The Sacred Stone of Namuncura

Hidden in the depths of the Amazon rainforest, somewhere along today’s border of Peru and Bolivia, there once lived an ancient tribe of mystical people. The chieftain’s family possessed a sacred stone that was said to have magical powers.

Long ago, an ancient chieftain had found it as a child in the sapphire-coloured waters of the river Bio-Bio. According to many legends, this stone was able to perform miracles.

It was worshipped every year by the whole village, because the tribesmen fervently believed that during these ceremonies, it woke and came to life. The stone was passed on from generation to generation, along with the hefty responsibility of taking care of it.

One day, that responsibility fell into the hands of the chieftain’s oldest son, Namuncura. He’d spent many years taking good care of the stone and always showing it respect. He’d even made a special protective case for the stone’s vessel from a Monkey-Puzzle tree and polished it with a soft piece of woven cloth once a week.

But as time passed, Namuncura was more and more convinced that the stone was nothing but an ordinary rock. It wasn’t pretty and it didn’t sparkle at all. It was, in fact, quite dull looking. It wasn’t even flat, like good skipping stones are. He figured it seemed pointless to show it any devotion.

And so he said to his father: “The stone isn’t any good. Everything has been revolving around it for years and generations - yet it’s nothing but a curse for our family! I won’t take care of it anymore. I refuse! I’ll leave with my wife and child and we’ll go somewhere far away, where the stone won’t have any power over us. That is, if it has any power at all!”

Namuncura and…