The author tells a shortened version of the story of Uira, translated into English from the text by Darcy Ribiero (1976). After losing his son, Uira, an Amazonian Brazilian Amerindian, found no more anchoring to his suffering soul. Having lived over 25 years in an area designated by White men and shared by enemy tribes, all the traditional ways to deal with life and death processes had lost their meaning. He tried to assuage his pain by emulating all tribal prescriptions learned from his forefathers. Nothing could remedy such disgrace. Uira decided to try the last and most extreme resource in cases of such despair: He set out to find Maira, the Creator, although there were no guarantees the Creator would receive His children in a benevolent way. Uira assembled his remaining family and forced them to follow him in this pursuit. They inadvertently ended up in town after town of White men, where they were constantly misunderstood and mistreated. The way to Maira's was difficult, dangerous, and full of ordeals. This, however, only strengthened Uira's conviction that he was on the right track. The hardship of Uira's outer journey mirrors the inner strife we have to face any time life imposes on us that which appears unbearable and contrary to our convictions but which is nonetheless our duty to bear. Uira's ordeals may be seen as an attempt towards an individuation whose outcome is questionable. Such an inner journey may not succeed without some degree of ego development; the gods always need a sound ego consciousness to be realized.
