The Momoy's (this is my Favorite) Venezuelan Folklore XV

Momoy

The Momoyes, Mamóes, Mumúes or Spirits of the Water are a type of elves of the Venezuelan folklore, inhabitants of the Andean zone from pre-Columbian times.

The Momoyes are described as little men of about 40 cm in height. They can be dressed in the Indian way, adorning their body with feathers, leaves and flowers, helping themselves to walk with a cane. They are also described with long beards adorned by enormous head hats.

The Momoyes inhabit the zones of Trujillo (especially in the Municipality of Boconó) and Mérida, mainly in their lagoons and rivers.

They are described as benign creatures, sleepers, and defenders of the environment.

Due to their character as protecting elves of the fields, agriculture and the environment in general, anecdotes are told about the angry reactions that the Momoyes can have towards those visitors of the forests who leave their polluting waste in an unscrupulous way. It is said that a Momoy returned, throwing it violently to its owner, a can of soda that previously he had tried to sink into a pond. There is also a Momoy from Páramo de la Culata (Mérida) with a very violent personality, who used to whip the travelers who camped in the place, especially if they were not careful with their waste.

The Momoyes like to make the travelers victims of their heavy jokes, which are generally no more terrible than hiding or mislaying any of their household goods. For the rest, his presence is perceived by all kinds of activities, such as singing, whistling, etc. Anyway, if the travelers do not want to be bothered by the Momoyes, it would be enough to ignore them, an attitude that they could not bear.

Venezuelan Folklore

The Five White Eagles, Venezuelan Folklore XIV

The five white eagles

According to the tradition of the Mirripuyes, Caribay was the first woman. She was the daughter of the ardent Zuhé (the Sun) and the pale Chía (the Moon). It was considered as the genius of aromatic forests. He imitated the song of birds and played with flowers and trees.

Once Caribay saw five white eagles fly through the sky and fell in love with their beautiful feathers. It was then behind them, crossing valleys and mountains, always following the shadows that the birds drew on the ground. He finally reached the top of a cliff from which he saw how the eagles were lost in the heights. Caribay became sad and summoned Chía and soon she was able to see again the five beautiful eagles. While the eagles descended to the sierras, Caribay sang sweetly.

Each of these birds descended on a cliff and remained motionless. Caribay wanted to decorate herself with those rare and splendid feathers and ran towards them to tear them off, but a cold glacial numbness in her hands, the eagles were frozen, turned into five huge masses of ice. Then Caribay fled in terror. Soon after, the Moon darkened and the five eagles awoke furiously and shook their wings and the whole mountain was adorned with its white plumage. This is the origin of the snowy mountains of Mérida. The five white eagles symbolize the five high cliffs always covered with snow. The great and stormy snowfalls are the furious awakening of the eagles, and the whistling of the wind is the sad and sweet song of Caribay.

Venezuelan Folklore

The Owner of the light, Venezuelan Folklore XIII

The owner of the light

At first, people lived in darkness and only lit with the fire of the timbers. There was no day or night. There was a Warao man with his two daughters who found out about the existence of a young owner of the light. So, he called his eldest daughter and ordered her to go to the owner of the light to bring it to her. She took her mapire and left. But there were many roads and the one he chose took her to the house of the deer. He met him and played with him. When he returned to his father's house, he did not bring the light; Then the father decided to send the youngest daughter.

The girl took the good road and after a long walk she arrived at the house of the owner of the light. He told the young man that she was coming to know him, to be with him and to get light for his father. The owner of the light answered that he was waiting for him and now that he had arrived, they would live together. He carefully opened his torotoro and the light illuminated his arms and white teeth and the girl's hair and black eyes. Thus, she discovered the light and its owner, after showing it to him, kept it. Every day the owner of the light took it out of its box to play with the girl. But she remembered that she had to take the light to her father and then her friend gave it to her. He brought the torotoro to the father, who bore him on one of the trunks of the palafito.

The bright rays illuminated the waters, the plants and the landscape. When it was learned among the peoples of the Orinoco delta that a family had light, the Warao began to come in their curiaras to meet her. So many and many curiaras with more and more people arrived, that the palafito could no longer bear the weight of so many people marveled by the light; nobody left because life was more pleasant in clarity. And it was that the father could not withstand so many people inside and outside his house that with a strong slap he broke the box and threw it into the sky.

The body of the light flew to the East and the torotoro to the West. From the light the sun was made and from the box that kept it the moon arose. On one side was the sun and on the other the moon, but they marched very fast because they still carried the impulse that had thrown them into heaven, the days and nights were very short. Then the father asked his youngest daughter for a small morrocoy and when the sun was on his head he threw it to him saying it was a gift and that he would wait for it. From that moment, the sun began to wait for the morrocoy. Thus, at dawn, the sun went little by little, at the same pace as the morrocoy.


Venezuelan Folklore

The Owner of the Water, Venezuelan Folklore XII

The owner of the Water

Near where the Orinoco was born, the King of alligators called Baba lived. His wife was a big frog and together, they had a big secret ignored by other animals and men. It was stored in the throat of the Baba caiman. The couple went into a cave and threatened to lose their lives to anyone who dared to enter, because they said that inside there was a god who devoured everything and only they, kings of water, could pass. One day the partridge, hurried to make its nest, entered distracted in the cave.

Looking for straws he found singed leaves and caterpillars, as if the fire of the sky had been around. He tasted the toasted caterpillars and they tasted better than when he ate them raw. He went flapping at ground level to tell everything to Tucusito, the hummingbird with red feathers.

After a while, the Bobo Bird arrived and among the three of them, they devised a plan to find out how they made the frog and the alligator to cook such rich caterpillars. Bobo hid inside the cavern, taking advantage of its dark plumage. The frog released the caterpillars that it had in its mouth while Baba opened his, which was tremendous, letting out red and bright tongues. The couple ate the caterpillars without noticing Bobo, after which, they fell asleep satisfied. Then, Bobo ran out to tell his friends what he had seen.

The next day they set about machining how to snatch the fire from the alligator without being burned or being the food of the kings of the water. It would have to be when he opened the tarasca to laugh. In the afternoon, when all the animals were drinking and chatting by the river, Bobo and the red partridge made pirouettes making everyone laugh, except for Baba. Bobo took a clay ball and threw it inside the mouth of the frog, which from laughter passed to the stake. At the moment that the alligator saw the frog's troubles, he laughed. Tucusito, who watched from the air, plunged, stealing the fire with the tips of his wings. Rising, he brushed against the dry branches of a huge tree that burned immediately.

The King alligator exclaimed that although the fire had been stolen, others would take advantage of it and the other animals would burn, but Baba and the frog would live like immortals where the great river is born. That said, they submerged in the water and disappeared forever. The three birds celebrated the theft of the fire, but no animal knew how to take advantage of it.

The men who lived next to the Orinoco seized the embers that burned for many days in the dry forest, learned to cook food and to talk at night around the fires. Tucusito, the Bobo bird and the red partridge became their protective animals for having given them the gift of fire.
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Venezuelan Folklore.