Legend of the Vanilla

Vainilla in Spanish, Vanilla in English. The name is evocative of smells, flavours, and humid heat. Nothing makes me more nostalgic than remembering myself as a 12 year old girl coming home from school and being greeted by my mom with a glass of cool yoghourt and water flavoured with a dark syrupy substance called "vainilla". The substance did not come from the supermarket, but was bought regularly by my father when he traveled to Veracruz, particularly to the city of Papantla. Later on, as a young woman, I traveled myself to Papantla with my 1 year old son. It was a wonderful experience to wander through the markets and see the ways in which Mexican artists would weave the vanilla leaves in insect shapes. Magic fingers would give life to scorpions, spiders, butterflies or tiny baskets, or little crosses to scent your linen cabinets. It was a truly wonderful and intoxicating experience....so, my fascination with vanilla, grew and grew... Enjoy the story.

The legend tells us that Xanath, the eldest daughter of a family of Totonac noblemen, was a girl of incredible beauty who lived in a palace close to the ceremonial centre of Tajin. One day, Xanath was going to deposit an offering on the statue of Chac-Mool (the divine messenger), when she noticed a lovely tune coming from behind an inner courtyard in the ceremonial centre. She peered through the door and saw a young man, whistling to himself. It was a handsome and strong young fellow called Tzarahuin. Xanath loved music, and soon they were exchanging tunes, and songs and laughter. Love at first flourished between them. The young lovers tried to meet as often as possible.

... And their love matured and grew.
Their love grew and matured although Xanath was a noblewoman, and Tzarahuin was not. He was not a warrior, not a prince, not a priest nor a wealthy merchant; he was an only an artist. But, what an artist! He played music, particularly wind conches, the magical instruments with which to summon people to the ceremonies. He was also a painter. He did decorations for the temple. He had been sent as a young lad to the school in the temple, where the teachers soon discovered his ability for the arts and soon he was allowed to be part of a troupe of artist craftsmen who painted an decorated the hundreds of niches in the ceremonial centre. His family were farmers and when he was free from his duties in he temple, he helped them tend their orchard. He was often very busy working in the upkeep of the temple, but always liked to help his family specially during the harvest season. When he met Xanath, he was coming back from helping his family sell their produce at the market.


The fat god of Happiness.

One day, as Xanath was rushing to meet Tzarahuin, the fat god of Happiness cast his eye on the young girl. His eyes followed her as she ran through the ceremonial centre. He admired the fragility of her frame, and the agility of her movements. She combined both frailty and innocence, with strength and determination. The more he saw of her, the more he wanted her. His eyes followed her everywhere, all the time. Twice, he approached her and tried to speak to her, but she ran away, frightened that the god of Happiness would wish to speak to a humble Totonac girl. The god however, was not to be dissuaded easily and tried one third time to approach Xanath. This time, the girl stayed and listened to what the god had to tell her.

Xanath listened carefully and after the god of Happiness confessed his love for her, she sadly told him that she could not marry him, because her heart already belonged to another one. The god of Happiness was angry that a simple Totonac girl would refuse him and he decided to take matters into his own hands. He went to visit the girl's father. He shared with the him secrets that were only known to the gods, and the wealth and prestige of Xanath's father increased greatly. Soon, after this, Xanath was ordered by her father to marry the god of Happiness. However, Xanath, full of inner strength defied both her father and the god of Happiness. She refused to leave Tzarahuin. In total rage, the god of Happiness transformed Xanath into a feeble, delicate plant, with lovely white flowers and an intoxicating smell. When Tzarahuin found out what had happened to Xanath, he took his own life, at the foot of the plant.


The legend tells us however, that he comes back every spring in the form of a humble melipona bee and spends hours tenderly circling around the petals of the vanilla flower, making love to his Xanath.

Credits
The image of the market was taken by Quitepeculiar from a mural by Diego Rivera.
The wonderful image of the vanilla flower was taken by EternalImages. The image of the couple kissing was taken by Zen. The image of the bee busy pollinating was taken by JeanM1. The image of the vanilla pod was taken by Simon Goldenberg.

I also found another story of the creation of the vanilla. This one is rather more gruesome....read on if you like and compare...

The Gift from the Gods: the Potato

This is my translation and adaptation of an ancient Andean Myth of the way the Sapallas, the earlier Aymara people, got the potato as a gift from the Gods. I first heard this story in Spanish, recounted as part of the Todas las Voces project.

Here is the story. Enjoy.

The Legend of the Potatoe.

A very very long time back, so far back that it is hard to remember, there were the Sapalla people. They lived in a beautiful and plentiful land, full of mountains, vast plains and a beautiful, large lake, full of fish and birds. The god Viracocha, the creator of the world had indeed been very generous to the Sapallas. He looked over them, and the people, flourished. there was plenty in the land, and people could devote themselves to the arts, poetry, painting and building wonderful buildings. The Sapalla were so happy that they so no need for conflict. They felt so assured in their land and their luck that they abolished their army and ruled out conflict from their lands.

