13 :2; Rf Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore
1. The Koran names seven angels: Gabriel, Michael, Iblis or Eblis, chief jinn in Arabian mythology, counterpart
A benevolent genie (in Assyro-Babylonian mythology) holding in his hand the pail of lustral water and the
Abraham (Hebrew) ’Abrāhām Traditionally the founder of the Hebrew and South-Arabian peoples, whose original name was Abram. “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” (Genesis 17:5). Blavatsky holds that Abraham “belongs to the universal mythology. Most likely he is but one of the numerous aliases of Zeruan (Saturn), the king of the golden age, who is also called the old man (emblem of time)” (IU 2:216). Such figures are described in various ways: as historical characters, as mythoi, and as rulers of sidereal and terrestrial powers to be interpreted astronomically and cosmically.
Acthna An invisible subterrestrial fire, sometimes causing volcanic eruptions, an “element in the life of the ‘great snake’ Vasuki, that according to Hindu mythology encircles the world, and by whose movements earthquakes may be produced” (BCW 7:283). Also “a certain state of the ‘soul’ of the earth, a mixture of astral and material elements, perhaps of an electric or magnetic character” (F. Hartmann, ibid.).
Adad—in Assyro-Babylonian mythology, the
Adapa: In Babylonian mythology, the name of a hero created and endowed with wisdom by Ea, whose temple at Eridu he was to tend. Summoned before Anu, god of the sky, he unwittingly refused immortality.
Adikrit or Adikartri (Sanskrit) Ādikṛt, Ādikartṛ [from ādi first + kṛt doing (kartṛ doer, author, producer) from the verbal root kṛ to do, make, accomplish] The first produced or evolved, synonymous with adikara. In Hindu mythology, the creator; in the Puranas, the personified aspect of the formative or cosmically generative force, which in its root is eternal but periodic in its manifestations. During periods of manifestation adikrit is personified as Vishnu or Brahma (VP 6:4); during periods of rest it is represented as sleeping upon the ocean of space in the form of Vishnu. The term applies to any universe or hierarchy, great or small, whether a cluster of galaxies, a solar system, a planet, or a human being.
Aegir: The sea god of Norse mythology.
aegis ::: n. --> A shield or protective armor; -- applied in mythology to the shield of Jupiter which he gave to Minerva. Also fig.: A shield; a protection.
Aeolus (Greek) In Greek and Roman mythology, son of Hippotes, appointed by Zeus as guardian of the winds. He lived on the island of Aeolia in the far west, its steep cliffs encircled by a brazen wall. There he kept the winds confined in a cave, letting them out as he pleased or as he was commanded by the gods. Later he was said to dwell on an island north of Sicily.
Aesir: In Norse mythology, the entourage of Odin.
Aetna, Mount A frequently active volcanic mountain in northeastern Sicily, the highest volcano in the Mediterranean region (c 10,900 feet). In Greek mythology, Zeus is said to have hurled Mt. Aetna at Typhon, who lies beneath the mountain, sending up smoke and flames; also Hephestos is sometimes said to have a forge there. See also MOUNTAINS, HOLY
Afreet: A class of jinns (q.v.) in Arabic mythology. (Also referred to as afrit, afrite or efreet).
Afrit (Arabic) [from ifrit demon] A class of nature spirits or elementals represented in Arabic mythology as a powerful evil jinn.
Agama: (Skr.) One of a number of Indian treatises composed since the 1st cent. A.D. which are outside the Vedic (q.v.) tradition, but are regarded authoritative by the followers of Vishnuism, Shivaism, and Shaktism. Amid mythology, epic and ritualistic matter they contain much that is philosophical. -- K.F.L.
Ahriman, chief devil in Persian mythology, who
Ahriman: In Zoroastrian mythology, the personified principle of evil, leader of the Devas, powers of evil, in eternal conflict with Ahura Mazda. (Also called Angra Mainyu.)
AI Ussa—in pagan Arab mythology, a female
Ajita (Sanskrit) Ajita [from a not + the verbal root ji to conquer, triumph] The invisible, unsurpassed; in the Vayu-Purana, the highest of twelve gods, named jayas, who were created by Brahma to aid him at the beginning of the manvantara. But because they neglected his directives, Brahma “cursed” them to be born in each succeeding manvantara until the seventh, the Vaivasvata-manvantara (cf VP 1:15; n2, p. 26). These twelve jayas are the Hindu equivalent of the twelve great gods of Greco-Roman mythology. Because of their all-permeant character, on a lower scale these divinities are identical with the manasa, the jnana-devas, the rudras, and other classes of manifested deities. In these lower manifestations of their functions, they are identical with those dhyani-chohanic groups which “refuse to incarnate,” spoken of in The Secret Doctrine.
Alecto: In Roman mythology, one of the Furies (q.v.), genius of pestilence, war and vengeance.
Alfheim, Alfhem (Icelandic, Swedish) [alf elf (cf Icelandic elfrom river, channel) + heim, hem home] The home of elves in Norse mythology; the meaning commonly ascribed to the word elf as a fairy or sprite needs reexamination, as the myths bear out the assumption that an elf denotes a channel between the divine source of an entity and its vehicle or body; in other words, that the elf is the intermediate nature or soul of any being.
Alfheim: The dwelling place of the elves of Norse mythology.
“all the planets, constellations, stars and meteors are without exception tied to Dhruva with wind cords and move in their proper courses, O Maitreya” (Classical Hindu Mythology 45-6).
Alraune: In Teutonic mythology, a female demon. Also the name of small statuettes made of ash root and supposed to have magic powers.
Also, the ancient Roman fire god, who has always been identified with the Greek Hephaestos, popularly regarded by the Latins as having his workshops under several volcanic islands, but especially under Mt. Aetna. The isle of Lemnos was always sacred to him. He is represented, as are similar divinities such as the Hindu Visvakarman or Tvashtri, as a fashioner, artificer, or architectural builder of the cosmic structure; and like his counterparts, the smith of the gods and maker of their divine weapons, lord of the constructive arts, master of a thousand handicrafts, etc. Not only was his forge in Olympus supplied with fire, anvils, and all the necessities of a blacksmith, according to the figurative stories of Greek and Latin mythology, but he was attended by automatic handmaidens whom Vulcan himself had fashioned. The deity is prominent in the Homeric poems, where he is represented as the son of Jupiter and Juno.
Although a species of necromancy, or consulting with the dead, was not infrequent in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, yet invariably it was strongly discountenanced and in many cases rigorously put down by the State. Even in those cases where Greek and Roman literature show important personages in mythology consulting the dead, it was understood among the educated that the astral spooks or shades thus evoked were by no means spirits of excarnate human beings; but the attempt was to gather from the astral shades automatic responses from impressions retained in the astral corpses.
Although in Greek mythology the gods are said to dwell on Olympus, three of the main Olympian divinities, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades (or Pluto), had their habitats respectively in what may be called heaven or the inmost world of spirit, the cosmic spaces or the waters of space, and the underworld of the universe. Yet these three same divinities, because of their permeant cosmic forces or energies, and strictly on the law of analogical reasoning, had the same functions and occupy the same relative places in the minor forms of their respective manifestations: as, Zeus in the sky, Poseidon in the oceans of the globe, and Hades or Pluto in the underworld of our earth. Or again, the twelve great gods of the Mediterranean peoples may be considered to be the twelve main cosmic and intelligent powers whose all-permeant nature and activity is as apparent in the universe itself as in every atom or minor division thereof.
Amal: “In Greek mythology the Sirens were extremely beautiful creatures who by their singing lured mariners to their land and either destroyed them or kept them captive. Ulysses had himself bound to a pole in his ship while the ship crossed the sea near this land.”
Amaltheia, Amalthea (Greek) In Greek mythology a nymph who cared for the infant Zeus when his mother Rhea concealed him in a cave in Crete to keep him from being devoured by his father Kronos. Another legend credits the nymphs Ida and Adrastea with his care, but names the goat which suckled him Amaltheia. Amaltheia is associated with the cornucopis, the broken-off horn of the goat. As the horn of Amaltheia it became a symbol of inexhaustible abundance and was adopted as a favored attribute by various divinities, among them Hermes, Demeter, Gaia, Pluto, and Cybele.
Amba likewise is the eldest of the seven Krittikas (Pleiades), represented as being the consorts of the Saptarshis (seven rishis) or Saptarkshas of the Great Bear. From immortal antiquity the mystical mythology of many ancient peoples, including the Hindus, has connected the constellation of the Great Bear with the Pleiades, implying an intimate bond of some kind. It is of interest, therefore, to note that astronomers have discovered a family connection between the stars of these two groups.
Amber Pale yellow, brown, or reddish fossilized resin, capable of a negative electric charge by friction. In Greek mythology amber was formed from the tears of Meleager’s sisters, or alternately of Phaeton’s sisters dropped into the Eridan after he was killed trying to drive the chariot of the sun. While the Eridan is usually identified with the Po River in Italy, Blavatsky holds that it was a northern sea (SD 2:770n). In Scandinavian myths it was attributed to the tears of Freya. In China amber was said to be the soul of the tiger transformed into a mineral after its death. It has been used widely for medicinal, religious, and decorative purpose.
ambrosia ::: Something especially delicious or delightful to taste or smell, divinely sweet; in Classical Mythology, the food of the gods.
ambrosia ("s) ::: something especially delicious or delightful to taste or smell, divinely sweet; in Classical Mythology, the food of the gods.
Ambrosia: The food of the gods of Greek mythology.
ananke ::: "In Greek mythology, personification of compelling necessity or ultimate fate to which even the gods must yield.” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works
Ananke ::: “In Greek mythology, personification of compelling necessity or ultimate fate to which even the gods must yield.” (Mother India) Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works
Andvari (Icelandic) [from and spirit + vari watcher, guardian] In Norse mythology, a dwarf, owner of the treasure around which center the complex events related in the Nibelungen cycle. This gold has a twofold meaning and a markedly twofold effect on the various protagonists who covet it. See also FAFNIR
angel of the wilderness. In Chaldean mythology,
Angerboda (Icelandic) [from anger sorrow, regret + boda bode] In Norse mythology, the boder of regret is a giantess, wife of Loki; it is suggestive that the giantess wife (matter aspect) of Loki (human mind) should have produced the three offspring Hel (death), Iormungandr (the Midgard serpent or equator), and Fenris (the wolf who is to devour the sun when its life cycle is over).
Anunnaki (Chaldean) In Babylonian mythology, a hierarchy of lower angels: the angels of earth or the underworld, star gods who had sunk below the horizon and become judges of the dead. Below the anunnaki were several classes of genii — sadu, vadukku, ekimu, gallu — some of which were represented as being good, some evil. The anunnaki are “terrestrial Elementals also” (TG 25).
Anwyl: The world of the dead in Celtic mythology.
Apollo (Greek) Also called Phoebus (the pure, shining); son of Zeus and Leto (Latona), the polar region or night, and twin brother of Artemis (Diana). His birth shows the emanation of light from darkness. One of the most popular gods of Greek mythology, he is primarily the god of light, and is also associated with the sun, hence a giver of life, light, and wisdom to the earth and humanity. Apollo and Artemis are the mystic sun and the higher occult moon (SD 2:771). Apollo stands for order, justice, law, and purification by penance. His attribute as a punisher of evil is shown by his bow, with which as an infant he slew Python. He is the deity who wards off evil; the healer, father of Aesculapius and often identified with him; and the god of divination, associated especially with the Oracle at Delphi. The other principal seat of his worship was at Delos, his birthplace. He was also the patron of song and music, of new civic foundations, and protector of crops and flocks. His lyre is the sacred heptachord or septenary, seen in the sevenfold manifestations of the Logos in the universe and man; he is also the sun with its seven planets. He answers in some respects to the Hindu Indra and Karttikeya and in others to the Christian archangel Michael; Janus was the Roman god of light.
Apsaras ::: Sri Aurobindo: “The Apsaras are the most beautiful and romantic conception on the lesser plane of Hindu mythology. From the moment that they arose out of the waters of the milky Ocean, robed in ethereal raiment and heavenly adornment, waking melody from a million lyres, the beauty and light of them has transformed the world. They crowd in the sunbeams, they flash and gleam over heaven in the lightnings, they make the azure beauty of the sky; they are the light of sunrise and sunset and the haunting voices of forest and field. They dwell too in the life of the soul; for they are the ideal pursued by the poet through his lines, by the artist shaping his soul on his canvas, by the sculptor seeking a form in the marble; for the joy of their embrace the hero flings his life into the rushing torrent of battle; the sage, musing upon God, sees the shining of their limbs and falls from his white ideal. The delight of life, the beauty of things, the attraction of sensuous beauty, this is what the mystic and romantic side of the Hindu temperament strove to express in the Apsara. The original meaning is everywhere felt as a shining background, but most in the older allegories, especially the strange and romantic legend of Pururavas as we first have it in the Brahmanas and the Vishnoupurana.
apsaras ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The Apsaras are the most beautiful and romantic conception on the lesser plane of Hindu mythology. From the moment that they arose out of the waters of the milky Ocean, robed in ethereal raiment and heavenly adornment, waking melody from a million lyres, the beauty and light of them has transformed the world. They crowd in the sunbeams, they flash and gleam over heaven in the lightnings, they make the azure beauty of the sky; they are the light of sunrise and sunset and the haunting voices of forest and field. They dwell too in the life of the soul; for they are the ideal pursued by the poet through his lines, by the artist shaping his soul on his canvas, by the sculptor seeking a form in the marble; for the joy of their embrace the hero flings his life into the rushing torrent of battle; the sage, musing upon God, sees the shining of their limbs and falls from his white ideal. The delight of life, the beauty of things, the attraction of sensuous beauty, this is what the mystic and romantic side of the Hindu temperament strove to express in the Apsara. The original meaning is everywhere felt as a shining background, but most in the older allegories, especially the strange and romantic legend of Pururavas as we first have it in the Brahmanas and the Vishnoupurana.
Apsaras ::: “The Apsaras are the most beautiful and romantic conception on the lesser plane of Hindu mythology. From the moment that they arose out of the waters of the milky Ocean, robed in ethereal raiment and heavenly adornment, waking melody from a million lyres, the beauty and light of them has transformed the world. They crowd in the sunbeams, they flash and gleam over heaven in the lightnings, they make the azure beauty of the sky; they are the light of sunrise and sunset and the haunting voices of forest and field. They dwell too in the life of the soul; for they are the ideal pursued by the poet through his lines, by the artist shaping his soul on his canvas, by the sculptor seeking a form in the marble; for the joy of their embrace the hero flings his life into the rushing torrent of battle; the sage, musing upon God, sees the shining of their limbs and falls from his white ideal. The delight of life, the beauty of things, the attraction of sensuous beauty, this is what the mystic and romantic side of the Hindu temperament strove to express in the Apsara. The original meaning is everywhere felt as a shining background, but most in the older allegories, especially the strange and romantic legend of Pururavas as we first have it in the Brahmanas and the Vishnoupurana.
Apsu—in Babylonian mythology, Apsu is a
Aqrab—in Arabic mythology, an angel used
Arachne (Greek) In Greek mythology the daughter of the dyer Idmon of Colophon, who was so skillful a weaver that she dared to challenge Athena to a competitive trial. Indignant because Arachne had presumed to depict the amours of the gods in her weaving, Athena tore her work, Arache hung herself, and Athena turned the presumptuous maiden into a spider, doomed to spin her web forever. The amours of the gods woven by Arachne signify the weaving of the marvelous web of manifested existence in all its intricate hierarchical structure.
Aralu: The underworld, abode of the dead in Babylonian mythology. Conceived of as a vast, dark underground cave, entered through a hole in the earth, guarded by seven doors, to which all human beings go after death, never to return, but able to communicate with and give oracles to the living.
arayan.a (Nara-Narayana; NaraNarayana; Nara Narayana) —(in mythology) the names of two sages, Nara and Narayan.a, "the seers who do tapasya together for the knowledge", a "double figure" which in the "Vaishnava form of Vedantism . . . expresses the relation of God in man to man in God", Nara being "the human soul which, eternal companion of the Divine, finds itself only when it awakens to that companionship", while Narayan.a "is the divine Soul always present in our humanity, the secret guide, friend and helper of the human being"; an intermediate bhava of brahmadarsana in which there is a dualistic perception of Nara and Narayan.a in all, the "bodha of Narayana" not being extended "into the whole consciousness of the Nara", but kept "as a thing apart & containing & informing, but not identical with the Nara".
archangel cited in Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology
Argonauts In Greek mythology, those who sailed in the ship Argos with Jason, a generation before the Trojan War, on his quest to retrieve the golden fleece from Aea or Colchis on the Black Sea. Besides Jason, among the fifty heroes were Hercules, Castor and Pollux, and Orpheus.
Argus, Argos (Greek) Shining, bright-eyed; a giant in Greek mythology also called Panoptes (the all-seeing) because he had a hundred eyes, so that they were never all closed at once. Hera appointed Argus to keep watch over Io in the form of a heifer, but Zeus sent Hermes, who managed to lull Argus to sleep and then slaid him. Hera collected the eyes and put them into the tail of the peacock.
Ariadne (Greek) In Greek mythology, the daughter of King Minos of Crete, who fell in love with Theseus when he came to kill the Minotaur confined in the labyrinth. She gave Theseus a clue of yarn or thread by means of which he found his way out of the labyrinth again. Ariadne fled with him, but he abandoned her on the Isle of Naxos at the request of Dionysos, who then married her and raised her to immortality. Ariadne was identified in Italy with Libera, goddess of wine. “Analogy is the guiding law in Nature, the only true Ariadne’s thread that can lead us, through the inextricable paths of her domain, toward her primal and final mysteries.” (SD 2:153)
Arimaspi, Arimaspes (Greek) arimastioi. In Greek mythology, a one-eyed people of the extreme northeast of Scythia, perhaps near the region of eastern Altai, mentioned by Aristeas of Proconnesus, from whom Herodotus derives his account. They stole gold from the griffins who guarded it, and Apollo destroyed them with his shafts. The allegory, which is mixed up with history in Herodotus’ account, refers to the supersession of a degraded remnant of third-eye people by the coming fifth root-race, as in the case of the Cyclopes.
Arion (Greek) In Greek mythology, the first and fleetest horse, offspring of Poseidon or Neptune (god of the sea) and Ceres (goddess of the harvest). Also a Greek poet and musician of Lesbos (fl. 625 BC), best known for having been rescued on a dolphin’s back after an attempt was made to drown him at sea for his treasure. “Arion, their progeny, is one of the aspects of that ‘horse,’ which is a cycle.” (SD 2:399n)
Arundhati is one of the most mystical terms in ancient Hindu mythology. The congruence of attributes suggests that Arundhati is the cosmic sakti or power stimulating, generating, and bringing to birth what would otherwise lie latent or relatively inactive in the abysses of cosmic force or energy. In her role of Lucifer-Venus, Arundahati may be mystically connected with the hierarchies of the manasaputras, the sons of mind, who quickened dormant mind in the early humanities.
Aruru—in Sumerian mythology, a female
Arvakr (Icelandic) Early awake; in Norse mythology, one of two horses that draw the sun across the sky in the Elder Edda (Grimnismal). He is said to have the runes of Odin in his ear, while his companion Alsvinnr (or Alsvidr) has them inscribed on his hoof.
ary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols.]
As a proper name, the deity who rules over the shades of the dead in the Rig-Veda, corresponding to the Greek Hades or Roman Pluto. Hence Yama is the personification of the third root-race, because these were the first to taste death — the first self-consciously intellectual humans who died and departed after death to devachan. Hence also the ascription in Hindu mythology to Yama as the ruler of the pitris. In the Mahabharata, he is described as dressed in blood-red garments, with a glittering form, a crown on his head, glowing eyes and, like Varuna, he holds a noose with which he binds the spirit after drawing it from the body after death.
Asgard: In Norse mythology, Odin’s headquarters, home of the gods, also housing the Valhalla, hall of the chosen among those slain in battle.
Asgard ::: One of the higher realms in Norse mythology. Ruled by the god Odin.
Asmegir (Icelandic) [from ass god + mega might, to be able] In Norse mythology, a god-maker — a human soul on its way to becoming divine in the course of evolution.
As nine is one less than ten, in a denary hierarchy it is all the units except the first, the first being regarded as the origin or synthesis of the emanated nine. Thus one and nine may represent spirit and matter, or unmanifest and manifest, a logos and its rays. In the Stanzas of Dzyan svabhavat is the numbers one and nine, which make the perfect ten; and the same is seen in the ten Sephiroth of the Qabbalah, where Kether the Crown is often considered apart from the other nine. It was an especially favorite number in Norse mythology, appearing continuously throughout the Eddas.
A striking similarity is present in the mythology of the Algonquin Indians of North America; their chief deity was a mighty hare known as Menabosho or Michabo, to whom they went at death. One account places him in the east, another in the west. The ancient Germanic and Scandinavian peoples used the hare as a symbol, being sacred to the nature goddess Freyja; likewise to the Anglo-Saxon Ostara, goddess of springtime. This is believed to be the basis for the present-day association of the rabbit or hare with Easter. The anthropomorphic idea is found also among other races, very frequently among the Mongolians, Chinese, Japanese, and other Far Eastern peoples. It was considered to be androgynous, thus typifying an attribute of the creative Logos.
Ate: In Roman mythology, daughter of Jupiter, goddess of revenge and all evil, inciter of mankind to evil thoughts and deeds.
Aten (Egyptian) Ȧten. The disk of the sun and its vivifying, light-giving beams. Extended during the 18th dynasty to become the basis of a new religion under Amenhetep III and his son Amenhetep IV. They endeavored to arouse a more devotional feeling in the life of the Egyptians in opposition to the rigorous formalistic worship prescribed by the priests of the time, with its animal sacrifices and rigid ceremonialism, stressing the most material aspect of the gods as represented in the popular mythology. Incense and flowers decked altars, instead of blood sacrifices; joyousness pervaded the new capital city, while architects and painters created new ideas in their works. However, his successor Tut-ankh-Amen, reinstated the worship of Amen-Ra under the direction of the priests. The worship of Amen or Ammon was an idea in conception far older than and philosophically and mystically superior to the conceptions which clustered about the newer worship of Aten. This newer worship, with the ideas woven into its meaning by the monarch and his wife, was not only a reform when contrasted with the rigid ritualism into which the worship of Amen had degenerated, but actually was an attempt to infill the minds of the Egyptian people with the joyousness of the solar orb itself as the vehicle of the recondite, secret, and highly mystical Amen, abstract and highly philosophical. This illustrates how a noble worship can become ritualistic and empty, and how a more sensuous but more joyous worship can be used in a revivalistic sense to awaken a new religious devotion in the hearts of the multitude.
Atlas (Greek) [from tlenai to bear] In Greek mythology a titan, a sea god who supports on his shoulders the vault of heaven. Son of Iapetus and Clymene or Asia; brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius; father of the Pleiades, Hyades, Calypso, and sometimes the Hesperides.
At the top of the rod in the Greek version is a knob, in the earlier Egyptian form a serpent’s head, from which spring a pair of wings. From the central head between the wings grew the heads of the entwined serpents (spirit and matter), which descended along the tree of life, crossing the neutral laya-centers between the different planes of being, to manifest where the two tails joined on earth (SD 1:549-50). The analogy is found in every known cosmogony, all of which begin with a circle, head, or egg surrounded by darkness. From this circle of infinity — the unknown All — comes forth the manifestations of spirit and matter. The emblem of the evolution of gods and atoms is shown by the two forces, positive and negative, ascending and descending and meeting. Its symbology is directly connected with the globes of the planetary chain and the circulations of the beings or life-waves on these globes, as well as with the human constitution and the afterdeath states. Significantly, in ancient Greek mythology, Hermes is the psychopomp, psychagog, or conductor of souls after death to the various inner spheres of the universe, such as the Elysian Plains or the Meads of Asphodel. The Caduceus also signifies the dual aspect of wisdom by its twin serpents, Agathodaimon and Kakodaimon, good and evil in a relative sense.
Audhumla (Icelandic) [from audr void + hum dusk] Dusky void; in Norse mythology, the cow (symbol of fertility) formed of the frozen vapors of elivagar (glaciers, ice waves). From her udder flowed the four streams that nourished the frost giant Ymir. She is the female principle and Ymir the male principle; the four streams of milk “which diffused themselves throughout space (the astral light in its purest emanation)” (IU 1:147). Audhumla licked the salt ice blocks and uncovered the head of Buri, the parentless progenitor of all living beings. “The meaning of the allegory is evident. It is the precosmic union of the elements, of Spirit, or the creative Force, with Matter, cooled and still seething, which it forms in accordance with universal Will. Then the Ases, ‘the pillars and supports of the World’ (Cosmocratores), step in and create as All-father wills them” (TG 43).
A word coined by Sri Aurobindo from terminus, a boundary post or stone; historically, a statue or bust of the god Terminus, the deity who presided over boundaries or landmarks in ancient Roman mythology.
Axieros, Axiokersa, Axiokersos, (Greek) Also Aschieros, Achiosera, Achiochersus. In ancient Greek mythology, three divinities whose Mysteries and worship were mainly centered in Samothrace. With Kadmilos, often said to be their parent, they were the kabiri [cf Chaldean gibbor, Hebrew geber beings of power or might, the great ones]. Frequently Axieros, Axiokersa, and Axiokersos are stated to be the offspring of Hephaestus or Vulcan, the fiery flame of creative cosmic intellect or mahat. The kabiri are equivalent to the four kumaras of Hindu literature — Sanat-kumara, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanatana. The functions of both groups was as guardians, guides, inspirers, bringers of illumination and prosperity; and, in the kosmic sense, as divinities intimately involved in the intelligent productive energies of nature. Their number is the same as that of the kosmic elements — four, occasionally five, and in reality seven or ten. The four named above are the lower quaternary of the kosmic septenary — those divinities most closely involved in the intelligent building and architectural construction and therefore government of the four lower cosmic planes.
Bad: In Persian mythology, the Jinn ruling winds and storms.
Balder, Baldr (Icelandic) The best, foremost; the sun god in Norse mythology, the son of Odin and Frigga and a favorite with gods and men. His mansion is Breidablick (broadview) whence he can keep watch over all the worlds. One of the lays of the Elder or Poetic Edda deals entirely with the death of the sun god, also mentioned in the principal poem Voluspa. Briefly stated: the gods were concerned when Balder was troubled with dreams of impending doom. Frigga therefore set out to exact a promise from all living things that none would harm Balder, and all readily complied. One thing only had been overlooked: the harmless-seeming mistletoe. Loki, the mischievous god (human mind), became aware of this, plucked the little plant, and from it fashioned a dart. He approached Hoder, the blind god (of darkness and ignorance) who was standing disconsolately by while the other gods were playfully hurling their weapons against the invulnerable sun god. Offering to guide his aim, Loki placed on Hoder’s bow the small but deadly “sorrow-dart.” Thus mind darkened by ignorance accomplished what nothing else could: the death of the bright deity of light. Balder must then travel to the house of Hel, queen of the realm of the dead. Odin, as Hermod, goes to plead with Hel for Balder’s return, and Hel agrees to release him on condition that all living things weep for him. Frigga resumes her weary round and implores all beings to mourn the sun god’s passing. All agree save one: Loki in the guise of an aged crone refuses to shed a tear. This single taint of perverseness in the human mind condemns Balder to remain in the realm of Hel until the following cycle is due to begin. Thus death is linked with the active human mind, Loki. As the bright sun god is placed on his pyre-ship, his loving wife Nanna (the moon goddess) dies of a broken heart and is placed beside him, but before the ship is set ablaze and cast adrift, Odin leaned over to whisper something in the dead sun god’s ear. This secret message must endure unknown to all until Balder’s return, when he and his dark twin Hoder will “build together on Ropt’s (Odin’s) sacred soil.”
Balder: In the Norse mythology, the son of Odin and Frigga, the god of peace; he was slain by Hoder, acting as an unintentional and unwitting tool of the evil Loki.
B’duh (Beduh, Baduh): In Arabic mythology, a spirit who helps messages to be speedily transmitted to their destinations. His help is ensured by writing the numbers 2-4-6-8 (which represent the letters of the Arabic alphabet, B-D-U-H, spelling his name) as a written invocation.
Bennu (Egyptian) Bennu. Also Benu, Benoo. A bird of the heron species, identified with the phoenix. It was prominent in Egyptian mythology, being associated with the sun: it was said to have come into being from the fire which burned at the top of the sacred Persea Tree; that the renewed morning sun rose in the form of the bennu; and that it was the soul of Ra, the sun god. The sanctuary of the bennu was likewise that of Ra and of Osiris. A hymn in the Book of the Dead says: “I go in like the Hawk, and I come forth like the Bennu, the Morning Star (i.e., the planet Venus) of Ra” (xiii 2). Blavatsky terms the bennu “the bird of resurrection in Eternity . . . in whom night follows the day, and day the night — an allusion to the periodical cycles of cosmic resurrection and human re-incarnation” (SD 1:312).
Besides the Mabinogi, Lady Guest’s Mabinogion contains such stories as “Culhwch and Olwen” (a repository of relics of the lost mythology) and “The Dream of Rhonabwy,” both Arthurian, but Welsh and mythological. Other stories are “Peredur, the Lady of the Fountain,” “Geraint ab Erbin,” in which the Romance, Arthurianism, and Norman influence are beginning to appear. In “Peredur” we see the cauldron, symbol of initiation with the Druids, in process of becoming the Holy Grail: Peredur and Perceval are Pair-(g)edur and Pair-cyfaill — the “servant” and the “friend” of the cauldron.
Bhutavat (Sanskrit) Bhūtavat [from the verbal root bhū to be, become] What has become; applicable to those seeds of cosmic being which through evolutionary unfolding in previous manvantaras remain as crystallized seeds through the cosmic pralaya, to blossom forth into the unfolding universe at the opening of the succeeding manvantara. As the term has reference to what is not pure unevolved spirit, in archaic mythology it often bears the meaning of limitation or restriction, and therefore is frequently looked upon as being evil because it is not pure spirit.
Bhutesa or Bhutesvara (Sanskrit) Bhūteśa, Bhūteśvara [from bhūta living being + īśa, īśvara lord] Lord of beings, lord of manifested entities and things; a name applied to each member of the Hindu Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Siva). Siva in exoteric mythology and popular superstition is supposed to possess the special status of lord of the bhutas or kama-lokic spooks, and is the special patron of ascetics, students of occultism, and of those training themselves in mystical knowledge; so that this superstitious characterization of Siva is an entirely exoteric distortion of a profound esoteric fact. The real meaning is that Siva, often figurated as the supreme initiator, is the lord of those who “have been,” but who now are become regenerates through initiation — the mystical idea here being of the preservation of self-conscious effort through darkness into light, from ignorance to wisdom, and from selfishness into the divine compassion of the cosmic heart. In view of the karmic past of such progressed entities, their former selves in this cosmic time period are the bhutas (have-beens) of what now they are. Bhutesa is also applied to Krishna in this sense.
Bielbog: Literally white god; in Slavonic mythology, the power of good opposed to the power of evil (Czarnobog).
Bifrost, Bilrost, Bafrast (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from bifast to tremble] Via tremula (the trembling way), the rainbow; the rainbow bridge in Norse mythology, also called the asbru (bridge of the aesir), separating the realm of the gods (Asgard) from that of men (Midgard), while giving access to it. Guarding the bridge is Heimdal, the whitest aesir, who will blow the gjallarhorn when the world comes to an end and the gods withdraw to their sacred ground (Ragnarok). Then Bifrost falls when the sons of Muspel storm over it. It is said that each day the gods cross Bifrost to meet in council at the fount of Urd (the norn that represents the past or causation), but Thor must ford the river, as his lightnings would set the bridge on fire.
Mythology and reproduced on p. 68.
Mythology Folklore and Symbols.]
Mythology. New York: Heritage Press, 1942.
-. Mythology. New York: New American Library,
Mythology: The organized body of the myths of peoples or races having a common tradition and inheritance. Also, the study of myths, their origin and nature.
Boreas (Greek) The north wind in Greek mythology, connected with the Hyperborean continent of the first root-race.
Borj or Borz (Persian), Bereznaiti (Avestan) [from the verbal root baresa to grow upright] The mystical mundane mountain holding relatively the same place in Persian theology and mythology that Mount Meru does in ancient Indian literature. In later mystic Persian literature Mount Ghaph (Kaf) takes the place of Borj or Alborz and becomes the abode of the Simorgh, the legendary bird of ancient knowledge and creative life-force. See also MOUNTAINS, MUNDANE
Brahma: In Hindu mythology and occult philosophy, the Creator, as one of the three aspects of Ishwara, the Personal God. (Often written Brahmâ, to distinguish the word from Brahma as an alternative form of Brahman—q.v.).
Brahmanaspati: (1) A deity in the Rig-Veda. Known in Vedic mythology as Brihaspati, signifying the power of prayer. (2) The Hindu name for the planet Jupiter.
Brahmanical esotericism never taught that divinity descended into the animals as given in the legends. These names of different animals and men, like all zoological mythology, were chosen because of certain characteristic attributes. They actually represent ten degrees of advancing knowledge and growth in understanding — ten degrees in the esoteric cycle — as well as different evolutionary stages through which monads break through the lower spheres in order to express themselves on higher rungs of the evolutionary ladder of life. These names also represent the technical names given to neophytes in esoteric schools. The lowest chela was called a fish, the chela who had taken the second degree successfully was called a tortoise, and so forth, till the highest of all was called an incarnation of the sun — a white horse in Hindu legend.
Brahma’s Day: In Hindu mythology and occultism, a period of 4,320,000,000 of our years, during which Brahma, having awakened, creates and shapes the material world. At the end of this period, the material world is destroyed by fire and water, Brahma disappears to sleep during the period called Brahma’s Night.
Brahma’s Night: In Hindu mythology and occultism, a period of 4,320,000,000 of our years, following Brahma’s Day (q.v.). Brahma is said to be asleep during his Night, awakens at the end of it, and another Brahma’s Day commences.
Brihaspati (Sanskrit) Bṛhaspati [from bṛh prayer + pati lord] Sometimes Vrihaspati. A Vedic deity, corresponding to the planet Jupiter, commonly translated lord of prayer, the personification of exoteric piety and religion, but mystically the name signifies lord of increase, of expansion, growth. He is frequently called Brahmanaspati, both names having a direct significance with the power of sound as uttered in mantras or prayer united with positive will. He is regarded in Hindu mythology as the chief offerer of prayers and sacrifices, thus representing the Brahmin or priestly caste, being the Purohita (family priest) of the gods, among other things interceding with them for mankind. He has many titles and attributes, being frequently designated as Jiva (the living), Didivis (the bright or golden-colored). In later times he became the god of exoteric knowledge and eloquence — Dhishana (the intelligent), Gish-pati (lord of invocations). In this aspect he is regarded as the son of the rishi Angiras, and hence bears the patronymic Angirasa, and the husband of Tara, who was carried off by Soma (the moon). Tara is
Budha (Sanskrit) Budha [from the verbal root budh to awake] As an adjective, intelligent, wise, clever, fully awake; hence a wise or instructed person, a sage. In mythology, Budha is represented as the son of Tara (or Rohini), the wife of Brihaspati (the planet Jupiter). Tara was carried off by Soma (the Moon), which led to the Tarakamaya — the war in svarga (heaven) — between the gods and asuras (the latter siding with Soma against the divinities). The gods were victorious and Tara was returned to Brihaspati, but the parentage of the son she gave birth to was claimed both by Brihapati and Soma: he was so beautiful he was named Budha (cf SD 2:498-9). Upon Brahma’s demand, Tara admitted that Budha was the offspring of Soma. Budha became the god of wisdom and the husband of Ila (or Ida), daughter of Manu Vaivasvata, and in one sense stands for esoteric wisdom.
Bull—in Zoroastrian mythology, the source of
Butterfly The butterfly, because of its short life, its physical beauty, and its fluttering from flower to flower seeking nectar, has among many ancient peoples been regarded as an emblem of the impermanent, unstable characteristics of the lower human soul. For it is through the merely human soul that the person learns and gathers into the reincarnating ego the nectar or honey of wisdom through experience. Likewise the psyche in occult Greek philosophy was the organ or vehicle of the nous, the higher ego or reimbodying monad. The caterpillar lives its period, making for itself a chrysalis, which after a stage of dormancy is broken by the emerging butterfly. This suggests the idea of the less becoming the greater, of an earthy entity becoming aerial. These thoughts led the ancient Greeks to use the butterfly as a symbol of the human soul (psyche); and in their mythology Psyche was in consequence represented in art with butterfly wings.
centaur ::: Amal: “In Greek mythology the centaur was figured not only as half-man and half-horse but also as singing a magical song to lure one to one’s destruction.”
centaur ::: Greek Mythology, one of a race of monsters having the head, arms, and trunk of a man and the body and legs of a horse. centaur’s, Centaur, Centaur’s.
centaur ::: greek Mythology, one of a race of monsters having the head, arms, and trunk of a man and the body and legs of a horse. centaur"s, Centaur, Centaur"s.** ::: *
Centaur: In Greek-Roman mythology, a creature who is half man and half horse.
Centaurs (Greek) Greek mythology preserves legends of monsters, half man, half horse, located in wild spots in Greece. “See, for comparison, the account of creation by Berosus (Alexander Polyhistor) and the hideous beings born from the two-fold principle (Earth and Water) in the Abyss of primordial creation: Neras [Naras] (Centaurs, men with the limbs of horses and human bodies), and Kimnaras (men with the heads of horses) created by Brahma in the commencement of the Kalpa” (SD 2:65). The centaurs were also said to be the offspring of Ixion, king of the Lapith people, and a cloud shaped like Hera, sent by Zeus to test his wickedness; or as being offsprings of Ixion’s son and mares. They were considered a rude, wild race living in the mountains of Thessaly.
Cerberus (Greek) In Greek mythology, the three-headed dog with a serpent’s tail, son of Typhon and Echidna, who guards the gate to Hades or the underworld. He was brought to the earth and back by Hercules as his twelfth labor. Cerberus “came to the Greeks and Romans from Egypt. It was the monster, half-dog and half-hippopotamus, that guarded the gates of Amenti. . . . Both the Egyptian and the Greek Cerberus are symbols of Kamaloka and its uncouth monsters, the cast-off shells of mortals” (TG 74-5).
Cerberus: In Greek mythology, the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades, the underworld.
Cetus (Latin) [from Greek ketos whale] An ecliptic constellation adjoining Pisces and Aries. In Hebrew mythology it can be connected with the marine monster that swallowed Jonah, the peregrinating dove; and is also connected with Poseidon, Dagon, and other fish deities.
Chaldean mythology; Rf. Charles, Critical Com¬
Chandramanas is one of the ten horses which in Hindu mythology draw the chariot of the moon.
Chaos (Greek) [from chaino to gape, yawn open] “The earth was without form and void,” says Genesis in describing the first stages of cosmogony. In Greek mythology contains the same idea of the primordial emptiness and formlessness which precedes the rebirth of a universe after pralaya. It was the vacant and spiritual space which existed before the creation of the universe or of the world; from it proceeded Darkness and Night. Chaos is “chaotic” only in the sense that its constituents are unformed and unorganized; it is the kosmic storehouse of all the latent or resting seeds from former manvantaras. It means space — not the Boundless, parabrahman-mulaprakriti, but the space of any particular hierarchy descending into manifestation. In one sense it is the condition of a solar system or planetary chain during its pralaya, containing all the elements in an undifferentiated state. Aether and chaos are the two principles immediately posterior to the first principle.
Cherub, Cherubim (Hebrew) Kĕrūb, Kĕrūbīm A celestial, sacred, occult being in Hebrew mythology; in the Old Testament various descriptions are given of the Cherubim, the prevailing one being that of winged entities with four faces, those respectively of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. In Genesis, they are the guardians of Paradise; in Exodus (25:18-22) their images are to be placed in the mercy-seat and also in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:23-35), but their most frequent association is with the throne or chariot of Yahweh (Jehovah). In Ezekiel and the Qabbalah the Cherubim are represented as the four holy living creatures. “These four animals are, in reality, the symbols of the four elements, and of the four lower principles in man. Nevertheless, they correspond physically and materially to the four constellations that form, so to speak, the suite or cortege of the Solar God, and occupy during the winter solstice the four cardinal points of the zodiacal circle” (SD 1:363).
Cheru (Germanic) Also Heru. The sword god of the Cherusci, an ancient Germanic tribe occupying the basin of the Weser, to the north of the Chatti. Cheru has been associated with the Scandinavian Tyr whose name in Germanic mythology is Tio or Zio. In legend the Sword of Cheru was fashioned by the sons of Ivaldi, the dwarfs who likewise fashioned Thor’s Hammer, Mjolnir. The sword of Cheru was a magical one; and in the Scandinavian mythology is described “as destroying its possessor, should he be unworthy of wielding it. It brings victory and fame only in the hands of a virtuous hero” (TG 80).
Cimmerians In Greek mythology a people who dwelt in a land of mist and darkness, variously placed, as by Homer in the extremest west on the ocean; in historical times, a people in the Palus Maeotis, who were driven away by the Scythians. The Cimmerians were contrasted with the Hyperboreans, who inhabited a land of perpetual sunshine.
circe ::: 1. In Classical Mythology. the enchantress represented by Homer as turning the companions of Odysseus into swine by means of a magic drink, therefore an alluring but dangerous temptress or temptation.
Classical Terms from Mythology, History, etc.
Clotho (Greek) Klotho. The spinner; in Greek mythology, one of the three Moirae (Fates). Human life was mystically pictured as a thread of destiny overseen by three sisters, powers of nature, named Clotho, Lachesis (disposer of lots), and Atropos (inevitable). Clotho, represented as a maiden holding the distaff, spun the thread of life.
cock, Short Dictionary of Mythology.]
Crocodile [from Greek champsai, Egyptian emsehiu] In Egypt deified under the name of Sebak (or Sebeq). The principal seat of this worship was the city Crocodilopolis (Arsinoe) where great numbers of mummified beasts have been exhumed. When the canals became dry, the crocodiles would wander about the fields and make such havoc that they were naturally associated with the powers of destruction and evil, the principal malefactor of the pantheon being Set or Typhon. The ancient Egyptians did not regard Set or Typhon, and the crocodile which represented him, as the enemy, the destroyer. In fact, in the earlier dynasties Typhon was one of the most powerful and venerated of the divinities, giving blessings, life, and inspiration to the people, and in especial perhaps to the Royal House or rulers of Egypt. The reason lay in the fact that the earlier mythology showed Typhon or Set mystically as the shadow of Osiris, the god of light and wisdom — Typhon or Set being the alter ego or more material aspect of Osiris himself. “The Crocodile is the Egyptian dragon. It was the dual symbol of Heaven and Earth, of Sun and Moon, and was made sacred, in consequence of its amphibious nature, to Osiris and Isis” (SD 1:409). The crocodile was also named as one of the signs of the zodiac, the regency of which was connected with a group of lofty beings, whose “abode is in Capricornus” (SD 1:219).
Curetes (Greek) Kouretes. The priests in the Mysteries of Rhea Cybele in Crete, and in Classical mythology daemons or demigods to whom Cybele entrusted the infant Zeus. Identified with the kabiri, who belong to the septenary creative groups of dhyan-chohans which incarnated in the elect of the third and fourth root-races — Zeus is said to be the god of the fourth race (SD 2:360, 766, 776).
Cynocephalus [from Latin canus dog + cephalus head] The dog-headed ape (Simia hamadryas) which in Egyptian mythology was called Amemet (eater of the dead) whose master was Thoth or Tehuti. In the Judgment scene in The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Amemet is represented as seated by Thoth, ready to inform his master when the pointer marks the middle of the beam on the balance, when the heart is being weighed in the scales. After Thoth makes his announcement to the gods concerning the result of the weighing of the heart, the company of the gods decree that Amemet shall not be permitted to prevail over the successful candidate.
Czarnobog: Literally black god. In Slavonic mythology, the evil deity, the power of evil fighting the good deity (Bielbog).
Dactyli, Dactyls (Greek) [from daktylos finger] Fingers; in Greek mythology, the smith said to have first discovered and worked copper and iron, and to have introduced music and rhythm into Greece. Also a name for the Phrygian Hierophants of Rhea Cybele, said to be magicians, exorcists, and healers. Five or ten in number, as the number of the fingers, they have been identified with the Corybantes — priests of Atys, the youth beloved by Cybele — with the Curetes, Telchines, and others, all of which have also been connected with the kabiri. But the kabiri were the manus, rishis, and dhyani-chohans who incarnated in the elect of the third root-race and earliest part of the fourth root-race. Since the structure of the higher planes is reflected in the lower, all these names can also stand for terrestrial powers and their hierophants, according to the rites peculiar to various countries. They have been connected with the Pelasgian masonry (SD 2:345); but, like the cyclopes they were masons in more senses than one.
daemon ::: 1. A guardian spirit. 2. *Mythology: A mythological being that is part-god and part-human. *3. A demigod.
Daeva (Deva)—in early Persian mythology, the
Dagda: A god in pre-Christian Irish mythology.
Danu: In ancient Irish mythology, the goddess of knowledge and culture, daughter of the god Dagda.
Dara—in Persian mythology, angel of rains and
Dawn Frequently denotes the beginning of a new cycle, of greater or less extent. Venus-Lucifer is called the luminous son of morning or of manvantaric dawn; and the builders are the luminous sons of manvantaric dawn. In Greek mythology Apollo (the sun) has two daughters, Hilaira and Phoebe (evening twilight and dawn); Eos is the dawn, as is Aurora in Latin. In Hindu mythology, the wife of Surya (the sun) is Ushas (dawn), and she is also his mother. In the Vishnu-Purana, Brahma, for purposes of world formation, assumes four bodies — dawn, night, day, and evening twilight. Man is said to come from the body of dawn, for dawn signifies light, the intelligence of the intellect of the universe often called mahat, the ultimate progenitor, and indeed the final cosmic goal, of the Hierarchy of Light of which the human hierarchy is a small portion. See also SANDHI
dawn. [Rf. Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore
dead. [Rf. Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology Folklore
death”)—in Babylonian mythology, Nergal (or
Delios (Greek) Delian; in Greek mythology, a title of Apollo, who was born on the island of Delos. Also ta Delia, the festival of Apollo at Delos.
Delos, the Asteria of mythology, was not really in Greece, which country did not yet exist at the time referred to in the myths; several writers have shown it to have been a far larger country or island than Greece. Diodorus Siculus calls it Basileia (island of divine kings), because the divine dynasties of Atlantis proceeded from it, and we are bidden to seek it among the islands discovered by Nordenskiold in the Arctic (SD 2:773).
Demeter (Greek) [possibly from Doric da earth + meter mother] The Earth-Mother; one of the great Olympian deities, in popular mythology specially associated with the earth and its products, patron of agriculture, goddess of law and order, and protector of marriage and the birth of offspring. As the grain goddess, counterpart of the Egyptian Isis, Roman Ceres, and corn mothers, corn maidens, and harvest goddesses of the various native cultures of the Americas today, and of the early Teutonic and Scandinavian races of central and northern Europe.
Demigods One of the orders of semi-divine instructors, spiritual beings in human form. Herodotus, among other Greek writers, speaks of humanity being ruled successively by gods, demigods, heroes, and men. The Lemuro-Atlanteans were among the first who had a dynasty of spirit-kings, highly evolved living devas or demigods. There are the Chinese demigods, Chin-nanga and Chan-gy, the Peruvian Manco-Capac, the Hindu rishis, and the demigods popularized among the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. In the Golden Age of Saturnus all people were said to have been demigods, and many of the figures in mythology who seem at one moment historical characters and at another gods or symbols, were actually demigods who once dwelt among mankind, founding new cultures, instructing and guiding humanity, and revealing all the arts and sciences. As examples of demigods who actually descended and taught the human race in historic and prehistoric times, one may cite Osiris, the first Zoroaster, Krishna, and Moses.
demon ::: n. --> A spirit, or immaterial being, holding a middle place between men and deities in pagan mythology.
One&
Deva: Sanskrit for radiant being. In the Vedic mythology and occult terminology, a celestial being, a god, a malignant supernatural entity or an indifferent supernatural being. The general designation for God in Hinduism. In Zoroastrianism, the name of the evil spirits opposed to Ahura Mazda. In Buddhism, a hero or demigod.
Devavardhaki (Sanskrit) Devavardhaki Architect of the gods; a title given to Visvakarman, who according to Hindu mythology was the cosmic demiurge or world-former.
Devi-Durga (Sanskrit) Devī-Durgā Spiritual and inaccessible goddess; also called Kali (the black one), she is a warlike, bloodthirsty goddess who destroys and devours her enemies without pity. She is “raw power, energy untamed by discipline or direction” (Classical Hindu Mythology 226). Sometimes considered an independent deity, at others an aspect of Siva’s consort, whose benign aspect is named Parvati.
Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols. See Jobes.
Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols.]
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols.]
Dii adscripticii: The collective name of the minor gods of Roman mythology.
Dii Magni or Di Magni (Latin) The great gods; referring specifically to the twelve great deities of the Latin pantheon. Identified with the kabiri, dhyani-chohans, etc. (SD 2:360), the twelve great deities are easily discoverable in Greek and other mythologies; they were particularly cultivated in the ancient Etrurian mythology. They are directly connected with the twelve signs of the zodiac, as being the twelve great deific spirits of the cosmos, of which divinities the twelve zodiacal signs are representations.
Dingir (Akkad) The chief deity of the Akkadians; one of the forms of the creative powers as recognized by the earlier Akkadians. Every one of these demiurgic powers is the chief or first in his or her own field of activity in the universe, so that in one mythology may be found several such chief or first divinities, each being the chief or hierarch in his or her own hierarchy, but all nevertheless subordinate to the karmic mandates of the inclusive, all-enclosing, cosmic primordial elements. These chief divinities are the cosmic elements originating in and from the primordial element, which because of the extreme reverence in which it was held by archaic thought is often not mentioned, it being part of the teaching of the sanctuary.
Dioscuri (Greek) Dioskouroi. In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces), Spartan twin sons of Tyndareus and Leda; their sisters were Helen and Clytemnestra. In Homer all but Helen were considered mortal, but after the twins’ death they lived and died on alternate days. Later one, usually Pollux, was the son of Zeus and shared his immortality after Castor’s death. Usually Zeus as a swan is said to have seduced Leda, who brought forth two eggs, one containing Helen and the other Castor and Pollux. The twins rescued Helen from Theseus and went with the Argonauts. Castor and Pollux are associated with the zodiacal sign Gemini, and sometimes with the morning and evening stars.
Discourse of Angels.] In Greek mythology, Python
Div: The counterpart in Persian mythology of the devil of medieval Europe.
Donar (Germanic) Also Thunar. The god of thunder in Germanic mythology, equivalent to Thor of the Scandinavian Eddas.
Dove Bird symbols play a prominent part in cosmogonic systems. In the Biblical deluge, as a blend of cosmic and precosmic allegories, Noah sends out first a raven, symbolizing darkness which was regarded as prior to light; and then a dove. In the Chaldean version, Noah is represented by Ishtar or Ashtoreth — a lunar goddess corresponding in some respects to Artemis and in others to Venus — and the dove is a symbol of Venus, which is also found in Greek mythology. In several nations the dove also symbolizes the soul.
Dryad: In Greek mythology, a tree-spirit which lives in a tree and dies when the tree is cut down or dies.
Dvalin (Icelandic) [from dvala delay; or Swed dvala coma] A dwarf in ancient Norse mythology, the comatose or entranced human nature corresponding to the lesser elements of character; not entirely animal but not completely evolved as a human being, he accurately describes the imperfect, growing, and changing human self. Together with the skilled intelligence of Loki, Dvalin created appropriate gifts for the gods Odin, Thor, and Frey. See also DWARFS
Dvipa (Sanskrit) Dvīpa A zone, region, land, or continent; those in Hindu mythology refer esoterically to the seven globes of the earth’s planetary chain, as well as to the seven great continents which come successively into existence as the homes of the seven root-races. These seven dvipas are given in Sanskrit works as Jambu, Plaksha, Kusa, Krauncha, Saka, Salmala, and Pushkara.
Dwarf(s) (Icelandic) [from dvergr, Anglo-Saxon dveorg, German zwerg, Swedish dvarg] Popularly thought to be “little people,” in Norse mythology they are described as mindre (which can mean either “smaller” or “less”) than human; hence dwarfs may be regarded as creatures smaller than or less evolved than human beings. The word may also connote “middle,” which can describe the position of the so-called dwarf kingdoms in our universe.
Ea: In Babylonian and Assyrian mythology, the god of waters and of wisdom, crafts and learning, especially of the magical arts; the third member of the Babylonian triad of gods (Anu, Enlil, Ea).
Earth Besides being our terrestrial globe, earth is a comprehensive symbol, meaning the matter or vehicular side of manifestation as well as one of the four, five, or seven elements. It is primordial undifferentiated matter which, by the action of spirit, produces the manifested worlds of entities. The Western alchemists called this Adam’s Earth; in Greek mythology it is the lower side of Rhea. The bringing forth of animate beings was due to the marriage of heaven and earth, so that our earth is an offspring of this cosmic union. Connected with this meaning are the numerous allusions to earth as the nether pole of manifestation, and it is often synonymous with the nether regions, as Pluto, Yama, etc. In the zodiac it is occasionally symbolized by Taurus, the bull which in popular astrology is the first and fixed earthy sign. As the lowest of the several elements, earth denotes physicalization, what we call physical matter being a combination of all four elements with the earth-element predominating. The pure element, however, is not physical, its characteristic property or tattva in connection with the human organs is smell, and its name in the Hindu system is prithivi-tattva; it is characterized by square or cubical forms and by fixity; the nature spirits pertaining to it were said by medieval European mystics to be the gnomes.
Eddas: The heroic literature of the old Norse, written in Old Icelandic (12th-13th centuries A.D.); our chief source of knowledge of Norse mythology.
Elivagar (Icelandic) [from eli ice + vagar waves] In Norse mythology the “waves of ice” (glaciers) which flow from the fountain Hvergelmir into all the worlds and which provide the life forms for the embodiment of all beings. In the cosmogony of the Eddas, it was from elivagar, the glacier or unmoving waters of nonbeing, that the frost giant Ymir was formed: the void of non-existence in which there was “no soil, no sea, no waves” (cf Voluspa in the elder Edda).
Eloeus —in Phoenician mythology, one of the
Elysian Fields, Elysium (Greek) Originally in Greek mythology, beautiful meadows or plains, or islands of the blest, located in the far west by the banks of Ocean. There certain heroes of the fourth race who never experienced death were said to dwell in perfect happiness ruled by Rhadamanthus. The titans after being reconciled with Zeus also lived there under the rule of Kronos. Pindar holds that all who have passed blamelessly through life three times live there in bliss. Later, Elysium was located in the underworld as the abode of those whom the judges of the dead found worthy. The river Lethe (forgetfulness) flowed by the Elysian Fields. See also AANROO; DEVACHAN; HADES
Elysian Fields; Elysium: In classical mythology, the place in the underworld which was the abode of the souls of the righteous after their death.
Enceladus ::: In classical mythology, a giant with a hundred arms buried under Mt. Etna, in Sicily, by the Olympian Gods.
enceladus ::: in classical mythology, a giant with a hundred arms buried under Mt. Etna, in Sicily, by the Olympian Gods.
- Encyclopedia of Mythology, (int.) Robert Graves.
Ephialtes (Greek) In Greek mythology a titan, son of Poseidon, who with his brother Otus makes war on Olympus and puts Ares in chains for l3 months. At the age of nine years each brother was 54 feet high and 36 feet broad. These two titans as types refer to the late Lemurians of the third root-race, and also to the earliest Atlanteans, known for their huge size, daring spirit, and their wars against the gods or Sons of Light. However, they were not demons in the Christian sense; for these early races were simply the gigantic early mankind in which self-consciousness expressed itself in high pride, the love of material power as compared with spiritual, and in works of material or physical achievement.
Eridanus (Greek) In Greek mythology, a river into which Zeus cast Phaethon, a son of Helios (the sun), when he rashly tried to drive the chariot of the sun and had nearly set the earth on fire. It is identified with the sacred river Nile, and its etymological roots are the same as those found in Jordan.
::: "Erinyes, in Greek mythology, the goddesses of vengeance, usually represented as three winged maidens, with snakes in their hair. They pursued criminals, drove them mad, and tormented them in Hades. They were spirits of punishment, avenging wrongs done especially to kindred. In Roman literature they were called Furies.” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works*
erlking ::: n. --> A personification, in German and Scandinavian mythology, of a spirit natural power supposed to work mischief and ruin, esp. to children.
euhemerism ::: n. --> The theory, held by Euhemerus, that the gods of mythology were but deified mortals, and their deeds only the amplification in imagination of human acts.
Euhemerism: The view that explains religious myths as traditional and partially distorted accounts of historical events and personages; from Euhemerus, Cyrenaic philosopher (c. 300 B.C.), who advanced the theory that the gods of mythology were deified heroes. -- G.R.M.
Euhemerization The theory of Euhemeros, a Greek of about 316 BC, that the ancient Greek myths were imaginative or allegorical renderings of historical events, the gods once having been mortals or men, and their deeds the poetized actions of archaic human worthies. Hence to euhemerize is to interpret myths as having been once historical events. It is sometimes used in The Secret Doctrine as equivalent to anthropomorphism. A great deal of archaic mythology, however, is the half-forgotten and often distorted racial tradition or memory of events in the lives of once semi-divine humans, who actually were in most cases the demigods, god-men, or initiates of the later third and early fourth root-races.
euhemerize ::: v. t. --> To interpret (mythology) on the theory of euhemerism.
Farbauti (Icelandic) [from far travel, ship + bauti to beat, chase] In Norse mythology, a giant, father of Loki, whose mother is variously named Lofo (leafy isle, earth) or Nal (needle). Farbauti represents the wind that beats or chases the ship of life and may allegorically be connected with the manifestation of living things. This in turn produced the human intelligence (Loki).
faun ::: In classical mythology, any of a group of rural deities represented as having the body of a man and the horns, ears, tail, and sometimes legs of a goat.
faun ::: in classical mythology, any of a group of rural deities represented as having the body of a man and the horns, ears, tail, and sometimes legs of a goat.
Fenrir: In Norse mythology, a wolfish monster, offspring of Loki. One of the enemies of the Norse gods, he is to swallow Odin himself at the last day, and also to swallow the sun. (Also called Fenrisulf.)
Fimbulvetr (Icelandic) [from fimbul mighty + vetr winter] In Norse mythology, the immensely long period of nonlife intervening between cycles of universal existence, equivalent to the Sanskrit pralaya. In the Edda it is interchangeable with the frost giant Ymer or Ymir, who is “slain” by the gods at each new creation.
Frigga: Wife of Odin in Norse mythology, mother of Thor, Balder and other gods, patroness of conjugal love. Variously regarded as goddess of the earth and air.
From another standpoint, however, Greek mythology represents the centaurs as being wiser than men: thus Chiron, son of Kronos and Philyra, most famous of the Centaurs, is a teacher not only of the heroes, but instructed Apollo and Diana in hunting, medicine, music, and the art of prophecy. Later, centaurs were shown as forming part of the following of Dionysus.
from Laronsse Encyclopedia of Mythology.
Furies ::: Amal: “There were the Furies in Greek mythology. They would possess one and drive him in spite of himself to do things he may not want to do. They would also drive him mad. They were powerful agents of revenge.”
Furies ::: “Erinyes, in Greek mythology, the goddesses of vengeance, usually represented as three winged maidens, with snakes in their hair. They pursued criminals, drove them mad, and tormented them in Hades. They were spirits of punishment, avenging wrongs done especially to kindred. In Roman literature they were called Furies.” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works
Furies: In Roman mythology, the three sisters Alecto, Megæra and Tisiphone, punishers of evildoers, personifications of rage, envy and slaughter.
Gandhamadan ::: “In Hindu mythology, a mountain and forest in Ilavrta, the central region of the world which contains Mount Meru. Gandhamadan dorms the division between Ilavrta and Bhadrasva, to the east of Meru. The forest of Gandhamadan is renowned for its fragrance. (Dow.; Enc. Br). Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works.
gandhamadan ::: "In Hindu mythology, a mountain and forest in Ilavrta, the central region of the world which contains Mount Meru. Gandhamadan dorms the division between Ilavrta and Bhadrasva, to the east of Meru. The forest of Gandhamadan is renowned for its fragrance. (Dow.; Enc. Br.)” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works.
Garuda (Sanskrit) Garuḍa In Hindu mythology a gigantic half-man and half-bird, born from an egg brought forth by Vinata, wife of Kasyapa, the self-born sprung from time and one of the seven emanators of the world. Symbol of the great cycle or manvantara, Garuda is also an emblem of the sun and the solar cycle. He is made coeternal with Vishnu as one aspect or manifestation of Vishnu himself, who therefore is often described as riding on Garuda as Vishnu in space and time. Garuda’s son is Jatayu who in the Ramayana rushed to rescue Sita when she was carried off by Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka, but was slain in the ensuing conflict.
Ginnunga gap: The primeval chaos from which, according to old Norse mythology, all things issued. (The term has been variously translated as yawning gap, gaping void, etc.)
Gna (Icelandic) One of the handmaidens of Frigga, consort of Allfather Odin in Norse mythology. She carries messages throughout the nine worlds on behalf of her mistress.
Gnipa (Icelandic, Scandinavian) Peak; in Norse mythology, the gnipa-hollow is the cave that gives entrance to the underworld or world of the dead governed by Hel, Loki’s daughter. The hound of Hel, Garm, howls in the hollow before Ragnarok.
Gods ::: The old pantheons were builded upon an ancient and esoteric wisdom which taught, under the guise of apublic mythology, profound secrets of the structure and operations of the universe which surrounds us.The entire human race has believed in gods, has believed in beings superior to men; the ancients all saidthat men are the "children" of these gods, and that from these superior beings, existent in the azurespaces, men draw all that in them is; and, furthermore, that men themselves, as children of the gods, arein their inmost essence divine beings linked forever with the boundless universe of which each humanbeing, just as is the case with every other entity everywhere, is an inseparable part. This is a truly sublimeconception.One should not think of human forms when the theosophist speaks of the gods; we mean the arupa -- the"formless" -- entities, beings of pure intelligence and understanding, relatively pure essences, relativelypure spirits, formless as we physical humans conceive form. The gods are the higher inhabitants ofnature. They are intrinsic portions of nature itself, for they are its informing principles. They are as muchsubject to the wills and energies of still higher beings -- call these wills and energies the "laws" of higherbeings, if you will -- as we are, and as are the kingdoms of nature below us.The ancients put realities, living beings, in the place of laws which, as Occidentals use the term, are onlyabstractions -- an expression for the action of entities in nature; the ancients did not cheat themselves soeasily with words. They called them gods, spiritual entities. Not one single great thinker of the ancients,until the Christian era, ever talked about laws of nature, as if these laws were living entities, as if theseabstractions were actual entities which did things. Did the laws of navigation ever navigate a ship? Doesthe law of gravity pull the planets together? Does it unite or pull the atoms together? This word laws issimply a mental abstraction signifying unerring action of conscious and semi-conscious energies innature.
Golden Fleece In Greek mythology, the fleece of a ram sent by the gods to save Phrixus and Helle, son and daughter of Athamas and Nephele, from their stepmother Ino. Flying through the air, it bore them towards Asia Minor. Helle drowned in the sea (at the Hellespont), but Phrixus arrived at Colchis. There he sacrificed the ram to Zeus and presented the fleece to king Aeetes, who hung it in a grove of Ares. Later, a generation before the Trojan War, Jason and the Argonauts brought the fleece back to Greece with the aid of Aeetes’ daughter Medea.
Gopa (Sanskrit) Gopa [from go cow + the verbal root pā to protect, cherish] Protector, guardian, cowherd, herdsman, milkman; in the mythology concerning Krishna, Gopa is applied to him as chief herdsman — or shepherd, to use the Christian form of the idea.
Gopi (Sanskrit) Gopī [fem of gopa cowherd] In Hindu mythology the female cowherds of Vrindavana — playmates and companions of Krishna during his boyhood, considered mystically as celestial personages or powers. Gopi is sometimes spoken of as one of the wives of Sakyamuni, but the meaning here is a mystical power.
Gorgon (Greek) In Greek mythology, three sisters with wings, brazen claws, enormous teeth, and serpents instead of hair on their heads. The one usually meant is the mortal Medusa, once a beautiful maiden turned into a gorgon by the gods. She was overcome by Perseus who avoided her fatal glance, which would have turned him to stone, by using a mirror. Pegasus, the winged horse, sprang from her severed neck. Evidently the gorgons represent one of the powers which rule the lower realms of nature which have to be overcome by the aspirant to wisdom in the initiatory trials.
Gorgons: In Greek mythology, three hideous sisters, with serpent-entwined hair and glaring eyes that turned to stone anything that met their gaze.
Greek mythology.]
grimreaper ::: Grim Reaper The anthropomorphism of Death, normally as a skeleton carrying a scythe, who exists in mythology and popular culture. The actual reality of death has had a tremendous influence on the human psyche throughout time, which explains why the personification of 'Death' as a living entity has existed in most societies since history began.
Gullinbursti (Icelandic) [from gullin golden + bursti bristles, mane] In Norse mythology, a golden boar which draws the chariot of Frey, god of the terrestrial world. He received it as a gift from the two dwarfs Brock (mineral kingdom) and Sindri (vegetable kingdom), sons of Ivalde, the moon.
Hades: (Gr. Haides) In Greek mythology the god of the underworld, the son of Cronos and Rhea and the brother of Zeus, hence the kingdom ruled over by Hades, or the abode of the dead. -- G.R.M.
Hades: In Greek mythology the god of the underworld, the son of Cronos and Rhea and the brother of Zeus; hence the kingdom ruled over by Hades, or the abode of the dead.
hades ::: n. --> The nether world (according to classical mythology, the abode of the shades, ruled over by Hades or Pluto); the invisible world; the grave.
Haltiat (Finnish) Singular haltia. Regents or genii; in Finnish mythology everything in nature was governed by these invisible deities or cosmic spirits, who were generally represented in pairs. They were regarded as immortal, having spirits and distinctive individual forms, the minor ones in the hierarchy being less distinctive in vehicle and power than those of higher grade.
Hamadryad: In Greco-Roman mythology, a nature-spirit of the woods, which lives in and dies with a certain tree.
Harpy: In classical mythology, a monstrous, evil, rapacious and vengeful creature with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a bird and the claws of a lion.
Harudha—in Persian mythology, the angel
Hecate: In ancient Greek mythology, a goddess of magicians and sorcerers, commander of all magic powers of nature.
Helel—in Canaanitish mythology, a fallen
Hemera (Greek) Day; in older Greek mythology, from Chaos issue Erebus and Nox (cosmic darkness and cosmic night) and from these two under the action of Eros, issue Aether and Hemera (light and day) — darkness generates light. Aether is the light of the heavenly or superior spheres, whereas Hemera is the light of the inferior and terrestrial regions.
Hera: In Greek mythology, the sister and wife of Zeus, queen of the gods, goddess of marriage.
Herculean ::: Herculean—after Hercules, one of the greatest heroes of classical mythology, he is supposed to have been the strongest man on earth. He was renowned for completing twelve seemingly impossible tasks—the Labors of Hercules.
here deriving from Assyrian mythology), and in
Hermod (Icelandic) [from her host, army + mod might, courage] A son of Odin in Norse mythology, equivalent to Hermes or Mercury, messenger of the gods. Best known for his memorable journey to the kingdom of Hel on behalf of the gods, when he was sent to entreat the queen of death to give up the sun god Balder whose death at the hands of his blind brother Hoder had been brought about by Loki (in some versions Odin himself undertakes the errand).
Hestia: In Greek mythology, sister of Zeus, virgin goddess of the hearth, both of the home and of the city from which each group of colonists would take sacred fire to its new home.
Hiranyapura (Sanskrit) Hiraṇyapura [from hiraṇya golden + pura city] Golden city; in Hindu mythology, a city which floats in the air, the abode of the danavas (one class of titans); again an asura town situated beyond the ocean. Generally asura was employed in the ancient popular writings to designate, among other things, members of the fourth root-race, who indeed were giants in stature and dwelt in the lands beyond the ocean, in Atlantis.
Hisi or Hiisi (Finnish) Also Juntas, Piru, and Lempo. The principle of evil in ancient Finnish mythology, described as a cruel, bloodthirsty spirit, responsible for all the evil in the world, inflicting diseases and misfortunes upon mankind. The Kalevala relates that when the highest deity, Ukko, refused to give life to the evil serpent formed from the spittle of Suoyatar, Hisi breathed a soul into the beast so it might aid him.
holygrail ::: Holy Grail Christian Mythology tells us the Holy Grail was the actual dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, and that it possesses miraculous powers. Joseph of Arimathea is connected to the Grail through a book written in the 12th century. In this book he is supposed to have received the Holy Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sent it to Great Britain with his followers. Later writers, expanding on this theme, tell how Joseph used the Grail to catch the blood of Christ while interring him, and that he founded a line of guardians to keep it safe in Britain - many books and films have been written and made around this legend. The Holy Grail should not be confused with the Holy Chalice, which, in Christian tradition, is the vessel which Jesus used to serve the wine at the Last Supper.
Horse In the ancient Mediterranean and Northern European mythologies, used in connection with the sun and standing as a symbol for the solar powers or the sun itself. The sun is frequently represented in ancient thought as being drawn along the heavens by means of horses. In ancient Persia and Greece, individual heroes, as for instance Hushenk and Bellerophon, are said to have obtained mastery over and consequent use of wonderful horses with which they were enabled to approach the sun. In Scandinavian mythology, horses were represented as carrying the heroes into the under- and over-world, and as mounts of the Valkyries they bore the fallen heroes to Valhalla.
Horus: The Greek form of the name Hern-ra-ha, the Egyptian god who comprises the twin forms, Hoor-paar-kraat and Ra-hoor-khuit (q.v.). Heruis the Hero of all ancient myths involving a triumphant solardeity, a triumph that is, of the sun over the dragon of darkness, Typhon, Draco, Nuit, etc. This victory represents merely the aeonic change of types from the Motherhood to the later conception of deity typified by theFatherhood, both in mythology and in sociology. Horus is particularly the Winter Sun, and associated with the Northern hemisphere as Set, his twin, is the Lord of the South. In their constant conflict lies the mystery of Magick and the polarity of mutually antagonistic currents of energy.
Huyghe, Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, p. 59.]
hydra code "humour, programming" {Code} that cannot be fixed because each time a {bug} is remove, two new bugs grow in its place. Named after the many-headed Hydra of Greek mythology. [{Dodgy Coder (http://www.dodgycoder.net/2011/11/yoda-conditions-pokemon-exception.html)}]. (2014-01-04)
Hyperborean [from Greek hyperboreos beyond the north wind] In Greek mythology the Hyperboreans dwelt in the inaccessible extreme north, in bliss and everlasting spring, exempt from death and old age, toil and war. Sometimes it was said that sunshine was continuous for six months, and that Phoebes (the sun) visited the region every year. The Secret Doctrine adopts this name for the continent or homeland of the second great root-race of mankind. See also ROOT-RACE, SECOND
hyperion ::: n. --> The god of the sun; in the later mythology identified with Apollo, and distinguished for his beauty.
Ifing (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from if, ef doubt] In Norse mythology, a wide, ever-flowing river which runs between Asgard (court of the gods) and Jotunheim (home of the giants where the worlds of the living are formed). This river never freezes over to form an ice-bridge which might be traversed by the unworthy, but all human souls must eventually cross the river Doubt and also the river Time (Tund) in order to gain the realm of the gods.
In ancient Hindustan there were two principal dynasties of kings, as given in the epics and the Puranas, named the Suryavansa (the Solar Dynasty) and the Chandravansa (the Lunar Dynasty). The former was said to have been descended from the sun through Ikshvaku, who according to mythology was the son or grandson of the sun, Vaivasvata-Manu, the progenitor of our present humanity. The Chandravansa was said to have sprung from Atri, the maharshi (great rishi), whose son again was Soma or the moon, whence the name lunar given to the dynasty.
In Assyro-Babylonian mythology, the god of
In Chaldean mythology, Omoroka was a woman personifying the spatial deeps, and therefore divine water or the productive Logos of all manifestation. It likewise became connected with the moon, being equivalent to Selene, and was often used as the manifested wisdom or spirit.
In Christianity, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Ghost, who appears in that form to Jesus at his baptism. It is also often one of the four sacred animals which denote four important human principles along with the bull, the eagle, and the lion. These four animals in Greek mystic mythology are symbols respectively of the planets Venus, the Moon, Mercury (or Jupiter), and the Sun; but it is more properly here a seraph or cherub, the fiery-winged serpent or Agathodaimon. As a symbol of gentleness and love it is frequent in the Hebrew scriptures.
In Classical Mythology. the enchantress represented by Homer as turning the companions of Odysseus into swine by means of a magic drink, therefore an alluring but dangerous temptress or temptation.
in Druid mythology, Camael was the god of war.
Infernal Deities [from Latin inferi or inferni inhabitants of the lower world] Cosmic powers pertaining to the lower planes of manifestation. Classical mythology shows the earth and its beings between the heavens and the infernal regions, under the double influence of the higher and the lower deities. Sometimes they are called chthonian deities, gods of the earth or underworld, implying a duality of heaven and earth, or above and below. They are usually doubles of the superior gods, often with the same name but distinguished by an epithet, as in Jupiter Chthonius or Osiris-Typhon. The contrast between good and evil has given a sinister aspect to these deities, as being connected with death, destruction, and affliction, though they are necessary cosmic powers. Christian theology in particular has turned them into devils.
"In Greek mythology, a giant with a hundred arms, a son of Uranus and Ge, who fought against the gods. He was hurled down by Athene and imprisoned beneath Mt. Aetna in Sicily. When he stirs, the mountain shakes; when he breathes, there is an eruption. (M.I.; Web.)” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works
“In Greek mythology, a giant with a hundred arms, a son of Uranus and Ge, who fought against the gods. He was hurled down by Athene and imprisoned beneath Mt. Aetna in Sicily. When he stirs, the mountain shakes; when he breathes, there is an eruption. (M.I.; Web). Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works
In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux were day and night, and their consorts Phoebe and Hilaira were the twilights.
In Greek mythology they were nymphs, the daughters of Atlas and Aethra, and sisters of the Pleiades, their number varying from two to seven. They were worshiped as nurses of Zeus or Dionysos, and for this service were put in the sky as stars.
In Hii—in Mandaean mythology, one of the
In later mythology, as in the epic of Firdusi, the simorgh is depicted as a gigantic bird who finds the infant Zal on the mountain Alberz [Berj], carries him to his nest and rears him “teaching him the language of the country and cultivating his understanding.” Simorgh-anke (simurgh-’anka), the steed of Taimuraz or Tahmurath equivalent to the phoenix or roc, was “a marvelous bird, in truth, intelligent, a polyglot, and even very religious. . . . It complains of its old age, for it is born cycles and cycles before the days of Adam (also Kaimurath). It has witnessed the revolutions of long centuries. It has seen the birth and the close of twelve cycles of 7,000 years each, which multiplied esoterically will give us again 840,000 years” (SD 2:397).
In later mythology Devaki became the anthropomorphized form of Aditi or cosmic space, just as the Hebrew Mary became a celestial entity. The seven sons of Devaki killed by Karsa before the birth of Krishna symbolize the seven human principles. We must rise above them before reaching the ideal, Krishna, the Christ or the Buddha state, thus centering ourselves in the highest, the seventh or first.
In later mythology Surya is particularly identified with Savitri as one of the twelve adityas of the sun in the twelve months of the year, and his seven-horsed chariot is described as driven by Aruna (dawn). Surya was represented also as the husband of Sanjna (spiritual consciousness, cosmic or human), and the offspring of Aditi (space), mother of all the gods. One legend represents Surya as crucified on a lathe by Visvakarman — his father-in-law, the creator of gods and men, and their carpenter — and having an eighth part of his rays cut off, which deprives his head of its effulgency, creating round it a dark aureole — “a mystery of the last initiation, and an allegorical representation of it” (TG 313).
In later mythology Vayu is the father of Hanuman, the monkey-king who aids Rama in the Ramayana. The allegory of Hanuman becoming the son of Vayu by Anjana (an ape-like monster) refers to the first glimmering of mind coming into the highest apes through the miscegenation of unevolved late third root-race and early fourth root-race humans with certain simians, themselves the descendants of a previous and parallel origin during an earlier time of the third root-race.
In Norse mythology giants represent ages of manifest existence and each giant exhibits traits belonging to his particular eon. The giantesses who are his daughters represent lesser cycles of time within his longer age. Thurses are the gross, inert aspects of the elements which serve as vehicles for the imbodiments of conscious energies in worlds. They are represented as evil in most myths because their nature is opposed to the dynamism of the gods. Hence the gods and thurses or giants are constantly at war.
