THE 11 MOST POPULAR MYTHS OF GUATEMALA - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Among the most well-known myths of Guatemala are the Tatuana, the Cadejo, the sombrerón, the treasure of the flowery place, the singing tablets, the origin of the red-bellied quetzal, among others.

The Guatemalan myths have been interpreted today as a way to preserve the past and the indigenous tradition in times where the development of cities and the use of the Spanish language and its traditions predominate.

Multiple regions of America share similar myths, since they were collected after the colonization of the Spanish and share a similar historical past. In this sense, you can also see the 20 most prominent Venezuelan myths and legends or 10 surprising Ecuadorian legends and myths.

Most popular Guatemalan myths

1 - La Tatuana

The Legend of the Tatuana speaks of a sacred almond tree, in charge of safeguarding Mayan traditions. This tree keeps track of the passing of the years and divides its soul into the four paths that can be found before reaching the underworld, known as Xibalbá.

The four paths of the soul of the tree have different colors (green, red, white and black). According to legend, the soul is always divided to travel the four paths, in each of them it must face temptations.

In this way, the black road symbolizes for the Mayans the route that leads to the underworld, in which part of the soul must be exchanged with the merchant of priceless jewels, who will then use it to obtain the most beautiful slave.

In legend, the slave escapes and is threatened with death by the inquisitors who find him. During the night the slave is found by the tree.

In this way, he manages to escape from the prison where he is held before being executed. When the captors arrive the next morning at the prison, all they find is an old almond tree.

2- The Cadejo

This legend speaks of a novice of supreme beauty, who later became Mother Elvira of Saint Francis. This woman lived in a convent, which she describes from an emotional perspective throughout the legend.

Mother Elvira of San Francisco is deeply dismayed that her braid incites physical and sexual arousal in men. This disturbance leads her to cut it off.

Once it is cut, it becomes a snake that wraps around a lit candle, causing its flame to come off and send men to hell (Sanles, 2016).

3- The hat

The protagonist of this legend is a monk who is tempted by a sphere that swings through the window into his cell.

The monk is captivated by the sphere and begins to wonder if it is related to the devil. Despite his thoughts, the monk spends hours playing with the sphere.

Later, he meets a woman who claims the sphere, as it belongs to her son. At the possibility of handing over the sphere, the monk feels sorry.

Neighbors begin to point out that the monk resembles the devil and eventually disposes of the sphere, returning it to the boy who claims it with a cloudy gaze. The sphere then becomes a black hat that falls on the child's head (Letona, 2015).

4- The volcano

The legend begins with six men, three who emerged from the water and three who emerged from the wind. However, only three of these men could be seen. Each group of men interacted with the earth in a natural way, feeding on whatever it gave them.

One day, as the men walked, they found Cabrakán, a mountain capable of spitting fire. In this way, Cabrakán burst into flames and was embraced by Hurakán, a mountain of clouds that sought to open the top of Cabrakán by peeling its crater with its nails.

All the men but one were razed and the forest of trees where they lived was destroyed. The surviving man was called Nido.

Nido walked following the voice of his heart and soul until he encountered a sacred trinity that indicated the construction of a temple. In this way, Nido built his temple and around it, he made 100 houses, where his people would live. The volcano would cease its activity and the forest would flourish again.

5- The treasure of the flowery place

The legend speaks of the arrival of the Spanish to the Guatemalan territory, during the celebration of the natives for the end of the war. The celebration took place on the lake, near a volcano "El Abuelo del Agua", where the treasures of the tribe were hidden.

It is told how upon the arrival of the Spanish, the natives began to flee while the squads of white men approached the treasure of the flowery place in the volcano.

The white men felt the roar of the volcano, but ignored it, guided by their ambition or greed. Once they disembarked, the volcano spat fire at them as if it were a toad.

The roads, the treasures and the Spaniards were destroyed by the fire of the volcano, silencing the sound of the trumpets and drums. The tribes managed to flee, but the Spaniards fell at the feet of the treasure of the flowery place.

6- The tablets that sing

Legend has it that, regardless of the venue, the moon chewers would put tablets covered with painted symbols and signs to sing and dance.

These songs were hymns to the gods and after being distributed by the Luna chewers, they would camouflage themselves among the crowd and carry out daily activities.

From these places, the moon chewers would continue to eat the moon in each of its phases. Each tablet composed by these characters had to be sung, otherwise it was burned.

In this way, the moon chewers would have to go back into the forest to compose new songs to be tasted in the celebrations.

When one of these individuals failed to have his tablet sung for the seventh time, he was sacrificed in a grotesque ritual and his heart was extracted.

The legend says that Utuquel, a moon chewer, feared for his sacrifice, since he had already been rejected six times and in the delivery of his seventh tablet he announced that his creation was a robbery, that it was not original and that his advice was taken from the lives of the readers themselves, for this reason he believed that all creation is alien.

7- The glass mask

Legend has it that a skilled sculptor named Ambiastro, since he had stars instead of hands, fled his village with the arrival of the white man and went into a cavern in the mountains, from which he would sculpt his wonderful works in rock.

