The Bohiti or bohíque, the all-powerful witch doctor of the Taino Indians.

Hello dear reader, this is one of those complementary posts that I add to my virtual space every time I am preparing a class. I was preparing my workshop on Candomble and Umbanda for my next classes, but in a certain part of the workshop, I mentioned the magical and animistic culture of the Tainos (natives of the Caribbean).

I know that many may not be interested, but there are always people who want to hear what are the reliable sources on the subject, and well, on the practical side, the only source I have is my mother and I, but, on a theoretical level, Finding people who have written books or columns on the subject is difficult.

So I decided to translate here, directly from my books and magazines in Spanish, the material that I have about it on a theoretical level, I hope it will help you.

Taino Natives

The Taínos were the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is a town that came from South America, specifically from the mouth of the Orinoco River, Venezuela, passing from island to island, reducing or assimilating the oldest inhabitants, such as the Guanajatabeyes and the Ciguayos whose cultures They predate the arrival of the Taínos. The Taíno language belongs to the macroarahuacana linguistic family, which extends from South America through the Caribbean.

At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492, there were five Taíno chieftains in the territory of Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), each led by a chief cacique (chief), to whom tribute was paid. Puerto Rico was also divided into chiefdoms. The chief or chief of the tribe was paid a significant tribute. The caciques had the privilege of wearing gold pendants called chain, living in rectangular huts instead of oval ones that the inhabitants inhabited, and sitting on wooden stools when they received guests.

Taino Magic & Sorcery

The Taínos were a polytheistic and animistic culture, like most of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The main divinity is YaYa. It is also known as Semign (which means "God" in the Taino Arawak language).

The word "cemí" whose meaning in the Taino language means "Angel", designates the spiritual beings of Taino mythology, and "Juracán" was the name that the Taínos gave to the atmospheric phenomena known today by hurricanes and tropical storms. In Taino belief, who really unleashed these hurricanes was Guabancex, who was accompanied by Guataubá and Cuatrisquie.

In the religious beliefs of the Taíno culture, the hupia are the spirits of the dead, and they differ from the goeiza: spirits of the living. Although the Goeiza life had a clear form, after death the spirit became known as a hupia and went to live in Coaybay.

Taino Witch-doctor

The "behique", "bohique" or "buhitío" was a necessary character in the entire tribe, and occupied a privileged position in the social pyramid after the cacique and the nitaínos. "They represented the level of social and religious development of the Taínos".

The Behiques possessed a "natural power" that made them respectable and feared persons. Like the majority of shamans, they were not priests, but primarily medical-sorcerers, although they also played the role of theologians, soothsayers, and prophets.

To become a Behique, extensive learning and many days of fasting, almost absolute, were required. "The fast that some did mainly the bahiks or priests or sorcerers... They fasted four months and more continuously, without eating anything, but only a certain juice of grass or herbs, that only to sustain them, that they did not die, was enough".

A fantasy about the Sacred ritual of the death

of the Taino Indians in the Dominican Republic

1999-2000. Made by David Cavada.

Among the functions they performed were:

• Organize the cult: The Behiques or shamans, along with the caciques, were the hosts of religious ceremonies or rites. Among which stands out the rite of the Cohoba, in which, after several days of fasting, they inhaled a hallucinogen called “cohoba” which consisted of seeds from a tree known as “Anadenthera Peregrina” and burnt snail shells, both pulverized. This dust caused hallucinations and made them imagine that they had a talk with the gods, who gave them instructions on the actions they should take regarding certain situations. “The result was very dry and well-polished, tan-colored mixes”.
• Communicate tribal traditions: The Behiques were also in charge of carrying out activities through which they transferred the knowledge acquired after many years of experience to the rest of the tribe, so that it was not lost with future generations. An example of these rites is the areito, in which, as in the cohoba rite, they used drugs with hallucinogens and danced to the rhythm of maracas and drums. Medical knowledge was not shared since it was reserved exclusively for future shamans, who were going to replace them in the exercise of witchcraft and curanderismo.
• Educate the children of the caciques and be advisers to them: Being subordinate behiques close to the cacique, they entrusted them with the education of their children, trusting that the behique would guide them along the path that the gods had prepared for them.
• Make the figures in honor of different cemíes: The behiques were in charge of making the representations of the gods using a wide variety of materials, such as stone and clay.
• Curing the sick: The latter distinguished them more than the others due to their vast knowledge in botany, medicine, and other branches; which gave them the privilege of being the only ones in charge of this trade. Of course, these "doctors" of the tribe did not possess scientific knowledge of anatomy or physiology, they were purely intuitive. "They seem to have had some knowledge regarding the five main senses, considering that these functions put him in with the external environment, danger and survival."

Spiritual Heritage

The spiritual world of the Taíno hardly left traces in the Creole culture, and the few samples of that world are strongly syncretized with Christian-African beliefs and rites. We can cite, in this regard, the sacralization of certain Taíno caciques, elevated to the category of luases or divinities of the voodoo pantheon; superstitions regarding indigenous axes, popularly known as “lightning stones” and the myth of the ciguapa, a female entity that walks with its feet upside down. The belief of lightning stones is that if you have one of them, lightning will not strike the houses.

In popular medicine, various herbs and woods are used for different diseases that the Taínos used. They are currently used for the same purposes. Among the different objects and materials used in the country for magical practices, there are stones, bottles with polishing water, drinks, potions, quicksilver, etc. All these objects or materials are supposed to be charged with "force" after their ritual manipulations and therefore capable of operating beneficially in curing illnesses, solving different problems and achieving good luck.

The Behiques, being both intermediaries between the gods and men, as well as doctors and healers, had a great influence on the general population. "However, the religion itself was in the power of men, corresponding to the chief being the chief, warrior and religious at the same time".

One of the most widespread beliefs was cemitism, represented by idols or cemíes, considered as tutelary gods. Among the most accepted Cemíes were the "three-pointed stones" or trigonolites, which were commonly related to fertility rituals, such as the productivity of the conucos and the reproduction of human beings.

As for animism, the Taíno believed that the spirits of the dead lived in the trees. They believed to perceive the presence of these when movements of the branches took place or when the roots branched in a special way. When this happened, the Behique sought to interpret the wishes that the dead wanted to manifest, according to belief.

Sources from where I translate this info:

• Revista Cubana de Medicina Militar. 2016.
• Fernando Polanco/Raquel Chalas. (2017) Del Behique al Medico Militar. 
• Jorge Ulloa Garcia. (2010) Historia, Civilizaciones y Cultura del Caribe. 
• Roberto Busto. (2009) Brujos y Chamanes.
• Cassa, Roberto. (1992). Los indios de las Antillas. MAPFRE. Madrid, España.
• De las Casas, Bartolomé. (1985). Historia de las Indias. Sociedad Dominicana de Bibliófilos. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.
• Pané, Fray Ramón. (1986). La Isla Española: cuna de la evangelización de América. Primicias de la Vega Real. Amigo del Hogar. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.
• Cassá, Roberto. (1974). Los taínos de la Española. Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.

doubt your faith.

 • May the faith in your incredible beliefs be so strong, that it makes you have doubts, and forced you to question the origins of your faith • 

Elhoim Leafar.

Goddess Hecate

That Goddess Hecate,

before and after the

Queen Mother of all the Witches.

In a world of gods and social media,

who makes the most noise is the King... Or the Queen?

I have nothing, absolutely nothing against Hecate as a divinity worshiped by thousands (I begin to believe that thanks to social networks, perhaps millions), but as I am popular for saying what I think, and for writing it too, although they may be opinions Unpopular, I have no fear in writing something that many are thinking but refuse to share for fear of being almost exiled permanently from the metaphysical community.

