COLOMBIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS
THE MOHANThe MohanPhysically, the Mohan is described as a giant – covered with hair, red eyes and burnt skin. His teeth are said to be yellow. There is an alternate description of him however, which speaks of him as an old tribesman, covered in moss, also very furry, but dwarf-like, blacked-haired, and dark-skinned.
The Mohan is a cannibal. He enjoys eating children, especially newborn infants. He first sucks the milk out of them and roasts them over a fire of dead leaves. Equally appealing to him are beautiful young women, especially those who have been recently engaged. He chases them to a river where he guards large quantities of jewelry such as gold rings, nose rings, precious stones and other jewels. The Mohan is also mischievous, as proven by his habit of stealing bait off fishermen’s hooks, or sometimes even the hook itself. Also attributed to him are the swellings of the river and the subsequent flooding. He is fond of seeing people drown, especially those who swim by themselves in solitary lagoons. Due to this, he is considered a water guardian of some sort. He has two weaknesses however: tobacco and salt, which are both efficient means of defending oneself against him. Those who have been near him claim to have seen him smoking; however he is also known to keep sufficient distance from salt, as exposure to salt crystals would turn the Mohan into a gold idol. Taken from : http://gvc0914.gvc09.virtualclassroom.org/samerica/col02.html#col1 THE SOLE LEGThe Sole Leg is a sensual, beautiful woman with a penetrating glance and an aggressive attitude. She lives surrounded by snakes that resemble stems; camouflaged in the deepest part of the jungle. She attracts men, enchanting them with her glance to satisfy her sexual desires. Previously an unfaithful woman, she was eventually caught by her husband who became enraged and cut off one of her legs and gave it to her lover. He then took her to the center of the jungle to die a slow death as a punishment for her infidelity. The jungle did not let her die. Instead her body went through several mutations: she lost her genitals, her remaining leg was transformed into a bear’s claw and her hands were extended in a grotesque way. This character was invented by jealous men to instill fear in their unfaithful spouses and at the same time to acknowledge the powers of the jungle. Taken from: http://camosadesign.com/Leyendas.pdf COLOMBIAN MYTHOLOGYThe present-day Colombia is a country which lies in northwestern South America. Bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, to the south by Ecuador and Peru, to the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the north by the Carribean sea, there is no doubt to their distinctly Hispanic culture which developed due to contact with people from neighboring countries as well as influence by Spaniards during the period of Spanish conquest in South America.
Its early inhabitants were the Muisca, Quimbaya and Tairona, tribes with detailed political structures and an intricate social hierarchy. These people were mostly hunters, as they lived surrounded by tropical rainforest and did not have adequate space for growing crops. In 1499, the Spanish arrived and colonized the area, killing or taking several inhabitants as slaves. The Viceroyalty of New Granada was thus formed, comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest region of Brazil and Panama. Independence was won in 1819, though only in 1886 was the country declared a republic. Its literary tradition could be traced back to the tribes which formerly dominated the area, and to myths legends dating back to the Spanish time (similar in format to today’s “urban legends” which are commonly handed down from generation to generation through word of mouth with minimal yet significant changes to the story). Most are about mythological creatures that live in the area, and in fact there is a detailed list of characters present in most Colombian myths that continue to be known to Colombians today and are even considered a treasure. Taken from: http://gvc0914.gvc09.virtualclassroom.org/samerica/col01.html |
THE GOLDEN LEGENDBy Willie Drye
The lust for gold spans all eras, races, and nationalities. To possess any amount of gold seems to ignite an insatiable desire to obtain more. Through the centuries, this passion gave rise to the enduring tale of a city of gold. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans believed that somewhere in the New World there was a place of immense wealth known as El Dorado. Their searches for this treasure wasted countless lives, drove at least one man to suicide, and put another man under the executioner's ax. "El Dorado shifted geographical locations until finally it simply meant a source of untold riches somewhere in the Americas," says Jim Griffith, a folklorist in Tucson, Arizona. But this place of immeasurable riches hasn't been found. The origins of El Dorado lie deep in South America. And like all enduring legends, the tale of El Dorado contains some scraps of truth. When Spanish explorers reached South America in the early 16th century, they heard stories about a tribe of natives high in the Andes mountains in what is now Colombia. When a new chieftain rose to power, his rule began with a ceremony at Lake Guatavita. Accounts of the ceremony vary, but they consistently say the new ruler was covered with gold dust, and that gold and precious jewels were thrown into the lake to appease a god that lived underwater. The Spaniards started calling this golden chief El Dorado, "the gilded one." The ceremony of the gilded man supposedly ended in the late 15th century when El Dorado and his subjects were conquered by another tribe. But the Spaniards and other Europeans had found so much gold among the natives along the continent's northern coast that they believed there had to be a place of great wealth somewhere in the interior. The Spaniards didn't find El Dorado, but they did find Lake Guatavita and tried to drain it in 1545. They