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It is the elders who detain the traditional knowledge, although their number is proportionately ever smaller within the population as a whole. Among the elders, the most renowned and, at the same time the most feared, are the shamans who develop a specialized and esoteric knowledge that allows them to maintain communication between the social world and the spiritual world.

In what follows, a brief summary of cosmological knowledge is presented. Due to the research conducted, the terms presented are in the Aparai language, but, whenever possible, Wayana equivalents are presented. It is worth pointing out that not always are such correspondences in meaning possible, there being words in one language that do not have correlates in the other, which comes to reinforce the linguistic (and ethnic) differentiation between the groups.

The origin of the world

For the Wayana and Aparai the relations established with the inhabitants of the forest or the rivers are very close to those forged with the beings of the sky and the subterranean world. The earth is conceived as a kind of round island, surrounded by water, which ends where the sun sets, in a place inhabited by several entities that hold up the sky on their backs. In the past, the sky and the earth were connected by a mountain or by a vine.

The origin of all peoples is a certain place, to the north of the East Paru River, in the region near the Tumucumaque mountain and which, curiously, geographically separates the three present-day territorial groups. Between the headwaters of this river and the feeder rivers of the Parumo, a branch of the Tapanahoni River, Surinam (where up until a short while ago they had kin), the Indians mention the existence of a mountain that separates the two rivers and which seems to correspond to the mountain that connects the two skies.

There are two overlapping skies: the lower one, kapumereru, the region of the cirrus clouds, where the jorokó and the kurumu (vultures) dwell, residence of the creator hero Mopó; and the upper sky, kapu, dwelling of Ikujuri and other supernatural entities, where the stars, Sun and Moon are located. Beyond this sky, there is a plateau that is connected to the earth, inhabited by beings "that look like people", Aparai with dark Brown skin; below the earth, there is another layer where beings live who do not look like people, with skin that is like the Aparai, but with their bodies covered with fur. This world has its own sun.

The beings that inhabit the lower sky, the jorokó and kurumu (vultures), have an important place in cosmography. The vultures are like “people in the sky”, living in villages like men. The Aparai and Wayana distinguish various species of vultures, locating them in “villages” in space, for some people, also located on layers. There is a myth they know that explains the strong cynegetic connection with the vultures: thanks to their feathers, obtained through a system of trade, the men are able to hunt better. The men, in turn, must leave the rest of the meat they do not want for the vultures. In their relation to the jorokó, both their knowledge and the toponymy are diffuse, and it is in relation to them that the Aparai and the Wayana are always watchful and more fearful.

Creator/transformer principle of the universe: ikujuri

Like many groups of the Guiana region, there is a prevalent belief in a supreme impersonal power, which does not exercise any direct influence on the lives of the Aparai and Wayana, and precedes the origin of the creator heroes. There are two great creator-heroes: Mopó and Ikujuri (or Kujuli, in Wayana). Both are responsible for the creation of the beings and elements of nature and for the present-day composition of the Cosmos. Once the creation of things was concluded and, tired of the disobedience of the beings they had created, these heroes go off to the upper sky, definitively losing touch with men.

The Aparai associate the "father of the sky", or the great chief that inhabits the heavens with Mopó, while for the Wayana it is Kujuli. The myths attribute to Mopó the creation not only of the beings and elements of nature, but also the first artifacts (initially made from clay), the technologies that were to facilitate the lives of men and also shamanistic power. Nevertheless, by virtue of his ambivalent nature, his good intentions are not always understood, and in the myths he often appears to be lying or deceiving. Different from Ikujuri, who in the myth is called by consanguineal kinship terms ("father", "grandfather", "brother"), Mopó is always called by the term for affine, kono, which means "in-law". It is worth remembering that, on the plane of social relations, this is a tense relation that demands a reciprocal exchange of favors. We could raise the hypothesis that from this there is the suggestion that the principle of creation/transformation, in acting on the natural world (without the participation of men), does not create a situation of tension or conflict, while, in acting on the plane of human relations (Mopó creates the instruments for the men and teaches them how to transform nature), it engenders states of conflict or competition. One also notes that, every time a reciprocal trade is established between men and beings of the universe, their relationship is marked by terms of consanguinety, which could confirm the model of social relations predominant in the Guianas in which the pair consanguinety/affinity is expressed by a relation of tension/reciprocity.