In Norse mythology, the name of an asynja (goddess) who occupies a world named Sokvaback (deep river) where she shares with Odin the draft of wisdom in golden goblets. Symbolically she represents the wisdom gained from experience of all the past, whether of humans or worlds. The sagor (plural of saga, stories) were the purveyors of wisdom.
In Persian mythology, “the holy immortal
In popular mythology the Tuat was separated from the world by a range of mountains and consisted of a great valley, shut in by mountains, through which ran a river (the counterpart of the Nile, reminding one of the Jordan of the Jews and Christians), the banks of which were the abode of evil spirits and monstrous beasts. As the sun passed through the Tuat great numbers of souls were described as making their way to the boat of the sun, and those that succeeded in clinging to the boat were able to come forth into new life as the sun rose from the eastern end of the valley to usher in another day. Tuat was also depicted as the region where the soul went during night, returning to join the living on earth during the day.
In Sumerian mythology, the children and followers of An, judges of the dead.
In the numerical mysticism of ancient Egypt five crocodiles, for instance, were represented as in the celestial Nile, and the emanating deity calls forth these crocodiles in his fifth creation. The number five, as well as other numbers, was sacred to the Gnostics, hence five words signifying the five mystic powers attained by the initiate were written upon the garment in their interpretation at the glorification of Jesus. In classical Greece the E Delphicum, a sacred symbol, was the numeral five. There were five ministers of Chozzar (the Gnostic Poseidon); and in the Hindu mythology Brahma is represented as uttering five words or vowels at the creation. From another standpoint, five is the “universal quintessence which spreads in every direction and forms all matter” (SD 2:583). See also PENTAGRAM
In the Persian mythology of the Arabian period, the peri is an elf or fairy, male or female, represented as a descendant of fallen angels, excluded from Paradise till their penance be accomplished.
". . . in the Veda, Lord of the hosts of delight; in later mythology, the Gandharvas are musicians of heaven, ‘beautiful, brave and melodious beings, the artists, musicians, poets and shining warriors of heaven". . . .” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works ::: *Gandharvas.
“… in the Veda, Lord of the hosts of delight; in later mythology, the Gandharvas are musicians of heaven, ‘beautiful, braveand melodiousbeings, the artists, musicians, poets and shining warriors of heaven’….” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works. Gandharvas
In this we recognize the mythos of the tree of knowledge with its fruit and its location in the garden of life, localized in those mysterious lands of the West from which the ancestors of the Greeks migrated when the new race was in birth from the surviving elect of the old. It represents the Golden Age, the Eden of Grecian mythology.
in Vedic mythology; also “instructor of the gods”
Isvara(Sanskrit) ::: Isvara means "lord," and is a term which is frequently applied in Hindu mythology not only tokosmic divinities, but to the expression of the cosmic spirit in the human being. Consequently, whenreference is had to the individual human being, Isvara is the divine individualized spirit in man -- man'sown personal god. It may be otherwise described as the divine ego, the child of the divine monad in aman, and in view of this fact also could be used with reference to the dhyani-buddha or to the immanentChrist in a man. In India it is a title frequently given to Siva and other gods of the Hindu pantheon.
Jesus. Another angel of indeterminate sex was Apsu. In Babylonian-Chaldean mythology, Apsu
jinn ::: Jinn / JinniThe anglicised word for the Arabic "jinni" is genie. In both pre-Islamic Arabian mythology and in Islam itself, a jinni (also "djinni" or "djini") is a member of the jinn (or "djinn"), a powerful race of spirits, created beings made from smokeless fire who can use their powers for good or evil. They can see us, but we cannot see them. They are basically a parallel creation to humans in that they are born, have children and die.
Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and
Jobes, Gertrude. Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and
Jotunheim (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from jotunn giant + heimar home, land] In Norse mythology, the home of the giants, one of the nine worlds of the Eddas, described as beyond the ocean which surrounds Midgard, and separated from the home of the gods (Asgard) by Ifing — the river which never freezes over. Jotunheim stands for the material spheres of life visited by the gods who gain the “mead” of wisdom by embodying in worlds. Such a sphere is the earth and so also are the other planets and celestial bodies, though of varying evolutionary status.
Jötunheim: The home of the Jötunns (q.v.) in Norse-Icelandic mythology.
Jötunn: In Norse-Icelandic mythology, a giant or earth monster.
Jotunn, Jotun (Icelandic) Giant; in the Norse Edda the giants represent the material spheres in which gods embody, thus enlightening those dark worlds while gaining there the “mead” of experience. There are giants of varying types and degrees. The ultimate source of matter (Sanskrit mulaprakriti) is named Mimir in the Edda. Other giants represent periods during which the gods animate a world, race, or other living being. Each named giant is a life period or material embodiment of a god; it exists for as long as the energizing deity is embodied, and dies, slain by the hammer of Thor, at the end of that period. Within the long span of a giant’s life a number of giantesses, “daughters” of the giant, represent smaller cycles, races or subraces of the giant, their father. A giant is thus both a manifest entity and the lifetime of such an entity, thus paralleling the aeons of Greek mythology.
Juno: In Roman mythology, wife of Jupiter, queen of the gods, mistress of heaven and earth, patroness of marriage and female virtue.
jupiter ::: JupiterOne of the brightest objects in the night sky, Jupiter, with its many satellites, is the largest planet in the solar system and the 5th from the sun. In Roman mythology he was the supreme god, the counterpart of Zeus in Greek mythology. Jupiter is associated with the properties of expansion and accumulation, its associated metal being tin. Astrologically, Jupiter is the ruler of Sagittarius and the ninth house. The 4th planet from the Sun, named after the Roman god of war, the counterpart to Ares in Greek mythology. Astrologically, Mars rules Aries.
Kailasa (Sanskrit) Kailāsa A lofty mountain in the Himalayas; in mythology Siva’s paradise is placed upon Kailasa, north of Lake Manasasarovara. The god of wealth, Kuvera, also is said to have his palace there. Because of the occult history attached to Mount Kailasa, Hindu metaphysics not infrequently uses Kailasa for heaven or the abode of the gods.
Kali yuga: The dark age of Hindu mythology, last yuga of the current manvantara (q.v.); it began at midnight between the 17th and 18th of February 3102 B.C.; it is a fourth less righteous and briefer than the preceding, enduring 432,000 years (one-tenth of the entire manvantara); it is characterized by strife, discord, quarreling, and contention; at the end of this age the world is to be destroyed.
Kamadeva (Sanskrit) Kāmadeva [from kāma desire + deva god, divinity] The Hindu god of love, one of the Visve-devas in the Hindu pantheon. As the Eros of Hesiod was connected in early Greek mythology with the world’s creation, and only afterwards became degraded into the passional Cupid, so was Kama in his original meaning as used in the Vedas, which gives the metaphysical and philosophical significance of his functions in the cosmos. Kama is the first conscious, all-embracing desire for universal good, love, and the first feeling of infinite compassion and mercy for all that lives and feels, needs help and kindness, that arose in the consciousness of the creative One Force, as soon as it came into life and being as a ray from the Absolute. Kama “is in the Rig-Veda (x. 129) the personification of that feeling which leads and propels to creation. He was the first movement that stirred the One, after its manifestation from the purely abstract principle, to create. ‘Desire first arose in It, which was the primal germ of mind; and which sages, searching with their intellect, have discovered to be the bond which connects Entity with Non-Entity’ ” (SD 2:176) — or manas with pure atma-buddhi. Only later did kama become the power that gratifies desire on the animal plane.
Ketu (Sanskrit) Ketu The descending node of the moon in astronomy; in Hindu mythology, the tail of the celestial dragon who is supposed to attack the sun during eclipses; also a comet or meteor.
Kinvad or Chinvad (Avestan?) In the Vendidad, the holy bridge made by Ahura-Mazda extending over hell and leading to Paradise. For the souls of the righteous it widens to the breadth of nine javelins; for the souls of the wicked it narrows to a thread, and they fall down into hell, according to later Persian mythology. It corresponds to the Sirath bridge of the Moslems.
Kneph: The ram-headed god, creator of the universe in Egyptian mythology.
kobold ::: n. --> A kind of domestic spirit in German mythology, corresponding to the Scottish brownie and the English Robin Goodfellow.
Kottos (Greek) Also Cottus. In Greek mythology, a son of Ouranos and Gaia (heaven and earth), one of the Hecatonchires — three gigantic brothers each with 100 arms and 50 heads — who were banished to Tartarus by Ouranos and who under Zeus became assistants to Hephaistos.
Kratudvish (Sanskrit) Kratudviṣ In Hindu mythology, an enemy of all ritualistic and ceremonial worship and exoteric sham; the spiritual beings which represented, in their human aspect, the adepts of esoteric wisdom in opposition to the multitude who followed exoteric and popular religious forms, mummeries, and sacrifices. The kratusvishas were often called the asuras, daityas, danavas, kinnaras, etc., who fought against Brihaspati, the prototype of exoteric and ritualistic worship in the Tarakamaya (war in heaven). All the kratudvishas are represented as being yogis and ascetics of great spiritual and intellectual power.
Krishna: The eighth Avatar (reincarnation of Vishnu) of Hindu mythology and occultism, whose teachings are recorded in the Bhagavad Gita.
Krittika (Sanskrit) Kṛttikā [from kṛtti pelt, hide on which a disciple sits from the verbal root kṛt to divide into portions] plural krittikas. The Pleiades; originally the first lunar mansion, in later times the third, having Agni as its regent. The constellation is sometimes represented as a flame, sometimes as a knife. In mythology there are six krittikas represented as nymphs, who became the nurses of the god of war, Karttikeya.
Kronos (Greek) In Greek mythology, the youngest of the titans, son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). His mother gave him a sickle, emblem of karmic reapings in the course of time, when he led the war against his father. After castrating his father, he became ruler of the gods and, so he would not suffer a similar fate, he swallowed all his children by his wife-sister, Rhea. Eventually, however, he was overthrown by his youngest son, Zeus. In some accounts he was imprisoned in Tartarus, in others he was reconciled with Zeus and reigned with Rhadamanthys on the Islands of the Blessed.
Kuvera, Kubera (Sanskrit) Kuvera, Kubera In Hindu mythology the regent of the north, also the chief of various spirits of nature whose abode is the underworld or Hades. Like the Greek Pluto-Plutus, he is said to be possessed of great wealth and to be the keeper of all the treasures on earth.
Lachesis (Greek) Lot, destiny; second of the three Moirae (Fates), represented in Greek mythology as allotting to each person the characteristics as well as the length of his life, measuring these by the thread which they spun. Lachesis measured the thread spun by her sister Clotho, which then was cut by Atropos. She is often represented as a maiden with a scroll or globe.
Lakshmi ::: “… in Hindu mythology, the goddess of wealth and good fortune, consort of Vishnu. According to a legend she sprang from the froth of the Ocean when it was churned, in full beauty, with a lotus in her hand. (Dow). Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works
lakshmi ::: ". . . in Hindu mythology, the goddess of wealth and good fortune, consort of Vishnu. According to a legend she sprang from the froth of the Ocean when it was churned, in full beauty, with a lotus in her hand. (Dow.)” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works
Lares (Latin) [from Etruscan lars conductor, leader] The tutelary household deities, or godlings, regarded as the souls of deceased ancestors and represented by images kept in the lararium of the household and to which a portion of each meal was reserved. Such belief and practice are common among many peoples, an instance of a lofty teaching becoming misunderstood and thereby degraded into popular belief and often superstition. The original meaning of lares was the psycho-intellectual part of imbodied human beings, who therefore in a sense guide and protect mankind. Later in mythology they became mere ghosts or kama-rupic phantoms of a better and higher class than the larvae.
Lares: Spirits of the fields in Roman mythology. Usually associated and invoked with the Lares, the household spirits.
Limbs The Qabbalah speaks of the limbs of Microprosopus, of ’Adam Qadmon (the Heavenly Man), and of the Sephiroth. In Hindu writings, especially the Puranas, the beings created from the limbs of Brahma remain without progeny, whereas his mind-born sons become the creators. In Egyptian mythology Osiris-Ptah or Ra creates his own limbs by creating the gods destined to personify his phases.
Lobha (Sanskrit) Lobha [from the verbal root lubh to desire greatly] Covetousness, avarice, stupidity; in Hindu mythology a god, the son of Pushti and Maya, equivalent to the Latin Cupido, from which comes the modern European Cupid. In this connection Lobha is said to be a son of Brahma generated by the latter in an evil moment.
Louvre. From Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology.
Maat: The ancient Egyptian goddess of justice. According to Egyptian mythology, the hearts of the deceased were weighed in a balance against an ostrich feather, the symbol of Maat.
Madhav: “The allusion is to the Vamana Avatar in Indian mythology. Vamana the Dwarf, Lilliputian in form, asks for a boon of three steps of land from the king. The king readily agrees. Suddenly the Dwarf assumes a stupendous shape and occupies both the worlds of earth and heaven and asks where he should place his third step. The king is obliged to offer his head. The Titan yields to the Divine in the form of Vamana.
maenad ::: in Grecian mythology, a priestess of Bacchus. See **Bacchante.**
Maharshi: In Hindu mythology and occultism, Vishnu as the source of the paths to Realization. The term is applied also to great sages who disclose new paths to Realization.
Malik (Malec)—in Arabic mythology, a ter¬
Mandara (Sanskrit) Mandara A sacred mountain which in Hindu mythology served the gods and asuras as a churning-stick on the occasion of the churning of the ocean for the recovery of the amrita and 13 other precious and holy things, which had been lost during the preceding deluge. See also KURMA-AVATARA
Manes: In Roman mythology, the souls of the dead, residing in the nether world; they were worshipped with offerings of food and drink at the graves.
Mania (Latin) In Latin mythology the mother of lares or dii lares, and likewise the guardian or possibly even the source of the manes; according to Arnobius, the mother of the seven kabiri — Blavatsky remarks that “Mania is the female Manu . . . Ila or Ida, the wife and daughter of Vaivasvata Manu . . . The Manes and Mania of Arnobius are names of Indian origin, appropriated by the Greeks and Latins and disfigured by them” (SD 2:143). Another name for this mysterious divinity was Lara or Larunda. In the human constitution the archaic Latins called the higher manasic element the genius (called in women the juno); the other parts of the human constitution consisted of a manes and a lares, which correspond with the lower and higher human ego.
Manu —in Assyro-Babylonian mythology,
Mara —the Satan of Buddhist mythology.
Marduk: In Babylonian mythology, the king of all the gods, determiner of destiny, god of magicians and magic arts.
mars ::: Mars
Ma (Sanskrit) Mā In Hindu mythology a name of Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, goddess of prosperity, welfare, and happiness.
Medusa: The mortal one of the three Gorgons (q.v.) of Greek mythology. She was originally a beautiful maiden, but after she became the mother, by Poseidon, of Chrysaor and Pegasus, Athene (Minerva) changed her hair into hissing serpents, and everybody who looked at her was turned into stone. She was slain by Perseus.
mercury ::: Mercury The smallest planet in the solar system and the closest to the sun, Mercury was the messenger god in Roman mythology, and the counterpart of Greek Hermes. Astrologically, Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo.
Meru: In Buddhist mythology and occult tradition, the mountain situated at the center of the earth; it is regarded as the spiritual center of the universe. (Also called Maru.)
Mictlan: The underworld which is the abode of the dead in Aztec mythology; it is ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, god of the dead, and his wife, Mictlancihuatl, goddess of death.
Midgard, Midgardr (Icelandic) [from mid middle + gardr court] In Norse mythology, the central world where humanity lives. It is surrounded by the waters of space where is coiled Iormungandr, the Midgard serpent, one of Loki’s three dread offspring. It represents the equator, the plane of the ecliptic, or even the Milky Way, depending on the context. Midgards-veorr (the holy one of Midgard) is Thor, defender of the human world against the giants.
Midgard serpent: In Norse mythology, a great snake-like monster (Midgardsormr) which lies in the sea, coiled around the earth; one of the offspring of Loki. At the end of the world, the serpent will come out of the sea and join the attack of the other monsters and giants on the gods, and will kill Thor with its poisonous breath.
Milton derived him from Egyptian mythology,
Milton derived him from Greek mythology,
Mimir, Mimer (Icelandic, Scandinavian) In Norse mythology, the foremost of giants representing space on nine levels of existence, of which our physical space is but one — the number nine may stand for an infinite continuum rather than a precise figure.
Mistletoe, Mistilteinn (Icelandic) [from mistil + teinn twig] A parasitic plant held in high esteem among the Druids and Anglo-Saxon peoples as well as the Norse. The Druids are said to have used it as a medicinal herb. In Norse mythology it is instrumental in bringing about the death of Balder (the sun god) at the instigation of Loki, through the agency of Hoder, the blind god of darkness and ignorance.
Mjolnir (Icelandic) [from mjoll meal, flour from mala, mola to grind, crush, mill] Also Miolnir. The hammer of Thor, the Thunderer in Norse mythology, a gift to the god from the dwarfs Brock (mineral kingdom) and Sindri (vegetation), sons of Ivaldi, the lunar life cycle. It is at once the instrument of creation and destruction, being the emblem of marriage on one hand and the weapon whereby the giants (cycles of material life) are destroyed. It is the magic mill which creates all things — gold, salt, happiness, peace, etc. — as well as grinding up all substance and recycling it for future use in worlds to come. Blavatsky likens the hammer of Thor to the fire weapon agneyastra of the Hindu Puranas and Mahabharata (TG 215).
Mjotudr (Icelandic) [from mjot measure + udr out of, exhausting] In Norse mythology, the dying phase of a Tree of Life, the second half of its existence when the energies are retreating from the material back toward the spiritual realm. Applies to any world tree, large or small. See also MJOTVIDR
Mohammedan mythology”; and goes on to say
Mohammed. [Rf. Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology
Munin (Icelandic) [from muna to mind, call to mind, remember] In Norse mythology, one of Odin’s two ravens which fly daily over the battlefield earth (Vigridsslatten) and report back to Allfather Odin. The other is Hugin (mind). Both are needed for the consciousness to learn and retain what has been learned in order to build further on it. The same idea is conveyed in Greek mythology, where Mnemosyne (memory) is the mother of all the Muses (arts and sciences).
Muses: Nine goddesses of Greek mythology, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Each muse presides over an art or science and inspires the poets or artists in their creative moments.
Muses, the nine: From Greek mythology, it was believed that they inspired the creation of art and literature.
Mysteries ::: The Mysteries were divided into two general parts, the Less Mysteries and the Greater.The Less Mysteries were very largely composed of dramatic rites or ceremonies, with some teaching; theGreater Mysteries were composed of, or conducted almost entirely on the ground of, study; and thedoctrines taught in them later were proved by personal experience in initiation. In the Greater Mysterieswas explained, among other things, the secret meaning of the mythologies of the old religions, as, forinstance, the Greek.The active and nimble mind of the Greeks produced a mythology which for grace and beauty is perhapswithout equal, but it nevertheless is very difficult to explain; the Mysteries of Samothrace and of Eleusis-- the greater ones -- explained among other things what these myths meant. These myths formed thebasis of the exoteric religions; but note well that exotericism does not mean that the thing which is taughtexoterically is in itself false, but merely that it is a teaching given without the key to it. Such teaching issymbolic, illusory, touching on the truth -- the truth is there, but without the key to it, which is theesoteric meaning, it yields no proper sense.We have the testimony of the Greek and Roman initiates and thinkers that the ancient Mysteries ofGreece taught men, above everything else, to live rightly and to have a noble hope for the life after death.The Romans derived their Mysteries from those of Greece.The mythological aspect comprises only a portion -- and a relatively small portion -- of what was taughtin the Mystery schools in Greece, principally at Samothrace and at Eleusis. At Samothrace was taught thesame mystery-teaching that was current elsewhere in Greece, but here it was more developed andrecondite, and the foundation of these mystery-teachings was morals. The noblest and greatest men ofancient times in Greece were initiates in the Mysteries of these two seats of esoteric knowledge.In other countries farther to the east, there were other Mystery schools or "colleges," and this wordcollege by no means necessarily meant a mere temple or building; it meant association, as in our modernword colleague, "associate." The Teutonic tribes of northern Europe, the Germanic tribes, whichincluded Scandinavia, had their Mystery colleges also; and teacher and neophytes stood on the bosom ofMother Earth, under Father Ether, the boundless sky, or in subterranean receptacles, and taught andlearned. The core, the heart, the center, of the teaching of the ancient Mysteries was the abstruseproblems dealing with death. (See also Guru-parampara)
Mystically Usanas-Sukra (Usanas being another name for Venus) is the earth’s and man’s spiritual guru and preceptor, just as in ancient Hindu mythology Usanas was the guru and preceptor of the daityas. Hence Venus is spoken of as the “older brother” of the earth, whose functions during its present evolutionary stage are those of kama-manas in the solar system and therefore in man (cf SD 2:31, 33).
Myth, Mythology [from Greek mythos a secret word, secret speech] An occult tale or mystic legend; the modern use varies from an allegorical story to pure fiction. Myths are after all ancient history and are built on facts or on a substratum of fact, as has proved true in the case of Troy and Crete. A symbolic record of archaic truths, universally prevalent among mankind, as in such stories as that of the Ark, which are almost universally discoverable and identical not in detail but in essential underlying features among the most widely sundered peoples. Myths contain the universal keys which can be applied to anything, and preserve undying and essential truths, so that variations of external form are unimportant. Such truths, being preserved in the racial memory of mankind, can always be kept essentially true to standard; and thus this means of handing-on can correct itself.
Mythic Threads: Elements of legend, folklore, and mythology that resonate deep in human consciousness and thus have strong ties to reality even when they seem magical. Tarot cards, astrology, vampires, and demonic possession all hold Mythic Threads. (See hypernarrative.)
mythological ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to mythology or to myths; mythical; fabulous.
mythologies ::: pl. --> of Mythology
mythologist ::: n. --> One versed in, or who writes on, mythology or myths.
mythology: An arrangement of stories about the gods, often overtly religious in nature, that were once believed to be true by a specific cultural group.
mythology, became in Jewish lore the angel Hermesiel and identified with David, “sweet singer
mythology) holding in his hand the pail of lustral
mythology ::: n. --> The science which treats of myths; a treatise on myths.
A body of myths; esp., the collective myths which describe the gods of a heathen people; as, the mythology of the Greeks.
mythology, the angel of February; also ruler of
mythology, the source of 365 emanations. The
mythology, they are the creators of the world.
mythology, where he is Jupiter or Jove.
Nannak or Nannar (Chaldean) A name of the moon deity Sin, son of Mulil or Mul-lil, especially at Nippur, the principal seat of what was termed Chaldean magic. The Akkadians called him the Lord of Ghosts. In Chaldean or Assyrian mythology, the derivation of Nannak (the moon) from the sun is characteristic; whereas in the earlier mythology the moon is stated to be far older than the sun.
Nara ::: (in mythology) the name of a sage (see Nara-Narayan.a); (literally) Man; "the universal man acting in the individual as a human . personality"; in brahmadarsana, the vision of "the cosmic Purusha in humanity", who "is developing in the human race the power that has grown into humanity from below it and shall yet grow to supermind and spirit and become the Godhead in man who is aware of his true and integral self and the divine universality of his nature".
Naraka (Sanskrit) Naraka In mythology, a place of torment, a hell, but such popular understandings are but exoteric blinds. The narakas are rather worlds in the spheres of matter, the globes of the planetary chain. They are called thus because they are rupa (form) worlds as contrasted with the arupa (formless) spheres of spirit. The narakas are generally regarded as 21 in number, as in the Laws of Manu. “These ‘hells’ are called vivifying hells because . . . any being dying in one is immediately born in the second, then in the third, and so on; life lasting in each 500 years (a blind on the number of cycles and reincarnations). As these hells constitute one of the six gati [jatis] (conditions of sentient existence), and as people are said to be reborn in one or the other according to their Karmic merits or demerits, the blind becomes self-evident” (TG 225).
Narayan.a (Narayana; Narayan) ::: (in mythology) one of two sages Narayana (see Nara-Narayan.a), whose association symbolises the "constant companionship of man and God, man living in the world for God,God dwelling in man and turning to his own divine ends in him the enigmatic world-process"; the "universal all-inhabiting Ishwara", identified with Vis.n.u, the Preserver, one of the "cosmic Personalities of the Divine" through whom Kr.s.n.a manifests.N Narayanabodha
Nastrond: The frozen underworld, abode of the dead, in Nordic and Icelandic mythology.
Native historians attribute the foundation of the temple to the Prince of Roma, a legendary hero, while European scholars place it in the 13th century under Buddhist influence. This does not account for the preponderating scenes from ancient Hindu mythology, for the figures sculptured in the Egyptian manner (the side turned toward the front), for the man-fish deity (similar to Dagon of ancient Babylon) sculptured several times on the walls, or for the kabeirian gods of Samothrace, with their parent Vulcan. Though the Kabiri were once universally worshiped as the most ancient of the Asiatic mystery-gods, this worship was abandoned 200 years BC, and the Samothracian Mysteries had been completely altered by that time (IU 1:566).
Necronomicon ::: In the fictional Cthulu Mythos it is a grimoire of dark magic and evocations that drives the story. It also refers to the Simon Necronomicon, which actually exists, and which is an anonymous grimoire inspired by elements of the Cthulu Mythos and Middle Eastern mythology.
Nectar: The drink of the gods of Greek mythology.
Nemesis: In Greek mythology, the goddess, daughter of the Night, who pursues and punishes the haughty and the criminal.
Neptune: An ancient Italian water deity, later identified in Roman mythology with the Greek god Poseidon, god of the sea.
neptune ::: Neptune The 8th planet from the sun, Neptune was named after the Roman god of the sea, its counterpart in Greek mythology being Poseidon. Astrologically, Neptune rules Pisces.
Nergal: In Babylonian mythology, the god and ruler of the underworld where the spirits of the dead dwell.
Nidbai —in Mandaean mythology, one of 2
Niflheim (Icelandic), Nebelheim (German) [from nifl mist, nebula + heim home] In Norse mythology, the home of mists in which nebulae form. When the heat from Muspellsheim (home of fire) meets the mist-cold vapors of Niflheim in Ginnungagap (the gaping void), Ymer, the frost giant, comes into being. He is used by the gods to create “victory worlds” wherein souls can evolve. Niflheim has also been regarded as a Hades where the dead are sent, but this appears to refer to the disposition of the forms (bodies) of departed souls.
ning. In Assyro-Babylonian mythology, the god
Ninurta: In Babylonian and Assyrian mythology, the god of war and of storms, patron of physicians.
Ninus In Greek mythology, founder of the city of Nineveh; hence also a name of the city itself. Ninus is regarded as the son of Belos (Bel) who founded the first empire after conquering the western part of Asia with the help of Ariaeus, king of Arabia.
Niobe In Greek mythology, daughter of Tantalus, and wife of Amphion of Thebes. She arrogantly compared herself, with 14 children, to Leto who had but two — Apollo and Artemis. These two killed Niobe’s children, and she was turned into a rock.
Nolini: “A composite bird from Sri Aurobindo—not mythology.”
Nolini: “From Indian mythology, an incarnation of Vishnu.”
Norns: Urd, Verdandi and Skuld, the equivalents in Norse mythology of the Roman Fates (q.v.).
North One of the four points of the compass, which mystically correspond with the cosmic four Maharajas, the four supporters of the world, the four sacred animals, etc. It is the upper pole of the earth and corresponds with the upper pole in the human body. From it, mystically, come light and vital strength. From the north, as the primordial cradle of physical man, came gods, religions, myths. In early human history, surrounding the north pole was the Imperishable Sacred Land, the first continent; and somewhat farther south was the second continent, the so-called Hyperborean. It is from the north generally that new waves of rough but uncorrupted peoples have invaded decadent civilizations. To the cultures of such civilizations the influence from the north appears as hostile. Greek mythology speaks of the violence and ruthlessness of Boreas, the north wind. The contrast between the north and south poles resembles that between the spiritual and material poles. Mount Meru, in Hindu mythology, is placed at the north pole.
Note that all definitions are taken from the Lexicon of an Infinite Mind, published by the Savitri Foundation and available through Amazon and Create Space. Words that have gravitated in the English language and are well used, such as those from classical mythology, Dionysian, Circean, etc. are not included.
Nox: In Roman mythology, the goddess personifying the night; daughter of Chaos, mother of the Day and the Light, of Dreams and Death.
Nux (night) is associated with Phanes as both mother and wife. Zeus does not appear in the Orphic mythogony until later, as the fourth in the line of succession; but eventually, due to a loss in popular conception of the ancient verity, he absorbs his great prototype, who apparently did not figure largely in popular mythology.
Nymphs ::: Greek & Roman Mythology: Any of numerous minor deities represented as beautiful maidens inhabiting and sometimes personifying features of nature such as trees, waters, and mountains.
nymphs ::: greek & Roman Mythology: Any of numerous minor deities represented as beautiful maidens inhabiting and sometimes personifying features of nature such as trees, waters, and mountains.
Oceanids: A nature-spirit or elemental (q.v.) of the class of nymphs, dwelling in the ocean. In Greek mythology, the oceanids were the 4,000 daughters of Okeanos and Tethys.
Odin (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from Wodan from odr cosmic mind; cf Greek nous, Sanskrit mahat] As a god, foremost of the aesir in Norse mythology; as a human being, the founder of the ancient Norse religion. Odin is the Great Sacrifice of our world system, hung or mounted on the Tree of Life throughout its duration, seeking runes of wisdom in the material worlds, “raising them with song” and at the end of time falling once more from the tree. He is said to have given one eye as forfeit to the matter-giant Mimer for the privilege of partaking of Mimer’s well of wisdom: experience in material life. Thus matter receives a part of divine vision during the god’s imbodiment.
Odr (Icelandic) Mind, wit, soul, sense; in Norse mythology, cosmic mind, corresponding to the Sanskrit mahat. The name Odin is derived from it when Odin represents the Allfather. In one legend reminiscent of the Egyptian tale of Isis, Odr is the husband of Frigga, who weeps golden tears as she searches the worlds for him. Here he may stand for one of the divine ancestors of the human race, and his long journeys are the peregrinations made by the monad, Odr’s spiritual aspect, through the worlds of form and matter. Odr is used for song or poetry in many compound words such as odar-smidr (song smith), odar-ar (speech oar, the tongue), odraerir (inspirer of wisdom, the vessel containing the blood of Kvasir: inspiration brought to the gods from higher gods).
Olympus (Greek) The abode of the great gods in Grecian mythology in Homer and Hesiod. Such heavenly abodes are usually associated with mountains, such as the Hindu Meru, the Greek Atlas, and the Hebrew Sinai; in this case the name was given to the summit of the range dividing Macedonia from Thessaly, but there were other mountains called Olympus. Later philosophers, perhaps more mystically minded, placed Olympus in the zenith, as the abode of the divinities. There were many Olympuses, the references in story occasionally being to the higher globes of the earth-chain, and in a cosmic sense the higher planes of the solar system. At one time in Greek legend both the gods and their abode had a character of voluptuousness, comparable with the Hebrew Eden (which means “delight”), the heaven of Indra, or the abode of the Arabian houris; but this was when degeneracy had set in and the people had forgotten the significance of the deities, and lost the key enabling them to interpret the myths and allegories forming their respective mythologic religions.
Orgalmer, Orgelmir (Swedish, Icelandic) [from or primal + galmer loud one] In Norse mythology, the first loud sound or keynote which, like the fundamental of an overtone series, echoing through the spaces of infinitude, originates the multiplying vibrations of a cosmic organism. The frostgiant Ymer — utter immobility and nothingness — becomes Orgalmer when it is slain at the beginning of a universal life cycle by the creative deities Odin, Vile, and Vi (or Ve), who then use the giant body (latent matter) to create the worlds. Odin as Ofner (opener) is the galvanizing energy that organizes the frost giant (latent matter) into a cosmos. As Svafner (closer) Odin is paired with Bergelmir at the end of a cosmic lifetime.
Orlog (Icelandic) [from or, ur primal + log law] In Norse mythology, the primal law of all existence, corresponding to karma, the beginningless and endless succession of causes and effects constantly modifying each being’s fate or destiny as a result of its own actions. The agents of Orlog are the three norns that represent the past (Urd, origin), present (Verdandi, becoming), and future (Skuld, debt). It is the inescapable result of all that has gone before and is presently creating the future, whether of universal gods or human beings.
or Lucifer. [Rf Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology
ousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, p. 59. Another
Pandora (Greek) All-gifted; in Greek mythology, after Prometheus enlightened man by bringing him the celestial fire, the enraged Zeus revenges himself by seducing man, for which purpose he has Hephaestos create a woman, Pandora, endowed with gifts from the great gods. She is brought to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus (“after-thought,” the brother of “fore-thought”), bringing with her a locked box containing all human ills, which she opens from curiosity, and the ills spread over the earth. Hesiod calls her the first woman, sent as a punishment to man for his theft of the divine fire. It evidently means that as soon as he quits his passive irresponsible state and acquires active will and intellect, man subjects himself to temptations from the lower world. Pandora is an earthly aspect of all-bounteous nature; a later interpretation of the story of the box makes it the container of blessings, which however fly away when it is opened, leaving behind only hope.
Penates: In Roman mythology, household spirits, spirits of the pantry; usually associated and invoked together with the Lares (spirits of the fields).
Peri: In Persian mythology, a fairy-like creature descended from a race of fallen angels.
Peri, Pari (Persian) Pairika (Avestan) Parik (Pahlavi) A class of elemental or nature spirits corresponding in many ways to what Europeans call fairies. Just as in other national mythologies, the peris in ancient Persian thought are representative of those classes of conscious, self-conscious, and quasi-conscious beings who range all the way from simple sprites in the lower ranges, up to and including the classes of lower monads which are the psychological and even physical ancestors of the human race. They are, therefore, families of evolving monads in various grades of development, from the human down to the elemental kingdoms. The earlier races of peris, which in Persian mythology reigned for 2,000 years on earth, correspond to the progenitors of the first root-race. The later races of peris, occasionally looked upon as inimical in the Avesta, although smaller in stature than the devs — giants, strong and wicked, who reigned for 7,000 years — were wiser and kinder, and their king was Gyan. Here the devs and peris correspond to the Atlantean giants and the Aryans (SD 2:394).
Persephone: In Greek mythology, daughter of the goddess Demeter; abducted by Hades to become his wife and queen of the underworld, she was allowed by Zeus to return to her mother for eight months in each year.
Phoebus (Greek) Pure, bright, radiant, beaming; the solar regent, and in Latin mystic mythology the sun god, offspring of Zeus and Latona: also known by the Greeks as Apollo or Phoebus-Apollo. This deity represented both physical and spiritual purity and radiance to the Greeks; and to the Greek mind the solar divinity bore intimate relationships with mankind through his Oracle at Delphi, situated on the slopes of Mount Parnassus in Phocis, where a temple and oracular sanctuary were erected in his honor, to which consultants and suppliants thronged from all parts of the ancient world. Inscribed on the temple was the phrase associated with Socrates and Plato — gnothi seauton (know yourself). See also APOLLO; ORACLE
Phoenician mythology Melchisedec, called Sydik,
pluto ::: Pluto A small planet and the 9th from the sun. Pluto was the god of the underworld in Roman mythology, synonymous with the Greek god Hades. Astrologically, Pluto rules Scorpio.
Poles, Terrestrial and Celestial The poles of the earth are the extremities of its axis of rotation, and the great circle at right angles to this axis is the terrestrial equator. Corresponding to these in the celestial sphere are the celestial poles and equator. The terrestrial poles are storehouses of cosmic vitality, and here the fohatic forces result in the auroral phenomena of colored light and sounds. The north pole is heaven, Olympus, Mount Meru, the abode of the higher gods, and the place of the first continent, the Sacred Imperishable Land. The south pole is the pit, hell, patala, the vent of the earth. These two are often called the Mountain and the Pit. In the Vendidad the north pole is a serpent who bites spring and turns it to cold. The poles are variously personified in mythology, often rather distantly, e.g., as Castor and Pollux.
Popul Vuh: Literally “Book of Writing on Leaves.” The mythology and occult lore of the Quiche Indians of Guatemala.
Poseidon: In Greek mythology, brother of Zeus and god of the sea.
Puranas(Sanskrit) ::: A word which literally means "ancient," "belonging to olden times." In India the word isespecially used as a term comprehending certain well-known sacred scriptures, which popular and evenscholarly authorities ascribe to the poet Vyasa. The Puranas contain the entire body of ancient Indianmythology. They are usually considered to be eighteen in number, and each Purana, to be complete, issupposed to consist of five topics or themes. These five topics or themes are commonly enumerated asfollows: (1) the beginnings or "creation" of the universe; (2) its renewals and destructions, ormanvantaras and pralayas; (3) the genealogies of the gods, other divine beings, heroes, and patriarchs; (4)the reigns of the various manus; and (5) a resume of the history of the solar and lunar races. Practicallynone of the Puranas as they stand in modern versions contains all these five topics, except perhaps theVishnu-Purana, probably the most complete in this sense of the word; and even the Vishnu-Puranacontains a great deal of matter not directly to be classed under these five topics. All the Puranas alsocontain a great deal of symbolical and allegorical writing.
Ragnarok (Icelandic) [from ragna plural of regin ruler + rok sentence, judgment, reason, ground, origin] In Norse mythology, the time when the ruling powers (gods) return to their ground, are reabsorbed in their divine origin. The judgment is their evaluation of the life that has just been completed. Ragnarok has commonly been called the twilight of the gods, probably because of confusion with rokkr (twilight). It has also been interpreted as they age of fire and smoke, because in Swedish rok means smoke. However, in Icelandic it has a more sacred meaning referring to wonders and signs, and the departure of the gods to their home ground, the source of their being.
Rahu: In Hindu mythology Rahu is a daitya (demon) who possessed an appendage like a dragon’s tail, and made himself immortal by stealing from the gods some amrita—elixir of divine life—which they obtained by churning an ocean of milk. Unable to deprive him of his immortality, Vishnu exiled him from Earth and made of him the constellation Draco: his head is called Rahu, and his tail Ketu. Using his appendage as a weapon, he has ever since waged a destructive war on the denouncers of his robbery, the Sun and the Moon, which he swallows during the eclipse. The fable is presumed to have a mystic or occult meaning.
roc ::: n. --> A monstrous bird of Arabian mythology.
Rohini (Sanskrit) Rohiṇī [from rohita red] A red cow, represented as a daughter of Surabhi and mother of cattle, especially of Kamadhenu (the cow of plenty). Also the ninth lunar asterism, personified as a daughter of Daksha and favorite wife of the moon. Also one of Vasudeva’s wives and mother of Bala-Rama. Also one of Krishna’s wives. A common name for many personages of Hindu mythology.
Ropt (Icelandic) [from hroptr crier, prophet (cf hroptatyr crier of the gods), slandered, maligned] In Norse mythology, the name by which Odin is known in Valhalla where his heroes, the One-harriers, are brought by the Valkyries when they have been “slain” on the field of battle. As the initiator or higher self of any human aspirant, Odin is said to be maligned for he not only instructs and inspires, he also subjects the soul to the severe testing it must undergo before it can be admitted to the Hall of the Elect (Valhalla). Hence only the successful initiate recognizes Odin as Ropt.
runes ::: Runes Runes are a Norse alphabet developed from characters used for magical purposes. It was believed to have been discovered by Odin (the chief God in Norse mythology) as he hung upside down for nine days on the 'World Tree'. There are three commonly known runic alphabets, the 'elder' and 'younger' Futhark (futhark is the transliteration of the first six letters of that alphabet), the Anglo-Saxon, and the Danish. The Elder Futhark is the oldest of these, and consists of three sets of eight letters.
Ruta (Sanskrit) Ruta One of the last islands of the great Atlantean system which disappeared some 850,000 years ago — ages before Poseidonis, the last island-remnant of Atlantis (which sank about 11,500 years ago). Ruta is known as the White Island in Hindu mythology. A large “equinoctial” island of nearly continental size, it was in the waters of what is now the Pacific Ocean. In Hindu tradition, from the speech of its inhabitants, the Rutas, the origins of the Sanskrit language were derived.
Sadhya (Sanskrit) Sādhya [from the verbal root sādh to finish, complete, subdue, master] To be fulfilled, completed, attained; to be mastered, won, subdued. As a plural noun, a class of the gana-devatas (divine beings), specifically the jnana-devas (gods of wisdom). In the Satapatha-Brahmana of the Rig-Veda their world is said to be above the sphere of the gods, while Yaska (Nirukta 12:41) gives their locality as in Bhuvarloka. In The Laws of Manu (3:195), the sadhyas are represented as the offspring of the pitris called soma-sads who are offspring of Viraj; hence they are children of the lunar ancestors (pitris), evolved after the gods and possessing natures more fully unfolded; while in the Puranas they are the sons of Sadhya (a daughter of Daksha) and Dharma — hence called sadhyas — given variously as 12 or 17 in number. These various manners of describing the ancestry of the sadhyas originated in different ways of envisioning their origin. In later mythology they are superseded by the siddhas, the difference between sadhyas and siddhas being in many respects slight. Their mythological names are given as Manas, Mantri, Prana, Nara, Pana, Vinirbhaya, Naya, Dansa, Narayana, Vrisha, and Trabhu. Two of the names are two of the theosophic seven human principles — manas and prana; while Nara and Narayan, are other aspects of man, human or cosmic. Blavatsky terms the sadhyas divine sacrificers, “the most occult of all” the classes of the dhyanis (SD 2:605) — the reference being to the manasaputras, those intellectual beings who sacrificed themselves in order to quicken the fires of human intelligence during the third root-race. “The names of the deities of a certain mystic class change with every Manvantara” (SD 2:90); thus they are called ajitas, tushitas, satyas, haris, vaikuntas, adityas, and rudras. The key to the various names given to these higher beings lies in the composite nature of each one of them. In every manvantara and in each minor cycle of a manvantara, every being unfolds another aspect of itself, just as mankind unfolds new but latent powers and senses in each age. Special names were often given to each of the sevenfold, tenfold, or twelvefold aspects of these high beings.
Sambhu: In Hindu mythology, Siva in the aspect of the Bounteous.
Sarafiel —in Islamic mythology, an angel
saturn ::: Saturn The 2nd largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter, and the 6th from the sun. It was named after the Roman god Saturn, the counterpart of Cronus in Greek mythology. Astrologically, Saturn rules Capricorn.
Satyr: One of a class of woodland deities of Greek-Roman mythology, represented by the Greeks as a human figure with a horse’s ears and tail, and by the Romans as a human figure with a goat’s ears, tail, legs and budding horns.
Satyrs [from Greek satyroi] The luxuriant psychovital powers of nature, associated with Dionysos or Pan. They were represented in mythology as having bristly hair, snub nose, pointed ears, incipient horns, a tail; when they became confused with the Latin fauns they acquired goat’s horns and hoofs. They loved the music of the pipes, dance, song, and wine; and like Puck and nature spirits of Western Europe, they were elfish and given to pranks.
sea horse ::: --> A fabulous creature, half horse and half fish, represented in classic mythology as driven by sea dogs or ridden by the Nereids. It is also depicted in heraldry. See Hippocampus.
The walrus.
Any fish of the genus Hippocampus.
Semele, Semele-Thyone (Greek) In Greek mythology, daughter of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and of Harmonia, a daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. The Orphic myth is a permutation of Demeter-Kore the divine spouse, who becomes Semele the mortal maid and mother of Zagreus, later Zagreus-Dionysos, the third of the great Eleusinian deities in later times. Semele is beloved by Zeus, which excites the jealousy of Hera, who accordingly contrives a plot to destroy Semele. Appearing to her in the form of her nurse, Hera insinuates that the lover is not really Zeus, and persuades Semele to ask her lover to prove his identity by appearing to her in his divine panoply and form. Reluctantly Zeus does so, foreseeing the result yet bound by his pledge to her. Semele is reduced to ashes at the sight, and the babe which she had carried for seven months is snatched from the flames by Zeus himself who, that it might complete its term, sewed it up in his thigh. The babe Zagreus was born from the thigh of Zeus as Zagreus-Dionysos, the Savior. Identified with Iacchus, the divine son of Demeter-Kore in the later Eleusinian Mysteries, he visits the Underworld and brings his mother Semele back to earth, now as Thyone (the inspired) to reign with Demeter-Kore as the radiant queen and divine mother in the Orphic Mysteries.
Set or Seth (Egyptian) Set or Seth. According to the Heliopolitan mythology, the son of Seb and Nut, is the brother of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys; and the father of Anubis by Nephthys. In later times he became associated with Typhon. The attributes of the god underwent several changes: he is described as very closely connected with Aroeris (Heru-ur or Horus the Elder), his chief office being that of helper and friend to the deceased; in this association a twin-god is pictured, having the hawk head of Horus (light) and the Set animal (darkness) upon one human body. Furthermore, Horus was the god of the sky by day, while Set was god of the sky by night: in this sense were they opposite yet identic deities in earliest times, one the shadow of the other.
Shamash: In Babylonian mythology, god of the sun and of divination. The Assyrian all-seeing god of right and justice.
Short Dictionary of Mythology. See Woodcock.
sibyl ::: Sibyl A woman who tells fortunes. In ancient Rome it was a woman who was regarded as an oracle or prophet. In ancient Greek mythology it was the prophetess at Apollo's oracle on Delphi.
Siddhapura (Sanskrit) Siddhapura [from siddha attained from the verbal root sidh to attain, perfect + pura city] City of the blest, or the White Island; in Hindu mythology a sacred city situated in the extreme north. “According to Tibetan tradition the White Island is the only locality which escapes the general fate of other dwipas and can be destroyed by neither fire nor water, for — it is the ‘eternal land’ ” (SD 2:408n). All the avataras of Vishnu are said to come from this sacred place.
Siddhas (Sanskrit) Siddha-s [from the verbal root sidh to attain] Perfected one, one who has attained relative perfection in this manvantara through self-devised efforts lasting through many imbodiments towards that end. A buddha is in this sense at times called a siddha. Generally, a hierarchy of dhyani-chohans who, according to Hindu mythology, inhabit the space between the earth and heaven (bhuvar-loka); the Vishnu-Purana states that there are 88,000 of them occupying the regions of the sky north of the sun and south of the seven rishis (the Great Bear). In later mythology they are confused with or take the place of the sadhyas, but in the Vedas the siddhas are those who are possessed from birth of superhuman powers — the eight siddhis — as also of knowledge and indifference to the world (Svetasvatara-Upanishad).
Sif (Icelandic) [plural sifjar affinity, kinship] Thor’s wife in Norse mythology; the singular form occurs only in the proper name of the goddess whose golden hair is the harvest, pride and joy of all the gods. Sif is guardian of the sanctity of marriage and the ancient law which forbade the union of any couple more closely related than through the fifth generation.
Silenus (Latin) Seilenos (Greek) The more elderly satyrs were called sileni, and their chief was Silenus, represented as a drunken pot-bellied old man with a wineskin, depicted as riding on an ass and the constant companion of Dionysos or Bacchus; sometimes also associated with Pan. These nature gods had a higher and a lower aspect and are most familiar to us in the lower, because of the common reference to them in popular mythology. Hence we find Silenus with all the marks of roistering jollity, but gifted, like Pan and the other satyrs, with the power of prophecy.
Silver In Greek and Roman mythology, a racial or age division in the Hesiodic cycle of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, corresponding in the Hindu yugas to the treta yuga. This metal was regarded as standing next to gold in importance. The quicksilver of Paracelsus was not the mercury of familiar knowledge alone, but also the living spirit of silver. Silver in astrological symbolism corresponds to the moon.
Sisyphus The crafty; in Greek mythology, a son of Aeolus (the keeper of the winds), the most cunning of all men. He was punished in the underworld by being compelled to roll a heavy stone block up a hill, only upon reaching the summit to have it roll down again, where upon he repeats the processes endlessly. Some ancient authors say he had betrayed the Mysteries of the gods; so that one intent of the legend was to point out to the masses that betrayal of the secrets of initiation brings inevitable retribution. It also may illustrate the vanity of human ambitions, which flourish hopefully right up to the point of expected attainment, only to meet with disappointment; again it may refer to certain experiences of the disembodied relics of our personality, doomed to repeat vain acts until the energy which prompted them is worn out.
Sizouze— in ancient Persian mythology, the
Skrymir and other giants exemplify also the gigantic forebears of our human race who inhabited the earth when forms were not yet coarse and weighty. Every mythic history contains references to giants: “in nearly every mythology — which after all is ancient history — the giants play an important part. In the old Norse mythology, the giants, Skrymir and his brethren, against whom the sons of the gods fought, were potent factors in the histories of deities and men” (SD 2:754).
Skuld (Icelandic) A debt, due; the third of the three norns who determine the fate of heroes in Norse mythology and who parallel the Greek Moirai. Skuld represents the future or unexpended karma, that which is due and owing. Her sister norns are named Urd (origin) and Verdandi (becoming). Skuld is said to be created by her two sisters: by the causes set in motion in the past (Urd) and the decisions and actions taken in the present (Verdandi). Hence she is the inevitable consequence of what has gone before.
smattering of Greek mythology, for the paradisiacal Elysian Fields, “residence of the shades of
Sons of Will and Yoga Applied to the androgynous third root-race, before the separation of the sexes, which created by kriyasakti the Sons of Will and Yoga — the ancestors or spiritual forefathers of all subsequent arhats and mahatmas. After the separation of the sexes, they were invited to multiply as the rest of humanity did, but the Sons of Will and Yoga refused to do so until the seventh root-race, when humanity will once more have acquired the power of spiritual-intellectual or immaculate reproduction. In another sense they are the nagas or good serpents, and mythology recounts the struggles which took place when the Sons of Will and Yoga, together with the last “unfallen” remnants of the third root-race, warred against the “fallen” Atlantean sorcerers sunken in the beguilements and illusion of gross material existence. They took refuge from the great cataclysm which brought about the end of the Atlantean continental system, in the “Sacred Island” in Central Asia, whose site is now hid in mystery and surrounded by immense desert wastes.
sophy, Typhon of classic mythology is identified
sop ::: v. t. --> Anything steeped, or dipped and softened, in any liquid; especially, something dipped in broth or liquid food, and intended to be eaten.
Anything given to pacify; -- so called from the sop given to Cerberus, as related in mythology.
A thing of little or no value.
To steep or dip in any liquid.
Sphinx: In Greek and Egyptian mythology, a monster with a human head and a body composed of parts of various animals. The most famous sphinx in Greek mythology was that of Thebes in Boetia, mentioned by Hesiod. It was symbolic of the fixed types of the four elements and also had an astrological significance: the body of a bull—Taurus; the feet and tail of a lion—Leo; the wings of the eagle—Scorpio; a human head—Aquarius. Variations are found in all parts of the ancient world, showing its art influence upon those who knew naught of its symbolic significance.
sphinx ::: n. --> In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.
On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman.
Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
Striges (Latin) [from Greek] Also strygis. Screech owls or some such nocturnal bird of prey; applied in classical mythology to a species of vampire which sucked the blood of children. A distinct mythologic reference to astral entities more or less earthbound, which can at times come into even physical relation with human beings, whether younger or older, at the time in a state of negative receptivity. Corresponds to the Hindu pisacha.
Sun God(s) Sometimes applied to the cosmic logoi, which collectively are not only symbolized, but actually are represented by and through the septenary sun. Deities of masculine character are often called sun gods. Like the sun, a sun god may be on various planes, from that of a Logos to that of the absolute in various subordinate hierarchies. Sun gods in mythology usually slay dragons, as Apollo slays Python, and often have serpents for their emblems, the serpent being dual in aspect — high and low, inner and outer, active and passive, positive and negative, spiritual and material. As in Egyptian mythology, Osiris the sun god manifests as Horus, his own son, who is also a sun god, in similar fashion sun gods are manifested in man and on the lower planes of nature; similar to the Egyptian Osiris we have Adonis, Bacchus, Krishna, Christ, etc., as the sun god or spiritual monad in man; and cosmically we find sun gods on various planes.
Svipdag (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from svip, svep appearance + dag day] Appearing as day; in Norse mythology, the hero Svipdag seeks the hall of Menglad (Freya) hoping to win her hand. After receiving from his dead mother (his own past) all needful virtues and qualities, he succeeds in reaching the abode of his beloved, only to be stopped at the magic gate by Odin in the guise of Verywise. Here he must satisfactorily answer a number of testing questions before he is finally admitted to the hall of Menglad, who has been eagerly awaiting his arrival. She represents his own divine hamingja (higher self).
Teachers In theosophical writings, often used to designate masters of wisdom, adepts, mahatmas, or messengers qualified to instruct and guide pupils on the path of wisdom. Teachers are of various grades, belonging to different degrees of different benevolent hierarchies; at the summit are those buddhas and manus who serve as inspirers and light-bringers to the races of mankind. Below these highest come lesser teachers, pertaining to the lesser cycles of time. The mythology of ancient peoples contains reference to divine instructors of various ranks.
term-posts ::: a word coined by Sri Aurobindo from terminus,** **a boundary post or stone; historically, a statue or bust of the god Terminus, the deity who presided over boundaries or landmarks in ancient Roman mythology.
The astronomical sign of Venus is the ansated cross: the Qabbalah explains this as signifying the existence of parturient energy, yet this is an unfortunate disguise, for it is the moon which controls parturition on earth, and the effluences from Venus are rather those which govern the creative action of the intellect. Venus is often viewed mystically as hermaphroditic in operation, Venus being at times represented as bearded in Greek mythology. Here we see a connection of Sukra with the hermaphrodite early third root-race.
The first race of men mentioned in the Popol Vuh are described as “a race ‘whose sight was unlimited, and who knew all things at once’: thus showing the divine knowledge of Gods, not mortals” (SD 2:96). “In other words, they were the Lemuro-Atlanteans, the first who had a dynasty of Spirit-Kings, . . . actual living Devas (or demi-gods or Angels, again) who had assumed bodies to rule over them, and who, in their turn, instructed them in arts and sciences” (SD 2:221-2). And referring to the Lemurian or third root-race, the Popol Vuh describes their race as being fashioned out of the Tzite tree — very similar in this regard to the ancient Scandinavian mythology, where Odin fashions man out of the ash tree. The early race of mankind mentioned in the Popol Vuh as able to live with equal ease under ground and water as upon the earth answers to the second and early third root-races (SD 2:160).
The later Atlanteans were noted for their magic powers, wickedness, and defiance of the gods, and this tradition is preserved in many legends, such as the Biblical Tower of Babel, which derived from still older Chaldean scriptures. The legendary stories of wicked antediluvian giants warring against heaven are common in every mythology. The defeat of the giants, in some at least of these legends, results in the confusion of tongues — the break-up and dispersal of a great racial division of mankind.
The Mysteries were divided into the Greater and Less, inner and outer, esoteric and partly exoteric; and, as the former were guarded by well-observed secrecy the sources of ordinary information are mostly based on the latter. The more recondite Mysteries could not, from their very nature, be publicly divulged; they were revelations, appreciable only by an awakened spiritual perception and incommunicable to anyone not thus awakened. The Greater Mysteries were successive initiations for prepared candidates. The Less consisted of symbolic and dramatic representations for the public, in which, among other things, the profound symbology of the Greek mythology was employed.
The original idea of Oceanus parallels that contained in the Hindu Puranas concerning the various oceans and islands which surround the earth. Oceanus at first was the ocean of space, which the Hebrews called the waters of space, surrounding all celestial bodies. The reference is likewise to the invisible realms and spheres which mystical thought often grouped under the idea of an environing as well as interpenetrating system of fluid spheres or worlds, the meaning behind the oceans and islands of the Puranas. Ancient Greek mythology states that on the banks of Oceanus are the abodes of the dead, making clear that the reference is not to physical geography but to secret teaching dealing with both the Overworld and the Underworld, with the invisible spheres, planes, and realms of the universe.
the “unknown Father.” In Phoenician mythology,
Thor: Thunder-god of Norse mythology, a god of fertility and agriculture, patron of sailors.
thoth ::: Thoth In Egyptian mythology, Thoth was the ancient Egyptian God of writing, magick, and learning. He is credited with the creation of language, numbers, and the measurement of time, and is often depicted as the scribe of the Gods. Thoth is considered the patron of magicians and sages, and has been credited as the originator of the Tarot.
Three senses of "Ockhamism" may be distinguished: Logical, indicating usage of the terminology and technique of logical analysis developed by Ockham in his Summa totius logicae; in particular, use of the concept of supposition (suppositio) in the significative analysis of terms. Epistemological, indicating the thesis that universality is attributable only to terms and propositions, and not to things as existing apart from discourse. Theological, indicating the thesis that no tneological doctrines, such as those of God's existence or of the immortality of the soul, are evident or demonstrable philosophically, so that religious doctrine rests solely on faith, without metaphysical or scientific support. It is in this sense that Luther is often called an Ockhamist. Bibliography: B. Geyer, Ueberwegs Grundriss d. Gesch. d. Phil., Bd. II (11th ed., Berlin 1928), pp. 571-612 and 781-786; N. Abbagnano, Guglielmo di Ockham (Lanciano, Italy, 1931); E. A. Moody, The Logic of William of Ockham (N. Y. & London, 1935); F. Ehrle, Peter von Candia (Muenster, 1925); G. Ritter, Studien zur Spaetscholastik, I-II (Heidelberg, 1921-1922). --E.A.M. Om, aum: (Skr.) Mystic, holy syllable as a symbol for the indefinable Absolute. See Aksara, Vac, Sabda. --K.F.L. Omniscience: In philosophy and theology it means the complete and perfect knowledge of God, of Himself and of all other beings, past, present, and future, or merely possible, as well as all their activities, real or possible, including the future free actions of human beings. --J.J.R. One: Philosophically, not a number but equivalent to unit, unity, individuality, in contradistinction from multiplicity and the mani-foldness of sensory experience. In metaphysics, the Supreme Idea (Plato), the absolute first principle (Neo-platonism), the universe (Parmenides), Being as such and divine in nature (Plotinus), God (Nicolaus Cusanus), the soul (Lotze). Religious philosophy and mysticism, beginning with Indian philosophy (s.v.), has favored the designation of the One for the metaphysical world-ground, the ultimate icility, the world-soul, the principle of the world conceived as reason, nous, or more personally. The One may be conceived as an independent whole or as a sum, as analytic or synthetic, as principle or ontologically. Except by mysticism, it is rarely declared a fact of sensory experience, while its transcendent or transcendental, abstract nature is stressed, e.g., in epistemology where the "I" or self is considered the unitary background of personal experience, the identity of self-consciousness, or the unity of consciousness in the synthesis of the manifoldness of ideas (Kant). --K.F.L. One-one: A relation R is one-many if for every y in the converse domain there is a unique x such that xRy. A relation R is many-one if for every x in the domain there is a unique y such that xRy. (See the article relation.) A relation is one-one, or one-to-one, if it is at the same time one-many and many-one. A one-one relation is said to be, or to determine, a one-to-one correspondence between its domain and its converse domain. --A.C. On-handedness: (Ger. Vorhandenheit) Things exist in the mode of thereness, lying- passively in a neutral space. A "deficient" form of a more basic relationship, termed at-handedness (Zuhandenheit). (Heidegger.) --H.H. Ontological argument: Name by which later authors, especially Kant, designate the alleged proof for God's existence devised by Anselm of Canterbury. Under the name of God, so the argument runs, everyone understands that greater than which nothing can be thought. Since anything being the greatest and lacking existence is less then the greatest having also existence, the former is not really the greater. The greatest, therefore, has to exist. Anselm has been reproached, already by his contemporary Gaunilo, for unduly passing from the field of logical to the field of ontological or existential reasoning. This criticism has been repeated by many authors, among them Aquinas. The argument has, however, been used, if in a somewhat modified form, by Duns Scotus, Descartes, and Leibniz. --R.A. Ontological Object: (Gr. onta, existing things + logos, science) The real or existing object of an act of knowledge as distinguished from the epistemological object. See Epistemological Object. --L.W. Ontologism: (Gr. on, being) In contrast to psychologism, is called any speculative system which starts philosophizing by positing absolute being, or deriving the existence of entities independently of experience merely on the basis of their being thought, or assuming that we have immediate and certain knowledge of the ground of being or God. Generally speaking any rationalistic, a priori metaphysical doctrine, specifically the philosophies of Rosmini-Serbati and Vincenzo Gioberti. As a philosophic method censored by skeptics and criticists alike, as a scholastic doctrine formerly strongly supported, revived in Italy and Belgium in the 19th century, but no longer countenanced. --K.F.L. Ontology: (Gr. on, being + logos, logic) The theory of being qua being. For Aristotle, the First Philosophy, the science of the essence of things. Introduced as a term into philosophy by Wolff. The science of fundamental principles, the doctrine of the categories. Ultimate philosophy; rational cosmology. Syn. with metaphysics. See Cosmology, First Principles, Metaphysics, Theology. --J.K.F. Operation: "(Lit. operari, to work) Any act, mental or physical, constituting a phase of the reflective process, and performed with a view to acquiring1 knowledge or information about a certain subject-nntter. --A.C.B. In logic, see Operationism. In philosophy of science, see Pragmatism, Scientific Empiricism. Operationism: The doctrine that the meaning of a concept is given by a set of operations. 1. The operational meaning of a term (word or symbol) is given by a semantical rule relating the term to some concrete process, object or event, or to a class of such processes, objectj or events. 2. Sentences formed by combining operationally defined terms into propositions are operationally meaningful when the assertions are testable by means of performable operations. Thus, under operational rules, terms have semantical significance, propositions have empirical significance. Operationism makes explicit the distinction between formal (q.v.) and empirical sentences. Formal propositions are signs arranged according to syntactical rules but lacking operational reference. Such propositions, common in mathematics, logic and syntax, derive their sanction from convention, whereas an empirical proposition is acceptable (1) when its structure obeys syntactical rules and (2) when there exists a concrete procedure (a set of operations) for determining its truth or falsity (cf. Verification). Propositions purporting to be empirical are sometimes amenable to no operational test because they contain terms obeying no definite semantical rules. These sentences are sometimes called pseudo-propositions and are said to be operationally meaningless. They may, however, be 'meaningful" in other ways, e.g. emotionally or aesthetically (cf. Meaning). Unlike a formal statement, the "truth" of an empirical sentence is never absolute and its operational confirmation serves only to increase the degree of its validity. Similarly, the semantical rule comprising the operational definition of a term has never absolute precision. Ordinarily a term denotes a class of operations and the precision of its definition depends upon how definite are the rules governing inclusion in the class. The difference between Operationism and Logical Positivism (q.v.) is one of emphasis. Operationism's stress of empirical matters derives from the fact that it was first employed to purge physics of such concepts as absolute space and absolute time, when the theory of relativity had forced upon physicists the view that space and time are most profitably defined in terms of the operations by which they are measured. Although different methods of measuring length at first give rise to different concepts of length, wherever the equivalence of certain of these measures can be established by other operations, the concepts may legitimately be combined. In psychology the operational criterion of meaningfulness is commonly associated with a behavioristic point of view. See Behaviorism. Since only those propositions which are testable by public and repeatable operations are admissible in science, the definition of such concepti as mind and sensation must rest upon observable aspects of the organism or its behavior. Operational psychology deals with experience only as it is indicated by the operation of differential behavior, including verbal report. Discriminations, or the concrete differential reactions of organisms to internal or external environmental states, are by some authors regarded as the most basic of all operations. For a discussion of the role of operational definition in phvsics. see P. W. Bridgman, The Logic of Modern Physics, (New York, 1928) and The Nature of Physical Theory (Princeton, 1936). "The extension of operationism to psychology is discussed by C. C. Pratt in The Logic of Modem Psychology (New York. 1939.) For a discussion and annotated bibliography relating to Operationism and Logical Positivism, see S. S. Stevens, Psychology and the Science of Science, Psychol. Bull., 36, 1939, 221-263. --S.S.S. Ophelimity: Noun derived from the Greek, ophelimos useful, employed by Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) in economics as the equivalent of utility, or the capacity to provide satisfaction. --J.J.R. Opinion: (Lat. opinio, from opinor, to think) An hypothesis or proposition entertained on rational grounds but concerning which doubt can reasonably exist. A belief. See Hypothesis, Certainty, Knowledge. --J.K.F- Opposition: (Lat. oppositus, pp. of oppono, to oppose) Positive actual contradiction. One of Aristotle's Post-predicaments. In logic any contrariety or contradiction, illustrated by the "Square of Opposition". Syn. with: conflict. See Logic, formal, § 4. --J.K.F. Optimism: (Lat. optimus, the best) The view inspired by wishful thinking, success, faith, or philosophic reflection, that the world as it exists is not so bad or even the best possible, life is good, and man's destiny is bright. Philosophically most persuasively propounded by Leibniz in his Theodicee, according to which God in his wisdom would have created a better world had he known or willed such a one to exist. Not even he could remove moral wrong and evil unless he destroyed the power of self-determination and hence the basis of morality. All systems of ethics that recognize a supreme good (Plato and many idealists), subscribe to the doctrines of progressivism (Turgot, Herder, Comte, and others), regard evil as a fragmentary view (Josiah Royce et al.) or illusory, or believe in indemnification (Henry David Thoreau) or melioration (Emerson), are inclined optimistically. Practically all theologies advocating a plan of creation and salvation, are optimistic though they make the good or the better dependent on moral effort, right thinking, or belief, promising it in a future existence. Metaphysical speculation is optimistic if it provides for perfection, evolution to something higher, more valuable, or makes room for harmonies or a teleology. See Pessimism. --K.F.L. Order: A class is said to be partially ordered by a dyadic relation R if it coincides with the field of R, and R is transitive and reflexive, and xRy and yRx never both hold when x and y are different. If in addition R is connected, the class is said to be ordered (or simply ordered) by R, and R is called an ordering relation. Whitehcid and Russell apply the term serial relation to relations which are transitive, irreflexive, and connected (and, in consequence, also asymmetric). However, the use of serial relations in this sense, instead ordering relations as just defined, is awkward in connection with the notion of order for unit classes. Examples: The relation not greater than among leal numbers is an ordering relation. The relation less than among real numbers is a serial relation. The real numbers are simply ordered by the former relation. In the algebra of classes (logic formal, § 7), the classes are partially ordered by the relation of class inclusion. For explanation of the terminology used in making the above definitions, see the articles connexity, reflexivity, relation, symmetry, transitivity. --A.C. Order type: See relation-number. Ordinal number: A class b is well-ordered by a dyadic relation R if it is ordered by R (see order) and, for every class a such that a ⊂ b, there is a member x of a, such that xRy holds for every member y of a; and R is then called a well-ordering relation. The ordinal number of a class b well-ordered by a relation R, or of a well-ordering relation R, is defined to be the relation-number (q. v.) of R. The ordinal numbers of finite classes (well-ordered by appropriate relations) are called finite ordinal numbers. These are 0, 1, 2, ... (to be distinguished, of course, from the finite cardinal numbers 0, 1, 2, . . .). The first non-finite (transfinite or infinite) ordinal number is the ordinal number of the class of finite ordinal numbers, well-ordered in their natural order, 0, 1, 2, . . .; it is usually denoted by the small Greek letter omega. --A.C. G. Cantor, Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers, translated and with an introduction by P. E. B. Jourdain, Chicago and London, 1915. (new ed. 1941); Whitehead and Russell, Princtpia Mathematica. vol. 3. Orexis: (Gr. orexis) Striving; desire; the conative aspect of mind, as distinguished from the cognitive and emotional (Aristotle). --G.R.M.. Organicism: A theory of biology that life consists in the organization or dynamic system of the organism. Opposed to mechanism and vitalism. --J.K.F. Organism: An individual animal or plant, biologically interpreted. A. N. Whitehead uses the term to include also physical bodies and to signify anything material spreading through space and enduring in time. --R.B.W. Organismic Psychology: (Lat. organum, from Gr. organon, an instrument) A system of theoretical psychology which construes the structure of the mind in organic rather than atomistic terms. See Gestalt Psychology; Psychological Atomism. --L.W. Organization: (Lat. organum, from Gr. organon, work) A structured whole. The systematic unity of parts in a purposive whole. A dynamic system. Order in something actual. --J.K.F. Organon: (Gr. organon) The title traditionally given to the body of Aristotle's logical treatises. The designation appears to have originated among the Peripatetics after Aristotle's time, and expresses their view that logic is not a part of philosophy (as the Stoics maintained) but rather the instrument (organon) of philosophical inquiry. See Aristotelianism. --G.R.M. In Kant. A system of principles by which pure knowledge may be acquired and established. Cf. Fr. Bacon's Novum Organum. --O.F.K. Oriental Philosophy: A general designation used loosely to cover philosophic tradition exclusive of that grown on Greek soil and including the beginnings of philosophical speculation in Egypt, Arabia, Iran, India, and China, the elaborate systems of India, Greater India, China, and Japan, and sometimes also the religion-bound thought of all these countries with that of the complex cultures of Asia Minor, extending far into antiquity. Oriental philosophy, though by no means presenting a homogeneous picture, nevertheless shares one characteristic, i.e., the practical outlook on life (ethics linked with metaphysics) and the absence of clear-cut distinctions between pure speculation and religious motivation, and on lower levels between folklore, folk-etymology, practical wisdom, pre-scientiiic speculation, even magic, and flashes of philosophic insight. Bonds with Western, particularly Greek philosophy have no doubt existed even in ancient times. Mutual influences have often been conjectured on the basis of striking similarities, but their scientific establishment is often difficult or even impossible. Comparative philosophy (see especially the work of Masson-Oursel) provides a useful method. Yet a thorough treatment of Oriental Philosophy is possible only when the many languages in which it is deposited have been more thoroughly studied, the psychological and historical elements involved in the various cultures better investigated, and translations of the relevant documents prepared not merely from a philological point of view or out of missionary zeal, but by competent philosophers who also have some linguistic training. Much has been accomplished in this direction in Indian and Chinese Philosophy (q.v.). A great deal remains to be done however before a definitive history of Oriental Philosophy may be written. See also Arabian, and Persian Philosophy. --K.F.L. Origen: (185-254) The principal founder of Christian theology who tried to enrich the ecclesiastic thought of his day by reconciling it with the treasures of Greek philosophy. Cf. Migne PL. --R.B.W. Ormazd: (New Persian) Same as Ahura Mazdah (q.v.), the good principle in Zoroastrianism, and opposed to Ahriman (q.v.). --K.F.L. Orphic Literature: The mystic writings, extant only in fragments, of a Greek religious-philosophical movement of the 6th century B.C., allegedly started by the mythical Orpheus. In their mysteries, in which mythology and rational thinking mingled, the Orphics concerned themselves with cosmogony, theogony, man's original creation and his destiny after death which they sought to influence to the better by pure living and austerity. They taught a symbolism in which, e.g., the relationship of the One to the many was clearly enunciated, and believed in the soul as involved in reincarnation. Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Plato were influenced by them. --K.F.L. Ortega y Gasset, Jose: Born in Madrid, May 9, 1883. At present in Buenos Aires, Argentine. Son of Ortega y Munillo, the famous Spanish journalist. Studied at the College of Jesuits in Miraflores and at the Central University of Madrid. In the latter he presented his Doctor's dissertation, El Milenario, in 1904, thereby obtaining his Ph.D. degree. After studies in Leipzig, Berlin, Marburg, under the special influence of Hermann Cohen, the great exponent of Kant, who taught him the love for the scientific method and awoke in him the interest in educational philosophy, Ortega came to Spain where, after the death of Nicolas Salmeron, he occupied the professorship of metaphysics at the Central University of Madrid. The following may be considered the most important works of Ortega y Gasset: Meditaciones del Quijote, 1914; El Espectador, I-VIII, 1916-1935; El Tema de Nuestro Tiempo, 1921; España Invertebrada, 1922; Kant, 1924; La Deshumanizacion del Arte, 1925; Espiritu de la Letra, 1927; La Rebelion de las Masas, 1929; Goethe desde Adentio, 1934; Estudios sobre el Amor, 1939; Ensimismamiento y Alteracion, 1939; El Libro de las Misiones, 1940; Ideas y Creencias, 1940; and others. Although brought up in the Marburg school of thought, Ortega is not exactly a neo-Kantian. At the basis of his Weltanschauung one finds a denial of the fundamental presuppositions which characterized European Rationalism. It is life and not thought which is primary. Things have a sense and a value which must be affirmed independently. Things, however, are to be conceived as the totality of situations which constitute the circumstances of a man's life. Hence, Ortega's first philosophical principle: "I am myself plus my circumstances". Life as a problem, however, is but one of the poles of his formula. Reason is the other. The two together function, not by dialectical opposition, but by necessary coexistence. Life, according to Ortega, does not consist in being, but rather, in coming to be, and as such it is of the nature of direction, program building, purpose to be achieved, value to be realized. In this sense the future as a time dimension acquires new dignity, and even the present and the past become articulate and meaning-full only in relation to the future. Even History demands a new point of departure and becomes militant with new visions. --J.A.F. Orthodoxy: Beliefs which are declared by a group to be true and normative. Heresy is a departure from and relative to a given orthodoxy. --V.S. Orthos Logos: See Right Reason. Ostensible Object: (Lat. ostendere, to show) The object envisaged by cognitive act irrespective of its actual existence. See Epistemological Object. --L.W. Ostensive: (Lat. ostendere, to show) Property of a concept or predicate by virtue of which it refers to and is clarified by reference to its instances. --A.C.B. Ostwald, Wilhelm: (1853-1932) German chemist. Winner of the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1909. In Die Uberwindung des wissenschaftlichen Materialistmus and in Naturphilosophie, his two best known works in the field of philosophy, he advocates a dynamic theory in opposition to materialism and mechanism. All properties of matter, and the psychic as well, are special forms of energy. --L.E.D. Oupnekhat: Anquetil Duperron's Latin translation of the Persian translation of 50 Upanishads (q.v.), a work praised by Schopenhauer as giving him complete consolation. --K.F.L. Outness: A term employed by Berkeley to express the experience of externality, that is the ideas of space and things placed at a distance. Hume used it in the sense of distance Hamilton understood it as the state of being outside of consciousness in a really existing world of material things. --J.J.R. Overindividual: Term used by H. Münsterberg to translate the German überindividuell. The term is applied to any cognitive or value object which transcends the individual subject. --L.W. P
thunderbolt ::: an imaginary bolt or dart conceived as the material destructive agent cast to earth in a flash of lightening. Myth & Legend / Norse Myth & Legend) (in mythology) the destructive weapon wielded by several gods, esp. the Greek god Zeus and the Norse god of thunder, Thor.
Thunderer ::: An epithet for Jupiter or the Deity. Jupiter (Latin: Iuppiter; /ˈjʊpɪtɛr/; genitive case: Iovis; /ˈjɔːvɪs/) or Jove is the king of the gods and the god of sky and thunder in myth. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as sacrifice.
Thurse (Icelandic) [possibly related to Danish tosse fool] Giant; the difference between the giant and the thurse, as these terms are used in Norse mythology, is subtle. From the tales it would appear that giant is used most often to indicate the passage of a long time (cf Greek aeon), whereas the thurse aspect is accentuated to show the senselessness of matter uninspired by the gods.
titanic ::: a. --> Of or relating to Titans, or fabled giants of ancient mythology; hence, enormous in size or strength; as, Titanic structures.
Of or pertaining to titanium; derived from, or containing, titanium; specifically, designating those compounds of titanium in which it has a higher valence as contrasted with the titanous compounds.
Titan ::: “In Greek mythology, one of a family of gigantic beings, the twelve primordial children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth); also certain of the offspring of these Titans. The names of the twelve Titans, the ancestors of the Olympian gods, were Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetos, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronos. Cronos, the youngest of them, ruled the world after overthrowing and castrating Uranus. He swallowed each of his own children at birth but Zeus escaped. Cronos was made to vomit up the others (including Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades) and, after a protracted struggle, he and the other Titans were vanquished, all of them but Atlas imprisoned in Tartarus, and the reign of Zeus was established. More broadly, the word Titan may be applied to any being of a colossal force or grandiose and lawless self-assertion, or even to whatever is huge or mighty.” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works.
titan ::: "In Greek mythology, one of a family of gigantic beings, the twelve primordial children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth); also certain of the offspring of these Titans. The names of the twelve Titans, the ancestors of the Olympian gods, were Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetos, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronos. Cronos, the youngest of them, ruled the world after overthrowing and castrating Uranus. He swallowed each of his own children at birth but Zeus escaped. Cronos was made to vomit up the others (including Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades) and, after a protracted struggle, he and the other Titans were vanquished, all of them but Atlas imprisoned in Tartarus, and the reign of Zeus was established. More broadly, the word Titan may be applied to any being of a colossal force or grandiose and lawless self-assertion, or even to whatever is huge or mighty.” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works.
