P is for the Pleiades (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

The story of the Mungingee
Ngarrindjeri

This story is a Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal songline, as recorded by David Unaipon and published in 1933. Mungingee (manjingki, muntjingga) is the word they use for the constellation we call the Pleiades. Songlines, or Dreaming tracks, are sacred narratives that trace a route across the land or across the sky, deeply connected to landscape, constellations, and natural phenomena. Songlines carry traditions, such as this story, which is connected to the initiation of adolescent girls. This particular story of the Seven Sisters became especially well known and researched because of its connection of the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy, where the Ngarrindjeri community was accused by authorities of inventing traditions (which turned out to be a false and deeply offensive accusation). Stories like this were often passed down in secret not only within the community, but also often only by the women. Interestingly, in the 19th century researchers assumed that the "warrior in the sky" called Mungingee was a man - only later on was it revealed that it is a group of warrior women, the Pleiades.

There are also different songlines associated with the Seven Sisters and feminine initiation. You can read more about Seven Sisters songlines here and here. You can read more about Ngarrindjeri tradition and the fight for recognition (including details about the bridge controversy, and Unaipon's account) in this book and this one.

What is it about?

TL;DR: A group of young girls undergo initiation through a series of trials, proving that they can withstand any suffering through willpower and they can conquer their fears.

A group of seven young girls (yartooka) present themselves to the Elders to take a trial by ordeal and prove that they can submit their own bodies to their will. The Elders put them through a series of tests and trials.

First, the girls live apart from others for three years, only receiving small portions of food in the morning and in the evening. The the Elders take them on a long and harrowing journey through hard terrain and in scorching heat. For three days they travel without any food, controlling their appetite; then they are given meat to see if they can still take an ordinary portion instead of gorging themselves. They succeed. Another series of tests follows, including one tooth knocked out of the mouth of each girl, and their chests being cut with flint knives and the wounds rubbed with stinging ash. At night they are made to sleep alone in the dark in a bed of ants. Their noses are pierced, they are made to lie in a bed of burning cinders.

Once the girls prove that they can withstand any sort of pain, the Elders test them to see if they can control their fear. In the evening around the campire they tell the girls terrifying stories and then leave them alone to sleep, telling them the camping place is over a burial ground. At night, the Elders creep around, making scary noises, but the girls hold out and control their fear.

Once they passed all the tests, the girls are celeberated. People gather, and other young girls also express the desire to be initiated and go through the tests. The Great Spirit lifts the Seven Sisters to the sky and turns them into stars, to guide their people from there.

(Side note: According to the book I read, since the Seven Sisters story was carried by women, it is likely that Unaipon had not heard the full extent of it. It is also likely that the story did not fully reflect the realities of the initiation rites, but rather a mythical narrative that highlighted trials and ordeals.)

The highlights

Image from here

It is hard to find just one highlight in this fascinating story; it was intriguing to follow the repetitions of the girls confirming that they would continue the trials, and that they could control their pain and fear. 

My personal favorite part, as a storyteller, was the trial where they were told scary stories by the Elders, mentioning various terrifying creatures of folklore, and then left alone at night. Using storytelling to make people face their fears is an old tradition. I also liked the statement that the girls made each other brave, going through the hardships together rather than on their own.

COUNTLESS CULTURES HAVE SEEN THE PLEIADES AS A GROUP OF WOMEN.

Have you encountered others that are similar?

F is for Fire Opals (Gemstone Folklore)

Welcome to the 2022 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Gemstone Folklore. Because I love stories about shiny things. Read the introduction to the project here.

FIRE OPAL

Fire opals are a translucent, usually red-orange-yellow colored variant of opal. They are usually less colorful than other kinds of opal, but can be turned into very intensely beautiful gems.

The opal that turned into fire

Wanggumara people, Australia

This legend tells of a pelican that takes on a long and exhausting journey towards the north, seeking Cooper's Creek (original name not noted). He carries water in his pouch for the long flight. He is sent by a cleverman, who promises that the gold would turn into gold when it reaches the destination. However, along the way the pelican is attacked, and after that, water begins to leak from his beak, turning into gold. Blood that spills from his wound turns into opals. In the end, he lands on top of a hill called Bildimini, about 100 miles from Cooper's Creek. There he dies, the water and blood turning into rich deposits of gold and opals.

In another legend, later on another pelican takes on the same flight north, to bring news to the Wanggumara people about distant lands. It stops to rest on the same hill, and is amazed by the beautiful colors of the opal. The bird doesn't recognize what opal is, so it chips at it with its beak. The chipping create sparks, which set the dry grass on fire. The fire burns all the way down to the river, where the people discover how to cook fish. Thus, the first pelican brings people gold and opals, and the second brings the gift of fire.

(The legends don't specifically say fire opals, but since they are connected to fire, and born from blood, I made a jump.)

Sources: 

You can find two versions of this story in this book.

Do you know any beliefs attached to opals? 

Do you personally like them?

Q is for Quoll (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: Northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus)

Status: Endangered

Crow and Quoll go fishing

Legend from Arnhem Land

According to an Aboriginal legend from north-eastern Arnhem Land (culture unspecified) Walik the Crow and Bari Pari the Quoll ("marsupial cat") one day invented the first fish-trap together. Unfortunately, while they were not looking, a relative of Crow, Balin the barramundi swam into the trap along with other fish. While Crow and Quoll were celebrating their invention with dancing, another clan came along, speared all the fish in the traps, and ate them. Crow and Quoll returned too late, and only found Balin's bones in the sand.

