Voodoo rattle with monkey figure

One member of the animal kingdom that frequently appears in tales written by humans is the monkey. Aesop paired the monkey with a fox and a dolphin in two famous fables. The monkey was made a god by the ancient Mayas in Mexico and described the same way in the Ramayana, an Indian epic poem. Animal or God, no matter how the monkey is portrayed there is usually a lesson to be learned.

No matter how the monkey is portrayed in literature there is usually a lesson to be learned

Featured is a rattle used by a Voodoo fortune teller in Benin, West Africa. Curiously, sitting on top is a monkey. It relates to an old tale about an ungrateful monkey who does not keep his word. Predictably, things do not go well for the monkey. Like this old fable, the rattle reminds us gratitude is essential in the present if we expect good fortune in the future.

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