Universal Myths and Legends Magazine Instituto Justo Arosemena
Downs, Dilany
12°E Marta Rebolledo
August 31st, 2020
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I. The Strangest People (Legend) The term Nacirema is American spelled backward. It was first introduced by Horace Miner in, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema." Today, it is mainly used by anthropologists to distance themselves, and avoid personal bias, when writing about American culture, its rituals and its customs.
II. The Quetzalcoatl (Myth)
It is known as 'The Feathered Serpent' (its name comes from the Nahua words 'quetzal', the emerald-colored bird, and 'Cรณatl', which means snake), a representation of the two conditions
III. La Ciguapa (Legend) For over a century, stories have been passed down of a creature that lurks within the shadows of the wooded mountainous regions in the Dominican Republic. A feral woman with long dark hair and backwards feet
IV. Myths of the Waters The Dragons (Myth) The dragons are spirits of the waters. "The dragon is a kind of being whose miraculous changes are inscrutable." In a sense the dragon is the type of a man, self-controlled, and with powers that verge upon the supernatural.
LEGENDS • Based on facts or real things but distorted. • They maybe have proof to show that is true. • Takes place on a concrete time. • Normally are about real people who are
famous
for
doing
and
then
the
great added.
something story
was
MYTHS • Is considered fiction • Does not have evidence to show that is true • Is something timeless • A tradicional story from the past • It comes from different cultures
LEGEND
THE STRANGEST OF PEOPlES For decades anthropologists y of r o t i err is The t arcirema the the Nd between and e locat dian cree a of cana arahumar the T mexico
have studied strange and
unusual peoples all over. One of the strangest is a group called Nacirema, a prominent tribe living in North America. Relatively is known of the origin of this people, though they are said to have come from somewhere in the East. Narcirema people spend a great deal of the time on the appearance and health of their bodies. In narcirema culture the body is generally believed to be ugly and likely to decay.
The only way to prevent this decay is through participation in certain magical ceremonies. Every Narcirema house has a special shrine room dedicated to this purpose. Some narcirema houses have more than a shrine room. What is in the shrine room? The focal point is a box built into the wall, inside which is a large collection of magical potions, medicines, and creams. Below thebox is a small font from which water is obtained. Every day each member of the Narcirema familiy eters the shrine room, bows to the chest, and receives magic holy water from the fountain. Several ritual in Narcirema culture are performed by one sex or other, but not by both. Every morning for example, a Nacirema man places a magic cream on his face and then scrapes and sometimes even lacerates his face with a sharp instrument. A similar ritual performed only by women involves the scraping of the legs and underarms.
In Narcirema cuture the mouth is regarded as a highly
significant part of the body. The Narcirema are fascinated by the mouth and believe its condititon has an important and supernatural effect on all social relationships. The daily
body ritual involvesan activity which would be considered repulsive
in
some
cultures.
It
is
reported
that
the
Narcirema actuaally insert into their mouths a stick on one
end of which are plasticized hairs covered with a magical
The Narc i relted to rema may be certain E uropean and Afri can peop le
paste! They then move these sticks back and forth in their mouths in highly ritualized gestures.
A
mong the most important individuals in the culture are the
“holy-mouth-people.” Narciremas visit these practitioners once or twicea year. The y possess excellent sharp instruments for performing their magic ceremonies. They place these instruments in the mouths of the Narciremas. If there are holes in the
teeth they are enlarged with these tools. Then a supernatural substance is placed i each hole.
It is said that the purpose of
the practice is to prevent decay in the teeth and to help Narcirema people to find spouses. Another significant person in Narcirema culture is the “listener” a witch doctor who is thought to have the
power to get rid of people who have been bewitched. Narcirema believe parents often betwich their own children,
especially while teaching the secret toilet ritual, and the listeners must “unbewitch” them. It is also believed that the secret to getting rid of these devils is simply to talk about them, usually while reclining on a sofa.
Clearly, The Narcirema are a magic-inspired tribe.
