The immortality of the soul is one of the chief doc trines of the Araucanian religion. Alan is considered as composed of a corruptible body, and an eternal and incorporeal spirit. After death, he is supposed to in habit some country beyond the Western Sca, called Gulcheman, or the dwelling of men beyond the moun tains. This abode of the dead is divided into two regions, one of which is delightful, and inhabited by the good, and the other is the desolate dwelling of the wicked. In this new state of existence, the soul performs, without the sense of fatigue, the various duties which belonged to it upon earth. Wives return to the bosoms of their husbands ; but no children arc produced in these spiri tual regions.
Pursuing this opinion, by no means unnatural, that the spirits of the dead carry with them to the next world the feelings and attachment of the present, the Araucanian imagines, that the spirits of his countrymen engage in furious conflicts with those of the Spaniards, whom they meet in the air ; and that every storm which rages is the mark of this spiritual encounter. The fury of the tempest, is the warsteeds beating the air with their hoofs ; the thun der is the rolling of their drums ; and the lightnings which dart from the Andes, is the flash of the Spanish artillery. Interested in the issue of the conflict, the Araucanians watch the motion of the driving rack, or of the slow-rolling thunder-cloud, as if they saw in the heavens the evolutions of the contending warriors. When the storm moves to the territory of their enemies, they believe that the Spaniards are routed, and they call upon their countrymen to pursue and to slay them. But if the tempest turn against themselves, they are thrown into consternation, and exhort their friends to resist with courage and firmness the impetuosity of the toe.
Among the Araucanian traditions, is that of a great deluge, from which a few individuals were preserved by repairing to a high mountain, called Theg-theg, the Thundering or the Sparkling, which had three points, and floated upon the water. Dreading that, after an earthquake, the sea will again deluge the world, they fly to mountains, similar to Theg-theg; and imagine, that, in consequence of this resemblance, they must have the property of moving upon the waters. During their superstitious pilgrimages, they carry with them a supply of provisions, and wooden plates to protect their heads from the burning sun, lest the mountain Theg theg should be elevated by the waters to the height of that luminary.
The funeral rites of the Araucanian& bear a strong resemblance to those of the ancients. When an Arau canian dies, his body is laid upon the ground, and his weeping relations and friends sit around it for a consi derable time. The body, decked in the best apparel which he wore, when alive, is placed on a high bier, and is watched by the mourners during the night, which is generally spent in weeping, or in feasting with those who come to•eondole with them. After the termination of this curicahuin, or black entertainment, as it is called, and an interval of one or more days, the corpse is car ried in procession to the family burying-ground, in a wood, or upon a hill. The cavalcade is preceded by two young men, riding at full speed; the bier,support ed by the relations or the deceased, and encircled by females, who, like the hired mourners among the Ro mans, bewail the loss which has been sustained; while another female follows the procession strewing ashes on the way, to prevent the return of the soul to its earthly abode. When the mourners reach the burying ground, the corpse is laid upon the earth, and surround ed with his arms, if a man ; but if a woman, with female implements. A great quantity of provisions, and ves sels filled with chica and with wine, are deposited be side the corpse, to support it in its passage to the next world ; and a horse is sometimes killed and interred in the same spot. After covering the body with earth and stones, in a pyramidal form, and pouring upon this tu mulus a great quantity of chica, they bid farewell to the corpse, with many tears, wishing it a prosperous journey to the world of spirits.
The Araucanian calendar has a strong resemblance to that of several nations of the old world. Their year, which is divided into seasons, months, days, and hours, is solar, and commences on the 22d December, at the solstice of Capricorn, which they call Thaumathipantu, or the head and tail of the year. The solstice of Can cer, or rather June, is called Udunthipantu, or the di vider of the year. Their year, or tipantu, is divided into 12 months of 30 days each, like that of the Persians and Egyptians ; and the tropical year is completed by five intercalary days, which are probably placed in the last month. Their months, called Cujen, or moons, are descriptive of the qualities of their respective seasons. These names are peculiarly interesting, as they fur nish much information respecting the climate of Arau cania.