Quote:The ancient Judaism/Christianity binary was replicated as a "Hinduism"/Modernism binary. Judaism was the spitted-out shell of the colonized's past. "Hinduism" is the same.

Quote:FLASH | Tuesday, August 24, 2010 | Email | Print | | Back





Hitler possibly had Jewish, African roots



IANS | London



Nazi leader Adolf Hitler possibly had Jewish as well as African ancestors - communities whom he had pledged to exterminate, new DNA tests have revealed.



Daily Express Tuesday reported that samples taken from Hitler's relatives link him to both the Jewish community and people from North Africa.



Jean-Paul Mulders, a journalist, was able to investigate Hitler’s DNA after he managed to lay his hands on a serviette dropped by the dictator’s great-nephew Alexander Stuart-Houston who lives in New York. A serviette is a small square of cloth or paper used while eating to protect the clothes, wipe the mouth and hand.



He got a second sample from an Austrian cousin of Hitler, a farmer known as Norbert H, the media report said.



The DNA tests threw up a startling result.



It revealed a form of the Y-chromosome that is rare in Germany and the rest of Western Europe, but common among Jewish and North African groups.



Experts now think that Hitler had migrant relatives who settled in his homeland.



Mulders said both the test samples had a form of genetic material known as Haplopgroup E1b1b, proving an "irrefutable link" to the Nazi leader.



"It is most commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. One can from this postulate that Hitler was related to people whom he despised," the Belgian journalist was quoted as saying.



Ronny Decorte, a genetic specialist in Belgium, said: "Hitler would not have been pleased about this.



"Race and blood was central in the world of the Nazis. Hitler’s concern over his descent was not unjustified. He was apparently not ‘pure’ or ‘Aryan’."

Quote:Not afraid of scholarly controversy, Gordon challenged traditional theories about Greek and Hebrew cultures. In the 1960s, he declared his examination of Minoan (Cretan) texts corroborated his long-held theory that Greek and Hebrew cultures stemmed from a common Semitic heritage. He asserted that this culture spanned the eastern Mediterranean from Greece to Palestine during the Minoan era.

Quote:Nineteenth-century studies of the Orient changed European ideas and cultural institutions in more ways than we usually recognize. "Orientalism" certainly contributed to European empire-building, but it also helped to destroy a narrow Christian-classical canon. This carefully researched book provides the first synthetic and contextualized study of German Orientalistik, a subject of special interest because German scholars were the pace-setters in oriental studies between about 1830 and 1930, despite entering the colonial race late and exiting it early. The book suggests that we must take seriously German orientalism's origins in Renaissance philology and early modern biblical exegesis and appreciate its modern development in the context of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century debates about religion and the Bible, classical schooling, and Germanic origins. In ranging across the subdisciplines of Orientalistik, German Orientalism in the Age of Empire introduces readers to a host of iconoclastic characters and forgotten debates, seeking to demonstrate both the richness of this intriguing field and its indebtedness to the cultural world in which it evolved.

Quote:Mythology[edit]

Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The ca. 680 AD Kojiki transcribes this dragon name as 八岐遠呂智 and ca. 720 AD Nihongi writes it as 八岐大蛇. In both versions of the Orochi myth, Susanoo or Susa-no-Ō is expelled from Heaven for tricking his sister Amaterasu the sun-goddess.



After expulsion from Heaven, Susanoo encounters two "Earthly Deities" (國神, kunitsukami) near the head of the Hi River (簸川), now called the Hii River (ja:斐伊川), in Izumo Province. They are weeping because they were forced to give the Orochi one of their daughters every year for seven years, and now they must sacrifice their eighth, Kushi-inada-hime (櫛名田比売 "comb/wondrous rice-field princess", who Susanoo transforms into a kushi 櫛 "comb" for safekeeping). The Kojiki tells the following version.

Quote:So, having been expelled, [His-Swift-impetuous-Male-Augustness] descended to a place [called] Tori-kami (鳥髪, now 鳥上) at the head-waters of the River Hi in the Land of Idzumo. At this time some chopsticks came floating down the stream. So His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness, thinking that there must be people at the head-waters of the river, went up it in quest of them, when he came upon an old man and an old woman, --two of them,--who had a young girl between them, and were weeping. Then he deigned to ask: "Who are ye?" So the old man replied, saying: "I am an Earthly Deity, child of the Deity Great-Mountain-Possessor. I am called by the name of Foot-Stroking-Elder, my wife is called by the name of Hand-Stroking Elder, and my daughter is called by the name of Wondrous-Inada-Princess." Again he asked: What is the cause of your crying?" [The old man answered] saying: "I had originally eight young girls as daughters. But the eight-forked serpent of Koshi has come every year and devoured [one], and it is now its time to come, wherefore we weep." Then he asked him: "What is its form like?" [The old man] answered, saying: "Its eyes are like akahagachi, it has one body with eight heads and eight tails. Moreover on its body grows moss, and also chamaecyparis and cryptomerias. Its length extends over eight valleys and eight hills, and if one look at its belly, it is all constantly bloody and inflamed." (What is called here akahagachi is the modern hohodzuki [winter-cherry]) Then His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness said to the old man: "If this be thy daughter, wilt thou offer her to me?" He replied, saying: "With reverence, but I know not thine august name." Then he replied, saying: "I am elder brother to the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity. So I have now descended from Heaven." Then the Deities Foot-Stroker-Elder and Hand-Stroking-Elder said: "If that be so, with reverence will we offer [her to thee]." So His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness, at once taking and changing the young girl into a multitudinous and close-toothed comb which he stuck into his august hair-bunch, said to the Deities Foot-Stroking-Elder and Hand-Stroking-Elder: "Do you distill some eight-fold refined liquor. Also make a fence round about, in that fence make eight gates, at each gate tie [together] eight platforms, on each platform put a liquor-vat, and into each vat pour the eight-fold refined liquor, and wait." So as they waited after having thus prepared everything in accordance with his bidding, the eight-forked serpent came truly as [the old man] had said, and immediately dipped a head into each vat, and drank the liquor. Thereupon it was intoxicated with drinking, and all [the heads] lay down and slept. Then His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness drew the ten-grasp sabre, that was augustly girded on him, and cut the serpent in pieces, so that the River Hi flowed on changed into a river of blood. So when he cut the middle tail, the edge of his august sword broke. Then, thinking it strange, he thrust into and split [the flesh] with the point of his august sword and looked, and there was a great sword [within]. So he took this great sword, and, thinking it a strange thing, he respectfully informed the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity. This is the Herb-Quelling Great Sword. (tr. Chamberlain 1919:71-3)

Compare the Nihongi description of the Yamata no Orochi (tr. Aston 1896:1:52-53).

Quote:"It had an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail; its eyes were red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses were growing. As it crawled it extended over a space of eight hills and eight valleys." These botanical names used to describe this Orochi are akahagachi or hoozuki ("winter cherry or Japanese lantern, Physalis alkekengi"), hikage ("club moss, Lycopodiopsida), hinoki ("Japanese cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa), and sugi ("Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria").

This legendary sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, along with the Yata no Kagami mirror and Yasakani no Magatama jewel or orb, are the three sacred Imperial Regalia of Japan.

Quote:Etymology[edit]

[color="#0000FF"]The Japanese name orochi 大蛇 derives from Old Japanese woröti (with a regular o- from wo- shift, Miller 1971:25-7), but its etymology is enigmatic. Besides this ancient orochi reading, the kanji 大蛇 are commonly pronounced daija "big snake; large serpent".



Carr (1990:169) notes that Japanese scholars have proposed "more than a dozen" orochi < woröti etymologies, while Western linguists have suggested loanwords from Austronesian, Tungusic, and Indo-European languages. The most feasible native etymological proposals are Japanese o- from o 尾 "tail" (which is where Susanoo discovered the sacred sword), ō 大 "big; great", or oro 峰 "peak; summit"; and -chi meaning "god; spirit", cognate with the mizuchi river-dragon. Benedict (1985:167) originally proposed woröti "large snake" was suffixed from Proto-Austro-Japanese *(w)oröt-i acquired from Austronesian *[q]uḷəj "snake; worm"; which he later (1990:243) modified to *(u-)orot-i from *[q,ʔ]oḷəj. Miller (1987:647) criticized Benedict for overlooking Old Japanese "worö 'tail' + suffix -ti — as well as an obvious Tungus etymology, [Proto-Tungus] *xürgü-či 'the tailed one'", and notes "this apparently well-traveled orochi has now turned up in the[/color] speculation of the [Indo-European] folklorists (Littleton 1981)." Littleton's hypothesis involves the 3-headed monster Trisiras or Viśvarūpa, which has a mythological parallel because Indra killed it after giving it soma, wine, and food, but lacks a phonological connection.