The term Ikujuri often appears not in noun form, but in adjectival forms ("that also was ikujuri" or "he knew how to be ikujuri”), leading us to conclude that Ikujuri would be more than a “creator hero”, but rather a quality or “creator and transformer” principle attributed to several beings (or even a principle present in the world). In reality, there seems to have existed more than one creator hero, more than one Mopó, Ikujuri, or their descendants who continue their work. The existence of Ikujuri in the world allowed the elements which are part of him to be created and constantly transformed (rivers, plants, animals etc.), which explains the presence of the use of shamanistic power in the myths in which he appears. If today humanity does not participate more directly in this transformation, the world continues to go through transformations: the jorokó take on animal forms to attack, the powerful shamans can transform themselves into jaguars, the beings that inhabit the depths of the rivers are anthropomorphized etc.

Vital principle: uzenu

Humans are endowed with a triple structure: the body, punu, its vital principle, uzenu and akuarihpo, which after death separates from the body. The punu shapes the perceptible image not only of men but also of animals, and can be understood as the covering of the vital principle, which is part of the composition of the whole organic being (plant or animal). The shade, omore (omole, in Wayana), is the material projection of the uzenu. This has the feature of being "volatile", and can easily be separated from the body.

There are four ways the uzenu can become absent from the body: during sleep, through the aggression of a jorokó who voluntarily or, acting on the order of a shaman, robs it from the body; when the victim is frightened; or at death. Only the shaman has the capacity to voluntarily send his uzenu out of his body, during sleep, in a curing session or even when he wishes to harm someone. His uzenu causes great fear, for it is capable of being controlled and killing.

Small children are the most vulnerable to the loss of their uzenu, for bodily growth is associated with maturation and strengthening of this principle. When a person comes into this world, this vital energy is still in the phase of development, and continues to form until about three years of age, which coincides with the motor control of the child. Until this age, the uzenu is still not totally fixed to the body, and is dependent on the uzenu of the parents, which explains a whole series of precautions that have to be obeyed during pregnancy, post-partum, in the first years of life and when the child gets sick. It is very common to watch mothers perform the same gesture with the hands, along with blowing of the breath, over the body of their small children every time they fall down. Mothers also get quite upset at the possibility of their being frightened and a good part of phytotherapy has to do with infantile medicine, despite the fact that today, Western medicine is integrated into the system of personal care.

At death, the uzenu separates completely from the body, crosses over the ropes of the hammock and goes up to the sky, definitively losing contact with men. Some say that after death, it can go to xipahtai, described as a celestial river, located on a very high hill to the east. They refer to it as the center of the world, the good earth at the place where the sun rises. There no-one needs to work, the houses don’t have to be remade, it is not necessary to plant, for, it is a land of plenty and no-one gets old.

Contact with the beings of the forest and the river

Different from the joroko, which are inaccessible, in nature there are in the waters and the forest, visible beings, with which simple contact can be fatal. Several correspond to our zoological classification, others don’t. The “imaginary” beings are put on the same plane as those that really exist. To resort to these fantastic beings is tangible proof that the human intellect can do without empirical referents and that mental operations can pre-exist zoological data. The most feared animals are the jaguars, like the kaokakoxi (two-headed jaguar), snakes and lizards. Among the beings of the forest these are considered the most dangerous, for they never die nor can they be killed, under penalty of causing some type of evil action: kaokokoxi ("lizard/two-headed jaguar"); kumepepyimo ("centopede"); kutekute ("black jaguar that looks like a puppy, but when you play with it, it grows in size and never dies"); kaikuxi tymeremy ("spotted jaguar"); kaikuxi kapauimano ("red jaguar"); maracajá ("small jaguar"); maxipurimo ("big anteater"); iou ("big jaguar"); merimo ("jaguar that stays on top of a tree"); turupereimo ("lizard/big snake that exists in the hills, the color of its tongue is like a macaw feather").

