Can anyone tell us why no college sports teams are called the Lemurs?
BABAKOTO – The Merina lemur god. Babakoto was at first an ordinary man. Through a series of misfortunes he wound up being accused and condemned to death for a crime he did not commit. Nobody would believe his innocence, however, and so he began plotting to escape before his execution could be carried out.
Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
RARAKY – The Merina demigod of tobacco. Raraky (sometimes called Paraky) was the only son of the blessed Merina man Andriamitandrina and his wife. Raraky grew ill and neither medicine nor prayers to the gods could save him. After he died his family debated what to do with the corpse. Some counciled eating him like food in order to feel that he was still with them. Others advocated hanging the body in their home in order to feel that he was still with them. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Covering the myths and deities of the various peoples of Madagascar is a pretty sizeable job to undertake. I decided to use the same approach I’m using with the Americas and take things on a tribe-by-tribe basis.
First off I’ll be tackling the Merina people. Let me emphasize that for my fellow mythology geeks – this list will be JUST about Merina gods and myths. There are a variety of cultural groups from Madagascar, each with their own pantheon of deities, but plenty of mythological reference books do them the disservice of lumping everything into one big category labeled “Madagascar” or “Malagassy Mythology”.
This causes confusion because it would be like lumping gods from Celtic, Norse, Greco-Roman, Slavic, Etruscan and Hittite mythology in one big puddle called “European Gods” with no attempt to break them into their separate pantheons. So if the following gods either are not in whatever reference books you personally use or if your books list a different figure as “Madagascar’s” patron deity of a certain concept there is no need to jump in with objections. I will eventually hit all the cultural groups.
ITRIMOBE – The primordial sea-beast who lived on the Earth when it was nothing but endless ocean. For untold years Itrimobe enjoyed its solitary subaquatic existence. Eventually it grew bored and set out to examine the parameters of the world it lived in. It swam down all the way to the bottom of the sea, then swam upward as far as it could go and at last poked its head out into the air and sunlight.
Itrimobe swam east, north, west and south but found no land and no way out of the endless ocean. Curious, the entity dug three holes in the center of the Earth and one hole at each end, allowing much of the water to drain. This drainage caused the formation of the continents, which the now-amphibious Itrimobe explored. Unfortunately the blazing sun overhead eventually dried Itrimobe out to a dangerous degree and blinded it. The remaining ocean water was nowhere near deep enough for the gigantic creature to submerge itself ever again, causing its body to die. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my examinations of obscure pantheons of gods. I’ve also covered several neglected epic myths from around the world. Here’s a guide to the ones I’ve covered:
AIWEL LONGAR
Pantheon: Dinka
Central Figure: Aiwel Longar
Synopsis: Aiwel Longar was the son of the Nile River god and was set adrift as a gift for the childless woman who found him. The young godling displays his divine nature from childhood onward and many years later when various plagues strike the land Aiwel Longar leads his faithful followers to a new promised land where they can live but which he is forbidden to enter. A miraculous crossing of the Nile is also featured in this ancient epic with a broad influence.
FOR FULL STORY CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2013/08/13/mythology-the-epic-of-aiwel-longar/
A WAR BETWEEN GODS
Pantheon: Vietnamese
Central Figures: The jungle and mountain god Tan Vien and Thuy Tinh, the god of the monsoon rains.
Synopsis: While on a safari with the semi-divine emperor Hung Vuong XVIII, Tan Vien saves the life of the rain deity Thuy Tinh. Thuy Tinh’s father, the sea god Long Vuong, welcomes Tan Vien to his undersea kingdom to thank him. Thuy Tinh and Tan Vien’s friendship grows as the jungle and mountain god is feasted and celebrated for weeks before being sent home with various supernatural gifts from the god of the sea.
When Hung Vuong XVIII’s daughter Mi Nuong is offered up to be courted Tan Vien and Thuy Tinh best all of the mortal suitors competing for her hand. Next follows a tragic conflict between the two deities, a conflict with long-lasting consequences.
