Latest / Guide to Mythology / 014 - Chapter 5 Part I - Myths of the Sun Moon and Stars
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter five, Part one of A Guide to Mythology by
- 0:05Speaker 1: Helen Clark. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
- 0:11Speaker 1: Chapter five, Part one, Myths of the Sun, Moon and Stars.
- 0:19Speaker 1: We come now to myths in which the Sun and
- 0:22Speaker 1: the moon, and other objects of nature play the most
- 0:26Speaker 1: important part. We find myths of this sort all over
- 0:30Speaker 1: the globe, some of them crude and simple, and some
- 0:35Speaker 1: of them in the form of very beautiful stories. The
- 0:39Speaker 1: Incas of Peru believed they were descended from the Sun,
- 0:44Speaker 1: so with them the Sun was their totem, instead of
- 0:47Speaker 1: an animal or a plant. But there came a time
- 0:51Speaker 1: when the Incas established a higher god than the Sun.
- 0:56Speaker 1: They deposed the Sun because it could move only in
- 0:59Speaker 1: one part of the heavens, and so must have a
- 1:03Speaker 1: ruler over it. So, then, to the question what are
- 1:07Speaker 1: the Sun, the Moon, and the stars, they answered, they
- 1:12Speaker 1: are men and women. At evening they swim in the waters.
- 1:16Speaker 1: They go down from sight in the west. In the morning,
- 1:20Speaker 1: the sun cometh forth at Waubunong, the place of breaking light.
- 1:27Speaker 1: According to the Cherokee Indians, a number of beings were
- 1:31Speaker 1: employed in constructing the Sun, the first planet made. It
- 1:36Speaker 1: was the intention of the creator that men should live always.
- 1:41Speaker 1: But the Sun, having surveyed the land and finding an
- 1:45Speaker 1: insufficiency for their support, changed this design and arranged that
- 1:51Speaker 1: they should die. The daughter of the Sun was the
- 1:54Speaker 1: first to suffer under this law. She was bitten by
- 1:59Speaker 1: a serpent and died. Thereupon, the Sun decreed that men
- 2:04Speaker 1: should live always. At the same time, he commissioned a
- 2:08Speaker 1: few persons to take a box and seek the spirit
- 2:12Speaker 1: of his daughter, and return with it encased therein. In
- 2:17Speaker 1: no wise must the box be opened. The box was opened,
- 2:22Speaker 1: immortality fled, and men must die. The Sun God was
- 2:29Speaker 1: not always able to carry everything before him, as the
- 2:33Speaker 1: story of his battle with the Hair God shows, as
- 2:37Speaker 1: well as the various stories about his being ensnared and
- 2:41Speaker 1: his course regulated. In some countries, the Sun is the
- 2:46Speaker 1: husband of the moon. In others the moon is the
- 2:50Speaker 1: husband of the Sun. Again, the moon will be the
- 2:53Speaker 1: sister of the Sun, or the sun the sister of
- 2:57Speaker 1: the moon. The Navajos story of the making of the Sun,
- 3:02Speaker 1: Moon and stars. At the beginning, when the people had
- 3:07Speaker 1: all crept out of the aperture in the cave in
- 3:11Speaker 1: which they had previously lived, a council of wise men
- 3:15Speaker 1: was held to discuss the propriety of introducing more light
- 3:20Speaker 1: upon the earth, which at that time was very small,
- 3:24Speaker 1: being lit only by a twilight like that scene just
- 3:28Speaker 1: at the breaking of dawn. Having deliberated some time, the
- 3:33Speaker 1: wise men concluded to have a sun and moon and
- 3:37Speaker 1: a variety of stars placed above the earth. They first
- 3:41Speaker 1: made the heavens for them to be placed in. Then
- 3:45Speaker 1: the old men of the Navajos commenced building a sun,
- 3:49Speaker 1: which was done in a large house constructed for the purpose.
