Yové

The yové are the great class of immortal spirits at the heart of Marubo cosmology: human in appearance, sumptuously adorned, powerful, healthy and deathless, they inhabit the celestial abodes and lead a full social life beyond the reach of decay. Benevolent toward the living, they are the kin, teachers and allies of the shaman, descending into his body during spirit-chants to lend their voices and their words to the work of curing. They are counterposed at every point to the yochĩ, the malignant doubles that lack adornment and society. To become a powerful healer is to be reckoned a yové vaké, a child of the spirits.

Domains

• spirit world
• healing

Powers

• descends into and speaks through the shaman
• possesses deathless, ever-healthy bodies

Relations

• enemy: Yochĩ
• companion: Oni
• companion: Rome

Sources

• Cesarino, P. de N. 2011. Oniska: poética do xamanismo na Amazônia. São Paulo: Perspectiva.
• Instituto Socioambiental (ISA). Povos Indígenas no Brasil: Marubo — Cosmologia. https://pib.socioambiental.org.
• Montagner Melatti, D. 1985. O mundo dos espíritos: estudo etnográfico dos ritos de cura marubo. Tese de doutorado, Universidade de Brasília.