In the fascinating realm of African mythology, trickster gods hold a unique and prominent position. These deities are known for their cunning, wit, and ability to disrupt the established order. Unlike many other mythological figures, African tricksters are deeply interwoven not only into myth but also into the fabric of everyday life, influencing economics, rites of passage, and ordinary conversation.
Many African tricksters stand out. Several are known primarily for their trickery in the course of theft or even murder. The Bantu Hlakanyana, who had once been a participant in creation, is such a trickster, as is another Bantu figure, Dikithi, who had one arm, one leg, and one eye.
Easily the most famous African tricksters are the West African gods Eshu, also known as Elegbara or Legba, and Ananse (Anansi) the Spider.
ANANSI: The West African Spider Trickster GOD!
Anansi the Spider: Weaver of Stories
Ananse (Anansi) is ubiquitous among West African peoples. He is the Spider, the weaver of stories. The term Anansesem (“Spider Stories”) refers to a whole collection of orally transmitted Ananse tales. Anansi or Ananse ( ə-NAHN-see; literally translates to spider) is a character in Akan religion and folklore associated with stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery, most commonly depicted as a spider.
Anansi is a character who reflects the culture that he originates from. The Akan people are a close-knit people from present-day southern Ghana who rely on social order, which translates through the stories that come out of their culture. In many ways, Anansi is a paradoxical character whose actions defy this social order, but in incorporating rebellion and doubt into faith, his folkloric presence strengthens it. Taking the role of a trickster, he is also one of the most important characters of West African, African American and West Indian folklore.
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Anansi is depicted in many different ways and with different names, from "Ananse", "Kwaku Ananse", and "Anancy", to his New World iterations, such as "Ba Anansi", "Kompa Nanzi" and/or "Nanzi", "Nancy", "Aunt Nancy", and "Sis' Nancy", even though he is always depicted as a male in his stories. While often depicted as an animal, Anansi has many representations, which include an anthropomorphic spider with a human face, or conversely, a human with spider-like features, such as eight legs.
It is said that Odomankoma (¿) is also known as Ananse Kokuroko (meaning Great Spider), who might be Ananse. Anansi stories were part of an exclusively oral tradition, and Anansi himself was seen as synonymous with skill and wisdom in speech.
Stories of Anansi became such a prominent and familiar part of Ashanti oral culture that they eventually encompassed many kinds of fables, evidenced by the work of R.S. Instead, Anansi was often celebrated as a symbol of slave resistance and survival, because Anansi is able to turn the tables on his powerful oppressors by using his cunning and trickery, a model of behaviour used by slaves to gain the upper hand within the confines of the plantation power structure.
Anansi is also believed to have played a multifunctional role in the slaves' lives; as well as inspiring strategies of resistance, the tales enabled enslaved Africans to establish a sense of continuity with their African past and offered them the means to transform and assert their identity within the boundaries of captivity. As historian Lawrence W. The Jamaican versions of these stories are some of the best-preserved because Jamaica had the largest concentration of enslaved Ashanti in the Americas.
Akin to their Ashanti origins, each of these stories carries its own proverb at the end. At the end of the story "Anansi and Brah Dead", there is a proverb that suggests that even in times of slavery, Anansi was referred to by his Akan original name: "Kwaku Anansi" or simply as "Kwaku" interchangeably with Anansi.
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However, like Anansi's penchant for ingenuity, Anansi's quintessential presence in the Diaspora saw the trickster figure reinvented through a multi-ethnic exchange that transcended its Akan-Ashanti origins, typified in the diversity of names attributed to these Anansi stories, from the "Anansi-tori" to the "Kuenta di Nanzi". Even the character "Ti Bouki", the buffoon constantly harassed by "Ti Malice" or "Uncle Mischief", a Haitian trickster associated with Anansi, references this exchange: "Bouki" itself is a word descending from the Wolof language that also references a particular folk animal (the hyena) indigenous to them.
The same applies to Anansi's role in the lives of Africans beyond the era of slavery; New World Anansi tales entertain just as much as they instruct, highlight his avarice and other flaws alongside his cleverness, and feature the mundane just as much as they do the subversive.
Among many stories attached to Anansi and collected in literature, one explains how he became known as the owner of all stories in the world. It is so popular that it has been studied and republished alongside other stories many times, including as children's books, like the Caldecott Medal-winning A Story a Story by Gail E. Haley, which follows Akan oral tradition by beginning the tale with: "We do not really mean, we do not really mean that what we are about to say is true. A story, a story; let it come, let it go". Haley's story later continues it by concluding: "This is my story that I have related.
