Heitsi-eibib

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Heitsi-eibib is a figure in the Khoikhoi mythology. While he is usually mentioned as a cultural hero, Heitsi-eibib's role in the mythology is fluid.[1] He is sometimes called a trickster figure, similar to Cagn of the related Bushmen people.[1] In other contexts, he appears as a patron of hunters and in some stories he even had a part in creating the world.[1] The multiple roles of Heitsi-eibib have been called a reflection of the fluidity of the Khoisan's religious resources and rituals, which are usually ambiguous and lack in standardization.[1] Heitsi-eibib was also a life-death-rebirth figure, dying and resurrecting himself on numerous occasions.[2] Resulting from this, his funeral cairns can be found in many locations in southern Africa, and it is customary to throw a stone onto them for good luck.[3]

[edit] Legend

In different accounts, Heitsi-eibib is born from either a girl or—more often—a cow, who got pregnant by eating a magical grass.[4] He had a role in creation, impressing specific characteristics into different species. For example, he cursed the lion to walk on ground instead of nesting on a tree.[5] Heitsi-eibib was also a legendary hunter, sorcerer and warrior.

One particular legend involves Heitsi-eibib's fight with the Ga-gorib (he who throws down), a beast who lived on the edge of a pit. The Ga-gorib would trick people into throwing stones at it, but the stones would always bounce back from the creature's hide, and the thrower would fall into the pit. When Heitsi-eibib met the beast, he refused to throw stones until Ga-gorib turned away from him, whereupon he cast a stone that fell Ga-gorib into its own pit.[2] In another version of the same story, Heitsi-eibib wrestled with the Ga-gorib and was thrown to the pit repeatedly, but could not be kept down. In the end, the Ga-gorib is again thrown to his own pit by Heitsi-eibib.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d David Chidester, Chirevo Kwenda, Robert Petty, Judy Tobler, Darrel Wratten (1997). African Traditional Religion in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography, p. 68-70. ISBN 0313304742. 
  2. ^ a b Arthur Flagg Cotterell (1986). A Dictionary of World Mythology. Oxford University Press, p. 242. ISBN 0-192-17747-8. 
  3. ^ James George Frazer, Robert Fraser (1994). The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Oxford University Press, p. 224. ISBN 1853263109. 
  4. ^ Edwin Sidney Hartland (1909). Primitive Paternity Or the Myth of Supernatural Birth in Relation to the History of the Family, p. 4. ISBN 0766167100. 
  5. ^ Andrew Lang (1901). Myth, Ritual and Religion vol. 1, p. 172. 
  6. ^ Hahn, Theophilus (1881). Tsuni-Goam: The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi, p. 64-67. 

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