But what differentiates these “dangerous” beings from the rest? In the first place, their physical aspect: each one is, or can assume the monstrous form of its species, indicated by the suffix imo, such as: arãtareimo (big howler monkey), mekuimo (big macaco prego – a species of monkey), maxipurimo (big anteater), etuimo (big woodpecker), kapauimo (big deer that keeps wasp honey in its throat) etc. In the second place, all of them are “eaters of people” or cannibals and, thirdly, they are found in places where the men also circulate, in the forest and river. Although they mention the existence of feared birds, possessed by jorokó, there are no cannibal celestial beings. As they say, “in the past, birds and fish were like people. When people see a bird that has been shot with an arrow, it’s because one cannot kill it, for everything would become dark. A bird shot with an arrow has an owner”.

It is, nevertheless, the aquatic world that has an exceptional place in the life of the group, involving a knowledge that is quite widespread and described in many details. In the deepest places of the rivers, there are, in each hole, zue, various "water beasts", each of which has its “owner”, and which at any moment can attack humans. This explains the avoidance of navigating or taking baths near the deeper places that every individual can identify near the villages and surroundings. The physical aspect and size of these beings are quite varied, for they can assume animal appearance, or human appearance, or recall the form of an object. They are called ihpory (or ipo, in Wayana), and each one is also identified by the suffix imo, which confers an exacerbated and monstrous aspect to the species – as occurs with several beings of the forest considered dangerous. Thus, maxipurimo refers to a large tapir (maxipuri), that lives in one of the deep parts of the river. The ihpory only come out of their holes at night, which are hidden behind the hills, living in villages at the bottom of the river – villages which are like those of Wayana-Aparai society.

It is worth noting that while the ihpory, which are identifiable in space, do not bring sicknesses but do kill, the jorokó, who have no definite dwelling-place, inversely cause sicknesses the consequences of which, however, can be repaired, by curing or avoiding death. This creates a situation of perpetual vulnerability of humanity to the attack of malicious beings. In the case of the sicknesses and misfortunes caused by the jorokó, these can be repaired or “negotiated”, and those which are responsible for the harm done will help in eliminating it. But meeting an ihpory and other cannibal beings, inhabitants of the forest, is always fatal.

The death of several ihpory has served as inspiration for naming various settlements, whose “holes” today serve as sorts of geographical markers. The origin of the rituals and all the paraphernalia associated with them is attributed both to the beings of the forest and of the waters. However, it is the beings of the waters, the toponymy of which is known to everyone, that exercise a more direct influence on daily life. We should associate this fact with the importance that the rivers exercise in the dynamics of the life of the group: from the point of view of territorial occupation and economic exploitation, the river functions as a channel of communication among the settlements and with other territorial and ethnic groups. This explains why the aquatic world serves as the great socio-symbolic paradigm.

The controller principle and the relation among beings

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The world is not thought of in hierarchical terms and, as has already been said, there doesn’t exist the idea of a supreme being acting directly on the lives of humans. The principles of nature with which men are in contact are not placed in opposition to the supernatural world, but to intermittent mutual conflicts. If the idea of a supreme being does not exist and if all forms of life have the same free will to cause evil, it is necessary that there exist some principle in the universe that protects beings from extinction. Nature has its controllers which are related to men, but there are different controllers. Thus, there is a controller principle for each domain and species of nature, which watches over it and controls it. In relation to the domains of nature, to edible plants and to game animals, they refer to their "father", zumy. They speak of ituzumy, the "father of the forest", tunazumy, the "father of the water", kanazumy, "father of the fish", ywizumy, "father of manioc" (meaning edible plants) and tonsezumy, "father of game animals". A “chief” or tamuru is attributed to each species. In this way, for animals (onyky), they refer to the onykyry tamuru or kaikuxi tamuru. Kaikuxi, in the Aparai language, means "jaguar", which among all the animals is the most feared, which could explain the appropriation of this term to designate also the “owners” of the animals.