One version of the most commonly-retold folktale was recorded by Rattray in his extensive book on Akan-Ashanti folktales, and as the tale generally goes, Anansi wanted to acquire the stories of the sky god Nyame, who held all the stories to himself. Nyame tasks Anansi with four challenges in exchange for them: the capture of the python Onini, the hornets known as Mmoboro, the leopard Osebo, and the fairy Mmoatia. Anansi agrees to the challenge and includes his mother Ya Nsia as part of the bet. Through cunning and the consultation of his wife Aso, Anansi succeeds in tricking the creatures into his capture.
Anansi brings them along with Ya Nsia to Nyame, and the deity assembles a meeting within his kingdom of his elders, the Kontire and Akwam chiefs, the Adontem general of his army, the Gyase, the Oyoko, Ankobea, and the leader of his rear-guard, named Kyidom. There are substantial variants of this tale, with other retellings like Haley's omitting the characters Aso and Ya Nsia.
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In another story, Anansi decides to gather all the wisdom he can find and keep it in a safe place inside of a pot all to himself. Anansi then decides to hide the pot from other people by placing it in a tree, but falls each time he tries to climb it while holding the pot. Anansi is later caught by his younger son Ntikuma, who mocks him by asking why Anansi never tied it behind him so he could climb easier.
As a result, Anansi accidentally breaks the pot in anger at his son mocking him, causing all the wisdom inside to scatter as rain washes it away into rivers. At first Anansi blames his son Ntikuma, but realizes his son having to "put him right" proves that he wasn't ready to keep the pot's wisdom in the first place.
In another story, a famine came to Anansi's village and he told them he was going to search for food. He then embarked on a search and arrived at a stream being drained by spirits in the form of humans. Anansi observed the spirits were using their skulls to remove water from the river, and when they noticed him, the spirits asked if they could remove his so that he could help. Anansi obliged and began helping them remove water from the stream.
While they drained the water, the spirits sang about their deeds and Anansi liked the song so much he asked if he could sing it, and they allowed him. Eventually the water was drained and the spirits gave Anansi his share of food and restored his skull, warning him not to sing the song again or it would fall off. Anansi agreed that he wouldn't but later heard the spirits singing and broke his promise, only for his skull to fall apart.
Anansi whined to spirits and they repaired his skull after he explained himself, but the spirits told Anansi they wouldn't help him again if he sang it another time. However, Anansi heard the spirits singing elsewhere and sang the song anyway, which caused his skull to fall apart.
In another tale, Nyame sired three children one day: Esum, or Night; Osrane, the Moon; and Owia, the Sun. All three grew to be successful, but Nyame considered his son Owia as his favorite, intending to make him a chief. Nyame thus proposed a challenge: Nyame decided that the son who could guess the name of a yam he had secretly harvested (known as "Kintinkyi") would become the next chief and receive his royal stool.
Soon, Nyame blackened his royal stool and asked his subjects if any could guess what his thoughts were. Anansi happened to be there and said that he knew, but was lying. Anansi gathered feathers from every bird known and used them to fly, posing as a bird above Nyame's village. The god didn't recognize Anansi and began to repeat his desire for Owia to receive his stool by guessing the yam's name.
Anansi then did as Nyame asked and told Esum and Osrane to meet with Nyame; Esum gave Anansi roasted corn in exchange, while Osrane gave him a yam. Owia acknowledged his father's wishes and then prepared the best sheep for Anansi to eat as thanks. In return, Anansi decided to tell Owia of his father's intentions in secret, revealing the name of the yam he'd harvested.
Anansi then made a pair of drums that would shout the yam's name so that Owia would remember the name of Nyame's yam, which was Kintinkyi, and the two returned to the other sons of Nyame. Anansi brought them each before Nyame, and Nyame called an assembly together so they could welcome them all. The Sky-God revealed his intentions to his three sons and allowed them each to guess in order of birth.
Esum, who was oldest, did not know the name of Nyame's yam and said its name was "Pona", drawing boos from the crowd. Osrane, the second-oldest, also failed and assumed it was called "Asante", causing the audience to boo him also. Owia, the youngest, was then given a chance to guess. Anansi played the drums as he had promised, and Owia remembered the true name of Nyame's yam, "Kintinkyi". As a result, Nyame punished his son Esum and said evil things thus would happen during Esum's time; he told Osrane that only children would play during his. As for Owia, Nyame praised him and made a chief, saying that any issue that needed to be settled would take place during his time.
