Shamanism in Moche Art and Iconography - Maya Exploration Center

assist his side in the battle.Figure 52 is another battle scenein which the only figure in the scene with a jag~lar headdressconjures a spirit to aid his side.The shaman blows into a conchshell over a Nisha Negra plant as a spirit,'throwing a spearmakerializes above him. In Figure 53 a spirit floats over thehead of the opponent of a man who wears the jaguar headdress.This shaman has his weapons held away from tho opponent and looks.up tnwards his protector spirit.These are but a few examples ofa common theme in Moche art in which Moche shaman are depicted anthe process of calling out the spirits.TheDe_~.,s~~tatora.The Decapitator is the name gicen to an individr.lal who isfreq.uently depicted in Moche art.In his most standard pose hestands arms outstretched, a severed head in one hand a tumi knifein the other (Figure 54).Elizabeth Benson notes diffic1.11ty intelling gods apart and considers the'Decapiifator simply theFanged Deity in another circumstance(Benson 1972;JO).Donnanseparates the Decapitator from Benson's Fanged Deity calling it asupernatural being relatod to sacrifice(Alva and Donnan, ..1993; 139). The Decapitator is frequently shown capturing an -opponsnt.In some scenes the opponent is a terrestrialcreature(Figures 55-57), in others the opponent is an oceandweller (Figures 58-62).A1 1 opponents of the Dscapitatnr are%c..~pernatural as evidenced by human limbs on sea creatures and