Anansi

Change is constant! But Nyame’s lessons through Anansi are also constant. Anansi promised Nyame a different child.

Anansi was a friend of Nyame, the supreme spirit of the sky. Nyame enjoyed having Anansi as a friend in spite of his obvious character flaws, such as being a greedy opportunist and a shrewd selfish predator for acquiring material things. Nyame keeps him around for his children to see a good example of what not to do. One day they were talking, and Nyame said, “Look across the land, as far as the eye can see and as far as man can travel, my children are there. Notice how they are all the same color; a beautiful dark color.” Anansi agreed, “Yes, they are all beautiful. But I can bring you one of a different color. You can then have a variety like the leaves on the trees.” Nyame revealed to Anansi that his plans were to do that himself in the future. But he wondered how Anansi would do it. So, he asked him. And Anansi replied, “I have my way! Allow me to show you in order to win your favor?” Nyame said, “Okay, if you want to make things difficult for yourself. But I’m going to hold you to it! Don’t let me down!” Nyame knew about the genetic experiments that Anansi and his associates have been working on for years on animals and was certain that he would try his tests on a child just to win a favor.

Anansi left thinking about what Nyame said to him and not knowing exactly what he meant by, “I’m going to hold you to it!” Being too afraid to ask, he continued home, eager to prove his self-proclaimed greatness to the great one himself. When he arrived, he immediately instructed his associates what needed to be done to accomplish his plan. They dashed off excited about finally getting to experiment on humans. The only problem was trying to find people willing to participate in their little test. 
 

Time passed by with no results. So, when messengers sent by Nyame arrived at Anansi’s home, they asked, “Where is the different child that you promised Nyame?” Anansi was nervous but he spoke to them as though he was offended by the question. He responded, “Are babies made instantly?” Then when Nyame’s messengers came again after more time had passed, Anansi answered, “It’s only been four months since! Since when are babies born in such little time?” Anansi continued looking for someone to participate in the experiment but everyone they asked refused. Even his associates were unsuccessful with their attempts to pursue someone. They all eventually decided to quit after Anansi asked if he could use their families in the test. Anansi was getting more nervous because it was almost nine months and he had not produced a baby of a different color. Therefore, he knew he had to do something. Just as he got his idea, Nyame’s messengers arrived again. Anansi said, “I’m sure Nyame doesn’t want a baby that is born too early. Only eight months had passed.” 

Anansi’s idea was to run far away to a distant land and hide. He was afraid because Nyame said, “I’ll hold you to it!” So, he decided to leave with his hunting gear along the trail that the hunters used so the people would think he died while hunting. He traveled north for months, over mountains, through rivers and sea until he reached a land that was very cold. The land was not rich with life as the one he came from. It was harsh and unkind to life. He knew it would be hard to survive in this climate, but he couldn’t go back, not yet. 

He looked for shelter in a cave nearby in order to start a fire for warmth. That’s when he noticed a woman running off with what looked like a large piece of carrion. He ran after her because he was curious. But he didn’t expect to get attacked by what appeared to be her clan. They came after him with clubs. Instinctively, he positioned himself behind a large tree and started shooting arrows. He only aimed for the legs of the men charging towards him. He didn’t want to kill them. He just wanted to know who they were. After nursing them back to health, Anansi had become good friends with this group. He taught them how to hunt with arrows, spears and other projectiles instead of clubs. In gratitude, they gave him their daughter Kym as a wife. Now, Anansi finally had someone to test his genetic experiments on. 

These people now thought of Anansi as their friend so it wasn’t difficult to convince them that what he wanted to do would please the supreme spirit if it worked. Without wasting any more time, he began teaching them how to mold metals and use other minerals to create the tools he needed to get started. Then finally, after many months of trying, Anansi altered the DNA in his and his new bride’s embryo. He changed the genetic code in such a way to prevent the child from producing melanin; a brown liquid chemical secreted from cells located in the epidermis of the skin giving color and protection to the skin. 

Anansi waited impatiently for the results of his test, and was overjoyed when after nine long months, out popped a different colored baby. Everybody stared at the child with a blank expression, not knowing how to react. The people of that land had a dark brown complexion, unlike that of the child. It looked so different with it’s pale pink complexion that the usual happiness that occurred after a new birth was delayed. It was replaced by nothingness! Until Anansi jumped with joy from both success and his anticipated fortune. He felt successful because he can return home now after almost three years and gloat to all those doubters who laughed at him and his anxious but haphazard shortcomings. Anansi was extremely excited about the many favors he anticipated Nyame would bestow on him to satisfy his unreasonably acquisitive and selfish desires. The thought of everybody back home envying him made him celebrate jubilantly, even more so than the birth of Kym’s and his first child. Blindly, his new extended family celebrated along with him. 

Anansi thought everything was fine and packed his family up to head south. He planned to deliver on his promise to Nyame by surprising him with a child of a different color. However, Nyame already knew what Anansi did. And he patiently waited for his return, and for the opportunity to teach his children another lesson at Anansi’s expense. 

Nyame knew Anansi made a couple of errors in his eager attempt to be great. One error was not knowing that melanin has other purposes than just skin coloration. It protects against aging, harmful radiation, airborne abrasives, effects of long immersion in water, harmful effects of the cold, and allows for quicker muscular responses, better sight, and increased ability to receive information or vibes from the environment.  

