Long, long ago when First Woman the Goddess was created, she became
fully grown in four days. It seemed that every Dine (Navajo) Indian
tribesman wanted her for his wife.

She did not love any of them, but she did like the handsome ones. Of
all the men, however, she thought the most attractive was the Sun-God. Of
course, she thought he could never be her husband.

To her surprise, one day Sun-God came up behind her and gently tickled
her neck with a feathery plume. She was engulfed with warm sunshine,
and in a magical way the Goddess became the wife of Sun-God. He fathered
her firstborn, a son.

Not long thereafter, the Goddess was resting beneath an overhanging
cliff when some drops of water fell upon her. Soon the Goddess gave birth
to a second son, fathered by Water-God. Because the two boys were so
close in age, they became known as the Twins of the Goddess.

They lived in a beautiful canyon that later became a part of Dine
(Navajo) land. About that time, a Great Giant roamed over the country and
ate every human he could catch. He discovered the Goddess but did not
want to kill her, because at first sight he fell in love with her beauty.

The Goddess knew of the Great Giant's evil ways and would have nothing
to do with him. He became very jealous of her when he saw footprints of
the Twins outside her Hogan.

She saw Great Giant approaching, so she quickly dug a hole in the
center of her floor and there hid her two children, whom she dearly loved.
She covered the opening with a flat sandstone rock, spreading dirt over
it to prevent the Great Giant from finding her Twins.

Another day, Great Giant saw the children's tracks.

"Where did these children come from?" he asked the Goddess.

"I have no children." she replied, because she knew that he would try
to kill them if he found the Twins.

"You are not telling me the truth," he said. "I see children's
footprints in the dirt, right here."

The Goddess laughed heartily and said "Those are only my hand prints. I
am very lonesome for children, so I only pretend by making tracks with
the heels of my hand and the tips of my fingers, like this. These are
the tracks of my children."

"Now I believe you," he replied.

As the Twins grew larger, their mother could not hide them any longer.
She was alarmed for their safety because of the Great Giant, who saw
them one day and tried to catch them. But the Twins were too quick and
got away.

The Spirit who made the Goddess appeared with a bow made of cedar wood
for Sun-Child.

"It is time for you to learn to hunt," she said to him.

"We must now make some arrows and another bow for your brother," said
the Goddess to Sun-Child.

"Mostly, we want to hunt for our father," said Sun-Child. "Mother, who
is our father and where does he live?"

"Your father is the Sun-God, but he lives far away in the East,"
replied the Goddess.

Another bow was made for Water-Child and many arrows for both Twins.
They began their journey to the East and traveled as far as they could,
but without success in finding Sun-God. When they returned they asked,
"Mother, have you lied to us? In the East, we looked everywhere and we
could not find our father, the Sun- God."

"He must have gone to the South," she said. Again the Twins set out on
another journey, this time to the South, returning without success.

"Please try the West and then the North, if at first you do not find
your father in the West," said the Goddess.

She sent the Twins again on their hunting journey, anxious to keep them
away and out of sight of the Great Giant. Many moons later, the Twins
came back and said, "Mother, have you lied to us four times? Our father
was neither in the North nor the West."

"Now I will tell you the truth, my sons," said the Goddess. "Your
fathers, the Sun-God and Water-God, live far away in the middle of the great
Western Water. Between here and there are great canyons where the walls
of the cliffs clap together and would crush you.

"Even if you should succeed in getting through the canyons, there are
the terrible reeds that you must cross. Their long knife-like sharp
leaves will cut you into pieces.

"If you should escape the reeds, you can never cross the Grand Canyon,
which comes first before you can reach the Great Water. You can never,
never cross the water where your father's house is in the middle of the
Great Water, the Western Ocean."

"But, Mother, we want to go and try to find our fathers," said the
Twins.

The Goddess taught the Twins a song of protection for their next
journey:

"We are traveling in an Invisible Way to seek our fathers, the Sun-God
and the Water-God."

This song she taught them to sing four times, the magic number. Day
after day as they traveled along, they sang their song for protection.

One day, as they passed a little spider hole in the ground, they heard
a voice say, "Ssh!" four times. The Twins looked into the hole and saw
Spider Woman.

"Do not be afraid of me, I am your Grandmother. Come down into my
lodge," she said four times.

"We cannot enter your lodge, because your doorway is too small," said
the Twins.

"Please blow toward the Eastwind, Southwind, Westwind, and Northwind,"
Spider Woman called out.

The Twins blew in the four directions and the entrance enlarged enough
for them to go through. Inside and to their amazement, they saw the
lodge walls covered with bundles of bones wrapped in spider webs, exactly
the way spiders wrap flies in a web.

"Do not be afraid, my grandsons," said Spider Woman. "These are the
bones of bad men whom I killed."

Spider Woman talked with the Twins about encounters they might have on
their trip. She taught them songs for their protection and explained
what they could do to overcome obstacles they might meet on their way. "I
will give each of you a magic Feather- Plume. Hold it before you as you
travel, straight up or sideways to carry you safely forward," she said
to the Twins.

"Be on the look out for a little man with a red head and a striped
back. He will resemble a sand-scorpion, only a little larger--about the
size of a Jerusalem cricket," she explained.

"Thank you, Grandmother, we'll be on our way," said the Twins.

Many days later, the Twins heard a voice from the ground. It was from
the little man with the red head.

"Do not scorn me because I am so small," he said. "I can and want to
help you. Put your hands down on the ground and spit into them four
times. Now close your fists, saving the spit until you come to the Big
Water. There you can wash off the spit."

The Twins did exactly as they were told, and after thanking the little
man with the red head, they again began their travel. Soon the canyon
walls that smashed together loomed ahead of them.

They repeated Spider Woman's prayers, holding the Feather-Plumes
sideways. As they moved forward the clapping walls stopped long enough to
allow the Twins to walk through safely.

When they came to the jungle of sharp reeds, again they sang the song
Spider Woman taught them, touching the tops of the reeds with their
magical Feather-Plumes. Behold! The reeds turned into cattails, which
pleased the reeds so much that they quickly opened a wide path for the Twins
to pass through. A puzzling encounter for the Twins was the giant
cliff. They walked around and around its rim, making a complete circle and
finally returning to their starting place.

They were making no forward progress, so they sang songs taught them by
their mother and Spider Woman. They prayed over and over again. When
they opened their eyes, a beautiful Rainbow appeared, creating a large
bridge for them to cross over the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

After this spectacular adventure, the Twins continued West for a long
time, until they saw the Great Water before them. The Water spread so
far, they wondered, "How can we ever reach the Turquoise House of
Sun-God, which we know is in the middle of the Great Water?"

The Twins walked down to the beach to the edge of the water and washed
the spit off their hands, singing and praying at the same time.

Behold! The Rainbow appeared again! A long Rainbow Bridge stretched
before them from the beach to the Turquoise House.

Onto the Rainbow Bridge the Twins raced happily, find their two
fathers, the Sun-God and the Water-God, who welcomed them in the Turquoise
House at the end of the Rainbow Bridge.