AfricanGoddess: Sun and Moon
There is not much mythology of the Sun and Moon. In tropical Africa the Sun is always present and there is no need to call it back in the winter as men did in the cold countries of the northern Europe or Japan. Some gods are connected with Sun and Moon. Like Mawu and Lisa of a bomey. Mawu as the Moon is more kindly and so beloved of men, while Lisa the Sun is fierce and harsh. Mawu is older, woman and mother, gentle and refreshing. During the day men suffer under the Sun's heat, but in the cool with the rising and warming of the Moon, rather than with god as in much negro story, though the theme of the messengers is the same. The Moon once sent a louse to assure people that as the Moon died and live again so they would they. On its journey the louse met the hare and told his message. The hare said he could run faster and would take the message but when he arrived he told people that the moon dies and comes to an end so they would die and come to an end. The hare told the Moonwhat he had said and the Moon was angry at the distirtuin if its message to the human race. He seized a piece of wood and hit the hare has had a cleft lip, and its flesh is taboo.
God: Storm Spirits
More important for ritual in mant places are spirits of the stprm, for tropical tornadoes not only bring the expect rains but often cause damage with thunderbolts and flashes of lightning. Remarkable stories are told of Shango, the storm seity of the Yoruba of Nogeria. This divinty was once a man, it is clearly said, and lived as the fourth king of that people, ruling over a kingdom streching into neighbouring countries. Shango was a strong rulerm and a great doctor, but aldo tyrannical. He could kill people by breathing fire from his mouth. Eventually his tyranny was challenged by two ministers, and to avoid their attack he set them to fight against each other, hoping that both would be killed. One was slain, but the victor turned on Shango himself, who fled to the foest. He went on horseback, taking his three wives and some loyal followers. But after wandering about for a long time only his favourite wife remained loyal, and finally in despair Shango hanged himslef from a tree at a placed called Koso.
posted by msANNAL @ 3:49 PM
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