Much more research is needed in orden to understand this strange people.
MYTH The Quetzalcรณatl
As a myth, the one related to the man-god Quetzalcóatl isone of the most complex of Mesoamerican culture. It is,In addition, one of those with the greatest presence in various cultures - from the Toltec to the Mayan, up to the artistic and cultural manifestations of the so-called Empire Aztec-. His cult can be traced from Teotihuacán (100-750 d.C.) until the fall of the Aztec capital in 1521 (Juan-Navarro, nineteen ninety six). The complexity of the myth arises from the name: "Quetzalcóatl", "the serpent of quetzal feathers", which is associates with a double identity: that of the creator god Ehéctal Quetzalcóatl and that of a Toltec sovereign, Topiltzin Quetzalcóatl, same that took the name of the god. According to various studies, God has a demiurgic value of vital importance in the cultures of central Mexico. According to the Nahua tradition, of the four suns or eras into which the past was divided, the second of these was ruled by Ehéctal Quetzalcóatl, who in turn participated in the formation of the present era or fifth sun.
The character historical Topiltzin Quetzalcóatl lived during the
early period of the history of the Toltec culture; his figure was confused with that of the god of fertility, creator of rain and wind, Ehéctal Quetzalcoatl. Topiltzin was the son of one of the main Toltec conquerors, whom he avenged for his death. Of this mode he stood as secular leader and chief priest of the group of Tollan.
The insistence on a representative transformation undertaken by this on numerous religious and cultural aspects, a fact that ended up causing a conflict and which resulted in the Topiltzin's abandonment of Tollan. When Topiltzin leaves Tollan he always heads east; stays a long time in Cholula, then disappearing beyond the horizon known. This "unknown horizon" will then be identified in the Gulf of Mexico. On the other hand, but without moving away from the interweaving process between religious myth and historical myth, the figure resulting from this hybridization, that is, a hero-god Quetzalcoatl, will play a fundamental role in the conquest; at least the
FUN FACT
version, whose popularity has perhaps caused other remain in the shadow, which has been built andrebuilding to account for how quickly a group considerably reduced number of Spaniards subjected to a large empire. In this context, it has been considered, from instances diverse and studies of greater or lesser scientific rigor, documentary genealogies more or less faithful to one or the other versions of history, the possibility that on the sovereign of the Aztec Empire, Moctezuma, relapsed a "paralyzing fear", product of certain prophecies and omens.
The main god of the pre-Hispanic Mexica pantheon. Its presence ranges from Olmec culture to evil Aztec call. His mutable and disseminated god form forms a fundamental part of the hybrid myth that includes the Quetzalcรณatl
LEGEND
A feral woman with long dark hair and backwards feet that preys on lonely farmer while he harvest the cacao or the would-be adventurer in search of new routes. Young boys and girls are warned against venturing out into the woods alone with stories of this ravenous creature that feeds on the flesh and souls of men. Those that survive have described a stillness in the area, as if birds, insects and land animals had been frightened away. Followed by soft whispers and howls that flowed with the gentle breeze and echoed through the canopies. The calling draws you in from all around until the creature finally reveals itself. A fair maiden, standing no higher than a meter, but with a “harmony in all its muscles and limbs.� Large, dark and enchanting almond shaped eyes. Hair black as midnight, but with a luster that glows with the moonlight. Thick and long, and draped on her body to ankle length.
A
creature of Dominican folklore that today is still told at the
bedside of many children. Such is its popularity, that many , especially in the rural areas of the country, still claim the tale as true. The most revered (and terrifying) of the ciguapa storylines, describes a demon which lives in deep caves and lures lonely men with her beauty and sensuality. Ensnaring the victim in a hypnotic stare and leading them back to her dwelling where she consumes them to the bare bones , or traps them forever for her carnal pleasures.
