Ancient Pixels

Viracocha and the myths of the origins (Perú)

At the beginning Viracocha came out of Lake Titicaca to wrap the world under darkness. He divided the world in four parts. He first created giants, but then destroyed them in favor of humans. When humans started wars, Viracocha sent a great flood that killed them all. He later took the form of a human, but when the others human tried to kill him he set the world on fire and after their begging for forgiveness he stopped. He later on spent many years teaching men until one day he left with his servants and walked into the sea.

Potosí and the craze for silver (Perú)

An indian named Gualpa was hunting for deer when he climbed Mt. Potosí and grabbed onto a branch that was coming out from a mine that had silver in it. He immediately notified his lord but no one belived him so he mined silver, but his neighbor called Gaunca saw him. At the insistence of his neighbor, Gualpa took Guanca to the mine. Then they started taking out the silver but told their secret to a spaniard named Diego de Villarroel who exploited the mine, and thus the city of Potosí was born.

The love of Tabare the Charrúa indian (Uruguay)

The spaniards when trying to enter Uruguay were encountered by the Charrúa indians and they had to go back to their ships but a woman named Magdalena was left. The chieftain Caracé took her and they later had a mestizo child called Tabaré who had blue eyes. A spaniard captain called Gonzalo de Orgaz abducted Tabare when he was an adult. Orgaz’s sister, Blanca de Orgaz, fell in love with Tabaré and they got together. A charrúa leader called Yamandú attacked their village and took Blanca. Seeing this Tabaré went to save her and killed the Charrúa leader. When he brought her back to the village, Gonzalo who tought that Tabaré was the raptor killed him.

María Lionza

A chieftain named Nivar had a child with pupils of a very lively and beautiful green color. This was believed to be of bad luck so the priests decided that she had to be sacrificed to the giant anaconda who lived in the lake. The chieftain didn’t comply and hid her under the protection of twenty-two warriors whom she dazzled with her eyes. She was forbidden from looking at any reflective surface so that she couldn’t see herself. One strange day, when she was a teenager, all the warriors fell asleep, she went outside and saw her reflection in the lake. When she saw two black holes instead of pupils she screamed so hard that the anaconda appeared and swallowed her and began to grow and grow until it exploded creating a flood that destroyed everything in it’s path. After the flood, María Lionza reappeared to rebuild the world and human life and became their queen, their protector, and mother Earth.

The Lirolay Flower

The Lirolay flower is a miraculous flower that cures all illness and brings good luck. Legend has it that a chieftain who lived in the north and loved his three sons turned blind and was recommended this flower. His three sons decided then to find this flower and their father promised a crown to the first one to bring it back. They traveled together all across the country but couldn’t find it so they decide to split and look separately. The older one couldn’t find it as well as the second one, but the third one asked the goddess Pachamama for help. He found it in the middle of the jungle and returned back to the palace only to find out in the way that his brothers robbed the flower from him. The chieftain got his vision back but was saddened because the third son was missing so he offered a reward to whoever found him. Turns out the third son dead and was living in a pond under the protection of Pachamama. A shepherd who made a flute out of a cane, played his instrument near the pond and he heard the voice of the son telling him that he was killed by his brothers. The shepherd immediately went to the chieftain who played the flute and heard the voice. The brothers confessed to killing him and the chieftain brought the Lirolay flower to the dead son who was brought back to life. They went back to the palace, but remembered that they left the flower at the pond and returned back but didn’t find it. Later on the son became the new chieftain who governed with peace and wisdom.