- 3:54Speaker 1: To the other tribes was confided the making of the
- 3:58Speaker 1: moon and stars, which which they soon accomplished. When it
- 4:02Speaker 1: was decided to give the sun and moon to the
- 4:05Speaker 1: guidance of the two dumb flutters, who had figured with
- 4:10Speaker 1: some importance as musicians in their former place of residence
- 4:14Speaker 1: in the cave, and one of whom had accidentally conceived
- 4:18Speaker 1: the plan of leaving that place for their present more
- 4:22Speaker 1: agreeable quarters. These two men, who have carried the two
- 4:27Speaker 1: heavenly bodies ever since, staggered at first with their weight,
- 4:33Speaker 1: and the one who carried the sun came near burning
- 4:36Speaker 1: the earth by bearing it too near before he had
- 4:40Speaker 1: reached the aperture in the mountain through which he was
- 4:44Speaker 1: to pass during the night. This misfortune, however, was prevented
- 4:49Speaker 1: by the old men, who puffed the smoke of their
- 4:53Speaker 1: pipes toward it, which caused it to retire to a
- 4:56Speaker 1: greater distance in the heavens. The these men have been
- 5:01Speaker 1: obliged to do this four times since the dumb man,
- 5:05Speaker 1: the fluter, has carried the sun in the heavens, for
- 5:10Speaker 1: the earth has grown very much larger than at the beginning,
- 5:14Speaker 1: and consequently the Sun would have to be removed or
- 5:18Speaker 1: the earth and all therein would perish in its heat. Now,
- 5:24Speaker 1: after the Sun and Moon had taken their places, the
- 5:28Speaker 1: people commenced embroidering the stars upon the heavens. The wise
- 5:32Speaker 1: men had made in beautiful and varied patterns and images.
- 5:38Speaker 1: Bears and fishes and all varieties of animals were being
- 5:43Speaker 1: skillfully drawn, when in rushed a prairie wolf, roughly exclaiming,
- 5:50Speaker 1: what folly is this? Why are you making all this
- 5:54Speaker 1: fuss to make a bit of embroidery? Just stick the
- 5:58Speaker 1: stars about the sky anyway, And suiting the action to
- 6:02Speaker 1: the word, the villainous wolf scattered a large pile all
- 6:07Speaker 1: over the heavens. Thus it is that there is such
- 6:11Speaker 1: confusion among the few images which the tasteful Navajos had
- 6:16Speaker 1: so carefully elaborated the story of the conquering of the
- 6:22Speaker 1: Sun North American Indian. Once upon a time, tav Wats,
- 6:28Speaker 1: the Hair God, was sitting with his family by the
- 6:31Speaker 1: camp fire in the solemn woods, anxiously awaiting for the
- 6:36Speaker 1: return of Tavi, the wayward Sun God. Weary with long watching,
- 6:43Speaker 1: the hair God fell asleep, and the Sun God came
- 6:46Speaker 1: so near that he scorched the shoulders of Tavoats. Foreseeing
- 6:52Speaker 1: the vengeance which would be thus provoked, he fled back
- 6:57Speaker 1: to his cave beneath the earth. Ta Wats awoke in
- 7:01Speaker 1: great wrath and speedily determined to go and fight the
- 7:05Speaker 1: Sun God. After a long journey of many adventures, the
- 7:10Speaker 1: hair God came to the brink of the earth, and
- 7:13Speaker 1: there watched long and patiently till at last the Sun
- 7:18Speaker 1: God coming out. He shot an arrow in his face,
- 7:22Speaker 1: but the fierce heat consumed the arrow ere it had
- 7:26Speaker 1: finished its course. Then other arrows were sped till only
- 7:31Speaker 1: one remained in his quiver. But this was the magical
- 7:36Speaker 1: arrow that never failed its mark. Tav Wats, holding it
- 7:41Speaker 1: in his hand lifted the barb to his eye and
- 7:45Speaker 1: baptized it in a divine tear. Then the arrow was
- 7:50Speaker 1: sped and struck the Sun God full in the face,
- 7:54Speaker 1: and the Sun was shivered into a thousand fragments, which
- 7:58Speaker 1: fell to the earth and caused a general conflagration. Then Tavwoats,
- 8:05Speaker 1: the Hair God, fled before the destruction he had wrought.
