#pillan

The Pillan (plural pillanes) are powerful and respected male spirits in Mapuche mythology.

According to legend, the Pillan are good spirits, but they can also cause disasters, since they also punish (or they allow the wekufe to punish) with drought or flood, earthquakes, or diseases. The Antü is the most powerful Pillan, who governs the others. In the Mapuche tradition, a man that follows the laws of the admapu can also become a Pillan after death. The Mapuche perform a ngillatun ceremony for the Pillan, for the latter to grant benefits to the people, and to thank them for their gifts.

The Pillan have been described as spirits that live in the Wenumapu (a spiritual world of good), and those that inhabit the Earth generally live inside the volcanoes. (Example: Osorno and Quetrupillán Volcano). The accompanying female spirits of the Pillan are the Wangulen spirits.

In the mythology of the Mapuche people of South America, the Pillan are revered spirits. Uniformly male, they are benevolent by nature, but can cause droughts, plagues and earthquakes if they are displeased. Those Pillan that live on Earth are thought to make their homes in volcanoes.

The Mapuche people honour the Pillan with a ceremony known as "ngillatun," where they ask for the Pillans' blessings and thank them for their gifts.

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