The "time of the ancient ones", or “mythic time”, is characterized by the time of the lack of differentiation, when all beings communicated amongst themselves. Men and animals had the same attributes and the animal-human metamorphosis was a constant way of resolving crisis situations, disobedience, abuse, excess or lack, caused, in the last analysis, by the conduct of the beings and creator heroes. However, one day, Ikujuri, tired of such abuses, decides to put an end to this situation of identity, by creating alterity: the differentiation between the species, among men (ethnic and linguistic) and among the living and the dead. From that time on, the relation between men and animals changed: the men needed to hunt, fish, and learn how to plant in order to survive. Several species of the animal kingdom went on to have their “owner” and, thanks to them, men can more easily hunt and fish through a sort of “treaty” of concessions. Before, the water was the sky, the birds were fish and everyone fought amongst themselves. These days, when a fish comes close to the surface of the water, making it possible to catch it, it means that its owner is away, that is, the owner is not taking care of its -poetory, or those that obey the owner of that species. Thus, they say: “when one sees many fish it is because they are dancing”. However, if in the dry season there is an abundance of fish, fishing cannot be done without certain precautions, for this would cause the anger of the owners of each species, resulting in sicknesses. In the forest, in the same way, to be able to hunt an animal means that the owner of that species has let it go. They explain: “in the forest, all ipoetory walk together with their owner”.

Edible plants are associated with the “owners of manioc", from whom one learns to plant and prepare food. One cannot forget that manioc is the basis of the food diet. As for the other useful plants, such as those used for medicinal purposes, there is no single entity that controls them, such as "owners", "masters", "chiefs" or "mothers", very common in the ethnography of other indigenous groups. Among the traditional remedies, 90 % are made from plants and all are controlled by the jorokó.

A very long time ago, in order to deal with the constant threat of attacks by certain animals, humans engaged in relations of affinity that immediately after were “consanguinized": the animals were transformed into husbands, wives, parents or grandparents. Thus a myth is told how one day an Aparai man married, without knowing, a jaguar, whose “people” customarily attacked them. The marriage put an end to this conflict and the daughter who was born from this relation gave rise to the Kaikuxiana (kaikuxi, jaguar) people, who are considered one of the ancestors of the Aparai.

Besides settling questions of war through marriages, the animals are sources of knowledge. With some of them, men learned the songs, dances, graphic motifs, Technologies of objects, how to cure, hunt, etc. It is interesting that it is in situations of isolation from social living that the men learn such knowledge. This is seen in the narrative on the origin of the great ritual, the festival of Okomo, which the Wayana and Aparai learn from the japim (jakakua) bird: while a man is lost in the forest, he hears and sees this festival and, while he is in the woods, he becomes related to the animals, eating with them, having sexual relations, etc.

Thus, in the “mythic” times, the conviviality of men and animals is marked sometimes by friendly relations, sometimes by conflicts; sometimes by reciprocity, sometimes by competition. What distinguishes this time from the present is the type of communication. Before, all the beings and elements of the cosmos communicated amongst themselves and it was this communication that allowed for cultural transmission, which among the Wayana and Aparai is done preferably with the animals and it is about this that they most like to tell stories.

