Kwanzaa: Unity and Light

Hello everyone!

This past week has seen multiple holidays.  Today's post is going to be about Kwanzaa.  If you're looking for a Hanukkah post, I did one last year that you can read here.  If you're looking for Christmas posts, I've done three over the years.  Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a lovely holiday season!

So, on to Kwanzaa!

Kwanzaa is an interesting holiday because it isn't associated with any specific religion.  Instead, Kwanzaa is a celebration of ethnicity.  It has its roots in African culture, but the holiday itself is actually fairly recent.  Despite drawing on traditions from many African tribes, including the Zulus and Yorubas, Kwanzaa was invented in 1966.  It was a time of racial strife in the United States, with serious riots taking place in LA the summer before.  Seeing the troubles of African Americans, an African American professor by the name of Maulana Karenga decided to take action.

Karenga had studied African tribes, their culture, and their customs rather extensively.  Many cultures from all around the world have harvest festivals of some sort or another, usually involving a celebration and light.  Hinduism has the Diwali festival; a Celtic harvest festival is Samhain.  There are so many cultures in Africa that there isn't a single harvest festival, but the many variations on such a holiday all have some things in common.  Karenga examined these similarities and came up with the concept for Kwanzaa.

So if Kwanzaa isn't associated with a religion, what exactly is it?  Well, it's a celebration of one's roots.  Kwanzaa examines the past to strengthen modern ties.

"It is a time to strengthen the bonds among people, just as the harvest was an occasion to gather together, and to give thanks tot he Creator for a bountiful life.  It is also a time for African Americans to honor their roots and heritage, and to commemorate the struggles and survival of their people."*

 

I'm actually very curious to see if there's been an increase in Kwanzaa celebrations in the past several years.  At its core, Kwanzaa is an African American celebration, though it has spread to other countries and cultures since its creation.  I wonder if the Black Lives Matter movement has increased the number of African Americans celebrants.

 

If you'd like to read about all of the customs and decorations associated with Kwanzaa, you can visit the official Kwanzaa website here.  However, I'd like to sum up a few parts of the holiday.

 

There are a number of decorations associated with Kwanzaa.  Within a house, they're usually all placed on one table to form a display.

Corn, or a bowl of other crops, are traditional to represent the harvest.  Ears of corn are also associated with the children of the family.  These are placed atop a mat woven out of straw, called a mkeka.  A cup is also placed in the display, and is filled each night with a wine which is passed around for everyone to take a sip of.

 

There are three pieces of Kwanzaa which are probably the most integral to the holiday, as well as the most easily recognizable.  These are the candles (and their holder, called a kinara), the colors, and the seven principles.

 

The official colors of Kwanzaa are black, red, and green - the colors of the pan-African flag.  Each color represents something important to the African culture.  Black represents their skin, and the unity between all Africans.  Red stands for struggle and the conflicts that Africans face.  Green symbolizes the future, and the hope that is held for it.

 

There are seven days of Kwanzaa (starting today and running until January 1st), and seven candles.  Each candle is associated with one of the seven principles, called the Nguzo Saba.  On each day a candle is lit, and the principle with which it is associated is explained.

 

 

The black candle is lit on the first day.  After that, the candle lighting alternates between the left side (the red candles) and the right (the green candles).  Because of this, the lighting ceremony shows that though there are always struggles, hope follows them.  I think that's a beautiful message.

Kwanzaa is celebrated in different ways by the many people who celebrate it.  Some wear traditional African dress during the seven days of the festival.  Others play African music.  Many families get together and cook up some African recipes for celebration feasts (because, like many harvest festivals, Kwanzaa has lots of feasting!).  Gift giving is also a tradition, though gifts are mostly for the children.  Originally Kwanzaa gifts were supposed to be either educational or African in origin, but the holiday has become more generally commercialized in recent years.

I hope this has been an interesting read for you guys!  If you celebrate, then Harambee! and happy Kwanzaa!

*Quote from Holiday Symbols and Customs.

Ibeji: Divinity in Twins

Hey guys!

