Abastract
This article describes some aspects of female physiology according to what I was taught by the Araweté, a Tupi-Guarani-speaking people of the middle course of the Xingu river (Brazilian Amazon). I will focus on the relation between menstruation and conception, on the difference between menstrual and gestational substances, on the self-fabricating property of semen, on the “container” capacity of the female body and on parental restrictions during pregnancy. I will also describe Jahi (Moon) and Iwikatin-hã (the one who lives on the “other side of Earth”, or the Owner of the River), two figures associated with the Araweté reproductive universe, and particularly related to female corporeal logics. I will discuss some cosmological elements associated with each of them, as well as the effects of their intercourses with women.
Keywords:
Araweté; menstruation; gestation; moon; anaconda