Spear of the Auca - The Haunting Spear

I remember when...In the 1950's and 60's, technology was evolving in South America, but not as quickly as in The United States. They were way behind and even getting messages to the remote jungles of the Oriente and all of the Amazon delta took years to do. Pilots of small planes would try to communicate with the indigenous Indians by dropping small bags of food and toys and messages to the awestruck but frightened Natives. These were stories that I had read in National Geographic, Look, and other publications. Even going into the 1970's (and possibly even today), there were certain Indian people of the Ecuadorian jungles who still practiced shrinking heads and cannibalism rituals. The most famous of these are the Aucas and Jivaros.

In the fifties Jim and Elisabeth Elliott and several of their missionary friends attempted to connect with these people and convert them to Christianity and stop their barbaric and inhumane behaviors. Jim and two of his buddies would fly in a small Cessna and travel in a tight circle, drop a basket on a dime, and opened a line of communication with these headhunters. The Indian would take out the package and would leave a bone or offering to the “bird God from the sky.” Jim would pull the rope back up then return to their post. This went on for several times, but the guys needed to find a place to land nearby and speak with these people and film their native lifestyle. Several attempts were made in the following weeks to find a suitable site and soon they found a strip of smooth sand along a riverbed and landed. The men connected with these people and studied there ways briefly, only to be speared to death. This reverberated around the world and promoted a generation of Christian missionaries to the jungles of the Amazon. Jim's story and the headhunters of the Oriente was made into a movie called “The End of the Spear” which attracted a lot of attention in 2006.

Years later in 1966, I was a 13 year old Army brat in Quito, Ecuador. Near our house on the slopes of an Andean volcano, Pichincha is a playground for the young Indiana Jones kid I was. Eucalyptus forests gave way to tropical highlands and lush jungles. The land of the Jivaros wasn't very far away from our home and my father would keep us kids up to date of the world around us. We had heard the Jim Elliot story and others from my parents and my dad became a collector of Ecuadorean art such as wooden sculptures, wooden frames, paintings, Indian artifacts, ponchos, precious stones, and shrunken heads (which my mother refused to have in the house and he had to return them...Ha). I remember all the cool things he would show me and my brothers.

My father worked at Quito's U.S. embassy. As an official of the government, we were offered an opportunity to represent Americans abroad. My dad had a cool Buick Electra boated from his home town of Galveston, Texas so we drove around with class. Our Quito house was beautiful with high walls around the estate, which had glass shards to cut anyone who tried to climb over them. (I know that I'm getting away from my story but keep reading...) The U.S. embassy would assign maid service to the American families serving there. Since ours was a large family with five children, we were assigned two maids. Over time, we went through several women but one stayed on throughout our three year stint. Her name was Alicia. She lived in the attached room in the back and would leave Friday afternoons to stay with her missionary husband who had a church in the city.

Alicia's husband was working the Auca and Jivaro territory since he had good relations with the people offering a Christian hand, food, and skills. Often he would collect their relics and Alicia would sell them to my dad. One day she gave my dad a spear made by an Auca warrior and a news clipping of the story behind the weapon. It was made from the hardest wood of the Amazon, was black, and over six feet long. The point tapered into a serrated edge that ran about eight to twelve inches into a smooth shaft. Along the end of the serrated sides was twisted bamboo adorned with colorful feathers of parrots, hummingbirds, and other birds. We also received other interesting items from him including precious stones.

The news clipping of the spear was horrifying!!

During the mid sixties, these famous Aucas and Jivaros were furious enemies. A river separated their lands from each other and one day a group of Jivaro women crossed the river to collect yucca roots and plants to feed their families. A party of Aucas saw them and speared the women to death. Alicia's husband was nearby and came rushing to the scene. He captured a photo of the two women who were speared as they attempted to flee and met death on a canoe. The Aucas got away before they could collect their spears. This picture and story was captured in all the Ecuadorian newspapers. That is how Alicia got the spear and the news article for my dad, which tells the story of how these women died. (This is nearby where Jim Elliott and his friends were speared to death in the late fifties.)

Have I got your attention? It gets better.

My family kept that spear for many, many years. It was put on the wall in my dad's garage and was forgotten but later, for some reason, I moved back with my parents and slept in that room where the spear was kept. On two separate occasions, I came to fear that room. While I tried to sleep one night I turned over and laid on my stomach. I heard something and looked around. Suddenly I felt a weight on me. I couldn't breath. An evil spirit was choking me and pinning me to my bed. I could not free myself from this evil. It lasted for around twenty seconds and I could hear an evil voice in my ears that sounded of an old Auca woman laughing and saying something to the effect of “let me go!” I was finally freed and scared out of my mind. I looked up at the spear and suspected that was the reason I had this frightening experience.

Several days later, it happened again! I knew then that the spear was haunted so I told my older brother who was living in Minnesota about the horrifying incidents. He also had the same thing happen to him! I had to rid myself of this evil in our house.

About a week later, I wrapped the spear in a cloth along with its story (leaving out the evil spirits part) and drove to The Greenspoint Wyndham Hotel (an upscale hotel near Houston). I looked around the underground parking facility and finally came upon a fancy expensive Mercedes Benz. I took the spear and laid it gently near the driver's side then drove away. I was rid of the evil and never heard that bruja (sorceress) voice again. Thank God!

In hindsight and thinking about it now, I wish I would have donated the spear to the Fine Arts Museum. It could have been a wonderful addition to their South America exhibit and a cool spooky story. I need to tell you all that the voice was terrifying. I have lived a safe and fortunate life that many may never experience, but I'm here to tell you, there is evil and the devil lives. Jesus is my Savior and will always be the beacon of light that gets me through each day.

Thanks for reading my story! Stay tuned for more true adventures to come!

Keep the faith,

Cal

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