Gemini and the Sacred: Twins and Twinship in Religion and Mythology

Description

Why do twins remain uncanny to those born alone-in other words, most of us? Even with the rise of IVF and an increase in multiple births, why do we still do “a double take” when we encounter twins? Why has this been a near-universal response throughout human history, and how has it played out in religion and myth? Through the work of leading scholars in religion, folklore and mythology, history, anthropology, and archaeology, Gemini and the Sacred explores how twinship has long been imagined, especially in the complex relationship of sacred twin traditions to “twins on the ground” in biology and lived experience. The book considers the multiple ways in which the “doubling” of a human being may be interpreted as auspicious and powerful-or suppressed as unstable and dangerous. Why has this been so and how does it affect living twins today? Treating both famous and lesser-known twins-including supernatural animal twins-in the ancient Near Eastern and classical Mediterranean worlds; early Christianity and Gnosticism; Vedic, Hindu, West African, Black Atlantic, and native American traditions; ancient Mesoamerica, Celtic Roman Britain, and Scandinavia; and in the special, fraught bond shared by all twins, the book offers a variety of perspectives on this topic of great cultural significance. Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1 A Mirror: Reflecting on Gemini and the Sacred • Kimberley C. Patton Part 1: Africa and the African Diaspora 2 The Code of Twins: Ìbejì in Yorùbá Cosmology, Ritual, and Iconography • Jacob Ké̝hìndé Olúpo̝nà 3 Twins: Welcome and Unwelcome Danglers in Africa • Pashington Obeng 4 Marasa Elou: Twins and Uncanny Children in Haitian Vodou • Adam Michael McGee Part 2: Hero Twins in the Americas 5 Twins in Native American Mythologies: Relational Transformation • John Grim 6 Junajpu and XB’alamkiej: The Maya Hero Twins of the Popol Wuj • Vincent James Stanzione Part 3: South Asian Legacies 7 Wars within the Womb • Wendy Doniger 8 Twins in Hindu Mythology and Everyday Life in the California Diaspora • Vijaya Nagarajan Part 4: Twins in the Ancient Mediterranean 9 Entangled Bodies: Rethinking Twins and Double Images in the Prehistoric Mediterranean • Lauren Talalay 10 Achilles and Patroklos as Models for the Twinning of Identity • Gregory Nagy 11 Achilles and Patroclus as Indo-European Twins: Homer’s Take • Douglas Frame 12 Ss. Cosmas and Damian: Synergistic Brother Healers • James C. Skedros Part 5: Divine Twinship in the Ancient Near East and Eastern Christianity 13 Primordial Twins in Ancient Iranian Myth • Prods Oktor Skjærvø 14 Didymos Judas Thomas: The Twin Brother of Jesus • Gregory J. Riley 15 The Divine Double in Late Antiquity • Charles M. Stang Part 6: Powerful Twins in the Archaeology of Myth Óðinn’s Twin Ravens, Huginn and Muninn • Stephen A. Mitchell 17 Twinning and Pairing: Rethinking Number in the Roman Provincial Religious Imagery of Gallia and Britannia • Miranda Aldhouse-Green 18 Yoking the Winds: The Tears of Xanthos and Balios • Kimberley C. Patton Part 7: Epilogue 19 Epilogue: Dialogue • Joseph O. Garrity and Philip S. Garrity List of Contributors Index