Likichiri

(LICK-cherry)

In the Andes Mountains, the Aymara, Quechua, and other native peoples in the region speak of the lik'ichiri ("fat stealer"). Originally, the lik'ichiri was a vampiric spirit that harassed people but, as was recorded in 1550 by the invading Spanish, the lik'ichiri started to kill. In modern times, it has come to be seen as a vampiric being or a group of vampiric beings working hand-in-hand with American businessmen tied to the plastic surgery industry. Even in modern-day Peru, accusations that the lik'ichiri are destroying the pistachio crops abound. "Eye Stealers," as they are called by some, troll the streets of the the very capital, rounding up children by the score and surgically removing their eyes to be sold "overseas."

Described as a tall, white man, the lik'ichiri attacks people in the highlands while they sleep, using its magical powers to place its victim into a deep sleep so that it can remove strips of body fat without causing any pain. The wound then heals up almost instantly and in most cases the victim never even knows he was assaulted. If it should be discovered that a person was attacked, there is a magical potion called achacachi that is administered as treatment.

The people of the Andes believe that eating

GARLIC dilutes a person's fat, rendering it low quality and thereby undesirable to the lik'ichiri. Vampires that are very similar to the lik'ichiri are the KHARISIRI, LIQUICHIRI, ÑAKAQ and the PISH-TACO. Source: American Anthropologist, vol. 100, 332, 334, 337; Bathum, Ayamara Women Healers, 8, 18, 78, 80; Stephenson, Gender and Modernity, 166, 199­202; Van Vleet, Performing Kinship, 81; Weismantel, Cholas and Pishtacos