Undying Tales
Do you like nature? Do you like mythology? Do you have an itch to draw something and are looking for inspiration? Check out this challenge list featuring endangered creatures and the myths, lore, stories that surround them. I will be exploring this list of species through the month of October 2024 and I invite any artist to join me in this celebration of nature in using these prompts and lore snippets, and tagging #UndyingTalesProject on Instagram.
100% of the profit from the sale of these 15 original drawings by Stephanie Law will be going to various environmental charities. Subscribe below if you are interested in being added to the daily mailing notification that will be sent out when each drawing is done in October. Original pieces are usually sold the day of release, and email time is randomized throughout the day to let people around the globe have a chance at claiming pieces.
Oct 2: Red Panda
Scientific Name: Ailurus fulgens
Status: Endangered. They are protected in India, Bhutan, China, Nepal, and Myanmar, but they are threated because of habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching.
Striking appearance of red pandas lead to many colorful colloquial names for them within the range of these shy and nocturnal creatures. The Chinese call the red pandas "fire fox". Throughout its range in the Himalayas and the surrounding regions, some of its other names are "fire cat", "fox bear", "cat bear", "cloud bear".
Red pandas are generally believed to be omens of good luck. Catching sight of the elusive creature conveys fortune to the witness. Within their range, tribal people of Yunnan, Nepal, and Bhutan have used their fur in ceremonial garments, for weddings, or to protect a shaman from the attacks of malicious spirits during healing rituals. In some regions, they are thought to be reincarnated Buddhist monks, for their bright colors are reminiscent of monks' robes.
References:
Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda. (2010). Netherlands: Elsevier Science.
Oct 4: Mexican Wolf
Scientific Name: Canis lupus baileyi
Status: Threatened. In the 1970s, the Mexican Wolf was endangered due elimination in livestock conflicts. Over the following decades, conservation efforts have been fruitful, breeding captive populations and releasing them back to their native habitat.
To the Aztecs, the dog was an animal of the dead. One of many final abodes for dead souls was Mictlan. There were many trials a soul had to pass through in Michlan, and after 4 years of passing through the hells, they would arrive at peace. A red dog was buried with the dead, or sacrificed so the spirit could be released as smoke. It was only with the help and guidance of this dog, that the soul would be carried over the deep river, Chignahuapan and succeed in its final journey. Warriors wore a small effigy of a dog as part of their ceremonial attire.
The god Xolotl was often depicted as a dog-headed man, and as the guide through the underworld.
References:
Werness, H. B. (2006). The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art. United Kingdom: Continuum.
Maffie, J. (2014). Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion. United States: University Press of Colorado.
Oct 6: Namdapha Flying Squirrel
Scientific Name: Biswamoyopterus biswasi
Status: Critically Endangered due to habitat loss and degradation. Very restricted range in the Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Pradesh, India.
The Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic, is the tale of Prince Rama in his journey to rescue his wife Sita from Ravenna, king of demons. As Rama prepares to battle Ravenna, he calls upon an army of monkeys to help him build a bridge. The monkeys are agile, strong, and quick. They are industrious in their bridge-building, cutting and carrying large stones and working day and night to span the sea. A small squirrel, moved to help Rama as well, does his part, carrying small bits of gravel and pebbles. As a monkey trips over the squirrel, he curses the tiny creature and mocks his attempts to assist as foolish. The squirrel responds, "I am sorry for getting in your way. I am only helping in the way that I can. I am not large and strong as you and your brothers are, so I can only carry pebbles." The monkeys laugh, pick up the squirrel, and hurl him away. Rama catches the small creature in tender hands, and chides the monkeys, "Do not mock those who are smaller and weaker than you. What matters is the intention and the love in the heart of this little one." He then points out that while the monkeys have done a wonderful job with bringing the heavy boulders to build the bridge, it is the grit and pebbles that the squirrel has contributed that bind the whole and make it strong.
References:
Shri Ram Yogi Yug Purush : Volume - I. (2024). (n.p.): Booksclinic Publishing.
Oct 8: White-Crowned Hornbill
Scientific Name: Berenicornis comatus
Status: Endangered, due to loss of rainforest habitat in Malaysia.
The Ngadju Dayak are a native people of Kalimantan (Borneo). Their creation myth tells of how at the beginning of existence, there was but a waterserpent. After the serpent, come two beings first as mountains, and then in human form, who represented duality and the upper and under worlds. In their primeval battle, they create as a consequence the elements of the universe: sun and moon, clouds, sea, land.
As reality is established, a tree of life comes into being. The two beings battle as hornbills, male and female, tearing the tree apart. From the ravaged pieces of the tree, and from the female hornbill, comes the first man and woman.
The hornbill is symbolic of the upperworld, and the waterserpent of the underworld.
