THE American Indians, or Native Americans as we like to call them nowadays, had a picturesque imagination when it came to weather matters. The Algonguins, for example, inspired no doubt by its quick spring and sharp recoil, and by the sinuosity and sheer unpredictability of its rapid movement, thought of lightning as a great serpent periodically vomited out by Manito, the Creator. Thunder was the hissing of this giant snake.
The Pawnees, on the other hand, believed that lightning was produced by the magical thunderbird, its vivid plumage and beating wings as it dived from the clouds providing, respectively, the lightning flash and the peal of thunder. The rainbow was seen as the thunderbird's dying breath, as it expired under the powerful influence of the sacred sun. Tangible evidence of recent visitations could be seen in the marks of its claws on damaged trees and splintered tepee poles.
In the real India, however, the god of thunder in ancient times was Indra, who raced across the skies brandishing a thunderbolt. He was transported in a golden carriage, noisily drawn by two thousand horses, and in his train, riding the winds, followed a band of young warriors called Maruts, hurling thunderbolts and warring against the demons of the dreaded drought.
Nearer home, in Norse mythology, Thor was god of thunder and wielded a mighty hammer with which he split the clouds. Those dark Teutonic' thunderclouds comprised a mixture of water and an inflammable vapour called vafermist; when the cloud was split, the two were separated - one to fall as rain, and the other catching fire and descending earthwards as a sheet of lightning.
To the ancient Greeks, the deity responsible was Zeus, who was depicted seated on a throne with thunderbolt in hand, ready to strike his enemies. Indeed in The Iliad Homer tells how during the Trojan War "Zeus, the Cloudbringer, thundered furiously from Mount Ida and sent his burning lightning against the Greeks. They, having seen it, were amazed, and pale fear seized them all.
But in general, only rarely in ancient cultures were these gods of thunder and lightning evil or unfriendly. Indeed their frequent and spectacular visits to their earthly domains were welcomed, and the gods themselves were thought to have a benign influence on the affairs of men.
This may be explained by the fact that in many climates a thunderstorm often heralded the end of a long dry period, and the heavy rain obligingly brought by the passing deity softened the baked earth, making it possible to look forward to a fruitful harvest.