Explore Africa’s mythical creatures like the Tokoloshe and Adze. Reveal the powerful legends and ancestral spirits behind these tales.
Discover Mami Wata, the captivating water spirit of African mythology. Learn about this pan-African deity who grants wealth and healing to her devotees while demanding absolute loyalty, and explore how she continues to enchant believers across Africa and the diaspora.
From the rivers and oceans of Africa to the Caribbean and South America, the enigmatic Mami Wata (“Mother Water”) holds sway over the mysteries of the deep. This powerful water spirit—sometimes singular, sometimes representing a pantheon of water deities—combines African traditions with influences from across the world, embodying beauty, danger, wealth, and the unfathomable nature […]
Among the Ashanti people of Ghana, and throughout West Africa and the Caribbean, one name commands both laughter and respect: Anansi (also Ananse), the spider trickster. This cunning creature, who takes the form of a spider, a man, or something in between, is the keeper of all stories and the embodiment of wisdom achieved through […]
The Master of Stories Anansi the Spider stands as West Africas most beloved trickster figure – a cunning creature who uses wit rather than strength to overcome challenges. Originating among the Akan people of Ghana, Anansi tales spread throughout Africa and across the Atlantic with the diaspora, becoming central to Caribbean and African American folklore. […]
Deep within the oral traditions of the Zulu people of Southern Africa lurks a creature so enigmatic that even the most learned sangomas speak of it only in hushed whispers. The Umdhlebi, whose name translates roughly to “the one who…
Discover the Jiangshi, the hopping vampires of Chinese folklore. Learn about these stiff, qi-draining corpses dressed in Qing dynasty robes, how to defeat them with sticky rice and talismans, and why they became icons of Asian horror cinema.
Discover Anansi, the cunning spider trickster of African and Caribbean folklore. Learn how this clever creature won ownership of all stories, survived the Middle Passage, and became a symbol of resistance and wit for the African diaspora.