Dzuliferi

Dzuliferi, also called Dzúli or Dzooli, is the primordial elder brother-shaman of the creator Nhiãperikuli and the great Spirit of Power in Baniwa and Hohodene cosmology. He is the lord of pariká, the shamans' hallucinogenic snuff, and of tobacco, and thus the ultimate owner of shamanic power, from whom jaguar-shamans must obtain their authorization to heal and to travel between worlds. He knows the destiny of every human being, when each will die and when each will be reborn as a newborn. Sources differ on his precise place among the primordial brothers, some ranking him as the eldest and wisest, others recalling that he is also a great boulder in the landscape; he shares the trickster gifts of his lineage, using deception to protect the people from their enemies.

Domains

• shamanism
• destiny

Powers

• governs snuff, tobacco and the sacred chants
• knows the destiny of every human

Relations

• sibling: NhiãperikuliElder brother of Nhiãperikuli.Robin M. Wright, Mysteries of the Jaguar Shamans of the Northwest Amazon (2013). (secondary)
• sibling: KuwaikaniriBrother of the unfortunate younger sibling Kuwaikaniri.Robin M. Wright, Cosmos, Self, and History in Baniwa Religion (1998). (secondary)

Sources

• Dzuliferi is the primordial elder brother-shaman of Nhiãperikuli, lord of pariká (shamans' snuff) and tobacco and keeper of the destinies of all humans.: Robin M. Wright, Mysteries of the Jaguar Shamans of the Northwest Amazon (University of Nebraska Press, 2013). (secondary); Robin M. Wright, Cosmos, Self, and History in Baniwa Religion (University of Texas Press, 1998). (secondary)