Hecate, she's the bad girl in the class.

It is popular among men and women, its ambiguity, its triple character (and all of them quite dark in turn), its immense titles (which apparently has much more now than in ancient Greece itself), especially (and I repeat) this triple character as a dark goddess, lunar and infernal goddess, is clearly the bad girl in the classroom that everyone wants to be friends with, but yes, many forget that the bad girl in the class is not always as evil as she seems, and often ends up being another girl who doesn't feel pretty enough to be part of the cheerleading club, or smart enough to join the chess club, she feels ashamed, enough to refuse to enter the comedy club or of singing, and simply prefer to put on makeup, be the bulling of the school, and popularize among (obviously) the least popular, minorities, and all those who for one reason or another have felt discriminated against by society, you Does this sound familiar?

Yes, the description fits like a ring to the finger, and I have absolutely nothing against the goddess, quite the contrary, it is one of the deities that my favoritism has, perhaps it is because I began to adore her from a very young age when I read about her for the first time in an esoteric magazine in my native Venezuela (Ronda Magazine, March edition 1999), so after a while, it is natural that I don't think it's “the fashion wave”, I think that in a certain way I understood it after working so much with it, and with some coven of "Wiccan inspiration", so growing and learning more, it simply became a divine source in my little and very eclectic pantheon.

The Hecate of my youth

The first time I read about Hecate in that magazine, they mention her as “the Greek goddess of sorcery and the arcane, queen of the night and the witches”, accompanied by a couple of illustrations of her sculptures, and an extensive article on the popularity of this legendary goddess in the growing groups of modern witches of a city (by then entirely unknown to me) of San Francisco in the USA.

After having read the article a couple of times, so as a couple of rituals that accompanied him (one to get back at a lover and another to protect the home), I was quick to find information about Hecate in encyclopedias and dictionaries, I remember having memorized that Pope's illustrated dictionary said "Hecate: Greek goddess of sorcery, triple character, lunar, marine and infernal", while only vaguely mentioned in a couple of books of 'White Magic' and 'Wicca' of those that Mama keeps in her personal library next to the kitchen.

An encyclopedic book of Greek myths, gods and monsters, claimed that she was a wild goddess of Egyptian origin who would later have been worshiped by the Greeks and that her cult would have been transformed into something increasingly large. On the other hand, a couple of family members (Andres and Mary), both historians who had lived several years in Greece, seeing my fascination about the subject when I asked them about it, they only told me:

“The truth is, she had a cult in its time, but it was not as big as the books claim, it would have one or another temple, but at that time people were more focused on worshiping the gods of grain and commerce, or of vegetation and war, because they were subjects from day to day, homosexuality was not persecuted, rather it was quite acceptable, so a goddess like her would not really be revered by any minority who felt despised, and the priestesses more revered the cult of Aphrodite, Hera or Hestia, who they had more to do with the society of that time, if you compare it with the new times, Hecate was the equivalent to some local Santa of some church, if, of course, with many attributes, but in those times of war, where civilization was booming, it would not be as relevant, more than for some travelers who prayed at the crossroads to prevent danger, although most of these travelers were merchants, and they chose to pray to Hermes (god of travelers and commerce) or Athena (which had several temples and statues at the entrances of the most important cities).”

After that explanation I will not deny that I felt somewhat disappointed, although he insisted on keeping a couple of drawings that I made of her next to my altar (Gods! If that altar spoke! What would I not say?), This experience, or a very similar one it was repeated years later when I managed to read Hesiod's "Theogony", and the 1985 book written by Burkert, W. "Greek religion: archaic and classical", because while most of the magic and sorcery books of the moment insist in making Hecate looks like a kind of 'Saint patron of the mystical arts and sorcery, indomitable queen of the night and mother of all witches, and owner of dozens of attributes', the books of Greek history and paleontology, especially those written by well-qualified Greek authors and academics, they deny most of these attributes and explain it in quite interesting ways.

But it was my professor of 'psychology of marketing', Jonathan Alejandro Goncalves, during my third semester of marketing and advertising at the University, who once asked me about it for the realization of an essay (maybe later I tell you how this discussion arose because it is a much longer story), and finally, he concluded that the cult of Hecate was growing "at all mysterious" at this time and that it was something of common sense very easy to understand, she represented minorities, these minorities that for the Greeks were not important, minorities that today are news daily thanks to newspapers and social networks, but at that time, she was just one goddess outside the twelve Olympians, and today, many teenagers who feel "Out of place" or "not socially accepted" identify with it.

My conclusion in writing in that essay on ‘the evolution of marketing around certain religious figures’ was:

"While all other female deities represented the goods and pleasures idealized by Greek society, Aphrodite symbolizes love and beauty, femininity and acceptance of carnal pleasures, Athena symbolizes wisdom, the firmness of civilization, philosophy, understanding, and reasoning, Hera represented the complete and complete woman, lover, wife, and mother, also a queen of the heavens, and Vesta symbolized that wise, discreet, virginal woman who took care of the home and society, Hecate was On the contrary, it was not even Greek, it was a foreign deity that was passing through, a goddess who crossed the deserts and represented all that which the Greeks feared, such as contempt and social disrepute.

Hecate was a goddess who hid in the night, her temples had no signs with directions (unlike everyone else), her sacrifices were important, but they never became more important than those of Bacchus, the god of wine, or Ares, the god of war, his temples do not even have a decent decoration, only women who did not marry and were not virgins (so they could not be vestal virgins) will seek worship in it, as they were outside the socially accepted stereotype in the time, they were like Hecate, a minority woman to whom other gods refused to invite the festivities, she was not married, nor had children, but worse, unlike Athena, Vesta and Artemis, there was no great myth behind her virginity, she simply had no lovers, any poet could add that her lover was the night, or that she did not find pleasure in men, but for Greek society, where sensuality was as relevant as the art and philosophy, this would not be seen as something healthy, and it is quite strange coming from such an extravagant figure. ”

If you analyze it carefully, it represented not only the immigrant who arrives to conquer others with his hypnotic talents but also, was a sorceress, which would not be well seen by the priests and priestesses of other better-known deities, however, they existed a couple of myths that sought to enhance her divine image, such as the fact that she had taken care of Zeus in a cave when she was a child hiding from her father, and in that tradition where she is the mother of the witches Medea and Circe.

After this, Hecate served as a character in several heroic tales of the time, always represented as goddess of sorcery, from the middle ages she is seen as "mother of all the great witches and magicians", especially in several versions of 'The Arthurian cycle', and in much more recent stories, takes the role of Echidna as the mother of many myth monsters, which, far from raising its divine status, rather helps to create greater confusion around the character.

An immortal Sorceress

that we all worship in a certain way.

However, Hecate has this hypnotic power over all of us who read about it, its name carries a huge almost inspiring appeal, and its image is linked to the greatest (and also some of the most important) books of magic and sorcery. In some books she is portrayed as the queen of all witches and wizards, in others, she is a dark goddess of sorcery and magic, in a certain book about transformations she is the main divinity, while in Wicca, it is she who mostly embodies the triple lunar goddess whom witches worship.

Wicca, neo-paganism, some 1899 book entitled "Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches", and its name is mentioned in virtually all television series about witches, wizards, and sorcerers, including the mythical 'Charmed' with Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, and Rose McGowen, where in one episode they introduce us to 'Hecate, a female demon who plays the role of queen of the underworld', have made our dark goddess a difficult character to ignore in today's metaphysical society.