I wanted to discuss a few things before I get started with the post.  First off, we passed 20,000 pageviews over the weekend!  This is a milestone I've been looking forward to, so it was very exciting.  Thank you so much to all of my readers!  When I started this blog almost two years ago, I never expected it to reach so wide of an audience.  It's amazing to see how many people remain interested in mythology.  Thank you, and I look forward to another 20,000!

Next: Today is going to be my last post about African folktales for the time being.  Next week I'll have a special announcement post.  After that, I plan to spend the month of October hopping between various mythologies and/or fairy tales.  Beginning in November I'll begin a series of posts about Polynesian mythology, which I am very excited to look into.  I hope you guys enjoy!

For today's post, let's take a look at an interesting practice in the Yoruba culture of Africa involving twins.

"Ibeji" is the name for the Yoruba god of twins.  It is also the Yoruba word for twins.  Because twins are so uncommon, they are seen as having a little bit of the divine within them.  The spirits of twins are said by the Yoruba to occupy both the mortal world and the realm of the animals.  Twins are said to share one spirit.

The rarity of twins is reflected in the attitude of the Yoruba towards them.  Childbirth is said to be twice as difficult for twins, but the fortunes of the family increase by twice as much as they would if only one child were born.  Because the Ibeji are considered semi-divine, great care is taken to not anger them.  Ibeji are doted upon and their whims are appeased by their parents.  If the twins are displeased, the god Ibeji might take note and cause the parents to become unlucky.

The most fascinating thing about Yoruba twins is the practice of ere ibeji.  An ere ibeji is a small statuette carved when a twin dies.  Should only one twin pass on, the living twin claims responsibility of the statue.  It is their job to care for the ere ibeji as if their counterpart were still living.  The statue is bathed once a day, and food is offered to its mouth with each meal.  Essentially, the surviving Ibeji lives the lives of both.

(The surviving twin, pictured with the ere ibeji of their deceased sibling.)

If both twins should die, two statues are carved, and it becomes the mother's duty to care for both of them as if her children were still living.

(Some museums keep old ere ibeji on display.)

This entire concept fascinated me as soon as I read about it.  I lucked out and found a number of articles about the Ibeji in my college's online database.  There the matter became even more interesting.  You might have noticed that I've been using the present tense when talking about the Ibeji - this is deliberate.  The Yoruba culture still regards twins as having control over a family's fortunes.  When an Ibeji dies, an ere ibeji is still created.  However, the Yoruba have begun using photographs in place of carvings in some cases.  The surviving twin is photographed twice, once as themself and once, mirrored, as the deceased Ibeji.  The photographs are then blended together to make it appear as though both twins are pictured.

What do you guys think of the Ibeji?  The thought of twins sharing one spirit (and of one having to live out the life of the deceased) made me think of the Weasley twins from Harry Potter.

I'll see you next week!

Anansi: Tricking His Way to Stories

There was a time before Anansi was the keeper of the stories. In fact, he had to undergo a series of trials in order to earn the role of storyteller. Let me tell you the tale:

In the beginning all of the stories of the world were kept by Nyame, the sky god. Anansi wanted to be able to tell stories, so he went to Nyame and asked to buy the stories from him. Nyame warned him that the price was steep, but Anansi still pushed for them. The sky god agreed that the stories would belong to Anansi if the spider could bring him a nest of hornets, a giant python, and a mighty leopard.

 

Anansi set out on his quest, confident in his abilities. He began with the hornets. First the spider found a hollow gourd and cut a small hole in it. He went to where the hornets lived and poured water all over the nearby trees and himself. Thoroughly soaked, Anansi incredulously asked the hornets why they were staying in the rain. He held up the gourd and offered it to them as shelter from the storm. The grateful hornets flew in one by one. When they had all filed in, Anansi plugged up the hole. He delivered the hornets to Nyame.

The next challenge was the python. Anansi greeted the enormous snake and struck up a conversation with him. The spider claimed that he and his wife had gotten into a debate – was the python larger or smaller than a pole which lay nearby? The snake obligingly offered to lay near the pole so that Anansi could measure him against it and see which was longer. The spider asked if he could tie the python to the pole, to make sure that both lay straight.

In the end, of course, the python was strapped to a pole. It was all too easy for Anansi to carry him off to Nyame.