- 8:09Speaker 1: And as he fled, the burning earth consumed his feet, consumed,
- 8:14Speaker 1: his legs consumed, his body, his hands and arms all
- 8:19Speaker 1: were consumed but the head alone, which rolled across valleys
- 8:25Speaker 1: and over mountains, fleeing destruction from the burning earth, until
- 8:30Speaker 1: at last, swollen with heat, the eyes of the god burst,
- 8:35Speaker 1: and the tears gushed forth in a flood which spread
- 8:39Speaker 1: over the earth and extinguished the fire. The Sun God
- 8:44Speaker 1: was now conquered, and he appeared before a council of
- 8:47Speaker 1: the gods to await sentence. And that long council were
- 8:53Speaker 1: established the days and nights, the seasons and years with
- 8:57Speaker 1: the length thereof, and the Sun God was condemned to
- 9:01Speaker 1: travel across the firmanent by the same trail every day.
- 9:08Speaker 1: Another view of the religion of the Sun is shown
- 9:11Speaker 1: in the Indian hymns to the Sun as it is
- 9:15Speaker 1: rising at mid day and at sunset. After the Indian hymn,
- 9:21Speaker 1: we shall find it interesting to go to the opposite
- 9:25Speaker 1: side of the earth and see what a Hindu Him
- 9:28Speaker 1: to the Sun is like. It is less a prayer
- 9:31Speaker 1: than the Indian hymn, and like the other Hindu hymns,
- 9:35Speaker 1: a song of praise Him to the Sun, North American Indian.
- 9:43Speaker 1: Great Spirit, Master of our lives, Great Spirit, Master of
- 9:49Speaker 1: things visible and invisible, and who daily makes them visible
- 9:55Speaker 1: and invisible. Great Spirit, Master of every spirit, good or bad.
- 10:02Speaker 1: Command the good to be favorable unto us, and deter
- 10:07Speaker 1: the bad from the commission of evil. Oh Grand Spirit,
- 10:12Speaker 1: preserve the strength and courage of our warriors, and augment
- 10:16Speaker 1: their numbers, that they may resist oppression from our enemies,
- 10:21Speaker 1: and recover our country and the rights of our fathers.
- 10:26Speaker 1: Oh Grand Spirit, Preserve the lives of such of our
- 10:30Speaker 1: old men as are inclined to give counsel to the young.
- 10:35Speaker 1: Preserve our children and multiply their number, and let them
- 10:39Speaker 1: be the comfort and support of declining age. Preserve our
- 10:44Speaker 1: corn and our animals, and let no famine desolate the land.
- 10:50Speaker 1: Protect our villages, guard our lives, O Great Spirit, when
- 10:56Speaker 1: hidden in the west, protect us from our enemies who
- 11:00Speaker 1: violate the night and do evil. When thou art not present,
- 11:05Speaker 1: Good Spirit, make known to us your pleasure by sending
- 11:09Speaker 1: to us the Spirit of dreams. Let the Spirit of
- 11:13Speaker 1: dreams proclaim thy will in the night, and we will
- 11:18Speaker 1: perform it in the day. And if it say, the
- 11:21Speaker 1: time of some be closed, send them, Master of Life,
- 11:26Speaker 1: to the great country of souls, where they may meet
- 11:29Speaker 1: their friends, and where thou art pleased to shine upon
- 11:34Speaker 1: them with a bright, warm and perpetual blaze. Oh grand o,
- 11:40Speaker 1: Great Spirit, hearken to the voice of the nations. Hearken
- 11:45Speaker 1: to all thy children, and remember us always, For we
- 11:50Speaker 1: are descended from thee courage nations. Courage. The Great Spirit
- 11:56Speaker 1: now above our heads will make us vanquish our enemies.