Titans (Greek) In Greek mythology, builders of worlds, often called cosmocratores, and as microcosmic entities the progenitors of human races; as such, of various orders, so that in mythology they were considered good or bad, as angels or entities of matter. Hesiod’s original heaven-dwelling titans, six sons and six daughters of Ouranos and Gaia (heaven and earth), were Oceanos, Coios, Creios, Hyperion, Iapetos, Kronos, Theia, Rheia, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys, but other names were later included, such as Prometheus and Epimetheus; and later still the name was given to any descendant of Ouranos and Gaia. Rebellions taking place against the rulers of heaven, followed by falls and castings out, refer to the descent of creative powers to form new worlds and races. In the rebellion of titans, first against Ouranos in favor of Kronos, then against Kronos in favor of Zeus, the titans are mixed up with other sons of heaven and earth — Hecatoncheires (hundred-handed), Cyclopes, etc. — and the accounts in detail are extremely intricate and confused.
Titans: The giants of Greek mythology who made war on the gods.
trident ::: in Greek and Roman mythology, the three-pronged spear that the sea god Poseidon (Neptune) is represented as carrying.
Triton: In Greek mythology, a merman, son of Poseidon and Amphitrite.
Troll: A hideous, evil earth-demon of Teutonic mythology, living in caves.
Tuatha de Danaan: In ancient Irish mythology, gods living underground. (The name literally means the folk of the goddess Danu.)
Twilight of the gods: In Norse mythology, the final battle between the gods and their enemies, the evil giants.
typhoean ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Typhoeus (t/*f/"/s), the fabled giant of Greek mythology, having a hundred heads; resembling Typhoeus.
Tyr, Tivi (Icelandic) [Used mainly in plural, tivar gods; cf Latin divus, Sanskrit deva, Greek dios, Zeus] In Norse mythology, often used in combinations like valtiva (god of the slain, or god of the chosen, god of choice). Tyr is the generic name for a lofty divinity. As a planetary deity, Tyr represents the valiant Mars, god of war, of fresh undertakings, and of beginnings. He is associated with the zodiacal constellation Aries, which has similar connotations. Tyr’s day is Tysdagr (Tuesday).
Underworld Classical mythology divides the universe into the heavens, the earth, and the underworld, each presided over by its particular deity. The underworld was the nether pole of the cosmic hierarchy, great or small, and hence the land of shadows, synonymous with Dis, Hades, Pluto, Orcus, Limbo, Tartarus, Amenti, Atala, She’ol, etc. The underworld for human beings may be the lower ranges of kama-loka, the region of the shades; the mystical pit or Planet of Death; or all the ranges, in a generalizing sense, of the cosmic planes beneath the solar plane on which our earth is located.
universe) in Phoenician mythology. Adonai is
Urd, Urdr (Scandinavian, Icelandic) [cf Swedish ur original, fundamental; Anglo-Saxon wyrd, English weird] Also Urdar. The principal of the three norns (Fates) in Norse mythology, representing the past in the sense of causation: all that has gone before, giving rise to the present. Her sister norns are Verdande (becoming), usually translated as the present; and Skuld (debt), obligations yet to be repaid. The past and present create the third sister, norn of the future, which is suggestive of karma, where the future is the outcome of all past and present acts.
Usanas-Sukra (Sanskrit) Uśanas-śukra [from uśanas Venus + śukra bright, resplendent] Venus-Lucifer, Venus as the light-bringer, referring not so much to physical light as to the light of intellect and inner vision. The guardian spirit, with reference to the solar system, of earth and of mankind; for what the buddhi-manas is in the human constitution when compared with the kama-manas, that same role, mutatis mutandis on the cosmic scale, the regent of Venus plays in the solar system, wherein by comparison the earth is the vehicle for kama-manas. Also commonly called in Hindu mythology Kavi or Kavya, signifying poet and the feeling that the true poet is intellectually intuitional with reference to “feeling” or “seeing” some, at least, of the mysteries of nature.
Uthra (pi. uthri) —in Mandaean mythology, an
Vach (Sanskrit) Vāc Sound, voice, word, the mystic sound (svara) or essence of spirit of the divine creative activity, the vehicle of divine thought; and of this the Word is the manifested expression. Vach, or its equivalents in other cultures, is always considered feminine. Cosmically she is the carrier or mother of the Third Logos — the Word or Verbum — because of carrying perpetually within her the essence of divine thought, the First Logos; and hence Vach is the Second Logos, equivalent to the early Christian Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost — later transmogrified into a cosmic male. In Hindu mythology Brahma separates his body into masculine and feminine, the feminine becoming Vach, in whom he creates Viraj, who is himself again Brahma. Here we have the three Logoi: Brahma, the First Logos, the divine thought; Vach, the Second Logos, the divine voice; and Viraj, the Third Logos, or the divine word, the philosophical equivalent of the Son of the Christian Trinity.
Vadduku (Babylonian) One class of subterranean genii in ancient Babylonian mythology, regarded as below the angels of earth.
Vala, Volva (Swedish, Icelandic) [possibly cognate with Greek sibylla] In Norse mythology, the wise sibyl who instructs Allfather Odin in “the origin, life, and end of worlds.” She represents the record of all the cosmic past, which is consulted by Odin, the divine consciousness-energy, as told in Voluspa, the principal lay of the poetic or elder Edda.
Valfader, Valfodr, Valfadir (Swedish, Icelandic) [from val choice, death + fader father] Odin in Norse mythology is often addressed as father of the Chosen or father of the Slain, i.e., Odin’s warriors are those who have “died” to the demands of the personal self. These elect are also called Odin’s One-harriers for they are those who “harry” or are in total command of one, their own nature. These warriors are said to feast with Odin in Valhalla by night and to re-emerge each day to do battle against the forces of darkness.
Valhalla (Scandinavian) Valholl (Icelandic) [from val choice, death + hall, holl hall] In Norse mythology, the hall of the chosen or of the slain where Odin’s heroes, the One-harriers, are brought by the Valkyries at the end of each day’s battles to feast with Ropt, the maligned or misunderstood god (Odin). “The hall of the chosen glows golden in Gladhome,” one of the superior “shelves” or ethereal planes which are closely related to our planet earth. The walls of Valhalla are built of the spears of the warriors, it is roofed with their shields, while inside the hall “the benches are strewn with byrnies.” Over the entrance door are transfixed the wolf (bestiality) and the eagle (pride). All of these are symbolic of the sacrifice of properties that have been relinquished by Odin’s chosen warriors, for these represent, in the Norse tales, the initiated adepts who have elected to serve the cause of universality and aid the progress of human evolution. Abandoning progressively all weapons of offense, then of defense, and finally all personal protection, exemplifies the universal service of the chosen.
Valhalla: The “hall of the blessed heroes” of Norse mythology, the abode of the brave warriors slain in battle.
Vali, Vale (Icelandic, Scandinavian) In Norse mythology, a son of Odin who avenges the death of the sun god Balder; also a son of Loki. This paradox may be resolved in that the son of Loki (mind), being also the offspring of Allfather Odin as all beings are, is the future human race in its character as a redeemer and consummation of human evolution. He also may be a personification of karma-nemesis.
Valkyries [from Icelandic, Swedish Valkyrja from val choice, death + kyrja to crown, possibly akin to kyrra calm] Among some of the most intriguing mysteries of Norse mythology are these “crowners of the slain” who select the heroes “slain” in battle when they aid the gods in their eternal struggle against the forces of darkness. There is a vast and complex symbology attached to the tales of Odin’s warrior-maidens who daily revive those slain on Vigridsslatten (the field of consecration), and bear them to Valhalla to feast with the gods on the mead of their life experience.
Valkyries: In Norse mythology, female superhuman entities, who take the souls of the slain to the Valhalla and before Odin.
"Vamana, the Dwarf, in Hindu mythology, one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, born as a son of Kashyapa and Aditi. The titan King Bali had by his austerities acquired dominion of all the three worlds. To remedy this, Vishnu came to him in the form of a dwarf and begged of him as much land as he could step over in three paces. Bali complied. In two strides the dwarf covered heaven and earth, and with the third step, on Bali"s head, pushed him down to Patala, the infernal regions.” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works
“Vamana, the Dwarf, in Hindu mythology, one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, born as a son of Kashyapa and Aditi. The titan King Bali had by his austerities acquired dominion of all the three worlds. To remedy this, Vishnu came to him in the form of a dwarf and begged of him as much land as he could step over in three paces. Bali complied. In two strides the dwarf covered heaven and earth, and with the third step, on Bali’s head, pushed him down to Patala, the infernal regions.” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works
Vanir: In Norse mythology, a group of gods who dwell in Vanaheim; deities of wealth, commerce, fruitfulness, antagonists of Odin and his group of gods.
Varuna (Sanskrit) Varuṇa [from the verbal root vṛ to surround, envelop] The all-enveloping sky; originally Varuna represented the waters of space, or the all-investing sky, akasa, but in later mythology he became the god of the ocean. In the Mahabharata he was one of the four guardians of our visible kosmos, the guardian of the West.
Varun.a ::: "the Lord of Wideness", a Vedic god who "brings to us Varuna the infinite oceanic space of the divine soul and its ethereal, elemental purity", one of the Four who represent the "working of the Truth in the human mind and temperament"; in post-Vedic mythology, the god of the sea.
Verdandi (Icelandic) [from verda to become] In Norse mythology, the second of the three norns who determine the fate of heroes. All beings are subject to these three Fates, who correspond to the Greek Moirai. They have been described as Past, Present, and Future, though their names imply much more. Verdandi, the present, literally means “becoming,” the ever-renewed present moment wherein all things are possible and the future is determined.
Vergil says that bees have a portion of the divine mind, from which aethereal particles stream, and that divinity permeates the whole earth so that all beings draw from it the streams of life (Georgics 4, 320). The spiritual or monadic consciousness (the nous) manifests itself in innumerable ways, and this same consciousness is in man. A little later Vergil says that bees are born from the carcass of a slain bullock or bull. The bull or cow is a symbol of the moon, and the moon has always stood as a symbol of the psychic intelligence or lower human mind; thus the meaning is that out of his perfectly subordinated (“slain”) bull — the lunar body or psychic nature — is born the “bee” of the disciple, the will and the urge to enter into the solar life or the spirit. In the Finnish mythology of the Kalevala, a bee is the messenger between this world and higher realms. In Scandinavian mythology bees again play an important part with the world tree (Yggdrasil).
Ve (Scandinavian), Vei, Vi (Icelandic) [cognate with vigan to carry high, venerate] Sacred, holy; in Norse mythology, the brother of Odin (spirit) and Vile (will), the creative deities who bring a universe into existence. They are born of the primeval pair Bore and Bestla, karmic residue from the previous life cycle, and correspond to the Greek Logos, the Word or intelligence from which emanate the divine forces which organize kosmos out of chaos. Odin and his two brothers “slay” the frostgiant Ymer — the latent matter of worlds — transforming him into an orderly universe, into which they infuse consciousness and life from their own essence.
Vigridsslatten (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from vigr battle or vigan to bear high, consecrate + slett (Swedish slatt) battlefield] Plain of consecration; in Norse mythology, the plain where the battle of life is fought daily. Corresponding to the Hindu dharmakshetra (Bhagavad-Gita), it is where the Valkyries search for Allfather Odin’s fallen heroes who have earned entrance to Valhalla (the hall of the chosen), where they are regaled at the end of each day’s struggle. They are those who have died to their lower nature and entered on a larger life as champions of the gods.
Vili, Vile (Icelandic, Scandinavian) Will, wish, desire; in Norse mythology, one of Odin’s two brother-creators. Together these three bring worlds into being at the beginning of a life cycle. The idea is reminiscent of that in the Rig-Veda: “Desire first arose in It,” when worlds were to emanate from the divine source of life.
Vimana (Sanskrit) Vimāna A car or chariot of the gods, capable of traveling through the air. While Indian mythology speaks of the devas or gods as possessing rapid self-moving chariots or vehicles with which they traverse space, gods was often used by ancient Indians for their highly intellectual, extremely scientific forefathers of now forgotten antiquity. Thus, the vimanas which were used by the Atlanteans are spoken of as being self-moving and carrying their occupants through the air (cf SD 2:427-8).
Viraj (Sanskrit) Virāj Sovereign, splendid; in Hindu mythology, the son of Brahma who on analogical lines becomes Manu. In the Laws of Manu Brahma divides his body into male and female parts and in the female part (Vach) creates Viraj, who is also Brahma, the type of all male beings, as Vach is the type of female beings. “Manu declares himself created by Viraj, or Vaiswanara, (the Spirit of Humanity), which means that his Monad emanates from the never resting Principle in the beginning of every new Cosmic activity: that Logos or Universal Monad (collective Elohim) that radiates from within himself all those Cosmic Monads that become the centres of activity — progenitors of the numberless Solar systems as well as of the yet undifferentiated human monads of planetary chains as well as of every being thereon” (SD 2:311). A verse in the Rig-Veda (10:205) has Viraj spring from Purusha, and Purusha spring from Viraj.
Volsung(ar) (Icelandic, Scandinavian) [from volsi phallus + unge child] In Norse mythology, an early race of humanity, the first to reproduce by sexual means, remote descendants of the Niflungar (children of the mist), who represent humanity before the globe had condensed from the primordial nebula. The tale of Sigurd the Volsung is one of the classic stories in the younger or prose Edda.
Volundr (Icelandic) In Norse mythology, the hero of “Volundarkvida” or “Volundskvadet”; in German tales he is named Wieland, in English Wayland. In all versions he is a smith, a legendary artisan who was captured and imprisoned by King Nidud (an evil age) and forced to forge treasures of gold and silver for the king.
Weather god. A deity, found (under various names) in the mythology of many ancient and primitive races or tribes, believed to bestow fertility through rain.
were in fact lifted from Babylonian mythology.
Woodcock, P. G. Short Dictionary of Mythology. New
Yggdrasil: The world-tree of Norse mythology, whose leaves are always green. Fire will destroy it in the twilight of the gods.
YUGA (Skt, T.) Time-period of varying length. There are four kinds of yuga corresponding to the gold, silver, copper and iron ages in Western mythology: Satya yuga (1 728 000 years), Treta yuga (1 296 000 years), Dvapara yuga (864 000 years), and
Kali yuga (432 000 years). A complete cycle from Satya yuga through Kali yuga (4,32 million years) is called a Maha yuga.
Zagreus, Zagreus-Dionysos (Greek) Dionysos was an earlier name for Bacchus. The mythos concerning Zagreus belongs to the cycle of teachings of the Orphic Mysteries rather than to mythology, so no references occur in the writings for the people, such as Homer and Hesiod. The references that have come down to our day occur principally in the manuscripts of the ancient Greek dramatists, poets, and in other ancient fragments.
Zio (Germanic) The ancient Germanic sword god or war god, corresponding to Tyr in Norse mythology. He was called Tivisco by Tacitus, who describes him as a hidden god, held in such reverence by the Swabians that no one could enter the sacred grove of the Semnones, a prominent tribe of the Swabians, without being bound with a chain. The earth goddess Nerthus was regarded as his wife.
Zonoei —in Chaldean mythology, the zonoei
KEYS (10k)
3 Joseph Campbell
3 Jordan Peterson
1 Wikipedia
1 where the application of science to the fields of practical life has now dissolved all cultural horizons
1 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
1 Peter J Carroll
1 OReilly Linux System Programming
1 Alfred North Whitehead
1 The Mother
1 Sri Aurobindo
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
62 Joseph Campbell
13 Devdutt Pattanaik
11 Rick Riordan
11 Karen Armstrong
11 Henry David Thoreau
11 G K Chesterton
10 Carl Jung
9 Anonymous
8 Lisa Kleypas
8 Germaine Greer
7 Terry Pratchett
7 Jorge Luis Borges
6 Sam Harris
6 Ibrahim Ibrahim
6 Erich Neumann
5 Werner Herzog
5 Swami Vivekananda
5 Northrop Frye
5 Jordan Peterson
4 Thomas Bulfinch
1:Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images, beyond that bounding rim of the Buddhist Wheel of Becoming. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, #KEYS
2:Connectedness is of the essence of all things of all types. It is of the essence of types, that they be connected. Abstraction from connectedness involves the omission of an essential factor in the fact considered. No fact is merely itself. The penetration of literature and art at their height arises from our dumb sense that we have passed beyond mythology; namely, beyond the myth of isolation. ~ Alfred North Whitehead, Modes of Thought #KEYS
3:Creative artists … are mankind's wakeners to recollection: summoners of our outward mind to conscious contact with ourselves, not as participants in this or that morsel of history, but as spirit, in the consciousness of being. Their task, therefore, is to communicate directly from one inward world to another, in such a way that an actual shock of experience will have been rendered: not a mere statement for the information or persuasion of a brain, but an effective communication across the void of space and time from one center of consciousness to another. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God, Volume IV: Creative Mythology, #KEYS
4:I would like to tell you that an enlightened essence is present in everyone. It is present in every state, both samsara and nirvana, and in all sentient beings; there is no exception. Experience your buddha nature, make it your constant practice, and you will reach enlightenment. In my lifetime I have known many, many people who attained such and enlightened state, both male and female. Awakening to enlightenment is not an ancient fable. It is not mythology. It actually does happen. Bring the oral instructions into your own practical experience and enlightenment is indeed possible; it is not just a fairy tale. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #KEYS
5:So one of the things I do when a client comes is I just do a rough walk through of those dimensions its like does anybody care if youre alive or dead, you know, do you have any friends, do you have anybody that loves you, do you have an intimate relationship, how are things going with your family, do you have a job, are you as educated as you are intelligent, do you have any room for advancement in the future, do you do anything interesting outside of your job and if the answer to all of those is no.. its like your not depressed my friend you just are screwed. really. ~ Jordan Peterson, 015 Maps of Meaning 4: Narrative, Neuropsychology & Mythology II / Part 1, #KEYS
6:Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that's what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you. When your mind is trapped by the image out there so that you never make the reference to yourself, you have misread the image.
The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies and your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And the outer world is the field of your incarnation. That's where you are. You've got to keep both going. As Novalis said, 'The seat of the soul is there where the inner and outer worlds meet. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth,#KEYS
7:Theres another class of people and I would say this is one of the pathologies of being creative so if your a high open person and you have all those things its not going to be enough. you are going to have to pick another domain where you are working on something positive and revolutiony because like the creative impulse for someone who is open we know it is a fundamental personallity dimension, ... and if the ones who are high in openness arent doing something creative they are like dead sticks adn cant live properly. And I think those are the people who benefit particularly from depth psychological approaches, especially Jungian approaches. ~ Jordan Peterson, 015 Maps of Meaning 4: Narrative, Neuropsychology & Mythology II / Part 1, #KEYS
8:And just as in the past each civilization was the vehicle of its own mythology, developing in character as its myth became progressively interpreted, analyzed, and elucidated by its leading minds, so in this modern world~where the application of science to the fields of practical life has now dissolved all cultural horizons, so that no separate civilization can ever develop again~each individual is the center of a mythology of his own, of which his own intelligible character is the Incarnate God, so to say, whom his empirically questing consciousness is to find. The aphorism of Delphi, 'Know thyself,' is the motto. And not Rome, not Mecca, not Jerusalem, Sinai, or Benares, but each and every 'thou' on earth is the center of this world, in the sense of that formula quoted from the twelfth-century Book of the Twenty-four Philosophers, of God as 'an intelligible sphere, whose center is everywhere.' ~ Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God, Vol. IV: Creative Mythology, #KEYS
9:The Apsaras are the most beautiful and romantic conception on the lesser plane of Hindu mythology. From the moment that they arose out of the waters of the milky Ocean, robed in ethereal raiment and heavenly adornment, waking melody from a million lyres, the beauty and light of them has transformed the world. They crowd in the sunbeams, they flash and gleam over heaven in the lightnings, they make the azure beauty of the sky; they are the light of sunrise and sunset and the haunting voices of forest and field. They dwell too in the life of the soul; for they are the ideal pursued by the poet through his lines, by the artist shaping his soul on his canvas, by the sculptor seeking a form in the marble; for the joy of their embrace the hero flings his life into the rushing torrent of battle; the sage, musing upon God, sees the shining of their limbs and falls from his white ideal. The delight of life, the beauty of things, the attraction of sensuous beauty, this is what the mystic and romantic side of the Hindu temperament strove to express in the Apsara. The original meaning is everywhere felt as a shining background, but most in the older allegories, especially the strange and romantic legend of Pururavas as we first have it in the Brahmanas and the Vishnoupurana. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #KEYS
10:Daemons
A daemon is a process that runs in the background, not connecting to any controlling terminal. Daemons are normally started at boot time, are run as root or some
other special user (such as apache or postfix), and handle system-level tasks. As a
convention, the name of a daemon often ends in d (as in crond and sshd), but this is
not required, or even universal.
The name derives from Maxwell's demon, an 1867 thought experiment by the physicist James Maxwell. Daemons are also supernatural beings in Greek mythology,
existing somewhere between humans and the gods and gifted with powers and divine
knowledge. Unlike the demons of Judeo-Christian lore, the Greek daemon need not
be evil. Indeed, the daemons of mythology tended to be aides to the gods, performing
tasks that the denizens of Mount Olympus found themselves unwilling to do-much
as Unix daemons perform tasks that foreground users would rather avoid.
A daemon has two general requirements: it must run as a child of init, and it must
not be connected to a terminal.
In general, a program performs the following steps to become a daemon:
1. Call fork( ). This creates a new process, which will become the daemon.
2. In the parent, call exit( ). This ensures that the original parent (the daemon's
grandparent) is satisfied that its child terminated, that the daemon's parent is no
longer running, and that the daemon is not a process group leader. This last
point is a requirement for the successful completion of the next step.
3. Call setsid( ), giving the daemon a new process group and session, both of
which have it as leader. This also ensures that the process has no associated controlling terminal (as the process just created a new session, and will not assign
one).
4. Change the working directory to the root directory via chdir( ). This is done
because the inherited working directory can be anywhere on the filesystem. Daemons tend to run for the duration of the system's uptime, and you don't want to
keep some random directory open, and thus prevent an administrator from
unmounting the filesystem containing that directory.
5. Close all file descriptors. You do not want to inherit open file descriptors, and,
unaware, hold them open.
6. Open file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 (standard in, standard out, and standard error)
and redirect them to /dev/null.
Following these rules, here is a program that daemonizes itself:
~ OReilly Linux System Programming,#KEYS
11:INVOCATION
The ultimate invocation, that of Kia, cannot be performed. The paradox is that as Kia has no dualized qualities, there are no attributes by which to invoke it. To give it one quality is merely to deny it another. As an observant dualistic being once said:
I am that I am not.
Nevertheless, the magician may need to make some rearrangements or additions to what he is. Metamorphosis may be pursued by seeking that which one is not, and transcending both in mutual annihilation. Alternatively, the process of invocation may be seen as adding to the magician's psyche any elements which are missing. It is true that the mind must be finally surrendered as one enters fully into Chaos, but a complete and balanced psychocosm is more easily surrendered.
The magical process of shuffling beliefs and desires attendant upon the process of invocation also demonstrates that one's dominant obsessions or personality are quite arbitrary, and hence more easily banished.
There are many maps of the mind (psychocosms), most of which are inconsistent, contradictory, and based on highly fanciful theories. Many use the symbology of god forms, for all mythology embodies a psychology. A complete mythic pantheon resumes all of man's mental characteristics. Magicians will often use a pagan pantheon of gods as the basis for invoking some particular insight or ability, as these myths provide the most explicit and developed formulation of the particular idea's extant. However it is possible to use almost anything from the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the elemental qualities of alchemy.
If the magician taps a deep enough level of power, these forms may manifest with sufficient force to convince the mind of the objective existence of the god. Yet the aim of invocation is temporary possession by the god, communication from the god, and manifestation of the god's magical powers, rather than the formation of religious cults.
The actual method of invocation may be described as a total immersion in the qualities pertaining to the desired form. One invokes in every conceivable way. The magician first programs himself into identity with the god by arranging all his experiences to coincide with its nature. In the most elaborate form of ritual he may surround himself with the sounds, smells, colors, instruments, memories, numbers, symbols, music, and poetry suggestive of the god or quality. Secondly he unites his life force to the god image with which he has united his mind. This is accomplished with techniques from the gnosis. Figure 5 shows some examples of maps of the mind. Following are some suggestions for practical ritual invocation.
~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,#KEYS
12: Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā, (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; Wylie: ral gcig ma: one who has one knot of hair),[1] also known as Māhacīnatārā,[2] is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is, along with Palden Lhamo deity, one of the most powerful and fierce goddesses of Vajrayana Buddhist mythology.[1][3] According to Tibetan legends, her right eye was pierced by the tantric master Padmasambhava so that she could much more effectively help him subjugate Tibetan demons.
Ekajati is also known as "Blue Tara", Vajra Tara or "Ugra Tara".[1][3] She is generally considered one of the three principal protectors of the Nyingma school along with Rāhula and Vajrasādhu (Wylie: rdo rje legs pa).
Often Ekajati appears as liberator in the mandala of the Green Tara. Along with that, her ascribed powers are removing the fear of enemies, spreading joy, and removing personal hindrances on the path to enlightenment.
Ekajati is the protector of secret mantras and "as the mother of the mothers of all the Buddhas" represents the ultimate unity. As such, her own mantra is also secret. She is the most important protector of the Vajrayana teachings, especially the Inner Tantras and termas. As the protector of mantra, she supports the practitioner in deciphering symbolic dakini codes and properly determines appropriate times and circumstances for revealing tantric teachings. Because she completely realizes the texts and mantras under her care, she reminds the practitioner of their preciousness and secrecy.[4] Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama meditated upon her in early childhood.
According to Namkhai Norbu, Ekajati is the principal guardian of the Dzogchen teachings and is "a personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy."[5]
Dzogchen is the most closely guarded teaching in Tibetan Buddhism, of which Ekajati is a main guardian as mentioned above. It is said that Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha) himself entrusted the "Heart Essence" (Wylie: snying thig) teachings to her care. To the great master Longchenpa, who initiated the dissemination of certain Dzogchen teachings, Ekajati offered uncharacteristically personal guidance. In his thirty-second year, Ekajati appeared to Longchenpa, supervising every ritual detail of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis empowerment, insisting on the use of a peacock feather and removing unnecessary basin. When Longchenpa performed the ritual, she nodded her head in approval but corrected his pronunciation. When he recited the mantra, Ekajati admonished him, saying, "Imitate me," and sang it in a strange, harmonious melody in the dakini's language. Later she appeared at the gathering and joyously danced, proclaiming the approval of Padmasambhava and the dakinis.[6] ~ Wikipedia,#KEYS
13:Sweet Mother, there's a flower you have named "The Creative Word".
Yes.
What does that mean?
It is the word which creates.
There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions in which the Divine, in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, pronounces a word which has the power to create. So it is this... And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word which has a creative power. An invocation is made and there is an answer to the invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word which, in its sound... it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that there's a power of creation. It is the origin, you see, of the mantra.
In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, "The Creative Word". And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words... sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domain - whereas the sound has a power in the material world.
I think I have explained this to you once; I told you, for example, that words spoken casually, usually without any re- flection and without attaching any importance to them, can be used to do something very good. I think I spoke to you about "Bonjour", "Good Day", didn't I? When people meet and say "Bonjour", they do so mechanically and without thinking. But if you put a will into it, an aspiration to indeed wish someone a good day, well, there is a way of saying "Good Day" which is very effective, much more effective than if simply meeting someone you thought: "Ah! I hope he has a good day", without saying anything. If with this hope in your thought you say to him in a certain way, "Good Day", you make it more concrete and more effective.
It's the same thing, by the way, with curses, or when one gets angry and says bad things to people. This can do them as much harm - more harm sometimes - than if you were to give them a slap. With very sensitive people it can put their stomach out of order or give them palpitation, because you put into it an evil force which has a power of destruction.
It is not at all ineffective to speak. Naturally it depends a great deal on each one's inner power. People who have no strength and no consciousness can't do very much - unless they employ material means. But to the extent that you are strong, especially when you have a powerful vital, you must have a great control on what you say, otherwise you can do much harm. Without wanting to, without knowing it; through ignorance.
Anything? No? Nothing?
Another question?... Everything's over? ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1955, 347-349,#KEYS
14:The ancient Mesopotamians and the ancient Egyptians had some very interesting, dramatic ideas about that. For example-very briefly-there was a deity known as Marduk. Marduk was a Mesopotamian deity, and imagine this is sort of what happened. As an empire grew out of the post-ice age-15,000 years ago, 10,000 years ago-all these tribes came together. These tribes each had their own deity-their own image of the ideal. But then they started to occupy the same territory. One tribe had God A, and one tribe had God B, and one could wipe the other one out, and then it would just be God A, who wins. That's not so good, because maybe you want to trade with those people, or maybe you don't want to lose half your population in a war. So then you have to have an argument about whose God is going to take priority-which ideal is going to take priority.
What seems to happen is represented in mythology as a battle of the gods in celestial space. From a practical perspective, it's more like an ongoing dialog. You believe this; I believe this. You believe that; I believe this. How are we going to meld that together? You take God A, and you take God B, and maybe what you do is extract God C from them, and you say, 'God C now has the attributes of A and B.' And then some other tribes come in, and C takes them over, too. Take Marduk, for example. He has 50 different names, at least in part, of the subordinate gods-that represented the tribes that came together to make the civilization. That's part of the process by which that abstracted ideal is abstracted. You think, 'this is important, and it works, because your tribe is alive, and so we'll take the best of both, if we can manage it, and extract out something, that's even more abstract, that covers both of us.'
I'll give you a couple of Marduk's interesting features. He has eyes all the way around his head. He's elected by all the other gods to be king God. That's the first thing. That's quite cool. They elect him because they're facing a terrible threat-sort of like a flood and a monster combined. Marduk basically says that, if they elect him top God, he'll go out and stop the flood monster, and they won't all get wiped out. It's a serious threat. It's chaos itself making its comeback. All the gods agree, and Marduk is the new manifestation. He's got eyes all the way around his head, and he speaks magic words. When he fights, he fights this deity called Tiamat. We need to know that, because the word 'Tiamat' is associated with the word 'tehom.' Tehom is the chaos that God makes order out of at the beginning of time in Genesis, so it's linked very tightly to this story. Marduk, with his eyes and his capacity to speak magic words, goes out and confronts Tiamat, who's like this watery sea dragon. It's a classic Saint George story: go out and wreak havoc on the dragon. He cuts her into pieces, and he makes the world out of her pieces. That's the world that human beings live in.
The Mesopotamian emperor acted out Marduk. He was allowed to be emperor insofar as he was a good Marduk. That meant that he had eyes all the way around his head, and he could speak magic; he could speak properly. We are starting to understand, at that point, the essence of leadership. Because what's leadership? It's the capacity to see what the hell's in front of your face, and maybe in every direction, and maybe the capacity to use your language properly to transform chaos into order. God only knows how long it took the Mesopotamians to figure that out. The best they could do was dramatize it, but it's staggeringly brilliant. It's by no means obvious, and this chaos is a very strange thing. This is a chaos that God wrestled with at the beginning of time.
Chaos is half psychological and half real. There's no other way to really describe it. Chaos is what you encounter when you're blown into pieces and thrown into deep confusion-when your world falls apart, when your dreams die, when you're betrayed. It's the chaos that emerges, and the chaos is everything it wants, and it's too much for you. That's for sure. It pulls you down into the underworld, and that's where the dragons are. All you've got at that point is your capacity to bloody well keep your eyes open, and to speak as carefully and as clearly as you can. Maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get through it that way and come out the other side. It's taken people a very long time to figure that out, and it looks, to me, that the idea is erected on the platform of our ancient ancestors, maybe tens of millions of years ago, because we seem to represent that which disturbs us deeply using the same system that we used to represent serpentile, or other, carnivorous predators. ~ Jordan Peterson, Biblical Series, 1,#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:Religion is misunderstood mythology. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 2:Mythology is the womb of man's initiation to life and death. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 3:Football is blocking and tackling. Everything else is mythology. ~ vince-lombardi, @wisdomtrove 4:I'm history! No, I'm mythology! Nah, I don't care what I am, I'm free! ~ robin-williams, @wisdomtrove 5:If science fiction is the mythology of modern technology, then its myth is tragic. ~ ursula-k-le-guin, @wisdomtrove 6:A one sentence definition of mythology? Mythology is what we call someone else's religion. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 7:The Indian mythology has a theory of cycles, that all progression is in the form of waves. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 8:I think that we need mythology. We need a bedrock of story and legend in order to live our lives coherently. ~ alan-moore, @wisdomtrove 9:Mythology helps you to identify the mysteries of the energies pouring through you. Therein lies your eternity. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 10:A fiction about soft or easy deaths is part of the mythology of most diseases that are not considered shameful or demeaning. ~ susan-sontag, @wisdomtrove 11:Understanding the mythology of your partner, your customer and your audience is far more important than watching the instant replay of what actually happened. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 12:The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology, and art even to be entertained. ~ sam-harris, @wisdomtrove 13:I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem and yourself participating in a poem is what the myth does for you. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 14:Through dreams a door is opened to mythology, since myths are of the nature of dreams, and that, as dreams arise from an inward world unknown to waking consciousness, so do myths: so, indeed, does life. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 15:One is almost tempted to say that the language itself is a mythology deprived of its vitality, a bloodless mythology so to speak, which has only preserved in a formal and abstract form what mythology contains in living and concrete form. ~ friedrich-wilhelm-joseph-schelling, @wisdomtrove 16:This is, first and last, the real value of Christmas; in so far as the mythology remains at all it is a kind of happy mythology. Personally, of course, I believe in Santa Claus; but it is the season of forgiveness, and I will forgive others for not doing so. ~ g-k-chesterton, @wisdomtrove 17:Mythology is composed by poets out of their insights and realizations. Mythologies are not invented; they are found. You can no more tell us what your dream is going to be tonight than we can invent a myth. Myths come from the mystical region of essential experience. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 18:You don't have to try to be contemporary. You are already contemporary. What one has in mythology is being evolved all the time. Personally, I think I can do with Greek and Old Norse mythology. For example, I don't think I stand in need of planes or of railways or of cars. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 19:I suppose every poet has his own private mythology. Maybe he's unaware of it. People tell me that I have evolved a private mythology of tigers, of blades, of labyrinths, and I"m unaware of the fact this is so. My readers are finding it all the time. But I think perhaps that is the duty of poet. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 20:From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hinduism religion. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 21:Music, feelings of happiness, mythology, faces worn by time, certain twilights and certain places, want to tell us something, or they told us something that we should not have missed, or they are about to tell us something; this imminence of a revelation that is not produced is, perhaps, the esthetic event. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 22:Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics. ~ fritjof-capra, @wisdomtrove 23:When you look at that nature world it becomes an icon, it becomes a holy picture that speaks of the origins of the world. Almost every mythology sees the origins of life coming out of water. And, curiously, that's true. It's amusing that the origin of life out of water is in myths and then again, finally, in science, we find the same thing. It's exactly so. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 24:Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth& 25:We must have a new mythology, but it must place itself at the service of ideas, it must become a mythology of reason. Mythology must become philosophical, so that the people may become rational, and philosophy must become mythological, so that philosophers may become sensible. If we do not give ideas a form that is aesthetic, i.e., mythological, they will hold no interest for people. ~ georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel, @wisdomtrove 26:It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real presence, confession, absolution, - there is something sensible to grasp at. Besides, it leaves no possibility of doubt; for those who swallow their Deity, really and truly, in transubstantiation, can hardly find any thing else otherwise than easy of digestion. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 27:As every past generation has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance of truisms and stereotypes, so in our own time we must move on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new, difficult, but essential confrontation with reality. For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie-deliberate, contrived and dishonest-but the myth-persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Mythology distracts us everywhere. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:mythology,” said Robie. ~ David Baldacci, #NFDB
2:I'm very at home working with mythology. ~ Tori Amos, #NFDB
3:mythology is a truth that isn’t true, ~ T Kingfisher, #NFDB
4:Religon is misunderstood mythology ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
5:I like mythology - anything historical. ~ Cassie Steele, #NFDB
6:Mythology is usually inseparable from ritual. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
7:Greek mythology has always been my Achilles elbow. ~ Adrian McKinty, #NFDB
8:I have built my world through Native American mythology. ~ Tori Amos, #NFDB
9:I didn't study Greek mythology in school and I wish I had. ~ Eric Bana, #NFDB
10:Science surpasses the old miracles of mythology. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
11:B.A. in creative mythology and East Asian studies ~ Michael R Underwood, #NFDB
12:An entire mythology is stored within our language. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein, #NFDB
13:It was an era when history butted up against mythology, ~ Steven Pressfield, #NFDB
14:Mythology works... because Indians have been bred on myths. ~ Ashwin Sanghi, #NFDB
15:Every ghost has a story. Monsters are nothing without mythology. ~ Kris Kidd, #NFDB
16:[The Bible is] a mass of fables and traditions, mere mythology. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
17:I love Greek mythology, I love gladiators, I love war stuff. ~ Tyson Chandler, #NFDB
18:Mythology can be defined as the sacred history of humankind. ~ Gerald Hausman, #NFDB
19:Mythology is to relate found truth to the living of a life. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
20:The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology. ~ Bernard Malamud, #NFDB
21:Heresy is the life of a mythology and orthodoxy is the death. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
22:The drug which makes sexuality palatable in popular mythology. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
23:The terrifying irrational has no place in classical mythology. ~ Edith Hamilton, #NFDB
24:I'm fascinated by almost any mythology that I can get my hands on... ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
25:So knowing mythology makes one a more informed member of society, ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
26:Football is blocking and tackling. Everything else is mythology. ~ Vince Lombardi, #NFDB
27:He appears oftener in the tales of mythology than any other god. ~ Edith Hamilton, #NFDB
28:I ate the mythology & dreamt.” —YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA, “Blackberries ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
29:The depth of your mythology is the extent of your effectiveness. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
30:Mythology is the womb of mankind's initiation to life and death. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
31:Mythology is a vast body of knowledge that has not been tapped. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
32:A culture without mythology is not really a civilisation. ~ Vilayanur S Ramachandran, #NFDB
33:I love Norse mythology - Thor and Odin and Loki - amazing characters. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
34:One may as well preach a respectable mythology as anything else. ~ Mary Augusta Ward, #NFDB
35:I ate mythology & dreamt'
- Yusef Komunyakaa (Blackberries) ~ Yusef Komunyakaa,#NFDB
36:I'm history! No, I'm mythology! Nah, I don't care what I am, I'm free! ~ Robin Williams, #NFDB
37:The death of Baldr is one of the most important moments in the mythology. ~ John Lindow, #NFDB
38:Mythology is studied in the school system because most of us come from it. ~ Bel Kaufman, #NFDB
39:I started studying mythology, just on my own. Joseph Campbell, mysticism. ~ Antoine Fuqua, #NFDB
40:Myth is already enlightenment, and enlightenment reverts to mythology. ~ Theodor W Adorno, #NFDB
41:Psychology is ultimately mythology, the study of the stories of the soul. ~ James Hillman, #NFDB
42:I wanted to make a kids' film that would strengthen contemporary mythology. ~ George Lucas, #NFDB
43:Strangely enough, there's this mythology sprouting out that I cannot stop. ~ Werner Herzog, #NFDB
44:Those who have Gods don’t have tedium. Tedium is the lack of a mythology. ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
45:And after all, our mythology may be much nearer to literal truth than we suppose. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
46:Mythology is much better stuff than history. It has form; logic; a message. ~ Penelope Lively, #NFDB
47:Mythology's just the folktales of people who won 'cos they had bigger swords ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
48:Religion is poetry misunderstood. ~ Joseph Campbell, “Mythology and the Individual,” Lecture 4, #NFDB
49:The mythology of freedom under capitalism for the average person is a con job. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
50:Mythology is a subjective truth. Every culture imagines life a certain way. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
51:To a mind ready for mythology, he was the beginning of what is meant by godlike. ~ Daniel Quinn, #NFDB
52:Nobody in America, in the modern generation, has read their mythology or legends. ~ Kenneth Anger, #NFDB
53:Mythology is the crop which the Old World bore before its soil was exhausted. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
54:North Korea has a very striking mythology there. It is influencing the whole nation. ~ Werner Herzog, #NFDB
55:I don't buy the whole mythology of the sixties. I think I'm an intergenerational person. ~ Bill Ayers, #NFDB
56:If science fiction is the mythology of modern technology, then its myth is tragic. ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
57:I decline to accept Hebrew mythology as a guide to twentieth-century science. ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton, #NFDB
58:As in poetry, so in mythology, the figures must submit to the same dual interpretation. ~ Erich Neumann, #NFDB
59:Self-manipulation is our medication. Mythology is our drug. The only cure is honesty. ~ Stefan Molyneux, #NFDB
60:The first function of mythology is showing everything as a metaphor to transcendence. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
61:For me, cinema becomes grandiose when it imposes its own mythology and its own reality. ~ Gaspard Ulliel, #NFDB
62:Mythology, in other words, is psychology misread as biography, history, and cosmology. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
63:Hollywood grew to be the most flourishing factory of popular mythology since the Greeks. ~ Alistair Cooke, #NFDB
64:If comics are modern mythology, then black participation and representation is crucial. ~ Reginald Hudlin, #NFDB
65:In its youth a people produce mythology and poetry; in its decadence, philosophy and logic. ~ Will Durant, #NFDB
66:There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London. ~ Craig Finn, #NFDB
67:II know a little about Greek mythology. It's not that far away from the Nordic mythology. ~ Mads Mikkelsen, #NFDB
68:In every religion there are three parts: philosophy, mythology, and ritual. Philosophy ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
69:The poet is he who can write some pure mythology today without the aid of posterity. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
70:"The whole of mythology could be taken as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious." ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
71:A one sentence definition of mythology? Mythology is what we call someone else's religion. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
72:Italian cameramen grow up immersed in an awareness of light. It is part of their mythology. ~ Barbara Steele, #NFDB
73:Don't buy into the corporate mythology that's been rammed down our throats for all these years. ~ John Cusack, #NFDB
74:... telling herself stories about herself in a singsong voice, creating her own mythology. ~ Abraham Verghese, #NFDB
75:Mythology is the song. Its the flight of the imagination inspired by the energy of the body. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
76:The Indian mythology has a theory of cycles, that all progression is in the form of waves. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
77:There's this kind of strange mythology about me in the media because I've done unusual things. ~ Werner Herzog, #NFDB
78:True believers aren’t real receptive to the idea that what they’re telling you is just mythology. ~ Kage Baker, #NFDB
79:God lives and works in history. The outward mythology changes, the inward truth remains the same. ~ Iris Murdoch, #NFDB
80:In fact, the whole of mythology could be taken as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
81:I think that the mythology of Van Gogh's life, and the beauty of his paintings, is unstoppable. ~ Billy Childish, #NFDB
82:The extraordinary gentleness of the adult male with his young dispels all the King Kong mythology. ~ Dian Fossey, #NFDB
83:The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it. ~ Martin Parr, #NFDB
84:If you do not have a mystic dimension you do not have a mythology, you have an ideology. ~ Joseph Campbell (Mythos), #NFDB
85:On the much revered family of North American mythology - and a metaphor for the Ruling Alliance: ~ August Strindberg, #NFDB
86:thousands of common stories that are baked into our societal mythology and that we believe are real. ~ James Altucher, #NFDB
87:I love all of mythology and rules pertaining to all of the monsters, but I like to go the extra step. ~ Stephen Sommers, #NFDB
88:The only question that matters with regard to a religion and its mythology is “What do these stories mean? ~ Reza Aslan, #NFDB
89:Every human society possesses a mythology which is inherited, transmitted and diversified by literature. ~ Northrop Frye, #NFDB
90:We can keep from a child all knowledge of earlier myths, but we cannot take from him the need for mythology. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
91:Daddy’s gonna put you on a sailboat across the River Styx.” “Did you just use Greek mythology to talk trash? ~ John Green, #NFDB
92:If the Gospels were mythical themselves, they could not provide the knowledge that demythologizes mythology. ~ Ren Girard, #NFDB
93:I think that we need mythology. We need a bedrock of story and legend in order to live our lives coherently. ~ Alan Moore, #NFDB
94:..,No love cannot leave where there is no trust..,~cupid and psyche..,"Greek mythology of Edith Hamilton ~ Edith Hamilton, #NFDB
95:It is striking how history, when resting on the memory of men, always touches the bounds of mythology. ~ Leopold von Ranke, #NFDB
96:"We can keep from a child all knowledge of earlier myths, but we cannot take from him the need for mythology." ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
97:I think people should read fairy tales, because were hungry for a mythology that will speak to our fears. ~ Sandra Cisneros, #NFDB
98:If you want to put your rock 'n' roll into mythology, [A Period of Transition] is from the Daddy Cool school. ~ Van Morrison, #NFDB
99:Of all the minor creatures of mythology, fairies are the most beautiful, the most numerous, the most memorable. ~ Andrew Lang, #NFDB
100:There is a sort of mythology that grows up about what happened, which is different from what really did happen. ~ Peter Higgs, #NFDB
101:Through the mythology of Einstein, the world blissfully regained the image of knowledge reduced to a formula. ~ Roland Barthes, #NFDB
102:Mythology helps you to identify the mysteries of the energies pouring through you. Therein lies your eternity. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
103:The notions of creation, preservation and destruction in Hindu mythology thus deal with culture, not nature. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
104:the rivers of mythology and philosophy run parallel and do not mingle till they meet in the sea of Christendom. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
105:Violence is the foundational mythology of what was once Western, and what has become now, global modern thought. ~ Vamsee Juluri, #NFDB
106:But always, it has been truly said, the savage is talkative about his mythology and taciturn about his religion. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
107:'Doctor Who' was the first mythology that I learned, before ever I ran into Greek or Roman or Egyptian mythologies. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
108:In a word, mythology is a search; it is something that combines a recurrent desire with a recurrent doubt, mixing ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
109:Mythology is often defined as 'other peoples' religions', religion can be thought of as misinterpreted mythology. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
110:Today's religion will be the future's mythology. Both believed at one time by many; but proved wrong by the clever. ~ Steve Crocker, #NFDB
111:According to ancient mythology, trees link the Earth to the sky. In this respect trees link humans to another world. ~ Richard Allen, #NFDB
112:Every religion, every mythology is true in this sense: It is true as metaphorical of the human and cosmic mystery. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
113:All your Western theologies, the whole mythology of them, are based on the concept of God as a senile delinquent ~ Tennessee Williams, #NFDB
114:All your Western theologies, the whole mythology of them, are based on the concept of God as a senile delinquent. ~ Tennessee Williams, #NFDB
115:There's something about Celtic mythology which is deep in the soul, and I just think that somehow she has tapped right into it. ~ Enya, #NFDB
116:The wealth creators of neoliberal mythology are some of the most effective wealth destroyers the world has ever seen. ~ George Monbiot, #NFDB
117:It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
118:..,No love cannot leave where there is no trust..,~ Edith Hamiltoncupid and psyche..,"Greek mythology of Edith Hamilton ~ Edith Hamilton, #NFDB
119:There were Romulus and Remus. They were saved by a she-wolf. Suckled. But that was Roman mythology, not the bible. Wolves. ~ Louise Penny, #NFDB
120:I can't compare these movies (Vampire Academy/Twilight/Harry Potter). Every single one of them has their own mythology. ~ Danila Kozlovsky, #NFDB
121:A fiction about soft or easy deaths is part of the mythology of most diseases that are not considered shameful or demeaning. ~ Susan Sontag, #NFDB
122:A tribe's mythology is its living religion, whose loss is always and everywhere, even among the civilized, a moral catastrophe. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
123:Ideology... is a kind of contemporary mythology, a realm which has purged itself of ambiguity and alternative possibility. ~ Terry Eagleton, #NFDB
124:Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. ~ Thomas Bulfinch, #NFDB
125:Once you begin to explain or excuse all events on racial grounds, you begin to indulge in the perilous mythology of race. ~ James Earl Jones, #NFDB
126:For Mythology is the handmaid of literature; and literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of happiness. ~ Thomas Bulfinch, #NFDB
127:I'm interested in mythology generally, but India has no special place in my heart - although Hindu gods seem a lot more fun. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
128:I see the way I look upon organized religion, I was a victim of that of mythology, and of cruelty, and all the absurd stuff. ~ Malachy McCourt, #NFDB
129:My brothers were the ones who taught me about mythology and storytelling, and showed me how to do stop-motion animation. ~ Geoffrey S Fletcher, #NFDB
130:The conversation had turned again to those moments, by now enriched by a private mythology, when they first set eyes on each other ~ Ian McEwan, #NFDB
131:Only a few individuals succeed in throwing off mythology in a time of a certain intellectual supremacy--the mass never frees itself. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
132:I think another way that you can really harm yourself as an artist is by buying into the mythology that it's really important. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, #NFDB
133:The muse of music isn't just from Greek mythology, but living in people like the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin. ~ Ernie Isley, #NFDB
134:(T)he psychological view of C.G. Jung can be summarized by saying that mythology is the self-revelation of the archetypal psyche. ~ Edward Edinger, #NFDB
135:As you know, Felix is a co-religionist of yours. He will be speaking on the spirituality of pan-mythology”, said the President. ~ Michael D O Brien, #NFDB
136:Anytime you start doing a comic book with mythology attached, people are like, "Are you going to get it right? It's important to me." ~ Tom Cavanagh, #NFDB
137:I've always preferred mythology to history. History is truth that becomes an illusion. Mythology is an illusion that becomes reality. ~ Jean Cocteau, #NFDB
138:Nothing is more witty and grotesque than ancient mythology and Christianity; that is because they are so mystical. ~ Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, #NFDB
139:A philosophical mythology lies concealed in language, which breaks out again at every moment, no matter how cautious we may be. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
140:ham·a·dry·ad n. 1 (also Hamadryad) [GREEK & ROMAN MYTHOLOGY] a nymph who lives in a tree and dies when the tree dies. ~ Oxford University Press, #NFDB
141:In our household, the Bible, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
142:Love, love, love - all the wretched cant of it, masking egotism, lust, masochism, fantasy under a mythology of sentimental postures. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
143:The average Pakistani student is brought up on a mix of dogma and mythology that does not encourage respect for facts or empiricism. ~ Husain Haqqani, #NFDB
144:The disinterested imaginative core of mythology is what develops into literature, science, philosophy. Religion is applied mythology. ~ Northrop Frye, #NFDB
145:Writers cannot let themselves be servants of the official mythology. They have to, whatever the cost, say what truth they have to say. ~ Tobias Wolff, #NFDB
146:If a being from another world were to ask you, "How can I learn what it's like to be human?" a good answer would be, "Study mythology. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
147:Mythology is not history, but sometimes it is the vehicle in which history travels. Mythology is the wallpaper and history is the wall. A ~ Gordon White, #NFDB
148:There's this piece of contemporary mythology that the forties are the best time of your life. A load of cock, so far as I'm concerned. ~ Penelope Lively, #NFDB
149:She quickly interpreted him into her mythology but if, at first, he was a herbivorous lion, later he became a unicorn devouring raw meat. ~ Angela Carter, #NFDB
150:The reason why the music [jazz] is important is because it's an art form-an ancient art form-that takes in the mythology of our people. ~ Wynton Marsalis, #NFDB
151:Mythology never leaves us stranded; no matter what dark tale it may spin, a true myth will lead us out of the dilemma and offer a cure. ~ Robert A. Johnson, #NFDB
152:[W]hereas the truths of science are communicable, … mythology and metaphysics are but guides to the brink of a transcendent illumination. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
153:One must bear in mind that the concept of God as a judge, which is part of Christian and Islamic mythology, is absent in Hindu mythology ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
154:Fate. Sounds romantic.”
“You must not know anything about mythology, then, Mr. McQueen. In all the old myths, the Fates were the villains. ~ Tiffany Reisz,#NFDB
155:It's quite widespread in rock culture, that mythology of the shooting star. I'd rather be the North star. As bob (Dylan) says, you can navigate by it. ~ Bono, #NFDB
156:The domain of mythic images lives in us; it's good to be acquainted with it. When a mythology does not operate on us, we lose this contact. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
157:I'm obsessed with Greek mythology. My favorite goddess is Artemis. She's strong and reminds me of Katniss, the heroine of The Hunger Games. ~ Isabelle Fuhrman, #NFDB
158:I'm usually working on my own mythology, my own realm of created characters. Stories in mythology inspire me, though I may not be conscious of it. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
159:It's quite widespread in rock culture, that mythology of the shooting star.
I'd rather be the North star. As bob (Dylan) says, you can navigate by it. ~ Bono,#NFDB
160:Literature is still doing the same job that mythology did earlier, but filling in its huge cloudy shapes with sharper lights and deeper shadows. ~ Northrop Frye, #NFDB
161:My own feeling of concern arises from seeing how much moral injury and suffering is created by the superstitions of the Christian mythology. ~ Harriet Martineau, #NFDB
162:The deity at the Malanada Temple in Poruvazhy village, Kerala, is none other than the most reviled villain of Indian mythology – Duryodhana. ~ Anand Neelakantan, #NFDB
163:I believe in mythology. I guess I share Joseph Campbell's notion that a culture or society without mythology would die, and we're close to that. ~ Robert Redford, #NFDB
164:In every one of the Greeks' mythology tales, there is this: a man chasing a woman, or a woman chasing a man. There is never a meeting in the middle. ~ Jesmyn Ward, #NFDB
165:In the absence of an effective general mythology, each of us has his private, unrecognized, rudimentary, yet secretly potent pantheon of dreams. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
166:In art and mythology, the Goddess appears in three forms. White represents the virgin, red the mother, and black, the crone, or the death-goddess. ~ Erin O Riordan, #NFDB
167:This is the frost coming out of the ground; this is Spring. It precedes the green and flowery spring, as mythology precedes regular poetry. I ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
168:Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's The Wicked + The Divine is a warp into the middle of a wildly imaginative mythology and I'm itching to read more. ~ Rick Remender, #NFDB
169:On the way from mythology to logistics thought has lost the element of self-reflection and today machinery disables men even as it nurtures them. ~ Theodor W Adorno, #NFDB
170:The whole mythology of Westeros begins with the struggle between the Children of the Forest and different warring factions before the first men arrive. ~ Alex Graves, #NFDB
171:You know all your Norse mythology and chess references make you a nerd, right? Deep down under all that muscle, ink, and leather, you’re a huge nerd. ~ Susan Fanetti, #NFDB
172:All your Western theologies, the whole mythology of them, are based on the concept of God as a senile delinquent. ~ Tennessee Williams, The Night of the Iguana (1963), #NFDB
173:Furies, Alecto. In classic mythology, Tisiphone and Megaera and Alecto, daughters of the earth goddess Gaea, punished crimes in the name of the victims. ~ Dean Koontz, #NFDB
174:I guess darkness serves a purpose: to show us that there is redemption through chaos. I believe in that. I think that's the basis of Greek mythology. ~ Brendan Fraser, #NFDB
175:I went to volcanoes where I knew that there was a lot of mythology around them; there was something like the creation of gods and monsters and demons. ~ Werner Herzog, #NFDB
176:The earliest Greek philosopher's criticized Homer's mythology because the gods resembled mortals too much and were just as egotistic and treacherous. ~ Jostein Gaarder, #NFDB
177:By the time humankind reaches the stage of writing its mythology and laws, patriarchy is definitively established: it is males who write the codes. ~ Simone de Beauvoir, #NFDB
178:In mythology, there were three women who determined your fate. The daughters of Zeus were called the Moirai. Three sisters who determined a man’s destiny. ~ Lisa Jackson, #NFDB
179:Like science and technology, mythology, as we shall see, is not about opting out of this world, but about enabling us to live more intensely within it. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
180:It’s the conflict between Apollo and Dionysus—a famous dilemma in mythology. It’s the age-old battle between mind and heart, which seldom want the same thing. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
181:In mythology and religion, no less than in other spheres of life there is much in the way of self-serving interests, deceitfulness, mindlessness, and vices. ~ Luis E Navia, #NFDB
182:The twin enemies of mythology are logic and empirical data, the chief weapons of true science. If either weapon is neutralized, mythology is free to run wild. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
183:Understanding the mythology of your partner, your customer and your audience is far more important than watching the instant replay of what actually happened. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
184:Classical mythology is a catalogue of indescribable cruelty: [...] It is a world dominated by evil, where even the most beautiful beings carry out atrocities. ~ Umberto Eco, #NFDB
185:It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth—penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words, beyond images, ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
186:Hell is a western concept, invented to keep people to a path of righteousness out of fear. There is no concept of hell in Hindu philosophy or mythology. ~ Christopher C Doyle, #NFDB
187:I get a lot of inspiration from research in mythology and folklore, I find that stories people told each other thousands of years ago are still relevant now. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
188:In the world of language, or in other words in the world of art and liberal education, religion necessarily appears as mythology or as Bible. ~ Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, #NFDB
189:Most of the monsters... are based on some sort of mythology. Every culture and even some geographical areas have monsters and mythology that is their own. ~ Laurell K Hamilton, #NFDB
190:No one that night turned
into literature, nothing that we did or didn't
entered the mythology of boys growing into men
or girls fighting to be people. ~ Philip Levine,#NFDB
191:Poetry, mythology, and religion represent the world as man would like to have it, while science represents the world as he gradually comes to discover it. ~ Joseph Wood Krutch, #NFDB
192:the more a body tries to explode all the foolish myths that have grown up about Texas by telling the truth, the more a body will wind up adding to the mythology. ~ Molly Ivins, #NFDB
193:I love Greek Mythology, wish there was a TV series, like being human or smallville, but with the series based around Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Holla Mayne! ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
194:Introduction to Classical Mythology Of old the Hellenic race was marked off from the barbarian as more keen-witted and more free from nonsense. HERODOTUS I: 60. ~ Edith Hamilton, #NFDB
195:Mythology, science and space exploration are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood. And they were always connected somehow with the music I write. ~ Vangelis, #NFDB
196:But, strictly speaking, this mythology was no essential part of ancient religion, for it had no sacred sanction and no binding force on the worshippers. ~ William Robertson Smith, #NFDB
197:In families there is always the mythology. My father died when my kids were quite young still, and yet they still tell his stories. That is how a person lives on. ~ Jessica Lange, #NFDB
198:In Greek mythology, Gods divide a human soil into two and send them world apart, and thus, each human is doomed to spend eternity looking for his/her other half ~ Daniel Gottlieb, #NFDB
199:It did remind me of something out of Greek mythology - the richest king who gets everything he wants, but ultimately his family has a curse on it from the Gods. ~ Martin Scorsese, #NFDB
200:Mythology may, in a real sense, be defined as other people's religion. And religion may, in a sense, be understood as popular misunderstanding of mythology. (8) ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
201:When I'm painting them, the whole legend and mythology of apples occurs to me, and so Adam and Eve and the snake and all the rest of it somehow gets into the picture. ~ Mary Pratt, #NFDB
202:In mythology, lightning represents either the loss of ignorance or punishment for those who overstep their bounds. I used two bolts since we intend to do both. ~ Joelle Charbonneau, #NFDB
203:When they told him this, Ransom at last understood why mythology was what it was -- gleams of celestial strength and beauty falling on a jungle of filth and imbecility. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
204:When we try to do scientific history, do we really do something scientific, or do we too remain astride our own mythology in what we are trying to make as pure history? ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
205:It’s a common storyline and mythology in the comic book community—which technically is the only community more frightened by the vagina than the religious community. ~ Ryan Patricks, #NFDB
206:Perhaps because of this, many have looked at my practice in terms of science and technology, however, for me it is just as informed by Surrealism and mythology. ~ Patricia Piccinini, #NFDB
207:There was this kind of mildly annoying mythology about conductor Like biker should riding a Harley-Davidson on an LP cover, and wearing a sort of a leather suit. ~ Esa Pekka Salonen, #NFDB
208:Anyone with a cursory knowledge of mythology knows that it is suicidal to sexually harass a goddess. Look what Artemis did to that guy who stumbled across her bathing. ~ Kevin Hearne, #NFDB
209:Institutionalised in sports, the military, acculturated sexuality, the history and mythology of heroism, violence is taught to boys until they becomes its advocates. ~ Andrea Dworkin, #NFDB
210:That's the great thing about rock n' roll: the myth is ultimately more important than the reality. And that's what you learn - you just learn to go with the mythology. ~ Billy Corgan, #NFDB
211:When they first cast me, I was a pretty avid fan and vampire movies and Celtic mythology, so I was excited to get a chance to walk in Doyle's shoes and have fun with it. ~ Glenn Quinn, #NFDB
212:Military mythology has to pretend that real men are in the majority; cowards can never be allowed to feel that they might be the normal ones and the heroes are insane. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
213:To me, the difference between mythology and real history is that the real history has to tell a kind of believable story of how things happened. The physics has to work. ~ Bruno Heller, #NFDB
214:We have reached a situation where a theory has been accepted as fact by some, and possible contrary evidence is shunted aside. [This is] mythology rather than science. ~ Robert Shapiro, #NFDB
215:Folklore and mythology, as well as man's catastrophic disregard for nature, are the meat of Joseph D'Lacey's horror. But the prime cuts are always compassion and surprise. ~ Adam Nevill, #NFDB
216:Of all the subjects on this planet, I think my parents would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology to securing the keys to an executive bathroom. ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
217:All mythology masters and dominates and shapes the forces of nature in and through the imagination; hence it disappears as soon as man gains mastery over the forces of nature ~ Karl Marx, #NFDB
218:It's no secret that I've always had an interest in mythology. Whether it's Arthurian or ancient Greek or even Marvel universe. I've always connected with it on some level. ~ Nicolas Cage, #NFDB
219:I've loved fairytales, folklore and mythology since I was a small child, and I think it was inevitable that they would influence my style and my development of stories. ~ Juliet Marillier, #NFDB
220:It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those that tend to tie it back. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
221:More often than not, what is passed off as history is mythology, someone’s understanding of truth shaped by memory, feelings and desire, available facts notwithstanding. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
222:Beyond images, beyond that bounding rim of the Buddhist Wheel of Becoming. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, #NFDB
223:Star Wars is mythology. Its like Greek mythology or Shakespeare. Its the story of good versus evil over a very long span of time. The storytelling is universal and timeless. ~ Michael Franti, #NFDB
224:I would love to do more science fiction. I always envisioned the Riddick franchise as a continuing mythology, so I always imagined that there would be many other films to follow. ~ Vin Diesel, #NFDB
225:In the United States there's a Puritan ethic and a mythology of success. He who is successful is good. In Latin countries, in Catholic countries, a successful person is a sinner. ~ Umberto Eco, #NFDB
226:WHILE HUMANS BEGAN IMAGINING this scenario centuries ago—corpse-like creatures were the mainstay of the Viking afterlife, and draugrs were the undead bodies of Norse mythology— ~ Helen Thomson, #NFDB
227:I love mythology, grew up loving it. I'm a middle kid, big family, that's the thing you did in the farm country. I lived in Iowa, I loved mythology. I don't know, we're like that. ~ Kellan Lutz, #NFDB
228:On a more basic level, Greek mythology is simply fun! The stories have adventure, magic, romance, monsters, brave heroes, horrible villains, fantastic quests. What’s not to love? ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
229:The way superheroes dominate the fictional landscape now, along with dystopian futures and zombies. Yeah, definitely - I think these stories function as a kind of mythology for us. ~ Adam Frank, #NFDB
230:The foreshadowing of this process in mythology, the transformation of the Terrible Mother, has been described by Kees 5 under the motif of the “pacification of the beast of prey, ~ Erich Neumann, #NFDB
231:In the true mythology, Love is an immortal child, and Beauty leads him as a guide; nor can we express a deeper sense than when we say, Beauty is the pilot of the young soul. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
232:One of the things that really intrigued us the most about the whole Wonder Woman mythology is the actual mythology of it. Her character has distinct roots in classic Greek mythology. ~ Bruce Timm, #NFDB
233:The notion of the noble savage living in harmony with Nature should be dispatched to the realm of mythology where it belongs. Human beings have never lived in harmony with nature. ~ Peter Brannen, #NFDB
234:The new mythology of love was that it bent to the fashion of the day, obligated to take the shape of doves, lilies, jewels. This is a lie. Love is sometimes as passionate as war. ~ Brenna Yovanoff, #NFDB
235:A lot of ink is given over to mythologizing female friendships as curious, fragile relationships that are always intensely fraught. Stop reading writing that encourages this mythology. ~ Roxane Gay, #NFDB
236:I've always been a mythology lover, and so I took a great deal of inspiration from the tales of various dark gods and popular versions of Hell from the Greeks and the Norse stories. ~ Michael Boatman, #NFDB
237:If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation. ~ Thomas Bulfinch, #NFDB
238:Pluralism makes a unifying myth impossible. But if we cannot reinstate such a mythology we can, at least, return to the source from which mythology springs - the creative imagination. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
239:I'm accustomed to thinking of literature as a search for knowledge; in order to move onto existential terrain I need to consider it in relation to anthropology, ethnology, and mythology. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
240:MYTHOLOGY, n. The body of a primitive people's beliefs concerning its origin, early history, heroes, deities and so forth, as distinguished from the true accounts which it invents later. ~ Ambrose Bierce, #NFDB
241:[This kind of strange mythology about me.] I've pulled a huge steamboat over a mountain; I've done a feature film with all the actors acting under hypnosis - things that are very unusual. ~ Werner Herzog, #NFDB
242:I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem and yourself participating in a poem is what the myth does for you. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
243:When he woke up the next day, the world was still there, and things were already moving forward, like the great karmic wheel of Indian mythology that kills every living thing in its path. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
244:I think young people really do care. They want to build their life on something that's solid and makes sense, that's rational, that's not built on mythology, make-believe and wishful thinking. ~ Lee Strobel, #NFDB
245:The interface of history and myth is where my stories take place anyway, and there's always a way I'm trying to tap mythologies with the perfect understanding that history will trump mythology. ~ Steve Stern, #NFDB
246:The mystery of light [and] the enigma of time form the twin pivots around which all my work revolves. In addition... my work attempts to create a mythology for our contemporary world. ~ Clarence John Laughlin, #NFDB
247:Affairs are loaded with romanticism, morality, mythology, and intense emotions. They're not really about sex, but about pain and fear and the desire to feel alive. They're also about betrayal. ~ Emily Browning, #NFDB
248:It’s all very Greek, isn’t it?” I quipped. “Prophecies, tragedies, destinies. Just like in all those old mythology books we read over the years.” Fletcher shrugged. “Hard to beat the classics. ~ Jennifer Estep, #NFDB
249:I don't know who first said, "Science fiction is the mythology of our time." An increasing number of occultists are realizing this and are incorporating science fiction into their rituals. ~ Robert Anton Wilson, #NFDB
250:I was in Hollywood. It's the mythology heart. It's where all the European films came in the '30s and '40s. The marriage between Europe and Hollywood has always been the best when it works. ~ Nicolas Winding Refn, #NFDB
251:Research is always the best part. As we dug deeper into the history and mythology behind each of the hallows, we discovered more and more stories - some of them deserving of novels in themselves. ~ Michael Scott, #NFDB
252:[...] Tradition is not a childish and outmoded mythology but a science that is terribly real. (...la tradition n'est pas une mythologie puérile et désuète, mais une science terriblement réelle.) ~ Frithjof Schuon, #NFDB
253:In Greek mythology, the hero wants to be great, but the very concept does not exist in the Indian vocabulary. Yet it has become the global template. And it's a template that won't fit in India. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
254:One could almost say that if all the world's traditions were cut off at a single blow, the whole of mythology and the whole history of religion would start all over again with the next generation. ~ Carl Jung, CW 4, #NFDB
255:CAMPBELL: I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem and yourself participating in a poem is what the myth does for you. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
256:Göt·ter·däm·mer·ung (in Germanic mythology) the downfall of the gods. German, literally 'twilight of the gods', popularized by Wagner's use of the word as the title of the last opera of the Ring cycle. ~ Erin McKean, #NFDB
257:I'll search in mythology and archeology
and in every -ology to my old name.
one of the goddesses of Canaan will side with me,
then swear with a flash of lightning.
This is my orphan son ~ Mahmoud Darwish,#NFDB
258:Sweden is still a very peaceful country to live in. I think that people in Britain have created this mythology about Sweden, that it's a perfect democratic society full of erotically charged girls. ~ Henning Mankell, #NFDB
259:I work really out of mythology, so often I work out of a story that has remained lodged inside somehow, or I work out of history, you know, out of a sense of historical inevitability with characters. ~ Louise Erdrich, #NFDB
260:He was like some tragic figure in Greek mythology whose offenses against the gods had caused them to design for him this exquisite torture: you must desperately need to see what you cannot bear to see. ~ Michael Lewis, #NFDB
261:It seems to me that nothing would be more foolish than to re-establish the worship of Wotan. Our old mythology ceased to be viable when Christianity implanted itself. Nothing dies unless it is moribund. ~ Adolf Hitler, #NFDB
262:We need mythology as the marsupial needs the pouch to develop beyond the stage of the incompetent infant to a stage where it ca ~ n step out of the pouch and say, “Me, voilà: I’m it.”Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss, #NFDB
263:Don’t Know Much About Mythology takes a slightly different tack. It sets out to examine all the fascinating myths created by these ancient cultures and relate them to their histories and achievements. ~ Kenneth C Davis, #NFDB
264:I think the show [Grimm] became a little more procedural following the pilot, and I didn't know that would happen. Recently more of the mythology has crept in, and the characters are starting to bloom. ~ David Giuntoli, #NFDB
265:The mythology of black women as promiscuous was important to maintaining the profitable exploitation of slave society. In freedom, it remained important as a means of racial and gender control. ~ Melissa V Harris Perry, #NFDB
266:What impresses me about Catholic mythology is partly its tasteless kitsch but mostly the airy nonchalance with which these people make up the details as they go along. It is just shamelessly invented. ~ Richard Dawkins, #NFDB
267:The belief that the stories told in the Bible are in some or any sense accurate forms the baseline mythology of the field. In the words of Robert Anton Wilson, ‘what the thinker thinks, the prover proves. ~ Gordon White, #NFDB
268:Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of education. ~ Thomas Bulfinch, #NFDB
269:Women are not in control of their bodies; nature is. Ancient mythology, with its sinister archetypes of vampire and Gorgon, is more accurate than feminism about the power and terror of female sexuality. ~ Camille Paglia, #NFDB
270:Through dreams a door is opened to mythology, since myths are of the nature of dreams, and that, as dreams arise from an inward world unknown to waking consciousness, so do myths: so, indeed, does life. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
271:I walk the streets, take the train, it's real simple. Some actors create their own mythology: 'Oh, I'm so famous I can't go places, because I created this mythology that I'm so famous I can't go places. ~ Samuel L Jackson, #NFDB
272:. . . people want to establish a canon, because people want to imagine that there are great writers and lesser writers and they want the mythology, they want the narrative for themselves. And it’s embarrassing. ~ Tim Parks, #NFDB
273:Both of Europe and the Hebrews belong to the House of Bull, they both are from the same Aryan culture. Europa was after all -in Greek mythology- the mother of the Minotaur which was decapitated by Theseus. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
274:Perchance, when, in the course of ages, American liberty has become a fiction of the past—as it is to some extent a fiction of the present—the poets of the world will be inspired by American mythology. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
275:A lot of mythology arose after [Mahatma Gandhi] death. But the fact remains that he was an exceptional man, terribly intelligent, with tremendous intuition for people, and a great instinct for what was right. ~ Indira Gandhi, #NFDB
276:[Harold Pinter] is a British playwright and is one of my favorite writers. Harold was very obsessed with when memory becomes mythology, that at some point you change your memory to fit who you believe you are. ~ Baron Vaughn, #NFDB
277:If we come from good families where we have been supported well, there is a disillusionment we have to undergo in terms of the culture's values. We have to get beyond our cultural mythology to find out who we are. ~ Sam Keen, #NFDB
278:Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
279:In fact, the underlying principle of the baroque is the idea of transformation, of movement, and animals becoming man, and man becoming animals, and mythology. It was a way to inspire pre-Christian character. ~ Camille Henrot, #NFDB
280:The archetypal level is revealed in religions, the arts, in the fruits of human creativity, and in dreams and visions. Jung suggests that mythology, too, arises from this nonpersonal layer of the human psyche. ~ Edward Edinger, #NFDB
281:"Though the shadow is a motif as well known to mythology as anima and animus, it represents first and foremost the personal unconscious, and its content can therefore be made conscious without too much difficulty." ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
282:We have looked for myths that include us in great novels, music, the latest comic book, or even some stupid advertising campaign. We'll look anywhere for a mythology that embraces people like ourselves. ~ Kate Bornstein, #NFDB
283:(Fenris was a giant wolf of Norse mythology who, it was prophesied, would return one day to fuck everything up, and such were the ground rules of that mythos that there was nothing the gods could do about it). ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
284:Even when he turns from religion, man remains subject to it; depleting himself to create false gods, he then feverishly adopts them; his need for fiction, for mythology triumphs over evidence and absurdity alike. ~ Emil M Cioran, #NFDB
285:In India we have a readymade world of fantasy available in Indian mythology. And this is why we see such a surfeit of characters drawn from mythology. I don't think it's because the present day humanity is soulless. ~ Anita Nair, #NFDB
286:The ascending spiral, one of the central images of early American letters and employed especially by Emerson, is probably an unconscious piece of every American's personal mythology. Its shorthand name is progress. ~ Eric Maisel, #NFDB
287:The mythology of the New Testament, also, is not to be questioned with respect to the content of its objectifying representations but with respect to the understanding of existence that expresses itself in them. ~ Rudolf Bultmann, #NFDB
288:Edward Edinger's work enlivens Greek mythology, which has been abandoned in the Western world, and therefore, according to Jung, it has retreated to the unconscious where it appears in dreams, symptoms, and fantasies. ~ Polkinhorn, #NFDB
289:My specialty is mythology.There are artifacts like the hallows scattered through just about every mythology. However, what makes the Celtic hallows so interesting is that they are a self-contained group of objects. ~ Michael Scott, #NFDB
290:Mythology and science both extend the scope of human beings. Like science and technology, mythology, as we shall see, is not about opting out of this world, but about enabling us to live more intensely within it. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
291:The fairies in the ancient notion of fairies, they are not positive and cute and twinkly.They can be incredibly nasty or they can be incredibly benign. It's a really interesting mythology when you dig into it. ~ Guillermo del Toro, #NFDB
292:Mythology is all shite anyway,' she says. 'It never has stories about people like us. I'd rather write my own legends, or be the story someone else looks to one day, build a strong foundation for those who follow us. ~ Mackenzi Lee, #NFDB
293:Beyond the mythology, Wonder Woman gets to play with several dichotomies. It's Amazon culture versus man's world; ancient mythological times versus the contemporary world; and, of course, all the male and female issues. ~ Bruce Timm, #NFDB
294:Since its founding in 1965, the theme park has provided Americans and the rest of the world with a compelling model of a particular kind of modern mythology: that of apparent harmony between animals and human beings. ~ John Hargrove, #NFDB
295:This could be a great time to live in,” Kevin said once. “I keep thinking what an experience it would be to stay in it—go West and watch the building of the country, see how much of the Old West mythology is true. ~ Octavia E Butler, #NFDB
296:The most insidious part of the traditional marketing model is that “big blowout launch” mythology. Of course, equally seductive is the “build it and they will come” assumption that too many people associate with the Web. ~ Ryan Holiday, #NFDB
297:When I was growing up in the mid-'50s, the Roaring Twenties were a huge part of the culture. There were a number of films and a bunch of television shows that dealt with the mythology of the underworld from that period. ~ Martin Scorsese, #NFDB
298:The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
299:We never were separate from nature and never will be, but the dominant culture on earth has long imagined itself to be apart from nature and destined one day to transcend it. We have lived in a mythology of separation. ~ Charles Eisenstein, #NFDB
300:Though formless, the God of Abrahamic mythology is addressed, even visualized, in masculine terms. The God of Hindu mythology is visualized as sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes both and sometimes neither. Thus, ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
301:At first I was glad for the help. My freshmen English class, "Mythology and Archetypal Experience," confounded me.
