Tricksters, whether human or animal, have been frequently cast in this role. American Indians tell of many resourceful spiders, coyotes, and ravens who stole the gods' fire-sticks, and they also tell of the sometimes clownish, sometimes wise kachinas. In India, Krishna played this part to perfection. Stories like these are attempts to describe the event that opened our eyes and set our feet on the pathway of progress. It could not have happened earlier, when our brains and psychological natures were insufficiently developed.
Lighting implies the inflaming of that which has the potency to be lit.
Indian customs provide one explanation. Each year, their holy kachinas descend from the summit of the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Halfway down the mountain they meet tribesmen ascending to receive them. When the kachinas depart, the light they brought continues to illumine the minds of all who received it. Doing this, they not only impregnated individual minds, but impressed the thought-atmosphere of the earth with the archetypal ideas basic to civilized life.