The trickster god Anansi who has a prominent place in African folklore is what type of creature?
"the most popular character in Jamaican tales, Anancy (also spelled Anansi, 'Nancy Spida, and Brer Nansi) is an African spider-god who makes an appearance in tales throughout the Caribbean region. He is a trickster god, and often goes against other animal-god characters, like Tiger and Donkey, in his stories. These stories are thought to be one way the slaves told about outsmarting their owners as well. Jamaican Thomas MacDermot (1870-1933) is credited with fostering the creation of Jamaican literature (according to critic Michael Hughes, MacDermot was ""probably the first Jamaican writer to assert the claim of the West Indies to"
"he had been affected by similar power fluctuations, and was left unable to tap into the powers of Earth-borne animals. There, they were both sucked into the Tantu Totem, where, like in Zatanna's vision, they were trapped in Anansi's net. Anansi, the Trickster God of African folklore, revealed his powers and how being the ""King of the Stories"", he changed Buddy and Mari's personal histories and sources of powers to test them. In an attempt to keep them contained, Anansi restored their connection to the ""Red"", but altered the personal histories of the Leaguers, to prevent them from ever founding"
"original Akan legend, Kweku Anansi (Kweku means male born on a Wednesday and Anansi means spider) is the son of Nyame, the Creator God. Anansi had the ability to perform fantastic feats and was also very tricky. It is said that Anansi taught the Akan people the art of weaving and the construction of houses. The Barbados Landship therefore does a re-enactment of the Anansi story, using the eight ribbons for the weave, which represents the eight legs of the spider. The web thus became the symbol of the life-giving rays of the sun, and was also used as a"
"called the eland out of its hiding place and killed it. Cagn Cagn (also known as /Kaggen) is the supreme god of the San of southern Africa. He is the first being and the creator of the world. He is a trickster god who can shape shift, most often into the praying mantis. Cagn is a trickster who is able to shape shift into the form of any animal. He is most frequently represented as a praying mantis but also takes the form of a bull eland, a louse, a snake, and a caterpillar. His wife, Coti, is represented as"
"Cagn Cagn (also known as /Kaggen) is the supreme god of the San of southern Africa. He is the first being and the creator of the world. He is a trickster god who can shape shift, most often into the praying mantis. Cagn is a trickster who is able to shape shift into the form of any animal. He is most frequently represented as a praying mantis but also takes the form of a bull eland, a louse, a snake, and a caterpillar. His wife, Coti, is represented as a marmot or rather a cape hyrax and is known as"
"chased his son home through the rain, he was reconciled to the loss, for, he says: ""What is the use of all that wisdom if a young child still needs to put you right?"" Anansi shares similarities with the trickster figure of Br'er Rabbit, who originated from the folklore of the Bantu-speaking peoples of south and central Africa. Enslaved Africans brought the Br'er Rabbit tales to the New World, which, like the Anansi stories, depict a physically small and vulnerable creature using his cunning intelligence to prevail over larger animals. However, although Br'er Rabbit stories are told in the Caribbean,"
"Algonquin myths. In the USA today, the stories of Br'er Rabbit exist alongside other stories of Aunt Nancy, and of Anansi himself, coming from both the times of slavery and also from the Caribbean and directly from Africa. In the Ashanti culture, Anansi is a mere folklore character, like Sasabonsam. Anansi is thus neither a deity nor worshiped as a god contrary to widespread erroneous information. Neither Ashanti oral tradition nor confirmed documentary evidence, list Anansi as a deity. As a mythological figure, he is often depicted interacting with the Supreme Being and other deities who frequently, bestow him with"
"told by the Roman poet Ovid in his ""Metamorphoses"", Arachne was a Lydian girl who challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest. Arachne won, but Athena destroyed her tapestry out of jealousy, causing Arachne to hang herself. In an act of mercy, Athena brought Arachne back to life as the first spider. Stories about the trickster-spider Anansi are prominent in the folk traditions of the Asante people of Ghana. In some cultures, spiders have symbolized patience due to their hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for prey, as well as mischief and malice due to their venomous bites."
