Category: Folklore & Mythology
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Recommended Reading for Caribbean Folklore Month & Black Speculative Fiction Month
For the start of both Caribbean Folklore Month and Black Speculative Fiction Month, I highly recommend Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root, edited by the brilliant Nalo Hopkinson. If you love fantasy, Caribbean stories, and folklore, then this anthology deserves a place on your bookshelf.
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Yoruba Folklore for World Turtle Day
In Yoruba folklore, the Tortoise, who is called Àjàpá, Ìjàpá, & Alájàpá, is depicted as a trickster whose popularity equals Anansi’s. The Yoruba esteem his cunning, “which makes up for his physical disadvantages”, that’s celebrated in the proverb “Àjàpá ò lẹ́sẹ̀ ńlẹ̀, ó lọ́gbọ́n ńnú (Àjàpá’s feet make hardly an impression on the ground, but…
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Caribbean Folklore: Nickernuts
Nickernuts are yellow, grey, or caramel-coloured seeds of the Warri tree in the Caribbean. These seeds have medicinal purposes and are also used to make jewellery. Their buoyancy in water probably explains the belief that they protect from drowning. When magic is present, it’s said that their colour changes to black. What do you call…