Spirit animals exist in practically every culture around the world. The peoples of the pre-conquest Americas adopted a wide range of spiritual animals.
If you are among those who grew up with the music of Simon and Garfunkel, you likely know the song “El Cóndor Pasa.” It was originally written by Daniel Alomía Robles, as part of a Peruvian zarzuela of the same name in 1913. However, the song has a deeper indigenous origin. Yes, the Peruvian musical instruments, including the quena, a type of flute and the charango, a small guitar-like instrument, provide a link to the Incans, but when sung in Quechua, the language of the Andes region, “El Cóndor Pasa” comes even more alive as a relic of Incan culture.
Another spirit animal present in pre-Columbian Central and South America is the Jaguar, beautiful cats of the jungle, revered as protectors of the natural world. The Venezuelan composer, cellist Paul Desanne, elaborates on this in his “Jaguar Songs,” a piece for solo cello. He describes the Jaguar as an Amazonian symbol of an energy that keeps us running, keeps us from getting caught. In the movement titled “Birimbao,” Desanne recognizes what he calls the surrealistic Brazilian ancestor of the cello, the berimbau, which is like a primitive musical arc strung with a single wire and banged with a wooden or metal stick.
To take it one step further, Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66 sang a song called “Berimbau.” The lyrics speak of life and struggle, with the berimbau representing the fight and resilience in Brazilian culture. With that, we have now circled back to Desanne’s explainer that the Jaguar keeps us running in life's struggles.
Serpents, such as Quetzalcóatl, the feathered serpent deity, are seen as symbols of rebirth and wisdom in Mesoamerican mythology. The American composer Lou Harrison became very interested in Mexico in the ‘30s, up until the early ‘40s. When he looked through colored reproductions of the Mexican codices, he wrote, “I immediately knew I wanted to write something about the cultural hero, Quetzalcóatl.” That ambition led to Harrison's writing of “Song of Quetzalcoatl.” Doug Lofstrom, another American composer, also took interest in Quetzalcóatl, calling his work “The Plumed Serpent.”
The bottom line is that Quetzalcóatl is one of the most complicated of the Aztec and the Mayan deities. He has variously been regarded God of Wind and wisdom, but also may have played a role in moving the sun and even in creating the world. But for many, Quetzalcóatl is due our appreciation, if not our worship, for having brought the cacao plant from a sacred mountain to the Toltec people, teaching the women how to make traditional drinking chocolate. And I'll say thank you for that!
PLAYLIST
Daniel Alomía Robles: El Condor Pasa (2 versions)
Simon and Garfunkel
Columbia 9914
Wayna Picchu
King of the Andes
Salinas Castillo
Paul Desenne: Jaguar Songs
Nancy Green
Cello Classics 1026
Baden Powell/Vinícius de Moraes: Birimbao
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
Lou Harrison: Song of Quetzalcoatl
Tetraktis Ensemble
Brilliant Classics
Doug Lofstrom: The Plumed Serpent
Lofstrom, Studio Orchestra
Origin Classical