Polycephalic or multi-headed animals are rare in biology but common in mythology and heraldry. Multi-headed dragons, like the 8-headed Orochi and 3-headed Trisiras above, are a common motif in comparative mythology. For instance, multi-headed dragons in Greek mythology include the wind-god Typhon who had several polycephalic offspring, including the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra and the 100-headed Ladon, both slain by Hercules.



Two other Japanese examples derive from Buddhist importations of Indian [color="#800080"](code for Hindu**)[/color] dragon myths. Benzaiten, the Japanese name of Saraswati, supposedly killed a 5-headed dragon at Enoshima in 552 AD. Kuzuryū 九頭龍 "9-headed dragon", deriving from the Nagaraja snake-kings Vasuki and Shesha, is worshipped at Togakushi Shrine in Nagano Prefecture. (Compare the Jiutouniao 九頭鳥 "nine-headed bird" in Chinese mythology.)

[color="#800080"](** Although I'm not sure Hindus have "dragons". Hindus have serpents, cosmic serpents perhaps, mysterious ocean serpents too, but no dragons as far as I know. Don't really know "what" - as in, what type of animal other than fantastical - Yazhis are.)[/color]



Comparing folklore about polycephalic dragons and serpents, 8-headed creatures are less common than 7- or 9-headed ones. Among Japanese numerals, ya or hachi 八 can mean "many; varied" (e.g., yaoya 八百屋 [lit. "800 store"] "greengrocer; jack-of-all-trades"). De Visser (1913:150) says the number 8 is "stereotypical" in legends about kings or gods riding dragons or having their carriages drawn by them. Smith (1919:212), who quotes the orochi myth with "seven or eight heads" and compares a Celtic dragon, says, "The seven-headed dragon is found also in the Scottish dragon-myth, and the legends of Cambodia, India, Persia, Western Asia, East Africa, and the Mediterranean area." Smith (1919:215) identifies the mythic 7- or 8-headed dragons with the 7-spiked Pteria spider shell or 8-tentacled octopus.



The myth of a Storm God fighting a Sea Serpent is itself a popular mythic trope potentially originating with the Proto-Indo-European religion[3] and later transmitted into the religions of the Ancient Near East most likely initially through interaction with Hittite speaking peoples into Syria and the Fertile Crescent.[4] This motif, known as chaoskampf (German for "struggle against chaos") represents the clash between order and chaos. Often as these myths evolve from their original source, the role of the storm god (himself often the head of a pantheon) is adopted by culture heroes or a personage symbolizing royalty. A non-exclusive list of mythological parallels to the story of Susanoo vs. Orochi include:



Indo-European



•Thor vs. Jörmungandr (Norse)

•Tarhunt vs. Illuyanka (Hittite)

•Zeus vs. Typhon (Greek)

â—¦Hercules vs. The Lernaean Hydra (Greek)

•Indra vs. Vritra ([color="#FF0000"]Vedic[/color])

◦Krishna vs. Kāliyā ([color="#FF0000"]Indian[/color])

[color="#800080"](Note interesting distinction. Vedic is not used as a religion here, else why Indian not Hindu used thereafter? Whereas Zoroastrian is used for the next example below, which is a religion. And if Vedic is an ethnicity here - odd - why is it magically distinct from Indian? And if Vedic used as culture, Krishna vs Kaaliya is still exclusively Hindu and not general "Indian" whatever that is supposed to be. Still, since when are the two distinct? A: since aliens decided the Vedas are theirs and that Indians are miscegeneated with a miscegenated distinct religion called Hinduism.)[/color]

•Θraētaona vs. Aži Dahāka (Zorastrian)

â—¦Garshasp vs. Zahhak (Iranian)

•Dobrynya Nikitich vs. Zmey Gorynych (Slavic)

â—¦Saint George vs. The Dragon (Christian)

•Făt-Frumos vs. Balaur (Romanian)



Afro-Asiatic



•Baʿal vs. Yam (Canaanite)

•Yu the Great vs. Xiang Liu of Gong Gong (Chinese)

•Marduk vs. Tiamat (Babylonian)

•Atum vs. Nehebkau (Egyptian)

â—¦Ra vs. Apep (Egyptian)

•Yahweh vs. Leviathan (Jewish)

â—¦Gabriel vs. Rahab (Jewish)

â– Christ vs. Satan (Christian)

In many of these examples, the serpent god is often seen as multi-headed or multi-tailed.

Quote:"Though Tiamat is often described by modern authors as a sea serpent or dragon, no ancient texts exist in which there is a clear association with those kinds of creatures, and the identification is debated.[9]"

Quote:Miller (1987:647) criticized Benedict for overlooking Old Japanese "worö 'tail' + suffix -ti [/b]— as well as an obvious Tungus etymology, [Proto-Tungus] *xürgü-či 'the tailed one'", and notes "this apparently well-traveled orochi has now turned up in the[/color] [color=red]speculation [color=blue][b]of the [Indo-European] folklorists (Littleton 1981)."

Quote:Kojiki, (Japanese: “Records of Ancient Matters”), together with the Nihon shoki, the first written record in Japan, part of which is considered a sacred text of the Shintō religion. The Kojiki text was compiled from oral tradition in 712.



The Kojiki is an important source book for ceremonies, customs, divination, and magical practices of ancient Japan. It includes myths, legends, and historical accounts of the imperial court from the earliest days of its creation up to the reign of Empress Suiko (628). Much of Shintō thought is based on interpretations of the mythology contained in the Kojiki. It was written using Chinese characters to represent Japanese sounds, inasmuch as no means of recording Japan’s developing spoken language had yet been devised. The religious and ethical values of the Kojiki were rediscovered and reevaluated by Moto-ori Norinaga (1730–1801), who wrote the complete “Annotation of the Kojiki” in 49 volumes. The Kojiki was first translated into English in 1882.

Quote:Unnan (雲南) is a fairly new city, established in 2004 with the merger of five towns and one village. It’s in the southern (南) part of the Izumo region (出雲, which is also sometimes called Unshuu 雲州 with an alternate pronunciation for 雲), hence the name. Not all of the sites having to do with the Yamata-no-Orochi legend take place within the city borders, but most of them do, so many public areas and businesses decorate with giant serpant motifs. For a harrowing monster that’s inspired countless artistic renditions throughout Japanese history and more recently served as the inspiration for foes facing everyone from Godzilla to Doraemon, it hasn’t been able to escape modern Japan’s kawaiiifying culture.



One of the theories I’ve heard about the origins of this legend is that the [color="#0000FF"]anatomy of the Yamata-no-Orochi[/color] was based on the mountains and the offshoots of the Hii River. It’s threat to kamikind was likely based on the [color="#0000FF"]flooded[/color] river’s threat to humankind. The “grass-cutting” sword Susano-o found within one of the tails may represent human triumph over nature in preventing floods and engaging in agriculture, as well as building tools and swords out of iron (both techniques might also have been inherited from Korea). Furthermore, Kushinada-hima is also known as Inata-hime–”Rice Field Princess.” This sources for the Yamata-no-Orochi certainly seems plausible to me, though I don’t know where they would have gotten the parts about the red eyes. On that note, iron is a big thing in ancient Izumo, but that’s something to touch on another time.



On a typical day-tour of the Orochi sites I doubt most people are thinking that deeply into it. It’s fun to drive with a map and check out the well-marked places were even minute pieces of the story took place. While this was the place that the Yamata-no-Orochi lived, it’s also the place where it was buried–the tails in a place called Iwatsubo Shrine, and the heads in a tiny neighborhood spot called Happonsugi (八本杉, literally “eight cedars”). There are eight cedar trees growing there to mark the eight heads.