Another big error was when he changed the child’s genetic code, he also altered a few parts in his brain. The part not touched, the old mammalian brain, controls reflexes such as breathing and the heartbeat. But the new mammalian brain, which controls mating instinct, impulses for protection, and preservation was set back to an earlier stage of human evolution. 

The damage to one section of this part of the child's brain causes Nyame great concern. The prefrontal cortex may not be able to function properly. When this child grows older and is confronted with the option to kill or to spare the life of members of his extended human family, even when his own life is in no danger, the signal that is supposed to go off in his brain to preserve the species will not function. He will destroy without feeling, not just other humans, but also other fellow living beings. Since this alteration is genetic, Anansi’s reckless deed will be passed on from the child to its descendants. 

Nyame had to stop him from coming back home. He could not let Anansi’s mistake destroy the rest of the world. Nyame had too many things planned for his children. So, that lesson will have to wait about 50,000 years (until after the year 2,000 AD). 

As Anansi and his family continued to pack, his wife Kym started to complain because the child had an unending appetite. Her milk did not satisfy him, and he cried constantly. He wanted more! So, she gave him mush, but still he was not satisfied. As the child continued to cry for more, she went to Anansi and said, “This is impossible! Our baby doesn’t stop wanting. He keeps crying and making too much noise.” Anansi said, “There’s more food where I come from. We will feed him more there.” His wife countered, “He’s crying now!” So, Anansi went over to see what the problem was. He saw that the baby had eaten everything they had and was still crying for more. Anansi just stood there, leaning over with his face in front of his baby, his mouth wide open in disbelief. That’s when the baby jumped up and tried to bite his tongue off. 

At that moment, Nyame made his presence known to Anansi. He started laughing and said, “You should be glad he doesn’t have teeth yet!” Anansi was startled by Nyame and responded, “What are you doing here?” Nyame replied, “I’ve been here all along. I’m always present. Remember that! I’ve been watching you all along and I’ve seen your mistakes. That is why I cannot let you return home with your new family. Your mistakes may cause world destruction one day.” Then Anansi refuted, “But I just removed most of the melanin to change the complexion. Besides, I did what I promised you. So, what about the fff…” Nyame interrupted, “Don’t even ask about a favor! It was your greed that got you in this mess. I gave you free will and you decided to experiment on other living beings long before our conversation. It’s appropriate that your little pale pink baby should try to bite your pale pink tongue. Now you have a problem. It’s a problem created by your greed, like the appetite of your child… never satisfied. You know Anansi, tongues are never satisfied. If the stomach is full or empty, it’s all the same to your tongue. The tongue always wants. Anansi, I will do you a favor. I will change the appetite in your child. But you must keep your family here and try to correct your mistakes. I’ll talk to you another time, Anansi. And remember, even though the stomach is full, the tongue wants more.” 
 

Anansi kept his family there and continued his experiments. He was trying to figure out what he did wrong in order to correct it. He used other families in his tests in return for skills, knowledge, and things that he brought back with him from his many trips home. 

After forty years had passed, the children of his experiment had grown and were scattered across many villages. The children also had children of their own as well as grandkids. This is when Anansi really started to notice the signs. Families began fighting over land, food and mates. This continued until one family slaughtered the other family, including their children. Anansi would help bury the dead when he noticed all the cracked skulls, broken bones and the savage ways they were killed. He could not believe it, as he thought, “This is what Nyame was talking about.” Over the years, the fighting got worse. Not only did they kill, but they also stole everything the family owned and raped the women before they killed them. Even worse than that, let them live with the pain of this brutal act repeated over and over as they were reduced to servitude. This was too much for Anansi. He was disgusted and decided to leave that land, never to return. 

Anansi and his wife Kym packed up and headed east. On the journey, he talked to her about starting his experiments all over again when they reached the far east. Kym simply said, “Absolutely not! Why can’t we just have children naturally?” Anansi said, “Okay!” It was easy for him to agree with Kym, since she patiently put up with him after all of these years. Before they reached their destination, Kym gave birth to a baby girl. The baby had straight black hair like her mother, not curly hair like her dad. But did not have dark skin like both her parents did. This child had very light skin, but it was still brown, not pale pink. Anansi and Kym looked at each other, surprised at what they saw. The child was light, but Anansi was certain that she had plenty of melanin in that little body. 
 

After they reached the far east, they were welcomed by beautiful people that were small in stature with dark skin and straight hair. They reminded Anansi of a group of people in the southern part of his homeland with their high cheekbones. He knew they must have been related in the past. Nyame told him he had children that went around the world. 

Kym and Anansi noticed that many of the children here also had a very light brown complexion. That’s when Anansi realized this was the work of Nyame. He was sure of it! But he wanted to see how far Nyame would go with it. So, for the next forty years, he and Kym had a baby every year. All of them were light brown. After the last child was born, he gave up. He and his wife were both tired and exhausted. Anansi called out to ask, “Nyame, why is every child we have light brown?” Nyame just laughed as he answered, “Anansi, you never learn! Your wants are never ending. So, I’ve given you what you wanted. But Anansi, why forty children? You didn’t think you had enough? Remember what I told you, even though the stomach had plenty, the tongue always wants more.” Anansi looked all around, as far as his old eyes could see, his children and their children were everywhere. As he began to laugh, he also agreed, “Yeah, I do have plenty!”