The last animal needed was the leopard. Anansi dug a deep pit in the ground, then covered it with branches and leaves so that it was invisible. When the leopard walked over it, the branches gave way and he fell. Anansi “just so happened” to be walking along, and offered to help rescue the leopard.

The spider bent a tree over so that its top touched the ground, and tied it off. He tied another rope around the tree and dropped the other end into the hole with the leopard. The cat, thinking it would lead to his freedom, followed Anansi's instructions and tied the rope around his tail.

 

As soon as he had, Anansi cut the rope holding the tree to the ground. It sprang back into the air – and it took the leopard with it!

Anansi found the cat dangling from the tree by his tail. It was a simple matter then to capture him.

When he returned to Nyame with the leopard, the sky god could not deny that Anansi had met all of his terms. He gave all of his stories to Anansi.
 

That is the story of how the spider got his tales.

Alright, I promised you guys I'd take a look at some of the appearances of Anansi in pop culture. He appears in some of the works by author Neil Gaiman (who's absolutely brilliant and you should totally check out if you haven't!). The books American Gods and Anansi Boys both deal with the spider trickster.

It's been years since I've seen it, but the Gargoyles animated television show had a few episodes where a spider named Anansi appeared. I hadn't realized when I watched it, but Gargoyles actually draws a lot from various mythologies and folktales. Avalon and the character of Oberon (most well-known for his Shakespeare character) both make appearances in the show. I'll have to go back and watch it again to see what else does!

The last set I'll mention in this post is comics. Both DC and Marvel have incarnations of Anansi. The DC version interacts with the character of Vixen, and his actions are pretty fitting for a (mostly) benevolent trickster. The Marvel version appears a few more times, and his appearances are frequently tied into the Spider Man stories. Though I haven't read it myself, I'm told Anansi was actually the first Spider Man.

Thanks for reading, guys! And, since I neglected to mention it elsewhere in my post...Arrr, maties! Happy Talk Like a Pirate day! I hopes ye're havin' a good time, and doin' somethin' piratical and awesome! Avast!

I'll see you next week!

The Buffalo Hide

Hey guys.

Today's post is shorter than usual, and I'm sorry, but it isn't about Anansi.  I had my wisdom teeth out a few days ago, and I appear to have misplaced my reference book that talks about the story I wanted to cover today.  Looking for it hurt, so I eventually settled on this story instead.  I'll do my best to find the book and have it prepared for next week.

I hope you all are doing well!

Today's story is a short folktale that has similarities to tales told in cultures all over the world.  Let me tell you the story, and then I'll look at some others like it.

Once there was a hunter who liked to lurk by a river, knowing that doing so would make the animals come to him.  One day he approached his usual territory and hid in the grasses.  To the hunter's surprise, he found a large number of people bathing in the water, with not an animal in sight.  These people looked a little bit different to him, though - they were big and burly, with dark brown skin.  The hunter knew of no such people in any village nearby, and wondered where they had come from.

Then the hunter noticed something.  On the banks of the river lay piles of buffalo hides, and very fine ones at that.  There were so many that the hunter thought he could take one without being noticed.  He snuck down to the river and grabbed a hide - judging from its size, it had come from a female buffalo.

Just then the bathers began to emerge from the river.  The hunter darted back into cover.

What he saw next left the hunter flabbergasted.  One by one, the bathers left the river and approached the pile of hides.  Each picked up a buffalo hide and shrugged it over their shoulders.  As they did so, a change occurred.  Each human transformed into a buffalo!

The hunter could only stare as a herd of buffalo marched away from him.

But one hide was missing, and so one human was left.  It was a female whose skin he had taken.  The young woman looked up and down the riverbank, crying when she could not find her skin anywhere.

The hunter fell in love with the buffalo woman.  He approached her and soothed her, then asked if she would be his wife.  He built her a house, and together they had a son.  He was big and brown, like his mother's people.

One day, the buffalo woman found her skin, kept carefully by the hunter for all of their years together.  That night she told him that she wanted to return to her people, and that she wanted him to come with her.

