THE GUARANI MBYA IN THE ARA PYAU RITUALS (NEW YEAR): THE YERBA MATE PARTY

Abstract

The ethnical roots of the Guarani Mbya compose the communitarian memory of these people, ritually recreated in the Yerba Mate Consecration party, in which a mythical conception of time is celebrated, organized, according to the native calendar, as the new year entry - Ara Pyau. Through the indigenous narrations about this event, it becomes possible to comprehend the universe of the guarani myths, in some of their most relevant meanings for the strengthening of the historical and cultural tradition of these people. The celebration of the Yerba Mate is linked to the reinforcement of the guarani's ancient identity, granting meaning to the group's daily life, through the revival of some of their immemorial traces, perceptible only through a sociopolitical alteration, resistant to the global order.