Polik-mana (butterfly maiden) kachina, Arizona, Hopi people, Honolulu Museum of Art

Polik-mana or Butterfly Maiden is a kachina, or spirit being, in Hopi mythology. Every spring she dances from flower to flower, pollinating the fields and flowers and bringing life-giving rain to the Arizona desert. She is represented by a woman dancer at the yearly Butterfly Dance, a traditional initiation rite for Hopi girls. The rite takes place in late summer, before the harvest, to give thanks to Polik-mana for her spring dance.[1] Hopi girls participating in the Butterfly Dance wear ornate headdresses called kopatsoki.[2]

The Polik-mana Mons, a mountain on Venus, is named for the Butterfly Maiden.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Loar, Julie (2010). Goddesses for Every Day: Exploring the Wisdom & Power of the Divine Feminine around the World. New World Library. p. 65. ISBN 9781577319511.
  2. ↑ "Hopi Butterfly Dance". National Museum of the American Indian.
  3. ↑ "Polik-mana Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
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