Simei

A goddess of childbirth, protector of women and babies. Her brother and husband is Ple. She gave light to the fireflies so that they might accompany her by night when she visited sick Semang women. At the arrival of fireflies the men would retreat into the jungle. Since Ple and Simei disappeared, the fireflies keep looking for them among the bushes. By day Simei was accompanied by a bird called Me-el, a kind of crested dove.

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References

Sources

  • Schebesta, Paul. 1952-1957. Die Negrito Asiens. Wein-Modling: St.-Gabriel Verlag, pp. 262, 266.
  • Skeat, Walter Wm. (1906). Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula. London: Macmillan, pp. 213-214.