Gods & Ghouls
#30 Ananse the Spider & Micro-Mermaid
Jack travels to West Africa to share the story of Ananse the Spider! See, Ananse, it's nice to share! The story is full of lions, and leopards, and hornets! Oh, and if you listen really close Jack tells on himself for never having seen the Wizard of Oz. Then Jana has a story just as tiny as the cryptid itself! She tells us about the Mico-mermaid in this micro milestone episode 30!
Sites & Sources:
The Mythology Book - Ananse the Spider
Trail of the Trail Blog - The persistence of Bugs Bunny - (Blog post)
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- Duration:
- 27m
- Broadcast on:
- 15 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
[MUSIC] >> Live from New York, it's Saturday afternoon. >> My God, you're welcome to episode 30 of Gods and Ghouls. >> Where we talk about the aforementioned Gods and Ghouls. >> I think after 30 episodes, they might know. >> I just got a nice call. >> I'm going to just got a nice call. My cousin is engaged as of today. >> Yay. >> They both proposed to one another and they didn't even know it. >> No, they did it. >> Very cute. And then, so one of the buddies that was there, video chatting me. And said that he listens to the podcast if he ever just wants to like hear a nice giggle so. >> That makes sense. >> You know who you are, this is for you. >> [LAUGH] >> We don't name names here. >> Nah, nah, nah, I'm sure that's fine. So, speaking of names. >> Okay. >> [LAUGH] >> Transitions, what a transition. >> It's heard. Today we're going to another culture. We are going to West Africa, and I'm going to talk to you about the Anazi myth of. >> I don't even know what that is. >> He is, he's a trickster God. >> Oh God. >> But sometimes a lot of his stories will be classified as folklore. But he is the son of the sky God. So that's why it's considered mythology. So it's mythology if it has to do with a God or something super, just like a higher being. It's folklore if it does not. Think of Johnny Appleseed as a good example, where, okay, that's folklore. It's like pretty, it's a story that you tell. It's almost like thought of as a myth, but there are no gods involved. So that's why, that's the loose distinguishing line between folklore and mythology. >> That's golden already? >> Yeah. So the story comes out of West Africa, or a modern day Ghana. And a lot of these stories also came to the Americas. So the southern United States, and then the Caribbean during the slave trade. So a lot of these stories are pretty prolific in the Caribbean. So a lot of the sources we'll talk about like, okay, how these were retold in Jamaica, and things like that. So the Yami is the sky God of the Asante people. And this sky God is the repository of all stories and knowledge. So every piece of wisdom this God holds and owns. The people didn't know any stories of how things came to be. So they didn't have any wisdom on their own, because their God was once again holding all of it. Here comes in Annanci. So he is the son of the sky God. He is a spider. Sometimes, sometimes he's a human, and then sometimes he is a combination of the two. >> I hate all of it. >> And he was a part of this conversation of, okay, well, why don't we know any of our stories? Well, who has the stories? The Yami has them. So he inspired her form. We, we, the part in the movie I will close my eyes. He weaved a web that would take, that would take him up to the sky God. And then he confidently walked, or I guess, crawled? >> Ew, no. >> Pitter-pattered. >> I hate that fucking sound. Every time I hear that, my ear is a bug. I got it close to my eyes. It's always a spider. It's literally always a spider. That wet, like, it literally sounds, you know, like sound studios, I find that's so fun. Anyway, it literally sounds like someone like, like wet, like a head of, like a, like a, like a, what are they? A heart of Romaine? Like, what happens if it stops Romaine? >> Yeah. >> And just just like wagging it around. That's what it sounds like today. It just sounds like lettuce. >> Ooh. >> Like wet lettuce. >> Ooh. >> Yeah. >> So, I don't know what it is. I don't ever want to look it up because they're going to obviously show me pictures of spiders. So, so, if you hear what lettuce, know that your death is imminent. He goes up to Niamé and says, I want all the stories. So Niamé kind of just laughs at them because it's, but he laughs at them but it's almost, he's almost impressed by how bold a request it is. They're saying, hey, I want all the wisdom in the world. Can I have it? >> Right down. >> So, Niamé says, well, he, well, he, he, he, he entertains it. It says, you can have all this knowledge if you bring me four things. I want a python, a leopard, a swarm of hornets, and a fairy. >> A fairy. >> So, first, Anazi, he goes for the python. He goes and stands in your hole where he knows a python lives and kind of just says out loud. There's no way this is the longest spot, like, sorry, there's no way this is the longest snake in the land. Like, it's not even longer than, than this branch. And he kind of just like ponders to himself out loud knowing that the python can hear him and the python says, hey, excuse you. I'm the