Walking Through Chilote Mythology: A Self-Guided Tour of Castro, Chiloe

Tucked away in Chile’s lush Lake District, Chiloé Island lies about 30 kilometres off the country’s southern coast. It is part of a misty, green archipelago that feels a world away from the mainland. Here, rolling hills meet dense forests, stilted wooden houses perch above the tides, and myths seep into everyday life.

At the heart of Chiloe lies Castro, the island’s colourful capital and one of the oldest towns in the country. Wander its streets and you’ll quickly realise that Chilote mythology isn’t confined to dusty books or old fishermen’s tales — it’s carved in wood, painted on walls, and whispered on the sea breeze.

Chilote mythology is one of the richest and most unique in Latin America, a spellbinding fusion of Indigenous Mapuche beliefs, Spanish colonial influences, and the raw forces of nature that shape life on the island. These myths and legend came sharply into focus in 1880, when Chiloé became the site of one of the world’s last official witch trials, exposing a secret society of brujos — male witches accused of sorcery, sedition, murder, and said to live in caves guarded by monsters and sail the seas in a ghost ship.

To help you explore this rich and haunting folklore, I’ve put together a self-guided walking itinerary through the streets of Castro. With each stop, you’ll meet figures from myths and legends, carved in wood, shaped by history, and alive in the island’s imagination.

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Stop 1: Plazuela Martín Ruiz de Gamboa – The Serpents that Shaped the Land

Tenten Vilu and Caicai Vilu from Chilote mythology in Castro

Begin your mythological stroll at Plazuela Martín Ruiz de Gamboa, just uphill from the Gamboa viewpoint. It’s a quiet square bordered by leafy trees and benches, but in one corner, two enormous wooden serpent heads emerge from the earth like relics of some prehistoric battle.

These aren’t just decorative creatures. According to Chilote mythology, they’re Tenten Vilu and Caicai Vilu, the two cosmic serpents who shaped the very land beneath your feet.

The story goes like this: When Caicai, the serpent spirit of the sea, grew furious with humanity, he summoned a great flood to punish the people. But his rival, Tenten, guardian of the land, lifted the hills and mountains to protect them. Their epic struggle created the fractured, island-dotted geography of the Chiloé archipelago. Look around: it’s easy to believe this place was torn and scattered by gods.

Chiloe Shamans

Long before the Spanish arrived, Chiloé was governed not by kings or chiefs, but by shamans or machis. The chief shaman was the island’s most revered figure, part healer, part spiritual guide, part keeper of knowledge. These early Chilote shamans were among the first in the region to use mushrooms not just for their medicinal properties, but for their hallucinogenic powers as well.

I spotted one of these legendary fungi in the main square of Castro – a bright red mushroom flecked with white dots, unmistakable in its fairytale appearance. According to a Chilote man I met at the pier, the shamans used these mushrooms as a diagnostic tool. If 20 minutes after drinking the mushroom brew, a patient was smiling and light-hearted, the illness was deemed mild. But if the patient remained withdrawn, sad, or in pain, something deeper was at play—something the machi would need to investigate further.

Stop 2: Plaza de Armas – La Pincoya Fountain

From Plazuela Martín Ruiz de Gamboa, make your way to Castro’s main square – Plaza de Armas, where you’ll find the famous San Francisco wooden church. In the centre of the plaza, there is a fountain with a statue of a nude young woman at its centre. This is La Pincoya, one of the most beloved and iconic figures in Chilote mythology, a radiant sea spirit who embodies the abundance and generosity of the ocean.

Said to be the daughter of Millalobo, the mythical king of the sea, and a human woman named Huenchula, La Pincoya is described as a beautiful young woman with golden hair, sun-kissed skin, and a dress made of shimmering seaweed.

According to local legend, La Pincoya emerges from the waves to dance barefoot on the sand, often under the glow of a full moon. If she faces the sea while she dances, it is a sign that the fishing season will be plentiful and the ocean generous. If she turns her back to the sea and faces the land, it means that fish will be hard to find, and the community must look for food elsewhere.

More than a mythical figure, La Pincoya reflects the deep relationship between the people of Chiloe and the sea that sustains them. Her statue in the town’s main square is a reminder that nature isn’t just a backdrop on Chiloe, it’s alive, responsive, and full of meaning.

The Mythological Origin of the Brujos

However, not all Chilote mythical creatures were benevolent. Some were terrifying. Others were born not of the sea, but of colonial conflict. According to legend, in 1786, the Spanish explorer José de Moraleda y Montero allegedly challenged a local shaman, Chilpilla, to a magical duel. When Chilpilla emerged victorious, Moraleda conceded defeat and handed over a book of European black magic, El Levisterio. From this fusion of colonial occultism and indigenous ritual, the story goes, the secret society of the brujos was born – a mystical underground network of men who could control storms, curse their enemies, fly, and ride seahorses across the water.

Speaking to Chilotes in Castro, I heard another version of the origin story, one rooted less in magic and more in trauma. According to this story, when the Spanish invaded, they brought violence and disease. Shamans lost family members to the conquerors, communities suffered, and resentment ran deep. So, when the Spanish fell ill and turned to local shamans for healing, some were given poisonous herbs instead of medicine, and died.

In response, the Spaniards began spinning tales of malevolent shamans and dark island magic. It is likely that the brujos and their secret society of Recta Provincia initially emerged as a form of resistance, veiled in the language of secrecy, fear, and sorcery, but rooted in the trauma and survival strategies of a people under siege.

