Bahloo- Aboriginal Australian GodDeity"Moon Man"
Also known as: Ballou, Balu, and Bahlu
Description
Kamilaroi moon spirit who offered humanity the gift of immortality. When they refused to carry his snakes across a river, Bahloo cursed them with permanent death. He alone keeps the power of renewal, waning each month to nothing before rising again, while humans die and do not return.
Mythology & Lore
The Moon Man
In the traditions of the Kamilaroi (Gamilaraay) recorded by K. Langloh Parker, Bahloo crosses the sky each night. Each month he shrinks to nothing. Each month he returns, whole and renewed. He is also the one who sends girl children into the world: when a new girl is born, Bahloo has sent her spirit.
The Snakes and the River
Bahloo kept snakes as companions and once tried to cross a river using them as a bridge. He wanted humans to share his power of renewal, to die and return to life the way the moon does. He asked humans to carry his snakes across the water. They looked at the snakes and refused.
Bahloo's anger was immediate. Because they had rejected his snakes, they would not share in his power. From that day, humans died and did not come back. The snakes, who shed their skin and appear reborn, kept their share. The moon kept his. Humanity, through fear, lost the only chance it was ever given.
Relationships
- Associated with