G is for Genitalia (Body Folktales)

This year, my A to Z Challenge theme is Body Folktales. Enjoy!

CW: Adult themes incoming! Obviously.

You didn't really think I was going to do a theme like this without addressing the obvious, did you?

(Note: Some of these tales say 'vagina' instead of 'vulva'. It may be factually incorrect, but I didn't want to mess with the translations.)

Wandering genitalia (Saora people, India)
This story claims that in the old days genitalia could detach themselves and go wandering at night. One evening, the creator Kittung accidentally stepped on a vulva which made a squealing sound. Feeling sorry, he put the small creature into the river, where it turned into a turtle (the head is the clitoris). He then made non-detachable parts for people.

Clitoris legends (India)

This collection from India contains a whole collection of amazing stories about the clitoris. One creation myth claim that lightning was born from Earth Mother's clitoris, therefore it "flashes and sparkles as the clitoris does." Another story says a woman was fishing in a stream one day when a crab pinched her vulva; a deity told her to cut off the claw, and she will have as much pleasure from it as she had pain. A third story tells of a girl who was so busy working that she misplaced her clitoris; she borrowed one from a bird and never gave it back.

My favorite, however, is another tale that claims that body parts used to go wandering on their own. One day, the breasts picked a fight with the vulvas, and chased them all away into the mountains. Dismayed, men set out to bring the vulvas back, but they are skittish creatures and hard to find. By the time they got back, some old women died, and people were left with extra vulvas. They divided them up equally in smaller pieces - creating the clitoris.

The wandering vagina (Mehinaku people, Brazil)

Yet another story that claims that in days of old, genitalia could wander around. A woman named Tukwi had an "especially foolish" vagina that crawled around the floor at night, looking for something to eat. It got into the porridge and started slurping, awakening a man in the house who went to see what it was, and accidentally scorched it with a torch. The vagina fled back to Tukwi, who then warned everyone not to let their vaginas wander around.

Vagina dentata

If there is one folklore trope that a lot of people are (painfully) familiar with, it's this one: vaginas with teeth (F574.1.1). There are entire books written about the folklore and mythology of this trope, so I'm not going to get into it. But I'm going to highlight some favorites. 

One is a Khond legend from India about a woman who used to have shiny, fiery teeth in her vagina until her husband took them out with a cord. After a long life, when their children were grown, she found the teeth again, buried in the garden - and they turned into fireflies. Ever since, they have been allowed to take shelter in people's houses.

The other story is a Mongolian legend about the death of Genghis Khan. It claim that the great khan desired a gorgeous woman named Gürbeljin Ghoa (Lizard Beauty). He put her husband to death and forced her to marry him. On her wedding night, she hid blades in her vagina - and thus murdered Genghis Khan. (Source here.)

An origin story from the Makka people in Paraguay claims that in the beginning, no one could have sex with women because they had piranhas in their vaginas. A wise shaman organized a dance party where he made women dance so much that all the piranhas fell out. Or rather, almost all - the smallest one stayed in and still gnaw, which is why periods exist.

Penis, Vagina and Testicles (Cameroon)

Penis and Testicles are best friends and they go fishing together. On the way back they meet Vagina who asks for some of their fish. Penis is happy to share, but Testicles are stingy. Later on, in the hot season, Vagina happily offers shelter from the sun to Penis, but not Testicles. The latter still try to get as close as possible. (A similar tale is told in Ghana about Penis and Testicles sharing ground nuts with Vagina, and getting shelter from the rain.)

Kwazerema and helpful Ant (Kapsiki people, Cameroon/Nigeria)

A man has two wives, but treats one of them very poorly, making her fetch water from the river every day. The woman meets a Red And who takes pity on her, and gives her medicine to put into her water jar. The husband has a habit of urinating in her jar - but this time, as he does, his penis gets stuck in it. Not only can no one break the jar, it also keeps singing a mocking song. Eventually he begs his wife to undo the curse, and decides to treat her better. She thanks Red Ant for the help.

Kapo-kohe-lele (Hawaii)

In Hawaiian mythology, Kapo of the Flying Vagina is the sister of the volcano goddess Pele. In one legend, the pig-god Kamapua'a pursues Pele and tries to rape her, but Kapo comes to her rescue: she uses her detachable vagina to distract the pig, leading him away from the goddess. (This story is reflected in Hawaiian place names. Other source here.)

The vagina girls (Jicarilla Apache legend)

The hero Killer-of-Enemies goes through many adventures, battling monsters and shaping the world. On his journey he defeats a monster and meets his four daughters in a house full of vaginas. The four girls are themselves vaginas in human form, and they use their teeth to devour people. The hero feeds them medicine, taking the teeth away, and they lay down the ground rules of how vaginas shall work. He picks two from their collection and takes them home to two girls; people experiment with where to put them on the body until they settle on their current placing. The four girls go on to live good lives among the humans.

The three wishes (1001 Nights)

A man earns three wishes - and immediately uses the first one to wish for a larger penis. His penis grows to a gigantic size, at which point he panics and wishes for it to go away. It does, and now he has to use his third wish to get it back.

The four champions (Hausa tale)

Four friends acquire grain together: they break the corn on one's head, thresh it with one's penis, winnow it with one's mighty farts, and carry it home with one's scrotum. The question of the dilemma tale is: who was the most heroic of the four?