Many myths also tell of war adventures against the beings that “looked like people, but they were beasts". Despite the fact that some of these were peaceful to humans, even so their death is desired. Such stories refer to the moment when the non-differentiation among beings was broken and substituted by relations of alterity, leading to a situation of permanent watchfulness against possible conflicts. Once this split occurred, several beings were endowed with the capacity to live in society while others were not, and those who were not received the definitive form of animal or plant. In the same way, only some humans were endowed with the capacity to see and to visit other worlds, for the purpose of requesting assistance with the problems of this world (sicknesses, economic misfortune, social disorders, etc.), for, those who are responsible for these problems belong to the other worlds. Having broken the direct communication between humans and animals, the relation of reciprocity gives way to one of “negotiation”, which is mediated by the shaman. Animals are killed because they are “beasts”, not humans, and because it is necessary to eat. And when the animals become food for men, a relation of reciprocal predation is established among them, to the extent that sicknesses and misfortunes result, in large part, from the attacks of those beings.

Destructive/restorative principle: jorokó

Besides the creator/transformer principle, ikujuri, the universe contains its opposite: the jorokó, which is capable of materializing in animals and of taking control of other organic forms, acting on its own or being manipulated by men. Like the vital principles, these are present in all domains and feed off the first. As we have mentioned, on dying, besides the setting free of uzenu, another specter is let loose from the body, the akuari'po, or "bad specter of the spirit of the dead", which "is no good" and stays on the earth, being able to do evil to humans . After the uzenu góes to the village of the dead, the old spirits become new, without sicknesses. On Earth, in compensation, the akuarihpo remain, which can cause sicknesses. Akuarihpo is, in reality, a kind of jorokó, and the Wayana and Aparai explain that a day will come when there will be so many jorokó on earth that it will “fall” and the sky above will come crashing down and so on consecutively. However, it is necessary to distinguish the akuarihpo of men and those of the shamans: the first is not endowed with consciousness and is maintained “alive” by the desire to feed off the vital principle of individuals, without distinction; the second is endowed with consciousness and will and has attained the same superior level as the other jorokó. In their struggle to control the spirits, the shamans appeal both to the jorokó and to the akuarihpo. There are several immortal jorokó (such as Axiporiê, Wasaimo and others), which does not happen with the akuarihpo, which can be “dominated” by the shamans. The shaman’s apprentices can acquire various akuarihpo and it is admitted that they can incarnate in certain animals that one should avoid killing. The destruction of material goods when a person dies is certainly associated with the fact of wanting to eliminate whatever material remains that recall its owner and can attract its akuari'po.

In contrast with the animals, which can integrate the jorokó in their very being, for humans, to have jorokó leads to sickness and death. Some animals are permanent carriers of jorokó, while others are only temporary receivers. Only the powerful shamans know how to store them in their bodies, for "the one who has jorokó is a beast". When “someone speaks a lot about another”, "is prone to fighting", that is, he comes to behave in a way that is against the social norms, it is because he is possessed by the jorokó, "he is dirty inside". Today the shamans explain that they are no longer capable of storing them in their bodies, but they can dominate them, turning them into their “helpers” and each one creating a particular stock of them. The “good” shamans know where they live and can resort to them when they need to, whether for curing, or for aggression. In short, the jorokó is a destroyer principle and, at the same time, restorative principle, which is an integral part of the world. It is capable of materializing temporarily through the living, manifesting itself at death, in sickness or permanently. They are beings which provoke fear to everyone: humans or animals which in the “ancients times", through carelessness or transgression of the rules, were transformed definitively into jorokó, birds, beasts of the forest and water.

Thus, men live in a perpetual state of watchfulness and defense, fearing the attack of cannibal beings, inhabitants of the forest or the river. But it is in relation to the jorokó, whose power is diffuse and invisible that they have the greatest fear. Today, only the shamans are able to communicate with them and thanks to their skill in negotiating, they are able to repair the evil sent and prevent new evil stuff from being reproduced ad infinitum. Nevertheless, if people are no longer able to see them, they are capable of feeling their presence, through physical sensations in the environment – a strong wind, a brusque change in weather or any abnormal accident of nature –, through sicknesses or economic and ecological misfortunes or social problems (interpersonal conflicts, fissions in political units, etc.).