The story I am about to tell took place in the Santiago district of Cusco, on the slopes of the hill with the Viva el Peru shield on it. It happened to two sisters who came from a family of seven brothers and sisters who lived in the neighborhood
It first happened to the older sister when she was seventeen years old. She was sleeping in her room and around midnight she felt the presence of a shadow that came in to her room and looked like a very old man. This was the machu.
The specter suddenly climbed on her bed and covered her mouth. It tried to open her legs in order to rape her while speaking very strong and dirty words. She was terrified and tried to defend herself by shouting for help but she could not. Her mouth was covered. This happened several times and she was very frightened and also ashamed.
She feared telling her parents what was going on and only told her older sisters about it. No one believed her and said it was only a dream or part of her imagination. Day by day she felt worse and worse.
Once when one of the apparitions was in her room she was able to grab the remote control for her television and she turned it on. The specter disappeared and she saw in the corner of her room how it turned into a bunch of moths.
Some time later the same thing happened to her sister. It was the same specter who was frightening both sisters.
When she found out about the situation their mother went and asked her friends about what was going on. People said this was a machu called the “soqa”, an ancient soul and specter that take the form of an old man. He just bothers women. They gave her some suggestions about how to fight the soqa machu.
There are many beliefs about how you can avoid the presence of the macho. One is to put on male clothes or place beneath your pillow the belt of a man and hang a chonta wood cross on your door in order to keep it away.