Hecate now

The Hecate of now is perhaps much more complex and eclectic than the original, Hecate is seen as the Goddess-mother and queen of all the witches, the Immaculate Sorceress, goddess of the dogs and all the creatures of dark fur, the lady of the crows, goddess of cemeteries and crossroads, queen and lady of the night and all her creatures, goddess of keys and doors, as well as of all paths, mother of all seers and psychics, queen of ghosts, and Of course, goddess of magic, divination, and sorcery, obviously not forgetting, lunar goddess, and for some modern cults, the goddess who protects the seas during the night.

In the Wicca it is practically an offense not to meet Hecate, it is almost always the first to be mentioned, you can find entire books full of quite idealized information about her. At one point they make me think… “Is that nobody else works in Olympus ???”, but the truth is that it is interesting how our society has changed positively to such an extent, that one that was once an almost irrelevant goddess for many, not even becoming included in the Olympic gods, where (let's be honest at heart) until Bacchus who was a god of wine and the holidays had a chair, Vesta, the goddess of home and architecture, had a chair, Hera, the goddess of marriage, had a chair, Hermes, the messenger of all the gods, had a chair, literally the UPS service of Olympus had a chair !! And Hecate no!

But now times have changed, minorities have begun to unite with each other, and have formed a huge social group of different ethnicities where now, being part of some minority is practically a fad.

The original Hecate

The original Hecate was represented as a simple goddess, sitting on a throne and wearing a crown of flowers on her head, it was thus represented before, and until two centuries after the invasion of the Persians to Greece, contemporary with the myth of the Titanomaquia, where apparently Hecate herself was present providing assistance to the Olympic gods according to some versions such as Hesiod and Pausanias.

It was not until the end of the 5th century BC. C, when Hecate began to be represented as a triple goddess by (the truth very few) artists and sculptors of the time, mostly holding in his hands a torch, a snake or a key, but always maintaining a warm and thoughtful expression in his face, and many times maintaining her crown of flowers, alluding to her minor role as a goddess of nature or a queen of the woods.

The larger animals were dedicated in sacrifice to other seemingly more important Gods, as well as the libations of milk and honey, while to Hecate, the owners of some establishments left pieces of meat at the crossroads to gain their protection (which enhances its dark and almost demonic aspect), or they sacrificed dogs, which was next to the donkey one of the few animals that were forbidden to serve in the banquets and sacrifices of the greater gods, for these being an offense to the presence of Vesta and Ares, Because of this, Hecate simply receives the remains of meat from banquets and dogs that were too old to be useful in the home.

However, despite all the above, in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, this hero offers Hecate a libation of honey at night with blood from the throat of a sheep, performs this ritual by a river dressed entirely in a black robe under the guidance of the sorceress and priestess Medea.

The chthonic symbolism of the previous ritual speaks for itself, representing not only a goddess before the best-known Greek civilization but also a sacred ritual to venerate the first gods since man lived in the caves.

In Thrace, around the 5th century, B.C. Hecate was considered a goddess of borders, boundaries, roads, and thresholds, later she would also be revered as a goddess of childbirth and the upbringing of young people, in large part because her priests were eunuchs who must be trained in this labor class It only took two centuries after this to reach the title as "patron" of the city of Estratonicea (now Eskihisar, Turkey) and have a temple in Laguna, where the annual festivities, although they were not the largest if they attracted people from other cities.

The Goddess of Hesiod

It was the Greek poet, Hesiod, who raised Hecate's status to a point where other philosophers and speakers of the time are debated.

Hesiod seemed to be a great devotee of the goddess, whom she revered without hesitation, filled her entire poetry and stories with references to the enormous power of the goddess, and in response to the 'seemingly unknown greatness of the goddess', which only he seemed to know, this was limited to proclaiming that its power “will come as a gift from and a superior origin ”, referring to the fact that Zeus would have given him divinity, absolute control over all the powers of other gods, being the only one capable of filling humanity with all kinds of gifts.

An increasingly uncertain origin

Hesiod turned Hecate into a goddess of the night and a night walk, a queen of the woods and a sorceress, but it was also the same, who under divine inspiration, affirmed the origin of Hecate, making her the daughter of Asteria, the goddess of stars, which would make her be the sister of Leto (the light of day), aunt of Apollo (the sun) and Artemis (the moon), granddaughter of Febe (primal goddess of the moon).

Another later version of this story states that Hecate was a mortal priestess of the goddess Artemis, and her name was Iphigenia, Iphigenia offends the goddess with insults after being requested in sacrifice by Zeus, and being tired of sacrificing outsiders in the temple by order of the goddess, because of this falls into madness and commits suicide. Before the horrendous spectacle, Artemis, wanting not to repeat what Athena did when turning the body raped by Poseidon of her priestess Medusa, into a horrifying beast, the lunar goddess decorates the body of Iphigenia with flowers and jewels and whispers in her ear looking for the elevation of his spirit, then Iphigenia wakes up in the Elysian fields turned into a goddess, then going to be called Hecate, an avenging goddess of wounded women.

An alternative version that explains its origin as a pre-Olympic chthonic goddess, affirms that she is a titan (a primal divinity before the “gods”), daughter of Perses and Asteria, being a powerful helper and protector of the human race whom she always favors. It was the only titan who helped Zeus during the Titanomaquia, which is why she was not banished to the domains of the Underworld after the defeat of the Titans by the Olympic gods.

A more modern myth and after the invasion of Rome, tells us that it would be a virgin priestess who had stolen her mother's carmine pot, immediately fled to a house where a woman was in labor, and helped her to have the baby. Zeus as punishment for leaving the temple and committing a robbery then sent her to the kingdom of Hades to be purified for her actions, once there Hecate enjoyed great authority, as she was known as the queen of the underworld until the arrival of Persephone as a wife of Hades.

From the latter, the Greeks adopted the custom of placing "totems" of Hecate on roads, gates, and roads, because she did not allow ghosts to pass beyond the threshold, the Greeks prayed to this figure as " the queen of ghosts ”and“ goddess of darkness ”, a role she has maintained until our times.

Queen of the witches.

I suppose it is the role that has been won thanks to the efforts of his faithful devotees who have promoted his image throughout the world, Hecate is present on the altars of hundreds of witchcraft and magic practitioners in every corner of the planet, thus becoming one of the most unconditional deities of the pagan pantheon, and one of the most emblematic most divine figures in the society of witches and wizards.

With Love, Light & Blessings always...

Elhoim Leafar.

Yuletime & Christmas 2019.

How, When and why do some pagans still celebrate Christmas?

My version, my story.

Decorate the house in Christmas season being pagan.

It is November, one of the mildest months of the solar cycle, I suppose that is because we unconsciously know that a month of celebrations is quite stressful, and during the last weeks of the month we already feel that December is among us (Or us in it? ).

A great series of festivities occur during the month of December along the globe, but the most recognized by all are usually Christmas, that adorable holiday of Catholics where they celebrate the birth of Jesus de Belen, Yule (the true pagan origin from the previous holiday), The Winter Solstice (the origin behind both festivities really), and other more social and less religious ones such as “New Year's Eve”, and for the less conservative, the holiday of the Christmas Spirit, which is not only one of my favorites, but also one of the pagan / Catholic festivities that has gained more strength in recent decades.

Also during this month several celebrations of the Jewish people, of the Muslim people, and of the Hindus become important, but the latter are more complex and I lack the knowledge and experience to be able to write freely about them. However, they are part of our “Month of Holidays”.

