p.

mythology

75

deities = keti-mahsa ‘story-people’

80

"the Ni>ka keti-re, or "First Myths""

kaapi

Banisteriopsis caapi

patu

Erythroxylon coca

p.

drawing

{Daoist parallel}

77

"while under the influence of hallucinogens, adult men sometimes used palm styluses to create simple drawings in the sand."

{Daoist priests while possessed by the deity, may write with a stylus on the sand.}

78

"At the end of a drug session the individual transferred the designs found in the sand drawings to the bark walls of the longhouse using a variety of colored pigments."

{Daoist : while the deity-possessed priests are engraving characters on the sand, scribes are copying those words into note-books.}

this Tukano activity is "restricted to adult males"

{among the Iban (of Borneo) and in the midewiwin of the Ojibway (in Ontario) written records concerning divine events are made and read by men only.}

79

"the Daxsea mahsa continue ... to insist upon ‘drawing’ their mythology as they relate their keti narratives."

{Australian aborigines tend to draw illustrations on the ground (dirt) while they tell myths; cf. also the Bodish man.d.ala sand-paintings used in ritual along with narrations.}

80

"Located on the rocks that make up the important cachoeiras of the region, the petroglyphs mark the exact location of significant events described in Tukano mythology, and ... the carvings are periodically deepened into the granite boulders".

{Australian aborigines aver that painting of deities on cliffs mark the exact places where those deities vanished, in the mythic era, into the cliffs; and periodically those paintings are re-painted in order to overcome fading of the paint.}

p.

deity

81

"Yepa Behko, the "Universe Great-Grandmother" ... is the "non-created (Oa-ti-ro), the first of the Universe People" [pp. 82-83 "the Creatress. Yepa Behko, who is also known as Yepa Oako {cf. OAhe, SD; Book of OAhspe} (Universe Reproductive Fluid)."]

82

"a female spider, the shaman-woman known as Yepa Behko, Great-Grandmother {cf. [Hopi etc.] supreme goddess "Grandmother Spider"} of the universe ...,

83, fn. 1

"Lycosa raptoria, the Brazilian wolf spider. The female of this species stores semen {received from a male} in special receptacles called spermathecae, from which the semen i s released at the time of egg laying."

82

"Yepa Behko ... uses her spiraling cigar smoke to create a crystalline web ... [which] takes the form of a large sphere surmounted by a small projection ... The sphere serves as the House of the Five Thunders". {cf. the magical net (jala-samvara) of the d.akini-s [CST cap. I (p. 155, fn. 1); cap. XIV (p. 220, fn. 16)]}

81

"Yepa Behko’s masculine counterpart is ... Yepa Ngoaman (Universe Creator), also called Emekho Sulia Panlamin (Universe, Earth/Honey {cf. [Yucatec] /cab/ ‘honey; earth’}, Semen/Great-Grandson), who is "thought" into existence by the Universe Great-Grandmother through the use of ... coca (patu) and cigar smoke."

p.

initiation

84

each initiate wears a bracelet made of howler monkey fur to which is attached a single tucuma palm nut (Astrocaryum tucuma)."

85

"once children reach the age of two or three, ... their eyes may be washed with a solution made from the berries of the kana-puni plant (Sabicea Amazonensis) in a ceremony ... at dawn. ... People say that kana juice causes a baby to have ... mu>hipu kaxpea-ri (sun/eye/plural), literally "Sun’s Eyes"."

p.

layers

86

the five layers are arranged in a vertical sequence and are contained within a structure known as emehkho patole ox>pero yoxkoro, the "Universe Breast-Womb"."

87 = Fig. 1

"Collectively, the five Universe Layers are known as Eme:kho tati pari (Universe/Layer/Flat .../Plural). ... The uppermost structure of the Eme:kho Patole is described as the "nipple of the Universe" (Yepa oxpe-yoxkoro), while the V-shaped {actually, upside-down W} structure located at the bottom ... is called "the vagina of the Universe Great-Grandmother, Yepa Behko"." {so, the inverted W may repraesent 2 labia maiora with a cleft between them.}

88

"These layers are ... a series of "elongated roads" (paro-ta) which are stacked one upon the other, ... a series of superimposed "circular pathways" (mu>mari), or "rounded layers" (tati-bu), whose three-dimensional globular construction resembles that of an onion."

