Helen Nde
@hm-nde.bsky.social
If you were raised Christian like me, your head probably threatens to explode at the idea of more than one version of a creation myth. In this episode of the Mythological Africans podcast, we take a break from stories to put some context around variations in mythological and folkloric accounts.
November 22, 2025 at 6:31 PM
If you were raised Christian like me, your head probably threatens to explode at the idea of more than one version of a creation myth. In this episode of the Mythological Africans podcast, we take a break from stories to put some context around variations in mythological and folkloric accounts.
Underground emergence creation myths might reference historical memory of our cave dwelling past. They may also be symbolic, referencing an understanding of life emerging from buried seed, cocoon or womb. In this week's episode of the MA podcast, we hear some African perspectives on this myth type.
November 16, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Underground emergence creation myths might reference historical memory of our cave dwelling past. They may also be symbolic, referencing an understanding of life emerging from buried seed, cocoon or womb. In this week's episode of the MA podcast, we hear some African perspectives on this myth type.
For the month of November on the Mythological Africans podcast, we will be taking a closer look at African creation myths. We’ll also probe, lightly as always, at what they reveal about what the people who believe in them understand about the forces and processes that move and organize their world.
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 PM
For the month of November on the Mythological Africans podcast, we will be taking a closer look at African creation myths. We’ll also probe, lightly as always, at what they reveal about what the people who believe in them understand about the forces and processes that move and organize their world.
The Maasai struggle to retain access to their ancestral lands is known, though perhaps not as much as their iconic imagery. In this week’s MA podcast episode, we hear some stories the Maasai tell of their land and examine what they reveal about their relationship with the place they call home.
November 1, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The Maasai struggle to retain access to their ancestral lands is known, though perhaps not as much as their iconic imagery. In this week’s MA podcast episode, we hear some stories the Maasai tell of their land and examine what they reveal about their relationship with the place they call home.
Ghana's fishermen sing to thank the ocean for a bountiful catch, to encourage each other, and to comfort themselves as they brave the unpredictable waters. This week on the MA podcast, we examine how traditional coastal Ghanaian beliefs inform fishing practices.
October 26, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Ghana's fishermen sing to thank the ocean for a bountiful catch, to encourage each other, and to comfort themselves as they brave the unpredictable waters. This week on the MA podcast, we examine how traditional coastal Ghanaian beliefs inform fishing practices.
In the MA September retrospective, I reflect on the commonalities in how storytellers, seers, healers and other keepers of the mysteries in traditional African societies use myths and folklore to mold personal and communal narratives, excavate hidden desires and intentions, and orchestrate change.
October 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM
In the MA September retrospective, I reflect on the commonalities in how storytellers, seers, healers and other keepers of the mysteries in traditional African societies use myths and folklore to mold personal and communal narratives, excavate hidden desires and intentions, and orchestrate change.
Also thrilled to share “A History of Astrology, Divination and Prophecy” from Dorling Kindersley. Honored and honestly a little freaked out (but in a good way!) at being featured among such great scholars!
Out now! Available on Kindle, Audiobook and Hardcover.
Out now! Available on Kindle, Audiobook and Hardcover.
October 1, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Also thrilled to share “A History of Astrology, Divination and Prophecy” from Dorling Kindersley. Honored and honestly a little freaked out (but in a good way!) at being featured among such great scholars!
Out now! Available on Kindle, Audiobook and Hardcover.
Out now! Available on Kindle, Audiobook and Hardcover.
Hi friends! Back from a small social media break with MA September updates. We took a break from landscapes to explore mindscapes. Mythology and folklore have a long history with psychology. After the intro episode, this September series focused on three phenomena which occur across the continent.
October 1, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Hi friends! Back from a small social media break with MA September updates. We took a break from landscapes to explore mindscapes. Mythology and folklore have a long history with psychology. After the intro episode, this September series focused on three phenomena which occur across the continent.
July on the MA Podcast is focused on the folklore of Lake Victoria. Discover the fascinating stories of strangers who come from the lake to change communities for ever!
August 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
July on the MA Podcast is focused on the folklore of Lake Victoria. Discover the fascinating stories of strangers who come from the lake to change communities for ever!
MA’s second quarterly essay for 2025 is a reflection on the joys and frustrations of curating African folklore.
July 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
MA’s second quarterly essay for 2025 is a reflection on the joys and frustrations of curating African folklore.
“Ethiopia is our country, Abay is our river. The women are fine spinners and the men are brave warriors.”
— Ethiopian song.
In this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans Podcast, we use songs and poems to probe at the relationship the Ethiopian people have with Abay, the Blue Nile.
— Ethiopian song.
In this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans Podcast, we use songs and poems to probe at the relationship the Ethiopian people have with Abay, the Blue Nile.
June 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
“Ethiopia is our country, Abay is our river. The women are fine spinners and the men are brave warriors.”
— Ethiopian song.
In this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans Podcast, we use songs and poems to probe at the relationship the Ethiopian people have with Abay, the Blue Nile.
— Ethiopian song.
In this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans Podcast, we use songs and poems to probe at the relationship the Ethiopian people have with Abay, the Blue Nile.
Midnight skin, fiery vertical eyes, long tails, donkey legs, big ears, and an insatiable taste for palm dates and little children. The Aman Doger is the stuff of Nubian nightmares. But what is it exactly? Find out in this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans podcast.