We got the overview of the home of the Yamata-no-Orochi last time. It didn’t only love the coolness of the Shimane mountains, it loved alcohol–especially Shimane’s rice wine.

If you drive around Unnan with a Yamata-no-Orochi tourism map, you can find your way to places like Kamaishi, a stone that marks the spot where the sake was brewed eight times over, or Kusamakura, a set of hills the monster used as a “grassy pillow” when it was tipsy.



Perhaps the most important site is Inze-no-Tsubogami, where the basins that held the potent liquor were buried (couldn’t have those falling into the wrong lightweight hands, after all!).

There’s not much on this mountain, but it does have atmosphere. The fenced area is around the rocks that closed off the sake basins from the outside world. A curse upon anyone who tries to dig them out!



Like the previously mentioned chopsticks, [color="#0000FF"]this legend is one of the first records of sake production in Japan. It is not the only legend that suggests the Izumo region was the first to enjoy the stuff. Rather, it’s association with Izumo City is stronger than with Unnan City, given the fame and prominence of Izumo Taisha even in modern Shintoism.[/color]



[color="#0000FF"]Izumo Taisha is where all the gods in Japan congregate for their annual meeting to decide the fates and interminglings of people and nature–otherwise known as en. It’s not all work, though–those gods are known for drinking lots and lots of sake.[/color] This perhaps has less to do with drunken kami-sama so much as [color="#0000FF"]sake‘s purifying qualities, hence, it is used extensively in Shinto rituals.[/color] Because there are so many gods to offer sake to at Izumo Taisha, it means that there is lots and lots of high quality sake contributed there.



[color="#0000FF"]Izumo Taisha is not, however, the leading sake shrine. Instead, that would be Saka Shrine (yes, there is sake-related history behind that name).[/color] You can read a more thorough description of the brewing-related rituals that take place there on the Connect Shimane website, but suffice to say for our purposes here that [color="#0000FF"]the main deity* is the patron of brewers, and this is the lead shrine among all others that also worship that kami.[/color] This shrine is also [color="#0000FF"]sometimes called Matsuo Shrine[/color], which should indeed sound familiar if you’ve been to this famous old shrine in western Kyoto.

[color="#800080"](* Kami of Sake brewing = Kusu no kami. He resides at the various Matsuo Shrines of Japan.)[/color]



I’d ask the Yamata-no-Orochi if it agrees with all this sparkling praise of the sake fit for kami-sama, but it’s a little beat up and buried now. With that monster out of the way, Susano-o and Kushinada-hime had wedded bliss to keep busy with, which we’ll take a look at next time.





Following Parts 1 and 2 of the overview of Yamata-no-Orochi sites, we’ve reached the happily-ever-after for Susano-o and Kushinada-hime. Perhaps moreso than for a bloodthirsty and intoxicated giant eight-headed slithering monster, visitors come to the Izumo region seeking their own happy endings.



Here’s that buzzword again: en-musubi.



En originally has to do with any sort of ties different people and nature may have interwoven with each other, but it’s more popularly associated with matchmaking–and there is lots and lots of matchmaking to be done here. Izumo Taisha pretty much specializes in it, and that effect is extended to the rest of the region. Here in Matsue, there are a number of little places specifically known as en-musubi power spots, and finding them is supposed to give you good luck in finding your soul mate–everything from Yaegaki Shrine to a heart in the natural grain of the wood used inside Matsue Castle.



Finding romantic en in all sorts of unintentional places is common throughout Japan. For instance, which a couple of large rocks are found near each other, they are considered Meoto-Iwa (“Husband-and-Wife Boulders”), and they are often tied together with shimenawa, like the pair found in the Mihonoseki area of the Shimane Peninsula.

[color="#800080"](Foreign writer trivialises it. Boulders are not randomly marked as being Kamis. Like sacred sites, they are only marked if there are indeed Kami there. Not all boulders are marked. Even otherwise, it is true that Shinto considers that all things have an essence/spirit and many locations and many natural entities like trees and rivers are indeed Gods or residences of the Gods or embodiments of the Gods.)[/color]



[color="#800080"]<photo>[/color]



The Meoto-Iwa representing Susano-o and Kushinada-hime on Mt. Yakumo take this a step further by having a whole family of rocks, including one to represent the fruits of their union.

[color="#800080"][BTW, Yaegaki Shrine enshrines not just Father Susano-o and Mother Inata-Hime but also their Baby son, first of their babies.][/color]



[color="#0000FF"]<map pointing out all the shrines to the Divine Pair/Family, where they dwell>[/color]



This marriage between the God of the Seas (and then some) and one of the earthly kami who populated the land below the heavens was arranged in a rather human-like way. They had wedding preparations to do (which took place at Oomori Shrine), and Kushinada-hime required clean water when we was giving birth to their first child (which is why she chose Kawabe Shrine).

Quote:Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan includes a chapter about Yaegaki-jinja that reveals the meaning of the shrine’s name by way of the famous story about how Susanoo rescued Kushinada from the Yamato no Orochi, a giant snake with eight heads and eight tails. “Yaegaki” can literally be translated as ‘eight-fold fence’ or ‘fences within fences,’ a name that references the device devised by Susanoo to defeat the Eight-Forked Serpent. Hearn retells this story based on what has been written in the Kojiki, but here I’ll include the shorter version of this story that is found in the Nihon Shoki (as translated by William George Aston):



Then Sosa no wo no Mikoto [that would be Susanoo] descended from Heaven and proceeded to the head-waters of the River Hi, in the province of Izumo. At this time he heard a sound of weeping at the head-waters of the river, and he went in search of the sound. He found there an old man and an old woman. Between them was set a young girl, whom they were caressing and lamenting over. Sosa no wo no Mikoto asked them, saying: “Who are ye and why do ye lament thus?” The answer was: “I am an Earthly Deity, and my name is Ashi-nadzuchi. My wife’s name is Te-nadzuchi. This girl is our daughter, and her name is Kushinada-hime. The reason of our weeping is that formerly we had eight children, daughters. But they have been devoured year after year by an eight-forked serpent and now the time approaches for this girl to be devoured. There is no means of escape for her, and therefore do we grieve.” His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness said: “If that is so, wilt thou give me thy daughter?” He replied, and said: “I will comply with thy behest and give her to thee.” Therefore His Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness on the spot changed Kushinada-hime into a many-toothed close-comb which he stuck in the august knot of his hair. Then he made Ashi-nadzuchi and Te-nadzuchi to brew eight-fold sake, to make eight cupboards, in each of them to set a tub filled with sake, and so to await its coming. When the time came, the serpent actually appeared. It had an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail; its eyes were red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses were growing. As it crawled it extended over a space of eight hills and eight valleys. Now when it came and found the sake, each head drank up one tub, and it became drunk and fell asleep. Then Sosa no wo no Mikoto drew the ten-span sword which he wore and chopped the serpent into small pieces. When he came to the tail, the edge of his sword was slightly notched, and he therefore split open the tail and examined it. In the inside there was a sword. This is the sword which is called Kusa-nagi no tsurugi.



Though this account of the legend is more concise, it does leave out the all-important fence. [color="#0000FF"]According to the Kojiki, the sake tubs were placed inside a fence that had eight gates. After the serpent drank the sake it fell asleep with a head in each gate, clearly making for easier decapitation.



The Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the sword which Susanoo discovered in the serpent’s tail, is said to be enshrined at Nagoya’s Atsuta-jingu, though since it is one the three sacred imperial treasures no one is allowed to see it except for the emperor and a few select Shinto priests.[/color]

Quote:In the legend “Yamata-no-Orochi”, after slaying the eight-headed serpent, the deity Susanoo and his new bride, Kushi-inada-Hime, made this shrine their home and it has therefore come to be known as the shrine of happy marriages. In the shrine grounds you can find the “Mirror Pond”, which Kushi-inada-Hime used as a mirror. There is a custom of placing a coin on a piece of paper and floating it on the surface of the pond. The length of time the paper takes to sink is said to signify your luck in love.

Quote:Yaegaki Shrine

Yaegaki Shrine.Yaegaki Shrine (八重垣神社, Yaegaki Jinja?), formerly known as Sakusa Shrine (佐久佐神社, Sakusa Jinja?), is a Shinto shrine in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, Japan.



