Lead with generosity.
Communicate your boundaries.
The story goes...
The Sun and the Moon lived together in a house on Earth and often visited the Sea. After many of these visits, the Sun invited the Sea to come to their home. She agreed with a single condition: that her entire family could come with her, after warning that they were far too many to fit comfortably in the Sun and Moon’s house.
The Sun and the Moon insisted nonetheless, promising without hesitation to build a larger home so they could welcome the Sea and her family properly. When the new house was finally ready, they extended the invitation again. As the Sea slowly began to fill the house, she asked repeatedly the Sun and the Moon if it was still alright for her and her family to enter. Each time, they reassured her, moving higher and higher, at first within the house, and eventually into the Sky, as every space on Earth became filled with water.
My interpretation
This folktale is often attributed to Nigeria, although other oral traditions in West Africa have similar cosmologies, as stories that explain the order of the world as we experience it. As I researched and reflected on this tale, two themes stood out to me. I first read it as an invitation to lead with generosity, while also communicating your boundaries with clarity and confidence.
Approach requests with generosity
The Sun and the Moon embody a spirit of warm generosity and friendship. In most tellings, they’re the ones who invite the Sea, encouraging her to visit and readily agreeing to her condition that her entire family must be welcomed too. They honour this promise without hesitation, and remain unbothered and graceful, as they eventually move aside and rise into the Sky to give their friend the space she needs.
Make boundaries clear and limitations known
The Sea is clear about her limitations from the very beginning. Her single condition is shared with her friends, and it is to bring her whole, authentic self in the Sun and the Moon's house. In every version that I found, as the Sea and her family enter, she repeatedly checks whether they are still welcome. The right circle of people will respond with curiosity, kindness, and respect. The only expectation in return is that you make your boundaries known.
The design choices
First, I wanted to capture the union of the Sun and the Moon. In the story, they are benevolent, gracious, abundant figures, so I gave them a strong, regal presence through those fine, delicate lines, that occupy much of the design. In some retellings, they are spouses, so I inverted their traditional colours to subtly suggest their union.
A defining trait of the Sea in this tale is its overwhelming yet welcome abundance. To express this, I used intricate, overlapping lines that continually rise toward the Sun and the Moon, filling and flowing through the lower half of the design.
Where can you take this next?
Wear this design as a reminder of the power of generosity, both in friendship and in business, and the importance of clearly expressing your boundaries. "No" is a full sentence... but sometimes "Yes" can be just as powerful.
Want to encourage someone to voice their needs? Need a reminder to advocate for yourself? Or perhaps you’re calling more generosity into your life?
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Read more about this tale
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Why the Sun and the Moon Live In the Sky by Elphinstone Dayrell published in 1968. This is one of the most famous written retelling of the tale.
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Discussions on the meaning of the tale, in Folktale the Faithful Friend. (2017). Journal of Education, 194(3), 68-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205741419400312 (Original work published 2014)
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A few versions of the tale available online: