The Magic of the Wayuu Ritual traditional
As the young ones prepare for the Wayuu ritual, the intense cold of the night seizes them, and the matron of the family bathes them in front of the ranch. The water from the sacred plant falls like an opportunity to straighten the course of existence.
The advice was to think about the future, in all aspects of life, while the drops of the mysterious liquid traveled across the body in the proper position; doing so would strengthen the desires that took place during that magical moment.
All of this was the consequence of a previous revelation that a family member had, where Lapü, the deity of dreams. They gave the instructions for carrying out this contact with the vibrations of nature.
Location and time for performing the Wayuu ritual
The chosen location for the Wayuu ritual was the community of Ishamana, as it was the homeland where the ancestors of the Epinayu lineage were born, lived, and died. Therefore, they would be accompanied by their energy from the Süpuna Wayuu Oütusü, the Path of the Wayuu Dead.
They decided that midnight was the appropriate time for the ritual. The darkness was conducive for positive energy to emerge from the depths of nature and transmute into everything they would undertake from the next day onwards.
The preliminary stage involved a dinner for those called to be blessed by the Pülashii or Great Geniuses, Juya, the Father Rain, and Mma, the Mother Earth. They accompanied the family until late, and the family offered them food. By sacrificing a goat, they catered to everyone’s needs.
The matron prepared the liquid, extracted from a wise member of the Wunnu or Plant Beings, and waited for the darkest moment of the night to pour it over the young members of the lineage. Men and women would become bearers of that energy and should make it fruitful in their daily activities.
At the end of the ritual, after allowing themselves to dry in the open air. They prepared to meet Lapü in the hammocks distributed in the thatched structure, while one of them said:
“Estos baños de que son efectivos son efectivos”.
Glossary
Epinayu: A Wayuu lineage.
Juya: Rain.
Lapü: Dream.
Mma: Mother Earth.
Pülashii: Great geniuses, natural phenomena, the first generation of Wayuu life.
Wayuu: An indigenous people with settlements in the department of the Guajira (Colombia) and the state of Zulia (Venezuela).
Wunnu: Plant kingdom, the second generation of Wayuu life.
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