Table of Contents
What is the meaning of a zemi?
1 : a spirit of supernatural being of the aboriginal Tainos of the West Indies.
What is the zemi used for?
A zemí (also zemi, zeme or cemi) is a collective term in the Caribbean Taíno (Arawak) culture for “sacred thing,” a spirit symbol or personal effigy.
What does a zemi look like?
An emaciated figure looks out at us, his teeth bared and his eyes wide open. A large bowl rests atop his head. This figure, known as a zemí (or cemí), shows someone who has likely fasted for days in preparation for a ritual, which involved snuffing cohoba (a type of hallucinogen).
Who is the Taíno god?
Yocahu
Yocahu: Yocahu is the leading god of the Taino people. He is the son of Atabey and god of the sea.
What God did the Tainos fear?
Juracán is the phonetic name given by the Spanish colonizers to the zemi or deity of chaos and disorder which the Taíno natives in Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba, as well as the Island Caribs and Arawak natives elsewhere in the Caribbean, believed controlled the weather, particularly hurricanes (the latter …
What is Tainos religion?
The Arawak/Taíno were polytheists and their gods were called Zemi. The zemi controlled various functions of the universe, very much like Greek gods did, or like later Haitian Voodoo lwa. However, they do not seem to have had particular personalities like the Greek and Haitian gods/spirits do.
Who did the Tainos worship?
Taíno religion, as recorded by late 15th and 16th century Spaniards, centered on a supreme creator god and a fertility goddess. The creator god is Yúcahu Maórocoti and he governs the growth of the staple food, the cassava. The goddess is Attabeira, who governs water, rivers, and seas.
Is Taíno black?
*The Taíno people are celebrated on this date in 1492. They are the indigenous people of all of the Caribbean that were the first to encounter white Europeans during the Middle Passage. Those claiming Taíno ancestry also have Spanish ancestry, African ancestry, and often, both. …
Does anyone speak Taino?
Classic Taíno (Taíno proper) was the native language of the Taíno tribes living in the northern Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and most of Hispaniola, and expanding into Cuba….Taíno language.
| Taíno | |
|---|---|
| Dialects | Classic Taíno Ciboney |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tnq |
| Glottolog | tain1254 |
Did Tainos worship the sun?
Description of Sun God The sun and the moon were both born in the same cave, legend states. This is the cave Mautiatibuel (son of dawn), also known as the “Lord of the Dawn” and belonged to the country’s chieftain. The Taino believed that the sun rose from this cave, and hid when the moon emerged from the same cave.
What does zemi stand for?
Updated October 23, 2019. A zemí (also zemi, zeme or cemi) is a collective term in the Caribbean Taíno (Arawak) culture for “sacred thing,” a spirit symbol or personal effigy. The Taíno were the people met by Christopher Columbus when he first set foot on the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies.
What is a zemi bowl used for?
Dominican Republic: 15th-16th century. The bowl atop the figure’s head was used to hold cohoba during rituals. A zemi or cemi was a deity or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object housing the spirit, among the Taíno people of the Caribbean. They were also created by indigenous South Americans.
What are zemi carvings and where are they found?
…form represented the spirits ( zemi) of the land. The Taino culture is famous for these zemi carvings, which are found in many of the islands, notably Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Carved stone pestles with human and animal designs are also common, along with strange “stone collars”—oval carvings that may…
What is a Taino zemi mask?
Taino Zemi mask from Walters Art Museum. A zemi or cemi was a deity or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object housing the spirit, among the Taíno people of the Caribbean. They were also created by indigenous South American cultures.