I didn't understand why we couldn't just read books without forcing contorted interpretations on then ~ Alison Bechdel,#NFDB
302:It is a basic idea of practically every war mythology that the enemy is a monster and that in killing him one is protecting the only truly valuable order of human life on earth, which is that, of course, of one's own people. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
303:Every so often you want to map out your plot mythology but never so specifically that you can’t let a story surprise you. You want to allow the type of action of the writer’s room so that you have the ability to take a left turn. ~ Eric Kripke, #NFDB
304:[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. This is one of the essential images in American mythology. ~ Don DeLillo, #NFDB
305:[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. This is one of the essential images in American mythology. ~ Don DeLillo, #NFDB
306:Modern poetry’s inferiority to classical poetry can be summed up in the words: we have no mythology . . . The new mythology must be formed from the deepest depth of the spirit. It must be the most artificial of all artworks. ~ Friedrich Schlegel, #NFDB
307:Superheroes fill a gap in the pop culture psyche, similar to the role of Greek mythology. There isn't really anything else that does the job in modern terms. For me, Batman is the one that can most clearly be taken seriously. ~ Christopher Nolan, #NFDB
308:I stick closely to the structure of the myths. I may have some fun with the mythology by changing the environment to modern-day, but the structure of the myths, the monsters, the relationships of the gods - none of that is made up. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
309:Like mythology, Greek philosophy has a tendency to personify ideas. And the Sophist is not merely a teacher of rhetoric for a fee of one or fifty drachmae (Crat.), but an ideal of Plato's in which the falsehood of all mankind is reflected. ~ Plato, #NFDB
310:The material of myth is the material of our life, the material of our body, and the material of our environment, and a living, vital mythology deals with these in terms that are appropriate to the nature of knowledge of the time. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
311:The thing about playing gods, whether you're playing Thor and Loki or Greco Roman gods or Indian gods or characters in any mythology, the reason that gods were invented was because they were basically larger versions of ourselves. ~ Tom Hiddleston, #NFDB
312:The mythology of the Reagan presidency is that he induced the collapse of the Soviet Union by luring it into unsustainable military spending and wars: should there come a point when we think about applying that lesson to ourselves? ~ Glenn Greenwald, #NFDB
313:There is nothing new, from Greek mythology to Shakespeare to every romcom ever made, we're just reimagining the same 12 story plots over and over again - so what makes people keep watching and listening? It's all about the character. ~ Jeremy Renner, #NFDB
314:According to Greek mythology, humans were orginally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them in two seperate beings, condeming them to spend their lives in search of their other halves. ~ Plato, #NFDB
315:One definition occurred to both of them—that he had come out into the light of that lucid and radiant ignorance in which all beliefs had begun. The sky above them was full of mythology. Heaven seemed deep enough to hold all the gods. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
316:The mythology warped and twisted back along itself until Buffy Summers, the girl who once railed against the unfairness of being Chosen, looked at a squadron of girls who were just like she'd been and took away their right to Choose. ~ Seanan McGuire, #NFDB
317:Every culture has its version. It's universal. One of the things that is most fascinating about studying mythology is how so many of the stories and symbols are the same through the centuries and cultures. Just renamed and slightly altered. ~ M J Rose, #NFDB
318:According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves. ~ Plato, #NFDB
319:In the inner world, the spring of living symbols and accompanying presences is the source of dreams and visions, as well as the fountain of inspiration at the heart of poetry, art, ritual, mythology, and even religions. ~ Monika Wikman, Pregnant Darkness, #NFDB
320:It was really John's [Musker] idea to begin with to tell a story set in the world of the South Pacific, Polynesia. He started, he just loved the world and he started reading a lot of mythology, which most people are not that familiar with. ~ Ron Clements, #NFDB
321:mythology is a search; it is something that combines a recurrent desire with a recurrent doubt, mixing a most hungry sincerity in the idea of seeking for a place with a most dark and deep and mysterious levity about all the places found. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
322:The psychological answer to the question "why study mythology?" is that the psyche will otherwise be invisible. Only through an acquaintance with the incredible diversity of mythological images is the psyche made manifest in its origins. ~ Edward Edinger, #NFDB
323:Nosoi?” Percy planted his feet in a fighting stance. “You know, I keep thinking, I have now killed every single thing in Greek mythology. But the list never seems to end.”
“You haven’t killed me yet,” I noted.
“Don’t tempt me. ~ Rick Riordan,#NFDB
324:and still others believe the world will end when a ship constructed with the untrimmed nails of the dead arrives carrying a corpse army to do battle with the gods at the end of days. (Norse mythology will always be the most metal, sorry.) ~ Caitlin Doughty, #NFDB
325:Only two possible reactions to the mimetic contagion exist, and they make an enormous difference. Either we surrender and join the persecuting crowd, or we resist and stand alone. The first way is the unanimous self-deception we call mythology. ~ Ren Girard, #NFDB
326:We’d read about sirens in English this fall; Greek mythology bullshit about women so beautiful, their voices so enchanting, that men did anything for them. Turned out that mythology crap was real because every time I saw her, I lost my mind. ~ Katie McGarry, #NFDB
327:In Ishmael I articulated a living mythology that is so integral to our culture that it’s never examined or even noticed by anyone. It’s like the sound of blood rushing through your veins—you hear it so constantly that you don’t hear it at all. ~ Daniel Quinn, #NFDB
328:Whenever we talk about the fate of the spirit we are automatically in the realm of mythology, whether we like it or not. Spirit and soul exist in a "poetic" realm and can only be accessed by literary figures of speech, not by science or reason. ~ David Tacey, #NFDB
329:I did not believe (and still do not believe) that an oppressive, willfully ignorant society based around God, guns, and free enterprise is capable of the generosity and compassion exhibited by the Jesus Christ character from Christian mythology. ~ James Chalk, #NFDB
330:You're basing your laws and your whole outlook on natural life on mythology. It won't work. That's why you have all these problems in the world. Name them: India, Pakistan, Ireland. Name them-all these problems. They're all religious problems. ~ Jack Kevorkian, #NFDB
331:I think your mythology would call them fallen angels. War and hate are their business, and one of their chief weapons is un-Naming - making people not know who they are. If someone knows who he is, really knows, then he doesn't need to hate. ~ Madeleine L Engle, #NFDB
332:It seems obvious to me that the notion of God has never been anything but a kind of ideal projection, a reflection upward of the human personality, and that theology never has been and never can be anything but a more and more purified mythology. ~ Alfred Loisy, #NFDB
333:Mythology tells us that where you stumble, there your treasure is ... The world is a match for us, and we’re a match for the world. And where it seems most challenging lies the greatest invitation to find deeper and greater power in ourselves. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
334:Read a certain way, the Natural History is preposterous, full of erroneous assumptions and cast-off mythology. Read another way, it is a window into Roman understanding two millennia ago. Read another way, it is a tribute to wonder itself ~ Anthony Doerr, #NFDB
335:The junior hoodlums who roamed their streets were symptoms of a greater sickness; their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of ‘rights’ . . . and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure. ~ Robert A Heinlein, #NFDB
336:I used mythology to tell the story [in Living with Love], with the story of the minotaur and the matador and fighting and fighting for love and the color red and flowers and horns and death and naked men. You know, the important things in life. ~ Madonna Ciccone, #NFDB
337:Sometimes we get frustrated ourselves and decide it's time to download a big chunk of mythology. And then the audience says, 'I find this confusing and alienating and too weird.' So then we pull back, and they say, 'You're not giving us enough'. ~ Damon Lindelof, #NFDB
338:For the liver, what's so interesting is that there's no stem cell in the liver. So the normal liver actually can regenerate. It's one of the only organs in the human body that can do this, and we've known this since the time of Greek mythology. ~ Sangeeta N Bhatia, #NFDB
339:In mythology and religion, no less than in other spheres of life there is much in the way of self-serving interests, deceitfulness, mindlessness, and vices. This has to be so because it is a human creation and everything human is tainted and corrupt. ~ Luis E Navia, #NFDB
340:Mythology was not about theology, in the modern sense, but about human experience. People thought that gods, humans, animals and nature were inextricably bound up together, subject to the same laws, and composed of the same divine substance. There ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
341:Mythology, however, is the product of the collective unconscious, and anyone acquainted with primitive psychology must stand amazed at the unconscious wisdom which rises up from the depths of the human psyche in answer to these unconscious questions. ~ Erich Neumann, #NFDB
342:With regard to how I chose Pacifica, my story is interesting. I did not go to Pacifica to specifically become a therapist. I went to Pacifica to study Jungian psychology and archetypes and mythology and there were many different programs there. ~ Kelly Carlin McCall, #NFDB
343:...an ameliorative mythology [that through] prayer or good deeds or some other activity, one can change the basic principles, the fundamental preconditions of life... This is like marrying someone in order to improve him or her—it is not a marriage. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
344:In all the antique religions, mythology takes the place of dogma; that is, the sacred lore of priests and people... and these stories afford the only explanation that is offered of the precepts of religion and the prescribed rules of ritual. ~ William Robertson Smith, #NFDB
345:Ymir,” Luisa said, pronouncing it as she’d heard Sean do: ee-meer. A word from Norse mythology referring to primordial ice giants. Sean’s code name for a particular hunk of ice that his project had identified, and that he meant to bring back. “Yeah. ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
346:Courses in prosody, rhetoric and comparative philology would be required of all students, and every student would have to select three courses out of courses in mathematics, natural history, geology, meteorology, archaeology, mythology, liturgics, cooking. ~ W H Auden, #NFDB
347:Mythology was never designed to describe historically verifiable events that actually happened. It was an attempt to express their inner significance or to draw attention to realities that were too elusive to be discussed in a logically coherent way. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
348:Our grandkids will lead the lives of the gods of mythology. Zeus could think and move objects around. We'll have that power. Venus had a perfect, timeless body. We'll have that, too. Pegasus was a flying horse. We'll be able to modify life in the future. ~ Michio Kaku, #NFDB
349:I was big into mythology when I was a kid - Arthurian legends and Greek mythology, that was kind of my passion. I hadn't heard of the books, but I was told they were very popular amongst the kids, so I got a hold of them and read them. I totally got it! ~ Steve Valentine, #NFDB
350:Schumpter's daring and dashing entrepreneur is now a legendary figure from the distant past - if not from the mythology of capitalism - or is to be found only in the demimonde of business, founding new ice cream parlors or "deep freeze subscription clubs". ~ Paul A Baran, #NFDB
351:Nietzsche is a marvelous antidote to all fundamentally anti-Biblical efforts to turn mythology into a kind of Bible, and that is the project of the Jungians of this world, or to boil the Bible down to myth, and that is the project of more or less everyone else ~ Ren Girard, #NFDB
352:If you read folklore and mythology, any kind of myths, any kind of tall tales, running is always associated with freedom and vitality and youthfulness and eternal vigor. It's only in our lifetime that running has become associated with fear and pain. ~ Christopher McDougall, #NFDB
353:One is almost tempted to say that the language itself is a mythology deprived of its vitality, a bloodless mythology so to speak, which has only preserved in a formal and abstract form what mythology contains in living and concrete form. ~ Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, #NFDB
354:The search for origins embodied by myth is evident in the world today, but in different guises: theories of the Big Bang & the origin of life; the genealogy of individuals & humanity; the inner search of psychoanalysis into the mythology of early childhood ~ AT Mann, #NFDB
355:The image of the bank robber I had in mind was more in the European tradition where you'd rob banks and give to the poor, like Robin Hood. It was that mythology. But very early on, my whole preoccupation was with art-studying it, examining every piece of work. ~ Tony Shafrazi, #NFDB
356:Notwithstanding the prevalent notion that the French poets are the sympathetic heirs of classic culture, it appears to me that they are not so imbued with the true classic spirit, art, and mythology as some of our English poets, notably Keats and Shelley. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
357:N VIKING MYTHOLOGY, Skoll and Hati chase the sun and the moon. When the wolves catch either one, there is an eclipse. When this happens, the people on earth rush to rescue the sun or moon by making as much noise as they can in hopes of scaring off the wolves. ~ Stephen Hawking, #NFDB
358:to be a poet, requires a mythology of the self. The self described is the poet self, to which the daily self (and others) are often ruthlessly sacrificed. The poet self is the real self, the other one is the carrier; and when the poet self dies, the person dies. ~ Susan Sontag, #NFDB
359:A great brand is a story that’s never completely told. A brand is a metaphorical story that connects with something very deep – a fundamental appreciation of mythology. Stories create the emotional context people need to locate themselves in a larger experience. ~ Scott Bedbury, #NFDB
360:How could the recipient of two Guggenheims and the author of four novels, a dozen short stories, two musicals, two books on black mythology, dozens of essays, and a prizewinning autobiography virtually “disappear” from her readership for three full decades? ~ Zora Neale Hurston, #NFDB
361:the Ceffyl Dŵr, Capaill Uisce and Kelpie of mythology. These organisms are amphibious but preferentially aquatic, carnivorous, aggressive, intelligent, and reputed to drag sailors under water and drown them. It is believed that with suitable operant conditioning and ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
362:The holistic acupuncturist and the sea turtle rescuer may not be able to explain the feeling, 'We are serving the same thing,' but they are. Both are in service to an emerging story of the People that is the defining mythology of a new kind of civilization. ~ Charles Eisenstein, #NFDB
363:Tolkien was such a brilliant writer in so many ways. He was truly an inspiration. Many people don't realize just how much he researched and how much he based his stories and characters on mythology of various types. He was very deep and in many ways a genius. ~ Raymond Buckland, #NFDB
364:I have examined all of the known superstitions of the world and i do not find our superstitions of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all founded on fables and mythology. Christianity has made one-half of the world fools and the other half Hypocrites ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
365:I should acquaint the reader with the basic principles of the mythology I adhered to then. I believed . . . that inanimate objects were no less fallible than people. They, too, could be forgetful. And, if you had enough patience, you could catch them by surprise. ~ Stanis aw Lem, #NFDB
366:"The pictures depict stages in the relationship of a male and a female figure, a king and a queen. The coupling of a male–female pair—the hieros gamos or 'holy wedding'—is a frequent image in world mythology of the ultimate fulfillment in individual development." ~ Arlene Landau, #NFDB
367:...to be a poet, requires a mythology of the self. The self described is the poet self, to which the daily self (and others) are often ruthlessly sacrificed. The poet self is the real self, the other one is the carrier; and when the poet self dies, the person dies. ~ Susan Sontag, #NFDB
368:All great works of literature contain variations and combinations, overt or implied, of such archetypal conflicts inherent in the condition of man, which first occur in the symbols of mythology, and are restated in the particular idiom of each culture and period. ~ Arthur Koestler, #NFDB
369:The ancients rightly called internal longing for wholeness “fate” or “destiny,” the “inner voice” or the “call of the gods.” It has an inevitability, authority, and finality to it, and was at the heart of almost all mythology. Almost all heroes heard an inner voice. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
370:This is, first and last, the real value of Christmas; in so far as the mythology remains at all it is a kind of happy mythology. Personally, of course, I believe in Santa Claus; but it is the season of forgiveness, and I will forgive others for not doing so. ~ Gilbert K Chesterton, #NFDB
371:I've come across a novel called The Palm-Wine Drinkard, by the Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola, that is really remarkable because it is a kind of fantasy of West African mythology all told in West African English which, of course, is not the same as standard English. ~ William Golding, #NFDB
372:I learned that I never really know the true story of my guests' lives, that I have to content myself with knowing that when I'm interviewing somebody, I'm getting a combination of fact and truth and self-mythology and self-delusion and selective memory and faulty memory. ~ Terry Gross, #NFDB
373:Mythology does not state the truth but acts as a sort of non-divinatory revelation. It acts in a magical way, transcending limitations of consciously adapted life. It disregards the impossible, 4 it is beyond ego & does not refer to what "I am" but to what is for all time ~ Weaver, #NFDB
374:Mythology is composed by poets out of their insights and realizations. Mythologies are not invented; they are found. You can no more tell us what your dream is going to be tonight than we can invent a myth. Myths come from the mystical region of essential experience. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
375:Until 1933 only lunatics would have been found in possession of living fragments of mythology. After this, the world of heroes & monsters spread like a devastating fire over whole nations, proving that world of myth had suffered no loss of vitality during centuries of reason ~ Jung, #NFDB
376:Hollywood's martyr-mythology leaves out the fact that the famed Hollywood Ten, for example, were in fact members of the Communist Party, which advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government in violation of the Smith Act and which took orders directly from Moscow. ~ Jonah Goldberg, #NFDB
377:The mythology of your culture hums in your ears so constantly that no one pays the slightest bit of attention to it. Of course man is conquering space and the atom and the deserts and the oceans and the elements. According to your mythology, this is what he was BORN to do. ~ Daniel Quinn, #NFDB
378:The new ideology of marriage needed its mythology and
Shakespeare supplied it. Protestant moralists sought to redeem
marriage from the status of a remedy against fornication by underplaying
the sexual component and addressing the husband as the
wife’s friend. ~ Germaine Greer,#NFDB
379:The story of Eve and the serpent, and of Noah and his ark, drops to a level with the Arabian Tales, without the merit of being entertaining, and the account of men living to eight and nine hundred years becomes as fabulous as the immortality of the giants of the Mythology. ~ Thomas Paine, #NFDB
380:Listen to that lovely music, Better than mythology! Your gods, elderly and antique, Give them up, they’re now passé. Those old tales have lost all meaning, We aim at a higher goal: From the soul must come the feeling That can move another’s soul. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
381:The mythology in rock n' roll is that I'm a bit of a loose cannon. Yet I've produced more music than anybody in my generation. So how much of a loose cannon am I? But the general public believes that I'm a loose cannon, so let them believe it. I'm not going to correct them. ~ Billy Corgan, #NFDB
382:Many of these omnibuses were driven, oddly enough, by male models who had retired from the business, which meant that Parisians of Manet's day were transported around the city by men who had once posed as valiant biblical heroes or the vindictive deities of classical mythology. ~ Ross King, #NFDB
383:FlashForward' is definitely not a sci-fi show. It doesn't have the mythology of 'Lost.' We have one major event that happens that you are asked to buy into. After that, you're dealing with very human ripple effects - how people deal with it and how they come to terms with it. ~ Sonya Walger, #NFDB
384:We all want to believe this American pastoral, but there's more to it. We have to be willing to exile ourselves from the fantasies and the mythology that we create around ourselves, or we're doomed to kind of innocently blunder into every country in the world and murder people. ~ Bill Ayers, #NFDB
385:I just always loved mythology, ever since I was a kid. Greek mythology was something I remember learning about in fourth grade, and Egypt, too, and something about both those things just clicked with me. I just thought they both were so beautiful and interesting to learn about. ~ Brie Larson, #NFDB
386:I'm not a fan of endless mystery in storytelling - I like to know where the mythology's going; I like to get there in an exciting, fast-paced way - enough that there's a really clear, aggressive direction to where it's going, to pay off mystery and reward the audiences loyalty. ~ Eric Kripke, #NFDB
387:In the karmic worldview, you are queer because of karma, and it may be a boon or curse. In the one-life worldview, you are queer because you choose to be so, to express your individuality or to defy authority (Greek mythology) or God/Devil wills it so (biblical mythology). ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
388:I've been reading Greek mythology since I was a kid. I also taught it when I was a sixth grade teacher, so I knew a lot of mythological monsters already. Sometimes I still use books and Web sites to research, though. Every time I research Greek mythology, I learn something new! ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
389:You don't have to try to be contemporary. You are already contemporary. What one has in mythology is being evolved all the time. Personally, I think I can do with Greek and Old Norse mythology. For example, I don't think I stand in need of planes or of railways or of cars. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
390:Batman as a Greek god is not too far off, because it’s the same idea at work: creating a superhuman version of humanity so that we can explore our problems, strengths, and weaknesses writ large. If the novel puts life under the microscope, mythology blows it up to billboard size. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
391:I never minded giving my opinions. They are just opinions, and I had studied music and I had strong feelings. I was happy for my opinions to join all the other opinions. But you have to be prepared for what comes back, especially if you don't agree with the dominant mythology. ~ Wynton Marsalis, #NFDB
392:If you just read Joseph Campbell, who has written amazing books on mythology and religion, they all do come together at some point. There are some of the greatest stories that there have ever been in the Bible. All you have to do is read the book of Maccabi, it's like a film script. ~ Mel Gibson, #NFDB
393:The religion of the world, in its right proportions, is not divided into fine shades of mysticism or more or less rational forms of mythology. It is divided by the line between the men who are bringing that message and the men who have not yet heard it, or cannot yet believe it. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
394:As for this present unhappy time, haunted by ghosts from a dead world and not yet at home in its own, its predicament is not unlike the predicament of the adolescent who has not yet learned to orient himself without reference to the mythology amid which his childhood was passed. ~ Bertrand Russell, #NFDB
395:The Anglo-American can indeed cut down and grub up all this waving forest, and make a stump speech on its ruins, but he cannot converse with the spirit of the tree he fells, he cannot read the poetry and mythology which retire as he advances. He ignorantly erases mythological ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
396:I am interested in most mythology. Celtic or Christian no more than anything else. I will admit to a pleasure and sense of hope in what I see as the basic teachings of Christ, stripped of the nonsense that has sometimes been accumulated about them and the embarrassing misunderstanding. ~ Tanith Lee, #NFDB
397:If god is the root cause for our degradation destroy that god. If it is religion destroy it. If it is Manu Darma, Gita, or any other Mythology (Purana), burn them to ashes. If it is temple, tank, or festival, boycott them. Finally if it is our politics, come forward to declare it openly. ~ Periyar, #NFDB
398:It is stranger still, to see how many ruins of the old mythology: how many fragments of obsolete legend and observance: have been incorporated into the worship of Christian altars here; and how, in numberless respects, the false faith and the true are fused into a monstrous union. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
399:The more that you travel the more you get the sense of the word as a larger place and the more you get a sense of the variety of history and mythology. And when you know about these things you can incorporate them into what I feel is a more rich and more large tapestry of fantasy. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
400:If we could stop thinking of 'meaning' and 'purpose' as artifacts of some divine creative act and see them instead as the yield of our own creative future, they become goals, intentions and processes very much in reach rather than the shadows of childlike, superstitious mythology. ~ Douglas Rushkoff, #NFDB
401:(...) maybe in our bodies there's a whole world of mythology? Maybe there exists some sort of reflection of the great and the small, the human body joining within itself everything with everything - stories and heroes, gods and animals, the order of plants and the harmony of minerals? ~ Olga Tokarczuk, #NFDB
402:The myth of the hero is the most common and the best known myth in the world . . . classical mythology . . . Greece and Rome . . . Middle Ages . . . Far East . . . contemporary primitive tribes. It also appears in dreams . . . obvious dramatic . . . profound . . . importance. P. 101 ~ Carl Gustav Jung, #NFDB
403:To some extent, mythology is only the most ancient history and biography. So far from being false or fabulous in the common sense,it contains only enduring and essential truth, the I and you, the here and there, the now and then, being omitted. Either time or rare wisdom writes it. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
404:Many researchers do feel that humankind may have to face another Great Cleansing, such as the Great Flood of world mythology. Again, numerous UFO contactees and abductees feel that it is their mission to alert their fellow humans that some kind of apocalypse will soon be visited upon Earth. ~ Brad Steiger, #NFDB
405:More history than ever is today being revised or invented by people who do not want the real past, but only a past that suits their purpose. Today is the great age of historical mythology. The defence of history by its professionals is today more urgent in politics than ever. We are needed. ~ Eric Hobsbawm, #NFDB
406:It's starting to catch hold, and in large measure it's because we're starting to understand that much of what we have talked about in ancient mythology and mystical experience and so forth can pretty well be modeled within the world of quantum physics. That's a 20th century phenomenon also. ~ Edgar Mitchell, #NFDB
407:That's such bullshit, Mythology repeated by parents because it lets them force their kids into sports and push them too hard by pretending that in the end it will pay off with the holy scholarship. You know how many kids get a free ride? Hardly any. Like, maybe fourteen.' -Finn (165) ~ Laurie Halse Anderson, #NFDB
408:In Indian mythology, when the moon covers the sun, darkness has the power to cover your life.” Slowly, he makes his way out of the room and toward the exit. “But it is not always the sun that must shine to have light. In darkness, we must seek out the stars. Their brightness has its own power. ~ Sejal Badani, #NFDB
409:The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology, and art even to be entertained—as the beliefs, rituals, and iconography of each of our religions attest to centuries of crosspollination among them. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
410:The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology, and art even to be entertained—as the beliefs, rituals, and iconography of each of our religions attest to centuries of cross-pollination among them. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
411:History seeks to be everyone’s truth, but is limited by available facts. More often than not, what is passed off as history is mythology, someone’s understanding of truth shaped by memory, feelings and desire, available facts notwithstanding. However, it is never fantasy, or no one’s truth. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
412:Poetry is ultimately mythology, the telling of stories of the soul. The old myths, the old gods, the old heroes have never died. They are only sleeping at the bottom of our minds, waiting for our call. We have need of them, for in their sum they epitomize the wisdom and experience of the race. ~ Stanley Kunitz, #NFDB
413:The most revered presidents—Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson, both Roosevelts, Truman, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, Obama—have each advanced populist imperialism while gradually increasing inclusion of other groups beyond the core of descendants of old settlers into the ruling mythology. ~ Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, #NFDB
414:Hinduism comes closest to being a nature religion. Rivers, rocks, trees, plants, animals, and birds all play their part, both in mythology and everyday worship. This harmony is most evident in remote places like this, and I hope it does not loose its unique character in the ruthless urban advance. ~ Ruskin Bond, #NFDB
415:if the mythology of humiliation has become the rallying cry for the Russian elite, and indeed its most important reason for retaining power, then how can the West possibly alleviate that humiliation? So far, every Western attempt to satisfy the Kremlin’s demands has only prompted it to make new ones. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
416:After chiding the theologian for his reliance on myth and miracle, science found itself in the unenviable position of having to create mythology of its own: namely, the assumption that what, after long effort, could not be proved to take place today had, in truth, taken place in the primeval past. ~ Loren Eiseley, #NFDB
417:I consider fantasy the heir of mythology, addressing a real human need to seek out answers to life’s many mysteries. It is a genre that can tell an entertaining and enthralling story on the surface, and yet deliver a potent message underneath, where everything becomes a symbol of something greater. ~ Dean F Wilson, #NFDB
418:I suppose every poet has his own private mythology. Maybe he's unaware of it. People tell me that I have evolved a private mythology of tigers, of blades, of labyrinths, and I"m unaware of the fact this is so. My readers are finding it all the time. But I think perhaps that is the duty of poet. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
419:Music, states of happiness, mythology, faces belaboured by time, certain twilights and certain places try to tell us something, or have said something we should have missed, or are about to say something; this imminence of a revelation which does not occur is, perhaps, the aesthetic phenomenon. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
420:From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hinduism religion. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
421:Jesse Marcel's unproven story was now primetime mythology. This remote New Mexico town had hit the jackpot. It didn't matter that there wasn't a shred of credible evidence to support the claim that a flying saucer crashed here. It didn't matter that there were no credible witnesses to alien bodies. ~ Peter Jennings, #NFDB
422:The idea of a “free market” separate and distinct from government has functioned as a useful cover for those who do not want the market mechanism fully exposed. They have had the most influence over it and would rather keep it that way. The mythology is useful precisely because it hides their power. ~ Robert B Reich, #NFDB
423:In this age of vampires, what I love about 'True Blood' the most is that it's a post-modern take on it. 'Sookie Stackhouse' series author Charlaine Harris and 'True Blood' creator Alan Ball turned that whole mythology upside-down... It's not just about vampires. It's about a lot of different things. ~ Michelle Forbes, #NFDB
424:What would ever become of Tilly-Valley's religion in that world, with headlights flashing along cemented highways, and all existence dominated by electricity? What would become of old women reading by candlelight? What would become of his own life-illusion, his secret 'mythology,' in such a world? ~ John Cowper Powys, #NFDB
425:Remember this: pure literalism always leads to a decrease in meaning. Mythology and sacred texts try to lead us and allow us to have the experience for ourselves. Through our experience we discover that encounter is not only possible but desirable. So often we struggle with experiencing our experiences. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
426:Fairy tales and mythology have always been an exaggerated distillation of the real world. Think of them as blueprints for how to deal with a multitude of situations that can arise in a person's life. The beauty of them is that their analogies resonate so deeply and they also entertain while they teach. ~ Charles de Lint, #NFDB
427:Interviewer: In terms of the wider mythology for your world, do we detect Christian influences?
Pat: What it has is the archetype of the self-sacrificing god. But honestly, by the time Jesus did that, it was old news. A bunch of people did it before Jesus—and, to be fair, some people did it better ~ Patrick Rothfuss,#NFDB
428:UFO mythology is similar to the message of the classical religions where God sends his Angels as emissaries who offer salvation to those who accept the faith and obey his Prophets. Today, the chariots of the gods are UFOs. What we are witnessing in the past half century is the spawning of a New Age religion. ~ Paul Kurtz, #NFDB
429:I see the main problem as a spiritual one, not a resource problem, or a problem with this or that government, but a larger problem centered around human beliefs, the troublesome elements founded in our mythology. Our problematic mythology is collapsing all around us. It is a mythology that is predatory. ~ Alberto Villoldo, #NFDB
430:The Revolutionary's Utopia, which in appearance represents a complete break with the past, is always modeled on some image of the Lost Paradise, of a legendary Golden Age... All utopias are fed from the source of mythology; the social engineers' blueprints are merely revised editions of the ancient text. ~ Arthur Koestler, #NFDB
431:I did have the resource of having taught Greek mythology and the history of Western civilization, and you can go back into the plays of Aeschylus and follow what happens when people seek revenge, and there are people plucking their eyes out. And Greek mythology is filled with all kinds of monsters and whatnot. ~ Wes Craven, #NFDB
432:At the moment I am looking into astrology, which seems indispensable for a proper understanding of mythology. There are strange and wondrous things in these lands of darkness. Please, don't worry about my wanderings in these infinitudes. I shall return laden with rich booty for our knowledge of the human psyche. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
433:In ancient Greece, the earth was personified as a mysterious goddess called Gaia. A cosmic, procreative womb who emerged out of the primeval void called Chaos, it was believed Gaia existed before all other life. It was also believed that Gaia created all of life. In Roman mythology, she was known as Terra. At ~ Kris Waldherr, #NFDB
434:Drawing from the costumed and goth-infused death metal found in the icy Netherlands, doom metal down-tuned all the guitars, drew inspiration from the drones of Tibetan monks and Hindu ragas, and created a new mythology of metal, one that embraced decay and darkness as an essential part of the human condition. ~ Peter Bebergal, #NFDB
435:Dutifully I knock on the table. “What does knock on wood even mean?” Daddy perks up. “Actually, it’s thought to come from Greek mythology. According to Greek myths, dryads lived in trees, and people would invoke them for protection. Hence knocking on wood: just that added bit of protection so as not to tempt fate. ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
436:Literature is conscious mythology: as society develops, its mythical stories become structural principles of story-telling, its mythical concepts, sun-gods and the like, become habits of metaphoric thought. In a fully mature literary tradition the writerenters intoa structure of traditional stories and images. ~ Northrop Frye, #NFDB
437:Totally unlike the uncultured Firbolgs, the Tuatha De Danann were a capable and cultured, highly civilized people, so skilled in the crafts, if not the arts, that the Firbolgs named them necromancers; and in course of time both the Firbolgs and the later-coming Milesians created a mythology around these. The ~ Seumas MacManus, #NFDB
438:I am intrigued with scriptural mythology that tells us that God created a divine feminine presence to dwell amongst humanity. This concept has had a constant influence on the work. I have imagined her as ubiquitous, watchful, and often in motion. This work is, in effect, the photographic image of the invisible. ~ Leonard Nimoy, #NFDB
439:Music, feelings of happiness, mythology, faces worn by time, certain twilights and certain places, want to tell us something, or they told us something that we should not have missed, or they are about to tell us something; this imminence of a revelation that is not produced is, perhaps, the esthetic event. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
440:The Greek, the Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before their respective altars, easily persuaded themselves, that under various names, and with various ceremonies, they adored the same deities. The elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the polytheism of the ancient world. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
441:Medical training taught me the art of breaking down the complex maze of stories, symbols and rituals into clear systems. You could say that it helped me figure out the anatomy and physiology of mythology and its relevance in a society more incisively. How is it that no society can, or does, exist without them? ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
442:Music, feelings of happiness, mythology, faces worn by time, certain twilights and certain places, want to tell us something, or they told us something that we should not have missed, or they are about to tell us something; this imminence of a revelation that is not produced is, perhaps, 'the aesthetic event'. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
443:The religion of the heathen mythology not only was not true, but was not even supported as true; it not only deserved no belief, but it demanded none. The very pretension to truth—the very demand of faith—were characteristic distinctions of Christianity. ~ Richard Whately, Bacon's Essays with Annotations by Richard Whately (1857), #NFDB
444:It is pure mythology that women cannot perform as well as men in science, engineering and mathematics. In my experience, the opposite is true: Women are often more adept and patient at untangling complex problems, multitasking, seeing the possibilities in new solutions and winning team support for collaborative action. ~ Weili Dai, #NFDB
445:One of the things I'm trying to do over and over again in my books is create new mythologies, create new ways to understand the complexity of the world. I think what mythology does is impress upon chaotic experience the patterns, hierarchies and shapes which allow us to interpret the chaos and make fresh sense of it. ~ Clive Barker, #NFDB
446:Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics. ~ Fritjof Capra, #NFDB
447:Spirit Woods. They’d buried Max in the shadows of the forest—a forest that had quite a reputation. She’d been born and raised in Jamesville, had been spoon-fed the town’s mythology, had heard dozens of tales about strange, jewel-toned lights, odd weather patterns, and the whisper of voices that echoed among the trees. ~ Liliana Hart, #NFDB
448:Turn over, Helen."
An approving sound, very nearly a purr, left his throat as she obeyed. He looked down at her with eyes as bright as the reflection of stars in a midnight ocean. So brutally handsome, like one of the volatile gods of mythology, wreaking havoc on hapless mortal maidens at a whim.
And he was hers. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
449:People who become great leaders are those who take time to reflect every day on the big questions: Who am I? What is my purpose? Who are my heroes in history, mythology, and religion? What are my unique talents and how do I express them? These are the qualities of silent reflection that make a great leader, like Jesus. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
450:This killing of his 'mythology' how could he survive it? His 'mythology' had been his escape from life, his escape into a world where machinery could not reach him, his escape into a deep, green, lovely world where thoughts unfolded themselves like large, beautiful leaves growing out of fathoms of blue-green water! ~ John Cowper Powys, #NFDB
451:I remember sitting in this cabin in Alaska one evening reading over the notes of all these encounters, and recalling Joseph Campbell, who wrote in the conclusion to 'Primitive Mythology' that men do not discover their gods, they create them. So do they also, I thought, looking at the notes before me, create their animals. ~ Barry Lopez, #NFDB
452:I think airports are places of huge human drama. The more I see of it, the more I am convinced that Heathrow is a secret city, with its own history, folklore and mythology. But what has surprised me is the love the people who work there feel for the place. Everyone seems to think they are plugged into something majestic. ~ Tony Parsons, #NFDB
453:In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, "memoirs to serve for a history," which is but materials to serve for a mythology. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
454:Communism is Utopia, that is nowhere. It is the avatar of all our religious eschatologies: the coming of the Messiah, the second coming of Christ, nirvana. It is not a historical prospect, but a current mythology. Socialism, by contrast, is a realizable historical system which may one day be instituted in the world. ~ Immanuel Wallerstein, #NFDB
455:Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that’s what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you. When your mind is trapped by the image out there so that you never make the reference to yourself, you have misread the image. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
456:The spiritual man in mythology, in literature and in the great world religions has an excess of life, he knows he has it, makes no apology for it, and finally recognizes that he does not even need to protect or guard it. It is not for him. It is for others. His life is not his own. His life is not about him. It is about God. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
457:It is impossible to repristinate a past world picture by sheer resolve, especially a mythical world picture, now that all of our thinking is irrevocably formed by science. A blind acceptance of New Testament mythology would be simply arbitrariness; to make such acceptance a demand of faith would be to reduce faith to a work. ~ Rudolf Bultmann, #NFDB
458:There is a current mythology in our culture that anytime we meet someone and have that "enchanted evening" experience, that experience of looking into the eyes of the other and falling hopelessly in love - that this is nothing more than a delusion; a mutual projection, a fantasy that will only last until reality sets in. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
459:The United States is a society in which people not only can get by without knowing much about the wider world but are systematically encouraged not to think independently or critically, and instead to accept the mythology of the United States as a benevolent, misunderstood giant as it lumbers around the world trying to do good. ~ Robert Jensen, #NFDB
460:WE NOW KNOW TWO HIGHLY important things about people,” Ishmael said, “at least according to Taker mythology. One, there’s something fundamentally wrong with them, and, two, they have no certain knowledge about how they ought to live—and never will have any. It seems as though there should be a connection between these two things. ~ Daniel Quinn, #NFDB
461:Woman, in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known… (She) is the guide to the sublime acme of sensuous adventure. By deficient eyes she is reduced to inferior states; by the evil eye of ignorance she is spellbound to banality and ugliness. But she is redeemed by the eyes of understanding. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
462:And that was the soft spot which destroyed what was in many ways an admirable culture. The junior hoodlums who roamed their streets were symptoms of a greater sickness; their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of ‘rights’ . . . and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure. ~ Robert A Heinlein, #NFDB
463:If you stand in a wheat field at this time of year, a few weeks from harvest, it's not hard to imagine you're looking at something out of mythology: all this golden sunlight brought down to earth, captured in kernels of gold, and rendered fit for mortals to eat. But of course this is no myth at all, just the plain miraculous fact. ~ Michael Pollan, #NFDB
464:There is a diverse meaning to the lyrics as well. A lot of the stuff I write is from a personal level but is not really anything that I care about if people get or not so I write alot of the stuff as metaphors based in Viking mythology and Viking History which is sort of my main interest in life and sort of my main atmosphere in life. ~ Johan Hegg, #NFDB
465:Octavia and Walter and Junot were speaking a language I’d heard all around me on the street but never read on the page, certainly not in the context of stories about aliens, detectives, or supernerds. This was a new mythology; it was permission. I’d always known I could get lost in a book; now I knew I could be found in one too. I ~ Daniel Jos Older, #NFDB
466:But our ways of learning about the world are strongly influenced by the social preconceptions and biased modes of thinking that each scientist must apply to any problem. The stereotype of a fully rational and objective scientific method, with individual scientists as logical (and interchangeable) robots, is self-serving mythology. ~ Stephen Jay Gould, #NFDB
467:Even perfection is a myth. There is no evidence of a perfect world, a perfect man or a perfect family anywhere on earth. Perfection, be it Rama Rajya or Camelot, exists only in mythology. Yet everyone craves for it. This craving inspires art, establishes empires, sparks revolutions and motivates leaders. Such is the power of myth. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
468:If philosophy is still necessary, it is so only in the way it has been from time immemorial: as critique, as resistance to the expanding heteronomy, even if only as thought's powerless attempt to remain its own master and to convict of untruth, by their own criteria, both a fabricated mythology and a conniving, resigned acquiescence. ~ Theodor Adorno, #NFDB
469:The wedding is the chief ceremony of the middle-class mythology, and it functions as the official entrée of the spouses to their middle-class status. This is the real meaning of saving up to get married. The young couple struggles to set up an image of comfortable life which they will be forced to live up to in the years that follow. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
470:And that brings me to my definition of power, which is simply this: the capacity to make others do what you would have them do. It sounds menacing, doesn't it? We don't like to talk about power. We find it scary. We find it somehow evil. We feel uncomfortable naming it. In the culture and mythology of democracy, power resides with the people. ~ Eric Liu, #NFDB
471:I walk out into a nature such as the old prophets and poets Menu, Moses, Homer, Chaucer, walked in. You may name it America, but it is not America. Neither Americus Vespucius, nor Columbus, nor the rest were the discoverers of it. There is a truer account of it in Mythology than in any history of America so called that I have seen. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
472:Whether it be because the Fall has really brought men nearer to less desirable neighbours in the spiritual world, or whether it is merely that the mood of men eager or greedy finds it easier to imagine evil, I believe that the black magic of witchcraft has been much more practical and much less poetical than the white magic of mythology. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
473:Philosophy of course is the essence of every religion; mythology explains and illustrates it by means of the more or less legendary lives of great men, stories and fables of wonderful things, and so on; ritual gives to that philosophy a still more concrete form, so that every one may grasp it — ritual is in fact concretised philosophy. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
474:Saaremaa Crater Field KAALI, SAAREMAA Opinions vary on when it happened, but at some point between 5600 BCE and 600 BCE, a large meteor entered the atmosphere, broke into pieces, and slammed into the forest floor of the island of Saaremaa. The heat of the impact instantly incinerated trees within a 3-mile radius (5 km). A mythology developed ~ Joshua Foer, #NFDB
475:I walk out into a Nature such as the old prophets and poets, Manu, Moses, Homer, Chaucer, walked in. You may name it America, but it is not America: neither Americus Vespucius, nor Columbus, nor the rest were the discoverers of it. There is a truer account of it in mythology than in any history of America, so called, that I have seen. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
476:For black people in the western hemisphere, if you can't generate a mythology that creates models of heroism and power out of the mythology that you had, then that means that somehow the mythology you had was not only feeble and weak, but that you are ultimately a powerless people. That's a notion that, I think, that can't be accepted. ~ Kerry James Marshall, #NFDB
477:But I've always been a sucker for a good double entendre; the gap between what is said and what is thought, what is stated and what is implied, is a place in which I have always found myself. I'm really not a liar, I just learned very early on that those of us deprived of history sometimes need to turn to mythology to feel complete, to belong.(p10) ~ Meera Syal, #NFDB
478:[John Musker] got me reading the mythology and we very early on we worked up a basic storyline centered around the character of Maui. He just seemed like a great character to kind of build a movie around. He's this mythic demi-god, bigger than life character. He pulled up islands with his magical fishhook. He slowed down the sun. He's Pan Pacific. ~ Ron Clements, #NFDB
479:My eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Pabst, had done her master's thesis on Tolkien. She showed me how the trilogy was patterned after Norse mythology. She was also the first person to encourage me to submit stories for publication. The idea of writing a fantasy based on myths never left me, and many years later, this would lead me to write Percy Jackson. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
480:It’s a box!” “It could be treasure, do you think?” “It’s growing legs, by the Seven Moons of Nasreem!” “Five moons—” “Where’d it go? Where’d it go?” “Never mind about that, it’s not important. Let’s get this straight, according to the legend it was five moons—” In Klatch they take their mythology seriously. It’s only real life they don’t believe. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
481:Most people don't think Batman = Bob Kane or Batman = Christopher Nolan. Most people think Batman = Me. The public thinks it owns Batman, which is how mythology works. Who is the author of the Greek myths? It's not exactly Homer. Because we are the ones who have kept the myths alive over centuries by retelling the stories in a myriad of different forms. ~ Ryan Britt, #NFDB
482:He thought of the deep crevasses and windy caves of Underlay, and the stories of the creatures that dwelt there. Of course, he didn’t believe in them. He’d told them, because the handing on of an oral mythology was very important to a developing culture, but he didn’t believe in supernatural monsters. He shivered. He hoped they didn’t believe in him. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
483:Clearly, mythology is no toy for children. Nor is it a matter of archaic, merely scholarly concern, of no moment to modern men of action. For its symbols (whether in the tangible form of images or in the abstract form of ideas) touch and release the deepest centers of motivation, moving literate and illiterate alike, moving mobs, moving civilizations. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
484:I looked at the titles on the bookshelf and found a book on Greek mythology next to a book of poetry, which was flanked by a book on German philosophy. "How are these organized?"
"They're not."
I turned to him. "How do you find anything? There must be thousands of books here."
"I like the search. It's like visiting old friends. ~ Julianne Donaldson,#NFDB
485:For man to enter history as the rational animal, it was necessary for him to be convinced that the objects of his reasoning, the Ideas, were more real than his own individual person or the particular objects that made up his world. The great step forward into rationalism required its own mythology—such perhaps is always the ambiguity of human evolution. ~ William Barrett, #NFDB
486:Although it is tempting to imagine an ancient era innocent of biochemical weaponry, in fact this Pandora's box of horrors was opened thousands of years ago. The history of making war with biological weapons begins in mythology, in ancient oral traditions that preserved records of actual events and ideas of the era before the invention of written histories. ~ Adrienne Mayor, #NFDB
487:I love to read about music and about art, but I don't try and take things about mythology or guidelines as to how I'm to behave as an artist. It's the realm of intellectual debate. Actually, more and more my direction is trying to get further away from being self-conscious of what the parameters are of the mainstream, where it intersects with the underground. ~ Emily Haines, #NFDB
488:When you look at that nature world it becomes an icon, it becomes a holy picture that speaks of the origins of the world. Almost every mythology sees the origins of life coming out of water. And, curiously, that's true. It's amusing that the origin of life out of water is in myths and then again, finally, in science, we find the same thing. It's exactly so. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
489:in this wonderful human brain of ours there has dawned a realization unknown to the other primates. It is that of the individual, conscious of himself as such, and aware that he, and all that he cares for, will one day die. Fig. 2.2 — Neanderthal Burial This recognition of mortality and the requirement to transcend it is the first great impulse to mythology. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
490:Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images, beyond that bounding rim of the Buddhist Wheel of Becoming. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
491:So the mythological imagination moves as it were in circles, hovering either to find a place or to return to it. In a word, mythology is a search; it is something that combines a recurrent desire with a recurrent doubt, mixing a most hungry sincerity in the idea of seeking for a place with a most dark and deep and mysterious levity about all the places found. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
492:It's like our go-to notion of innocent and secure mythology of American life. I was always amazed when people would come up to me and say that 'Far from Heaven' was exactly what it was like back then. [laughs] I was so disinterested in what it was 'really like' in the 1950s when I was putting the film together, I was only interested in what it was like in movies. ~ Todd Haynes, #NFDB
493:The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church to substitute character for creed, and to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that he should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, rather than by the mythology he may believe. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll, #NFDB
494:Everything I have learned about love, I learned from my mother. For it is mothers who bend, twist, flex, and break most dramatically before our uninitiated eyes. Fathers bear, conceal, inflict, sometimes vanish, so the mythology of domestic union tells us. But mothers absorb, accept, give in, all to tutor daughters in the syntax, the grammar of yearning and love. ~ Marita Golden, #NFDB
495:The more completely the machinery of thought subjugates existence, the more blindly it is satisfied with reproducing it. Enlightenment thereby regresses to the mythology it has never been able to escape. For mythology had reflected in its forms the essence of the existing order - cyclical motion, fate, domination of the world as truth - and had renounced hope. ~ Theodor W Adorno, #NFDB
496:Lest we forget at least an over the shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins - or which is which), the very first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom - Lucifer. ~ Saul Alinsky, #NFDB
497:Another peculiar characteristic of the human mind is its ability to have ideas and experiences that we cannot explain rationally. We have imagination, a faculty that enables us to think of something that is not immediately present, and that, when we first conceive it, has no objective existence. The imagination is the faculty that produces religion and mythology. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
498:Buffett was a billionaire who drove his own car, did his own taxes, and still lived in a home he had bought in 1958 for $31,500. He seemed to answer to a deeply rooted, distinctly American mythology, in which decency and common sense triumphed over cosmopolitan guile, and in which an idealized past held firm against a rootless and too hurriedly changing present. ~ Roger Lowenstein, #NFDB
499:One cannot predict the next mythology any more than one can predict tonight's dream; for a mythology is not an ideology. It is not something projected from the brain, but something experienced from the heart, from recognition of identities behind or within the appearances of nature, perceiving with love a 'thou' where there would otherwise have been only an 'it.' ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
500:Religion is the emulation of the adult by the child. Religion is the encystment of past beliefs: mythology, which is guesswork, the hidden assumptions of trust in the universe, those pronouncements which men have made in search of personal power, all of it mingled with shreds of enlightenment. And always the ultimate unspoken commandment is ‘Thou shalt not question! ~ Frank Herbert, #NFDB
501:Whatever their imagined source, the doctrines of modern religions are no more tenable than those which, for lack of adherents, were cast upon the scrap heap of mythology millennia ago; for there is no more evidence to justify a belief in the literal existence of Yahweh and Satan than there was to keep Zeus perched upon his mountain throne or Poseidon churning the seas. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
502:...a fundamental rule of journalism, which is to tell a story and stick to it. The narratives of journalism (significantly called "stories"), like those of mythology and folklore, derive their power from their firm, undeviating sympathies and antipathies. Cinderella must remain good and the stepsisters bad. "Second stepsister not so bad after all" is not a good story. ~ Janet Malcolm, #NFDB
503:When you listen to the Anthology of American Folk Music, or anything like that - a compilation of garage bands from the Northeast in the early '60s - you're not necessarily listening to the band and thinking about the lead singer, or the story of the group, or the context or the mythology of the group. You're just listening to the song and whether or not it has a hook. ~ Bradford Cox, #NFDB
504:Anybody who's a mythology ... there's always a fear. That's why we don't like people whose skin color is different, whose eye slant is different, or whose worship is different. It makes them feel insecure. So we strike out. The thing that bothers me most about the Christian church today is that we spend our time confirming people in their own sense of wretchedness. ~ John Shelby Spong, #NFDB
505:Love, love, love – all the wretched cant of it, masking egotism, lust, masochism, fantasy under a mythology of sentimental postures, a welter of self-induced miseries and joys, blinding and masking the essential personalities in the frozen gestures of courtship, in the kissing and the dating and the desire, the compliments and the quarrels which vivify its barrenness. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
506:This is the end,” Fuka-Eri informed him in a whisper. One sentence, as always. Time stopped, and the world ended. The earth ground slowly to a halt, and all sound and light vanished.When he woke up the next day, the world was still there, and things were already moving forward, like the great karmic wheel of Indian mythology that kills every living thing in its path. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
507:Love, love, love – all the wretched cant of it, masking egotism, lust, masochism, fantasy under a mythology of sentimental postures, a welter of self-induced miseries and joys, blinding and masking the essential personalities in the frozen gestures of courtship, in the kissing and the dating and the desire, the compliments and the quarrels which vivify its barrenness. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
508:There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London, so I think we've tapped into some of that. Maybe because of the way the press works or whatever, they have extremely knowledgeable music fans over there. People who will sit there and talk to you about some record that came out in 1967 out of Memphis that you've never heard before. ~ Craig Finn, #NFDB
509:We rarely quote nowadays to appeal to authority... though we quote sometimes to display our sapience and erudition. Some authors we quote against. Some we quote not at all, offering them our scrupulous avoidance, and so make them part of our "white mythology." Other authors we constantly invoke, chanting their names in cerebral rituals of propitiation or ancestor worship. ~ Ihab Hassan, #NFDB
510:In Hindu mythology, there is no one but ourselves to blame for our problems: neither God nor any oppressors. The idea of rebirth aims to evoke acceptance of the present, and responsibility for the future. Our immortal soul is tossed from one life to another as long as our mind refuses to do darshan. This is made most explicit in the story of Karna in the Mahabharata. ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
511:We still like to make up stories, just as our ancestors did, which use personification to explain the great forces of our existence. Such stories, which explain how the world began or where the sun goes when it sets, we call myths. Mythology is a natural product of the symbolizing mind; poets, when not making up myths of their own, are still commanding ancient ones. ~ John Frederick Nims, #NFDB
512:I suppose Hinduism comes closest to being a nature religion. Rivers, rocks, trees, plants, animals and birds, all play their part, both in mythology and in everyday worship. This harmony is most evident in these remote places, where gods and mountains co-exist. Tungnath, as yet unspoilt by a materialistic society, exerts its magic on all who come here with open mind and heart. ~ Ruskin Bond, #NFDB
513:The importance of the End of time is as ... a psychological event ... When you have seen the radiance of eternity through all the forms of time ... and it is the function of art to make that visible to you ... then you have really have ended life in the world as it is lived by those who only think only in the historical, concretizing terms. This is the function of mythology. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
514:The two greatest works of war mythology in the west ... are the Iliad and the Old Testament... When we turn from the Iliad and Athens to Jerusalem and the Old Testament we find a single-minded single deity with his sympathies forever on one side. And the enemy, accordingly, no matter who it may be, is handled... pretty much as though he were subhuman: not a "Thou" but an "It." ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
515:Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images, beyond that bounding rim of the Buddhist Wheel of Becoming. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, #NFDB
516:Let’s reject the notion that men have exclusive rights to the sun. Must Helios, Apollo, Ra, Mithras, and the other golden boys take up every seat in the solar chariot that lights each day and coaxes forth all life? This is a miscarriage of mythology, for a woman’s egg resembles nothing so much as the sun at its most electrically alive: the perfect orb, speaking in tongues of fire. ~ Natalie Angier, #NFDB
517:I would say that all our sciences are the material that has to be mythologized. A mythology gives spiritual import - what one might call rather the psychological, inward import, of the world of nature round about us, as understood today. There's no real conflict between science and religion ... What is in conflict is the science of 2000 BC ... and the science of the 20th century AD. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
518:If philosophy is still necessary, it is so only in the way it has been from time immemorial: as critique, as resistance to the expanding heteronomy, even if only as thought’s powerless attempt to remain its own master and to convict of untruth, by their own criteria, both a fabricated mythology and a conniving, resigned acquiescence. ~ Theodor Adorno, “Why still philosophy?” Critical Models (1998), p. 10., #NFDB
519:When, with growing self-awareness, he experiences his relation to an opponent, and the sacrificed realizes his identity with the sacrificiant, and vice versa, the hitherto cosmic opposition of light and darkness is experienced as an opposition between human or divine twins, and the long succession of fraternal feuds in mythology opens with the squabbles between Osiris and Set, Baal and Mot.7 ~ Erich Neumann, #NFDB
520:Now, one of the main problems of mythology is reconciling the mind to this brutal precondition of all life, which lives by the killing and eating of lives. You don’t kid yourself by eating only vegetables, either, for they, too, are alive. So the essence of life is this eating of itself! Life lives on lives, and the reconciliation of the human mind and sensibilities to that fundamental fact ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
521:Whatever sphere of the human mind you may select for your special study, whether it be language, or religion, or mythology, or philosophy, whether it be laws or customs, primitive art or primitive science, everywhere, you have to go to India, whether you like it or not, because some of the most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India, and in India only. ~ Max Muller, #NFDB
522:I think Jesus is a fact of history. I think a man named Jesus of Nazareth lived and was crucified. I think his death interpreted his life in a fantastic way, because if you study that life carefully underneath an overlay of theology and mythology, you'll find that the power of that life was that he was constantly giving himself away. He was constantly calling people to be all that they could be. ~ John Shelby Spong, #NFDB
523:We must have a new mythology, but it must place itself at the service of ideas, it must become a mythology of reason. Mythology must become philosophical, so that the people may become rational, and philosophy must become mythological, so that philosophers may become sensible. If we do not give ideas a form that is aesthetic, i.e., mythological, they will hold no interest for people. ~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, #NFDB
524:Whatever sphere of the human mind you may select for your special study, whether it be language, or religion, or mythology, or philosophy, whether it be laws or customs, primitive art or primitive science, everywhere, you have to go to India, whether you like it or not, because some of the most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India, and in India only. ~ F Max M ller, #NFDB
525:For some of you, my quoting Jesus is the only way you will trust me; for others, it gives you more reasons to mistrust me, but I have to take both risks. If I dared to present all of these ideas simply as my ideas, or because they match modern psychology or old mythology, I would be dishonest. Jesus for me always clinches the deal, and I sometimes wonder why I did not listen to him in the first place. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
526:I think of mythology as a function of biology; the energies of the body are the energies that move the imagination. These energies are the source, then, of mythological imagery; in a mythological organization of symbols, the conflicts between the different organic impulses within the body are resolved and harmonized. You might say mythology is a formula for the harmonization of the energies of life. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
527:So many of the great detectives that we see on television now owe their origins to Sherlock Holmes. What was very exciting about Rob's pitch and script was that he is a real Holmes-ian expert. He knew all of the mythology. He was very well-versed in the genesis of Holmes and the stories. And the twist with Watson is something we jumped at immediately. It's a very forward-thinking way of doing the show. ~ Nina Tassler, #NFDB
528:Leaving aside the metaphysics, mythology, and sectarian dogma, what contemplatives throughout history have discovered is that there is an alternative to being continuously spellbound by the conversation we are having with ourselves; there is an alternative to simply identifying with the next thought that pops into consciousness. And glimpsing this alternative dispels the conventional illusion of the self. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
529:Connectedness is of the essence of all things of all types. It is of the essence of types, that they be connected. Abstraction from connectedness involves the omission of an essential factor in the fact considered. No fact is merely itself. The penetration of literature and art at their height arises from our dumb sense that we have passed beyond mythology; namely, beyond the myth of isolation. ~ Alfred North Whitehead, #NFDB
530:Organized religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms. They were all very important when we didn't know why the sun moved, why weather changed, why hurricanes occurred, or volcanoes happened. Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. Literally! I choose not to believe that's the way. And that's what makes America cool, you know? ~ Bruce Willis, #NFDB
531:The rivers of mythology and philosophy run parallel and do not mingle till they meet in the sea of Christendom. Simple secularists still talk as if the Church had introduced a sort of schism between reason and religion. The truth is that the Church was actually the first thing that ever tried to combine reason and religion. There had never before been any such union of the priests and the philosophers. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
532:We've never pulled from the toy line. We've always pulled from the mythology. What's great is there's so much mythology, so there's always stuff to pull from that. It never lines up perfectly for a movie; it's just like adapting a book or anything else, you know? But you come up with things to create, you come up with different ideas, but fundamentally the ideas always start from the mythology. ~ Lorenzo di Bonaventura, #NFDB
533:It’s not about the action figures,” Melody said. “It’s about how the people making decisions at these companies view women, and it’s about little girls who grow up thinking only boys can be heroes because that’s all they ever see. People say, ‘Oh, it’s only movies,’ or ‘It’s only TV, it doesn’t matter,’ but stories matter. They’re our cultural mythology. They shape the lens through which we see the world . ~ Susannah Nix, #NFDB
534:It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real presence, confession, absolution, - there is something sensible to grasp at. Besides, it leaves no possibility of doubt; for those who swallow their Deity, really and truly, in transubstantiation, can hardly find any thing else otherwise than easy of digestion. ~ Lord Byron, #NFDB
535:I wanted Yoda to be the traditional kind of character you find in fairy tales and mythology. And that character is usually a frog or a wizened old man on the side of the road. The hero is going down the road and meets this poor and insignificant person. The goal or lesson is for the hero to learn to respect everybody and to pay attention to the poorest person because that's where the key to his success will be. ~ George Lucas, #NFDB
536:What you need to remember, with these guys, is that they don't know they're con men. They're wildly overconfident. Omnipotence, omniscience--that's part of the mythology that surrounds the Special Forces....Your guy can walk in the door and promise training in something he personally doesn't know how to do, and not even realize he's bullshitting about his own capabilities. It's a special kind of gullibility.... ~ William Gibson, #NFDB
537:Science "works", of course, but from an aesthetic point of view, was it really a great improvement over mythology? Why do we insist that theories "work", when they might just as well sit around and look pretty?
I couldn't help observing that for every advance in science...some perfectly competent goddess or demiurge is put out of work, a hypothesized spirit dies, or a living thing surrenders its autonomy. ~ Barbara Ehrenreich,#NFDB
538:Although she didn't possess the robust sunstruck prettiness of her younger sisters, Helen was compelling in her own way, like the cool glow of moonlight. Her skin was very fair, her hair the lightest shade of blond.
Kathleen found it interesting that although Lord and Lady Trenear had named all four of their children after figures of Greek mythology, Helen was the only one who had been given the name of a mortal. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
539:It was Sci-Fi and fantasy that got me reading, and Sci-Fi writers in particular have pack rat minds. They introduce all sorts of interesting themes and ideas into their books, and so for me it was a short leap to go from the fantasy and Sci-Fi genres to folklore, mythology, ancient history and philosophy. I did not read philosophy because I set out to become a philosopher; I read it because it looked interesting. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
540:MENTORING Finally, since I am defining coaching, I should perhaps mention mentoring, another word that has crept into business parlance. The word originates from Greek mythology, in which it is reported that Odysseus, when setting out for Troy, entrusted his house and the education of his son Telemachus to his friend, Mentor. “Tell him all you know,” Odysseus said, and thus unwittingly set some limits to mentoring. ~ John Whitmore, #NFDB
541:Woman, in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes to know...And if he can match her import, the two, the knower and the known, will be released from every limitation... The hero who can take her as she is, without undue commotion but with the kindness and assurance she requires, is potentially the king, the incarnate god, of her created world. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
542:In Greek mythology, Tartarus was another term for a location beneath the “roots of the earth” and beneath the waters where the warring giants called “Titans” were bound in chains because of their rebellion against the gods.[99] Peter uses a derivative of that very Greek word Tartarus to describe a similar location and scenario of angels being bound during the time of Noah and the warring Titans called “Nephilim.”[100] ~ Brian Godawa, #NFDB
543:Subjective reason ... is inclined to abandon the fight with religion by setting up two different brackets, one for science and philosophy, and one for institutionalized mythology, thus recognizing both of them. For the philosophy of objective reason there is no such way out. Since it hold to the concept of objective truth, it must take a positive or a negative stand with regard to the content of established religion. ~ Max Horkheimer, #NFDB
544:What censorship accomplishes, creating an unreal and hypocritical mythology, fomenting an attraction for forbidden fruit, inhibiting the creative minds among us and fostering an illicit trade. Above all, it curtails the right of the individual, be he creator or consumer, to satisfy his intellect and his interest without harm. In our law-rooted society, we are not the keeper of our brother's morals - only of his rights. ~ Judith Crist, #NFDB
545:For those in whom a local mythology still works, there is an experience both of accord with the social order, and of harmony with the universe. For those, however, in whom the authorized signs no longer work-or, if working, produce deviant effects-there follows inevitably a sense both of dissociation from the local social nexus and of quest, within and without, for life, which the brain will take to be for 'meaning'. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
546:Most churches make people feel guilty about natural human inclinations, making them feel dependent on the church for forgiveness. Religion focuses on unresolved human problems of insecurity, shame, fear, and wish fulfillment, and offers hope for a better life in the next world. Science offers people the tools of reason and knowledge to help build self-reliance and free people from mythology and simple wish fulfillment. ~ Jacque Fresco, #NFDB
547:We ourselves, will resurrect the memory in order to savor it and carry it forth into the world. We will fling it at one another for laughs. Distort it. We will toss the story into the air at parties and howl over its ripeness. Degraded as it was, we will degrade it further. Make it more swollen. We shall render it impossibly awful, making of it the mythology of ourselves. A comfort. Proof of the trials we've survived. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
548:I have always argued that we can't live by or be made to exist outside of mythology, and that every group and nation has, possibly unacknowledged to themselves, some myths by which they live. It remains important to revisit them, understand them and possibly retell them - or at least own up to them - and then it becomes possible to move something. If it's obscure or invisible to you, you can't budge those understandings. ~ Marina Warner, #NFDB
549:Superheroes fill a gap in the pop culture psyche, similar to the role of Greek mythology. There isn't really anything else that does the job in modern terms. For me, Batman is the one that can most clearly be taken seriously. He's not from another planet, or filled with radioactive gunk. I mean, Superman is essentially a god, but Batman is more like Hercules: he's a human being, very flawed, and bridges the divide. ~ Christopher J Nolan, #NFDB
550:As every past generation has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance of truisms and stereotypes, so in our own time we must move on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new, difficult, but essential confrontation with reality. For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie-deliberate, contrived and dishonest-but the myth-persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Mythology distracts us everywhere. ~ John F Kennedy, #NFDB
551:Myths, whether in written or visual form, serve a vital role of asking unanswerable questions and providing unquestionable answers. Most of us, most of the time, have a low tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. We want to reduce the cognitive dissonance of not knowing by filling the gaps with answers. Traditionally, religious myths have served that role, but today — the age of science — science fiction is our mythology. ~ Michael Shermer, #NFDB
552:I think your mythology would call them fallen angels. War and hate are their business, and one of their chief weapons is un-Naming - making people not know who they are. If someone knows who he is, really knows, then he doesn't need to hate. That's why we still need Namers, because there are places throughout the universe like your planet Earth. When everyone is really and truly Named, then the Echthroi will be vanquished. ~ Madeleine L Engle, #NFDB
553:Studios are so used to digital now and there is a mythology that it's cheaper. But it's really not cheaper. For instance, digital is great for night exteriors, everybody knows it's a video tap, so it's very responsive to light. So you can go out at night, shoot with digital and it's gorgeous, beautiful to look at . Conversely, you go out and shoot day exterior, and it slams you, just like you know from your own video recording. ~ Don Scardino, #NFDB
554:It's impossible to say that live art enjoys any single status in the information age--there are versions of live art that are still primarily art-world phenomena, others that appeal to much broader audiences. The Burning Man festival is a case in point--an event featuring performance that is itself a performance, which partakes simultaneously of frontier mythology, a counter-cultural impulse, and popular cultural visibility. ~ Philip Auslander, #NFDB
555:More powerful than drugs, than God or death or fear itself, are stories. With less instinct than any flatworm, we look for them to tell us what to do, how to behave, how we’re going to end up. There’re plenty of atheists in foxholes, but none without a personal mythology that gives them meaning. When life seems long and meaningless, stories make it short and exciting, make every accident into a test, into enemy action, into a Plot. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
556:The most interesting to me were Doctor Strange, because he was so mystic, and Thor, because that was really cool. I mean, I had never been able to relate to the idea of a bearded guy in the sky, you know, and I'd always really liked mythology, and with Thor, it was like Stan Lee was actually saying, "Yeah, it's okay, there really is this Nordic god, there really is something besides the bearded guy in the sky". So I loved that! ~ Trina Robbins, #NFDB
557:The Latin American has no tribe to fall back on, as the African does, no reliable judiciary to defend his rights as the European does, no social ideal or sacred constitution as the North American does, no pervasive mythology to soften life as it does in Asia, and no even an ideology to subscribe to, as does the Russian or Chinese. Without wealth, what is there left to him but his manhood, to be flaunted and defended at every occasion? ~ Ted Simon, #NFDB
558:Moreover, the mythology may be mucking things up even while your partnership is alive and thriving. It is not wise to relegate all the other important kinds of people—close friends, valued colleagues, mentors, and kin—to the dustbin of human relationships. Ironically, it is also unfair to the one relationship partner who is mythologized. No mere mortal should be expected to fulfill every need, wish, whim, and dream of another human. ~ Bella DePaulo, #NFDB
559:According to mythological thinking, God has his domicile in heaven. What is the meaning of this statement? The meaning is quite clear. In a crude manner it expresses the idea that God is beyond the world, that He is transcendent. The thinking which is not yet capable of forming the abstract idea of transcendence expresses its intention in the category of space. ~ Rudolf Bultmann, “Jesus Christ and Mythology,” Interpreting Faith for the Modern Era, p. 294, #NFDB
560:What they teach you as history is mythology, and true mythology is far from fantasy - every kind reveals true fragments of our real history. A bulk of our real history can be found in Egyptian and Greek mythology. Yes, myths reveal to us worlds of other dimensions that make up our true reality. History books teach us that the minds of the past operated on the same frequency, dimension, or level of consciousness as we do now. Not true at all. ~ Suzy Kassem, #NFDB
561:If we can’t puncture some of the mythology around austerity, politics or tax cuts or the mythology that’s been built up around the Reagan revolution, where somehow people genuinely think that he slashed government and slashed the deficit and that the recovery was because of all these massive tax cuts, as opposed to a shift in interest-rate policy - if we can’t describe that effectively, then we’re doomed to keep on making more and more mistakes. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
562:. . . inner motives spring from a deep source that is not made by consciousness and is not under its control. In the mythology of earlier times, these forces were called mana, or spirits, demons, and gods. They are as active today as ever. If they go against us, then we say that it is just bad luck, or that certain people are against us. The one thing we refuse to admit is that we are dependent upon "powers" that are beyond our control. P. 71 ~ Carl Gustav Jung, #NFDB
563:The Greeks used to use the same stories, the same mythology, time after time, different authors. There was no premium placed upon an original story, and indeed, Shakespeare likewise. A lot of people wrote plays about great kings. They didn't expect a brand-new story. It was what that new author made of the old story. It is probably the same now. We disguise it by inventing what seem to be new stories, but they're basically the same story anyway. ~ Arthur Miller, #NFDB
564:The doctrine of the atonement is to my mind one of the surest proofs of the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture. Who would or could have thought of the just Ruler dying for the unjust rebel? This is no teaching of human mythology, or dream of poetical imagination. This method of expiation is only known among men because it is a fact; fiction could not have devised it. God himself ordained it; it is not a matter which could have been imagined. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
565:A reconciliation between theism and atheism would not be especially difficult if modern scholars gave some attention to allegory, mythology, and legendry. Homer, Hesiod, and Virgil were neither superstitious nor gullible. They perpetuated philosophical fables with profound meanings concealed beneath the folklore of remote times. Each generation can interpret the old beliefs and benefit greatly by such liberal thoughtfulness. ~ Manly P Hall, The Bible, the Story of a Book, #NFDB
566:A cultured society that has fallen away from its religious traditions expects more from art than the aesthetic consciousness and the 'standpoint of art' can deliver. The Romantic desire for a new mythology... gives the artist and his task in the world the consciousness of a new consecration. He is something like a 'secular saviour' for his creations are expected to achieve on a small scale the propitiation of disaster for which an unsaved world hopes. ~ Hans Georg Gadamer, #NFDB
567:He - and Cal - prefer a more generalized outlook on the End Times, recognizing it could come from anything: superstorms, polar shifts, invasion by the Chinese, attack by the U.S. government on its own people, aliens, EMP, God's wrath on a sin-filled world, killer bees. (Chance notes that no one mentions "Rogue AI with a penchant for Greek mythology." He figures someone should update their menu, because it is riding to number one on the charts with a bullet.) ~ Chuck Wendig, #NFDB
568:He didn't believe there was a Heaven or Hell, and to him, the concept of sin was an abstraction founded in cultural mythology. It wasn't science, therefore it wasn't real.
He knew though, that suicide was universally considered a sin, a grievous sin, and for some reason-perhaps a subconscious instinct of self-preservation, which was actually a biological, not a spiritual activity, he wondered...
What if I'm wrong? What if I kill myself and I go to Hell? ~ Edward Lee,#NFDB
569:The story of my grandmother is that of a French woman from the provinces who through her perseverance and thirst for knowledge worked her way up to become the head of a school. She belonged to a generation that didn't travel much. But she believed in Europe and she wanted Europe. And she read a lot - she knew mythology, literature and the classics very well. She passed that on to me, along with the conviction that you can earn your own position in society. ~ Emmanuel Macron, #NFDB
570:Most people assume that a muse is a creature of perfect beauty, poise and grace. Like the creatures from Greek mythology. They're wrong. In fact, there should be a marked absence of perfection in a muse--a gaping hole between what she is and what she might be. The ideal muse is a woman whose rough edges and contradictions drive you to fill in the blanks of her character. She is the irritant to your creativity. A remarkable possibility, waiting to be formed. ~ Kathleen Tessaro, #NFDB
571:People who achieve great success do so by persistently and successfully meeting the challenges on The Path. Their stories are found in ancient mythology, classic and modern literature, virtually all genres of fiction, great movies, the sacred writings of the world religions, the biographies of great men and women, the lives of successful business people, entrepreneurs, teachers, parents, and the stories of “regular people” who have paid the price of greatness. ~ Oliver DeMille, #NFDB
572:Linga Purana is where Maheshwara, present in the Agni Linga, explained {the objects of life) virtue, wealth, pleasure, and final liberation at the end of the Agni Kalpa, and this Purana, consists of eleven thousand stanzas. It is said to have been originally composed by Brahma and the primitive Linga is a pillar of radiance, in which Maheswara is present. ~ Horace H. Wilson, in Works:¬Vol. ¬6 : ¬The Vishṅu Purāṅa: a system of Hindu mythology ..., Volume 6 (1864), p. LXVii-LXViii, #NFDB
573:The wonder is that the characteristic efficacy to touch and inspire deep creative centers dwells in the smallest nursery fairy tale-as the flavor of the ocean is contained in a droplet or the whole mystery of life within the egg of a flea. For the symbols of mythology are not manufactured; they cannot be ordered, invented, or permanently suppressed. They are spontaneous productions of the psyche, and each bears within it, undamaged, the germ power of its source. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
574:But if you didn't have more urgent things to do after supper [in boot camp], you could write a letter, loaf, gossip, discuss the myriad mental shortcomings of sergeants and, dearest of all, talk about the female of the species (we became convinced that there was no such creatures, just mythology created by inflamed imaginations - one boy in our company claimed to have seen a girl, over at regimental headquarters; he was unanimously judged a liar and a braggart). ~ Robert A Heinlein, #NFDB
575:What do you need the mythology? … Rituals evoke it. Consider the position of judges in our society, which Campbell saw in mythological, not sociological, terms. If this position were just a role, the judge could wear a gray suit to court instead of the magisterial black robe. For the law to hold authority beyond mere coercion, the power of the judge must be ritualized, mythologized. So must much of life today, Campbell said, from religion and war to love and death. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
576:Mythology is the study of whatever religious or heroic legends are so foreign to a student's experience that he cannot believe them to be true. . . . Myth has two main functions. The first is to answer the sort of awkward questions that children ask, such as: 'Who made the world? How will it end? Who was the first man? Where do souls go after death?'. . . . The second function of myth is to justify an existing social system and account for traditional rites and customs. ~ Robert Graves, #NFDB
577:It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen & Dunsany & others, rather than through the Bierce-Chambers line, that I picked up my gradually developing hash of theogony - or daimonogony. Come to think of it, I guess I sling this stuff more as Chambers does than as Machen & Dunsany do - though I had written a good deal of it before I ever suspected that Chambers ever wrote a weird story! ~ H P Lovecraft, #NFDB
578:With the failure of these many efforts, science was left in the somewhat embarrassing position of having to postulate theories of living origins which it could not demonstrate. After having chided the theologian for his reliance on myth and miracle, science found itself in the inevitable position of having to create a mythology of its own: namely, the assumption that what, after long effort could not prove to take place today had, in truth, taken place in the primeval past. ~ Loren Eiseley, #NFDB
579:There is a vast mythology surrounding meat, but all the myths are in one way or another related to what I refer to as the Three Ns of Justification: eating meat is normal, natural, and necessary. The Three Ns have been invoked to justify all exploitative systems, from African slavery to the Nazi Holocaust. When an ideology is in its prime, these myths rarely come under scrutiny. However, when the system finally collapses, the Three Ns are recognized as ludicrous. ~ Melanie Joy, #NFDB
580:I have always been interested in mythology and history. The more I read, the more I realized that there have always been people at the edges of history that we know very little about. I wanted to use them in a story and bring them back into the public's consciousness. Similarly with mythology: everyone knows some of the Greek or Roman legends, and maybe some of the Egyptian or Norse stories too, but what about the other great mythologies: the Celtic, Chinese, Native American? ~ Michael Scott, #NFDB
581:In the end, it was a lot of nothing about nothing, thank God—or whoever it was capriciously doling out miracles while also creating the circumstances under which such were prayed for. Lucy wondered if maybe she should convert to Norse mythology or something, one of the ones with trickster gods, like Loki. The available evidence seemed to vindicate that kind of god, as opposed to the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving creator of space-time she’d been raised to believe in. ~ David Sosnowski, #NFDB
582:Such a great people were the De Danann, and so uncommonly skilled in the few arts of the time, that they dazzled even their conquerors and successors, the Milesians, into regarding them as mighty magicians. Later generations of the Milesians to whom were handed down the wonderful traditions of the wonderful people they had conquered, lifted them into a mystic realm, their greatest ones becoming gods and goddesses, who supplied to their successors a beautiful mythology. Most ~ Seumas MacManus, #NFDB
583:Here's what I do believe very strongly: that once capitalism comes into existence, once it creates this mythology of a stingy nature, then that myth has to be exorcised. In other words, we have to get out of people's heads the idea that without a market economy, without egotism, competition, rivalry and self-interest, without all the technological advances that [Karl] Marx imputed to capitalism, we have to eliminate the feeling that we would sink into some kind of barbarism. ~ Murray Bookchin, #NFDB
584:We can now say with considerable confidence that the Bible is not a history of anyone's past.... The Bible's "Israel" is a literary fiction... Not only have Adam and Eve and the flood story passed over to mythology, but we can no longer talk about a time of the patriarchs. There never was a "United Monarchy" in history and it is meaningless to speak of pre-exilic prophets and their writings... The Bible deals with the origin traditions of a people who never existed as such ~ Thomas L Thompson, #NFDB
585:Bullying. In BDSM we get to act out from parts of ourselves that could not be described as nice: the bully, the villain, the inquisitor, the brute, the betrayer. Wicked, wicked, wicked. And popular. Check out mainstream movies, or fiction from best-sellers to classical mythology, for verification that everybody adores a really good villain. Those bad guys are big. Big enough to carry all the world’s ills, and create all the pain and trouble a hungry bottom could want to suffer. ~ Dossie Easton, #NFDB
586:For me, fantasy and speculative science fiction are the genres that feel closest to how I feel about being alive. Like, when I feel the most invigorated by just even a walk down the block in twilight, when the street lamps are just coming on and there's mist and some shadowy thing in silhouette in a window, I naturally invest all of those things with deep mythology and mystery and meaning. I think I need to believe in that version of reality because I get very scared when I don't. ~ Brit Marling, #NFDB
587:As the astronomer rejoices in new knowledge which compels him to give up the dignity of our globe as the centre, the pride, and even the final cause of the universe, so do those who have escaped from the Christian mythology enjoy their release from the superstition which fails to make them happy, fails to make them good, fails to make them wise, and has become as great an obstacle in the way of progress as the prior mythologies which it took the place of two thousand years ago. ~ Harriet Martineau, #NFDB
588:Forget everything you ordinarily associate with religious study. Strip away all the reverence and the awe and the art and the philosophy of it. Treat the subject coldly. Imagine yourself to be a theologist, but a special kind of theologist, one who studies gods the way an entomologist studies insects. Take as your dataset the entirety of world mythology and treat it as a collection of field observations and statistics pertaining to a hypothetical species: the god. Proceed from there. ~ Lev Grossman, #NFDB
589:I have examined all the known superstitions of the world,and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men women and children since the introduction of Christianity,have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
590:MOYERS: Is this a chief motif of mythological stories through time? CAMPBELL: No, the idea of life as an ordeal through which you become released from the bondage of life belongs to the higher religions. I don’t think I see anything like that in aboriginal mythology. MOYERS: What is the source of it? CAMPBELL: I don’t know. It would probably come from people of spiritual power and depth who experienced their lives as being inadequate to the spiritual aspect or dimension of their being. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
591:So, to very unsubtly change the subject, what kind of books do you like to read? And so help me if you say Greek mythology, I'll turn this car around myself."