- 12:01Speaker 1: He will cover our fields with corn, and increase the
- 12:05Speaker 1: animals of our woods. He will see that the old
- 12:09Speaker 1: be made happy, and that the young augment. He will
- 12:14Speaker 1: make the nations prosper, make them rejoice, and make them
- 12:18Speaker 1: put up their voice to him. While he rises and
- 12:22Speaker 1: sets in their land, and while his heat and light
- 12:26Speaker 1: can thus gloriously shine out the nations must prosper. They
- 12:31Speaker 1: have been looked upon by the Great Spirit. What more
- 12:35Speaker 1: can they wish? Is not that happiness enough? See, he
- 12:41Speaker 1: retires great and content after having visited his children with
- 12:46Speaker 1: light and universal good. Oh, Grand Spirit, sleep not longer
- 12:53Speaker 1: in the gloomy west, but return and call your people
- 12:57Speaker 1: to light and life. To light and life, to light
- 13:03Speaker 1: and life. Him to Suria the Sun from the rig Veda.
- 13:12Speaker 1: His heralds bear him up aloft, the God who knoweth
- 13:17Speaker 1: all that lives, Suria, that all may look on him.
- 13:22Speaker 1: The constellations pass away like thieves, together with their beams
- 13:28Speaker 1: before thee all beholding sun. His herald rays are seen
- 13:33Speaker 1: afar refulgent o'er the world of men, like flames of
- 13:39Speaker 1: fire that hum and blaze, swift and all beautiful art.
- 13:44Speaker 1: Thou o sirea maker of the light, illuming all the
- 13:50Speaker 1: radiant realm. Thou goest to the hosts of the gods.
- 13:55Speaker 1: Thou comest hither to mankind, hither all light to be beheld.
- 14:02Speaker 1: Traversing sky and wide mid air. Thou makest with thy
- 14:06Speaker 1: beams our days sun, seeing all things that have birth.
- 14:13Speaker 1: Seven bay steeds harnessed to thy car bear thee O,
- 14:18Speaker 1: thou far seeing one god, Suria, with the radiant hair,
- 14:25Speaker 1: Suria hath yoked the pure bright seven, the daughters of
- 14:30Speaker 1: the Chariot, with these self yoked. He goeth forth, looking
- 14:36Speaker 1: upon the loftier light above the darkness. We have come
- 14:40Speaker 1: to Suria, God among the gods, the light that is
- 14:45Speaker 1: most excellent. The worship of the Sun and the dream
- 14:52Speaker 1: of Ona Wutaquito, North American Indian. On the shores of
- 14:58Speaker 1: Lake Huron, there lived a long time ago, an aged
- 15:03Speaker 1: Ojibwa and his wife, who had an only son, a
- 15:08Speaker 1: very beautiful boy whose name was Ona Wutaquito, or he
- 15:14Speaker 1: that catches clouds. These parents were proud of their son
- 15:18Speaker 1: and anticipated the time when they should see him a
- 15:22Speaker 1: celebrated warrior. But when Onabutaquito arrived at the proper age,
- 15:28Speaker 1: he was unwilling to submit to the fast prescribed to
- 15:32Speaker 1: youths entering manhood, which very much disturbed his parents, who
- 15:37Speaker 1: denied him food at their lodge, giving him only charcoal
- 15:42Speaker 1: with which to blacken his face according to the custom. Finally,
- 15:47Speaker 1: he consented to their wishes and left the lodge for
- 15:51Speaker 1: a place of solitude. The night came on and the
- 15:55Speaker 1: youth slept in his dream, a beautiful woman came down
- 16:01Speaker 1: from the clouds and stood by his side. Ona Wu Taquito, said,
- 16:06Speaker 1: she I am come for you follow in my footsteps.
- 16:11Speaker 1: The young man obeyed, and presently found himself ascending gradually
- 16:16Speaker 1: above the trees, where, passing through an orifice in the clouds,
- 16:22Speaker 1: he perceived that he had arrived upon a beautiful plain.
- 16:26Speaker 1: Following his guide, he entered a splendidly furnished lodge, on
- 16:32Speaker 1: one side of which there were bows and arrows, clubs
- 16:36Speaker 1: and spears, and various warlike implements tipped with silver. On
- 16:42Speaker 1: the other side were articles exclusively belonging to women, which
- 16:47Speaker 1: were of the most elegant description. This the young man
- 16:51Speaker 1: found was the home of his fair guide, who, exhibiting
- 16:56Speaker 1: to him a broad, rich belt that she was in
- 17:00Speaker 1: eroitering with many colors, said let me conceal you beneath
- 17:05Speaker 1: this belt, for my brother is coming and I must
- 17:08Speaker 1: hide you from him. Then, placing him in one corner
- 17:13Speaker 1: of the lodge, she concealed him entirely with the belt.