Over time, this underground society became the stuff of legend. Said to number around 100 members, Recta Provincia was more powerful in the 19th century than the Mayor of the island.

Calle Blanco Encalada – Meet the Beasts

Leave the plaza via Calle Blanco Encalada, and as you stroll towards the sea, you will pass a series of carved figures representing some of the most notorious figures from Chilote mythology.

El Caleuche

First up is El Caleuche, the infamous ghost ship glowing with an eerie light, said to be captained by the Brujos and crewed by the souls of drowned sailors. Drawn by the sound of unearthly music, unsuspecting sailors are whisked aboard and cursed to serve the ship forever.

El Caleuche is said to travel beneath the sea, surfacing only in hidden bays to deliver smuggled goods for the island’s merchants — a trade that once made the Brujos rich.

On stormy nights, even today, some claim to see El Caleuche’s ghostly lights dancing across the waves, a chilling reminder of the sea’s power.

Fiura

Furia - chilote mythological creature in Castro

Dressed in moss and cursed with foul breath, Fiura is a twisted forest witch with a wicked temper and a taste for single men. She lures her victims in with a glance, then seduces them with dark magic. Once she’s finished with them, she leaves them deranged, cursed to wander the woods with longing and dread.

Camahueto

The Camahueto is a calf with a single golden horn growing from its forehead, similar to that of a unicorn. Bourn underground in the hills near the sea, the primary goal of Camahueto is to reach the sea.

After spending about twenty, twenty-five, or thirty years of development, the camahuetos emerge and head desperately toward the sea to meet the sea cow. Along the way, they destroy everything in their path and usually use their horn to dig a furrow in the ground, which can later become a stream.

This migration almost always occurs on stormy nights, leaving behind the collapse of coastal areas and large indentations in the ground.

According to legend, the Camahueto can only be caught by a sorcerer or a machi using a rope woven from seaweed. Once caught, it must be gently guided toward the sea, or calmed by having its horn cut off, so that it becomes completely tame and stops causing damage; since its great virility and strength are found primarily in that horn.

Voladora

The Voladora, usually a daughter of one of the Brujos, or a woman loyal to them, is taught some magical arts to become a servant to the witches. One of her skills is brewing and consuming a potion that causes her to vomit her internal organs and transform into a bird, usually the Night Herron.

In this form, Voladora carries messages within the witch community and to people associated with them. She often announces misfortunes, carries the Duam (message of life or death given by the Brujos). She is allowed to kill anyone who does not fulfil a vow made to her, as long as the vow was made while she was performing her duties as a Voladora.

Caballo Marino

A magical creature, Caballo Marino (sea horse), could only be seen by those with magical powers. It is said to look like a normal horse but with a longer snout, golden mane, for paws ending in fins and a long tail like that of a fish. Brujos were said to be able to tame Caballo Marino and travel on them to the legendary ghost ship El Caleuche.

Invulche

This is by far the most terrifying creature in Chilote mythology. It was a child stolen and mutilated by the Brujos, so its hands, arms, legs, and feet were disjointed, its head was twisted 180 degrees and faced backwards, and its right arm was removed and sewn into a deep cut in the right shoulder. Invulche was incapable of speech – its job was to guard the entrance to the Brujos’ secret cave known as Cueva de Quicavi.

Most of what is known about the cave comes from the testimonies given at the Witch Trials in 1880. The testimony of one of the society members included the following description of his first visit to the cave:

“He used this (alchemy key) to open the entryway, and was then faced with two completely disfigured beings, which burst out of the gloom and rushed towards him. One looked like a goat, for it dragged itself along on four legs, and the other was a naked man, with a completely white beard and hair down to his waist”

The goat-like monster was the chivato, often described as a black goat with glowing eyes. It played a role similar to the devil’s familiar in European witch lore. The other creature was the Invulche.

Trauco

The final figure on Calle Blanco Encalada is the Trauco, Fiura’s husband, with the same stunted height and grotesque features. This twisted dwarf is said to possess the power to seduce young women with just a look or a breath, leaving them instantly spellbound. According to legend, women who disappeared and later turned up pregnant had fallen victim to the Trauco.

It was, of course, a convenient supernatural explanation for unexpected pregnancies on Chiloé — especially for the Jesuit priests preaching from the island’s now-iconic wooden churches who were supposed to be pure and chaste.

However, it wasn’t just the clergy seeking to excuse their sins. The last recorded Trauco trial took place in the 1960s, when a father accused the creature of impregnating his daughter. The case went to court, and it was revealed that the child was the result of abuse by the accuser himself.

Final Thoughts on Chilote Mythology

Chiloé’s mythology is unlike anywhere else — tangled in mist, salt, and shadow. It’s a place where the ocean has a daughter, witches ride sea creatures to ghost ships, and red mushrooms whisper diagnoses. But beneath the magic lies a deeper story — one shaped by colonisation, resistance, trauma, and the islanders’ extraordinary ability to weave fear, faith, and folklore into meaning. These creatures and legends may seem fantastical, but they speak to real histories and emotions, giving shape to the hopes, warnings, and survival strategies of a people who have long lived at the edge of the world.

Walking through Castro today, you can feel these stories still humming underfoot — carved into wood, floating through sea mist, or hidden in a mushroom’s glow. Whether you believe in the brujos and their beasts or not, there’s no denying that Chilote mythology has its own kind of truth: one that pulses through the land, sea, and imagination of this unforgettable island.