Disabled Gods offers a glimpse of how disability was thought of in the ancient
past. This is not suitable for children, as it contains nudity, infanticide, human
sacrifice, violence, murder, ableism, and infantilisation.
Even though rates of disability were likely much higher in the past, many of the
stories about the gods were likely written by non-disabled people. In cultures
like Egypt where disabled people were frequently part of everyday life, held
important social positions and were integrated into society, the disability
of the gods is incidental and not related to their narratives or personality.
In societies where there was high amounts of inequality and exclusion, the
disability of the gods was often a metaphor or a punishment or seen as
negative. Many of the old stories about disability link to modern ones with
many of the same tropes and perspectives. Some cultures viewed disability
as a curse for wrongdoing, a divine punishment for the sin of the individual
or their parents. Stories often feature disability as a metaphor for ignorance
or death. Disability in this context is often healed through redemption. This
links to the old prejudice of the physical body being a reflection of one’s soul.
Which was a foundational prejudice in the perpetuation of slavery of people
with darker skin tones. Many folk narratives use disability as a plot device,
often focusing on “fixing” the disability. This concept, known as “narrative
prosthesis,” is common in fairy tales and other folk stories.
Disability is sometimes linked to supernatural or magical elements in
folklore or seen as a source of spiritual power. The Greek prophet Tiresias,
for instance, was blinded but granted the gift of prophecy. This can be read
through the modern idea of compensatory stereotypes where it is assumed
that if an individual is disadvantaged in one way they will be gifted in another.
As if there were a force of equalizing balance to all things. This can be seen
in modern media via the “Magical minority” stereotype. In Japanese folk
beliefs, there’s also a tradition of viewing people with intellectual disabilities
as “Fukuko” (fortunate child) or “Takako” (treasured child), suggesting a
spiritual significance to their condition.
In a world where disability is often erased from histories, learning about
disabled gods does at least remind us that disabled people have always
existed and impacted the storytelling and culture in all the places they lived.
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