Mapuche Religion

Mapuche religion is the beleif system of the indigenous Mapuche people of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. extensive and ancient belief system. Ancient myths are common among the various groups of the the Mapuche. These myths describe the creation of the world and a variety of deities and spirits that reside in and influence it. Their beliefs are not homogenous. Among the beleifs of different families, villages, and territorial groups of the Mapuche there are variations, differences, and discrepancies. Many of the Mapuche beliefs have become integrated into the myths and legends of Chilean and Argentine folklore. Many have been altered and influenced by Christianity, due largely to the evangelization done by Spanish missionaries. Like many other indigenous American cultures, the Mapuche embrace a cyclic concept of time in opposition to the mode of linear thought of European rationalism. Introduction of the Western system has modified traditional Mapuche conceptions of time. The universe of the Mapuche is divided into two realms, the spiritual, or vertical plane and the earthly, or horizontal plane. Central to Mapuche cosmology is the idea of a creator called ngenechen, who may be embodied either as an older man, an older woman, a young man, or a young woman. They believe in worlds known as the Wenu Mapu and Minche Mapu. Wenu Mapu is the "land of above," a sacred and invisible space where the divine family resides with the good spirits and the ancestors of the Mapuche. Miñche Mapu is the underworld, where the force of evil and malignant spirits are located. Between Wenu Mapu above and Minche Mapu below is Nag Mapu, the central land, also known as "the land that we walk on". This visible space is inhabited by humans and nature. Mapuche cosmology includes complex conceptions of spirits that coexist with humans and animals. The circumstances and events of daily life dictate whatever spiritual rituals and practices are required to maintain equilibrium. Mapuche ritual includes prayer and animal sacrifice. These beliefs have persisted. In 1960, for example, a machi sacrificed a young boy, throwing him into the water after an earthquake and a tsunami. Ceremonies are often major communal events, but are sometimes performed only for the family. The main groups of deities and spirits in Mapuche mythology are the Pillan and Wangulen (ancestral spirits), the Ngen (spirits in nature), and the wekufe (evil spirits). Central to Mapuche belief is the role of the machi, or shaman, a role usually filled by a woman following her apprenticeship with an older machi. The machi performs ceremonies for curing diseases, warding off evil, influencing the weather, ensuring the harvest, facilitating social interactions, and broadly interpreting a person's dreams. Machis often possess knowledge of regional medicinal herbs and of which stones or animals are sacred. Like many cultures, the Mapuche have a deluge myth (epeu) of a major flood that destroys the world which involves two opposing forces: Kai Kai (water, which brings death through floods) and Tren Tren (dry earth, which brings sunshine to evaporate the waters). Most of humanity is drowned, and the few that survive must practice cannibalism. Ultimately, only one couple remains alive. A machi tells them that they must sacrifice their only child to the waters. They do so, and this restores order to the world.