Mad Jesus: The Final Testament of a Huichol Messiah from Northwest Mexico

19: Enchanted Music and Madness

It was dark,dull,gray,cold,and raining the next morning when I awoke. It was difficult to even get out of bed.There was only a slim chance that the two foppish Huichol brothers would come out in this weather. Nevertheless,I went out to stock the refrigerator with some extra beers on the chance that the brothers would be over. When I returned the two were crouched under the overhang of the doorway waiting for me.The portera was either not home, or would not let them in. I was pleased to see them and opened the door.The tape recorder was on the table, ready for use. Matsiwa sat down in his usual spot, and Chucho lit a cigarette. He asked for a beer. “Now you’ll really hear about some witchcraft!”Matsiwa said,boasting .“It’s what should happen to all witches.” “Tell him what happened to that old witch José.Tell him how you knew grandfather was a witch,” Matsiwa prodded his brother. “Well,it was when we went with grandfather toTeakata that I knew. I knew he was a witch,” Chucho said. Grandfather showed everyone how to make offerings to the Mothers and the Fathers in Teakata, and he sang the songs of Tatewali, the Fire,for three days and nights.He was an old man but he could sing like no one else. Shiraulime was a nunutsi, a bebé, compared to him. Grandfather was a ‘Great Mara’acame.’ He sang the story of the first Peyote Pilgrims and the First Deer.He cleansed each person there with his movieli,and he gathered the sacred| 105 xix Enchanted Music and Madness waters of the Spring Mothers that the pilgrims would need to take with them to assure the rains. While returning from Teakata, before the pilgrims went off to the Kaliwey, grandfather suggested that we all go to visit the Kieli on the cliff near the mesa.The Kieli, he said, could grant any wish, if asked properly, and grandfather knew how to ask the Kieli for anything that he wanted. Grandfather knew all of the Kielis. He had been to the Ranch of the Flowers where the five Kielis of the Five Flowers, of the Five Colors, and the Five Directions, stretch out their arms. He knew the little Kielis, the Kielisha, the Evil Little Ones, and the Kielitshate, the Dwarfed Little Ones. He knew the Ones that were once Mothers and Fathers, the Kakauyali, and he knew the ‘Tree of the Winds,’ the Kieli Tewiali. He knew everywhere that Kieli Tewiali had landed. He knew all of the places where Kieli had been blown to the trees, the cliffs,the mountaintops, and the crags. He knew where Kieli lived. He knew Kieli. On the way to the cliff where Kieli lived, grandfather told a tale of Kieli for the hands:“Kieli played the violin like no other. Kieli played his violin so sweetly that he enchanted all of the animals of the forest: the squirrel,the armadillo,the tlacuache,the rabbit and the fox.Kieli was going to lead them all to the cliff,to the precipice with his sweet music, his enchanting violin. It was the urashi bird’s scream that foiled Kieli. The urashi bird’s scream is hard and sharp. It could penetrate Kieli’s enchanting music.The urashi bird aroused the other animals, and the urashi told them all to beware of Kieli’s sweet music. He told them to take cotton,the cotton of the trees and the cotton of the fields.He told them to stuff their ears.He told them not to be deceived by Kieli’s sweet music. He told them that Kieli would lead them all to their demise. He told them all that following Kieli meant death and not to listen to Kieli. “Now Kieli only plays the ‘Song of the Dead,’” grandfather said, “The Evil One plays the ‘Songs of the Dead’ so sweetly that you want to join them.” “When Kieli says it is time to die, it is time to die. Know this, recognize this,understand this! It is true!You will see,”Chucho interjected. Grandfather’s story continued:“Kieli’s music was so sweet that He XIX | Enchanted Music and Madness 106 | could seduce the deer. Kieli did not have to use a net to capture the deer for Grandfather Fire. He simply...