#Anansesem

[senafrost]

KWEKU ANANSE NE NYAME ABASƐM: KWEKU NE ONINI MU NSƐMNSƐM

AUTHOR’S NOTE Read the prequel KWEKU ANANSE NE NYAME ABASƐM PROLOGUE We were present in the beginning, with curiosity and cunning,  As the Ancients carved the earth, the seas, and the heavens. Yea, we were there, upon our four feet, when the fruit was consumed. We were cast down, to writhe upon our bellies, Slithering, as our legs did wither, turning into nought. My sister and I, we did…

[obengwoha]

Kosɛ, kosɛ; Asɔnsuaso ba Kwaa Gyebi nenam Gyamase

Amakye Dede kaa asɛm wɔ ne dwom bi mu. Na asɛm no mu ɛyɛ duru. Ɛna ɛwɔ nkyerɛaseɛ beberee. Na me nsoso mayi asɛm a, mede ayɛ Anansesɛm a, mereba abɛto akyerɛ wo.

Ebi a, asɛm no bɛfa wo ho; kafra. Na sɛ ɛmfa wo ho nso a, asɛm biara nni hɔ a, ɛkyiri afutuo. Wobɛ tumi ama wo nua bi abɛtie bi.

Ɔkaa sɛ: “Kosɛ, koseɛ, Asɔnsuaso ba Kwaa Gyebi nenam Gyamase”. Asɛm wei, ɛmu ɛyɛ duru. Ɛne sɛ, mmerɛ bi na Asɔnsuaso woo ne ba Kwaa Gyebi. Na abrabɔ mu bɛyɛɛ den. Na Asɔnsuaso hwɛ dinn sɛ, ɛkɔm bɛde ɔne ne ba deɛ; ɛneɛ dabi. Ɔbɛtu bata akɔ pɛ aduane. Ɛsan sɛ, anoma antu (ankɔ) a, ɔbua da.

Na na Kwaa Gyebi yɛ akwadaa mono a, ne ho nnya mfifiriɛ mpo. Nti Asɔnsuaso kraa ne ba yi sɛ: “Kwaa Gyebi, ɛnyɛ sɛ anka mɛgya wo hɔ akɔ. Nanso, mankɔ a, yɛbɛ bua ada; yɛ mmienu bɛwu. Enti meretu bata makɔ pɛ aduane aba. Ebi a, mentumi mma nnɛ, efiri sɛ, baabi a, merekɔ no kwan ware. Na sɛ mantumi amma bio mpo a, Nyankopɔn nhwɛ wo so.” Asɔnsuaso ne ne ba yi nyinaa suueɛ. Ɛna ɔne no dii nkra.

Asɔnsuaso kɔɔ akyiri yie. Ɛsan sɛ, na ɔpɛ asi. Na ne ti yɛɛ yie. Ɔkɔ nyaa aduane yi bi. Na ɔrena no, adeɛ bɛsaa no wɔ kwan mu. Ɔnhunu baabiara. Enti sɛ wanhwɛ yie, ɔde ne tiri bɛkɔ akɔ pem dua bi mu ama ne kɔn mu abu. Enti ɛbɛyɛ deɛ a, ɔbɛpɛ dua bi nkom ada. Na sɛ ɛyɛ Nyame pɛ a, anɔpa tutuutu watoa n’akwantuo so.

Ɔkɔ tweree dua bi nkon mu. Ɔtweree dua bi nkon mu, na saa anadwo no, ahum kɛseɛ bi tuuiɛ, ɛma mframa bɔɔeɛ, ɛma nnua bubuui.

Na Asɔnsuaso tiri anyɛ yie ɛma dua bi panyɛ ɛbɛfɛɛ ne nan. Na ɛyɛ awerɛhosɛm. Asɔnsuaso suueɛ, teaa mu, pɛɛ mmoa. Nanso na mframa ne ahum a atu no nti, obiara mpo ante.

Na mmom ɔyɛɛ n’adwene sɛ, sɛ ɔbɛyɛ a ɔbɛgaye aduane no mu paa ara deɛ, ɛneɛ aduane no ɛmmɔ n’ano na ɔnwu.

