Strange and obscure folklore and sayings relating animals

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

In many areas of the world monkeys are viewed as negatively or comically but in Japanese culture the monkey occupies a far more nuanced position as a symbolic animal.

In Japan the monkey has long been percieved within the indigenous religion of Shinto as a messenger of the gods (known as the "Kami"):

"This tension between contrasting cultural specifications of primates is clearly illustrated by Japanese macaques. In Japan the monkey has positive religious associations as one of the animal reincarnations of the Buddha. It is also a sacred messenger or otsukali in shinto, acting as a mediator between the kami spirits and human beings (Ishizaki 1991, 240). Ohnuki-Tierney has invoked this sacred association of the monkey in connection with crop-raiding in the past."

This association appears to have arisen due to the feeding behaviour and the habitat of the monkeys being sacred areas within the Shinto cosmovision such as mountains:

"The monkeys often shared the human habitat, coming down from the mountains into the fields. In the spatial schema of the Japanese at the time, the mountains were the abode of deities, whereas the fields belonged to the humans. The macaques ate people's crops, thus sharing their food. In this cosmos, the monkey was a sacred messenger to humansent by the Mountain Deity."

However, this does not mean that macaques are necessarily viewed as wholely positive animals in Japan and their tendency to raid crops or destroy human property and to behave aggressively to eachother or to people and be sexually uninhibited:

"However, in Japanese folklore monkeys also appear morally dubious or as inauspicious animals. The sarugami taiji (monkey spirit conquest) tale (from the twelfth century Konjaku monogatari) tells of frightening, monkey-like figures that terrorize villages and demand human sacrifices from them (Nakamura 1989, 54-55). There are many regional tales of dangerous monkey monsters or goblins in the mountains that threaten the lives of the people they encounter (Nagamatsu 1993, 15-18; Suzuki 1986, 275-80; Chiba 1995a, 45). Bad people can be punished by being transformed into monkeys (Higuchi 1991, 118). Monkeys are associated with taboo behavior in upland areas (Ue 1987, 98-99) and have the power to possess people walking through the mountains (Suzuki 1982, 298)."

In many areas of Japan these charismatic primates therefore occupy an ambiguous position which is simultaneously imbued with positive and negative characteristics which largely depend on the context.

Sources: "Monkeys on the Move: The Natural Symbolism of People-Macaque Conflict in Japan", John Knight, 1999 (Journal: The Journal of Asian Studies).


Photo credits to @Tim May, @Goura and @YuanChang.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

To the indigenous Orang Rimba hunter-gatherer peoples of South-Eastern Sumatra, Indonesia, there are strict cultural and religious taboos against the killing or eating of the siamang gibbon (known to the Orang Rimba as the "Siaamong").

This is because these lesser apes are believe to resemble too closely humans and so their hunting or consumption is considered to be barbaric and a practice that only a brutish or uncivilized tribal peoples would do.

Sources: "The Sky is our Roof, the Earth our Floor: Orang Rimba Customs and Religion in the Bukit Duabelas region of Jambi, Sumatra", Steven Sager, 2008.

Photo credits to @Moebelle and @Zooreviewsuk.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

To the indigenous Orang Rimba hunter-gatherer peoples of South-Eastern Sumatra, Indonesia, the reticulated python (known as "Ulo sawo") is an animal imbued with profound cultural and religious significance.

This is because the snake is believed to be the descendant of an earthbound spirit who first imparted to their ancestors the ability to create fire and use this for torches to see in the dark during nights in the forest.


Sources: "The Sky is our Roof, the Earth our Floor: Orang Rimba Customs and Religion in the Bukit Duabelas region of Jambi, Sumatra", Steven Sager, 2008.

Photo credit to @Hix.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

A strange folk belief exists about the barking deer ( known as the "Kijang") and sambar deer (known as the ("R'uso") within the Orang Rimba hunter-gatherer culture of South-Eastern Sumatra.

The Orang Rimba believe that if a hunter should kill one of these deer he must take special care to eat the skin around the dead animals lips, nose, ears and eyelids or he may become possessed by the animals malevolent spirit.

To be possesed by the vengeful spirit of either of these deer has devastating social consequence as it is believed to turn a man into a sexually insatiable deviant who will commit incest or adultery and thus be killed or cast out of the tribe.

Sources: "The Sky is our Roof, the Earth our Floor: Orang Rimba Customs and Religion in the Bukit Duabelas region of Jambi, Sumatra", Steven Sager, 2008.

Photo credit to @Casuarius_casuarius and @hmb_zoo.

 

[Casuarius_casuarius]

A strange folk belief exists about the barking deer ( known as the "Kijang") and sambar deer (known as the ("R'uso") within the Orang Rimba hunter-gatherer culture of South-Eastern Sumatra.

