pre-date the Incan empire. In the mythology of ancient Slavs, a man touched by the rainbow is drawn to heaven, and becomes a "Planetnik" – half-demonic creature – which is under the power of the thunder and lightning god Perun. Other legends In the Hebrew Book of Genesis, after the flood had almost wiped out the entire human race, God told Noah that he will set the rainbow as a token of his promise that he would never send another flood large enough to destroy all life. It is said that no rainbows appeared during the lifetime of 2nd-century rabbi Simeon bar Yochai, as his own righteousness was sufficient to guarantee God's mercy. In Ireland, a common legend asserts that a pot of gold is to be found at the end of a rainbow, guarded by a leprechaun. In a Chinese folktale, Hsienpo and Yingt'ai are star-crossed lovers who must wait until the rainbow appears to be alone together. Hsienpo is the red in the rainbow, and Yingt'ai is the blue. The Fang of Gabon (Africa) are initiated into the religion by a "transcendent experience when they arrive at the rainbow's center, for there they can see both the entire circle of the rainbow and of the earth, signaling the success of their vision". The Fang also prohibit their children from looking at the rainbow. For Buddhists, the rainbow is "the highest state achievable before attaining Nirvana, where individual desire and consciousness are extinguished." Accordingly there is mention of a rainbow body. According to syncretic Malay shamanism and folklore, the rainbow is said to have been formed from the sword of the earth serpent Sakatimuna who was defeated by the archangel Gabriel. In Bulgarian legends, it is said that a person who walk beneath a rainbow will change genders: a man will begin to think like a woman, and a woman will begin to think like a man. Rainbows are widely seen in Native American stories and prophecies. The Cherokee believe the rainbow forms the hem of the sun's coat. References Comparative mythology Mythology