On the Multidimensionality of Rattles

I would like to share something about one of the instruments I hold dear: the rattles, in the context of the Wichí native people of Chaco, Argentina.

While the 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗺 is often regarded as the primary instrument of the ‘shaman’ worldwide, in Latin America, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 occupy a central position.

Despite the evangelizing influence of the Pentecostal Church, the Wichí people continue to uphold their ancestral customs, particularly surrounding the figure of the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ (𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘰, in Spanish, or shaman), who still practices healing today—often in secrecy, away from the scrutiny of priests.

The role of the Jayawú

The role of the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ is not a choice; it is revealed through apparitions in nature, physical symptoms, or dreams from other 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́. The selected individual must endure a series of sometimes very rigorous initiations (including possessions) for a while until they are ready. At that point, they receive specific song(s) from the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩(s) (spirits) that will guide them, and only then they are entrusted with the rattle. (1)

The origin of the practice

These practices are attributed to the mythical hero 𝙏𝙤𝙠𝙟𝙬𝙖́𝙟:

“At night, 𝙏𝙤𝙠𝙟𝙬𝙖́𝙟 sought a 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙖́𝙟 (gourd) and other items. He called the sick… made them lie down, and began to sing. Thus, he healed them all. 𝙏𝙤𝙠𝙟𝙬𝙖́𝙟 told them: ‘You must do as I do, and I will teach you how to care for yourselves…'”(2).

The Jayawú and the rattle

During each healing act, the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ plays the rattle while they sing. The song is in reality the song of the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩, which comes from the voice of the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́.

This testimony from the informant Pedro Aldana, from the chorote people, accounts for the relationship of the healer with the rattle:

“Inside the rattle, there is something that sometimes causes it to move on its own when it is hanging, and that means it is eager to sing; then the shaman takes it out and sings with it.” (3)

In other words, they sing ‘in duet’ with the rattle. The rattle serves multiple purposes: it facilitates communication with the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨, drives them away if necessary, and alleviates the patient’s pain by playing above the affected area.

Can anyone simply pick up a rattle, auto-proclaim themselves as a 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ and heal others because the rattle ‘does the job’? The answer is no. This practice is deeply embedded within the Wichí worldview, cosmology, and cultural practices and concepts around illness and healing.

Wichí cosmovision

To summarise briefly, for the Wichí, health is viewed as a balance between two essential components: the 𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙠 (which we might refer to as the ‘soul’ or ‘will’) and the 𝙩’𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣 (the body).

There also exist two modes of existence for all beings: 𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞́ (the human, the familiar) and 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩 (the non-human, the opposite). Every being possesses an essence, either 𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞́ or 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩. Upon death, a human’s 𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞́ essence undergoes a metamorphosis into 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩.

The 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨 reside in the underworld, but some are present in the human realm. Some 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨 are considered ‘good’ and are referred to as ‘𝘋𝘶𝘦𝘯̃𝘰𝘴’ in Spanish (‘Owners’), such as the Owners of certain plants or animals, who protect them. Likewise, there are 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨 that are the Owners of diseases.

For the Wichí, illness arises when the 𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙠 (soul) departs from the 𝙩’𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣 (body), allowing the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩 of a disease to take advantage and enter. The reasons for the soul’s departure can vary: it may flee in fear, be stolen by another, or simply be targeted by an 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩.

Then the role of the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ is to restore this balance by seeking the afflicted’s soul and directly negotiating or combating the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩 of the disease (with the help of other 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨) to facilitate its departure from that body.

The Shamanic Soundscape

This negotiation or combat occurs through the shaman’s creation of a narrative in which he defeats the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩 of the disease, created from events related with the patient he collects beforehand. This narrative will then be announced publicly. (4)

The story is constructed by creating a specific soundscape, according to the vicissitudes, with his song and the rattle (and sometimes a drum or a whistle). For example, the song received from the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩 of a specific disease often contains elements of its name, and by singing it, the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ places this character in the therapeutic scene, recreating the conditions that have led to the afflicted individual’s situation, and allows the event to have a global significance.

Miguel García summarizes:

“In summary, through musical practice, the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ constructs a therapeutic context in which subjects unfold—the 𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙠 dissociate or, in some cases, reunite with the 𝙩’𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣; the past—constructed as a myth-historical narrative—connects with the present; the Wichí humanity, by experiencing the proximity of the non-human world of the 𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙩, reaffirms itself by opposition; the 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙬𝙪́ exercises, validates, and celebrates his power to traverse and articulate divergent realms; and, especially, the imaginary and symbolic activity are associated as indices to certain sound configurations, meaning images and symbols become addicted to sounds.” (4)

The interdimensionality of the practice

Gilbert Rouget expands on the multidimensional nature of the practice:

“Possession music must not be seen as a musical therapy but as the means to put the person possessed in communication with the divinity who possesses him/her and at the same time with the society where the cult functions. It is the communication and the identification which create the therapeutic situation.” (5)

This intricate and profound procedure is often unknown or overlooked by those attempting to replicate native ‘shamanic journeys’ or ‘shamanic healing’ by simply shaking a rattle or a drum over a person and singing a song (they learnt on the Internet), as these are just the external manifestations of those practices.

As I write these lines, I am gazing at a rattle I have cherished since childhood, a keepsake from my first visit to the Wichí. I cannot help but admire the myriad rivers of significance and wonder that flow around it.

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(1) Califano, Mario y Dasso, María Cristina. El Chamán Wichí, Ciudad Argentina, Buenos Aires, 1999.

(2) Califano, Mario. El ciclo de Tokwaj: Análisis fenomenológico de una narración mítica de los Mataco costaneros. In: Scripta Ethnologica, año 1, Nº 1, pp. 157-186, Buenos Aires, 1973.

(3) Ruiz, Irma. Los instrumentos musicales de los indígenas del Chaco central. Revista del Instituto de Investigación Musicológica “Carlos Vega”, 6, 1985.

(4) García, Miguel A. Paisajes sonoros de un mundo coherente: Prácticas musicales y religión en la sociedad wichí, Buenos Aires, 2002.

(5) Rouget, Gilbert. Music and Possession Trance. In: The Anthropology of the Body, John Blacking, Londres, Academic Press, 1977.