There is actually a legend in my culture that certain people born amongst humans are actually part alligator, hippo, shark, etc. What that means is that if they ever fall into hippo infested waters they will not be eaten because they are amongst their brethren, and so forth.
The Yoruba people are a West African ethnic group who inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, a region collectively called Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 50 million people in Africa, and over a million outside the continent, and bear further representation among the African diaspora.
...that is so cool.
You sometimes forget that you're literally writing with people from another part of the world.
I reading a novel at the moment where one of the main characters is a Yoruba person. I was embarrassed not to have known about the people before reading it.
Ravens. Which can be tricky with my greater people as some are believers that it's evil. My dreamcatcher is loaded with raven,hawk,eagle feathers and even a parrot feather 🪶 however,never to taken apart if possible
Remind me of the time that a baby fell into a gorilla cage and instead of eating it, the gorilla nursed it lol maybe it was part gorilla although I think most kids are.
Gorillas are primary herbivores. They are extremely unlikely to eat a child.
You're actually going to be hard pressed to find any recorded events of Gorillas killing a human. There are recorded attacks, usually of captive gorillas or poachers, and there are unconfirmed stories of gorillas killing someone that was threat to them, but you're more likely to find stories of zoo Gorillas helping children or flirting with Robin Williams.
Two of my great uncles (brothers) had an affinity with animals. One trained wolves and bears for Walt Disney (see the wolves in The Legend of Lobo, the bears in King of the Grizzlies) my mom recounts a story where he had a bag of rattlesnakes and dumped them on her lawn and when he tapped the bag they went back in. His brother had wild black bears he fed out his slider door and a pet deer.
There is actually a legend in my culture that certain people born amongst humans are actually part alligator, hippo, shark, etc. What that means is that if they ever fall into hippo infested waters they will not be eaten because they are amongst their brethren, and so forth.
Sounds like a great reason to get thrown into bodies of water by bullies on a regular basis lol
I must be part snake then... walked right past a copperhead when I was a kid... Like within inches. Thought it was a branch. It wasn't until I got my bike and turned around I realized it was a snek... a really honking big snek... It was pretty chill; thankfully.
That's really interesting! I bet it's because occasionally, people have seemingly been spared by these dangerous animals and people thought "well clearly they're relatives".
I love learning about other cultures, thanks friend!
I've always had a strong affinity with animals in general. I get a lot of "Woah. My dog usually doesn't just go up to guys / strangers like that!"
But I think that's less attributed to any kind of mysticism, and more attributed to the fact that I generally just respect other living things personal space and don't pester them for my amusement
I like this idea. Thanks for sharing that. I always felt like I’d be safe among wolves. Then I had a son who swore he turned into a wolf at night and tasted blood in the mornings because he was tired from nocturnal hunting. He said this until he was like 7 years old. Strange but true.
I might be part wolf, then. I was viciously attacked by a wolf-dog when I was five and survived. There’s no telling why the wolf didn’t rip my throat out or otherwise kill me. It just chewed up my face and moved on.
I never lost my love of dogs and today have a German shepherd I’m head over heels for. Don’t know if I could walk into a pack of wolves and be allowed safe passage, but somehow I feel a connection to them.
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u/0neironautica Mar 27 '26
There is actually a legend in my culture that certain people born amongst humans are actually part alligator, hippo, shark, etc. What that means is that if they ever fall into hippo infested waters they will not be eaten because they are amongst their brethren, and so forth.