"especially in the French-speaking islands (where he is named “Compair Lapin”), he is predominantly an African-American folk hero. The rabbit as a trickster is also in Akan versions as well and a Bantu origin doesn't have to be the main source, at least for the Caribbean where the Akan people are more dominant than in the U.S. His tales entered the mainstream through the work of the American journalist Joel Chandler Harris, who wrote several collections of Uncle Remus stories between 1870 and 1906. One of the times Anansi himself was tricked was when he tried to fight a tar"
"two examples of common tricksters are Brer Rabbit and Anansi. Tricksters in African American folktales tend to have a comedic approach. However, these stories also have an underlying important theme as well: inequality.The National Humanities Center says that, ""they contain serious commentary on the inequities of existence in a country where the promises of democracy were denied to a large portion of the citizenry, a pattern that becomes even clearer in the literary adaptations of trickster figures"". The trickster folktales reflect what was happening during that period of time. These kinds of folktales didn't always have a literal 'trickster', but"
"an explosion. Vixen wears a mystic artifact called the Tantu Totem, a fox-head shaped talisman given to her ancestors by the African trickster god Anansi. It was previously thought that the totem was the source of her powers but later stories, have shown that it merely prevents the morphogenetic field from overwhelming her mind. It was once assumed that the totem increased her range for mimicking animals as she has been seen taking on the traits of animals from across the world. However, this limit has been removed since The New 52. The full capability of the totem is unknown"
"Caribbean, and North America. Some of their most important mythological stories are called ""anansesem"", literally meaning ""the spider story"", but in a figurative sense also meaning ""traveler's tales"". These ""spider stories"" are sometimes also referred to as ""nyankomsem"": ""words of a sky god"". The stories generally, but not always, revolve around Kwaku Ananse, a trickster spirit, often depicted as a spider, human, or a combination thereof. Elements of Akan culture also include, but are not limited to: Akan art, kente cloth, Akan Calendar, Akan Chieftaincy, Akan goldweights and Akan religion These are the basic concepts of Akan philosophy and inheritance:"
"Ninki Nanka A Ninki Nanka is a legendary creature in West African folklore. Descriptions of the creature vary, but most contend that the animal is reptilian and possibly dragon-like. According to tradition, the Ninki Nanka lives in the swamps of West Africa. The animal is said to be extremely large and very dangerous. It is said that when children get too confident and feel they can disobey their parents and go into the swamp they will be taken by the Ninki Nanka. This creature's tales were never recorded in any sort of non-modern text but the story of it has"
"T. Downes Memorial Gambia Expedition 2006"", received a fair amount of media attention, including coverage in a BBC Online article. Ninki Nanka A Ninki Nanka is a legendary creature in West African folklore. Descriptions of the creature vary, but most contend that the animal is reptilian and possibly dragon-like. According to tradition, the Ninki Nanka lives in the swamps of West Africa. The animal is said to be extremely large and very dangerous. It is said that when children get too confident and feel they can disobey their parents and go into the swamp they will be taken by the"
"Anansi Boys Anansi Boys is a fantasy novel by English writer Neil Gaiman. In the novel, ""Mr. Nancy"" — an incarnation of the West African trickster god Anansi — dies, leaving two sons, who in turn discover each other. The novel follows their adventures as they explore their common heritage. While not a sequel to Gaiman's previous novel ""American Gods"", the character of Mr. Nancy appears in both books. ""Anansi Boys"" was published on 20 September 2005 and was released in paperback on 1 October 2006. The book debuted at number one on ""The New York Times"" Best Seller list,"
"least organized overall. However, like Anansi, the spider-god from which they take their name, they are not above utilizing cunning and clever trickery to do the impossible. The Akunanse probably originated in the Ghana region, but are now widespread throughout the whole of Africa, and are known to frequently travel anywhere in pursuit of the knowledge they need. They will Embrace most any who follow the pursuit of knowledge, including non-Africans who want to understand more about the ways of the ""cradle of humanity"" - curiously non African Akunanse often adopt animal features from their homelands instead of those native"
