Búnkuasé, the shining lord and patron of the priesthood

Búnkuasé, whose name is glossed 'the shining one', is one of the sons of Gauteóvan, the Kogi Great Mother. He personifies the highest moral principles of Kogi ethics and is therefore regarded as the patron and spiritual guardian of the priesthood. According to Reichel-Dolmatoff, the sons of the Mother raised the sacred mountain of Doanankuívi at the headwaters of the Tucurrice River and built inside it the first ceremonial house in which novices were to be trained; Búnkuasé was the first legendary máma to teach a group of disciples and to lay down the rules by which future priests would be chosen and educated. He thus stands as the archetype of light, justice, and the disciplined ascetic knowledge that defines the Kogi máma.

Parentage

• Gauteóvan, the Great Mother

Domains

• priesthood and initiation
• moral law and justice

Powers

• to establish the rules by which priests are chosen and educated

Epithets

• Búnkuasé

Relations

• sibling: Kashindúkua, the jaguar-priest and first curer
• sibling: Duginávi, culture-hero of cultivation

Sources

• Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. 'Training for the Priesthood among the Kogi of Colombia.' In Enculturation in Latin America, ed. Johannes Wilbert. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976.
• Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. 'The Great Mother and the Kogi Universe: A Concise Overview.' Journal of Latin American Lore 13(1): 73-113, 1987.