Once December arrives it is quite difficult for the pagan community not to take part in a side trying to stay in the middle of the debate, there is always the group that decides to attend all these celebrations with respect and love (you will find me here with the happy people) , and there is the group of "the others", "the others" is that group of people who do not identify with any religion or pagan current, but who always seem to be against each and every one of the ways in which others celebrate some holiday, whether arguing 'unbridled hatred' towards one of the previously mentioned religions, the typical excuse of 'it is only a celebration invented to take money out of your pockets', or the new and very fashionable' I do not celebrate that because it is cultural appropriation '(my followers know that this argument is apparently the favorite of the Haters).

Some pagans, and let's be honest about it, come from Catholic or Jewish families, and for them it is difficult, and that is not bad, to get rid of their family traditions like Hanukkah or Christmas, not because of a social imposition issue, but more Well because this celebration reminds them of the nostalgia of eating typical dishes and celebrating, dancing or sharing memories with their loved ones, and that friends, that is 100% Humanity.

Others celebrate Yule from a very young age, but not because we are “pure-hearted pagans” or because we are looking for a way to sell the mystical imagery of “pagan idealism” or anything similar, we all celebrate it for different reasons, some for social reasons, others For being Wiccans, some refuse to celebrate 'Catholic Christmas' and some as is my case, simply because it is something nice that they taught us at home, and yes, we also put a Tree.

Traditions & Folklore

My father has always been the expert in unraveling Christmas lights and preparing eggnog, my mother is the typical cook who gets up at 6 AM to make the stew of meat, chicken, salads, and all the typical dishes that have passed from generation to generation, such as 'las hallacas' (a tamale made from cornmeal seasoned with meat), and some typical Ramadan dishes he learned from grandfather.

At home we do not begin to place a 'Christmas manger' until a neighbor gave us his and since then we placed it, and always with mother and father telling the story of those Three Wise Men who came from Babylon to give gifts to the son of God of the Jewish people on the eve of his birth, also guided by a star (which I still insist is a comet!).

Since then the manger is placed at home, more on the occasion of honoring the pagan magicians and their journey through the desert, than by the Jewish theme, because even with the Turkish blood ‘No one at home is Jewish. The story of Yule learned it much more adult, while he was a child it was another story, father always said while they put together the tree that “this one” symbolized nature and its varied ornaments represented prosperity, the lights were a guide for the souls of our dead will find us in the night and not get lost on the way to visit their families, the star on the tree symbolized the light of the gods that illuminated everything, because he has always affirmed that only the ignorant choose to live in darkness .

And the whole season was more a family theme than a social or religious theme, even the altars of the Orixas were decorated in every corner (someone shouted here cultural appropriation or something like that?), And the most important thing was to be in Family and eat typical dishes.

Something catholic

I remember that it was at 9 years old, probably because I am not a person of many friends, otherwise I would have heard before, that someone came to tell me about Christmas, that they celebrated the birth of the son of God (wrong), who would have been born in December (wrong), that it was white as milk (as wrong as a Republican in election season), born from the womb of a virgin (what an interesting story), and that the wise men were only ornaments (a bit cruel, eh?), oh, and of course, in addition, the boy was called Jesus of Nazareth, an interesting factor to take into account, especially because he was not born in Nazareth but in Bethlehem, and at that time the name of the individuals confirmed his city from birth, wouldn't it be then... Jesus de Belen ?.

I got home, I asked Papa, and he really didn't give it much importance, Mama either, and in the end I have kept the tradition of placing my tree at home every December, full of ornaments, and attending all the dinners that They invite me.

Magic & Winter

For me throughout the year this is an important date, December is barely ending I am already sitting to plan next December, especially because at home we celebrate the arrival of the Christmas Spirit (about whom I have already written in this and other blogs before ), and no, it is not San Nicola Di Bari (Santa Claus), the Christmas Spirit is the popular and most commercial name we give in Latin America to the "Winter Spirit", that old man with long beards who sleeps eleven months at year and wake up during the winter to take the animals to their shelter, store seeds in their bag, which will be sown again in Spring, and will go through the houses granting wishes to the good Samaritans, and all this occurs from one week before the day December 21 (the winter solstice), until a week later.

The winter rituals are so varied that I have written many, especially dedicated to the Christmas Spirit, every year I usually send an email to all my subscribers with the rituals to perform at home, the date and time of some collective rituals, and even the Two more recent years I have made a couple of live videos (Facebook live and Periscope), to share the joy of the Winter spirit with my tribe.

I come from a tropical country in the middle of Ecuador, so I had never lived Winter until we arrived in the USA, so we don't celebrate winter or snow, that's why we know the spirit of the season as "Spirit of the Christmas "and not as" Winter Spirit ", although the late and very talented Venezuelan author Conny Mendez, fervently insisted on taking over the term and making the spirit look like a kind of" divine creation associated with Jesus ", the truth is that we know him as "Christmas Spirit", simply because of the absence of a better name.

For my Mom, this was literally "one of those old gods that nobody remembers and he wakes up on December 21 to take care of trees and animals, but nobody knows what it's really called."

For Pope and grandparents, it would be not one, but a group of spirits of dead pagans who took advantage of the night of "All-hallows eve" to come to this world and now have refused to return, so he called them ""Noel ruhları" (the spirits of Christmas).

More than a holiday

Celebrating the holidays is for many people like me, something that transcends religions, it is a date full of appreciation for life and loved ones, it is a period of reunion with the family (alive and dead) and it is time to order and clean the house looking, and always channeling, that the next winter cycle (within a year) be more prosperous and happy than the present.

That is the way I celebrate these holidays, and the truth is, I am dying to share more about this with you, so very attentive to my social networks, which as every year I will be giving away readings and some homemade amulets.

Kisses, lots of light, wisdom and blessings.

with Love & light.

Elhoim Leafar

#urbanShaman

The Three Wise Men/ Three Wise Kings of East, Part I

The Three Wise Men or The Three Kings of East.

I Part

The sacred tradition of the three wise men of the East and their rich cultural symbolism.

Greetings and hugs to all those who walk around here a few minutes to read what I write, this post is the first of the two parts in which I will divide this theme about “The Magi from the East”, well known in the Christian tradition, who adopt the term "Magi" a title received by those learned priests from the Old East, these famous Three Wise Men came from the East to pay tribute and deliver gifts of great symbolic wealth: gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn Jesus of Nazareth in a manger

The ritual symbolism of this event has been highly debated from the most diverse points of view, but because none of us (and obviously included me) was present at that event, no matter how clear our opinions may be, these will continue to be simple theories that we carry out from the perspective and academic analysis of each individual.

In the canonical gospels, only the Gospel of Matthew actually mentions such "magicians", without giving precise information about their official names or titles, but it was from the interpretations after the third century AD. C. that these characters went from being wandering magicians to be considered kings, not only because of folklore and the growing oral tradition around their cult but also because of the symbolism linked to their iconography and because of the nice gifts they gave to the “son of the God of the Jewish peoples”.

The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church claimed that there were twelve, such as the apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel, but finally their number was reduced to only three magicians, a magician to represent the delivery of each of the three gifts that they crossed the desert to be delivered, and also to symbolize the three descendant families of Noah.

It is from the well-known mosaic of San Apollinaire Nuovo (Ravenna) dating from the sixth century AD. C., Where you can read the names that tradition gave to these magicians, being then Melchior, Gaspar and Baltasar, being also represented in a Persian dress and representing different ages, symbolism similar to the lunar goddesses of recent paganism that are represented with three different ages, which can also be associated with the representation of the divine Catholic trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). To also represent the rich cultural diversity of the kings of that time, King Baltasar began to have a black complexion, and in general the three kings, in addition to representing the ages, represent the three races of the Middle Ages.