- 17:18Speaker 1: Presently her brother came in. He was very richly dressed,
- 17:22Speaker 1: and his whole person shone as if he had bright
- 17:26Speaker 1: points of silver glittering all over his garments. Without speaking,
- 17:32Speaker 1: the brother took down from the wall a very richly
- 17:36Speaker 1: carved pipe, within which he placed a fragrant smoking mixture,
- 17:41Speaker 1: and regaled himself. When he had finished, he turned to
- 17:46Speaker 1: his sister, saying, Nemesa, my elder sister, when will you
- 17:51Speaker 1: quit these practices? Do you forget that the Great Spirit
- 17:56Speaker 1: has commanded that you should not take away the children
- 17:59Speaker 1: from the Perhaps you suppose that you have effectually concealed
- 18:05Speaker 1: Ona Wutaquito, and I do not know of his presence.
- 18:09Speaker 1: If you would not offend me, send him immediately down
- 18:14Speaker 1: to his parents. But Nemisa was resolved to retain the
- 18:18Speaker 1: young man, and the brother desisted from urging his request.
- 18:24Speaker 1: Addressing the youth, he said, come forth from your concealment
- 18:28Speaker 1: and walk about and amuse yourself. You will become hungry
- 18:33Speaker 1: if you remain there. He then presented him with a
- 18:37Speaker 1: bow and arrow and a pipe of red stone elaborately ornamented.
- 18:43Speaker 1: This was a signal that he consented to the marriage
- 18:46Speaker 1: of Nemesa to Ono Wutaquito, which immediately took place. The
- 18:53Speaker 1: young man found that the lodge, which was now his
- 18:56Speaker 1: home was situated in the most delightful part of the plain,
- 19:01Speaker 1: and all things, the flowers and trees and birds were
- 19:06Speaker 1: more beautiful than any on earth. The streams ran more
- 19:10Speaker 1: swiftly and gleamed like silver. The animals were full of enjoyment,
- 19:17Speaker 1: while the birds wore feathers of gorgeous colors. Ona Wutaquito
- 19:23Speaker 1: observed that the brother regularly left in the morning, returning
- 19:27Speaker 1: in the evening when his sister would depart, remaining away
- 19:32Speaker 1: a portion of the night. This aroused his curiosity, and,
- 19:37Speaker 1: wishing to solve the mystery of this singular habit, he
- 19:41Speaker 1: sought and obtained consent to accompany the brother in one
- 19:46Speaker 1: of his daily journeys. They traveled over a smooth plain
- 19:51Speaker 1: without boundaries, until Ono Wutaquito felt exceedingly fatigued and very
- 19:58Speaker 1: much in need of food, and he asked his companion
- 20:02Speaker 1: if there were no game in that region. Patience, my
- 20:06Speaker 1: brother answered he. We shall soon reach the spot where
- 20:11Speaker 1: I eat my dinner, and you will then see in
- 20:14Speaker 1: what way I am provided. After walking on a long time,
- 20:20Speaker 1: they came to a place which was spread over with
- 20:23Speaker 1: very fine mats. Where they sat down to rest. There
- 20:28Speaker 1: was at this place a round aperture in the sky,
- 20:32Speaker 1: looking through which Onabutaquito discovered the earth with its gleaming
- 20:38Speaker 1: lakes and thick forests. In some places he could see
- 20:42Speaker 1: the villages of the Indians, and in others he saw
- 20:46Speaker 1: a war party stealing upon the camp of its enemy.
