Arútam

Arútam is the spirit-vision at the centre of the beliefs of the Shuar, the Jivaroan people of the forested foothills of the Andes. They are warriors who defeated an Inca army sent by Huayna Capac in 1527 and drove the Spaniards from their country in 1599.

Traditionally a boy of about eight was taken to a waterfall and given maikua, a datura brew, in the hope of seeing an arútam, a vision sent by an ancestral spirit called wakaní. Touching it brought great strength, and several made a man invincible, though the power could be lost.

The Shuar did not believe in natural death. Unexplained illness was blamed on invisible darts, tsentsak, which shamans called uwishin bought and controlled. A slain enemy's soul, the muísak, was sought in the shrunken head, the tsantsa.