Machi (shaman)
- Machi (shaman)
A machi is a
shaman or (usually) a goodwitch in theMapuche culture ofSouth America ; and is also an important character and theMapuche mythology .Description
They are spiritual leaders and function as: witch-doctors (
curandero ), and/orherbalists , religious authorities, and consultants.The term is sometimes interchangeable with the word "
kalku ", however, "kalku" has a usually evil connotation whereas "machi" is usually considered good; this, however, is not always true since in common use the terms may be interchanged.The Mapuches live in southern
South America mostly in centralChile (Araucanía and Los Lagos) and the adjacent areas ofArgentina .Human sacrifice
A book by
investigative journalist Patrick Tierney , "The Highest Altar: Unveiling the Mystery of Human Sacrifice" (1989) ISBN 9780140139747 , documents a possible modern ritual human sacrifice during the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 1960 by amachi of theMapuche in the Lago Budi community. The victim, 5 year old José Luis Painecur, had his arms and legs removed by Juan Pañán and Juan José Painecur (the victims grandfather), and was stuck into the sand of the beach like a stake. The waters of thePacific Ocean then carried the body out to sea. The sacrifice was rumored to be at the behest of local machi, Juana Namuncurá Añen. The 2 men were charged with the crime and confessed, but later recanted. They were released after 2 years. A judge ruled that those involved in these events had "acted without free will, driven by an irresistible natural force of ancestral tradition." The story is also mentioned in a Time Magazine article from that year, although with much less detail. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869529,00.html]ee also
*
Kalku
*Cacique
*Mapuche
*Mapuche mythology
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