The religious system of the Araucanians, formerly that of all the native tribes of Chili, resembles in a great measure the freedom of their modes of life and government. They acknowledge a Supreme Being, the creator of all things, whom they name _Pillan_, a word derived from _pulli_ or _pilli_, the soul. He is likewise named _Guenu-pillan_, the soul or spirit of heaven; _Buta-gen_, the great being; _Thalcove_[59], the thunderer; _Vilvemvoe_, the creator of all things; _Vilpepilvoe_, the omnipotent; _Mollgelu_, the eternal; _Avnolu_, the omnipotent; and is designed by many other similar epithets. Their ideas of the government of heaven form in a great measure a prototype of the Araucanian system of civil polity; Pillan is considered as the great _Toqui_ of the invisible world of Spirits[60], and is supposed to have his _Apo-ulmens_ and _Ulmens_, or subordinate deities of two different ranks, to whom he entrusts the administration of lesser affairs. In the first class of these inferior deities, are _Epunamun_, or the god of war; _Meulen_, a benevolent being, the friend of the human race; and _Guecubu_, a malignant being, the author of all evil, who is likewise called _Algue_. Hence they appear to entertain the doctrine of two adverse principles, improperly called Manicheism. _Guecubu_, or _Huecuvu_, is named _Mavari_ by the natives on the Orinoco, and is the same with the _Aherman_ of the ancient Persians. To him every evil is attributed. If a horse tire, he has been ridden by _Guecubu_. In an earthquake, _Guecubu_ has given the world a shock; and the like in all things. The _Ulmens_, or subaltern deities of their celestial hierarchy, resemble the genii, and are supposed to have the charge of earthly things, and to form, in concert with the benevolent Meulen, a counterpoise to the prodigious power of the malignant Guecuba. These _ulmens_ of the spiritual world are conceived to be of both sexes, who always continue pure and chaste without propagation. The males are called _Gen_, or lords; the females _Amei-malghen_, or spiritual nymphs, and are supposed to perform the same friendly offices to men which were anciently attributed to the _lares_, and every Araucanian imagines he has one of these attendant spirits in his service. _Nien cai gni Amchi-malghen_, I keep my nymph still, is a common expression when any one succeeds in an undertaking. Pursuant to the analogy of their own earthly government, as their _Ulmens_ have no right to impose any service or contribution on the people whom they govern, so they conceive the celestial race require no services from man, having occasion for none. Hence they have neither idols nor temples, and offer no sacrifices, except in case of some severe calamity, or on the conclusion of a peace, when they sacrifice animals, and burn tobacco as a grateful incense to their deities. Yet they invoke them and implore their aid on urgent occasions, chiefly addressing _Pillan_ and _Meulen_.