Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
COLOMBIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS: THE MUISCAS
In the beggining Chiminigagua created the crows to illuminate all existence;
the entity known as Baque.
Within Baque, Chiminigagua as a snake shaped beam of light,
descended from the Sun to the Earth giving rise to the parents of humanity.
Bachue and her young companion, children of the sacred lagoon of Iguaque and the Sun,
were earth´s first inhabitants, and as such, had to learn how to live of the land.
-What are you doing Bachue? -Looking for shelter.
In time they learned to make tools from stones,
manipulate fire,
hunt, and gather their food;
skills that they passed on to their children, the Muiscas.
After imparting their wisdom upon their heirs,
Bachue and her companion continued their journey to populate the land.
The Muiscas lived in peace until Chia, the goddess of evil and chaos,
let the hand of darkness descend upon them.
An age ruled by Goranchacha, the first of the great Zaques,
rulers of the Muisca tribes.
Goranchacha, the tyrant, enslaved his people.
He perverted them by establishing the practice of black magic.
His reign ended when he abandoned his subjects in a blaze of smoke and fire
after he foresaw a storm coming from the north.
Enraged at how corrupt they had become,
Chibchacum, the earth god,
unleashed a flood on the savannah of Bogotá to punish the Muiscas.
Hearing their pleas, the god Bochica took pity on them.
He liberated mankind from the waters creating the Tequendama falls.
Bochica brought a new order.
He taught the Muiscas agriculture,
metallurgy,
the art of weaving,
and gave mankind the seed of a new era: maize.
He then confronted Chía
as she was responsible for bringing the emerald of evil upon the land,
banishing her to the skies for all eternity
condemned to light the night.
Bochica continued his journey leaving his mark among the Muiscas
whose civilization flourished under his influence.
Satisfied by their children’s progress,
and after having traveled and populated the world,
Bachue and her companion returned to their place of origin, the sacred lagoon of Iguaque,
where they bid farewell to the world.
Their legacy: the Muisca culture.