Kagaminoike of Yaegaki ShrineHistory[edit]

The gods Susanoo and princess Kushinada are enshrined here. This shrine is dedicated to marriage and matchmaking. The people who come to this shrine often pray for a marriage partner, good marital relations, pregnancy and healthy child-bearing. In keeping with this theme, several large wooden phalluses can be found on the shrine's grounds.



According to legend, Susanoo came across a couple who had lost seven of their eight daughters to an eight-headed serpent, the Yamata-no-orochi (lit., "Eight-Pronged-Serpent"). The serpent was due to return for the last daughter, Princess Kushinada, when Susanoo arrived. Through his ingenuity, Susanoo slew the serpent and won Kushinada's hand in marriage.



The Yaegaki Shrine was erected in the spot where Susanoo built a house for himself and Kushinada to live.



At the shrine, visitors can see the Mirror Pond. One can place a paper on the water's surface and a divining coin on the paper; the amount of time the coin stays afloat on the paper is supposed to indicate the fate of one's marriage.



In the shrine's treasure house is an ancient depiction of the enshrined Princess Inata, painted on Japanese Cypress. It is believed to be the oldest shrine wall mural in Japan. [1]

Quote:Miki

Rice wine (sake) offered to the kami, an indispensable element of the food offerings known as shinsen. Usually referred to as omiki, or alternately as shinshu, the term miki is a combination of two characters, the honorific mi and the character for "wine" (ki). As such, it originally derived from a term for wine offered to someone in an exalted position. Ancient documents include instances of miki being called miwa, and the deity Miwa no kami is thus famous as the kami with jurisdiction over the production of sake. Likewise, the term kushi is found in poetry from the Kojiki as another name for miki, while in Okinawa, one finds the term ugusu. This word is thought to derive from the ancient view of the "auspicious" (kizui) effect of sake, while another theory links the word to kusuri or "medicine." All these examples demonstrate that miki has been considered indispensable to kami worship from the age of myth until the present. [color="#0000FF"]It is believed that by drinking miki together with the kami to whom it is offered the celebrants experience a non-everyday state of mind and body, and thus deepen their communion with the kami.[/color] Miki is found in numerous varieties, including white rice wine and black rice wine (shiroki and kuroki), unrefined rice wine (nigorizake), refined rice wine (sumisake or seishu), and sweet rice wine (hitoyozake). Several methods of brewing likewise exist, although [color="#0000FF"]examples include a strong "wine of eight-fold brewing" (yashioori no sake)[/color], and another "overnight" type of wine called reishu, fermented by chewing rice. The ritual offerings of certain localities feature kinds of miki so thick they can be lifted with chopsticks. See also shiroki, kuroki.

Quote:Japan's Oldest Anthology Poem

[color="#0000FF"]The first poem to go into an anthology was attributed to Susanoo, who was known as a kami. In Japanese, the word kami means a god. Therefore, the poetry is tied in with the religion of the area. Susanoo was the younger brother of Amaterasu. Susanoo married Princes Kushinada in the Izumo province.[/color] When they were married, he came up with the poem. The poem goes as follows:



"Yaukumo tatsu/Izumo yaegaki/Tsuma-gomi ni/Yaegaki tsukuru/Sono yaegaki wo."



This poem, along with several others, was put into the Nihonshoki. The Koijiki is regarded as the first piece of written history of the Japanese people; however, the Nihonshoki is the first to include a number of poetic readings, which is why it is treated as more of an anthological than the Nihonshoki.

Quote:Yaegaki Shrine



(八重垣神社) :





Next shrine is Yaegaki shrine in which Susano-oh god and his princess Kushinada are enshrined.



This shrine is dedicated to marriage and matchmaking (:



The people who come to this shrine often pray for a marriage partner, good marital relations, pregnancy and healthy child-bearing.



And the shrine is also dedicated to poem and literature. Because here’s the place where the oldest tanka (Japanese Poety) was written.



“Yakumo-Tatsu Izumo Yaegaki Tumagomini Yaegaki Tukuru Sono Yaegaki wo”



'Massively rising clouds made high walls in Izumo.



And the walls protect my wife, my children and child-bearing safety.



High walls, made from massively rising clouds.’

Quote:{This song was REALLY REALLY HARD, but there's extra notes.}

{Based on Shinto mythology, the god Susano'o defeats the Yamata no Orochi (8-headed snake, hence "his heads falls over 8 gates").}

{Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi is the sword he gets from Orochi's tail. It was special because it was made of iron, and the slaying of Orochi [color="#0000FF"](=mastery of flood control(=mastery of water))[/color] allowed people to weld iron. The sword Susano'o used against Orochi, the Totsuka no Tsurugi (though this song changed it to Totsuka no Ken for some reason) was made of bronze, so when he was cutting up Orochi, the Totsuka no Tsurugi bent from the iron in the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi. Get it?}

{Lady of the Beautiful River is the eighth daughter that was to be sacrificed to Orochi. The river itself is probably the Hii River, but it didn't say it straight out, so we didn't want to put that.}

[color="#800080"](Traditionally, it is indeed regarded as the Hii river)[/color]

{The verse with the countless fences, it's Susano'o's waka. Said to be the oldest poem in Japan.}

Quote:One of the theories ... about the origins of this legend is that the anatomy of the Yamata-no-Orochi was based on the mountains and the offshoots of the Hii River. It’s threat to kamikind was likely based on the flooded river’s threat to humankind.

Quote:It is believed that the terrible snake of mythology was the many rivers, which caused much distress for the people through floods. Susanoo, an engineer, helped control the floods with dikes and dams. The Red River, which was thought to be red from Yamata no Orochi's blood, is the source of iron sand that is the material used to make the famous Japanese swords, as well as knives and agricultural tools---a great discovery! This iron sand, caused the river to be red, and it is still being used by local steel com-panies!

After killing the terrible snake, Susanoo and his bride went to Yaegaki Shrine, which is dedicated to Inada, to live. Then he moved to Daito, in Shimane Prefecture. Later, he became the ruler of the Land of Darkness, the gate to which is in Higashi Izumo.

Quote:Gimneyong Cave

Neighboring with Manjang cave is Gimnyeong Sagul, meaning the serpent cave, got its name from the sinuous form of the passage, which is as large as that in Manjang Cave. The floor is covered with carbonate sands blown from the nearby beaches. [color="#0000FF"]According to the legend, the natives built an alter and sacrifice a teenage girl in the belief that the huge serpent living in this cave would not harm the village and people. When a new governor arrived on the island and learned of this custom. He ordered the people to set up another altar but this time with wine and food. When the reptile appeared the governor stabbed the monster with a spear. Mortally wounded, the serpent disappeared into the sea.[/color]

Quote:[color="#800080"][img caption][/color] Sculpture of the Gimnyeong Sagul legend. Photo courtesy of Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation

Gimnyeong Sagul cave is famous for its legend of a giant serpent that would venture out of its den and terrorize the villagers if a virginal sacrifice wasn’t given every year. One day a new district judge killed the serpent but was met with raining blood on his way back and perished. This legend reflects the reverence for the snake, an untouchable being not to be judged by mankind.

Quote:Erlang Shen (二郎神), named Yang Jian (杨戬), is a Chinese God with a third true-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.

ErLang is depicted carrying a three-pointed and double edge-sword and has a Celestial Hound that follows him around.



According to the “Story about Li Bing and his son in harnessing the rivers”, After being appointed governor of Sichuan by King Zhao of the State of Qin. Li Bing diverts water from the two rivers of Chengdu to irrigate thousand hectares of farmlands. His son ErLang helps him to build water control systems to prevent flood. Based on a historical record says, “The Erlang Temple of Guan-Kou in Sichuan was established to commemorate LiBing’s merits in opening up wells, building bridges, irrigation of the agricultural lands, developing the Guanxian area and Chengdu plain, and increasing agricultural production.



Here is another legend about ErLang with his seven friends vanquishing an evil dragon. On their journey ErLang and his seven friends approached a thatched cottage by a river near the county [color="#0000FF"]town of Guanxian[/color], they heard someone crying inside. They entered and found an elderly woman wailing for her youngest grandson who was to be taken away as a sacrificial offering for [color="#0000FF"]the river god-an evil dragon[/color]. Astonished, ErLang seek his father advice on how to capture the monster. LiBing taught him a strategy, on the sacrificial procession ErLang holding his three-pointed and double-edged sword in hand, went into the River God Temple with his seven friends, and hid themselves behind the altar.