Melchor represents the Europeans

Gaspar represents Asians

Baltasar represents Africans.

The Magi have their origin in the stories linked to the birth of Jesus "the prophet", these stories from canonical gospels are now part of the New Testament of the Bible. The Gospel of Matthew (the only one that mentions them) tells that these magicians, clearly great connoisseurs of heaven and its stars, observe in these an omen, this omen announces the birth of a prophet of "the coming times", and following these stars they get to Bethlehem, where the "king of the Jews is born", and to pay their respects to him, they bring opulent offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Yes, for many it can be highly contradictory that “some magicians”, as well as any practitioner of the esoteric arts were admitted as worshipers of Jesus, but from here we can understand two entirely different reasons for doing so.

First, the magicians (as priests of the time) recognized the existence of many gods, and it would not be unusual for them to go to honor what it would be from their point of view (and according to the time) to meet the newcomer in peace. born son of the God of the Jews, because by the time, he would be like the prophet who is the son of a local god, in this case, he was the son of the god of a more modern people and little known as the Jews of the epoch. Especially considering that the Babylonian pantheon encompassed the names of more than 2,000 different gods.

The second reason, the oral tradition around the Magi from the East, is much broader than the writings on them in the biblical sense, but in most of their versions (if not all) such characters would be serious magicians and astrologers, one of them (Melchor) is often considered an alchemist, and for them the omen in the stars was as important at that time as a weather forecast in our current times, for them it was vitally necessary to seek compliance with the prophecy and show the world that their omens were correct. Clearly the latter from my perspective as an amateur astrologer.

Although some current interpreters try to give a much more "raw" and less symbolic view of that story, stating that the Greeks used the term "magicians" to also refer to the wise men, doctors, and scientists of the time, this is an argument quite debatable, if not incorrect, because Greek society as the great civilization that was at that time, knew entirely the difference between a Magician and a man of science, since doctors and alchemists of Ancient Greece were not considered magicians, but as men of science, while magicians were ex officio priests, promoters of the worship of the gods and astrologers.

“The kings of Tarsis and the islands will offer presents; the kings of Arabia and Saba will bring their gifts: and all the kings of the earth will worship him ”

Psalm 71, 10.

The author and specialist in the subject Walter Drum, assures based on unbiblical evidence, that being the 'Wizards of the East' we would be talking about members of the sacred caste of the "Medes", who following the strict orders of 'Rab -Mag '(the Chief Magician) came to witness this birth. The ‘Medes’ was once a powerful caste of highly educated magicians and astrologers who were trained to serve kings as diviners and advisers and were sent from their ‘academy’ to various cities in Assyria and Babylon.

In fact, the 'Medes' as counselors were trained in Babylon to know and combat witchcraft, spells and all kinds of poisonings, being their specialty the reading of the stars, the mastery of languages ​​and the interpretation of dreams, serving more like oracles than magicians.

Another option to this is that the magicians would-be followers of Zoroaster and Ahura Mazda (the uncreated creator God), who were then popularly known as the magicians of Persia (now Iran), although their religion forbids sorcery, these were connoisseurs of stellar movements and constellations, the interpretation of dreams and omens.

Matthew does not explain that they are astrologers who knew precisely the movement of a star (2: 7) despite this being a general belief. Although well-intentioned, his visit is a cause of general embarrassment and arouses Herod's distrust (2: 3), as he saw the new Messiah as a rival. Despite being old and having reigned for more than thirty years, Herod begs them to find out the precise site of the birth of the Messiah (2: 8) in order to be able to end their potential competitor. The wise, who do not suspect that, find the Child, worship him and give away gold, frankincense, and myrrh (2:11). An angel prevents wizards from the intentions Herod kept (2:12), so they don't return to him. Wrathful, the king sends to kill all children under two years. By then, Joseph has been warned in dreams (2:13) that he must flee to Egypt with his own.

"Born, then, Jesus in Bethlehem of Judah in the days of King Herod, magicians arrived from the East to Jerusalem saying," Where is the king of the Jews who have just been born? "

Gospel of Matthew (2, 1-2)

Where exactly did the Magi from the East come from?

While all the mentions of these mysterious characters only specify that they came from the East, no author is given the task of specifying from which region it comes exactly.

What we know today for sure is that at the time of the birth of Christ, to the East of Bethlehem (now Palestine), only the priesthood of the magicians was carried out in the ancient Middle, Persia, Assyria, and Babylon. So, if our magicians came from the East and on their way to the "new prophet" they came to visit King 'Herod the Great' in Jerusalem, yes, our Wizards came from somewhere in the 'Birth Empire', if this was correct , they had crossed the desert of Syria (between the Euphrates and Syria), arriving at Haleb (Aleppo) or Tudmor (Palmyra), passing through the deep lands of Damascus and continuing south (Darb Elhaj), traveling that path that is Today known as "the pilgrims' road", they continued along the Sea of ​​Galilee and the Jordan on the west until they crossed the ford near Jericho.

• Now, different authors from different eras place the origin of the wise men in different regions, since it is only clear that they came from the East of Bethlehem.
• According to Saint Maximus and Theodotus of Ancyra, the magicians came from Babylon (Iraq).
• According to Saint Clement of Alexandria and Saint Cyril of Alexandria, the magicians came from Persia (Iran).
• While San Justin and San Epifanio, they affirm that the magicians will come from Arabia.

"And when they entered the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and prostrating themselves, they worshiped him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, incense, and myrrh.

Gospel of Matthew (2, 11).

Second Part Soon...

I believe in so many Gods I Want.

You like it when they knock on your door on a Saturday morning to evangelize you and try to convince you based on threats that your religion is false and your gods are "a mere diabolical invention."?

Probably not... Correct?

If you as a sorcerer, Wiccan, pagan, or spiritist have opted for that (quite modern) option of not believing in Gods, because you affirm that they are nothing more than an "anthropomorphization of the forces of nature", a "manifestation of your abundant psychic power, "or a" creative invention of the old pagan peoples to explain how they expressed their true inner power", well, believe it, but believe it you, and just as you expect some respect from the others, show that same respect for others.

Everyone has the option of believing what they want best, if you seriously believe that attending your conventions indoors every year and giving beautiful speeches followed by a selfie, it makes you better than the others 🤷🏻‍♂️ if you truly believe that this makes you (what am I going to know?) "the great lordy darkest magician 50K level of eleven hundred degree with golden suns on the shoulders etc, etc, etc." 🙅🏼‍♂️ Perfect, believe it, if it makes you happy, I'm glad for you, but don't force others to believe the same that you or publicly mock them for thinking differently.

It is not our fault that you have an obsessive inferiority complex and personal trauma that forces you to believe that there is no force in nature or in the entire universe superior to you. 🤨

But don't come to evangelize others, especially my friends and students with your religious idolatrous trauma. 🤨

Thank you fooly weirdo.

Those old modern pagan festivities

Those old modern festivities

Samhain, Mabon, Yule, and Lughnasadh, are probably the only festivities of the old cult that I personally practice, and clearly not in that order.


Although the pagan cult is full of festivities that celebrate stellar events as well as the cycles of cultivation, and these, in turn, represent or embody some old myths of the Indo-European world, the counter of pagan festivals and celebrations reaches a total that exceeds the 200 annual festivities, at least 25 of them belong to the Viking festivities and another 10 to the Celtic festivities, of which only 8 seem to have remained to this day.

