The Religious Studies Podcast · Bastian Friborg
Myth and Meaning - Harelips and Twins
September 18, 2025·18 min·1 clip
Levi Strauss identifies that harelips, feet-first births, and twinship are all symbolically linked as different manifestations of the same concept: splitting or division.
As heard by us
A strange missionary account opens into a clear look at mythic structure.
Claude Levi-Strauss begins with a strange late-16th-century missionary story: severe cold, feet-first births, a hair lip, twins blamed for the weather. From there, the episode moves into a larger point about how myths hold together.
Why you'd press play
You want a strange myth puzzle that shows how Levi-Strauss connects myths across the Americas.
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