Spirits Live Among Us

Abstract

This chapter analyses the relationship between beliefs in the spirits of nature and the dead and the conception of hero among the Humangili, a community located in Ataúro Island, Timor-Leste. For this purpose I discuss the concept of culture, the influence of Lisan, the notion of person, the symbolism of the given name, the meaning of physical death, the hierarchical system, the relationship between soul and body, and the impacts of adopting Christianity, while also presenting local stories and myths, the journey of the Humangili’s hero, the notion of order and social stability, as well as the perceptions about the supernatural world and its influence in the world of the living. Overall, the ideas about the meaning of hero are part of a complex system that contributes to the maintenance of dominant narratives about local customs, cosmogonies, values and hierarchies, the perception of individual and collective identity, and the feeling of stability and social unity.