References:
Mundkur, B. (1983). The cult of the serpent : an interdisciplinary survey of its manifestations and origins. United States: State University of New York Press.
Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. (1984). United Kingdom: University of California Press.
Oct 10: Pernambuco Pygmy-owl
Scientific Name: Glaucidium mooreorum
Status: Critically Endangered. They have a very small range in Brazil, and at last count, an extremely small population. Forestland in most of their range has been decimated by illegal logging and deforestation.
In the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, there is folklore of Matinta Perera. She is a supernatural old woman, who turns into an ominous bird (often said to be either an owl or a cuckoo bird) when dusk falls. Like an apparition, she flits about, frightening those who are about in the night. She perches upon rooftops, whistling long into the moonlit hours, and disturbing the sleep of those who live within. If one is abroad and hears the sound of her whistling, best to turn their steps away quickly, lest her evil attention be drawn.
References:
Elswit, S. (2015). The Latin American Story Finder: A Guide to 470 Tales from Mexico, Central America and South America, Listing Subjects and Sources. United States: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
Ecocriticism and Indigenous Studies: Conversations from Earth to Cosmos. (2016). United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
Cravalho, M. A. (1993). An Invisible Universe of Evil: Supernatural Malevolence and Personal Experience Among Amazon Peasants. (n.p.): University of California, San Diego, Department of Anthropology.
Oct 12: Marine Iguana
Scientific Name: Amblyrhynchus cristatus
Status: Vulnerable. Marine iguanas are found in the Galapagos Islands. While clumsy on land, the are graceful swimmers. Their small range leaves them very vulnerable. Introduced predators, often pets or livestock, prey upon their young and their eggs, and since they have few natural predators, they are ecologically naive.
Galapaguenos, the indigenous people of the Galapagos are mostly descended from native people of the Andean region. In the mythology of the ancient Andean people, the amaru is a mythical serpent or dragon type creature that lives underground, or in the watery realms at the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and ponds. Because it is a creature of the under-earth, it was also said to be the cause of tremors and earthquakes.
Accounts recorded by priests and missionaries to the region told of many different physical attributes to the amaru, although they all agreed on its serpentine nature. At times it is two-headed, it is immense in size, it has wings, it rises upon waterspouts, or climbs upon the winds during storms to hover in the clouds. Many of the stories tell of amaru trying to ascend into the upper limits of the sky, but are struck down by lightning before they are able to attain such heights.
References:
Frisancho Velarde, Oscar (2012), Concepcion magico-religiosa de la Medicina en la America Prehispanica. Acta Medica Peruana 29(2 )
Gentile, Margarita E. (2017), El Amaru como emblema de los Incas del Cusco (Siglos XVI-XVII). El Futuro del Pasado, no8
Oct 14: Mountain Gazelle
Scientific Name: Gazella gazella
Status: Endangered. They were once hunted throughout their range for food, because they were thought of as pests. Population was decimated, and recovery has further been impeded by habitat destruction and fragmentation.
In Persian and India, the deity of the wind is named Vayu. He has a dual nature. He is a great martial protector embodied as the chaotic but benevolent Wind, and he is also as a feared and evil god of death, depending on the circumstances. His strength is unmatched, and the other elements bend to him.
Vayu is a god of life, for the wind is the harbinger of rain and monsoons, and is a good omen to farmers. Life is breath, and so he is the cosmic essence and embodiment of it. His mount is a white, fleet-footed gazelle, and he rides while wielding bow and arrows. The creature's swiftness and agility are a match for Vayu's powers.
References:
van der Geer, A. (2008). Animals in Stone: Indian Mammals Sculptured Through Time. Netherlands: Brill. 278-279
Julien, N. (2012). The Mammoth Book of Lost Symbols: A Dictionary of the Hidden Language of Symbolism. United Kingdom: Little, Brown Book Group.
Danielou, A. (1991). The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series (Princeton Bollingen). United States: Inner Traditions/Bear. 90-92.
Oct 16: MacQueen's Bustard
Scientific Name: Chlamydotis macqueenii
Status: Vulnerable. Nearly hunted to extinction for sport, and because of habitat degradation. Population decline.
In Slavic folklore, the Firebird is a magical creature from enchanted lands. It glows with beautiful and rich plumage of golden light, and even when a feather has fallen from the bird, it still burns with that fiery light. In the stories, they are harbingers of journey and change. The Firebird features often in Russian fairytales as the coveted object of a quest. The hero is sent out at the bidding of the king to hunt across the lands in search of the mythical bird. As proof of his success, he must bring back a glowing tail feather, imbued with magical promise and is wedded to the princess.
