Across African Skies Part 2

We go stargazing in part 2 of the Across African Skies Series. No topic I have investigated for Mythological Africans has delighted me more than African star folklore. It is sad, hilariously messy and deliciously intricate. Some tidbits:

• In San (Botswana) folklore, stars are made each time a little child dies.

• In Ndòwé (Equatorial Guinea) folklore, after a whole lot of relationship drama, the Sun (Vyoyi or Joba), the Moon (Ngande), the Evening Star (Konde a Ngande i.e. Moon's favorite wife) and her twin sister the Morning Star (Nyalangwa), are all exiled to the sky, blown away by the Wind (Ngunga). Listen to that story here.

• The names of certain stars in Ndòwé folklore are ideophones:

  • Jupiter - Monanga a Tongolongo or Nyeteti a Ndongolongo i.e. Big Imposing Star

  • Sirius - Monanga a Madolo or Mononga a Etyenda or Ngunye i.e. Brightest Star, Star of a Journey

  • Polaris - Monanga a Nyatanyata i.e. Ever Shining

• In Merazig (Tunisia) folklore, certain stars and constellations are thought to have originated from one primordial star known as Sahel which divided to give birth to Treyya (the Pleiades Constellation), Seyfra (the constellation of Capricorn), Zowza (Betelgeuse in the Orion Constellation), Merzem (the Canis Major constellation including Sirius and Canis Minor), Trif and Jebah (the constellations of Cancer and Lion), and Sahel (Canopus).

Star Map of Southern African Constellations from A Collection of Curricula for the STARLAB African Mythology Cylinder

In this episode, we spend some extra time with the Pleiades whose glittery smear on the night sky has enchanted people across the world and also inspired many stories from African people. The Kel Tamasheq (AKA Tuareg) of North and Western Africa call them the six “girls of the night” with individual names for each bright star: Mâteredjrê, Erredjeàot, Mâteseksek, Essekâot, Màtelarhlarh and Ellerhâot. Meanwhile to the Nyaturu of Tanzania, the Pleiades are Kiimia, “The Ploughing Stars” or “The Digging Stars”. A Nyaturu proverb goes: “If the Digging Stars set in sunny weather they rise in rain, if they set in rain they rise in sunny weather.”

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did creating it!