(I had a very hard time finding pictures for this story.  There's a Native American tale with a similar name, and all the images I could find were for it.  Still, this was one of the first pictures to pop up when I searched for "Buffalo Bride".  It was too cute to not include!)

 

The woman put on her buffalo skin and led her husband to her family.  When they heard how kindly he had treated her, they accepted him as one of their own.  A buffalo skin was sewed for the hunter, and he became a buffalo himself.

The hunter and the buffalo woman had many other children, but all of them were buffalos.  Only their first son remained a human.  The story goes that he married into a chieftain's family, and that all of his descendants were strong and stubborn...just like the buffalo.  To this day, that tribe will not eat buffalo meat.

What do you guys think?

There are a number of stories I can think of in which similar occurrences happen.  A female animal sheds its skin and becomes human to bathe.  That skin is found by a mortal man, who the woman marries.  Eventually, she reclaims her skin and returns to her people.  This one is different in that I haven't read many versions where the husband and wife stay together.

What interests me is the disparity between cultures which have this story.  This African version has a buffalo.  The Scottish Selkie is a seal version.  There's a Japanese version involving a crane which I'm very fond of.  Several Eastern European countries have variations on the tale with the animal involved being a swan or a dove.  It's fascinating to me to see how many cultures have a tale so similar.

I hope you guys were interested too.  I'll see you next week!

Anansi: Corn is Worth 100 Servants

Anansi is one of the most popular characters in African folktales. He appears throughout quite a few African cultures, and while the stories may differ, his personality remains the same. Anansi is a very wise and witty spider. He is the trickster of African mythology.

We've looked at several tricksters from other mythologies in previous posts. The Norse Loki is unquestionably evil, given his desire to bring about the end of world. The Japanese Susano can be nefarious, but he also has a lighter side. Out of all the tricksters I've talked about, Anansi is most similar to the Greek Hermes. Both are messengers, with Anansi frequently serving as a go-between for mankind and the gods. Their pranks tend to be light hearted in nature, instead of villainous.

Given the number of myths about Anansi, there are a lot of stories for me to cover – too many for just one post! I'm going to spend several weeks talking about Anansi, including one post taking a look at his portrayals in modern pop culture.

Today's story is one of my favorites, even though Anansi is pretty mean to the poor humans. It begins with a bet between Anansi and Nyame, one of the more powerful African gods.

Nyame possessed an ear of corn. Looking at it, Anansi asked to be gifted the corn. He boasted that he would trade that corn for 100 servants. Nyame was intrigued, but doubted that the clever spider could do as he said. Still, he gave Anansi the ear of corn.

Anansi then went to earth. He found a human village, where he was made welcome as an honored guest. The spider warned the humans that the corn he had with him was sacred – it belonged to Nyame himself! The villagers were all very awed and respectful.

That night, Anansi crept out while everyone was sleeping. He fed all of the corn to the chickens in the village. When the humans awoke the next day, Anansi flew into a rage. He accused them of letting their fowl eat the sacred corn!

The humans were completely apalled. Fearing the wrath of Nyame, they offered Anansi an entire bushel of corn to make up for the single ear he had lost. Anansi accepted their offering and set off down the road.

 

As he was traveling Anansi met a man with a chicken. He purchase the chicken for the bushel of corn. When he came to the next village, Anansi was again welcomed as a guest. He repeated his story, but this time it was the chicken who was sacred to Nyame.

Again, Anansi had a trick up his sleeve. That night he slaughtered the chicken and rubbed its blood and feathers all over the village. He railed against the villagers when they awoke – how dare they kill Nyame's sacred chicken!

The villagers gave Anansi ten sheep to placate him, and the spider set off on his way.

The sheep were exchanged for a corpse – Anansi's biggest trick yet. (I'd imagine the corpse-seller was quite happy with that bargain!)

Anansi carried the corpse into the final village, larger than all the others he had stayed in. He claimed that the body was the sleeping son of Nyame himself. He set the body in a hut, claiming that he was exhausted and needed his rest. Anansi enjoyed dinner, and then returned to the hut to "sleep".

 

The next morning, Anansi called some villagers into the hut to help him wake the son of the god.  Given that the "son" was dead, they were unable to do so. Anansi cried out that the man had been murdered! Who in the village would dare to kill the son of their god?!

