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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
A dance at a religious festival held each July in Iquique
and the nearby village of La Tirana in honor of the Virgin
Mary
Courtesy Embassy of Chile, Washington
Anthropologists of religion would be hard-pressed to
find
expressions of indigenous beliefs in the
"popular" sectors (see
Glossary) of Chile. The principal exception to this is in
the
north, where various religious festivals honoring the
Virgin Mary
show bold traces of highland Andean indigenous beliefs.
The most
noted of these is "La Tirana," held each July in Iquique
and the
nearby village of La Tirana. In the rest of the country,
Christian
and indigenous religious syncretism has been largely
confined to
native American communities, where faiths in various
animal and
bird spirits coexist with beliefs of Christian origin.
Popular religious beliefs focus to a large extent on
the notion
that there is a struggle between good and evil, the latter
seen as
a force personified by the devil. This perspective is much
in line
with Mapuche beliefs. Illnesses are often seen, like sin,
as tied
in some way to the devil's work. Catholic priests in poor
parishes
usually have had the experience of being called by their
least
educated parishioners to perform exorcisms, particularly
of demons
thought to be afflicting sick children, and many
Pentecostal
services focus on ridding body and soul of satanic
influences and
on faith healing. A belief in heaven and in the eternal
horrors of
hell is a fundamental ingredient of the popular religious
imagery,
with earthly life said to be a brief trial determining the
soul's
final destination. Much of the message of Pentecostal
sermons
revolves around these concepts, focusing on the weakness
of the
flesh and on the necessity of leading a life of constant
preparation for eternal deliverance. In this respect,
there is a
puritan streak to the Pentecostal message that is
reinforced
through a liberal use of individual testimonies of
repentance and
conversion from members, of the congregation. Among
Catholics, this
element of popular religiosity is tied intimately to a
belief in
the intercession of saints and, most important, of the
Virgin Mary.
Intercession may be invoked on behalf of deceased family
members
who are remembered in prayers.
The afterworld is heavily populated in popular
religious
imagery by errant souls atoning for their sins and seeking
their
final rest. Particularly in rural areas, it is common
along
roadsides to see niches carved into the sides of hills or
shaped
from clay the contain crosses, occasionally photographs,
and
candles. The niches are in the proximity of places where
people met
sudden, violent deaths, primarily from traffic accidents,
without
the benefit of last rites. The candles are lit mainly to
plead for
their souls but also in some cases to ask the deceased to
intercede
for those who light them. It is customary among the
Chilean poor to
believe that infants who die become little angels.
Pilgrimages to
Catholic churches that house special images of the Virgin
or of
saints and multitudinous processions in which these images
are
displayed are also part of the popular religious
landscape. The
faithful frequently offer penances in the hope of
obtaining special
favors.
A central objective of Pentecostal services is to
experience a
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The leader of the
service tries
to cleanse the congregation of devilish influences and to
prepare
the way for this manifestation. Between his or her
invocations
stressing the necessity and possibility of redemption from
sin and
anointments of the sick, the congregation joins in
rhythmic but
often lamentational singing, sometimes to the
accompaniment of
guitars and tambourines, and often supplemented by the
clapping of
hands. While singing, some of the women who attend will
frequently
begin to dance, swaying back and forth, and even to "speak
in
tongues." Sometimes the dancing will surround certain
individuals
who are chosen because they need special attention for
some reason.
Another common practice is for members of the congregation
to pray
individually in a loud voice.
Data as of March 1994
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