page_title: Talamancan mythology
section_title: History of the sea
hierarchical_section_title: Talamancan mythology / History of the sea
caption_attribution_description: English: Bothrops asper in Panama
context_page_description: Talamancan mythology includes the traditional beliefs of the Bribri and Cabécar, two groups of indigenous peoples in Costa Rica living in the Talamanca region. These peoples speak two different but closely related languages, and from a cultural point of view, constitute a single community. With some exceptions, they share the same religious beliefs, the same stories, the same ritual songs, etc.
context_section_description: Sibö brought the corn kernels from under the Earth, which the indigenous people considered the first human beings. At that time Sibö made the land with the help of his different friends. The earth was made of very strong stone from the bedrock, so that it would last for a long time. The land had many valleys and hills but almost no vegetation.
  There were no rivers or lagoons like today, so the sea did not exist. At that moment something special happened in the land, there was a medium tree that became a woman and a tree, it was almost never in the same place. Sometimes the voice of the tree was heard: "You who pass and look towards me, I am the sea, I am the supporter of life and my fruits will satisfy hunger, I am a tree, I am wood to build your house, I am part of the green book, my leaves give off messages of love ... ".
  Sibö, curious about the tree's behavior, followed the tree and realized that she was the daughter of a woman who became pregnant without the consent of her family. They did not want the child to be born, so she had to give birth far away on a mountain. Since she was not welcome, she decided to become a tree. When the girl was born, the mother called her: Bulumia. She was Sibö's first cousin and her hair grew to her feet. When she was an adult she lived alone beyond the earth, in a conical house made in a circle. She was happy in her palenque (dwelling) and in the mornings she sang, danced and saw the sky and the Sun Lord. It was very hot and this caused Bulumia to release a lot of sweat, flooding her palenque.
  One day, Sibö said: "The earth will be barren, desolate and very sad if nothing is done ..." and his idea of creating it was to multiply the seeds of the men of corn, then Sibö said: "I have to do something , to turn the world into something wonderful." Sibö looked at the loneliness in which Bulumia lived and said: "Hello, cousin! What are you doing? Would you like to have a man for good company? It would be great!". Lady Bulumia said: "No, no, no". Sibö said to her: "We are going to take a walk in the Universe and maybe you will find a man that you like". She said: "Here where I live there is no one, and if I had I would not join with anyone, only with you". Sibö told her: "I can not marry you because you are my cousin," and worried about seeing her alone, he would go looking for a companion for her.
  At last Sibö decided to visit a young lady named Jútsini at his palenque. She went to the toilet and they both greeted each other. He asked if she had already decided to have a companion and she asked him what that man was like. Sibö told her that he was identical to her but with different genitals. She did not want to have company, she wanted to remain free. Sibö visited the palenque several times to insist that she must have a partner, until he convinced her. She wanted to meet her new partner, so Sibö and the lady fasted two days and climbed the whole hill and went to infinity in the middle of the Universe to look for the house of Shulákama, the King of Serpents. When they arrived at the palenque of the Lord they were badly treated. Shulákama said to them: "I am fasting and dieting because I realized that you, Sibö, are going to make many Ditsa appear that are the little seeds of the men of corn, and all that will be mine."
  "Also, you bring me bad energy, go away and come back from where you came from, I do not want anyone in my house, except a woman." And they left but Sibö kept insisting to Shulakama: "What do you think about having a housemate? How fascinating it would be if you had a wife like Bulumia!" Shulákama's mood softened and he accepted, apologizing to Bulumia for the uncourteous welcome, although she would be his wife and he would cut tree trunks every day from the pejibaye tree where he worked.
  Once Shulákama fell asleep, Sibö softly blew the remains of the surplus materials and collected them and in a ceremony turned them into non-poisonous snakes, which devoured the poisonous snakes of Shulákama.
  Shulakama fell in love with Bulumia and they lived in free union. Bulumia wanted a s
caption: Terciopelo (Bothrops asper), also called fer-de-lance.
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