Shawn Duuv nopi: Meyahual

Size: 110x130cm

Weaver: Leonardo Martínez Sosa

 Design, pattern and symbols.

So the name Mayahuel, it is most likely to have been badly transcribed from classic Nahuatl into Spanish, then into French on a document signed by André Thevet, a franciscan Friar in the 16th century. An article by Arqueología Mexicana points out that Meyewal is a more acurate name to designate to the godess of Maguey (Agave), it should be interpreted as the spirit of the plant instead of the godess of dunkenness and debauchery. It is more likely that the bias of the Franciscan Friar that made that interpretation because pulque was drunk ritually at the big celebrations where song and dance was offered communally to the ancient gods of the earth and sky. 

 Unfortunately for us; pulque was portrayed for a long time as the drink of peasants and was stigmatized by the beer industry spreading rumors that it was dirty. But in spite of all that; pulque remains a ritual drink still offered freely for all gathered at our rain pray celebrations during the Preciosa Sangre ceremonies and during the feetival of the elders (carnaval), it cannot be missed during weddings and it is still mixed with atole and given as a treat for lactating mothers. Nopi, as we call Pulque, it is quite literally, the milk of the earth that feed and nurture us. Pulque is a very nutricious drink, full of probiotics, minerals, vitamins and aminoacids; this is why it is given to lactating mothers, children and the elderly. In prehispanic times its consumption was heavily regulated, being drank in rituals and festivals by the people  and reserved for the elites on a more frequent basis. Being a drunk on pulque was severely punished with exile and even death. 

 This rug is framed at the top and bottom with the symbol of the agave, a hill and the cycle of life. Meyewal is sitting on a turtle, which represents the earth that floats on the primordial ocean.  The agave stalk is split on two branches which represents the union of the male and female, the union of Quetzacoatl-Ehecatl and Meyewal referred to in the ancient myth. When Tzitzimitl (grand mother of stars) found out that Meyewal had escaped to the earth with Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl she was furious and ordered her 400 sons to acompany her and destroy her; they found Meyehual and Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl embraced as two branches on a tree; they destroyed Meyewal and left Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl untouched. Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl buried the ashes of Meyewal and from that the maguey was created. Meyewal is often associated with the moon, fertility and often associated with hares. The idea of the stars fighting the moon is a recurring topic in ancient mythology, the story of Coyolxauhqui has this same dynamic. The giant impact hypothesis proposes that roughly 4.5 billion years ago, a planet name Theia struck the earth and from this debris the moon was formed. The agave plant has a strong connection to the moon cycles because the sap of the plant moves through the heart of the agave according to the phases of the moon. The agave is almost an extraterrestrial plant given its resiliency; it can survive on 10% of the water required by corn or sugar cane thanks to the Crassulacean acid Methabolism (CAM), a highly water efficient form of metabolism. The agave plant was destroyed by the star beings but it was buried and sprouted back to life; this part of the myth may point out to the fact that agaves use vegetative cloning by sprouting clone plants from their lateral root system.