Puerto rican gods: Tano Mythology / Myth – TV Tropes

Tano Mythology / Myth – TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/myth/tainomythology

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The Taíno were an indigenous people of the Caribbean. Until Spanish colonizers began traveling to the islands in the 15th century, they were the main inhabitants of The Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the northern Lesser Antilles, and Puerto Rico.

The Taino worshipped deities and ancestral spirits called zemi (also written as “cemi”). Zemi were housed in sculptures sculpted from a wide variety of materials, including wood, clay, sandstone, bone, shells, and stone. Medicine people could consult zemis for healing and advice. During these consultation ceremonies, images of the zemi were sometimes painted or tattooed on the body of a priest (who was known as a “Bohuti” or “Buhuithu”). While Zemi are most associated with the Taino, they were also created by indigenous South American cultures.

Notable Deities

• Atabey is often cited as the Taino’s supreme god. She’s a fertility and water goddess (as well as an Earth Spirit), alongside the masculine Yúcahu. Pregnant women prayed to Atabey to ensure a safe childbirth.
• Yúcahu (alternately, Yocahú or Yocahú-Bagua-Maorocoti) is known as the creator of the Taino. He is a fertility god, alongside the feminine Atabey. He created the sun, moon, stars, animals, and humans. Yúcahu lives on a throne on the peak of the largest mountain in the El Yunque National Forest.

• Maquetaurie Guayaba was the lord of the dead and in charge of watching the space where they rested. More importantly, he kept balance between the forces of the day (order and the world of the living) and the forces of the night (chaos and the world of the dead). He is associated with bats. Opiyelguabirán served as a guardian who kept the living and the dead where they belonged.
• Guabancex, also known by her Spanish name “Juracán” (which actually refers to the storms themselves), controls the weather, particularly storms and hurricanes (which is where the word comes from). She was an important goddess, as good weather was needed for crops and wind was vital for travel between islands. She is often depicted with an angry face, her arms flailing in an S-shape on either side. Guabancex has a temper and often becomes enraged and bent on destroying all in her path with hurricanes. She is always associated with Guataubá, who heralds her eventual arrival with clouds and lightning. Guabancex threatens the other deities in an attempt to have them join her. The goddess often clashes with their supreme deity, Yúcahu, when she reaches the rainforest peak of El Yunque.

Taino mythology provides examples of:

• Creation Myth: The goddess Atabey originally created the heavens and nothing else. The world was void and empty. To fix this, she created her two sons Yúcahu and Guacar. Yúcahu took over his mother’s role as a creation deity in an attempt at gaining her favour. He awoke the Earth from its slumber and created two new deities: the controllers of the sun and moon, Boinael and Maroya. Yúcahu noticed four gemstones that lied in the ground and converted them into the celestial star beings Achinao, Coromo, Racuno, Sobaco. He then created the animals. Finally Yucáhu created a new entity that wasn’t either an animal nor a deity. He opened a rift in the heaven, from which emerged the first man, Locuo.

• Food God: Yúcahu is a god of cassava, a staple crop of the Taino (and even their modern descendants)
• The Great Flood: Yaya, known as the grandfather, and his wife had a son named Yayael. Yayael grew up to become a rebellious, angry man who hated his father. Yayael ordered him to leave the home for four moons. Upon return, the situation didn’t improve. In a bout of anger, Yaya killed Yayael and out of remorse, put all of Yayael’s bones inside a gourd he hung from the ceiling. One day, he took down the gourd and saw that it was full of endless fish. He and his wife tried eating some and still the fish would keep in number. Nearby, Itiba Cahubaba gave birth to quadruplets, the oldest named Deminán Caracaracol. When Yaya was absent, they took down the gourd to eat from it too, but in their hurry to put it back, the gourd burst, and from it, came out so much water and all the fish, and that is how the ocean came to be.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Opiyelguabirán, a dog-shaped god who watched over the dead. He has a human head but the body of a dog from the waist down.
• Mother Nature: Atabey represents the Earth’s spirit. She is the creator goddess who created the heavens and gave birth to Yúcahu, another important creator deity.
• Water Is Womanly: Atabey is the Taino’s supreme god — the goddess of water and fertility, contrasted with the masculine Yúcahu.
• Weather Manipulation: Guabancex is a storm goddess who has control over the weather.

Gods and goddesses: Tales of the Taíno | The Vale London

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March 24, 2021

As you explore the World’s End collection, take a moment for a closer look at our Taínos design. Based on zemis (stone idols) made by the indigenous people of the Caribbean and Florida, this sumptuous fabric has a story to tell.

Descended from Arawak Indian settlers, the flourishing Taíno culture of art, music and magical rituals was similar to Mayan civilisation in the 11th century. The zemis you see in our designs are considered among the best examples of New World sculpture, depicting supernatural deities and spirits in polished porous stone. But who were those deities and what do they represent?

