Anansi: A symbol of resistance, Obeah, and Magician, Death & Fool Archetypes.

Anansi folktales hail from West Africa, and they are about a small spider who some believe created the moon and stars in our universe. Some believe he is the son of an African Earth Goddess and Sky God. Most of us have heard an Anansi story or two, stories of a trickster with a silver tongue. These stories travelled to Jamaica during the transatlantic slave trade. Anansi became an iconic mythological character in Jamaican culture, a symbol of resistance, a folk hero, an ancestral spirit, a rebel, and a freedom fighter.  Anansi tales are steeped in political uprising, moral teaching, African spirituality, and Obeah.  As part of my ancestry is Jamaican, I’ve been exploring the connection between Obeah and Anansi stories. As a tarot reader, my brain is naturally wired to think about archetypes.  So in this essay, I’m going to write about Anansi, as his whispers have been bugging me all year. 

The first time I recall listening to an Anansi story was in primary school around age 8 or 9.  I went to a school in Tulse Hill, south London which had, and still does have, a big African and Caribbean community. Anansi stories were told often, perhaps due to the teachers realising that teaching a diverse bunch of kids about their cultural heritage and social history can foster confidence and pride.  I remember feeling excited on the days when the Anansi Storyteller would come to our assembly. The performances were always vibrant and funny, the use of language weaving the Queen’s English with the vibrant tones of Jamaican patois.  The Anansi stories are brilliantly amusing, full of wit, charm, cunning intelligence, and downright deceitfulness at times. The National Library of Jamaica has a selection of the stories told by Louise Bennett-Coverley A.K.A Miss Lou who is a Jamaican cultural icon, folklorist, writer, poet, and educator.   I’ve put a link to a YouTube video of her telling the Story of Anancy and Smoked Pork at the end of this article.  

ORAL TRADITION AND AFRICAN BEGINNINGS

The origin of the Anansi stories can be traced to the Asante tribe, part of the Akan group of people from Ghana, West Africa.  In the Twi language of the Akan, Anansi means spider, and the spider is considered to be a symbol of wisdom.  The Anansi folktales teach African customs, myths, and moral instruction.  Some myths suggest that Anansi acts as a mediator between the two planes, Earth and Sky, and was the son of the Sky God Nyame and the Earth Goddess Asase Yaa. 

Research suggests that Anansi stories came over to Jamaica from Ghana during the transatlantic slave trade by way of oral tradition. During the brutal rule of Jamaica by the British Empire, enslaved African people told Anansi stories on the plantation fields.  They served as a survival mechanism from the cruel acts of slave labour and allowed slaves to retain a part of their African identity.  Allegorical tales of Anansi, one of the smallest creatures on earth, tricking the slave master by use of wit, knowledge, and cunning became a symbol of resistance against the colonial oppressor. Telling Anansi tales helped enslaved people stay strong and resilient amid the atrocious acts against them and acted as a form of ‘psychological resistance’.(Marshall, 2024, Ted Talk).  According to Dr Emily Zobel Marshall, the Anansi we know of in Jamaica is not the same Anansi found in West Africa. He has lost some of his spirituality - the stories feature little about the Gods or Goddesses. 

OBEAH - EARTH MAGIC 

Following the Tacky rebellion in 1760, one of the largest revolts in the history of Jamaica by slaves, British colonial powers made it illegal to practise Obeah in an attempt to avoid future uprisings. The law forbade the enslaved people of Jamaica from practising their traditional African rituals and belief systems, which were seen as heathen. In turn, Jamaican Anansi folktales became different from the original Ghanaian tales, as Anansi was forced to lose a part of his spiritual identity - that of a mediator to the Gods, Goddesses, and spirit world.  Slaves had already been stripped of their autonomy, but to disempower them further, European Christian colonialists demonised many African traditions and spiritual beliefs, associating them with necromancy and the ‘dark continent’. The practice of Obeah is a prime example, which is an earth-based practice of using plants for healing, worshipping ancestors, spell casting, and convening with the spirit world. Slaves would have been punished or even sentenced to death for practising their traditional spiritual beliefs. 

Obeah, much like Haitian Vodou, has its roots in West Africa.  Dr Claudius Fergus suggests several theories on the etymology of the word Obeah. One, that it stemmed ‘from a secret language of ancient Egypt’ (Fergus, 2014, p15). Secondly, that the origin of the word Obeah, is thought to come from the Twi language obeye meaning witchcraft or sorcery and obayifo meaning witch or wizard. Thirdly, that it comes from Obi seed, the name used in the African diaspora as a substitute for the Kola nut used in divination. Anansi stories helped enslaved people deal with the reality of their new world and construct a place that they were able to live. When living under oppression, finding ways to disrupt the system to survive is a political act. It is the very essence of witchcraft. 

The presence of colonial social conditioning is still present in Jamaica today where Obeah is still a taboo subject amongst white and black Jamaicans, where Christianity still reigns as the most popular religion. The telling of Anansi stories and their association with death also remains.  Dr Marshall points out, that some believe it is bad luck to tell Anansi stories in the daytime for fear that the dead would come and take away the soul of the storyteller. The Anansi stories were sometimes told at funeral ceremonies, such as the nine nights, which celebrate the life of the deceased over a nine-night/day period. 

