MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUXI-n'— GILLIN 



143 



of folk magic. These can be classified into the two 

 hackneyed categories of sympathetic and contasjious 

 magic. For example, the fact that the aphrodisiac 

 huanarpo looks like the human sexual organs is an 

 important fact of sympathetic magic, whatever its 

 pharmaceutical properties may be. The use of a 

 garment of the patient in the cure of susto is, on the 

 other hand, based upon concepts of contagious magic. 

 Both of these types of concepts, if not universal, are 

 at least very common among peoples in all parts of 

 the world. 



In Moche these basic magical beliefs, together witli 

 later accretions and concepts of "higher religion," 

 have been organized into at least two cultural orien- 

 tations or institutions. These are ( 1 ) the institution 

 of witchcraft which has its (a) white and (b) black 

 subdivisions, related to each other in opposition ; and 

 (2) the institution of the Roman Catholic religion 

 w-hich, as we shall see, aside from the central body 

 of approved doctrine, is manifested in a number of 

 subsidiary or peripheral patterns, and which also has 

 its opposition aspect in a number of beliefs surround- 

 ing the Devil. Although witchcraft in its "white" 

 aspect, at least, has made some concessions or bows 

 to Christianity (e.g., use of saints' pictures in divin- 

 ing, the invocations, presence of the cross on the mesa, 

 etc.), nevertheless witchcraft as a cultural institution 

 is functionally entirely separate from institutionalized 

 Christianity. Thus there are at least two fairly well 

 organized bodies of religious beliefs and practices 

 which function in a "parallel" fashion in Moche and 

 are not functionally interrelated, even in the sense of 

 being opposed to each other. On the whole, witch- 

 craft tends to be individualistic and divisive, socially 

 speaking, and anxiety-raising, psychologically speak- 

 ing, while Christianity tends to be unifying in its 

 social effects and anxiety-reducing in its psychological 

 results. 



Historically each of these systems is in itself de- 

 rived from various cultural backgrounds. The com- 

 plexity of Christian history is familiar to all, and in 

 Moche is further heightened by cultural changes 

 wrought in the institution of the church since its im- 

 portation at the time of the Conquest. The tracing 

 in detail of the various historical components of witch- 

 craft must wait for another publication, but it is 

 obvious that Moche witchcraft at present is a fusion 

 of both coastal and Sierra elements, which originally 

 belonged to entirely separate cultural traditions. The 

 recognition of this historical diversity of the religious 

 orientations of Moche- — and other Latin American 



comnumities — is important from a functional point of 

 view, if it prevents us from falling into one of the 

 common errors of identification. We cannot merely 

 dismiss the diverse patterns in this kind of situation 

 by saying without qualification that the Mocheros are 

 "Christians" or that they have "Inca" witchcraft, or 

 "Chimu" magic, or something relatively simple of that 

 sort. In religion as in respect to its cultural system 

 as a whole, Moche is not "European," nor is it "In- 

 dian." 



ROMAN CATHOLICISM 



There are said to be about 30 Protestants ("Evan- 

 gelistas") among the Mocheros, apparently Seventh 

 Day Adveniists. They have no chapel at present, and 

 they hold their meetings in private homes. Other- 

 wise everyone in Moche is nominally Roman Catholic. 

 The Mocheros take pride in being "ver)' religious" 

 and they have this reputation in Trujillo and else- 

 where. Specifically, "verv' religious" and "very de- 

 voted" mean that the commimity makes a good 

 showing in the performance of the various religious 

 fiestas. 



The dogma and rituals of the Roman Catholic 

 Church are, so far as I know, faithfully followed by 

 the local priest, who also serves the port town of 

 Salaverry. 



Our discussion is limited to certain selected aspects 

 of the religious picture in Moche. 



The position of the church in a community is de- 

 pendent to a large extent upon the methods and man- 

 ner of approach of its ministers. In Moche in 1944 

 the active priest was a young Peruvian, trained in a 

 Lima seminary, who had been in charge only a year 

 or two. He lives in the small semiruined former 

 monastery {convcnto) on the plaza, which was ap- 

 parently erected to house the members of the Merce- 

 darian order who seem to have founded the Moche 

 church. The former priest, a Spaniard, is now re- 

 tired, but still lives in Moche in a house of his own, 

 and intends to spend the rest of his days there. He 

 is a genial and affable old gentleman with a good 

 many personal contacts among the Mocheros, but he 

 no longer takes an active role in the church, other than 

 to say an occasional mass when the cura is absent on 

 some other mission. 



INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION 



Generally speaking, it is only the older men, among 

 the male element, who take an active and continuing 

 interest in the church itself (as distinguished from 