"The levels are individually named as follows, beginning with the highest level and proceeding to the lowest :

1. e:me:se dolo

2. mu>hipu axpoa-phiri tati-bu (Sun/earring/round layer)

3. bahsi boha tati-bu (... clay/yellow/round layer)

4. etan boho tati-bu (yellowish quartz/below/[round] layer)

5. etan be: tati-bu (black quartz/round layer)"

"The upper level, known as e:me:se dolo, is located in a small projection that emanates from the superior portion of the

89

Universe Breast-Womb. This projection is ... the "nipple of the Universe" (yepa oxpe-yoxkoro) ... said to be made of white ... quartz; the uppermost level of the Universe is also described as the home of the Moon ...

Beneath the e:me:se dolo lies the layer called mu>hipu axpoa-phiri tati-bu. This layer is composed of red quartz, and is said to be the home of the Sun and various Sky Beings called A>ra no>nya. ...

The central layer of the Universe is called bahsi boha tati-bu.Yellow in color and composed of ... clay, it represents ... the surface of the world.

... etan boho tati-bu, is composed of pale yellow quartz, and functions as the source of a vast underground river system.

Beneath this river system lies the fifth and final layer of the Universe; formed of black quartz, the etan be: tati-bu is a world of darkness populated by the spirits of the dead".

p.

current & voyage

90

"The vast river that springs from the fourth level of the Universe functions as a circular passageway that ... flows in a circular motion from the inferior portion of the e:me:kho patole to the superior portion and back again, ... a ‘circuit of energy’ ".

"the underground River of the Universe flows directly beneath each longhouse. When a man dies, his body is placed in a canoe and the coffin-canoe is lowered into a grave dug in the center of the longhouse. Traveling on the underground river which flows beneath the maloca, the body enters the deep, black underground layer known as etan be: tati-bu; here the body separates into ‘spirit’ (wax>ti) and ‘soul’ (heri-pora). The spirit remains in the etan be: tati-bu, while the soul continues to travel on the circular river until it is united with the Sun in the mu>hipu axpoa-phiri tati-bu (Sun/earring/round layer)."

90, fn. 1

"Only adult male members of a community are buried beneath the longhouse. The dead bodies of women and children are taken into the forest where they are buried in hollow trees." {cf. heroine Rhoio who "was locked in a chest and set adrift by her father" (GM 160.t) : her name, meaning ‘pomegranate’ (GM, vol. 2, p. 407), would imply that she is emblematic of the souls of dead women perceived in the forms of pomegranate-fruits (and so tasted) by Perse-phone, the goddess ruling over souls of women the world of the dead. The redness of the pomegranate-juice would imply the dead women’s soul’s place of disembarcation to be the red 2^nd layer of the universe.}

"From this level of the Universe the soul will be reborn into the living community once ... the soul is passed on to a newborn child during

91

the naming ceremony, known as baxseke wame. In the baxseke wame the soul of an ancestor is literally blown into the child through the breath of the Tukano shaman."

The boga {cf. /BOG-ota`/, where /ota/ may be the [Cheyenne] word for ‘deity’} is the "circuit of energy"

92

"supplying ... the energy necessary to nourish the Incipient Humanity contained within the "People Waking-Up Houses" (mahsa wa>ko-se wi>i) ... by which the cyclical alternation of life and death is accomplished".

p.

energy

94

"The fact that a woman has a clitoris, capable of erection, is also cited ... as evidence of ... tuxtwa."

95

Excess "causes the tuxtwa of men to be "larger" and more powerful than a woman’s tuxtwa. Similarly, the penis is larger and "stronger" than the clitoris".

"the purpose of endo-cannibalism ... partook of ... tuxtwa, thereby reabsorbing ... and conserving that substance so that it might be passed on to successive generations through the mechanisms of [sexual] intercourse and ejaculation." {somewhat likewise, the Na-hsi (Na-xi) Bon funebrial invocations include a supplication to the aged dead persons to leave with the living (instead of carrying off with them to the realm of the dead) the capacities for orgasm and procreation}

p.

cocaine / secretion

96

"the Great-Grandmother of the Universe created the masculine divinity known as Earth Creator or Universe Great-Grandson by combining blood from her own body with patu, a white substance derived from the coca plant." "the combination of patu and blood is responsible for the creation of a powerfully masculine form of tuxtwa that come to be associated with the male divinity ... Yepa Ngoaman and is localized in his staff of command called the yai-go: (jaguar-shaman penis). The yai-go: serves as the tool by which the Earth Creator pierces the Universe Womb of the Great-Grandmother of the Universe, thereby creating the Sun and light".

