Takwish is the dreaded fireball spirit of the mountains, whose name is the Luiseno word for a meteor or electric ball of light. He makes his home on the great peak of San Jacinto, and by night flies abroad as a glowing sphere trailing sparks, a portent of death and misfortune. He preys upon human beings, snatching away people or their souls and bearing them to his mountain den, where he devours them. He is associated with the power of shamans, and in some accounts is the first and greatest of them, turned to malevolence. Sources differ on the spirit's origin: the story is shared with the neighbouring Cahuilla, among whom he is linked to the creator Mukat, and several ethnographers hold that the Luiseno took the figure from them, while the meteor-name is native to Luiseno usage.