The theme of pagan festivities is like a small cauldron burning in the middle of a forest in the middle of the night, all pagans, 'polytheists', Wiccans and others, see it shines from afar with a different perspective, they all have their own opinion in this regard and everyone has their own vision of the subject. Trying to have a conversation about any of these festivities with at least 5 or 6 people can often (not always) end up in a big discussion, because if something has damaged the pagan community in the last decade, it is the excessive use of social networks, which under the pretext of "uniting people" have done an admirable job in promoting quite mediocre ideas and in many cases, empowering people with misconceptions to believe that they are right under rather absurd pretexts.

If at the end of the '90s, we all adjust to what the book said, and the arguments were discussed respectfully in every sabbat (face to face), now with blogs and social networks, many of us feel (and obviously I include myself) In this wave of "If I have a blog and write on it, it is clearly because I am right", and many times it is not so, many times social networks just end up empowering and magnifying the noise that someone causes regardless of the practical study or the years of experience, although in my years as a blogger I have perceived many times “this post that I made is quite uplifted”, or “maybe here they are very offensive and I must accommodate it”, also in my years as a blogger I have read countless posts written by people who cite as an only source an article in Wikipedia, and based on it they are considered the "owners of the absolute truth".

I have read entire articles of about six pages that they end by citing up to nine books by different authors and anthropologists, which in many cases are coincidentally the same articles that you can find as quotes to a similar post in Wikipedia, and yes, this happens unfortunately more often than many imagine, because I personally have distanced myself from reading other blogs and I have dedicated myself to reading more books by the most diverse authors before consulting with Wikipedia, that is the vague way of all, the easy and unpretentious way of someone who does not take Seriously your own work.

The same is the case with pagan holidays and the whole ideology around them, although my idea is not to promote the "next return to obscurantism" or anything similar, if I consider that the fact that now everyone can freely express their opinions, It does not always mean that “everyone” has the most correct opinions or even the clearest intentions in sharing these opinions.

The Wheel of the Year

I have mentioned it on several occasions, enter the Wicca quite young, more out of foolishness than out of curiosity, I did not have the maturity at that time to go into something like this and I think the result was that it ends in some way 'burned' the process, quite overwhelmed and boring of the continuous norms, ranks, hierarchies, differences of opinion with the 'elders', etc ... And still, I love the Wiccan way as it really is, (far above what some want to make it seem), and especially because for many as in my case, the Wicca was a door that led us to the pagan path and to meet our own truth, to hear that call.

In the Wicca eight important festivities are celebrated based practically on the cycles of cultivation, cycles that although thousands of years ago could be the most important for humanity, because winter would end the harvests and hide the trade routes, the summer eradicated the fruits and flowers, both for the nourishment of men and women and for the veneration of the gods on their altars, the arrival of spring not only represented nature emerging again from the earth as everything began to bloom, but also represented for many lands of that time, the arrival of plagues, allergies, and diseases for which man was not prepared, and not to forget the Autumn...

In a world where knowledge of meteorology and the cycles of agriculture were not much studied beyond of the most basic, when seeing the trees and the nature in general to foresee, the plagues of worms and mosquitos seizing the fields due to the accelerated worsening of crops, the intense red tone of the trees (associated with blood, war and death back then), and the arrival of carrion birds in these months, even the bravest of warriors would have easily thought that the dreaded end of the world was approaching, the evil that seized the earth, the souls of Hades seizing the world, the signs and omens that a gigantic snake would emerge to devour the sun and the other worlds.

Today we know that harvest cycles are rather a side effect of the meteorological changes associated with the equinoxes and solstices, and although this makes everything sound very scientific, I am one of those who still think that all these cycles are associated with work of forces greater than us that we are just beginning to understand, as well as the Maya who imagined three thousand years ago a dark god in the center of the milky way devouring the light and everything in its path, and only in full 2018 the scientific community has agreed to admit that our entire galaxy revolves around a black hole.

All this without mentioning that the Wicca is more consistent with an Indo-European cult where the main deities are a hunting god and a lunar goddess to represent the balance, although most of the pagan community strives to insist now on making the Wicca as a kind of "resurgence of the primal matriarchy before the arrival of the patriarchate", to the point that the veneration of the male deity is rather a kind of taboo in modern Wicca.

Samhain and Yule.

I in particular only celebrated four of the festivities, more for a customary theme of many years than for religious obligation, though, my cycles are favorites are Lughnasadh, Samhain and Yule.

Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh, for his representation of the triumph of light over darkness at the cost of the most sacred sacrifice, nothing more motivating in politically dark times like these.

Samhain

Samhain, although I did not celebrate it with such devotion in my country of origin because we have practically no autumn, it reminds me a lot of several indigenous celebrations originating from the beautiful Amazon that my grandmother celebrated, also when arriving in the United States to celebrate 'All hallows eve ', and finally knowing the pumpkins, the motivation clearly increases, and much.

Yule

Yule, let's be honest, except for the Grinch (and I know a couple of these) it is quite difficult not to fall in love with Christmas, yes !, it is a pagan holiday that the church used to turn the pagans, yes !, Santa Claus in red and white is rather a marketing invention of Coca-Cola based on the commercial restructuring of a Polish story based on San Nicola Di Bari, and Yes !, Jesus was not born in December, and if the case we are not born in Bethlehem either less at the time they tell us, with a notable difference of 8 years.

Special Mention: When I was in the third semester of Marketing and Advertising at the College University, I made an entire project based on promoting Yule and the image of the so-called 'Old Pascuero', which is something like the Argentine San Nicolas, and after six months of effort Professor Natalia Buenafuente reproached my project for appearing 'very ambitious'. ‘Cheeky’ and ‘against good Catholic customs’, not to mention that he shouted in front of the entire class ‘that’s not God!’ ... And the rest is history from another story.

Samhain celebrates the final season of the harvest cycle in Celtic culture, and is closely associated with other similar festivals of other pagan cultures around the world, although mostly in Europe, though, thanks to the celebration of 'All Hallows Eve' ( I hear some radical witches screaming in the background), this celebration remains, has remained, and is one of those few festivities that people outside paganism understand, and even many of them respect without much explanation, and it is quite charismatic to see Children dress up as witches and ghosts in the streets asking for candy and forcing their parents to go out with them.

However, today Samhain's celebration has changed a lot, and contrary to what some people think, this is good, it has become rather a double aspect celebration, while some go out to celebrate freedom of expression, dressed in their more sorcerers attires, masks, and brooms, organizing parties to meet with the local witches, others take this date in a slightly calmer way as the time to honor those witches who have left this world and who still remain among us, with a silent vigil, or in my case, with small rituals at home, accompanied by a pretty minimalist altar decoration, wine, cheeses, flowers, incense and plates full of fruits, homemade garlands and a lot, but a lot, a lot of light on the altar, to illuminate his path and his return in a next cycle.

Yule, this holiday is, on the other hand, more discreet, many outsiders to paganism still do not understand it, and their association with Christmas complicates the matter quite a bit, although today Yule is rather a kind of intercultural celebration among old Roman traditions (such as give gifts), some Celtic traditions, and it has a lot to do with some Viking festivities, the fact that all this is celebrated at the same time as something as great as the Catholic Christmas holiday, if it makes it quite complicated for some to feel comfortable to celebrate.

In my native Venezuela, Yule is practically something unknown, it is not mentioned beyond the books on paganism and Wicca, and only some very closed pagan circles celebrate it, Christmas is perhaps one of our biggest festivities along with the carnivals, the Devils of Yare (the closest we have to Halloween) and some festivals of different virgins that we have in the Country.

