Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 18. Chapters: Anansi, Ascalapha odorata, Caribbean folklore, Chickcharney, Ciguapa, Douen, Duppy, Erinle, Gang Gang Sarah, Haitian mythology, Jumbee, Lagahoo, La Diablesse, Loa, Lusca, Madre de aguas, Mama D'Leau, Mami Wata, Papa Bois, Petwo, Phantome, Soucouyant, Zombie. Excerpt: Akan portal Anansi ( -see) the trickster is a spider, and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore. He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the Southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man. The story of Anansi is akin to the tricksters Coyote, Raven or Iktomi found in many Native American cultures. The Anansi tales are believed to have originated in the Ashanti people in Ghana. (The word Anansi is Akan and means, simply, spider.) They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. On Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire he is known as Nanzi, and his wife as Shi Maria. Ananse tales are some of the best-known in West Africa The stories made up an exclusively oral tradition, and indeed Ananse himself was synonymous with skill and wisdom in speech. It was as remembered and told tales that they crossed to the Caribbean and other parts of the New World with captives via the Atlantic slave trade. In the Caribbean Anansi is often celebrated as a symbol of slave resistance and survival. Anansi is able to turn the table on his powerful oppressors using his cunning and trickery, a model of behaviour utilised by slaves to gain the upper-hand within the confines of the plantation power structure. Anansi is also believed to have played a multi-functional role in slaves' lives, as well as inspiring strategies of resistance the tales enabled slaves to establish a sense of continuity with their African...