Cheheru
Piaroa · deity · Piaroa traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Cheheru is the great female figure of the Piaroa creation, the demiurge of cultivated plants, of the moon, and of the fertility and gardening knowledge that belong to women. The myths bind her intimately to the two male creators: she is at once daughter of the water-lord Kuemoi and consort of Wahari, and in some tellings she conveys the hallucinogenic vine caapi out of her father's keeping. Sources differ sharply on her kinship, for while many accounts make her Wahari's wife by proper cross-cousin marriage, others name her his own sister and read into their union the incest that shadows Wahari's character. Through her the ordered, life-giving side of creation, the garden and its increase, is set beside the dangerous crafts of Kuemoi.
Parentage
- parent: KuemoiOvering Kaplan, J. (1975). The Piaroa, a People of the Orinoco Basin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (secondary)
Domains
- cultivated plants
- fertility and moon
Powers
- bring forth the cultivated plants
- carry the vine caapi from her father's house
Epithets
- wähä ruwang — mistress of the cultivated plantsBoglar, L. (1978). Cuentos y mitos de los Piaroa. Caracas: Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. (secondary)
Relations
- parent: KuemoiOvering Kaplan, J. (1975). The Piaroa, a People of the Orinoco Basin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (secondary)
- spouse: WahariOther tellings make her Wahari's sister rather than his wife; sources differ.Overing Kaplan, J. (1975). The Piaroa, a People of the Orinoco Basin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (secondary)
Sources
- Cheheru is the female demiurge, associated with cultivated plants, the moon and women's fertility, and bound to both Wahari and Kuemoi.: Overing Kaplan, J. (1975). The Piaroa, a People of the Orinoco Basin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (secondary); Rodd, R. (2008). 'Reassessing the Cultural and Psychopharmacological Significance of Banisteriopsis caapi.' Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 40(3): 301-307. (secondary)
- Piaroa tellings are divided over her kinship, casting her variously as Wahari's wife by cross-cousin marriage and as his sister.: Overing, J. (1985). 'There Is No End of Evil.' In D. Parkin (ed.), The Anthropology of Evil, pp. 244-278. Oxford: Blackwell. (secondary)