Atabey is an ancestral mother of the Taino, one of two supreme ancestral spirits in the Taíno religion. She was worshipped as a zemi, which is an embodiment of nature and ancestral spirit, (not to be confused with a goddess, how she is commonly referred to in colonial terms to replace Taino verbiage and culture) of fresh water and fertility; she is the female entity who represents the Earth Spirit and the Spirit of all horizontal water, lakes, streams, the sea, and the marine tides. This spirit was one of the most important for the native tribes that inhabited the Caribbean islands of the Antilles, mostly in Puerto Rico (Borikén),

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, and Cuba. Atabey or Atabeira defines prime matter and all that is tangible or material and has several manifestations. One is the aforementioned nurturing maternal figure. Another is Caguana: the spirit of love. The last is Guabancex (also known as Gua Ban Ceh): the violent, Wild Mother of storms, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Alternate names for Atabey are Iermaoakar, Apito, and Sumaiko and Taíno women prayed to Atabey to ensure safe childbirth.

Mythology

Atabey conceived twin sons without intercourse. The best known is Yúcahu because he is the principal Taíno god who rules over the fertility of Yuca (cassava).

In popular culture

During the April 2017 Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant, Miss

Utuado Utuado () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central mountainous region of the island known as the '' Cordillera Central''. It is located north of Adjuntas and Ponce; south of Hatillo and Arecibo; east of Lares; and west ...

dressed in a costume representing Atabey.''Cobertura Oficial - Miss Universe Puerto Rico - Final 4 de Mayo: Beverly Rodríguez de León/Utuado: La diosa Atabey.''
Vampi. 4 April 2017. Accessed 9 December 2020. Atabey's symbology (and her avatar Guabancex) is one of the fundamental thematic foundations of the historical thriller ''Los hijos de la Diosa Huracán'', by Daína Chaviano (Grijalbo-Random House, 2019). In this novel, this deity is a key character and subject in developing and solving the mysteries of the plot. Atabey, Guabancex with her helpers Guatabá, Cuastriquie, and Juracán (embodiment of the hurricane) are repeatedly evoked in a novel by the Cuban-american writer

Frederick A. de Armas Frederick A. de Armas (born 1945) is a literary scholar, critic and novelist who is Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities at the University of Chicago. Biography Frederick A. de Armas was born in Havana, Cuba on February ...

. In ''Sinfonía salvaje'' (Madrid: Verbum, 2019) the hurricane represents the changes brought about in 1959 by the Cuban Revolution.

References

{{reflist Taíno mythology Goddesses of the indigenous peoples of North America Water goddesses Fertility goddesses Creator goddesses Mother goddesses Earth goddesses