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'''Yúcahu'''<ref name="Pane 4">Fray Ramón Pané 1999, p.4</ref> —also written as '''Yukajú''', '''Yocajú''', '''Yokahu''' or '''Yukiyú'''— was the masculine spirit of fertility in [[Taíno people|Taíno]] [[mythology]].<ref name="Arroyo 221">Stevens-Arroyo 2006, p.221</ref> He was
==Mythology==
Yúcahu was the supreme deity of the Taíno people.<ref name="Issuu 1912">{{cite web | title=TAÍNOS: ARTE Y SOCIEDAD | website=Issuu | date=May 15, 1912 | url=https://issuu.com/popularenlinea/docs/ta_nos_arte_y_sociedad | language=es | page=368| access-date=November 20, 2021}}</ref> "They call him Yúcahu Bagua Maórocoti" is the earliest mention of the zemí taken from the first page of Fray Ramón Pané's ''Account of the Antiquities of the Indians''.<ref>Fray Ramón Pané was the first European missionary to arrive in the New World and the first to learn the native language. He was the first person who studied the beliefs of an indigenous people, and his account was the first book to be written by a European on American soil.</ref> As the Taíno did not possess a written language, the name is the phonetic spelling as recorded by the Spanish missionaries, Ramón Pané, and [[Bartolomé de las Casas]]. The three names are thought to represent the Great Spirit's epithets. Yúcahu means spirit or giver of cassava. Bagua has been interpreted as meaning both "the sea" itself and "master of the sea." The name Maórocoti implies that he was conceived without male intervention.<ref name="Pane">Pané 1999</ref><ref name="Arroyo">Stevens-Arroyo 2006</ref><ref name="Rouse">Rouse 1993</ref> He was also later known as "El Gigante Dormido", or "Sleeping Giant".
[[File:Pico El Yunque.jpg|thumb|[[El Yunque (Puerto Rico)|El Yunque peak]] in Puerto Rico is the mythological dwelling of Yúcahu.]]
The Taíno had a well developed [[creation myth]], which was mostly passed down via oral tradition. According to this account, in the beginning there was only [[Atabey (goddess)|Atabey]], who created the heavens. However, there was still a void, where nothingness prevailed. The heavens were inactive and any action was meaningless. Earth and the other cosmic entities laid barren. Despite being dominated by darkness, [[Atabey (goddess)|Atabey]] herself failed to notice that this universe was incomplete. Eventually she decided to create two new deities, Yucáhu and [[Guacar]], from magic and intangible elements. [[Atabey (goddess)|Atabey]] now felt confident that her creation could be completed and left it in charge of her sons. Yucáhu took over as a creation deity, becoming a universal architect and gathering the favour of his mother. From his dwelling in the heavens, he contemplated and awoke the Earth from its slumber. As part of this process, two new deities emerged from a cave. [[Boinael]] and [[Maroya]], controlling the sun and moon respectively, which were tasked with illuminating the new world day and night. No longer would the Earth be shrouded by darkness. Yucáhu was satisfied with his work, but in a fit of jealousy Guacar hid within the heavens, never to be seen again. Now bored, Yucáhu roamed and noticed four gemstones that lied in the ground, which he took and converted into the celestial star beings [[Racuno]], [[Sobaco]], [[Achinao]] and [[Coromo]], who reproduced and spread throughout the universe, where they guide the deities. He followed this by creating animals, granting them dwellings and teaching them how to live. Yucáhu then had a revelation, believing that something else should complete his creation. Convinced that the new entity should be neither animal nor deity, he pondered this profoundly. Yucáhu then opened a rift in the heavens from which emerged the first man, whom he granted a soul and named [[Locuo]]. This man would roam the Earth endlessly filled by joy and thanking the deity for his creation. Finally satisfied with his creation, Yucáhu left the world in the hands of humanity, feeling that balance had been reached.
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