The Last Shaman [Amarakaeri sub-tribe of the Harakmbut tribe in Madre de
Dio`s, Peru`]
shamanic terminology
p. term its meaning
21 c^indign "curing chant"
wayorokeri "interpreter of dreams"
ndak[mba]yorokeri "good dream beings"
wamanoka>eri "curer and diagnostician"
24 c^indignwakeri "sorcerer" causing illnesses
80 wayorok "dream"
113 wandik "names’
144 e>nopwe "knowledge"
145 e>mbac^apak "myths"
e>mac^inoa "songs"
waerik "funny stories"
150 wac^ipai "spirit controller"
cosmology
p.
46 "universe is divided into three spheres : the sky (kurudn);
the earth, which is divided into the hak (... settlement), wawe (river),
and ndumba (forest); and
the two underworlds, Seronwe below the river and Totoyo below the
forest".
47 "At the highest point of the sky ... is the abode of otiose spirits called
kurudneri who rarely come down to earth. The kurudneri were once
human beings who went up into the sky with the culture hero Marinke
when he had to flee from the jaguars ... . However, ... they ... descend
during a ritual known as mbakoykoy. ... The spirits would come down
in the form of a small bird (mbakoykoy)".
47-8 "Seronwe under the river – whose master is the moon (pugn) – is
mainly the abode of beneficial spirits (ndakyorokeri) ...;
Totoyo under the forest – whose master is Manco who is connected
with the sun (miokpo) – is the haunt of harmful spirits".
48 "these spirits ... are ... waweri or ndumberi from the river or forest
respectively."
"otiose wachipai, ayahuasca plant spirits (chongpai) and the nameless
apoining ... are usually benign."
shamanism
p.
22 "One day he was waiting by the river ... when ... he was surrounded by
different species of fish who suddenly spoke. They old him that they were
spirits form the river and that they wanted to communicate with him in
dreams so that he could become knowledgeable. In his dreams and visions
he frequently repeated this experience and gradually became proficient at
understanding their messages. The spirits began to advise him where to
hunt and fish".
46 "The spirits ... can transform their images from human to animal with
ease".
52 "dreams from the spirit world" : "beneficial spirits ... usually appear as
sensual women who easily fall in love with a young man ... . These women
(the ndakoyokeri) ... tell the hunter where game may be found and how
many animals can be taken."
59 "the mamori fish are pineapples to the river spirits. ...
several species of fish are difference crops to the spirits" :
A zungaro is yuca (tare),
paco is a large pineapple (wakawa), and
carp-like boquichicos (ambaru) are
60 maize (toket)."
86 "For the keme, ... the tortoise appeared as a seat."
91 toto (dangerous spirits) are "old thin white ... demons"
244 "The toto was in the form of a long, thin, pale creature".
245 "a spirit can take the form of a person or an animal and change
instantaneously."
"The other aspect of the soul, the wamawere, can travel ‘like the wind’ {cf.
[<ibri^] ruh.a ‘spirit, wind’} ... when torch-lights were seen passing" {cf.
fire of the Holy Spirit at the pentacost}
souls of the dead
p.
29 kapiro "herons are ... considered ... to precede [a dead shaman’s]
nokiren (soul) to Seronwe."
31 "paron bird (turkey hen) ... signifies that dead person was killed
by a snake."
34 "appearances are to dying relatives in the form of spirits called
wambetoeri who show the way to the underworld."
myths
p.
42 The people "wanted to become animals. Animals also wanted to
become people" :
"Keme (the tapir) was making arrows ... and Torogn (the opossum)
was annoyed. ... Bawi [‘deer’] said ‘I want the bark of the tawiresindak
tree as my skin.’ Then he put on the red tree bark and it was light so
he could run in a straight line. Keme put on
43 a wakumbueshindak which is much heavier, and so he moves in
circles."
"The tapir liked the black {with /KeMe/, cf. /KM/ of al-CHeMy, the
‘black’ art} dye ‘huito’ (o) and the tortoise [Sawe] came and took a
bite. ... Sawe bit Keme’s penis and would not let go. Keme ran through
the forest with Sawe hanging behind. {must have been a snapping-
turtle}
44 [From the stomach of the tapir, Sawe took the killing power for talon-
claws, and distributed it to paredator-carnivores :] "the jaguar
(petpet) ..., and the harpy eagle (sing), which eats monkeys, ... and the
jaguar put it in his claws so that they could kill ... . Matuk {cf.
[Polynesian & Fijian] MATUKu, a mythic bird} (gallinazo -- vulture)
also did it."