lowered its level enough to find hundreds of pieces of gold along the lake's edge. But the presumed fabulous treasure in the deeper water was beyond their reach. Raleigh's Quest English courtier Sir Walter Raleigh made two trips to Guiana to search for El Dorado. During his second trip in 1617, he sent his son, Watt Raleigh, with an expedition up the Orinoco River. But Walter Raleigh, then an old man, stayed behind at a base camp on the island of Trinidad. The expedition was a disaster, and Watt Raleigh was killed in a battle with Spaniards. Eric Klingelhofer, an archaeologist at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, says Walter Raleigh was furious at the survivor who informed him of Watt's death and accused the survivor of letting his son be killed. "The man goes into his cabin on the ship and kills himself," says Klingelhofer, who is trying to find the site of Raleigh's base camp on Trinidad. Raleigh returned to England, where King James ordered him beheaded for, among other things, disobeying orders to avoid conflict with the Spanish. The legend of El Dorado endures because "you want it to be true," says Jose Oliver, a lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. "I don't think we've ever stopped seeking El Dorado." So where is this lost city of gold? In his 1849 poem "El Dorado," writer Edgar Allan Poe offers an eerie and eloquent suggestion: "Over the Mountains of the Moon, down the Valley of the Shadow, ride, boldly ride…if you seek for El Dorado." Taken from: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/el-dorado/ |
THE ORIGING OF EMERALDThe Muzo tribe believed the first man stemmed from nothingness and was named Are. At the time of his creation, he was said to have mysteriously appeared at the bank of the Magdalena River. Are, in his loneliness upon first coming to earth, carved wooden figures of men and women and threw them into the river, thus bringing them to life. In doing so, he became a god, and proceeded to create Fura and Tena, who came to be mankind’s parents, as well as teachers of the arts, crafts, agriculture and welfare.
Fura, however, fell in love with Zarbi, whose features were unusual for the region in which she dwelled. His eyes were blue, his hair blonde, and he had a beard. He was a traveller, with one purpose in mind: to seek the elixir of everlasting youth. One day Fura went up the mountain where Zarbi lived and made love with him. Tena, her husband, found out, and was offended by her unfaithfulness. Unable to endure the pain, he committed suicide. When Fura learned of this on the day of her return, she wept several tears of pity and remorse. It is said that the tears Fura cried on that day became emeralds, which spread all over the mountains, and her sighs turned into beautiful butterlies that fluttered in the air. Fura attempted to approach her deceased husband, but Are would not allow this. As she was nearing her husband’s burial spot both she and her husband’s body were turned into rocks, separated by the river Zarbi, named after the blonde man whom she once lusted for. Their son, Itoco, was placed in the middle of the river and was also turned into stone. These stones were not ordinary boulders, however, as they too were composed of emeralds. It is due to this that the finest emeralds in the world may be found on that spot in Colombia. Taken from : http://gvc0914.gvc09.virtualclassroom.org/samerica/col02.html#col1 THE MOTHER WATERThe Mother Water is a beautiful girl of brilliant almost-white hair with big intense hypnotic eyes that are impossible to resist. She has the peculiarity of having feet that face backwards leaving imprints that face the opposite direction to that in which she is traveling. She follows only boys. They talk of a beautiful girl calling them to follow her to remote places. Every time the boys are taken to the edge of the waters, they become agitated. They believe that they are looking at pretty flowers floating in the water and they throw themselves into them, insisting that the girl beckons. The boys often die as a result of negligence that causes them to get lost and drown; taken by the Mother Water. To get rid of her fatal seductive charm, the boys have to be prayed for, offer to the Animas and avoid being taken to the edge of the waters, at least untill they grow older. Taken from: http://camosadesign.com/Leyendas.pdf THE BIG HATThe Big Hat is one of the oldest apparitions. He is well known for his black poncho, gargan- tuan hat and for traveling on his black mule with his two big black dogs restrained by thick heavy chains. He always arrives at night in a gallop, frequently on Fridays especially during Lent and on Good Friday. As the story goes, he makes noisy appear- ances galloping and whistling, letting the dog’s chains drag all over the ground. It seems that electric light has exiled him as it was in the penumbrous towns of long ago, where he used to frighten the drunkards with his dramatic commotion. Amidst his whistling and laughing, he would proclaim his menacing phrase: “If I manage to reach you, I’ll put this hat on you!” This myth is a playful one and it seems that the Big Hat’s only intention was to frighten. FROG MYTHMyths serve to explain the world view of a people. In Colombia, the KOGI, an indigenous group, explain why frogs only come out when it rains. According to their oral tradition: The Frog was chosen as the second wife of the Sun God. However, she choose to be unfaithful to him. When the Sun God discovered her treachery, he became angry. In his fury, he grabbed his wife and threw her down to earth, where she shattered into a thousand pieces. Each piece then became a new frog. The frogs quickly hid themselves from the Sun in the dense forest, where they remain unobserved until it rains. As the drops begin to fall from the sky, the frogs leave their hiding places. They choose to leave their cover only when it rains because the sun is hidden behind the clouds and cannot see them. Taken from:http://raisingcolombiankids.blogspot.com/2009/03/kogi-frog-myth.html |