Ngenechen (also known as Ngunechen, Nguenechen, Guenechen, Guinechen) is one of the most important Ngen spirits within traditional

Mapuche religion The mythology and religion of the indigenous Mapuche people of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina is an extensive and ancient belief system. A series of unique legends and myths are common to the various groups that make up the Mapuc ...

; and is the most important deity in the present beliefs of the Mapuche people. Ngenechen originally was only the Ngen spirit "governor of the Mapuche people" and not their creator god; but as a product of

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

with

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Ngenechen is now also the "Supreme Being" in Mapuche religion, and is

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with the term God as used in Abrahamic religions.

References

* Leslie Ray. Language of the land: the Mapuche in Argentina and Chile. Volumen 119 de IWGIA document. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. IWGIA, 2007. , * Oscar Paillacan Ramirez, (Junio, 1999), Religión y Mitología Mapuche Ngenechen, centro de documentación mapuche. (Spanish)

References

See also