FOR FULL STORY CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/vietnamese-myth-2/ Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my tendency to examine neglected pantheons of deities, as in Vietnamese, Bunyoro, Inuit, Tupari, Navajo and other Native American tribes.
When I covered popular pantheons I avoided the major gods to prevent rehashing the same myths many people were already familiar with. That enabled me to spread some love to the less appreciated deities in those pantheons. Here’s a convenient guide to those items:
NORSE
The Usual Suspects: Thor, Odin, Loki, Sif and Baldur
Sampling of the Deities I Covered Instead: Skadi the mountain goddess, Ull the hunting god, Forseti, the god of the laws, Aegir the sea god and Hodur the god of darkness.
Top Deity on List: Hel, Loki’s daughter and the goddess who ruled over the land of the dead, inflicting misery on anyone too wimpy to die in battle.
Comment: I first did this list in 2011 and since then the popularity of the Thor movies and of tv shows like The Vikings and The Almighty Johnsons have sent interest in Norse mythology through the roof.
FULL LIST CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2011/04/10/the-eleven-most-neglected-deities-in-teutono-norse-mythology/ Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Balladeer’s Blog
Balladeer’s Blog’s examinations of pantheons of deities outside of the frequently-covered Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Norse have been very popular and well-received. To make sure all mythology buffs who visit here are aware of how many belief systems I’ve looked at here’s a convenient overview.
AINU
Sampling of Deities: Shiramba the vegetation god, Hashinau-Uk the goddess of the hunt, Okikurmi the culture god and monster-slayer, Wakka-Ush the water goddess and Kando-Koro the sky god and ruler of the land of the gods.
Top Deity on List: Fuchi the fire goddess.
Comment: This is the most recent mythological pantheon I examined.
FULL LIST CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2014/11/20/the-top-gods-in-ainu-mythology/
TUPARI
Sampling of Deities: Mulher the Earth goddess, Arkoanyo the bird god, Karam the sun goddess, Valedjad the storm god and Aunyaina the wild boar god.
Top Deity on List: Patobkia, the god who rules over the afterlife and the series of trials each soul undergoes.
Comment: With only thousands of the Tupari people left this is a sadly neglected pantheon of deities.
FULL LIST CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2013/04/02/the-top-ten-deities-in-tupari-mythology/ Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
The 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.
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
Filed under Mythology
Slid
SLID – The god of the seas and all the rivers and streams. He also owns all the pearls and treasures lost at sea. When Slid first unleashed his waves upon the world there was nothing but land and the sea god had to fight a war with the other gods for every mile of territory his waters spread along. Slid’s aquatic army first conquered the winds and then began eating away at large rocks that stood between the sea god’s forces and more territory he desired.
The advance of Slid’s aquatic army was checked momentarily when the other gods of Pegana sent the white cliffs of the lowlands to stop him. Slid pretended to be halted before these high cliffs but in the meantime caused rivers and springs to form behind the lines of his opponents. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Voodoo mythology is a fascinating hybrid of Yoruban, Dahomey, Fon and Christian mythology intermixed with touches from Caribbean belief systems. Haiti is the central location of the Voodoo belief system but naturally it has spread throughout the world as have other faiths.
Let me point out that I will use “Voodoo” as the catch-all name, even though to purists Vodou is the Haitian version and Voodoo is the form of Vodou practiced first in New Orleans and then throughout America.
AYIDA – The goddess of the rainbow and the primary wife of the creator deity Damballah. The pair often manifest in the skies over Haiti as intertwined serpents. Ayida also serves as a fertility goddess. Her favorite color is white as reflected in her favorite offerings: white chickens, white eggs, rice, milk and cotton. Her daughter is Ayizan, the goddess of the marketplace and of initiation into the sacred truths, making her the head Mambo (Voodoo priestess). Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
SHAGODIAQDANE – The Iroquois goddess of the summer. She was depicted as an old woman sitting cross-legged in the forest and she sang a song that only birds could hear and their own chirping and singing was considered to be their response to the goddess’ song. As summer started to turn into autumn the entourage of the evil winter god Tawiskaron began to return. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Balladeer's Blog 