Off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos region, there is a group of islands, the largest of which is called Chiloe. Since the time of the Incas, this place has been considered cursed and inhabited by demons.
In the 16th century, this sinister reputation played into the hands of pirates, it was the perfect hideout from prying eyes. But even in our enlightened age, the island's notoriety scares away many.
In addition to evil spirits, according to legends, powerful sorcerers lived on Chiloy, hiding in a dense and constantly shrouded in fog jungle. The people called them “Brujo de Chiloé”, which means “sorcerers Chiloé”.
These sorcerers were subdivided into Machis, specializing in love spells and lapels, and Kalkus, evil sorcerers with black magic. Machis also knew how to heal any disease, and Kalkus sowed chaos and discord.
Kalkus moved on the surface in a kind of ghost ship Kaleuche, which could appear and disappear at their will, and he could also move under water, and the crew in it were sunken sailors.
Both categories of sorcerers carried different things with them that had different properties and were supposed to help in their activities. One of these things was Matsun's magic vest, made from the skin of dead people. With the help of this vest, the sorcerer Chiloe could fly through the air, and the vest also glowed and thus the sorcerer saw in the darkness of the night.
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On their heads, sorcerers wore a bandage of living little lizards, which supposedly gave them access to hidden knowledge, and also gave them the opportunity to transform into different animals, open any locks and read minds.
Strong sorcerers additionally had magic stones with which they could get rid of any spell.
With all this magical arsenal, the sorcerer Chiloe was an almost invincible being. They were also not afraid of hunger, death, disease, natural disasters, etc.
In the 18th century, the Spanish officer and cartographer José Manuel de Moraled and Montero traveled through the island of Chiloe and saw the power of the sorcerers firsthand. By the way, the Chileans also called him a sorcerer.
Later there were other expeditions to the island, during which the sorcerers were given the nickname "La Recta Provincia" (The Righteous of the Province) and there were rumors that the sorcerers eat children, steal the skin of the dead (apparently for sewing vests from it), and also use the terrible spell " sajaduras ", which allows you to chop and cut enemies in a magical way from afar.
After rumors reached the Chilean authorities that sorcerers were intimidating local residents, demanding to pay tribute to them, a mass raid on the sorcerers began. It was in 1880.
During a long trial, the public learned a lot of details about the activities of the sorcerers, their vests, spells, etc. There were also many testimonies from eyewitnesses and victims, but the most surprising were the stories of the sorcerer Mateo Konuesar.
Mateo said that those who want to become a sorcerer are first called initiates, and then they need to prove that they are worthy of the title of a real sorcerer. To do this, they need to go through a kind of initiation rite, in which there were sitting in ice water for 15 days, killing someone close, assurances of loyalty to the devil and, as a result, running naked around the island.
When the initiate underwent this rite, he had to build himself a Matsun vest and a spellbook from the skin of a dead virgin, another dead sorcerer, or a dead relative. And in the end, everything ended with a big feast, where the meat of babies was eaten.
Konuesar also described that a large clan of sorcerers lived in an expanded underground system of caverns that were lit by torches of human fat. Two monsters also lived in the caves, which were supposed to protect the caves from intruders. One looked like an ugly goat and was called Chivato, the other had a completely twisted body and was called Invunche.
According to Mateo, Invunche was originally a human child, but his appearance was distorted and deformed using black magic and secret rituals. He even described this process in detail:
Telling these terrible things, the sorcerer Mateo assured that he personally saw several of these creatures. At the same time, the judges did not really believe in all this. All the same, it was already the end of the 19th century, and not the Middle Ages. However, everyone was convinced that criminal cases were being committed on the island of Chiloy.
In the end, 12 sorcerers were found guilty of various felonies and imprisoned. But later the sentences were appealed, since no evidence, other than eyewitness accounts, was presented. Nevertheless, the people decided that a powerful blow had been dealt to the sorcerers, and that they were now weak and almost destroyed.
Nevertheless, the shadow of the activities of the sorcerers is still visible on Chiloy everywhere and the locals remember them well and believe in magic. And they are still very much afraid.