It takes him a minute to get my joke, and then he starts laughing and I join in. And there's something about it all - the expanse of the summer sky arcing overhead and my hand still on Grey's warm thigh - that makes me wonder if I could just pause life here and wrap a bubble around this moment, if it would be enough to keep me happy. ~ Carrie Ryan,#NFDB
592:Professor Goldziher also shows, in his "Mythology Among the Hebrews," [99:5] that the story of the creation was borrowed by the Hebrews from the Babylonians. He also informs us that the notion of the bôrê and yôsêr, "Creator" (the term used in the cosmogony in Genesis) as an integral part of the idea of God, are first brought into use by the prophets of the captivity. "Thus also the story of the Garden of Eden, as a supplement to the history of the Creation, was written down at Babylon. ~ Thomas William Doane, #NFDB
593:From the very beginning our leaders, starting with the Founding Fathers themselves, have wrapped themselves in founding mythology as a way to stigmatize their opponents as heretics. One does not compromise or make deals with heretics, of course. The Jefferson Rule: Why We Think the Founding Fathers Have All the Answers could not be timelier. American presidential candidates (announced or otherwise) already have started jostling over who represents America and the principles upon which it was founded. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
594:The early Christian Church, through the process of councils and synods, determined that there was no difference between the proper person of God and the proper person of Christ - they later added the Holy Ghost. This agree entirely with the statement of the Egyptian mythology that Osiris was his own father and his own son. Osiris was born in Horus that he might be his own avenger. As lord of Amentet, Osiris was also the Holy Spirit, the judge of the quick and the dead. ~ Manly P Hall, How to Understand Your Bible, #NFDB
595:Despite being the only one of us who owned the game, I wasn't very good at Resurrection. As I watched them tramp through a ghoul-infested space station, Ben said, "Goblin, Radar, goblin."
I see him."
Come here you little bastard," Ben said, the controller twisting in his hand. "Daddy's gonna put you on a sailboat across the River Styx."
Did you just use Greek mythology to talk trash?" I asked.
Radar laughed. Ben started pummeling buttons, shouting, "Eat it, goblin! Eat it like Zeus ate Metis! ~ John Green,#NFDB
596:Markandeya Purana is that in which, commencing with the story of birds that were acquainted with right and wrong, everything is narrated fully by Markandeya, as it was explained by holy sages, in reply to the question of the Muni. It contains nine thousand verses, This is called from its being, in the first instance, narrated by Markendaya Muni, and, in the second instance place by certain fabulous birds. ~ Horace H. Wilson, in "Works:¬Vol. ¬6 : ¬The Vishṅu Purāṅa: a system of Hindu mythology ..., Volume 6 (1864)}, p. Liii, #NFDB
597:Manuel, I don’t think the situation is as bad as you seem to feel that it is. In each age it is necessary to adapt to the popular mythology. At one time kings were anointed by Deity, so the problem was to see to it that Deity anointed the tight candidate. In this age the myth is ‘the will of the people’. . . but the problem changes only superficially. Comrade Adam and I have had long discussions about how to determine the will of the people. I venture to suggest that this solution is one we can work with. ~ Robert A Heinlein, #NFDB
598:The knowledge of the individual citizen is of less value than the knowledge of science. The former is the opinion of individuals. It is merely subjective and is excluded from policies. The latter is objective - defined by science and promulgated by expert spokesmen. This objective knowledge is viewed as a commodity which can be refined... and fed into a process, now called decision-making. This new mythology of governance by the manipulation of knowledge-stock inevitably erodes reliance on government by people. ~ Ivan Illich, #NFDB
599:The Maori mythology of the Haka is ancient Egyptian in origin for that it refers to the Sun god having two wives; the Summer and the Winter maids who obviously act as embodiments of the Solstices. And since the pivotal point in front of the Balance of Giza (i.e. The eastern alignment of Khafre's Pyramid) resembles this dance of war, the crucial movement of the Sun is from the Winter Solstice event upwards to that of the Summer's exactly as the chant's lyrics state and as the circular zodiac of Dendera shows. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
600:I worked out a book which I thought was just straight science fiction -- with everything pretty much explained, and suddenly I got an idea which I thought was kind of neat for working in a mythological angle. I'm really struggling with myself. It would probably be a better book if I include it, but on the other hand I don't always like to keep reverting to it. I think what I'm going to do is vary my output, do some straight science fiction and some straight fantasy that doesn't involve mythology, and composites. ~ Roger Zelazny, #NFDB
601:We are on our way to the Hall of the Dead. I requested that I be the one to come for you.”
“Why?”
“You were a hard worker. Why not?”
“Because . . .” Shadow marshaled his thoughts. “Because I never believed in you. Because I don’t know much about Egyptian mythology. Because I didn’t expect this. What happened to Saint Peter and the Pearly Gates?”
The long-beaked white head shook from side to side, gravely. “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t believe in us,” said Mr. Ibis. “We believed in you. ~ Neil Gaiman,#NFDB
602:And it's a case in point of the fact that these traditions—the mythology, the lore—are not being gone to as some kind of fixed, given entity that one then has to have a subservient relationship to. They are active and unfinished; they are subject to change; they are themselves in the process of transformation and transition. They speak to an open and open-ended possibility that the poetics that I've been involved in very much speaks to as well. To see cracks and incompleteness as not only inevitable but opportune. ~ Nathaniel Mackey, #NFDB
603:Yet the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the traditional apprehension of mythology. It can be seen as a form of meditation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives. They know perfectly well that this fictional realm is not 'real' and yet while they are reading it becomes compelling. A powerful novel becomes part of the backdrop of our lives, long after we have laid the book aside. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
604:This book is so huge, that the mythology took many months to create. There are literally hundreds of characters , and many different worlds described in great detail. It's not the sort of thing that you can simply dash off. I hand-write everything. Now, I've done three drafts on Imajica, which comes to about 14,000 pages. When you're working on a novel, you really must give your life over to the project. This is my eleventh book, and I'm fortunate to know that the audience is there for it. I'm not just writing in the dark. ~ Clive Barker, #NFDB
605:Obscenity in matters of faith, however wrapped up, is always a token of fable and imposture; for it is necessary to our serious belief in God, that we do not connect it with stories that run, as this does, into ludicrous interpretations. This story is, upon the face of it, the same kind of story as that of Jupiter and Leda, or Jupiter and Europa, or any of the amorous adventures of Jupiter; and shews, as is already stated in the former part of 'The Age of Reason,' that the Christian faith is built upon the heathen Mythology. ~ Thomas Paine, #NFDB
606:O great and mighty Master Li, pray impart to me the Secret of Wisdom!" he bawled.
"Take a large bowl," I said. "Fill it with equal measures of fact, fantasy, history, mythology, science, superstition, logic, and lunacy. Darken the mixture with bitter tears, brighten it with howls of laughter, toss in three thousand years of civilization, bellow kan pei — which means 'dry cup' — and drink to the dregs."
Procopius stared at me. "And I will be wise?" he asked.
"Better," I said. "You will be Chinese. ~ Barry Hughart,#NFDB
607:CARL JUNG BELIEVED that to learn about the human experience, it was important to study dreams and mythology. History is the story of events that played out in civilization, but dreams and myths are expressions of the human heart. The themes and archetypes of our dreams and myths, Jung pointed out, transcend time and culture. They arise from unconscious instincts that governed our behavior long before civilization papered over and obscured them, and they therefore teach us about what it means to be human on the deepest level. ~ Leonard Mlodinow, #NFDB
608:With a lightness of touch that is almost subliminal, this verse has encouraged us to count Valhalla’s fighters, thus momentarily obliging us to focus our attention on their total number (540 × 800 = 432,000). This total, as we shall see in Chapter Thirty-one is mathematically linked to the phenomenon of precession. It is, unlikely to have found its way into Norse mythology by accident, especially in a context that has previously specified a ‘derangement of the heavens’ severe enough to have caused the stars to come adrift from ~ Graham Hancock, #NFDB
609:One of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but don’t feel powerless. White people don’t feel oppressed, but feel powerless. Deconstruct that disempowerment. Part of the mythology that they’ve been teaching you is that you have no power. Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth. ~ Winona LaDuke, #NFDB
610:Wherefore no name can be found for a new fossil [element] which indicates its peculiar and characteristic properties (in which position I find myself at present), I think it is best to choose such a denomination as means nothing of itself and thus can give no rise to any erroneous ideas. In consequence of this, as I did in the case of Uranium, I shall borrow the name for this metallic substance from mythology, and in particular from the Titans, the first sons of the earth. I therefore call this metallic genus TITANIUM. ~ Martin Heinrich Klaproth, #NFDB
611:It's classical mythology, Cohen," said the minstrel. "I thought everyone knew. He was chained to a rock for eternity and every day an eagle comes and pecks out his liver."
"Is that true?"
"It's mentioned in many of the classic texts."
"I'm not much of a reader," said Cohen. "Chained to a rock? For a first offence? He's still there?"
"Eternity isn't finished yet, Cohen."
"He must've had a big liver!"
"It grows again every night, according to the legend," said the minstrel.
"I wish my kidneys did," said Cohen. ~ Terry Pratchett,#NFDB
612:...nostalgia goes beyond individual psychology. At first glance, nostalgia is a longing for a place, but actually it is a yearning for a different time - the time of our childhood, the slower rhythms of our dreams. In a broader sense, nostalgia is a rebellion against the modern idea of time, the time of history and progress. The nostalgic desires to obliterate history and turn it into a private or collective mythology, to revisit time like space, refusing to surrender to the irreversibility of time that plagues the human condition. ~ Svetlana Boym, #NFDB
613:I blinked. “What do you mean awake?”
Bethany grimaced. “Don’t you know the story ordinaries tell about what happened to Merlin?”
“Uh, no.”
“I do,” said Eli. “There’re lots of different versions, but most say he was imprisoned in some kind of magical tomb by a witch named Niviane or some such.”
I gaped at him, surprised by the depth of his knowledge on the subject.
“What?” he said, shrugging. “I have sort of a thing for mythology and folklore.”
Yeah, that might be even cuter than the cop stuff. ~ Mindee Arnett,#NFDB
614:...the prominent Egyptian government minister, university professor, and writer Taha Hussein...devoted himself to the study of pre-Islamic Arabian poetry and ended up concluding that much of that body of work had been fabricated well after the establishment of Islam in order to lend outside support to Koranic mythology.... [T]he Iranian journalist and diplomat Ali Dashti...repeatedly took his fellow Muslims to task for not questioning the traditional accounts of Muhammad's life, much of which he called myth-making and miracle-mongering. ~ Toby Lester, #NFDB
615:I'll start with where we are right now. The map that I'll use is this birthing process, this kind of profound transition that we're going through, where the old narratives, the old story, the old mythology is wearing thin, beginning to fall apart. And as it does so, people hold on to it even more tightly. They haven't let go and won't let go until it becomes simply impossible to hold on to it anymore. And we're nearing that time, but not yet. Right now you can still pretend everything's normal, even though it's greatly hollowed out. ~ Charles Eisenstein, #NFDB
616:The epoch of doubt and transition during which the Greeks passed from the dim fancies of mythology to the fierce light of science was the age of Pericles, and the endeavour to substitute certain truth for the prescriptions of impaired authorities, which was then beginning to absorb the energies of the Greek intellect, is the grandest movement in the profane annals of mankind, for to it we owe, even after the immeasurable progress accomplished by Christianity, much of our philosophy and far the better part of the political knowledge we possess. ~ Lord Acton, #NFDB
617:Miss Evans, known later to the world as George Eliot, was, from 1851 to 1855 (i.e. from the age of thirty-two to thirty-five), living in the household of the radical bookseller John Chapman, 142 The Strand. She had translated in 1844 the revolutionary Hegelian version of Christ’s life, Das Leben Jesu of David Friedrich Strauss, and in 1854 she was to translate Feuerbach’s Das Wesen des Christenthums (Essence of Christianity). Both books saw religion as a purely human construct and the Christian religion as an exercise in mythology. Nowadays, such ~ A N Wilson, #NFDB
618:Since religion intrinsically rejects empirical methods, there should never be any attempt to reconcile scientific theories with religion. An infinitely old universe, always evolving, may not be compatible with the Book of Genesis. However, religions such as Buddhism get along without having any explicit creation mythology and are in no way contradicted by a universe without a beginning or end. Creatio ex nihilo, even as religious doctrine, only dates to around AD 200. The key is not to confuse myth and empirical results, or religion and science. ~ Hannes Alfven, #NFDB
619:We build our most sacred relationships on the battleground where evolved appetites clash with the romantic mythology of monogamous marriage. As Andrew J. Cherlin recounts in The Marriage-Go-Round, this unresolved conflict between what we are and what many wish we were results in “a great turbulence in American family life, a family flux, a coming and going of partners on a scale seen nowhere else.” Cherlin’s research shows that “[t]here are more partners in the personal lives of Americans than in the lives of people of any other Western country. ~ Christopher Ryan, #NFDB
620:As to the "traditional filler of twenty-first century realist fiction," maybe that is something I avoid. I don't relate to standard psychologizing in novels. I don't really believe that the backstory is the story you need. And I don't believe it's more like life to get it - the buildup of "character" through psychological and family history, the whole idea of "knowing what the character wants." People in real life so often do not know what they want. People trick themselves, lie to themselves, fool themselves. It's called survival, and self-mythology. ~ Rachel Kushner, #NFDB
621:Vishnu Purana is one of the eighteen traditional puranas, which were an important genre of smriti text, and the repository of much of traditional Indian mythology... Most of the puranas are highly sectarian as is the Vishnu Purana which is focused on the worship of Vishnu. It gives an exhaustive account of Vishnu’s mystic deeds – many of which have become the common mythic currency for many traditional Hindus – as well as instructions for how, where, and when Vishnu is to be worshipped. ~ James G. Lochtefeld, in Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z (2002), p. 760, #NFDB
622:An indigenous culture with sufficient territory, and bilingual and intercultural education, is in a better position to maintain and cultivate its mythology and shamanism. Conversely, the confiscation of their lands and imposition of foreign education, which turns their young people into amnesiacs, threatens the survival not only of these people, but of an entire way of knowing. It is as if one were burning down the oldest universities in the world and their libraries, one after another — thereby sacrificing the knowledge of the world's future generations. ~ Jeremy Narby, #NFDB
623:He probably didn’t know Aztecs from Mayans. None of the gods, none of the mythology, none of the names she’d learned since childhood. There had been vampires in America before the Aztecs rose to power, and they had interacted with humans, of course. But the Tlahuelpocmimi had blended so seamlessly into Aztec culture it was difficult to determine who had influenced whom, whether the emphasis on blood and sacrifice had come from exposure to the vampires or whether the vampires had gravitated toward this tribe because it meshed with their worldviews. ~ Silvia Moreno Garcia, #NFDB
624:You know what punk is? a bunch of no-talent guys who really, really want to be in a band. Nobody reads music, nobody plays the mandolin, and you're too dumb to write songs about mythology or Middle-earth. So what's your style? Three chords, cranked out fast and loud and distorted because your instruments are crap and you can't play them worth a damn. And you scream your lungs out to cover up the fact that you can't sing. It should suck, but here's the thing - it doesn't. Rock and roll can be so full of itself, but not this. It's simple and angry and raw. ~ Gordon Korman, #NFDB
625:We're taught to talk about the world as a world of as states conceived as unified, coherent entities. If you study international relations (IR) theory, there's what's called "realist" IR theory, which says there is an anarchic world of states and states pursue their "national interest." It's in large part mythology. There are a few common interests, like we don't want to be destroyed. But, for the most part, people within a nation have very different interests. The interests of the CEO of General Electric and the janitor who cleans his floor are not the same. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
626:In India we have two different systems. One we call history; history takes note of the facts. Another we call purana, mythology; it takes note of the truth. We have not written histories about Buddha, Mahavira or Krishna, no. That would have been dragging something immensely beautiful into the muddy unconsciousness of humanity. We have not written histories about these people, we have written myths. What is a myth? A myth is a parable, a parable that only points to the moon but says nothing about it—a finger pointing to the moon, an indication, an arrow, saying nothing. ~ Osho, #NFDB
627:We have to look at the figures of speech a writer uses, his images and symbols, to realize that underneath all the complexity of human life that uneasy stare at an alien nature is still haunting us, and the problem of surmounting it still with us. Above all, we have to look at the total design of a writer's work, the title he gives to it, and the his main theme, which means his point in writing it, to understand that literature is still doing the same job that mythology did earlier, but filling in its huge cloudy shapes with sharper lights and deeper shadows. [p.32] ~ Northrop Frye, #NFDB
628:Ancient poetry and mythology suggest, at least, that husbandry was once a sacred art; but it is pursued with irreverent haste and heedlessness by us, our object being to have large farms and large crops merely. We have no festival, nor procession, nor ceremony, not excepting our cattle-shows and so-called Thanksgivings, by which the farmer expresses a sense of the sacredness of his calling, or is reminded of its sacred origin. It is the premium and the feast which tempt him. He sacrifices not to Ceres and the Terrestrial Jove, but to the infernal Plutus rather. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
629:The collective unconscious appears to consist of mythological motifs or primordial images, for which reason the myths of all nations are its real exponents. In fact the whole of mythology could be taken as a sort of projection of the collective unconscious. We can see this most clearly if we look at the heavenly constellations, whose originally chaotic forms are organized through the projection of images. This explains the influence of the stars as asserted by astrologers. These influences are nothing but unconscious instrospective perceptions of the collective unconscious. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
630:No Geologist worth anything is permanently bound to a desk or laboratory, but the charming notion that true science can only be based on unbiased observation of nature in the raw is mythology. Creative work, in geology and anywhere else, is interaction and synthesis: half-baked ideas from a bar room, rocks in the field, chains of thought from lonely walks, numbers squeezed from rocks in a laboratory, numbers from a calculator riveted to a desk, fancy equipment usually malfunctioning on expensive ships, cheap equipment in the human cranium, arguments before a road cut. ~ Stephen Jay Gould, #NFDB
631:Religion is the emulation of the adult by the child. Religion is the encystment of past beliefs: mythology, which is guesswork, the hidden assumptions of trust in the universe, those pronouncements which men have made in search of personal power . . . all mingled with shreds of enlightenment. And always the ultimate unspoken commandment is "Thou shalt not question!" But we do anyway. We break that commandment as a matter of course. The work to which we have set ourselves is the liberating of the imagination, the harnessing of imagination to humankind's deepest sense of creativity. ~ Brian Herbert, #NFDB
632:Why has not England a great mythology? Our folklore has never advanced beyond daintiness, and the greater melodies about our country-side have all issued through the pipes of Greece. Deep and true as the native imagination can be, it seems to have failed here. It has stopped with the witches and the fairies. It cannot vivify one fraction of a summer field, or give names to half a dozen stars. England still waits for the supreme moment of her literature—for the great poet who shall voice her, or, better still for the thousand little poets whose voices shall pass into our common talk. ~ E M Forster, #NFDB
633:The most rigid pattern was not the one imposed by the school system or the adolescent social system. It was the pattern I made of the people around me, a mythology for their incomprehensible activity, a mythology that brought me a cramped delight, which I protected by putting all possible space between myself and other people. the boundaries of my inner world did not extend out, but in, so that there was a large area of blank whiteness starting at my most external self and expanding inward until it reached the tiny inner province of dazzling color and activity that it safeguarded. ~ Mary Gaitskill, #NFDB
634:To deny temporal succession, to deny the self, to deny the astronomical universe, are measures of apparent despair and of secret consolation. Our destiny (in contrast to Swedenborg's hell and the hell of Tibetan mythology) is not frightful because it is unreal; it is frightful because it is irreversible and ironbound. Time is the substance of which I am made. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which mangles me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
635:Freudian psychoanalytical theory is a mythology that answers pretty well to Levi-Strauss's descriptions. It brings some kind of order into incoherence; it, too, hangs together, makes sense, leaves no loose ends, and is never (but never) at a loss for explanation. In a state of bewilderment it may therefore bring comfort and relief.... give its subject a new and deeper understanding of his own condition and of the nature of his relationship to his fellow men. A mythical structure will be built up around him which makes sense and is believable-in, regardless of whether or not it is true. ~ Peter Medawar, #NFDB
636:Some single trees, wholly bright scarlet, seen against others of their kind still freshly green, or against evergreens, are more memorable than whole groves will be by-and-by. How beautiful, when a whole tree is like one great scarlet fruit full of ripe juices, every leaf, from lowest limb to topmost spire, all aglow, especially if you look toward the sun! What more remarkable object can there be in the landscape? Visible for miles, too fair to be believed. If such a phenomenon occurred but once, it would be handed down by tradition to posterity, and get into the mythology at last. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
637:...the strongholds of Fingerprints of the Gods lie in its analysis of mythology, in its exposure of a great worldwide spiritual system - older than history - encompassing astronomical, architectural, mathematical, and geodetic information, in opening up to wider view the extraordinary nature of ancient Egyptian civilisation & the ancient Egyptians monuments, in the case it makes for an inherited legacy of high knowledge from earlier times, in its investigation of the post-glacial cataclysms that shook the world...and in the correlation of these with myths of universal catastrophe... ~ Graham Hancock, #NFDB
638:I think people should take mythology much more seriously, because it tells us an awful lot about the history of the human race. We tend to dismiss it as 'fairy tales,' when it isn't. Fairy tales in themselves are about fundamentals of human nature. And they keep being reinvented in different ways. Fantasy acknowledges that, whereas a lot of modern literature is trying to distance itself from 'story,' never mind anything else. Which is why a lot of books are read by the critics, then people buy them, put them on their shelves, and don't really read them much, because they're not very interesting! ~ Jan Siegel, #NFDB
639:[T]he practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision. Their love of the marvellous and supernatural, their curiosity with regard to future events, and their strong propensity to extend their hopes and fears beyond the limits of the visible world, were the principal causes which favoured the establishment of Polytheism. So urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of some other mode of superstition ~ Carl Sagan, #NFDB
640:People didn't realize it, but they needed myths to survive, just as much now as when their forebears were alive. Perhaps more. Mythology embodied the world's dreams, helped to make sense of the great human problems. Just as the dreams of individuals exist to give subconscious support to their conscious lives, so do myths serve as society's dreams. They uncover the dark, hidden places where mysteries dwell and can turn to nightmare if left untended. They make sense of injustice in archetypal terms. They give men and women a blueprint for how they may respond to success or failure, tragedy or joy. ~ Charles de Lint, #NFDB
641:The greatest enthusiasts for Civil War history and memory often displace complicated consequences by endlessly focusing on the contest itself. We sometimes lift ourselves out of historical time, above the details, and render the war safe in a kind of national Passover offering as we view a photograph of the Blue and Gray veterans shaking hands across the stone walls at Gettysburg. Deeply embedded in an American mythology of mission, and serving as a mother lode of nostalgia for antimodernists and military history buffs, the Civil War remains very difficult to shuck from its shell of sentimentalism. ~ David W Blight, #NFDB
642:teaching math was convoluted and confusing, his grammar lessons could bore a statue to tears, and when it came to Ethoen history and mythology, Jahrra often found herself tempted to launch her pen at him. He never got anything right, often obscuring facts or making heroes out to be twisted or idiotic. Jahrra usually went into daydream mode during his lectures, but one day his lesson was so outrageous she couldn’t even lose herself in her own thoughts. “I wish we didn’t have such an awful teacher,” Gieaun groaned as they streamed out of the stuffy classroom on their final day of school. “I ~ Jenna Elizabeth Johnson, #NFDB
643:My dad was a different person when he lectured: his eyes sparkled, his lips turned upward.... 'Think what it must have been like for Darwin, two hundred years ago. He took that voyage on the Beagle [1831] expecting to document the natural world and he stumbled across something impossible. A creature who could defy the laws of physics--straight out of the pages of mythology...In that one moment, the entire landscape of scientific investigation was drastically and irrevocably changed. The impossible became a widespread scientific reality, as omnipresent as gravity and in some cases, nearly as hard to see. ~ Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #NFDB
644:I would like to tell you that an enlightened essence is present in everyone. It is present in every state, both samsara and nirvana, and in all sentient beings; there is no exception. Experience your buddha nature, make it your constant practice, and you will reach enlightenment. In my lifetime I have known many, many people who attained such and enlightened state, both male and female. Awakening to enlightenment is not an ancient fable. It is not mythology. It actually does happen. Bring the oral instructions into your own practical experience and enlightenment is indeed possible; it is not just a fairy tale. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
645:You are constantly being trained to be heroic only in the service of your masters - only in slaughter and sacrifice and subjugation. But there is no heroism in serving your masters. Real heroism is questioning why you have masters at all.
All these stories, all these fantasies, all these superpowers - are designed to steal heroism from you, to make it impossible, fantastical, remote, and unachievable - and make you useful to your masters (as a hit man, if needed). What is the opposite of this?
The opposite of fantasy is philosophy. The opposite of mythology is integrity. And integrity is truth in action. ~ Stefan Molyneux,#NFDB
646:Procrustes, in Greek mythology, was the cruel owner of a small estate in Corydalus in Attica, on the way between Athens and Eleusis, where the mystery rites were performed. Procrustes had a peculiar sense of hospitality: he abducted travelers, provided them with a generous dinner, then invited them to spend the night in a rather special bed. He wanted the bed to fit the traveler to perfection. Those who were too tall had their legs chopped off with a sharp hatchet; those who were too short were stretched (his name was said to be Damastes, or Polyphemon, but he was nicknamed Procrustes, which meant “the stretcher”). ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb, #NFDB
647:While words take time to utter and hear, and require attention to parse their meaning, the impact of the image is instantaneous, its influence decadent. Before the primacy of the image, a salesman or an advertisement would have to describe the attributes of a product in a rational appeal to the intellect. Afterward, it was the mythology of the brand, usually concocted by psychologists, that would sway a consumer’s heart. Likewise, with the rise of the image in politics, the policy platform of a presidential candidate would come to matter less than the ability of his image to convey ineffable or irrelevant values. Though ~ Daniel J Boorstin, #NFDB
648:The triviality of American popular culture, its emptiness and gossip, accelerates this destruction of critical thought.It expands the void, the mindlessness that makes the magic, mythology and irrationality of the Christian Right palatable. Television, the movement's primary medium, allows viewers to preoccupy themselves with context-free information. The homogenized empty chatter on the airwaves, the banal amusement and cliches, the bizarre doublespeak endlessly repeated on cable news channels and the huge spectacles in sports stadiums have replaced America's political, social and moral life, indeed replaced community itself. ~ Chris Hedges, #NFDB
649:They were aware that the symbols of mythology and the the symbols of mathematical science were different aspects of the same, indivisible Reality. They did not live in a 'divided house of faith and reason'; the two were interlocking, like ground-plan and elevation on an architect's drawing. It is a state of mind very difficult for twentieth-century man to imagine- or even to believe that it could ever have existed. It may help to remember though, that some of the greatest pre-Socratic sages formulated their philosophies in verse; the unitary source of inspiration of prophet, poet, and philosopher was still taken for granted. ~ Arthur Koestler, #NFDB
650:The flood myth motif is widespread among many cultures, as seen in Mesopotamian flood stories, the Puranas (ancient Hindu texts), in the Greek Deucalion mythology, the lore of the K'iche' and Maya peoples of Central America, as well as the Muisca people of present day Colombia in South America. In fact, there are oral traidition stories pertaining to this concept from antiquity, from cultures of Sumeria, Babylonia, Germany, Ireland, Finland, the Maasai of Africa, Egypt, India, Turkestan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Lao, Australia, Polynesia, and Native people of North America, Mesoamerica and South America... to name just a handful. ~ Brien Foerster, #NFDB
651:Wow,” I said. “That story is disturbing on so many different levels. One thing that’s mystifying about Indian mythology is how often the names change. The skin color changes – she’s golden, she’s black, she’s pink. Her name changes – she’s Durga, Kali, Parvati. Her personality changes – she’s a loving mother, she’s a fierce warrior, she’s terrible in her wrath, she’s a lover, she’s vengeful, she’s weak and mortal, then she’s powerful and can’t be defeated. Then there’s her marital status – she’s sometimes single, sometimes married. It’s hard to keep all the stories straight.”
Ren snickered. “Sounds like a normal woman to me. ~ Colleen Houck,#NFDB
652:It is a shame that this word, myth, which originally signified nothing more than stories of the supernatural, has come to be regarded as synonymous with falsehood, when in fact myths are always true. By their very nature, myths inhere both legitimacy and credibility. Whatever truths they convey have little to do with historical fact. To ask whether Moses actually parted the Red Sea, or whether Jesus truly raised Lazarus from the dead, or whether the word of God indeed poured through the lips of Muhammad, is to ask irrelevant questions. The only question that matters with regard to a religion and its mythology is “What do these stories mean? ~ Reza Aslan, #NFDB
653:Here was a small corner of the Greek archipelago; sky-blue, caressing waves, islands and rocks, a flowering strip of coastline, a magical panorama in the distance, an inviting sunset — you can’t describe it in words. This is what the peoples of Europe remembered as their cradle; here unfolded the first scenes of mythology, here was their earthly paradise. Here lived beautiful people! They got up and went to sleep happy and innocent; the groves were filled with their joyous songs, their great excess of untapped energies went into love and artless joy. The sun bathed these islands and the sea in its rays, rejoicing in its beautiful children. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
654:So one of the things I do when a client comes is I just do a rough walk through of those dimensions its like does anybody care if youre alive or dead, you know, do you have any friends, do you have anybody that loves you, do you have an intimate relationship, how are things going with your family, do you have a job, are you as educated as you are intelligent, do you have any room for advancement in the future, do you do anything interesting outside of your job and if the answer to all of those is no.. its like your not depressed my friend you just are screwed. really. ~ Jordan Peterson, 015 Maps of Meaning 4: Narrative, Neuropsychology & Mythology II / Part 1, #NFDB
655:CAMPBELL: The individual has to find an aspect of myth that relates to his own life. Myth basically serves four functions. The first is the mystical function—that is the one I’ve been speaking about, realizing what a wonder the universe is, and what a wonder you are, and experiencing awe before this mystery. Myth opens the world to the dimension of mystery, to the realization of the mystery that underlies all forms. If you lose that, you don’t have a mythology. If mystery is manifest through all things, the universe becomes, as it were, a holy picture. You are always addressing the transcendent mystery through the conditions of your actual world ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
656:He writes: The pacification of the untamed forces in the beast of prey, as we see it in the magical taming of the injurious powers of “poisonous” nature deities, and above all in the conquest of the Uraeus serpent as the royal diadem of Buto, is a very characteristic contribution of human thought in the historical epoch. Actually the taming of terrible deities goes back to the prehistoric age of mythology, as when the Egyptian Hathor is mollified and her “wrath” averted with the help of dancing, music, and intoxicating liquor; or when Bast, the friendly form of the lion goddess Sekhmet, becomes the goddess of healing, and her priests become physicians. ~ Erich Neumann, #NFDB
657:Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that’s what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you. When your mind is trapped by the image out there so that you never make the reference to yourself, you have misread the image.
The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies and your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And the outer world is the field of your incarnation. That’s where you are. You’ve got to keep both going. As Novalis said, 'The seat of the soul is there where the inner and outer worlds meet. ~ Joseph Campbell,#NFDB
658:As much as I find the soulmate concept sappy and silly, I also understand its appeal. The soulmate promises an all-in-one solution. Find that one perfect person and you have—for starters—your best friend, your sexual partner, your comforter and caretaker, your cheerleader, your escort to every social function, your consultant on matters large and small, and the one and only teammate you will ever need in home management, money management, and vacation planning. And that list doesn’t even include any of the potential coparenting possibilities. The soulmate mythology is the ultimate seduction: Find that one right person and all of your wishes will come true. ~ Bella DePaulo, #NFDB
659:Forbidden” books on black magic, witchcraft, and ancient religious beliefs all describe this basic materialization process, including solemn warnings to avert the eyes when you materialize an angel or demon through some secret rite lest you suffer from conjunctivitis and the other painful maladies produced by the rays of the EM spectrum. All mythology tells how one should not gaze upon the countenance of a materialized god. Although they lacked proper terminology for these effects and were obliged to speak in terms of “rays” and “vibrations,” secret cults throughout the ages knew that entities moved into our reality through a process of altering frequencies. ~ John A Keel, #NFDB
660:The substance of all such paganism may be summarised thus. It is an attempt to reach the divine reality through the imagination alone; in its own field reason does not restrain it at all. It is vital to the view of all history that reason is something separate from religion even in the most rational of these civilisations. It is only as an afterthought, when such cults are decadent or on the defensive, that a few Neo-Platonists or a few Brahmins are found trying to rationalise them, and even then only by trying to allegorise them. But in reality the rivers of mythology and philosophy run parallel and do not mingle till they meet in the sea of Christendom. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
661:The idea that any one of our religions represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology, and art even to be entertained - as the beliefs, rituals, and iconography of each of our religions attest to centuries of cross-pollination among them. Whatever their imagined source, the doctrines of modern religions are no more tenable than those which, for lack of adherents, were cast upon the scrap heap of mythology millennia ago; for there is no more evidence to justify a belief in the literal existence of Yahweh and Satan than there was to keep Zeus perched upon his mountain throne or Poseidon churning the seas. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
662:when we were old enough, Mom felt like she had given us all the tools she could to have happy lives, and she wanted us to do just that. Live. Make our own mythology, not be swallowed up by hers. Live the kind of happy, drama-free, painful and joyful mortal life she couldn't, and at the end of it come home to be ushered into our next life by the two people who brought us here in the first place. I know you think mortality is evidence that they don't care, but giving us the the ability to grow and change and progress and then finish? That was the greatest gift two ageless, eternal, very very stuck gods could think to give the children they love more than anything. ~ Kiersten White, #NFDB
663:As Americans embraced Wild West mythology by ignoring inconvenient facts and exaggerating or inventing more palatable ones, they also altered the meaning of a traditionally negative term. In Wyatt’s real West, anyone referred to as a cowboy was most likely a criminal. But in movies the word was used first to describe hardworking ranch hands and then, generically, those who rode horses, toted six-guns, and, when necessary (and it always became necessary) fought to uphold justice at the risk of their own lives. Cowboys were heroes, and their enemies were outlaws. So far as his growing legion of fans was concerned, Wyatt Earp was a cowboy in the new, best sense of the word. B ~ Jeff Guinn, #NFDB
664:What’s put that secret smile on your face?” Phillip asked, a teasing light in his eyes. “Don’t tell me Henry was actually pleasant company.” “He was,” Emma allowed. “Very knowledgeable.” Julian said, “What did you do out there all that time—that’s what I’d like to know.” He leaned back in his chair and watched her face with a knowing smirk. “Lizzie said the two of you were alone out there for quite some time.” “Oh?” Phillip asked, clearly surprised. “And what did you find to talk about with our laconic Henry?” “Greek mythology, mostly,” Emma said casually, wanting to end any romance rumors before they might begin. “I found it very interesting.” “You would,” Rowan muttered. ~ Julie Klassen, #NFDB
665:Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that's what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you. When your mind is trapped by the image out there so that you never make the reference to yourself, you have misread the image.
The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies and your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And the outer world is the field of your incarnation. That's where you are. You've got to keep both going. As Novalis said, 'The seat of the soul is there where the inner and outer worlds meet. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth,#NFDB
666:Dad might think being gay is a sin, but he sees it more as a sign of human weakness, not Satanic interference. At least, I don't think he does. I figure it's between me and the Big Guy upstairs. We used to go to church a lot, and I never heard on word to make me think I'm some sort of adbomination. If God is in fact responsible for creating me, He made me just how He wants me. And if He loved every bit of his handiwork, He loves me. And if all that is nothing more than mythology, what harm is there in believing the stories anyway? When I pray- or meditate, or consider the universe, whatever you want to call it- I find comfort. Self-acceptance. Understanding, at least in some world. ~ Ellen Hopkins, #NFDB
667:For decades I’ve had an intense interest in the history and mythology of the Silk Road, I think in part because an aspect of me loves the resonance of long distance travel as a theme or anchor, if you will, for narrative. The ways that cultures rise and fade across centuries, the ways cultures connect and conflict, absorb and reject, transform or remain static: As a writer this is thematic content that never gets old for me. A million million stories rise out of the endless back and forth of cultural contact in all its best and worst aspects, and everything in between. Weave that within a story of adventure or empire or a journey into unknown spaces and I’m in writer and reader hog heaven. ~ Kate Elliott, #NFDB
668:Incidentally, am I alone in finding the expression “it turns out” to be incredibly useful? It allows you to make swift, succinct, and authoritative connections between otherwise randomly unconnected statements without the trouble of explaining what your source or authority actually is. It’s great. It’s hugely better than its predecessors “I read somewhere that...” or the craven “they say that...” because it suggests not only that whatever flimsy bit of urban mythology you are passing on is actually based on brand new, ground breaking research, but that it is research in which you yourself were intimately involved. But again, with no actual authority anywhere in sight. Anyway, where was I? ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
669:Rabi-’ah’s achievement built on a tradition of female literacy, scholarship and intellectual creativity reaching back to the dawn of thought. Countless ancient myths ascribe the birth of language to women or goddesses, in a ritual formulation of the primeval truth that the first words any human being hears are the mother’s. In Indian mythology the Vedic goddess Vac means “language”; she personifies the birth of speech, and is represented as a maternal mouth-cavity open to give birth to the living word. The Hindu prayer to Devaki, mother of Krishna, begins, “Goddess of the Logos, Mother of the Gods, One with Creation, thou art Intelligence, the Mother of Science, the Mother of Courage . . . ~ Rosalind Miles, #NFDB
670:The man whirled, his hands still gripping the animal's skin, his face perfectly illuminated by the fire. He was half in shadow, and the shadow revealed him slowly. His left eye was covered by a black leather patch, and thin white scar raked his brow and the cheekbone below. The carried on, down the length of his neck, into the thick black beard, twisting under his collarbone and around his torso. They marred only the skin, I noted, for the muscles beneath were whole and strong, and the entire impression was one of great vitality and energy, strength unbridled. He looked nothing so much as a fallen god working at a trade.
"Hephaestus at the forge," I murmured, recalling my mythology.... ~ Deanna Raybourn,#NFDB
671:A myth, therefore, is true because it is effective, not because it gives us factual information. If, however, it does not give us new insight into the deeper meaning of life, it has failed. If it works, that is, if it forces us to change our minds and hearts, gives us new hope, and compels us to live more fully, it is a valid myth. Mythology will only transform us if we follow its directives. A myth is essentially a guide; it tells us what we must do in order to live more richly. If we do not apply it to our own situation and make the myth a reality in our own lives, it will remain as incomprehensible and remote as the rules of a board game, which often seem confusing and boring until we start to play. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
672:In order to get over the ethical difficulties presented by the naive naturalism of many parts of those Scriptures, in the divine authority of which he firmly believed, Philo borrowed from the Stoics (who had been in like straits in respect of Greek mythology), that great Excalibur which they had forged with infinite pains and skill—the method of allegorical interpretation. This mighty 'two-handed engine at the door' of the theologian is warranted to make a speedy end of any and every moral or intellectual difficulty, by showing that, taken allegorically or, as it is otherwise said, 'poetically' or, 'in a spiritual sense,' the plainest words mean whatever a pious interpreter desires they should mean. ~ Thomas Henry Huxley, #NFDB
673:This function of the King energy shows up everywhere in ancient mythology and in ancient interpretations of actual history. In ancient Egyptian mythology, as James Breasted and Henri Frankfort have shown, the world arose from the formlessness and chaos of a vast ocean in the form of a central Hill, or Mound. It came into being by the decree, by the sacred “Word,” of the Father god, Ptah, god of wisdom and order. Yahweh, in the Bible, creates in exactly the same way. Words, in fact, define our reality; they define our worlds. We organize our lives and our worlds by concepts, by our thoughts about them, and we can only think in terms of words. In this sense, at least, words make our reality and make our universe real. ~ Robert L Moore, #NFDB
674:Theres another class of people and I would say this is one of the pathologies of being creative so if your a high open person and you have all those things its not going to be enough. you are going to have to pick another domain where you are working on something positive and revolutiony because like the creative impulse for someone who is open we know it is a fundamental personallity dimension, ... and if the ones who are high in openness arent doing something creative they are like dead sticks adn cant live properly. And I think those are the people who benefit particularly from depth psychological approaches, especially Jungian approaches. ~ Jordan Peterson, 015 Maps of Meaning 4: Narrative, Neuropsychology & Mythology II / Part 1, #NFDB
675:1. Symbology — The employment of various external aids to preserve and develop the religious faculty of man. 2. History — The philosophy of each religion as illustrated in the lives of divine or human teachers acknowledged by each religion. This includes mythology; for what is mythology to one race, or period, is or was history to other races or periods. Even in cases of human teachers, much of their history is taken as mythology by successive generations. 3. Philosophy — The rationale of the whole scope of each religion. 4. Mysticism — The assertion of something superior to sense-knowledge and reason which particular persons, or all persons under certain circumstances, possess; runs through the other divisions also. All ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
676:As masculine self-consciousness grows stronger, the stage of matriarchy is followed by that of division. Symptomatic of this transition period is the twin-brother motif in mythology, which expresses the mutual affinity of opposites. This division turns destructively against itself in self-mutilation and suicide. As we saw, in uroboric and matriarchal castration the will of the Great Mother was paramount. But the centroversion tendency which underlies the ego-hero’s struggle for self-preservation and which first takes the form of anxiety, advances beyond the passive, narcissistic stage and turns into resistance, defiance, and aggression directed against the Great Mother, as illustrated mythologically in the story of Hippolytus. ~ Erich Neumann, #NFDB
677:I shall leave you to your Sisyphean task."
"What does that mean?" he heard Daisy ask.
Lillian replied while her smiling gaze remained locked with Marcus's. "It seems you avoided one too many Greek mythology lessons, dear. Sisyphus was a soul in Hades who was damned to perform an eternal task... rolling a huge boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again just before he reached the top."
"Then if the countess is Sisyphus," Daisy concluded, "I suppose we're..."
"The boulder," Lady Westcliff said succinctly, causing both girls to laugh.
"Do continue with our instruction, my lady," Lillian said, giving her full attention to the elderly woman as Marcus left the room. "We'll try not to flatten you on the way down. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
678:All the myths and stereotypes used to characterize black womanhood have their roots in negative anti-woman mythology. Yet they form the basis of most critical inquiry into the nature of black female experience. Many people have difficulty appreciating black women as we are because of eagerness to impose an identity upon us based on any number of negative stereotypes. Widespread efforts to continue devaluation of black womanhoodmake it extremely difficult and oftentimes impossible for the black female to develop a positive self-concept. For we are daily bombarded by negative images. Indeed, one strong oppressive force has been this negative stereotype and our acceptance of it as a viable role model upon which we can pattern our lives. ~ bell hooks, #NFDB
679:O great and mighty Master Li, pray impart to me the Secret of Wisdom!’ he bawled. A silly smile was sliding down the side of his face like a dripping watercolor, and his eyeballs resembled a pair of pink pigeon eggs that were gently bouncing in saucers of yellow won-ton soup. To my great credit I never batted an eyelash. ‘Take a large bowl,’ I said. ‘Fill it with equal measures of fact, fantasy, history, mythology, science, superstition, logic, and lunacy. Darken the mixture with bitter tears, brighten it with howls of laughter, toss in three thousand years of civilization, bellow kan pei—which means “dry cup”—and drink to the dregs.’ Procopius stared at me. ‘And I will be wise?’ he asked. ‘Better,’ I said. ‘You will be Chinese.’” Li ~ Barry Hughart, #NFDB
680:Campbell's work explains what world mythology says about all this. This includes every mythology, every mythic world, not just the Christian tradition. Human beings before the modern era understood these things. The modern world has forgotten how all this works and turned instead to the idea that we can strip-mine this territory. We expect to go in there and get some of that god-energy by strip-mining. This is the heroic modern ego trying to take control of it. We think that we do not have time to make long heroic journeys down into the god-energy and then come back again. We turn spirituality into a West Virginia coal mine, and our fantasy is that we can just mine all this god-energy whenever we need it and then we can manipulate it. ~ Robert L Moore, #NFDB
681:He had no regard to distinction of time or place, but gives to one age or nation, without scruple, the customs, institutions, and opinions of another, at the expence not only of likelihood, but of possibility. These faults Pope has endeavoured, with more zeal than judgment, to transfer to his imagined in interpolators. We need not wonder to find Hector quoting Aristotle, when we see the loves of Theseus and Hippolyta combined with the Gothic mythology of fairies. Shakespeare, indeed, was not the only violator of chronology, for in the same age Sidney, who wanted not the advantages of learning, has, in his “Arcadia”, confounded the pastoral with the feudal times, the days of innocence, quiet and security, with those of turbulence, violence and adventure. ~ Samuel Johnson, #NFDB
682:Let’s go for a walk, Mollie.” Frank Spencer stiffened, but Mollie’s annoying lawyer spoke in a calm voice. “They say that when a wolf wants to lead a sheep to slaughter, he’ll try to cut her off from the herd where he can do his worst in private.” There was snickering around the firelight as the entire herd moved in to protect the object of his affections. With the grinning faces of several men gloating at him, it would be impossible to sneak Mollie away. Zack turned to her with a pleasant smile on his face. “You know how in mythology the blind man is always the source of great wisdom and insight? Why couldn’t you find one of those blind guys to be friends with?” Frank appeared flattered by the statement. He grinned as he warmed his hands before the brazier. ~ Elizabeth Camden, #NFDB
683:It was only by escaping into the desert that Moses and the Jews were able to solidify their identity and reemerge as a social and political force.
Jesus spent his forty days in the wilderness, and Mohammed, too, fled Mecca at a time of great peril for a period of retreat. He and just a handful of his most devoted supporters used this period to deepen their bonds, to understand who they were and what they stood for, to let time work its good. Then this little band of believers reemerged to conquer Mecca and the Arabian Peninsula and later, after Mohammed's death, to defeat the Byzantines and the Persian empire, spreading Islam over vast territories. Around the world every mythology has a hero who retreats, even to Hades itself in the case of Odysseus, to find himself. ~ Robert Greene,#NFDB
684:A state of scepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude, that if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision. Their love of the marvellous and supernatural, their curiosity with regard to future events, and their strong propensity to extend their hopes and fears beyond the limits of the visible world, were the principal causes which favoroud the establishment of Polytheism. So urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of some other mode of superstition. (...) an object much less deserving would have been sufficient to fill the vacant place in their hearts. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
685:In itself, every idea is neutral, or should be; but man animates ideas, projects his flames and flaws into them; impure, transformed into beliefs, ideas take their place in time, take shape as events: the trajectory is complete, from logic to epilepsy . . . whence the birth of ideologies, doctrines, deadly games.
Idolaters by instinct, we convert the objects of our dreams and our interests into the Unconditional. History is nothing but a procession of false Absolutes, a series of temples raised to pretexts, a degradation of the mind before the Improbable. Even when he turns from religion, man remains subject to it; depleting himself to create fake gods, he feverishly adopts them: his need for fiction, for mythology triumphs over evidence and absurdity alike. ~ Emil M Cioran,#NFDB
686:Wherever the poetry of myth is interpreted as biography, history, or science, it is killed. The living images become only remote facts of a distant time or sky. Furthermore, it is never difficult to demonstrate that as science and history mythology is absurd. When a civilization begins to reinterpret its mythology in this way, the life goes out of it, temples become museums, and the link between the two perspectives is dissolved. Such a blight has certainly descended on the Bible and on a great part of the Christian cult.
To bring the images back to life, one has to seek, not interesting applications to modern affairs, but illuminating hints from the inspired past. When these are found, vast areas of half-dead iconography disclose again their permanently human meaning. ~ Joseph Campbell,#NFDB
687:It was a huge misconception that my father created all the chaos and evil on Earth. Mortals were given free will by my Uncle God, and they created evil all by their lonesome. My dad got to punish the you know what out of those idiots who choose to be heinously bad. And quite honestly some of them deserved my dad’s wrath. He loved his job. Another misconception is that Hell is below and Heaven is above. What does that even mean? Nothing is up or down, that’s just human mythology. Most likely the mistake was made because Hell was occasionally called the Underworld. Hell and Heaven are simply on different planes, accessible through portals. Earth was modeled after a combination of the seasons, climates and terrains of Heaven and Hell. We all shared the same moon and sun and stars. ~ Robyn Peterman, #NFDB
688:Subtract everything inessential from America and what's left? Geography and political philosophy, V says. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The Federalist Papers. --I'd say geography and mythology, James says. Our legends. He gives examples, talks about Columbus sailing past the edge of the world, John Smith at Jamestown and Puritans at Plymouth Rock, conquering the howling wilderness. Benjamin Franklin going from rags to riches with the help of a little slave trading, Frederick Douglass escaping to freedom, the assassination of Lincoln, annexing the West, All those stories that tell us who we are---stories of exploration, freedom, slavery, and always violence. We keep clutching those things, or at least worn-out images of them, like idols we can't quit worshipping. ~ Charles Frazier, #NFDB
689:Heimdallr, from Norse Mythology, is present on the ancient Egyptian circular zodiac and is represented by the Ram; as the watcher and the guardian of the bridge between heaven and earth. His head measures the crossroads of the ecliptic and the vernal equinox as also expressed on the zodiac. Heimdallr was born and raised by the blood of a sacrificial boar which is portrayed on the zodiac at the exact position and right before the bridge (i.e., entrance to Asgard). The Marsian stride starts at the front leg of Capricon marking the nine realms of Asgard thereby - which are unified by the world tree: Yggdrasil. He was born by nine goddesses who turn the mill and was identified as Mars, the hopping one. He is Vindler, the turner, who is the personification of fire who twists and turns the mill. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
690:It’s not that Jackson had a “dark side,” as his apologists rationalize and which all human beings have, but rather that Jackson was the Dark Knight in the formation of the United States as a colonialist, imperialist democracy, a dynamic formation that continues to constitute the core of US patriotism. The most revered presidents—Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson, both Roosevelts, Truman, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, Obama—have each advanced populist imperialism while gradually increasing inclusion of other groups beyond the core of descendants of old settlers into the ruling mythology. All the presidents after Jackson march in his footsteps. Consciously or not, they refer back to him on what is acceptable, how to reconcile democracy and genocide and characterize it as freedom for the people. ~ Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, #NFDB
691:Elsewhere Lankford reiterates that this belief system was by no means confined to the Plains, the Eastern Woodlands, and the Mississippi Valley. It is better understood, he argues, as part of 'a widespread religious pattern' found right across North America and 'more powerful than the tendency towards cultural diversity.' Indeed, what the evidence suggests is the former existence of 'an ancient North American international religion ... a common ethnoastronomy ... and a common mythology. Such a multicultural reality hints provocatively at more common knowledge which lay behind the façade of cultural diversity united by international trade networks. One likely possibility of a conceptual realm in which that common knowledge became focused is mortuary belief [and] ... the symbolism surrounding death. ~ Graham Hancock, #NFDB
692:A few years ago, long after it had been closed, Eli said he saw a girl swimming in it, coming out of the water in a bikini, laughing at her frigthtened boyfriend, seaweed snaking around her. He said she looked like a mermaid.
Deenie always pictured it like in one of those books of mythology she used to love, a girl rising from the foam gritted with pearls, mussels, the glitter of the sea.
"It looks beautiful", her mother had said once when they were driving by at night, its waters opaline. “It is beautiful. But it makes people sick.”
To Deenie, it was one of many interesting things that adults said would kill you: Easter lilles, jellyfish, copperhead snakes with their diamond heads, tails bright as sulfur. Don't touch, don't taste, don't get too close.
And then, last week. ~ Megan Abbott,#NFDB
693:All known great religions have had an exoteric aspect, that is, exterior, profane, for the masses of believers, and another esoteric, for a restricted select minority of initiates. So it was with the Egyptian and Greek cults. Those ignorant people who pompously speak to us about Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and the 'rational thought of the Greeks' ignore the fact that behind their ideas one finds the Eleusinian Mysteries of Delphi and elsewhere, in which these same philosophers, above all Plato, Aeschylus, Euripides took part, though they could not speak of it in public. The Orphic cults and mythology are the foundation of the philosophical thought of Ancient Greece. The word esoteric itself comes from the Greek work eisoteo and means 'to enter into' and 'to open a door' (towards the Gods: Theo, eiso-theo). ~ Miguel Serrano, #NFDB
694:In Greek mythology, Pallas Athena was celebrated as the goddess of reason and justice.1 To end the cycle of violence that began with Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia, Athena created a court of justice to try Orestes, thereby installing the rule of law in lieu of the reign of vengeance.2 Recall also the biblical Deborah (from the Book of Judges).3 She was at the same time prophet, judge, and military leader. This triple-headed authority was exercised by only two other Israelites, both men: Moses and Samuel. People came from far and wide to seek Deborah’s judgment. According to the rabbis, Deborah was independently wealthy; thus she could afford to work pro bono.4 Even if its members knew nothing of Athena and Deborah, the U.S. legal establishment resisted admitting women into its ranks far too long. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, #NFDB
695:From time to time I try to imagine this world of which he spoke--a culture in whose mythology words might be that precious, in which words were conceived as vessels for communications from the heart; a society in which words are holy, and the challenge of life is based upon the quest for gentle words, holy words, gentle truths, holy truths.
I try to imagine for myself a world in which the words one gives one's children are the shell into which they shall grow, so one chooses one's words carefully, like precious gifts, like magnificent gifts, like magnificent inheritances, for they convey an excess of what we have imagined, they bear gifts beyond imagination, they reveal and revisit the wealth of history.
How carefully, how slowly, and how lovingly we might step into our expectations of each other in such a world. ~ Patricia J Williams,#NFDB
696:Love, love, love—all the wretched cant of it,
masking egotism, lust, masochism, fantasy under a mythology of
sentimental postures, a welter of self-induced miseries and joys,
blinding and masking the essential personalities in the frozen gestures
of courtship, in the kissing and the dating and the desire, the compliments and the quarrels which vivify its
barrenness. ‘We were not made to idolize one another, yet the whole
strain of courtship is little more than rank idolatry.’ It may seem
that young men no longer court with the elaborate servilities that
Mary Astell, the seventeenth-century feminist, was talking about,
but the mystic madness of love provides the same spurious halo,
and builds up the same expectations which dissipate as soon as the
new wife becomes capable of ‘calmly considering her Condition ~ Germaine Greer,#NFDB
697:The enigma that had bothered me in Sydney was beginning to resolve itself. If Australians allowed themselves to be represented worldwide as a nation of beer-sodden boors and hysterical Amazons, it must be through sheer lack of imagination. Like most people everywhere they spent most of their time just getting by, but there was no collective dream or mythology that told them what it was they were supposed to be doing. In that respect they were far behind the Aborigines they had decimated and despised.
Yet many signs indicated that the time might not be too far away, when Australians would agree on a better reason for living than to eat a pound of beef a day. When that day came, I thought this would become one of the world’s best places to be.
The faces of the old men told me there had been something once that was lost and could be found again. ~ Ted Simon,#NFDB
698:His transcendent learning caused Hermes to be identified with many of the early sages and prophets. In his Ancient Mythology, Bryant writes: "I have mentioned that Cadmus was the same as the Egyptian Thoth; and it is manifest from his being Hermes, and from the invention of letters being attributed to him. " (In the chapter on the theory of Pythagorean Mathematics will be found the table of the original Cadmean letters.) Investigators believe that it was Hermes who was known to the Jews as "Enoch," called by Kenealy the "Second Messenger of God." Hermes was accepted into the mythology of the Greeks, later becoming the Mercury of the Latins. He was revered through the form of the planet Mercury because this body is nearest to the sun: Hermes of all creatures was nearest to God, and became known as the Messenger of the Gods. ~ Manly P Hall, The Secret Teachings of all Ages, #NFDB
699:I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I’d never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn’t want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn’t tried. I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner’s door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover’s said “…worried about Percy, sir.” I froze. I’m not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult. I inched closer. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
700:Although the rhythm of the waves beats a kind of time, it is not clock or calendar time. It has no urgency. It happens to be timeless time. I know that I am listening to a rhythm which has been just the same for millions of years, and it takes me out of a world of relentlessly ticking clocks. Clocks for some reason or other always seem to be marching, and, as with armies, marching is never to anything but doom. But in the motion of waves there is no marching rhythm. It harmonizes with our very breathing. It does not count our days. Its pulse is not in the stingy spirit of measuring, of marking out how much still remains. It is the breathing of eternity, like the God Brahma of Indian mythology inhaling and exhaling, manifesting and dissolving the worlds, forever. As a mere conception this might sound appallingly monotonous, until you come to listen to the breaking and washing of waves. ~ Alan W Watts, #NFDB
701:...the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the traditional apprehension of mythology. It can be seen as a form of meditation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives. They know perfectly well that this fictional realm is not 'real' and yet while they are reading it becomes compelling. A powerful novel becomes part of the backdrop of our lives, long after we have laid the book asie. It is an exercise of make-believe that, like yoga or a religious festival, breaks down barriers of space and time and extends our sympathies, so that we are able to empathise with others lives and sorrows. It teaches compassion, the ability to 'feel with' others. And, like mythology, an important novel is transformative. If we allow it to do so, it can change us forever. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
702:Ogma -which is the name of the god/originator of speech and language in the Celtic Mythology- was derived from the Sanskrit word 'Yama' (meaning, Twin) and the latter was originally derived from the Semitic root of 'Ogm' or 'Ojm' which literally means: 'Hard Rock'. One can find this word in the Arabic dictionary nowadays; it even becomes more interesting when we observe the Megalithic culture being attributed to the Celtic world. Oh, I am so proud to be the first person to discover this, but it got more astounding when I remembered that the word for 'Dictionary' in Arabic is derived from this specific word as well: Mojm - with 'M' in the beginning signaling the used object for 'Ojm'; as if this discovery is revealing to us a story about rocks being originally used for inscriptions on dry hard clay in the Middle East. Welcome to the Middle East my Scottish and Irish brethren, Welcome Home! ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
703:The word comes from Greek mythology. Orchis was the son of a satyr and a nymph. During a feast to celebrate Bacchus, Orchis drank too much wine and tried to force his attentions on a priestess. Bacchus was very displeased, and reacted by having Orchis torn to pieces. The pieces were scattered far and wide, and wherever one landed, an orchid grew." Pausing, she leaned away for a few seconds, reaching for something. Something soft and delicate touched his cracked lips.... She was applying salve with a fingertip. "Most people don't know that vanilla is the fruit of an orchid vine. We keep one in a glasshouse on the estate- it's so long that it grows sideways on the wall. When one of the flowers is full grown, it opens in the morning, and if it isn't pollinated, it closes in the evening, never to open again. The white blossoms, and the vanilla pods within them, have the sweetest scent in the world... ~ Lisa Kleypas, #NFDB
704:Some days I spent up to three hours in the arcade after school, dimly aware that we were the first people, ever, to be doing these things. We were feeling something they never had - a physical link into the world of the fictional - through the skeletal muscles of the arm to the joystick to the tiny person on the screen, a person in an imagined world. It was crude but real. We'd fashioned an outpost in the hostile, inaccessible world of the imagination, like dangling a bathysphere into the crushing dark of the deep ocean, a realm hitherto inaccessible to humankind. This is what games had become. Computers had their origin in military cryptography - in a sense, every computer game represents the commandeering of a military code-breaking apparatus for purposes of human expression. We'd done that, taken that idea and turned it into a thing its creators never imagined, our own incandescent mythology. ~ Austin Grossman, #NFDB
705:From space the little world looked like nothing much - perhaps a pitted and decaying pumpkin, dull orange-black in color, with a handful of tiny orbiting craft floating around it like fruit flies. Here and there amber lights shone out of craters in the surface. What seemed to be scores of deformed silver minnows nibbling the pumpkin rind - together with numbers of smaller noshmates - were actually huge transactinide carriers and lesser starships, either taking on fuel or docked nose-to-ground while their crews rested and recreated inside the not so heavenly body.
I have been told that the original Phlegethon of Greek mythology was a fiery river in Hades. Sheltok Concern owned a dozen or so similar way stations with brimstony names - Gehenna, Styx, Sheol, Tophet, Avernus, Niflheim, and the like - that served vessels bound to or fro the terrible R-class worlds where ultraheavy elements are mined. ~ Julian May,#NFDB
706:From time to time I try to imagine this world of which he spoke--a culture in whose mythology words might be that precious, in which words were conceived as vessels for communications from the heart; a society in which words are holy, and the challenge of life is based upon the quest for gentle words, holy words, gentle truths, holy truths.
I try to imagine for myself a world in which the words one gives one's children are the shell into which they shall grow, so one chooses one's children are the shell into which they shall grow, so one chooses one's words carefully, like precious gifts, like magnificent gifts, like magnificent inheritances, for they convey an excess of what we have imagined, they bear gifts beyond imagination, they reveal and revisit the wealth of history.
How carefully, how slowly, and how lovingly we might step into our expectations of each other in such a world. ~ Patricia J Williams,#NFDB
707:His eyes, which had been red before, changed even more. The scarlet pupils seemed to spread, covering the whites, taking up the entire eye like an animal’s. As I watched, the last scrap of humanity leaked away, leaving nothing human behind. Coarse black hair sprouted all over his body until it covered him like a pelt and his mouth and nose became long and pointed, turning into a wolf’s muzzle. But though his head changed, his body didn’t follow… not the way I expected it to, anyway. He didn’t turn all the way into a wolf. Instead, he grew bigger, more massive, more muscular as his clothes burst at the seams and fell away from him. He grew until I swore he stood nine feet tall, his head blotting out the moon. I stared in terror and fascination at what he had become—a monster out of a fairy tale told to frighten children at night. A beast from mythology. A man with the head of a wolf and the appetites of an animal. ~ Evangeline Anderson, #NFDB
708:When living in Denver, me and my friend Tony – who’s actually up here now and does amazing photography and helped us with the photoshoot for this collection – we did this funny thing on the anniversary of the stock market crash. It was a protest at a mall in Denver, and we called it “Black Friday is the new Black Monday”. We wanted to make the hipster thing into something else, we wanted to see what potential it had. Because we were fascinated by Paris 68, we made these pamphlets that said stuff like “Real hipsters riot”. We tried to encourage that mythology of the hipster from Sorbonne, Paris. This guy you see in Godard movie. We went into Urban Outfitters, threw a bunch of shit, flipped over things, went outside, shot a bunch of fireworks. That was pretty cool. The IEF was grounded in certain theoretical premises of insurrectionist theory, continental philosophy, and critical theory. It was definitely all over the damn place. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
709:The world is full, also, of great traditional books tracing the history of man (but focused narrowly on the local group) from the age of mythological beginnings, through periods of increasing plausibility, to a time almost within memory, when the chronicles begin to carry the record, with a show of rational factuality, to the present. Furthermore, just as all primitive mythologies serve to validate the customs, systems of sentiments, and political aims of their respective local groups, so do these great traditional books. On the surface they may appear to have been composed as conscientious history. In depth they reveal themselves to have been conceived as myths: poetic readings of the mysteries of life from a certain interested point of view. But to read a poem as a chronicle of fact is — to say the least — to miss the point. To say a little more, it is to prove oneself a dolt. ~ Joseph Campbell, Occidental Mythology: The Masks of God (1964), #NFDB
710:The most insidious part of the traditional marketing model is that “big blowout launch” mythology. Of course, equally seductive is the “build it and they will come” assumption that too many people associate with the Web. Both are too simple and rarely effective. Remember what Aaron Swartz realized. Users have to be pulled in. A good idea is not enough. Your customers, in fact, have to be “acquired.” But the way to do that isn’t with a bombardment. It’s with a targeted offensive in the right places aimed at the right people. Your start-up is designed to be a growth engine—and at some point early on, that engine has to be kick-started. The good news is that we have to do that only once. Because the next step isn’t about getting more attention or publicity. The endless promotional cycle of traditional marketing is not our destiny. Because once we bring our first customers in, our next move is to set about turning them into an army. ~ Ryan Holiday, #NFDB
711:Woman, in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes to know. As he progresses in the slow initiation which is life, the form of the goddess undergoes for him a series of transfigurations: she can never be greater than himself, though she can always promise more than he is yet capable of comprehending. She lures, she guides, she bids him burst his fetters. If he can match her import, the two, the knower and the known, will be released from every limitation. Woman is the guide to the sublime acme of sensuous adventure. By deficient eyes she is reduced to inferior states; by evil eyes of ignorance, she is reduced to banality and ugliness. But she is redeemed by the eyes of understanding. The hero who can taker her as she is, without undue commotion but with the kindness and assurance she requires, is potentially the king, the incarnate god, of her created world. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
712:The ‘healthy’ sign, for Barthes, is one which draws attention to its own arbitrariness—which does not try to palm itself off as ‘natural’ but which, in the very moment of conveying a meaning, communicates something of its own relative, artificial status as well. …Signs which pass themselves off as natural, which offer themselves as the only conceivable way of viewing the world, are by that token authoritarian and ideological. It is one of the functions of ideology to ‘naturalize’ social reality, to make it seem as innocent and unchangeable as Nature itself. Ideology seeks to convert culture into Nature, and the ‘natural’ sign is one of its weapons. Saluting a flag, or agreeing that Western democracy represents the true meaning of the word ‘freedom’, become the most obvious, spontaneous responses in the world. Ideology, in this sense, is a kind of contemporary mythology, a realm which has purged itself of ambiguity and alternative possibility. ~ Terry Eagleton, #NFDB
713:For those of you familiar with fairy tales, I’m known as the Fairy Godmother. I’m best remembered for transforming Cinderella’s raggedy clothes into a beautiful gown for the prince’s ball – but I won’t give anything else away in case you haven’t read it. You’ll be delighted to see it’s the first story in this treasury. I understand this all may come as a bit of a surprise. It’s not every day you learn that a place like the Land of Stories exists outside one’s imagination. Although it shouldn’t be that shocking if you think about it: After all, if fiction is inspired by mythology, and myths are just embellished legends, and legends are exaggerated history, then all stories must have an element of truth to them. And I can assure you that the fairy-tale world is as real as the book you’re holding in your hands. You’re probably wondering how the stories of the fairy-tale world became so prevalent in your world. Allow me to explain, for I am entirely to ~ Chris Colfer, #NFDB
714:The first thing he did was to attempt to analyse a mental device he was in the habit of resorting to - a device that supplied him with the secret substratum of his whole life. This was a certain trick he had of doing what he called 'sinking into his soul’. This trick had been a furtive custom with him from very early days. In his childhood his mother had often rallied him about it in her light-hearted way, and had applied to these trances, or these fits of absent-mindedness, an amusing but rather indecent nursery name. His father, on the other hand, had encouraged him in these moods, taking them very gravely, and treating him, when under their spell, as if he were a sort of infant magician.
It was, however, when staying in his grandmother's house at Weymouth that the word had come to him which he now always used in his own mind to describe these obsessions. It was the word ‘mythology’ ; and he used it entirely in a private sense of his own. ~ John Cowper Powys,#NFDB
715:Nevertheless, if we do accept this evidence, from the pre-Aryan (Dravidian) civilization, of a full-blown Shiva-Shakti mythology, we may trace the manifestation of the Shaivite tradition to these pre-Aryan peoples, and account for the appearance of two separately developing traditions among the early Indian peoples: one, the long-established tradition of the aboriginal races, and the other, the imported Vedic pantheon of the invading Aryans. For the Dravidian population, the Absolute Being came eventually to be known as Shiva, and His world-manifesting Power was called Shakti; while the Aryan tradition eventually adopted the name, Brahman for the Absolute principle, and Maya for Its world-manifesting Energy. And, while these two traditions eventually intermingled and became recognized by the wise as representative of a common and identical worldview, for many centuries each retained a semblance of independence while coexisting alongside one another. ~ Swami Abhayananda, #NFDB
716:J. R. R. Tolkien, the near-universally-hailed father of modern epic fantasy, crafted his magnum opus The Lord of the Rings to explore the forces of creation as he saw them: God and country, race and class, journeying to war and returning home. I’ve heard it said that he was trying to create some kind of original British mythology using the structure of other cultures’ myths, and maybe that was true. I don’t know. What I see, when I read his work, is a man trying desperately to dream.
Dreaming is impossible without myths. If we don’t have enough myths of our own, we’ll latch onto those of others — even if those myths make us believe terrible or false things about ourselves. Tolkien understood this, I think because it’s human nature. Call it the superego, call it common sense, call it pragmatism, call it learned helplessness, but the mind craves boundaries. Depending on the myths we believe in, those boundaries can be magnificently vast, or crushingly tight. ~ N K Jemisin,#NFDB
717:Wild Orphan
Blandly mother
takes him strolling
by railroad and by river
-he's the son of the absconded
hot rod angeland he imagines cars
and rides them in his dreams,
so lonely growing up among
the imaginary automobiles
and dead souls of Tarrytown
to create
out of his own imagination
the beauty of his wild
forebears-a mythology
he cannot inherit.
Will he later hallucinate
his gods? Waking
among mysteries with
an insane gleam
of recollection?
The recognitionsomething so rare
in his soul,
met only in dreams
-nostalgias
of another life.
A question of the soul.
And the injured
losing their injury
in their innocence
-a cock, a cross,
an excellence of love.
And the father grieves
102
in flophouse
complexities of memory
a thousand miles
away, unknowing
of the unexpected
youthful stranger
bumming toward his door.
~ Allen Ginsberg,#NFDB
718:In summary, the typical educated Roman of this age was orderly, conservative, loyal, sober, reverent, tenacious, severe, practical. He enjoyed discipline, and would have no nonsense about liberty. He obeyed as a training for command. He took it for granted that the government had a right to inquire into his morals as well as his income, and to value him purely according to his services to the state. He distrusted individuality and genius. He had none of the charm, vivacity, and unstable fluency of the Attic Greek. He admired character and will as the Greek admired freedom and intellect; and organization was his forte. He lacked imagination, even to make a mythology of his own. He could with some effort love beauty, but he could seldom create it. He had no use for pure science, and was suspicious of philosophy as a devilish dissolvent of ancient beliefs and ways. He could not, for the life of him, understand Plato, or Archimedes, or Christ. He could only rule the world. ~ Will Durant, #NFDB
719:There was a fascinating duality about Matthew that Daisy had never encountered in another man. At some moments he was the aggressive, sharp-eyed, buttoned-up businessman who rattled off facts and figures with ease.
At other times he was a gentle, understanding lover who shed his cynicism like an old coat and engaged her in playful debates about which ancient culture had the best mythology, or what Thomas Jefferson's favorite vegetable had been. (Although Daisy was convinced it was green peas, Matthew had made an excellent case for tomatoes.)
They had long conversations about subjects like history and progressive politics. For a man from a conservative Brahmin background, he had a surprising awareness of reform issues. Usually in their relentless climb up the social ladder, enterprising men forgot about those who had been left on the bottom rungs. Daisy thought it spoke well of Matthew's character that he had a genuine concern for those less fortunate than himself. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
720:That is the miracle of Greek mythology—a humanized world, men freed from the paralyzing fear of an omnipotent Unknown. The terrifying incomprehensibilities which were worshiped elsewhere, and the fearsome spirits with which earth, air, and sea swarmed, were banned from Greece. It may seem odd to say that the men who made the myths disliked the irrational and had a love for facts; but it is true, no matter how wildly fantastic some of the stories are. Anyone who reads them with attention discovers that even the most nonsensical take place in a world which is essentially rational and matter-of-fact. Hercules, whose life was one long combat against preposterous monsters, is always said to have had his home in the city of Thebes. The exact spot where Aphrodite was born of the foam could be visited by any ancient tourist; it was just offshore from the island of Cythera. The winged steed Pegasus, after skimming the air all day, went every night to a comfortable stable in Corinth. A ~ Edith Hamilton, #NFDB
721:Her name is Hope?” John asked, the corners of his mouth beginning to tug upwards.
“No.” I bristled, thinking he was making fun of me. Then I realized I’d been caught. “Well, all right…so what if it is? I’m not going to name her after some depressing aspect of the Underworld like you do all your pets. I looked up the name Alastor. That was the name of one of the death horses that drew Hades’s chariot. And Typhon?” I glanced at the dog, cavorting in and out of the waves, seemingly oblivious of the cold. “I can only imagine, but I’m sure it means something equally unpleasant.”
“Typhon was the father of all monsters,” John said. He’d given up trying to suppress his grin. “The deadliest of all the creatures in Greek mythology.”
“Nice,” I said sarcastically. “Well, I prefer to name my pets something that reminds me there’s-“
“Hope?” His grin broadened.
“Very funny.” True, I’d admitted to him that I was inexperienced. But I didn’t have to prove it by acting like I was twelve. ~ Meg Cabot,#NFDB
722:But Ransom, as time wore on, became aware of another and more spiritual cause for his progressive lightening and exultation of heart. A nightmare, long engendered in the modern mind by the mythology that follows in the wake of science, was falling off him. He had read of 'Space': at the back of his thinking for years had lurked the dismal fancy of the black, cold vacuity, the utter deadness, which was supposed to separate the worlds. He had not known how much it affected him till now-now that the very name 'Space' seemed a blasphemous libel for this empyrean ocean of radiance in which they swam. He could not call it 'dead'; he felt life pouring into him from it every moment. How indeed should it be otherwise, since out of this ocean all the worlds and all their life had come? He had thought it barren: he now saw that it was the womb of worlds, whose blazing and innumerable offspring looked down nightly even upon the earth with so many eyes-and here, with how many more! No: Space was the wrong name. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
723:And so we have…this critical problem as human beings of seeing to it that the mythology—the constellation of sign signals, affect images, energy-releasing and -directing signs—that we are communicating to our young will deliver directive messages qualified to relate them richly and vitally to the environment that is to be theirs for life, and not to some period of man already past, some piously desiderated future, or—what is worst of all—some querulous, freakish sect or momentary fad. And I call this problem critical because, when it is badly resolved, the result for the miseducated individual is what is known, in mythological terms, as a Waste Land situation. The world does not talk to him; he does not talk to the world. When that is the case, there is a cut-off, the individual is thrown back on himself, and he is in prime shape for that psychotic break-away that will turn him into either an essential schizophrenic in a padded cell, or a paranoid screaming slogans at large, in a bughouse without walls. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
724:MOYERS: So if my private dreams are in accord with the public mythology, I'm more likely to live healthily in that society. But if my private dreams are out of step with the public –
CAMPBELL: -- you'll be in trouble. If you're forced to live in that system, you'll be a neurotic.
MOYERS: But aren't many visionaries and even leaders and heroes close to the edge of neuroticism?
CAMPBELL: Yes, they are.
MOYERS: How do you explain that?