The word zemi actually has a double meaning. It refers not only to the stone idols but to the gods themselves. For the Taíno, they were a variety of gods, goddesses, spirits, and ancestors: all worshipped for a specific purpose. Not much is known about the full range of deities, but there are a handful of Taíno gods we can get to know a little better.

Most importantly, there’s Atabey (or Atabei), the mother goddess and creator. Atabey was so powerful, she gave birth to herself as well as the world, making her one of the most formidable creation gods in mythical studies. As well as symbolising fertility, Atabei was also the goddess of music and beauty. She’s commonly depicted in frog-form, sitting in the traditional cross-legged birthing position favoured by Taíno midwives.

According to Taíno legend, Atabei made her two sons, Yucajú and Guacar, then set them to work helping her to fill the Earth with life. Yucajú was given the heavens to make, so he gathered jewels and gemstones from the darkest caves to create the sun, moon and stars. Next, he and his mother filled the Earth with lush trees and spirited birds and animals, eventually creating a cross between a jupía (part animal, part god), who became the first man: Locuo.

Yucajú was also the god of the sea, but instead of habiting the briny deep, the Taíno believed he lived in the sky, hidden among the stars he made so he could watch over them. He and the god of healing, Baibrama, also associated with cassava root, the most popular Taíno crop, so farmers would often bury effigies of him in their fields to bless them and bring a good harvest. Baibrama was responsible for curing villagers of cassava poisoning and his sons, Boinayel and Márohu, brought the rainy season to keep things growing and healthy.

Guacar, on the other hand, saw what his mother and brother were creating and became mad with jealousy. He transformed himself into the evil spirit, Juracán (or Hurricane) and with the help of his wife, Guabancex (goddess of storms) and his two sons (representing thunder and lightning) stirred up catastrophic stormy winds to destroy his family’s creations. His raging tempests killed animals and destroyed Locuo’s crops, but he could not undo the Earth. Locuo prayed to the gods to spare him so his family would be saved, and the first Caribbean hurricane myth was born.

For more unique illustrations from every corner of the globe, have a look at the World’s End collection and our other blogs uncovering the stories behind the designs.

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Beautiful island – Profesora Matorrales — LiveJournal

Today I decided to write something fun, romantic and stupid, like Puerto Rico (the historical name of Borinquen). Traditionally, I don’t know where to start, so I’ll start in chronological order.

I don’t remember the exact year, but I didn’t learn English then, so it must have been before 1978. I saw a movie with the alarming title West Side Story, which was supposed to pity the Puerto Ricans. Like a kind Soviet girl, I was sorry, although I didn’t really know who they were. nine0003

***
1993. Valya the border guard and I live on “rent” in the “Ukrainian outskirts”. To the northwest of us is the Puerto Rican ghetto, to the east is the Mexican ghetto, to the south is the black one. Yes, in fact, we ourselves lived in the ghetto. Only it was more glamorous, and the Slavic “Hettorians” were gloomier and more educated than their neighbors. Yes, they drank more. Perhaps the last sentence can be written in the present tense, because. little has changed there.

One day, as an older and more experienced comrade, Valya decided to conduct a workshop with me as a young immigrant. nine0003

– Vika, damn it, tell me, damn it, you, damn it, can you tell Mexico from Puerto Rico? – he began on his inimitable Dnepropetrovsk surzhik. I knew that he wanted to convey the following thought to me: “Never, under any circumstances, communicate with people from the Island, because without talking they will put a bullet in the forehead and will not ask for an address. Whether it’s the Mexicans – hardworking and God-fearing.

– Of course I can – Puertoricans are much more beautiful in terms of male beauty.
– From zhezh Petrovna, damn bitch … – Valya lost all his eloquence. nine0003

***
1994. I met Orlando, who is famous, in particular, for the phrase “You treat Colombians like gods and Puerto-Ricans like shit” (for you, Colombians are gods, and Puerto Ricans are shit). He had all the trappings of a real boricua: a round head like a cat, an earring in his ear, a collection of purple and green suits, and a gun in the top drawer of his chest of drawers.

He also liked to say: “We Puerto Ricans are beautiful, advanced and generally cool in every way. Any Mexican, Guatemalan, Peruvian, Colombian to the question “where are you from?” replies “from Puerto Rico!” Because we are beautiful, advanced and generally cool in every way. All Latinas want to be like us!” nine0003

– Mi amor, – with my sarcastic tone, it was as if I poured a bucket of water on a red-hot iron, – firstly, a Colombian will never say that he is from somewhere else, secondly, sorry, mi vida, they only say that because you do not have problems with documents, but everyone else does. (Puerto Ricans are US citizens).

In this place, Orlandito said his catchphrase about gods and shit.

