The Wekufe or Huecuve is an important type of harmful spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

 or demon in Mapuche mythology

Mapuche mythology

The beliefs of the Mapuche and their mythology, stories about to the world and creatures born of the extensive and old religious beliefs, next to a series of common legend and myths that belong to the different groups that compose the Mapuche ethnic group .-Description:In the mythology and beliefs...

.

Legend

The Wekufe are beings who originated in the forces or energies that tend to disturb and/or to destroy the balance of universe; unlike human beings and other spirits, the wekufe would be the only beings who do not have souls.

The wekufe would give magical powers to the kalku

Kalku

Kalku or Calcu, in Mapuche mythology, is a sorcerer or witch that works with black magic and negative powers or forces. The essentially benevolent shamans are more often referred to as machi, to avoid confusion with the malevolent kalku...

(Mapuche "sorcerers"), to be used to sicken or to kill. In order to do so, the kalku would cause the wekufe to possess the body of a person. The kalku is a companion of the wekufe, and the most powerful kalku would inherit the wekufe spirit of an ancestor that was also a kalku. The kalku also uses his wekufe to catch and to enslave the soul

Soul

A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...

s of the dead that are not protected.

In order to cure oneself of a wekufe, the sick person receives the aid of the machi

Machi (Shaman)

A machi is a traditional healer and religious leader in the Mapuche culture of Chile and Argentina. Machis play significant roles in Mapuche religion. Women are more commonly machis than men.-Description:...

("Mapuche shaman").