Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Category: Myths and Legend

  • Proverbs

    What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in? Proverbs are sources of wisdom. They are the oil with which the Igbo eat their words. In this post, I wrote in Igbo, translated into English, and then gave its meaning. Sometime ago, I did a blog post on proverbs used…

  • Igbo Myths: Owls, Bats and Vultures

    In the Igbo cultural society, nocturnal birds are considered to be harbingers of evil. Night birds like bats and owls are associated with witches or dibias (traditional medicine men). It’s believed witches use them as messengers or even transform into these birds. The owl is perceived as a messenger of death. There’s this belief that…

  • Diary of A Village Boy: The Leopard Spirit 7

    Dada said I had to be hale and hearty to attend the Tales by Moonlight night. He also promised I could play and hunt with other children if I got well quickly. So, I took my medication seriously. The moonlight night tales happened once every two weeks; sometimes they were delayed, especially during the rainy…

  • Folklore: The Goats and The Tortoise

    Two goats fought over a loaf of bread. The tortoise saw them and offers to resolve the issue. He tore the bread unevenly and because it’s uneven he takes a bite from one half. But the bread remained uneven. So he took another bite and continued until there was no more bread left. The goats…

  • African Myths

    Do you know that in Africa there are so many outrageous myths and beliefs? Mind you, this is not voodoo. Myths do exist. Most times, they are used to scare or refrain children and young adults from being rude, behaving wildly or disobeying their parents or elders. So let’s define a myth to get a…