ANANSI STORIES FOLLOWING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY & PAMELA COLMAN SMITH

Dr Marshall suggests that following the abolition of slavery in 1834 ‘there was a sense of panic amongst folklorists: black folklore and folk culture must be preserved or it would die an untimely death.’(Marshall, p60, 2018). This panic was predominately amongst white folklorists who were mostly middle-class women who wished to capture the Anansi stories in writing. However, many black people were reluctant to share their Anansi stories.  Some of the folklorists suggested this reaction was due to shame or fear of ridicule felt by black people, or perhaps due to speaking patois as they were embarrassed by the ugliness of the language. I find this all quite astonishing.  Perhaps it was an act of defence.  On finally getting their freedom, why would they share stories of the character who helped them survive?

By the end of the nineteenth century, many of the Anansi stories had been transcribed and compiled into books. One such volume is by the artist behind the Rider Waite Colman Smith tarot deck, Pamela Colman Smith, who wrote Annancy Stories in 1899.  Smith came from a wealthy New York family and she had lived in Jamaica for a number of years.  She enjoyed entertaining friends with Anansi Stories, which were popular amongst the middle classes. 

ANANSI AND TAROT ARCHETYPES

“Jamaican Anansi, like the Obeahman or woman, carries a bag full of wares that facilitate his power” (Marshall, p62, 2018)

The Ghanaian Anansi’s power to commune with divine entities and the Jamaican Anansi’s association with Obeah bring the archetype of the Magician to mind. In the tarot, the Magician represents the ability to act as a vessel, a channel to bring the magic of spirit down to earth, grounding it here and creating whatever reality you want. As the translation from the Emerald Tablet goes: ‘as above so below’.  The Magician knows how to speak to spirits, the secret words to utter when he casts his spells, and the magical properties of plants and flowers. He is wise, intelligent, mercurial, and of course a trickster much like our Anansi. The Magician is the witch or wizard, the Obeah man or woman.  He has the ability to conjure, speak to spirits, heal wounds with plants, and send curses back to sender. 

Anansi’s modification of behaviour, losing a part of his identity, takes us to the archetype of Death.  A part of Anansi died on the plantation fields of Jamaica, he had to lose a part of himself, his spirituality in order to survive.  Forced beyond his limits Anansi shapeshifted, shed his skin, and a new cycle began. His association with the spirit world remained, albeit as a knock-on effect of colonial conditioning, the fear of souls being carried away by telling his stories in daylight and the tradition of telling his stories at the nine-night ceremonies.

Anansi as the trickster takes on some attributes that could be associated with the Fool archetype. This is by no means an attempt to diminish or make light of the appalling acts of slavery that some of my ancestors went through. The Fool is one of the most powerful cards in the tarot deck. I say that Anansi has shapeshifted into the Fool as he is allowed to mock his oppressor, just as the court jester could mock the King,  in the guise of allegory and metaphor.  The Fool is a rebel, not confined by social norms.  His ability to tell the truth gives him power and hero status. Anansi shows his fine discernment knowing when to tease and use double meanings, but cautionary steps had to be made as saying the wrong thing could cost him his life.  Jamaican Anansi is far from the carefree spirit we see in The Fool however, he has none of the freedom associated with this card/archetype.  His spirituality, the root of this identity, has been hidden.

GRATITUDE 

There is so much I could say about Anansi specifically,  I can see why people can dedicate whole research topics to his folktales. He has spun a very vast web! :) I found some incredible work on the subjects of Anansi and Obeah, the latter of which I’m planning to visit in another blog post.  I want to credit researchers whose papers I have quoted and used to write this post. Dr. Emily Zobel Marshall, Dr. Claudius Fergus, and Dr. Raphael Chijioke Njoku, all the information about their research work can be found at the bottom of this post.

CONCLUSION

I was initially going to post this after the UK riots that happened in August 2024 but it was too intense and upsetting and I think the overall intention would have been lost.  I believe the power of Anansi stories and their societal and political messages feel very relevant for the times we are living in once again.  I wrote this partly due to my quest for ancestral answers and knowledge and partly because the world we are living in tends to push these histories to the side, especially in the post-colonial West. In the UK today, Caribbean history is given allocated time slots, such as this month, Black History Month, but every month should be black history month! This is especially important for countries like the UK and North America where the slave labour of black and brown people built the very economies that made them rich.

What I’m getting at here is that the multicultural societies of the Western World need to be educated about their roots in Colonialism.  If our countries are to grow, we need to accept colonial histories and appreciate and accept the beautiful array of people who are its citizens, that have ancestral roots in other countries. If we are to build a place where people want to live and thrive then we have to teach our kids why Britain looks the way it does. We can start by telling stories about a little spider, one that has tales about creation itself.

NOTES

Miss Lou Story of Anansi & Smoked Pork

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fergus, Claudius, (2014) Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, New Series, No.16 pp. 1 – 25. Chapter, From Slavery to Black Power: The Enigma of Africa in the Trinidad Calypso.

Marshall, Emily Zobel (2018) “Nothing but Pleasant Memories of the Discipline of Slavery”: The Trickster and the Dynamics of Racial Representation, Marvels & Tales, Vol. 32, No. 1 , p60 - 62

Marshall, Emily Zobel  (2007) Liminal Anansi: Symbol of Order and Chaos An Exploration of Anansi's Roots Amongst the Asante of Ghana Caribbean Quarterly  Vol. 53, No. 3, p1.

Njoko, Raphael Chijioke, (2020) West African Masking Traditions and Diaspora Masquerade Carnivals: History, Memory and Transnationalism, Chapter 7, Idioms of Religion, Music, Dance, & African Art Forms. pp. 160-184 (25 pages)

Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyankapon-Nyame-Odomankoma

https://obeahhistories.org/1760-jamaica-law/

Marshall, Emily Zoe, (2024) Anansi, Loki, and why we love tricksters in myths