Nyame gave Owia a rainbow as a promise that he and his village would be protected from his brothers.
Another tale tells that Anansi went to the Sky-God Nyame one day. He wanted to take one of Nyame's sheep, named Kra Kwame, and eat it. Anansi told Nyame that if he was allowed, he would bring Nyame a maiden as a gift from one of the villages in return. Nyame agreed and gave him the sheep, so Anansi left and set out for his home, later preparing the sheep.
Once he was finished preparing it, Anansi searched for a village and discovered one where only women lived; the Spider settled there and gave each of them some of the sheep he had killed, marrying every woman in the village and forsaking his promise to Nyame. The hunter soon left and went to Nyame, reporting what he'd seen in the village. Nyame became furious upon learning of Anansi's deception and ordered his messengers to go the village Anansi was living in and take every woman there.
His messengers obeyed and took every woman, save one that was ill at that time, and presented them to Nyame. Disappointed, Anansi wasn't sure what he'd do as he now only had one remaining wife, as she was too sick to help him. He asked her and she simply told Anansi to gather a gourd and bathe her, filling up the gourd with the water he'd used afterward; that water would then house all of the diseases that had afflicted her. Anansi obeyed his wife and she became incredibly beautiful; Anansi realized she was more beautiful than any of the other wives he'd taken on while living in the tribe, in fact, and smitten by her, Anansi remarried the woman.
Yet, the hunter visited the village again. The hunter told Nyame that Anansi had tricked him, because the women that Nyame had taken from Anansi were all hideous in comparison to the beautiful woman Anansi had as his current wife. Nyame was furious again, then ordered his messengers to send for her, and they went to Anansi's village looking for the woman. Anansi met them and they told him of Nyame's wish. He complied, showed them where his wife was, and they took her with them to Nyame.
Anansi searched for the gourd that had the water he'd bathed his wife with, and then took a skin and made a drum with it. He then made another drum and called for his son Ntikuma. Together the two began beating the drums and dancing while singing vulgarities. Anene the crow, another messenger of Nyame, saw what Anansi was doing and told Nyame about the dance. Nyame then sent his messengers and asked them to bring Anansi to him, as he wanted the Spider to perform the dance for him.
Anansi however, told them that he could only perform his dance around his wives and that he needed his drum. He promised that he would dance before Nyame if he agreed to this, so the messengers informed Nyame and he agreed to Anansi's terms. The messengers then brought Anansi to the harem where his wives were kept and he began playing. Anansi's final wife however, recognized the gourd Anansi's drum was made from and decided not to dance, suspecting Anansi's trickery. Yet, she was coerced into joining Nyame in the performance.
Before she could begin however, Anansi opened the drum and tossed all the water from the gourd. All of the diseases that were once washed away returned and sickness fell upon the tribe.
Another story tells that a long time ago, Aso was not yet married to Anansi. Instead, she was married to another man, known as Akwasi-the-jealous-one. Befitting his name, he was very possessive of Aso and wanted no one else to see or interact with her, so he built a small village where only the two of them lived. One day, Nyame grew tired of Akwasi-the-jealous-one's failure and told young men in the other villages about his marriage with Aso. Nyame told the men that the first man to take Aso from Akwasi-the-jealous-one and sire a child could marry her. However, all of the men who accepted his challenge failed to capture Aso.
Anansi watched all that transpired and soon went to Nyame himself; he promised Nyame that he could accomplish what other men had not. The Sky-God asked if Anansi was certain and the Spider answered that he would be able to as long as he was given the items he requested to help him, namely medicine to make guns as well as bullets. Soon, Anansi went throughout many villages and told them that Nyame had told him to bring the powder and bullets to them so that they could go hunting for him. Anansi told them that he would return and then take the meat they collected so that he could give it to Nyame.
They agreed to his request and he then distributed powder and bullets amongst them until all villages had some. Anansi then left for a time and wove a palm-leaf basket, returning when he had finished to the villages he'd distributed hunting supplies to. Eventually, Anansi came upon a river where Akwasi and Aso drank, then took some of the meat and placed it into the water. He then carried the basket with him, which still had more than enough meat, and reached Akwasi-the-jealous-one's village. Aso noticed Anansi arrive and called out to her husband, surprised that Anansi had come. Kwasi-the-jealous-one came out and inquired who Anansi was, and the Spider replied that he'd come by the order of Nyame to rest on his journey. Akwasi-the-jealous-one came out praised Anans.