"patu (cocaine) originated from the milky white vaginal secretion of Yepa Behko, the Universe Great-Grandmother. ... Yepa Behko keeps her white vaginal fluid in a special gourd container

97

"the first coca plants derived from the ejaculatory fluid of the O>moa-mahsa (Sky-salt Men), who stole the substance in the form of vaginal fluid from the manioc starch gourd of Yepa Behko."

"The coca itself is eaten using a ... spoon made from the legbone of the white egret."

98

"Patu is manufactured by combining the leaves of the coca plant with ashes made from the leaves of the cecropia Purouma cecropiaefolia, a tree referred to in Portuguese as uva da matta : the jungle grape. The leaves of this tree are called moa puni (salt leaves) and the white wood of the cecropia is referred to as moa-go (salt/wood ...)."

p.

yai-go:

100

"the yai-go: pierced the Universe Breast-womb and subsequently made contact with the upper portion of the structure known as the "home of menstruation", the superior end of the yai-go: simultaneously entered the nostrils of the incipient Sun. In doing so, the powers of the Primal sun were activated, and ... light ensued."

101

"The yai-go: consists of a slender, highly polished rod of mirapiranga wood ..., and ... the yai-go: is also referred to as yai-o>a, a ritual designation that is known only to initiated men. The term yai-o>a ... may be translated as : "jaguar-shaman opossum-bone". ... the secret ritual designation of the yai-go: is the furry opossum (Caluromys philander) ...

102 = Fig. 2

(C.) the hourglass-shaped incised decorations called kadrupa-keo (said to represent a ... borduna or mace), together with the engraves circles (said to represent a shield)."

103

"throughout Tukanoan mythology, the Furry Opossum, called O>a ..., is noted for ... its ability to perform [sexual] intercourse with two women simultaneously. ... the opossum is capable of dual [seuxal] intercourse stems from ... an anatomical peculiarity ... of this marsupial, namely, the fact that the opossum has a forked or double-headed penis ... As a result ..., the Tukano say that the opossum also copulates through the nostrils, a belief they share with the Koasati and Creek Indians of North America". {"Saranyu, daughter of the smithgod Tvastar, .. sucked into her nostrils the seminal fluid which had by ... spilled ... the sun god Vivasvant." (ThMTBL, p. 17, fn. 1)

104

"the paired incisors of the agouti (bu-piri) serve ... for representing the structural peculiarity of the opossum’s reproductive anatomy".

p.

Thunder

98

"Yepa Behko creates ... the so-called Nika-mokora Buxpo, or "Five Thunders", ... who are called "Quartz Crystal People" (Etan mahsa) and the "Eternal Ones of the White Rock"".

99, fn. 1

"white quartz is the solidified ejaculatory fluid of the Five Thunders."

110

"the Universe ... sphere serves as a great maloca (wi>i-ro) wherein the Five Thunder Ancestors, called Nika-moko:ra Buxpo (literally, "The Thunders of One Hand") are to be housed."

111, fn. 2

[according of a variant of the Ni>ka keti] "Yepa Behko took a mixture of ... patu and ... caapi ... and placed in her own vagina using the fingers of her right hand. When she attempted to remove her hand from her vagina, the fingers broke off ...; this ... was then responsible for the creation of the Five Thunders, who were thenceforth protected in the womb of Yepa Behko herself."

111

... the Third Thunder House, known as emehko wi (Universe High House) [is located] ... above the epicenter ... of the first four houses."

112, fn. 1

"lightning is the ejaculation of the Thunder Ancestors. ... deposits of quartz crystal are the solidified semen of the Thunder Ancestors and are found in places where lightning strikes the earth’s surface."

112

"the serially born Thunder Ancestors ... are respectively identified with the roles of ‘chief’ (wyo-go:), ‘chanter’ (komu), ‘shaman’ (yai), ‘dancer’ (baya), and ‘servant’ (poxsa).

