As he played his flute, melting the snow and bringing the warmth of spring, everyone in a nearby village was so excited about the change in seasons that they danced from dusk until dawn. The hunch on his back represents the bag of seeds and the songs he carries. In one legend, Kokopelli was traveling through the land, turning winter into spring with the beautiful notes from his flute, and calling the rain to come so that there would be a successful harvest later in the year. Kokopelli is perhaps best recognized by his curved back and the magic flute that he carries with him wherever he may go. In addition to being a trickster deity, Kokopelli is also a Hopi fertility god – you can imagine what sort of mischief he might get up to! Like Anansi, Kokopelli is a keeper of stories and legends. Kokopelli is a trickster who represents mischief, magic and fertility. Paris selected Aphrodite to receive the apple, and thus guaranteed that his hometown would be demolished by the end of the war. Aphrodite offered Paris a bribe he couldn’t resist - Helen, the lovely young wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Zeus, trying to be helpful, chose a young man named Paris, a prince of the city of Troy, to select a winner. Naturally, Athena, Aphrodite and Hera had to bicker over who was the rightful owner of the apple. She tossed a golden apple - the Apple of Discord - into the crowd, and said it was for the most beautiful of the goddesses. Eris, the original wedding crasher, showed up anyway, and decided to have a little fun. All of the gods of Olympus were invited, including Hera, Aphrodite and Athena - but Eris’ name got left off the guest list, because everyone knew how much she enjoyed causing a ruckus. It all started with the wedding of Thetis and Pelias, who would eventually have a son named Achilles. She loves to start trouble, just for her own sense of amusement, and perhaps one of the best known examples of this was a little dustup called the Trojan War. Nancy and his sons.Ī goddess of chaos, Eris is often present in times of discord and strife. The sequel, Anansi Boys, tells the story of Mr. For grownups, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods features the character Mr. There are a number of beautifully illustrated children’s books telling the stories of Anansi. To this day, Anansi is the keeper of tales. When Anansi returned to Nyame with his captives, Nyama held up his end of the bargain and made Anansi the god of storytelling. Using cunning and cleverness, Anansi was able to capture Python and Leopard, as well as several other hard-to-catch beings, all of whom were part of Nyame’s price. So, he set Anansi out to solve some absolutely impossible tasks, and if Anansi completed them, Nyame would give him stories of his own. Anansi the spider decided he wanted stories of his own, and offered to buy them from Nyame, but Nyame didn’t want to share the stories with anyone. All the tales were held by Nyame, the sky god, who kept them hidden away. Originally, there were no stories at all. It is believed that these tales served not only as a form of cultural identity for enslaved West Africans, but also as a series of lessons on how to rise up and outsmart those who would harm or oppress the less powerful. Because Anansi tales, like many other folktales, began as part of an oral tradition, these stories traveled across the sea to North America during the slave trade. Anansi tales have been traced back to Ghana as their country of origin.Ī typical Anansi story involves Anansi the Spider getting into some sort of mischief - he’s usually facing a horrible fate like death or being eaten alive - and he always manages to talk his way out of the situation with his clever words. He’s a pretty important cultural figure, both in West Africa and in Caribbean mythology. Brian D Cruickshank / Getty ImagesĪnansi the Spider appears in a number of West African folktales, and is able to shift into the appearance of a man. Anansi comes from Ghana, where his adventures are told in songs and stories.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |