LA VERDADERA VISTA-----TRUE SIGHT

[Miguel Sague Jr]

El gran estudioso de la cultura indo antillana, Sebastian Robiou Lamarche reconocio que los antiguos tainos idearon un enlace entre las energias del kasike (jefe) de la comunidad indigena y el resplandor dorado del sol. Tambien esa gente pensaron que esta relacion se extendia a la luz dorada del dia y el fulgor del cielo seco durante el tiempo despejado. Por lo cual el kasike ostentaba un medallon de oro que representaba su posicion de autoridad. Al mismo tiempo Robiou Lamarche sugerio que esa gente tambien ideo que la oscuridad de la noche, el resplandor plateado de la luna nocturna y la humedad que se asocia con la falta de sol eran parte de un enlace complementario con las energias del behike (chaman o sacerdote) de la comunidad.

Esta relacion entre el kasike-sol-diurnio y el behike-luna-nocturna forma parte de la base de nuestra filosofia espiritual en el Circulo Caney. Nosotros ideamos una coneccion entre la identidad seca, dorada y diurnia del kasike-sol con el punto cardenal del este (oriente), que es el lugar donde nace el sol todas las ma~anas y nos trae la luz diurnia. Al mismo tiempo acceptamos una coneccion entre la identidad humeda, oscura y nocturna del behike-luna y el punto cardenal del oeste (oxidente), que es el lugar donde se pone el sol todas las noches y nos deja en la oscuridad nocturna de la luna.

The great scholar of Indigenous Caribbean culture, Sebastian Robiou Lamarche recognized that the ancient Tainos imaged a link between the energies of the kasike (chief) of the Indigenous community and the brightness of the golden sun. Likewise those people thought that this relationship extended even farther to include the golden light  of the daytime and the brightness of the dry, cloudless sky, during a clear day, which is the reason why the kasike wears a gold medallion on his or her chest. At the same time Robiou Lamarche suggested that those ancient people also imaged that the darkness of the night, the silver glow of the night-time moon and the moisture associated with the lack of sunlight formed part of a complementary link with the energies of the behike (shaman or priest) of the community.

This relationship between the kasike-daytime-sun and the behike-night time-moon forms part of the foundation of our Caney Circle spiritual philosophy. We image a connection between the dry, golden, daytime identity of the solar-kasike with the cardinal direction of the east, which is the place where the sun rises every morning and brings us the light of daytime. At the same time we image a connection between the moist, dark, nocturnal energies of the lunar-behike and the cardinal direction of the West, which is the place where the sun sets every evening and leaves us in the darkness of the lunar night.

EL ORIENTE- El Dia

THE EAST -The Day

EL OXIDENTE- La Noche

THE WEST -The Night

El gran autor Eugenio Fernandez Mendez observo en su libro ARTE Y MITOLOGIA DE LOS INDIOS TAINOS DE LAS ANTILLAS MAYORES que los antiguos tainos reconocian que existe una coneccion entre las cuatro estaciones del a~o, las cuatro diferentes posiciones que toma el sol en el cielo durante el ciclo anual y cuatro pajaros silvestres. De acuerdo al entendimiento de nosotros en el Circulo Caney esos pajaros son; el GUANAJO (pavo comun), el MUKARO (buho), el KOLIBRI (picaflor) y el GUARAGUAO (gavilan). Sebastian Robiou Lamarche a indicado que los antiguos tainos reconocian la coneccion entre los cuatro puntos cardenales; NORTE, SUR, ESTE y OESTE y los cuadruples legendarios de la mitologia taina, hijos de la madre mistica, Itiba Cahubaba. Nosotros en el Circulo Caney combinamos estos dos conceptos en un solo entendimiento y sugerimos que los cuatro pajaros tambien estan relacionados con los cuatro puntos cardenales; el guanajo en el Sur, el mukaro en el Oeste, el kolibri en el Norte y el guaraguao en el Este.

El pajaro del este, el guaraguao, pajaro diurnio de rapi~a, representa la vision externa, amplia y lejana que se asocia con la brillante luz solar del dia, la ILUMINACION. Este concepto se identifica con el punto cardenal del Este porque en el Este nace el sol todas las ma~anas y nos trae ese resplandor dorado del cielo diurnio. Este punto cardenal tambien esta relacionado con el poder del kasike, con su guanin de oro amarillo y la sequia que se asocia con el cielo despejado. La persona que llega a dominar el poder del punto cardenal de Este se le identifica con el poder del kasike (jefe) y se le dice que tiene el poder del kasike.

En contraste a todo eso, el pajaro nocturno del Oeste, el mukaro, representa la vision interna, personal e intima, que se asocia con el viaje a zonas misticas del inframundo, en la oscuridad nocturna de los ojos cerrados, sue~os y visiones, la INTROSPECCION. Esas zonas humedas que se consiguen atravez de las cavernas sagradas son el territorio del behike, el chaman o sacerdote. Son las regiones donde se consigue el poder sanador del curander@. La persona que llega a dominar ese poder se le compara con el behike y se dice que esa persona tiene el poder de behike.

