Many moons ago, during the childhood of humanity when everything was new, the people worshipped many gods, praying for every last thing. And then one day a gray-haired man came to the land of Colombia. He came from the highlands, from a land known as Chingaza in the eastern part of that country, and he had an important message for all the people.

He was a startling sight - tall and fierce-looking, weathered and dressed in a tunic. In his strong-bronzed hand he carried a large gold scepter. His name, he told the people, was Bochica, and he wanted the people to learn how to care for themselves. And so he began to teach them. He taught them to sow their fields, and to plant and to harvest them. He taught them how to build houses, and how to weave cotton and other fibers that they learned to grow in abundance upon their land.

Bochica also taught the people about time. He explained that there was a right time for planting, a right time for harvesting, a time for the people to rejoice and celebrate, a time for hard work, a time to be born and a time to die as well. Bochica taught the people about good conduct. They must, he explained, learn to work together, and they must be kind and generous to each other and to look after those in need.

“You needn’t turn to the gods for everything,” Bochica told the people. “You can care for yourselves.” And so the people continued to praise their gods, but they no longer waited helplessly for whatever might come. Instead, they learned to build communities and to work together. And they loved their teacher, Bochica.

Bochica married a woman known as Huythaca, and for many years, he and his wife lived together happily. Like those around them, Bochica and Huythaca cared for each other. But as she grew older, Huythaca began to wish for more time and attention from her husband. She complained that he spent too much time taking care of others. She envied the commitment he felt toward the people.

“Stay with me,” she begged when he set out to help the people till the soil. “Stay with me and let the others do the work themselves. You have done enough.”

But Bochica had taught the people about selflessness, about the importance of giving. He shook his head at his wife’s request. “You must understand, this is the way people must live,” he told her. “I must always be generous with the people.”

“Be generous to me,” Huythaca said. “I am your wife.”

But Bochica brushed away her words and paid no attention to his wife’s growing unhappiness. He was a good person, but even good

    Bochica on the rainbow stopping the flood

people don’t always see clearly. Bochica did not notice that his wife’s envy was turning to anger and bitterness.

As the years passed, Huythaca’s bitterness grew. She began to resent the people, and she dreamed of their destruction. One day, when her seething fury had turned into a terrible fever, she walked to the river’s edge. There she stood upon the banks and prayed. She prayed to Chibchacun, god of the waters. She prayed that he would stir the waters, that they would raise and flood the land, that even Bochica would be helpless to stop the destruction that would invade the land.

Tequendama Falls  

Resentful that Bochica had turned the people from the gods, Chibchacun heard Huythaca’s prayer. And so he agreed to answer her prayers. He stirred the river, and the water began to rise.

The people, seeing the rising water, raced to save their animals and homes, but they were not quick enough. Soon the savannah was flooded, and with the spreading water, their homes and crops began to wash away.

With the great chiefs at his side, Bochica strode to Tequendama. He was furious at his wife, and also furious with Chibchacun, but more than fury, determination fueled him. He would save the land and the people he loved.

When he reached Tequendama, he climbed upon a rainbow. Standing above his people and above the flood, he tapped the rocks with his gold specter. To the chiefs’ astonishment, the waters parted, then, slipping into new paths, finding new ways to flow. And there, at Tequendama, a waterfall formed.

The land was once again safe.

But when Bochica saw the devastation the flood had caused, his heart broke. He had saved the land, but many lives had already been lost.

Bochica grieved for those lost people as if they were his own children, and his anger toward his wife grew fiercer. That is when the people learned of Bochica’s greatest powers, for he commanded that, from that day on, Chibchacun would carry the Earth upon his shoulders. And he commanded that his wife live upon the moon. To further insult his wife, he taught the people to live by a calendar based upon the movements of the sun.

Ever since that day the moon, with Huythaca living on its surface, transits the sky. When people look up, they see Huythaca in her place in the heavens, and with this sight, they remember the destruction she once caused. And they also remember the importance of the Earth for their survival and well-being.

Still, after all these centuries, Huythaca remains bitter. Now and then she will, in anger, cause the waters of the Earth to swell and rise. The people understand they must never ignore her, and must take notice of both sun and moon whenever they are planting their fields.