Chibchacum is the

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

and

thunder god Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European c ...

in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alti ...

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

times.

Description

In myth, when Chibchacum was angry, he sent heavy rains to the flatlands, causing the rivers to flood, destroying the agriculture and the houses (''bohíos'') of the Muisca. When the rains were over and the Sun was shining again, causing Cuchavira to appear, the people offered low-grade gold or

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

alloys (

tumbaga ''Tumbaga'' is the name for a non-specific alloy of gold and copper given by Spanish Conquistadors to metals composed of these elements found in widespread use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica in North America and South America. The term is believe ...

), marine

snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

and small

emeralds Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p. ...

to thank him. One tale tells how the Muisca venerated a rock and worshipped

Bochica Bochica (also alluded to as Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba and Sadigua) is a figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense during the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the central Andean highlands of present-day Co ...

. Chibchacum was very angry and rebelled against Bochica. He went down to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

and noticed a

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, Chié coming to get some water. Chibchacum wooed her into joining his rebellion, promising that Chié would be his queen once Bochica was finished. Chié joined, and soon everybody was fighting, believing that they were better than others and lying. This caused a civil war. Chié was cursed by Bochica and was turned into a

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...

. His plan foiled, Chibchacum plotted his revenge. He had his revenge by speaking an evil incantation causing a huge flood. The people screamed to Bochica telling them to let them live and in return they would worship Bochica. So, once Bochica created a valley to wash away the floodwaters, he knew he had to punish Chibchacum. Bochica cursed Chibchacum by forcing him to carry Mother Earth on his back. To this day the Muisca believe that when there is an earthquake, it is Chibchacum shifting his heavy load.Why Chibchacum carries the world: Latin American myths and folklore

References

Bibliography

* {{Muisca navbox, Mythology and religion, state=expanded Muisca gods Pre-Columbian mythology and religion Rain deities Thunder gods Muysccubun

Description

See also

References

Bibliography