Ɛkɔ duruu sɛ, ɛwuo ara na ɔbɛwu, ɛsan sɛ, na ɔnya ɔgyefoɔ. Na mmom ɔka kyerɛɛ neho sɛ: "Awurade, mede me ba Kwaa Gyebi hyɛ wo nsa. Na mmom aduane a, ɛbɔ m’ano yi deɛ, mennyae nto ɛfam. Na menim sɛ ɛda bi, Kwaa Gyebi bɛnya nkwa. Na ɔbɛ sɔre. Na ɔbɛba abɛhunu sɛ aduane yi bɔ m'ano. Mpo sɛ ɔbɛhunu sɛ me nkranpan na aka a, ɔbɛhunu sɛ meyɛɛ deɛ mɛtumi nyinaa. Me nsa na anso m'akyi." Ɛna Asɔnsuaso wuuiɛ.

Na saa anadwo no, na ɔwɔ bi ayɛ n'adwene sɛ, ɔbɛkɔ akɔkye Kwaa Gyebi ɛne ne maame ɛwɔ ne buo mu ɛde akɔma ne mma. Na Kwaa Gyebi nkoara na aka no ɛbuo no mu.Na nsuo no boo no. Na werɛ aho, ɛresu refrɛ ne maame. Na adwene bi baa ne tiri mu sɛ, ɔbɛtena ɛbuo no mu awu deɛ, ɛneɛ ɔbɛpere atɔ ɛfam. Na ɛyɛ bi a, ɔbɛnya aduane bi atasetase.

Anoma yi pereɛ ara; Kwaa Gyebi pereɛ ara na ɔte tɔɔ ewira yi ase. Ɔnenam ewira yi ase awerɛho-awerɛho.

Na nsuo retɔ. Ɛna susaa nso atwa ne ho ahyia. Na ɔhunuu sɛ, ɔwɔ bi name wɔnom buo no ho a, ɔrebɛpɛ wɔnom amene wɔnom, ɔne ne maame.

Ɔse: "a! Ɛneɛ sɛ wantɔ fam a, anka ɔwɔ yi de no bɛyɛ ha name." Enti ɔhunuu sɛ, dabi, susaa yi a ɛrekɔ yi deɛ, "mempre nkɔ tɔ mu, na baabi ara ɔbɛgyae ne ato no deɛ, asaase biara nkyiri funu. Mewu tɔ ɛhɔ a, mɛkɔ akɔhyia me maame".

Ɛna ɔpereɛ ara na ɔkɔtɔɔ susaa yi mu. Ɛna susaa yi de no name ɛwura yi mu kakra kakra, ɛna ɛkɔ gyaee no too baabi. Na ɛnam nsuo a ɛtɔɔ anadwo no, anoma bi perebuo te tɔɔ ɛfam, a ne mma nso egu mu.

Kwaa Gyebi yɛɛ sɛ, sɛ deɛ ne mma yi ho nni nwii no deɛ, ɔno nso bɛkɔ akɔfra wɔnom mu. Na sɛ nnomaa yi maame ba, wabɛhwɛ wɔnom nyinaa afra. Enti ɔperee ara kɔhyɛɛ ebuo yi mu bi.

Na anoma no baaeɛ no, ɔbɛtamm ɛbuo yi de sɛnn dua foforɔ so, a ɔrehwɛ wɔnom. Enti ɛkɔbaa sɛ, mmerɛ rekɔ no ara no, nnomaa yi ho hyɛɛ aseɛ sɛ, ɛrefu. Ɛna anoma maame yi bɛhunuu sɛ: "dabi, anoma foforɔ bi abɛfra me mma yi". Wɔnom ntakara no ɛnsɛ. Na ɛkyerɛ sɛ, Kwaa Gyebi ɛyɛ ɔhɔhoɔ ɛwɔ ne mma mu. Enti ɔyii Kwaa Gyebi ɛna ɔtoo no tweneeɛ.

Kwaa Gyebi, saa mmerɛ na wahyɛ aseɛ refu ntakara. Na ɛnsoso, na ɔnnuruu sɛ ɔtu. Kwaa Gyebi hunuu sɛ, deɛ aduru no, ɔnoara apere antu a, ɔbɛwu. Enti ɔhyɛɛ aseɛ sɛ ɔnoara ankasa retu. Ne mpɔn mu nyɛ den, nanso ɔbɛyɛ deɛ ɔbɛ tumi biara sɛ ɛbɛyɛ a, ɛkɔm nku no.

Ɔpereeɛ ara; Kwaa Gyebi de nkakra-nkakra. Nyame adom, Kwaa Gyebi anwu. Ɔbɛ nyiniiɛ. Na da koro, ɔnam ara na ɔkɔ sii dua bi so. Ɛna ɔhunuu sɛ, nkranpan bi kura aduane bi mu. Ne yam hyee no. Ɔtwe bɛn nkranpan no na ɔhunuu sɛ: “a! Me maame Asɔnsuaso nnie”. Anoma yi suui ɛna ɔse: “a! Me yam nti na me maame abɛwu aka dua yi mu yi”.

