Brazilian Mythology

Auñ Pana

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Tradition / Region: Yanomami Mythology, Brazilian Mythology, Venezualian Mythology
Alternate Names: Pehiwetinome
Category: Fish

The Myth

In the deep waters of the Yanomami world dwell the Auñ Pana, enormous fish feared by all who travel rivers and crossings. Though they are fish, they bear arms like humans, and their bodies are covered in coarse hair. They are said to possess dark, uncanny powers, and their hunger is for human flesh.

The Auñ Pana do not swim alone. They move in schools with creatures known as the Pehiwetinome, beings just as vast and just as murderous as themselves. Together they haunt the deepest waters, waiting for the careless or the unlucky.

Once, a group of Yanomami people attempted to cross a bridge spanning the river. As they passed over it, Auñ Pana and Pehiwetinome rose from below and began to bite through the wooden supports. Their teeth tore the bridge apart until it collapsed into the water, breaking into a drifting raft.

Some of the Yanomami survived the fall, but they did not remain human. In the aftermath of the destruction, they were transformed into monkeys and pigs, condemned to live forever changed.

Thus the Auñ Pana are remembered as beings of the depths who devour flesh, destroy human works, and blur the boundary between human and animal through terror and transformation.

Sources

A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Aun-pana. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/09/11/aun-pana/

Mastopogon

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Tradition / Region: Brazilian Mythology
Alternate Names: Aegomastus, Egomastus; Houperou, Huperus
Category: Fish

The Myth

Sailors off the coast of South America once spoke of a strange fish glimpsed in deep waters, a creature with a beard hanging from its chin like the udder of a goat. Its body bore sharp, pointed fins, and along its back rose a long, threatening spine. Though unnamed at first, this creature would later be called the Mastopogon—the breast-beard.

In the same waters lived a far more feared being, known as the Houperou. It was said to be immense and ravenous, devouring all other sea creatures without mercy, save for one small carp-like fish. This lesser fish followed closely in the Houperou’s shadow, unharmed, protected by the terror its companion inspired. None dared approach the pair.

The Houperou’s skin was rough as sandpaper, like that of a dogfish. Its teeth were sharp, its strength overwhelming. Anyone it seized in the water was attacked, drowned, and torn apart. The coastal peoples, knowing its danger, shot it with arrows whenever it was seen. Some said its true name was uperu, the local word for shark, distorted by foreign tongues.

Over time, the two creatures—Mastopogon and Houperou—became entangled in description and image. Scholars depicted the Houperou as a giant pike, while the Mastopogon gained a name at last. As the years passed, their forms blurred further, until they were scarcely separable.

In later tellings, the Mastopogon was said to be a kind of Houperou, shaped like a salmon with immense thorny fins, its dorsal spine stretching nearly to the tail. The Houperou itself grew stranger still, now bearing the mammary beard beneath its jaw, ear-like knobs upon its head, rough scales, a long spined back, and a straight, powerful tail.

Thus the Mastopogon and the Houperou became one tangled legend: a single terror of the sea, half-bearded monster and half-devouring shark, born from sailors’ fear and the shifting shapes of deep water.

Gallery

Sources

A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Mastopogon. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/02/26/mastopogon/

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
  • Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
  • Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
  • Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
  • Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
  • Marxist Deep Dive
Other
  • How to Invite The Mastopogon

Akui-Khalava

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Tradition / Region: Brazilian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Forest Dweller

The Myth

Among the Paresi people of western Mato Grosso, who live along the Buruti, Verde, Guaporé, Juba, Juruena, and Papagayo rivers, there is a forest being known as Akui-Khalava.

He is described as a forest man with long white hair and a handsome appearance. Though human in shape, he is said to be a cannibal. He sings constantly, repeating a refrain rendered as “Amm-lalala, amm-lalala.” He is fond of plums, songs, women, and local beer.

Akui-Khalava is believed to live in trees, especially fruit trees. From there he throws fruit pits—particularly plum pits—at people who pass beneath. He is known to enter villages and force his way into the homes of both single and married women, demanding beer and meat. Because his lips are pierced, he spills beer when he drinks, which is said to provoke annoyance among those who witness it.

After receiving beer, Akui-Khalava kills and eats women, carrying them away into the forest. He is described as ill-tempered and solitary, and he is never said to have a wife.

Some believe that Akui-Khalava originated from an old story about foreign sailors who somehow reached the Amazon. According to this idea, the name Akui-Khalava may have come from words frequently spoken by uninvited guests, which were distorted by people unfamiliar with the language. His love of beer, singing, and women is sometimes cited in support of this belief, though such explanations remain speculative.

Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Eterari. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/eterari/

Anhangá

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Tradition / Region: Brazilian Mythology
Alternate Names: Anhanga, Anhan, Agnan, Kaagere
Category: Deer

The Myth

Anhangá is a feared spirit known among many Indigenous peoples of Brazil. It is said to torment both the living and the dead, appearing in nature through sudden, violent sounds such as storms, tempests, and unexplained noises. The presence of Anhangá brings fear, confusion, illness, and suffering.

Most often, Anhangá appears in the form of a deer. Hunters describe seeing a white or red deer with burning, fiery eyes, sometimes with antlers covered in hair. This deer is not an ordinary animal but a spirit that guards wildlife. It watches over animals in open fields and forests and punishes hunters who hunt abusively, especially those who pursue females with young.

When Anhangá intervenes in a hunt, it brings fever, madness, and confusion. A hunter may lose his sense of direction, mistake one being for another, or act against his own family without realizing it. In one well-known story, a hunter chased a doe and her nursing fawn. He seized the fawn to draw the mother closer and fired his weapon. Only afterward did he discover that Anhangá had deceived him, and that he had killed his own mother, mistaking her for the animal.

Anhangá does not appear only as a deer. It is said to take many forms in order to deceive and afflict people. It may appear as birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or strange hybrid beings. These forms include an armadillo, a pirarucu fish, a turtle, oxen, birds such as the tinamou, and human-like figures. Because of this, hunters and travelers are taught never to trust appearances in the wilderness.

The spirit is also believed to torment the souls of the dead. During funerary rituals, people feared that Anhangá would seize the soul on its journey to the Land Without Evils, a blessed place where virtuous souls were meant to go. To protect the dead, food offerings were placed near the burial site so that Anhangá would consume the offerings instead of the soul. Fires were kept burning to warm and protect the deceased and to keep Anhangá at a distance. The living encouraged the dead to keep their fires from going out.

It was believed that only the most virtuous souls — those who had defended their people and killed many enemies — reached the high mountain of the Land Without Evils. Those who failed in this were said to fall under the power of Anhangá, becoming tormented spirits themselves.

Anhangá was also feared during travel, especially over water. Storms and violent sounds were sometimes believed to be caused by the spirits of the dead associated with Anhangá. Among some groups, Anhangá was said to follow or serve Jurupari, and together they were feared as dangerous spirits capable of possession, kidnapping, and death.

Because Anhangá could change form at will, it was impossible to know when it was near. Its presence was marked by fear, illness, illusion, and the sudden reversal of fortune. Hunters, mourners, and travelers all treated the wilderness with caution, knowing that Anhangá might be watching, waiting to punish disrespect, cruelty, or weakness.

Source

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Anhangá. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhang%C3%A1