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Reichel-Dolmatoff – The Tukano Indians - The Hearth
Identifier
011604
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff – Amazonian Cosmos
The hearth is called peame boga, not only because of the flames (boga) but also because of its transforming energy. In Desana symbolism the hearth is a transforming uterus (just as an uterus is a "kitchen") in which energies operate that cause a profound change in ‘food’.
The symbolism of the hearth implies a connotation of heat and light, but this meaning is not limited to the phenomenon of combustion but can also be applied to persons who contain this luminous energy, as we have seen in the case of the paye.
We find the concept of boga in yet another expression directly related to procreation. The term ohokariri boga means "to live," but the verb is also used to describe the sexual act.