Category Archives: Mythology

December 10, 2016 · 6:59 pm

MOANA FANS ARE LOVING THE TALE OF PELE AND HI’IAKA

moana-movie-posterThe hit movie Moana seems to have caused a lot of people to refer each other to my various Polynesian myth articles. A few of them even claim that it feels like my articles (written and posted years ago) may have inspired the creative team behind Moana.

At any rate the extra attention for my highly detailed look at the Hawaiian epic myth about the fire and volcano goddess Pele and her sister Hi’iaka is great.

For readers’ convenience here are links to each of the chapters:  

Pele and Hi'iakaPART ONE: When Pele offends the love goddess Laka that deity takes revenge by causing Pele to fall in love with the mortal Prince Lohiau of Kauai. CLICK HERE 

PART TWO: While Pele remains on Mount Kilauea, the Axis Mundi in Hawaiian mythology, she sends her younger sister the goddess Hi’iaka to the island of Kauai to bring back Prince Lohiau to become Pele’s husband. CLICK HERE 

PART THREE: Hi’iaka and her traveling companions – the fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e plus the mortal woman Wahine – encounter men love-struck at the sight of them. Later, Hi’iaka proves her godhood to the Hawaiians with a display of power. CLICK HERE 

PART FOUR: In Pana Ewa Rainforest, Hi’iaka and her companions do battle with an entire legion of mo’o monsters. CLICK HERE 

PART FIVE: Hi’iaka must save her traveling companions from the gigantic shark-monster named Maka’ukui. CLICK HERE    Continue reading →

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December 5, 2016 · 6:30 pm

“VIRGIN” BIRTHS IN WORLD MYTHOLOGY

anakin-skywalkerOkay, I hate to go on record defending George “Jar Jar” Lucas of all people but there is one criticism directed at him that I think is unfair. People often accuse Lucas of jamming in a Jesus parallel with the way Shmee Skywalker gave birth to Anakin without any actual father being involved in the process.  

The Christian myth about Jesus’ supposed Virgin Birth is far from the only example of fatherless births in global belief systems. George Lucas was simply keeping Anakin’s story in line with demigod and hero tales from countless other cultures. The concept is not limited to Christian beliefs.

In the tradition of Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of various dead-and-resurrected gods from around the world here is a look at just a few of the mythological entities with births that either downplay the father’s role or omit it entirely.  

huitzilopochtliHUITZILOPOCHTLI

Pantheon: Aztec  

Birth: Coatlicue, the mother of this national god of the Aztecs was impregnated by a small bundle of dust or feathers that got caught in her vagina.

Her husband Mixcoatl and their other children didn’t buy that story for a minute and suspected Coatlicue of infidelity. Huitzilopochtli sprang fully-grown from his mother’s womb to protect her.  

FOR MORE AZTEC GODS CLICK HERE Continue reading →

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December 3, 2016 · 12:45 am

YAHOLA AND HAYUYA: MUSCOGEE CREEK GODS

Original Creek TerritoryYAHOLA and HAYUYA – These two gods resided in the air and the clouds. They were the guardians of Muscogee people being given training in mysticism and the medical arts. Yahola and Hayuya were the two most prominent of the four Hiyouyulgee, divinities who tutored the ancient Muscogee about the use of fire and various plants, medicinal and otherwise. Yahola and his brother Hayuya endowed people with strength, creative inspiration and magical abilities.

Both deities presided over the Busk Ground Ceremonies, the most important rituals in the Muscogee holiday calendar. Yahola in particular had special sovereignty over curing illnesses and the delivery of children. He was also the patron deity of the intoxicating Black Drink consumed in mass quantities by the Muscogee Creek, who would cry out his name when feeling the effects of the drink he had given to them as a gift.  Continue reading →

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November 21, 2016 · 3:19 am

EKEITEHUA: A GOD OF BELLONA AND RENNELL ISLANDS

bellona-and-rennellEKEITEHUA – (Also called Singano) This major deity was the god of the northwest wind and was also the main district deity of the Iho (Taupongi) Clan, the archrivals of the Kaitu’u Clan since those two clans are the last survivors of the original eight traditional clans.

