What does the word ANANSI means: Anansi is a spider and it's one of the most popular animal tricksters from West African mythology. He can change his appearance to look like a human, a rabbit, a fox, or any other animal. He is sneaky, tricky, cunning, clever and sometimes mischievous. He's also known as creator god who made the sun and the moon, and hit upon the novel idea of day and night.Many Anansi stories deal with him attempting to trick people into allowing him to steal food or money, or something else that could turn a profit, but frequently the tricks ultimately backfire on Anansi.