Shaman's maraca, rattle

The maraka is the shaman's magical attribute, used during healing seances. In the Hiwi Indian culture, this function is most often inherited from generation to generation, but the candidate must undergo training, for which he rewards his teacher with material goods or services. The Hiwi do not have a ceremony that is the formal end of shamanic initiation. Once the candidate has gained the necessary knowledge and experience, they begin their work immediately in dealing with black and white magic. The Hiwi Indians believe that illnesses have a magical basis. They are often considered to be the consequences of black magic or the breaking of taboos. Evil spirits and malicious shamans also cause them. An important task is to find the cause of the illness, as treatment depends on this. For this purpose, a shaman always uses his maraca filled with magical, tiny crystals - wánali. He draws power from it, which allows him to heal and determine who sent illness, misfortune or death to a member of his community. By shaking the maraka-filled wánali he can also summon illness and death, with which, if necessary, he attacks his enemies. The healing rituals are accompanied by dancing, singing and incensing the sick person with tobacco smoke. These are permanent elements of the therapeutic seance, which are repeated during the treatment of every ailment. Diseases with a mild course include those caused by an evil spirit that resides in the sick person's body, attracted by the smell of fresh blood or meat dishes. The shaman cures them using plants, recommends the patient to rest, take a bath and drink plenty of water. The most dangerous illnesses are those caused by the community's enemies. The shaman contacts the helping spirits málike and málikai to cure them. The movement of air produced by shaking a maraca over the patient's body symbolises the breath of málike and málikai, who blow away the illness.

Katarzyna Findlik-Gawron