The villagers were horrified, and greatly feared the wrath of Nyame. They desperately offered to send 100 of their finest young men to the god, hoping that their servititude would make up for the death of the god's son. Anansi gravely accepted their offer.

Nyame was very much surprised when Anansi marched into his court with 100 servants behind him. When the spider recounted his tale the god was amused.

And so it was that 100 servants were purchased for a single ear of corn.

What do you guys think? It always reminds me of that game where you start with something small – say, a paperclip – and see what you can trade it for.


I'll be back next week with a very special post, and then we'll return to African folktales the following week.

And, to all my fellow WoW players...have fun with Legion!!

Go Fish: Chipfalamfula, the River God

Today's story comes from the people of Mozambique, a country in southern Africa. It tells of a river deity who helps out two young girls. I love the similarities to Cinderella (the river god could be compared to the fairy godmother) and to the Judeo-Christian story of Joseph and his brothers.

The rivers of southern Mozambique were said to be the home of Chipfalamfula, an enormous fish who was a river god. Chipfalamfula was a kind being who often helped those in need.

 

There was a tribe whose chief had many wives. His favorite wife had two daughters – Chichinguane and her younger sister. Though the chief had many other daughters, these two were his favorites because of their mother. He showered them with gifts and doted upon them.

 

The other wives and daughters of the chief were immensely jealous of Chichinguane's family. They were cruel and took every opportunity to bully them.

 

One day, all of the girls had been sent out to collect clay by the riverbank. The other daughters of the chief forced Chichinguane to climb down the bank and fill their baskets for them. One by one she passed up baskets filled with clay. When she had finished, Chichinguane waited for the other girls to pull her up...but they did not. Instead, the girls turned and left.

 

The clay was slick and slippery. Try as she might, Chichinguane could not climb out. Eventually it began to rain, and it was then that Chichinguane grew scared. The water was rapidly rising, and the girl feared that she would drown.

 

She cried out for help – and help came.

 

A giant fish appeared behind her. Chichinguane was frightened at first, but then remembered the tales of Chipfalamfula, who was a helpful god. The fish introduced himself and then opened his mouth wide. He invited her to climb inside his belly, where she would be safe and happy.

 

Chichinguane climbed into the fish's mouth and down into his stomach.

 

It was bigger on the inside (like a TARDIS!).

 

 

There were many people living there, growing plants and catching small fish. Chichinguane was happy.

 

However, her little sister was not. The other girls had returned to the village and claimed that Chichinguane had run away. With Chichinguane gone, the young girl was sent to take her sister's place doing the chores.

 

The little girl was too small for this. Sent to gather water, she found herself unable to pick up the filled pot. The other daughters of the chief laughed at her and left her behind, crying.

 

Chichinguane heard the sobs of her sister and asked Chipfalamfula to let her go to her. The fish opened his mouth and Chichinguane popped out, running to meet her sister on the riverbank. The young girl was overjoyed to see her, but Chichinguane made her promise not to tell anyone. The older sister picked up the water jug and put it on the girl's head, where she carefully balanced it. Chichinguane climbed back into Chipfalamfula's mouth. The young girl was able to return to the village with her water jar.

 

Every day Chichinguane helped her sister, and every day she returned to the fish god's stomach. Then, one night Chichinguane's younger sister was asked to carry a jar of beer to the chief. Try as she might, the girl could not lift the jar. Her mother was flabbergasted; the girl carried the jar on her head every day when she returned with water!

 

At length the younger sister was forced to explain that Chichinguane helped her every day. Her mother was overjoyed to hear that her eldest daughter was still alive. The next morning she went with her daughter to the riverbank. When Chichinguane appeared to help lift the water jar, her mother raced out to hug her. She begged her eldest daughter to come home, but Chichinguane refused. Her time spent in the water had turned her into a fish; she now had scales of pure silver.

 

Chichinguane returned to the belly of Chipfalamfula, and her mother and sister returned to the village.

 

The sight of her mother had filled Chichinguane with homesickness. After a few days she spoke to Chipfalamfula and told him that she missed her family. She begged to be allowed to return to them and to a life on land.

