Anansi

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Anansi , god of practical jokes, crooks, also called the spider , is a figure in West African myths and is described as a spider . In the Akan religion ( Ghana and Ivory Coast ) Anansi is the mediator of his father, the sky god Nyame , or his servant.

On his orders, Anansi brings rain to put out forest fires and determines the boundaries of the oceans and rivers during floods. His mother is the earth and death goddess Asase .

Anansi is mentioned as the creator of the sun, moon and stars and is the inventor of the alternation of day and night. In West African creation myths , he created the first human. Anansi is a typical trickster who is skilled, shrewd and cunning, but he also taught people to grow crops and use the mortar. He crowned himself the first king of men and married Nyame's daughter.

Spreading the Myth

With the slaves from what is now Ghana , the story of Anansi also reached the Caribbean. This figure is still popular today in Jamaica , Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles ( Curaçao , Aruba , Bonaire ). In the latter islands he is known as Nanzi and his wife as Shi Maria .

Arachnologists put Anansi on a scientific monument and named a West African genus of the spider Anansia , family Tetrablemmidae .

The science fiction and fantasy author Neil Gaiman wrote the novel Anansi Boys , the protagonists of which are the Anansis. Gaiman tells parts of the Anansi myth and gives it a modern form in the form of the twin brothers Fat Charly and Spider and their father. Anansi had previously appeared as an important supporting character in Gaiman's novel American Gods .

Other names Anansis

  • Anancy ( Jamaica )
  • Anancyi
  • Pineapple
  • Aunt Nancy
  • Hanansi
  • Compé Anansi
  • Kwaku Anansi ( Akan )
  • Nansi
  • Mr. Nancy

Anansi as the originator of knowledge

An Ashanti myth, told in West Africa, translated from Terry Hancock, Anansi and the Callabash of Wisdom , 2001:

A long, long time ago there lived a crafty spider named Anansi. Anansi wanted to be wise, in fact, he decided to collect all the wisdom of the world.

Knowing that he knew little himself, he set himself the task of acquiring knowledge. He prepared a calabash to store the knowledge. He went out and asked everyone what they knew. Sometimes he had to pay for it, sometimes he stole the knowledge. But usually most of them gave him their knowledge, since a spider with such a great task would have to be much wiser than itself.

After spending a long time collecting, he had the wisdom of the world in his calabash and thought, “Ha ha, now I'm the smartest of all! Now I have to find a good hiding place so that nobody can find the knowledge and I remain the smartest forever! "

He thought that the top of a tall tree that only a spider could climb would be the best hiding place. The calabash, heavy with knowledge, tied Anansi around his stomach with a strip of cloth and set out with his eight legs to climb the tree. But the calabash was in his way and so he only got halfway through the trunk. No matter how hard he tried, he kept failing and eventually grumbling to himself in frustration.

At that time his little son came and watched him. Anansi was annoyed to have been caught in his helpless position.

But his son simply said, "Why don't you tie the calabash on your back, father, so it is out of the way?"

Anansi thought about it. "That could work." And actually he reached the top of the tree in this way without difficulty. But when his task seemed done, it occurred to him that even his young son was wiser than he was!

“You can't hide all the wisdom of the world in a calabash!” He howled and poured all of its painfully collected contents over the world in a wide arc.

It so happened that the knowledge spread around the world. And Anansi felt what wisdom means.

Pop Culture

  • The name of the British band Skunk Anansie is a reference to the West African mythological figure.
  • A superhero named Anansi the Spider , whose powers are based on this myth, appears in the series Static Shock .
  • Anansi appears as the character Mr. Nancy in the series American Gods , as well as Aunt Nancy in the series Superstition
  • In the Marvel comic Edge of the Spider-Verse , Anansi appears as its variant of Spider-Man in one of the alternative universes shown .
  • A well-known tattoo studio in Munich was named after Anansi.

Literary reception

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