions have been assimilated by other religions, notably in the Catholic tradition through the use of pagan holy figures.

One example of this is the Qoyllur Rit'i festival, which is a pagan and Catholic event, which is held annually in the Sinakara Valley in the Cusco region of Peru.

Photographer Diana Bagnoli decided to find out more about shamans - or Curanderos - and their intricate traditions after the Mayan 'end of days' prophecy for December 2012 sparked worldwide intrigue.

During June and July of 2015, Diana travelled to three different locations in Peru to track down true shamans and document their practices.

A shaman conducts a spiritual ceremony. Despacho is a typical Qíero people ceremony, to honour Pachamama (Mother Earth), the sacred Apus (mountains) and the spirit in all of nature

Festival goers wrapping up warm. Due to the high altitude, during the night in Qoyllur Ritíi it is several degrees down zero in Sinakara Valley, Peru

Morning light streams through an elderly woman's home high up in the mountains in Ocongate District, Peru

A parade of different dance groups in Mayantuyacu, Peru. Musicians with drums accompany them as they perform traditional dances in their multi-layered skirts

A shaman couple having breakfast in the Ausangate Mountain in the Andes of Peru. The mountain in the Cusco region has significance in Incan mythology

The Italian photographer travelled to Taquile Island on Titicaca Lake, Ausangate Mountain - where the people live at 4600m above sea level - and to the Mayantuyacu centre in the Amazonian forest.

She said: 'In Peru - from the high places in the Cordillera to the southern islands of Lake Titicaca and in the depths of the Amazon jungle - it's a tradition that is still alive and indeed attracts new waves of 'mystic' tourism.

'The first difficulty was to find an authentic shaman, not a touristic one. I was helped by an anthropologist called Dario Astengo, who directed me up to 5000m to find ancestral and authentic shamans.

'It was difficult to find the right one, to reach them and also to communicate with them as the only language they usually speak is Quechua. They were quite surprised by my interest and motivation, so they mostly welcomed me.'

Ashaninka shaman master Juan Flores stands by a river in Mayantuyacu, Peru wearing traditional clothes

Grimaniza, 14-years-old, the shaman's niece, plays with a skipping rope in Ocongate District, Peru

A parade of different dance groups meet in Mayantuyacu, Peru, each carrying their own colourful banners

Pilgrims with a young baby find a quieter and warmer place to rest and spend the night, in Sinakara Valley

Two men dressed all in white pray amidst a cloud of smoke in Mayantuyacu, Peru

Bagnoli said that each rural community has its own shaman, although many are elderly, as less people are observing traditional rituals.

She explained: 'Today, the figure of the Curandero is far less widespread because it is no longer recognised in society.

'There are still a few and for the most part they are elderly people, holders of ancestral wisdom verbally handed down from their ancestors.

'Each rural community has its own Curandero as a spiritual guide for the village. They work by using the energies of the universe and Pacha Mama - Mother Earth - to help his community dispel the evil eye, have healthier harvests or to cure incurable diseases.

Enharte, 36-years-old, who has been a shaman since the age of 30, stands on the edge of a river in Mayantuyacu, Peru

Enharte, dressed in traditional clothing and jewellery, stands in his wooden house

A shaman called Isidro displays his catch in his hands as he goes fishing in Ausangate Mountain, Peru

Dona Juliana, 85, in the house where she lives with her husband and many pet Guinea pigs. Juliana and Lorenzo, married for more than sixty years, live alone in the stone and thatched hut on Laguna Verde, at the foot of the Caliangate mountain

People leaving the Qoyllur Ritíi festival in Sinakara Valley, Peru after the occasion has drawn to a close

A river in Mayantuyacu. Mayantuyacu healing and traditional knowledge centre is built on a hot water river and lake in Mayantuyacu, Peru

'He's the person who solves mystic but also pragmatic problems of the society. He's the bridge between people and physical matter and the spiritual and esoteric world.

'Through his magic, rituals and spiritual visions he's able to communicate with both worlds and even influence the physical world.'

Bagnoli also attended the Qoyllur Ritíi festival. Known as the Snow Star festival, the gathering is held every year shortly before the Christian feast of Corpus Christi.

It brings together shamans and the indigenous population of the Andes with large groups of devoted Catholics. Up to 100,000 pilgrims attend the event every year.

A parade of different dance groups perform in Mayantuyacu, Peru. Some have elaborate bird costumes and are accompanied by musicians playing traditional wooden flutes

Members of the Ukukus ethnic group dance and beat themselves with a whip. They play pranks and keep order among pilgrims in Sinakara Valley, Peru

The Qoyllur Ritíi festival attracts a large number of people from the surrounding regions. It joins together indigenous population of the Andes celebrating the stars with a devoted group of catholic people with their own legend

A girl relaxing in the forest in Mayantuyacu, Peru. Mayantuyacu is one of the two native Amazonian healing and traditional knowledge centers located on the Boiling River

A woman in Mayantuyacu, Peru makes Ayahusca, which is a combination of a wine and leaves. They need to boil for almost one day, before they are filtered

Pilgrims flock to the Sinakara mountain for The Lord of Snow, Qoyllur Ritíi Festival on Sinakara Mountain

A pilgrim touches one of the twelve crosses on the path to the Lord of Qoyllur Ritíi. The festival has a strong catholic associations mixed in with the indigenous beliefs

The festival is a clear display of how pagan idols have been adopted by the Catholic faith. At the end of an 8km pilgrimage Christians pay homage to the image of Christ on a boulder high up in the Valley, while traditionalists celebrate their devotion with colourful dances, lighting of candles, singing and prayers.

Shamans cross many cultural divides in Peru and their traditions remain steadfast, even against the growing tourism in the region and the dominant presence of Catholicism.

Diana added: 'I slept in a camping tent in the mountains, in a shaman family house on the Titicaca Lake and a hut on a hot river in the Amazonian river.

'Every ritual I attended with them has been memorable in a personal and spiritual way, which is difficult to describe in words.

'The nature there was so majestic and unspoilt that it is easy to be constantly fascinated by it.'

Shamans praying in Qoyllur Ritíi in Sinakara Valley in the southern highlands in the Cusco Region of Peru

A shaman performs a tabac ceremony, a form of spiritual healing, in a kitchen in Mayantuyacu, Peru

A young Curandero connecting with nature in Mayantuyacu healing centre, Peru, the day after the Ayahuaska ceremony, when attendees need to be focused and relaxed

The Qoyllur Ritíi festival attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims from the surrounding regions in Sinakara Valley, Peru

Dona Juliana, 85, makes an offering to the mountain spirit in Ausangate Mountain