The Warlocks of Chiloé ("Brujo de Chiloé" or "Brujo chilote" in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

) are people of

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and t ...

said to practise

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

linked to

Chilote mythology The Chilote mythology or Chilota mythology is formed by the myths, legends and beliefs of the people who live in the Chiloé Archipelago, in the south of Chile. This mythology reflects the importance of the sea in the life of Chilotes. Chilote myt ...

. The

warlocks A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicatio ...

may be real, purported or

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

ary persons. The source of the witchcraft is often attributed to a

ary encounter between Basque navigator

José de Moraleda y Montero José Manuel de Moraleda y Montero (1750 - 1810) was a Spanish naval officer and cartographer known for his explorations of Chiloé and the archipelagos of Patagonia in the late 18th century. During his lifetime he gained a reputation of sorcere ...

and

Huilliche The Huilliche , Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco subgroup, the north hal ...

machi Chillpila who defeated Moraleda in a duel of witchcraft obtaining a book of European magic as reward. Belief in witchcraft has been common in the archipelago reaching such influence, that in 1880 Chilean authorities put on trial warlocks said to rule the archipelago through a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

Legend

Popular belief has attributed to the sorcerers of Chiloé a complex organization, the help of magical creatures, and numerous powers and weaknesses. The Warlocks are said to have had a

called La Recta Provincia or La Mayoria. Its origins date back to the Chilean colonial period, when navigator José de Moraleda visited Chiloé in 1786. According to legend, José de Moraleda y Montero challenged the power of the machi Chilpilla to a "magic" competition. Moraleda was defeated, and Chilpilla ran his ship aground when he tried to leave the island. Accepting his defeat, Moraleda gave Chilpilla a magic book, from which some indigenous people (among them, Machis and

Kalku Kalku or Calcu, in Mapuche mythology, is a sorcerer or witch who works with black magic and negative powers or forces. The essentially benevolent shamans are more often referred to as '' machi'', to avoid confusion with the malevolent kalku. Its ...

s) would be instructed. This fact led to the union of indigenous rituals and practices with the knowledge described in the given book, which would give rise to the secret society. Moraleda does not mention in his report having met the "sorceress" Chillpila, but he does mention the fact that he wanted to make contact with a machi. The jurisdiction of La Recta Provincia extended throughout the Archipelago and was headed by a King, who together with other subordinates formed a governing council. There were seven Districts or Republics with code names taken from places in Spain and its colonies: Buenos Aires (

Achao Achao is a town on the Chiloé Archipelago, in the south of Chile. The town is the capital of Quinchao commune on the island of the same name. Lying on level ground, Achao has a shallow sandy beach and is surrounded by hills. Opposite the town ...

), España (

Queilén Queilén is a town and commune in Chiloé Province, in the Archipelago of Chiloé in southern Chile. It covers a portion of the southeast of the Greater Island of Chiloé, between the communes of Chonchi, Quellón, Tranqui Island and Acuy Islan ...

and its surroundings), Lima (Quicaví), Peru (Caucahué), Salamanca (Rauco), Santiago ( Tenaún) and Villarrica (

Dalcahue Dalcahue is a port city and a commune in Chiloé Province, on Chiloé Island, Los Lagos Region, Chile. Demographics According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute, the Dalcachue commune spans an area of and had 10,693 inhabi ...

). The seat of the King was in the Cueva de Quicaví or Casa Grande, in the surroundings of Quicaví, in the commune of

Quemchi Quemchi is a Chilean town and commune in Los Lagos Region, in Chiloé Province, on the eastern shore of Chiloé Island. It acquired certain celebrity because the famous Chilean writer Francisco Coloane was born near the town. The town is served b ...

. According to legend, the society worked out of a cave that was guarded by a deformed being, the

Imbunche In the Chilote folklore and Chilote mythology of Chiloé Island in southern Chile, the imbunche (Mapudungun: ''ifünche'', lit. "short person") is a legendary monster that protects the entrance to a warlock's cave. Description The imbunche is a ...

. There they kept the book, the Levisterio or Revisorio, an instrument they used to take various exams, and the Chayanco, used to monitor all members of the witch community. This cave measured approximately 200 meters long by 3 meters high and contained many rooms lit by torches and jugs of human oil, according to Judit Inzunza.

Abilities and weaknesses

The warlocks are said to be able to fly using a macuñ (made from the skin from a dead virgin's chest), to turn into certain animals, and to ''tirar males'' (inflict harm from a distance). Their knowledge of plants and animals also enable them to brew powerful potions. They are said to be able to tame the

Caballo marino chilote Caballo may refer to: Places * Caballo, New Mexico * Caballo Island (in the Philippines) * Caballo Lake * Caballo Mountain, Spain * Caballo Mountains The Caballo Mountains, (Spanish: "horse") are a mountain range located in Sierra and Doña A ...

(Chilote hippocampus) and safely board the legendary ghost ship the

Caleuche The Caleuche (from the Mapudungun ''kalewtun,'' "to transform, to change" and ''che'', "people": "transformed people"), also called The Enchanted Ship, Barcoiche, The Ghost Ship, or The Warlocks' Ship, is a legendary ghost ship from Chilote m ...

. They are said to be weak to salt.

Related works

There is currently a character in Chile known as "El Brujo" (see El Brujo (cartoon) ), which originally appeared in the Caleuche Comic magazine and now appears in the pages of the magazine Heroes . It is a rather loose and self-centered superhero, whose powers and abilities are based on Chiloe witchcraft. The macuñ is here a layer, and its allies are an invunche (that contrary to the legend is a very intelligent being, for being a failed experiment, as he himself explains) and a flying one (that also, contrary to the legend, is young and beautiful, for the same reason). In 2014, the Chilean visual artist Patricio Paretti made the animated television series "Magallanes, un cuento mágico", aired by UMAGTV , which had as its central character "Don Eleuterio", a Chiloe Warlock who lived in Punta Arenas and who he told supernatural stories that happened in Chilean Patagonia. The audiovisual work was inspired by various local beliefs, mainly myths, legends and witchcraft from the Big Island of Chiloé . In one of the episodes, "The bowels of death", a witch uses a macuñ or magic breastplate both to fly, to become bad light, as well as to become an animal. The macuñ is shown as a stylized piece of leather similar to a corset, made with baby skin and horsehair threads. The same episode makes mention of hexes with cemetery land, a vital element for the realization of black magic by sorcerers. In

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

, volumes 3 and 4, John Constantine joins Alec to battle the Chiloté brujeria who are trying to end civilization by raising a great evil.

References

* Martinez Vilches, Oscar, ''Chiloé Misterioso'' (in Spanish). Pub. Ediciones de la Voz de Chiloe (circa 1998)
Gonzalo Rojas Flores, Reyes sobre la tierra: brujería y chamanismo en una cultura insular: Chiloé entre los siglos XVIII y XX, Santiago, 2002
(complete text about “Proceso a los brujos” or "Recta Provincia")

Legend

Abilities and weaknesses

Related works

References

See also