As flechas de Maria: xamanismo, poder político e feitiçaria no Alto Xingu/Mary's arrows: shamanism, political power, and witchcraft in the Upper Xingu

This paper analyses some relations between shamanism, witchcraft and political power in the upper Xingu basin (Central Brazil), based on the description of the trajectory of a shaman of that region. This is a man who went through an atypical experience of transformation in shaman, marked by an alliance with very powerful "spirits" and by incorporating elements of Christianity. In his period of ascension, he was considered the "master" of shamans in many villages of the region, introduced new practices of healing and rehearsed, in his village of origin, the exercise of an ambiguous kind of influence marked at the same time by respect and by coercion. The aim of this study is to gather elements that allow the understanding of this trajectory that, although peculiar, put together and clarify important aspects of the upper Xingu political dynamics. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]