FIN

This class has, by far, been one of my favorite classes I've ever taken, the only one I probably liked better was music theory. I've learned so much from Professor Sexson, but I feel like the biggest thing I will take from this class, other than there are no coincidences, is how alike all of the religions are.

Ordinary Day

When Professor Sexson told us one day to go and have an ordinary day once in class I basically said, I have those practicably every day, so I thought that it would be easy. I was wrong. I remember that day I was complaining that my roommates wouldn't talk to me about what our housing situation was going to be for the summer or next semester, but as soon as I got home and went into my room, there sitting on my desk was a housing application for a new house that they wanted. All I could think was, ha, of course that had to happen on the day that our professor told that we had to have an ordinary day and, I could only think, how is this not a coincidence.

Music

Music has not only been one of the main factors of this class, but life as a whole. You can;t go anywhere without hearing or even making music. Music also always seems to be right in time with how you are feeling at the time. Music can either be saying exactly how you feel or even take out of a bad mood completely. Music can help you say to someone what feels impossible to say. Music is what emotions sound like and if music be the sound of love, play on.

I'm a Viking

So for the longest time throughout my life I always thought I was part Russian, french, native american, Australian, and German. But the other day when I was visiting my grandparents, my grandma told me that she did that Ancestry.com thing, and she discovered that we weren't Russian, but Scandinavian. Which, is, AWESOME. That means I have Viking blood in my veins. This doesn't mean that I will start praying to Thor, Loki, or Odin or that I believe in Valhalla(I'm sure I wouldn't be accepted anyways), but I have always really liked the superhero Thor, he was even my dad's favorite when he was a kid. Of course that's no coincidence. 

Fear the Beard

So I was watching the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets(basketball for those of you who don't know) and the main player for the Rockets, James Harden, has this incredible beard. So I just started to think of all the other players who have a great beard and I could only think of one, Baron Davis. Now Harden is much better than him, so I started to think o other people who have great beards, Gandalf, Dumbledore, my friend and our classmate Nate, the game-maker from Hunger Games, and of course Zeus. Now I'm not comparing Harden to the almighty Zeus(cringes at the sky), but he was fifth in points per game this year and led the Rockets to the playoffs.

Injustice

The other day I bought this new video game that came out which was called Injustice. And in this game you pick different superheros and villains and fight each other( DC comics, so like superman and batman). One of the villains in this game who is always against Wonder Woman, Ares. Now I'm sure that everyone already can tell that the superheros in the comics are obviously of mythology origins, especially in the Marvel comics with all the Norse gods like Thor. But I was amazed to see a direct god in DC comics. They are usually, almost always, just Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and others like that. It also wasn't very surprising to see him as a villain, just because he is the go of war after all. You kind of almost expect him to be evil.

Notes

Mythos: Story
Mythology: The precedent behind all actions
In Ilo Tempore: In the great time.
Logos:The word. Truth, reason, and reality.
Anabasis: Ascending and descending
The Mythic Journey: Separation, initiation, return.
Psyche: Means Soul. (Was Cupid's girlfriend who was beautiful)
Sparagnos: Tear, pull to pieces or mangling.
Fairy Tale:Deteriorated myth
Axis Mundi: The center or connection between heaven and Earth. Celestial pole/geographic poles that expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the 4 compass directions meet.
Etiological myths:Explains specific features in religions.
Apocalypse: The end. The lifting of the veil.
Eschatology: Concerns about last acts. The final events of end days.
Drominom: The Greek word for things being done.
Ritual:A set of actions performed for their symbolic value.
Mace Sacre: To make sacred or sacrifice.
Creation Myths: Ex Ni Halo: the creation out of nothingness. Earth Diver: Pulling life out of water. Division of a Primordial entity: The split between Heaven and Earth. Dismemberment of a Primordial entity: When life is made for the death of a god like entity.
Dytherambos:  Double doors, music. Associated with the god Baucus.
Caduseus: The medical symbol with a snake intertwined upon an oak staff.
Apotheosis: Glorification of a subject to a divine level.
Ouroboros: A snake biting its own tail. No beginning and no end.
After Ovid
Michael Hoffman
famous poets create updated versions of Ovid's work
Mitas Story & the Golden Touch
Mrs. Midas 
Michael Longley
According to Pyathagoras
based off of Book 15
focuses on The End
gross disgusting end 
Ring-Around the Rosie
The End by The Doors
Oedipus Story
The Doors (Jim Morrison)
associated with the gods Adonis
butterfly=pysche
fundamental interconnectedness of all things
The End
graduation
flowering or assuming of wings
fulfilled purpose
Plato
perceive fulfillment of end purpose of existence (education) should feel shoulder blades itching- wings are sprouting
knowledge until fall from grace into the mud then born into humanity grow unto knowledge again
Tabula rasa
blank slate on which the world writes things
purpose of life is to remember the things that you already knew in a previous state
Meno - Plato
socratic dialogue
definition of virtue (arete) 
kid in the sand had to remember how to do a math problem without the education
Anamnesis - Plato
ideas that humans possess knowledge from past incarnations and that learning consists of rediscovering that knowledge within us
page 419 Ovid
Book of Daniel
apocalyptic stuff
Ozymandias
Percy Shelley
Turner- happy ending
Sexson- apocalypse

John Stoppler: Mythic Detective

Last weekend was my high school’s district music festival, and my brother had a lot of performances during the weekend, so I decided to go to Deer Lodge, where it was being held, and watch him perform. Now of course I can go ahead and say that this reminded me off all the stories in Ovid’s Metamorphoses like Orpheus or just how every story is basically in a song/poem form. But I’ll save that for later in my paper.

