Between the Legends of Guatemala best known Are the Tatuana, the Cadejo, the sombrerón or the treasure of the flowery place, among others.
The legends of Guatemala were compiled mostly by the Guatemalan writer Miguel Ángel Asturias , In the year 1930. This book was published in order to compile the indigenous folklore of the region within the literature, so that it was available to anyone.
Cover of the book Leyendas de Guatemala by Miguel Ángel Asturias. Retrieved image from emaze.com.
Miguel Ángel Asturias was inspired by the Popol-Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayan community, to group the Guatemalan legends, which were translated years later in different languages, such as French and English. For this relationship, you may also want to see 20 Mayan myths and legends .
This literary initiative was the seated basis for later European writers to compile various traditional stories of the American Indian people (Ocasio, 2004).
The legends of Guatemala have been interpreted today as a way to preserve the past and the indigenous tradition in times where the development of cities predominates and the use of the Spanish language and its traditions. The legends of Guatemala are the legends of the people. These, before being collected, were transmitted orally.
These stories blend reality with fantasy. Miguel Ángel Asturias presents the legendary as if it were true, attesting to the value of the oral tradition and the beliefs of the indigenous people of Guatemala, negatively affected by the colonization of the Spaniards (Prieto, 2000).
Multiple regions of America share similar legends, since these were compiled after the colonization of the Spaniards and share a similar historical past. In this sense, you can also see the 20 most important Venezuelan myths and legends or 10 amazing Ecuadorian legends and myths .
The 20 most prominent Guatemalan legends
1 - The Tatuana
The Legend of Tatuana speaks of a sacred almond tree, in charge of safeguarding the Mayan traditions . This tree takes account of the passage of the years and divides his soul into the four paths that can be found before reaching the underworld, known as Xibalba .
The four paths of the tree soul have different colors (green, red, white and black). According to legend, the soul is always divided to travel the four ways, in each of them must face temptations.
In this way, the black road symbolizes for the Maya the route that leads to the underworld, in which part of the soul must be exchanged with the merchant of invaluable jewels, who will then use this to obtain the most beautiful slave.
In legend, the slave escapes and is threatened with death by the inquisitors who find him. During the night the slave is found by the tree.
In this way, he manages to escape from the prison where he is held before being executed. When the captors arrive the next morning to the prison, all they find is an old almond tree.
2- The Cadejo
This legend speaks of a novice of supreme beauty, who later will happen to become the Mother Elvira of San Francisco. This woman lived in a convent, which she describes from an emotional perspective throughout the legend.
Mother Elvira of San Francisco is deeply dismayed because her braid incites the physical and sexual excitement of men. This disturbance causes her to be cut off.
Once it is cut, it becomes a serpent that wraps itself around a lit candle, causing its flame to detach and send men to hell (Sanles, 2016).
3- The hat
The protagonist of this legend is a monk who is tempted by a sphere that sways through the window to enter his cell.
The monk is captivated by the sphere and begins to wonder if it is related to the devil. Despite his thoughts, the monk spends hours playing with the sphere.
Later, he finds a woman who claims the sphere, because it belongs to her son. Before the possibility of delivering the sphere, the monk feels compunction.
Neighbors begin to point out that the monk looks like the devil and eventually gets rid of the sphere, returning it to the child who claims it with cloudy eyes. The sphere then becomes a black hat that falls on the child's head (Letona, 2015).
4- The volcano
The legend begins with six men, three emerging from the water and three emerging from the wind. However, only three of these men could be seen. Each group of men interacted with the earth in a natural way, feeding on everything she gave them.
One day, as the men walked, they found Cabrakan, a mountain capable of spitting fire. In this way, Cabrakán burst into flames and was embraced by Hurakán, a mountain of clouds that sought to open the top of Cabrakán by peeling his crater with his nails.
All but one of the men were devastated and the forest of trees where they lived was destroyed. The surviving man was named Nido.
Nido walked following the voice of his heart and soul until he met a sacred trinity that indicated the construction of a temple. In this way, Nido built his temple and around this one, he made 100 houses, where his town would live. The volcano would cease its activity and the forest would again flourish.
5- The treasure of the flowery place
The legend speaks of the arrival of the Spaniards to the Guatemalan territory, during the celebration of the natives by the end of the war. The celebration took place in the lake, near a volcano"the Grandfather of the Water", place where the treasures of the tribe were hidden.
It is told how, upon the arrival of the Spaniards, the natives began to flee as white squadrons approached the treasure of the flowered place on the volcano.
The white men felt the roar of the volcano, but they ignored it, guided by their ambition or greed. Once they disembarked, the volcano spit fire at them like a frog.
Both the roads, the treasures and the Spaniards were swept away by the fire of the volcano, silencing the sound of trumpets and drums. The tribes managed to flee, but the Spaniards fell at the feet of the treasure of the flowery place.
6- The tablets that sing
Legend has it that, regardless of the venue, the moon markers would put them covered with symbols and signs painted to sing and dance.
These chants were hymns to the gods and after being distributed by the maskers of Luna, they would camouflage among the crowd and perform daily activities.
From these places, the moon masters would continue to eat moon in each of its phases. Each tablet made up of these characters had to be sung, otherwise it was burned.
In this way, the markers of the moon should go back into the forest to compose new songs to be tasted in the celebrations.
When one of these individuals failed to get his tablet sung for the seventh time, it was sacrificed in a grotesque ritual and the heart was extracted.