After a while, the dragon descends with a gust of strong wind and torrential rain into the temple to snatch the sacrifice. ErLang and his mates jumped out immediately and fight it.

Defeated the dragon flee out of the temple. As planned by LiBing the villagers beat their drums and gongs to emit loud sounds to petrify the dragon. This scared the dragon who fled into the river. ErLang and his mates pursued the dragon by diving into the river. The dragon was finally captured.



The old woman who had been grievously crying for her grandson gave ErLang a chain to express her gratitude for saving his grandson. ErLang tied the dragon to a stone post of the [color="#0000FF"]Vanquishing Dragon Temple[/color] and had it detained in a deep pool. [color="#0000FF"]From that day onwards, the area was free from flood.[/color]

Quote:Erlang Shen (二郎神), or Erlang is a Chinese God with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.



Er-lang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who help regulate China's torrential floods, dating variously from the Qin, Sui and Jin dynasties **

(Note that he is a Taoist God - not Buddhist - and even wacky confirms this by displaying the Taoist symbol on the page.)



Li Erlang[edit]

Of the various identifications of Erlang Shen the most common is as Li Erlang, the second son of Li Bing, the engineer behind the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.[1]



According to Story About Li Bing and His Son in Harnessing the Rivers, in Records of Guansian, Li Erlang assisted his father in the construction of the complex irrigation system that prevented the Min River from flooding and irrigated the Chengdu Plain. In thanks for the prosperity that this brought to them the local people elevated the father and son to gods and dedicated the Erwang Temple to their honour.



Legend states that Governor Li Bing sent his son out to discover the source of the flooding. He spent a year exploring the county without success. One day whilst sheltering in a cave he encountered a tiger which he slew and seven hunters who had witnessed this bravery agreed to join him on his quest.



The group finally came to a cottage on the outskirts of Guanxian[disambiguation needed]. From within they heard the sound of an old woman crying. The woman was Grandma Wang and she told them that her grandson was to be sacrificed to an evil dragon who was the local river god. Li Erlang reported this to his father who devised a plan to capture the dragon.



The eight friends hid in the River God Temple and jumped out on the dragon when it arrived to claim its offering. The dragon fled to river pursued by Li Erlang who eventually captured it. Grandma Wang arrived with an iron chain and the dragon was secured in the pool below the Fulonguan Temple freeing the region from floods.



[color="#0000FF"]Another legend tells of Li Erlang suppressing a fire dragon that lived in the mountains north of Dujiangyan by climbing to the top of Mount Yulei, turning into a giant and building a dam with 66 mountains then filling it with water from Dragon Pacifying Pool.[2][/color]



Yang Jian[edit]Many legends, novels as well as television series often describe Erlang as Yang Jian, a nephew of the Jade Emperor. According to an ancient text Erlang Baojuan, Yang Jian's mother was the Jade Emperor's sister who was imprisoned under Mount Tao, because she violated the Heavenly Rules by marying a human named Yang Tianyou. Many years later her son Yang Jian cleaved Mount Tao using his axe, hoping to set his mother free. Unfortunately ten sun deities (the Jade Emperor's sons) arrived and killed her. The angry Yang Jian kill nine of the sun deities, but was advised to release the last sun by Dragon Princess of West Sea. Later he married the Dragon Princess and canonized as deity.





Other Identifications[edit]

Erlang Shen is also identified with Zhao Yun, a hermit who lived on Mount Qingcheng and was appointed by Sui Dynasty Emperor Yangdi as Governor of Jiazhou. Zhao Yu is said to have set forth with 1000 men to defeat a flood dragon that had been tormenting the area. Upon reaching the river Zhao Yu dived into the water with his double-edged sword and emerged holding the dragon’s head, Following his death, according to the Chronicle of Changshu County, the region was once again plagued by flood and he was seen riding a white horse amidst the swirling currents. The locals built a temple enshrining Zhao Yu as the God Erlang and the floods were subdued.[1]



Deng Xia is said to have been a general under Erlang who surpassed his predecessors in valour and defeated a flood dragon receiving the title Erlang Shen and a temple in his honour at Zhongqingli in Hangzhou.[1]





As Li Bing

As Li Bing, the first hydraulic engineer in the Shu area, was the hero who stopped the flooding of the Min River by constructing the Dujiangyan. This somehow led to Li Bing being turned into a folk hero who defeated a river god in order to save his prefecture from being flooded, where this story had then associated him as a new river god that protected the local people in the area from floods. However a discrepancy comes up that even though Li Bing/Erlang was known as Guankou Shen, the river that he is associated with is in Qianwei and not Guankou. Another discrepancy is that Li Erlang had never appeared in any of the tales related to stopping the Min River. The first appearance of Li Erlang was in Zhishui ji 治水記 by Li Ying 李膺 of the Liang 梁 Dynasty.



Historically Li Bing was conferred an official title until the Five Dynasties period under the rule of the Shu kingdom. He rose to political power when the great flood that occurred on the twenty-sixth day of the eighth month in 920 CE, was reported to the emperor by Daoist Du Guangting 杜光庭.



As a filial deity[edit]

In Chinese belief he was a filial son that entered the Chinese underworld to save his deceased mother from torment and will punish unfilial children by striking them with thunder strike as a punishment, hence the Chinese parent saying "Being smitten by lightning for being unfilial and ungrateful" towards unruly children. A warring deity, he wields a Sān Jiān Liǎng Rèn Dāo (三尖两刃刀 - "three-pointed, double-edged blade") and always has his faithful Xiàotiān quǎn (啸天犬 - "Howling Celestial Dog") by his side. This dog also helps him subdue evil spirits.[citation needed

Quote:"Gong Gong" is sometimes translated as Minister of Works (e.g., in the first chapters of the Shangshu). In this attempt at demythologization, he joins other dubious "ministers", such as Long the Dragon.

Quote:Yu was supposed to have killed Gong Gong's minister Xiangliu, a nine-headed snake monster.

Quote:Xiangliu (Chinese: 相柳; pinyin: Xiāngliǔ) or Xiangyou is a nine-headed snake monster encountered in Chinese mythology. According to the Shan Hai Jing, Xiangliu was a minister of Gong Gong. Later Xiangliu was killed by Yu the Great. An oral version of the Xiangliu myth was collected as late from Sichuan as late as 1983, in which Xiangliu is depicted as a nine-headed dragon, responsible for floods and other harm.



A minister of the snake-like water deity Gong Gong, Xiangliu devastated the ecology everywhere he went, leaving nothing but gullies and marshes, devoid of animal life. Eventually, Xiangliu was killed by Yu the Great whose other labors included ending the Great Flood (China) (or else he was killed, according to one modern version, by Nüwa, after being defeated by Zhurong), but so poisonously virulent was the blood of Xiangliu that the soil which it soaked could no longer grow grains. [1]

Quote:Gong Gong

Gong Gong (Chinese: 共工; pinyin: Gònggōng), also known as Kanghui, is a Chinese water god or sea monster who is often depicted in Chinese mythology, folktales, and religious stories as having red hair and the tail of a serpent (or dragon).[1] He is often seen as destructive and is blamed for various cosmic catastrophes. In all accounts, Gonggong ends up being killed or sent into exile, usually after losing a struggle with another major deity.





In Literature

Gonggong is known from the late Warring States period (before 221 BCE). Gong Gong appears in the ancient "Heavenly Questions" (Tianwen) poem of the Chu Ci, where he is blamed for knocking the earth's axis off center, causing it to tilt to the southeast and the sky to tilt to the northwest.[2] This axial tilt is used to explain why the rivers of China generally flow to the southeast, especially the Yangzi River and the Yellow River, and why the sun, moon, and stars move towards the northwest. Literature from the Han dynasty becomes much more detailed regarding Gonggong.



Other stories

The great floods are said to be the responsibility of Gonggong and his associate Xiang Yao (alternately, Xiangliu Chinese: 相繇), who has nine heads and the body of a snake.

