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Chameleon symbol in Africa

Chameleon symbol in Africa

CHAMELEON

The figure shows a creature depicted by the Afo people, which is related to the Yoruba tribe from Nigeria. We see here a chameleon moving carefully along the edge without hurting himself.

Africans often associated chameleons with wisdom. In South Africa, chameleons were called "go carefully to the goal," and in the Zulu language, the name of a chameleon means "lord of slowness." One of the African legends tells that the creator god, after he had created man, sent a chameleon to earth to tell people that after death they would return to a better life than on earth. But since the chameleon was too slow a creature, God sent, just in case, also a hare. The hare immediately rushed off, not wanting to listen to everything to the end, and everywhere began to spread the message that people would have to die forever. The chameleon took too long to reach the people - by that time it was too late to correct the hare's mistake. The moral of the story is that haste can always lead to unhappiness.

The chameleon personifies the ability to adapt to all changes in the environment, as this creature easily changes its color depending on the color of the environment. Some of the tribes inhabiting modern Zaire believe that their people are descended from the Wise Chameleon. Other Africans see the chameleon as an all-powerful god who can appear in various forms.

Source: "Symbols of Africa" ​​Heike Ovuzu