Mother of Waters
Taíno · deity · mythic primordial · Recorded classification
Female primordial mother goddess, parthenogenetic mother of Yúcahu. Her violent storm-aspect is the goddess Guabancex. Recorded by Pané, the friar Columbus charged with documenting Taíno belief in 1498.
Children
Domains
- fresh water and rivers
- fertility and childbirth
Powers
- bring forth life and the flow of fresh water
Epithets
- Yermao, Guacar, Apito, Zuimaco The mother-goddess's other four recorded names alongside Atabey (Pané lists five)Ramón Pané, Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios (c. 1498), ch. 10 (primary)
Relations
- ancestor of: Cassava LordHer storm-aspect Guabancex is an aspect, not kin.Ramón Pané, Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios (c. 1498), ch. on Yúcahu, son of Atabey without male progenitor (primary)
Sources
- Atabey is the Taíno mother goddess of fresh water, fertility, and childbirth, mother of the supreme deity Yúcahu, and is known by the epithets Atabeira, Yermao, Guacar, Apito, and Zuimaco.: Pané, Ramón. Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios, c. 1498. (primary); Stevens-Arroyo, Antonio M. Cave of the Jagua, 1988. (secondary)