The Orang Rimba believe that if a hunter should kill one of these deer he must take special care to eat the skin around the dead animals lips, nose, ears and eyelids or he may become possessed by the animals malevolent spirit.

To be possesed by the vengeful spirit of either of these deer has devastating social consequence as it is believed to turn a man into a sexually insatiable deviant who will commit incest or adultery and thus be killed or cast out of the tribe.

Sources: "The Sky is our Roof, the Earth our Floor: Orang Rimba Customs and Religion in the Bukit Duabelas region of Jambi, Sumatra", Steven Sager, 2008.

Photo credit to @Casuarius_casuarius and @hmb_zoo.

Thank you for leading me to this amazing thread!

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Thank you for leading me to this amazing thread!

No problem and thank you for your kind words, glad you like it !

 

[Jurek7]

When you think about it, some urban legends from today West are just as strange.

That various harmless spiders, insects, reptiles and amphibians are venomous, for example that harvestmen / opilionids have powerful venom but cannt bite through human skin. That killer whales are as intelligent as humans but somehow don't show it. That hedgehogs eat apples and carry them impaled on their spines. That diverse animals can predict weather long term (like next winter) etc.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

When you think about it, some urban legends from today West are just as strange.

That various harmless spiders, insects, reptiles and amphibians are venomous, for example that harvestmen / opilionids have powerful venom but cannt bite through human skin. That killer whales are as intelligent as humans but somehow don't show it. That hedgehogs eat apples and carry them impaled on their spines. That diverse animals can predict weather long term (like next winter) etc.

Yes, I definitely agree and I do think that these kind of urban legends are a kind of continuation of mythology and storytelling about animals.

I've never heard that said about hedgehogs by the way, where did you hear that said or is it something that people say in Poland ?

 

[Cassidy Casuar]

Isn't there an old piece of folklore from either Europe or Asia which claims that rats steal chicken eggs by way of one rat lying on its back holding an egg while another rat drags the egg-holding rat back to the rat nest by its tail?

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Isn't there an old piece of folklore from either Europe or Asia which claims that rats steal chicken eggs by way of one rat lying on its back holding an egg while another rat drags the egg-holding rat back to the rat nest by its tail?

Never heard of that one @Cassidy Casuar , it sounds like a really curious folk story though and I wonder what the origin of it is.

Thanks for sharing !

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Isn't there an old piece of folklore from either Europe or Asia which claims that rats steal chicken eggs by way of one rat lying on its back holding an egg while another rat drags the egg-holding rat back to the rat nest by its tail?

One thing I have wanted to ask you is whether you can share any folk stories / beliefs regarding animals from Uzbekistan ?

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

To the Ge and Bororo indigenous peoples of the Brazilian Amazon the jaguar is a central figure within their mythology and cosmovision.

These tribes believe that their ancestors once occupied a lowly and miserable state of existence in which they hunted with their hands and teeth and ate the raw meat of their prey.

One day a benevolent jaguar saw them and took pity upon them and generously and patiently taught the tribe the art of crafting bow and arrows, using these weapons to hunt their animal quarry and how to make fire to keep warm and cook their food.

However, the jaguar by selflessly gifting these peoples his knowledge and wisdom had given away his civilized nature and consequently lost these abilities and regressed into an animalistic state in which he is believed to remain today.

This (the tribes believe) is both why the jaguar now hunts with its claws and teeth and eats the flesh of its prey raw. Moreover, it is also why the jaguar can be heard growling and roaring bitterly bemoaning his previous life now lost forever and why he occasionally will kill and eat a human out of revenge:

"The myth indicates that the human passage from nature to culture is concomitant with the jaguar’s passage from culture to nature. It can be shown that the jaguar’s fate is no mere regression to a wild state to complement the human passage to a cultural state, but emblematic of a fundamental feature of the mythic age as presented in Amerindian myth."

"Culture, in all its various forms, keeps humans in contact with the sacred – the mythic age or its spatial counterpart, the heavenly otherworld, from which it was brought or stolen. By doing so, it prevents humans from sharing the fate of the jaguar, the former master of culture: that of being absorbed completely into the natural world in which they must live. Cooking fire and other forms of culture enable humans to maintain an intermediate position between the sacred world of pure culture, and the present world of pure nature."



Source: "The Bird-Nester, the Jaguar and the Fire-Theft: A New Approach to the Culture-Nature Dimension in Amazonian Myth", Deon Liebenberg, 2016(Journal: Journal of the Anthropology of Lowland South America).


Photo credits to @Therabu and thanks to @Julio C Castro for the reminder.