Anansi's Enduring Legacy
As you can see, Anansi’s personality can drastically change depending on the story. From a benevolent trickster making sure that the world has stories, to the wronged party getting revenge on Tiger, to the greedy and self-serving Anansi who beat the jester to death. Depending on what was needed to get across Anansi was changed to suite this need, and it really does humanise him.
While, I hope at least, we live lives where we try and help people and do right, we all have moments of selfishness. Anansi really shows that we can be crafty, good natured, but also selfish at times - although I hope you never beat a man to death and blame it on your child.
Slavery devastated communities. Families were torn apart, lands ravaged, and generated trauma that lasts to this day. Anansi was one of many figures from West Africa’s folklore and beliefs to make their way to the Caribbean as one of the ways enslaved Africans continued their cultures. Quite often, cultural syncretism occurred where various African cultures, European cultures, and indigenous cultures came together. This part explains why Anansi became a more spiritually significant figure in Haitian Vodou - he evolved thanks to contact with non-Akan cultures.
Earlier, we mentioned that Anansi connected the living to the dead. The trauma caused by slavery meant that death was very much present in the life of enslaved people, so Anansi offered a way to communicate with not only lost loved ones, but also lost cultural backgrounds.
Tricksters were especially popular among African diaspora communities in the Americas, as their stories largely concerned a weak figure overcoming a much stronger foe. We see this in the Tiger story - the fearsome Tiger exploiting Anansi is tricked and overcome.
This is not limited to Anansi. For example, stories of trickster rabbits from Central and South Africa evolved into Br’er Rabbit - later made famous in the Southern US - who used his wits to overcome bigger foes. Similar to Anansi, Br’er Rabbit got tricked using a figure made of tar - except that it was Br’er Rabbit getting tricked instead of him doing the tricking.
Br’er Rabbit would trick Br’er Fox into throwing him into a thicket - home of rabbits - which allowed his escape.
Trinidadian historian C.L.R. James in his landmark study on the Haitian Revolution highlighted how slaves regularly resisted their masters; resistance was not limited to armed rebellions. Go-slows, breaking tools, stealing food, and even poisoning masters were ways to resist their condition, and evoked the stories of Anansi.
Emily Zobell Marshall did research on folklore in Jamaica among towns descended from the Maroon communities - these were settlements created by free black and escaped slaves who successfully resisted white rule. In local memory Anansi and the enslaved people who resisted, such as Paul Bogle and Queen Nanny, were directly compared to Anansi.
Eshu: The Divine Messenger and Agent of Chaos
Eshu is an orisha, one of the spirits of Yoruba and Fon mythology. His spirit apparently accompanied the slaves to the new world; he remains an important presence as Papa Legba in Voodoo in Haiti, Cuba, and elsewhere. Legba is the spirit of verbal and nonverbal communication, a god of fertility, and the guardian of crossroads.
Like Hermes in Greece, he is a penetrator of the dark world. In Dahomey, his penetrating phallic symbol, like the phallic herm of Hermes, is often placed outside of dwellings as a protective talisman. Eshu is the Orisha of chaos and misfortune. He is known to be one of the messengers of the Gods. He obtained this role after trying to trick the high god with lies so as punishment he was to see the human world during the day, and report what he saw to the gods at night.
Eshu loves confusion and disorder. He is often responsible when friends are arguing with each other and when wives and husbands have disputes. It is said that he once led the moon and the sun into opposite positions which caused a cosmic disorder.
He is always causing chaos and is paired with the god Ifa. Ifa is the god known for order and when Eshu said he will get rid of him, Ifa stated that would never work. Ifa explained that if he died then Eshu would die as well and if he transformed then so will Eshu.
Order can not exist without disorder. Peace can not exist without chaos. The two sides are always bound to one another no matter what is done. They balance each other out on the cosmic scale and both exists to counter the other. If one grows then so does the other. If one dies then so does the other. This is why Ifa the god of order says that if he dies then so will Eshu, the god of disorder.
Eshu may cause many bad things to happen but at the end of the day good will also happen. There can always be peace found even in the most troubling of times.