Ɔsuuiɛ, ɛna ɔkɔ hweteree ɛfam baabi, ɛna ɔyii ne maame nkranpan kɔ guu mu, na ɔkataa so. Ɛna ɔkaa sɛ: “Mama woyɛɛ sɛ deɛ wobɛ tumi ayɛ sɛ wode aduane bɛbrɛ me. Nanso mmerɛ ne nkrabea, ɛwɔ Nyame hɔ, woantumi. Na mmom aduane yi a asɛe yi, mɛdi ahyɛ wo din animoɔnyam. Ɛsan sɛ, me nti na wobɛ wuuiɛ. Ɛna Asɔnsuaso gyee aduane yi, ɛba ɔdiiɛ. Ɛna ɔkataa ne maame so.

Wonim? Deɛ Onyame bɛyɛ biara yɛ. Yɛn mu beberee wɔ hɔ a, deɛ yɛfiri be abusua a, yɛfiri mu, awofoɔ bi a wɔwoo yɛn no, wɔnom pereeɛ ara sɛ anka wɔn nsa bɛso y'akyi. Na ɛnsoso, wɔn ahoɔden antumi. Yɛn mu beberee wɔnom anka wɔbɛ dware y'kyiri no, yɛ ammɛto wɔn. Enti anoma foforɔ bi na ɔhwɛɛ yɛn. Nanso obi bɛyɛ wo yie a, na ɛnte sɛ wo maame.

Na ɛnsoso, Nyame nim neɛ nti a, ɔyɛ ne biribi ara. Sɛ Asɔnsuaso ne ne ba amfiri buo no mu, anka ɔwɔ no bɛwee wɔnom nyinaa. Ɔyi biribi firi hɔ, na ɔde biribi ahyɛ anan mu.

Ebi a na wo nsa anso w'akyiri adwareɛ. Na ensoso woapere ara sɛ, woanyɛ no saa, ɛnyɛ yie. Enti woara apere na sɛ ɛnɛ, woaduru mpɛnpɛnsoɔ bi a, da Nyame ase. Deɛ ɛbɛsi biara yɛ. Amma no saa, anka ɛnyɛ.

Nyame nkyekyere obiara a, wahwere ne maame werɛ. Na yɛn a, yɛ anso tuo, nanso yɛ peteeɛ tuuɛ, Nyame adom, yɛ anwu na yɛ te ase no, yɛ ntwa yɛ ani nkɔhwɛ yɛ akyi. Na anka wɔn bɛtumi a, anka wɔnom yɛɛe. Na wɔnom antumi nti, na wɔnom gyaa yɛn agyaegyae mu.

Nyame nhyira awofoɔ biara. Wo ne Nyame nyɛ adwuma.

Ɔbɛnem 20, 2024

[bellus-spiritus]

Beautiful work by my friend Patrick @_Quarm @albertzbenda “Anasesem” a group exhibition with Conrad Egyir @conrad_egyir. #PatrickQuarm painting figures directly onto spliced and layered African print fabrics, Quarm explores questions of cultural authenticity and hybridity. “If you take an individual they are made up of several stories, several histories,” Quarm explains. “You have to dig further.” It’s also a beautiful thing that the long overdue awakening of a great hunger for black artists and their narrative and sense of esthetic is making more and more galleries wanting to be a part of this shift in giving artists from the African diaspora unprecedented exposure. All I can say is more of it as it’s about darn time! It’s still too male dominated, but even there change is finally on its way. #PatrickQuarm #albertzbenda #Anansesem #africanwaxprint #africanprints #ghanaian #ghana #contemporaryafricanart #africancontemporaryart #africanart #blackartists #poc #africanamerican #blackexcellence #blackness #blackbeauty #blackhistory #blackculture #culture #artlover #artcollector #artcurator #artadvisor #artadvisory #destineeross @desti.knee & #joakimvonditmar (at Albertz Benda) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Hd4GPF1wQ/?igshid=yo7hexknd5ae

[spidersaregood-blog]

Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom

[akotowaa]

I should have written this blog post long ago. Instead, here I am, announcing a project on the day it launches. Because, you know, life. Anyway.

Do you remember Kuukua Annan from the OTC short story series? Because I remember being asked why Kuukua’s cousin, Ntiwaa, always had to be in every story somehow. Well, for all you curious minds, here’s your answer: Green Green Grasses.