In addition, the popularity of Conny Méndez, founder of Christian metaphysics (a branch of contemporary metaphysics from the Catholic point of view and using Saint Germain as a central figure in her study), helped popularize and further promote the tradition of 'the night of the Christmas Spirit' and a series of ritual complexes that we perform in Venezuela every December 21 (winter solstice day).

The Christmas spirit is a pagan-Christian celebration that became popular since 1986, you can find many books dedicated to the topic in your local bookstore, but if you want a summary of it, every two years I upload a post to this blog updated the topic, so just be aware that this year touches a new one.

So while the pagan festivities have changed a lot, and now they revolve more around (most of them) the celebration of the dead and all those who have left this world, these are still celebrated, but let's be honest , we will never be able to celebrate them with the same devotion that our ancestors did, for them to celebrate the arrival, birth, death and resurrection of the gods was something extremely important on which their food, the weather, and their life depended, to We these celebrations are rather a way of remembering the past, honoring the ancient celebrants, and a beautiful reason to connect with other believers and practitioners like us.

Elhoim Leafar 

Be Pagan

Just imagine that all our deepest traditions are the branches of a giant tree that rises to the top, even surpassing the clouds, while others are busy praying to the tree, we are climbing, sleeping and eating this tree that was sown by previous gods, oldest than our own gods many millennia ago, in the end we probably are all going up the same path from a different branch, looking for light, wisdom and purpose.

Elhoim Leafar

Feeding snakes against the cult of St. Patrick by pagans.

Feeding snakes against the cult of St. Patrick by pagans.

I did not celebrate St. Patrick's Day for three different reasons, first, I'm not Irish, second, I'm not American, I'm Turkish-Hispanic, and third, I come from a polytheist family, but my family, especially my grandmother and my  mother raised me with enormous respect for the pagan community, she said, it does not matter if they are pagans, neopagans, wiccans, druids, it does not matter even if they preach a new religion or are part of some sect founded in the next thirty years, while they  venerate the ancient gods, those gods before Christianity, are our brothers, even when many of them throw stones at us, they are our brothers and we must remain united above all.

Saint Patrick, this supposed Saint is Ireland, whose stories I have read countless times and all seem to be in complete disagreement with each other, not to mention that many of these stories only take the old legends of Irish folklore and turn them into "miracles" around  to the Saint  He was not like they want to paint now all these "pagan missionaries" of the New Age, a "savior and pacifist pattern", was a Christian priest who enlisted in the ranks of the church to not have to be part of the family business during a  terrible economic period where the Roman Empire was taking over all foreign businesses.

Everyone says that he released Ireland from the Serpents, the truth is that the island of Ireland unlike the islands of Scotland and England was never connected to the same tectonic plate, there was no terrestrial communication between one island and another, and it is about  A cold island, there has been no historical or scientific evidence of snakes in Ireland for 15Mil years until our then.  There is no other joke about it, there simply were no snakes when he arrived on the island.

The serpent was a symbol of pagan paganism in Ireland, paganism in Ireland fell in the fifth century when he lived this character, this "pseudo Saint" Catholic.  The phrase "St. Patrick freed Ireland from the snakes" is extracted from a few letters that he left written where he communicated with the Church affirming that there were no pagans on the island, and in fact, if you check all the Catholic writings that you can find  In any library or Museum of your Country, you can verify that pagans were always represented with the image of a snake, allusion to the Jewish cult where 'Samael' the snake that was possessed by Lilith (the first Woman before Eve) tempted Adam  and Eve to eat the apple of the tree of knowledge, which opened their eyes and because of that, Yahweh condemned 'Samael' and took him out of the Garden of Eden condemning him to crawl for eternity so that he could never see his face in eternity.

If you want to have fun and go out with your friends dressed in green and disguised as an elf, you have another 364 days to do it, but not St. Patrick's Day, which should be considered a day of mourning for the pagan community, are the same as  they fill their social networks with those empowerment memes under the same motto of "we are the children of those witches that you could not burn at the stake", they use that day to become pacific saints and pagan missionaries affirming "Saint Patrick was never against  the pagans "and" he is not to blame for what happened ", but I think the opposite, when you see that a minority group is being discriminated against and you become part of the discriminating group, you become part of the problem, and  even worse, as in this case, on the side murdered thousands of witches and pagans in the following ages.

The truth behind 'the great conversion' of the emerald island 'Ireland' and it is not necessary to read much about it since all the history books have taught us the same thing, between the 4th century and the 7th century of our era, is that  those who were not converted to Christianity and did not accept to be baptized, were expelled from the island, burned alive, tortured or imprisoned, as was the case with many Celtic pagans and their druids.

When you celebrate Saint Patrick's Day you are ignoring and celebrating the tombs of the pagans and witches who for centuries have been burned, hanged, or (as it happened for centuries in South America) drowned in the sea where they were thrown with cloth bags full of  stones to sink their bodies on the seabed.

Now many pagans, and from my point of view are correct, celebrate the day of the Serpent on the same day to protest, and the truth, my support is with them, with those who have not sold their beliefs to be part  of the 'popular cult', is not that this in favor of keeping the hated towards the Catholic Church, but I am in favor of not forgetting and making fun of the past in this way so sickly and ridiculous.

The pagans and "neopagans" celebrating this day look as absurd as the new sects of neo-Nazis who deny the holocaust to victimize the others.

Here I have left you the reasons why you did not celebrate this day, because as my mother taught me 'forgive if you want to do it, but never forget'.

So please, if you consider yourself pagan, not famous this day.

Kuat & Lae (the Sun and the Moon)

Lae & Kuat

He is the moon god for the Mamaurans, while Kuat is the sun god for them, a tribe of the Amazon that lives in Brazil. According to a Mamaurana legend, at the beginning of time it had been like this, in heaven, that daylight could not be avoided. It was always night and people lived in fear of being attacked by wild animals. Tired of the darkness, two heroes, Iae and his brother Kuat, decided to force the king of the birds, Urubutsin, who shared a little daylight with the people of the Amazon.

The two brothers hid inside a dead animal and they pass days waiting inside of him, as soon as Urubutsin arrived, Kuat grabbed his leg. Unable to escape, Urubutsin was forced to make an agreement with the two brothers. The birds will share the light of day with the mammas, and the night will alternate with the day. Since then, Kuat represented the Sun and Iae the Moon.

The first 4 main Mesoamerican religions

This would have been the 4 main Mesoamerican religions.

Hello everyone, answering here a simple topic that I was raised a few days ago while we talked about ayahuasca. The Mayan or Aztec cultures are the most important at a historical level, due to the great influence they had. However, there are more than a dozen Mesoamerican civilizations and cultures, which have more than 20,000 years.

Beyond focusing on making a descriptive writing of each of the original deities of Mesoamerica, I will only provide a quick glimpse of their polytheist cults, which were more focused on nature, sacrifices (animals and humans) and climate, that in other aspects, but it is not to forget that these religions were strongly influenced by astrology, astronomy and the latent admiration towards the animal figures.

Based on religious traditions, as well as on the findings and expert archaeologists, it is easy to determine that there were multiple Mesoamerican cultures and religions, such as the Huastecas, Tlaxcaltecas, Chichimecas, Toltecs, and Zapotecs, among others, long before Christopher Columbus "discover" America.

The Mesoamerican civilization dates back to the pre-Hispanic era of the regions that now make up countries such as Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica. The cultural and demographic proliferation occurred during that time of the thaw, around the year 7000 BC, a fact that meant the development of agricultural activity so that the inhabitants could subsist.

As it happened in the beginnings of almost any type of society, the foundations of religion were also established, in which to bow, perform rituals and worship the gods to whom help was asked in difficult times.

