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- Mate legends
- Mate Myth Video submitted by Jovi
- Legend submitted by Chris Roberts:
- In far distant times, gods and goddesses used to come down from their dwelling place in the sky to enjoy the beautiful Guaraní lands. One of these visitors was Yací, the moon goddess, who came down very often to enjoy the flowing rivers, flower-filled meadows and dense woods. Her friend the cloud goddess often came down with her. They would take the form of Guaraní women when coming down so that nobody would recognize them as goddesses. One afternoon they were so content picking orchids in the meadows that they didn’t realize that night was drawing in. Once she realized how dark it was the Moon Goddess cried out “we must return to the sky or I will be late for my duties” (she is the Moon Goddess,after all). The Cloud Goddess said “just a minute more, I see some beautiful white orchids that I must get”. They were going towards the orchids when a jaguar appeared before them. The jaguar was famished and was the largest they’ve ever seen. They were so afraid that they forgot to take their celestial forms. The jaguar road and leapt towards them. But suddenly an arrow pierced its body and the jaguar fell to the ground. The goddesses turned around to see a Guaraní man with a bow and arrow come out from a hiding spot behind a tree. The man yelled “Run!” but the goddesses were still paralyzed with fear. The jaguar got up and leapt at them again, but the Guaraní man shot another arrow, piercing it’s heart. The man said “it’s dead and now you have nothing to fear”. But when the Guaraní man looked back to the spot that the goddesses were standing, they were gone. He went back home and went to sleep. In his dreams a beautiful woman with eyes like stars came to him. She said “I am Yací, the goddess of the moon. You put your own life in danger and fought with great courage to save my life and that of my friend, the Cloud Goddess. Good, honorable men always receive a reward for their noble deeds. You shall receive yours because your goodness and kindness deserve it”. The man asked “what will this reward be?”. The goddess replied “I will make a very valuable plant spring up in these woods for you and your people. Call it yerba mate and take good care of it. If you toast (roast) its leaves you will be able to make a tea which can serve as food for all those who are hungry. It will also quench the thirst of anyone who drinks it. You will find this plant tomorrow int he place where you saw me yesterday”.She said this and disappeared. The man woke up the next morning saying “what a strange dream”. Climbing down from the tree he hurried to the aforementioned place and there he found a very beautiful new plant with green shiny leaves. He picked a few leaves and took them to his village, where he told his story to the people and showed them the prize that the goddess had given him. The people toasted the leaves over a fire and prepared a tea. When they drank it, it got rid of their hunger and their thirst as the goddess had promised. That night they knelt on the ground and gave thanks to Yací for the wonderful gift of yerba mate.
- Mate with hot milk and clogging bombilla (asked by Trish Pankewicz)
- Explanation of the Canarias name (thanks Daniel!)
- Pajarito