CAMPBELL: They've moved out of the society that would have protected them, and into the dark forest, into the world of fire, of original experience. Original experience has not been interpreted for you, and so you've got to work out your life for yourself. Either you can take it or you can't. You don't have to go far off the interpreted path to find yourself in very difficult situations. The courage to face the trials and to bring a whole new body of possibilities into the field of interpreted experience for other people to experience -- that is the hero's deed. ~ Joseph Campbell,#NFDB
725:Hindu mythology makes constant references to queerness, the idea that questions notions of maleness and femaleness. There are stories of men who become women, and women who become men, of men who create children without women, and women who create children without men, and of creatures who are neither this, nor that, but a little bit of both, like the makara (a combination of fish and elephant) or the yali (a combination of lion and elephant). There are also many words in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil such as kliba, napumsaka, mukhabhaga, sanda, panda, pandaka, pedi that suggest a long familiarity with queer thought and behaviour. It is common to either deny the existence of such fluidity in our stories, or simply locate them in the realm of the supernatural or point to law books that, besides endorsing patriarchy and casteism, also frown upon queer behaviour. Yet the stories are repeatedly told and shown. Gentle attempts, perhaps, of wise sages to open up stubborn finite minds and lead them towards infinity ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
726:Immediately I recall Caravaggio’s painting of Medusa, feared by the male heroes of Greek mythology. I am thirteen and I stand in an art gallery, marble floors shining and my breath echoing around the room. Medusa has her mouth open in a bloody, hysterical scream, her head decapitated; it is silenced by the glass separating the painting from me. I reflects my face over her own – a mirror. I am sixteen now, and I want to scream. Rage. Cry. We are told not to. My head, firmly attached to my neck, writhes with snakes of questions about this. I have no snakes for hair, yet my own contentious relationship with the concepts of beauty and ugliness seems to explain my having some sharp edges. When girls are weighed on the scale of beauty, of worth – am I not allowed to simply exist? – the scale places rage on the negative end. Medusa is given trauma, has it forced down her throat and into her lungs; Medusa is given a blade to her neck for daring to be mad about it. Girls are given trauma, and they are given no place to put it down. ~ Unknown, #NFDB
727:In the narrative of the left, Australia was a boring outpost of the British Empire until Gough Whitlam became prime minister, formally ended the White Australia policy, instituted multiculturalism and gave Aborigines land rights. Whitlam’s brief government was certainly a cultural watershed, but not everything that happened before 1972 is irrelevant and not all that happened afterwards is admirable. Australia was never quite the antipodean England of left-wing mythology. People from Africa, Asia and many of the countries of Europe were aboard the early convict fleets, as would be expected in a representative sample of London’s jails. In the 1830s, after the Myall Creek massacre, white men were hanged for the murder of Aborigines. Among the Gold Rush influx were thousands of Chinese, quite a few of whom stayed after the gold they’d chased ran out. The first decade of Australia’s national existence, which brought the passage of the ‘White Australia’ legislation, also saw our first Chinese-speaking MP, Senator Thomas Bakhap. ~ Tony Abbott, #NFDB
728:There is a small wooden viewing tower, and pamphlets from the State of Ohio, but they focus on facts—for instance, the Serpent Mound is as long as four football fields—not on meaning. In The Sacred Hoop, Paula Gunn Allen, a Native poet, mythologist, and scholar, explains that Serpent Woman was one of the names of the quintessential original spirit “that pervades everything, that is capable of powerful song and radiant movement, and that moves in and out of the mind…she is both Mother and Father to all people and all creatures. She is the only creator of thought, and thought precedes creation.”
In Western mythology, she might be compared to Medusa, the serpent-haired Greek goddess whose name means Knowing Woman or Protectress. She once was all-powerful—until patriarchy came along in the form of a mythic young man who chopped off her head. He was told to do this by Athena, who sprang full-blown from the mind of her father, Zeus—a goddess thought up by patriarchy and therefore motherless. There is history in what is dismissed as prehistory. ~ Gloria Steinem,#NFDB
729:In an instant, the weight of her own beliefs began to crush her. The noise in her head grew deafening. The mitote, that war of words within the human mind, the thing that Miguel had turned into a familiar mythology, was suddenly real. It seemed that every human on the planet was yelling at her or at someone else. Everybody was shouting, nagging, arguing against the truth, and their noise was unbearable. There was anger and raw fear behind the noise, and the intensity was shocking. Even more shocking was the realization that every voice was hers. Every argument, assumption, and conclusion was a part of her own thought process; every judgment came from her. Every complaint and contradiction was a reflection of her. She was the mayhem, the deafening noise in her own head. She was the liar, the deranged storyteller. She had imagined herself to be an angel of life, but death was closing in now and dulling her senses. All she could hear were messages of fear. Terror seared her brain until, suddenly unleashed, it thundered through the ruins of Teotihuacan. ~ Miguel Ruiz, #NFDB
730:Some religions say that the universe was started with a word, a song, a dance, a piece of music. The Listening Monks of the Ramtops have trained their hearing until they can tell the value of a playing card by listening to it, and have made it their task to listen intently to the subtle sounds of the universe to piece together, from the fossil echoes, the very first noises. There was certainly, they say, a very strange noise at the beginning of everything. But the keenest ears (the ones who win most at poker), who listen to the frozen echoes in ammonites and amber, swear they can detect some tiny sounds before that. It sounded, they say, like someone counting: One, Two, Three, Four. The very best one, who listened to basalt, said he thought he could make out, very faintly, some numbers that came even earlier. When they asked him what it was, he said: “It sounds like One, Two.” No one ever asked what, if there was a sound that called the universe into being, what happened to it afterward. It’s mythology. You’re not supposed to ask that kind of question. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
731:An interesting contrast between the geology of the present day and that of half a century ago, is presented by the complete emancipation of the modern geologist from the controlling and perverting influence of theology, all-powerful at the earlier date. As the geologist of my young days wrote, he had one eye upon fact, and the other on Genesis; at present, he wisely keeps both eyes on fact, and ignores the pentateuchal mythology altogether. The publication of the 'Principles of Geology' brought upon its illustrious author a period of social ostracism; the instruction given to our children is based upon those principles. Whewell had the courage to attack Lyell's fundamental assumption (which surely is a dictate of common sense) that we ought to exhaust known causes before seeking for the explanation of geological phenomena in causes of which we have no experience. ~ Thomas Henry Huxley, #NFDB
732:The buffalo played a large part in the ceremonies and mythology of the Plains Indians. Many myths and folk tales about the buffalo, which delighted both young and old, were told and retold about the campfires.
The first buffalo spirit was supposed to have been born in a northern cave and was said to have been pure white. It had great powers in healing, especially wounds. A white buffalo in a herd was supposed to be the reappearance of this buffalo spirit on earth. The hide taken from such an animal was sacred and had special ceremonial purposes.
Most of the Plains tribes had buffalo societies. The members of these groups took part in special buffalo ceremonies and dances. These men had personal names suggesting movements, actions, or postures of the animal, such as “Standing Buffalo,” or “Sitting Bull.”
The Buffalo Dance of the Plains tribes has many forms. Sometimes a herd of buffalo are represented. In this dance we have only one buffalo wearing a buffalo mask and a buffalo tail. Other dancers, eight or more in number, are hunters carrying feathered lances and shields. ~ W Ben Hunt,#NFDB
733:"The way that we behave contains way more information than we know. And part of the dream that surrounds our articulated knowledge has been extracted as a consequence of us watching each other behave, and telling stories about it over thousands and thousands and thousands of years, extracting out patterns of behavior that characterize humanity, and trying to represent them party through imitations but also through drama, mythology, and literature, and art, and all of that – to represent what we're like so we can understand what we're like. That process of understanding is what we see unfolding at least in part in the Biblical stories. It's halting and partial and awkward and contradictory and all of that, which is one of the things that makes it so complex, but I see in it the struggle of humanity to rise above its animal forebears and to become conscious of what it means to be human, and that's a very difficult thing." ~ Jordan Peterson, #NFDB
734:"The way that we behave contains way more information than we know. And part of the dream that surrounds our articulated knowledge has been extracted as a consequence of us watching each other behave, and telling stories about it over thousands and thousands and thousands of years, extracting out patterns of behavior that characterize humanity, and trying to represent them party through imitations but also through drama, mythology, and literature, and art, and all of that – to represent what we're like so we can understand what we're like. That process of understanding is what we see unfolding at least in part in the Biblical stories. It's halting and partial and awkward and contradictory and all of that, which is one of the things that makes it so complex, but I see in it the struggle of humanity to rise above its animal forebears and to become conscious of what it means to be human, and that's a very difficult thing." ~ Jordan B Peterson, #NFDB
735:Border crossing' is a recurrent theme in all aspects of my work -- editing, writing, and painting. I'm interested in the various ways artists not only cross borders but also subvert them. In mythology, the old Trickster figure Coyote is a champion border crosser, mischievously dashing from the land of the living to the land of the dead, from the wilderness world of magic to the human world. He tears things down so they can be made anew. He's a rascal, but also a culture hero, dancing on borders, ignoring the rules, as many of our most innovative artists do. I'm particularly drawn to art that crosses the borders critics have erected between 'high art' and 'popular culture,' between 'mainstream' and 'genre,' or between one genre and another -- I love that moment of passage between the two; that place on the border where two worlds meet and energize each other, where Coyote enters and shakes things up. But I still have a great love for traditional fantasy, for Imaginary World, center-of-the-genre stories. I'm still excited by series books and trilogies if they're well written and use mythic tropes in interesting ways. ~ Terri Windling, #NFDB
736:"Without the support of your father (practically and metaphysically), without that behind you, without the knowledge of you as both a biological and cultural creature, with that depth of knowledge, you don't have the courage to do it, because you don't know what you are or what you could be. And so without that – because you're a historical creature, so you need all this collected wisdom, and all this dream-like information, and all this mythology and all this narrative, to inform you about what you are beyond what you see of yourself. And you're pummeled down, and people picked on you, and there's fifty things about you that are horrible, and you have a self-esteem problem, and you're sort of hunched over – you've got all these problems, and so it's not easy to see the divinity that lurks behind that. Unless you're aware of the heroic stories of the past – the metaphysics of consciousness – I don't think you can have the courage that regards yourself as the sort of creature that can stand up underneath that intense existential burden and move forward in courage and grace." ~ Jordan Peterson, #NFDB
737:"Without the support of your father (practically and metaphysically), without that behind you, without the knowledge of you as both a biological and cultural creature, with that depth of knowledge, you don't have the courage to do it, because you don't know what you are or what you could be. And so without that – because you're a historical creature, so you need all this collected wisdom, and all this dream-like information, and all this mythology and all this narrative, to inform you about what you are beyond what you see of yourself. And you're pummeled down, and people picked on you, and there's fifty things about you that are horrible, and you have a self-esteem problem, and you're sort of hunched over – you've got all these problems, and so it's not easy to see the divinity that lurks behind that. Unless you're aware of the heroic stories of the past – the metaphysics of consciousness – I don't think you can have the courage that regards yourself as the sort of creature that can stand up underneath that intense existential burden and move forward in courage and grace." ~ Jordan B Peterson, #NFDB
738:In Berlin, Stauffenberg and his confederates had at last perfected their plans. They were lumped under the code name “Valkyrie”—an appropriate term, since the Valkyrie were the maidens in Norse-German mythology, beautiful but terrifying, who were supposed to have hovered over the ancient battlefields choosing those who would be slain. In this case, Adolf Hitler was to be slain. Ironically enough, Admiral Canaris, before his fall, had sold the Fuehrer the idea of Valkyrie, dressing it up as a plan for the Home Army to take over the security of Berlin and the other large cities in case of a revolt of the millions of foreign laborers toiling in these centers. Such a revolt was highly unlikely—indeed, impossible—since the foreign workers were unarmed and unorganized, but to the suspicious Fuehrer danger lurked everywhere these days, and, with almost all the able-bodied soldiers absent from the homeland either at the front or keeping down the populace in the far-flung occupied areas, he readily fell in with the idea that the Home Army ought to have plans for protecting the internal security of the Reich against the hordes of sullen slave laborers. ~ William L Shirer, #NFDB
739:What about this idea of good and evil in mythology, of life as a conflict between the forces of darkness and the forces of light? CAMPBELL: That is a Zoroastrian idea, which has come over into Judaism and Christianity. In other traditions, good and evil are relative to the position in which you are standing. What is good for one is evil for the other. And you play your part, not withdrawing from the world when you realize how horrible it is, but seeing that this horror is simply the foreground of a wonder: a mysterium tremendum et fascinans. “All life is sorrowful” is the first Buddhist saying, and so it is. It wouldn’t be life if there were not temporality involved, which is sorrow—loss, loss, loss. You’ve got to say yes to life and see it as magnificent this way; for this is surely the way God intended it. MOYERS: Do you really believe that? CAMPBELL: It is joyful just as it is. I don’t believe there was anybody who intended it, but this is the way it is. James Joyce has a memorable line: “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.” And the way to awake from it is not to be afraid, and to recognize that all of this, as it is, is a ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
740:To begin with, let us recall the /J,adltlt which all our mysticr
of Islam untiringly meditate, the adltlt in which the Godhead
reveals the secret of His passion ( his pathos): "I was a hidden
Treasure and I yearned to be known. Then I created creatures
in order to be known by them." With still greater fidelity to Ibn
rArabi's thought, let us translate: "in order to become in them
the object of my knowledge." This divine passion, this desire to
reveal Himself and to know Himself in beings through being
known by them, is the motive underlying an entire divine
dramaturgy, an eternal cosmogony. This cosmogony is neither
an Emanation in the Neoplatonic sense of the word nor, still
less, a creatio ex niltilo. It is rather a succession of manifestations
of being, brought about by an increasing light, within the
originally undifferentiated God ; it is a succession of tajalliylit,
of theophanies.15 This is the context of one of the most charac-
teristic themes of Ibn rArabi's thinking, the doctrine of divine
Names ( which has sometimes been termed, rather inexactly, his
"mythology" of the divine Names). ~ Henry Corbin,#NFDB
741:The belief in magic trickery for conceiving sons is also illustrated by the legend of the rainbow in Afghanistan. The rainbow, a favorite element in every mythology from the Norse to the Navajo people, often symbolizes wish fulfillment. In Afghanistan, finding a rainbow promises a very special reward: It holds magical powers to turn an unborn child into a boy when a pregnant woman walks under it. Afghan girls are also told that they can become boys by walking under a rainbow, and many little girls have tried. As a child, Setareh did it too, she confesses when I probe her on it. All her girlfriends tried to find the rainbow so they could become boys.
The name for the rainbow, Kaman-e-Rostam, is a reference to the mythical hero Rostam from the Persian epic Shahnameh, which tells the history of greater Persia from that time when Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion and Afghanistan was part of the empire. The Persian epic even has its own bacha posh: the warrior woman Gordafarid, an Amazon who disguises herself as a man to intervene in battle and defend her land. Interestingly, the same rainbow myth of gender-changing is told in parts of Eastern Europe, including Albania and Montenegro. ~ Jenny Nordberg,#NFDB
742:Fairy tales are entertaining, but what about after the story? When the knight marries the princess do you think he actually makes a decent husband? Just because he wears expensive armor and rescues her doesn't mean he's a good man. He might slay as many innocent dragons as he does evil ones. The princess married a man, not a saint. Well, unless he's Saint George." He grinned but she didn't smile back.
"That doesn't make saving a damsel in distress any less honorable. And if he stoops to marry his damsel he's the one most liked to be disappointed. A pretty face doesn't guarantee she can do anything useful."
Ah, so they were more alike than he thought. She didn't believe she deserved him any more than he believed he did her. "So a poor maiden can't ever be worthy of a knight, not even a flawed one?"
"What could a commoner possibly do to make a knight happy?"
"You help him figure out which dragons need to be vanquished and which can be redeemed and trained."
She finally looked at him for more than a moment, her eyes as dazzling as the sparkling flakes dancing in the moonlight. "Are we still talking about mythology?" Her voice shook.
"No." He smiled. "I never thought we were. ~ Melissa Jagears,#NFDB
743:Religions, creeds, drama, poetry, games, folklore, folk tales, mythology, moral and aesthetic codes' elements of the political and juridical life affirming a personality's value , freedom and tolerance ; philosophy, theater, galleries , museums, libraries-this is the unbroken line of human culture, the first act of which has been played in heaven between God and man. That is climbing the holy mountain , the top of which remains unreachable' marching through darkness by means of the blazing candle carried by man.
Civilization is the continuation of technical rather than spiritual progress in the same way that Darwinian evolution is the continuation of biological rather than human progress. Civilization represents the development of the potential forces that existed in our less developed ancestors. It is a continuation of the natural , mechanical elements-that is, of the unconscious, senseless elements of our existence. Therefore, civilization is neither good nor bad in itself. Man must create civilization , just as he must breathe or eat. It is an expression of necessity and of our lack of freedom. Culture ,on the contrary, is the ever-present feeling of choice and expression of human freedom. ~ Alija Izetbegovi,#NFDB
744:He went home, went to bed, and dreamed. He hadn’t had such a vivid dream in a very long time. He was a tiny piece in a gigantic puzzle. But instead of having one fixed shape, his shape kept changing. And so—of course—he couldn’t fit anywhere. As he tried to sort out where he belonged, he was also given a set amount of time to gather the scattered pages of the timpani section of a score. A strong wind swept the pages in all directions. He went around picking up one page at a time. He had to check the page numbers and arrange them in order as his body changed shape like an amoeba. The situation was out of control. Eventually Fuka-Eri came along and grabbed his left hand. Tengo’s shape stopped changing. The wind suddenly died and stopped scattering the pages of the score. “What a relief!” Tengo thought, but in that instant his time began to run out. “This is the end,” Fuka-Eri informed him in a whisper. One sentence, as always. Time stopped, and the world ended. The earth ground slowly to a halt, and all sound and light vanished. When he woke up the next day, the world was still there, and things were already moving forward, like the great karmic wheel of Indian mythology that kills every living thing in its path. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
745:We have seen that a myth could never approached in a purely profane setting. It was only comprehensible in a liturgical context that set it apart from everyday life; it must be experienced as part of a process of personal transformation. None, of this surely applies to the novel, which can be read anywhere at all witout ritual trappings, and must, if it is any good, eschew the overtly didactic. Yet the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the mythology. It can be seen as a form of mediation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It prljects them into another worl, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives. They know perfectly well that this fictional realm is not 'real' and yet while they are reading it becomes compelling. A powerful novel bcomes part of the backdrop of lives long after we have laid the book aside. It is an excercise of make-believe, that like yoga or a religious festival breaks down barriers of space and time and extends our sympathies to empathise with others lives and sorrows. It teaches compassion, the ability to 'feel with' others. And, like mythology , an important novel is transformative. If we allow it do so, can change us forever. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
746:If we want clues, we need to look at the extracurricular activities they pushed at us. Clearly, with Daniel and me, they were trying to boost our natural talents: fighting for him and running for me. Serena, Hayley, and Nicole were all in the choir and on the swim team. Plus they’re all blonde and pretty.”
“Um, thanks,” Hayley said as she came over. “But what…” Her brow furrowed. “You think we’re mermaids?”
“Isn’t that sirens?” Corey said. “Those chicks we studied in Greek mythology. Lured guys to their deaths by singing.”
Hayley glared at him. “I thought you liked my singing.”
“Yeah, because apparently it’s magical. That’s how you seduce guys.”
“Seduce them? Or kill them?”
“Same thing, kind of, if you think about it. Like that other guy in mythology. The one who got his hair cut and lost all his power. Mr. Parks said it symbolized men losing their power by falling for women.”
“No,” I said. “Mr. Parks said it symbolizes men’s irrational fear of losing their power to women. And unless I’m remembering it wrong, mermaids don’t sing and sirens don’t swim.”
“Ariel sang in The Little Mermaid,” Corey said.
Sam came over to join us. “Do I even want to know why you remember her name? ~ Kelley Armstrong,#NFDB
747:That is why in the case of some of our Mohammedan or Christian countrymen who had originally been forcibly converted to a non-Hindu religion and who consequently have inherited along with Hindus, a common Fatherland and a greater part of the wealth of a common culture—language, law, customs, folklore and history—are not and cannot be recognized as Hindus. For though Hindusthan to them is Fatherland as to any other Hindu yet it is not to them a Holyland too. Their holyland is far off in Arabia or Palestine. Their mythology and Godmen, ideas and heroes are not the children of this soil. Consequently their names and their outlook smack of a foreign origin. Their love is divided. Nay, if some of them be really believing what they profess to do, then there can be no choice—they must, to a man, set their Holy-land above their Fatherland in their love and allegiance. That is but natural. We are not condemning nor are we lamenting. We are simply telling facts as they stand. We have tried to determine the essentials of Hindutva and in doing so we have discovered that the Bohras and such other Mohammedan or Christian communities possess all the essential qualifications of Hindutva but one and that is that they do not look upon India as their Holyland. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
748:To the Nightingale
On what secret night in England
Or by the incalculable constant Rhine,
Lost among all the nights of my nights,
Carried to my unknowing ear
Your voice, burdened with mythology,
Nightingale of Virgil, of the Persians?
Perhaps I never heard you, yet my life
I bound to your life, inseparably.
A wandering spirit is your symbol
In a book of enigmas. El Marino
Named you the siren of the woods
And you sing through Juliet’s night
And in the intricate Latin pages
And from the pine-trees of that other,
Nightingale of Germany and Judea,
Heine, mocking, burning, mourning.
Keats heard you for all, everywhere.
There’s not one of the bright names
The people of the earth have given you
That does not yearn to match your music,
Nightingale of shadows. The Muslim
Dreamed you drunk with ecstasy
His breast trans-pierced by the thorn
Of the sung rose that you redden
With your last blood. Assiduously
I plot these lines in twilight emptiness,
Nightingale of the shores and seas,
Who in exaltation, memory and fable
Burn with love and die melodiously. ~ Jorge Luis Borges,#NFDB
749:in the pre-modern world, when people wrote about the past they were more concerned with what an event had meant. A myth was an event which, in some sense, had happened once, but which also happened all the time. Because of our strictly chronological view of history, we have no word for such an occurrence, but mythology is an art form that points beyond history to what is timeless in human existence, helping us to get beyond the chaotic flux of random events, and glimpse the core of reality. An experience of transcendence has always been part of the human experience. We seek out moments of ecstasy, when we feel deeply touched within and lifted momentarily beyond ourselves. At such times, it seems that we are living more intensely than usual, firing on all cylinders, and inhabiting the whole of our humanity. Religion has been one of the most traditional ways of attaining ecstasy, but if people no longer find it in temples, synagogues, churches or mosques, they look for it elsewhere: in art, music, poetry, rock, dance, drugs, sex or sport. Like poetry and music, mythology should awaken us to rapture, even in the face of death and the despair we may feel at the prospect of annihilation. If a myth ceases to do that, it has died and outlived its usefulness. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
750:The Apsaras are the most beautiful and romantic conception on the lesser plane of Hindu mythology. From the moment that they arose out of the waters of the milky Ocean, robed in ethereal raiment and heavenly adornment, waking melody from a million lyres, the beauty and light of them has transformed the world. They crowd in the sunbeams, they flash and gleam over heaven in the lightnings, they make the azure beauty of the sky; they are the light of sunrise and sunset and the haunting voices of forest and field. They dwell too in the life of the soul; for they are the ideal pursued by the poet through his lines, by the artist shaping his soul on his canvas, by the sculptor seeking a form in the marble; for the joy of their embrace the hero flings his life into the rushing torrent of battle; the sage, musing upon God, sees the shining of their limbs and falls from his white ideal. The delight of life, the beauty of things, the attraction of sensuous beauty, this is what the mystic and romantic side of the Hindu temperament strove to express in the Apsara. The original meaning is everywhere felt as a shining background, but most in the older allegories, especially the strange and romantic legend of Pururavas as we first have it in the Brahmanas and the Vishnoupurana. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #NFDB
751:The actor, like the modern man of reason, must have his place determined and his lines memorized before he goes on stage. (...) The public itself has been soothed to such an extent by scripted debates imbued with theoretically "right" answers that it no longer seems to respond positively to arguments which create doubt. Real doubt creates real fear. (...)
De Gaulle found a sensible compromise, given the times. He reserved his public thinking for the printed page and on those pages he allowed himself to ask fundamental questions. But when he spoke, it was either with reason or with emotion - that is to say, with answers or with mythology. He divided himself between the man of letters, who knows how to live with doubt, and the man of state, who is the epitome of certainty. the brilliance of this approach could be seen in the frustration and sometimes fury of the opposing elites.
The truism today is that mythological figures and men of power should not think in public. They should limit themselves to affirming truths. Stars, after all, are rarely equipped to engage in public debate. They would abhor the idea that the proper way to deal with confusion in society is to increase that confusion by asking uncomfortable questions until the source of the difficulties is exposed. ~ John Ralston Saul,#NFDB
752:Once upon a time an Athenian princesss named Prokne was wed to Tereus, king of the barbarous Thracians of the north. When Prokne's unfortunate sister, Philomela, came for a visit, Tereus fell madly in love with the girl locked her away and raped her, then cut out her tongue to prevent her from telling anyone of the crime. Philomela, however, wove into a cloth the story of her misfortune. When Prokne, receiving the cloth, understood what had befallen, she freed her sister, killed her own son, Itys, whom she had borne to Tereus, and served the child up to his father at a feast--the vilest revenge she could think of. When Tereus discovered the truth, in wrath he pursued the two sisters, thinking to kill them, but the gods transformed all three into birds: Tereus into the hoopoe (a large, crested bird with a daggerlike beak), Philomela into the swallow, which can only twitter unintelligibly, and Prokne into the nightingale, which spends the night singing 'Itys Itys!' in mourning for her dead son. All these birds have reddish spots, it is said, from getting spattered with the blood of the child.
...
It is interesting in our purposes because it shows in yet another way the great importance that clothmaking had in women's lives, becoming central to their mythology as well. ~ Elizabeth Wayland Barber,#NFDB
753:One last school issue that we commonly see for adopted children is daydreaming. Adoption is an archetypal theme. We find it in mythology, biblical stories, and fairy tales. It is a theme that occurs again and again in children’s literature and film. When adopted children watch these movies or read these stories in school, they have a tendency to identify with them and to lose focus as they daydream. Daydreaming is a normal occurrence for people who are kept from knowing the truths of their lives and who are living with fantasy. It is a way to reframe things that are hard to understand and to compensate for things that are painful. For many school-aged adopted children, daydreaming is a very understandable and necessary strategy for doing the extra work of forming identity. Daydreaming, though, is often taken as a symptom of attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactive disorder; it is in fact one of the many indicators that leads to the diagnosis of ADD. There are many children who do have this real disorder, and it is important in these cases to find the appropriate behavioral or pharmacological treatments. But, for adopted children, and for some other children in complex or difficult situations, the daydreaming or distracted air is not always an indicator of ADD. ~ Joyce Maguire Pavao, #NFDB
754:I am the interpretation of the prophet
I am the artist in the coffin
I am the brave flag stained with blood
I am the wounds overcome
I am the dream refusing to sleep
I am the bare-breasted voice of liberty
I am the comic the insult and the laugh
I am the right the middle and the left
I am the poached eggs in the sky
I am the Parisian streets at night
I am the dance that swings till dawn
I am the grass on the greener lawn
I am the respectful neighbour and the graceful man
I am the encouraging smile and the helping hand
I am the straight back and the lifted chin
I am the tender heart and the will to win
I am the rainbow in rain
I am the human who won’t die in vain
I am Athena of Greek mythology
I am the religion that praises equality
I am the woman of stealth and affection
I am the man of value and compassion
I am the wild horse ploughing through
I am the shoulder to lean onto
I am the Muslim the Jew and the Christian
I am the Dane the French and the Palestinian
I am the straight the square and the round
I am the white the black and the brown
I am the free speech and the free press
I am the freedom to express
I will die for my right to be all the above here mentioned
And should threat encounter I’ll pull my pencil ~ Mie Hansson,#NFDB
755:I’ve already neglected several of my duties too long. I will probably be whipped—my father will order it done.” “Oh no!” Lauren put a slim hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.” Xairn shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.” “Yes, it does,” she insisted. “You’ll hate me for it when you’re being punished. And then you’ll never want to come see me again.” “That’s not true.” Not knowing why he did it, Xairn stooped and placed a hand awkwardly over hers. “I take responsibility for my own actions,” he said softly. “I wanted to stay with you and so I stayed. I don’t hate you.” She looked up at him with uncertainty and fear in her eyes and suddenly he saw how he must look to her. He was huge, hulking—monstrous. His shoulders were fully twice as broad as hers and his skin, which had seemed normal to him until now, was rough and discolored next to her smooth, creamy brown. And his eyes…his eyes were the worst of all. He had studied some Earth mythology and he knew what they must look like to her. A demon—isn’t that the word? She must think I have a demon’s eyes. “You’re not a demon,” she said softly and he realized he must have spoken the words aloud. “I don’t think that about you, Xairn.” The momentary lapse startled and troubled him. “That’s because you don’t know me,” he said roughly. ~ Evangeline Anderson, #NFDB
756:I don't have the slightest doubt that to tell a story like this, you couldn't do it with words. There are only 46 minutes of dialogue scenes in the film, and 113 of non-dialogue. There are certain areas of feeling and reality—or unreality or innermost yearning, whatever you want to call it—which are notably inaccessible to words. Music can get into these areas. Painting can get into them. Non-verbal forms of expression can. But words are a terrible straitjacket. It's interesting how many prisoners of that straitjacket resent its being loosened or taken off. There's a side to the human personality that somehow senses that wherever the cosmic truth may lie, it doesn't lie in A, B, C, D. It lies somewhere in the mysterious, unknowable aspects of thought and life and experience. Man has always responded to it. Religion, mythology, allegories—it's always been one of the most responsive chords in man. With rationalism, modern man has tried to eliminate it, and successfully dealt some pretty jarring blows to religion. In a sense, what's happening now in films and in popular music is a reaction to the stifling limitations of rationalism. One wants to break out of the clearly arguable, demonstrable things which really are not very meaningful, or very useful or inspiring, nor does one even sense any enormous truth in them. ~ Stanley Kubrick, #NFDB
757:Later times have laid all the blame upon the Goths and Vandals, but, however unwilling the partizans of the Christian system may be to believe or to acknowledge it, it is nevertheless true, that the age of ignorance commenced with the Christian system.There was more knowledge in the world before that period, than for many centuries afterwards; and as to religious knowledge, the Christian system, as already said, was only another species of mythology; and the mythology to which it succeeded, was a corruption of an ancient system of theism.
It is owing to this long interregnum of science, and to no other cause, that we have now to look back through a vast chasm of many hundred years to the respectable characters we call the Ancients. Had the progression of knowledge gone on proportionably with the stock that before existed, that chasm would have been filled up with characters rising superior in knowledge to each other; and those Ancients we now so much admire would have appeared respectably in the background of the scene. But the christian system laid all waste; and if we take our stand about the beginning of the sixteenth century, we look back through that long chasm, to the times of the Ancients, as over a vast sandy desert, in which not a shrub appears to intercept the vision to the fertile hills beyond. ~ Thomas Paine,#NFDB
758:Future Of Humanity - Planetary Civilization
In mythology, the gods lived in the divine splendor of heaven, far above the insignificant affairs of mere mortals.
The Greek gods frolicked in the heavenly domain of Mount Olympus, while the Norse gods who fought for honor and eternal glory would feast in the hallowed halls of Valhalla with the spirits of fallen warriors. But if our destiny is to attain the power of the gods by the end of the century, what will our civilization look like in 2100? Where is all this technological innovation taking our civilization?
All the technological revolutions described here are leading to a single point: the creation of a planetary civilization.
This transition is perhaps the greatest in human history. In fact, the people living today are the most important ever to walk the surface of the planet, since they will determine whether we attain this goal or descend into chaos.
Perhaps 5,000 generations of humans have walked the surface of the earth since we first emerged in Africa about 100,000 years ago, and of them, the ones living in this century will ultimately determine our fate.
Unless there is a natural catastrophe or some calamitous act of folly, it is inevitable that we will enter this phase of our collective history. We can see this most clearly by analyzing the history of energy. ~ Michio Kaku,#NFDB
759:one like a son of man. In Aramaic and Hebrew the phrase “son of man” is simply a common expression to describe someone or something as human or humanlike. In Ezekiel, God often addresses the prophet as “son of man” to emphasize his humanness (e.g., Eze 2:6). coming with the clouds of heaven. In ancient Near Eastern literature clouds are often associated with the appearances of deities. In the OT it is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who rides on the clouds as his chariot (Ps 104:3; Isa 19:1). In Canaanite mythology Baal, the son of El, is described as “rider/charioteer of the clouds.” After doing battle with, and defeating, Yamm/Sea, Baal is promised an everlasting kingdom and eternal dominion. Some scholars see echoes of this story in Da 7:9–14. Others argue for a background in Mesopotamian cosmic conflict myths (such as the creation epic Enuma Elish and the Myth of Anzu), which depict a deity (Marduk and Ninurta, respectively) defeating the representative of chaos (Tiamat and Anzu, respectively) and regaining authority and dominion for the gods and for himself. Daniel’s vision has no conflict between the “one like a son of man” and the beasts. The interpretation in vv. 17–27, however, makes it clear that the “one like a son of man” in some way represents “the holy people of the Most High” (vv. 18, 22), who are in conflict with the “little horn” that arises out of the fourth beast (v. 8). ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
760:The 1890s were apprentice years for Yeats. Though he played with Indian and Irish mythology, his symbolism really developed later. The decade was for him, as a poet, the years of lyric, of the Rhymers’ Club, of those contemporaries whom he dubbed the ‘tragic generation’. ‘I have known twelve men who killed themselves,’ Arthur Symons looked back from his middle-aged madness, reflecting on the decade of which he was the doyen. The writers and artists of the period lived hectically and recklessly. Ernest Dowson (1867–1900) (one of the best lyricists of them all – ‘I cried for madder music and for stronger wine’) died from consumption at thirty-two; Lionel Johnson (1867–1902), a dipsomaniac, died aged thirty-five from a stroke. John Davidson committed suicide at fifty-two; Oscar Wilde, disgraced and broken by prison and exile, died at forty-six; Aubrey Beardsley died at twenty-six. This is not to mention the minor figures of the Nineties literary scene: William Theodore Peters, actor and poet, who starved to death in Paris; Hubert Crankanthorpe, who threw himself in the Thames; Henry Harland, editor of The Yellow Book, who died of consumption aged forty-three, or Francis Thompson, who fled the Hound of Heaven ‘down the nights and down the days’ and who died of the same disease aged forty-eight. Charles Conder (1868–1909), water-colourist and rococo fan-painter, died in an asylum aged forty-one. ~ A N Wilson, #NFDB
761:Throughout my life as I’ve sought to become a published writer of speculative fiction, my strongest detractors and discouragers have been other African Americans. These were people who had, like generations before them, bought into the mythology of racism: black people don’t read. Black people can’t write. Black people have no talents other than singing and dancing and sports and crime. No one wants to read about black people, so don’t write about them. No one wants to write about black people, which is why you never see a black protagonist. Even if you self-publish, black people won’t support you. And if you aim for traditional publication, no one who matters — that is, white people — will buy your work.
(A corollary of all this: there is only black and white. Nothing else matters.)
Having swallowed these ideas, people regurgitated them at me at nearly every turn. And for a time, I swallowed them, too. As a black woman, I believed I wasn’t supposed to be a writer. Simultaneously I believed I was supposed to write about black people — and only black people. And only within a strictly limited set of topics deemed relevant to black people, because only black people would ever read anything I’d written. Took me years after I started writing to create a protagonist who looked like me. And then once I started doing so, it took me years to write a protagonist who was something different. ~ N K Jemisin,#NFDB
762:He didn’t say anything until we approached my trailer. “Truth be told, I was hoping for
a goodnight kiss, you know, after the park and everything.”
I ignored him and increased my pace again. After a few more steps, I had a small
brainstorm and sallied around with a smug expression. “Sorry, it’s not cold enough to kiss
you.”
He looked puzzled. “Okay, you’ve lost me. What does the cold have to do with you
kissing me?”
“Simple, the river Phlegethon will have to freeze over before I’ll ever kiss you again.”
Dr. Bore would be proud of my mythology reference. Seth just threw his head back and
laughed. “I’m glad you think that’s funny.”
He gently, but firmly, took my chin in his hand. “Methinks the lady doth protest too
much.”
He did not just misquote Shakespeare to me!
“I watched you taste my kiss back at the park, Maggie. You enjoyed it as much as I
did. You know it and I know it.” His voice rumbled soft, low, and yummy. I yanked my
head free and walked up the small path to my porch.
“Sooner or later, Maggie, our lips will meet again. Personally, I’m voting for sooner.”
I wheeled around, almost losing my balance. “Why do guys like you think every girl
wants to make out with them? I don’t get it.”
The playful grin had vanished from his face. “I didn’t ask you to make out, Maggie.
Goodnight.” A twist of guilt clutched at my belly as he walked away. ~ Sherry Gammon,#NFDB
763:As a country, we take out loans and go to school. We take out loans and buy a car. We take out loans and buy a home. It's not always that we simply "want" these things. Rather, it's often the case that we use our obligations as confirmations that "We're doing something." If we have things to pay for, we need a job. If we have a job, we need a car. If we have such things, we have a life, albeit an ordinary and monotonous life, but a life no less. If we have debt, we have a goal-- we have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Debt narrows our options. It gives us a good reason to stick it out at a job, sink into sofas, and savor the comforts of the status quo. Debt is sought so we have a game to play, a battle to fight, a mythology to live out. It gives us a script to read, rules to abide by, instructions to follow. And when we see someone who doesn't play by our rules-- someone who's spurned the comforts of hearth and home-- we shift in our chairs and call him or her crazy. We feel a fury for the hobo and the hitchhiker, the hippie and gypsy, the vagrant and nomad-- not because we have any reason to believe these people will do us any harm, but because they make us feel uncomfortable.They remind us of the inner longings we've squelched, the hero or heroine we've buried beneath a houseful of junk, the spirit we've exorcised out of ourselves so we could remain with our feet on the ground, stable and secure. ~ Ken Ilgunas, #NFDB
764:I can not remember telling my parents that I was studying classics, they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard-put to name one less useful in Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys of an executive bathroom. Now I would like to make it clear in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date for blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction. The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I can not criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor. And I quite agree with them, that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty, entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression, It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something by which to pride yourself, but poverty itself, is romanticized only by fools. But I feared at your age was not poverty, but failure... Now, I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted, and well educated, that you have never known heartbreak, hardship, or heartache. Talent and intelligence, never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the fates... ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure. ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
765:Warning: “Good Intentions” contains violence, explicit sex, nudity, inappropriate use of church property, portrayals of beings divine and demonic bearing little or no resemblance to established religion or mythology, trespassing, bad language, sacrilege, blasphemy, attempted murder, arguable murder, divinely mandated murder, justifiable murder, filthy murder, sexual promiscuity, kidnapping, attempted rape, arson, dead animals, desecrated graves, gang activity, theft, assault and battery, panties, misuse of the 911 system, fantasy depictions of sorcery and witchcraft, multiple references to various matters of fandom, questionable interrogation tactics, cell phone abuse, reckless driving, consistent abuse of vampires (because they deserve it), even more explicit sex, illegal use of firearms within city limits, polyamory, abuse of authority, hit and run driving, destruction of private property, underage drinking, disturbances of the peace, disorderly conduct, internet harassment, bearers of false witness, mayhem, dismemberment, falsification of records, tax evasion, an uncomfortably sexy mother, bad study habits, and a very silly white guy inappropriately calling another white guy “nigga” (for which he will surely suffer). All characters depicted herein are over the age of 18, with the exception of one little girl who merely needs to get her cat out of a tree. Don’t worry, nothing bad happens to her. She makes it through the story just fine. ~ Elliott Kay, #NFDB
766:Zoroaster was the prophet of the Persians, the people who restored the Jews to Jerusalem, the same Persians who later gave rise to the Chaldeans. The basic idea in Zoroaster’s teaching is that there are two Gods, one good, the other evil. The good God is a God of Light, of Justice, of Wisdom, who created a perfectly good world. His name is Ahura Mazda, “First Father of the Righteous Order, who gave to the sun and stars their paths.” The Mazda bulbs were named after this God of Light. Against him stands a God of Evil, Angra Mainyu, “the Deceiver,” who is the god of lies, darkness, hypocrisy, violence, and malice. He it was who threw evil into this good and well-made world. Thus the world in which we live is a mixture of light and darkness, of good and evil. This worldview is the mythology of the Fall. In its biblical transformation, it is the Fall. There is then a nature world that is not good and one does not put oneself in accord with it. It is evil and one pulls out or away in order to correct it. From this view arises a mythology with this sequence: Creation, a Fall, followed by Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), who teaches the way of virtue that will bring a gradual restoration of goodness. On the last day, after a terrific battle known as Armageddon, or the Reckoning of Spirits, Zoroaster will appear, in a second incarnation, the evil power will be wiped out, and all will be peace, light, and virtue forever. This mythology is surely familiar to all. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
767:A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men.
That is the pattern of the myth, and that is the pattern of these fantasies of the psyche.
Now it was Dr Perry's thesis in his paper that in certain cases the best thing is to let the schizophrenic process run its course, not to abort the psychosis by administering shock treatments and the like, but, on the contrary, to help the process of disintegration and reintegration along. However, if a doctor is to be helpful in this way, he has to understand the image language of mythology. He has himself to understand what the fragmentary signs and signals signify that his patient, totally out of touch with rationally oriented manners of thought and communication, is trying to bring forth in order to establish some kind of contact. Interpreted from this point of view, a schizophrenic breakdown is an inward and backward journey to recover something missed or lost, and to restore, thereby, a vital balance. So let the voyager go. He has tipped over and is sinking, perhaps drowning; yet, as in the old legend of Gilgamesh and his long, deep dive to the bottom of the cosmic sea to pluck the watercress of immortality, there is the one green value of his life down there. Don't cut him off from it: help him through. ~ Joseph Campbell,#NFDB
768:In the early centuries Rome’s dead had been cremated; now, usually, they were buried, though some obstinate conservatives preferred combustion. In either case, the remains were placed in a tomb that became an altar of worship upon which pious descendants periodically placed some flowers and a little food. Here, as in Greece and the Far East, the stability of morals and society was secured by the worship of ancestors and by the belief that somewhere their spirits survived and watched. If they were very great and good, the dead, in Hellenized Roman mythology, passed to the Elysian Fields, or the Islands of the Blessed; nearly all, however, descended into the earth, to the shadowy realm of Orcus and Pluto. Pluto, the Roman form of the Greek god Hades, was armed with a mallet to stun the dead; Orcus (our ogre) was the monster who then devoured the corpse. Because Pluto was the most exalted of the underground deities, and because the earth was the ultimate source of wealth and often the repository of accumulated food and goods, he was worshiped also as the god of riches and plutocrats; and his wife Proserpina—the strayed daughter of Ceres—became the goddess of the germinating corn. Sometimes the Roman Hell was conceived as a place of punishment;72 in most cases it was pictured as the abode of half-formless shades that had been men, not distinguished from one another by reward or punishment, but all equally suffering eternal darkness and final anonymity. There at last, said Lucian, one would find democracy.73 ~ Will Durant, #NFDB
769:Hoover fed the story to sympathetic reporters—so-called friends of the bureau. One article about the case, which was syndicated by William Randolph Hearst’s company, blared, NEVER TOLD BEFORE! —How the Government with the Most Gigantic Fingerprint System on Earth Fights Crime with Unheard-of Science Refinements; Revealing How Clever Sleuths Ended a Reign of Murder and Terror in the Lonely Hills of the Osage Indian Country, and Then Rounded Up the Nation’s Most Desperate Gang In 1932, the bureau began working with the radio program The Lucky Strike Hour to dramatize its cases. One of the first episodes was based on the murders of the Osage. At Hoover’s request, Agent Burger had even written up fictional scenes, which were shared with the program’s producers. In one of these scenes, Ramsey shows Ernest Burkhart the gun he plans to use to kill Roan, saying, “Look at her, ain’t she a dandy?” The broadcasted radio program concluded, “So another story ends and the moral is identical with that set forth in all the others of this series….[ The criminal] was no match for the Federal Agent of Washington in a battle of wits.” Though Hoover privately commended White and his men for capturing Hale and his gang and gave the agents a slight pay increase—“ a small way at least to recognize their efficiency and application to duty”—he never mentioned them by name as he promoted the case. They did not quite fit the profile of college-educated recruits that became part of Hoover’s mythology. Plus, Hoover never wanted his men to overshadow him. ~ David Grann, #NFDB
770:Those who do not carry within them the soul of everything the world can show them, will do well to watch it: they will not recognize it, each thing being beautiful only according to the thought of him who gazes at it & reflects it in himself. Faith is essential in poetry as in religion, & faith has no need of seeing with corporeal eyes to contemplate that which it recognizes much better in itself.
Such ideas were many times, under multiple forms, always new, expressed by Villiers de L'Isle-Adam in his works. Without going as far as Berkley's pure negations, which nevertheless are but the extreme logic of subjective idealism, he admitted in his conception of life, on the same plan, the Interior & the Exterior, Spirit & Matter, with a very visible tendency to give the first term domination over the second. For him the idea of progress was never anything but a subject for jest, together with the nonsense of the humanitarian positivists who teach, reversed mythology, that terrestrial paradise, a superstition if we assign it the past, becomes the sole legitimate hope if we place it in the future.
On the contrary, he makes a protagonist (Edison doubtless) say in a short fragment of an old manuscript of l'Eve future: "We are in the ripe age of Humanity, that is all! Soon will come the senility & decrepitude of this strange polyp, & the evolution accomplished, his mortal return to the mysterious laboratory where all the Ghosts eternally work their experiments, by grace of some unquestionable necessity. ~ R my de Gourmont,#NFDB
771:Fate has always been the realm of the gods, though even the gods are subject to it.
In ancient Greek mythology, the Three Sisters of Fate spin out a person's destiny within three nights of their birth. Imagine your newborn child in his nursery. It's dark and soft and warm, somewhere between two and four a.m., one of those hours that belong exclusively to the newly born or the dying.
The first sister - Clotho - appears next to you. She's a maiden, young and smooth. In her hands she holds a spindle, and on it she spins the thrads of your child's life.
Next to her is Lachesis, older and more matronly than her sister. In her hands, she holds the rod used to mesure the thread of life. The length and destiny of your child's life is in her hands.
Finally we have Atropos - old, haggardly. Inevitable. In her hands she holds the terrible shears she'll use to cut the thread of your child's life. She determines the time and manner of his or her death.
Imagine the awesome and awful sight of these three sisters pressed together, presiding over his crib, dermining his future.
In modern times, the sisters have largely disappeared from the collective consiousness, but the idea of Fate hasn't. Why do we still believe? Does itmake tragedy more bearable to believe that we ourselves had no hand in it, that we couldn't have prevented it? It was always ever thus.
Things happen for a reason, says Natasha's mother. What she means is Fate has a Reason and, though you may not know it, there's a certain comfort in knowing that there's a Plan. ~ Nicola Yoon,#NFDB
772:Science can now help us to understand ourselves in this way by giving factual information about brain structure and function, and how the mind works. Then there is an art of self knowledge, which each person has to develop for himself. This art must lead one to be sensitive to how his basically false approach to life is always tending to generate conflict and confusion. The role of art here is therefore not to provide a symbolism, but rather to teach the artistic spirit of sensitive perception of the individual and particular phenomena of one's own psyche. This spirit is needed if one is to understand the relevance of general scientific knowledge to his own special problems, as well as to give effect to the scientific spirit of seeing the fact about one's self as it is, whether on elikes it or not, and thus helping to end conflict.
Such an approach is not possible, however, unless one has the spirit that meets life wholly and totally. We still need the religious spirit, but today we no longer need the religious mythology, which is now introducing an irrelevant and confusing element into the whole question.
Itwould seem, then, that in some ways the modern person must manage to create a total approach to life which accomplishes what was done in earlier days by science, art and religion, but in a new way that is appropriate to the modern conditions of life. An important part of such an action is to see what the relationshipbetween science and art now actually is, and to understand the direction in which this relationship might develop. ~ David Bohm,#NFDB
773:The triviality of American popular culture, its emptiness and gossip, accelerates this destruction of critical thought. It expands the void, the mindlessness that makes the magic, mythology, and irrationality of the Christian Right palatable. Television, the movement’s primary medium, allows viewers to preoccupy themselves with context-free information. The homogenized empty chatter on the airwaves, the banal amusement and clichés, the bizarre doublespeak endlessly repeated on cable news channels and the huge spectacles in sports stadiums have replaced America’s political, social and moral life, indeed replaced community itself. Television lends itself perfectly to this world of signs and wonders, to the narcissism of national and religious self-exaltation. Television discourages real communication. Its rapid frames and movements, its constant use of emotional images, its sudden shifts from one theme to an unrelated theme, banish logic and reason with dizzying perplexity. It, too, makes us feel good. It, too, promises to protect and serve us. It, too, promises to life us up and thrill us. The televangelists have built their movement on these commercial precepts. The totalitarian creed of the Religious Right has found in television the perfect medium. Its leaders know how television can be used to seduce and encourage us to walk away from dwindling, less exciting collectives that protect and nurture us. They have mastered television’s imperceptible, slowly induced hypnosis. And they understand the enticement of credo quia absurdum—I believe because it is absurb. ~ Chris Hedges, #NFDB
774:I detest love lyrics. I think one of the causes of bad mental health in the United States is that people have been raised on 'love lyrics'.
You're a young kid and you hear all those 'love lyrics', right? Your parents aren't telling you the truth about love, and you can't really learn about it in school. You're getting the bulk of your 'behaviour norms' mapped out for you in the lyrics to some dumb fucking love song. It's a subconscious training that creates desire for an imaginary situation which will never exist for you. People who buy into that mythology go through life feeling that they got cheated out of something.
What I think is very cynical about some rock and roll songs -- especially today -- is the way they say: "Let's make love." What the fuck kind of wussy says shit like that in the real world? You ought to be able to say "Let's go fuck", or at least "Let's go fill-in-the-blank" -- but you gotta say "Let's make love" in order to get on the radio. This creates a semantic corruption, by changing the context in which the word 'love' is used in the song.
When they get into drooling about love as a 'romantic concept' -- especially in the lyrics of sensitive singer/songwriter types -- that's another shove in the direction of bad mental health.
Fortunately, lyrics over the last five or six years have gotten to be less and less important, with 'art rock groups' and new wavers specializing in 'nonjudgemental' or 'purposely inconsequential' lyrics. People have stopped listening to the lyrics -- they are now only 'pitched mouth noises'. ~ Frank Zappa,#NFDB
775:The basic recurring theme in Hindu mythology is the creation of the world by the self-sacrifice of God—"sacrifice" in the original sense of "making sacred"—whereby God becomes the world which, in the end, becomes again God. This creative activity of the Divine is called lila, the play of God, and the world is seen as the stage of the divine play. Like most of Hindu mythology, the myth of lila has a strong magical flavour. Brahman is the great magician who transforms himself into the world and then performs this feat with his "magic creative power", which is the original meaning of maya in the Rig Veda. The word maya—one of the most important terms in Indian philosophy—has changed its meaning over the centuries. From the might, or power, of the divine actor and magician, it came to signify the psychological state of anybody under the spell of the magic play. As long as we confuse the myriad forms of the divine lila with reality, without perceiving the unity of Brahman underlying all these forms, we are under the spell of maya. (...) In the Hindu view of nature, then, all forms are relative, fluid and ever-changing maya, conjured up by the great magician of the divine play. The world of maya changes continuously, because the divine lila is a rhythmic, dynamic play. The dynamic force of the play is karma, important concept of Indian thought. Karma means "action". It is the active principle of the play, the total universe in action, where everything is dynamically connected with everything else. In the words of the Gita Karma is the force of creation, wherefrom all things have their life. ~ Fritjof Capra, #NFDB
776:This example, it seems to us, suffices to show in what way the nonreligious man of modern societies is still nourished and aided by the activity of his unconscious, yet without thereby attaining to a properly religious experience and vision of the world. The unconscious offers him solutions for the difficulties of his own life, and in this way plays the role of religion, for, before making an existence a creator of values, religion ensures its integrity, From one point of view it could almost be said that in the case of those moderns who proclaim that they are nonreligious, religion and mythology are "eclipsed" in the darkness of their unconscious—which means too that in such men the possibility of reintegrating a religious vision of life lies at a great depth. Or, from the Christian point of view, it could also be said that nonreligion is equivalent to a new "fall" of man— in other words, that nonreligious man has lost the capacity to live religion consciously, and hence to understand and assume it; but that, in his deepest being, he still retains a memory of it, as, after the first "fall," his ancestor, the primordial man, retained intelligence enough to enable him to rediscover the traces of God that are visible in the world. After the first "fall," the religious sense descended to the level of the ' 'divided" consciousness"; now, after the second, it has fallen even further, into the depths of the unconscious; it has been "forgotten," Here the considerations of the historian of religions end.
Here begins the realm of problems proper to the philosopher, the psychologist, and even the theologian. ~ Mircea Eliade,#NFDB
777:In the novel Fight Club, the character Jack’s apartment is blown up. All of his possessions—“every stick of furniture,” which he pathetically loved—were lost. Later it turns out that Jack blew it up himself. He had multiple personalities, and “Tyler Durden” orchestrated the explosion to shock Jack from the sad stupor he was afraid to do anything about. The result was a journey into an entirely different and rather dark part of his life. In Greek mythology, characters often experience katabasis—or “a going down.” They’re forced to retreat, they experience a depression, or in some cases literally descend into the underworld. When they emerge, it’s with heightened knowledge and understanding. Today, we’d call that hell—and on occasion we all spend some time there. We surround ourselves with bullshit. With distractions. With lies about what makes us happy and what’s important. We become people we shouldn’t become and engage in destructive, awful behaviors. This unhealthy and ego-derived state hardens and becomes almost permanent. Until katabasis forces us to face it. Duris dura franguntur. Hard things are broken by hard things. The bigger the ego the harder the fall. It would be nice if it didn’t have to be that way. If we could nicely be nudged to correct our ways, if a quiet admonishment was what it took to shoo away illusions, if we could manage to circumvent ego on our own. But it is just not so. The Reverend William A. Sutton observed some 120 years ago that “we cannot be humble except by enduring humiliations.” How much better it would be to spare ourselves these experiences, but sometimes it’s the only way the blind can be made to see. ~ Ryan Holiday, #NFDB
778:human kind to the danger of a painful and comfortless situation. A state of scepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision. Their love of the marvellous and supernatural, their curiosity with regard to future events, and their strong propensity to extend their hopes and fears beyond the limits of the visible world, were the principal causes which favoured the establishment of Polytheism. So urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing that the fall of any system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of some other mode of superstition. Some deities of a more recent and fashionable cast might soon have occupied the deserted temples of Jupiter and Apollo, if, in the decisive moment, the wisdom of Providence had not interposed a genuine revelation, fitted to inspire the most rational esteem and conviction, whilst, at the same time, it was adorned with all that could attract the curiosity, the wonder, and the veneration of the people. In their actual disposition, as many were almost disengaged from their artificial prejudices, but equally susceptible and desirous of a devout attachment; an object much less deserving would have been sufficient to fill the vacant place in their hearts, and to gratify the uncertain eagerness of their passions. Those who are inclined to pursue this reflection, instead of viewing with astonishment the rapid progress of Christianity, will perhaps be surprised that its success was not still more rapid and still more universal. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
779:His feeling for the South was not so much historic as it was
of the core and desire of dark romanticism--that unlimited and
inexplicable drunkenness, the magnetism of some men's blood that
takes them into the heart of the heat, and beyond that, into the
polar and emerald cold of the South as swiftly as it took the heart
of that incomparable romanticist who wrote The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner, beyond which there is nothing. And this desire of his was
unquestionably enhanced by all he had read and visioned, by the
romantic halo that his school history cast over the section, by the
whole fantastic distortion of that period where people were said to
live in "mansions," and slavery was a benevolent institution,
conducted to a constant banjo-strumming, the strewn largesses of
the colonel and the shuffle-dance of his happy dependents, where
all women were pure, gentle, and beautiful, all men chivalrous and
brave, and the Rebel horde a company of swagger, death-mocking
cavaliers. Years later, when he could no longer think of the
barren spiritual wilderness, the hostile and murderous intrenchment
against all new life--when their cheap mythology, their legend of
the charm of their manner, the aristocratic culture of their lives,
the quaint sweetness of their drawl, made him writhe--when he could
think of no return to their life and its swarming superstition
without weariness and horror, so great was his fear of the legend,
his fear of their antagonism, that he still pretended the most
fanatic devotion to them, excusing his Northern residence on
grounds of necessity rather than desire. ~ Thomas Wolfe,#NFDB
780:Even though the woman was not human—the land—or was less than human—a cow—farming had the symbolic overtones of old-fashioned agrarian romance: plowing the land was loving it, feeding the cow was tending it. In the farming model, the woman was owned privately; she was the homestead, not a public thoroughfare. One farmer worked her. The land was valued because it produced a valuable crop; and in keeping with the mystique of the model itself, sometimes the land was real pretty, special, richly endowed; a man could love it. The cow was valued because of what she produced: calves, milk; sometimes she took a prize. There was nothing actually idyllic in this. As many as one quarter of all acts of battery may be against pregnant women; and women die from pregnancy even without the intervention of a male fist. But farming implied a relationship of some substance between the farmer and what was his: and it is grander being the earth, being nature, even being a cow, than being a cunt with no redeeming mythology. Motherhood ensconced a woman in the continuing life of a man: how he used her was going to have consequences for him. Since she was his, her state of being reflected on him; and therefore he had a social and psychological stake in her welfare as well as an economic one. Because the man farmed the woman over a period of years, they developed a personal relationship, at least from her point of view: one limited by his notions of her sex and her kind; one strained because she could never rise to the human if it meant abandoning the female; but it was her best chance to be known, to be regarded with some tenderness or compassion meant for her, one particular woman. ~ Andrea Dworkin, #NFDB
781:Dimly Kev remembered one of the mythology stories the Hathaways were so fond of... the Greek one about Hades, the god of the underworld, kidnapping the maiden Persephone in a flowery field and dragging her down through an opening in the earth. Down to his dark, private world where he could possess her. Although the Hathaway daughters had all been indignant about Persephone's fate, Kev's sympathies had privately been on Hades' side. Romany culture tended to romanticize the idea of kidnapping a woman for one's bride, even mimicking it during their courtship rituals.
"I don't see why eating a mere half-dozen pomegranate seeds should have condemned Persephone to stay with Hades part of every year," Poppy had said in outrage. "No one told her the rules. It wasn't fair. I'm certain she would never have touched a thing, had she known what would happen."
"And it wasn't a very filling snack," Beatrix had added, perturbed. "If I'd been there, I would have asked for a pudding or a jam pastry, at least."
"Perhaps she wasn't altogether unhappy, having to stay," Win had suggested, her eyes twinkling. "After all, Hades did make her his queen. And the story says he possessed 'the riches of the earth.'"
"A rich husband," Amelia had said, "doesn't change the fact that Persephone's main residence is in an undesirable location with no view whatsoever. Just think of the difficulties in leasing it out during the off-months."
They had all agreed that Hades was a complete villain.
But Kev had understood exactly why the underworld god had stolen Persephone for his bride. He had wanted a little bit of sunshine, of warmth, for himself, down in the cheerless gloom of his dark palace. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
782:In the end, the most disastrous consequence of the building of the nuclear pyramid may turn out to be not nuclear weapons themselves or some irretrievable act of extermination that they may bring about. Something even worse may be in store, and should it go far enough, be equally irretrievable: namely, the universal imposition of the megamachine, in a perfected form, as the ultimate instrument of pure 'intelligence,' whereby every other manifestation of human potentialities will be suppressed or completely eliminated. Already the blueprints for that final structure are available: they have even been advertised as man's highest destiny.
Yet happily for mankind the megamachine itself is in trouble, largely because of its early dependence upon the nuclear bomb. for the very concept of wielding absolute power has set a collective trap, so delicately balanced that its mechanism has more than once been on the point of snapping down on its appointed victims, the inhabitants of the planet. Had that happened, the megamachine would have shattered its own structure as well. Over the entire Pentagon of Power, thanks to the technocratic arrogance and automated intelligence of those who have built this citadel, hovers a nuclear Ragnarok, a Twilight of the Gods, long ago predicted in Norse mythology: a world consumed in flames, when all things human and divine would be overcome by the cunning dwarfs and the brutal giants. After the Sixth Dynasty the Pyramid Age in Egypt came to an end in a violent popular uprising, even without any such cosmic disruption. And something less than the Norse nightmare, though no less ominous to the megamachine, may be in store-or is it now perhaps actually taking place? ~ Lewis Mumford,#NFDB
783:Just after a krampus that people had spotted in the area.” That got my attention. “A krampus? You’re sure?” Petra nodded. “I saw it walking down the road, swinging its chains around. Those fucking horrific bell things were making noise. You can’t really mistake a krampus for anything else.” In mythology, a krampus was a sort of anti-Santa. It would spirit away the naughty boys and girls to its lair. What it did with them is open to interpretation; some say it drowned the children and ate them, while some suggested it just kept them until they behaved and then brought them back. In most instances the truth is quite far removed from reality, but in the case of the krampus, truth and reality weren’t all that dissimilar. Krampus don’t care one way or the other about the behavior of the children they steal. They take children back to their lairs and feast on their souls, tossing the corpse of the child into a nearby stream or river when they finish. Unlike animals that need to hibernate during the winter, krampus only feed during the coldest months of the year, before vanishing once spring arrives. Before the tenth century, there were hundreds of the bastards running around, although nearly all of them were killed after it was made illegal to create them. Like most of the truly horrific creations in the world, krampus were made using dark blood magic. At one point, they’d been human, although once the magic had finished with them, any glimmer of humanity had been extinguished. They were considered a crime against magic, and their creation was punishable by death. Apparently, someone was unconcerned about the possibility of such things, if he or she had taken the time and effort to make a krampus and unleash it on the town of Mittenwald. ~ Steve McHugh, #NFDB
784:Let us, in our character of knowers, not be ungrateful towards such determined reversals of the ordinary perspectives and values, with which the mind had for too long raged against itself with an apparently futile sacrilege! In the same way the very seeing of another vista, the very wishing to see another vista, is no little training and preparation of the intellect for its eternal "Objectivity" — objectivity being understood not as "contemplation without interest" (for that is inconceivable and nonsensical), but as the ability to have the pros and cons in one's power and to switch them on and off, so as to get to know how to utilise, for the advancement of knowledge, the difference in the perspective and in the emotional interpretations. But let us, forsooth, my philosophic colleagues, henceforward guard ourselves more carefully against this mythology of dangerous ancient ideas, which has set up a "pure, will-less, painless, timeless subject of knowledge"; let us guard ourselves from the tentacles of such contradictory ideas as "pure reason," "absolute spirituality," "knowledge-in-itself": — in these theories an eye that cannot be thought of is required to think, an eye which ex hypothesi has no direction at all, an eye in which the active and interpreting functions are cramped, are absent; those functions, I say, by means of which "abstract" seeing first became seeing something; in these theories consequently the absurd and the nonsensical is always demanded of the eye. There is only a seeing from a perspective, only a "knowing" from a perspective, and the more emotions we express over a thing, the more eyes, different eyes, we train on the same thing, the more complete will be our "idea" of that thing, our "objectivity." But the elimination of the will altogether, the switching off of the emotions all and sundry, granted that we could do so, what! would not that be called intellectual castration? ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
785:I see a direct connection between the Fuenta Magna Bowl and Ogma, I believe the former is an authentic yet misplaced artifact that has its origins in the Middle East as the Irish/Celtic mythology as well. Ogma -being the god/originator of speech and language- carries the syllable of 'Og' in his name (according to a renowned authority on Irish Mythology, James Swagger) which signals some process of initiation through which other members could join into this culture. His family connections were confused (according to, The Dictionary Of Mythology) but it is said that he was the brother of Dagda and Lugh; and Dagda owned a magical cauldron known as Undry, which was always full and used to satisfy his enormous appetite. The [Tales depict Dagda as a figure of immense power, armed with a magic club to kill nine men with one blow]. This symbolism shows another remarkable link, however, to ancient Egypt with the Nine Bows representing its enemies. With Richard Cassaro's work, we now know the significance of the Godself icon which we see on the Fuenta Magna Bowl; and yet my observation and surprise here lies in the fact that the Godself icon could simply refer to Dagda being a figure of immense power, but what is more astounding is when I found that the Latin word caldaria (whence 'cauldron' was taken) means a 'cooking pot'. This is indeed amazing, but that's not all! This Latin word has its etymological roots in the Semitic languages, where the Old Babylonian word 'kid' meaning 'to cut/soften/dissolve' got preserved into Arabic with the same meaning as well and even a new word got derived therefrom: 'kidr'; which literally means a 'cooking pot'. It also happens to refer to one of God's names (in Islam) with the meaning of: Almighty. Moreover, the word 'Undry' could be looked at as if it were composed of two syllables: Un and Dry, with 'Un' signaling a continuous action in present and 'Dry' meaning 'to generate' and 'pour out' in the Semitic language. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
786:Mr. Winterborne, I should leave you to rest now--”
“Talk to me.”
She hesitated. “If you wish. What shall we talk about?”
He wanted to ask her if he’d been permanently blinded. If anyone had said anything to him about it, he’d been too drugged to remember. But he couldn’t bring himself to give voice to the question. He was too afraid of the answer. And there was no way to stop thinking about it while he was alone in this quiet room. He needed distraction and comfort.
He needed her.
“Shall I tell you about orchids?” she asked in the silence. She continued without waiting for an answer, adjusting her position more comfortably. “The word comes from Greek mythology. Orchis was the son of a satyr and a nymph. During a feast to celebrate Bacchus, Orchis drank too much wine and tried to force his attentions on a priestess. Bacchus was very displeased, and reacted by having Orchis torn to pieces. The pieces were scattered far and wide, and wherever one landed, an orchid grew.” Pausing, she leaned away for a few seconds, reaching for something. Something soft and delicate touched his cracked lips…She was applying salve with a fingertip. “Most people don’t know that vanilla is the fruit of an orchid vine. We keep one in a glasshouse on the estate--it’s so long that it grows sideways on the wall. When one of the flowers is full grown, it opens in the morning, and if it isn’t pollinated, it closes in the evening, never to open again. The white blossoms, and the vanilla pods within them, have the sweetest scent in the world…”
As her gentle voice continued, Rhys had the sensation of floating, the red tide of fever easing. How strange and lovely it was to lie here half dozing in her arms, possibly even better than fucking…but that thought led to the indecent question of what it might be like with her…how she might lie quietly beneath him while he devoured all that petal softness and vanilla sweetness…and slowly he fell asleep in Lady Helen’s arms. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
787:Yet it is the Outsider’s belief that life aims at more life, at higher forms of life, something for which the Superman is an inexact poetic symbol (as Dante’s description of the beatific vision is expressed in terms of a poetic symbol); so that, in a sense, Urizen is the most important of the three functions. The fall was necessary, as Hesse realized. Urizen must go forward alone.
The other two must follow him. And as soon as Urizen has gone forward, the Fall has taken place. Evolution towards God is impossible without a Fall. And it is only by this recognition that the poet can ever come to ‘praise in spite of; for if evil is ultimately discord, unresolvable, then the idea of dennoch preisen is a self-contradiction. And yet it must be clearly recognized and underlined that this is not the Hegelian ‘God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world’. Even if the evil is necessary, it remains evil, discord, pain. It remains an Existential fact, not something that proves to be
something else when you hold it in the right light. It is as if there were two opposing armies:
the Hegelian view holds that peace can be secured by proving that there is really no ground for
opposition; in short, they are really friends. The Blakeian view says that the discord is necessary,
but it can never be resolved until one army has. completely exterminated the other. This is the
Existential view, first expressed by Soren Kierkegaard, the Outsider’s view and, incidentally,
the religious view. The whole difference between the Existentialist and the Hegelian viewpoint
is implicit in the comparison between the title of Hegel’s book, The Philosophy of History, and James Joyce’s phrase, ‘History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake’ Blake provided the Existentialist view with a symbolism and mythology. In Blake’s view, harmony is an ultimate aim, but not the primary aim, of life; the primary aim is to live more abundantly at any cost. Harmony can come later. ~ Colin Wilson,#NFDB
788:My husband claims I have an unhealthy obsession with secondhand bookshops. That I spend too much time daydreaming altogether. But either you intrinsically understand the attraction of searching for hidden treasure amongst rows of dusty shelves or you don't; it's a passion, bordering on a spiritual illness, which cannot be explained to the unaffected.
True, they're not for the faint of heart. Wild and chaotic, capricious and frustrating, there are certain physical laws that govern secondhand bookstores and like gravity, they're pretty much nonnegotiable. Paperback editions of D. H. Lawrence must constitute no less than 55 percent of all stock in any shop. Natural law also dictates that the remaining 45 percent consist of at least two shelves worth of literary criticism on Paradise Lost and there should always be an entire room in the basement devoted to military history which, by sheer coincidence, will be haunted by a man in his seventies. (Personal studies prove it's the same man. No matter how quickly you move from one bookshop to the next, he's always there. He's forgotten something about the war that no book can contain, but like a figure in Greek mythology, is doomed to spend his days wandering from basement room to basement room, searching through memoirs of the best/worst days of his life.)
Modern booksellers can't really compare with these eccentric charms. They keep regular hours, have central heating, and are staffed by freshly scrubbed young people in black T-shirts. They're devoid of both basement rooms and fallen Greek heroes in smelly tweeds. You'll find no dogs or cats curled up next to ancient space heathers like familiars nor the intoxicating smell of mold and mildew that could emanate equally from the unevenly stacked volumes or from the owner himself. People visit Waterstone's and leave. But secondhand bookshops have pilgrims. The words out of print are a call to arms for those who seek a Holy Grail made of paper and ink. ~ Kathleen Tessaro,#NFDB
789:What, may I ask, does your one truck contain if not gowns?”
Inspiration struck, and Elizabeth smiled radiantly. “Something of great value. Priceless value,” she confided.
All faces at the table watched her with alert fascination-particularly the greedy Sir Francis. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense, love. What’s in it?”
“The mortal remains of Saint Jacob.”
Lady Eloise and Lady Mortand screamed in unison, Sir William choked on his wine, and Sir Francis gaped at her in horror, but Elizabeth wasn’t quite finished. She saved the coup de grace until the meal was over. As soon as everyone arose she insisted they sit back down so a proper prayer of gratitude could be said. Raising her hands heavenward, Elizabeth turned a simple grace into a stinging tirade against the sins of lust and promiscuity that rose to crescendo as she called down the vengeance of doomsday on all transgressors and culminated in a terrifyingly lurid description of the terrors that awaited all who strayed down the path of lechery-terrors that combined dragon lore with mythology, a smattering of religion, and a liberal dash of her own vivid imagination. When it was done Elizabeth dropped her eyes, praying in earnest that tonight would loose her from her predicament. There was no more she could do; she’d played out her hand with all her might; she’d given it her all.
It was enough. After supper Sir Francis escorted her to her chamber and, with a poor attempt at regret, announced that he greatly feared they wouldn’t suit. Not at all.
Elizabeth and Berta departed at dawn the following morning, an hour before Sir Francis’s servants stirred themselves. Clad in a dressing robe, Sir Francis watched from his bedchamber window as Elizabeth’s coachman helped her into her conveyance. He was about to turn away when a sudden gust of wind caught Elizabeth’s black gown, exposing a long and exceptionally shapely leg to Sir Francis’s riveted gaze. He was still staring at the coach as it circled the drive; through its open window he saw Elizabeth laugh and reach up, unpinning her hair. Clouds of golden tresses whipped about the open window, obscuring her face, and Sir Francis thoughtfully wet his lips. ~ Judith McNaught,#NFDB
790:Gods in The Lost Hero Aeolus The Greek god of the winds. Roman form: Aeolus Aphrodite The Greek goddess of love and beauty. She was married to Hephaestus, but she loved Ares, the god of war. Roman form: Venus Apollo The Greek god of the sun, prophecy, music, and healing; the son of Zeus, and the twin of Artemis. Roman form: Apollo Ares The Greek god of war; the son of Zeus and Hera, and half brother to Athena. Roman form: Mars Artemis The Greek goddess of the hunt and the moon; the daughter of Zeus and the twin of Apollo. Roman form: Diana Boreas The Greek god of the north wind, one of the four directional anemoi (wind gods); the god of winter; father of Khione. Roman form: Aquilon Demeter The Greek goddess of agriculture, a daughter of the Titans Rhea and Kronos. Roman form: Ceres Dionysus The Greek god of wine; the son of Zeus. Roman form: Bacchus Gaea The Greek personification of Earth. Roman form: Terra Hades According to Greek mythology, ruler of the Underworld and god of the dead. Roman form: Pluto Hecate The Greek goddess of magic; the only child of the Titans Perses and Asteria. Roman form: Trivia Hephaestus The Greek god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths; the son of Zeus and Hera, and married to Aphrodite. Roman form: Vulcan Hera The Greek goddess of marriage; Zeus’s wife and sister. Roman form: Juno Hermes The Greek god of travelers, communication, and thieves; son of Zeus. Roman form: Mercury Hypnos The Greek god of sleep; the (fatherless) son of Nyx (Night) and brother of Thanatos (Death). Roman form: Somnus Iris The Greek goddess of the rainbow, and a messenger of the gods; the daughter of Thaumas and Electra. Roman form: Iris Janus The Roman god of gates, doors, and doorways, as well as beginnings and endings. Khione The Greek goddess of snow; daughter of Boreas Notus The Greek god of the south wind, one of the four directional anemoi (wind gods). Roman form: Favonius Ouranos The Greek personification of the sky. Roman form: Uranus Pan The Greek god of the wild; the son of Hermes. Roman form: Faunus Pompona The Roman goddess of plenty Poseidon The Greek god of the sea; son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea, and brother of Zeus and Hades. Roman form: Neptune Zeus The Greek god of the sky and king of the gods. Roman form: Jupiter ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
791:My appreciation for order and regularity, even if it inconvenienced me, meant I never had much trouble with one of the main traditional objections to Christianity (or any religion that posits a loving God): the problem of evil - the question of how any pain and suffering could be countenanced by an all-powerful, all-good God.
Consider the simpler problem of natural evils and accidents (falling masonry, flooding, car crashes, virulent flus, etc.). For God to deliver us from all natural pains, the laws of physics would have to be studded with asterisks specifying all the times that flying, twisted metal would need to flout the conservation of linear momentum to stop just short of breaking our bones.
I knew what such a world would look like, for it had already been imagined in the sagas of Norse mythology. In one legend, the godling Baldr prophesies his own death, and all the other gods of the Norse pantheon try to save him. The gods and goddesses of Asgard travel the world, extracting a vow from every natural and created thing, be it bird, plant, stone, or sword, never to do Baldr any harm. Once his safety is secured, the Asgardians amuse themselves at feasts by throwing knives and other weapons at Baldr, in order to watch the objects keep their promises, defy their natures, and leave him unhurt. Blades blunt themselves, stones soften, and poison neutralizes itself, all to avoid inflicting any pain on Baldr.
To preclude the problem of evil, it seemed, any god would have to give us the same guarantee afforded Baldr. The world around us would have to warp itself to shield us from the weather, from accidents, from gravity, until the laws of physics were unworthy of the name. There couldn't be scientists or empiricism in this kind of world, since the nature of matter would be too protean for us to gain intellectual purchase on.
The problem of evil has always seemed to me to be the price we pay for having an intelligible world, one that we can investigate, understand, and love. If miracles were to be possible, they would have to stay below some threshold level of frequency so that they remained clear exceptions to the general course of causality (as in the case of poor, strange Baldr) instead of undoing the rule entirely. ~ Leah Libresco,#NFDB
792:Salmon en Croute In Celtic mythology, the salmon is a magical fish that grants the eater knowledge of all things. Notes: Nonstick spray may be substituted for melted butter. Keep the phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel until ready to assemble; otherwise, it will dry out. 2 cloves garlic 1 7-oz. jar sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil 3 cups torn fresh basil leaves salt and pepper to taste 1 package 9x14 phyllo dough, thawed 1 cup melted butter 10 4-oz. salmon fillets, skin removed 2 eggs, beaten with ¼ cup water Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor, blend garlic, tomatoes with oil, basil, and salt and pepper. Set aside. Grease two large cookie sheets. Carefully lay five sheets of phyllo across each cookie sheet, overlapping and brushing each sheet with melted butter. Repeat. Divide salmon evenly between the cookie sheets and place vertically on top of phyllo, leaving a space between each fillet. Divide and spread basil mixture on top of each individual salmon fillet. Cover salmon with five sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter. Repeat. With a pizza cutter or knife, slice in between each fillet. Using egg wash, fold sides of phyllo together to form individual “packets.” Bake for 15–20 minutes. Serves 10. Lemon Zucchini Bake Use lemon thyme to add a sweet citrus flavor to everything from poultry to vegetables. If you can’t find it in your area, try chopped lemon balm, lemon verbena, or lemon basil. ¼ cup seasoned bread crumbs ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 teaspoons lemon thyme leaves 2 large zucchinis, thinly sliced 1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced 4 tablespoons melted butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix bread crumbs, cheese, and thyme. In a round casserole dish, layer half of the zucchini and half of the onion slices. Baste with melted butter. Add half of the bread crumb mixture. Repeat layers and bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Serves 4–6. Body Scrub Sugar scrubs are a great way to slough off stress and dead skin. For unique scents, try layering dried herbs like lavender (revitalizing) or peppermint (energizing) with a cup of white sugar and let stand for two weeks before use, shaking periodically. Then blend with a tablespoon of light oil such as sunflower seed. Slough away dead skin in the shower or tub. ~ Barbra Annino, #NFDB
793:While most of us go through life feeling that we are the thinker of our thoughts and the experiencer of our experience, from the perspective of science we know that this is a distorted view. There is no discrete self or ego lurking like a minotaur in the labyrinth of the brain. There is no region of cortex or pathway of neural processing that occupies a privileged position with respect to our personhood. There is no unchanging “center of narrative gravity” (to use Daniel Dennett’s phrase). In subjective terms, however, there seems to be one — to most of us, most of the time.