Aztecs

In its beginnings, the Aztecs were considered a lower Mesoamerican culture due to their nomadic nature, until the 15th century arrived and they decided to establish their own empire. They worked the land to improve the cultivation, built boats to resort to fishing and invented an irrigation system to supply water to the territory where they ruled.

The religion that they professed has been considered as "bloodthirsty" due to the offerings they had to make to their gods, which often meant the sacrifice of human lives, prisoners of tribal wars or even relatives to feed the sun god, of fertility and water to survive.

Their religion was polytheistic, although they only professed worship of a few principal deities. The most important gods were related to the solar and agricultural cycle. In the Aztec religion, human sacrifices were very common. Upon reaching the Valley of Mexico, they tried to incorporate the culture and gods of the most advanced civilizations that were already established and that of older civilizations such as the Toltec.

Principal Gods:

Huitzilopochtli

God of war, wisdom, and power, identify him with the serpent. The precursor of summer, the season of lightning and fertility. He was honored in the fifteenth Aztec month, in a ceremony in which the priest crossed with an arrow a mass prepared with the blood of people sacrificed for such an occasion.

Quetzalcoatl: "the feathered serpent".

Father of the Toltecs, it is related to the teaching of the arts and, therefore, acts as an introducer of civilization. His devotees, to venerate him, drew blood from the veins under the tongue or behind the ear and smeared the mouth of the idols with it. The effusion of blood replaced the direct sacrifice.

Tláloc

God of rain, married to Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water, who used to be represented with the image of a frog, and with whom he had many children: the tlalocas or clouds. He lived in a paradise of waters called Tlalocan, where there were those who had died in floods, struck by lightning or sick with dropsy, who there enjoyed eternal happiness. They offered him children and maidens in sacrifice. The farmers, in anticipation of drought, made idols in the image of Tlaloc and worshiped them offering them corn and pulque.

Chicomecoatl

The main goddess of agriculture, another form of water deity, Chalchiuhtlicue. Its festival was held between June and July when the corn plant had fully matured

Xolotl

God of the star of the afternoon, represented the ascending and descending forms of fire. Monstrous God appears in some of his representations with empty eye sockets because, according to legend, when sacrificing the gods to give life to the new Sun, he became so sad and cried so much that his eyes fell from their sockets.

Mictlantecuhtli

God of darkness and death. He lived in a region of Mictlán, in the Navel of the Earth; to this place went the dead who did not deserve any of the various degrees of heavens, and their punishment was boredom.

Maya

They attribute this characteristic of exceptional because they influenced the development of knowledge in the region. With regard to the American continent, from them came astrology, mathematics or writing. The Maya were considered at the same time the merchant community par excellence and were pioneers with cocoa, silk, and cotton.

The Mayan religion is a pre-Columbian religion that was firmly united to the veneration of the gods. Religion was concerned with understanding the why of things, which leads us to define it as a sort of precursor philosophy of modern science. Thus, Mayan scientific discoveries, ideology, and religion can not be conceived separately, since all have, even at the beginning, their origin in faith and belief.

The role of priests was marked by a series of "classes" that hierarchized and divided according to their level of performance between men and gods. In this way, there were the priests of the Sun, who presided over the ritual acts, the prophets (chilán), who had the quality of entering into a kind of trance and predicting what would happen in the future.

The Mayans practiced a religion strongly influenced by astrology and magic, they performed a cult to more than a dozen deities, they practiced blood rites, human sacrifices, animal sacrifices, funeral rites, purification rites, celebratory rites and rituals linked to the ball games.

Popol Vuh

The Popol Vuh is a compilation of legends of the Quiché -people of the Mayan majority culture in Guatemala-. In it, you can find mystical, philosophical, artistic and scientific values that together create a religious unity. It is also called the book of the council since it is the most important Maya literary book.

The Popol Vuh is divided into three parts:

The creation of the world.

The creation of the first couple of people and the civilization of corn.

The Quiche and Kings until 1550.

The sun and the moon

The Mayan was very devoted to these stories about the creation of the twin gods called Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub-Hunahpú. They liked to play ball, they were making noise and this annoyed the lords of Xibalbá (the underground kingdom) Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé. The twins were transported to the lower world, where they would be judged and should go through several tests. But even so, they were executed and buried in the field of play, where they played ball.

Zamná, or Itzamná, was at first a great Mayan priest arrived with the Bacalar changes (later called itzáes) to found and settle in Chichen Itza, around 525 AD. C.

There, at Chichen Itza, Zamna lived for a time and taught his doctrines. A wise man who "named the places and lands, sites and promontories of the Mayab, today Yucatan," and invented the first characters that served as letters to the natives of the region.

After the time, his reputation increased and his fame increased, Zamna was raised to the deity in the Mayan pantheon, is linked to the face of the sun and the rain, therefore with agriculture. Traditionally, Itzamna is considered the son of Hunab Ku, the only God, and among the attributions given to him is being a deity of medicine and agriculture, besides being "The Lord of the heavens, night and day "

Olmecs

One can consider the Olmec culture as the mother of the two previous ones, the architect of what encompasses the settlement of Mesoamerican cultures. They are attributed to the creation of writing and epigraphy, and the invention of the zero and the Mesoamerican calendar.

They considered everything that surrounded them as living beings, such as mountains, trees, rivers, caves. The gods were directly related to the rulers, who were their descendants, for that reason they possessed supernatural powers. The center of the Olmec religion was the belief in nahualism, that is, the ability of man to transform into an animal and vice versa.

The Olmec society was governed exclusively on the basis of theological laws. It is considered a theocracy of antiquity. The worship of the gods (was also polytheistic) was represented in temples dedicated to them and sculptures of idolatry. In addition, there was an authority to regulate the creed: the figure of the Shaman, the equivalent to the Roman Pope.

Within the religion of the Olmec there was a variety of gods represented by figures of creatures of unknown origin combined with animals, considered the ancestors of their rulers, among whom are:

Nahual or the jaguar: was the main god, shaman of the animal world and deity of fertility.

Dragon Olmec: (the monster of the earth) One of the most represented deities of them.

Homxuk: son of the sun and god of corn.

Spirit of the rain: is represented by a small person, but was a powerful rain god with helpers.

Quetzalcoatl: god of the wind, life and the morning.

Huehueteotl: old god or fire, symbolizes the beginning of a new year.

Man of the harvest: he was a man who sacrificed his life so that the people could produce food.

Teotihuacan Culture

Perhaps it is the least known civilization and the most enigmatic of them all since it is believed that it disappeared long before the Spanish invasion. Religion once again takes a leading role in this civilization, and the temples of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon are witnesses of this.

Within the Teotihuacan religion, various gods were worshiped, which in turn represented natural elements such as fire, water, mountains or earth. A great goddess of the Teotihuacan religion was the Spider Woman, venerated as a creative deity, of the underworld and darkness.

Other relevant gods were Chalchiuhtlicue as the deity of water, and Xipe Totec, god of agriculture and corn. They also worshiped Tlaloc, who represented rain or war, and Quetzalcoatl who manifested wisdom. Another god was Huehuetéotl, an old man venerated as a symbol of fire.

Human sacrifices were a ritual to demonstrate to their gods the dedication and commitment to build a pyramid or to ensure the prosperity of the city. Their victims were enemy warriors, who were decapitated, their hearts were subtracted or buried alive.

At the end of this, I promise to develop more material that will make them arrive as soon as possible until then, I leave my best wishes and my blessings.

Inspired & Made with Love.

Elhoim Leafar.