Ekeitehua’s celestial home was the far-off land called Mungingangi. This home lay on the horizon to the northwest of Bel-Ren and was the source of the Nohotonu Wind, which Ekeitehua controlled. The Bel-Ren people were undecided on whether or not Mungingangi was above the horizon, below it or on some plane equivalent to it.

Ekeitehua was the son of the god Sikingingangi, having been born from Sikingingangi’s feces, which were yams. Ekeitehua’s sister Teu’uhi the goddess of insanity was also born from their father’s feces/yams and their adopted mother was the goddess ‘Iti’iti. Continue reading →

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November 15, 2016 · 11:16 pm

ARKOANYO: A GOD OF THE TUPARI

Tupari live near the Rio BrancoARKOANYO – The bird-creating deity who often protected his fellow divinities, especially from the storm god Valedjad. That god often grew so angry with his fellow deities that he unleashed powerful storms on them, sometimes destroying lesser deities who dared to oppose him.

At one point Valedjad grew so angry he caused a storm so powerful it flooded the Earth, killing many of the other gods and goddesses. The surviving deities struggled to devise a way of at last ending Valedjad’s reign of terror. Arkoanyo, the bird-creating deity was the one who took action.  Continue reading →

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November 10, 2016 · 10:33 pm

TOP DEITIES IN AINU MYTHS

Ainu mapThe Ainu people of Japan suffered oppression at the hands of the Japanese which was similar to that suffered by various conquered peoples around the world at the hands of the Western World, Russia, China and the Muslim World.

The Ainu migrated south to the Japanese islands from the northern lands of the Inuit. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will recognize the similarities between the Ainu and Inuit belief systems and methods of worship. In addition certain linguistic similarities will be noted between the Ainu and the Japanese. The Shinto “kami” becomes the Ainu “kamui”, to cite the most prominent example. 

As with the Inuit, exact names and aspects of the following deities can vary, with the most pronounced differences being in Saghalien.

  • NOTE: I am still working out my entry on the Ainu bear god. If you know the Ainu then you know that that entry alone may double the size of this article. And as always, anyone curious about my source books can just ask.

RUKORO – The Ainu god of the male privy. No, I’m not kidding. The powerful stench from his domain serves the useful purpose of  fending off evil spirits. Because of his association with evacuation and expulsion of things unclean he is regarded as a powerful exorcist. There is no corresponding goddess of the female privy, owing to primitive taboos about menstruation.

CHUP – The sun god of the Ainu. His wife is Tombe, the moon goddess. Ainu homes orient their sacred window toward the east to greet the rising sun. Until recent decades it was customary to salute the sun upon exposure to its rays, similar to the practice of genuflecting to the center of an altar, but done without kneeling.

It was considered disrespectful to bodily cross the rays of sunlight striking the hearth through the sacred window. It was better to wait until the position of the sun changed. An inau, one of the idols or totems of the Ainu people, would be set up to honor the sun. That inau bears an incised outline of the orb of the sun and during rituals libations and praise are offered up to Chup.    Continue reading →

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November 5, 2016 · 2:47 pm

FORTY MONSTERS OF THE NIGHT AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-themTo celebrate the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the Sleep Matters Club have rounded up 40 bedtime monsters for a fearsome fact file.

As far-fetched as it may seem, some of the most menacing monsters aren’t from the pages of books or the silver screen; they’re from real-world myths and legends. To create the infographic, we’ve scoured the darkest dungeons and most frightening fortresses across the globe.

Each monster has been awarded a danger rating, so you’ll know how safe it is to approach it. You’ll also discover their key traits and where they’re most likely to lurk. It’s short and sweet so you’ll be able to quickly identify them when they’re coming at you!