50 "They met a large toad called Orognorogntone ... and it began to
sweat ... . ... The toad came to him in a dream and said, ‘Only you will
be saved. ... When the attack happens you must cover yourself in a
yaro leaf. ...’ ... The young man woke up sweating. ... Then there came
a small money sipin (black mantled tamarin) ... scout. He shot at the
sipin but he missed it and ... a torrential rainstorm started. {cf. [Aztec]
Ecatonatoniuh (‘Wind-Sun’) of the monkey-people} First came an ihpi
or washa (common squirrel monkey), then ... squirrels. ...
51 Each large monkey had its ohpu – animal guide and leader. ... Those
that died [in the fire set under their tree] do not have an ohpu. The
ohpu monkeys are
toyori (red howler monkey),
shiok (common woolly monkey),
sowe (black spider monkey) and
kapiwi (coati). ... The next day the surviving monkeys descended from
the tree, killed the youths and ate them. The youth who helped the
toad ... hid in his yaro leaves. ... One monkey, the hor (mono martin),
refused to eat human flesh." ["The ohpu monkeys are the same
species ... prohibited from eating during pregnancy".]
56 prayer to the stars (c^iokpo) by woman, : its effect was "to help her
cultivate the chacra. ...
57 But that night she told people that the star man had helped her in her
chacra."
p. 53, fn. 5 [Wac^ipaeri subtribe myth] "a man took a chick out of a nest. {this is the "bird-
nester" myth} It was a kokoy bird ... and it taught the man how to kill people with ...
knives".
pp. 68-69 c^idign (‘chant for curing’) : species by-passed by moka (peccary) on path
p. species
68 kerontogn tree-fruit
menkeromba bird
c^upit bird
ekhomba leaf
69 weomba fruit
peach-palm
koragnba fruit (for parrots)
sopi grubs
waya palm-tree
pio fruit-tree
masonara ‘aguaje-palm’
mantoro ‘achiote’
topobaudnihpi (fruit-eating squirrel)
p. 70 this sequence of species "has to be known ... to find the soul" :
"The soul of the curer hovers about a foot above the ground and floats through the misty
forest passing the same route which the mokas take ... to follow the trail of the mokas until
he finds them in the circle with the soul in the centre. ... In this case, the curer suddenly
shouts and ‘sticks like a fly’ to the soul of the sick person".
curing of sick patient by shaman
p.
70 "The shaman induces a harmful spirit to leave the patient by the application
of ... chili and garlic ... with isanga (macherik) nettles".
71 "A shaman will also suck the body of the patient to draw out any harmful
elements there might be within."
72 "The mbakoy c^indign (‘small bird chant’)" helps a child who "would not
go with anyone other than its mother".
p. 71 aetiology, cure, and symptoms of ailments
animals causing remedy symptoms
ailment
kayare (picuro) mac^erik pains in legs, arms, and chest
moka (collared blow over patient vomiting and fever
peccary)
bi>ign fish put tobacco in mouth sore stomach, diarrhoea
sowe (black spider tobacco convulsions, hands clenched,
monkey) teeth chattering
mapi (agouti) hit affected area children crying
mamori (sabalo fish) tobacco stomach ache, diarrhoea, and
vomiting
p. 80 author’s personal experience (in astral projection)
"I realized that I had the ability to float on air. I hovered a few feet above the bed
and turned over so that my arms were outstretched, then flew across the village ... .
As I flew, ... sparks flew from my fingers ... . As I returned I concentrated by looking
through my closed eyelids to keep me from falling down. On reaching my bed I
rejoined my sleeping body."
p. 175 animals
keme (‘tapir’) : "The weika bird accompanies keme. It ... takes ticks from keme’s
skin with its beak. ... When keme dies there is lightning and there is thunder."
nekei ("Blue and yellow" {should be : blue-and-orange?} macaw : "They fly to
koragn (pacay palm) where they eat the fruit."
p. 245 sexual conception of embryo
"formed by the passing of semen (wandawe) from father to mother during [sexual]
intercourse by means of orgasm (e>mbuey)"
p. 248, Fig. 12.1 categories of spirits, their social activities and states of nokiren
spirits activity state
toto c^indign (sorcery) oc^inosik (hatred)
c^onpai e>pak (desire) wanopo (affections)
ndakyoroken e>yok (generosity) e>nopwe (thought)
wamawere kawe (inactivity) nowe (depression)
Andrew Gray : The Last Shaman. Berghahn Books, Providence (RI), 1997.
