Aguara is a mythological fox in Ava Guaraní and Chané mythology.
In oral traditions, Aguara is suffixed with tunpa ('sacred') and called Aguara-tunpa.[1] Aguara is a trickster, sometimes described as malignant,[2] though it also plays the part of a cultural hero. For example, Aguara is credited with stealing algarroba seeds from the Viscacha, along with capturing Vulture and demanding rubber as a ransom, thus creating rubber for mankind. He is featured in many myths with his rival Tatu-tunpa, a mythological armadillo, whom Aguara ultimately kills.[1][3] Aguara frequently interacted with human beings, tricking them and having beautiful women bear his children.[4]
Aguara is associated with the constellation Scorpius, and the "bend" of the scorpion's tail was said to be his farming corral.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Steward, Julian Haynes (1946). Handbook of South American Indians. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 484.
- ^ Frazer, Sir James George (1923). Folk-Lore in the Old Testament. p. 104.
- ^ Memoirs of the American Folk-lore Society. American Folk-lore Society. 1946. p. 8.
- ^ Erick D. Langer (19 August 2009). Expecting Pears from an Elm Tree: Franciscan Missions on the Chiriguano Frontier in the Heart of South America, 1830–1949. Duke University Press. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-8223-9091-6.
- ^ Smith, Silvia. "El Escorpión" [Scorpio]. Cielo Sur (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
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