Healing stories for children during a Thunderstorm has two different stories. the first one is a Nigerian Folktale about a mother Sheep called Thunder and her son – a Ram called Lightning. The second story is from Indian Mythology.
My daughter was in kindergarten. She had learned to write that year. One weekend before Diwali, she was making Diwali cards for her Aunties at school (Teachers are called Aunties in her school). She was busy in her room with paper and paint. I left her in her own world and decided that I would pop some corn for a snack.
The sky opened up and it started to rain that evening. Thunder and lightning flashed about and I stood looking outside my window taking in the fresh earthly scent arising due to the raindrops falling on the dry soil.
Suddenly, I found a pair of tiny hands clasping my knees and with a smile on my face I turned to my daughter. She wanted me to come and sit with her. She told me she did not feel like making cards that day and that she wanted to sit on my lap. I secretly smiled. ( because I knew that she was uneasy with the sound of Thunder). I narrated the story of Thunder and Lightning to her that day.
Thunder and Lightning is a Nigerian Folklore. I had read it a long time ago and I added my own elements to make the story interesting for her. children between the age of 3 to 6 years can be narrated this story. Here it goes…….
Healing story during a Thunderstorm – Thunder & Lightning
A long time ago, there lived a farmer. He had gone to the village market to sell his vegetables. He made a lot of money that day and he decided to buy a gift for his son. After searching for a while, he brought home a beautiful sheep for his son to play with. His son loved the sheep so much that he decided to name her “Thunder”.
After a few years, the sheep gave birth to a son – a Ram. The farmer and his son were so excited and called the Ram “Lightning”. Lightning was adorable at first but later on, he grew to be an angry young Ram.
Whenever Lighting got angry, he would stomp his feet and spit Fire. He burnt everything before him and whenever the mother Sheep – Thunder knew about the bad behavior of her son, she raised her voice and shouted at him loudly. Her voice was so loud that the whole village could hear her.
One day, Lightning got very angry that he could not control himself. He flew into a furious rage and burnt the farmer’s house down. The farmer was angry and banished both Thunder and Lightning from his farm.
Now the Mother sheep -Thunder and her Son – Lightning lived in the outskirts of the village. Grazing in the hills nearby. One day, one of the villagers offended Lightning. He flew into a furious rage and burnt the whole village down into ashes. As soon as his mother – Thunder came to know about her son’s evil deeds, she shouted at the top of her voice.
The villagers were upset and complained to their king. The king banished both Thunder and Lightning from his kingdom. This decision made Lightning angrier and he burnt the whole kingdom.
The king was furious and he called for his wise counsellors for advice. They decided to banish both Thunder and Lightning completely away from earth. They sent both Thunder and Lightning to live in the SKY. The people in the kingdom now hopped that they would be safe. They prayed that their houses and farms are safe.
Things did not work well after all. Sometimes, the people living on earth could still see that the Lightning still loses his temper from time to time and the mother sheep – Thunder rebuking him in her loud rumbling voice.
I ended the story by saying, “Next time I want you to notice something. I want you to Concentrate on how the lightning flashes first followed by the mother sheep Scolding him in her loud voice”.
My daughter replied, ” Okay Amma. Now I know why the rain falls down Amma. The clouds burn and send the ashes to us as rainfall”.
Fast forward to the year 2021
Now my daughter is no longer a kindergarten kid. I had an opportunity to recall a story from Indian Mythology during Pongal this year. Usually we do not receive any rains during Pongal, but this year, it was very unusual. We received rains with a bit of thunder during Pongal.
I decided to tell her a story from Indian mythology now that she is much older. This story can be narrated to children aged above 7 years.
Why do you chant Arjuna’s name when you hear Thunder……
When I was young, I have heard my Grandmother call out Arjuna, Arjuna…… whenever there was a thunderstorm. I heard this story when I was a little girl.
The Pandava brothers were sent into exile (by the Kouravas after losing. The exile was for 13 years. In the 13th year, they had to live incognito. During their last year, before going incognito, Arjuna had hidden all their weaponry on top of a Shami Tree / Vanni Tree inside a forest. The Pandavas brothers disguised themselves and entered the kingdom of Virata. Guessing this, Duryodhana had planned to trouble, King Virata. Arjuna sent Prince Uthara Kumara to the Vanni tree to fetch the weapons.
The Prince was scared and uttered the 10 names of Arjuna in order to get the hidden weapons. The Prince finally turned the weapons to Arjuna who fought the battle.
From that day onwards, all the people who were scared uttered the names of Arjuna. The person uttering the word Arjuna will get rid of his/ her fear.
Let me know the Healing stories you narrate to your children during a Thunderstorm to keep them warm. Leave your comments below. You could also follow me on Instagram and Facebook. You could also contact me through the Contact Form in my website.