
The Chonchon ( es, chonchón from arn, chonchon) is a mythical bird from
Mapuche religion also present in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an and southern
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
folk myth.
Legend
The Chonchon is the magical transformation of a
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 ...
(
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...
sorcerer). It is said only the most powerful kalkus can aspire to master the secret of becoming this feared creature.
The kalku or sorcerer would carry out the transformation into a Chonchon by an act of will and being anointed by a magical cream in the throat that eases the removal of the head from the rest of the body, with the removed head then becoming the creature.
The Chonchon has the shape of a
human head with feathers and
talons
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...
; its
ears, which are extremely large, serve as
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
s for its flight on
moonless nights. Chonchons are supposed to be endowed with all the magic powers of, and can only be seen by, other kalkus, or by wizards that want this power. Sorcerers take the form of the chonchon to better carry out their wicked activities, and the transformation would provide them with other abilities, such as drinking the
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
of ill or sleeping people.
Although the fearsome appearance of a chonchon would be invisible to the uninitiated, they would still be able to hear its characteristic cry of "tue tue tue", which is considered to be an extremely ill
omen
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...
, usually predicting the death of a loved one.
See also
*
Flying Head
The Flying Head (also known as ''Big Head'' or the ''Great Head'') is a cannibalistic spirit from Iroquois and Wyandot mythology.
Description
According to both Iroquois and Wyandot, Flying Heads are described as being ravenous spirits that are cu ...
*
Manananggal
*
Soucouyant
The soucouyant or soucriant in Dominica, St. Lucian, Trinidadian, Guadeloupean folklore (also known as Loogaroo or Lougarou) in Haiti, Louisiana, Grenada and elsewhere in the Caribbean or Ole-Higue (also Ole Haig) in Guyana, Belize and Jamaica o ...
*
Tlahuelpuchi
*
Rokurokubi
''Rokurokubi'' (ろくろ首, 轆轤首) is a type of Japanese ''yōkai'' (apparition). They look almost completely like humans with some differences. There is a type whose neck stretches and another whose head detaches and flies around freely ...
References
*Constantino Contreras 2000 (in Spanish). Unidad temática y variedad textual: un tópico social en tres relatos orales, Estudios Filológicos, N° 35
External links
Fantastic Fauna of Chile
Shapeshifting
Legendary birds
Mythological hematophages
Latin American folklore
Mapuche legendary creatures
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