Our contemplative traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc.) also suggest, to varying degrees and with greater or lesser precision, that we live in the grip of a cognitive illusion. But the alternative to our captivity is almost always viewed through the lens of religious dogma. A Christian will recite the Lord’s Prayer continuously over a weekend, experience a profound sense of clarity and peace, and judge this mental state to be fully corroborative of the doctrine of Christianity; A Hindu will spend an evening singing devotional songs to Krishna, feel suddenly free of his conventional sense of self, and conclude that his chosen deity has showered him with grace; a Sufi will spend hours whirling in circles, pierce the veil of thought for a time, and believe that he has established a direct connection to Allah.
The universality of these phenomena refutes the sectarian claims of any one religion. And, given that contemplatives generally present their experiences of self-transcendence as inseparable from their associated theology, mythology, and metaphysics, it is no surprise that scientists and nonbelievers tend to view their reports as the product of disordered minds, or as exaggerated accounts of far more common mental states — like scientific awe, aesthetic enjoyment, artistic inspiration, etc.
Our religions are clearly false, even if certain classically religious experiences are worth having. If we want to actually understand the mind, and overcome some of the most dangerous and enduring sources of conflict in our world, we must begin thinking about the full spectrum of human experience in the context of science.
But we must first realize that we are lost in thought. ~ Sam Harris,#NFDB
794:The hoodlum-occultist is “sociopathic” enough to, see through the conventional charade, the social mythology of his species. “They’re all sheep,” he thinks. “Marks. Suckers. Waiting to be fleeced.” He has enough contact with some more-or-less genuine occult tradition to know a few of the gimmicks by which “social consciousness,” normally conditioned consciousness, can be suspended. He is thus able to utilize mental brutality in place of the simple physical brutality of the ordinary hooligan.
He is quite powerless against those who realize that he is actually a stupid liar.
He is stupid because spending your life terrorizing and exploiting your inferiors is a dumb and boring existence for anyone with more than five billion brain cells. Can you imagine Beethoven ignoring the heavenly choirs his right lobe could hear just to pound on the wall and annoy the neighbors? Gödel pushing aside his sublime mathematics to go out and cheat at cards? Van Gogh deserting his easel to scrawl nasty caricatures in the men’s toilet? Mental evil is always the stupidest evil because the mind itself is not a weapon but a potential paradise.
Every kind of malice is a stupidity, but occult malice is stupidest of all. To the extent that the mindwarper is not 100 percent charlatan through-and-through (and most of them are), to the extent that he has picked up some real occult lore somewhere, his use of it for malicious purposes is like using Shakespeare’s sonnets for toilet tissue or picking up a Picasso miniature to drive nails. Everybody who has advanced beyond the barbarian stage of evolution can see how pre-human such acts are, except the person doing them.
Genuine occult initiation confers “the philosopher’s stone,” “the gold of the wise” and “the elixir of life,” all of which are metaphors for the capacity to greet life with the bravery and love and gusto that it deserves. By throwing this away to indulge in spite, malice and the small pleasure of bullying the credulous, the mindwarper proves himself a fool and a dolt.
And the psychic terrorist, besides being a jerk, is always a liar and a fraud. Healing is easier (and more fun) than cursing, to begin with, and cursing usually backfires or misfires. The mindwarper doesn’t want you to know that. He wants you to think he’s omnipotent. ~ Robert Anton Wilson,#NFDB
795:We can take things as slowly as you want, but you know it’s too late now to change your mind, Pierce,” he said, in a warning tone.
“Of course,” I said. I could see I had approached this all wrong. Where, when you actually needed one, was one of those annoying women’s magazines with advice on how to handle your man? Although that advice probably didn’t apply to death deities. “Because the Furies are after me. And I promised you that I wouldn’t try to escape. That isn’t what I was-“
“No,” he said, with an abrupt shake of his head. “The Furies have no part in this. It doesn’t matter anymore whether or not you try to escape.” He was pacing the length of the room. A muscle had begun to twitch wildly in the side of his jaw. “I thought you knew. I thought you understood. Haven’t you read Homer?”
Not again. Mr. Smith was obsessed with this Homer person, too.
“No, John,” I said, with forced patience. “I’m afraid we don’t have time to study the ancient Greek poets in school anymore because we have so much stuff to learn that happened since you died, such as the Civil War and the Holocaust and making files in Excel-“
“Well, considering what they had to say about the Fates,” John interrupted, impatiently, “Homer might possibly have been of more use to you.”
“The Fates?” The Fates were something I dimly remembered having been mentioned in the section we’d studied on Greek mythology. They were busybodies who presided over everyone’s destiny. “What did Homer have to say about them?”
John dragged a hand through his hair. For some reason, he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “The Fates decreed that anyone who ate or drank in the realm of the dead had to remain there for all eternity.”
I stared at him. “Right,” I said. “Only if they are pomegranate seeds, like Persephone. The fruit of the dead.”
He stopped pacing suddenly and lifted his gaze to mine. His eyes seemed to burn through to my soul.
“Pomegranate seeds are what Persephone happened to eat while she was in the Underworld,” he said. “That’s why they call them the fruit of the dead. But the rule is any food or drink.”
A strange feeling of numbness had begun to spread across my body. My mouth became too dry for me to speak.
“However you feel about me, Pierce,” he went on, relentlessly, “you’re stuck here with me for the rest of eternity. ~ Meg Cabot,#NFDB
796:Tolkien, then, was a philologist before he was a mythologist, and a mythologist, at least in intention, before he ever became a writer of fantasy fiction. His beliefs about language and about mythology were sometimes original and sometimes extreme, but never irrational, and he was able to express them perfectly clearly. In the end he decided to express them not through abstract argument, but by demonstration, and the success of the demonstration has gone a long way to showing that he did often have a point: especially in his belief, which I share, that a taste for philology, for the history of language in all its forms, names and place-names included, is much more widespread in the population at large than educators and arbiters of taste like to think. In his 1959 ‘Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford’ (reprinted in Essays, pp. 224-40), Tolkien concluded that the problem lay not with the philologists nor with those they taught but with what he called ‘misologists’ – haters of the word. There would be no harm in them if they simply concluded language study was not for them, out of dullness or ignorance. But what he felt, Tolkien said, was:
"grievance that certain professional persons should suppose their dullness and ignorance to be a human norm; and anger when they have sought to impose the limitation of their minds upon younger minds, dissuading those with philological curiosity from their bent, encouraging those without this interest to believe that their lack marked them as minds of a superior order."
Behind this grievance and this anger was, of course, failure and defeat. It is now very hard to pursue a course of philology of the kind Tolkien would have approved in any British or American university. The misologists won, in the academic world; as did the realists, the modernists, the post-modernists, the despisers of fantasy.
But they lost outside the academic world. It is not long since I heard the commissioning editor of a major publishing house say, ‘Only fantasy is mass-market. Everything else is cult-fiction.’ (Reflective pause.) ‘That includes main-stream.’ He was defending his own buying strategy, and doubtless exaggerating, but there is a good deal of hard evidence to support him. Tolkien cried out to be heard, and we have still to find out what he was saying. There should be no doubt, though, that he found listeners, and that they found whatever he was saying worth their while. ~ Tom Shippey,#NFDB
797:Women, even the most oppressed among us, do exercise power. These powers can be used to advance feminist struggle. Forms of power held by exploited and oppressed groups are described in Elizabeth Janeway's important work Powers of the Weak. One of the most significant forms of power held by the weak is "the refusal to accept the definition of oneself that is put forward by the powerful". Janeway call this the "ordered use of the power to disbelieve". She explains:
It is true that one may not have a coherent self-definition to set against the status assigned by the established social mythology, and that is not necessary for dissent. By disbelieving, one will be led toward doubting prescribed codes of behaviour, and as one begins to act in ways that can deviate from the norm in any degree, it becomes clear that in fact there is not just one right way to handle or understand events.
Women need to know that they can reject the powerful's definition of their reality --- that they can do so even if they are poor, exploited, or trapped in oppressive circumstances. They need to know that the exercise of this basic personal power is an act of resistance and strength. Many poor and exploited women, especially non-white women, would have been unable to develop positive self-concepts if they had not exercised their power to reject the powerful's definition of their reality. Much feminist thought reflects women's acceptance of the definition of femaleness put forth by the powerful. Even though women organizing and participating in feminist movement were in no way passive, unassertive, or unable to make decisions, they perpetuated the idea that these characteristics were typical female traits, a perspective that mirrored male supremacist interpretation of women's reality. They did not distinguish between the passive role many women assume in relation to male peers and/or male authority figures, and the assertive, even domineering, roles they assume in relation to one another, to children, or to those individuals, female or male, who have lower social status, who they see as inferiors, This is only one example of the way in which feminist activists did not break with the simplistic view of women's reality s it was defined by powerful me. If they had exercised the power to disbelieve, they would have insisted upon pointing out the complex nature of women's experience, deconstructing the notion that women are necessarily passive or unassertive. ~ bell hooks,#NFDB
798:Daemons
A daemon is a process that runs in the background, not connecting to any controlling terminal. Daemons are normally started at boot time, are run as root or some
other special user (such as apache or postfix), and handle system-level tasks. As a
convention, the name of a daemon often ends in d (as in crond and sshd), but this is
not required, or even universal.
The name derives from Maxwell's demon, an 1867 thought experiment by the physicist James Maxwell. Daemons are also supernatural beings in Greek mythology,
existing somewhere between humans and the gods and gifted with powers and divine
knowledge. Unlike the demons of Judeo-Christian lore, the Greek daemon need not
be evil. Indeed, the daemons of mythology tended to be aides to the gods, performing
tasks that the denizens of Mount Olympus found themselves unwilling to do-much
as Unix daemons perform tasks that foreground users would rather avoid.
A daemon has two general requirements: it must run as a child of init, and it must
not be connected to a terminal.
In general, a program performs the following steps to become a daemon:
1. Call fork( ). This creates a new process, which will become the daemon.
2. In the parent, call exit( ). This ensures that the original parent (the daemon's
grandparent) is satisfied that its child terminated, that the daemon's parent is no
longer running, and that the daemon is not a process group leader. This last
point is a requirement for the successful completion of the next step.
3. Call setsid( ), giving the daemon a new process group and session, both of
which have it as leader. This also ensures that the process has no associated controlling terminal (as the process just created a new session, and will not assign
one).
4. Change the working directory to the root directory via chdir( ). This is done
because the inherited working directory can be anywhere on the filesystem. Daemons tend to run for the duration of the system's uptime, and you don't want to
keep some random directory open, and thus prevent an administrator from
unmounting the filesystem containing that directory.
5. Close all file descriptors. You do not want to inherit open file descriptors, and,
unaware, hold them open.
6. Open file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 (standard in, standard out, and standard error)
and redirect them to /dev/null.
Following these rules, here is a program that daemonizes itself:
~ OReilly Linux System Programming,#NFDB
799:Man And Woman
[ According to Maori mythology, the god Tiki created Man by taking a piece of
clay and moistening it with his own blood. Woman was the offspring of a
sunbeam and a sylvan echo .]
THUS God made Man to cope with destiny:
Taking the common clay, God moistened it
With His red blood; and so for ever lit
That sombre grossness with divinity.
So Man for ever finds him in the mesh
Of clogging earth; and though divine hopes thrill
And flush his leaping heart, it faints, for still
His dreams are pinioned in the gyves of flesh.
Yet ever God's blood in him courses free,
And, penetrated with eternal hope,
Up Evolution's long, uneven slope
Man lifts him from his sodden ancestry!
And though his eyes the far goal cannot see,
And half the terrors of the dark he knows,
Yet with an inward fire his courage glows;
He bears the torch of immortality.
But Woman from a memory had birth,
Into the forest's dignity of shade
A sudden sunbeam groped—a soft hand laid
In silent benediction on the earth.
Then filtered through the green a song forlorn
Of some forgotten bird. Lo! in a mist
Of love the sunbeam and the echo kissed,
And Woman—sunlit memory—was born.
So light and melody to her belong—
The sunlight in the dying echo blurred!
So Woman came—a vision and a word
From the unknown—a sunbeam and a song!
So ever through the forest of the years
Shall Man pursue and still pursue the gleam
That wavers and is gone; and through his dream
The fainting echo of a song he hears.
And when at last his weary feet are led
Into the sacred glade, and she stands there,
He takes her close—all song and sunlit hair:
51
The gleam has faded and the song has fled!
And though with blinded eyes he cannot see,
She haunts him like a word that he knows not—
That is not quite remembered, nor forgot—
Some thought that hovers near a memory.
As out from Heaven she leans, on earth there falls
The sunbeam of her hair, golden and fine;
And drops an echo of a voice divine—
A voice that ever vainly calls and calls!
And though she spill a splendour and a fire
Upon the dark, her glory is unknown;
Behind the screen of self she dwells alone
She cannot come as close as her desire.
So ever like a pale moon drowned in mist
Her face is vague—a barrier intervenes;
And ever from her loneliness she leans,
With waiting eyes, all-wistful to be kissed!
~ Arthur Henry Adams,#NFDB
800:INVOCATION
The ultimate invocation, that of Kia, cannot be performed. The paradox is that as Kia has no dualized qualities, there are no attributes by which to invoke it. To give it one quality is merely to deny it another. As an observant dualistic being once said:
I am that I am not.
Nevertheless, the magician may need to make some rearrangements or additions to what he is. Metamorphosis may be pursued by seeking that which one is not, and transcending both in mutual annihilation. Alternatively, the process of invocation may be seen as adding to the magician's psyche any elements which are missing. It is true that the mind must be finally surrendered as one enters fully into Chaos, but a complete and balanced psychocosm is more easily surrendered.
The magical process of shuffling beliefs and desires attendant upon the process of invocation also demonstrates that one's dominant obsessions or personality are quite arbitrary, and hence more easily banished.
There are many maps of the mind (psychocosms), most of which are inconsistent, contradictory, and based on highly fanciful theories. Many use the symbology of god forms, for all mythology embodies a psychology. A complete mythic pantheon resumes all of man's mental characteristics. Magicians will often use a pagan pantheon of gods as the basis for invoking some particular insight or ability, as these myths provide the most explicit and developed formulation of the particular idea's extant. However it is possible to use almost anything from the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the elemental qualities of alchemy.
If the magician taps a deep enough level of power, these forms may manifest with sufficient force to convince the mind of the objective existence of the god. Yet the aim of invocation is temporary possession by the god, communication from the god, and manifestation of the god's magical powers, rather than the formation of religious cults.
The actual method of invocation may be described as a total immersion in the qualities pertaining to the desired form. One invokes in every conceivable way. The magician first programs himself into identity with the god by arranging all his experiences to coincide with its nature. In the most elaborate form of ritual he may surround himself with the sounds, smells, colors, instruments, memories, numbers, symbols, music, and poetry suggestive of the god or quality. Secondly he unites his life force to the god image with which he has united his mind. This is accomplished with techniques from the gnosis. Figure 5 shows some examples of maps of the mind. Following are some suggestions for practical ritual invocation.
~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Null,#NFDB
801: Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā, (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; Wylie: ral gcig ma: one who has one knot of hair),[1] also known as Māhacīnatārā,[2] is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is, along with Palden Lhamo deity, one of the most powerful and fierce goddesses of Vajrayana Buddhist mythology.[1][3] According to Tibetan legends, her right eye was pierced by the tantric master Padmasambhava so that she could much more effectively help him subjugate Tibetan demons.
Ekajati is also known as "Blue Tara", Vajra Tara or "Ugra Tara".[1][3] She is generally considered one of the three principal protectors of the Nyingma school along with Rāhula and Vajrasādhu (Wylie: rdo rje legs pa).
Often Ekajati appears as liberator in the mandala of the Green Tara. Along with that, her ascribed powers are removing the fear of enemies, spreading joy, and removing personal hindrances on the path to enlightenment.
Ekajati is the protector of secret mantras and "as the mother of the mothers of all the Buddhas" represents the ultimate unity. As such, her own mantra is also secret. She is the most important protector of the Vajrayana teachings, especially the Inner Tantras and termas. As the protector of mantra, she supports the practitioner in deciphering symbolic dakini codes and properly determines appropriate times and circumstances for revealing tantric teachings. Because she completely realizes the texts and mantras under her care, she reminds the practitioner of their preciousness and secrecy.[4] Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama meditated upon her in early childhood.
According to Namkhai Norbu, Ekajati is the principal guardian of the Dzogchen teachings and is "a personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy."[5]
Dzogchen is the most closely guarded teaching in Tibetan Buddhism, of which Ekajati is a main guardian as mentioned above. It is said that Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha) himself entrusted the "Heart Essence" (Wylie: snying thig) teachings to her care. To the great master Longchenpa, who initiated the dissemination of certain Dzogchen teachings, Ekajati offered uncharacteristically personal guidance. In his thirty-second year, Ekajati appeared to Longchenpa, supervising every ritual detail of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis empowerment, insisting on the use of a peacock feather and removing unnecessary basin. When Longchenpa performed the ritual, she nodded her head in approval but corrected his pronunciation. When he recited the mantra, Ekajati admonished him, saying, "Imitate me," and sang it in a strange, harmonious melody in the dakini's language. Later she appeared at the gathering and joyously danced, proclaiming the approval of Padmasambhava and the dakinis.[6] ~ Wikipedia,#NFDB
802:[the virgin birth account] occurs everywhere. When the Herod figure ( the extreme figure of misgovernment) has brought man to the nadir of spirit, the occult forces of the cycle begin to move. In an inconspicuous village, Mary is born who will maintain herself undefiled by fashionable errors of her generation. Her womb, remaining fallw as the primordial abyss, summons itself by its very readiness the original power that fertilzed the void.
Mary's virgin birth story is recounted everywhere. and with such striking unity of the main contours, that early christian missionaries had to think the devil must be creating mockeries of Mary's birth wherever they testified. One missionary reports that after work was begun among Tunja and Sogamozzo South American Indians, "the demon began giving contrary doctrines. The demon sought to discredit Mary's account, declaring it had not yet come to pass; but presently, the sun would bring it to pass by taking flesh in the womb of a virgin in a small village, causing her to conceive by rays of the sun while she yet remained virgin."
Hindu mythology tells of the maiden parvati who retreated to the high hills to practice austerities. Taraka had usurped mastery of the world, a tyrant. Prophecy said only a son of the high god Shiva could overthrow him. Shive however was the pattern god of yoga-alone, aloof, meditating. It was impossible Shiva could be moved to beget.
Parvati tried changing the world situation by metching Shiva in meditation. Aloof, indrawn in her soul meditating, she fasted naked beneath the blazing sun, even adding to the heat by building four great fires. One day a Brahmin youth arrived and asked why anyone so beautiful should be destroying herself with such torture. "My desire," she said "is Shiva, the Highest. He is the god of solitude and concentration. I therefore imitate his meditation to move him from his balance and bring him to me in love."
Shiva, the youth announced, is a god of destruction, shiva is World Annhilator. Snakes are his garlands.
The virgin said: He is beyond the mind of such as you. He is terrifying but the source of grace. snake garlands or jewel garlands he can assume or put off at will. Shiva is my love.
The youth thereupon put away his disguise-he was Shiva.
The Buddha descended from heaven to his mother's womb in the shape of a milk white elephant. The Aztec Coatlicue was approached by a god in the form of a ball of feathers. The chapters of Ovid's Metamorphoses swarm with nymphs beset by gods in sundry masquerades: jove as a bull, a swan, a shower of gold. Any leaf, any nut, or even the breath of a breeze, may be enough to fertilize the ready virgin womb. The procreating power is everywhere. And according to whim or destiny of the hour, either a hero savior or a world--annihilating demon may be conceived-one can never know. ~ Joseph Campbell,#NFDB
803:How nice that our former stable boy has begotten a namesake from my elder daughter,” the countess remarked acidly. “This will be the first of many brats, I am sure. Regrettably there is still no heir to the earldom…which is your responsibility, I believe. Come to me with news of your impending marriage to a bride of good blood, Westcliff, and I will evince some satisfaction. Until then, I see little reason for congratulations.”
Though he displayed no emotion at his mother’s hard-hearted response to the news of Aline’s child, not to mention her infuriating preoccupation with the begetting of an heir, Marcus was hard-pressed to hold back a savage reply. In the midst of his darkening mood, he became aware of Lillian’s intent gaze.
Lillian stared at him astutely, a peculiar smile touching her lips. Marcus arched one brow and asked sardonically, “Does something amuse you, Miss Bowman?”
“Yes,” she murmured. “I was just thinking that it’s a wonder you haven’t rushed out to marry the first peasant girl you could find.”
“Impertinent twit!” the countess exclaimed.
Marcus grinned at the girl’s insolence, while the tightness in his chest eased. “Do you think I should?” he asked soberly, as if the question was worth considering.
“Oh yes,” Lillian assured him with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “The Marsdens could use some new blood. In my opinion, the family is in grave danger of becoming overbred.”
“Overbred?” Marcus repeated, wanting nothing more than to pounce on her and carry her off somewhere. “What has given you that impression, Miss Bowman?”
“Oh, I don’t know…” she said idly. “Perhaps the earth-shattering importance you attach to whether one should use a fork or spoon to eat one’s pudding.”
“Good manners are not the sole province of the aristocracy, Miss Bowman.” Even to himself, Marcus sounded a bit pompous.
“In my opinion, my lord, an excessive preoccupation with manners and rituals is a strong indication that someone has too much time on his hands.”
Marcus smiled at her impertinence. “Subversive, yet sensible,” he mused. “I’m not certain I disagree.”
“Do not encourage her effrontery, Westcliff,” the countess warned.
“Very well—I shall leave you to your Sisyphean task.”
“What does that mean?” he heard Daisy ask.
Lillian replied while her smiling gaze remained locked with Marcus’s. “It seems you avoided one too many Greek mythology lessons, dear. Sisyphus was a soul in Hades who was damned to perform an eternal task…rolling a huge boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again just before he reached the top.”
“Then if the countess is Sisyphus,” Daisy concluded, “I suppose we’re…”
“The boulder,” Lady Westcliff said succinctly, causing both girls to laugh.
“Do continue with our instruction, my lady,” Lillian said, giving her full attention to the elderly woman as Marcus bowed and left the room. “We’ll try not to flatten you on the way down. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
804:[The Christian story] amounts to a refusal to affirm life. In the biblical tradition we have inherited, life is corrupt, and every natural impulse is sinful unless it has been circumcised or baptized. The serpent was the one who brought sin into the wold. And the woman was the one who handed the apple to man. This identification of the woman with sin, of the serpent with sin, and thus of life with sin, is the twist the has been given to the whole story in the biblical myth and doctrine of the Fall.... I don't know of it [the idea of woman as sinner...in other mythologies] elsewhere. The closest thing to it would be perhaps Pandora with Pandora's box, but that's not sin, that's just trouble. The idea in the biblical tradition of the all is that nature as we know it is corrupt, sex in itself is corrupt, and the female as the epitome of sex is a corrupter. Why was the knowledge of good and evil forbidden to Adam and Eve? Without that knowledge, we'd all be a bunch of babies still Eden, without any participation in life. Woman brings life into the world. Eve is the mother o this temporal wold. Formerly you had a dreamtime paradise there in the Garden of Eden – no time, no birth, no death – no life. The serpent, who dies and is resurrected, shedding its skin and renewing its life, is the lord of the central tree, where time and eternity come together. He is the primary god, actually, in the Garden of Eden. Yahweh, the one who walks there in the cool of the evening, is just a visitor. The Garden is the serpent's place. It is an old, old story. We have Sumerian seals from as early as 3500 B.C. showing the serpent and the tree and the goddess, with the goddess giving the fruit of life to a visiting male. The old mythology of he goddess is right there.... There is actually a historical explanation [of the change of this image of the serpent and the snake in Genesis] based on the coming of the Hebrews into Canaan. The principal divinity of the people of Canaan was the Goddess and associated with the Goddess is the serpent. This is the symbol of the mystery of life. The male-god-oriented groups rejected it. In other words, there is a historical rejection of the Mother Goddess implied in the story of the Garden of Eden.
Moyers: It does seem that this story has done women a great disservice by casting Eve as responsible for the Fall. Why...?
Campbell: They represent life. Man doesn't enter life except by woman, and so it is woman who brings us into this wold of pairs of opposites and suffering.... Male and female is one opposition. Another opposition is the human and God. Good and evil is a third opposition. The primary oppositions are the sexual and that between human beings and God. Then comes the idea of good and evil in the world. And so Adm and Eve have thrown themselves out of the Garden of Timeless Unity, you might say, just by that act of recognizing duality. To move out into the world, you have to act in terms of pairs of opposites. ~ Joseph Campbell,#NFDB
805:Adelia began to get cross. Why was it women who were to blame for everything—everything, from the Fall of Man to these blasted hedges?
“We are not in a labyrinth, my lord,” she said clearly.
“Where are we, then?”
“It’s a maze.”
“Same difference.” Puffing at the horse: “Get back, you great cow.”
“No, it isn’t. A labyrinth has only one path and you merely have to follow it. It’s a symbol of life or, rather, of life and death. Labyrinths twist and turn, but they have a beginning and an end, through darkness into light.”
Softening, and hoping that he would, too, she added, “Like Ariadne’s. Rather beautiful, really.”
“I don’t want mythology, mistress, beautiful or not, I want to get to that sodding tower. What’s a maze when it’s at home?”
“It’s a trick. A trick to confuse. To amaze.”
“And I suppose Mistress Clever-boots knows how to get us out?”
“I do, actually.” God’s rib, he was sneering at her, sneering. She’d a mind to stay where she was and let him sweat.
“Then in the name of Christ, do it.”
“Stop bellowing at me,” she yelled at him. “You’re bellowing.”
She saw his teeth grit in the pretense of a placatory smile; he always had good teeth. Still did. Between them, he said, “The Bishop of Saint Albans presents his compliments to Mistress Adelia and please to escort him out of this hag’s hole, for the love of God. How will you do it?”
“My business.” Be damned if she’d tell him. Women were defenseless enough without revealing their secrets. “I’ll have to take the lead.”
She stumped along in front, holding Walt’s mount’s reins in her right hand. In the other was her riding crop, which she trailed with apparent casualness so that it brushed against the hedge on her left.
As she went, she chuntered to herself. Lord, how disregarded I am in this damned country. How disregarded all women are.
...
Ironically, the lower down the social scale women were, the greater freedom they had; the wives of laborers and craftsmen could work alongside their men—even, sometimes, when they were widowed, take over their husband’s trade.
Adelia trudged on. Hag’s hole. Grendel’s mother’s entrails. Why was this dreadful place feminine to the men lost in it? Because it was tunneled? Womb-like? Is this woman’s magic? The great womb?
Is that why the Church hates me, hates all women? Because we are the source of all true power? Of life?
She supposed that by leading them out of it, she was only confirming that a woman knew its secrets and they did not.
Great God, she thought, it isn't a question of hatred. It’s fear. They are frightened of us.
And Adelia laughed quietly, sending a suggestion of sound reverberating backward along the tunnel, as if a small pebble was skipping on water, making each man start when it passed him.
“What in hell was that?”
Walt called back stolidly, “Reckon someone’s laughing at us, master.”
“Dear God. ~ Ariana Franklin,#NFDB
806:Sweet Mother, there's a flower you have named "The Creative Word".
Yes.
What does that mean?
It is the word which creates.
There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions in which the Divine, in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, pronounces a word which has the power to create. So it is this... And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word which has a creative power. An invocation is made and there is an answer to the invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word which, in its sound... it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that there's a power of creation. It is the origin, you see, of the mantra.
In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, "The Creative Word". And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words... sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domain - whereas the sound has a power in the material world.
I think I have explained this to you once; I told you, for example, that words spoken casually, usually without any re- flection and without attaching any importance to them, can be used to do something very good. I think I spoke to you about "Bonjour", "Good Day", didn't I? When people meet and say "Bonjour", they do so mechanically and without thinking. But if you put a will into it, an aspiration to indeed wish someone a good day, well, there is a way of saying "Good Day" which is very effective, much more effective than if simply meeting someone you thought: "Ah! I hope he has a good day", without saying anything. If with this hope in your thought you say to him in a certain way, "Good Day", you make it more concrete and more effective.
It's the same thing, by the way, with curses, or when one gets angry and says bad things to people. This can do them as much harm - more harm sometimes - than if you were to give them a slap. With very sensitive people it can put their stomach out of order or give them palpitation, because you put into it an evil force which has a power of destruction.
It is not at all ineffective to speak. Naturally it depends a great deal on each one's inner power. People who have no strength and no consciousness can't do very much - unless they employ material means. But to the extent that you are strong, especially when you have a powerful vital, you must have a great control on what you say, otherwise you can do much harm. Without wanting to, without knowing it; through ignorance.
Anything? No? Nothing?
Another question?... Everything's over? ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1955, 347-349,#NFDB
807:The Conference Of The (Underemployed) Birds
"It shows the top half of the workforce enjoying permanent, well-paid, fulltime jobs,
while the bottom half can find only casual, poorly-paid, part-time work which, as
Labour
market economist Professor Sue Richardson warned this week, was creating a
class of
"excluded and dangerous" men with incomes to low to support a
family." - The Age, October 04, 2003.
"My discourse is sans words, sans tongue, sans sound: understand it then,
sans mind, sans ear."
- Farid Ud-Din Attar, The Conference of the Birds
(i)
A Willy-Wagtails' call intercepts the morning. Birds were real once, like jobs.
The modem's dial-up scream is cut short; why is our technology suffering so?
Fake, Australian accents in the call centre aviary: Calcutta nest robbers gloat.
A taxidermy of outsourced work: ditto, we're all stuffed on the global floor.
39
Bottom of the bird market. This new flu's crashed like tech stocks, Acme trap
For the Roadrunner managerial class, the coyote - disenfranchised American?
(ii)
Magpies don't attack in the open anymore, have you noticed: phenomena?
Phone tab's the way forward. Keep an eye on your receiver, not the skies.
There are new powers afoot for dealing with these full employment refos,
Our government issues wide-brimmed hats with strings of corks attached.
The contemporary job market has a thin eggshell; depleted proteins crack.
An excluded & dangerous class birthed? They backed job terrorism not us.
(iii)
I saw a hoopoe once. Was it Jaipur? Its crown of truth strutted on the lawn,
Painted a post-colonial green. What good is spiritual knowledge without law?
40
You will play an integral role in this dynamic environment by fudging your
Work history for sure. Service orientate your brain - lively, world class, lame.
Dangerous as ideas? There's a metal storm inside your head. Try Sufism?
Was it John Lennon or Steve McQueen who went on about "ism ism ism?
"
(iv)
There are nightingales here reputedly. Wasn't it someone from myth who
Couldn't stand being unemployed anymore & turned themselves into one?
Hit an epic glass ceiling probably. Better to be amorous than under-employed?
There's no new twist in the figures though. The virtual exclusion of women
From net growth in full-time job mythology is eons old. Sumerians started it.
Gilgamesh's entrapment of Enkidu needed a woman's art: ‘Wanted Harlot.'
(v)
41
Australia has plenty of parrots, but cockatiels inhabit our universal currency
Of shame. See them locked up in Athens, Rome, Madrid, Delhi & Bangkok.
Feathered service economies, budgerigars tell beak fortunes in Iranian streets.
Collars of gold chained to human profit. Flocks flee drought & agricultural rut.
We even killed off one sub-species called ‘Paradise', cleared full-time underbrush.
& if they were flightless, then we paid out redundancies see: dodo, puffin & moa.
~ B. R. Dionysius,#NFDB
808:The ‘magic’ of Lothlórien has many roots (some of them to be discussed later on), but there is one thing about it which is again highly traditional, but also in a way a strong re-interpretation and rationalization of tradition. There are many references to elves in Old English and Old Norse and Middle English, and indeed in modern English – belief in them seems to have lasted longer than is the case with any of the other non-human races of early native mythology – but one story which remains strongly consistent is the story about the mortal going into Elfland, best known, perhaps, from the ballads of ‘Thomas the Rhymer’. The mortal enters, spends what seems to be a night, or three nights, in music and dancing. But when he comes out and returns home he is a stranger, everyone he once knew is dead, there is only a dim memory of the man once lost in Elf-hill. Elvish time, it seems, flows far slower than human time. Or is it far quicker? For there is another motif connected with elves, which is that when their music plays, everything outside stands still. In the Danish ballad of ‘Elf-hill’ (Elverhoj), when the elf-maiden sings: ‘The swift stream then stood still, that before had been running; the little fish that swam in it played their fins in time’. Tolkien did not at all mind deciding that ancient scribes had got a word wrong, and correcting it for them, but he was at the same time reluctant ever to think that they had got the whole story wrong, just because it did not seem to make sense: it was his job to make it make sense. Lothlórien in a way reconciles the two motifs of the ‘The Night that Lasts a Century’ and ‘The Stream that Stood Still’. The Fellowship ‘remained some days in Lothlórien, as far as they could tell or remember’. But when they come out Sam looks up at the moon, and is puzzled:
‘The Moon’s the same in the Shire and in Wilderland, or it ought to be. But either
it’s out of its running, or I’m all wrong in my reckoning.’
He concludes, it is ‘as if we had never stayed no time in the Elvish country…Anyone would think that time did not count in there!’ Frodo agrees with him, and suggests that in Lothlórien they had entered a world beyond time. But Legolas the elf offers a deeper explanation, not from the human point of view but from the elvish (which no ancient text had ever tried to penetrate). For the elves, he says:
‘the world moves, and it moves both very swift and very slow. Swift, because they themselves change little, and all else fleets by: it is a grief to them. Slow, because they do not count the running years, not for themselves. The passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream.’
What Legolas says makes perfect sense, from the viewpoint of an immortal. It also explains how mortals are deceived when they enter into elvish time, and can interpret it as either fast or slow. All the stories about elves were correct. Their contradictions can be put together to create a deeper and more unpredictable image of Elfland, at once completely original and solidly traditional. ~ Tom Shippey,#NFDB
809:This is the mighty and branching tree called mythology which ramifies round the whole world whose remote branches under separate skies bear like colored birds the costly idols of Asia and the half-baked fetishes of Africa and the fairy kings and princesses of the folk-tales of the forest and buried amid vines and olives the Lares of the Latins, and carried on the clouds of Olympus the buoyant supremacy of the gods of Greece. These are the myths and he who has no sympathy with myths has no sympathy with men. But he who has most Sympathy with myths will most fully realize that they are not and never were a religion, in the sense that Christianity or even Islam is a religion. They satisfy some of the needs satisfied by a religion; and notably the need for doing certain things at certain dates; the need of the twin ideas of festivity and formality. But though they provide a man with a calendar they do not provide him with a creed. A man did not stand up and say 'I believe in Jupiter and Juno and Neptune,' etc., as he stands up and says 'I believe in God the Father Almighty' and the rest of the Apostles' Creed.... Polytheism fades away at its fringes into fairy-tales or barbaric memories; it is not a thing like monotheism as held by serious monotheists. Again it does satisfy the need to cry out on some uplifted name, or some noble memory in moments that are themselves noble and uplifted; such as the birth of a child or the saving of a city. But the name was so used by many to whom it was only a name. Finally it did satisfy, or rather it partially satisfied, a thing very deep in humanity indeed; the idea of surrendering something as the portion of the unknown powers; of pouring out wine upon the ground, of throwing a ring into the sea; in a word, of sacrifice....A child pretending there is a goblin in a hollow tree will do a crude and material thing like leaving a piece of cake for him. A poet might do a more dignified and elegant thing, like bringing to the god fruits as well as flowers. But the degree of seriousness in both acts may be the same or it may vary in almost any degree. The crude fancy is no more a creed than the ideal fancy is a creed. Certainly the pagan does not disbelieve like an atheist, any more than he believes like a Christian. He feels the presence of powers about which he guesses and invents. St. Paul said that the Greeks had one altar to an unknown god. But in truth all their gods were unknown gods. And the real break in history did come when St. Paul declared to them whom they had worshipped. The substance of all such paganism may be summarized thus. It is an attempt to reach the divine reality through the imagination alone; in its own field reason does not restrain it at all..... There is nothing in Paganism whereby one may check his own exaggerations.... The only objection to Natural Religion is that somehow it always becomes unnatural. A man loves Nature in the morning for her innocence and amiability, and at nightfall, if he is loving her still, it is for her darkness and her cruelty. He washes at dawn in clear water as did the Wise Man of the Stoics, yet, somehow at the dark end of the day, he is bathing in hot bull’s blood, as did Julian the Apostate. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
810:When reading the history of the Jewish people, of their flight from slavery to death, of their exchange of tyrants, I must confess that my sympathies are all aroused in their behalf. They were cheated, deceived and abused. Their god was quick-tempered unreasonable, cruel, revengeful and dishonest. He was always promising but never performed. He wasted time in ceremony and childish detail, and in the exaggeration of what he had done. It is impossible for me to conceive of a character more utterly detestable than that of the Hebrew god. He had solemnly promised the Jews that he would take them from Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey. He had led them to believe that in a little while their troubles would be over, and that they would soon in the land of Canaan, surrounded by their wives and little ones, forget the stripes and tears of Egypt. After promising the poor wanderers again and again that he would lead them in safety to the promised land of joy and plenty, this God, forgetting every promise, said to the wretches in his power:—'Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall wander until your carcasses be wasted.' This curse was the conclusion of the whole matter. Into this dust of death and night faded all the promises of God. Into this rottenness of wandering despair fell all the dreams of liberty and home. Millions of corpses were left to rot in the desert, and each one certified to the dishonesty of Jehovah. I cannot believe these things. They are so cruel and heartless, that my blood is chilled and my sense of justice shocked. A book that is equally abhorrent to my head and heart, cannot be accepted as a revelation from God.
When we think of the poor Jews, destroyed, murdered, bitten by serpents, visited by plagues, decimated by famine, butchered by each, other, swallowed by the earth, frightened, cursed, starved, deceived, robbed and outraged, how thankful we should be that we are not the chosen people of God. No wonder that they longed for the slavery of Egypt, and remembered with sorrow the unhappy day when they exchanged masters. Compared with Jehovah, Pharaoh was a benefactor, and the tyranny of Egypt was freedom to those who suffered the liberty of God.
While reading the Pentateuch, I am filled with indignation, pity and horror. Nothing can be sadder than the history of the starved and frightened wretches who wandered over the desolate crags and sands of wilderness and desert, the prey of famine, sword, and plague. Ignorant and superstitious to the last degree, governed by falsehood, plundered by hypocrisy, they were the sport of priests, and the food of fear. God was their greatest enemy, and death their only friend.
It is impossible to conceive of a more thoroughly despicable, hateful, and arrogant being, than the Jewish god. He is without a redeeming feature. In the mythology of the world he has no parallel. He, only, is never touched by agony and tears. He delights only in blood and pain. Human affections are naught to him. He cares neither for love nor music, beauty nor joy. A false friend, an unjust judge, a braggart, hypocrite, and tyrant, sincere in hatred, jealous, vain, and revengeful, false in promise, honest in curse, suspicious, ignorant, and changeable, infamous and hideous:—such is the God of the Pentateuch. ~ Robert G Ingersoll,#NFDB
811:The tired intellectual sums up the deformities and the vices of a world adrift. He does not act, he suffers; if he favors the notion of tolerance, he does not find in it the stimulant he needs. Tyranny furnishes that, as do the doctrines of which it is the outcome. If he is the first of its victims, he will not complain: only the strength that grinds him into the dust seduces him. To want to be free is to want to be oneself; but he is tired of being himself, of blazing a trail into uncertainty, of stumbling through truths. “Bind me with the chains of Illusion,” he sighs, even as he says farewell to the peregrinations of Knowledge. Thus he will fling himself, eyes closed, into any mythology which will assure him the protection and the peace of the yoke. Declining the honor of assuming his own anxieties, he will engage in enterprises from which he anticipates sensations he could not derive from himself, so that the excesses of his lassitude will confirm the tyrannies. Churches, ideologies, police—seek out their origin in the horror he feels for his own lucidity, rather than in the stupidity of the masses. This weakling transforms himself, in the name of a know-nothing utopia, into a gravedigger of the intellect; convinced of doing something useful, he prostitutes Pascal’s old “abêtissezvous,” the Solitary’s tragic device.
A routed iconoclast, disillusioned with paradox and provocation, in search of impersonality and routine, half prostrated, ripe for the stereotype, the tired intellectual abdicates his singularity and rejoins the rabble. Nothing more to overturn, if not himself: the last idol to smash … His own debris lures him on. While he contemplates it, he shapes the idol of new gods or restores the old ones by baptizing them with new names. Unable to sustain the dignity of being fastidious, less and less inclined to winnow truths, he is content with those he is offered. By-product of his ego, he proceeds—a wrecker gone to seed—to crawl before the altars, or before what takes their place. In the temple or on the tribunal, his place is where there is singing, or shouting—no longer a chance to hear one’s own voice. A parody of belief? It matters little to him, since all he aspires to is to desist from himself. All his philosophy has concluded in a refrain, all his pride foundered on a Hosanna!
Let us be fair: as things stand now, what else could he do? Europe’s charm, her originality resided in the acuity of her critical spirit, in her militant, aggressive skepticism; this skepticism has had its day. Hence the intellectual, frustrated in his doubts, seeks out the compensations of dogma. Having reached the confines of analysis, struck down by the void he discovers there, he turns on his heel and attempts to seize the first certainty to come along; but he lacks the naiveté to hold onto it; henceforth, a fanatic without convictions, he is no more than an ideologist, a hybrid thinker, such as we find in all transitional periods. Participating in two different styles, he is, by the form of his intelligence, a tributary of the one of the one which is vanishing, and by the ideas he defends, of the one which is appearing. To understand him better, let us imagine an Augustine half-converted, drifting and tacking, and borrowing from Christianity only its hatred of the ancient world. Are we not in a period symmetrical with the one which saw the birth of The City of God? It is difficult to conceive of a book more timely. Today as then, men’s minds need a simple truth, an answer which delivers them from their questions, a gospel, a tomb. ~ Emil M Cioran,#NFDB
812:We need to be humble enough to recognize that unforeseen things can and do happen that are nobody’s fault. A good example of this occurred during the making of Toy Story 2. Earlier, when I described the evolution of that movie, I explained that our decision to overhaul the film so late in the game led to a meltdown of our workforce. This meltdown was the big unexpected event, and our response to it became part of our mythology. But about ten months before the reboot was ordered, in the winter of 1998, we’d been hit with a series of three smaller, random events—the first of which would threaten the future of Pixar. To understand this first event, you need to know that we rely on Unix and Linux machines to store the thousands of computer files that comprise all the shots of any given film. And on those machines, there is a command—/bin/rm -r -f *—that removes everything on the file system as fast as it can. Hearing that, you can probably anticipate what’s coming: Somehow, by accident, someone used this command on the drives where the Toy Story 2 files were kept. Not just some of the files, either. All of the data that made up the pictures, from objects to backgrounds, from lighting to shading, was dumped out of the system. First, Woody’s hat disappeared. Then his boots. Then he disappeared entirely. One by one, the other characters began to vanish, too: Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, Rex. Whole sequences—poof!—were deleted from the drive. Oren Jacobs, one of the lead technical directors on the movie, remembers watching this occur in real time. At first, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then, he was frantically dialing the phone to reach systems. “Pull out the plug on the Toy Story 2 master machine!” he screamed. When the guy on the other end asked, sensibly, why, Oren screamed louder: “Please, God, just pull it out as fast as you can!” The systems guy moved quickly, but still, two years of work—90 percent of the film—had been erased in a matter of seconds. An hour later, Oren and his boss, Galyn Susman, were in my office, trying to figure out what we would do next. “Don’t worry,” we all reassured each other. “We’ll restore the data from the backup system tonight. We’ll only lose half a day of work.” But then came random event number two: The backup system, we discovered, hadn’t been working correctly. The mechanism we had in place specifically to help us recover from data failures had itself failed. Toy Story 2 was gone and, at this point, the urge to panic was quite real. To reassemble the film would have taken thirty people a solid year. I remember the meeting when, as this devastating reality began to sink in, the company’s leaders gathered in a conference room to discuss our options—of which there seemed to be none. Then, about an hour into our discussion, Galyn Susman, the movie’s supervising technical director, remembered something: “Wait,” she said. “I might have a backup on my home computer.” About six months before, Galyn had had her second baby, which required that she spend more of her time working from home. To make that process more convenient, she’d set up a system that copied the entire film database to her home computer, automatically, once a week. This—our third random event—would be our salvation. Within a minute of her epiphany, Galyn and Oren were in her Volvo, speeding to her home in San Anselmo. They got her computer, wrapped it in blankets, and placed it carefully in the backseat. Then they drove in the slow lane all the way back to the office, where the machine was, as Oren describes it, “carried into Pixar like an Egyptian pharaoh.” Thanks to Galyn’s files, Woody was back—along with the rest of the movie. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
813:Thanks again to Alan Butler's work, this time I was able to inspect the work of Hesiod in connection with the Phaistos Disc for being calendrical, and now I view it through the lens of ancient Egypt by projecting it directly onto the circular zodiac of Dendera. Hesiod has used three different references to the days in his work: (the first ..); (the middle ..); and (.. of the month). With this system which he had used, I linked the "first" references to the zodiac's portals on the East; the "middle" references to the Fullmoon days of the month which are located on the zodiac's western portals; and the "of the month" references to the zodiac's days which are located right after passing by and finishing the rotation beyond the eastern portals.
Therefore, Hesiod has recognized Egypt's month's count of days (And tell your slaves the thirtieth is the month's best-suited day). He has also explicitly identified the beginning of the Equinox and Solstice portals on the zodiac based on the zodiac's anticlockwise orientation while emphasizing the more prominent role of the Summer Solstice in the calendar system (The first and fourth and seventh days are holy days to men, the eighth and ninth as well). Hesiod has also issued a warning against, Apophis, the snake demon (But shun the fifth day, fifth days are both difficult and dread).
Hesiod has recognized Egypt's royal-cosmic copulation event that takes place at the culmination of the Summer Solstice (The first ninth, though, for human beings, is harmless, quite benign for planting and for being born; indeed, it's very fine For men and women both; this day is never bad all through)
Hesiod has identified the exact position of the newly born infant boy on the zodiac (For planting vines the middle sixth is uncongenial but good for the birth of males) and also established the Minoan bull's head rhyton connection with Egypt (The middle fourth, which is a day to soothe and gently tame the sheep and curved-horned), (Open a jar on the middle fourth),(And on the fourth the long and narrow boats can be begun).
Hesiod gave Osiris' role in the ancient Egyptian agrarian Theology to men (two Days of the waxing month stand out for tasks men have to do, the eleventh and the twelfth) and pointed out the right location of the boar on the zodiac (Geld your boar on the eighth of the month) and counted on top of these days the days of the mule which comes afterward (on the twelfth day of the month [geld] the long-laboring mule) - since the reference to the mule in the historical text comes right after that of the boar's and both are grouped together conceptually with the act of gelding.
He has also identified the role of Isis for resurrecting Osiris after the Summer Solstice event (On the fourth day of the month bring back a wife to your abode) and even referred to the two female figures on the zodiac and identified them as, Demeter and Persephone, the two mythical Greek queens (Upon the middle seventh throw Demeter's holy grain) where we see them along with the reference to Poseidon (i.e. fishes and water) right next to them as the account exists in the Greek mythology.
Even more, Hesiod knows when the sequence of the boats' appearances begins on the zodiac (And on the fourth the long and narrow boats can be begun).
Astonishingly enough, he mentions the solar eclipse when the Moon fully blocks the Sun (the third ninth's best of all, though this is known by few) and also glorifies sunrise and warns from sunset on that same day (Again, few know the after-twentieth day of the month is best ..) and identifies the event's dangerous location on the west (.. at dawn and that it worsens when the sun sinks in the west). ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim,#NFDB
814:The ancient Mesopotamians and the ancient Egyptians had some very interesting, dramatic ideas about that. For example-very briefly-there was a deity known as Marduk. Marduk was a Mesopotamian deity, and imagine this is sort of what happened. As an empire grew out of the post-ice age-15,000 years ago, 10,000 years ago-all these tribes came together. These tribes each had their own deity-their own image of the ideal. But then they started to occupy the same territory. One tribe had God A, and one tribe had God B, and one could wipe the other one out, and then it would just be God A, who wins. That's not so good, because maybe you want to trade with those people, or maybe you don't want to lose half your population in a war. So then you have to have an argument about whose God is going to take priority-which ideal is going to take priority.
What seems to happen is represented in mythology as a battle of the gods in celestial space. From a practical perspective, it's more like an ongoing dialog. You believe this; I believe this. You believe that; I believe this. How are we going to meld that together? You take God A, and you take God B, and maybe what you do is extract God C from them, and you say, 'God C now has the attributes of A and B.' And then some other tribes come in, and C takes them over, too. Take Marduk, for example. He has 50 different names, at least in part, of the subordinate gods-that represented the tribes that came together to make the civilization. That's part of the process by which that abstracted ideal is abstracted. You think, 'this is important, and it works, because your tribe is alive, and so we'll take the best of both, if we can manage it, and extract out something, that's even more abstract, that covers both of us.'
I'll give you a couple of Marduk's interesting features. He has eyes all the way around his head. He's elected by all the other gods to be king God. That's the first thing. That's quite cool. They elect him because they're facing a terrible threat-sort of like a flood and a monster combined. Marduk basically says that, if they elect him top God, he'll go out and stop the flood monster, and they won't all get wiped out. It's a serious threat. It's chaos itself making its comeback. All the gods agree, and Marduk is the new manifestation. He's got eyes all the way around his head, and he speaks magic words. When he fights, he fights this deity called Tiamat. We need to know that, because the word 'Tiamat' is associated with the word 'tehom.' Tehom is the chaos that God makes order out of at the beginning of time in Genesis, so it's linked very tightly to this story. Marduk, with his eyes and his capacity to speak magic words, goes out and confronts Tiamat, who's like this watery sea dragon. It's a classic Saint George story: go out and wreak havoc on the dragon. He cuts her into pieces, and he makes the world out of her pieces. That's the world that human beings live in.
The Mesopotamian emperor acted out Marduk. He was allowed to be emperor insofar as he was a good Marduk. That meant that he had eyes all the way around his head, and he could speak magic; he could speak properly. We are starting to understand, at that point, the essence of leadership. Because what's leadership? It's the capacity to see what the hell's in front of your face, and maybe in every direction, and maybe the capacity to use your language properly to transform chaos into order. God only knows how long it took the Mesopotamians to figure that out. The best they could do was dramatize it, but it's staggeringly brilliant. It's by no means obvious, and this chaos is a very strange thing. This is a chaos that God wrestled with at the beginning of time.
Chaos is half psychological and half real. There's no other way to really describe it. Chaos is what you encounter when you're blown into pieces and thrown into deep confusion-when your world falls apart, when your dreams die, when you're betrayed. It's the chaos that emerges, and the chaos is everything it wants, and it's too much for you. That's for sure. It pulls you down into the underworld, and that's where the dragons are. All you've got at that point is your capacity to bloody well keep your eyes open, and to speak as carefully and as clearly as you can. Maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get through it that way and come out the other side. It's taken people a very long time to figure that out, and it looks, to me, that the idea is erected on the platform of our ancient ancestors, maybe tens of millions of years ago, because we seem to represent that which disturbs us deeply using the same system that we used to represent serpentile, or other, carnivorous predators. ~ Jordan Peterson, Biblical Series, 1,#NFDB
815:Muse of my native land! loftiest Muse!
O first-born on the mountains! by the hues
Of heaven on the spiritual air begot:
Long didst thou sit alone in northern grot,
While yet our England was a wolfish den;
Before our forests heard the talk of men;
Before the first of Druids was a child;--
Long didst thou sit amid our regions wild
Rapt in a deep prophetic solitude.
There came an eastern voice of solemn mood:--
Yet wast thou patient. Then sang forth the Nine,
Apollo's garland:--yet didst thou divine
Such home-bred glory, that they cry'd in vain,
"Come hither, Sister of the Island!" Plain
Spake fair Ausonia; and once more she spake
A higher summons:--still didst thou betake
Thee to thy native hopes. O thou hast won
A full accomplishment! The thing is done,
Which undone, these our latter days had risen
On barren souls. Great Muse, thou know'st what prison
Of flesh and bone, curbs, and confines, and frets
Our spirit's wings: despondency besets
Our pillows; and the fresh to-morrow morn
Seems to give forth its light in very scorn
Of our dull, uninspired, snail-paced lives.
Long have I said, how happy he who shrives
To thee! But then I thought on poets gone,
And could not pray:nor can I now--so on
I move to the end in lowliness of heart.--
"Ah, woe is me! that I should fondly part
From my dear native land! Ah, foolish maid!
Glad was the hour, when, with thee, myriads bade
Adieu to Ganges and their pleasant fields!
To one so friendless the clear freshet yields
A bitter coolness, the ripe grape is sour:
Yet I would have, great gods! but one short hour
Of native airlet me but die at home."
Endymion to heaven's airy dome
Was offering up a hecatomb of vows,
When these words reach'd him. Whereupon he bows
His head through thorny-green entanglement
Of underwood, and to the sound is bent,
Anxious as hind towards her hidden fawn.
"Is no one near to help me? No fair dawn
Of life from charitable voice? No sweet saying
To set my dull and sadden'd spirit playing?
No hand to toy with mine? No lips so sweet
That I may worship them? No eyelids meet
To twinkle on my bosom? No one dies
Before me, till from these enslaving eyes
Redemption sparkles!I am sad and lost."
Thou, Carian lord, hadst better have been tost
Into a whirlpool. Vanish into air,
Warm mountaineer! for canst thou only bear
A woman's sigh alone and in distress?
See not her charms! Is Phoebe passionless?
Phoebe is fairer farO gaze no more:
Yet if thou wilt behold all beauty's store,
Behold her panting in the forest grass!
Do not those curls of glossy jet surpass
For tenderness the arms so idly lain
Amongst them? Feelest not a kindred pain,
To see such lovely eyes in swimming search
After some warm delight, that seems to perch
Dovelike in the dim cell lying beyond
Their upper lids?Hist! "O for Hermes' wand
To touch this flower into human shape!
That woodland Hyacinthus could escape
From his green prison, and here kneeling down
Call me his queen, his second life's fair crown!
Ah me, how I could love!My soul doth melt
For the unhappy youthLove! I have felt
So faint a kindness, such a meek surrender
To what my own full thoughts had made too tender,
That but for tears my life had fled away!
Ye deaf and senseless minutes of the day,
And thou, old forest, hold ye this for true,
There is no lightning, no authentic dew
But in the eye of love: there's not a sound,
Melodious howsoever, can confound
The heavens and earth in one to such a death
As doth the voice of love: there's not a breath
Will mingle kindly with the meadow air,
Till it has panted round, and stolen a share
Of passion from the heart!"
Upon a bough
He leant, wretched. He surely cannot now
Thirst for another love: O impious,
That he can even dream upon it thus!
Thought he, "Why am I not as are the dead,
Since to a woe like this I have been led
Through the dark earth, and through the wondrous sea?
Goddess! I love thee not the less: from thee
By Juno's smile I turn notno, no, no
While the great waters are at ebb and flow.
I have a triple soul! O fond pretence
For both, for both my love is so immense,
I feel my heart is cut in twain for them."
And so he groan'd, as one by beauty slain.
The lady's heart beat quick, and he could see
Her gentle bosom heave tumultuously.
He sprang from his green covert: there she lay,
Sweet as a muskrose upon new-made hay;
With all her limbs on tremble, and her eyes
Shut softly up alive. To speak he tries.
"Fair damsel, pity me! forgive that I
Thus violate thy bower's sanctity!
O pardon me, for I am full of grief
Grief born of thee, young angel! fairest thief!
Who stolen hast away the wings wherewith
I was to top the heavens. Dear maid, sith
Thou art my executioner, and I feel
Loving and hatred, misery and weal,
Will in a few short hours be nothing to me,
And all my story that much passion slew me;
Do smile upon the evening of my days:
And, for my tortur'd brain begins to craze,
Be thou my nurse; and let me understand
How dying I shall kiss that lily hand.
Dost weep for me? Then should I be content.
Scowl on, ye fates! until the firmament
Outblackens Erebus, and the full-cavern'd earth
Crumbles into itself. By the cloud girth
Of Jove, those tears have given me a thirst
To meet oblivion."As her heart would burst
The maiden sobb'd awhile, and then replied:
"Why must such desolation betide
As that thou speakest of? Are not these green nooks
Empty of all misfortune? Do the brooks
Utter a gorgon voice? Does yonder thrush,
Schooling its half-fledg'd little ones to brush
About the dewy forest, whisper tales?
Speak not of grief, young stranger, or cold snails
Will slime the rose to night. Though if thou wilt,
Methinks 'twould be a guilta very guilt
Not to companion thee, and sigh away
The lightthe duskthe darktill break of day!"
"Dear lady," said Endymion, "'tis past:
I love thee! and my days can never last.
That I may pass in patience still speak:
Let me have music dying, and I seek
No more delightI bid adieu to all.
Didst thou not after other climates call,
And murmur about Indian streams?"Then she,
Sitting beneath the midmost forest tree,
For pity sang this roundelay
"O Sorrow,
Why dost borrow
The natural hue of health, from vermeil lips?
To give maiden blushes
To the white rose bushes?
Or is it thy dewy hand the daisy tips?
"O Sorrow,
Why dost borrow
The lustrous passion from a falcon-eye?
To give the glow-worm light?
Or, on a moonless night,
To tinge, on syren shores, the salt sea-spry?
"O Sorrow,
Why dost borrow
The mellow ditties from a mourning tongue?
To give at evening pale
Unto the nightingale,
That thou mayst listen the cold dews among?
"O Sorrow,
Why dost borrow
Heart's lightness from the merriment of May?
A lover would not tread
A cowslip on the head,
Though he should dance from eve till peep of day
Nor any drooping flower
Held sacred for thy bower,
Wherever he may sport himself and play.
"To Sorrow
I bade good-morrow,
And thought to leave her far away behind;
But cheerly, cheerly,
She loves me dearly;
She is so constant to me, and so kind:
I would deceive her
And so leave her,
But ah! she is so constant and so kind.
"Beneath my palm trees, by the river side,
I sat a weeping: in the whole world wide
There was no one to ask me why I wept,
And so I kept
Brimming the water-lily cups with tears
Cold as my fears.
"Beneath my palm trees, by the river side,
I sat a weeping: what enamour'd bride,
Cheated by shadowy wooer from the clouds,
But hides and shrouds
Beneath dark palm trees by a river side?
"And as I sat, over the light blue hills
There came a noise of revellers: the rills
Into the wide stream came of purple hue
'Twas Bacchus and his crew!
The earnest trumpet spake, and silver thrills
From kissing cymbals made a merry din
'Twas Bacchus and his kin!
Like to a moving vintage down they came,
Crown'd with green leaves, and faces all on flame;
All madly dancing through the pleasant valley,
To scare thee, Melancholy!
O then, O then, thou wast a simple name!
And I forgot thee, as the berried holly
By shepherds is forgotten, when, in June,
Tall chesnuts keep away the sun and moon:
I rush'd into the folly!
"Within his car, aloft, young Bacchus stood,
Trifling his ivy-dart, in dancing mood,
With sidelong laughing;
And little rills of crimson wine imbrued
His plump white arms, and shoulders, enough white
For Venus' pearly bite;
And near him rode Silenus on his ****,
Pelted with flowers as he on did pass
Tipsily quaffing.
"Whence came ye, merry Damsels! whence came ye!
So many, and so many, and such glee?
Why have ye left your bowers desolate,
Your lutes, and gentler fate?
We follow Bacchus! Bacchus on the wing?
A conquering!
Bacchus, young Bacchus! good or ill betide,
We dance before him thorough kingdoms wide:
Come hither, lady fair, and joined be
To our wild minstrelsy!'
"Whence came ye, jolly Satyrs! whence came ye!
So many, and so many, and such glee?
Why have ye left your forest haunts, why left
Your nuts in oak-tree cleft?
For wine, for wine we left our kernel tree;
For wine we left our heath, and yellow brooms,
And cold mushrooms;
For wine we follow Bacchus through the earth;
Great God of breathless cups and chirping mirth!
Come hither, lady fair, and joined be
To our mad minstrelsy!'
"Over wide streams and mountains great we went,
And, save when Bacchus kept his ivy tent,
Onward the tiger and the leopard pants,
With Asian elephants:
Onward these myriadswith song and dance,
With zebras striped, and sleek Arabians' prance,
Web-footed alligators, crocodiles,
Bearing upon their scaly backs, in files,
Plump infant laughers mimicking the coil
Of seamen, and stout galley-rowers' toil:
With toying oars and silken sails they glide,
Nor care for wind and tide.
"Mounted on panthers' furs and lions' manes,
From rear to van they scour about the plains;
A three days' journey in a moment done:
And always, at the rising of the sun,
About the wilds they hunt with spear and horn,
On spleenful unicorn.
"I saw Osirian Egypt kneel adown
Before the vine-wreath crown!
I saw parch'd Abyssinia rouse and sing
To the silver cymbals' ring!
I saw the whelming vintage hotly pierce
Old Tartary the fierce!
The kings of Inde their jewel-sceptres vail,
And from their treasures scatter pearled hail;
Great Brahma from his mystic heaven groans,
And all his priesthood moans;
Before young Bacchus' eye-wink turning pale.
Into these regions came I following him,
Sick hearted, wearyso I took a whim
To stray away into these forests drear
Alone, without a peer:
And I have told thee all thou mayest hear.
"Young stranger!
I've been a ranger
In search of pleasure throughout every clime:
Alas! 'tis not for me!
Bewitch'd I sure must be,
To lose in grieving all my maiden prime.
"Come then, Sorrow!
Sweetest Sorrow!
Like an own babe I nurse thee on my breast:
I thought to leave thee
And deceive thee,
But now of all the world I love thee best.
"There is not one,
No, no, not one
But thee to comfort a poor lonely maid;
Thou art her mother,
And her brother,
Her playmate, and her wooer in the shade."
O what a sigh she gave in finishing,
And look, quite dead to every worldly thing!
Endymion could not speak, but gazed on her;
And listened to the wind that now did stir
About the crisped oaks full drearily,
Yet with as sweet a softness as might be
Remember'd from its velvet summer song.
At last he said: "Poor lady, how thus long
Have I been able to endure that voice?
Fair Melody! kind Syren! I've no choice;
I must be thy sad servant evermore:
I cannot choose but kneel here and adore.
Alas, I must not thinkby Phoebe, no!
Let me not think, soft Angel! shall it be so?
Say, beautifullest, shall I never think?
O thou could'st foster me beyond the brink
Of recollection! make my watchful care
Close up its bloodshot eyes, nor see despair!
Do gently murder half my soul, and I
Shall feel the other half so utterly!
I'm giddy at that cheek so fair and smooth;
O let it blush so ever! let it soothe
My madness! let it mantle rosy-warm
With the tinge of love, panting in safe alarm.
This cannot be thy hand, and yet it is;
And this is sure thine other softlingthis
Thine own fair bosom, and I am so near!
Wilt fall asleep? O let me sip that tear!
And whisper one sweet word that I may know
This is this worldsweet dewy blossom!"Woe!
Woe! Woe to that Endymion! Where is he?
Even these words went echoing dismally
Through the wide foresta most fearful tone,
Like one repenting in his latest moan;
And while it died away a shade pass'd by,
As of a thunder cloud. When arrows fly
Through the thick branches, poor ring-doves sleek forth
Their timid necks and tremble; so these both
Leant to each other trembling, and sat so
Waiting for some destructionwhen lo,
Foot-feather'd Mercury appear'd sublime
Beyond the tall tree tops; and in less time
Than shoots the slanted hail-storm, down he dropt
Towards the ground; but rested not, nor stopt
One moment from his home: only the sward
He with his wand light touch'd, and heavenward
Swifter than sight was goneeven before
The teeming earth a sudden witness bore
Of his swift magic. Diving swans appear
Above the crystal circlings white and clear;
And catch the cheated eye in wild surprise,
How they can dive in sight and unseen rise
So from the turf outsprang two steeds jet-black,
Each with large dark blue wings upon his back.
The youth of Caria plac'd the lovely dame
On one, and felt himself in spleen to tame
The other's fierceness. Through the air they flew,
High as the eagles. Like two drops of dew
Exhal'd to Phoebus' lips, away they are gone,
Far from the earth awayunseen, alone,
Among cool clouds and winds, but that the free,
The buoyant life of song can floating be
Above their heads, and follow them untir'd.
Muse of my native land, am I inspir'd?
This is the giddy air, and I must spread
Wide pinions to keep here; nor do I dread
Or height, or depth, or width, or any chance
Precipitous: I have beneath my glance
Those towering horses and their mournful freight.
Could I thus sail, and see, and thus await
Fearless for power of thought, without thine aid?
There is a sleepy dusk, an odorous shade
From some approaching wonder, and behold
Those winged steeds, with snorting nostrils bold
Snuff at its faint extreme, and seem to tire,
Dying to embers from their native fire!
There curl'd a purple mist around them; soon,
It seem'd as when around the pale new moon
Sad Zephyr droops the clouds like weeping willow:
'Twas Sleep slow journeying with head on pillow.
For the first time, since he came nigh dead born
From the old womb of night, his cave forlorn
Had he left more forlorn; for the first time,
He felt aloof the day and morning's prime
Because into his depth Cimmerian
There came a dream, shewing how a young man,
Ere a lean bat could plump its wintery skin,
Would at high Jove's empyreal footstool win
An immortality, and how espouse
Jove's daughter, and be reckon'd of his house.
Now was he slumbering towards heaven's gate,
That he might at the threshold one hour wait
To hear the marriage melodies, and then
Sink downward to his dusky cave again.
His litter of smooth semilucent mist,
Diversely ting'd with rose and amethyst,
Puzzled those eyes that for the centre sought;
And scarcely for one moment could be caught
His sluggish form reposing motionless.
Those two on winged steeds, with all the stress
Of vision search'd for him, as one would look
Athwart the sallows of a river nook
To catch a glance at silver throated eels,
Or from old Skiddaw's top, when fog conceals
His rugged forehead in a mantle pale,
With an eye-guess towards some pleasant vale
Descry a favourite hamlet faint and far.
These raven horses, though they foster'd are
Of earth's splenetic fire, dully drop
Their full-veined ears, nostrils blood wide, and stop;
Upon the spiritless mist have they outspread
Their ample feathers, are in slumber dead,
And on those pinions, level in mid air,
Endymion sleepeth and the lady fair.
Slowly they sail, slowly as icy isle
Upon a calm sea drifting: and meanwhile
The mournful wanderer dreams. Behold! he walks
On heaven's pavement; brotherly he talks
To divine powers: from his hand full fain
Juno's proud birds are pecking pearly grain:
He tries the nerve of Phoebus' golden bow,
And asketh where the golden apples grow:
Upon his arm he braces Pallas' shield,
And strives in vain to unsettle and wield
A Jovian thunderbolt: arch Hebe brings
A full-brimm'd goblet, dances lightly, sings
And tantalizes long; at last he drinks,
And lost in pleasure at her feet he sinks,
Touching with dazzled lips her starlight hand.
He blows a bugle,an ethereal band
Are visible above: the Seasons four,
Green-kyrtled Spring, flush Summer, golden store
In Autumn's sickle, Winter frosty hoar,
Join dance with shadowy Hours; while still the blast,
In swells unmitigated, still doth last
To sway their floating morris. "Whose is this?
Whose bugle?" he inquires: they smile"O Dis!
Why is this mortal here? Dost thou not know
Its mistress' lips? Not thou?'Tis Dian's: lo!
She rises crescented!" He looks, 'tis she,
His very goddess: good-bye earth, and sea,
And air, and pains, and care, and suffering;
Good-bye to all but love! Then doth he spring
Towards her, and awakesand, strange, o'erhead,
Of those same fragrant exhalations bred,
Beheld awake his very dream: the gods
Stood smiling; merry Hebe laughs and nods;
And Phoebe bends towards him crescented.
O state perplexing! On the pinion bed,
Too well awake, he feels the panting side
Of his delicious lady. He who died
For soaring too audacious in the sun,
Where that same treacherous wax began to run,
Felt not more tongue-tied than Endymion.
His heart leapt up as to its rightful throne,
To that fair shadow'd passion puls'd its way
Ah, what perplexity! Ah, well a day!
So fond, so beauteous was his bed-fellow,
He could not help but kiss her: then he grew
Awhile forgetful of all beauty save
Young Phoebe's, golden hair'd; and so 'gan crave
Forgiveness: yet he turn'd once more to look
At the sweet sleeper,all his soul was shook,
She press'd his hand in slumber; so once more
He could not help but kiss her and adore.
At this the shadow wept, melting away.
The Latmian started up: "Bright goddess, stay!
Search my most hidden breast! By truth's own tongue,
I have no ddale heart: why is it wrung
To desperation? Is there nought for me,
Upon the bourne of bliss, but misery?"
These words awoke the stranger of dark tresses:
Her dawning love-look rapt Endymion blesses
With 'haviour soft. Sleep yawned from underneath.
"Thou swan of Ganges, let us no more breathe
This murky phantasm! thou contented seem'st
Pillow'd in lovely idleness, nor dream'st
What horrors may discomfort thee and me.
Ah, shouldst thou die from my heart-treachery!
Yet did she merely weepher gentle soul
Hath no revenge in it: as it is whole
In tenderness, would I were whole in love!
Can I prize thee, fair maid, all price above,
Even when I feel as true as innocence?
I do, I do.What is this soul then? Whence
Came it? It does not seem my own, and I
Have no self-passion or identity.
Some fearful end must be: where, where is it?
By Nemesis, I see my spirit flit
Alone about the darkForgive me, sweet:
Shall we away?" He rous'd the steeds: they beat
Their wings chivalrous into the clear air,
Leaving old Sleep within his vapoury lair.
The good-night blush of eve was waning slow,
And Vesper, risen star, began to throe
In the dusk heavens silvery, when they
Thus sprang direct towards the Galaxy.
Nor did speed hinder converse soft and strange
Eternal oaths and vows they interchange,
In such wise, in such temper, so aloof
Up in the winds, beneath a starry roof,
So witless of their doom, that verily
'Tis well nigh past man's search their hearts to see;
Whether they wept, or laugh'd, or griev'd, or toy'd
Most like with joy gone mad, with sorrow cloy'd.
Full facing their swift flight, from ebon streak,
The moon put forth a little diamond peak,
No bigger than an unobserved star,
Or tiny point of fairy scymetar;
Bright signal that she only stoop'd to tie
Her silver sandals, ere deliciously
She bow'd into the heavens her timid head.
Slowly she rose, as though she would have fled,
While to his lady meek the Carian turn'd,
To mark if her dark eyes had yet discern'd
This beauty in its birthDespair! despair!
He saw her body fading gaunt and spare
In the cold moonshine. Straight he seiz'd her wrist;
It melted from his grasp: her hand he kiss'd,
And, horror! kiss'd his ownhe was alone.
Her steed a little higher soar'd, and then
Dropt hawkwise to the earth. There lies a den,
Beyond the seeming confines of the space
Made for the soul to wander in and trace
Its own existence, of remotest glooms.
Dark regions are around it, where the tombs
Of buried griefs the spirit sees, but scarce
One hour doth linger weeping, for the pierce
Of new-born woe it feels more inly smart:
And in these regions many a venom'd dart
At random flies; they are the proper home
Of every ill: the man is yet to come
Who hath not journeyed in this native hell.
But few have ever felt how calm and well
Sleep may be had in that deep den of all.
There anguish does not sting; nor pleasure pall:
Woe-hurricanes beat ever at the gate,
Yet all is still within and desolate.
Beset with painful gusts, within ye hear
No sound so loud as when on curtain'd bier
The death-watch tick is stifled. Enter none
Who strive therefore: on the sudden it is won.
Just when the sufferer begins to burn,
Then it is free to him; and from an urn,
Still fed by melting ice, he takes a draught
Young Semele such richness never quaft
In her maternal longing. Happy gloom!
Dark Paradise! where pale becomes the bloom
Of health by due; where silence dreariest
Is most articulate; where hopes infest;
Where those eyes are the brightest far that keep
Their lids shut longest in a dreamless sleep.
O happy spirit-home! O wondrous soul!
Pregnant with such a den to save the whole
In thine own depth. Hail, gentle Carian!
For, never since thy griefs and woes began,
Hast thou felt so content: a grievous feud
Hath let thee to this Cave of Quietude.
Aye, his lull'd soul was there, although upborne
With dangerous speed: and so he did not mourn
Because he knew not whither he was going.
So happy was he, not the aerial blowing
Of trumpets at clear parley from the east
Could rouse from that fine relish, that high feast.
They stung the feather'd horse: with fierce alarm
He flapp'd towards the sound. Alas, no charm
Could lift Endymion's head, or he had view'd
A skyey mask, a pinion'd multitude,
And silvery was its passing: voices sweet
Warbling the while as if to lull and greet
The wanderer in his path. Thus warbled they,
While past the vision went in bright array.
"Who, who from Dian's feast would be away?
For all the golden bowers of the day
Are empty left? Who, who away would be
From Cynthia's wedding and festivity?
Not Hesperus: lo! upon his silver wings
He leans away for highest heaven and sings,
Snapping his lucid fingers merrily!
Ah, Zephyrus! art here, and Flora too!
Ye tender bibbers of the rain and dew,
Young playmates of the rose and daffodil,
Be careful, ere ye enter in, to fill
Your baskets high
With fennel green, and balm, and golden pines,
Savory, latter-mint, and columbines,
Cool parsley, basil sweet, and sunny thyme;
Yea, every flower and leaf of every clime,
All gather'd in the dewy morning: hie
Away! fly, fly!
Crystalline brother of the belt of heaven,
Aquarius! to whom king Jove has given
Two liquid pulse streams 'stead of feather'd wings,
Two fan-like fountains,thine illuminings
For Dian play:
Dissolve the frozen purity of air;
Let thy white shoulders silvery and bare
Shew cold through watery pinions; make more bright
The Star-Queen's crescent on her marriage night:
Haste, haste away!
Castor has tamed the planet Lion, see!
And of the Bear has Pollux mastery:
A third is in the race! who is the third,
Speeding away swift as the eagle bird?
The ramping Centaur!
The Lion's mane's on end: the Bear how fierce!
The Centaur's arrow ready seems to pierce
Some enemy: far forth his bow is bent
Into the blue of heaven. He'll be shent,
Pale unrelentor,
When he shall hear the wedding lutes a playing.
Andromeda! sweet woman! why delaying
So timidly among the stars: come hither!
Join this bright throng, and nimbly follow whither
They all are going.
Danae's Son, before Jove newly bow'd,
Has wept for thee, calling to Jove aloud.
Thee, gentle lady, did he disenthral:
Ye shall for ever live and love, for all
Thy tears are flowing.
By Daphne's fright, behold Apollo!"
More
Endymion heard not: down his steed him bore,
Prone to the green head of a misty hill.
His first touch of the earth went nigh to kill.
"Alas!" said he, "were I but always borne
Through dangerous winds, had but my footsteps worn
A path in hell, for ever would I bless
Horrors which nourish an uneasiness
For my own sullen conquering: to him
Who lives beyond earth's boundary, grief is dim,
Sorrow is but a shadow: now I see
The grass; I feel the solid groundAh, me!
It is thy voicedivinest! Where?who? who
Left thee so quiet on this bed of dew?
Behold upon this happy earth we are;
Let us ay love each other; let us fare
On forest-fruits, and never, never go
Among the abodes of mortals here below,
Or be by phantoms duped. O destiny!
Into a labyrinth now my soul would fly,
But with thy beauty will I deaden it.
Where didst thou melt too? By thee will I sit
For ever: let our fate stop herea kid
I on this spot will offer: Pan will bid
Us live in peace, in love and peace among
His forest wildernesses. I have clung
To nothing, lov'd a nothing, nothing seen
Or felt but a great dream! O I have been
Presumptuous against love, against the sky,
Against all elements, against the tie
Of mortals each to each, against the blooms
Of flowers, rush of rivers, and the tombs
Of heroes gone! Against his proper glory
Has my own soul conspired: so my story
Will I to children utter, and repent.