  As soon as I finished writing Kuukua and the Magical Markers, I knew this podcast had to fokn camon. Approximately 1 year and 4 months since the conception of the idea, it’s about to go live!

Green Green Grasses is a scripted podcast, which means it’s entirely audio, but like, dramatic in a similar way as a play on a theater stage is dramatic. It’s 8 stories of Anansesem (you probably figured that out from the name if you grew up where I grew up), coming out every Wednesday (the Sacred Day of the Ananse, which you’ll know if you’ve read Kuukua’s stories) until the episodes finish. Each episode is loosely based on a Kuukua story in consecutive order. Real ones can probably figure out which folklore characters correspond with OTC characters.

  Honestly, I think my only relevant roles in the GGG project were conception and scripting. Everyone else did all the important stuff. All my friends and their friends/relatives who agreed to voice act for this thing that they didn’t even fully understand yet, but somehow still killed their respective roles! My best friend, Tronomie, who, despite demonic afflictions, spent ages compiling, putting thought into audio effects, and mixing until he was probably sick of hearing everyone’s voices! I mean, I’d have gone mad if I’d had to play every line fifteen times just to get one thing right. Speaking of collaboration, GGG is being released under MoonSpider Productions, which is made up of literally two people: myself and Tronomie. OTC is an Akotowaa project, but GGG is a MoonSpider project. Does that make sense? It’s fine if it doesn’t, LOL.

Anyway, I’ve typed a lot. Watch the videos in my social media announcements, LOL. 🙂

https://twitter.com/_Akotowaa/status/1054432931266093057

View this post on Instagram

OTC: Green Green Grasses teaser! The first episode, “Why the Spider Uses its Web to Catch Food,” comes out this Wednesday, 24th Oct! Follow @moonspiderproductions on SoundCloud in preparation: soundcloud.com/moonspider, and tell a friend about the OTC site, akotowaaOTC.wordpress.com! Thanks, love you! 💜💜 Project details in previous Insta posts. … #ghana #ghanaiancreatives #ghanaianstorytelling #anansesem #greengreengrasses

A post shared by Akotowaa (@akotowaa) on Oct 22, 2018 at 11:44am PDT

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Starting this Wednesday, the max-10-min-long episodes of OTC: Green Green Grasses will come out every Wednesday for 8 weeks! 🕷 See previous & next post for more context, visit akotowaaOTC.wordpress.com for more details! Cc: @moonspiderproductions & @tronomie_. … #ghana #ghanaiancreatives #anansesem #greengreengrasses #ghanaianstorytelling

A post shared by Akotowaa (@akotowaa) on Oct 22, 2018 at 11:39am PDT

Episode 1, Why the Spider Uses Its Web to Catch Food, comes out TODAY at 5.30pm GMT.

  So like, stay tuned and dat, and follow MoonSpider on SoundCloud. 🙂 Oh, also on Twitter and Instagram, if you want to.

-Akotowaa

Announcing OTC: GREEN GREEN GRASSES I should have written this blog post long ago. Instead, here I am, announcing a project on the day it launches.

[douglagirlcreates]

Read about our @callaloothebook self-publishing journey in the December issue of Anansesem Magazine, in my article, "Creating Callaloo From Scratch" Link in bio. 👆🏾 Pic by @creeseworks #books #read #write #selfpublishing #caribbeanamerican #caribbean #kidslit #books #diversity #diversebooks #stories #writer #author #blackauthors #blackCEOS #ceos #anansesem #caribbeanlit #publishing #media #storytelling #kidsbooks #childrenspublishing #heritage #folklore

[shadowslinkercowboy]

♠

Spider wears a holo-data locket, to which he can wirelessly send pictures that he “screencaps” from his optical feed. He has quite a collection of pictures on it, of friends and family.

The most recent picture he’s (finally) added was one from Gimialla mine, of Zero and Axl scuffling playfully about something.

[yesterdayandkarma]

| Anansesem |of Akwantuo Catalog by Ghana Must Go

[scribe-of-maat]

Rick Riordan Presents Thoughts

Been working my way through these for a while now. Will continue to do so. Here’re some unasked-for thoughts. Presented in the order I read them:

Dragon Pearl - My least favorite part of this book is that the setting makes it incompatible with the Riordanverse T__T. Loved Min and her using her wits to be a trickster hero and get to where she was going to go, but I was mainly a sucker for her gumiho powers. I felt like there was still room for more with Nari, but alas seems to be one-and-done.

