Tag Archives: Mythology

Kwaku Anansi, the Ghanian trickster god

Nationality: Ghanian-Nigerian
Age: 20
Occupation: Freelance color designer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Text: “Um, so like Kwaku Anansi is like this Ghanian trickster god. I think he’s like, in the form of a spider? There’s like books in my… what was it? My primary school? That were like simple little drawings of him vibing with the world. Nobody liked this guy. Absolutely nobody. Because he would steal, and pillage… is that a word? And he would steal… I wanna say gold. Because it was like the gold coast or whatever, in parenthesis ‘Ghana’, and so at the time, there might have been… I guess… I want to say like a gold rush of sorts? And he would just break into these peoples’ like… [pauses to laugh] properties and steal their gold or food or whatever? But yeah. What is a specific story…? Because I remember reading one about a field, and him being like, chased down by two guys… But I’m not super like… It’s very fuzzy, it was a long time ago.”

Context: Informant OB had a transnational childhood. Their father is Ghanian and their mother is Nigerian. OB was born in Pennsylvania, but they spent several years of their childhood living in Ghana when their father wanted to move there. Their family moved back to Pennsylvania when OB reached middle school. OB is also currently pursuing a career in animation and they were very skeptical of Kwaku Anansi’s recent adaptation as a Marvel character.

Analysis: It is not surprising that stories about Kwaku Anansi were taught to primary schoolchildren, as many trickster stories around the world are used to impart moral beliefs to children and demonstrate ‘what not to do.’ OB’s recounting of the source of their knowledge of Kwaku Anansi also indicates that the mythology was institutionally adopted for the purpose of pedagogy. As for the theft of gold, Ghana has been a major supplier of gold, ever since commercial mining began in the 19th century when Europeans set up mines. In recent years, Ghana has faced environmental disaster due to illegal gold mining.

The Hawaiian Goddess Kapo

Kapo is the goddess of fertility, birth, and sorcery in Hawaiian mythology. She notably has a detachable vagina.

“Kapo is the goddess with a flying pussy. She and her winged vagina are the hero in many Hawaiian myths. The main one is where she sees one of her sister goddess being raped by another god. She throws her pussy at him and it keeps flying; he’s so entranced with it that he leaves the goddess alone to chase the pussy. It keeps flying and crashes into the side of a mountain. There’s an actual crater in Hawaii named after Kapo.”

In a discussion about folklore, the informant C mentioned the goddess Kapo but then he had to leave for another event. I later received this text from him with another message explaining how he has a personal fascination with folklore and wanted to share this story. The mythology of Kapo speaks to the importance of nature in Hawaiian culture, both in the environment and the nature of pregnancy/birth. I found this piece of folklore to be interesting because of its emphasis on feminine experiences and solidarity. Although my informant didn’t include this, the goddess that Kapo saved was Pele the goddess of volcanoes and fires. Pele is a major deity in Hawaiian mythology because she is the one who created the islands of Hawaii. There are countless myths about women being raped, but very few end in the woman being saved and the hero being another woman. It’s a bonus that they’re both strong female archetypes.

The Undressing of Draupadi

Text:

Draupadi wanted to marry one of the 5 main brothers from the Mahabharatha, but another man, Duryodhana wants her to marry him instead. He proposes to her, but is refused. Upon this refusal, one of his brothers begins trying to rip Draupadi’s clothes off. Krishna sees this, and decides to save Draupadi by maker her clothing infinite. No matter how much cloth Duryodhana’s brother rips off of her, there is always more that she is still wearing. 

Context: 

This story is from the Mahabharatha, and is a plot point in the main storyline. An extremely simplified synopsis of the Mahabharatha is that it’s about the war between 5 brothers and 100 of their other brothers (Note that brother and cousin are essentially synonymous in this context). The “good guys” are the 5 brothers, and they eventually end up winning the war. 

This story is a simple lesson that one should respect women, and that to undress them is not okay.

Analysis:

In Indian culture, arranged marriages are a common practice, and the final decision on whether a marriage happens is given to the family as a whole, not the woman getting married. This story encourages respecting a woman’s desires for her marriage, even if the cultural norm or law doesn’t fully require it, and backs that up with a god taking the side of Draupadi. This makes even more sense to me that this story is found somewhat in opposition of the cultural norm when I remember that many tales come from being told by women as they do busywork. They used what ways they could to better how they were treated, and instilling good habits and respect in their children is a very powerful way to do so.