            During the weekend my brother was in a whole array of different ensembles ranging from; jazz band, jazz choir, to the all-male choir. But the two he really cared about and the ones I really wanted to watch were his two solos, for the drum and his vocal solo. On his snare drum solo he got a superior rating, which means he is going to state to perform there, and oh man was did he nail that solo. I was very impressed with him, and so proud. For his vocal solo he got an excellent rating but the thing that I was really surprised with was that when I was a senior in high school I did a vocal solo and did a song called The Black Dress and got an excellent rating. And the solo that my brother happened to do was called The Black Dress and got an excellent rating, just like me. To me it is such a coincidence that on my brother’s first vocal solo, he did the same exact song as my first vocal solo. And he had no idea either. But this call has taught me that there are no such things as coincidences.

This is probably the biggest connection I have had between what I’ve learned and discovered in this class and my life. I mean do see a lot of little things now, when I actually pay attention, because of this class, but some things I have trouble, like seeing trees everywhere, I don’t really because I have really bad eyesight. Another big connection that I see is the connection between all of the religions and what they believe. The big one I see between them is the god or gods that they believe in. they all believe in one leader or king god then smaller one sunder him. Like the Greek and Roman’s belief with Juno and Zeus or Catholic belief of God then the lower ones like Jesus, Virgin Mary, and all of the saints.

            Now back to my brother’s vocal solo. Not only was I kind of freaking out about how he chose the same song I did, I was also reminded of two stories from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the one about Orpheus and the one about Narcissist and Echo.

            The reason I was reminded about the story of Orpheus was not really for the about how he lost his love or how she turned to stone but more of how good a singer he was. It’s told that Orpheus was the first one to make the Fates shed a tear, but let me tell you, my brother Justin, would be the second if given the chance.

            Now the reason I thought of the story about Narcissist and Echo is because of the story that the song “The Black Dress” tells. It tells the story of how a girl falls madly in love with a boy, who makes it seem like he is also madly in love with her. But then, out of nowhere, he tells her that he never wants to see her again and when she asks why he just laughs at her. Then runs home crying but then decides that he is not worth it. This is very similar to the story of Echo, which is why it reminded me of it, just how Echo falls in love with this guy, Narcissist, but he is basically like get away from me then she gets really sad.

            In conclusion, I want to say just how similar everything in life really is, and just how even the smallest of coincidences are not really coincidences at all. Also that everything has something to do with mythology. After taking this class it makes me realize just how many different aspects of my life are affected by mythology, and remember, nothing is a coincidence.  

Initiation rite of passage

In the small country of Papau New Guinea, over 1,000 different culture groups exist. Among them is the Sambia tribe, a group with perhaps the most insane rite of passage into manhood in the world.

The initiation begins at age seven with the separation of the boy from the mother. The boy will spend the rest of his young life only in the presence of men in an all male hut. The gender separation is taken to such extremes that boys and women use different walking paths around the village.

After being separated from the women, the young boy is subjected to several brutal hazing rituals. The first involves ceremonial bloodletting from the nose. The procedure is crude, but effective. The boy is held against a tree and stiff, sharp grasses and sticks are shoved up his nose until the blood starts flowing freely. Once the elders see blood, they let out a collective war cry. After the bloodletting, the boys undergo severe beatings and lashings. The purpose is to toughen up the boys and to prepare them to live as warriors.

As we’ve seen, ritual bloodletting is par for the course when it comes to male initiation. What sets the Sambia apart from other groups is the second part of their male rite of passage: semen drinking.

The Sambia believe that both men and women are born with a tingu. The tingu is a body part that allows for procreation. A woman’s tingu is ready for reproduction when she first menstruates. A man’s tingu is born shriveled and dried and the only way to fill it is to drink the “man milk,” or semen of other sexually mature men. They believe that by drinking the male essence of other men, the boys will become strong and virile. Done in the privacy of the forest, a boy will perform fellatio on young, usually unmarried men between the ages of 13 and 21. The boys are encouraged to “drink the male essence” as much as possible in order to become strong.

Around age 13, a young man has started puberty and another stage in the initiation begins. Another ritual nosebleed takes place along with some beatings to purify the young man. The boy is now considered a bachelor and will now provide the “man milk” to young boys just starting down the path of manhood

A Little Story

Lauryn just became head cheerleader at her high school. She is the most popular girl, wins all the royalty nominations, everyone knows and loves her. But one would say that she isn't the brightest bulb in the box. Her opinions on social matters are only from what she hears her friends or parents say. It's like she doesn't have her own opinion or voice. But anyways she is totally in love with the quarterback of her high school. He is just such a dreamboat, his only downfall is that he has been with a lot of girls, there are even rumors that he has been with guys too. But Lauryn doesn't care she still wants to be his.

