What was the significance of the zemis?
The zemis, a god of both sexes, were represented by icons in the form of human and animal figures, and collars made of wood, stone, bones, and human remains. Taíno Indians believed that being in the good graces of their zemis protected them from disease, hurricanes, or disaster in war.
What is a zemi in art?
Deity Figure (Zemí) 13th–15th century Creative sculptural expression for the Taíno peoples was intertwined with spirituality, ceremony, and political power. Zemí refers not to an object or image but to an immaterial, spiritual, and vital force pertaining to deities and ancestors.
Who is the Taíno god?
Yocahu
Yocahu: Yocahu is the leading god of the Taino people. He is the son of Atabey and god of the sea.
What was the purpose of the Arawak zemi?
A zemí (also zemi, zeme or cemi) is a collective term in the Caribbean Taíno (Arawak) culture for “sacred thing,” a spirit symbol or personal effigy.
What God did the Tainos fear?
Juracán is the phonetic name given by the Spanish colonizers to the zemi or deity of chaos and disorder which the Taíno natives in Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba, as well as the Island Caribs and Arawak natives elsewhere in the Caribbean, believed controlled the weather, particularly hurricanes (the latter …
What were the 3 religious practices of the Taíno people?
There were three primary religious practices: Religious worship and obeisance to the zemi themselves. Dancing in the village court during special festivals of thanksgiving or petition. Medicine men, or priests, consulting the zemi for advice and healing.
What is the meaning of zemi?
1 : a spirit of supernatural being of the aboriginal Tainos of the West Indies.
What is Tainos religion?
The Arawak/Taíno were polytheists and their gods were called Zemi. The zemi controlled various functions of the universe, very much like Greek gods did, or like later Haitian Voodoo lwa. However, they do not seem to have had particular personalities like the Greek and Haitian gods/spirits do.
Did Tainos worship the sun?
Description of Sun God The sun and the moon were both born in the same cave, legend states. This is the cave Mautiatibuel (son of dawn), also known as the “Lord of the Dawn” and belonged to the country’s chieftain. The Taino believed that the sun rose from this cave, and hid when the moon emerged from the same cave.
What does Hurricane mean in Taíno?
According to most authorities, the Taino word huracan meant simply “storm,” although some less reliable sources indicate that it also referred to a storm god or an evil spirit.
What is atabey the goddess of?
Atabey is the supreme goddess of the Taínos, one of two supreme deities in the Taíno religion. She was worshipped as a goddess 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.
What does zemi stand for in Taino culture?
A zemí (also zemi, zeme or cemi) is a collective term in the Caribbean Taíno (Arawak) culture for “sacred thing”, a spirit symbol or personal effigy.
Where are the zemi found in the Caribbean?
…form represented the spirits ( zemi) of the land. The Taino culture is famous for these zemi carvings, which are found in many of the islands, notably Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Carved stone pestles with human and animal designs are also common, along with strange “stone collars”—oval carvings that may….
What kind of art form is a zemi?
Sculptural zemis, or ” amuletic zemis”, take many forms, but the most characteristically Taíno art form is the three-point stone zemi. One side of the stone might have a human or animal head with the opposite side having hunched legs.
When was the zemi made in the Dominican Republic?
Dominican Republic: 15th-16th century. The bowl atop the figure’s head was used to hold cohoba during rituals. A zemi or cemi was a deity or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object housing the spirit, among the Taíno people of the Caribbean. They were also created by indigenous South Americans.