... the First Thunder was created from the thumb of Yepa Behko’s right hand. Because the thumb is opposable, and is generally the widest and strongest of the fingers, it is said to be the "chief" of the fingers. ... the house this Thunder occupies within the Universe ... is ... called dia ox>peko-wi (river/milk/house) {with the milk vomited (BD 8:24-26 – CD, p. 42) by Yama’s bitch Sarama, cf. the bitch’s milk fed to zombies in the CST, cap. XXXII (p. 301)}, the house

113

of the First Thunder ... located "in the south" {as is the direction wheretoward the soul of the dead is guided by Yama}, "downstream"".

"the House of the Second Thunder is called dia kax>sero pwe>a wi (river/tree bark/waterfall/house) {cf. ‘waterfall’ (/marere/) as Marere-o-tona "blocking up a cave to enclose him in. ... Marere-o-tonga, who may be seen by looking up into space" (T&PRSNZ, vol. 34 (1901), p. 38) [patiki (Coalsack) of Marere-o-tona (Southern Cross) – WhR] : cf. cave-blocking (CDCM, s.v. "Cacus") Cacus (whose sister was Caca ‘faeces’), found by (CDCM, s.v. "Recaranus") the instituter of tithes; just as instituter of tithes was (CDCM, s.v. "Augias") was Augeias, hero of faeces-storage.}, and located on the right-hand side of the e:me:kho patole, toward the Eastern Door (Siro-ka Soxpe) of the Universe. ... this door lies "near the confluence of the Uaupes and Ic[,]ana Rivers"." {cf. the confluence, by concerted diverting, of the rivers Alpheios & Peneus into the faeces-storage of Augeias.}

"The House of the Fourth Thunder lies due west of this confluence, and is therefore appropriately called dia poteka wi (river/west/house)."

"the Fifth Thunder is said to have been created from the little finger of Yepa Behko. ... just as the little finger is said to "serve" the other digits, the Fifth Thunder is likewise ... the servant of his elder

114

Thunder Brothers. He occupies a house ... that is located ... close by the Northern Door of the Universe."

"Above ... lies the House of the Third Thunder, who was himself created from the middle finger of Yepa Behko. ... the House of the Third Thunder, who was created from the longest of Yepa Behko’s digits, is known as e:me:kho wi (high/house), and is said to be suspended above the other Thunder Houses". "Home of the Third Thunder (I>tya Buhpo), who is aslo called Yai-ro (Great Shaman-Jaguar), the High House lies at the ideological center of the universe and contains the ornaments and ritual objects which are destines to be transformed

115

into the Future Humanity (Pamo:ni mahsa ni>aha : Transformation/people/that will be)."

p.

artifacts

115

"Yepa Behko, the Universe Great-Grandmother, called upon her grandson, Yepa Oa>ko:, to climb into the House of the Third Thunder in order to retrieve a number of ornaments and ritual artifacts which had been placed in the e:me:kho patole when the Universe was created. Using his yai-go: staff as a ladder, Yepa Oa>ko: made a vertical ascent to the High House of the Third Thunder, and, upon reaching the house, Yepa Oa>ko: called out to its occupant, explicityly stating the purpose of his visit. The Third Thunder responded by saying that he would give the ritual ornaments to Yepa Oa>ko:."

116

"within his abdominal cavity the Third Thunder houses a ... spider’s web (behe:pu : literally, "spider net"). This spider web ... was spun by the Universe Spider, who is Third Thunder’s mother, the Creatress, Yepa Behko, and it was placed in the Third Thunder’s belly at the moment of his creation. ... the rolled up ... spider web ... houses and protects a number of ritual objects destined to be transformed into five human couples." "to release the ritual ornaments from the spider web ... contained in his abdomen the third Thunder moves to ... beneath a central vertical roof support called Muhipu-boxta (Sun Post), which lies [stands] directly above the third crossbeam of the house, the so-called bahsa wihyari teno ("crossbeam of the dancing going-out columns"). Positioned thusly ...

117

he vomits ... onto the floor of the house. Yepa Oa>ko: sees that the vomit consists of a rolled-up net spun from spider silk and that the net contains a number of beautiful objects made from feathers, jaguar teeth and quartz. {Some Siberian shamans praetend to vomit forth ritual implements.} ... As the cigar smoke is blown over the suspended net the ornaments that are caught up in the net suddenly fall to the floor of the High House. When the ornaments touch the floor they are transformed into adult human beings."