"help grow the field. He tricks B' Lizard and B' Bouki while they were standing watch by the water and the field. The other animals got tired of his tricks, got together and created a Tar Baby. B' Rabby was caught by Tar Baby and the other animals who wanted to throw him into the sea but he talked them into throwing him into a bush. They threw B' Rabby into the bush and he got away. In a variant recorded in Jamaica, Anansi himself was once similarly trapped with a tar-baby made by the eldest son of Mrs. Anansi,"
"""coyotl"". Coyote mythlore is one of the most popular among Native American people. Coyote is in some lore said to be a trickster. Coyote has been compared to both the Scandinavian Loki, and also Prometheus, who shared with Coyote the trick of having stolen fire from the gods as a gift for mankind, and Anansi, a mythological culture hero from Western African mythology. In Eurasia, rather than a coyote, a fox is often featured as a trickster hero, ranging from kitsune (fox) tales in Japan to the Reynard cycle in Western Europe. Claude Lévi-Strauss, French anthropologist proposed a structuralist theory"
"Anubis Anubis (; , Egyptian: ""jnpw"", Coptic: ""Anoup"") is the Greek name of a god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine head. Archeologists have identified Anubis's sacred animal as an Egyptian canid, the African golden wolf. Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumed different roles in various contexts. Depicted as a protector of graves as early as the First Dynasty (c. 3100 – c. 2890 BC), Anubis was also an embalmer. By the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055 – 1650 BC) he was replaced by Osiris"
"instead incorporated into the Starz adaptation of ""American Gods"". Anansi Boys Anansi Boys is a fantasy novel by English writer Neil Gaiman. In the novel, ""Mr. Nancy"" — an incarnation of the West African trickster god Anansi — dies, leaving two sons, who in turn discover each other. The novel follows their adventures as they explore their common heritage. While not a sequel to Gaiman's previous novel ""American Gods"", the character of Mr. Nancy appears in both books. ""Anansi Boys"" was published on 20 September 2005 and was released in paperback on 1 October 2006. The book debuted at number"
"a similar theme, but often had a trickster rabbit as a protagonist. The Native American trickster rabbit appears to have resonated with African-American story-tellers and was adopted as a cognate of the Anansi character with which they were familiar. Other authorities state the widespread existence of similar stories of a rabbit and tar baby throughout indigenous Meso-American and South American cultures. Thus, the tale of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby represents a coming together of two separate folk traditions, American and African, which coincidentally shared a common theme. Most of the other Br'er Rabbit stories originated with Cherokee or"
"after Anansi pretended to be dead in order to steal her peas. In a Spanish language version told in the mountainous parts of Colombia, an unnamed rabbit is trapped by the ""Muñeco de Brea"" (tar doll). A Buddhist myth tells of Prince Five-weapons (the Future Buddha) who encounters the ogre Sticky-Hair in a forest. The tar-baby theme is present in the folklore of various tribes of Meso-America and of South America: it is found in such stories as the Nahuatl (of Mexico) ""Lazy Boy and Little Rabbit"" (González Casanova 1946, pp. 55–67), Pipil (of El Salvador) ""Rabbit and Little Fox"""
"Osebo Osebo is the common name for the leopard character of Ashanti folk tales. According to one tale, Anansi the spider captures him along with Onini the serpent and Mmoboro the hornet to give to the sky god Nyame in exchange for his stories.. Anansi captures Osebo by digging a pit in his favorite path. When Osebo falls into the trap Anansi offers his help by lowering a branch and offering it to Osebo. Anansi tells Osebo him to tie his tail to it and he does because he trusts Anansi. Unfortunately, the branch is actually a hunting trap and"
"rabbit called ""Adanko"" (Asante-Twi to mean ""Hare"") in some stories. The Jamaican character with the same name ""Brer Rabbit"", is an adaptation of the Ananse stories of the Akan people. Some scholars have suggested that in his American incarnation, Br'er Rabbit represented the enslaved Africans who used their wits to overcome adversity and to exact revenge on their adversaries, the white slave owners. Though not always successful, the efforts of Br'er Rabbit made him a folk hero. However, the trickster is a multidimensional character. While he can be a hero, his amoral nature and his lack of any positive restraint"
"study of religion derives from studies of traditional West African religious beliefs, as well as from Voodoo, which in turn derives from those beliefs. Fetishes were commonly used in Native American religion and practices. The bear represented the shaman, the buffalo was the provider, the mountain lion was the warrior, and the wolf was the pathfinder. Made and used by the BaKongo people of western Zaire, a ""nkisi"" (plural ""minkisi"") is a sculptural object that provides a local habitation for a spiritual personality. Though some minkisi have always been anthropomorphic, they were probably much less naturalistic or ""realistic"" before the"
