Mitos y Leyendas: The Story of the Forest Lamps

• Mitos y Leyendas presents the Mapuche story of the forest lamps.
• It’s a tale that explains the origin of a beautiful flower.
• Also, the fusion of nature with humanity to end evil.

Long ago, in a volcano, lived a wicked wizard. He was like the chief of lesser wizards. He was very evil, though he felt guilty for his misdeeds.

The village near the volcano blamed him for all the misfortunes that occurred. Some of these were indeed his doing, but not always.

The people feared the wizard. To calm his fury and prevent his evils, they gave him a type of offering to keep him content. It was a kind of chicha that enchanted the wicked wizard.

To retrieve it, he had to traverse a large forest. Knowing the chicha would intoxicate him, he left small lamps to mark his way back.

The Wicked Wizard’s Journey

They say he would fill himself with this drink to forget his wickedness. There was no explanation for the wizard’s feelings. When he went to get the drink, he left volcanic fire and placed it in the trees.

«This way, I won’t get lost no matter how drunk I am.» Returning, he lamented his evilness. He also sang songs, «I’m a chubby one carried by the wind, and I have the giggles of pure content.»

He heard the laughter of children in those parts. The kids laughed, but far from annoying the wizard, they amused him. They knew he caused no harm when drunk.

He remembered nice things from his childhood and said, «Why am I evil? It’s true, my mother is a snake, and my father a devil. What else could I expect?» He also said, «But I was born good. I remember.» The wizard cried a lot like this.

The Forest Lamps

When returning to his volcano, he forgot to extinguish the lights in the trees. Thus, they remained with a kind of beautiful lamp hanging from them.

Luckily for the wizard, the offerings couldn’t be part of winter or rainy seasons because they would extinguish the lamps, and he wouldn’t find his way home.

When this happened, he would rest from his drunkenness in his volcano and sleep for a long time until he could count on the forest lamps again.

The village rested from the wizard. But once, the rain and winter lasted much longer than usual, which unleashed the wizard’s annoyance, showing his discontent with the village.

The Wizard’s Wrath

When the unusual season ended, the wizard set out in search of the chicha. That year, there were many more forest lamps than in other years. His friend Cheruve helped him with more fire.

Although the village offered their favorite offering, it didn’t fully satiate him, which caused his fury. As punishment, he attacked their crops and destroyed them.

The wizard used his power to rot the potato crops of the villages. Unfortunately for the people, they didn’t know this was happening, only discovering it when a smell began to emerge.

«But what a great stench… What could it be?» At that moment, they realized it came from their potato crops, and when they tried to remove them, they were knocked out by the smell. Concern reached them.

The Villagers Gather

«What will our little ones eat now!» the people exclaimed. «We can’t let this be. We have to have some plan, something we must do to be safe.» They decided to hold a meeting.

The topic of the meeting was obvious: what to do with the wizard. The chiefs and landowners wanted solutions quickly. Some said, «We have to leave him the offering, and when he’s drunk… we’ll give him a beating!»

Others said this wasn’t a good idea, as the wizard could transform them into fish, frogs, or who knows what else. «What if we put something in the chicha? That way, his stomach will hurt, and he won’t feel like bothering.»

But others said, «What if he gets angry and kills us.» Everyone was scared. With ideas running out, a wise elder approached the people and gave an idea to confront the wizard.

Asking for Help from the Spirits

The elder said that to face this being, they had to ask for help from the spirits of nature, and not only that, but each family had to ask for help from their animal protector.

«We have to ask for help from the spirits of nature: the water, the trees, the fish. Acting with intelligence and unity will make us achieve victory.» So, everyone went in search of the help of the spirits.

The families called their animal protectors, and others went to the hills to talk with the guanaco; others to the jungle with the puma; another to the seashore with the dolphins, and also to the mountain, with the white eagle.

Those in the jungle contacted the trees, which had deeply revealing thoughts for this group task. However, it was a spirit that came up with the solution.

The Spirit of Canelo

This spirit had the wisest counsel, «The wizard needs his forest lamps to come and go. If we take them away, he can do nothing.» Thus, he will leave us in peace.

The people were fascinated by the plan and set out to implement it. Everyone helped—animals, flora, and people. The solution was also pleasing because it involved no violence.

They agreed the plan would be to intoxicate the wizard so much that he couldn’t defend himself or notice the disappearance of the forest lamps.

Everyone started to agree on their role in this mission. Shortly after, everyone had a role in this battle plan.

The Plan for the Wizard

The men would gather the ingredients for the chicha; the women and girls would make the drink; once prepared in large quantities, jars and jars, the wind would carry the scent to the wizard.

When the wizard was drunk, each man, child, and animal would take a lamp so the wizard couldn’t find his way back to his volcano.

Everything was ready. The drink was placed in the usual spot. Wind did its job. The smell reached the volcano and woke the wizard. «Oh! What a pleasant smell!» said the wizard.

«They’ve learned their lesson and prepared the drink for me!» the wizard went with his friend Cheruve to get the fire, and told him yes, as long as he brought him a young girl to eat.

The Plan in Action

The wizard, now with fire for the forest lamps, went in search of his chicha. He lit many lights. He arrived at the offering and exclaimed, «Oh! I see that mistreatment worked. What delicious chicha they have offered me!»

«Next time I’ll go after the apple trees, as I see this works very well.» Late into the night, he was completely drunk. Because of this, he forgot the young girl for Cheruve.

The evil wizard was so drunk when he set off to leave. When he was returning, the forest lamps were no longer there. «Where are the lights? Who’s laughing?» For he heard the laughter of mischievous children.

The puma guarded them with its claw; the man, with his blankets, and the girls ran with them in hand. He begged for his lamps back, but everyone refused.

The Emergence of the Copihue

The wicked wizard promised many things to get his lights back, but the Great Spirit said no, for you cannot trust the promises of a drunk. Yet they helped him return to his volcano.

Back at the volcano, Cheruve reproached him for his promise of a young girl to eat. He was so angry that he told him he would never give him fire again for his lack of word. The wizard was furious, but could do nothing.

He could never return to the forest. To the surprise of many, the lights that were taken from him appeared each year as a new flower called copihue, which hangs on the branches of jungles and forests, beautifully illuminating them.

Mitos y Leyendas says goodbye for now and hopes you have enjoyed this story and also thanks you for having come this far. See you in the next tale.