(14th century illustration)

I am somewhat worried about the comments section now. Also, my general search history and upcoming Facebook advertisements.

Have a nice Sunday break, everyone!

A is for Amazon river dolphins (Folktales of Endangered Species)

Welcome to the 2020 A to Z blogging challenge! This year my theme is Folktales of Endangered Species. I am researching cool traditional stories about rare, fascinating animals - to raise awareness of what we might lose if we don't get our collective shit together. Enjoy!

Species: Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)

Status: Endangered (may be critically endangered, listed in 2018)

The Enchanted City of Pink Dolphins

Legend from Brazil

Legends along the Amazon River claim that the pink dolphins (boto) only appear as animals on the surface. Under the river they live as people in their own great golden city known as the Encante. The rivers and streams are their roads and highways. 

There is a popular legend about a man likes to hunt and shoot dolphins, wounding many of them for sport. One day the dolphin people (a couple of girls, or even soldiers) pull him out of his boat and into the river. They take the man deep underwater to the Encante. In the city there is a large hospital full of injured people, where they show the man all the pain and suffering he caused. He has to stay and care for the wounded until all of them are healed. He is then returned to his family, and never harms a dolphin ever again.

There are also legends about the boto taking human form and visiting, flirting with, or even seducing mortals on land. In some places along the Amazon people will make a stranger take off his hat, to make sure he has no blow hole on the top of his head outing him as an enchanted boto.

Sources: Read more about the boto and the Encante here, here, here, or here.

How can I help?

Visit the website of the Amazon River Dolphin Conservation Foundation for more information! You can even, very fittingly, name them your supported organization on Amazon Smile.

Would you visit the Encante if you had the chance?

What would you be the most curious about?

The richness of the rainforests (Following folktales around the world 20. - Brazil)

Today I continue new blog series titled Following folktales around the world! If you would like to know what the series is all about, you can find the introduction post here. You can find all posts under the Following Folktales label, or you can follow the series on Facebook!

Brazilian folktales
Livia de Almeida, Ana Portella, Margaret Read MacDonald
Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

Much like the other volumes of the series, this book was very well researched, well balanced, and presented by practicing storytellers (the editing still needs work, though). It contains a wide range of stories, both in terms of folk genre and in cultural origins, reflecting the rich diversity of the country itself. There is a concise introduction, notes and sources for all the stories included, and even some recipes.
A quick, but educational and enjoyable read. And some lovely stories.

Highlights

Among the indigenous myths and legends, the Creation of the Amazon River stood out to be for its beauty. It told about the love between Sun and Moon that could never be, and how the Moon cried the Great River in her grief. I also re-read an old favorite of mine, the Tupi myth of the How the night came to be, where people got the Night enclosed in a coconut from the Great Snake, but the unusual noises from inside (crickets, frogs) made them open it too soon, and they all turned into monkeys.

This is Cutia

In the animal stories, Jaguar was once again usually on the receiving end of things. In one tale, he was killed by Turtle who jumped on his head from a tree; in another, Cutia pretended to be the King of Termites by covering himself in honey and termites, in order to trick him.
I was especially pleased with the "Scary Tales" chapter. It is not usually my favorite genre, so I was pleasantly surprised by how many of them stuck with me. I loved Devil in a Bottle, where a jealous husband left his wife to the Devil while going on a trip - but the wife tricked the Devil into a bottle, and did whatever she wanted. Creature of the Night was darker and haunting: A girl was courted by a mysterious stranger, but her dog kept him away from her, even after she killed it in frustration. Another girl barely got away from the Beetle Man she married - he turned into a large black beetle every night, and killed animals. There were two kibungo legends, brought over from the Bantu traditions: The kibungo is a monster that kidnaps people in the pouch on its back, and eats them. In one tale, a girl was rescued by her brave grandma; in the other, a boy who was friends with the birds managed to save his whole community.

Connections

Guaraná fruit

The Story of the Guaraná bore a certain resemblance to another well-known myth: A girl was exiled from an idyllic, lush forest because she had been seduced by a snake... The end of the story also echoed many myths around the world where a new plant is born from a buried body (in this case, the eyes, which makes sense, when you look at the guaraná fruit). I was reminded of North American Coyote stories by Crab with the Flying Eyes, where a crab could make his eyes fly out of his head and look around - but when Jaguar tried the same trick, her eyes were eaten by fish, and Buzzard had to make her new ones. Familiar from other South American traditions was the Party in Heaven, where Turtle snuck into a party for birds, hidden inside the guitar of Vulture - but she was discovered, and made the return trip a lot faster...
It was surprising to encounter a tale of Arab/Persian origins - The Cockroach's Wedding. What was not surprising, however, was that most "Tales of Enchantment" were familiar from European traditions (e.g. Louse skin, Kind and Undkind Girls, Dancing Princesses, Frog Princess, etc.); although all of them had their local spin and flavor.
And, obviously, there were tricksters. The local guy is called Pedro Malasartes (distant cousin of Pedro Urdemalas from Spanish-speaking countries). The Tar Doll was also a common motif that appeared here, echoing many African and American trickster stories. There were many familiar ones in the "Death Tales" chapter - such as the very well known Tía Miseria, and a Brazilian version of "Meeting in Samarkand."

Where to next?
Peru!