IN THE 1940S and the 1950S, Leon Cadogan was able to publish certain accounts of the creation of the world, accounts carefully maintained by the Mbyá, a Guaraní-speaking group of Americans living in the area of Paraguay. The Mbyá had tenaciously resisted Spanish aggression and had retired into inaccessible areas in order to maintain the purity of their traditions. It is significant that in these ancient oral accounts, the Creator arises from the primordial nothingness (obscurity) as, essentially, Wisdom. This divine Wisdom then unfolds as a mental-like process, conceiving things by means of creative wisdom.
Significantly, many other Native Americans record this tradition of the mental nature of creation. The process of genesis is also evolutionary, a gradual unfolding of stages of creation. According to the ancient Mexicans, the original Creator, Ometeotl (TwoSpirit), encompassing, both male and female powers, arose in a similar way to Nande Ru of the Mbyá. Ometeotl is also known as Yohualli-ehecatl (Invisible Night Air-Wind), Ipalnemohuani (The One Through Whom One Lives), Moyocoyani (He Who Invents or Gives Existence of Himself) and Moyucoyatzin ayac oquiyocux, ayac oquipic (He who is created by no one else but himself but who himself, by his own authority and will, does everything). The verb yucoya means “to invent” or “to create mentally.” This is a very significant concept, since it means that the universe is created through a mental, or thought, process. As Miguel León-Portilla has noted, “ . . . he holds the entire universe, which is, to the eyes of man, ‘like a marvelous dream.’” The Uitoto people of present-day Colombia hold that “in the beginning, the word gave origin to the Father.” They go on to say, A phantasm, nothing else existed in the beginning; the Father touched an illusion; he grasped something mysterious. Nothing existed.
Through the agency of a dream our Father Naimuena kept the mirage to his body. And he pondered long and thought deeply . . . Then he seized the mirage bottom and stamped upon it repeatedly, sitting down at last on his dreamed earth. The Mbyá record that the Absolute, Nande Ru, actualized himself (itself) in the midst of the primordial obscurity. He later created human speech, love of humankind, and a sacred hymn. Four male powers and their female counterparts then became the Creator’s first companions and the world gradually unfolded thereafter. Namandu, the Sun-Spirit, was also caused to appear very early and he became one of the four powers. Namandu seems to appear with el Colibri (Hummingbird) as direct unfoldings of the Absolute, as the Absolute assumes self-sustenance. The human lenguaje (language) created by Nande Ru constituted the future essence of the souls given to humans, an essence participating in the Creator’s divinity. Love of one’s fellows and a sacred song (hymn) constitute other fundamental essentials for the unfolding of the world.
Now I would like to present some brief portions of the early part of the story of genesis as presented by the Mbyá: Our First Father, the Absolute, arose in the midst of the original obscurities. The divine soles of the feet, the small round seat, in the midst of the original obscurities, he created them, in the course of his evolution. The reflection of the divine seeing-wisdom, the divine hearing of all things, the divine palms of the hand with the staff and sign, the divine palms of the hands with the flowering branches, Namandu created them in the course of his evolution in the midst of the original obscurities. From the divine little sublime crown the flowers of adornment of feathers were drops of dew.
For in the midst of the flowers of the divine adornment of feathers the original bird, Hummingbird, flew fluttering. In the meantime our First Father created, in the course of his evolution, his divine body, existing in the midst of the original winds; before having conceived his future firmament, his future terrain which originally arose, the Hummingbird used to refresh the mouth; he who, sustained Namandu with products of paradise was the Hummingbird. [Hummingbird was the Creator himself, actualized as the first bird, in the act of self-sustainment.]
Our Father Namandu, the First, before having created his future paradise In the course of his evolution, He did not see obscurities: although the Sun still was not shining, He existed illuminated by the reflection of his own heart such that, it served as the sun, the wisdom contained within his own divinity . . .
Having conceived the origin of the future human speech, from the wisdom contained in his own divinity, and in virtue of his creative knowledge He conceived the foundation of love of one’s fellow man, Before the existence of the Earth, in the midst of the original obscurities, before having knowledge of things, and in virtue of his creative knowledge, He conceived the origin of love . . . Having created, in his aloneness, the foundation of human speech; having created, in his aloneness, a small portion of love; having created, in his aloneness, a short sacred hymn, He reflected deeply over whom should participate in the foundation of human speech; over whom to make participate in the small portion of love; over whom to make participate with the series of words comprising the sacred hymn. Having reflected profoundly, with the wisdom contained in his own divinity, and in virtue of his creative knowledge, He thought who would be companions of his divinity . . .
By having them assimilate the divine wisdom of their own First Father; after having assimilated the human speech; after having been inspired in the love of one’s fellows; after having assimilated the series of words of the sacred hymn; after having been inspired in the fundamentals of the creative knowledge, to them also we call the sublime true fathers of the word-souls; sublime true mothers of the word-souls.
SEVERAL THINGS are very significant about the Mbyá tradition, aside from its profound beauty and vital relevance to “scientific” views of evolution. First, the sacredness of human speech must be noted along with its importance in sacred songs as a means of direct communication with the Creator and the Spirit-World. Second, that human speech constitutes part of the essence of our souls (with great implications for the sacred nature of ideas and speech as a core part of our very humanity and the importance of not using words abusively or for evil purpose). Most significant of all, for our present purpose, is the early creation of the principle of love for human beings. Love, in short, did not arise by chance at a late stage of evolution, but rather was created as an essential attribute of the Universe prior to the existence of humans.
The creator gave rise to Spirit-Powers and to humans, in part, to actualize the Idea of Love already created as a fundamental principle. The Universe was born in Love. Then how is it that today we see so much hate? Are we all simply “sinners” forever because an early ancestor disobeyed a command of God? I will argue that sane, mentally healthy human beings continue to follow the principle of love of their fellow living-kind, while exploiters are insane, that is, mentally ill persons. In short, the Creator has given all of us good paths to follow, based upon good speech, love and sacred songs.
The mentally well person is one who is still on such a path. The “norm” for humanity is love. Brutality is an aberration. We are not sinners by nature. We learn to be bad. We are taught to stray from our good paths. We are made to be crazy by other people who are also crazy and who draw for us a map of the world which is ugly, negative, fearful and crazy. We do not have to be cannibals, consuming each other! The Creator and our ancestors have given us other ways of living. As the late Nichidatsu Fujii, leader of the Buddhist Nihonzan Myohoji Temple and participant in the Native American Longest Walk of 1978, says, “Civilization does not mean electric lights being installed. It does not mean introducing atomic bombs, either. Civilization means not killing people.” - Columbus and Other Cannibals by Jack D. Forbes
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