June 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Midnight skin, fiery vertical eyes, long tails, donkey legs, big ears, and an insatiable taste for palm dates and little children. The Aman Doger is the stuff of Nubian nightmares. But what is it exactly? Find out in this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans podcast.
We started last week with a reading of Nile by Poet Laureate of Ethiopia, Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin.
June 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
We started last week with a reading of Nile by Poet Laureate of Ethiopia, Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin.
May, on the MA Podcast, was a strenuous but exciting trek north through the Saharan desert, charting the North African mythical landscape.
June 2, 2025 at 1:13 AM
May, on the MA Podcast, was a strenuous but exciting trek north through the Saharan desert, charting the North African mythical landscape.
More soon! 😊
Thank you for your patience 🙏🏾
Thank you for your patience 🙏🏾
April 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM
More soon! 😊
Thank you for your patience 🙏🏾
Thank you for your patience 🙏🏾
Hey Everyone, quick update to say The Watkins Book of African Folklore is now available in South Africa 😊
You can order from Takealot. It will be shipped from the US, though.
Buy here: www.takealot.com/the-watkins-...
You can order from Takealot. It will be shipped from the US, though.
Buy here: www.takealot.com/the-watkins-...
April 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Hey Everyone, quick update to say The Watkins Book of African Folklore is now available in South Africa 😊
You can order from Takealot. It will be shipped from the US, though.
Buy here: www.takealot.com/the-watkins-...
You can order from Takealot. It will be shipped from the US, though.
Buy here: www.takealot.com/the-watkins-...
New Episode 🚨
Around 9:30 pm on the night of Thursday August 21st 1986, a muted roaring sound arose near Lake Nyos in Cameroon’s North West region. In its aftermath there was a strange eerie silence.
When dawn came, almost every living creature in the area lay on the ground. Dead.
What happened?
Around 9:30 pm on the night of Thursday August 21st 1986, a muted roaring sound arose near Lake Nyos in Cameroon’s North West region. In its aftermath there was a strange eerie silence.
When dawn came, almost every living creature in the area lay on the ground. Dead.
What happened?
April 28, 2025 at 10:17 PM
New Episode 🚨
Around 9:30 pm on the night of Thursday August 21st 1986, a muted roaring sound arose near Lake Nyos in Cameroon’s North West region. In its aftermath there was a strange eerie silence.
When dawn came, almost every living creature in the area lay on the ground. Dead.
What happened?
Around 9:30 pm on the night of Thursday August 21st 1986, a muted roaring sound arose near Lake Nyos in Cameroon’s North West region. In its aftermath there was a strange eerie silence.
When dawn came, almost every living creature in the area lay on the ground. Dead.
What happened?
In “Legends of the Earth: Their Geologic Origins”, Geologist Dorothy Vitaliano asserts that the lack of widespread catastrophic flood myths from the African continent is one reason why people who study such things question the plausibility of a global flood as described in the biblical account.
April 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM
In “Legends of the Earth: Their Geologic Origins”, Geologist Dorothy Vitaliano asserts that the lack of widespread catastrophic flood myths from the African continent is one reason why people who study such things question the plausibility of a global flood as described in the biblical account.
And the usual reminder that the MA Podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple and wherever else you get your podcast fix 😊
As always, if you can’t get enough of African folklore, buy my newly released book!
As always, if you can’t get enough of African folklore, buy my newly released book!
April 14, 2025 at 11:53 PM
And the usual reminder that the MA Podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple and wherever else you get your podcast fix 😊
As always, if you can’t get enough of African folklore, buy my newly released book!
As always, if you can’t get enough of African folklore, buy my newly released book!
In the mid 1990s, nearly seven decades after its first publication in 1921, Mokran Fetta (a Kabyle student studying in Germany) translated and published German ethnologist and archaeologist Leo Frobenius’ “Volksmärchen der Kabylen” (Kabyle Folktales).
April 11, 2025 at 3:41 AM
In the mid 1990s, nearly seven decades after its first publication in 1921, Mokran Fetta (a Kabyle student studying in Germany) translated and published German ethnologist and archaeologist Leo Frobenius’ “Volksmärchen der Kabylen” (Kabyle Folktales).
And as always, if you can’t get enough of African folklore, buy my newly released book!
April 7, 2025 at 7:39 PM
And as always, if you can’t get enough of African folklore, buy my newly released book!
Places with distinctive geographical landforms have a way of carving terrains of their own on the psyches of the people who live near them.
In this week’s MA Podcast, we discuss why it is important to study and understand the stories we have told about the land on which we live.
In this week’s MA Podcast, we discuss why it is important to study and understand the stories we have told about the land on which we live.
April 7, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Places with distinctive geographical landforms have a way of carving terrains of their own on the psyches of the people who live near them.
In this week’s MA Podcast, we discuss why it is important to study and understand the stories we have told about the land on which we live.
In this week’s MA Podcast, we discuss why it is important to study and understand the stories we have told about the land on which we live.
In the first of this year’s Mythological Africans Quarterly Essay series, we look at what folk medicine might still have to offer.
April 1, 2025 at 4:12 PM
In the first of this year’s Mythological Africans Quarterly Essay series, we look at what folk medicine might still have to offer.