The Maguey

THE MAGUEY

The old goddesses were tired of looking for Mayáhuel, the lost princess and her grandmother was one of them. They sat under a tree with two branches. The princess appeared taking the shape of the branch that was above her grandmother, but terrified with the idea of meeting her, she shook in the middle of a whirl of leaves and the branch broke off. The old woman recognized her grandchild. Furious, she cut her into pieces furiously and shared them with the goddesses. They chewed and spit the parts before going back to heaven.

The old woman did not notice that the other branch was Quetzalcóatl and she did not touch it. When they all left, the god took his old shape again, he gathered the bones of Mayáhuel and planted them.

As he did that, he evoked the reason for the kidnapping of Mayáhuel, noblewoman among the goddesses. The creators were happy because man already had food, bur they realized that humans were sad. One god said: “men have to sing, be cheerful, dance and feel love for earth”.

When Quetzalcóatl heard that he remembered Mayáhuel, the most beautiful, cheerful and lovely princess who lived in heaven with her grandmother and other goddesses. “She could be the joy of men” he said to himself as he was heading toward her home to look for her. When he got there, he found the two women asleep and he woke Mayáhuel up. He asked: “Would you like to be human’s delight?” He carried her on his back after she smiled and as the god of wind he took her to the earth.

The old woman woke up when she noticed that her granddaughter was not there and she called her but there was no answer. She was full with rage. She woke the other goddesses up and they descended to the world looking for her. When Quetzalcóatl and Mayáhuel noticed they were being chased, they turned into a two-branch tree. Each one of them was a branch.

The maguey plant came up from the remains of the cheerful goddess planted by Quetzalcóatl. It sings thanking the god of wind. A white liquor is gotten from this plant, the divine octli, the pulque. When it is drank, men consume the spirit of Mayáhuel which delights them and gives them joy.

ADAPTED BY MARKO CASTILLO