[color="#800080"](A duo to blame)[/color]



In Chinese mythology, Gong Gong was ashamed that he lost the fight with Zhu Rong, the Chinese god of fire, to claim the throne of Heaven. In a fit of rage he smashed his head against Buzhou Mountain (不周山), a pillar holding up the sky, greatly damaging it and causing the sky to tilt towards the northwest and the earth to shift to the southeast, which caused great floods and suffering.



The goddess Nüwa (女媧) cut off the legs of the giant turtle Ao and used them in place of the fallen pillar, ending the floods and suffering; she was, however, unable to fully correct the tilted sky and earth and alter their effects on the sun, moon, stars, and rivers in China.



"Gong Gong" is sometimes translated as Minister of Works (e.g., in the first chapters of the Shangshu). In this attempt at demythologization, he joins other dubious "ministers", such as Long the Dragon.

Quote:Soninke and Chinese legends of the Slayer of the Snake God

The Chinese recorded the legend Li Ji Slays The Snake in Sou Shen Ji, a collection of supernatural tales. Li Ji was said to have lived in the Warring States era (475-221 BCE).1 She was a teenage girl who lived in a part of China where people sacrificed a twelve-to-thirteen year old girl yearly to a snake god. The priests believed that the meal of human flesh would avert the wrath of the giant snake, which lived in a cave and came out to plague the people. One year, Li Ji volunteered to be the sacrifice against the will of her parents. But unknown to any, she went to the lair of the snake, taking some fragrant rice and a hunting dog with her. She placed the rice outside the snake's lair, and then hid herself. [color="#0000FF"]The snake came out, attracted by the fragrant smell of rice.[/color] Its eyes were as big as saucers, but Li Ji was not afraid and set the hound on it. While the snake was busy defending itself from the dog, Li Ji attacked it from behind, hacking at it with her sword until it died. She went into the cave and found the remains of the previous nine sacrificial victims. The snake was no god at all, but a mere brute which devoured humans. The king of the land heard of Li Ji's courage and invited her to become his queen.2



The Soninke of West Africa also tell a story about single individual defying tradition and public opinion to stand up to a snake god. In the West African legend, the snake was Bida, a god of the ancient [color="#FF0000"]Ghana[/color] Empire. It demanded an annual offering of one maiden in exchange for the prosperity of the wealthy kingdom. One year the maiden Sia (or Siya) was chosen to be the sacrifice. Her betrothed husband Mamadou (Amadou or Maadi in some other tellings of the story), an army officer, fought the snake to save her. The snake had [color="#FF0000"]hydra-like properties of regenerating its severed heads[/color] but the officer eventually defeated the deity. [color="#FF0000"]The Ghana Empire, bereft of its guardian deity, declined soon after.[/color]3



The superficial similarities between the Chinese and Soninke stories are quite clear, but there are also fundamental differences:



•The Soninke snake was an actual god; the Chinese one was just an animal.

•The Soninke tale was set at the time of the decline of the Ghana Empire, around the 11th century.4 The Chinese one was set more than a thousand years earlier.

•The Chinese sacrificial 'victim' saved herself. The Soninke sacrificial victim was saved by her fiance.

•Li Ji's deed was hailed as heroic by her community. Mamadou's deed, however, went unappreciated by the Soninkes, who saw it as the beginning of their misfortunes.



For a brief history of Ancient Ghana, see BBC World Service: The Story of Africa: Ancient Ghana.



The myth of Sia and the snake has inspired modern works of fiction, including the play "The Legend of Wagadu as seen by Sia Yatabéré" by Mauritanian playwright Moussa Diagana, and "Sia, The Dream of the Python", a film loosely based on Diagana's play.5

Quote:THE KING OF THE SNAKES

AND OTHER FOLK-LORE STORIES FROM UGANDA



THERE is a beautiful village near the Great Lake, called Kalungu. The houses nestle into the banana gardens, and there are sunny little courtyards with lemon and guava trees and pawpaw-trees heavy with fruit. The little boys who herd the goats on the hill-sides have no fear, for everything is peaceful and happy.



But once upon a time Kalungu[ was a very sorrowful place, for a big snake called Sesota lived on the hill-side and came down every day to the village and caught people and ate them.



Then a poor peasant man, called Waswa, came to the Council and said: "Sirs, I will kill Sesota"; and they offered him spears and big hunting knives, but he refused them all and said: "Give me a large water-pot and some blue beads and some brass and ivory bracelets and a ring, and I will go and kill Sesota."



So they gave him all he asked, and he set out on his journey, his little son carrying the water-pot with the other things inside it; and as he walked he played this tune on his reed pipe:



Sesota, Sesota, King of the Snakes,

Beautiful presents I bring.

The King of Uganda has sent me to-day

With bracelets and beads and a ring.



As he neared Kalungu the old snake on the hillside heard him corning, and because snakes are very fond of music he listened gladly and sang back:

[...]

Quote:the King commanded the people to make a bonfire, and they burnt Sesota the great snake.

Quote:A group of Kalinago children from Dominica has done something quite remarkable. They got together and wrote a storybook based on an ancient Kalinago legend which, from all accounts, is receiving rave reviews, even from fans as far away as the UK.

The book is called The Snake King of the Kalinago and it was written by students from the Atkinson Primary School with illustrations by teenagers from the Carib Territory in Dominica. The Kalinago (erroneously called Caribs) are descendents of Dominica’s first indigenous settlers. They live on a 3,700 acre territory on the island’s east coast that was set aside for them in 1903. They number approximately 3,500 and elect their own chief who holds the position for 4 years.

The Snake King of the Kalinago tells the story of Bakwa, a great diamond-crested snake with magical powers which slithers out of the sea and goes to live in a cave in the mountains of Dominica. When Maruka, a Kalinago farmer goes to see him, Bakwa uses his powers to grant Maruka his wishes. Then strangers arrive and everything changes.

Quote:History and Water Related Culture: Stories:

The Water Snake



This story from the Nama people in Namibia, is taken from 'The Stolen Water and Other Stories: Traditional Tales from Namibia', by Jennifer Davis (1993). It has been reproduced with kind permission from Gamsberg-MacMillan Books and New Namibia Books, Namibia.



Long long ago, in the land of Nama, there lived a husband-and wife with their two daughters. The older daughter, Abas, was admired by everyone for her beauty and goodness. Every day, like all the other girls of the village, the two sisters fetched water from the waterhole at' the foot of the hills.

There was plenty of water in the hills so the people were happy and prosperous. Their herds were fat and healthy a fid their crops were the best in the land.

One morning, Abas and her sister arrived first at the water hole. As Abas filled her pot, a voice called to her from the water.

Abas, I have chosen you. Come to me. The girl dropped her pot in fright. ''Did you hear that, little sister?" ''Yes, but there is no one here. Who can it be?" Again the voice called out across the water.

Abas, I have chosen you. Come to me. A giant snake rose from the water. Yellow foam streamed from his green scales and he breathed out tongues off flames.



<she tries to avoid it the first time, it reappears and expresses the same insistent expectation>



The worried parents went to the chief for advice. The chief called all his people, who had by this time heard the story, and led them down to the waterhole.

When the villagers arrived at the waterhole, they stared in horror. It was as dry as dust! Messengers were sent out to all the springs and streams, but they all reported that there was no water anywhere. The chief then turned to his people. ''It is said by our forefathers that if the water snake calls a maiden, she must obey! Now we have been cursed. Without water we will be destroyed. Let us return to our homes and gather our things. At sunrise we must leave this place."

The people wept in despair. Abas saw the sorrow of her nation and knew what she must do. She knelt before her family for their blessing. Then, tall and graceful, she walked down the path to the waterhole, watched by the silent villagers.

Early the next morning, the family of Abas hurried down to the valley. What they saw filled them with fear for Abas. The waterhole was overflowing. The springs in the hills were gushing down to the valley below. They called out for Abas. Again and again they called, but there was no reply. Abas was gone forever.

Quote:Here is the story to be told about Nyaminyami, the Zambezi River God. He has a body like a snake and a head like a fish and no one knows how big he is, for he never showed himself in full display. But he is very big! The people of Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe were protected by Nyaminyami, their ancestral spirit (Mudzimu), who fed them from his own meat in times of hunger.

(That last: perhaps it means plenty of fish/sea game available from his body of water?)