***
Digression: every Colombian living in the States at least once in his life had a Puerto Rican novia. One friend said: “We are attracted to Boricua by their strong character, bitchiness and sexual skills …” Every Colombian came to the conclusion after about six months that he was vilely deceived and, instead of a beautiful islander, they banally slipped a scandalous, jealous woman, who, moreover, corroded for 40 kg. Most cowardly returned to their “most beautiful women in the world”, lovers of difficult paths and adrenaline junkies switched to Slavs. nine0003

***
1995-96. I met Olenka . We were young, inquisitive, cosmopolitan, handsome and illegal, and therefore spent all our free time in Latin clubs. Paco blew the trumpet in the stupid band Los ases de merengue, Billy Rivera was the second lead singer in the nauseatingly stingy band Orquesta fuego. Paco looked like a diablo, and Billy looked like a Bananana boy in the Caribbean version. But I liked their first lead singer, Ray Cortez, whom I affectionately nicknamed “the inseminator bull.” However, I digress… Once Paco and Billy wanted to give us a ride home. To them home. We didn’t want to, and the az merengue made a fiery speech that I remember better than about the dream of Martin Luther King. “I come from the Island, I’m not a trash who was born in Humboldt Park.” So I found out who the real Boricua are. nine0003

***
2007. Blessed began his driving career – he took children to school, and allegedly disabled people to “therapy”. One such patient was one José, who said: “In Pulto Hico we like to party and we don’t like to work. And when there is nothing to light, we come to the USA…»

***
…When the professor was not yet working as a professor, she periodically fell into the Great American Depression. To which a familiar Polish woman said: “Hani, you are young, beautiful, speak four languages ​​​​and light up every evening in a Puerto Rican club. What the fuck motherfucker are you depressed??? Since then, in troubled times, I always remember these words. Even if I’m not so young anymore, I’m beautiful – very subjective, four languages ​​​​are hopelessly spoiled by each other, and I don’t go to Puerto Rican clubs for a long time. But in 10 days I’m going to Puerto Rico! You don’t have to wish a happy journey yet, better listen to what song I’m going to shake old times and bodies there! nine0003

PS: Olenka, “siempre caliente” especially for you!)))

Sami gods in rare technique — Artists, photographers and sculptors from all over the world

Every nation has its own fairy tales and myths. And just like them, the illustrations for these works of folk art are unique. Now northerners have the opportunity to learn how professional and novice masters of the brush imagine the Sami gods and heroes – two exhibitions dedicated to the indigenous people of the Kola North opened at once in the regional art museum: “The World of Sami Myths” and “Sami Tales”. nine0003

— The first exposition is graphics from our collection, — commented Olga Evtyukova, director of the museum. – There are not very many works, but they are diverse, made by artists of different generations. For example, the deer-sun by Mikhail Alexandrovich Kirin, which has become a classic. He created this linocut in 1970. Pay attention to the fabulous style of the author: silhouettes, fantastic flowers are visible in the horns of the animal.

Next to the linocut there are paintings by Anatoly Shakovets made in the etching technique. This printed graphics is a rather complex and delicate work, so now only Anatoly Grigorievich uses it in the Arctic. To create a picture, it is necessary to cover the zinc board with a special varnish, then scratch the necessary contours with acid and apply a drawing. nine0003

This technique was actively developed during the Renaissance, its great masters were Rembrandt and Albrecht Dürer. At the exhibition “The World of Sami Myths” you can see etching not only by Anatoly Shakovets, but also by Vera Borisova. In 1975, she created Noida’s Journey to the Underworld.

— And here are the graphic works of Daria Shelkovnikova, — continued Olga Alexandrovna. “Look, they are more aggressive, they show opposition to evil forces, nature, snow flows. Sámi tales, like the tales of other peoples, are full of grandeur and expectation of kindness. The author uses only two colors, black and white, but due to the dynamics we can see an icy desert, a polar night. nine0003

Daria Shelkovnikova painted her paintings not so long ago, in 2008. Most likely, the gods made a special impression on the author, since in the frames you can see the gallery of the Sami pantheon: the god of the wind Piegga-Omai, who walks with a stick, and his hair flutters in the wind, the goddess of the earth Madder-akku, standing at the plague and stretching her hands to the sun, the thunder god Tiermis.

The “youngest” works of the exhibition created in 2013 by Vera Vologzhannikova. The author paints with oil paints on paper, which is also a very rare technique. Vera Vologzhannikova showed the modern perception of the Sami myths, and thanks to her we see harsh images. Myandash, a werewolf deer with a huge toothy mouth, and birds sit on the horns. The artist’s shaman is quite familiar, with a tambourine. But a bear peeps out from behind him, spreading its paws and sticking out its tongue. Horror and only! nine0003

The World of Sami Myths exhibition turned out to be so interesting and diverse. Five authors, and each has its own vision and idea. In general, the works of artists of different generations are not so often found in one exposition. The uniqueness of the current one is also added by the fact that the graphics themselves are rarely exhibited. And not because it does not resonate with art connoisseurs, it’s just that the paper quickly fades, besides, moisture is harmful to it, so museum workers cherish such paintings.

Nikolai Morozov’s painting “Family” hangs next to the heroes of the Sami myths. This canvas complements the exhibition, because it also depicts a fragment of the life of the indigenous people: a husband, wife and child are standing on the shore, and next to it lies a boat on which the head of the family is fishing.