A row of clay statues stood firm, crafted to be perpetually focused and attentive. The god who had crafted them was focused on his work and he examined each of the statues with a painstaking attention to detail. Quietly he confirmed that they were ready, and then blew on them, his breath containing the mixture of chemical and magical ingredients necessary for life to spring forth from nothingness. And slowly, the clay hardened and than after a while began to soften. Transforming and molding itself carefully, as part of a process Tupa had perfected over a long period of time. Countless years. Countless centuries. And now the lord of all of creation had a plan. A plan which would result in Jasy-Jaterei dying. The demon god of naps had finally pushed the one who created everything too far. No longer would the imp get away with his pranks.
The Guarani people have a complex set of myths revolving around their creation. Well they did. Many of them have converted to Christianity, but the records of their ancient beliefs still exist and thus we can chat about them!
Tupa is the lord of creation. He and his wife, Arasy are the deities of the Sun and the Moon. He is the creator in the ancient myths, and he creates Tau and Angatupyry (the spirits of evil and good respectively). Humans are made out of clay, and brought to life by Tupa. The first were Rupave and Sypave. They had kids, among them Marangatu (a leader), and Kerana (she’s the Echidna or Lilith or even the Persephone of Gurani mythology.). Kerana’s beauty attracted Tau, and Tau eventually pursued her, even directly fighting Angatupyry for days prior to kidnap her. Their children were and are… well less than pleasant. From the impish Jasy, to the “cannibal” (although I think “man-eating” would be more appropriate) Ao Ao, the kids produced by Kerana and Tau were monstrous and while some were calm and only monstrous in appearance, all were pretty scary to be around in one way or another. The sources I used talk about the children in some detail so I’ll leave to them. But here’s the basics: the children are all monstrous even in personality if not in appearance. For example Luison is contemporarily considered by some to be a werewolf like creature (although this is an example of the protean nature of myths because this isn’t the same as Luison was originally considered to be). Teju-Jagua has 7 heads and the body of an alligator.
As you will be able to see from the links I post, records related to this mythology are actually surprisingly uniform and non-contradictory (with one exception, which I included because aside from the names it isn’t vastly different from the others with more specific details). (This is an edit on 4/19/16. I misspoke and showed only a one-sided portrayal of Guarani mythology, and would like to invite readers to go to the comments section to see a more accurate breakdown of the mythology. Sometimes things like this happen, and it’s important to acknowledge them when they occur. I’d also like to thank commentator Kreator for providing a correction. It’s awesome that everyone here truly wants to learn about the mythologies found throughout Latin America. Kreator’s comment is fantastic, and even has a source embedded within it. Give it a quick read!) Given that this is the case, I am happy to let others explain more of this mythology than I usually do. In later weeks I’ll be covering in more detail the myths of other cultures, but this is the first time I’ve seen the myths be remembered and discussed so clearly. It’s a pleasant change. Remember: the purpose of Mythology Monday is to introduce people to Latin American mythological features and legends.
Some sources can be found here, here, here, and here. Another source similar to the one with different names can be found here.
Interesting!
I’m sorry pal, but that is just an illusion that I’m about to shatter! ;P
There are actually different versions of these myths, depending on the Guaraní sub-group. Let’s remember that these people have occupied a large and geographically diverse region for a long while and during that time they diversified by travelling and interacting with other cultures, sometimes even assimilating them. That way, along with the three main Guaraní groups (Guaraní-Mbyá, Guaraní-Ñandevá and Guaraní-Kaiowá) you can find other independent peoples that have absorbed the Guaraní culture and language to different degrees, like the Paí Tavyterá for example.
Tupa is not always the supreme Guaraní deity, sometimes that’s the role of Ñamandú, also known as Ñande Ru, Ñanderuvusú, Pa-pa Tenondé and other variations (your sources mention Ñande Ramõi Jusu Papa, which is likely yet another one.) The legend goes that within the absolute darkness Ñamandú created himself like a plant, starting from the roots (his feet) and up. Once fully grown, he bloomed like a radiant flower, dissipating the darkness. In these versions Tupa is Ñamandú’s son, sent to help humankind along with his wife, and his domains are lakes, rivers, the rain, thunder and lightning.
In his book “Seres Mitológicos Argentinos” (Mythical Beings from Argentina,) anthropologist Adolfo Colombres mentions something which might explain the discrepancies. According to him, Tupa’s role was severely magnified by the Jesuit missionaries, who were the ones who identified him as the Guaraní’s supreme god and assimilated him with the Christian one. Interestingly, he also mentions that, as the ruler of rain and thunder, Tupa can also be found whithin the Wichí pantheon, as a subordinate of their supreme deity Nilatáj.
The book also offers different characterizations for other beings mentioned in your sources. For one, there is no reference made to Kerana and Tau’s story, and their children are included as unrelated creatures. It is mentioned that Curupí is sometimes said to lack joints in his body, which restricts his movements (aside from those of his penis, I guess,) and to have his feet pointing backwards. Those are also attributes of other mythic beings though, so it might be a mythological “cross-contamination”, so to speak. As for Ao Ao, Colombres mentions a theory by the ethnographer Juan Bautista Ambrosetti according to which the creature was, in fact, an invention of the Jesuit priests to scare the Guaraní into not leaving their reservations, though I’m inclined to disagree; I think they wouldn’t have been that gullible regarding what missionaries told them.
(I misspoke. And I have no issues accepting that)
Are these distinct, and wholly separate beings? They likely are, but Tupa and Namandu might just be separate names for the same theological being.
Thanks for correcting me! I wasn’t sure how to view the sources I found, and theorized that they were the same being, but with different names, not wholly separate and distinct gods. I’ll check out the book!
Of course! I was just joking, after all you were working with a limited frame of reference.
From what I can tell, they are distinct and, like Colombres said, were unified by the priests in their attempts to evangelize the Guaraní. That said, the book does mention another Guaraní deity with a name which is very similar to Tupa: Tunpa, which is described as the supreme being of a subgroup called Avá-Guaraní. If Tunpa is indeed Tupa and the above theory is correct, then this probably means that the Avá-Guaraní were more heavily influenced by Christians than their cousins; if not, another possibility is that different versions of the creation myth are being mixed up somewhere, which would support the assumption that indeed we’re talking about different versions of the same god. If I’m not mistaken, though, the existing variations of the Guaraní language are mutually intelligible, which makes me wonder if the names could really get that different among groups, especially considering the many different-but-similar variations that I listed earlier (which were only a fraction of them.)
I love that book and I certainly recommend it, but it does have the problem that, with so many mythical beings to list, there is no space to get into too much detail with all of them. At least the illustrations rock (notice a familiar face in there!)