A Guide to Mythology

by Helen A. Clarke

In many of the primitive stories, magic is the means by which the most wonderful effects are produced. It was believed that a magician could bring about any effect he desired by the mere use of his will, and often without any visible symbol of magic power. Sometimes, however, magic wands were used, and sometimes ceremonies were performed for the purpose of producing magical results. On the other hand magical prodigies such as the changing of shape from man to animal often occur without the intervention of any magician.

Whatever may have been the origin of this belief, it is certain that it was just as sincerely believed in as a theory of the universe by early mankind as the doctrine of an endless, persistent energy, always working from cause to effect has been believed in by the nineteenth century scientist.

Very fanciful stories have clustered about the idea that the spirit might be detached from the body, and placed somewhere far away, as you will see when you read the story of “Punchkin.”

So firmly was this idea fixed in the savage mind that, it seems probable, his worship of animals, even in the earliest stages of life was really a worship of the spirit within the animal, rather than of the animal itself, and from this phase he passed on to the worship of a great spirit that might manifest itself in many forms. This was the belief of many of the North American Indian tribes. The Great Spirit, above all the lesser gods, is frequently referred to in their stories.

Of the following stories the first three, are examples of a very large class of early myths, which attempt to account for the origin or peculiarities of animals. Curiosity having been awakened, the savage tries to explain what he sees and often invents pretty and even elaborate myths in his effort to find a truth beyond his knowledge.

In the “Origin of the Robin,” a custom observed among Indians is referred to in the young man’s fast. Instead of college commencements, with Baccalaureate sermons, and valedictories, the young Indian boy or maiden was made to observe a solitary fast afar from the parental wigwam, and while suffering the pangs of hunger and loneliness, it was believed that the Great Spirit or a guardian spirit would reveal to him his future.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ROBIN

(From the Odjibwa)

An old man had an only son, named Opeechee, who had come to that age which is thought to be most proper to make the long and final fast which is to secure through life a guardian genius or spirit. The father was ambitious that his son should surpass all others in whatever was deemed wisest and greatest among his people. To accomplish his wish, he thought it necessary that the young Opeechee should fast a much longer time than any of those renowned for their power of wisdom, whose fame he coveted.

He therefore directed his son to prepare with great ceremony for the event. After Opeechee had been several times in the sweating-lodge and bath, which were to prepare and purify him for communion with his good spirit, his father ordered him to lie down upon a clean mat in a little lodge expressly provided for him. He enjoined upon him at the same time to endure his fast like a man, and promised that at the expiration of twelve days he should receive food and the blessing of his father.