In one tale, a tsar had three sons. In his orchard grew an apple tree, from whose branches someone stole an apple each night. Each of the brothers from eldest to youngest, sat vigil on consecutive nights to try and catch the thief, but it was only the youngest, Ivan, who managed to stay awake and thus saw the firebird alight upon the tree and steal an apple. He reached up an plucked a bright tail feather before the bird flew off. With this luminous proof to show his father, the three sons were then sent on a journey to seek out and bring back the firebird for their father, with the price for success being the kingdom.
In a journey that led him to Baba Yaga's chicken-legged doorstep, across a fiery river, across mountains on his trusty stallion, betrayal by his two other brothers, and finally coming home with the firebird to claim the domain from his father.
References:
Kushnir, D. (2015). Slavic Tales & Myths: Part 2. (n.p.): CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Oct 18: Bush Dog
Scientific Name: Speothos venaticus
Status: Near threatened. There are very few of them and their population is very scattered, so it has made conservation efforts on their behalf difficult. Threats to their survival include habitat loss and fragmentation, and loss of their prey species due to human extermination.
Throughout Central and South America, there is folklore about "El Cadejo". It is thought that the legends came about as a mixture of the Ancient Mayan beliefs of dogs being protectors and guardians of the spirit into the underworld, and the introduction of Christianity when missionaries came to the lands, gaining a dual nature of good and evil.
Cadejo is a dog-like spirit creature. A benevolent cadejo is white, with blue eyes. It is guardian to those who roam on isolated roads, particularly women, children, and those in need. It also protects people from making bad choices. A black cadejo is the evil counterpart, with glowing red eyes and dark, tangled fur. It stalks, tempts, and frightens travelers, startles horses, and howls in the darkness.
References:
Thompson, S. A., Lopez, L. L. d. (2007). Mayan Folktales. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Journal of American Folklore. (1916). United States: American Folk-lore Society.
Oct 20: Marsican Brown Bear
Scientific Name: Ursus arctos marsicanus
Status: Critically Endangered. Very limited range of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, in Italy. The bears range through the high peaks and woodlands, and population suffers from poaching, as well as accidental killing from poison and vehicles.
In Ancient Greek mythology, Artemis was the virgin goddess of the hunt, protector of animals, and chastity. She spurned the attentions of men, and so when one of her companions, Callisto (daughter of King Lykas) was seduced and lay with Zeus, she she vented her anger upon Callisto by turning her into a bear.
Callisto had a son by Zeus, and he was named Arkas. When he became grown, he ranged through the woods, and he came upon a bear. Not realizing she was his mother, he shot an arrow at her. To save Callisto from being killed by her son, Zeus intervened. He took her from her mortal existence, and placed her among the stars, there to be forever seen as the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
References:
Aristotle. Parts of Animals. Movement of Animals. Progression of Animals. Translated by A. L. Peck, E. S. Forster. Loeb Classical Library 323. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1937.
Constellation Myths: With Aratus's Phaenomena. (2015). United Kingdom: OUP Oxford.
Oct 22: Philippine Eagle
Scientific Name: Pithecophaga jefferyi
Status: Critically Endangered. They live on four islands in the Philippines. Very few pairs are left, and they are endangered because of deforestation, conversion of land to agriculture, hunting, and human activity.
The Bagobo of the Philippines have a story to explain eclipses. The minokawa-bird is enormous, steel beaked and clawed, sharp feathers, and mirror eyed. He lives beyond the eastern horizon, and is always ready to make an attempt to snatch the moon when she begins her journey to arc across the sky.
There are eight holes in the eastern sky, through which the moon may pick which one to emerge from, and eight holes in the western sky, through which she vanishes. The minokawa hovers and wonders which one she will come through each evening. When the minokawa first swallowed the moon, it gave the people such a fright! They began to scream for fear that death would come to all. They made a frightful noise. Startled by the outcry, the great bird opened his mouth in astonishment, releasing the moon, who quickly fled.
Thereafter, when the minokawa swallows the moon, the Bagobo raise their voices, beat at gongs, and create such noise that the bird releases his prize, for if he were to swallow the moon, and the sun after, then the end would come.
References:
Benedict, L. W. (1913). Bagobo Myths. The Journal of American Folklore, 26(99), 13–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/534786
Benedict, L. E. W. (1916). A Study of Bagobo Ceremonial, Magic and Myth. Netherlands: Brill.
Oct 24: Saharan Cheetah
Scientific Name: Acinonyx jubatus hecki
Status: Critically Endangered, from past hunting and habitat loss, also from losing their prey to human activity.
The Zulu of South Africa have a story about how the cheetah got her markings. Once there was a hunter. He was out in the bush, seeking game, but it was hot, and he was very lazy. As he sat resting, he saw a cheetah. She moved with remarkable stealth and speed through the tall grasses, tracking down prey, killing it, and bringing it to her cubs.
