"Harner estimates that every third or fourth man in Shuar society is a shaman ... (Harner 1978:114).

One of my informants reckoned that approximately every tenth to twelfth woman is a shaman."

p. 77 "The man, who was Iwia, then approached the woman, took out her left eye and put it in his own eye socket."

Nonnos : Dionusiaka 24. 270 ff (trans. Rouse) : "He [Perseus] crept up on tiptoe, keeping his footfall noiseless, and with hollowed hand and robber’s fist caught the roving eye of Phorkys’ unsleeping daughter [the Graia]" (G).

p. 101 "Tsunki is in a lagoon. Then Tsunki says, ‘Why are you bothering my cockroaches?’ They don’t say fish, they say cockroaches about those raspas, carachas."

{[So>to of Venezuela] the 2 foster-sons of the toad-goddess were "fish, then crickets, then cockroaches." (W, p. 56)}

Tsunki asked, "Who threw a cockroach onto the fire? Who is burning cockroaches?"

{crickets tell temperature}

__ spirit

for __

is __

water

shamanism

Tsunki

earth

gardening

Nunkui

forest

hunting

Etsa

wakan

life-soul

arutam

to be acquired

mesak

"it comes to life if a person who has acquired arutam is murdered"

p.

transmigration of souls

117

"Karsten writes that some of the souls of the dead ‘may transmigrate into early objects, into animals, plants, hills and high mountains, rivers, lakes etc.’ ... (1935:454)."

119

"it is quite common for the wakan to leave the body a week before death. ... Every one seemed to have died approximately a week after the appearance of the wakan."

p.

cycle of transformations

117

Then they become ‘true’ iwianch who continue to exist in a state of hunger and loneliness ... .

118

they transform into giant butterflies called wampank (Harner 1972:150-151)."

120

"iwianch, according to Harner, stems from mesak, the avenging soul. If a murdered person’s head is not shrunk and made into a tsantsa, it will turn into an iwianch, which will try to kill the murderer and thus avenge its death (1972:144). The iwianch will not disappear after taking revenge, but will continue ... in the form of a lance head". [‘lance head’ is "A poisonous snake, makanch (Bothrops sp.), which is feared because of its aggressiveness." (p. 128, n. 14)]

p.

enslavement of tsantsa

121

"According to Taylor, the ... purpose of the tsantsa rituals was the ... transformation of an ... enemy ... into a foetus that was born of a woman in the tsantsa-captor’s group (1993:671-672). Similarly, Pellizzaro argues that the tsantsa was reborn in the form of a Shuar woman’s baby (1980b:13)."

128, n. 4:15

"Karsten argues that the mesak is turned into the capturer’s slave that must obey hin."

p.

roaming soul

122

"The visions of arutam are preferably sought at waterfalls and gives immunity to sickness and sorcery, as long as it stays in the body of the capturer. After inhabiting the same body for some years, an arutam will begin roaming about at night while the possessor sleeps. During such nocturnal wanderings the arutam could be acquired by someone else (Harner 1972:141)."

123

"Both women and men could obtain arutam ... (Harner 1972:136)."

p.

deity

164 (with p. 187, n. 6:10)

S^akaim is "Nunkui’s spouse, the male ‘garden spirit’."

168 (with p. 187, n. 6:18)

Ayumpum is the condor-god of tsantsa (shrunken human heads).

169

"Ayumpum to give fertility to the women, giving them the uterine water which makes the foetus grow, as well as the mother’s milk ... . ... According to Pellizzaro ... (1997)." {AYaPPa obtained tigress’s milk (SKI) or leopardess’s milk (SSDh); the Kemian ‘vulture’ serveth as determinate-hieroglyph for ‘mother’.}

170

"Iwia was (is) a man-eating giant who was lured away from the Shuar by Ayumpum and died of hunger in the river."

p.

plant

216

"Ayahuasca ... is, among the Shuar, a beverage made of the vines nate`m (Banisteriopsis caapi) and yaji ..., or Diplopterys cabrerana ... . The latter is not considered to have any hallucinogenic effects, but is added to make the visions clearer. If this substance is missing, it is possible ... to replace it with another plant, e.g. eisa (Ilex guayusa), even if the latter is said to make the visions bluish."

218

"Nate`m ... attracts the spirits. ... There is only one world, which is shared by all beings, humans, spirits, and animals. ... Dreams and visions are seen as complementary to waking life, a necessary supplement. ... The things and persons encountered in ‘ordinary’ life’ are not always, or in fact very seldom, what they appear to be, and to reveal their true identity one must learn from dreams and visions."

