75 



CHAPTER V. 



Si/stem of Religion and Funeral Ceremonies. 



THE religious system of the Araucanians is sim- 

 ple, and Avell adapted to their free manner of think- 

 ing and of living. They acknowledge a Supreme 

 Being, the author of all things, whom they call Pil- 

 lan, a word derived from pulli or pilli, the soul, and 

 signifies the supreme essence ; they also call him 

 Guenu-pillan, the spirit of heaven; Buta-gen, th*e 

 great being ; Thalcove, the thunderer ; Vilvemvoe, 

 the creator of all ; Vilpepilvoe, the omnipotent ; " 

 Mollgelu, the eternal ; Avnolu, the infinite, &c. 



The universal government of Pillan is a prototype 

 of the Araucanian polity. He is the great Toqui of 

 the invisible world, and as such has his Apo-UI- 

 menes, and his Ulmenes, to whom he entrusts the 

 administration of affairs of less importance. These 

 ideas are certainly very rude, but it must be ac- 

 knowledged that the Araucanians are not the only 

 people who have regulated the things of heaven by 

 those of the earth. 



In the first class of these subaltern divinities is the 

 Epunamun, or god of war ; the Meulen, a benevo- 

 lent deity, the friend of the human race ; and the 

 Guecubu, a malignant being, the author of all evil, 

 who appears to be the same as the Algue. From 

 hence it appears, that the doctrine of two adverse 