However, in the north of their lands, lived another people, the Cari. Viracocha had not been so generous to the Cari. Their land was dominated by a big wondrous mountain. The Caris knew that their mountain, the Mistiariquipai was full of magic. Indeed, the mountain was the holder of all the evil and mischiveous genii in the world. Viracocha had put them inside the mountain together with their leader, the Lord Kuno. Kuno, and the genii were not happy inside the mountain. They were constantly trying to get out, and the mountain, trembled, and soared, and sometimes, long spouts of smoke would come out of its entrails, scaring the Caris. The land around the mountain was not very good for plowing because there was little rain, and the Caris had to wander far and wide for hunting. Often, when they came back, they sent scouts to search the best route back home, away from the smoke and fumes of the Misti.


One day however, Kuno and the genii managed to escape through a crack in the mountain. The Misti, roared and bellowed and yellow fire spouted from its mouth. Smoke and ashes enveloped the sky and circled the land. The Caris, although strong and valiant warriors could not fight the river of fire that soon engulfed their houses and their land. They had to leave. So, they gathered the few belongings they had left and went south.

The Invasion.

The Caris knew of the land of the Sapallas, through their hunting expeditions. Some of them had ventured that far south, and had come back with good game, and stories of a land that was rich and plentiful. The Caris walked and walked. They took many moons to reach the outskirts of the Sapalla land. They sent scouts and were amazed to see that the city was without walls, the people did not carry bows and arrows and the fields were unprotected. The Caris attacked at night, using all the cunning an stealth from years of being excellent hunters. The Zapallas had no chance... many died and eventually surrendered. The Caris were the lords of the land. They were not gentle with the Sapallas. They made the Sapallas work very hard; gave them little food, and did not let them do anything that would nourish their soul. Soon the spirit of the Sapallas was broken. They felt that the gods had abandoned them and their children were born without hope.

The Lord Choque has a dream.

Hopelessness happened to all the Sapallas, except for one; the lord Choque. He was the son of the last Sapalla king. Choque was defiant. He had fire inside him and the fire gave him strength. He refused to work for the Caris and would not obey their orders. He was intent on offering gifts to the old Sapalla gods, although the Caris had destroyed the places of worship. The Caris imprisoned Choque and would often tortured him in front of the Sapallas. However, Choque remained unbroken.

One day, after a very gruesome public punishment, the elders of the Sapallas went to Choque to try to convince him, to abandon his defiance and submit to the rule of the Caris. They argued with Choque, but he was not willing to give in. He told them that although imprisoned, he was free in spirit. At night his spirit would wander the altiplanos, walk the mountains, and drink from the clean lake. He would always be a free man because his spirit was free. The elders listened and pondered.

Viracocha, the creator god, was looking with favour on Choque, and one day, decided to help him. As Choque was wandering through the snowy mountains in his sleep, Viracocha sent him an envoy in the form of a condor. The majestic bird flew to the encounter of Choque's spirit and spoke to him. "Choque" - he said- "Viracocha is with you, he has seen your valour and the strength of your spirit. You will be a light to your people. Come with me to the next valley; there, I will show you a mound of seeds. Get some of the Sapallas to collect the seeds and plant them. Tell your people to take good care of them, water them, nourish them." Choque woke up. He was startled by the force of the dream but he felt renewed.

The next time the elders came to see him, he told them of his dream. The elders sent a group of men to find the seeds, and indeed, in the next valley, there was a mound of seeds. The women planted them, and all the Sapallas took turns looking after the plants. The plants grew strong from the water of the lake, but also from the dreams of the people.

The Flourishing Plants.


The Caris, saw the growth of the plants, and noted their beauty. Soon, they saw that the plants was giving flowers; little white, beautiful flowers. The flowers turned into red fruits, and the Caris, greedy souls that they were, gathered all the fruits and the leaves, and grilled them, seasoned them with spices and ate them with corn. They all ate the fruit of the Sapallas work. None of the Sapallas ate. They merely witnessed and remained silent. There was sadness in their heart, because they had liked the flowers and had thought that the fruits might be an addition to their meager foods.

As night came in, and everyone was asleep, the condor came to Choque. He said - "Choque wake up, the hour has come, gather your warriors. Be silent, listen carefully, but make haste. Soon your people will be free...." Choque listened carefully and heard groaning outside his cell. The Caris, who had all eaten the fruit of the plants given by Condor were groaning in agony. Some were vomiting... others were rolling on the ground clutching their stomachs.

The Sapallas, woke to the cries just like Choque, and saw that their enemies were weak and sick. Women, children, young and old, everyone gathered sticks and stones, and arrows and anything they could, and they chased the Karis out of the village and out of the land. After the battle, they came back to the city, buried the dead and did their first offering to the gods as free men.

Many moons later, the Condor appeared again to Choque in his dreams. He told Choque to go back to the field where the beautiful flowers had been. "Why should I go there?" -said Choque. "There is nothing there now... the Caris took everything... we need to plant again, and rebuild.... There is no time to waste looking at barren land!". "Go back", -said the condor. "Look under the ground and remember that Viracocha, the creator God is with your people."

When Choque woke up, he went to the barren field and with the help of some women, dug underneath the ground. They found a yellow, rather ugly looking tuber, but once cleaned from the dust, it was red on the outside and yellow, creamy on the inside. The women decided to roast and then they discovered a wonderful food. They named it "papa".... potato.

And, this is how the potato is a the gift of the gods to the Sapallas, and to mankind.


Credits
The image of the potatoe flower was done by Weissersteir. The photograph of the Misti is by Ramonfrombcn. The image of the condor was done by Matito.