Yvy marã e'ỹ

Yvy marã e'ỹ
Languages
International Phonetic Alphabet	/ˈtɛ.ʁɐ ˈsẽj̃ ˈmales/, [ˈtɛ.hɐ ˈsẽɪ̯̃ ˈma.les]
General Information
Inhabitants	Souls
Mythology	Tupi-Guarani
Region	Brazil

In Guarani mythology, the Terra sem Males (Portuguese for "land without evil"; Yvy marã e'ỹ in Guarani, Yby marã e'ym in ancient Tupi) refers to the myth of a place of happiness, fertility, and immortality, a land where there would be no hunger, wars, or diseases which became a symbol of the resumption of land and the resistance of the Guarani people to the violent arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish invaders.

The myth of the Terra sem Males would have been generalized to all Tupi-Guarani populations, when in fact it was exclusive to the Apapocuva and Tembé, ethnographed by Nimuendaju.

Related to this, the Tupinambá people believed in the existence of Guajupiá, a paradise for the dead, reached with the aid of funeral rituals and more easily by those with warlike merit.

Aspects of the Yvy marã e'ỹ

According to Rosana Bond, the author of the book "História do Caminho de Peabiru", the Terra sem Males would be a real island where the vast majority of Guarani people considered to be located to the east, in the Atlantic Ocean.

For one to reach the island, they would need to be in the state of spiritual perfection called aguyjé. According to Egon Schaden's "Aspectos Fundamentais da Cultura Guarani", the Terra sem Males would not be seen by any mortal and if that were the case, it would move far away, as only those who were in a state of aguyjé could enter it.

The creator god, Nhanderuvuçú, would live on the island and his home would be a hut. Inside said hut would be the Onça Celeste – also known as Jaguarový or Charía – and Mbopí recoypý – the original bat – , they both were contained by Nhanderuvuçú, because, according to Curt Unkel Nimuendajú in "As lendas da criação e destruição do mundo como fundamentos da religião dos Apapocúva-Guarani", if they were released, the Jaguarový would destroy humanity and Mbopí recoypý would swallow the sun. Nhanderuvuçú's hut would be surrounded by darkness, but the same creative light that he carried at the beginning of creation would still shine in his chest and this would illuminate his surroundings.

According to the reports of some indigenous people, many birds, such as macaws, manakins and thrushes, come and go from the Terra sem Males. On the island, both the fauna and flora would speak like humans.