Astonished at her efficiency, he thought to himself about how he could harness that for himself, for not only was he lazy, he was envious. He latched upon the plan to steal her cubs. Upon doing so, he returned to his village with the cheetah cubs in hand.
The mother cheetah was very distraught at the loss of her cubs. She wept and wailed, heartbroken. Day and night she roamed, seeking her lost cubs. Her tears left dark marks across her body. A village elder happened to hear her, and when he asked what so distressed her, she told him of the hunter who had taken her cubs.
The elder was angry, and the lazy hunter was cast out from his village for dishonoring their traditions, and for trying to steal that which he did not earn by his own earnest work. The cubs were returned to their mother, but even after, cheetah retained the dark marks of her tears.
References:
https://anikefoundation.org/african-folktales/the-cheetah-and-the-lazy-hunter
Oct 26: Giant Panda
Scientific Name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Status: Vulnerable. As of 2021, giant pandas have been downgraded in risk from Endangered to Vulnerable. There is still a ways to go for their successful safety, but due to large conservation efforts and the charismatic megafauna status of these creatures as emblematic spokes-creature for all endangered species, there is some small good news.
Tibetan legend tells of how giant pandas were once snow white. This gentle creature was out roaming with its cub one day when a leopard launched itself in attack. Nearby shepherdesses were tending their flocks and happened to see, and swiftly they came to the defense of the panda and her young, to beat off the leopard with their sticks. Alas, the brave shepherdesses were slain in their rally.
It was the custom of mourning to rub black ash on the body, and so all the giant pandas in the area came forth to the memorial for the brave shepherdesses. They took ashes in their paws, and rubbed their eyes, and covered their ears in sadness at the morning cries, and embraced each other across the back in comfort. Ever after, the black markings of the ash have marked the fur of the giant pandas as a reminder of the sacrifice undergone by the girls to save one of their number.
References:
http://www.curiousordinary.com/2021/05/pandas.html
https://www.earthstoriez.com/china-panda-history-mythology/
Oct 28: Takahe
Scientific Name: Porphyrio hochstetteri
Status: Endangered. Hunted to, what was thought, extinction, but brought back slowly by 20th century conservation efforts.
Moa were species of flightless birds that were once endemic to New Zealand in the Late Pleistocene era, but within 100 years of human settlement in New Zealand, were hunted to extinction.
Flightless takahe were thought to be included in this group of extinct birds, hunted by European settlers to what was thought to be extinction, until they were rediscovered in 1948 in remote Murchison Mountains. Eventually through conservation efforts, larger populations were reintroduced into the wild.
Because of their long history of being thought extinct, their narrative has taken on a spiritual role of redemption, but also of human inconsequence: that despite mankind's self-importance, nature still keeps its own secrets and wonders. Ghostly, known only from their fossils prior to rediscovery, the invisible presence of takahe has shaped the plant life and diversity of their environment.
References:
Potts, A., Armstrong, P., Brown, D. S. (2013). A New Zealand Book of Beasts: Animals in Our Culture, History and Everyday Life. United States: Auckland University Press.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/takahe/
Oct 30: Mountain Zebra
Scientific Name: Equus zebra
Status: Vulnerable. Native to the southwestern part of Africa, preferring mountainous areas and grasslands. They were hunted to near extinction, but conservation measures have brought them back from that brink, and today, most of them live in national parklands.
The San people of Kalahari Desert associate zebras with water and rain. The nomadic !Kung say that the rain-laden storm clouds are zebras, galloping erratically across the skies. The also tell of the three stars that form Orion's belt are three zebras.
One evening, the trickster sky god, Gao N!a, stood upon the Large Magellanic Cloud (a dwarf galaxy satellite of the Milky Way), and shot at the zebras. He missed his shot, and afterwards, he decided to send the zebras to earth, that Bushmen hunters could have them. The zebras galloped out of the sky, and one by one set hooves down to the earth.
In a San folktale of long ago, the sun was very hot, and had dried up nearly all the water so that land and animals were parched. A Baboon found himself a watering hole, and set up a fire beside it and claimed the water for his sole benefit.
Zebra was wandering by, and seeing the water, stopped to drink. Baboon was so angry, and told him to go away, for it was his pool. The argument escalated into a fight, and during this tussle, Zebra gave a mighty kick that sent Baboon flying far, to land on his seat (thus why his bottom is bare of fur to this day).
Disoriented from the fight, Zebra wandered back to the watering hole and through the smoky fire that Baboon had left, and the flames scorched his flanks. The soot marked his sides with the striped pattern that he has had ever since.
References:
Marshall, L. (1999). Nyae Nyae !Kung Beliefs and Rites. United Kingdom: Harvard University Press.
Plumb, C., Shaw, S. (2018). Zebra. United Kingdom: Reaktion Books.
https://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/How_the_Zebra_Got_his_Stripes_San.html