The people pledged their allegiance to him by performing ceremonial dances. For many years Nyaminyami and his wife stayed safely at Kariba, the spot which was their home and near that spot, that's where it all began. One season when Nyaminyami's wife had gone down the mighty Kariba Gorge to other people of the Valley to answer their prayers and bless her people, the white man came to build a wall.

It took five long years to see it through because Nyaminyami did not want to be disturbed. He caused some floods and loss of life, but at last he was kind enough to let the wall to be all complete. It is also believed that the occasional earth tremor felt in the lake surroundings is caused by this spirit. It was the work of the Tonga elders and their medium spirits to persuade the Nyaminyami to allow the Zambezi to be tamed.

But Shame! Nyaminyami was separated from his wife. When the wall was completed he was downstream, and now cannot get back upstream. Legend has it that he will only reappear to his people one he meets with wife again.

Great bodies of water are considered sacred, for water is essential for the life of the village in an often arid land. Wherever there is water, the Africans find prosperity. The Nyaminyami is the ruler of water and his symbol is worn to ward of the forces of darkness and to attract wealth.

[...]

The Tonga themselves have inhabited both banks of the Zambezi River in what was known as the Gwembe Trough (from Kariba Gorge upstream to Devil's Gorge) for centuries and in themselves have an interesting history. Prior to David Livingstone's work in the area around 1855/7 the Tonga were at the constant mercy of slaving parties and wild animals. Between then and the mid 1950's they lived in relative peace with very little outside influence - their contact with the "outside world" was limited to prospectors, hunters, surveyors and the local District Commissioners.

In the mid 1950's life changed with the decision to proceed with the construction of the Kariba dam wall. Another chapter in the Tonga history was started.



Nyaminyami has supposedly been seen on occasion by locals - much like the Loch Ness Monster however, hard evidence is elusive. He is described by some as looking like a whirlwind - the majority say he's dragon-like with a snake's torso and a fish's head. The legend of Nyaminyami has several tales.

The story of the dam wall construction and the floods in 1957 and 1958 are well documented.

The local story goes as follows:

+ Whilst the waters of Lake Kariba were only just rising and the Tonga were being relocated they invoked Nyaminyami in a spirit of resistance.

+ Although he was never used as a political symbol it was generally agreed that he disapproved of the white man's plans to build the dam.

+ In 1957 when a 1000 year flood was recorded on the Zambezi, construction was halted and set back by flood damage.

+ The locals nodded knowingly and waited for the final destruction during the next rainy season.

+ This of course nearly happened with the 1958 flood which was only slightly less violent than the previous year.

+ Elders today claim that it was only their intervention which placated Nyaminyami.

+ In Kariba there are still occasional earth tremors from the load of the lake on the earth's surface.

+ Locals claim that this is Nyaminyami who at the time of the sealing of the dam wall was philandering down stream towards Mana Pools

He's now very lonely and only the destruction of the dam will reunite him with this wife.

Quote:It is said, however, that the Hopi hold the most sacred dance of this kind when there are no alien spectators. There is processional dancing with rattlesnakes between the teeth, keeping of snakes in a sacred edifice, and liberation of the reptiles toward the four cardinal points when the rites are concluded. The ceremony is intended to assure a supply of rain.

Quote:In the Iroquoian myth the monster is a horned serpent which swallowed the thunder boy, who was eventually rescued by Thunder and his warriors.

Quote:Wilfrid D. Hambly, Assistant Curator of African Ethnology at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the first to produce a strictly scientific work on the question of serpent worship in Africa[5] after a prolonged and careful study, has adduced strong and convincing reasons to the contrary. Hence his conclusion: "Examination of African Python worship in relation to cults and beliefs from other parts of the world provides

[5. Field Museum of Natural History Publication 289, Chicago, 1931, Anthropological Series, Vol. XXI, No. 1.]

{p. 4}

no evidence that Africa received Python worship from extraneous sources. On the contrary, the evidence is strongly in favour of an indigenous origin of Python worship."[6] And again: "There is nothing more than a superficial resemblance between the snake beliefs of Africa and those of ancient Egypt."[7]

Quote:The Namibian flying snake is an odd gargantuan serpent that is possibly derived from African legends of dragons.

Quote:There is no evidence of anything approaching snake worship in China, unless one is prepared to accept the dragon as a transformed snake.

Quote:How Things Came To Be. Many myths explain how the world came into existence. The Dogon say that twin pairs of creator spirits or gods called Nummo hatched from a cosmic egg. Other groups also speak of the universe beginning with an egg. People in both southern and northern Africa believe that the world was formed from the body of an enormous snake, sometimes said to span the sky as a rainbow.

Quote:Hydra

On the more mundane level — snakes born with multiple heads are actually not all that rare. They do tend to not live that long though. There have certainly been exceptions in that regard though — some of which have lived for multiple decades while in captivity.

Quote:Picture of 100ft-long 'snake' sparks fears of mythical monster in Borneo

By Richard Shears

UPDATED: 13:40 GMT, 20 February 2009



According to legend, the Nabau was a terrifying snake more than 100ft in length and with a dragon's head and seven nostrils.

But now local villagers living along the Baleh river in Borneo [...]

(A tradition about a snake with seven nostrils in one dragon head? Indonesia is surrounded by ocean that contains some of the most poisonous water snakes in the world. Maybe they had deformed looking ancestors or cousins?

While the 2nd photo seems very fake to me, fossils of pre-historical snakes discovered do sound intimidating



[color="#0000FF"]Earlier this month scientists unearthed the fossil of a killer snake that was longer than a bus, as heavy as a small car and which could swallow an animal the size of a cow.

The 45ft long monster - named Titanoboa - was so big that it lived on a diet of crocodiles and giant turtles, squeezing them to death and devouring them whole.Weighing an impressive 1.25 tons, it slithered around the tropical forests of South America 60million years ago, just five million years after the last dinosaurs were wiped out.



Partial skeletons of the boa constrictor-like prehistoric killer were found in a Colombian coal mine by an international team of fossil hunters.[/color]

Post 7/7 - a possibly "Common Origin of Supersnake Stories from Prehistory" (but it's not PIE chade

Quote:Evidence for a Common Origin of Supersnake Stories from Prehistory



The intermingling of supersnakes and mythological snakes makes these stories difficult to categorize. While examining the literature on folklore and myths I was startled by the similarity of the Great Water Snake of South African peoples and the Rainbow Serpent Myth of the Australian Aborigines.



The Great Snakes of the Khoekhoen and /Xam



Snakes play an important role in the belief systems of many peoples and confusing mythological snakes with real snakes has contributed significantly to supersnake stories. However, African supersnake and mythological snake stories are perhaps more relevant as ancestral stories. As humans moved out of African to colonize Eurasia they carried their mythologies with them and it is entirely possible that the true mother of all supersnake stories lies within African cultures.



The hunter-gathers and early agricultural peoples of southern Africa painted large snakes in their rock art. Hoff (1997) determined that the Khoekhoen refer to large snakes with supernatural powers as Great Snakes. Interviews with members of the Khoekhoenin, the Northern Cape and southern Namibia and descendants of the /Xam, a group previously believed extinct, from the Upper Karoo area provided the basis for Hoff’s work. The Khoekhoen believe in huge, train sized snakes they call Great Snakes which are divided into two categories: aquatic and terrestrial. The terrestrial Great Snake is the Veld Snake which likes water, knows when rain is coming, and is active in the veld after a rain. Killing a Veld Snake will cause drought or torrential rains and lighting. To the Khoekhoen, Great Snakes are real, supernatural beings not just part of their folklore, and live south of Namibia, while to the north they are replaced by other snakes.

The /Xam do not believe in the Veld Snake, but the Water Snake is important in their belief system. The Water Snake is a color- and shape-shifter so that it can catch people. To the /Xam the Water Snake can instill sexual potency and health by licking a person or spitting into their mouth. But, the Khoekhoen also believe it will also eat humans who venture to close, or it may enter a person’s home to catch someone he is in love with. It kills by stabbing the victim with its tongue, removing a person’s brain by inserting its tongue into its nose, and sucking out a person’s blood. Water snakes also seduce women and take them underwater for copulation. The Water Snake does not like menstruating women and the snake may cause menstruating humans to break out in blisters. They also have the power to change a person into a frog. Hoff suggests that the /Xam’s more positive view is older and that both groups originally regarded the Water Snake as a positive force.

