Melissa Forbes:
Machi Medicine Women

Machi Headdress

Madien Ceremony

Drum of Machi Kultrun

My friends, who introduced me to the indigenous Laika in Peru, extended an invitation to meet the medicine women of Chile for 11-11-11 and to explore and celebrate the Feminine.  I booked my ticket to Temuco, Chile, the land of Volcanoes to embark on an adventure of the soul. The Mapuche, an ancient civilization that still exists today in the south part of Chile, the name means people of the earth, have one of the most authentic living traditions in the Americas.

These people lived in the fertile valleys of southern Chile at the time of the Spanish arrival. The Spaniards were unable to scar their culture as previously done in Peru, but the conflict between the Spaniards and Mapuche lasted for some 300 years. They speak the language Mapudungun, which has no written record. The language appears to be isolated, with little in common with surrounding languages such as Quechua, found in Peru.

Women have fulfilled important roles in indigenous religious life and in passing on cultural identity. One of the most fascinating figures in Mapuche culture is the Machi. She is often described as a good witch, but her role is that of a spiritual healer. The Machi has an extensive knowledge of medicinal herbs. Her training comes from guidance of an older Machi, but the Machi I meet, named Clorinda, tells a story of madness as a child, unaccepted by her parents and not encouraged, but eventually she accepted the path of a healer. She sees, hears the voice, she is guided by God and her kultrun (drum) and obeys. She said, “I never walk alone. I always walk with God.” God taught her dream interpretation, warding off evil, curing illness and rights of weather protection.  I have a precious photo of her but she asked that I did not publish her image. Healing ceremonies are private affairs and outsiders of the community are very rarely able to view the process. For 11-11-11 she agreed to perform Giatun, an extremely powerful ceremony, impressive looking since it is performed with two very large butcher knives and never seen by foreigners.

After the Giatun, eight drums were offered to the foreign women to take back to their land. The Machi said in her dream the drums were purified seeds. The earth was weak and the children had taken poor care of her. I had the good fortune of being initiated and bringing back a kultrun, seed of purification, and earth medicine from the Machi. The sound deeply connects me to Mother Earth.

The following morning I said goodbye to the Machi Clorinda and her daughter Patricia and we made our way to Pucon, a lovely village located at the foot of the Villarrica Volcano, ready to explore the rites of passage and to share my knowledge of yoga.

Like the seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter, the archetypes of women are maiden, mother, crone (wisdom keeper), and the dark one (Kali). Modern society, with its absence of rites of passage ceremonies and its disconnection from nature has had detrimental effects on our society. In traditional cultures menstruation (moon time) was considered a very sacred time, and the women would leave whatever they were doing and rest for three nights and days. Women would laugh, share and were aware of their connection to Spirit and to the gift that has been bestowed upon them as the life givers. They used the time to pray and give gratitude for the role they played as a woman. They would bleed into Mother Earth, replenishing her and giving back for all that she had given them. They were aware of the magic of this time of month, and with the wisdom of life that was accessible at this time of going within, honoring their emotional sensitivity, bringing to their awareness emotions that needed to be confronted. Others anticipated their return; eager to experience the new wisdom and clarity found and ready to be shared.

Puberty and the girl’s first menstruation marked the beginning of her reproductive life. A girl’s rite of passage was regarded as the most important, as the timing of this menstruation, the importance of ripeness, signaled to the women the need to pass on their knowledge and traditions.

These rituals form a new identity helping individuals to function and fit into the community as responsible adults. These rituals had much symbolism, left an imprint on the psyche and created a lasting image on the whole community. This ceremony reminded the community of their responsibility to the initiate in a new way, as an important mature member of the community. This rite of passage set the way for all initiates to better deal with life’s changes, and the seasons of life, to teach us to surrender and trust in life. Our western society is in resistance to change and we fight it not wanting to let go and this causes great suffering.

These rites of passage connected all women to each other in a meaningful way. Comparing this with where we are today, we need the rites of passage ceremonies more then ever.  Over time, sisterhood has been lost and the community support of the role of women has been undermined. Shared wisdom is unavailable, this has separated women. Now women carry shame, self-loathing and suffer loss of pride in the role as life givers, which previously was the foundation of the community. Struggling to live in a man’s world, hence they are not strong enough, not clever enough, not pretty enough, educated enough, and their periods are cursed. Pregnancy is viewed with disdain and creates stress. Contraception has altered our natural biological functions, causing further separation from nature. The bonds of sisterhood have been lost due to envy, jealousy, and betrayal. Women are deprived of their value in society that many believe all they have is their appearance, spurring further the competitiveness between women. In ancient cultures the sense of oneness and connection to their sisters would make this competition unthinkable.

I’m eternally grateful to have shared the rites of passage with the beautiful women in my group: reawakened the innocence, full of energy, promise, and purity of the maiden;  celebrated the creative, abundance of mother who knows how to nurture her self and others with love; connected to the wise crone, graced with humility and serenity; and also connected to the dark feminine, which delivers the truth, destroys for creation and gave me the fortitude to write and share my journey. They witnessed the shedding of shame, old stories, and healing of wounds, cleansed and washed away by the pure waters of Chile. In the caves of an active volcano, Kitral Pillan, I buried my seeds for the future, in right relationship to nature, community, myself, and to know everything I do is a form of worship.