longest one. I'm way longer than that thing and I'm going to prove it to you. So, the snake lies down and, like, stretches himself all the way out so Anazi can get a full measurement. And then, but the snake is, like, twitching because it's hard for it to stay perfectly straight for a long time. So Anazi says, hey, I'm actually really struggling to get this benefit. Do you mind if I lightly tie you down on the branch just so, just so you, you stop twitching? Python says, okay, he never takes the measurement. He ties that sucker down to the branch and, and brings him off to Niyama. So, python check. The next is the leopard. This part actually reminded me of last week's story a little bit. He sets a trap, he digs a massive hole and puts leaves on top to hide it, and he does this where he knows the leopard hunts each day. The leopard falls in the hole. That's about as much anticipation as I can get out of that. And Anazi just casually walks by and the leopard's like, yo, help me out, please. I just fell in this hole, no clue how it got here. Sure had nothing to do with you. Can you please help me? And Anazi says, okay. And Anazi, like, puts out like a little rope of, what's it called, a rope of spider web. And the leopard grabs onto it, but it snaps. So Anazi says, well, I can, it'll take me a little bit of time, but I can make more of a basket. And then you can sit in that. Then I can pull you up and that won't break, because it'll be much stronger. Leopard says, okay. Anazi loads down the basket. And the leopard jumps in it. And the leopard doesn't know this, but he can't get out of this basket because it's a spider web. So Anazi's pulling it up. And then Leopard says, thank you very much. Because he can't get out, Anazi closes up the rest of the basket, takes him off to Neame. I like that it's less infuriating than Loki. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, okay, this makes, okay, this makes sense. It's not like pranks that are like devastating. Yes. It's like just being clever. Exactly. I like the way he put that. He's not just pulling pranks. He has a defined goal that isn't just a fuck with you. I shaded off your wife's head because I thought it'd be funny. Yeah, like fuck you, Loki. I will never ever, I'll never forgive it. You remember what's next? The leopard, the not the fairy, the fairy's last. The swarm. Oh, this is one of my friggin' hornets. No, that's where I'll be the farthest way. The spider and the swarm of hornets. You'll never catch me. You'll never catch me over there. Whatever corner of the world that is, fuckin' no. Are you kidding me? No. That's nightmare fuel. That is nightmare fuel and anaphylactic shock. No, thank you. No. The, so Anazi goes to where he knows there's a hornet's nest and this one's really clever. He puts some water in his mouth and starts like spitting it really lightly at the hornet's nest. So a little bit of water gets in and then he starts pattering the ground with his spider legs and he goes out, "Oh, it's gonna rain. It's gonna rain if there's a bunch of rain coming, huge storm, huge storm." And then the hornets are like, "Ah, that's no good." And Anazi says, "Hey hornet's, if you want, I have an empty gore that will give you shelter during the rain storm." And the hornets say, "Oh, yo, we are so happy you are here." And they go into his gourd, it's like a, I think it's like a hollowed out container with one opening. And then he plugs it shut and Anazi has gotten his swarm of hornets without getting stung. Oh my god. And brings it up. Alright, next time. Teniyama. I see any stinger bugs. I'll be like, "Look, go to this gourd over here." Yeah. Talk to them in English and say, "Hey, I got a gourd." First get close enough where you can spit water onto there. The next one is the fairy. So he puts out a doll and covers it in sap, a doll of a young child covers it in sap and then leaves an offering for the fairy. So eventually the fairy comes and says, "I'll think your little child is offering." And then it's like, "Wait, why is it?" I know the child can see me, "Why are they not saying anything or reacting to me?" So then the fairy taps the child on the shoulder. The child was covered in sap, so the fairy is now stuck and Anazi has gotten his fourth and final. Oh my god. That was so much fun. And he's still searching for the fairy today. Like it was really how I expected that to end, okay? This reminds me of, actually it is one of the North's stories and someone has tasked to, "I need you to bring back for me the breath of a fish." And they just named these like impossible things and reminds me of this. So Anazi goes back to Naomi and says, "Hey, I got..." "Hey, dude." "I got everything. Give me the stories." Naomi says, "Okay, deals a deal. Gives him a gourd..." Well, sorry. A gourd. Fills Anazi's gourd full of the stories. And removes the hornets and then fills it with stories. Oh yeah. He said, "Hey, the hornets are mine." I'm just thinking Loki over here. You're going to put your ear up to it and then get a swarm of hornets. And now the gourd is much bigger because this is, once you get all the knowledge, the world, all the stories, all the wisdom. And Anazi is trying to find out, "Okay, where