What are shrunken heads used for?
The practice of preparing shrunken heads originally had religious significance; shrinking the head of an enemy was believed to harness the spirit of that enemy and compel him to serve the shrinker. They believed in the existence of three fundamental spirits: Wakani – innate to humans thus surviving their death, later turning into vapor. Arutam – literally “vision” or “power,” protects humans from a violent death and assures their survival. Muisak – vengeful spirit, which surfaces when an arutam spirit-carrying person is murdered. To block the last spirit from using its powers, they decided to sever their enemies’ heads and shrink them. The process also served as a way of warning those enemies. If a man was killed during battle, the warrior who killed shrunk his victim’s head in the hope that the warrior could possess the soul of the victim. The more trophies a warrior attained, the more arutam — or personal power — he possessed. The only way to attain this power was to shrink the hea