Nathan is the Quarterback. He's got the six pack, blonde hair, blue eyes, nice car. Everyone either wants him or wants to be him. He has been with just about every girl in the high school, a couple guys too. But as you can guess he is super full of himself. He talks down to everyone, thinks he is better than everyone, and looks better too. One day after a football practice he stayed behind a little later to practice his passes. He went into the locker room to shower, change and head home. But he was unaware that Lauryn has been following him the whole time, just watching him waiting for the right moment to talk to him, maybe even ask him on a date if she got the guts. 

Nathan finished showering and got dressed and just as he left the locker room there was standing the new head cheerleader he heard about, Lauryn. After standing face to face awkwardly for awhile Nathan said hello. Hello Lauryn replied. I really need to go said Nathan, to which Lauryn replied I need to go. As Nathan started to pass her, she basically jumped on him and started hugging him. He was so freaked out that he threw her off and started to run to his car. And as he was running he shouted at her that he would rather die than be with someone as weird as her.

This hurt Lauryn so much. She ran all the way home went into her room and didn't get out of her bed for days. She eventually stated to lose a lot of wait because she refused to eat anything. All the while Nathan loved some more people, but never as much as he loved himself.

Similarities in the Myths

Throughout the three days listening to speeches about different creation myths, I found that a lot of them started about the same. Probably the biggest similarity that stood out was the fact that most of them started put with nothing. And then after that the kinda had their own little thing like the god thought himself into being or he was sitting there thinking and got bored and started to make the universe. Another big one was water. Water seemed to have a real important role in a lot of different myths. The Egyptians there was only water, I also heard a lot of the god creating an animal to swim down to the bottom to get a little dirt to start creating land. I find it quite odd and interesting that there are a lot of similarities in all of these different creation myths.

Egyptian creation myth

Here is the Egyptian Creation Myth in case anybody forgot

 Day One Creation of light 

 In the beginning there was only water, a chaos of churning, bubbling water, this the Egyptians called Nu or Nun. It was out of Nu that everything began. 
- Then the sun god Ra emerged out of primeval chaos, he came out of a blue giant lotus flower that appeared on the surface of the water.  Ra gave light to the universe

Day Two Creation of air and moisture - Ra created the air god Shuand his wife Tefnut the goddess of moisture,

Day Three Creation of Earth and Sky - Shu and Tefnut gave birth to the sky- goddess Nut and the earth god Geb, and so the physical universe was created. 
Ra seems to rest while his sons and daughters are completing the task of creation, this is in accordance with the polytheistic beliefs of ancient Egyptians

Day Four Creation of Calendar - Against Ra's orders, Geb and Nutmarried. Ra was incensed and ordered Shu to separate them, which he did. But Nut was already pregnant, although unable to give birth as Ra had decreed she could not give birth in any month of any year. 

Thoth, the god of learning, decided to help her and gambling with the moon for extra light, was able to add five extra days to the 360-day calendar. On those five days Nut gave birth to Osiris, Horus the Elder, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys successively.  Even the heavenly bodies are seen as serving human needs, by providing the basis for a calendar.

Day Five, Six, Seven  Creation of Life - Khnum created the living creatures on his potter's wheel. 

 He modeled the animals, plants and people of the earth. 
 A detailed description of how he created humans is found atEsna Temple. It describes how he orders the bloodstream to cover the bones, and makes the skin enclose the body. He then makes the respiratory system and the food digestion. 
 In contrast with the Hebrew mythology, the work of Khnumwas seen as a continuous task, he was seen as a deity sitting on his potter's wheel constantly working in creating life.

Creation Myth

I have been having a really hard time choosing witch creation myth to chose, first I wanted to do the Hawaiian creation story but then I read some of the names of their gods and places and decided that I should be able to at least pronounce the names if I was going to talk about them. So I eventually decided to do the Egyptians creation story, I have always been very interested in their gods so I thought it would be nice to learn about their theory. 

coincidence?

So last Saturday some of family came to town to kind of celebrate my birthday, which is on Wednesday. We ended up having a late breakfast or brunch at the Nova Cafe, and my little sister had a smoothie and was just drinking it like there was no tomorrow. After awhile I look at her and say, don't drink of it before your food gets here, and before I could even finish my sentence the waitress walks up with our food. My sister just starts laughing like crazy and tells me that I have to use that for my Mythologies class. This just makes me wonder if coincidences have more of a reason for happening than just randomly working out that way.

Superstitions

I, like many others I'm sure, have some superstitions like don't put shoes on the table, don't open umbrellas inside the house. So I started wondering where some of these came from. I read that the umbrella was used to protect against the sun and opening one inside is to insult the local sun god like Ra. I wonder if anyone knows how any others have started?

Tree Huggin

I feel so at one with nature =)