The Ruler Archetype in African Myth and Folklore

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New to Mythological Africans? Welcome! Read this.

Meanwhile, we’re still talking about the images, symbols, and patterns of behavior or circumstances associated with rulership in African myth, folklore, legend, and history. This week, we linger in that sliver of space where the perception of “good” or “bad” rulership bends to the will of the beholder.

Arraweelo of Somalia is a particularly contradictory ruler in African legend. In some accounts of her story, she is maligned as an exceptionally evil ruler who despised men. Yet other accounts present her as a ruler who fought for the good of her people, especially the women. We’ll hear two versions of her story and reflect on how their contradiction is a both a manifestation of the bipolarity of archetypes and an expression of wholeness.

References

* The Somali Queen: Queen Arraweelo by Farah Mohamed.

* British Somaliland by Ralph E Drake-Brockman (pages 169 - 171).

* Arraweelo: A Role Model For Somali Women by Ladan Affi.

* A Tree for poverty : Somali Poetry and Prose by Margaret Lawrence (pages 126 - 131)

Can’t Get Enough

Still Can’t Get Enough?

The Watkins Book of African Folklore contains 50 stories, curated from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. The stories are grouped into three sections:

* Creation myths and foundation legends (including the story of Tin Hinan, Founding Mother of the the Tuareg!)

* Stories about human relationships and the cultural institutions they created

* Animal tales (with a twist…the folktales are about some of the most unlikely animals!)

I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the historical and cultural context out of which the stories, their themes, and protagonists emerge. There is something for everybody!

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