Mourning for Balin, they placed the fish bones into a hollow log, and set out with their clans to take revenge. The fight, however, did not go their way, so the crows and quolls decided to flee into the sky, carrying the hollow log and the fish bones with them. They set up camp along the shores of Milnguya, the Milky Way. The twinkling of stars is actually the light of their campfires, and the bright spots on the quolls' back. In the dark spots along the Milky Way you can see the crows, and the hollow log. 

Sources: Read this story here, here, here, or here.

How can I help?

Read about conservation efforts here, here, or here.

What do you see in the dark spots of the Milky Way?

N is for Numbats (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: Numbat (banded anteater, Myrmecobius fasciatus)

Status: Endangered

Why is the numbat's back red?

Pitjantjatjarra legend

One day Walpurti (the numbat) and Ngintaka (the perentie lizard) were camping together, and they decided to paint each other's backs with pretty patterns. Walpurti took up a stick, dipped it into paint, and painted nice yellow circles on Ngintaka's back. They have been there ever since. In turn, Ngintaka took up a stick, and painted stripes on Walpurti's back.
When they were both done, they turned to admire their new colors. Ngintaka was very pleased with the circles, but Walpurti was not satisfied with the plain dark stripes at all. He picked up a handful of red dirt and threw it over his back. The red dust stuck to his fur - and Walpurti has been wearing dark stripes on bright red fur on his back ever since.

Sources: read the story here, here, or here.

How can I help?

Read about conservation efforts here, here, or here.

What animal's colorful patterns would you choose to paint on your own back?

The heroic frill neck lizard, and other legendary people (Following folktales around the world 14. - Australia)

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!

Today, we arrive to our last stop in Australia and Oceania: Australia itself! Which means, this is also our last stop in the first complete continent of the journey! Thank you for sticking with me so far; it has been a lot of fun!

The opal that turned into fire
And other stories from the Wangkumara
Janet Mathews
Magabala, 1994.

Originally I picked this book because of the alluring title (I like shiny things), but it proved to be a great choice. Apart from the author's own collection of folklore, it also contains tales and beliefs from her grandfather-in-law, who traveled the southeast part of the continent in the 19th century, and noted many things that since have been forgotten. All the stories in the book come with notes, sources, and explanations; I only wished we would have found out more about the storytellers and their tribes (we did get a short biography of the collector). Another thing that I missed was a more detailed map and more visuals - many of the legends were so intricately tied to the landscape that it was hard to really appreciate them without seeing what they talked about. Still, the book was a fascinating read, full of vivid visual imagery.

 Highlights

The book opens with creation myths and origin legends - some of them old enough to remember the time when the ocean levels rose and cut Australia off from Southeast Asia (about 6000-8000 years ago). One of the best one told the story of how the animals - led by Koala - paddled over to Australia in a canoe that they stole from Whale while Starfish distracted him (for which Whale later flattened the poor thing).

Sandpiper (picture from here)

There were many stories that explained the appearance and behavior of various animals. One of my favorites was the one that claimed that Billidhu, the Sandpiper moves in a "dart and freeze" manner because once upon a time he was sent to spy on a lizard who know where water was hidden... Another story told about Weemulee, the Owl, whose eyes grew large because he was friends with Willanjee, the Cyclone, and he strained his eyes to try to catch a glimpse of his invisible hunting partner. Yet another legend claimed that in the beginning turtles were venomous and snakes were not, until the two tribes got together and negotiated an exchange of heads, believing that it was beneficial for both.
Animals, of course, were not the only creatures that appeared in the stories. There was, for example, a great travel-tale about a hero who crossed the lands of many strange beings - giant mosquitoes, people with emo legs (who were intrigued by human legs), and even people who had bushes growing on their back.

There was also a collection of legends about the "Hairy People", who seemed to be common in the lore of many tribes (in various sizes from tiny to gigantic, and various dispositions from man-eating to vegan). These were especially interesting to read since the Hairy People play an important role in Cleverman, a great Australian TV show based on indigenous lore that premiered this year.
Another favorite creature of mine was Gambel Gambel, the Spirit of the Bush, a female being that could create amazing illusions (colorful fungi in the shape of objects, exotic birds, ripe fruit, etc.) to lure people astray.
It was also interesting to note the stories that acknowledged European contact and its results. One of them talked about how a tribe found a colt, the first horse they had ever known, and raised it with great care and respect.

Connections

Once again, there was a myth about the journey of the soul after death. In this case, the voyage was made more difficult by hostile, fig-throwing spirits, giant parrots, and other obstacles, with which the deceased relatives and ancestors of the dead were supposed to help (if they deserved it).
The myth of how the animals stole fire reminded me of some North American indigenous legends. In this case, fire was hoarded by two old women (Rat Kangaroo and Bronzewing Pidgeon), and all the other animals danced and goofed around to entertain and distract them. Finally, Sparrowhawk managed to snatch the fire from them, and set the bush aflame.

Frill Neck Hero

The legend of Ga:ni, the heroic frill neck lizard, reminded me of flood myths around the world. In it, animal-people were stranded on an island during a flood, and they set out, one by one, carrying fire sticks, to find a distant shore. Only Ga:ni succeeded, but barely; the fire stick burned his chest, and left a mark.
There was, once again, a sky-high tree. In one story, people used it to commute up and down between earth and sky, visiting relatives that camped among the stars. In another legend, two man-eating spirit eagles lived on the tree, and they had to be defeated by two 'clever men', and the whole community acting as bait. In both cases, the tree was burned down, and the connection to the sky was lost.
There were also many tales about the stars themselves. One of them called the Pleiades Seven Sisters (much like Greek mythology), who fled to the sky from a hunter who pursued one of them with his love... (later, he ended up in the sky too, as Aldebaran).

Where to next?
Take a running leap, and go to South America! We'll continue with Chile next week, and move on up north.