The Storm Runner - My first Haven’t Finished of the list. There was just something unengaging about this. I’ve tried it twice and failed. Burn me at the stake, but I couldn’t connect with Zane or his love of dogs or his and Brooks’ clonky romance. I actually haven’t even gotten to where we find out who his dad is. The way it’s written has me fighting the prose, and every time I win we get more clonky text to grind through.

Race to the Sun - My second (and so far last) Haven’t Finished of the list. The author definitely has Gen Z-speak down, but it feels fanfictionier than the others. I wish we’d spent more time at ICCS. I wish we could be getting more tidbits about other First Nations, though I’m fine with the Navajo focus. Things are happening quickly but it feels like Rebecca Roanhorse is breezing through Navajo Mythology rather than trying to build something.

Aru Shah and the End of Time - The absolute STANDOUT of the offerings so far. Heart, soul, mind, body, if you were looking for something as memorable as PJO from these, this’ll give it to you. I want to BE a Pandava, which is the ultimate feeling I enjoy most from these. A fully-fleshed out world of young heroes being trained, found sisterhood, a genderbend of the Mahabarata. Roshani Chokshi has a very obvious passion for this project. It shows, and I’m hooked.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky - The most disappointing one on this list. I did not want to go to Alke or be an Anansesem. I realize this book is written for younger audiences, but Kwame Mbalia has written the main character so that Black men born anytime from the 90s back can see themselves in him, but it’s wholly divorced from the voice younger kids have. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t a fan of Ayanna and Thandie not having arcs and Tristan’s feeling inadequately resolved. I DID like the penultimate villain, but man.

Aru Shah and the Song of Death - Again, beautiful.

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe - Pleasantly surprised! In my adult like so far I’ve been around Spanish-speakers more often and the Spanglish feels true-to-life. Culeco is a school I’d have loved to go to, even if the only supernatural thing about it is Sal (and Gabi). But not only is Sal an amazing MC, but he and Gabi play off each other so well, and even though it’s not mythology focused in the slightest it gives that same feeling of a brujo and a bruja against the world.

[ayearinfaith]

𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟲𝟯: 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶

Anansi is the spider folk hero of West African Akan origin, though the historical slave trade carried him across the Atlantic. He is depicted in the form of a spider, a human, and sometimes both. As a trickster, most of his stories involve getting the upper hand against stronger adversaries by means of his wit, though occasionally this is also the cause of his own hubristic downfall.

𝗚𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗰𝗮

Akans are a pluralistic ethnic group centered in Ghana, with the largest internal group being the Ashanti. Like many other West African cultures, indigenous Akan beliefs center around a distant supreme god, Nyame, who is only interacted with through other more earthly spirits, called Abosoms. These are similar to the Voduns/Loas of Vodun/Voodoo and the Orishas of the Yoruba religion. Anansi is sometimes counted among the Abosom, though he is rarely worshiped. Also like Vodun and Yoruba religion, the slave trade brought Akan faith to the Americas, primarily in the Caribbean. Among this diaspora the native African faiths evolved and syncretized with each other and with Christianity. Thus, Anansi can now be sometimes be found in the count of Voodoo Loas and South American Orishas. Vodun is the primary contributor of the Creole faiths of Haiti and Louisiana, Yoruba faith had the largest impact in Cuba and Brazil (Santería, Candomblé), while Akan faith was most dominate in Jamaica and its influence is still felt in surviving modern Jamaican Creole faiths. Trickster figures like Anansi are some of the best preserved aspects of the African origins of all the various Creole religions, likely because their stories of perseverance against stronger foes struck a chord with societies born into bondage.

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀

The word “Anansesem” literally means something like “spider words” in Twi, the primary language of Ashanti people. The word is often translated as “spider tales” in analogy with the English “fairy tale”. In the same way that fairy tales needn’t necessarily be about fairies, spider tales aren’t always about Anansi or and other spiders. The word’s existent is a testament to how common tales of Anansi are and his specific relationship to the concept of storytelling. Among the most well known of the Anansi legends is an explanation for this. Originally, all stories were the sole domain of Nyame, the supreme god, and he did not share them. Anansi desired the stories, and petitioned Nyame for the chance to purchase them. Amused that something so small as a spider would try to win a prize no one else could, Nyame finally conceded to name a price. The price, of course, were feats far beyond what could be expected of Anansi. He needed to capture a number of dangerous and magical creatures. Versions of the tale differ on the specific requirements, but generally a large snake, stinging insects, jungle cat, and a fairy are among the requisites. Of course, Anansi is able to use his cunning (or borrow some cunning from his wife, Aso) to trick the creatures into capture. The snake is tied up when it offers to measure itself against a tree, the insects willingly enter a jar once Anansi convinces them it will protect from the rain, and the cat gets caught in a pit trap (sometimes more than once). Anansi captures the fairy by convincing the fairy to fight with a doll covered in sticky sap, a story element with striking similarities to another trickster of African origins; Br’er Rabbit, who fights with the tar baby. Once all the requisite creatures have been tricked and bundled, Anansi returns to Nyame. True to his word, all the stories of the world were given to Anansi, and thus not only does he feature prominently in them, they are named for him as anansesem.

