Uxe
The moon, uxe, is born of transgression and death. In the widely recorded origin narrative a youth visits his sister by night; to learn who her secret lover is she paints his face with genipa dye, and by the black mark he is exposed. Killed and beheaded, whether by kin or by enemies, his severed head asks his mother for cords of coloured cotton, which he hangs from the pole of the sky and climbs to become the moon; the coloured cords become the rainbow, also called Yube's blood and the path of the dead. The moon so made orders the counting of months and is tied to the menstrual blood of women, and the full moon is named uxe badi, moon-sun. Sources differ on whether the youth of this narrative is to be identified with Yube the anaconda: Lagrou records the name Yube for the moon-brother, folding the moon, the rainbow and the anaconda into a single transforming figure, while other recordings keep the moon-origin narrative distinct.
Domains
- moon
- menstruation and time
Powers
- ascends to the sky as a severed head
- governs menstruation and the reckoning of time
Epithets
- uxe badi — moon-sun (the full moon)Instituto Socioambiental. Povos Indigenas no Brasil: Huni Kuin (Kaxinawa). (secondary)
Sources
- The moon originates from the severed head of an incestuous youth, discovered by his sister through the genipa mark she painted on his face; his head climbs a cord of coloured cotton to the sky to become the moon, and the cord becomes the rainbow.: Lagrou, Els. 2007. A fluidez da forma. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks. (secondary)
- The full moon is called uxe badi, 'moon-sun'.: Instituto Socioambiental. Povos Indigenas no Brasil: Huni Kuin (Kaxinawa). (secondary)