Anansi. Anansi (/əˈnɑːnsi/ ə-NAHN-see) the trickster is a West African god. He often takes the shape of a spider and is considered to be the god of all knowledge of stories. He is also one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore. He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man. The Anansi tales are believed to have originated in the Ashanti people in Ghana. (The word Anansi is Akan and means, simply, spider.) They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. Anansi is depicted in many different ways. Stories[edit] Stories of Anansi became such a prominent and familiar part of Ashanti oral culture that the word Anansesem—"spider tales"—came to embrace all kinds of fables. How Anansi got his stories[edit] Once there were no stories in the world.
Anansi set about capturing these. Arachne. In Greco-Roman mythology, Arachne (/əˈrækniː/; from Greek: ἀράχνη, cognate with Latin araneus)[1] was a mortal woman and talented weaver who challenged Athena, goddess of wisdom and crafts, and was transformed into a spider. Spiders are called "arachnids" after Arachne. Mythology[edit] Versions[edit] There are three versions of this story, two in which Arachne wins and one in which Athena wins. Ovid's version[edit] One version appears in The Metamorphoses of the Roman poet Ovid. In this version, Arachne was a shepherd's daughter who began weaving at an early age. "Ha, I only speak the truth and if Athena thinks otherwise then let her come down and challenge me herself," Arachne replied. Athena wins[edit] In this version, someone asked Arachne how she learned to weave so well and suggested that Athena taught her and she didn't know it.
Arachne acknowledged Athena's triumph, but despaired at the loss of her craft. Arachne hangs herself[edit] Influence[edit] In popular culture[edit] See also[edit] Jorōgumo. Jorōgumo (Japanese Kanji: 絡新婦, Hiragana: じょろうぐも) is a type of Yōkai, a creature, ghost or goblin of Japanese folklore. According to some stories, a Jorōgumo is a spider that can change its appearance into that of a seductive woman.
Stories[edit] The Edo period legend has it that a beautiful woman would entice a man into a quiet shack and begin to play a Biwa, a type of Japanese lute. While the victim would be distracted by the sound of the instrument, she binds her victim in spider silk threads in order to devour the unsuspecting person as her next meal. Magical spider[edit] According to legend, when a spider turns 400 years old, it gains magical powers. Stories of Jorōgumo can be found in Edo period works, such as "Taihei-Hyakumonogatari" (太平百物語) and "Tonoigusa" (宿直草).
Drawings, such as the one in Toriyama Sekien's book Gazu Hyakki Yakō, depicts Jorōgumo as a half-woman/half-spider surrounded by her spider children. Waterfall spiderwebs[edit] Protection from drowning[edit] See also[edit] Khepri. Khepri (also spelled Khepera, Kheper, Khepra, Chepri) is a god in ancient Egyptian religion. Symbolism[edit] Khepri was connected with the scarab beetle (kheprer), because the scarab rolls balls of dung across the ground, an act that the Egyptians saw as a symbol of the forces that move the sun across the sky.
Khepri was thus a solar deity. Young dung beetles, having been laid as eggs within the dung ball, emerge from it fully formed. Religion[edit] Appearance[edit] References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). External links[edit] Media related to Khepri at Wikimedia Commons. Mothman. Mothman is the name of a cryptid speculated to exist after several reports of unidentified creatures seen in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia from November 15, 1966, to December 15, 1967. The first newspaper report was published in the Point Pleasant Register dated November 16, 1966, titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something".[1] The being subsequently entered regional folklore. Mothman was introduced to a wider audience by Gray Barker in 1970,[2][3] and later popularized by John Keel in his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies, claiming that there were supernatural events related to the sightings, and a connection to the collapse of the Silver Bridge.