But there is also a story that describes a timid creature that quickly disappears if they sense people about. A lonely girl that sleeps in the tree tops and feeds on fruits, birds, fish and other small animals. A creature that is said to be a descendent of a race of small people that lived within secluded mountains long before the first indigenous people crossed over into the Greater Antilles.
Myths of the Waters The Dragons
The dragons are spirits of the waters. "The dragon is a kind of being whose miraculous changes are inscrutable." In a sense the dragon is the type of a man, selfcontrolled, and with powers that verge upon the supernatural. In China the dragon, except as noted below, is not a power for evil, but a beneficent being producing rain and representing the fecundating principle in nature. He is the essence of the yang, or male, principle. "He controls the rain, and so holds in his power prosperity and peace." The evil dragons are those introduced by the Buddhists, who applied the current dragon legends to the nagas inhabiting the mountains.
The large dragon fills the Heaven and the earth. Before the dragon, sometimes suspended from his neck, is a pearl. This represents the sun. There are azure, scaly, horned, hornless, winged, etc., dragons, which apparently evolve one out of the other: "a horned dragon," for example, "in a thousand years changes to a flying dragon." The dragon is also represented as the father of the great emperors of ancient times. His bones, teeth, and saliva are employed as a medicine. He has the power of transformation and of rendering himself visible or invisible at pleasure. In the spring he ascends to the skies, and in the autumn buries himself in the watery depths. Some are wingless, and rise into the air by their own inherent power. There is the celestial dragon, who guards the mansions of the gods and supports them so that they do not fall; the divine dragon, who causes the winds to blow and produces rain for the benefit of mankind; the earth-dragon, who marks out the courses of rivers and streams; and the dragon of the hidden treasures, who watches over the wealth concealed from mortals. The Buddhists count their dragons in number equal to the fish of the great deep, which defies arithmetical computation, and can be expressed only by their sacred numerals. The people have a more certain faith in them than in most of their divinities, because they see them so often; every cloud with a curious configuration or serpentine tail is a dragon. "We see him," they say. The scattering of the cloud is his disappearance. He rules the hills, is connected with fĂŞng-shui (geomancy), dwells round the graves, is associated with the Confucian worship, is the Neptune of the sea, and appears on dry land.
Allegory Religious
And in a symbolic way they represent him
with
the
figure
"Quetzalcóatl". The allegory
of
the
and the
parable will be the language of the Spirit. ... It is the serpent, the symbol of matter. While it is the reptile, the
animal that crawls over the material world and where it exercises its power.
Myth
Quetzalcóatl
Characters Mexico, Teotihuacán hasta la caída de la capital azteca
In this context, it has been considered, He was a living man before he became a god or divinity.
from
instances
greater
or
diverse
and
lesser
studies
of
scientific
rigor,documentary genealogies more or less faithful to one or the other versions of history,
sovereign
the
possibility
that
on
the
of the Aztec Empire, Moctezuma, relapsed a
"paralyzing
fear",product
prophecies and omens.
of
certain
Setting and context
Major Conflict They may actually be possibly related
to
the
arrival
of
Republica Dominicana, comes out at night,
Christopher Columbus and the invasion
of
the
on the edge of streams
Spanish
conquerors. After the Spanish conquest,
many
Taínos
enslaved,
which
is
Taínos fled.
were
why
the
Genre
Literary
Legend
La Ciguapa P rotagonist and Antagonist
Narrator and point of view Javier Angulo Guridi “As such a property of
reversible feet would necessarily have to be Protagonist: La ciguapa Antagonist: The Dominicans
said of a non-human animal species, that is considered by all as a hoax and such that
we do not remember having read anything written about the Ciguapa. However, the antiquity, apparently, is respectable, even in the first foundation, of how rare it goes beyond the limits of the Spanish ”.
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References https://dominicancult.blogspot.com/2014/02/la-ciguapa-leyenda-dominicana.h tml https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/recdoc/2012/103271/ficmit1.pdf https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2020/04/nacirema-column-0421 library.um.edu.mo Focus on grammar, Level 5, 4th Edition