En realidad se supone que el ser humano a de aspirar a dominar esos dos poderes al mismo tiempo de manera equilibrada. Se espera que la persona trate de llegar a un balance propio entre los poderes de la vision externa de la luz publica y la vision interna de la oscuridad sagrada intima.

The great author Eugenio Fernandez Mendez observed in his book ART AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE TAINO INDIANS OF THE GREATER WEST INDIES that the ancient Tainos recognized the existence of a connection between the four seasons of the year, the four different positions that the sun assumes in the sky during the yearly cycle and four wild birds. According to our understanding in the Caney Circle those birds are; the GUANAJO (turkey), the MUKARO (owl), the KOLIBRI (hummingbird) and the GUARAGUAO (hawk). Sebastian Robiou Lamarche has indicated that the ancient Tainos recognized the connection between the four cardinal points of the compass; NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST with the legendary quadruplets of Taino mythology, children of the mystic mother, Itiba Cahubaba.  We in the Caney Circle combine these two concepts in a single understanding and suggest that the four birds also are associated with the four cardinal directions; the guanajo in the South, the mukaro in the West, the kolibri in the North, and the guaraguao in the East.

The bird of the East, the guaraguao, a daylight bird of prey, represents external vision, broad and expansive, far-reaching, which is associated with the bright solar light of day, ILLUMINATION. This concept is identified with the East because it is in the East that the sun rises each morning and brings to us the golden brightness of the daytime sky. This cardinal direction is also associated with the kasike's power, with his or her guanin of yellow gold and the dryness that is associated with the cloudless sky. A person that can master that power of the cardinal direction of the East is identified with the power of the kasike (chief) and is said to possess the kasike's power.

In cotrast with all this, the night time bird of the West, the mukaro, represents internal vision, personal and intimate, which is associated with the journey to mystic zones of the inner realms, in the nocturnal darkness of the closed eyes, dreams and visions, INTROSPECTION. Those moist, watery zones that are accessed via sacred caves are the territory of the behike, the shaman or priest. They are the regions where healing powers of the curander@ are accessed. The person that masters this power is compared with the behike and it is said that this person possesses the power of the behike.

In reality it is assumed that a human being should aspire to master both of those two powers at the same time in a balanced manner. It is expected that a person should attempt to achieve a personal self-balance between the powers of the external vision of public light, and the internal vision of intimate, personal sacred darkness of the closed eyes.

Los cuatro puntos cardenales del circulo sagrado: El Sur (ACHIANO) color verde, El Oeste (KOROMO) color negro, El Norte (RAKUNO) color blanco, El Este (SOBAIKO) color amarillo.

The four cardinal directions of the medicine wheel: The South (ACHIANO) green, The West (KOROMO) black, The North (RAKUNO) white, The East (SOBAIKO) yellow.

Los antiguos tainos confeccionaron varios artefactos artisticos que han sobrevivido los ciglos y todavia se pueden estudiar. Algunos de esos artefactos presentan temas simbolicos muy curiosos. Uno de esos temas se manifesta en el hecho que esos artesanos crearon esculturas antropomorfes con rostros que tienen ojos de diferentes colores.

Ancient Tainos created various artifacts which have survived to the present day after many years and can still be studied. Some of these artifacts present very curious symbolic themes. One of these themes manifests in the fact that those artisans created  anthropomorphic sculptures with faces that feature eyes of different colors.

En el caso del llamado Cemi De Algodon que se encuentra en el museo de la ciudad de Turin, Italia, los ojos de la estatua son un ojo de color muy claro y el otro ojo de color oscuro. Este efecto estetico se logro con el uso de dos chapas confeccionadas de la parte dura de dos caracoles. El ojo derecho, de color claro fue construido de un pedazo de nacar, tambien conocido como madreperla. El ojo de color oscuro fue construido del operculo de un molusco grande. El operculo es una clase de tapa como una puerta que se abre y se cierra a la entrada del caracol para proteger la creatura que vive adentro.

In the case of the so-called Cotton Cemi which now resides at the museum in Turin, Italy, the eyes of the statue are one, light-colored and the other, dark-colored. This esthetic effect was accomplished via the use of two roughly circular caps crafted from two different seashells. The right eye was made from a piece of mother-of-pearl. The left eye was made from the operculum of a molusc. The operculum is a hard, round, structure that acts as a kind of trap-door at the opening of the snail's shell. It can be opened, and then quickly shut at will to seal up the opening and protect the creature inside. 

