Bonito Maidens
Sea spirits of the Solomon Islands who guard the sacred bonito and take the fishermen's hooks out of the mouths of the fish that get away.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Melanesian mythology
- Region
- Melanesia (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Water-Beckoners
- Symbols
- Pearl
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Pearl bears image-domain The pearl denotes hidden worth made from an irritant, purity drawn out of fleshly darkness, and whatever is most valued, from a child to heaven.
why
They are seldom seen and consistently described as beautiful, wearing the ornament of their own element — cowrie shell and porpoise tooth in one account, ivory and pearl and shell in another.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Defensive powers
- Water guardianship
why
The Bonito Maidens belong to the Sa'a people of the southeastern Solomon Islands, and they live in the deep pools of the sea bed with the fish they keep.
Utility powers
- Controls marine game abundance
why
A bonito that breaks a line and escapes with the hook still in its mouth goes to them, and they take it out.