In my previous post about Quetzalcoatl, the civilizing god that visited Mexico, and then departed eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean, returning to his homeland, I mentioned the myth about the Apostle Saint Thomas visited America.
Thomas Didymus (from the Greek word for twins, Thomas means precisely that in Aramaic), was also known as Doubting Thomas, after the description given in the Bible (see John 20:24-29) describes as "Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”"
Tradition says he visited India (and possibly China and Indonesia) spreading the gospel, and died, as a martir in India at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai (December 21st 72 AD),
St. Thomas in America
There is a very interesting article by Carlos Page, in Spanish, with the revealing title: El Apóstol Santo Tomás en América según los relatos de los antiguos jesuitas del Brasil y Paraguay (The Apostle Saint Thomas in America according to the accounts of the ancient Jesuits of Brazil and Paraguay). It's abstract in English summarizes the paper: "The history of Saint Thomas the Apostle preaching in America was debated from the time it became a widely discussed topic of conversation during the sixteenth century. Although there is reliable evidence that the story began with the arrival of Columbus to the supposed “Indies”, where the apostle did preach, the Jesuits are attributed for its invention. Undoubtedly, religious leaders arriving in 1549 embraced the story to justify and validate their evangelizing project, taking storytelling to the extreme. Even though Christian hagiographies had ruled it out, by the end of the eighteenth century the story was still being written about..."
Page also mentions Peru where Calancha likened the Inca god Tunupa in that region, where another apostle, St. Bartholomew was said to have preached according to Guaman Poma de Ayala (1615). In Colección de libros y documentos referentes a la historia del Peru. (1918), (see p. 153) the myth of the civilizing god Viracocha is discussed, and it mentions the theory put forward by Joan de Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui, in his Relación de Antigüedades deste Reyno del Pirú suggesting that Viracocha was Saint Thomas.
Pachacuti wrote: "A bearded man of medium build arrived in these provinces and kingdoms of Tahuantinsuyo. He had long hair and wore somewhat long tunics; he was described as a man past his youth, showing signs of graying hair, and thin of frame. He traveled with a staff and taught the natives with great love, calling them all his sons and daughters. Although the natives paid him little heed, he performed many visible miracles as he journeyed through the provinces, healing the sick simply by touching them. He sought no material gain and carried no possessions; it is said he spoke all the local languages better than the natives themselves. He was known by names such as Tonapa, Tarapaca, Viracochanpachayachicachan, Pacchacan, Bicchhaycaniayoc, and Cunacuycamayoc. Since this man was called Tonapa Viracochampacachan, could he not be the glorious Apostle Saint Thomas?"
Brazil and Patagonia
But going back to Brazil, the first mention of St. Thomas there dates back to 1515 where a German text called Copia de Newen Zeytung Auss Peszilg Landt, stated that the local natives "also cherish a memory of Saint Thomas on the rocky coast or within the land; they also tell the Portuguese that he is said to have gone inland. And when they speak of Saint Thomas, they say he is a lesser deity, yet there is another god who is greater. It is quite credible that they hold a memory of Saint Thomas, for it is well known that Saint Thomas lies buried at Meliapur on the Coromandel Coast, in the Gulf of Ceylon. In the land, they even name their children Thomas."
Strangely the author comments about Brazilian natives and associates the memory with the Coast of Coromandel in Southwesterb India! The idea of a journey from there to Eastern South America didn't seem to bother him.
At that time, in 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller (1470-1520), published his map of the New World, naming it America, and included in Patagonia a Serra de S Thome, Serra = "sierra" or range of hills or mountains named for St. Thomas. See it in this Source (zoomable) from which I made the following image:
The Guaraní people's myth
Del Barco Centenera (1535-c.1605), a Spanish friar who lived in Paraguay, recorded the myth in his ode Argentina, published in 1602. In it, he mentions an encounter that an old native chief had with a holy Christian man who gave him a cross before the Spanish arrived in America (p. 340): "A man stepped before me, Of handsome bearing and countenance... [God] will remember you in the final hour. Saying this, he extended his right hand, and gave me this cross, which I believe, is the gift of my rest and my desire. " the footnote that del Barco Centenera included for this comment reads (p, 386): "A very common story among the Guaraní concerns a holy man who once went among them preaching; known today as Pa'i Sumé, or Saint Thomas. I have seen with my own eyes a stone, measuring some nine feet in length and four in widthm bearing the marks and traces of human footprints. These are not Indian footprints, for the marks left by their feet are easily recognized and quite distinct from those of a Christian, even when both are barefoot: Indians have splayed toes, whereas Christians have theirs close together, a trait also observed in Black Africans."
The missionaries who visited the region in the early 1500s recorded the belief in a Pay Zumé (pai in Portuguese means Father or Priest, and Zumé is a deformation of Tomé = Thomas). De Angelis in his history of Argentina, published in 1836, cites fathers Lozano and Cataldino who tell about the route taken by St. Thomas among the Indians, as he trekked inland from the coast of Brazil, also mentioning the footprints in the rock, and a trail he used, that still exists; he names it Peabirú. See my post on this ancient native trail.
Finally, there is as cholarly paper published in 2016, written by Marcela Pezzuto, Desde el Titicaca hasta el Guayrá: el gran viaje de Santo Tomás según dos cronistas (From Titicaca to Guayra: Saint Thomas's great journey according two chroniclers), that looks into the texts written by Ruíz de Montoya and Guaman Poma de Ayala and suggests that Montoya did so to promote the power of Christianity in the New World, while de Ayala's goal was to paint the Native American Inca realm as an utopian place in contrast to the ruthless Spanish conquest.
Those interested in an English language reference can read Daniel Garrison Brinton who mentions Pai Zumé and the other demigods (like Quetzalcoatl and Viracocha) in his book "American Hero-myths A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent" published in 1892.
Comments
Of course, St Thomas didn't visit America. The Jesuits believed that an angel had transported him to the New World, it is most likely that the idea was implanted in the natives by now-unknown priests who visited the region during the first period that followed the discovery of America.
The myth probably reflects the visit of mariners from Europe in pre-Columbian times, not necessarily Christians, possibly Carthaginians or Phoenicians.
As part of the myths describing civilizing gods, Pai Zumé / St. Thomas is on par with Quetzalcoatl, Amalivaca, and Viracocha. An intreresting common legend among the natives of South America.
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