Aluminé Lake (Lago Aluminé) is a large and deep lake located in the Andes in the western part of Neuquén Province, Argentina, near the border with Chile. 
The god of los Mapuches, Nguenchén, ordered the sun and the moon (Antú and Cuyén) to marry each other. Together, they could bring light to the earth.
In the beginning, the newlyweds were happy. As time went on, however, the sun became impatient with his wife and often beat her. As a result, the sun and the moon decided to separate, and now the sun comes up during the day and the moon during the night. The moon became sorrowful.
One day, unable to withstand the loneliness, the moon wanted to see the sun, so she stayed longer in the sky even though the night had ended. She wished to forgive her husband. To her dismay, she saw the sun kissing the morning stars. The broken-hearted moon started crying, and she cried so much that her tears became the aluminé lake.
The moon
“The sun is male, and the moon is female”. This notion is not unique to Latin American mythology. In Greek mythology, for example, the sun god was originally Helios(a male), and the moon goddess was Selene (a female).
I wonder why the moon is always feminine, but there’s no way for me to ask the people who first started telling these ancient mythologies. Could it because the moon shines a gentler light than the sun does, just like how women were expected to be docile and compassionate in many cultures? Or is it because the lunar cycle is similar to the menstrual cycle in that both complete the cycle in around one month?
The lake
I always find it fascinating how different civilizations use different mythological stories to try to understand the same natural phenomena, such as the dessert, the lightning, and the weather.
Despite the differences, I found that many myths about bodies of water share one similarity across cultures: water has to do with goddesses. For example, the moon(Cuyén), which is thought to be feminine, shed so many tears that they formed the aluminé lake.
As I explained in my first article, water is a feminine element. Water nurtures earthly beings; water encompasses everything like a mother; many ancient civilizations are thought to arise by the water. While there certainly are stories of gods, goddesses assume a more prominent role in myths about water.
Reference:
“Aluminé Lake.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 June 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alumin%C3%A9_Lake.
Picture Source: Pinterest
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