31 Monsters!
Oct. 18th, 2010 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivienI have a Chilean monster tonight.
According to Wikipedia:
The Peuchen (also known as Piuchen, Pihuchen, Pihuychen, Pihuichen, Piguchen, or Piwuchen) is a creature from the Mapuche mythology and Chilote mythology pertaining to southern Chile, a much feared shape-shifting creature which could instantly change into animal form.
It has often been described as gigantic flying snake which produced strange whistling sounds, while its gaze could paralyze an intended victim and permit it to suck its blood. It has often been reported as the cause of sucking the blood from sheep.
The creature can be eliminated by a machi (Mapuche Medicine Woman).
Gigantic flying snakes that suck blood... yeah, that's pretty high up there on the "Aiiiiieeeee" scale. But what really intrigued me was the machi. So I looked the term up for more information, because what is better than a scary monster? A female monster killer!
In the Wikipedia article on the Mapuche, there are more details on the machi.
Central to Mapuche belief is the role of the machi "shaman". It is usually filled by a woman, following an apprenticeship with an older Machi, and has many of the characteristics typical of shamans. The machi performs ceremonies for curing diseases, warding off evil, influencing weather, harvests, social interactions and dreamwork. Machis often have extensive knowledge of Chilean medicinal herbs, though as biodiversity in the Chilean countryside has declined due to commercial agriculture and forestry, the dissemination of such knowledge has also declined but is in revival. Machis also have an extensive knowledge of sacred stones and the sacred animals.
How cool is that?
For further, even more fascinating reading, I found Shamans of the Foye Tree: Gender, Power, and Healing among Chilean Mapuche by Ana Mariella Bacigalupo in Google Books. Modern Machi include both men and women who "during rituals move between masculine and feminine gender polarities or combine the two" and who are, of course, denounced as witches and sexual deviants.
Oh Intarwebs. How you help me spend hours looking for information I never knew I wanted to find.
According to Wikipedia:
The Peuchen (also known as Piuchen, Pihuchen, Pihuychen, Pihuichen, Piguchen, or Piwuchen) is a creature from the Mapuche mythology and Chilote mythology pertaining to southern Chile, a much feared shape-shifting creature which could instantly change into animal form.
It has often been described as gigantic flying snake which produced strange whistling sounds, while its gaze could paralyze an intended victim and permit it to suck its blood. It has often been reported as the cause of sucking the blood from sheep.
The creature can be eliminated by a machi (Mapuche Medicine Woman).
Gigantic flying snakes that suck blood... yeah, that's pretty high up there on the "Aiiiiieeeee" scale. But what really intrigued me was the machi. So I looked the term up for more information, because what is better than a scary monster? A female monster killer!
In the Wikipedia article on the Mapuche, there are more details on the machi.
Central to Mapuche belief is the role of the machi "shaman". It is usually filled by a woman, following an apprenticeship with an older Machi, and has many of the characteristics typical of shamans. The machi performs ceremonies for curing diseases, warding off evil, influencing weather, harvests, social interactions and dreamwork. Machis often have extensive knowledge of Chilean medicinal herbs, though as biodiversity in the Chilean countryside has declined due to commercial agriculture and forestry, the dissemination of such knowledge has also declined but is in revival. Machis also have an extensive knowledge of sacred stones and the sacred animals.
How cool is that?
For further, even more fascinating reading, I found Shamans of the Foye Tree: Gender, Power, and Healing among Chilean Mapuche by Ana Mariella Bacigalupo in Google Books. Modern Machi include both men and women who "during rituals move between masculine and feminine gender polarities or combine the two" and who are, of course, denounced as witches and sexual deviants.
Oh Intarwebs. How you help me spend hours looking for information I never knew I wanted to find.