"the tarbaby story and hundreds of other myths throughout the world, despite the significant variations between them, originate from a single ancient Indian myth. The next year, Archer Taylor added a list of tarbaby stories from more sources around the world, citing scholarly claims of its earliest origins in India and Iran. Espinosa later published documentation on tarbaby stories from a variety of language communities around the world. A very similar West African tale is told of the mythical hero Anansi the Spider. In this version, Anansi creates a wooden doll and covers it over with gum, then puts a"
"(or stars or sun) and is more of a trickster than a culture hero. Natives from the Southeastern United States typically saw a rabbit trickster/culture hero, and Pacific Northwest native stories often feature a raven in this role: in some stories, Raven steals fire from his uncle Beaver and eventually gives it to humans. The Western African trickster spider Ananse is also widely disseminated. In Norse mythology, Odin (yet another trickster deity) is said to have stolen the mead of poetry from Jotunheim and is credited as the discoverer of the runes. Culture hero A culture hero is a mythological"
"have folkloric tales of beings with vampiric abilities: in West Africa the Ashanti people tell of the iron-toothed and tree-dwelling ""asanbosam"", and the Ewe people of the ""adze"", which can take the form of a firefly and hunts children. The Eastern Cape region of South Africa has the ""impundulu"", which can take the form of a large taloned bird and can summon thunder and lightning, and the Betsileo people of Madagascar tell of the ""ramanga"", an outlaw or living vampire who drinks the blood and eats the nail clippings of nobles. Female vampire-like monsters are the ""Soucouyant"" of Trinidad, and"
"in accomplishing evil deeds in the world. His companion was Death. Although he is an evil Alusi, he was not originally regarded as the devil. With the rise of Christianity, the more beneficent aspects of the deity were supplanted by missionaries who came to represent Ekwensu as Satan. He was the testing force of Chukwu, and along with Ani the Earth goddess, and Igwe, the Sky God, make up the three highest Arusi's of the ancient Igbo people. During the colonial enslavement-missionary period Ekwensu was transcribed to become the Igbo word for Satan. Ekwensu Ekwensu is a Trickster God (an"
"he is caught, killed, and skinned by Anansi. Osebo Osebo is the common name for the leopard character of Ashanti folk tales. According to one tale, Anansi the spider captures him along with Onini the serpent and Mmoboro the hornet to give to the sky god Nyame in exchange for his stories.. Anansi captures Osebo by digging a pit in his favorite path. When Osebo falls into the trap Anansi offers his help by lowering a branch and offering it to Osebo. Anansi tells Osebo him to tie his tail to it and he does because he trusts Anansi. Unfortunately,"
"Africa more suitable than any other to be married to a star, it is the Lynx."" Lynx (mythology) The lynx, a type of wildcat, has a prominent role in Greek, Norse, and North American mythology. It is considered an elusive and mysterious creature, known in some American Indian traditions as a 'keeper of secrets'. It is also believed to have supernatural eyesight, capable of seeing even through solid objects. As a result, it often symbolises the unravelling of hidden truths, and the psychic power of clairvoyance. It is claimed by Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC) that the lynx's"
"is ""The Marriage of Anansewa"", written in 1975 by Efua Sutherland. The entire play is based upon an Akan oral tradition called ""Anansesem""(folk tales). The main character of the play is Ananse (the spider). The qualities of Ananse are one of the most prevalent parts of the play. Ananse is cunning, selfish, has great insight into human and animal nature, is ambitious, eloquent, and resourceful. By putting too much of himself into everything that he does Ananse ruins each of his schemes and ends up poor. Ananse is used in the play as a kind of Everyman. He is written"
"Ekwensu Ekwensu is a Trickster God (an evil Alusi) of the Igbo people who serve as the Alusi or God of Bargains and the tortoise. Crafty at trade and negotiations, he is often invoked for guidance in difficult mercantile situations. The deity was a force of Chaos and Change, thus in his more violent aspects, Ekwensu was also revered as a God of War and Victory who ruled over the wicked spirits and the chaotic forces of nature. He is perceived as a spirit of violence that incites people to perform violent acts. Ekwensu is said to be interested only"