On Amazonian Magical Darts
James Andrew Whitaker, Lewis Daly
Folklore October 2, 2025 DOI: 10.1080/0015587x.2025.2550866 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Makushi people in North Rupununi, Guyana |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Keywords | Animism Amazonian Ethnography Character mathematics Folklore Anthropology Aesthetics Epistemology |
| Key findings | Makushi shamanic concepts of waawî challenge dualisms between material/immaterial, body/spirit, and subject/object, offering new insights into debates about animism in Amazonia. |
Abstract
This article examines pathogenic projectiles among the Makushi people in Guyana. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among Makushi in North Rupununi, the ‘magical’ darts known as waawî are described and contrasted with accounts of similar phenomena across Amazonia. For the Makushi, waawî seem to hold an ambiguous existence as both entities and objects. As embodiments of spirit-helpers, these pathogenic darts are fabricated by shamans yet maintain a paradoxical existence that goes beyond notions of nature and culture. Makushi people also give somewhat similar accounts of different kinds of pathogenic objects that are used by other-than-human owners and masters, as well as certain stars. The article concludes with general comments about the character of spirit-darts in Amazonian cosmologies, engaging theory from animism and perspectivism. We argue that these Makushi shamanic concepts shed new light on debates around animism in Amazonia, drawing into question familiar dualisms between the material/immaterial, body/spirit, and subject/object.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Plantas con madre": plants that teach and guide in the shamanic initiation process in the East-Central Peruvian Amazon. Curanderos, apprentices, and herbalists in East-Central Peru, including Mestizo,... | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 36 |
| Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca Healers and participants in shamanic tourism contexts of the Peruvian Amazon and... | 2019 | Ethnography with literature review | n = 227 |
| The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism Western tourists and indigenous peoples in Iquitos, Peru | 2016 | Ethnography | |
| Shamanism and Rock Art in Far Western North America Historic hunter-gatherer cultures of California and the Great Basin | 1992 | Ethnographic review and analysis | |
| Working with “La Medicina”: Elements of Healing in Contemporary Ayahuasca Rituals Ayahuasqueros and Western participants in shamanic tourism in Iquitos, Peru | 2012 | Ethnography |
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- Shamanism and Its Discontents Medical Anthropology Quarterly June 1, 1988
- From rau to sacred plants: Transfigurations of shamanic agency among the Siona Indians of Colombia Social Compass July 18, 2017
- Toxicity and Plant Animacy in Amazonia: Cosmology, Chemosensation and Ecosemiotics Journal of Ethnobiology December 1, 2024
- Plant Agency in the Guianas: Attraction, Assault, and Animacy Journal of Ethnobiology September 22, 2024
- Fragrant Ecologies: Aroma and Olfaction in Indigenous Amazonia 2024
and 4 more in the library