Image Credit: Art from Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti, Gerald McDermott, 1972

[americangodstalk]

Cultural backgrounds: Anansi

Anansi is a popular folktale character and cultural hero. He is from Ghana, originating from the tales of the Akan people. He quickly got a good place in the Ashanti mythology and his legends spread across all of West Africa, and then into the Caribbean folklore.

Sometimes called Kwaku Anansi, Kompa Nanzi or Nancy, Anansi is described as both a spider (Anansi meaning “spider” in the Akan language) and a humanoid being – his depictions ranging from fully human-looking or completely spider-like to hybrids such as a spider with human face and clothes or a man with eight limbs. He is often described as having a family: he has a wife, that bears different names according to the sources, and several sons (Ntikuma, his first-born son, Tikelenkelen, his big-headed son, Nankonhwea, his son with spindly necks and legs, and Afudohwedohwe, his big bellied son). Some story also tells of Anansewa, the beautiful daughter of Anansi that he tries to wed to the most profitable parties.

Anansi is a famous trickster, renowned for his ruses, his cunning, his talent at making speeches and his skills as an orator. The Akan consider him an Abosom (equivalent to the Yoruba orishas and Vodun loas). The Abosoms are in the Akan spirituality powerful spirits, akin to lesser gods, that helped shape the world and are a link between the mortal, earthly beings and the supreme entity that is Nyame, the Sky Father. Anansi is said to be either the son of Nyame and Asase Ya, the Earth Mother, or merely their servant and messengers. However, Anansi never received any intense worship and his divine nature was never put forward by the Akan, who felt that his role as a cultural figure and folklore hero was much more useful than his religious aspect.

Among the many legends about Anansi, two stick out the most because they each explain one of Anansi’s role in the world.

The first story explains that in the beginning the world was story-less, for all of them were kept in a box by Nyame, the Sky Father. Anansi thought the world was boring and thus went up at the top of the universe to meet with Nyame and ask from him the box of stories. Nyame, impressed that Anansi managed to reach him with his silk strings, agreed to give him the stories in exchange for the capture of extremely dangerous creatures, such as the Python, the Leopard and the Hornets. Anansi managed to capture all these deadly beings through ruses and tricks, and Nyame gave him the box. That is why today Anansi is considered the master of all stories in the world and the patron of storytellers.

The second story says that a long time ago, the clever Anansi craved for more intelligence,and set out on a quest to collect all of the knowledge in the world. Then he put all of this wisdom into a jar (or a calabash) and decided to keep it all for himself. Searching a safe place to hide his treasure, he chose to put it on top of a high tree. He tried several times to climb the tree while holding the jar, or tying it to his belly, to no use. Anansi hadn’t noticed that his son, Ntikuma, had secretly followed him, curious about what his father may be doing. When Ntikuma suddenly shouted at Anansi that to carry the pot all up to the tree, he had to carry it on his back, Anansi got a shock due to the surprise.

Here the story splits in two popular versions. In the first one, Anansi, surprised, let the jar out of his hand, and it crashed on the ground. Immediately, a storm came and its rain washed all of the world’s wisdom away in the river. Anansi, angry at his son, chased him under the rain until he realized that having all the world’s wisdom was not useful if you still needed the help of a child to do things right, and forgave Ntikuma. The other version rather has Anansi following his son’s advice, and climbing on the top of the tree with the jar, only to conclude the same thing as in the other version. He then threw the jar himself onto the ground, so that the wisdom would be free to spread in the world. This story explains why Anansi isn’t merely considered as a clever and cunning trickster, but also as a “wise” figure and the one who offered knowledge and wisdom to the world. (Some like to claim that the box of stories of Nyame and the jar of wisdom of Anansi are one and the same [1]).