On the lower end of the scare scale is Frankenstein’s Monster. He’s generally a good guy, but his anger is unleashed when tormented by mad scientists. We (The Sleep Matters Club) think he deserves a danger rating of two.
Continue reading →

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November 4, 2016 · 9:28 pm

KAITAHITAHI: GOD OF BELLONA AND RENNELL ISLANDS

bellona-and-rennellBalladeer’s Blog’s recent examination of the myths of Bellona Island and Rennell Island has been pretty popular. Here is a look at the god Kaitahitahi. FOR THE FULL LIST OF BEL-REN GODS CLICK HERE

KAITAHITAHI – A very unusual deity who had a peculiar specialty. Kaitahitahi would cure constipation, which, joking aside, CAN be fatal if not treated properly. This god would be invoked to clean out the bowels of a person already afflicted with constipation (think of the Disemboweling Goddess from Inuit myths) and would be prayed to in order to prevent people from becoming constipated in the first place. Continue reading →

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October 16, 2016 · 9:26 pm

POLYNESIAN GODS: MAUTIKITIKI OF BELLONA AND RENNELL

bellona-and-rennell-2Balladeer’s Blog’s recent examination of the myths of Bellona Island and Rennell Island has been pretty popular. Here is an extended look at Mautikitiki, the Bel-Ren equivalent of Maui. FOR THE FULL LIST OF BEL-REN GODS CLICK HERE

MAUTIKITIKI – The most popular of the Bel-Ren divine entities classified as Kakai. Obviously this brother of Sina was the Bel-Ren counterpart to Maui (Hawaiian) and Ti’i Ti’i (Samoan). Like those figures Mautikitiki was famous for fishing up islands – in his case Rennell Island.

In Bel-Ren myths Bellona Island was the upper part of the shell of an enormous sea-snail, similar to Iroquois myths in which the world rests on the back of an enormous turtle. Bellona was considered the center of the entire world – an example of the type of ethnic chauvinism common to nearly ALL belief systems.

Rennell Island was beneath the waves and was the special hideaway of Mautikitiki’s father ‘Atanganga, from whose feces he was born. Resenting the way his father kept hiding from him, Mautikitiki created the first canoe, fished up the island and from then on Rennell has been on the surface of the ocean. Continue reading →

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September 29, 2016 · 10:02 pm

GODS OF BELLONA AND RENNELL ISLANDS: POLYNESIAN MYTHS

bellona-and-rennellIn the style of Balladeer’s Blog’s separate examinations of Hawaiian and Samoan myths as a subset of Polynesian Mythology comes this look at the deities worshipped on the Polynesian outliers Bellona Island and Rennell Island. Despite its much smaller size Bellona had a larger population for much of their history.

NGE’OBIONGO – The goddess of the stone ovens used by the people of Rennell and Bellona. The ovens were shown such reverence that it was forbidden to eat near them or to scatter firewood or even to speak in raised voices in their vicinity. Nge’obiongo would punish anyone who violated those taboos, just as she punished women who were bad or lazy cooks or who prepared meals without first properly cleaning their hands.

Undercooking the food would also invite this deity’s wrath. On rare occassions some of the prepared food would be left in the ovens as an offering to Nge’obiongo.

bellona-and-rennell-world-heritageMAHUIKE – The earthquake god of Bellona and Rennell Islands (henceforth Bel-Ren). Like his counterparts in Hawaii and Samoa, Mahuike lived far underground and caused earthquakes by pushing at the earth with both of his arms.

Once, after a particularly destructive earthquake, the god Tehu’aingabenga fought Mahuike for injuring his worshippers and broke off one of the earthquake god’s arms. After that the quakes caused by Mahuike were never as severe. (In Hawaiian versions it is Maui who breaks the earthquake god’s arm off and in Samoan versions it is Ti’i Ti’i who does it. Bel-Ren myths do feature the figure Mautikitiki but he is less prominent than Tehu’aingabenga.)

Continue reading →

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