One day, Ambiastro, tired of sculpting in rock and reluctant to sculpt in wood (due to its low durability), goes out in search of new materials. Approaching a stream, he is blinded by the brilliance of the rock crystal and decides to carve it.

Ambiastro spent days and nights awake sculpting the glass, his face was cut by the quartz and he swept the ground just to drive away the gloom. Finally, he finished sculpting the mask of the goddess Nana Lluvia and returned to his cave.

When he returned, the figures he had already sculpted struck him with the aim of killing him. In this way, Ambiastro put on the mask of Nana Lluvia to escape, but when he managed to get out of the cave, it was already late, he was already dead.

8- The dead bell

Legend has it that three Asturian smelters arrived in Guatemala at the end of the 17th century. These smelters were in charge of making church bells and in this way they traveled around America and went back to Spain.

Arrived at the convent of the Poor Clare nuns, the Asturians began the smelting process for their church bell, in this way they collected gold from all the nuns.

Each nun would hand over her most precious jewel to the smelters and watch this jewel burn. Sister Clarineta de Indias was a nun with yellow eyes like gold, who did not have any type of jewel to deliver to the foundry.

At the suggestion of a colleague and with the determination to make a greater sacrifice than the others, Sister Clarineta decides in her dreams to take out her eyes and cast them into the foundry. In this way, the bell would be that of Santa Clara de Indias and would honor her sacrifice.

After her sacrifice, Sister Clarineta asked to be acquitted for her superb sacrifice, a request that was denied. It is said that when the bell rang for the first time, it cried out to be absolved, as did Sister Clarineta after giving up her eyes.

9- The Matachines

The legend of the Matachines tells that a part of the inhabitants of Machitán, called Tamachín and Chitanam, known as the Matachines, promised that if the Matachina (their beloved) was dead, they would duel themselves to death.

When they arrived in town, they went to a whorehouse, where an old woman named La Pita-Alegre told them that the matachina was dead, but that at night she came to life, because she dreamed that she was alive.

La Pita-Alegre continued to perfume and bathe the matachina's body so that degenerate and drunken customers could use it. Faced with this scenario, the matachines cut off the hands of the Pita-Alegre.

The matachines resolved, they decided to fight a duel to the death, but before this, they met the Telele monkey and the Great Rasquinagua, protector of the forest who dreamed with his eyes open.

In this way, Rasquinagua promises them that they can die and come back to life, and gives them some talismans to resurrect.

The matachines agree to this pact and duel to the death, destroying their bodies with machetes. When they come back to life, they return as a mountain and a tree, recognizing each other over time, determined to return to Machitán (Asturias, 1930).

10- The origin of the red-bellied quetzal

The quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala and one of the most imposing birds in America. Guatemalan legend tells that the quetzal flew over the Spanish conqueror Don Pedro de Alvarado when he was fighting against the Mayan leader Tecun Uman, in order to protect him.

However, Tecum Uman was killed and the Mayan empire was defeated at the hands of the Spanish. It is said that the belly of the quetzal is red because it is machanda with the blood of Tecun Uman.

It is also said that the song of the quetzal is very beautiful, but that the quetzal will not sing it until the people of Guatemala are completely free.

11- The Sihuanaba

Sihuanaba is a spirit that can change shape. She usually has the body of an attractive woman when viewed from the back.

Long-haired and usually nude, or wearing only a flowing white dress, she attracts men while bathing at night. No man really sees his face (horse or skull), until they are close enough that he cannot save himself.

The Sinhunaba in Guatemala appears to punish unfaithful men. In this way, she takes them to a lonely place where, after paralyzing them with fear, she steals their souls. This legend was brought to America by the Spanish colonizers, in order to control the crazy population (Hubbard, 2016).

Other legends of Guatemala

Within Guatemalan folklore you can find typical legends from all over America, such as the weeping woman, the cuckoo, the money light, the chupacabra, the cipitío, the ciguapa and the goblins.

These legends were usually used as strategies to control the population by instilling fear of being alone at night doing improper things.

The majority of Guatemalan legends were created from the cultural mix between the Spanish and the Native American Indians (Magazine, 2017).

References

1. Asturias, MA (1930). Legends of Guatemala.
2. Hubbard, K. (June 23, 2016). About Travel. Obtained from Central America Folklore and Legends: gocentralamerica.about.com.
3. Letona, S. (October 1, 2015). What to do in Guatemala. Obtained from El Sombreron: quepasa.gt.
4. Magazine, QP (2017). What to do in Antigua Guatemala. Obtained from Legends of Guatemala: quepasa.gt.
5. Ocasio, R. (2004). Latim America Twentieth-Century Literature. In R. Ocasio, Literature of Latin America (pp. 70-71). Westport: Greenwood Press.
6. Prieto, R. (2000). Readings of the Text. In MA Asturias, Tales and legends (pp. 615 - 616). Paris: Archives Collection.
7. Sanles, C. (January 1, 2016). What to do in Guatemala. Obtained from El Cadejo: quepasa.gt.