But these are just two of Anansi’s many stories. Another one tells of how he created the first inanimate human body, another speaks of him as the one who brings rain in the mortal world and causes the floods. He is also considered the one who taught human how to plow and sow. A legend says he created the sun, the moon and the stars and thus was responsible for days and nights[2], and another explains that he helped Owia the Sun, youngest son of Nyame, to gain his father’s role as the chief of the world, against his two older brothers Esum the Night and Osrane the Moon, and that for his services Anansi became Nyame’s personal messenger. A last tale explains that when all of the animals in the world fought over who was the oldest, Anansi won the argument because he explained that, when his father died, he had to bury him in his own head, for the earth didn’t exist back then.

Fittingly for Anansi, master of storytelling, his survival and the spread of his popularity across the globe was due to him being part of an oral culture – unwritten traditions and stories that spread from mouth to ear in all of the western African continent before going over to the Caribbean Islands, and then the New World. Indeed, when slaves were brought over from the Caribbean and the African continent to the Americas, they told each other the stories of Anansi – the “anansesem” or “spider tales” in the Ashanti language, a specific genre of tales for children centered around the Spider adventures. Since most of these stories told of a little, weak spider turning the table on powerful oppressors through his cunning and his tricks, Anansi quickly became a symbol of resistance and survival during the slavery era – and telling his tales was a way for the slaves to keep their original identity and culture alive.

However, this transition from the Old World to the New World modified Anansi’s characterization. While in America he became a classical hero to admire, imitate and follow, originally Anansi wasn’t a paragon of moral virtues. He was a flawed character and while his stories often showed him as, indeed, the winner or the survivor of a world turned against him, sometimes Anansi brought unfortunate events upon himself or the world due to his own vices – the “anansesem” were entertaining and instructive, yes, but also a warning against how avarice and selfishness could be our own undoing.  

For example, a story explains how Anansi, supposed to find Nyame a wife among a village of beautiful maidens, decided to take all of them as his own wives without any of them for Nyame, and when the Sky Father “stole back” all of Anansi’s wives for his personal harem, the Spider unleashed all of the sicknesses existing upon the world as a way to get his revenge. Another explains that Anansi one day received meat from Death itself to feed his family. However, upon seeing that Death had endless supplies of meat (for everything living in this world belongs to Death), Anansi became greedy and stole from Death. Death, angry, followed Anansi back to punish him and while the Spider evaded it, he still brought mortality into the world of the living. A last story explains how Anansi announced to all the animals that Gun, the personification of firearms, their deadly archenemy, was dead and invited them to his funeral. What the animals didn’t know was that in fact, Gun wasn’t dead, and Anansi had borrowed him from the Hunter – thus, once all the animals were reunited, Anansi killed them all and then took their bodies to his home so that he may feast on them.

Anansi was included into the Haitan Vodou as a Gede Lwa. The Lwa or Loa, falsely called “gods” of vodou, are powerful spirits forming an in-between stage between the mortal creatures and the supreme being, while the Gede were a specific family of Loa associated with death, the afterlife and funerals. As a Loa Gede, Anansi was supposed to establish or facilitate the link between the living and their deceased ancestors. [3]

[bellus-spiritus]

@albertzbenda “Anasesem” a group exhibition with #ConradEgyir @conrad_egyir and Patrick @_Quarm exploring the palimpsestic nature of identity in an increasingly globalized society. The exhibition comprises new bodies of work by both artists, drawing from their respective experiences growing up in post-colonial Ghana and currently living in the United States. The subjects in Conrad Egyir’s paintings take on multiple staged roles: as both an antagonist and a protagonist, a parent and child, a friend and foe, or a noble and a commoner. “It is a tool that behooves the viewer to step into the multiple incarnations of each subject,” says Egyir, “in reverence of the collective human spirit. On view through October 5. It’s also a beautiful thing that the long overdue awakening of a great hunger for black artists and their narrative and sense of esthetic is making more and more galleries wanting to be a part of this shift in giving artists from the African diaspora unprecedented exposure. All I can say is more of it as it’s about darn time! Only thing is that it’s still too male dominated, but even there change is finally on its way. #albertzbenda #Anansesem #ConradEgyir #PatrickQuarm #ghanaian #ghana #contemporaryafricanart #africancontemporaryart #africanart #blackartists #poc #africanamerican #blackexcellence #blackness #blackbeauty #blackhistory #blackculture #culture #artlover #artcollector #artcurator #artadvisor #artadvisory #destineeross @desti.knee & #joakimvonditmar (at Albertz Benda) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2HhVqzlYcd/?igshid=tnqpfsnq13qc

[spidersaregood-blog]

