Animal Spirits: A Tail of Unity
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Image by Valentin Antonucci on Pexels
Today our world feels closer than ever. Sure, maybe I’m being an optimist, but hear me out! Even during times of hardship, we seem to hold onto a sense of community. We post, share, like, and chat more than any other time.
The world was once a vastly different place, where technology didn’t connect people like it does now. People had to travel long distances to get anything done. Yet an interconnectedness between cultures existed - we are more alike than we know. How can so many similar stories follow cultures that probably didn’t know of each other’s existence?
Search your mind through your own culture and heritage (if you’re an atheist borrow a friend’s!). Conjure those images of serpents, ravens, and felines and begin to ask yourself who shares those stories?
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When we think of motifs in ancient mythologies our minds tend to stir up images of menacing beasts. Yet, one of the most notable perhaps is the humble cow. (Yes, yes, insert how hamburgers are your religion, too) but the unthreatening cow holds a rather honorary place in many religions.
In Norse mythology, Audumla (the mother cow) gave milk in rivers so that Ymir (the first being in existence) could have something good to drink. Because of this her nourishment is credited with sustaining initial life.
In Hinduism, Kamadhenu is considered the mother of all living things and the goddess of abundance. She was present during the creation of everything and her milk helped to sustain the gods. Eerily similar, right? Perhaps it’s not so unthinkable that both the Norse and the Hindu people chose a cow as a motherly figure. Cow’s milk remains a sustaining life force around the world. How now, brown cow?
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Both the Japanese and the Celts believe foxes to be great shapeshifting tricksters. They reside in very different parts of the world, but both cultures find the fox spirit (or Kitsune in Japanese) to be cunning, clever, and seductive.
In Celtic mythology, these humorous spirits are synonymous with adaptability and tenacity. The Kitsune of Japan are linked to harvest and fertility - two concepts that require a lot of adaptability. One wrong move and your cabbage patch becomes a garbage patch!
Perhaps the most unsettling similarity is the whole shapeshifting idea. It makes sense to look at a sly old fox and come to the same conclusion of intelligence, trickiness, and even adaptability - but shapeshifting? Maybe it’s nothing, but maybe they saw some shit!
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In Norse mythology, the wolf Fenrir, son of Loki, is raised by the gods from a puppy but he grows alarmingly fast. Long story short, he’s chained up and feels (understandably!) betrayed by the gods. As Ragnarök (end of the world) begins, Fenrir breaks free, opens his jaws wide and runs along the earth consuming everything in his path. His brother, the colossal serpent Jormungandr, is stirred up out of the ocean, and Naglfar (the ship made of human fingernails) sails to defeat the gods - Oddly specific right?
Dogs and wolves hold great significance in many religions. For example, Wepwawet is one of the Egyptian gods of death. He is a wolf god thought to guide the dead on their journey through the afterlife. He is also a being who helps lead armies into battle and is often depicted atop a boat, alongside a serpent - just like Fenrir. So, while we may differentiate them by their affiliation to good and evil, they still hold remarkably similar traits!
I think whether you wish to believe that all these stories are similar because there’s some truth to them, or because its a coincidence is completely valid either way. Personally, I’d like to think it’s a bit of both. It’s nice to believe that our way of thinking and the human struggle are collective; that there is a unity in storytelling that brings us together. After all, we are more alike than we are different.
But I think they were onto something with those shape shifting foxes.
Tori Edwards
Tori is a professional writing student from Newfoundland, Canada. When not writing or drawing you might find her listening to rock and roll or summoning the stray cats from the neighborhood like a witch.
