The benevolence of the God Pa'i Shume and the creativity of Indian Mba'

Once upon a time the Guarani people crossed the Great Ocean, coming from a distant land, to settle in America. They worked day and night creating the beginnings of civilization in the wild and dangerous New World. Hearts of the settlers desired a coming of God, who would help them in their everyday life. The wait has come to its end. A bearded, fair-skinned blue-eyed God came from Heavens. His name was Pa'i Shume. The Great God has brought the knowledge of agriculture and taught the people how to cope with flood, drought and epidemic. He disclosed the secrets of faith. One of the big secrets was the knowledge of plants and its might. And the biggest of them all was the Caa' plant. He taught them how to cultivate and how to prepare yerba mate! The God returned to his Kingdom, but remained in the Guarani hearts. They began to lead a better and safer life, and they cured all the diseases with the mysterious Caa' plant. A hint from the God on drinking yerba mate made the Indians make cups to drink Caa' Mate out of wood or calabash. With the course of time the Indians had enough food and did not have to worry about their fate. They harvested corn, cassava and thanks to supplies they could survive the difficult times of drought or flood. They began to take up arts, and the most skilful and experienced was called Mba'. One day he was wandering by the river sipping on yerba mate. Tradition told to drink the drink of God through gritted teeth, but Mba' didn't like to do it that way. Sometimes leaves of Caa' Mate reached his mouth, tickling him. To his distress, the drink spilt when he burst out in laughter. He wasn't happy with losing the drink of God. The humming grass and his creativity intertwined. Mba' has created the way to drink Caa' Mate with a straw, solving his problem. Time passed, and the straw has gained popularity and was called Bombilla in his honour. The following generations of Guarani people have bettered bombilla, thus making it one of the basic (apart from the mate' cup) accessories to drink the godly yerba.

Once upon a time an Indian tribe crossed the Great Ocean, coming from a distant land, to settle in America. They worked day and night creating the beginnings of civilization in the wild and dangerous New World. Hearts of the settlers desired a coming of God, who would help them in their everyday life. The wait has come to its end. A bearded, fair-skinned, blue-eyed God came from Heavens. His name was Pa'i Shume. The Great God has brought the knowledge of agriculture and taught the people how to cope with flood, drought and epidemic. He disclosed the secrets of faith and one of the big secrets was the knowledge of plants and its might. The God returned to his Kingdom, but remained in the people's hearts. They began to lead a better and safer life. They cut a small part of a forest to cultivate corn and cassava. Soil gave life to plants, but after 4-5 years lost its wealth, taken by the plants. The Indians were forced to move their homes, again had to lead difficult life among wild animals, diseases and hazards, before they managed to find good place to start a new farm. Old Cala' did not like the idea of leaving. He was weak and couldn't walk anymore. The heart of his daughter Jara - the youngest in their tribe - was sad, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to go with other tribesmen, but she loved her father and didn't want to leave him on his own. She decided to stay and take care of her father. Her love was to be rewarded. An unknown shaman appeared, asking to make a wish. Jara did not have any wishes and didn't want his help, but her father asked for some energy, as he wanted to take her back to their tribe. The shaman gave him the evergreen Caa' Mate plant. He taught him to cultivate, collect its leaves, dry them in the fire, roast, grind and prepare them in the mate' cup. He showed how to pour cold or hot water over it. The shaman left. The old man regained strength and set off searching for the tribe. When they finally found them, they told the story about the unknown shaman who gave them the cure which helped Cala' recover. All Indians started to drink the magical bittersweet herb. Time passed and it remained their cure-all. They still drink it today, calling it Caa' Mate.