Cuckoo for Kokopellis

Some legends suggest that Kokopelli was a real ancient Toltec trader who played the flute and traveled routes between Mexico, the west coast, and the southwest. He was seen as a symbol of happiness and joy, traveling from village to village playing his flute.

As a prankster, he appears in the folktales and mythology of many different peoples. As a fertility god he would play his flute, play pranks, and when he left town in the morning, all the women were pregnant and the crops were plentiful.

As a hunter, Kokopelli plays the flute to lure the mountain sheep he is hunting. The Zuni call him a rain priest and connect him and his music with the gift of rain.

According to the Hopi, the Kokopelli warmed the land and the winds by playing his flute as he led them to their homeland. In some Hopi tales, the Kokopelli's bag contains gifts that he uses to attract women. In others, he carries a baby on his back which he leaves with a young woman.

"Hopi legend tells us that upon their entrance onto this, the fourth world, the Hopi people were met by an Eagle who shot an arrow into the two "mahus," insects which carried the power of heat. They immediately began playing such uplifting melodies on their flutes that they healed their own pierced bodies.

The Hopi then began their separate migrations and each "mahu" would scatter seeds of fruits and vegetables onto the barren land. Over them, each played his flute to bring warmth and make the seeds grow. His name -- KOKO for wood and Pilau for hump (which was the bag of seeds he always carried)-- was given to him on this long journey. It is said that he draws that heat from the center of the Earth. He has come down to us as the loving spirit of fertility -- of the Earth and humanity. His invisible presence is felt whenever life come forth from seed -- plants or animals."

- raysweb.net/canyonlands/pages/anasazi