Page 15 - ARUBA TODAY

A15
LOCAL Tuesday 10 december 2019

Dragonfly (Orthemis ferruginea)
Episode XLVII (47)

Continued from Page 14

In honor of her, the emperor called the area Akitsu-no (plain of the dragonfly) so the
ancient name of Japan emerged: Akitsu Shima (The Dragonfly Islands). The samurai, an-
cient Japanese warriors, use dragonflies as an emblem of good luck, decorating their
shields and sabers with them.

In Hindu mythology there is a legend that says that when people die their souls become
dragonflies.

In German mythology the dragonflies were associated with Freyja, goddess of love,
wealth and eroticism to which they paid tribute on Fridays. But a decree of the Catholic
Church of 775 A.D. said: “I relate this goddess to evil and along with it I condemn the
dragonflies.” From this story in Cantabrian mythology the dragonflies are called “Cabal-
litos del Diablo” who arise on the magical night of San Juan and fly at night in search of
the four-leaf clovers they eat to prevent mortals from finding them.

The superstitions of this Cantabrian region say that these horses from hell are men who,
because of their sins, lost their soul and were forced to travel Cantabria for the rest of
eternity.

In our western world a quite popular legend relates that the dragonflies were Fairies that
were forbidden to live with humans and they were not to have any contact with them.
Some of these Fairies ignored this prohibition and the gods punished them by convert-
ing them in dragonflies.

Time passed and the prohibition of living with humans was abolished but when the par-
don reached the fairies that had been turned into dragonflies they refused to return to
their previous state because they had already become accustomed to living with hu-
mans without hiding flying free on all sides. Here in Aruba dragonflies where considered
as healing and transformation animals, shamans called upon in their rituals and as sign 4-Fairies or Dragonflies
of good omen.q