Anpao
In Sioux mythology (a Native American mythological tradition that includes Lakota mythology), Anpao (Lakota: aŋpáo[1]), or Anp, is an entity with two faces that represents the spirit of the dawn.
Anpao dances with Han, a primordial spirit of darkness, to ensure that Wi does not burn up the Earth, resulting in day and night.[2]
George Bushotter (Yankton Dakota-Lakota, 1860–1892) wrote that when his younger brother was ill, the brother was told to pray to Anpao, the Dawn, and recovered.[3]
Anpao zi is the "yellow of the dawn," which oral history described as the meadowlark's breast.[4]
See also
- Janus, another two-faced deity, but whose focus is on doorways, and endings and beginnings in general.
- Anog Ite, a two-faced goddess from Lakota mythology.
- Bangpūtys, another two-faced deity, but whose focus is on the weather and the sea.
- Asura, war-like beings in Buddhist belief that have multiple faces.
- Hekatonkheires, Greek giants with many heads and hands.
References
- ↑ Ingham, Bruce (2001). English–Lakota Dictionary. Richmond, Surrey, UK: Curzon Press. p. 167. ISBN 0-7007-1378-6. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑
- ↑ Powell, John W. (1894). Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: 1889-'90. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution. p. 468.
- ↑ Swann, Brian; Krupat, Arnold, eds. (1987). Recovering the Word: Essays on Native American Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 434. ISBN 0-520-05964-6.
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