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Cultural Belief of Moth by Jivaroans

Jivaroan shaman, and their human heads decorations
Click here for information about Jivaro

Jivaroan peoples refers to groups of indigenous peoples in the headwaters of the Maranon River, and its tributaries in northern Peru and eastern Ecuador. They are known as American Indian tribes of "head-hunters" and few people on earth who preserved shruken human heads. Their tribes have shamans who are believed to possess supernatural power. They have an unique belief in "souls", and more importantly in this research how souls can be transformed into Moths.

The "true" or "ordinary" soul, the nekas wakanI, is born at the same moment as the person and is possessed by every living Jivaro, male or female. The true soul is present in the living individual primarily in the form of one's blood. Bleeding is therefore viewed as a process of soul-loss. This soul is passive during a person's real life and apparently is of relatively little interest to the Jivaro in terms of their total native belief systems.

When a person dies, this true soul leaves his body and, in invisible form, eventually returns to the site of the house where the deceased individual was born. There the soul lives in a spirit house identical to the one in which the deceased was born, except for the fact that the spirit house is invisible to the living. The true souls of other deceased members of the family are likewise dwelling in this house. Similarly, the true souls of former neighbors return to their original house sites as well. It is believed that the true souls conduct their household activities and visit each other just as they did when their possessors were alive. As the years pass, these souls move from house site to house site in the same order, and over the same span of time as they did when incorporated in living individuals.

One significant difference should be noted between this hereafter of the true soul and the real life of its former possessor: these souls are always hungry. Although they engage in subsistence activities and eat what appears to be food to them, it never satisfies them because it is really just air. The "animals" which these souls hunt in the forest are only the souls of the birds, fish, and mammals which they killed in their former lives. Such an existence of perpetual hunger is the fate of the true souls of all persons, without regard to the kind of life they led while in living persons. Needless to say, the true soul's fate of persistent starvation is dreaded by the Jivaro.

One can often see deer and owls lingering in the vicinity of abandoned garden and house sites. The Jivaro interpret the presence of such creatures at these old living places as evidence that the animals are temporarily visible embodiments of true souls. The true souls, when they are in these visible forms, are referred to as "human demons" (Suar iwanci). There is a moderate fear of them, particularly by women, and the Jivaro taboo on the eating of deer meat is based on the fear that eating such an animal might result in a deceased person's soul entering the body of the living person with the result that he may subsequently die. These "human demon" animals are often seein in pairs, in fact which the Jivaro interpret as indicating that the two creatures are temporarily visible forms of the souls of a man and his wife.

When a true soul has thus repeated the entire life history of its deceased owner, it ceases its existence as a "human demon" and change into a "true demon." As a true demon, its form is permanently visible and more or less human, although a good deal uglier. The true demon roams the forest hungry, solitary, and lonely, feeling greatly the loss of the company of its former family. When Jivaro children wander into the forest and are not found immediately, it is said that a true demon carried off the child because it was so lonely for human companionship. The true demon never harms children, but only wants to play with them.

Then the true demon, after existing for a span of years equivalent to a human lifetime, dies and changes into a certain species of giant butterfly or moth called wampan. This creature has markings on its wings which lend it the appearance of an owl’s face. All the wampan are believed to be souls and are said always to be hungry, as is the case with any of the forms which the true soul takes. When a wampan flies into a house, one of the persons there tosses a small piece of sweet manioc or a few drops of manioc beer in its direction. The Jivaro believe that since the wampan might be the soul of a dead relative or friend it would be wrong to neglect its hungry. They do not fear the creature, however but show sympathy on them.

After a length of time about which the Jivaro are uncertain, the wampan finally has its wings damaged by raindrops as it flutters through a rainstorm and dies on the ground. The true soul then changes into water vapor amidst the falling rain. All fog and clouds are believed to be the last form taken by true souls. The true soul undergoes no more transformations and persists eternally in the form of mist.


Source: Jivaro Souls, Author(s): Michael J. Harner Source: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 2 (Apr., 1962), pp. 258-272


Click here to see examples of moths whose wings have faces on - it is a natural defense to scare off predators in the nature. But indeginous people who did not understand this beauty of science would resort to paranormal (and hence superstitious) explanations.