The Legend of Princess Donaji

Hi dear friends and followers. Have a great read, thank you.

We are still in the region that was occupied, and to a large extent, continues to be occupied, by the Zapotec People. This is the southern Mexican region of Oaxaca.

I found the story below in a publication called the Oaxaca Traveler. I hope that they don't mind my sharing it with you.
The Legend of Princess Donaji

It is raining on Oaxaca Valley. For sure rain God Cocijo has answered the prayers of his beloved Zapotec people.

This great Mesoamerican civilization established its home in Oaxaca Valley over 2,500 years ago. We have two stories about its origin: the first tells us that the Zapotecs emerged naturally from the Earth or caves or that perhaps they turned from trees or jaguars into people. The second claims that they are the Cloud People, Be´ena´Za´a in the Zapotec language, and that they are descendant from supernatural beings that lived in the sky.

This enormous civilization inhabited three different cities in the Oaxaca Valley. First, they founded San José el Mogote in about 1400 BC. Later on, about 500 BC, they established their capital in Monte Albán where they have their most brilliant and culturally productive period. In order to build Monte Albán they did the arduous work of leveling the top of a mountain. They reached a peak population of over 16,500 between AD 300-500. By 800 AD Monte Albán was completely abandoned. Then, the Zapotecs moved to Zaachila where they established the new capital. It is widely agreed that Zaachila was the last city inhabited by this wonderful civilization.

The Zapotecs developed a calendar and a basic form of writing through carvings. By 200 BC they were using the bar and dot system of numerals used by the Mayans. The early Zapotecs were sedentary, agricultural people and hunters. As time passed they became craftsmen and they are still recognized for their black pottery, wood carvings and their precious weavings. A lot of this valuable work is exhibited at the Regional Museum of Oaxaca.

Every civilization has its heroes, and the Zapotecs are no exception. The person who deserves such a title is the Princess Donají. A popular legend tells us that Princess Donají was the daughter of King Cosijoeza, the last King of the Zapotec civilization. During that time there were endless battles between Mixtecs and Zapotecs. Donaji is said to have mended the wounds of enemy prisoners, even releasing them once they had healed. In one of these battles, the Princess was taken as a pledge of peace and in case the Zapotecs didn´t keep their word, she would die in the hands of the Mixtecs.

One night after the peace offering was made, Zapotec warriors burst in the Mixtec territory, and when the Mixtecs realized they had been betrayed, they killed Donají immediately. The Zapotecs bitterly grieved the loss of their admired princess.

Many years had passed when a humble shepherd who was walking close to Atoyac River saw a beautiful lily flower. He did not hesitate to make it his own, and decided to take it from its roots. As he dug, he made an astonishing discovery: the lily flower was attached to an ear of a fresh and beautiful face - the face of Princess Donají´s. Nowadays, her innocent and pretty face is represented on the coat of arms of Oaxaca City.

The story of the princess is reenacted each year at the Guelaguetza festival.

Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

The Sacrifice of Cocijo (A Cosmological Legend)

Hi dear friends and followers, I wish all a wonderful day  

Aztec, Maya, and Inca are peoples of pre-Columbian Central America with whom you may be familiar. So far we have read some of the myths and legends of the Aztec and the Maya. Before we proceed to look into what the Inca were thinking, let's stop for a minute to look at the Reference Map provided with this blog entry.

You will see that there are many individual tribes listed between southern Mexico and its border with Guatamala and Honduras. Maybe each tribe had its own belief system and maybe not. Perhaps their daily lives were similar to those of their neighbors and than again, perhaps not. The only way we will find out is to do some research.

Being the contrary soul that I am, I chose to start at the end of our Latin alphabet. Accordingly, we will examine something from the Zapotec people, a legend relating to their cosmology, that is, an account or theory of the origin of the universe, as the Zapotec saw it.

The Zapotec population is concentrated in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, but Zapotec communities exist in neighboring states, as well. The present-day population is estimated at approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects. In pre-Columbian times, the Zapotec civilization was one of the highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica, which, among other things, included a system of writing. Many people of Zapotec ancestry have emigrated to the United States over several decades, and they maintain their own social organizations in the Los Angeles and Central Valley areas of California.There are four basic groups of Zapotecs: the istmeños, who live in the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the serranos, who live in the northern mountains of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, the southern Zapotecs, who live in the southern mountains of the Sierra Sur, and the Central Valley Zapotecs, who live in and around the Valley of Oaxaca.

