Category Archives: Mythology

PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART FIVE

Pele and Hi'iaka valleyBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART FIVE

The morning after their battle with Pana-Ea and its legion of monsters Hi’iaka, Pa’u’o’pala’e and Wahine resumed their journey. Around mid-day the path they were following suddenly ended at a precipice. Wahine suggested they all descend the cliffside to reach the base, where the waves pounded the jagged stones and from there swim across to the other side. Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART FOUR

big-island-hawaii-map-for-tourists.gif (350×350)Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART FOUR

The goddess Hi’iaka and her companions continued making their way on the Big Island in their quest to meet and escort Prince Lohiau of Kauai to the fire goddess Pele’s home on Mount Kilauea. Accompanying Hi’iaka were the fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e, a Pele worshiper named Wahine and Pa-Pulehu, a girl in her early teens whose wealthy family had hosted the travelers. 

The four ladies had two paths to choose from: one would lead safely around the Pana-Ewa Rainforest (named for the demonic creature who ruled it) and the other would lead directly through that rainforest. That second path would be fraught with danger every step of the way, not just from Pana-Ewa itself but also from the legions of monsters in Pana-Ewa’s service. Hi’iaka chose to go straight through the rainforest, intent on destroying many of the vile creatures who preyed on the ancient Hawaiian people.   Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART THREE

HawaiianislandsBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART THREE

The goddess Hi’ika set off for Kaua’i to retrieve and escort Pele’s chosen mate Prince Lohiau back to Pele’s home on Mount Kilauea. In some versions she is first granted some additional divine power by Pele to help her fight her way past the countless menaces that lay in her path.  Continue reading

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ALEI AND PATA: SAMOAN DEITIES

SamoaThere’s been a great surge in interest recently in Balladeer’s Blog’s long-ago examination of the gods of Samoa. In honor of that here’s a look at a male and female pair of deities from that same pantheon.

ALEI & PATA – Two ancient culture deities of Samoa. Alei and Pata taught the Samoans about home construction, laying out a village and various funerary practices, including embalming. The figures were worshiped jointly as the patron deities of these undertakings, just as the goddesses Taema and Tilafaiga were jointly considered the patron deities of tattooing.

Alei and Pata did not come down to Earth in their godly bodies like their fellow divinities usually did. Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWO

Pele and Hi'iakaBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWO

As Pele’s sister Hi’iaka and the other gods worried that the volcano and fire goddess’ spirit form (kino wailua) had departed forever, that spirit form was still enjoying its lengthy visit with Prince Lohiau on Kaua’i. Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII

PELE

PELE

Balladeer’s Blog begins a new serialized feature with this examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART ONE

On the Big Island of Hawaii the fire and volcano goddess Pele was relaxing with her younger sister Hi’iaka, the goddess of pathways and wayfarers. Hi’iaka was watching two Hawaiian women performing a Hula dance dedicated to Laka, the goddess of love, beauty and fertility and the deity who had invented Hula dancing. 

Despite Hi’iaka’s excited praising of the dancing girls’ talents Pele found herself bored by the proceedings and fell asleep. Laka, enjoying the dance and the traditional post-dance offerings to her, felt disrespected by Pele’s inattention. Using her powers as the goddess of love she sent a dream to the sleeping Pela – a dream that would have far-reaching consequences and forever change the relationship between the fire goddess and her sister Hi’iaka. Continue reading

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TSOHANOAI: THE NAVAJO SUN GOD

SunTsohanoai – “Sun bearer.” The Navajo sun god. In some myths he is depicted as a man carrying the sun across the sky on his back. In others he is depicted as a warrior on horseback (the blue steed of the sky) carrying the sun as his gleaming shield. Continue reading

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TOP GODS OF THE NYANGA PEOPLE

Nyanga territoryAfter Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Mwindo Epic many readers expressed an interest in Nyanga mythology. I’m all about giving readers what they want so here are brief looks at the deities of the Nyanga people.

KATEE – The god of hedgehogs. Katee spoke through one of his animal avatars to warn the semidivine hero Mwindo about some of Kasiyembe’s death traps.

MWERI – The moon goddess. Her domain is the moon itself and is  composed of alternate hot, sandy wasteland and lush blue waters. Mweri sees everything that happens at night and therefore has ties to lovemaking, fertility, sleeping, thievery and assassinations. She can send dreams or nightmares as well as prophetic messages in those dreams. Visitors to Mweri’s domain can be left wandering in the hot wasteland or even set on fire by her, depending on the goddess’ whim.  Continue reading

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MWINDO: THE FINALE OF THIS AFRICAN EPIC

Balladeer’s Blog concludes its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.

PART NINETEEN

MwindoThe lightning god Nkuba looked down from the sky and prepared to attack the semidivine hero Mwindo in order to avenge his (Nkuba’s) friend, the monster Kirimu. That seven- headed creature had been slain, cooked and served as a meal by Chief Mwindo for killing three of his devoted corps of Pygmies. 

The morning after the village of Tubondo had feasted upon the remains of Kirimu, Mwindo had a premonition of impending danger. He announced to his people that his supernatural senses had revealed to him that the bad-tempered god Nkuba had taken offense at his actions against the monster Kirimu. The lightning god was coming for revenge. Continue reading

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MWINDO: EPIC MYTH OF AFRICA PART EIGHTEEN

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.

PART EIGHTEEN

Film, 'Jason And the Argonauts', (1963) Todd Armstrong as Jason fighting the seven-headed Hydra.

The semidivine Chief Mwindo set out to find and battle Kirimu, the seven-headed monster terrorizing his domain. Mwindo was guided by Nkurongo, the sole remaining Pygmy from the foursome who had encountered the creature while hunting a wild boar for the Chief.   

Mwindo carried with him his signature weapon – his conga-scepter, a riding-crop sized staff made of antelope tail. When the Pygmy had led the hero to where Kirimu had slain his comrades the pair saw that the creature was lying in wait in the jungle, ready to strike at anyone who attempted to retrieve the boar slain by the Pygmies. Continue reading

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