Fish Archives - MarkedHistory

Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Crocodile, Fish, Shapeshifter

The Myth

Emobali was once a Djibu boy. One day, while hunting, he shot a woman without knowing who she was. When he discovered that he had killed his own mother, grief and terror seized him. Unable to live with what he had done, Emobali went to the Binatui River at Mude and threw himself into the water.

At the place where he entered the river, a deep hollow was formed close to the bank. This deep spot is said to exist because of Emobali’s leap, and it remains as a sign of his death.

Afterward, Emobali became a spirit of the river. In the water, he appears in the form of a crocodile or a fish, moving silently beneath the surface. Yet Emobali does not only haunt the river. He also comes to people in dreams. When Djibu people sleep naked, Emobali may appear to them and instruct them, teaching medicines and giving knowledge useful for hunting and gardening.

In these dreams, he does not appear as an animal, but in his human form, as the boy he once was.

Thus Emobali lives on as a crocodile–fish spirit of the river, born from an act of tragic ignorance, dwelling in water and dreams alike, feared and respected as both a reminder of guilt and a giver of hidden knowledge.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea; a nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., p. 302.

Interpretive Lenses

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How to Invite The Emobali

The Myth

Uso no Seirei is a yōkai depicted in the Bakemono Emaki (Monster Picture Scroll) preserved in the Kawasaki City Museum.

It appears in the form of a bald monk-like figure. Its face has no eyes, no nose, and no mouth. From where its face should be, long whiskers grow, resembling those of a catfish. The creature wears a kimono patterned with images believed to represent the uso, the bullfinch.

The spirit stands silently, without expression or speech. Its lack of facial features gives it an unsettling presence, as though it exists without identity or emotion. The bullfinch pattern upon its robes marks its nature, binding it to the idea of the uso itself.

Uso no Seirei does not act violently, nor does it chase or attack. It simply appears, featureless and mute, a quiet and uncanny figure among the monsters of the scroll.