Areop-Enap

Last updated

Areop-Enap (Nauruan : old spider) played a major part in the creation of the world in the indigenous myths of the people of Nauru.

Contents

Creation myth

At the beginning of creation, the only things in existence were Areop-Enap (a spider) and the sea. [1] Areop-Enap searched for food in the darkness and found an enormous clam (in some accounts a Tridacna clam). [2] Before she could stun it, the clam swallowed her and snapped shut again. In the darkness, Areop-Enap explored the clam's insides, and found a tiny snail (or in some accounts, a Triton's Horn shellfish).

Areop-Enap placed the snail under his arm and lay down and slept for three days, directing some of his power to the snail. [3] Then he found a second, larger snail which he placed under his arm and again slept for three days, transferring some of his power to the snail. On waking, Areop-Enap asked the smaller snail to climb to the hinge of the shell and pry the clam open. As the snail moved across the clam's flesh, it left a phosphorescent trail, in the light of which Areop-Enap saw a white worm (or in some accounts, a caterpillar) called Rigi. Ignoring the snail, Areop-Enap cast a strength spell on Rigi and persuaded him to try to open the clam.

Time and again Rigi set his head against the upper shell and his tail against the lower shell, and heaved. The clam resisted and sweat poured from Rigi, making a pool in the lower shell, then a lake and finally a sea. The saltiness of the water killed the clam and opened the shell. Areop-Enap made the lower shell into Earth and the upper shell into the sky and set the smaller snail west of the sky-shell where it became the Moon. The second snail was set to the east and became the Sun. Areop-Enap made islands from clam-flesh and clothed them in vegetation made from his own web-thread. Finally he turned to Rigi and found that he had drowned in his own sweat, killed by his own exertions. Areop-Enap wrapped him in a cocoon of silk and hung him in the sky to become the Milky Way.

Areop-Enap created humans from stones so they could support the sky, and then discovered there were other creatures in the newly created world. So he created a winged creature or flying bird from the dirt under his nails and set it to annoy the creatures so that they called to each other to kill it. In this way Areop-Enap learned the names of the inhabitants of the world.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ymir</span> Primeval being in Norse mythology

In Norse mythology, Ymir, also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, and in the poetry of skalds. Taken together, several stanzas from four poems collected in the Poetic Edda refer to Ymir as a primeval being who was born from Eitr, yeasty venom that dripped from the icy rivers called the Élivágar, and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap. Ymir gave birth to a male and female from his armpits, and his legs together begat a six-headed being. The grandsons of Búri, the gods Odin, Vili and Vé, fashioned the Earth from his flesh, from his blood the ocean, from his bones the mountains, from his hair the trees, from his brains the clouds, from his skull the heavens, and from his eyebrows the middle realm in which mankind lives, Midgard. In addition, one stanza relates that the dwarfs were given life by the gods from Ymir's flesh and blood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopi mythology</span> Native American mythology

The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi mesa, or even each village, may have its own version of a particular story, but "in essence the variants of the Hopi myth bear marked similarity to one another." It is also not clear that the stories told to non-Hopis, such as anthropologists and ethnographers, represent genuine Hopi beliefs or are merely stories told to the curious while keeping safe the more sacred Hopi teachings. As folklorist Harold Courlander states, "there is a Hopi reticence about discussing matters that could be considered ritual secrets or religion-oriented traditions."

Diné Bahaneʼ, is a Navajo creation story that describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajo as a part of the Navajo religious beliefs. It centers on the area known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo, and forms the basis of the traditional Navajo way of life and ceremony. Throughout the stories the importance of cardinal points and the number four are emphasized in multiple aspects.

Lakota mythology is the body of sacred stories that belong to the Lakota people, also known as the Teton Sioux.

