Shamanism in Moche Art and Iconography - Maya Exploration Center

headdress such as the one displayed in Figure Si;(Figures 7-9).There is, however, another contest in which the same headdress isworn by a deity(Figurrs 1Ct-13).This deity has charactel-isticswhich separate him from the depictions of shamans.Round eyes,elongated fangs, wrank:le lines an his face, snake earrings andthe jaguar headdress are his principal elements. The "FangedUeity" is Elizabeth Benson '5 term for this Deity (Denson 1972;27) ..In the same way as the deity is the master 0.f the spiritrs, theShaman emulates him in costume to identify himself as a humanmaster of spirits.The Desana say that a deity named Viho Hahse was placed intne Milky Way by the Sun a5 an intermediary between the worlds.'iHis name comes from the word Viha which means hallucinogenicsnuf.f.He is lord of the spirit world whom the Deeana payesvisit during trance(Heiche1-Dolmatoff 1968; 411). It is also saidthat th19 Sun created the jaguar as his representative onEarth (ReicheX-Dolmatoff 1968; 28).~ukdreds bf milea to the southin Bolivia, Aymara is the name of a great feline deity that isboth a protector and a destroymr(Hadingham 1987;247).Modernlil~lechua sick are said to suffer from attacks by Ccok, flying.-feline minions of the Mountain/wcather Deity (liadingham 1987; 248).All of these beliefs may well be relatmd to concepts aboutshamanism and the other-world that developed long before Incasociety began.Music is another component of ritual well known to be