They have been farmers for centuries, with labor divided between the men and women. The men and boys go to the fields and work all day, coming home to share meals. The women and girls tend to the housework. It is a strongly patriarchial society in which a single woman's chastity is highly guarded, thus impeding true equality of the genders.

Enjoy this creation legend and have a wonderful Tuesday!

The Sacrifice of Cocijo (A Cosmological Legend)

From: Bradomín, José María, "El Sacrificio de Cocijo", Leyendas y Tradiciones

Oaxaqueñas. (Mexico: 2004) trans. Kent Slinker

Pitao, the incorporeal, the uncreated, the father of the gods. and the origin of everything that exists in the world, exhaling over Chaos created the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the Earth, the seasons of the year, the days, the nights, the animals and plants, the rivers, oceans, and the mountains . . . The entire Universe came into being by a single exhale of his almighty breath .

Once the Universe had been created, he gathered together all the lesser gods and gave them dominion over the elements and created things, and he gave them power to rule and govern. And at the same time that he gave them their names that set them aside as superior arbitrators over creation and the elements, he gave them also the generic name, "Pitao" so that they might also be part of the holy essence of the supreme creator of every existing thing .

And he made Pitao Xoo, the god of the Earth and of earthquakes .

And to Pitao Cocijo the god of the water and rain.

And to Pitao Beé the god of the winds.

And to Pitao Cozaana the god of hunting and fishing.

And to Pitao Cocobi the god of seeds, the harvest and grains.

And to Pitao Pecala the god of dreams.

And to Pitao Peeci was given the responsibility of dream interpretation.

And to Pezelao he gave dominion of the night, and of the souls of the dead.

And to Benechaaba he made the spirit of corruption and darkness.

And thus was given to the gods the attributes which corresponded to their condition as arbitrators of the created things and elements. But to the smallest of the gods, who was later called Cocijo, he did not wish to give anything, since he considered him too small.

And after the symphony and harmony of the Cosmos had been organized and the elements had been bound up with the will of the gods, and order had been established on Earth, he created humans in order to multiply and later become his people, the chosen people of Pitao. And this became the great Zapotec nation which grew and peopled the Didjazáa which stretched to every corner of the earth, even to the sea.

But Pitao, the incorporeal, the uncreated, the father of the gods and the origin of all that exists both on the Earth and beyond the Earth, did not create fire, that powerful component of the sky that awaited the person who could conquer it, because he wanted to test the spirit of sacrifice of the other gods and the industriousness of humanity.

And so it was that at night, when the rays of Copichja (the sun) did not warm the face of the Earth, both people and beast swooned with cold, and the young ones died, and the birds had to hide in the most dense parts of vegetation so not to die, and the beasts in the deepest caverns of caves.

But the gods remained silent and waited, taking note of the hidden design of Pitao. And humanity suffered and cried, but did not find the way to make fire. Because the fire of the sky did not yet streak across the heavens, deafening men and beast and smiting the naked torsos of the mountains, mankind decided to make a gigantic mound, tall like a mountain, where their supplications would have easier access to the heavens and soften the heart of Pitao.

Day after day, during many suns and during many moons, the building of the mound never stopped and men came from every corner of the world inhabited by the chosen people of Pitao, to pile up rocks and earth, stone and earth, like the patient labor of ants, until the mound had became high indeed, even as high as a mountain.

Having finished the gigantic mound, they arranged at its summit an extensive open space, and on top of it they erected a great pyramid dedicated to Pitao. And they returned to the bottom and waited.

Then Pitao, hardly satisfied by the scarce industry of men, but moved by their profound devotion, decided to create the one element that was still missing in order to test the sacrificial spirit of the gods, giving power and supreme dominion to the one which, without hesitation, passed the test of fire.

While the people waited at the bottom of the mound, on top of the mound all of the gods were gathered, and in front of them Pitao stacked up an enormous pile of wood and began to rub together the dry sticks, and he rubbed and rubbed and continued rubbing until the element, unknown to both gods and men, the powerful attribute of the sky, fire, sprang forth. And the fire engulfed the enormous pyre. And after a time the pyre became an enormous furnace which lapped the sky with tongues of flame and scattered the darkness of the night and spilled over to the earth the precious gift of heat.

