Mythology
Guaranì's myth
The history of the mate is documented by the Spanish conquistadores, and its discovery is commonly attributed to Hernando Arias de Saavedra. However, talking about discovery only applies to a Spanish optic, because mate was well known to the Guaranì*, to whom we owe the habit of drinking it. There are many legends about its origin, and in different versions. The oral tradition led to many divergences between one story and another, and the intervention of Christianity modified some of them, but broadly speaking, there are three great legendary stories such as how the plant was drunk, and it is very common to attribute a divine source to it.
They used to drink mate in a different way since they would macerate the leaves for days before drinking it, but most of the traditional mate drinking comes from their rituals.
Yaci
Legend has it that Yací* used to watch down from the sky the treetops and the water of the falls. Every so often she could catch a glimpse of something else when she leaked into a clearing, but in general her vision was limited to that. She was curious, and wanted to see for herself what was under the green foliage, and to discover with her own eyes the wonders of which the sun and the clouds had spoken to her.
One day she went down to the earth next to Araí* and in the shape of young girls they walked through the jungle. Absorbed as they were in contemplation, they did not detect a yaguareté* approaching, stealthy, to attack. But before he could do it, an arrow stuck in his side: an old Guarani hunter, who had noticed what was happening, had saved them. The beast was furious, but the hunter fired again, and the yaguareté fell dead. When the man wanted to see what had happened to the girls, they were no longer there.
That night, the hunter had a dream: he was again facing the yaguareté, again tending the bow and shooting the arrow, but this time, the women were waiting for him. She then called him by his name, and when he came near her, she revealed who she really was. Then, to thank him for his courage and help, she promised him a prize: a new plant, which she called caà*. Yací told the man that when he would have woken up he would find her in front of his house, and that he would use these leaves, toasted and ground, to make an infusion that would serve to bring the hearts of everyone closer and to drive away loneliness.
Upon awakening, the man found the plant, and did what Yací had told him. He toasted the leaves, ground them, and put them in a hollowed pumpkin, whose name in Guarani was mati. To drink, he used a thin cane, and the recipient went through all the members of the tribe.
Yaari
The elders told us that at a side of a stream, in the middle of the Missionary Forest, lived Yarí-i, who was a young and pretty Guaraní girl. She belonged to a nomadic tribe, which would never settle in a place for longer than a harvesting season. But due to the advanced age and fragility of her father, who no longer had the strength to continue the march, they decided to stay in one place, and Yarí-i went to take care of his father. She learned everything she needed so that both could survive in the jungle: to hunt, fish, look for fruits and everything that was necessary. Her father, meanwhile, was constantly praying to the god Tupú* to reward his daughter for the constant effort and sacrifice that she made in solitude day after day.
One day, a pilgrim appeared through the abode of Yarí-i and her father. Although both barely survived with what they had and they did not spare anything, they welcomed him in a good way. Yarí-i hunted an acutì* and cooked for him, and they welcomed him into their house, not ashamed of their poverty.
The next day, the pilgrim revealed the truth to them. It was none other than Tupu, who had listened to the prayers of the old man and wanted to verify in person the qualities of Yarí-i. It is said then that Tupu, fond of the generosity of the young woman, gave them a new plant of great virtues, the infusion of wich would be energizing and refreshing, and transformed Yarí-i into his immortal guardian, Caa-Yarí, who to this day she is still the protective goddess of yerba mate.
Another version of this legend assures that Yarí-i was transformed into the plant itself, and thus became immortal. However, it is difficult to think that being transformed into a plant is something very desirable, so the first version is perhaps a little more preferable.
ka'a
Ka’a lived on the banks of the Apa River long before it marked much of the border between Paraguay and Brazil. It is said that she was a beautiful woman, with long and black hair that flowed with the wind.
One day, Ka’a was resting near the river when she saw a group of men moving among the trees. The one who led the expedition was a haughty man of great bearing, and Ka’a fell madly in love with him as soon as she saw him. He, however, though he passed at a not bvery long distance, did not even notice her. She returned to her village and that night the man appeared to her in a dream, with his black eyes fixed on her.
The next day, when she got up, Ka’a noticed with amazement that the one of whom she had dreamed of was right there. He was a priest of the Mbya tribe who went to a temple called Mbaeveraguasu to take offerings, and had gone through the village to look for metals and stones that he could carry. For Ka’a this was like a big blow. The Mbya did not marry members of other tribes, let alone a priest.
But Ka’a did not give up, for she was sure that her dreams were a harbinger that she would be reciprocated. After the man left, he decided to go out and look for him. She wandered around until she met him by a stream on a warm night. However, he did not notice her once again. Ka’a, however, was determined to get his attention. She approached him, and started dancing for him.
The priest then saw her, and suddenly felt a great attraction for the beautiful girl who danced in front of him. Their eyes met, their blood boiled, but he knew that love could not be corresponded. He had a duty to fulfill, and Ka’a was a temptation that wanted to stop him. When she approached him even closer and embraced him, the priest took his stone ax, and without thinking twice, he struck it against the head of Ka’a, who fell dead unable to even utter a scream.
Many years later, an old priest with faded clothes passed through the village where Ka’a had lived. Already his memory had almost vanished. On a rock next to a nearby stream, the old man sat in the shade of a bush of unknown leaves. The aroma of the plant prompted him to take some leaves and chew them. He felt immediately how the bush brought back memories of a brief feeling of love he had had years ago, and that he had annihilated in an instant. What he was savoring was nothing other than the incarnation of the young woman who had confessed his love to him, and that would be the last thing he would taste, before going to join her.
That new plant, born of a tragic love, would be the yerba mate.