Ta'e
Tikuna · deity · Tikuna traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Ta'e is the divinity of the uppermost of the three Tikuna worlds, the World Above, and the giver of human souls. In a cosmos divided among the World Above, the intermediate world of living people, and the World Below of demons and malevolent forces, Ta'e presides over the highest region and endows the Tikuna with the animating soul-principle at the source of life; some accounts additionally cast Ta'e as a guardian of the earth. The figure belongs to the domain of the immortals rather than to the narrative cycle of the hero-brothers, and stands somewhat apart from the genealogy that issues from Ngutapa. Sources differ on Ta'e's gender and on whether the name designates a single deity or a class of celestial being.
Domains
- sky
- soul
Powers
- gives the Tikuna their souls from the World Above
Sources
- Ta'e is the divinity who inhabits the World Above and who gives the Tikuna their souls; in some accounts a creator god who guards the earth.: Instituto Socioambiental, 'Ticuna: Cosmologia', Povos Indigenas no Brasil, pib.socioambiental.org. (secondary); Jean-Pierre Goulard, Entre mortales e inmortales: El ser segun los Ticuna de la Amazonia (Lima: CAAAP/IFEA, 2009). (secondary)