(The Greek River God Achelous - known from "Cornucopia" narrative - who fought with Herakles is a shapeshifter, as some river Gods are. He competed with Herakles over Deianara. Took a form of serpent and horned bull. Some Asian River God dragons also shapeshift. As do many others.)





The Australian Rainbow Serpent

[...]

The oldest Rainbow Serpent paintings are Arnhem Land rock art dated at 6000–8000 YBP. Two types of Rainbow Serpents are reflected in Aboriginal oral history, mythology, and art: the female Yingarna, the mother and original creator being; and the male Ngalyod, a transformer of the land. They often live in deep waterholes below waterfalls. Rainbow Serpents are sources of creation, unity, peace, and cooperation, as well as destruction. The creature is said to shape landscapes; generate rain; and heal the sick; while swallowing people, or drowned them, disfigured others with sores and bringing weakness, illness, and death.

[...]

Using computer analysis of images and dating rock art Taçon et al. (1996) say that the first images of Rainbow Serpents appear in Yam period, about 6000 YBP, and that these set the pattern for all following images: a snake-like body, curved horse-like heads, tails that are pointed or spiked, and an assortment appendages, including wispy tendrils and ear-like projections. They concluded that the first Rainbow Serpent was based upon the Ribboned Pipefish, Haliichthys taeniophora (Family Syngnathidae), which occurs in the seas around Irian Jaya, and the coast of northern Australia from Shark Bay in Western Australia to the Torres Strait. This does not surprise me since Radciffle-Brown (1926) wrote, “At Cape York the rainbow is regarded not as a snake, but as a huge fish that lives far out to sea.” It should be note that the pipefish is not a huge animal.



(Actually, that description could perhaps pass for an Asian dragon: "an assortment appendages, including wispy tendrils and ear-like projections". The Asian "dragon" looks serpentine, it does not look like the western dragon.

And is Achelous the Greek River God not depicted with a horned bulls-head - which is sort of like a horse head in some respects - and with a serpent body?

Zambezi River God's appearance is described as serpent body but a different head too, though a fish's head. As well as like a whirlwind in part.

All sounds sort of like a water chimera. Coincidentally, Chimeras themselves are said to be related to Typhon and the Hydra.)



Speculation that the Rainbow Serpent’s true identity was a species of the now extinct family Madtsoidae (genera Wonambi and Yurlunggur) has been expressed by several authors (Scanlon and Lee, 2002; Freeman, 2003). Fossils of these snakes occur worldwide, and most became extinct 25-15 MYA, however, there is evidence that they survived in Australian until at least 100,000 YBP. If they hung on until 60,000 YBP humans may have had contact with them. Some rivaled or exceed the lengths of modern day giant snakes, but as far as we know they lacked supernatural powers and horns on their heads. It seems more probable that supersnakes and mythical snakes were originally based upon the African Python, Python seba and Python natalensis; or, some other, now extinct large snake that lived in Africa.



[...]



Origin of the Caribs, A Neotropical Giant Mythological Snake Story



In northern South America the Carib Indians of the upper Pomeroon River of Guyana have a story about their origin that starts with a water-camudi (an anaconda) having an Indian woman for a sweetheart. During the day he took the form of a snake, at night he became human. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a baby camudi. The woman’s family became suspicious and discovered the nature of her secret offspring. Her brothers killed the snakes; they cut the baby into pieces in a remote part of the forest. Months later they were hunting near the location of the slaughter and found houses and people, the pieces of the snake had grown into the ancestors of the Carib nation (Roth, 1915). In the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana the locals believe that a large camoodie guards natural resources and that it will show its displeasure at fishermen by causing excessive rain to fall and will kill and swallow several people at a time. The Caribs also have a giant water dwelling snake Okoyumo, which is like an anaconda but much bigger and likes menstruating women.



Thus, there is evidence that giant snakes played a role in the belief systems, folklore, and religions of peoples of Africa, India, Australia and South America. Snakes in the rock art of Africa, India, Australia, and the Americas have been documented. Often these shape-shifting snakes have appendages coming off their heads: horns, crests, and plumes. They cause rain to fall, alter the landscape, and have a duality of character that allows them to be both dangerous and beneficial to humans. The ancestral story most likely originated in Africa, where the Great Water Snakes are often given horns (from the antelope which is important to the African cultures).

Quote:[color="#800080"][Gonggong=][/color] Chinese water god or sea monster who is often depicted in Chinese mythology, folktales, and religious stories as having red hair and the tail of a serpent (or dragon).

Quote:Aido-Hwedo was so large it could hold up the entire world, but once the multitude of creation was done Nana-Buluku asked Aido-Hwedo to coil up beneath the land to cushion it. Aido-Hwedo cannot stand heat so the Creator made the ocean for the Dragon to live in (like the Midgard Serpent in Teutonic legend). Inhabiting the undersea with the Rainbow Dragon is a troop of red monkeys who forge the iron bars that are Aido-Hwedo’s food.

When the iron runs out and Aido-Hwedo grows hungry it will start to chew on its own tail. The earth above will become unbalanced, be struck by repeated earthquakes and eventually slide off the Dragon’s back into the sea.

Quote:In the tales of Africa, it is believed that the world is held by a serpent called Aido Hwedo. When the world was shapeless, Aido Hwedo carried goddess Mawu in his mouth. Mawu shaped the world and Aido Hwedo was to have made running rivers & streams. During the travels wherever they rested Aido Hwedo excrement piled up to become the sheer of peaks of mountain ranges which later solidified. While this happing Mawu`s work was getting heavy. So she split the world in two, water on one part land and sky on the other. Mawu used her divine wisdom, and told Aido Hwedo to lie down on the water and put his tail in his mouth. On top of his coils, then Mawu placed the Earth. When Earthquakes strike it is believed that Aido Hwedo is moving, and it is also believed that Aido Hwedo is to act as the messenger of god Oklun, and is addressed "Our King".

Quote:Being the second oldest child of Loki the Trickster and Angboda, he was kidnapped by the gods. Those gods then threw him into the sea near Midgard, and there he slept and brooded and ate. And, he ate so much that he then encompassed the world and finally had to bite on his own tail. [1]



Jormungand is a huge, serpent-shaped sea monster. In almost all artwork, he is depicted with his tail in his mouth. [1]

Quote:Aido Hwedo is a Rainbow Serpent, which is a class of snakes found in many cultures that associate the phenomenon of the rainbow with a semi-supernatural creature. [2] In the traditions of the culture of Dahomey, Aido Hwedo was the first creature to be created, and he carried the supreme god, Mawu, across the earth on his back so that the deity could fill the world. [3] In this way, Aido Hwedo aided the creation of the universe and the earth. [1] As they traveled, the serpent's tracks carved the chasms and rivers of the Earth, [3] and wherever he rested for the night, he deposited piles of excrement so vast that they are known today as the mountains. [1]



He was so vast that he had to eat great quantities of iron to sustain his strength, and when there was not enough, Aido Hwedo devoured its own tail. [1] In this way, he reflect the symbolism of the Ouroborus.

Quote:In the West, the Ouroboros originated in Egypt [1] around 1600 B.C. (since when did Egypt become "west" before Greek presence there?), [3] but many other cultures have this same symbol that predates its Egyptian counterpart. [2] The name Ouroboros is Greek, meaning "devouring its tail." [3] In the broadest sense, the Ouroboros represents the continuity of life, [5] and it symbolizes the primeval, anarchic dynamism preceding creation of the cosmos and emergence of order. [11]



The continuous destruction of life, and the continuity of life, and its cyclical nature connect in the Ouroboros. In this way, it encapsulates the complexities of life into a singular fact: Life eats life and sheds away the generations.



The Ouroboros appears all over the world in many different cultures. With its origins in Africa, specifically in Egypt, [2] the Ouroboros became introduced to Greece, and later Northern Europe, likely through trade. [2] Norse Mythology absorbed the Ouroboros as Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, whose symbolism is counter to that of the Ouroboros. [4]



In Asia, both India and Japan present Ourobori. [2] In the American continent, indigenous groups of North, South, and Central America had variations of the Ouroboros, among them the Aztecs. [2]