Anansi is a West African folktale and folk deity who appears in the mythology of the Akan people.
The word "Anansi" means "spider" in the Twi language of Ghana, and it is also spelled as "Nansi," "Nanse," or "Nsasi." He's a trickster god who has been depicted as both a spider and a man. In some stories, he's the son of Nyame, the sky god, while in others he's the son of Obatala, who created all living things on Earth.
In one myth about Anansi, he saved his family from death when they were caught in a great flood. He built an ark out of palm leaves and filled it with animals before sending it off to safety while he stayed behind to lighten their load by telling them stories to keep them entertained.
Anansi's most famous story is about how he tricked the Sky God, Nyame, into giving him all the stories in the world
The spider god has made a centuries-long journey from West Africa that spans almost the entire globe. In the American South, he inspired the beloved character Br’er Rabbit, and today, his eight-legged influence can still be found in none other than Marvel’s Spider-Man.
When the transatlantic slave trade ripped Africans from their homeland, many of their traditions and cultures died with their freedoms. But thanks to oral history and word-of-mouth — done in an attempt to keep their pre-slavery traditions alive — the story of Kwaku Anansi spread through the West Indies.
So popular were the Anansi stories in Jamaica, in particular, that when the Jamaican Maroons were shipped back to Sierra Leone in 1800, they took the Anansi stories with them.
So, Kwaku Anansi originated in Africa, got transported through the Caribbean thanks to slave boats, then made his way back to Africa thanks to Jamaican revolutionaries. And, along the way, he made stops in South America, and in various Dutch-controlled Caribbean countries, including Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.
It is said that Anansi created the world, and all the people and animals in it. And he did this by telling stories.
Anansi's stories are usually about trickery and deceit, but they always have a happy ending because Anansi always gets his own way in the end.
Anansi the original Spiderman.
Akvri - Dec 22
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