The legend says that Utuquel, a lunatic chewer, feared for his sacrifice, because they had already rejected him six times and in the delivery of his seventh tablet announced that his creation was a robbery, that was not original and that his advice was taken from The life of the readers themselves, so he believed that all creation is alien.
7- The crystal mask
Legend has it that a skilled sculptor named Ambiastro, since instead of hands had stars, fled his village with the arrival of the white man and went into a cave in the mountains, from which he would sculpt his wonderful works in rock.
One day, Ambiastro, tired of sculpturing in rock and reluctant to sculpt in wood (due to its low durability), he goes out in search of new materials. When approaching a stream is blinded by the glitter of the rock crystal and decides to carve it.
Ambiastro spent days and nights in a candle carving the glass, his face was cut by the quartz and swept the floor only to scare the gloom. Finally, he finished sculpturing the mask of the goddess Nana Rain and returned to his cave.
When he returned, the figures he had already sculpted struck him with the aim of killing him. In this way, Ambiastro put on the mask of Nana Lluvia to escape, but when he managed to leave the cave, it was already late, he was already dead.
8- The deceased bell
Legend has it that three Asturian founders arrived in Guatemala at the end of the 17th century. These smelters were in charge of making bells for churches and of this form they went traveling America and they left of return to Spain.
When they arrived at the convent of the Clarean nuns, the Asturian began the process of casting for the bell of their church, in this way they collected gold from all the nuns.
Each nun would deliver her most precious jewel to the founders and see how this jewel would burn. Sister Clarinet of the Indies was a golden-eyed yellow nun, who did not have any kind of jewel to hand over to the smelter.
At the suggestion of a companion and with the fixation to make a greater sacrifice than the others, Sister Clarineta decides in dreams to take her eyes and cast them to the foundry. In this way, the bell would be that of Santa Clara de Indias and would honor his sacrifice.
After her sacrifice, Sister Clarineta asks to be acquitted for her superb sacrifice, a request that is denied. It is said that, when the bell rang for the first time, she shouted to be absolved, as did Clarineta after giving her eyes.
9- The matachines
The legend of the matachines tells that a part of inhabitants of Machitán, called Tamachín and Chitanam, known like the matachines, promised that if the matachina (its loved one) was dead, they themselves would fight in mourning until the death.
When they arrived at the village, they went to a house of meetings, where an old woman named Pita-Alegre told them that the matachina was dead, but that at night it came to life, because she dreamed that she was alive.
La Pita-Alegre continued perfuming and bathing the body of the matachina so that degenerate and drunk customers would use it. In this scenario, the matachines cut the hands of the Pita-Alegre.
When the matachines were resolved, they decided to fight in mourning until death, but before that, they met the monkey Telele and the Great Rasquinagua, protector of the forest that dreamed with the open eyes.
In this way, Rasquinagua promises them that they can die and come back to life, and gives them talismans to resurrect.
The matachines accede to this pact and they fight in duel until the death, destroying their bodies with the machetes. When they return to life, they return as a mountain and tree, recognizing themselves over time, determined to return to Machitán (Asturias, 1930).
10- The Origin of the Red Belly Quetzal
The Quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala and one of the most imposing birds in America. The Guatemalan legend tells that the quetzal flew on the Spanish conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado When he was fighting against the Mayan leader Tecun Uman, in order to protect him.
However, Tecum Uman was killed and the Maya empire was defeated at the hands of the Spanish. It is said that the quetzal's belly is red because it is machanda with the blood of Tecun Uman.
It is also said that the song of the quetzal is very beautiful, but that it will not sing until the people of Guatemala are completely free.
11- La Siguanaba
La Siguanaba is a spirit that can change its shape. He usually has an attractive woman's body when seen from behind.
With long, usually naked hair, or wearing only a flowing white dress, she attracts men while bathing in the night. No man really sees his face (horse or skull), until they are close enough that he can not be saved.
The Sinhunaba in Guatemala appears to punish the infidel men. In this way, she takes them to a lonely place where after paralyzing them from fear, they steal their souls. This legend was brought to America by the Spanish settlers, in order to control the locals (Hubbard, 2016).
Other legends of Guatemala
Within Guatemalan folklore you can find legends typical of all of America, such as the weeping, the cuckoo, the light of money, the chupacabras, the cipitío, the ciguapa and the elves.
These legends were usually used as strategies to control the population by infusing them with fear of being alone at night doing wrong things.
Most Guatemalan legends were created from the cultural mix between Spanish and Native American Indians (Magazine, 2017).
References
- Asturias, M.A. (1930). Legends of Guatemala.
- Hubbard, K. (June 23, 2016). About Travel . Obtained from Central America Folklore and Legends: gocentralamerica.about.com.
- Latvian, S. (October 1, 2015). What to do in Guatemala . Obtained from El Sombreron: quepasa.gt.
- Magazine, Q. P. (2017). What to do in Antigua Guatemala . Obtained from Legends of Guatemala: quepasa.gt.
- Ocasio, R. (2004). Latin America Twentieth-Century Literature. In R. Ocasio, Literature of Latin America (Pages 70-71). Westport: Greenwood Press.
- Prieto, R. (2000). Text Readings. In M. A. Asturias, Tales and legends (Pages 615-616). Paris: Archives Collection.
- Sanles, C. (January 1, 2016). What to do in Guatemala . Obtained from El Cadejo: quepasa.gt.