La chapa del ojo de color claro tiene un agujero en el centro que representa la pupila del ojo. Unos expertos que llevaron a cabo un estudio muy minucioso de este artefacto han concluido que esa perforacion, cuando fue confeccionada la obra, reguardo una pieza de algun material diferente. Como ya se sabe que algunas esculturas tainas llevaron incrustaciones de oro en los ojos, que despues fueron extraidas por los conquistadores espa~oles, se puede suponer que al igual, este ojo llevava una pieza circular de oro que fue arrancada por la avaricia iberica. Es logico concluir que el ojo de color claro tenia una pupila dorada que causaba que ese color claro sobresaltara con aun mas claridad.

A lo contrario el otro ojo fue cuidadosamente confeccionado de un material de color obviamente oscuro, el operculo de un gasteropodo. Este contraste de oscuro contra claro reafirma el concepto de dualismo ya presentado por el estudioso Sebastian Robiou Lamarche en varias de sus obras acerca del tema del arte taino.

The round eye-cap with the light coloring bears a small round orifice at its center which represents the pupil of the eye. Certain experts who carried out a detailed study of this piece concluded that this round perforation in the center of the right eye held some sort of different material at the time that the object was created. Since it is already well documented that some Taino sculptures actually had gold incrustations in their eyes which were later ripped out by the Spanish conquistadors, it can be reasonably assumed that there was once a small circular gold nugget in the hole at the center of the light colored eye. This small gold nugget was most probably extractedt by the greed of the Iberians. It is logical to conclude that the light-colored eye had a golden pupil that caused it to glow with its own radiance.

By way of contrast, the other eye was carefully constructed from a material that was obviously dark in color, the operculum of a gastropod (snail).This contrast of light-color against dark color reafirms the concept of duality already presented by Sebastian Robiou Lamarche on the topic of Taino art in various publications.

Un estudioso Taino contemporaneo sugiere que estos dos ojos de colores diferentes representan dos formas de ver o visualizar. El ojo de color claro representa la vison que se dedica a los concepos externos. Es la vison que esta relacionada con el don de la iluminacion, proveniente del punto cardenal del Este. Con respecto a esto, es logico considerar que la pupila de ese ojo de color claro efectivamente era de oro, material de color amarillo como el sol que esta relacionado con ese punto cardenal del Este. Ese es el ojo de la vision del guaraguao (gavilan).

A contemporary Taino researcher has suggested that these two eyes of different colors represent two ways of visioning or seeing. The light-colored eye represents the type of visioning that is dedicated to external concepts. It is the outward sight that pertains to the gift of Illumination, which comes from the cardinal direction of the East. With respect to this it is logical to consider that the pupil of this light-colored eye was made of gold, a yellow-colored material that is the same hue as the sun, and is related to the cardinal direction of the East. This is the eye that holds the vision of the guaraguao (hawk).

El estudioso previamente mencionado tambien opina que el ojo de color oscuro representa la vision interna, relacionada con las exploraciones privadas, espirituales y misticas. Este ojo se enfoca en los temas esotericos de sue~os y visiones intimas, y de comunicaciones con los ancestros que moran en las zonas del inframundo. Este ojo de color oscuro representa los poderes que provienen del espiritu que se encuentra en el punto cardenal del Oeste, el lugar donde se pone el sol y deja el mundo en la oscuridad poetica del behike. Este es el ojo de la vision del mukaro (buho).

The previously mentioned researcher also suggests that the dark-colored eye represents internal vision, related to private, spiritual, mystical explorations. That eye focuses on esoteric themes of dreams and intimate visions, and communications with ancestors who dwell in the netherworld on the other side of reality. This dark-colored eye represents the powers that are derived from the spirit who occupies a position at the cardinal direction of the West, the place where the sun goes down and leaves the world in the poetic darkness of the behike. This is the eye which possesses the sight of the mukaro (owl)

El ser humano necesita mantener el equilibrio entre estas dos visiones. Las dos son sumamente importantes y el cemi de algodon manifesta ese equilibrio de esas dos formas de ver o visualizar de manera ideal. Este es un cemi maestro, que ense~a silenciosamente y al mismo tiempo con enorme elocuencia, sin decir una palabra.

Human beings need to maintain this balance between these two visions. Both of them are extremely important and the cotton cemi manifests this balance between those two manners of visioning in the most ideal way. This is a teaching cemi, who teaches silently and at the same time with enormous eloquence, without saying a word.

[Miguel Sague Jr]

Anthony I am glad that this information is of value to you

[Anthony Ureña]

Miguel, that is welcomed news and reaffirms my intuitive views on that subject.

[Miguel Sague Jr]

Anthony, we in the Caney Circle are convinced that ancient Tainos included women in the practice of shamanism. Not all contemporary Tainos now agree with this opinion but a large number does. Because of this fact the Caney Circle is currently guided by both male behikes (spiritual guides) and female behikes.

[Anthony Ureña]

This is interesting - It makes it very clear to me that the human experience exists in two realms. The physical - lit up by day and the male force - and the spiritual social realm - the internal night realm - the feeling world of the female. This is very taoist too - were behike rites ever extended to female tainos too? If not then we should because that is in balance as nature intended.