 |
||
| Another man got too drunk on
the Jaineroite's powerful beer, and was pursued by the
women until he fell into their toilet, and was converted
into the black capuchin monkey. The shaman was the only
one wise enough to bring the fire sticks, mokavirentsi,
made from Clusia liana, back to humankind. SHAMANISM, HEALING, AND RELIGION There are many myths and legends concerning the heroic feats of past shamans and their hallucinogenic vision quests. Stories about shamans often involve the shamans' transformations between human and animal forms. For it is only the shaman, with his hallucinogens and visions, who can transcend the limitations of the everyday world, allowing him to ascend to the sky, visit the land of the spirits, wander in and out of the world of dreams, call back lost souls, inflict or undo the harms of sorcery, heal the sick and transform himself into animal form. |
 |
In the spirit world, the
divisions between living and dead, animal and human which
are so solid in the everyday world, break down. The
shaman's power consists in being able to shift over into
the spirit world to interact with the transformative
spirit-beings there who control matters of life and death
in this world. The shaman is the hero who defends mankind
and brings him knowledge, power, and technology. Look for more on Machiguenga myths in Glenn Shepard's upcoming publication, "From Shaman's Breath: Biodiversity in Machiguenga Folklore," In: Darrell Posey, editor, Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity, UNEP Global Biodiversity Assessment, Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, UK (in press). |
  |
||
 |
||
 |
||
| Producer's Journal | The People of Manu | Flora and Fauna | History | Conservation Classroom Resources | Trivia Challenge | Related Links | Screen Saver | About the Film | Manu Credits |
||
 |
||