 

[Cassidy Casuar]

One thing I have wanted to ask you is whether you can share any folk stories / beliefs regarding animals from Uzbekistan ?

Not really, unfortunately.

I faintly remember being told that there are giant "King Cobras" in Uzbekistan that live in caves (though I might have thought up that detail myself) and are dangerous to humans. I remember looking up the distribution of actual King Cobras and being miffed when I found out that they don't live anywhere near Uzbekistan. I have no idea whether there actually is a big snake species in Uzbekistan that could have inspired that myth, but I suppose it would be interesting to know.

 

[Jurek7]

I've never heard that said about hedgehogs by the way, where did you hear that said or is it something that people say in Poland ?

This story is written by ancient Greek Pliny, and still found all over Europe especially in visual art. Google images for 'hedgehog apple' and you will find plenty of photoshopped images.

Another remarkably old Western legend is that Egyptian Plover enters mouths of crocodiles with impunity to pick food leftovers from their teeth. Sometimes another bird species takes this role. The story dates back to at least Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) but is still found in modern photoshopped images. It was never actually observed, despite ornithologists and birdwatchers well knowing about this myth.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Though the hedgehog is often viewed today as a comical, clumsy and cute animal across much of the world to the Berber culture of Algeria and Morocco the North African hedgehog (known as "innsi") is a rather more complex animal that is afforded much respect.

The hedgehog is an admirably cunning trickster in Berber folk stories who outwits even the jackal, fox and wolf in guilefulness and with his intricate strategems invariably always gets his revenge on an adversary.

As such the quills and iconography of the little desert hedgehog is incorporated into amulets that are often worn by Berber people and believed to afford the wearer protection against evil and trickery.


Sources: Right and left in the Atlas mountains: dual symbolic classifications among Moroccan Berbers, David M Hart,1999 (Journal: Journal of North African Studies).

Photo credit to @Giant Eland.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

In the language of the Nso’ peoples of Cameroon the name / word for the tree pangolin "woómé" is also the verb "to be shy / bashful".

The verb has arisen due to an observation of the animals behaviour because when the tree pangolin is picked up by a human it bends / hides its head under its arm as a defensive action.

This the Nso' believe strongly resembles the bashful behaviour / body language of an embarrassed or timorous human being.

Sources: "Lam Nso’ Ethnozoology circulation draft", Roger Blench, 2014.

Photo credit to @Ituri.

 

[Dassie rat]

I’m going to be writing a piece of fiction on the Aye-aye and have been researching the superstitions regarding them. The only thing I’d add to this is that there’s a belief that if the Aye-aye points it’s longest/middle finger at a person, they’re marked for death. One can only imagine the debate that would break out if a group encountered one, as to which one of them it was pointing at.

Many years ago, I wrote an article about myths and legends associated with Madagascan animals.

Please note that the aye-aye's middle (3rd) finger is the thinnest finger. Its 4th finger is the longest.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Many years ago, I wrote an article about myths and legends associated with Madagascan animals.

Please note that the aye-aye's middle (3rd) finger is the thinnest finger. Its 4th finger is the longest.

@Dassie rat it would be great if you could share it on this thread, well if you don't mind doing so ?

I would certainly be interested in reading it.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Not really, unfortunately.

I faintly remember being told that there are giant "King Cobras" in Uzbekistan that live in caves (though I might have thought up that detail myself) and are dangerous to humans. I remember looking up the distribution of actual King Cobras and being miffed when I found out that they don't live anywhere near Uzbekistan. I have no idea whether there actually is a big snake species in Uzbekistan that could have inspired that myth, but I suppose it would be interesting to know.

That is interesting, yes, King cobras are definitely not native to Uzbekistan but perhaps it was a different species ?

For example there is the Caspian cobra (not native to Uzbekistan apparently but present in neighbouring Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and the Central Asian cobra (which is definitely native to Uzebkistan).

Perhaps it could have been one of these cobra species which was the subject of these myths ?

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

This story is written by ancient Greek Pliny, and still found all over Europe especially in visual art. Google images for 'hedgehog apple' and you will find plenty of photoshopped images.

Another remarkably old Western legend is that Egyptian Plover enters mouths of crocodiles with impunity to pick food leftovers from their teeth. Sometimes another bird species takes this role. The story dates back to at least Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) but is still found in modern photoshopped images. It was never actually observed, despite ornithologists and birdwatchers well knowing about this myth.

Yes, now you mention it I do remember this myth by Pliny or at least seeing images of it in medieval bestiary illustrations but I hadn't heard of it being a contemporary myth in Eastern Europe.

The myth about the Egyptian plover I definitely remember as I read "The Histories" by Herodotus when I went through a phase of reading the classics, but is this myth still believed by people in Egypt / North Africa ?