The Abenaki people are an indigenous peoples of the Americas located in the Northeastern Woodlands region. Their religious beliefs are part of the Midewiwin tradition, with ceremonies led by medicine keepers, called Medeoulin or Mdawinno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span>

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies, many of which share certain themes across cultural boundaries. In North American mythologies, common themes include a close relation to nature and animals as well as belief in a Great Spirit that is conceived of in various ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pangu</span> Chinese mythical figure

Pangu is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology and Taoism who separated heaven and earth, and his body later became geographic features such as mountains and rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World egg</span> Common motif in mythology and cosmogony

The world egg, cosmic egg or mundane egg is a mythological motif found in the cosmogonies of many cultures that is present in Proto-Indo-European culture and other cultures and civilizations. Typically, the world egg is a beginning of some sort, and the universe or some primordial being comes into existence by "hatching" from the egg, sometimes lain on the primordial waters of the Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese mythology</span> Collection of traditional Japanese stories, folktales, and beliefs

Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contact with Chinese and various Indian myths are also key influences in Japanese religious belief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine mythology</span> Body of myths, tales, and superstitions held by Filipinos

Philippine mythology is rooted in the many indigenous Philippine folk religions. Philippine mythology exhibits influence from Indonesian, Hindu, Muslim, Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravens in Native American mythology</span> Traditional creation stories of indigenous peoples of North America

Raven Tales are the traditional human and animal creation stories of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. They are also found among Athabaskan-speaking peoples and others. Raven stories exist in nearly all of the First Nations throughout the region but are most prominent in the tales of the Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit and Tahltan people.

The Fifth World in the context of creation myths describes the present world as interpreted by several indigenous groups in the USA and Mexico. The central theme of the myth holds that there were four other cycles of creation and destruction that preceded the Fifth World. The creation story is taken largely from the mythological, cosmological, and eschatological beliefs and traditions of earlier Mesoamerican cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coyote (mythology)</span> Mythological character

Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and blunt claws. The myths and legends which include Coyote vary widely from culture to culture.

The Lozi people believed in a creator god, whom the Lozi call Nyambe. Nyambe's wife was Nasilele and his mother was Ngula. Nyambe is said to have created both his wife and his mother. He is also said to have created everything else that exists, including the heaven, the Earth and all the plants and animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanesian mythology</span> Folklore, myths, and religion of Melanesia

Melanesian mythology refers to the folklore, myths, and religions of Melanesia, a region in Southwest Oceania that encompasses the archipelagos of New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. The various mythologies consist primarily of the traditions of oral literature in the different populations of Melanesia. More recent aspects include the cargo cults born in the 20th century during the Pacific War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māori mythology</span> Tales relating to the origins of the (Māori) world

Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māori tradition concerns more folkloric legends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge in whakapapa to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in.

Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. Myths in China vary from culture to culture. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deity or divine will. Chinese creation myths fundamentally differ from monotheistic traditions with one authorized version, such as the Judeo-Christian Genesis creation narrative: Chinese classics record numerous and contradictory origin myths. Traditionally, the world was created on Chinese New Year and the animals, people, and many deities were created during its 15 days.

<i>The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</i>

The Sorceress: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fantasy novel and the third installment in the six-book series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Michael Scott. It serves as the sequel to The Magician, and was released on 26 May 2009 in the US, 1 June 2009 in Australia, and 25 June 2009 in the UK. The titular sorceress refers to Perenelle Flamel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ra</span> Ancient Egyptian solar deity

Ra or Re was the ancient Egyptian deity of the Sun. By the Fifth Dynasty, in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, he had become one of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon-day sun. Ra ruled in all parts of the created world: the sky, the Earth, and the underworld. He was believed to have ruled as the first pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. He was the god of the sun, order, kings and the sky.

References

  1. Patricia Turner; Charles Russell Coulter (2001). Dictionary of Ancient Deities. Oxford University Press. p. 65. ISBN   0-19-514504-6 . Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  2. Roland Burrage Dixon (1964). Oceanic mythology. Forgotten Books. p. 236. ISBN   1-60506-952-3 . Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  3. Marilyn Reid (2007). Mythical Star Signs. Lulu.com. p. 116. ISBN   978-1-84753-623-5 . Retrieved 23 March 2009.