History[edit] On November 12, 1966, five men who were digging a grave at a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia, claimed to see a man-like figure fly low from the trees over their heads.[5] This is often identified as the first known sighting of what became known as the Mothman. Analysis[edit] Popular culture[edit] Myrmecoleon. Myrmecoleon is an animal from Medieval bestiaries, also referenced in some sources as a Formicaleon (Antlion), Formicaleun or Mirmicioleon. There are two interpretations of what a Myrmecoleon is. In one version, the ant-lion is so called because it is the "lion of ants", a large ant or small animal that hides in the dust and kills ants. In the other version, it is a beast that is the result of a mating between a lion and an ant.
It has the face of a lion and the body of an ant, with each part having its appropriate nature. Because the lion part will only eat meat and the ant part can only digest grain, the ant-lion starves. The ant-lion story may come from a mistranslation of a word in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, from the book of Job. Jump up ^ Myrmidons. Later use of the term[edit] The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their skill in battle and loyalty to their leaders. In pre-industrial Europe the word "myrmidon" carried many of the same connotations that "minion" does today. Myrmidon later came to mean "hired ruffian" (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) or "a loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity - unquestioning followers.
" (Dictionary.com). References[edit] External links[edit] Pabilsaĝ. Pabilsaĝ /pabilsaŋ/, in Mesopotamian tradition was a tutelary god of the city of Isin. The consort of the goddess Nininsinna, he was identified with the lost city of Larak. According to the ancient Babylonian text, Pabilsag wedded Nininsina near a riverbank. References[edit] External links[edit] Scorpion man. Drawing of an Assyrian intaglio depicting scorpion men. Scorpion Men are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the Enûma Elish and the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. They were also known as aqrabuamelu or girtablilu. The Scorpion Men are described to have the head, torso, and arms of a man and the body of a scorpion. Mythology[edit] They were first created by the Tiamat in order to wage war against the younger gods for the betrayal of her mate Apsu. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand guard outside the gates of the sun god Shamash at the mountains of Mashu.
These give entrance to Kurnugi, the land of darkness. One famous image found on a relief carving pictures a scorpion man aiming with a bow and arrow. Comparative mythology and religions[edit] The scorpion is likewise a magical guard to an entrance among, e.g., the Mekeo of Papua -- "a scorpion charm is used to protect ... your house In popular culture[edit] See also[edit] Scorpion goddess Notes[edit] Serket. Serqet /ˈsɜrˌkɛt/, also known as Selket, Serket or Selcis /ˈsɛlsɨs/, is the goddess of healing venomous stings and bites in Egyptian mythology, originally the deification of the scorpion.[2] Scorpion stings lead to paralysis and Serket's name describes this, as it means (she who) tightens the throat, however, Serket's name also can be read as meaning (she who) causes the throat to breathe, and so, as well as being seen as stinging the unrighteous, Serket was seen as one who could cure scorpion stings and the effects of other venoms such as snake bites.
In Ancient Egyptian art, Serket was shown as a scorpion (a symbol found on the earliest artifacts of the culture, such as the protodynastic period), or as a woman with a scorpion on her head. Although Serket does not appear to have had any temples, she had a sizable number of priests in many communities. Tsuchigumo. Tsuchigumo (土蜘蛛?) , literally translated "dirt spider", is a historical Japanese derogatory term for renegade local clans, and also the name for a race of spider-like Yokai in Japanese folklore. Alternate names for the mythological Tsuchigumo include yatsukahagi (八握脛?) And ōgumo (大蜘蛛? , "giant spider").[1] In the Kojiki and in Nihon Shoki, they were also referred to by the homophonic synonym 都知久母,[2] and these words were frequently used in the fudoki of Mutsu, Echigo, Hitachi, Settsu, Bungo, Hizen, etc.
Interestingly, the Japanese name for large ground-dwelling tarantulas, ōtsuchigumo, is due to their perceived resemblance to the creature of the myth, rather than the myth being named for the spider. Japan has no native species of tarantula, and the similarities between the mythical and the actual creature- huge wandering spiders with an obvious face that like to hide in burrows- were entirely coincidental. Tsuchigumo in history[edit] Tsuchigumo of the Katsuragi[edit] Yōkai tsuchigumo[edit]