After this, Pitao, the incorporeal, the uncreated, the infinite, the father of the gods and origin of everything that exists on earth, turned to the gods and said, "My children, now is the test."

The first to test the fire was Cociyo, the god of waters. But no sooner had he drawn near to the fire a few steps, he shrank back, repelled by the heat and smoke let loose by the brazen furnace.

Cocobi, the god of the harvest also tested the fire. So did Cozaana, the god of hunting and fishing. Each and every god tested the fire, and each and every god hesitated and shrank back, cowering from the power of that fiery crackling furnace.

Only the tiniest of the gods, the one who would later be known as Cocijo, had not yet tested the fire. Pitao did not want to even suggest that he try it, because he considered him too tiny. But the tiny god begged Pitao to let him try, and the other gods turned and looked at him, and Pitao said, "Test it!"

Then the god, who was tiny, asked his older brother, Cociyo, to soak his garments in water, and he asked Beé to blow the wind in front of him to turn the flames away, and stepping back a bit he ran full speed to the bonfire and with one jump he threw himself headfirst into it.

After the tiny god fell headfirst into the center of the bonfire whose flames angrily lapped the vastness, there began to appear a large dense and black cloud that rose from the pyre and rose and rose and rose until it stood fixed above the center of the earth.

And later from the inside of that black cloud hanging over the mound leapt forth a flash of lightning whose brilliance blinded both gods and men and illuminated the ends of the Earth and disappeared at the feet of Pitao with a horrific thunderclap which overcame the hearts of men and beasts, and shook the earth and vanished like a dreadful moan beyond the flanks and cliffs of the mountains.

And mankind, having overcome their fear, shouted out in a great voice of praise, "De quietu guí . . . De quietu guí . . . Uhuila lo Pitao!" (We have fire, we have fire, thanks be to Pitao!). and they immediately climbed up the steep sides of the mound and after bowing before the element born of the hands of supreme creator of every existing thing, they took control of fire which tthenceforth ceased to be in the control of the gods.

And so it was that fire was born on Earth and also the lightning from the sky that since then has streaked across the heavens and caught fire to the tree tops and smote the naked torsos of the mountains.

So Pitao gave the name "Cociyo" (lightening) to the tiniest of the gods, and in exchange for his sacrifice, he gave him supreme dominion over the other gods , because he passed without hesitation the test of fire.

And humankind named the great mound they had erected, "Diniguí" (hill of flame) in memory of the creation of fire, and "Danibán"1 (Sacred Hill of the Dead) because they believed that is where the holy body of Cocijo lay buried. And afterwards they named the months of their calendar "Cocijo" so to never forget his merciful sacrifice.

1/ The hill "Monte-Alban" (Oaxaca, Oax.)


Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

To my dear web family

Results of drinking too much green beer

Fun Facts about St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The actual color of St. Patrick is blue. Green became associated with St. Patrick's Day during the 19th century. Green, in Irish legends, was worn by fairies and immortals, and also by people to encourage their crops to grow.

St. Patrick did not actually drive snakes out of Ireland; the snakes represent the pagans that he converted to Christianity.

The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.

In Chicago, on St. Patrick's Day, the rivers are dyed green. Mayor Daley is also of Irish descent.

In Seattle, there is a ceremony where a green stripe is painted down the roads.

Most Catholics attend mass in the morning and then attend the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Shamrocks are worn on the lapel on this day.

In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair

Many young people dye their hair green for the special day.

Many people wear green on this holiday to avoid being pinched.

The phrase, "Drowning The Shamrock" is from the custom of floating the shamrock on the top of whiskey before drinking it. The Irish believe that if you keep the custom, then you will have a prosperous year.

Many bars in the United States, and abroad, serve green beer to celebrate St. Patty's Day.

Lucky Charms, a favorite cereal brand among many, young and old, was created in 1963, with its popular mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun. Its jig is a memorable tune for many, including the young at heart:

Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes
Clovers and Blue moons
Pots of gold and rainbows,
And the red balloon

That’s the luck of me lucky charms!
Their magically delicious!

Fun Facts about the Irish

34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.

Nine of the people who signed our Declaration Of Independence were of Irish origin, and nineteen Presidents of the United States proudly claim Irish heritage -- including our first President, George Washington.

Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.

The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”

The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.

The name “leprechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”

Fun Facts about Clovers

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14.

One estimate suggests that there are about 10,000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.



Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

KEEPING IT REAL WITH FRIZZY LIZZY

Hi dear friends and followers. Today is time for Frizzy Lizz, take five and have a good read

KEEPING IT REAL WITH FRIZZY LIZZY

Like I said, I've been a newlywed three times and you know the rest, but those times were not without some memorable moments. Take, for example, when my first husband and I left my duty station in Portsmouth, Virginia to live on a farm somewhere in central Pennsylvania. I affectionately refer to the area as “Poverty Pocket.” And the farm onto which we moved to live and start a new life was strictly from hunger.

I am a city girl. I grew-up in a city of 125,000 people. We lived in a Cape Cod house on a paved street that had lights and sidewalks. The grocery store was a five-minute walk in one direction, the church 7-minutes in the other, and the high school was 15 minutes' walk from my father's house. My grandparents and uncle lived just across the back alley in their own home. We all had a backyard and a front yard and that was enough space for us.

My first ex, Kevin, as born in New Jersey but his family was from up there in the region of Poverty Pocket. I call it that because if you don't own a farm, or if you're not a doctor, lawyer, or other business owner, you're destined to be broke. There are no jobs or employers of any size there.

So Kevin's family was finished with city life in New Jersey and they return to Poverty Pocket. Mom, dad, and six children, and they settle as renters on a certain farm that was called the “Potato Farm.” And where do you think Kevin wants to settle after I am released from active duty in the Coast Guard? You guessed right – on the Potato Farm. I was not quite 23 years old and knew no better so I went along with him. If I was 24 or 25 I would have given him another answer!

The place was about a five-minute drive from his family's home in the village. I never thought of that as being bad. Right. It was a very old house with a red metal roof and green shingles on the sides and had not been lived-in for at least a year prior to our arrival there.

Kevin left Portsmouth a month before I did so he could prepare the place for both of us, and I have to say that he did as good a job as one can with a 140-year-old house. Most of his efforts went into the kitchen. He hung new cabinets, installed a new sink and counter tops, new gas range, new refrigerator, new sheet vinyl on the floor, and a fresh coat of paint on the ceiling. There were a new washer and dryer in a corner of the kitchen. He also closed-off the older portion of the house that we were not to live in.

I got a ride from Portsmouth with a fellow Coast Guardsman who was passing through the area, right to Kevin's family's house in the village, where I was welcomed with open arms. I wish it was with an open bottle of whiskey as well!

We had supper and Kevin took me up to where we were supposed to live. That's what I signed-on to do, so I was ready.

We drove out of the village, down the main road, and off to the right, up into the hills where the electric and telephone lines ended, along with civilization, or so I thought. Along the dirt roads, we went until we turned left and went down a long land, where we stopped. Kevin announcer, “We're home!” I'm glad somebody felt like that!

Over the next week, I tried to get accustomed to the house. We had a well for water and a jet pump in the basement that acted-up like a spoiled child. Our heat came from an oil-fired furnace that was far too small for the size of the house that it was in. The house was so drafty that you could not light a match in the kitchen without the breeze blowing it out. The kitchen floor was sagging so badly that a marble could roll from any point on the floor to the center. The basement had a dirt floor that was about four feet from the floor above it, so you had to duck your head to be down there at all. But that was home.

We were there for a week when Kevin, who was never sick, came down with the worst flu that both he and I have ever seen. The man was sick. I mean, so sick that he could barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom! And the fact that the bedroom was upstairs and the bathroom downstairs, right off the kitchen, did not make it any easier for him. I know that if he had died, he would have been thankful. He was that sick.

About a week into the illness, I was able to coax him to come to the kitchen and have some tea and toast. He descended the stairs with the speed of an arthritic old man and shuffled his way to the table, where he sat in his pajamas and robe while I made him some toast with butter and grape jam and a cup of tea. It was the first he had eaten in a week. I remember it well.

Kevin sat at the table, bent over with aches and pains, slowly taking nourishment, as I was folding clothes from the dryer. I had an armful of things to take upstairs and put on the dresser and I walked towards the stairs. I turned right and got about half-way up the stairs. That's when Kevin reports having heard the wash hit the steps and me come flying back downstairs.

He asked me what was happening. I told him that there was a snake in the hall at the top of the stairs.

Kevin slowly rose from his chair, and all bent-over, he shuffled to the stairs, walked-up, looked, and judged two things to be true: 1/ There was no snake up there, and, 2/ I was seeing things.