Anansi the Spider

[callaloothebook-blog]

Read about the @callaloothebook self-publishing journey in the December issue of Anansesem Magazine, "Creating Callaloo From Scratch" by our CEO / Author, @marjuancanady Link in bio. 👆🏾 #books #read #write #selfpublishing #caribbeanamerican #caribbean #kidslit #books #diversity #diversebooks #stories #writer #author #blackauthors #blackCEOS #ceos #anansesem #caribbeanlit

[calabashofwisdom]

Ananse, also known as Anansi, Aunt Nancy, Anancy, Hapanzi, Nanzi, name given to an Akan character who has become famous throughout Africa, the countries in the Caribbean region, and beyond because of his insight, intelligence, and wisdom. He is one of the most-important figures in the pantheon of cultural icons among West Africans.

Along with his wife, Aso, Ananse can change form and may be depicted as a human, although his normal form is a spider. According to the Asante people, who are part of the larger Akan culture in western Africa, Ananse can be a trickster—that is, a personality who teaches moral, ethical, political, or social values based on his ability to lead a person to the truth through example, puzzles, and the least-expected turns and twists of fate.

The folklore surrounding Ananse appears to be quite extensive in the African communities throughout the Americas, where he is often associated with the spider or the rabbit. For example, the Anansesem or Ananse-Tori stories about Ananse’s exploits are at the core of many of the moral tales told to children in Suriname, much like the old Brer Rabbit tales were in the African American community up until the 20th century. Many of those stories have disappeared and are no longer remembered in the black communities of the Americas, but their relevance and value are undiminished in the Ghanaian context.

There are many narratives of power in the life of Ananse. He is credited in some stories with the creation of the Sun, the Moon, the stars, and the planets. In others, it is said that Ananse is the one who brought writing, agriculture, and hunting to Earth, teaching humans in the process how to take care of themselves in a world surrounded by bountiful fields and forests. So smart was Ananse, according to one narrative, that he collected all of the wisdom of the world in a calabash (gourd) to hold for himself because he did not trust humans with such potent knowledge and information. However, wisdom kept spilling out of the calabash, and he soon saw how futile it was for one person to try to know everything and to hold it for himself. In fact, it is far better, as Ananse understood, for knowledge and wisdom to be distributed among all people, so that is exactly what he did.

Another well-known tale depicts how Ananse was able to win a collection of stories, or wisdom narratives, from Nyame, the almighty creator and Sky God. In one version of the story, Ananse, in his form as a spider, approached Nyame and asked him to appoint him as the King of All Wisdom Narratives. Nyame was amazed at the audacity of Ananse and thought that if he had the courage to approach the Sky God in such a direct fashion, then he must be given a chance to prove himself. Nyame said to Ananse, “If you can catch and capture the Jaguar Who Has Dagger-like Teeth, the Hornets Who Sting like Wild Fire, the Invisible Fairy of the Forest, you will be King of the Wisdom Narratives.”

Nyame thought he had given Ananse a challenge that he would refuse, because the likelihood of anyone’s achieving success with such challenges was slight. However, Ananse agreed to the challenge. Ananse went to the jaguar and asked him to play a game that would allow Ananse to tie him up with a rope. So the jaguar agreed, and Ananse got the rope and tied him up. He tricked the hornets by telling them that it was raining; indeed, Ananse could make it rain, and he told the hornets that they could hide themselves in a calabash that he had prepared for them. Once they went into the calabash, he put the lid on it. He told the invisible fairy to fight a tar baby, and, when he did, he was stuck to the tar and could not escape. Confidently, Ananse took all of his prey to Nyame and showed him that he had succeeded in doing everything that was asked of him, whereupon Nyame named Ananse the King of All Wisdom Narratives. No one has ever been able to exceed the achievements of this wise personality since the time he was made the King of All Wisdom Narratives.

There are versions of other Ananse stories that show him being defeated or almost defeated. For example, once when he was tricked into fighting a tar baby after trying to take some food from the creature, he got stuck.

The lessons of Ananse are social, ethical, and moral and are at the core of most Akan cultural responses to society.

[shadowslinkercowboy]

™

™Are they possessive?

Yes and no. He’s not possessive of people, because he has issues from when he was younger.

But places? Hell, yes. He is very possessive of his “territory,” which consists of the city his condo is located in, and all of Gigantis. He knows everyone and everything that lives in those areas, and if an unfamiliar stranger who’s acting off enters his territory, he gets wary and suspicious until he assesses how much of a threat they may or may not be. Hello, Taloura!