XENOGENOCIDE: NAVAJO MYTH PAGE UPDATED AGAIN

At last it’s the apocalyptic finale of the epic story of the Navajo war god Nayanazgeni battling the Anaye! I just had to title the chapter “Xenogenocide” Plus in the individual entry section I added a listing for the joint Navajo deity Tgaei. 

12. XENOGENOCIDE – Nayanazgeni, Tsohanoai and Tobadzistsini looked on as, according to some myths “every drop of Yeitso’s spilled blood” was growing into either another Yeitso or another Anaye, or Brown Giants depending on the version. In myths where Yeitso was killed right after the Heroic Twins left the house of the sun god we are told that the new Yeitsos/new Anaye had been growing since the Anaye Chief had been struck down and that Tsohanoai came down from the sky after Nayanazgeni had slain all the other Anaye and pointed these new threats out to him and Tobadzistsini. The sun god Tshohanoai now instructed the Heroic Twins to produce the wind charm he had given them back  when they had journeyed to his home in the west. They did so, and the three deities (in some versions Estsanatlehi is there, too, so it would be four deities in that case) placed the wind charm on the ground and stood over it, joining hands and chanting. The wind charm began spinning and rose up in the sky, eventually twisting into an enormous tornado. This tornado, which the myth states lasted for four days and nights (again the Navajo theme of “four” showing up) swept into the midst of the spawning Yeitsos/new Anaye, sucking them all off the Earth. In some versions the tornado also uprooted many trees and caused many deaths among human beings as well, as it cleansed the land of the Anaye. In other versions it killed off ALL the human beings in the world as well as the Anaye following which Estsanatlehi, the seasonal goddess, began creating new tribes from scrapings of her skin – or from corn kernels – to repopulate the world. Some versions of the myth say that the wind-charm spell is still in effect and any time a tornado or cyclone strikes it means another Anaye has been born somewhere in the land and must be swept off the Earth, regardless of the collateral damage or loss of life involved. Thus, with the Anaye defeated for all time, Estsanatlehi chose to live in the house of the sun god, where she would greet her husband at the end of each day as he finished his journey across the sky. 

 
14. Epilogue – Yebaad and Yebaka, the deities who were the foster parents of Estsanatlehi and her sister Yolkaiestsan (and in some versions the parents of the lesser Anaye, sending them to plague humanity for various sins and faults) feared that without the Anaye around to fear, humanity might once again fall victim to its tendency to hubris, which is what caused the problems that forced them to abandon the previous worlds the Navajo had lived in. To prevent that, the couple gave birth to (or in some versions just created outright) Sa, the goddess of old age, Dichin, the god of hunger and Tgaei, the elderly couple who are the joint deity of either “poverty” (the accepted interpretation) or “entropy” (my personal preference). In some versions Hazke Estsan, the goddess of winter weather is included in this grouping of new deities. These new gods and goddesses would be a check on humanity by serving as necessary evils. For example hunger would provide the motivation for people to hunt and fish and farm, “poverty” or “entropy” would wear out people’s clothing, houses, tools and weapons, forcing them to remain industrious by making new things. Other versions of the myth say that these deities were the only Anaye who survived the tornado, and were spared by Nayanazgeni when they each gave him reasons why they should be permitted to live. 
 
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

8 Comments

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8 responses to “XENOGENOCIDE: NAVAJO MYTH PAGE UPDATED AGAIN

  1. Explosive ending to this great myth!

  2. Epic is right! This thing was wonderful from start to finish!

  3. Quite an apocalyptic ending there!

  4. Hermila

    This story was such a roller coaster ride! And the anaye are like the Old Ones.

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