Tatéi ‘Atsinari, Our Mother the Coiled Serpent of Corn Gruel, 1980

Tatei Atsinari ~ José Benítez Sánchez 1980


At the dawn of time, when creatures were being formed, life was chaotic until those who are like Our Great-Grandparents, Tatutsima, took control by immolating themselves to transcend their physical lives. Each Tatutsima became a soul, kipiri, petrified and without feet because they had never walked upon earth. We see them as the eight figures around the central ring. Then Tatéi Atsinari, Our Mother Bitter Corn Gruel (central serpent) captured them all and is composed of their different parts. The white and yellow dots around the tail symbolize the words of Our Ancestors that are stored in the rattles of her tail that symbolize shaman’s baskets and the souls and the rains of the past. Her name and appearance becomes ‘Ainama, she who is like a crab, and eight Tatutsima become her appendages. When they gather the energy of their heart memory, the tides of the water rise and the rains flow, but they are subsumed into her dry recoiling skin when the yearly cycle is over. In this way, they are the support of Our Fertile Mother Earth, or Our Mothers and Our Elder Brothers who walk along the last level of the ring, between the four cardinal points of the earth we live on, Heriepa. 

While the eight Tatutsima gather in the ring around the central serpent, her humidity is deposited like kwiemuxari, the foam of the ocean after the rains (white outline). Her tail is tipped by eleven rattlers that symbolize takuatsi, shaman's baskets, and her head has two sets of deer antlers to communicate with them. Five yellow flowers symbolize the fruition of life that stems from her. The Tatutsima carved tepárite, stone sculptures, which are like inverted peaks and breathing ports to cover the space surrounding her pit. They generally do not acquire legs to walk on the earth once it is formed. They remain the rock pillars and the roots of this world, visible between mountain ranges and thick blades of brush, wiwatsixa (yellow prongs beneath the second ring). 

Most fundamental ancestors have an ‘irí, a votive arrow that represents his or her power to channel information, a round nierika, that symbolizes supernatural perception, and antlers that symbolize their power to hear. Our Primordial Ancestors that are in the ring that surrounds Tatéi ‘Atsinari can be classified in the following matter: Tatewarí, Our Grandfather Fire, is portrayed with a dual set of nierikate, on either side of his arrow at the top center of the ring that envelopes Tatéi ‘Atsinari. He represents the prototypal embodiment of shamanic wisdom, with a third nierika connected to his head and antlers imbedded in his skull that symbolize the ability to see beyond appearances. Tatutsima Maxa kwaxí, Our Great Grandfather Deer-Tail, is on the opposite side of the arrow. He is the ancestor of Tamatsí Kauyumarie, Our Elder Brother Fawn of the Sun (deer head at top center), who transfers the messages of Our Ancestors to the four points of the periphery, to Our Mothers and to the Sky. Continuing clockwise within the ring, Tsakaimuka, the Setting Sun, is depicted in profile with antlers on his face and linked to a shaman’s basket. Next follows Tatutsí Tawikuni, Our Great Grandmother Cleft-Chest, with two serpents rising from her cheeks. Her carved chest is the repository of sacred cave spots in the mountains and water snakes flow perpetually from that area. Tatéi ‘Utianaka, Our Mother of the Earth, Rivers and Fish is depicted with a kernel of corn in her chest and two husks as arms; corn silk streams from her face. The votive arrow behind her is on the lower edge of the ring from where she communicates with the head of a deer that symbolizes Our Elder Brother Fawn of the Sun along the exterior edge of this painting.  Next to her is Tuamuxawi, the first cultivator of the earth. His power to work in the fields is symbolized by the four snakes connected to him and a flower for life, but his effort is translated into tears falling from his eye. 

More esoteric are the ancestors on the left of the inner ring: Takutsi Nakawé, Our Great Grandmother Hollow-Ear, the Oracle (who foresees the flood with her long ears), who represents abundance and holds seeds in her breasts. The last ancestor is our Our Great-Grandfather Made by Himself Knowing it All, Tatutsí Xuweri Timaiweme, who is characterized by the two heart symbols suspended from his arms. Mute, he transmits the memory of life (a yellow flower) through a bee to Our Grandfather Tatewarí, at the top of the ring. Our Elder Brother Fawn of the Sun, Kauyumarie, is the intermediary of Fire, with the shaman and the words of Our Mothers of the world where we presently live: The Fertile Earth, the Waters and the Sky. Kauyumarie blesses the first hill on earth where the first Ancestors appear, offering the blood of Our Elder Brother Blue Deer,Tamatsí Maxa Yuawi, represented as a white deer with a blue tail (upper right). The spirit that is Kauyumarie is transmitted to the arrow of the hill and then Our Great-Grandfather Deer Tail in the inferior ring. The first lake of the world that dries after the flood appeared in the South that was previously sunken in darkness. Meanwhile, the sacrifice of the Blue Deer brings the nierika, and Our Mother Rain of the South sees her strength calmed by that of Our Elder Brother Wind (with antlers on his head and wings under his arms).

The following section above the terrestrial core is separated by the figure of Tatéi Yurienaka, Our Mother Fertile Earth, represented by a large head (on the right edge of the painting) with two pairs of wings extended. Leaving the center of her head, she has a creek that goes southward and from there to the east, the green region in the lower right of the painting. In the East, Our Mother Peyote, Tatéi Hikuri, appears as a woman inverted below Tatéi Yurienaka. The peyote is represented with two arrows over the round black head with five red dots. This is sacrificed like Our Elder Brother, to then transform into our spiritual nourishment, with its antlers, its feathers and its visions. It sends the words of Our Ancestors across the wind and with the serpents tied to its cane. An opossum is also represented here, next to Our Grandfather Fire; this last one is in contact with a nierika, which is the counterpart of Tamatsí Kauyumarie on the other side of the painting. The blue section corresponds to the north of the earth, where Our Father Sun, Tayeu, with two antlers on his head, renews himself before Our Grandfather Fire and Our Elder Brother Kauyumarie, before dawn. One of the serpents represents the setting of the sun and the other its rise. The bird on the lower left is a mockingbird, kuukawimari, which makes contact with the words Our Father transports in the takuatsi of the Orient when he illuminates the sky. Above the mockingbird is Our Mother Pink Soul, who nourishes the corn with the humidity of dawn; she is depicted with two corns, one on her head and the other in her hand as if it was a rattle.

When the harvest is ready, the ritual is prepared in a large mug or gourd bowl where the raw corn gruel is poured. According to the ritual of Our Great-Grandmother Oracle, a wild boar is to be sacrificed. She is represented here with a cane with deer antlers that traverse the world’s surface until it finds Our Mother Fertile Earth. At top left, Our Great-Grandmother is found alongside Watákame, the first cultivator of the New World, the equivalent of Tuamuxawi in the primordial world. The rains must stop after the harvest. The serpent of the West, on the upper right of the painting, represents Tatéi Ni‘ariwame, who keeps the gathered waters after the rains and lighting bolts in her belly, as if it were a small living being.

Explanation and Interpretation by Juan Negrín as explained in a tape recorded conversation with José Benítez Sánchez. Text and Image ©Juan Negrín 1980 - 2025
 

Year Created
1980
Belongs to Collection
Object Medium
Materials & Techniques
Plywood, Cera de Campeche (beeswas), and wool yarn
Dimensions
Width
1.22m.
Height
1.22m.
Depth
0.01m.