Worshiping Those Old Earth Gods.

Worshiping The Old Earth Goddesses and Earth Gods.

(the nameless gods)

Hugs dear reader and lover, welcome to my virtual corner, without unnecessary boring introductions, I'm Elhoim Leafar, and this is my post of this day:

(Wumari) The Old Goddesses and Earth Gods

Wumari is the name that we give in the Amazon to “the first” or “the first trees”, those from which all the seeds emerged that gave life to each of the races of humanity (man) and to each of the animal species that inhabit the earth.

"The old trees" were the first gods, those who interceded to start creating everything that walks on earth, when this was just a huge dark muddy swamp, where only trees and nocturnal plants grew. But one day a ray of light descended among the dark clouds, this ray of light woke up the trees, and these began to create life, they created all species, animals, plants, and human beings.

Watoja was the oldest of these gods, the oldest and the wisest. Watoja decided one day to leave his place and then took the form of a man, and all his brothers followed him, followed by this, these gods would walk the earth wrapped in human skin, so as to mix with the men and women of the tribes, they had children with these, and from these children would descend the "Xabi", the "Iubu", and the "Waraos", all of them, descendants of gods and men, with one eye they would see the world of the living, and with the other the world from the gods and plants, they would understand the hidden language spoken by plants and stars, and they would understand those messages that the wind brings.

With the passing of the centuries, the gods and goddesses forgot what they really were, they soon became mortal and died, but when they died, their bodies did not disintegrate like other corpses, insects and animals did not dare to eat them, the fire moved away with terror from them so as not to consume them, and "the passing" (time) did not dare to devour these bodies.

So the tribes would bury them next to the mountains, and in that way, their bodies would prevail there until the arrival of "Asulja", the final collapse of all things.

But the old gods would have to be kept happy, and for this, they were fed all kinds of meat, fruits, vegetables, and libations of milk and honey, in this way, the gods would be happy, and they would bless the earth with abundance, food and medicinal plants.

Old Amazonian tale

Original language: Wayuu

Translation and Adaptation: Elhoim Leafar, 2009

Originally published in Venezuela by Varieties Magazine, Edition, August 2009.

Copyright © 2009 by Elhoim Leafar De Jesus.

Worshiping and Feeding the old gods

The previous story goes back to the folklore of the Caribbean, a land where the natives believed in those gods who inhabited the clouds of heaven, the earth under their feet, the mountains and the waves of the sea. This story has a lot (or perhaps everything) in relation to African folklore, it is no coincidence that African slaves and native slaves of the Americas would end up mixing their beliefs with each other, after all, their bases and principles were practically identical.

Today, the Afro-Caribbean traditions, in their notable majority (Santeria, Lucumi, Candomble, Umbanda, Quimbanda, Palo Mayombe, and 14 more traditions), celebrate the ritual of "feeding the earth", or "feeding the earth".

This ritual consists of preparing a series of dishes typical of the Afro-Caribbean culture in order to represent sacrifice, effort, and appreciation for the origins of the cult, dig a deep hole near a river and perform a series of sacred ceremonial songs. in the Yoruba language while food is thrown here.

Traditions change with us, and our tastes and languages change as we move forward, but the blood and spirit of our ancestors prevail among us, and with it, while we keep in mind (and consciously) that the ancestors are part of our lives, their old gods, those of whom we do not know the names, continue being part of our cycles.

My Own Version of the Ritual

The typical dishes are great, but I am a lousy cook (and it costs me absolutely nothing to admit it), and I am not going to risk preparing something for my gods, much less for my grandfather, that I myself am not able to eat, that would be irresponsible and foolish.

I like to prepare a small feast with bread filled with jams, assorted fruits of all colors, especially watermelons, rice cooked with vegetables and a little salt, lettuce, tomatoes, and other boiled vegetables, baked chicken and roasted corn, and a huge peanut dish. I've had my friends make onion rings with salt and pepper, as well as a huge pitcher of sangria, made with white wine, assorted fruit, and a splash of rum.

Open the hole in the ground early in the morning, make a circle with flower petals all around the circle to perfume and decorate the portal, we throw the food there, plate by plate, hoping that they like it and thank us for As well as in the process, we thank them for their constant protection and their infinite blessings.

We set aside some of the food for ourselves, and we sat down to eat together in front of the circle, we toasted together with a jug of sangria, and we gave them a drink too. In the end, around seven in the morning, we know that people will start walking around, so we light some incense and close the circle again, once it has been completely closed, we leave some flowers in the place, and we leave to home.

The act of venerating

When we worship the old gods, we are worshiping our ancestors, we are praying together with them, we are dealing directly with the forces from beyond, we are embracing the old sacred path that our ancestors once embraced, we are desperate for their long sleep alone for a few moments.

In this way they can come with us, feel reassured of their inheritance, of the prosperous, generous and believing descendants they will leave on earth, and in this way they can go back to sleep with a clear conscience and have happy dreams, or they can depart back to the world of the gods, meet their families, knowing that they are not forgotten, and even be welcome to return to this world that misses them so much.

with true love, Elhoim Leafar.

 Copyright © 2020 by Elhoim Leafar De Jesus.

All rights reserved.