THE MYTHOLOGY AND BELIEFS OF THE MAPUCHES

The mythology and beliefs of the Mapuche people of South America in South-Central Chile and South-Western Argentine is extensive and ancient religion system. A series of unique legends and myths are common to the various groups that make up the Mapuche People. These myths tell of the creation of the world and the various deities and spirits that reside in it.
A "machi" is essentially a benevolent and traditional healer and religious leader that play significant roles in their religion. Women are more commonly "machis"than men. As a religious authority, a "machi" leads healing ceremonies, called "machi-tun." During the ceremony the "machi' communicates with the spirit world. They serve as advisors, and oracles for the community. In the past, they advised on peace and warfare.
The term is sometimes interchangeable with the word "kalku," however, Kalku has a usually evil connotation whereas "machi" is usually considered good. Kalku or Calcu is a sorcerer or witch  who works with black magic and negative powers or forces. The Kalku is beoing identified as a semi-mythical character that has the power of working with spirits or wicked creatures (wekufe). A wekufe is an important type of harmful spirit or demon. The word wekufu means demon or outside being. A wekufe term can be attribute to any person embodied by the spirit that tells lies or is deceptive and usually have harmful intentions towards human beings. These beings can have solid, material bodies, evanescent ghost-like bodies or be extra-corporeal spirit-like entities. They project from or originate in the wekufe's energy, which is characterized by its propensity to disturb and/or to destroy the balance of the world's natural order. In this way they cause illness, destruction, death, and other calamities.
Mapuche legends say that wekufes come from Minchen-Mapu, which is located to the West beyond the Mapu (land). These beings originated from the forces or energies that disturb and/or destroy the harmony of the world. Unlike other living beings or spirits that possesses their own soul, wekufes are soulless. They entered the Mapu world as a consequence of the mythical battle amongst the Pillan spirits, which resulted in the breaking of the system of rules that defined the Mapuche behavior (Admapu) aand the destruction of the perfect harmony of the world of goodness (Wenumapu). This battle also disrupted the land of Michen-Mapu allowing the Wekufes and the Laftraches, which had previously confined there, yo escape and roam the Mapu (land) and live in the world of evil, to the west of Mapu (Mag Mapu). The best known of the wekufes are "Cow Hide"(Trelke-wekufe =El Cuero), and Can-Illo, both of which are powerful wekufes with the ability to change into solid forms.
Many wekufes allow themselves to be manipulated by sorcerers, equivalent to witches or wizards who work with black magic and use them as a mystic medium for obtaining power. They allow the kalkus to use them to cause illness or death of certain chosen people. A powerful kalku can inherit a wekufe spirit from an ancestor who was also a kalku. However, in order to be able to use a wekufe, a kalku must voluntarily become the servant of the wekufe.
In order to use a wekufe to make someone ill, a kalku must introduce the wekufe into the body of the victim by using a small fragment of wood or straw or part of a lizard's body or direct through an attack by ghost-like forms or disembodied spirits that direct the disruptive wekufe energy towards the victim.
The wekufe also have the power to capture and slave the spirit of the recently deceased (pillu) that is reluctant to leave its body before it transform into a more mature spirit (alwe). A kalku can also take advantage of this power by using a wekufe as a means for trapping a pillu. Once it is trapped a pillu can also be used to hurt other people.
Wekufes can also be controlled by the Pillan and Ngen spirits, or at least these spirits will allow the wekufes to harm a Mapuche if they have broken one of the spirit's rules by: behaving badly, not carrying out the prayer ritual (thanking the spirits for their beneficence, asking for well being etc.), mocking or disbelieving a Machi (shaman), eating food that was caught or harvested without previously asking for permission from the Ngen of the animal, vegetable, or mineral that was consumed, or most importantly by not respecting the laws of the natural world (admapu).
As long as the Mapuche people obey the laws of nature and perform the praying ceremony, then the Ngen and Pillan spirits will continue to keep the wekufe under control.
In order to identify and gain protection from a kalku that may be using a wekufe, one should be cautious of people wearing black as this is the only color worn by kalkus.
To become a "machi"(shaman), the individual has to demonstrate character, willpower, and courage, because initiation is long and painful. Usually a person is selected in infancy, based upon: -premonitory dreams, -supernatural revelations, -influence of the family, -inheritance, -her or his power of healing disease, -own initiative.
Machi-Luwun is the ceremony to consecrate a new "machi." The chosen child will live with a dedicated "machi," where she or he learns the skills to serve as a "machi." She or He will develop in wisdom and healing power. A machi has a detailed knowledge of medicinal herbs and other remedies. She or He develops a strong power over the spirit world and the ability to interprets dreams (peumo).
They also help communities to identify witches or other individuals who are using supernatural powers to do harm.
When the Spanish arrived in this land of Southern People, the kalkus and the machis had already been long established. In many cases when a Machi cured some incurable disease, their fame spread to far distant places. Also when a kalku from malevolent clans cast spells so intense that it drove more than one enemy mad no other doctor could help apart from members of a friendly tribe.