- 20:51Speaker 1: In another place he saw feasting and dancing. Where on
- 20:55Speaker 1: the green plain young men were engaged at ball. Along
- 21:01Speaker 1: the stream, the women were employed in gathering a puqua
- 21:06Speaker 1: for mats. Do you see, said the brother, that group
- 21:10Speaker 1: of children playing beside a lodge. Observe that beautiful and
- 21:15Speaker 1: active boy, said he, at the same time, darting something
- 21:20Speaker 1: at him from his hand. The child immediately fell upon
- 21:24Speaker 1: the ground and was carried into a lodge, where the
- 21:28Speaker 1: people gathered in crowds. When Onawutaquito heard the josakid, or priest,
- 21:36Speaker 1: asking the child's life in the shishigwam, or song of entreaty.
- 21:42Speaker 1: To this entreaty, the companion of Ona Wutaquito made answer,
- 21:48Speaker 1: send me up the sacrifice of a white dog. Immediately
- 21:53Speaker 1: a feast was ordered by the parents of the child.
- 21:57Speaker 1: The white dog was killed, his carcase was roasted, and
- 22:01Speaker 1: all the wise men and the jos Keed of the
- 22:04Speaker 1: village assembled to witness the ceremony. There are many below,
- 22:10Speaker 1: said the brother to Ona Wutaquito, whom you call jose
- 22:15Speaker 1: Keed because of their great success in the medical science.
- 22:20Speaker 1: But it is to me they owe their skill. When
- 22:23Speaker 1: I have struck one of the people with sickness, the
- 22:27Speaker 1: joseh Keed directs them to look at me, and when
- 22:30Speaker 1: they send me the offering, I ask I remove my
- 22:34Speaker 1: hand from off them, and they recover. The sacrifice was
- 22:40Speaker 1: now parceled out in dishes, when the master of the
- 22:43Speaker 1: feast said, we send this to thee great Manito, thou
- 22:49Speaker 1: that dwellest in the sun. And immediately the roasted animal
- 22:54Speaker 1: came up to the two residents of the sky. After
- 22:58Speaker 1: partaking of this repast, they returned to the lodge by
- 23:03Speaker 1: another way. It was in this manner ona Utaquito lived
- 23:09Speaker 1: for some time, but at last he became wearied of
- 23:12Speaker 1: such a life, and thinking of his friends he had left,
- 23:16Speaker 1: one day he asked permission of his wife to return
- 23:20Speaker 1: to the earth, to which, with great reluctance and with
- 23:25Speaker 1: many delays, she consented. Since you are better pleased, she said,
- 23:31Speaker 1: with the cares and the ills, and the poverty of
- 23:34Speaker 1: your earthly life, than with the peaceful delights of the sky. Go.
- 23:39Speaker 1: I give you permission, and I will guide your return.
- 23:44Speaker 1: But remember you are still my husband. I hold a
- 23:47Speaker 1: chain in my hand by which I can draw you
- 23:51Speaker 1: back whenever I will beware. Therefore, how you venture to
- 23:57Speaker 1: take a wife among the people below. Should you ever
- 24:01Speaker 1: do so, it is then you shall feel the full
- 24:04Speaker 1: force of my displeasure. As she said this, her eyes flashed,
- 24:10Speaker 1: and she straightened herself up with a majestic air, and
- 24:15Speaker 1: ono Utaquito awoke from his dream. He found himself where
- 24:21Speaker 1: he had lain down to fast, and his mother told
- 24:25Speaker 1: him he had been absent a year. The change from
- 24:29Speaker 1: the beautiful realms in which he had been living to
- 24:32Speaker 1: the scenes of earthly existence was at first distasteful. He
- 24:37Speaker 1: became moody and abstracted by degrees. However, these impressions wore away,
- 24:44Speaker 1: and he regained his interest in terrestrial pursuits. Now forgetting
- 24:50Speaker 1: the admonition of his heavenly spouse, he married a beautiful
- 24:55Speaker 1: woman of his tribe, but his bride died in four
- 24:59Speaker 1: days after their marriage. Although thus reminded Onuwutaquitau soon married
- 25:06Speaker 1: again when one day he left his lodge for the
- 25:10Speaker 1: purpose of hunting, and from that time never was seen
- 25:15Speaker 1: by mortal eyes. And of Chapter five, Part one