219

"One may also take maikua (Brugmansia, formerly Datura, arborea), but it is surrounded by more restrictions and the effect lasts longer, up to three days."

220

"How one acts in dreams and visions influences waking life, and how one acts in waking life influences dreams and visions and how one acts in them."

221

"When taking nate`m, one sees ‘things as they are’; that is, seeing a person dying, or a funeral, means that this person will die. For shamans, the same counts for nocturnal dreams. For non-shamans, however, dreams display things as they are not; they show the contrary. Animals represent people and the opposite, and a dream about an event means that this event will not take place."

222

"Brown (1986a) reports that maikua is more easily found and is therefore gradually replacing nate`m. However, Brown’s account is from the Aguaruna of Alto Mayo".

223

ayahuasca : "Shuar women imbibe the potion when pregnant ... . ... some women explained that the child is born stronger if it receives the beneficial effects of nate`m while still in the uterus."

"Weimiaku is a term for ‘those who have seen’. It does ... denote ... those who have had a vision of and received arutam. Those who have incorporated arutam are ... self-confident, without showing any fear or modesty. ... Perhaps the answer is revealed in a dream".

p.

practice

223

"Through dreams and visions one acquires knowledge about how the world is constituted and how it works, knowledge that can only be obtained in dreams/visions."

225

"the shamans state that everyone who has become a shaman has received dreams/visions about it beforehand."

226

"In Shuar society there exist two kinds of shamans (uwishi`n) ["The etymological origin of the term uwishi`n is probably uwi` -- the palm tree Guilielma gasipaes -- whose Spanish name, chonta, is often used as a synonym for tsentsak." (p. 267, n. 8:9)] : the healer (tsuakratin) and the sorcerer (eawekratin)."

227

"After the tsentsak (shamanic power) have been received from a shaman, they will be spread in the apprentice’s body, but in order to be able to cure or harm they will have to ‘mature’. ...

228

It is also necessary to drink tobacco juice night and day since ‘tsanku [tobacco] is food for tsentsak’. ... the neophyte ... must remain inside the house or in shady spots in the courtyard for another couple of weeks."

229

"shamans who have learned from the Canelos Quichua often whistle instead of singing."

230

"to ‘see’ means to possess a shamanic gaze and to be able to perceive hidden knowledge of things in the past, present, and future. Only when taking nate`m is the shaman able to ‘see’, and the power of his/her gaze depends on the shaman’s tsentsak (Brown 1988)."

p.

magic

235

"try on a tree. Then you have to take out tsentsak and sing, meditate, give power. Then the tree will dry up little by little." {"Behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away." (Euangelion kata Markos 11:21)}

237

"the Shuar distinguish between two major categories of diseases : those of ‘natural’ origin (sunkur) and those caused by sorcery (eawek). ... The diseases caused by sorcery can, in turn, have two different causes, tsentsak or umbum ... . The tsentsak are the ‘magical’ darts a shaman receives when intiated. When shot into another person’s body they ... can kill ... . When they are given in food or drink, or left on the ground to be walked on, the sickness is called umbum. Umbum is much more difficult to cure than tsentsak ... .

238

If the magical substance is swallowed it inflates the belly, and if it has penetrated the victim’s foot, the foot or leg will swell up."

p.

Alama

244

"when it was time for inducing the tsentsak, he blew them into my skull, saying ... ‘This is the way the Alamas do it.’ "

245

"Another uwishi`in ... had received his shamanic power from a Canelos-Quichua shaman through blowing, and he was held in high esteem for his curing abilities. ... The Alamas don’t sing words, they just whistle".

p.

__ magic

its nature

254

white

"good, curing magic."

black

"to achieve harmful ... ends."

red

"to manipulate blood and intestines" {"fish-poisoning ... vines, such as varvasco" : ""when ... men plant the varvasco, they afterwards abstain from eating the intestines and blood of animals ..." (Karsten 1935:141)." (JP, p. 19)}

green

"to manipulate frogs, lizards, and snakes. These latter practices seem to be employed mainly for ... love-magic." {Kogi associate frogs with ‘vulva’ (because both are damp); Aztecs associate lizards with ‘penis’}

256

"from a woman from the coastal province of Manabi` (which is famous for the inhabitants’ skill in magic) that if one mixes one’s own vaginal secretion in some beverage and gives it to the husband to drink, it will make him ‘tame’ ".

p.

Nunkui

284

"there lived a woman whose name was Unkucha. One day ... Unkucha met Nunkui. ... Nunkui answered, ‘... take my little daughter instead.’ Unkucha took the little girl ... . ... Unkucha said, ‘... Where is the muitsa (clay vessel for manoic-beer)?’ {Mika, "the ritual name of the tall jars used for storing the chicha", was wife of Un~us^i the Sloth (JP, p. 22)} The girl repeated and at once there appeared a large clay pot. Unkucha said again, ‘Where is the nihiamanch (manioc-beer)?’ When the girl said these words the clay pot was filled with manoic-beer." {with /uNKuC^a/ cf. /aNKaS^/ (Ancash) in Peru`}

285

"Nunkui presents herself to women in their dreams/visions ... to show them where they can find a nantar, a reddish pebble which is a very powerful charm." {cf. "Namtar ... with the coral-stone" (DI), coral being usually red}

286

"Among the Shuar, she is frequently seen in dreams/visions as a small, fat woman in a black tarach." ["female dress"]

288

"The manioc plants (the namtar according to Descola (1996:86)) ... try to extract the life force of every person passing through the garden. Hence, the women need to communicate with Nunkui through anent, telling her not to do harm to their relatives (Chumpi Kayap 1985:34 ...)". {[Mac^iwenga tribe] for manioc, the fearsome daimon Kientibakori will provide the frog-eggs seasoning (JP, p. 20).}

289

"Because Nunkui’s daughter was chased away, the women must provide Nunkui with daughters, nantar (small stones) to make her stay in the garden. These are kept in the earth beneath the manioc plants. The namtar are ... transmitted by ... a female arutam in dreams/visions, in which they tell the woman where to find the pebbles (... Karsten 1935:436). ... Among the Shuar women of today, ... if one receives a dream of Nunkui where she reveals where a nantar is to be found, she would probably go out to find it."

piri`pri (species of Cyperus)

p.

shared wife {"Auju serves her husband Etsa raw pumpkins" (PFH)}

{Iban female spirits tending to pumpkin-seed deity (CG)

287

"In ancient times, Etsa (the sun) and Nantu (the moon) {cf. "the water of life, whereby Ishtar is restored by Namtu" (HR, p. 216)} were two brothers who lived on the earth as humans. They shared ... the same woman. The woman’s name was Auju. ... Nantu spent more time with Auju than Etsa did. {viz., contacts with Etsa were effected in haste – cf. />US./ ‘haste’ (Strong’s 213)} ... Etsa ... climbed up to the sky on a liana (etsa naik), and at the same time he blew on Nantu, thereby obscuring his sight.

234

"One brother began to blow, singing, ... that he will loose [sic] his sight and see no more ... . ... they blew well : ... one brother began to thin {waning moon} and the other to lose his sight, his sight was darkening. Thus, one of them died {dark night of moon} and the other {sun} became blind." {"Moon ... blew on the Sun and eclipsed him." (JP, p. 14)}

287

Auju ... gathered her ceramics in her biggest chankin (basket) and started to climb after the men. But Etsa saw her and told Tsere (the spider monkey ...) {[Mac^iwenga tribe] if eaten, "the entrails of a monkey ... would turn into vines" (JP, p. 20)} to cut off the vine when she was halfway up. {in contrast, "Moon ... had the wichink squirrel (Sciureus sp.) cut the vine" (JP, p. 16)} She fell down, and thereby spread pieces of ceramics all over the earth. {with these potsherds cf. the cracked pots in CBM, p. 54 (upper left scene), with the rabbit-headed god (rabbit being frequently depicted in the moon in CBM); the aequivalent scene in CC, p. 10 (lower registre), depicting a liana (nate`m?) being pierced} In falling, she was transformed into the bird that today bears her name."

the jar-spirit (5:419)

--

{cf. [Kofan myth] "she climbs after them with her stones for putting the pot on; children tell the parrot to cut the ladder; the mother falls, turns into bird (goatsucker?) who weeps now" (PFH).}

the trivet-spirit (5:440)

312, n. 9:8

"Karsten (1935) notes correctly that Auju is the goatsucker (Caprimulgus)." {"She was named Ao^ho which means goatsucker." (JP, p. 14) -- cf. /OwyHee/, OR; /OaHe/, SD}

Dambak (5:563)}

p.