 

Chipfalamfula agreed, wanting her to be happy. He gave her a magic wand and opened his mouth, letting her loose into the world.

 

Chichinguane ran back to her village. The chief's other wives and daughters stared at her in disbelief as she headed for her mother's hut. When she arrived she touched the magic wand to her skin. Before her mother and sister's eyes Chichinguane's scales dropped off of her. As they hit the ground they turned into silver coins, making Chichinguane's mother rich beyond dreams.

The chief was overjoyed at his favorite daughter's return. A party was thrown, and he showered gifts upon both Chichinguane and her sister.

Of course, this only made the other wives and daughters even more jealous.

Some time passed, and all of the girls were sent to gather firewood. The older girls bullied Chichinguane and her sister into climbing the tallest tree. They were ordered to cut off all of the branches and toss them down to the other girls.

Chichinguane and her little sister did as they were told. When they were finished, the girls left – and Chichinguane and her sister were stranded in the top of the tree.

With no way down, they waited there. Night fell, and their situation worsened: a group of ogres arrived.

Ogres were monstrous creatures who loved shiny jewelry – which the girls were wearing – and the taste of human flesh. Young girls were a particular delicacy. Catching sight of Chichinguane and her sister, the ogres began to try and cut down the tree.

The younger girl panicked and began to cry, but Chichinguane shushed her and told her not to worry. When the tree was about to topple she touched it with the magic wand from Chipfalamfula. The tree immediately was whole again – it was as if the ogres' axes had never touched it.

The ogres were furious and continued to hack and chop. Chichinguane kept healing the tree. Eventually the ogres grew weary. They fell asleep, knowing that their prey was trapped.

Seeing no other choice, Chichinguane pushed her sister out of the tree and jumped after her. The landing was rough, but they both stood and began to run. The noise awakened the ogres, who chased them through the forest. Chichinguane headed for the river.

They got there with the ogres hot on their heels. Chichinguane touched her magic wand to the riverside and begged Chipfalamfula to halt the water. Immediately the river was dry, and she and her sister were able to cross. Once on the other side she used her wand again, asking Chipfalamfula to restart the river.

 

The ogres, running across the dry riverbank, were swept away by the wave of water.

 

 

(I totally thought of this scene.)

They were safe, but Chichinguane and her sister realized that they were lost. They wandered for some time before coming to a cave. Within it was much fine jewelry...but also human skeletons. They had stumbled across the ogres' lair!

Chichinguane and her sister put on as much of the jewelry as they could. Fearing that an ogre would return to the cave and find them, they left quickly.

It was dark, and they still didn't know where they were. Chichinguane asked Chipfalamfula to help them. Her magic wand began to glow, and she held it above her head as a light.

Little did Chichinguane know that another had also been praying to Chipfalamfula. There was a rich king who had two sons. He had prayed to the river deity that two beautiful, wealthy wives might be found for the princes.

The river god led Chichinguane's footsteps to the wall surrounding the king's home. The guards who stood there were astounded by the beauty of the women before them, who stood bedecked in jewels and lit by a magic light. Knowing that they had been sent by Chipfalamfula as an answer to the king's prayers, the girls were led inside and introduced to the princes.

They were married, and lived the rest of their lives in the king's kingdom.

What did you guys think?

Fire: Cooking and Carnage

I have a book which contains many, many stories about the origins of fire.  These stories come from countries all over the world, and it's fascinating to me to read them and see all of the similarities and differences within them.  The book contains stories from more than a dozen tribes and cultures in Africa, and all of them are unique.

This particular story comes from two different books that I have.  I'm not sure which tribe it can be credited to, but it is my favorite story about fire from African folktales.

The story goes that there was once a time where mankind had no fire.  They had nothing to provide light at night; no way to warm themselves against the chill; no manner in which to cook their food.  (Think about it!  No juicy, medium steak - no baked potatoes!)  It was a dark, cold, and flavorless time.

One day, a hunter was out in the wilderness when he saw a gray cloud rising from the ground ahead.  Having never seen anything like it, the man went to take a look.  It took him a long time to get there, because the cloud's origin lay beyond the horizon.  Night fell as he journeyed, but to his surprise a bright light shone up ahead, allowing him to continue his travels.  At last he reached his destination.

