The Mapuche are the inhabitants of South Central Andean mountains of today Chilean territory and South Western mountains of today Argentina, including parts of present-day Patagonia. Their influence once extended from the natural boundary that the Aconcagua River makes between the Andean Mountains of Peru and the Chile and Argentina ones, to the Chiloe Archipelago (group of islands off the coast of Chile) and spread later to the East towards the Argentine pampa.
Central to Mapuche cosmology is the idea of a Creator (N'gene'chen) embodied in 4 components: an older man (fu'cha/ fu'tra/ chau'chau), an older woman (kude/ kuse), a young man and a young woman.
Also, Mapuche cosmology is informed by complex notions of spirits that coexist with humans and animals in the natural world, and daily circumstances can dictate spiritual practices.
The most well-known major communal event of extreme spiritual and social importance is the ritual ceremony known as "general prayer (N'gill'atun)." Many other ceremonies are practiced, and not all are for public or communal participation but are sometimes limited to family.
The main group of deities/ spirits are the ancestral spirits (Pillan and Wangulen), nature's spirits (N'gen) and the evil spirits (We'kufe).
The Pillan is a powerful and respected male spirit. It can cause disasters since the good spirit punishes (allowing evil spirits to punish) with drought or flood, earthquake, or diseases. The principal Pillan is the Antu who governs the other Pillans. Antu represents the Sun, as well as light, wisdom and spirit, and is opposite to darkness and the physical world and is married to the spirit who represent the Moon. When she was picked as wife, as she was the most luminous, great unrest started between the stars. the red spirit of fire Peri'Pillan was behind this, as he felt envious at Antu. Antu himself resented Peri'Pillan as the fire was brighter than the gold. peace ceased and darkness came into perspective. The two Pillan fought in battle, and the spirits took sides in battle. Many Pillan and all the stars (Wangulen) supported Peri'Pillan. The battle was long and very violent, the land moved, as well as the Underworld (Minche Mapu) and the Upper World (Anka'Wenu). As the fight extended, the sons of the elder spirits had grown and in desire to take their parents' place, fought against them. Both Antu and Peri'Pillan, angered by this, grabbed their giant sons by their long hair and threw them down, they fell on the rocky ground. As they fell their hard bodies marked the land, forming the tall mountains as they were broken into pieces and sunk into the depth of the land.
Finally Antu topped Peri'Pillan and came out as the victor. Antu's blindness because of his rage made him threw the defeated Pillan that fought against him to the land and sunk them to its depths, then he put rocks, hills and mountains over them, forming more mountain ranges and to the most powerful one who was Peri'Pillan, he buried him and put the tallest mountains covering him up. This action proved to be not enough to put off his Fire's light, and as Peri'Pillan and his allies try to free themselves the land itself shakes and tremors happen. Sometimes their fire is able to briefly escape their mountain prisons, as the smoke and fire columns come out from volcanoes.
Meanwhile the stars (Wangulen) fearing retribution cried as they pleaded for mercy, and their tears fell between and on top of the newly risen mountains, forming lakes or freezing into snow in the mountain
tops. Seeing this, Antu decided to be merciful and only weakened their light so it was slight and pale so none of them could rival Kueyen (his wife, the moon).
Between the body of the fallen were the sons of Antu and Peri'Pillan, and their respective wives cried in sorrow at their lose, so Antu felt for them and decided to bring them back to life, but in new forms, as giant snakes. Peri'Pillan's son was to be known as Coi Coi-Vilu, while Antu's own son was to be known as Ten Ten-Vilu, as these were to be rivals as their fathers, and to do as the elder spirits willed. As a result of the fight, the Earth moved so strongly, that the imprisoned malignant spirits (We'kufe) were freed from it and began roaming the land. All the universe was left with no harmony.
The word "We'kufe" can be attribute to any spirit that came from Minchen'Mapu, which is located to the West beyond the land (Mapu). These beings originated from the forces or energies that disturb and/or destroy the world's natural order, or the perfect harmony of the world of goodness (Wenu'Mapu). Unlike other living beings or spirits that possess their own soul, We'kufes are soulless.
We'kufes have the ability to to change into solid material form and can governs a body, a person or an agent. Also they can have evanescent ghost-like bodies or be extra-corporeal spirit-like entities. They project from or originate in the We'kufe's energy frequency, which is characterized by its propensity to disturb and/or destroy the balance of the world's natural order. In this way cause illness, destruction, death, and other calamities. Many of the We'kufes allow themselves to be manipulated by sorcerers who work with black magic and use them as mystic mediums for obtaining power. The sorcerers must voluntarily become the servant of the We'kufes and then cause illness or death of certain chosen people.
In order to use a malignant spirit to make someone ill, the sorcerer must introduce the evil spirit into the body of the victim. This is generally achieved by using a small fragment of anything connected to the symbolic representation of the frequencies of wood's world (pleasurable feelings of any kind), or to the frequencies of the world of the drinkers symbolized by 'the straw,' or to the frequencies in which part of the lizard's body works, or directly to an attack by ghost-like forms or disembodied spirits that direct the disruptive We'kufe energy towards the victim.
We'kufes also have the power to capture and slave the spirit of the recently deceased (Pillu) that is reluctant to leave its body before it transforms into a more mature spirit (alwe). A sorcerer can also take advantage of this power by using a malignant spirit (Wa'kufe) as a means for trapping a Pillu. Once it is trapped a Pillu can also be used to hurt other people.
We'kufes can also be controlled by the Pillan and N'gen spirits of goodness, or at least these light spirits will allow the malignant spirits to harm the individual or community if they have broken one of the spirit's rules by: behaving badly, not carrying out the prayer thanking the spirits (Guill'Atun ritual) for their beneficence, asking for well being etc., mocking or disbelieving a healer, eating food that was caught or harvested without previously asking for permission from the N'gen of the animal, vegetable, or mineral that was consumed, or most importantly by not respecting the Laws of symbols, customs, and beliefs of the community (Ad'Mapu).
As long as the people of the community obey the laws and perform the sacred prayer ceremony, then the N'gen and Pillan spirits will continue to keep the We'kufes under control.
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