"The first object to fall from the net is the necklace of quartz crystal that is known as muhipu nu>ri (Sun’s penis) {[Cherokee] Grandmother Spider successfully stole the sun for the people. (AS)} ... This necklace falls near the rear door of the High House and when it touches the ground it is transformed into an adult male who is called "chief" (wyo-go:). Following the quartz necklace,

a decorated gourd rattle falls from the net and comes to lie on the right-hand side of the High House close by the Eastern Door of the Universe. This

118

rattle is known as yaxsa-ga, and, as it touches the ground it is transformed into the first human representative of the komu, or "chanters".

A decorated basket, called wamo axka-ro then falls from the center of the net, landing in the center of the longhouse. It cotains those substances known as wihio ("strong-smelling things") that are associated with shamanism ... The wamo axka-ro is transformed into an adult male who is called yai ("shaman-jaguar").

The fourth set of ornaments to fall from the spider’s net includes braclets of monkey fur (baxsa karo-ga), jaguar tooth girdles (yai-piri-da) and macaw feather headdresses (maha poa-ri). These ornaments fall in a pile on the left-hand side of the High House near the Western Door of the Universe. Together, the ornaments are transformed into the arms, legs and head of the founder of the baya ("dancer") specialist role.

The final objects to fall from the Sky Shelf Net are ... beaded dance aprons, the yax>ke waxso-ro. These aprons fall near the Southern Door of the Universe, and are transformed into the first women, who are said to be the "servants" (poxsa) of the other Transformation People."

119

"The Third Thunder then took each Transformation Person and placed him back inside the Spider Net, whereupon the human beings were re-transformed into ritual ornaments. Thunder again rolled the net containing the ornaments into a circular bundle and he handed it to Yepa Oa>ko:, saying, "Take this net and go ... and create the Future Humanity". ... Yepa Oa>ko: took the net and placed in inside an Anaconda Canoe, and thus he began to travel down the River of Milk and Blood. ... Periodically, ... the Anaconda Canoe vomited forth a ritual ornament. In this manner each ornament was transformed into a human being who left the water and danced out onto dry land. Once on land, the man founded a maloca".

p.

myth

237

One of the Omoa-ko Mahsa stole the coca from the sa>ri-ro stand and he ate it. The Omoa-ko Mahsan (Sky Person) went to help a woman called Di>ta Yai-ro (Earth Shaman[ess]) plant her garden. Earth Shamn[ess] seduced Sky Person in the garden, and the Sky Person died on the point of ejaculation. Earth Shaman[ess] took the semen of the Sky Person ... Today, when someone picks the leaves of this coca plant the bush bleeds with the blood of Omoa-ko Mahsan." {cf. the semen of blood of the kentaur Nessos, collected, when he died copulating with her, by the woman Deianeira (GM 142.j).}

238

The kaa>pi which fell into the river impregnated one of the Wai Mahsa (Fish People), who gave birth to a son, called Ohori Mahsa (Flower/Design Person). A vine grew up from the blood that Fish Woman lost while giving birth. .. A>se>e carried this vine to the tops of trees as food for the Omoa-o Mahsa."

p.

myth

398

"two wi>mara (uninitiated boys) went ... to sniff pepper juice (bia). ... a nearly inga tree (me>re) was full of ripe fruits, and so the older boy climbed into the inga tree and began to throw the fruits down ... As the younger boy attempted to catch the falling inga fruit, however, he inadvertently dropped some pepper into the river. Immediately, ... a torrential rain began to fall and the water in the river began to rise. ...

399

As the snake pulled the boy deeper and deeper into the ... water ...; below him, the water was choked with ritual goods, which were the ornaments of long-dead ancestors. ... On the riverbank, ... the older body spotted a canoe paddle (waha-phi) and a large Lagenaria gourd rattle (yaxsa-ga), which, nevertheless, appeared to the boy as an ordinary canoe. ... With each stroke of the paddle, ... the level of the river water began to drop, un til, finally, the older body could see his younger brother floating just below the surface with his hands still firmly clasped around the painted [Crescentia] gourd. ... But as he pulled at his brother, the drowning boy’s old skin gave away and floated down the river with the other viscera. ... The gourd was filled with hardened wax (mu>mi uxtya/ox>pe), and so it burned with a smoky fire. As the wax smoke rose into the sky, ... Pino: [the Great River Serpent], too, appeared in the sky, only now it took the form of a colored rainbow."