Table Of ContentGemini and the Sacred
Also Available from Bloomsbury
The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Myth,
Edited by Jonathan Miles-Watson and Vivian Asimos
Goddesses in Myth and Cultural Memory
Emilie Kutash
The Roman Mithras Cult,
Olympia Panagiotidou with Roger Beck
Gemini and the Sacred
Twins and Twinship in Religion and Mythology
Edited by
Kimberley C. Patton
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
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First published in Great Britain 2023
Copyright © Kimberley C. Patton and Contributors, 2023
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Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editor of this work.
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this copyright page.
Cover design: Maria Rajka
Cover image: ‘Gemini’, folio 3r, detail from the Hunterian Psalter,
Glasgow University Library MS, Hunter 229 (U.3.2) Circa 1170. Anonymous
Hunterian Psalter c. 1170 Gemini
(© The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)
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Jacob Ké̝ hìndé and Isaac Táyéwò
Jacob Atta and Essau Atta
The Nabeysil and Salvador
Jaya and Uma
Laurie and Kathy
Erik and Katrina
Joseph and Philip
Ben and Natalie
& for
Lee and Caitlyn
always
vi
Figure TC.1. Zodiac mosaic, Beit Alpha Synagogue.
Beit She’an Valley, sixth century CE, N. Israel.
Detail: Gemini (teomim).
Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xvi
1 A Mirror: Reflecting on Gemini and the Sacred Kimberley C. Patton 1
Part 1 Africa and the African Diaspora
2 The Code of Twins: Ìbejì in Yorùbá Cosmology, Ritual, and
Iconography Jacob Ké̝hìndé Olúpo̝nà 71
3 Twins: Welcome and Unwelcome Danglers in Africa Pashington Obeng 106
4 Marasa Elou: Twins and Uncanny Children in Haitian Vodou
Adam Michael McGee 127
viii Contents
Part 2 Hero Twins in the Americas
5 Twins in Native American Mythologies: Relational
Transformation John Grim 157
6 Junajpu and XB’alamkiej: The Maya Hero Twins of the
Popol Wuj Vincent James Stanzione 176
Part 3 South Asian Legacies
7 Wars within the Womb Wendy Doniger 213
8 Twins in Hindu Mythology and Everyday Life in the California
Diaspora Vijaya Nagarajan 224
Part 4 Twins in the Ancient Mediterranean
9 Entangled Bodies: Rethinking Twins and Double Images in the
Prehistoric Mediterranean Lauren Talalay 247
10 Achilles and Patroklos as Models for the Twinning of Identity
Gregory Nagy 268
11 Achilles and Patroclus as Indo-European Twins: Homer’s Take
Douglas Frame 289
12 Ss. Cosmas and Damian: Synergistic Brother Healers James C. Skedros 300
Part 5 Divine Twinship in the Ancient Near East and Eastern Christianity
13 Primordial Twins in Ancient Iranian Myth Prods Oktor Skjærvø 317
14 Didymos Judas Thomas: The Twin Brother of Jesus Gregory J. Riley 354
15 The Divine Double in Late Antiquity Charles M. Stang 368
Part 6 Powerful Twins in the Archaeology of Myth
16 Óðinn’s Twin Ravens, Huginn and Muninn Stephen A. Mitchell 397
17 Twinning and Pairing: Rethinking Number in the Roman Provincial
Religious Imagery of Gallia and Britannia Miranda Aldhouse-Green 413
18 Yoking the Winds: The Tears of Xanthos and Balios Kimberley C. Patton 435
Part 7 Epilogue
19 Epilogue: Dialogue Joseph O. Garrity and Philip S. Garrity 483
List of Contributors 506
Index 512
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Zodiac mosaic, Beit Alpha Synagogue. Beit She’an Valley,
sixth century CE, N. Israel. Detail: Gemini (teomim) 1
1.2 “Gemini” (al-Jawzā’) from Kitāb al-Bulhān (“Book of Wonders”),
Ms. Bodl. Or. 133, fol. 5b, c. 1400 CE 1
1.3 Suliat Ogunjimi holds sororal twins Afusat Ganiyu and Ganiyatu
Adesope in Igbo Ora, Oyo State, Nigeria—April 3, 2019 8
2.1 Antique Male Ère Ìbejì (Yorùbá twin statuettes, wood, cowrie shells).
Property of Jacob Ké̝hìndé Olúpo̝nà 91
4.1 Detail of Vodou altar, showing plat Marasa and basil 128
4.2 Wide view of Vodou altar (plat Marasa on lower left) 143
5.1 A Diné (Navajo) mother with her twins, near a wagon. Gallup area,
New Mexico [undated; 1925–30?] 164
5.2 Two dancers with shields, rattles, and raccoon pelts (the Hero Twins?).
Quaternity motif on engraved conch shell gorget hanging from leader’s
necklace. Burial 108, Craig Mound, Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma.
Mississippian Culture, 1200–1350 CE 169
6.1 “Junajpu (Hun Ahaw) and Xbalanke (Yax Balam), the Hero Twins
of the Popul Vuj, request Its’amnaj, a primary lord of the Underworld,
to return the bones of their father, the Maize god. His bones reside in
the basket in front of Its’amnaj.” Late Classic Period Mayan cylinder
earthenware vase, 600–750 CE. Campeche, Mexico. Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston 1988.1169 186
6.2 The hero twins as catfish in Xibalba. Polychrome Mayan ceramic vase,
classical period 195
6.3 The reborn Sun; same band decorations as the catfish: the three dots
that identify the Hero Twins in life and in death (the kimi sign) 197
8.1 Uma Nagarajan-Swenson as the Goddess Gayatri on the left; Jaya
Nagarajan-Swenson as the Goddess Saraswathi on the right.
Navarathri Festival 2010, Anubhuti Meditation and Retreat Center,
Novato, California 226
8.2 Chamunda and Chotila, twin goddesses from Gujarat. Cover image
of Wendy Doniger, Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in
Ancient Greece and India 229
