Kokopelli

Kokopelli silhouette.

Kokopelli is known as a fertility god in Native American mythology of the southwestern United States. Additionally, Kokopelli is an ancient Hopi god of fertility and powerful communication.

Legend

Mischievous, healer and storyteller, Kokopelli has been a source of wonder for centuries and in different countries. Kokopelli embodies the authentic American Southwest, dating back around 3,000 years ago, when the first petroglyphs were carved.

Though his true origins are unknown, this "Casanova" flutist and traveler is a sacred figure to many native Americans of the American Southwest. The hunchbacked figure of him has been found in paintings and engravings on rock walls and boulders throughout the American Southwest.

There are many myths about the famous Kokopelli. One of them is that he traveled from village to village bringing the change from winter to spring, melting the snow and bringing rain to promote the crops. It is also said that the hump on his back represented the sacks of seeds and the songs that he carried.

Legend also tells that the sound of his flute symbolized the transition from winter to spring. It was said that Kokopelli's flute could be heard in the spring breeze, as the summer warmth swept in.

Kokopelli is also said to be the source of human conception. Legend has it that everyone would dance and sing all night long when they heard Kokopelli's flute.

By the next morning even the maidens would be pregnant. (Translator's note: maiden refers to both virgin and single women.)

Whatever Kokopelli's true meaning may be, he has been a source of musical and dance inspiration, spreading joy to those around him. Even today, Kokopelli, with his hump and his flute, is always welcome in Native American homes.

There are also older or local versions, narrated thus by local natives, that Kokopelli was female, a Goddess, who did not know love, and one day on one of her journeys she met Trully,(the word means &# 34;lone wolf")who was a traveler, when he ran into Kokopelli there was a magical moment, the story says, but Kokopelli should not be long away from the skies, one day he had to leave, leaving Trully, since then the silhouette of a wolf is seen on the cliffs fleeing to the moon, where Kokopelli is said to live, the goddess answers him with the beautiful sound of her flute, which represents the spring wind.

Other names

• Kokopele
• Kokopeltiyo
• Kokopilau
• Neopkwai'i (people)
• Ololowishkya (Zuni)
• La Kokopel

References and notes