do I put this thing?" So he finds a tall tree in the forest with really spiky bark and he's like, "This is perfect. I'm going to put it on top of that. I'm going to be able to get to it except me." And that's where I'll keep up my knowledge. So he is carrying this massive gourd once again. I think the paint, the mental image, spider legs, human torso, a centaur, but for spiders. And he's carrying it up, but he finds that he can get most of the way up, but then the gourd is just too big where he can't like navigate it around a couple branches. And his Anazi's son had been, one of his sons, Tikumba, had followed him into the forest and was laughing at his dad because his dad, Anazi, wasn't able to get this gourd up to the top of the trees. And the kid said, "Why don't you tie it behind you so that you can use your arms to climb and then reach to the top?" And Anazi was angry that his son had followed him and then seen him repeatedly fail and then only finally suggested an alternative. So Anazi said, "Okay, let me actually listen to this kid." He starts rearranging the gourd so instead of like front of it, it might be a bit behind him, loses control, the face can is looking at him anyway, and it falls to the ground. It breaks and right as it breaks a massive storm hits the forest, heavy rain comes with it. Actual rain this time, not just, "Hey Hornets, it's raining and I'm spitting on you." And the rain spread the knowledge all over the world. As I was hoping. So people got their stories. I was like, "Why keep it away from people? Why go through all that trouble of getting it for the people to then gate keep it?" Well, he didn't get it for the people. The people said, "Oh, we don't have it," and he said, "Well, I want it." I thought he meant like, "I'll get it for us. I thought it was a team." No. "Well, good. I'm glad you're stupid gourds." No, she's stupid spiders. Spiders are always evil. And then, at this story, like he has some pretty, it's never maybe Charlotte. Aw. She's the only spider that I approve of. Yeah. No, that's sweet. The story, he has some pretty bad traits of his greed, but in general, he's mostly known for his cleverness. And he did realize, however, after the gourd fell and said, "Okay, I don't have the knowledge anymore or everyone has it." He realized that all the wisdom in the world wasn't worth anything if a child could have solved the problem, which I like that. And then, another shorter story about Anazi that I thought was cool, because he's a trickster. He's very used to fighting hierarchies and fighting big positions of power. And there's one story where it's The Lion, The Tiger, and Anazi. Oh, my. And they are saying, "That's for the peppers, that jumps for a specific group of people." And The Lion says, "I'm a king, Tiger, you're number two, Anazi, you're number three." The Tiger says, "Okay, I agree with this." And Anazi says to The Lion, "Hey, the Tiger, I think you're the real deal. I think you're the real king." But The Tiger, he said he reads, but he really does it. He's trying to overthrow you. So The Lion says, "Oh, my, thank you so much." The Lion then goes and kills The Tiger and the Anazi says, "King Lion, you're amazing. Here's a sip of water, because I know that it was just, you just spent a lot of energy, so I want to serve you, and then you can relax." Well, while The Lion was killing The Tiger and Anazi poisoned the water, and then The Lion dies and Anazi is the king of the jungle. And now, and the Asati people, like, as I mentioned, from Monte de Ghana, and as they're brought over to the Caribbean and the southern states of the US, and other parts of the Americas, but chiefly those, these Anazi stories morphed into the Brere Rabbit stories as people were brought to America. So that's why Brere Rabbit's always a trickster, and there's also a story. I'm almost telling one when I was a kid. It's like in one of our kids' books. Wow, that's just horribly sad. And Brere Rabbit even has a tar baby story. Yeah, that's the story. So that comes... I'll remember it if I hear it. That's... Oh, I have not heard it in a billion, a billion years, but you know... Oh, yeah. And Brere Rabbit was at the template for Bugs Bunny, so every time you see Bugs Bunny saying, what's up, Doc? He's actually an Anazi saying, "Hey, Naomi, give me the stories." It's really cool how that... Whoa. Now, there's that single thread between all them. Well, cool might not be the word to use. Interesting. Interesting. Yeah. The origins are definitely not right. Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, I guess the origins are great. The reason that we have them here and morphed into Bugs Bunny is not great. Yes. The origin of Bugs Bunny is not great. It's not great. Holy crap. Wow. Okay, June, I'm gonna... So for our listeners, June is sleeping on my hands and now I have to move my hands and she's not gonna like that. Yeah, Janice, hands are the pillow. I... I need to move my hands so I can grab them. How about I'll switch it out. In the end, Janice. One, two, three. All right. Totally didn't work. All right. So my story here, today, mine is really short and sweet so it's a really fast one, like maybe five minutes, whoops, but I just thought it was fun. You know, it's like weird, it's kooky. All righty. So, and this is from the site, what is it, like crypto, crypto-dom or whatever, it's like a fandom site, but there's like one specific corner of it that's like for cryptids, it's very fun. But this is like almost entire, like, well, I think it's basically entirely from this site. There's just like not a lot of info on it and you'll hear why, but it's just like almost entirely from Finn. The one and only reported sighting of a micro-mermaid was a 15-year-old girl in 1997, a micro-mermaid in the Philippine Islands. Now what is a micro-mermaid one might ask? It is a mer creature, but very small. It's multi-armed and is a fish like humanoid. According to Sophie, Sophie is the name of the 15-year-old girl who spotted the creature. According to Sophie's report, every Sunday, she and her family would travel to Fort Bonifacio in Makari City in order to go fishing. Her uncle taught her how to catch fish. His method was to place a net between two rocks and then the natural flow of water would force the smaller fish into that net. Then-- Is that a say that again? So he would place a net in between two rocks, like, you know, just like gapping a little bridge, water bridge between two rocks, and then, of course, the natural flow of water, whatever little tiny fish caught in the net, ta-da. Then after a while, they would retrieve the net and examine what was caught during one of the many net retrieval expeditions, Sophie saw something that she would never forget. Sophie had trapped a net full of wriggling fish and what she described as, quote, "a looking fish moving in an upward motion, away from the other fish." At first, I thought it was a newt or a salamander or just my imagination because it was only a half an inch in size. It was transparent in color, almost see-through. And intrigued by her discovery, Sophie focused in on her newly acquired creature. She tried to convince herself that this was nothing more than a typical sea creature or debris, but upon closer inspection, she realized that what she was looking at was definitely some creature of unknown origins. Quote, "As I looked at it, or as I looked for it again, I was amazed. Looking closely at it, his face was elongated like an alien with white big eyes, small nostrils, but without the physical form of a human nose. Its mouth had small, sharp teeth." I'm thinking bolder more. Okay, it's much smaller, the mini mermaid. The mini mermaid had three arms on each side of its torso and each hand had three fingers. It's like six arms on this little tiny, little tiny thing. Sophie also described its serpent tail, which was used to swim kind of in a seahorse-like fashion. When Sophie then tragically watched in horror as the other fish trapped in the bag devoured what may have been the zoological find of a millennia. Sadly, she claims that she has yet to find another specimen, and now there are many species of both freshwater and saltwater fish that could possibly be an explanation. The popular theories are that of the mud skipper, the haubu, or haubu, I think it's haubu, and the Mexican walking fish. But none of these explain the human-like shape or hand-like appendages that Sophie described. So although this creature has never been seen again, and Sophie has never discovered another specimen of this kind, in a fantastic world populated by huge ape-like creatures, or ape-man-like creatures, colossal sea serpents and lake monsters, one has to wonder how many mini monsters have managed to slip through the cracks unnoticed. I like that many monsters. Many monsters. The micro mermaid. So that's just the story of the micro mermaid. Thanks, Sophie. Oh, that was neat. I thought that it would have gotten away from the net. Yeah. Well, I mean, she's like holding it and staring at what she's like can't believe her eyes. Yeah. It's probably a minute of itself, you know, like the whole time, and other fish are trapped in there. And it's only like, she's got half an inch, so it's teeny. And so she's like, "No, what am I looking at?" Yeah. And then... The fish. The fish eat it. Red. Red. Not crazy. Oh yeah. Micro mermaid, maximum impact. Thank you, everyone, for coming to episode 30. Okay. Like silently back here. Ah, yes. Okay. Episode 30. You know, maybe as a tip of the hat to a small micro milestone for the 30th episode, it had a micro cryptid. And with spooky season coming up, let us know if there are any particular stories that you'd like us to talk about, because it's a really fun time of year to talk about myths and cryptids. Yeah, definitely. Email us at godsandgoalspodcast@gmail.com or follow us on TikTok and Instagram. I'm pretty sure the out-term message says that as well, but just to tell you here. Yeah, we have an Instagram and TikTok under gods and ghouls. You'll find us. Cue the music. Thanks for listening to the gods and ghouls podcast. We will have new episodes each week. And for news and updates, you can find us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube at godsandgoulspodcast. You can also email us at godsandgoulspodcast@gmail.com for any stories you'd like to share or any details you'd like us to cover. Thanks!