Lhayialh, caller of the winds

Lhayialh

Source term: caller of the winds; bull-roarer

Lhayialh: the Wichí name for the caller of the winds.

In drought, a Wichí shaman would whirl the caller of the winds to summon the four winds into conference. Mawó Mendoza's Lhayialh is a delicately carved wooden leaf, slightly twisted, swinging on a long string. In the savannah scrub around Santa Victoria Este, birds of many kinds seem to answer it exactly as they answer the wind rising and falling.

call the four winds into conference

Duncan Whitley, 'The caller of the winds,' Words from the Birds (2022)

Particulars

Object

A delicately carved wooden blade shaped like a slightly twisted leaf, on a long string.

Function

Traditionally used by Wichí shamans to call the four winds into conference in times of drought; sounded by Mawó Mendoza in recordings made with Duncan Whitley in 2016.