Tornado Myth
"Wiry guy with a beard." Yes! That's a brilliant observation. Head-smackingly brilliant.
Isn't that metaphor mixed? TV producers are hard at work "erasing the smell of sci-fi." Also, a timely warning about the danger of turning yourself into a plant. (Thanks to Gravity Lens.)
Finally, a question to mull over the weekend: why don't we ever hear of myths about tornadoes among the native Americans of the great plains? I would expect that tornadoes are common enough, yet unusual and impressive enough, to generate the kind of cultural presence of which myths are made. So, why no tornado god? Or am I wrong -- did they have tornado gods? With a Wicked Witch of the West thrown in, just for good measure?
Umie the Umlaut says, "ask your doctor about the Fredösphere!"
1 Comments:
Actually, the Shawnee have... well, not exactly a deity. As far as they're concerned, Manito is God, and everybody else supernatural is just an extremely powerful "person".
Tornado Person (she's female, but Shawnee names just don't do the Man/Woman thing) causes tornadoes when she lets her long braids fall onto the earth. She only does this when she's not in a good mood. She never hurts Shawnees, and thus the Shawnee (despite living in Ohio, Missouri, and Oklahoma) feel free to stand outside the house and watch tornadoes to their hearts' content. And apparently always have, as historical appalled observers have recorded.
And in fact, I don't know of any Shawnee who've had their houses even damaged by a tornado. Not even in the great Xenia tornado.
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