He had been following smoke, and what was emitting it was a warm light which flickered and danced.

The hunter guessed that the light was a great chieftain, and he bowed before it with respect.  The light introduced itself as fire.  It offered the man warmth and a place to stay the night, in exchange for his feeding it some of the branches and grass which lay nearby.  The man readily agreed.

Food was also provided for him.  An animal had been gazing spellbound at the dancing flames.  The man was able to take it unawares.  When he had killed it, the fire told him that he should cook the meat.  The hunter had no idea what the flames meant, but listened and did as he was told.  He soon discovered that roasted meat tasted far better than raw.

An idea came to the man.  He asked the fire if he could take it with him back to his village.  He promised to keep it well-fed in exchange for its warmth, light, and cooking capabilities.

But the fire refused.  It argued that if it traveled it would bring great danger to the land and to all living things.  The flames made the man promise that he would never tell another living soul about its existence.

The man promised, and the next day he returned home.

He kept his word, not even telling his wife about the fire.  Unfortunately, his wife was a curious sort.  When her husband gave her some cooked meat he had brought with him she immediately wanted to know where it had come from.  He never told her the source, but her curiosity did not die away.

The man returned frequently to visit the fire, and on one such visit the wife sent a neighbor to follow him.  The second man found the hunter sleeping in front of the fire.  Astonished, he seized a log from the flames and ran back to the village to show the wondrous thing he had found.

As he ran, the fire's dire prophecy began to come true.  Sparks fell from the flickering log, landing in the savannah.  Small fires sprang to life and grew.  The flames ate at the log and eventually licked down far enough to burn the second man's hand.  He screamed in pain and dropped the fire, which caught on the ground below.

 

(I'm picturing the scene in the Jungle Book - and with good reason!  That story drew heavily upon African folktales.)

The raging wildfire grew and spread, destroying several villages.  At last it reached the banks of a river and was stopped.  The fires died away...but they left destruction in their wake.

The villagers had survived by wading across the river.  They returned to find their homes destroyed.  However, the fire had left some good in its wake - some food left sitting out had been cooked, greatly improving its flavor.  Clay pots had hardened and become much more durable.  Despite its deadly nature, there was usefulness in the flames.

The hunter escaped unscathed, safe by his resting place near the fire.  It explained to him what had happened.  Fire had now been brought to man.  It listed its many uses to the hunter, and explained that it would serve mankind well and faithfully.  However, the flames also warned that they must be treated with respect...or else they would destroy.

Some cultures in Africa tell a similar story, but the wildfire started by a wild dog who, a stick tied to its tail caught on fire.

It's a story that I think demonstrates the danger of fire left unattended or used recklessly.  Given that it was likely told to children beginning at an early age, the warning is intentional.  I live in Arizona, and while Tucson rarely gets terrible fires we have had several in nearby areas.  The dangers of even a single flame in the dry desert are great.  I can't imagine how terrible they must be on the plains and savannahs of Africa.

What did you guys think of the story?

Chameleon: Slow and Steady Results in Death

Perhaps you've heard the saying, "The early bird gets the worm."

This folktale from the Zulus of Africa has a slightly different take on that proverb: "The early lizard delivers death."

In the beginning the Zulu deity, known simply as the Great One, created the world. He populated it with men and women formed from reeds. The Great One then created the sun and the moon, and lastly all of the animals.

This having been done, the Great One called upon the chameleon known as Unwaba.

(I couldn't help but use Disney's Pascal for a picture.  He's the cutest chameleon!)

The god commanded Unwaba to go to mankind and tell them that they would live forever. Tasked with delivering news of their immortality, Unwaba set out. However, chameleons are rather slow critters. They trod along slowly yet steadfastly. This was exactly how Unwaba moved.

While the chameleon slowly trekked along, the Great One changed his mind. (Gods are, across most mythologies, incredibly fickle and prone to mood swings.) The Great One decided that he did not want mankind to live for forever. In fact, he desired nothing other than himself to be immortal. The land animals, the fish, the birds...everything would eventually die.

