Kuaray

The Little Sun

Domain: Sun, Guide & Twins
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Light
Relics of Power: The Second Sun

Speak with Kuaray

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5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Indigenous peoples of Brazil

Region

Brazil & South America

Period

pre-colonial – present

The Indigenous spirits and culture heroes are revered by the native peoples of Brazil, such as the Tupi, Guarani, and Yanomami. Their beliefs, passed down orally by shamans and elders, bind humans to the forest, the rivers, and the ancestors. They remain alive in the Indigenous communities that endure to this day.

Shamans lead rituals with songs, rattles, and sacred plants, mediating contact with the spirits of the forest. In the Upper Xingu, the Quarup honors illustrious dead with dances and wrestling, and cauim feasts gather entire villages in ceremonial celebrations.

At a glance

Kuaray is the name of the Sun in Mbyá Guaraní tradition. In the book by Carlos Papá and Verá Kanguá, Mbyá authors, he is the small son of Nhanderu and Nhandesy, the mother of the sun, and twin brother of Jaxy, the future Moon. The child is born and grows among jaguars, and the narrative gives him the role of guide and of second sun. The main source named in the brief, Cadogan's Ayvu Rapyta, was not checked here on the passages about Kuaray, so this study rests on the Mbyá's own account and stays short.

The ancient sources on this deity are scarce. This study gathers only what is on record.

4 min read · Reviewed on November 6, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

The little sun, the sister Moon, the jaguar, the altar of the first light

Family

Parents

Nhanderu, the father, who appears in the tale as an owl and then as a manNhandesy, the mother of the sun

Siblings

Jaxy (Jasy), the twin brother, the future Moon

Kuaray

Genealogy according to Carlos Papá e Verá Kanguá, The Life of the Sun on Earth (Anhembi Morumbi, 2003; Caderno Selvagem, 2023). Outras versões mbyá podem diferir; o parentesco acima é o desse relato.

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Carlos Papá e Verá Kanguá, The Life of the Sun on Earth (Caderno Selvagem, Dantes Editora Biosfera, 2023), transcrição do livro homônimo da Editora Anhembi Morumbi, 2003. read
León Cadogan, Ayvu Rapyta: Textos míticos de los Mbyá-Guaraní del Guairá. São Paulo: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras da Universidade de São Paulo, 1959. read

Studies

Gustavo Godoy and Miguel Carid, A diferença que faz a diferença: originais e cópias Guarani-Mbya. Journal de la Société des Américanistes, 2016. Société des Américanistes, 2016. open
Garland Magazine, Translating the Ayvu Rapyta: For the love of a rainforest and its word-souls. Garland Magazine. open
Vivien Kogut Lessa de Sá e Caroline Egan, Translation and prolepsis: the Jesuit origins of a Tupi Christian doctrine. University of London Press. open

Name and epithets

Kuaray means sun. The same source writes Kuarai and calls the character the little Sun. It says an original sun appeared in the dark, when the first father made the first light on his altar, and that Kuaray is the futur…

In the ancient sources

The Life of the Sun on Earth (Carlos Papá e Verá Kanguá), 2003. A book by Mbyá authors, transcribed in the Caderno Selvagem in 2023, telling the adventures of Kuaray and Jaxy, twin sons of Nhanderu, from what they heard…

The myths

The owl who was Nhanderu and the twins among the jaguars. Nhandesy, still young, tries to snare the bird nambu xororó with a lasso and catches a little owl.

Worship and archaeology

The sources consulted describe no cult of Kuaray or sun rite, and this study does not assume any. What they show is transmission: Papá and Kanguá write down the creation narrative they heard from parents and grandparent…

How the god was depicted

There is no figurative image of Kuaray in the sources consulted, and the site uses no portrait of him. The illustration in the Caderno Selvagem is contemporary and is not a traditional image of the god.

What scholars debate

Who is the Sun: Kuaray or Ñamandu. In one reading of the Ayvu Rapyta, Ñamandu is the sun god among four gods. In the book by Papá and Kanguá, Kuaray is the second sun and people live under Nhamandu Mirim.

After antiquity

The tale of the twins reaches today's public through the voice of Mbyá authors: the 2003 book became, in 2023, a digital notebook of the Ciclo Selvagem, translated into English.

Did you know?

According to the notebook's introduction, mirim in Guaraní means small, and today's Sun is called Nhamandu Mirim, little Nhamandu.

Codex relic

The Second Sun. The light of the second sun, which in the Mbyá tale follows the first light made on the altar of the first father.

The rest of this scroll is sealed

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