Gualichu - Citizendia

Gualichu or gualicho, in the Mapuche mythology and mainly in the Tehuelche culture, was an evil spirit or demon, comparable but not similar to the Devil. The beliefs of the Mapuche and their mythology stories about to the world and creatures born of the extensive and old religious beliefs next to a series of common legend and myths that Tehuelches is the collective name of the native tribes of Patagonia. Evil, in many cultures is used to describe acts or thoughts which are contrary to some particular religion The Devil is the

Description

As the Araucanians had not a properly called god of evil, Gualichu was not worshipped but feared. The Mapuche are the indigenous inhabitants of Central and Southern Chile and Southern Argentina. He was blamed for every disease or calamity, and all evil happenings were said to be caused by him. Gualichu could enter people's body or objects and then an exorcism had to be performed to expel him (see also demon possession). Exorcism (from Late Latin exorcismus, from Greek exorkizein - to adjure is the practice of evicting Demons or other evil Demonic possession is often the term used to describe the control over a human form by Satan himself or one of his assigned advocates He was a purely spiritual being and there is no depiction of him. He was believed to live underground.

By extension the term applied to an evil spell or charm, or a jinx ("It has Gualichu"). Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and A jinx, in popular Superstition and Folklore, is A sort of Curse placed on a person that makes them prey to large numbers of minor misfortunes In this sense the word has evolved into gualicho and still survives in the local folklore of Chile and Argentina in the form of a noun and a verb (engualichar, to cast an evil spell on somebody or something). History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics.

Description

See also