With this in mind, the Great One sent out yet another messenger, the lizard Intulo. Intulo was tasked with delivering the news that all must one day pass.

It became a race, because whichever message was delivered first would be the one which stuck. A god's word, once passed on to his subjects, becomes law. Had Unwaba been the first to make his announcement, mankind would have lived forever.
 

Unfortunately, Unwaba did not know that he was participating in a race. He continued his steady journey. Intulo the lizard, being considerably faster than the chameleon, sped ahead of him and was the first to arrive at the village of man.
 

By the time Unwaba showed up, the dreaded news had already been delivered. Mankind was doomed to one day die. His own message now inconsequential, Unwaba turned and headed wordlessly back into the forest.

Because of the slowness of the chameleon, death entered the world.

This story is told in various forms throughout many of the cultures of Africa. Sometimes the chameleon races against animals other than a lizard – a hare, for instance. Always, the outcome is the same: death.

Chameleons often play the role of messenger in African folktales. As I said in my Intro, African animals in these stories often have a point to make about mankind. In this case, I would hazard a guess and say that it is best not to dawdle when carrying news of utmost importance.

Interestingly enough, Intulo makes an appearance in modern pop culture. One of the Final Fantasy games (I believe XI?) has a giant lizard players can fight named Intulo. I found this rather intriguing.

I'll see you guys next week!

Intro to African Folktales

Hello all!

I know that I said in my previous post that I would be beginning a series on African mythology. That having been said, some of my readers might be wondering why I have titled this post an intro to African folktales rather than to mythology.

African mythology is an immensely expansive term. The other mythologies I've discussed thus far have been fairly straightforward. Most of the gods of Egypt were worshiped throughout all of Egypt. The same is true of the Norse gods – their followers generally all held to the same deities and stories. Some variances did occur, such as the prominence of Demeter in a certain region of Greece (where worship of her sometimes was more important than worship of Zeus), or the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis in Rome. However, I could say with some certainty that a country worshipped x, y, and z gods.

The same cannot really be said of African mythology, making it a lot more complicated to explain.

Part of the problem lies in the vast number of tribes of Africa. Most tribes have their own religion. Some have the same, or similar, deities and stories. Others are vastly different. I have a book that is a collection of stories on the origin of fire from around the world. The chapter on African stories about the origin of fire contains no less than twenty variations, all of them quite different from one another. That's just one story, one common example – the rest of the mythology is the same.

Another problem lies in the influence of other religions. Parts of Africa were heavily colonized by Christians, who converted the locals. This effected the local beliefs, changing the stories of their mythology. Other parts of Africa were home to a large Muslim population, which had the same effect. Still, there remain pockets, particularly in the jungles of Africa, where small tribes have kept their stories intact and relatively unchanged for hundreds of years.

 

(The best image I could find on Google to show you just 100 of the different regional groups within Africa.  There are many, many more.)

All of this rather long-winded explanation boils down to one thing: African mythology is too wide of a topic for me to feel comfortable covering. I know a few stories from many different tribes, but if I were to discuss deities and myths from specific tribes I would want to do a series of posts on, say, Zulu mythology. To discuss the whole of African mythology is simply not something that I feel I am qualified to do – at least, not without a lot more research!

However...folktales are another matter entirely.

African folktales are blended with their mythology throughout all of the different cultures that I know of, and there tend to be a lot more similarities in the folktales than there do in the myths. The folktales of African cultures are generally designed to teach lessons, and they do so largely through the use of animals with personalities similar to those of humans. Throughout Africa one can usually find that elephants represent royalty, lizards often are the messengers of the gods, hyenas are dangerous and hunger for human flesh...there are distinctive characteristics for each animal, and those characteristics tell a cautionary moral tale for the human listeners.

(Perhaps the most famous is Anansi, the spider who is the storyteller in African folktales, and relies upon his wits to get him out of difficult situations.)

In the coming weeks I'll be doing posts on several folktales from various parts of Africa, during which time I'll talk about a lot of the different animals. I'm really looking forward to this, because it is very different from anything else I've done for the blog so far.

I'll see you guys next Monday!