Apollo and the Island of Rhodes

Informant Info:

  • Nationality: Greek
  • Occupation: Professor
  • Residence: Connecticut 
  • Primary language: Greek

Text and context:

I.T chose to inform me on one of the most well known myths from Rhodes, the island in Greece where he is originally from. The myth surrounds the island of Rhodes and involves Helios, which is the sun in Greek. The myth begins with the day the Greek Gods met to decide who would be the patron god for each island/ region. Zeus gifted a beautiful island that was beginning to emerge from the ocean to Apollo. This island is Rhodos, and this is why the patron god of Rhodos is Apollo. I.T informed me that Rhodes has more days with Sun than any other place, even while other places are more South and should be receiving more sunlight than Rhodes. The god sun is Apollo, and I.T says Apollo was carrying the sun behind his horses as he rode across the universe. Apollo rode with his horses and the Sun, and he would stop more times in Rhodos, hence why Rhodes has more sun. 

Analysis:

I recently went to Greece for the first time, specifically in the islands of Rhodes and Athens. I spent the majority of the time in Rhodes, where I.T is from. I.T introduced me and my fellow USC peers to the history of Rhodes, which is his true home. As I walked the streets of Rhodes, I saw symbols of Apollo carved into buildings. At the center of all the symbols, Apollo’s head was always located. I.E informed us that in the head of Apollo is the symbol for Rhodes. Through this myth, I was able to see how the Greek people also use creation stories to explain how parts of Greece came to be. Some Greeks also believe that Rhodes is the most sunny place on Earth because of their Patron God, and they use Apollo to explain this. In Rhodes, people greatly praise Apollo, and they carefully cherish the Acropolis of Rhodes, where the remains of the temple of Apollo is also located.

Jinns

Text:
“Jinns are in the Quran and they are creatures made by Allah and they can’t be seen by the human eye. They were created before mankind was created. Unlike ghosts or spirits they are a separate entity, just like cats and dogs and birds and other species, and human beings can’t really see them and they were created from a smokeless flame or something like that, like how God created humans from dust and dirt. When God made Adam, jinns were made before Adam, God asked all the jinns to bow down to Adam and one jinn did not. This jinn refused to bow down to Adam which earned him the wrath of Adam. This jinn became Shaitan, or Satan. There are good and bad jinns though.Growing up in Pakistan it was a very inherent factor of our culture to believe in jinns, my mom was a big believer and my dad was very pragmatic. My mom used to hide it from my dad and go to this shaman or preacher who would read from the Quran to get the bad jinns away from my mom. My mom had a very troubled life and her mother believed it was the jinns causing this trouble so they went to this person. Fast forward many years and my sister was unwell so the religious person came to my house, and my dad had a garden he loved. The garden had this wooden statue, and the woman came over and said that a jinn was in this statue. I was a bit naive, and I went to that statue and threw it out so my sister would be better. It didn’t work though, I just got in a lot of trouble with my dad. They say some people could see them and they could take the shape of different things, like they could be this chair. There was actually a second hand belt I had got somewhere and in my mind I was so convinced it was a jinn. So eventually I drove it outside and I pulled out my zippo lighter and I burned the belt. And I was kind of susceptible at the time, a lot was going on in my life at the time. I’ve become more pragmatic now but there’s a part of me I can’t shake off. I was convinced i got rid of the jinn after burning it. Even if I didn’t really get rid of it, I got rid of one element, one thing that was bothering me, now I can move on. 

Context

J is a 47-year-old woman who grew up in Pakistan until she was in her mid-twenties. Her family is Muslim, though she’s currently no longer actively practices the religion. 

Analysis

Jinns seem to be a part of the Muslim religion’s sacred creation story, part of the myth of how the earth was created. They were created before man and there is myth surrounding their own creation, they are believed to have existed way before humans and continue to exist in the world. The speaker mentioned how Disney has turned these religious figures into a mythical, magical version of a blue “genie” in a lamp. This is another example of how Disney has taken folklore through tales and myths and turned them into caricature versions of themselves. Because of Disney’s prominence, this is the idea we first get when we think of jinns, even though it’s very far removed from the actual beliefs surrounding jinns. Through her information I can see the connection between the jinn and the genie lamp, because jinns are able to transform into objects. jinns aren’t actually a magical blue creature as Disney has sold us though, they seem akin to angels to me. Islam is an Abrahamic religion, so it has similar roots and stories to Christianity. The story of Shaitan is extremely similar to Satan and the story of Lucifer being cast from heaven and turned into the devil for not bowing to Adam. The speaker then shares her personal experiences with jinns. Her last story highlights the importance of ritual. She says even if there wasn’t really a jinn in the belt, that ritualistic burning helped her move forward and release trouble that was going on in her life. This exemplifies how even when folklore isn’t supported by science, it doesn’t mean that it is false. These rituals and creatures can provide real experiences for people that are very meaningful and impactful.