lpetrich
Contributor
We human beings have been telling stories about ourselves and about the world around us for as long as we have any record of doing so, and likely for all of our existence as a species. Some such stories have rather obvious environmental origins, like the monster theory of eclipses. But others are not quite as obvious.
Like the Cosmic Hunt
Why might a Cosmic Hunt be common there and not elsewhere in the world? There are plenty of large animals in India and Southeast Asia and Africa, even if not as much in New Guinea or Australia, and plenty of bright stars observable from these places. Mid to far northern latitudes have cold winters and far northern latitudes are especially difficult to survive in. Might that make a difference? But these stories are about hunts, not about stocking up on pemmican to make it through the winter.
Like the Cosmic Hunt
The OLDEST story in the World - The Cosmic Hunt - An INCREDIBLE discovery - YouTubehe Cosmic Hunt is an old and widely distributed family of cognate myths. They are stories about a large animal that is pursued by hunters, is wounded, and is transformed into a constellation. Variants of the Cosmic Hunt are common in cultures of Northern Eurasia and the Americas, and include the story of Callisto in classical sources.[1] The prey animal is either a bear or an ungulate, and the constellation it is transformed into is typically the four stars of the bowl in the Big Dipper asterism of Ursa Major. In some variants blood or grease may fall from the wounded animal; in an Iroquois version the blood causes leaves to change color in autumn.[1] Sometimes the hunters are also placed in the firmament, represented by the stars of the Big Dipper's handle.
Why might a Cosmic Hunt be common there and not elsewhere in the world? There are plenty of large animals in India and Southeast Asia and Africa, even if not as much in New Guinea or Australia, and plenty of bright stars observable from these places. Mid to far northern latitudes have cold winters and far northern latitudes are especially difficult to survive in. Might that make a difference? But these stories are about hunts, not about stocking up on pemmican to make it through the winter.