The Seven Sons of Kerana and Tau

The Seven Monsters:

I’ve been wanting to write about some of Paraguay’s myths for a while. Like the Greek myths or the Norse gods, with their gods of mischief and fertility, Paraguay has a rich range of stories. This is the CliffNotes version:

The story goes like this – long ago, there as a beautiful woman named Kerana. She was the daughter of a man named Marangatu, and she loved to sleep. She was so beautiful, though, that an evil spirit named Tau fell in love with her and wanted her for his own.

Tau and Kerana

Determined to have her, Tau transformed himself into a handsome young man, and went to her house, intent on raping her. But he found Katupyry, the spirit of good, waiting for him. The two warred without pause for seven days and nights, Tau consumed with desire for Kerana, Tau determined to beat him back.

Finally, at the end of the seventh night, Tau forced Katupyry to surrender.

Unsatisfied with his victory over Katupyry, Tau then snuck into the place where Kerana was sleeping, and kidnapped her, incurring the wrath of Arasy, the god of Valor. Arasy was so incensed that he damned Tau and all of his children.

Tau and Kerana ended up having seven children, but because of Arasy’s curse, they emerged as loathsome, terrifying monsters.

The first was named Teju Jagua, or, the lizard dog. Imagine the Greek monster Cerberus guarding Hades. Teju Jagua could be his Paraguayan cousin. Teju Jagua has the body of a huge lizard, and seven dog heads. Once he grew up, he absconded to the hill near Yaguaron, and hid in its caves, which is where he would drag his hapless victims.

In order to satisfy him, the people made him guardian of the country’s riches.

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The second child-monster was named Mboi Tu’i.

Mboi Tu’i emerged with the body of a snake and the head of an overgrown parrot, with a blood-red tongue. And he emits a terrifying cry which terrifies anyone who has the misfortune to hear it. He is the protector/god of amphibians, and is at home in the suffocating Paraguayan humidity, and the morning drizzle.

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Moñai was Tau and Kerana’s third child. He is the protector of thieves and mischief-makers. He was born as a monstrous snake, with colorful horns that he used to hypnotize the birds that he hunts. Now, he lives in the swamps and estuaries, and likes to frighten children and make mischief.

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Next came Jasy Jatere, probably the favorite of the sons. Jasy Jatere “Piece of the moon,” is a small goblin with long, blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He wanders through the fields in the late afternoon, usually naked, carrying a gold cane and bag. If you can steal the cane, he will give gold to get it back, sort of like leprechauns.

He usually kidnaps his victims with his cane, and a high-pitched whistle that sounds like a parrot. His victims are usually children, who he feeds with fruit, honey, and worms, and afterwards, leaves them to play on their own. In the scarier versions, he puts their eyes out. When he finally releases them, they return home empty-headed and silly, and it is for that reason that Paraguayan mothers prohibit their children from playing during the long afternoon.

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The fifth son was named Kurupi. He is the the god of sexuality, but woe betides the woman he claims as his prize. Kurupi is a dark, hairy monster, with a penis so large that he has to wrap it around his body three times like a belt. The apendage is supposedly prehensile, and so long that he can sneak it into houses  or through windows and violate women without every having to enter the room in which they are sleeping. He is profligate and indiscriminate, taking whichever woman or girl crosses his path, and thus blamed for unwanted pregnancies.

He tries to protect his reputation by protecting the animals of the forest, but even so, if you see him circling you, remember, it’s time to run!

 ...

Ao Ao came next. He had hooves like a cow, but the body of a sheep, except he had a snarling, carnivorous head of a wolf. Ao Ao might have looked like a deranged sheep, but he was much taller, and crueler too. The god of Fertility, he supposedly hides in flocks of sheep, and has had many children with the sheep he resembles. 

He is less friendly towards humans – if he comes across any, they suffer a painful and terrifying fate. The only way to escape him is to climb a coco or palm tree, it is the only place he cannot follow his victims.

 ...

The last child was Luisón. He would seem to be the kindest and least monstrous of the children, because he is a shapeshifter, and every Wednesday and Friday, he takes the form of a small dog.

This is a deception. Luisón is the Guaraní version of the angel of death. He likes to wander through cemeteries, and he only satiates his hunger with the flesh of the recently buried corpses.

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Most of these photos are of ethnic art. The ones of Mboi Tui, Teju Jagua, and Kurupi are more modern interpretations. They're from around the web.