GUARANI SKY

By Blas Servín
Pictures: María Griselda Servín

The Guaranies, as many other american native cultures, project their environment in the sky and try to explain the stars and celestial events. They conceive the earth as one island or continent floating in an infinite flat ocean. There are as many myths as tribes.

For the Guaranies, ÑANDERUTENONDE; ÑANDERUVUSU is the creator of everything that exists, it is invisible, pure spirit and it manifests through natural events such as; thunder, lightning, fire etc.

TUPA is the divine form closest to man, for some tribes is the thunder, for others the sun or the semi-god of the rain and hail.

The sky is formed by transparent layers, the last one is called PYTUMBA (dark) or ARAKAÑY (lost sky) a region where the light of the sun doesn't shine.

They knew that after 12 full moons the same weather returned, they had no knowledge of the years but they did know that in june, when the EICHU (Pleyades) appeared on the horizon it was a sign of the return of the agriculture cycle, and commemorated this with a big celebration called ARETE GUAZU. They divided the year in KUARAJHY PUCU (long summer) and ROY ARA (cold time or winter).

They talk of a character that came from far away and taught them about agriculture, how to organize socially, among other things, then he left and promised to come back. This character is known by the name of TOME or TUME, it resembles Quetzaltcoal of the Aztecas, Kukulkan Mayans and Wiracocha from the Andes.

KUARAJHY, the sun, the god with its worship and myths.
YASY, the moon, goddess of fertility, love, sexuality and the growth of the plants, is the mother of the stars.
YASYTATA (moon light) Stars, the stars’glow came from the moon.
ARANDU, the one that understands the message from the stars.

MILKY WAY

For some tribes it is the MBOREVI RAPE (the path of the tapir). The tapir is an animal that comes out at night and always follows the same path from its lair and the place where it finds food or water, the path of dry leaves where to step on every day and shine with the moonlight and, our ancestors projected this path in the Milky Way.

For other Indian groups the Milky Way was the TAPE KUE (old path) from which our grandparents came from space, and the same path way we will all follow some day when we return. To show us the way our grandparents left two big fire places, (the Big and Small Magellanic Clouds).

ECLIPSES

In the sky a mythical animal lived, the JAGUA JHOVY (blue tiger) which in certain opportunities it would swallow the moon or sun, and when the Guaranies saw this phenomenon they would yell JAGUA JHOU YASY (the tiger ate the moon) or JAGUA JHOU KUARAJHY (the tiger ate the sun) and would throw arrows and stones to space, so the JAGUA JHOVY , scared, would spit the moon or the sun so the light would be back, it always worked.

EICHU

For the Guaranies of the Eastern region it is the EICHU, a honeycomb that existed in the pre-colombus America and for the Guaranies of the West region is OÑEMBYATYVA (the ones that gather), because this constellation appears on the east a little before the sun in the first days of June and because it is a cold season, they used to see in this group of starts an Indian family hugged and shaking because of the cold weather. The appearance of EICHU or OÑEMBYATYVA represented the beginning of the harvest season similar to our new year and that day the tribes celebrated noisily, playing flutes, mimby tarara, and drums angu apu, the celebration was called ARETE GUAZU.

ORION

The stars that form the belt of Orion represent a widow mom joined by her two also widow daughters because of a war, crying their loneliness of the sky.

The Hyades CUMULO (Taurus). The Guaranies baptized by the missionaries saw the Virgin Mary in this constellation.

ALFA Y BETA

Because these stars were called MENDARE JOACJHU because they were always together, the love of a newly wed couple.

SOUTHERN CROSS

The Southern Cross is the ÑANDU PYSA, the footprint left by a ÑANDU

CONSTELLATIONS

ROKAI: Fence built of wood that surrounds the village to keep strangers and animals away.

SAGITARIUS: MBOREVI TUPA ROKAI, The fence around the garden of the God Tapir.

SCORPIOUS: AGUARA TUPA ROKAI, the fence around the garden of the God Fox. An animal related to agriculture in America.

METEORITE RAIN

Light blue event of bad augury. It indicated the death of a big boss or MBURUVICHA, a war or illness. This explains its peculiar name YASY TATA REPOTI, excrement of the stars.

Post Stamps made by the Paraguayan Postal Service.

Local del CEMUPE. Calle Mayor Martinez y Lazaro de Rivera. (Sajonia) - Asunción, Py - Tel: +595 (21) 421747 y +595 (982) 334893 -