THE MYTH OF EL DORADO – In search of another gold

THE MYTH OF EL DORADO
IN SEARCH OF ANOTHER GOLD

Before you read this blog, I invite you to read the following blog first:
The Myth of El Dorado – Introduction

For me, intuition is a very important part of myself as a human being. My intuition told me that the gold of El Dorado was not only the precious metal that is called gold. In the manner of a bloodhound, I followed my nose in search of various scents that could tell old and new and beautiful stories. My intuition told me that I had to explore the culture of the indigenous people of South and Central America in search of their wisdom concerning the connection between animal and human. The concept settled in my brain that, for the indigenous people, the harmony between human and animal was of vital importance to the preservation of the human being and nature. From a global perspective and to use a trendier word, we talk about ‘the human being and our environment’. I started my research on the Internet and in books and, in the meantime, visited several countries in South and Central America. In these countries, the culture of the indigenous people is more dominant than in Suriname. I was looking for myths and legends of those indigenous people. However, most stories I found were interlaced with parts of Christian tales or the other way around, Christian tales transformed into other stories due to the local view on life and the world. Nevertheless, I also came across articles, legends, and myths in which the connection between human and animal is crucial. It was confirmed that the idea existing somewhere in my subconscious manifested as an intuition that there were, indeed, native stories, including the wisdom of life of the indigenous people. If we, raised in another culture, learn from this wisdom, this could be the start to finding solutions for the current environmental problems.

Within the somewhat western culture I was raised in, indigenous people were, and still are, considered primitive and backward people who think magical and simple. I am convinced that, when we look beyond this concept of man, we will realize who the ones are with poor mental ability.

In the connection between human and animal, according to the perception of the indigenous people, I came across the following thoughts.

Many indigenous tribes believe that animals have a spirit and they come to the world of the humans to give their bodies to provide the humans with food, coats and more. When their meat is used, they return home as a spirit. They provide themselves again with flesh and skin and return to the world of the humans whenever they wish to do so. In this regard, we may ask ourselves: “what will happen if animals do not want to return to our human world? Will we then speak of endangered species?”

Animals have great spiritual importance to many indigenous cultures. According to these cultures, the world of the animals taught the humans how to live in close contact with the earth. This is an important condition to have a full and healthy life. Due to this alliance between animal and human, the indigenous people are very careful and respect the natural cycle of life. Human and animal share the earth with each other and that is why humans may not use more than they need: do not fish and hunt more than you need, and do not harvest more than you need.

My search for interesting myths and legends in relation to human and animal in the indigenous cultures in South and Central America as well as in the Caribbean, yielded little result in the beginning. Much more interesting and flamboyant was the visual language I encountered. I identified five animals in the cultural heritage, which seemed important to me. I started to study these animals and it has not been in vain. This research, focused on one animal at the time, has taken me a lot further. Now, I have full faith in my belief that I will learn more about another gold of El Dorado. I will be most happy to share this knowledge with everyone.