Now I am not necessarily afraid of snakes in their right setting, but my house is not that setting. However, if Kevin said that there is no snake in the hallway, then he might be right. So I ventured to the stairs to pick-up the clothing that I had dropped. I got about half-way up the steps and again, I returned without touching any steps on the way down.

I shouted to Kevin that there was most certainly a snake up there!

He again arose, this time with more resolve, and he saw the tail of a large black snake hanging down from the window sill where the snake was getting some sun.

“It's a black snake, “ he told me, “It's not harmful and it eats rats and mice. Let me get my gloves on and I will throw him outside.” That course of action did not set well with me and I told him as much, in the strongest of terms. “Kill it!,” I told him. “I don't care how, just kill it.”

Kevin was feeling awful with the flu and the snake disturbing the peace did not do him any good. He shuffled to the back door and took the .22 caliber rifle in his hand, checked it for ammunition, put a round in the chamber, and went upstairs.

I heard 3 gunshots. Kevin returned to the kitchen looking worse than when he went upstairs. “Snake's dead,” he said, and put the rifle back where he had found it. Then he reached for the aspirin and took 6 of them and went back up to bed.

I was petrified to go upstairs and I needed help so I called my mother-in-law and told her what had happened. She sent her husband, a gem of a man whom I shall fondly remember, to help me.

Together we went upstairs. We could still smell the gunpowder in the hallway. It looked like a scene from the Wild West or a gunfight at the OK Corral. There were bullets gouged into the base moldings on the left side of the hallway and evidence of where one bullet had gone through the folds of the drapes and into the ceiling. And there was the black snake, healthy and cut down in the prime of a black snake's life. He was a fair-sized specimen. I had the creeps as my father-in-law carried it out of the house and threw it over the fence and into the pasture.

Kevin's health gradually returned but my love for living on that damn farm, as little as it ever was, became even less after that snake got shot in the hallway.

We left that farm to return to city life, with a vengeance, after 4 years there. After problems with the well, frozen plumbing, being snowed-out, and having strange visitors come knocking at 02:00 on the night of the new moon.

I don't miss that place any more than I miss Kevin.
Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

The dear and the Jajuar

Hi dear friends and followers. Today we have one more tale from the Maya.

The dear and the Jajuar

A deer went to look for a place to build himself a house. There was also a jaguar who was out looking for a place to set up a house. He came to the same place the deer had chosen, and thought he would build there also.

The next day the deer came and thoroughly cleared the ground with his antlers. The jaguar came later and said:

"It seems somebody is helping me." Then he stuck some big poles in the ground and set up the framework.
The next day the deer came back and when he saw this, he said: "It seems somebody is helping me."

Then he covered the house with branches and made two rooms, one for him and the other one for whomever was helping him.

The next day the jaguar saw that the house was finished. He went in one room and fell asleep. The deer came later and went to sleep in the other room.

One day the two came home at the same time. When they saw each other, the jaguar asked the deer: "Was it you who was helping me?

The deer answered: "Yes, it was me."

Then the jaguar said: "Let's live together."

"Yes, let's live together in the same house," said the deer. They went to sleep and the following morning the jaguar said:

"I'm going hunting, so sweep the floor, prepare wood and water, because I'll be hungry when I come back."

The jaguar went to the woods to hunt and got a very large deer. He brought it home and said to his companion: "Let's eat what I have caught."

But the deer didn't want to eat; he was very much afraid. He couldn't sleep all night long on account of fear. Early the next morning he went to the woods and met a very large jaguar. Later he met a large bull and said to him:

"I met a jaguar who was bad-mouthing you."

The bull went looking for the jaguar and found him resting. The bull came quietly up to the jaguar and leaped on top of him and gored him. Then the deer went off dragging the dead jaguar. When he got home, he said to his companion:

"Let's eat what I have caught."

The jaguar approached him, but he didn't want to eat; he was very frightened. That night he couldn't sleep thinking about the deer killing jaguars; and the deer couldn't sleep thinking about the jaguar killing deer. Both were very frightened.

At midnight as the deer moved his head, his antlers struck the wooden walls of the house. The jaguar and the deer were frightened by the noise, and both of them ran out of the house without stopping. And so the deer and the jaguar each went his separate way.

Trust is a gift. Don't throw it away.

Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