Iwia

290

"One day when Etsa’s mother was washing clothes in the river {one category of bean sidhe (banshee) is the cailleach, "who washes her clothes in the whirlpool ..., and rides across the land in the form of the 'night mare'." (PM)}, Iwia came to bathe. When the giant saw the woman, he immediately devoured her. He never saw the newborn Etsa ... . ... A bird (cangrejero) ..., however, ... grabbed Etsa and flew away with him. ... Etsa went to the garden every night to eat the chilli Iwia planted. ... Iwia caught him and ... Etsa began to give him insects that he caught with his hands. ... Etsa ... hunted with his blowpipe, and ... Etsa only succeeded in shooting a hummingbird. ...

291

The power of Etsa, though, made the river withdraw while Iwia walked" toward it {just as, according to the Nas.uray, the power of Yah.ya made the river >urdan withdraw while it was being walked toward}.

292

Then, at last, Iwia began to suspect ... Etsa ..., but an enormous gravity made it impossible for him [Iwia] to rise up." {cf. Krun in the Nas.uray account}

p.

Tsunki

317

"Generally, it seems that men always meet female Tsunki and women mostly meet male Tsunki".

318

shamanic legend, of how a man became a shaman : "A Shuar man ... shot a paca ... . ...

319

The Shuar was well received and accepted by the father of Tsunki, who ... sat on his chair, chimpi`, ... the chimpi` was a coiled anaconda. {cf. Vis.n.u reclining on the huge serpent Vasuki} He was offered an anaconda to sit on as well, but he refused. They then gave him a tortoise as kutan, and he was told to hit its head when it moved.

320

The anacondas of the rivers were like the pigs of the Tsunkis ... . The walls of the house were full of nayump ... . ... One day they told him to go and see his (Shuar) women ... . The Shuar did so, but he could not sleep with them because of his big penis. {this must be, as yet, part of a dream, namely in the above-water portion of the dream-world} ... Because of the love that Tsunki felt for the Shuar man, she went to live with him on earth, changing herself into a snake called titink. ... During the night one of his wives got up to look for him and, with great surprise, observed how he was wrapped in a cloak of shining water. ...

321

Then Tsunki ... went to her father Tsunki and told him about the mistreatment she had suffered. Her father Tsunki ... let the anacondas {cf. [Maori] Tuna-roa ‘long eel’ who became the first coconut-palm} free, and started a great storm. ... The Shuar man ... grabbed a little daughter and carried her to the mountains. He climbed the highest mountain and then climbed the highest palm tree ampakai with his daughter. ... There was thunder and lightning {After Tiberius, a "king was Arramulius [/arra/ ‘earnest-money’ + mulus ‘mule’ (perhaps Tuphoieus the storm-ass)] Silvius, who reigned for 19 years. It is related that Arramulius ... claimed to rival the power of Aramazd [Ahura Mazda!]. ... Consequently the gods exacted vengeance and killed him with a bolt of lightning and submerged his house in the Alban lake." (ECh, loc. cit.)} ... The water inundated the earth, except for the palm tree where the Shuar sat with his daughter. ... It is said that the man married his daughter when she grew up".

323

another shamanic legend, of how a woman became a shamaness : "Then she heard Tsunki’s voice ... . They dived through the water and entered into the house of Tsunki. There she was given a tortoise to sit on (as kuntank) ... . {[Aztec goddess] Ayo-pechtli ‘tortoise-seated’} ... They all gave her tsentsak through the nose. ... she felt how the darts covered her body, entwined like armour."

325

"I saw Tsunki ... . ... She was a beautiful woman with long hair and greenish anaconda-like skin." "Karsten (1935:376) ... describes Tsunki as ‘a woman-like being with long hair and large breasts.’ "

329

"A woman who wants to become uwishi`n may go to a riverbank ... . ... Then Tsunki`nua ["suffix nua, woman" (p. 317)] comes ... . ... Tsunki`nua puts a namur in her hand, then she gives her tobacco juice ... . Like that Tsunki`nua gives power."

330

"One takes this mikiuch (shaman’s maikua) and sees Tsunki of the river. ... There is a woman Tsunki, and a man. ... Tsunki gives ... puno".

331

"When I drink nate`m, I meet Tsunki. She sings, I sing. ... She’s wearing pearls and tawasp, its beautiful."