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Creation:
The Bribri god is named Sibú, and this is how the earth was created…
According to BriBri legend, Sibú’s sister was the Tapir and she had a daughter. Sibú believed that if the Vampire Bat went to below where the sun rises and cut the Tapir’s daughter, her blood would form the earth. The Vampire descended and sliced the Tapir’s daughter with its fine incisor. Then it returned to where Sibú was resting in his hammock and from its excrement grew the vines and bushes. Sibú saw that this plan was successful and productive and promised to continue it. The Tapir’s grandmother was Bikakra, the individual in charge of the chocolate ceremony and distributing this important food. Sibú needed to see the Tapir’s grandmother and convince her to bring the Tapir’s daughter to him, so that she could change into earth.
Sibú went to the Tapir’s grandmother and invited her to celebrate the birth of the clans that would grow like corn seeds from the earth. He convinced her to come by promising that she could preside over the ceremonies of chocolate and corn. Sibú also mentioned that he would return to remind her of the celebration within the next four days. The entire festival was arranged for the express purpose of inaugurating the great conical house (rancho) and the corn seed. Sibú threw a great party and invited all those who worked with him, plus the mother and grandmother of the Tapir.
Sibú believed that they had to dance a special dance called the Sorbón at the party and that they would have to invite the demons because he had already employed them to build his house - the world. However, if the demons knew that the house was intended to create the clans, they would not have constructed it. Represented by the ceremonial rancho, Suláyum is the Bribri center of the world.
Before the sun rose, Sibú prepared the banquet, the tables and the party and called everybody there to dance the Sorbón. When the Sorbón dance began, the Tapir got up to dance while her mother was distributing chocolate. They danced one dance after another. During the fourth dance, the Tapir’s daughter fell and her blood spilled across the floor. Everybody dancing the Sorbón began to trample her, until her body melted and completely disappeared, eventually becoming pure earth. After she became earth, the Tapir’s mother began to cry and said to Sibú, “You have betrayed me, my brother! If I had known what you were going to do, I would not have come.”
Because of this fable, the BriBris consider the tapir to be sacred and never consume its flesh before performing a special ritual.”
The Bribri universe is in the shape of a diamond that has different layers. The highest three layers form the realm of their god Sibú. The next layer down is the forest and sky, followed by the fifth layer or the middle of the diamond which is the earth. Underneath the earth is the layer where the dead are laid to rest. Beneath that is a layer called the realm of Kudo, who is the King of the Dead. Kudo takes the pain and sickness of both people and animals that are endangered. Kudo has the power to make dangerous animals such as snakes take revenge on humans if the people don’t protect the earth and the habitats of the animals. The universe is represented through a sacred building called the Rancho. This building has only one door which faces the east where the light enters, this symbolizes Sibú, beacuase Sibú is light. The Rancho was constructed when Sibú asked eight animals to help him build it, all of these animals are now considered sacred.
The Bribri have access to modern medicine but some still choose to rely on the traditional methods of healing. The traditional way means calling upon the shaman, or the medicine man, who has a variety of ways to heal whether it be by chanting and fasting or herbs and other medicines. Spirits can also be called upon by the use of crystals.
After a person has died, the body is generally only handled by the buriers. Anyone who was involved in the process must be cleaned by the main burier or the shaman. The death ceremony includes cooking and distribution of food, all of which is done ritualistically. The last part of the ritual is to return the soul of the deceased to the underworld to insure reproduction of the deceased’s clan.