There never liv'd a mortal man, who bent
His appetite beyond his natural sphere,
But starv'd and died. My sweetest Indian, here,
Here will I kneel, for thou redeemed hast
My life from too thin breathing: gone and past
Are cloudy phantasms. Caverns lone, farewel!
And air of visions, and the monstrous swell
Of visionary seas! No, never more
Shall airy voices cheat me to the shore
Of tangled wonder, breathless and aghast.
Adieu, my daintiest Dream! although so vast
My love is still for thee. The hour may come
When we shall meet in pure elysium.
On earth I may not love thee; and therefore
Doves will I offer up, and sweetest store
All through the teeming year: so thou wilt shine
On me, and on this damsel fair of mine,
And bless our simple lives. My Indian bliss!
My river-lily bud! one human kiss!
One sigh of real breathone gentle squeeze,
Warm as a dove's nest among summer trees,
And warm with dew at ooze from living blood!
Whither didst melt? Ah, what of that!all good
We'll talk aboutno more of dreaming.Now,
Where shall our dwelling be? Under the brow
Of some steep mossy hill, where ivy dun
Would hide us up, although spring leaves were none;
And where dark yew trees, as we rustle through,
Will drop their scarlet berry cups of dew?
O thou wouldst joy to live in such a place;
Dusk for our loves, yet light enough to grace
Those gentle limbs on mossy bed reclin'd:
For by one step the blue sky shouldst thou find,
And by another, in deep dell below,
See, through the trees, a little river go
All in its mid-day gold and glimmering.
Honey from out the gnarled hive I'll bring,
And apples, wan with sweetness, gather thee,
Cresses that grow where no man may them see,
And sorrel untorn by the dew-claw'd stag:
Pipes will I fashion of the syrinx flag,
That thou mayst always know whither I roam,
When it shall please thee in our quiet home
To listen and think of love. Still let me speak;
Still let me dive into the joy I seek,
For yet the past doth prison me. The rill,
Thou haply mayst delight in, will I fill
With fairy fishes from the mountain tarn,
And thou shalt feed them from the squirrel's barn.
Its bottom will I strew with amber shells,
And pebbles blue from deep enchanted wells.
Its sides I'll plant with dew-sweet eglantine,
And honeysuckles full of clear bee-wine.
I will entice this crystal rill to trace
Love's silver name upon the meadow's face.
I'll kneel to Vesta, for a flame of fire;
And to god Phoebus, for a golden lyre;
To Empress Dian, for a hunting spear;
To Vesper, for a taper silver-clear,
That I may see thy beauty through the night;
To Flora, and a nightingale shall light
Tame on thy finger; to the River-gods,
And they shall bring thee taper fishing-rods
Of gold, and lines of Naiads' long bright tress.
Heaven shield thee for thine utter loveliness!
Thy mossy footstool shall the altar be
'Fore which I'll bend, bending, dear love, to thee:
Those lips shall be my Delphos, and shall speak
Laws to my footsteps, colour to my cheek,
Trembling or stedfastness to this same voice,
And of three sweetest pleasurings the choice:
And that affectionate light, those diamond things,
Those eyes, those passions, those supreme pearl springs,
Shall be my grief, or twinkle me to pleasure.
Say, is not bliss within our perfect seisure?
O that I could not doubt?"
The mountaineer
Thus strove by fancies vain and crude to clear
His briar'd path to some tranquillity.
It gave bright gladness to his lady's eye,
And yet the tears she wept were tears of sorrow;
Answering thus, just as the golden morrow
Beam'd upward from the vallies of the east:
"O that the flutter of this heart had ceas'd,
Or the sweet name of love had pass'd away.
Young feather'd tyrant! by a swift decay
Wilt thou devote this body to the earth:
And I do think that at my very birth
I lisp'd thy blooming titles inwardly;
For at the first, first dawn and thought of thee,
With uplift hands I blest the stars of heaven.
Art thou not cruel? Ever have I striven
To think thee kind, but ah, it will not do!
When yet a child, I heard that kisses drew
Favour from thee, and so I kisses gave
To the void air, bidding them find out love:
But when I came to feel how far above
All fancy, pride, and fickle maidenhood,
All earthly pleasure, all imagin'd good,
Was the warm tremble of a devout kiss,
Even then, that moment, at the thought of this,
Fainting I fell into a bed of flowers,
And languish'd there three days. Ye milder powers,
Am I not cruelly wrong'd? Believe, believe
Me, dear Endymion, were I to weave
With my own fancies garlands of sweet life,
Thou shouldst be one of all. Ah, bitter strife!
I may not be thy love: I am forbidden
Indeed I amthwarted, affrighted, chidden,
By things I trembled at, and gorgon wrath.
Twice hast thou ask'd whither I went: henceforth
Ask me no more! I may not utter it,
Nor may I be thy love. We might commit
Ourselves at once to vengeance; we might die;
We might embrace and die: voluptuous thought!
Enlarge not to my hunger, or I'm caught
In trammels of perverse deliciousness.
No, no, that shall not be: thee will I bless,
And bid a long adieu."
The Carian
No word return'd: both lovelorn, silent, wan,
Into the vallies green together went.
Far wandering, they were perforce content
To sit beneath a fair lone beechen tree;
Nor at each other gaz'd, but heavily
Por'd on its hazle cirque of shedded leaves.
Endymion! unhappy! it nigh grieves
Me to behold thee thus in last extreme:
Ensky'd ere this, but truly that I deem
Truth the best music in a first-born song.
Thy lute-voic'd brother will I sing ere long,
And thou shalt aidhast thou not aided me?
Yes, moonlight Emperor! felicity
Has been thy meed for many thousand years;
Yet often have I, on the brink of tears,
Mourn'd as if yet thou wert a forester,
Forgetting the old tale.
He did not stir
His eyes from the dead leaves, or one small pulse
Of joy he might have felt. The spirit culls
Unfaded amaranth, when wild it strays
Through the old garden-ground of boyish days.
A little onward ran the very stream
By which he took his first soft poppy dream;
And on the very bark 'gainst which he leant
A crescent he had carv'd, and round it spent
His skill in little stars. The teeming tree
Had swollen and green'd the pious charactery,
But not ta'en out. Why, there was not a slope
Up which he had not fear'd the antelope;
And not a tree, beneath whose rooty shade
He had not with his tamed leopards play'd.
Nor could an arrow light, or javelin,
Fly in the air where his had never been
And yet he knew it not.
O treachery!
Why does his lady smile, pleasing her eye
With all his sorrowing? He sees her not.
But who so stares on him? His sister sure!
Peona of the woods!Can she endure
Impossiblehow dearly they embrace!
His lady smiles; delight is in her face;
It is no treachery.
"Dear brother mine!
Endymion, weep not so! Why shouldst thou pine
When all great Latmos so exalt wilt be?
Thank the great gods, and look not bitterly;
And speak not one pale word, and sigh no more.
Sure I will not believe thou hast such store
Of grief, to last thee to my kiss again.
Thou surely canst not bear a mind in pain,
Come hand in hand with one so beautiful.
Be happy both of you! for I will pull
The flowers of autumn for your coronals.
Pan's holy priest for young Endymion calls;
And when he is restor'd, thou, fairest dame,
Shalt be our queen. Now, is it not a shame
To see ye thus,not very, very sad?
Perhaps ye are too happy to be glad:
O feel as if it were a common day;
Free-voic'd as one who never was away.
No tongue shall ask, whence come ye? but ye shall
Be gods of your own rest imperial.
Not even I, for one whole month, will pry
Into the hours that have pass'd us by,
Since in my arbour I did sing to thee.
O Hermes! on this very night will be
A hymning up to Cynthia, queen of light;
For the soothsayers old saw yesternight
Good visions in the air,whence will befal,
As say these sages, health perpetual
To shepherds and their flocks; and furthermore,
In Dian's face they read the gentle lore:
Therefore for her these vesper-carols are.
Our friends will all be there from nigh and far.
Many upon thy death have ditties made;
And many, even now, their foreheads shade
With cypress, on a day of sacrifice.
New singing for our maids shalt thou devise,
And pluck the sorrow from our huntsmen's brows.
Tell me, my lady-queen, how to espouse
This wayward brother to his rightful joys!
His eyes are on thee bent, as thou didst poise
His fate most goddess-like. Help me, I pray,
To lureEndymion, dear brother, say
What ails thee?" He could bear no more, and so
Bent his soul fiercely like a spiritual bow,
And twang'd it inwardly, and calmly said:
"I would have thee my only friend, sweet maid!
My only visitor! not ignorant though,
That those deceptions which for pleasure go
'Mong men, are pleasures real as real may be:
But there are higher ones I may not see,
If impiously an earthly realm I take.
Since I saw thee, I have been wide awake
Night after night, and day by day, until
Of the empyrean I have drunk my fill.
Let it content thee, Sister, seeing me
More happy than betides mortality.
A hermit young, I'll live in mossy cave,
Where thou alone shalt come to me, and lave
Thy spirit in the wonders I shall tell.
Through me the shepherd realm shall prosper well;
For to thy tongue will I all health confide.
And, for my sake, let this young maid abide
With thee as a dear sister. Thou alone,
Peona, mayst return to me. I own
This may sound strangely: but when, dearest girl,
Thou seest it for my happiness, no pearl
Will trespass down those cheeks. Companion fair!
Wilt be content to dwell with her, to share
This sister's love with me?" Like one resign'd
And bent by circumstance, and thereby blind
In self-commitment, thus that meek unknown:
"Aye, but a buzzing by my ears has flown,
Of jubilee to Dian:truth I heard!
Well then, I see there is no little bird,
Tender soever, but is Jove's own care.
Long have I sought for rest, and, unaware,
Behold I find it! so exalted too!
So after my own heart! I knew, I knew
There was a place untenanted in it:
In that same void white Chastity shall sit,
And monitor me nightly to lone slumber.
With sanest lips I vow me to the number
Of Dian's sisterhood; and, kind lady,
With thy good help, this very night shall see
My future days to her fane consecrate."
As feels a dreamer what doth most create
His own particular fright, so these three felt:
Or like one who, in after ages, knelt
To Lucifer or Baal, when he'd pine
After a little sleep: or when in mine
Far under-ground, a sleeper meets his friends
Who know him not. Each diligently bends
Towards common thoughts and things for very fear;
Striving their ghastly malady to cheer,
By thinking it a thing of yes and no,
That housewives talk of. But the spirit-blow
Was struck, and all were dreamers. At the last
Endymion said: "Are not our fates all cast?
Why stand we here? Adieu, ye tender pair!
Adieu!" Whereat those maidens, with wild stare,
Walk'd dizzily away. Pained and hot
His eyes went after them, until they got
Near to a cypress grove, whose deadly maw,
In one swift moment, would what then he saw
Engulph for ever. "Stay!" he cried, "ah, stay!
Turn, damsels! hist! one word I have to say.
Sweet Indian, I would see thee once again.
It is a thing I dote on: so I'd fain,
Peona, ye should hand in hand repair
Into those holy groves, that silent are
Behind great Dian's temple. I'll be yon,
At vesper's earliest twinklethey are gone
But once, once, once again" At this he press'd
His hands against his face, and then did rest
His head upon a mossy hillock green,
And so remain'd as he a corpse had been
All the long day; save when he scantly lifted
His eyes abroad, to see how shadows shifted
With the slow move of time,sluggish and weary
Until the poplar tops, in journey dreary,
Had reach'd the river's brim. Then up he rose,
And, slowly as that very river flows,
Walk'd towards the temple grove with this lament:
"Why such a golden eve? The breeze is sent
Careful and soft, that not a leaf may fall
Before the serene father of them all
Bows down his summer head below the west.
Now am I of breath, speech, and speed possest,
But at the setting I must bid adieu
To her for the last time. Night will strew
On the damp grass myriads of lingering leaves,
And with them shall I die; nor much it grieves
To die, when summer dies on the cold sward.
Why, I have been a butterfly, a lord
Of flowers, garlands, love-knots, silly posies,
Groves, meadows, melodies, and arbour roses;
My kingdom's at its death, and just it is
That I should die with it: so in all this
We miscal grief, bale, sorrow, heartbreak, woe,
What is there to plain of? By Titan's foe
I am but rightly serv'd." So saying, he
Tripp'd lightly on, in sort of deathful glee;
Laughing at the clear stream and setting sun,
As though they jests had been: nor had he done
His laugh at nature's holy countenance,
Until that grove appear'd, as if perchance,
And then his tongue with sober seemlihed
Gave utterance as he entered: "Ha!" I said,
"King of the butterflies; but by this gloom,
And by old Rhadamanthus' tongue of doom,
This dusk religion, pomp of solitude,
And the Promethean clay by thief endued,
By old Saturnus' forelock, by his head
Shook with eternal palsy, I did wed
Myself to things of light from infancy;
And thus to be cast out, thus lorn to die,
Is sure enough to make a mortal man
Grow impious." So he inwardly began
On things for which no wording can be found;
Deeper and deeper sinking, until drown'd
Beyond the reach of music: for the choir
Of Cynthia he heard not, though rough briar
Nor muffling thicket interpos'd to dull
The vesper hymn, far swollen, soft and full,
Through the dark pillars of those sylvan aisles.
He saw not the two maidens, nor their smiles,
Wan as primroses gather'd at midnight
By chilly finger'd spring. "Unhappy wight!
Endymion!" said Peona, "we are here!
What wouldst thou ere we all are laid on bier?"
Then he embrac'd her, and his lady's hand
Press'd, saying:" Sister, I would have command,
If it were heaven's will, on our sad fate."
At which that dark-eyed stranger stood elate
And said, in a new voice, but sweet as love,
To Endymion's amaze: "By Cupid's dove,
And so thou shalt! and by the lily truth
Of my own breast thou shalt, beloved youth!"
And as she spake, into her face there came
Light, as reflected from a silver flame:
Her long black hair swell'd ampler, in display
Full golden; in her eyes a brighter day
Dawn'd blue and full of love. Aye, he beheld
Phoebe, his passion! joyous she upheld
Her lucid bow, continuing thus; "Drear, drear
Has our delaying been; but foolish fear
Withheld me first; and then decrees of fate;
And then 'twas fit that from this mortal state
Thou shouldst, my love, by some unlook'd for change
Be spiritualiz'd. Peona, we shall range
These forests, and to thee they safe shall be
As was thy cradle; hither shalt thou flee
To meet us many a time." Next Cynthia bright
Peona kiss'd, and bless'd with fair good night:
Her brother kiss'd her too, and knelt adown
Before his goddess, in a blissful swoon.
She gave her fair hands to him, and behold,
Before three swiftest kisses he had told,
They vanish'd far away!Peona went
Home through the gloomy wood in wonderment.
(line 2): This line originally began with 'O Mountain-born in the draft, where also 'while' stands cancelled in favour of 'by.'
(line 158): Keats has been supposed to have invented the variant 'spry' for 'spray' for convenience of rhyming, just as Shelley has been accused of inventing for like reasons the word 'uprest', for example, in Laon And Cythna, Canto III, Stanza xxi. Sandys, the translator of Ovid, may not be a very good authority; but he is not improbably Keats's authority for 'spry', and will certainly do in default of a better.
(line 273): The biblical dissyllabic form 'mayest' is clearly used by deliberate preference, for the line originally stood thus in the draft :
And I have told thee all that thou canst hear.
(line 298): Remember'd from its velvet summer song : The gentleness of summer wind seems to have been a cherished idea with Keats. Compare with Sleep And Poetry, line 1 --
'What is more gentle than a wind in summer?'
(line 585): This was originally a short line consisting of the words "Thine illuminings" alone. The whole stanza, ... was sent by Keats to his friend Baily for his "vote, pro or con," in a letter dated the 22nd of November 1817.
(line 668): An imagination in which Hunt would have found it difficult to discover the reality; but probably Keats had never seen the miserable platform of dry twigs that serves for "a dove's nest among summer trees."
(line 672): Endymion's imaginary home and employments as pictured in the next fifty lines may be compared with Shelley's AEgean island described so wonderfully in Epipsychidion. Both passages are thoroughly characteristic; and they show the divergence between the modes of thought and sentiment of the two men in a very marked way.
(line 885-86): A curious importation from Hebrew theology into a subject from Greek mythology. Compare St. Matthew, X, 29: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." Or, as made familiar to our childhood by the popular hymn-wright,---
'A little sparrow cannot fall,
Unnoticed, Lord, by Thee.'
In the finished manuscript the word "kist" occurs twice instead of "kiss'd" as in the first edition; but "bless'd" is not similarly transformed to "blest."
At the end of the draft Keats wrote "Burford Bridge Nov. 28, 1817--".
The imprint of Endymion is as follows:-- T. Miller, Printer, Noble Street, Cheapside. by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes
~ John Keats, Endymion - Book IV
,#NFDB
816:A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.
Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour; no, even as the trees
That whisper round a temple become soon
Dear as the temple's self, so does the moon,
The passion poesy, glories infinite,
Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast,
That, whether there be shine, or gloom o'ercast,
They alway must be with us, or we die.
Therefore, 'tis with full happiness that I
Will trace the story of Endymion.
The very music of the name has gone
Into my being, and each pleasant scene
Is growing fresh before me as the green
Of our own vallies: so I will begin
Now while I cannot hear the city's din;
Now while the early budders are just new,
And run in mazes of the youngest hue
About old forests; while the willow trails
Its delicate amber; and the dairy pails
Bring home increase of milk. And, as the year
Grows lush in juicy stalks, I'll smoothly steer
My little boat, for many quiet hours,
With streams that deepen freshly into bowers.
Many and many a verse I hope to write,
Before the daisies, vermeil rimm'd and white,
Hide in deep herbage; and ere yet the bees
Hum about globes of clover and sweet peas,
I must be near the middle of my story.
O may no wintry season, bare and hoary,
See it half finished: but let Autumn bold,
With universal tinge of sober gold,
Be all about me when I make an end.
And now at once, adventuresome, I send
My herald thought into a wilderness:
There let its trumpet blow, and quickly dress
My uncertain path with green, that I may speed
Easily onward, thorough flowers and weed.
Upon the sides of Latmos was outspread
A mighty forest; for the moist earth fed
So plenteously all weed-hidden roots
Into o'er-hanging boughs, and precious fruits.
And it had gloomy shades, sequestered deep,
Where no man went; and if from shepherd's keep
A lamb strayed far a-down those inmost glens,
Never again saw he the happy pens
Whither his brethren, bleating with content,
Over the hills at every nightfall went.
Among the shepherds, 'twas believed ever,
That not one fleecy lamb which thus did sever
From the white flock, but pass'd unworried
By angry wolf, or pard with prying head,
Until it came to some unfooted plains
Where fed the herds of Pan: ay great his gains
Who thus one lamb did lose. Paths there were many,
Winding through palmy fern, and rushes fenny,
And ivy banks; all leading pleasantly
To a wide lawn, whence one could only see
Stems thronging all around between the swell
Of turf and slanting branches: who could tell
The freshness of the space of heaven above,
Edg'd round with dark tree tops? through which a dove
Would often beat its wings, and often too
A little cloud would move across the blue.
Full in the middle of this pleasantness
There stood a marble altar, with a tress
Of flowers budded newly; and the dew
Had taken fairy phantasies to strew
Daisies upon the sacred sward last eve,
And so the dawned light in pomp receive.
For 'twas the morn: Apollo's upward fire
Made every eastern cloud a silvery pyre
Of brightness so unsullied, that therein
A melancholy spirit well might win
Oblivion, and melt out his essence fine
Into the winds: rain-scented eglantine
Gave temperate sweets to that well-wooing sun;
The lark was lost in him; cold springs had run
To warm their chilliest bubbles in the grass;
Man's voice was on the mountains; and the mass
Of nature's lives and wonders puls'd tenfold,
To feel this sun-rise and its glories old.
Now while the silent workings of the dawn
Were busiest, into that self-same lawn
All suddenly, with joyful cries, there sped
A troop of little children garlanded;
Who gathering round the altar, seemed to pry
Earnestly round as wishing to espy
Some folk of holiday: nor had they waited
For many moments, ere their ears were sated
With a faint breath of music, which ev'n then
Fill'd out its voice, and died away again.
Within a little space again it gave
Its airy swellings, with a gentle wave,
To light-hung leaves, in smoothest echoes breaking
Through copse-clad vallies,ere their death, oer-taking
The surgy murmurs of the lonely sea.
And now, as deep into the wood as we
Might mark a lynx's eye, there glimmered light
Fair faces and a rush of garments white,
Plainer and plainer shewing, till at last
Into the widest alley they all past,
Making directly for the woodland altar.
O kindly muse! let not my weak tongue faulter
In telling of this goodly company,
Of their old piety, and of their glee:
But let a portion of ethereal dew
Fall on my head, and presently unmew
My soul; that I may dare, in wayfaring,
To stammer where old Chaucer used to sing.
Leading the way, young damsels danced along,
Bearing the burden of a shepherd song;
Each having a white wicker over brimm'd
With April's tender younglings: next, well trimm'd,
A crowd of shepherds with as sunburnt looks
As may be read of in Arcadian books;
Such as sat listening round Apollo's pipe,
When the great deity, for earth too ripe,
Let his divinity o'er-flowing die
In music, through the vales of Thessaly:
Some idly trailed their sheep-hooks on the ground,
And some kept up a shrilly mellow sound
With ebon-tipped flutes: close after these,
Now coming from beneath the forest trees,
A venerable priest full soberly,
Begirt with ministring looks: alway his eye
Stedfast upon the matted turf he kept,
And after him his sacred vestments swept.
From his right hand there swung a vase, milk-white,
Of mingled wine, out-sparkling generous light;
And in his left he held a basket full
Of all sweet herbs that searching eye could cull:
Wild thyme, and valley-lilies whiter still
Than Leda's love, and cresses from the rill.
His aged head, crowned with beechen wreath,
Seem'd like a poll of ivy in the teeth
Of winter hoar. Then came another crowd
Of shepherds, lifting in due time aloud
Their share of the ditty. After them appear'd,
Up-followed by a multitude that rear'd
Their voices to the clouds, a fair wrought car,
Easily rolling so as scarce to mar
The freedom of three steeds of dapple brown:
Who stood therein did seem of great renown
Among the throng. His youth was fully blown,
Shewing like Ganymede to manhood grown;
And, for those simple times, his garments were
A chieftain king's: beneath his breast, half bare,
Was hung a silver bugle, and between
His nervy knees there lay a boar-spear keen.
A smile was on his countenance; he seem'd,
To common lookers on, like one who dream'd
Of idleness in groves Elysian:
But there were some who feelingly could scan
A lurking trouble in his nether lip,
And see that oftentimes the reins would slip
Through his forgotten hands: then would they sigh,
And think of yellow leaves, of owlets cry,
Of logs piled solemnly.Ah, well-a-day,
Why should our young Endymion pine away!
Soon the assembly, in a circle rang'd,
Stood silent round the shrine: each look was chang'd
To sudden veneration: women meek
Beckon'd their sons to silence; while each cheek
Of virgin bloom paled gently for slight fear.
Endymion too, without a forest peer,
Stood, wan, and pale, and with an awed face,
Among his brothers of the mountain chase.
In midst of all, the venerable priest
Eyed them with joy from greatest to the least,
And, after lifting up his aged hands,
Thus spake he: "Men of Latmos! shepherd bands!
Whose care it is to guard a thousand flocks:
Whether descended from beneath the rocks
That overtop your mountains; whether come
From vallies where the pipe is never dumb;
Or from your swelling downs, where sweet air stirs
Blue hare-bells lightly, and where prickly furze
Buds lavish gold; or ye, whose precious charge
Nibble their fill at ocean's very marge,
Whose mellow reeds are touch'd with sounds forlorn
By the dim echoes of old Triton's horn:
Mothers and wives! who day by day prepare
The scrip, with needments, for the mountain air;
And all ye gentle girls who foster up
Udderless lambs, and in a little cup
Will put choice honey for a favoured youth:
Yea, every one attend! for in good truth
Our vows are wanting to our great god Pan.
Are not our lowing heifers sleeker than
Night-swollen mushrooms? Are not our wide plains
Speckled with countless fleeces? Have not rains
Green'd over April's lap? No howling sad
Sickens our fearful ewes; and we have had
Great bounty from Endymion our lord.
The earth is glad: the merry lark has pour'd
His early song against yon breezy sky,
That spreads so clear o'er our solemnity."
Thus ending, on the shrine he heap'd a spire
Of teeming sweets, enkindling sacred fire;
Anon he stain'd the thick and spongy sod
With wine, in honour of the shepherd-god.
Now while the earth was drinking it, and while
Bay leaves were crackling in the fragrant pile,
And gummy frankincense was sparkling bright
'Neath smothering parsley, and a hazy light
Spread greyly eastward, thus a chorus sang:
"O THOU, whose mighty palace roof doth hang
From jagged trunks, and overshadoweth
Eternal whispers, glooms, the birth, life, death
Of unseen flowers in heavy peacefulness;
Who lov'st to see the hamadryads dress
Their ruffled locks where meeting hazels darken;
And through whole solemn hours dost sit, and hearken
The dreary melody of bedded reeds
In desolate places, where dank moisture breeds
The pipy hemlock to strange overgrowth;
Bethinking thee, how melancholy loth
Thou wast to lose fair Syrinxdo thou now,
By thy love's milky brow!
By all the trembling mazes that she ran,
Hear us, great Pan!
"O thou, for whose soul-soothing quiet, turtles
Passion their voices cooingly 'mong myrtles,
What time thou wanderest at eventide
Through sunny meadows, that outskirt the side
Of thine enmossed realms: O thou, to whom
Broad leaved fig trees even now foredoom
Their ripen'd fruitage; yellow girted bees
Their golden honeycombs; our village leas
Their fairest-blossom'd beans and poppied corn;
The chuckling linnet its five young unborn,
To sing for thee; low creeping strawberries
Their summer coolness; pent up butterflies
Their freckled wings; yea, the fresh budding year
All its completionsbe quickly near,
By every wind that nods the mountain pine,
O forester divine!
"Thou, to whom every fawn and satyr flies
For willing service; whether to surprise
The squatted hare while in half sleeping fit;
Or upward ragged precipices flit
To save poor lambkins from the eagle's maw;
Or by mysterious enticement draw
Bewildered shepherds to their path again;
Or to tread breathless round the frothy main,
And gather up all fancifullest shells
For thee to tumble into Naiads' cells,
And, being hidden, laugh at their out-peeping;
Or to delight thee with fantastic leaping,
The while they pelt each other on the crown
With silvery oak apples, and fir cones brown
By all the echoes that about thee ring,
Hear us, O satyr king!
"O Hearkener to the loud clapping shears,
While ever and anon to his shorn peers
A ram goes bleating: Winder of the horn,
When snouted wild-boars routing tender corn
Anger our huntsman: Breather round our farms,
To keep off mildews, and all weather harms:
Strange ministrant of undescribed sounds,
That come a swooning over hollow grounds,
And wither drearily on barren moors:
Dread opener of the mysterious doors
Leading to universal knowledgesee,
Great son of Dryope,
The many that are come to pay their vows
With leaves about their brows!
Be still the unimaginable lodge
For solitary thinkings; such as dodge
Conception to the very bourne of heaven,
Then leave the naked brain: be still the leaven,
That spreading in this dull and clodded earth
Gives it a touch ethereala new birth:
Be still a symbol of immensity;
A firmament reflected in a sea;
An element filling the space between;
An unknownbut no more: we humbly screen
With uplift hands our foreheads, lowly bending,
And giving out a shout most heaven rending,
Conjure thee to receive our humble Paean,
Upon thy Mount Lycean!
Even while they brought the burden to a close,
A shout from the whole multitude arose,
That lingered in the air like dying rolls
Of abrupt thunder, when Ionian shoals
Of dolphins bob their noses through the brine.
Meantime, on shady levels, mossy fine,
Young companies nimbly began dancing
To the swift treble pipe, and humming string.
Aye, those fair living forms swam heavenly
To tunes forgottenout of memory:
Fair creatures! whose young children's children bred
Thermopyl its heroesnot yet dead,
But in old marbles ever beautiful.
High genitors, unconscious did they cull
Time's sweet first-fruitsthey danc'd to weariness,
And then in quiet circles did they press
The hillock turf, and caught the latter end
Of some strange history, potent to send
A young mind from its bodily tenement.
Or they might watch the quoit-pitchers, intent
On either side; pitying the sad death
Of Hyacinthus, when the cruel breath
Of Zephyr slew him,Zephyr penitent,
Who now, ere Phoebus mounts the firmament,
Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain.
The archers too, upon a wider plain,
Beside the feathery whizzing of the shaft,
And the dull twanging bowstring, and the raft
Branch down sweeping from a tall ash top,
Call'd up a thousand thoughts to envelope
Those who would watch. Perhaps, the trembling knee
And frantic gape of lonely Niobe,
Poor, lonely Niobe! when her lovely young
Were dead and gone, and her caressing tongue
Lay a lost thing upon her paly lip,
And very, very deadliness did nip
Her motherly cheeks. Arous'd from this sad mood
By one, who at a distance loud halloo'd,
Uplifting his strong bow into the air,
Many might after brighter visions stare:
After the Argonauts, in blind amaze
Tossing about on Neptune's restless ways,
Until, from the horizon's vaulted side,
There shot a golden splendour far and wide,
Spangling those million poutings of the brine
With quivering ore: 'twas even an awful shine
From the exaltation of Apollo's bow;
A heavenly beacon in their dreary woe.
Who thus were ripe for high contemplating,
Might turn their steps towards the sober ring
Where sat Endymion and the aged priest
'Mong shepherds gone in eld, whose looks increas'd
The silvery setting of their mortal star.
There they discours'd upon the fragile bar
That keeps us from our homes ethereal;
And what our duties there: to nightly call
Vesper, the beauty-crest of summer weather;
To summon all the downiest clouds together
For the sun's purple couch; to emulate
In ministring the potent rule of fate
With speed of fire-tailed exhalations;
To tint her pallid cheek with bloom, who cons
Sweet poesy by moonlight: besides these,
A world of other unguess'd offices.
Anon they wander'd, by divine converse,
Into Elysium; vieing to rehearse
Each one his own anticipated bliss.
One felt heart-certain that he could not miss
His quick gone love, among fair blossom'd boughs,
Where every zephyr-sigh pouts and endows
Her lips with music for the welcoming.
Another wish'd, mid that eternal spring,
To meet his rosy child, with feathery sails,
Sweeping, eye-earnestly, through almond vales:
Who, suddenly, should stoop through the smooth wind,
And with the balmiest leaves his temples bind;
And, ever after, through those regions be
His messenger, his little Mercury.
Some were athirst in soul to see again
Their fellow huntsmen o'er the wide champaign
In times long past; to sit with them, and talk
Of all the chances in their earthly walk;
Comparing, joyfully, their plenteous stores
Of happiness, to when upon the moors,
Benighted, close they huddled from the cold,
And shar'd their famish'd scrips. Thus all out-told
Their fond imaginations,saving him
Whose eyelids curtain'd up their jewels dim,
Endymion: yet hourly had he striven
To hide the cankering venom, that had riven
His fainting recollections. Now indeed
His senses had swoon'd off: he did not heed
The sudden silence, or the whispers low,
Or the old eyes dissolving at his woe,
Or anxious calls, or close of trembling palms,
Or maiden's sigh, that grief itself embalms:
But in the self-same fixed trance he kept,
Like one who on the earth had never stept.
Aye, even as dead-still as a marble man,
Frozen in that old tale Arabian.
Who whispers him so pantingly and close?
Peona, his sweet sister: of all those,
His friends, the dearest. Hushing signs she made,
And breath'd a sister's sorrow to persuade
A yielding up, a cradling on her care.
Her eloquence did breathe away the curse:
She led him, like some midnight spirit nurse
Of happy changes in emphatic dreams,
Along a path between two little streams,
Guarding his forehead, with her round elbow,
From low-grown branches, and his footsteps slow
From stumbling over stumps and hillocks small;
Until they came to where these streamlets fall,
With mingled bubblings and a gentle rush,
Into a river, clear, brimful, and flush
With crystal mocking of the trees and sky.
A little shallop, floating there hard by,
Pointed its beak over the fringed bank;
And soon it lightly dipt, and rose, and sank,
And dipt again, with the young couple's weight,
Peona guiding, through the water straight,
Towards a bowery island opposite;
Which gaining presently, she steered light
Into a shady, fresh, and ripply cove,
Where nested was an arbour, overwove
By many a summer's silent fingering;
To whose cool bosom she was used to bring
Her playmates, with their needle broidery,
And minstrel memories of times gone by.
So she was gently glad to see him laid
Under her favourite bower's quiet shade,
On her own couch, new made of flower leaves,
Dried carefully on the cooler side of sheaves
When last the sun his autumn tresses shook,
And the tann'd harvesters rich armfuls took.
Soon was he quieted to slumbrous rest:
But, ere it crept upon him, he had prest
Peona's busy hand against his lips,
And still, a sleeping, held her finger-tips
In tender pressure. And as a willow keeps
A patient watch over the stream that creeps
Windingly by it, so the quiet maid
Held her in peace: so that a whispering blade
Of grass, a wailful gnat, a bee bustling
Down in the blue-bells, or a wren light rustling
Among seer leaves and twigs, might all be heard.
O magic sleep! O comfortable bird,
That broodest o'er the troubled sea of the mind
Till it is hush'd and smooth! O unconfin'd
Restraint! imprisoned liberty! great key
To golden palaces, strange minstrelsy,
Fountains grotesque, new trees, bespangled caves,
Echoing grottos, full of tumbling waves
And moonlight; aye, to all the mazy world
Of silvery enchantment!who, upfurl'd
Beneath thy drowsy wing a triple hour,
But renovates and lives?Thus, in the bower,
Endymion was calm'd to life again.
Opening his eyelids with a healthier brain,
He said: "I feel this thine endearing love
All through my bosom: thou art as a dove
Trembling its closed eyes and sleeked wings
About me; and the pearliest dew not brings
Such morning incense from the fields of May,
As do those brighter drops that twinkling stray
From those kind eyes,the very home and haunt
Of sisterly affection. Can I want
Aught else, aught nearer heaven, than such tears?
Yet dry them up, in bidding hence all fears
That, any longer, I will pass my days
Alone and sad. No, I will once more raise
My voice upon the mountain-heights; once more
Make my horn parley from their foreheads hoar:
Again my trooping hounds their tongues shall loll
Around the breathed boar: again I'll poll
The fair-grown yew tree, for a chosen bow:
And, when the pleasant sun is getting low,
Again I'll linger in a sloping mead
To hear the speckled thrushes, and see feed
Our idle sheep. So be thou cheered sweet,
And, if thy lute is here, softly intreat
My soul to keep in its resolved course."
Hereat Peona, in their silver source,
Shut her pure sorrow drops with glad exclaim,
And took a lute, from which there pulsing came
A lively prelude, fashioning the way
In which her voice should wander. 'Twas a lay
More subtle cadenced, more forest wild
Than Dryope's lone lulling of her child;
And nothing since has floated in the air
So mournful strange. Surely some influence rare
Went, spiritual, through the damsel's hand;
For still, with Delphic emphasis, she spann'd
The quick invisible strings, even though she saw
Endymion's spirit melt away and thaw
Before the deep intoxication.
But soon she came, with sudden burst, upon
Her self-possessionswung the lute aside,
And earnestly said: "Brother, 'tis vain to hide
That thou dost know of things mysterious,
Immortal, starry; such alone could thus
Weigh down thy nature. Hast thou sinn'd in aught
Offensive to the heavenly powers? Caught
A Paphian dove upon a message sent?
Thy deathful bow against some deer-herd bent,
Sacred to Dian? Haply, thou hast seen
Her naked limbs among the alders green;
And that, alas! is death. No, I can trace
Something more high perplexing in thy face!"
Endymion look'd at her, and press'd her hand,
And said, "Art thou so pale, who wast so bland
And merry in our meadows? How is this?
Tell me thine ailment: tell me all amiss!
Ah! thou hast been unhappy at the change
Wrought suddenly in me. What indeed more strange?
Or more complete to overwhelm surmise?
Ambition is no sluggard: 'tis no prize,
That toiling years would put within my grasp,
That I have sigh'd for: with so deadly gasp
No man e'er panted for a mortal love.
So all have set my heavier grief above
These things which happen. Rightly have they done:
I, who still saw the horizontal sun
Heave his broad shoulder o'er the edge of the world,
Out-facing Lucifer, and then had hurl'd
My spear aloft, as signal for the chace
I, who, for very sport of heart, would race
With my own steed from Araby; pluck down
A vulture from his towery perching; frown
A lion into growling, loth retire
To lose, at once, all my toil breeding fire,
And sink thus low! but I will ease my breast
Of secret grief, here in this bowery nest.
"This river does not see the naked sky,
Till it begins to progress silverly
Around the western border of the wood,
Whence, from a certain spot, its winding flood
Seems at the distance like a crescent moon:
And in that nook, the very pride of June,
Had I been used to pass my weary eves;
The rather for the sun unwilling leaves
So dear a picture of his sovereign power,
And I could witness his most kingly hour,
When he doth lighten up the golden reins,
And paces leisurely down amber plains
His snorting four. Now when his chariot last
Its beams against the zodiac-lion cast,
There blossom'd suddenly a magic bed
Of sacred ditamy, and poppies red:
At which I wondered greatly, knowing well
That but one night had wrought this flowery spell;
And, sitting down close by, began to muse
What it might mean. Perhaps, thought I, Morpheus,
In passing here, his owlet pinions shook;
Or, it may be, ere matron Night uptook
Her ebon urn, young Mercury, by stealth,
Had dipt his rod in it: such garland wealth
Came not by common growth. Thus on I thought,
Until my head was dizzy and distraught.
Moreover, through the dancing poppies stole
A breeze, most softly lulling to my soul;
And shaping visions all about my sight
Of colours, wings, and bursts of spangly light;
The which became more strange, and strange, and dim,
And then were gulph'd in a tumultuous swim:
And then I fell asleep. Ah, can I tell
The enchantment that afterwards befel?
Yet it was but a dream: yet such a dream
That never tongue, although it overteem
With mellow utterance, like a cavern spring,
Could figure out and to conception bring
All I beheld and felt. Methought I lay
Watching the zenith, where the milky way
Among the stars in virgin splendour pours;
And travelling my eye, until the doors
Of heaven appear'd to open for my flight,
I became loth and fearful to alight
From such high soaring by a downward glance:
So kept me stedfast in that airy trance,
Spreading imaginary pinions wide.
When, presently, the stars began to glide,
And faint away, before my eager view:
At which I sigh'd that I could not pursue,
And dropt my vision to the horizon's verge;
And lo! from opening clouds, I saw emerge
The loveliest moon, that ever silver'd o'er
A shell for Neptune's goblet: she did soar
So passionately bright, my dazzled soul
Commingling with her argent spheres did roll
Through clear and cloudy, even when she went
At last into a dark and vapoury tent
Whereat, methought, the lidless-eyed train
Of planets all were in the blue again.
To commune with those orbs, once more I rais'd
My sight right upward: but it was quite dazed
By a bright something, sailing down apace,
Making me quickly veil my eyes and face:
Again I look'd, and, O ye deities,
Who from Olympus watch our destinies!
Whence that completed form of all completeness?
Whence came that high perfection of all sweetness?
Speak, stubborn earth, and tell me where, O Where
Hast thou a symbol of her golden hair?
Not oat-sheaves drooping in the western sun;
Notthy soft hand, fair sister! let me shun
Such follying before theeyet she had,
Indeed, locks bright enough to make me mad;
And they were simply gordian'd up and braided,
Leaving, in naked comeliness, unshaded,
Her pearl round ears, white neck, and orbed brow;
The which were blended in, I know not how,
With such a paradise of lips and eyes,
Blush-tinted cheeks, half smiles, and faintest sighs,
That, when I think thereon, my spirit clings
And plays about its fancy, till the stings
Of human neighbourhood envenom all.
Unto what awful power shall I call?
To what high fane?Ah! see her hovering feet,
More bluely vein'd, more soft, more whitely sweet
Than those of sea-born Venus, when she rose
From out her cradle shell. The wind out-blows
Her scarf into a fluttering pavilion;
'Tis blue, and over-spangled with a million
Of little eyes, as though thou wert to shed,
Over the darkest, lushest blue-bell bed,
Handfuls of daisies.""Endymion, how strange!
Dream within dream!""She took an airy range,
And then, towards me, like a very maid,
Came blushing, waning, willing, and afraid,
And press'd me by the hand: Ah! 'twas too much;
Methought I fainted at the charmed touch,
Yet held my recollection, even as one
Who dives three fathoms where the waters run
Gurgling in beds of coral: for anon,
I felt upmounted in that region
Where falling stars dart their artillery forth,
And eagles struggle with the buffeting north
That balances the heavy meteor-stone;
Felt too, I was not fearful, nor alone,
But lapp'd and lull'd along the dangerous sky.
Soon, as it seem'd, we left our journeying high,
And straightway into frightful eddies swoop'd;
Such as ay muster where grey time has scoop'd
Huge dens and caverns in a mountain's side:
There hollow sounds arous'd me, and I sigh'd
To faint once more by looking on my bliss
I was distracted; madly did I kiss
The wooing arms which held me, and did give
My eyes at once to death: but 'twas to live,
To take in draughts of life from the gold fount
Of kind and passionate looks; to count, and count
The moments, by some greedy help that seem'd
A second self, that each might be redeem'd
And plunder'd of its load of blessedness.
Ah, desperate mortal! I ev'n dar'd to press
Her very cheek against my crowned lip,
And, at that moment, felt my body dip
Into a warmer air: a moment more,
Our feet were soft in flowers. There was store
Of newest joys upon that alp. Sometimes
A scent of violets, and blossoming limes,
Loiter'd around us; then of honey cells,
Made delicate from all white-flower bells;
And once, above the edges of our nest,
An arch face peep'd,an Oread as I guess'd.
"Why did I dream that sleep o'er-power'd me
In midst of all this heaven? Why not see,
Far off, the shadows of his pinions dark,
And stare them from me? But no, like a spark
That needs must die, although its little beam
Reflects upon a diamond, my sweet dream
Fell into nothinginto stupid sleep.
And so it was, until a gentle creep,
A careful moving caught my waking ears,
And up I started: Ah! my sighs, my tears,
My clenched hands;for lo! the poppies hung
Dew-dabbled on their stalks, the ouzel sung
A heavy ditty, and the sullen day
Had chidden herald Hesperus away,
With leaden looks: the solitary breeze
Bluster'd, and slept, and its wild self did teaze
With wayward melancholy; and r thought,
Mark me, Peona! that sometimes it brought
Faint fare-thee-wells, and sigh-shrilled adieus!
Away I wander'dall the pleasant hues
Of heaven and earth had faded: deepest shades
Were deepest dungeons; heaths and sunny glades
Were full of pestilent light; our taintless rills
Seem'd sooty, and o'er-spread with upturn'd gills
Of dying fish; the vermeil rose had blown
In frightful scarlet, and its thorns out-grown
Like spiked aloe. If an innocent bird
Before my heedless footsteps stirr'd, and stirr'd
In little journeys, I beheld in it
A disguis'd demon, missioned to knit
My soul with under darkness; to entice
My stumblings down some monstrous precipice:
Therefore I eager followed, and did curse
The disappointment. Time, that aged nurse,
Rock'd me to patience. Now, thank gentle heaven!
These things, with all their comfortings, are given
To my down-sunken hours, and with thee,
Sweet sister, help to stem the ebbing sea
Of weary life."
Thus ended he, and both
Sat silent: for the maid was very loth
To answer; feeling well that breathed words
Would all be lost, unheard, and vain as swords
Against the enchased crocodile, or leaps
Of grasshoppers against the sun. She weeps,
And wonders; struggles to devise some blame;
To put on such a look as would say, Shame
On this poor weakness! but, for all her strife,
She could as soon have crush'd away the life
From a sick dove. At length, to break the pause,
She said with trembling chance: "Is this the cause?
This all? Yet it is strange, and sad, alas!
That one who through this middle earth should pass
Most like a sojourning demi-god, and leave
His name upon the harp-string, should achieve
No higher bard than simple maidenhood,
Singing alone, and fearfully,how the blood
Left his young cheek; and how he used to stray
He knew not where; and how he would say, nay,
If any said 'twas love: and yet 'twas love;
What could it be but love? How a ring-dove
Let fall a sprig of yew tree in his path;
And how he died: and then, that love doth scathe,
The gentle heart, as northern blasts do roses;
And then the ballad of his sad life closes
With sighs, and an alas!Endymion!
Be rather in the trumpet's mouth,anon
Among the winds at largethat all may hearken!
Although, before the crystal heavens darken,
I watch and dote upon the silver lakes
Pictur'd in western cloudiness, that takes
The semblance of gold rocks and bright gold sands,
Islands, and creeks, and amber-fretted strands
With horses prancing o'er them, palaces
And towers of amethyst,would I so tease
My pleasant days, because I could not mount
Into those regions? The Morphean fount
Of that fine element that visions, dreams,
And fitful whims of sleep are made of, streams
Into its airy channels with so subtle,
So thin a breathing, not the spider's shuttle,
Circled a million times within the space
Of a swallow's nest-door, could delay a trace,
A tinting of its quality: how light
Must dreams themselves be; seeing they're more slight
Than the mere nothing that engenders them!
Then wherefore sully the entrusted gem
Of high and noble life with thoughts so sick?
Why pierce high-fronted honour to the quick
For nothing but a dream?" Hereat the youth
Look'd up: a conflicting of shame and ruth
Was in his plaited brow: yet his eyelids
Widened a little, as when Zephyr bids
A little breeze to creep between the fans
Of careless butterflies: amid his pains
He seem'd to taste a drop of manna-dew,
Full palatable; and a colour grew
Upon his cheek, while thus he lifeful spake.
"Peona! ever have I long'd to slake
My thirst for the world's praises: nothing base,
No merely slumberous phantasm, could unlace
The stubborn canvas for my voyage prepar'd
Though now 'tis tatter'd; leaving my bark bar'd
And sullenly drifting: yet my higher hope
Is of too wide, too rainbow-large a scope,
To fret at myriads of earthly wrecks.
Wherein lies happiness? In that which becks
Our ready minds to fellowship divine,
A fellowship with essence; till we shine,
Full alchemiz'd, and free of space. Behold
The clear religion of heaven! Fold
A rose leaf round thy finger's taperness,
And soothe thy lips: hist, when the airy stress
Of music's kiss impregnates the free winds,
And with a sympathetic touch unbinds
Eolian magic from their lucid wombs:
Then old songs waken from enclouded tombs;
Old ditties sigh above their father's grave;
Ghosts of melodious prophecyings rave
Round every spot where trod Apollo's foot;
Bronze clarions awake, and faintly bruit,
Where long ago a giant battle was;
And, from the turf, a lullaby doth pass
In every place where infant Orpheus slept.
Feel we these things?that moment have we stept
Into a sort of oneness, and our state
Is like a floating spirit's. But there are
Richer entanglements, enthralments far
More self-destroying, leading, by degrees,
To the chief intensity: the crown of these
Is made of love and friendship, and sits high
Upon the forehead of humanity.
All its more ponderous and bulky worth
Is friendship, whence there ever issues forth
A steady splendour; but at the tip-top,
There hangs by unseen film, an orbed drop
Of light, and that is love: its influence,
Thrown in our eyes, genders a novel sense,
At which we start and fret; till in the end,
Melting into its radiance, we blend,
Mingle, and so become a part of it,
Nor with aught else can our souls interknit
So wingedly: when we combine therewith,
Life's self is nourish'd by its proper pith,
And we are nurtured like a pelican brood.
Aye, so delicious is the unsating food,
That men, who might have tower'd in the van
Of all the congregated world, to fan
And winnow from the coming step of time
All chaff of custom, wipe away all slime
Left by men-slugs and human serpentry,
Have been content to let occasion die,
Whilst they did sleep in love's elysium.
And, truly, I would rather be struck dumb,
Than speak against this ardent listlessness:
For I have ever thought that it might bless
The world with benefits unknowingly;
As does the nightingale, upperched high,
And cloister'd among cool and bunched leaves
She sings but to her love, nor e'er conceives
How tiptoe Night holds back her dark-grey hood.
Just so may love, although 'tis understood
The mere commingling of passionate breath,
Produce more than our searching witnesseth:
What I know not: but who, of men, can tell
That flowers would bloom, or that green fruit would swell
To melting pulp, that fish would have bright mail,
The earth its dower of river, wood, and vale,
The meadows runnels, runnels pebble-stones,
The seed its harvest, or the lute its tones,
Tones ravishment, or ravishment its sweet,
If human souls did never kiss and greet?
"Now, if this earthly love has power to make
Men's being mortal, immortal; to shake
Ambition from their memories, and brim
Their measure of content; what merest whim,
Seems all this poor endeavour after fame,
To one, who keeps within his stedfast aim
A love immortal, an immortal too.
Look not so wilder'd; for these things are true,
And never can be born of atomies
That buzz about our slumbers, like brain-flies,
Leaving us fancy-sick. No, no, I'm sure,
My restless spirit never could endure
To brood so long upon one luxury,
Unless it did, though fearfully, espy
A hope beyond the shadow of a dream.
My sayings will the less obscured seem,
When I have told thee how my waking sight
Has made me scruple whether that same night
Was pass'd in dreaming. Hearken, sweet Peona!
Beyond the matron-temple of Latona,
Which we should see but for these darkening boughs,
Lies a deep hollow, from whose ragged brows
Bushes and trees do lean all round athwart,
And meet so nearly, that with wings outraught,
And spreaded tail, a vulture could not glide
Past them, but he must brush on every side.
Some moulder'd steps lead into this cool cell,
Far as the slabbed margin of a well,
Whose patient level peeps its crystal eye
Right upward, through the bushes, to the sky.
Oft have I brought thee flowers, on their stalks set
Like vestal primroses, but dark velvet
Edges them round, and they have golden pits:
'Twas there I got them, from the gaps and slits
In a mossy stone, that sometimes was my seat,
When all above was faint with mid-day heat.
And there in strife no burning thoughts to heed,
I'd bubble up the water through a reed;
So reaching back to boy-hood: make me ships
Of moulted feathers, touchwood, alder chips,
With leaves stuck in them; and the Neptune be
Of their petty ocean. Oftener, heavily,
When love-lorn hours had left me less a child,
I sat contemplating the figures wild
Of o'er-head clouds melting the mirror through.
Upon a day, while thus I watch'd, by flew
A cloudy Cupid, with his bow and quiver;
So plainly character'd, no breeze would shiver
The happy chance: so happy, I was fain
To follow it upon the open plain,
And, therefore, was just going; when, behold!
A wonder, fair as any I have told
The same bright face I tasted in my sleep,
Smiling in the clear well. My heart did leap
Through the cool depth.It moved as if to flee
I started up, when lo! refreshfully,
There came upon my face, in plenteous showers,
Dew-drops, and dewy buds, and leaves, and flowers,
Wrapping all objects from my smothered sight,
Bathing my spirit in a new delight.
Aye, such a breathless honey-feel of bliss
Alone preserved me from the drear abyss
Of death, for the fair form had gone again.
Pleasure is oft a visitant; but pain
Clings cruelly to us, like the gnawing sloth
On the deer's tender haunches: late, and loth,
'Tis scar'd away by slow returning pleasure.
How sickening, how dark the dreadful leisure
Of weary days, made deeper exquisite,
By a fore-knowledge of unslumbrous night!
Like sorrow came upon me, heavier still,
Than when I wander'd from the poppy hill:
And a whole age of lingering moments crept
Sluggishly by, ere more contentment swept
Away at once the deadly yellow spleen.
Yes, thrice have I this fair enchantment seen;
Once more been tortured with renewed life.
When last the wintry gusts gave over strife
With the conquering sun of spring, and left the skies
Warm and serene, but yet with moistened eyes
In pity of the shatter'd infant buds,
That time thou didst adorn, with amber studs,
My hunting cap, because I laugh'd and smil'd,
Chatted with thee, and many days exil'd
All torment from my breast;'twas even then,
Straying about, yet, coop'd up in the den
Of helpless discontent,hurling my lance
From place to place, and following at chance,
At last, by hap, through some young trees it struck,
And, plashing among bedded pebbles, stuck
In the middle of a brook,whose silver ramble
Down twenty little falls, through reeds and bramble,
Tracing along, it brought me to a cave,
Whence it ran brightly forth, and white did lave
The nether sides of mossy stones and rock,
'Mong which it gurgled blythe adieus, to mock
Its own sweet grief at parting. Overhead,
Hung a lush screen of drooping weeds, and spread
Thick, as to curtain up some wood-nymph's home.
"Ah! impious mortal, whither do I roam?"
Said I, low voic'd: "Ah whither! 'Tis the grot
Of Proserpine, when Hell, obscure and hot,
Doth her resign; and where her tender hands
She dabbles, on the cool and sluicy sands:
Or 'tis the cell of Echo, where she sits,
And babbles thorough silence, till her wits
Are gone in tender madness, and anon,
Faints into sleep, with many a dying tone
Of sadness. O that she would take my vows,
And breathe them sighingly among the boughs,
To sue her gentle ears for whose fair head,
Daily, I pluck sweet flowerets from their bed,
And weave them dyinglysend honey-whispers
Round every leaf, that all those gentle lispers
May sigh my love unto her pitying!
O charitable echo! hear, and sing
This ditty to her!tell her"so I stay'd
My foolish tongue, and listening, half afraid,
Stood stupefied with my own empty folly,
And blushing for the freaks of melancholy.
Salt tears were coming, when I heard my name
Most fondly lipp'd, and then these accents came:
Endymion! the cave is secreter
Than the isle of Delos. Echo hence shall stir
No sighs but sigh-warm kisses, or light noise
Of thy combing hand, the while it travelling cloys
And trembles through my labyrinthine hair."
At that oppress'd I hurried in.Ah! where
Are those swift moments? Whither are they fled?
I'll smile no more, Peona; nor will wed
Sorrow the way to death, but patiently
Bear up against it: so farewel, sad sigh;
And come instead demurest meditation,
To occupy me wholly, and to fashion
My pilgrimage for the world's dusky brink.
No more will I count over, link by link,
My chain of grief: no longer strive to find
A half-forgetfulness in mountain wind
Blustering about my ears: aye, thou shalt see,
Dearest of sisters, what my life shall be;
What a calm round of hours shall make my days.
There is a paly flame of hope that plays
Where'er I look: but yet, I'll say 'tis naught
And here I bid it die. Have not I caught,
Already, a more healthy countenance?
By this the sun is setting; we may chance
Meet some of our near-dwellers with my car."
This said, he rose, faint-smiling like a star
Through autumn mists, and took Peona's hand:
They stept into the boat, and launch'd from land.
ENDYMION.
A Romance.
"The stretched metre of an antique song." ~
Shakspeare's Sonnets.
INSCRIBED,
With Every Feeling Of Pride and Regret
and With "A Bowed Mind,"
To the Memory of
The Most English of Poets Except Shakspeare,
THOMAS CHATTERON.
------------------------
(line 144): A lovely allusion to the story of Apollo's nine years' sojourn on earth as the herdsman of Admetus, when banished from Olympus for killing the Cyclops who had forged the thunder-bolts wherewith AEsculapius had been slain.
(line 232): It was the Hymn to Pan beginning here that the young poet when engaged in the composition of Endymion was induced to recite in the presence of Wordsworth, on the 28th of December 1817, at Haydon's house. Leigh Hunt records that the elder poet pronounced it "a very pretty piece of paganism."
(line 319): Doubtless meant to refer specially to the Elgin marbles.
(line 347): The reference here is to the passage from the second Book of the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, beginning at verse 674 ... which Shelley had in mind when (Prose Works, Vol. 3, p. 56) he alluded to the Apollo "so finely described by Apollonius Rhodius when the dazzling radiance of his beautiful limbs suddenly shone over the dark Euxine."
__ note found before the Preface of Endymion, in the Poetical Works of John Keats, ed. H. Buxton Forman, Crowell publ. 1895. ...,
'In Woodhouse's copy of Endymion there is a note against the passage "so I will begin" &c., line 39, Book I, to the effect that the poem was begun in the spring of 1817 and finished in the winter of 1817-18; and in the title-page he has inserted April before 1818. The statement corresponds with Keats's own record of May 1817, that he was busying himself at Margate with the commencement of Endymion.'
PREFACE.
Knowing within myself the manner in which this Poem has been produced, it is not without a feeling of regret that I make it public.
What manner I mean, will be quite clear to the reader, who must soon perceive great inexperience, immaturity, and every error denoting a feverish attempt, rather than a deed accomplished. The two first books, and indeed the two last, I feel sensible are not of such completion as to warrant their passing the press; nor should they if I thought a year's castigation would do them any good; -- it will not: the foundations are too sandy. It is just that this youngster should die away: a sad thought for me, if I had not some hope that while it is dwindling I may be plotting, and fitting myself for verses fit to live.
This may be speaking too presumptuously, and may deserve a punishment: but no feeling man will be forward to inflict it: he will leave me alone, with the conviction that there is not a fiercer hell than the failure in a great object. This is not written with the least atom of purpose to forestall criticisms of course, but from the desire I have to conciliate men who are competent to look, and who do look with a zealous eye, to the honor of English literature.
The imagination of a boy is healthy, and the mature imagination of a man is healthy; but there is a space of life between, in which the soul is in a ferment, the character undecided, the way of life uncertain, the ambition thick-sighted: thence proceeds mawkishness, and all the thousand bitters which those men I speak of must necessarily taste in going over the following pages.
I hope I have not in too late a day touched the beautiful mythology of Greece, and dulled its brightness: for I wish to try once more, before I bid it farewell.
Teignmouth, April 10, 1818.
[footnote] Woodhouse notes -- "[for I wish to try once more,] This alluded to his then intention of writing a poem on the fall of Hyperion. He commenced this poem: but, thanks to the critics who fell foul of this work, he discontinued it. The fragment was published in 1820." by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes
~ John Keats, Endymion - Book I
,#NFDB
35 Psychology
26 Occultism
20 Integral Yoga
9 Philosophy
6 Yoga
6 Fiction
4 Mythology
2 Poetry
1 Thelema
1 Hinduism
1 Christianity
1 Alchemy
30 Carl Jung
9 Sri Aurobindo
9 Plato
8 Nolini Kanta Gupta
6 Jordan Peterson
6 H P Lovecraft
5 The Mother
5 Sri Ramakrishna
4 Joseph Campbell
3 Jorge Luis Borges
3 James George Frazer
3 A B Purani
2 Satprem
2 Mahendranath Gupta
2 John Keats
2 Henry David Thoreau
2 Aleister Crowley
11 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
8 Mysterium Coniunctionis
6 The Secret Doctrine
6 The Practice of Psycho therapy
6 Maps of Meaning
6 Lovecraft - Poems
5 Aion
4 The Hero with a Thousand Faces
4 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
4 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
3 Vedic and Philological Studies
3 The Golden Bough
3 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
2 Walden
2 The Secret Of The Veda
2 Questions And Answers 1956
2 Labyrinths
2 Keats - Poems
2 Isha Upanishad
2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Besides this metaphysics there is also an occult aspect in numerology of which Pythagoras was a well-known adept and in which the Vedic Rishis too seem to take special delight. The multiplication of numbers represents in a general way the principle of emanation. The One has divided and subdivided itself, but not in a haphazard way: it is not like the chaotic pulverisation of a piece of stone by hammer-blows. The process of division and subdivision follows a pattern almost as neat and methodical as a genealogical tree. That is to say, the emanations form a hierarchy. At the top, the apex of the pyramid, stands the one supreme Godhead. That Godhead is biune in respect of manifestation the Divine and his creative Power. This two-in-one reality may be considered, according to one view of creation, as dividing into three forms or aspects the well-known Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra of Hindu Mythology. These may be termed the first or primary emanations.
Now, each one of them in its turn has its own emanations the eleven Rudriyas are familiar. These are secondary and there are tertiary and other graded emanations the last ones touch the earth and embody physico-vital forces. The lowest formations or beings can trace their origin to one or other of the primaries and their nature and function partake of or are an echo of their first ancestor.
0.00a - Introduction, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
A simple example is the concept of the Trinity in the Christian religion. The student is frequently amazed to learn through a study of the Qabalah that Egyptian Mythology followed a similar concept with its trinity of gods, Osiris the father, Isis the virgin-mother, and Horus the son. The Qabalah indicates similar correspondences in the pantheon of Roman and Greek deities, proving the father-mother (Holy Spirit) - son principles of deity are primordial archetypes of man's psyche, rather than being, as is frequently and erroneously supposed a development peculiar to the Christian era.
At this juncture let me call attention to one set of attri butions by Rittangelius usually found as an appendix attached to the Sepher Yetzirah. It lists a series of "Intelligences" for each one of the ten Sephiros and the twenty-two Paths of the Tree of Life. It seems to me, after prolonged meditation, that the common attri butions of these Intelligences is altogether arbitrary and lacking in serious meaning.
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Gadadhar grew up into a healthy and restless boy, full of fun and sweet mischief. He was intelligent and precocious and endowed with a prodigious memory. On his father's lap he learnt by heart the names of his ancestors and the hymns to the gods and goddesses, and at the village school he was taught to read and write. But his greatest delight was to listen to recitations of stories from Hindu Mythology and the epics. These he would afterwards recount from memory, to the great joy of the villagers. Painting he enjoyed; the art of moulding images of the gods and goddesses he learnt from the potters. But arithmetic was his great aversion.
At the age of six or seven Gadadhar had his first experience of spiritual ecstasy. One day in June or July, when he was walking along a narrow path between paddy-fields, eating the puffed rice that he carried in a basket, he looked up at the sky and saw a beautiful, dark thunder-cloud. As it spread, rapidly enveloping the whole sky, a flight of snow-white cranes passed in front of it. The beauty of the contrast overwhelmed the boy. He fell to the ground, unconscious, and the puffed rice went in all directions. Some villagers found him and carried him home in their arms. Gadadhar said later that in that state he had experienced an indescribable joy.
0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Phaeton was the charioteer of the Sun in Greek Mythology.
At first sight the prose of this chapter, though there is only one dissyllabl
0.00 - THE GOSPEL PREFACE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"M", as the author modestly styles himself, was peculiarly qualified for his task. To a reverent love for his master, to a deep and experiential knowledge of that master's teaching, he added a prodigious memory for the small happenings of each day and a happy gift for recording them in an interesting and realistic way. Making good use of his natural gifts and of the circumstances in which he found himself, "M" produced a book unique, so far as my knowledge goes, in the literature of hagiography. No other saint has had so able and indefatigable a Boswell. Never have the small events of a contemplative's daily life been described with such a wealth of intimate detail. Never have the casual and unstudied utterances of a great religious teacher been set down with so minute a fidelity. To Western readers, it is true, this fidelity and this wealth of detail are sometimes a trifle disconcerting; for the social, religious and intellectual frames of reference within which Sri Ramakrishna did his thinking and expressed his feelings were entirely Indian. But after the first few surprises and bewilderments, we begin to find something peculiarly stimulating and instructive about the very strangeness and, to our eyes, the eccentricity of the man revealed to us in "M's" narrative. What a scholastic philosopher would call the "accidents" of Ramakrishna's life were intensely Hindu and therefore, so far as we in the West are concerned, unfamiliar and hard to understand; its "essence", however, was intensely mystical and therefore universal. To read through these conversations in which mystical doctrine alternates with an unfamiliar kind of humour, and where discussions of the oddest aspects of Hindu Mythology give place to the most profound and subtle utterances about the nature of Ultimate Reality, is in itself a liberal, education in humility, tolerance and suspense of judgment. We must be grateful to the translator for his excellent version of a book so curious and delightful as a biographical document, so precious, at the same time, for what it teaches us of the life of the spirit.
--------------------
0 1958-11-04 - Myths are True and Gods exist - mental formation and occult faculties - exteriorization - work in dreams, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Integral Yoga
It could apply to the old Greek Mythology, though.
No, not uniquely. It could apply in many other eases. Even if the Christians dont understand, there are many others who will!
--
There is something similar between the Puranic gods and the gods of Greek or Egyptian Mythology. The gods of Egyptian Mythology are terrible beings They cut off peoples heads, tear their enemies to pieces!
The Greeks were not always tender either!
0 1967-01-04, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In Indian Mythology, Radha gave herself wholly to Sri Krishna.
Italics indicate words Mother spoke in English.
03.11 - Modernist Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What Bottrall means is this in plain language: we reject the old-world myths and metaphors, figures and legends, wornout ornamentsmoon and star and flower and colour and musicwe must have a new set of symbols commensurate with our present-day mentality and environmentstone and steel and teas and talkies; yes, we must go in for new and modern terms, we have certainly to find out a menu appropriate to our own sthetic taste, but, Bottrall warns, and very wisely, that we must first be sure of digesting whatever we choose to eat. In other words, a new poetic Mythology is justified only when it is made part and parcel, flesh and blood and bone and marrow, of the poetic consciousness. Bottralls epigram "A man is what he eats" can be accepted without demur; only it must also be pointed out that things depend upon how one eats (eating well and digesting thoroughly) as much as what one eatsbread or manna or air and fire and light.
The modernist may chew well, but, I, am afraid, he feeds upon the husk, the chaff, the offal. Not that these things too cannot be incorporated in the poetic scheme; the spirit of poetry is catholic enough and does not disdain them, but can transfigure them into things of eternal beauty. Still how to characterise an inspiration that is wholly or even largely pre-occupied with such objects? Is it not sure evidence that the inspiration is a low and slow flame and does not possess the transfiguring white heat? Bottrall's own lines do not seem to have that quality, it is merely a lessona rhetorical lesson, at bestin poetics.
04.02 - A Chapter of Human Evolution, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Human evolution took a decisive turn with the advent of the Hellenic culture and civilisation. All crises in evolution are a sudden revelation, an unexpected outburst, a saltum, a leap into the unknown. Now, what the Greeks brought in was the Mind, the luminous Reason, the logical faculty that is married to the senses, no doubt, but still suffused with an inner glow of consciousness. It is the faculty mediating between a more direct and immediate perception of things, Intuition and Instinct, on the one hand, and on the other, the perception given by the senses and a power of control over material things. Take Egypt or Israel or Chaldea, what one finds prominent there is the instinctive-intuitive man, spontaneousprime-sautierimaginative, mythopoeic, clairvoyant, clairaudient (although not very clear, in the modern and Greek sense), bringing into this world things of the other world and pushing this world as much as possible into the other, maintaining a kind of direct connection and communion between the two. The Greeks are of another mould. They are a rational people; they do not move and act simply or mainly by instinctive reactions, but even these are filtered in them through a light of the Mind of Intelligence, a logical pattern, a rational disposition of things; through Mind they seek to know Matter and to control it. It is the modern methodology, that of observation and experiment, in other words, the scientific procedure. The Greeks have had their gods, their Mythology; but these are modelled somewhat differently: the gods are made more human, too human, as has often been observed. Zeus and Juno (Hera) are infinitely more human than Isis and Osiris or Moloch and Baal or even the Jewish Jehovah. These vital gods have a sombre air about them, solemn and serious, grim and powerful, but they have not the sunshine, the radiance and smile of Apollo (Apollo Belvedere) or Hermes. The Greeks might have, they must have taken up their gods from a more ancient Pantheon, but they have, after the manner of their sculptor Phidias, remoulded them, shaped and polished them, made them more luminous and nearer and closer to earth and men. 1 Was it not said of Socrates that he brought down the gods from heaven upon earth?
The intermediary faculty the Paraclete, which the Greeks brought to play is a corner-stone in the edifice of human progress. It is the formative power of the Mind which gives things their shape and disposition, their consistency and cogency as physical realities. There are deeper and higher sources in man, more direct, immediate and revealing, where things have their birth and origin; but this one is necessary for the embodiment, for the building up and maintenance of the subtler and profounder truths in an earthly structure, establish and fix them in the normal consciousness. The Socratic Dialogues are rightly placed at the start of the modern culture; they set the pattern of modern mentality. That rational turn of mind, that mental intelligence and understanding as elaborated, formulated, codified by the Aristotelian system was the light that shone through the Grco-Latin culture of the Roman days; that was behind the culture and civilisation of the Middle Ages. The changes and revolutions of later days, social or cultural, did not affect it, rather were based upon it and inspired by it. And even today our scientific culture maintains and continues the tradition.
05.05 - Man the Prototype, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Indeed, all the luminaries of heaven have each its conscious personality, the planets, the moon and above all the great sun. It is not a fancy or idle imagination that made the astrologers ascribe definite influences to these heavenly bodies. In Hindu astrology, for example, they are considered as real persons, each with a definite form and character, a dhyna rpa. The so-called Nature-gods in the Vedas or in ancient Mythology generally are in the same way not creations of mere poetic imagination: they are realities, more real in a sense than the real objects that represent and incarnate them.
Not only so. Our limited mind and senses are accustomed to view and recognise individuals alone as persons. But there are group personalities too. Thus each species has a generic personality, a consciousness and an ideal or intrinsic form also: the individuals on the physical plane are its various incarnations, projections and formations. Old Plato was not so naive, as we of today are apt to believe, when he spoke of the real reality of general ideas. The attri butes, qualities and functions of the generic personality are the source and pattern of what the individuals that form the group actually are. The group person is the king, he is also the body of the Dharma ruling the domain. Any change in the law of being of the group person is necessarily translated in a similar change in the nature and activity of the individuals of the species. What evolutionists describe as sudden variation or mutation and whose cause or genesis they are at a loss to trace, is precisely due to an occult change in the consciousness and will of the group soul.
10.01 - Cycles of Creation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The world, it seems, moves in cycles. There are periods of creation with a hiatus or a gap in between of dissolution. Present-day science too speaks of the universe proceeding in pulsations, that is to say, alternate expansion and contraction. Indian Mythology speaks of alternate 'Pralaya' and 'Srishti'. The Indian system speaks also of 'Mahpralaya', utter dissolution or 'Yoganidr' of the Supreme. In other words, there are periods when the universe retires altogether into its origin and when it comes out it manifests itself in an entirely new way. In a given creation between two major dissolutions, 'Mahpralaya', that is to say, in a major cycle, there are minor cycles (epicycles) marked by minor dissolutions, 'Khandapralaya'.
The present major cycle aims, as I have said, at the manifestation of the Supermind and the installation of the supramental race. The cycle started, one does not know when, billions of years ago perhaps, but the principle of the creation seems to be clear enough. It has matter for its base, earth as its centre and man as its dynamic agent. For all we know there may be, there are other principles and modalities of creation. One may well conceive of air, for example, as the basis of creation and some other heavenly body, an airy globe in a far-off galaxy, for example, being the basis of creation and an airy creature as the vehicle for the play based upon that principle. Even fire may be the basic principle of another creation and salamander-like beings its natural inhabitants. There may be quite other principles or modes of creation conceivable or inconceivable by the human mind. However, we speak now of the present terrestrial creation of which we human beings are representative participants.
1.00 - PREFACE - DESCENSUS AD INFERNOS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
its widest sense (including therefore Mythology, folklore, and primitive psychology) is a treasure-house
of archetypal forms from which the doctor can draw helpful parallels and enlightening comparisons for
1.01 - Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
Patients often discover a whole anima Mythology with numerous
archaic motifs. A case of this kind was published some time ago
1.01 - Historical Survey, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
Poland, Galicia, and certain portions of Russia have been the scene of the activities of wandering Rabbis and Tal- mudic scholars who were styled " Tsadikim " or magicians, men who assiduously devoted their lives and their powers to the Practical Qabalah. But it was not until the last century, with its impetus to all kinds of studies in com- parative Mythology and religious controversy that we dis- cover an attempt to weld all philosophies, religions, scientific ideas and symbols into a coherent Whole.
Eliphaz Levi Zahed, a Roman Catholic deacon of remark- able perspicuity, in 1852 published a brilliant volume,
1.01 - MAPS OF EXPERIENCE - OBJECT AND MEANING, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
expression in the arts or humanities, in ritual, drama, literature, and Mythology. The world as forum for
action is a place of value, a place where all things have meaning. This meaning, which is shaped as a
--
simple manner we generally believe. The cosmos described by Mythology was not the same place known to
the practitioners of modern science but that does not mean it was not real. We have not yet found God
--
Proper analysis of Mythology, of the type proposed here, is not mere discussion of historical events
enacted upon the world stage (as the traditionally religious might have it), and it is not mere investigation
--
The basic grammatical structure of transformational Mythology, so to speak, appears most clearly
revealed in the form of the way (as in the American Way of Life). The great literary critic Northrop
--
long-lost Paradise might constitute such redemption appear as common themes of Mythology, among
members of exceedingly diverse and long-separated human cultures.24 This commonality appears because
1.01 - Principles of Practical Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
There are numerous motifs, and we meet them everywhere in Mythology.
Hence we can only say that the psychic development of the individual
1.02 - MAPS OF MEANING - THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
religious Mythology is in fact the behavior the procedures that have been generated, transmitted,
imitated, and modified by everyone who has ever lived, everywhere. Images of these behaviors and of the
--
imagery and semantic description). This partially implicit containment constitutes our Mythology, and our
ritual, and provides the upper-level, unconscious frames of reference within which our conditional and
--
The Mythology of the hero, in toto, depicts the development and establishment of a personality capable
of facing the most extreme conditions of existence. The heros quest or journey has been represented in
--
information nonetheless transmissible and representable in Mythology, etc., as a consequence of extendedterm pattern-recognition and analysis.
The stories by which individuals live (which comprise their schemas of interpretation, which guide
--
process extending over untold centuries. This process represents itself, in Mythology, as the battle of the
gods in heaven, which Eliade has described as the conflict between divine generations.335 Eliade
discusses Hittite/Hurrian and Canaanite Mythology (circa 1740-1200 B.C.), and its relationship to similar
myths, in ancient Phoenicia and elsewhere. In the Hittite theogony, the relative sovereignty of the gods was
--
corresponding in the Hurrian/Hittite Mythology to Alalu. From his union with Bruth there came into the
world Uranus (corresponding to Anu) and Ge (Gaea). In their turn, these two engendered four sons, the
--
from behind the sky. The sky is utilized in Mythology, in general, as a masculine symbol (at least the
day sky) and tends to be assimilated to the same natural category as the king. It appears to be damage to
1.02 - The Concept of the Collective Unconscious, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
the field of Mythology and comparative religion and forming
the basis of numerous "representations collectives." I might
--
nothing of Mythology or archaeology in those days, so the situa-
tion was not in any way suspect. One day I found the patient
--
substantiated by evidence from comparative Mythology and
ethnology. I have described the method of investigation else-
1.02 - The Shadow, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
the shadow is a motif as well known to Mythology as anima and
animus, it represents first and foremost the personal uncon-
1.02 - What is Psycho therapy?, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
psychology, comparative Mythology, and religion.
[45]
1.03 - APPRENTICESHIP AND ENCULTURATION - ADOPTION OF A SHARED MAP, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
Knowledge of the grammar of Mythology might well constitute an antidote to ideological gullibility.
Genuine myths are capable of representing the totality of conflicting forces, operating in any given
1.03 - Concerning the Archetypes, with Special Reference to the Anima Concept, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
sheer Mythology, I must emphasize that the concept of the
anima is a purely empirical concept, whose sole purpose is to
--
primitives, 8 in Mythology, in comparative religion, and in the
history of literature, can hardly claim to say anything about
--
scurities of primitive Mythology, 13 and up, on the other, into the
philosophical speculations of Gnosticism 14 and of classical Chi-
--
27 The "dual birth" refers to the motif, well known from hero Mythology, which
makes the hero descend from divine as well as from human parents. In most
1.03 - Spiritual Realisation, The aim of Bhakti-Yoga, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
Bhakti-Yoga, as we have said, is divided into the Gauni or the preparatory, and the Par or the supreme forms. We shall find, as we go on, how in the preparatory stage we unavoidably stand in need of many concrete helps to enable us to get on; and indeed the mythological and symbological parts of all religions are natural growths which early environ the aspiring soul and help it Godward. It is also a significant fact that spiritual giants have been produced only in those systems of religion where there is an exuberant growth of rich Mythology and ritualism. The dry fanatical forms of religion which attempt to eradicate all that is poetical, all that is beautiful and sublime, all that gives a firm grasp to the infant mind tottering in its Godward way the forms which attempt to break down the very ridge-poles of the spiritual roof, and in their ignorant and superstitious conceptions of truth try to drive away all that is life-giving, all that furnishes the formative material to the spiritual plant growing in the human soul such forms of religion too soon find that all that is left to them is but an empty shell, a contentless frame of words and sophistry with perhaps a little flavour of a kind of social scavengering or the socalled spirit of reform.
The vast mass of those whose religion is like this, are conscious or unconscious materialists the end and aim of their lives here and hereafter being enjoyment, which indeed is to them the alpha and the omega of human life, and which is their Ishtpurta; work like street-cleaning and scavengering, intended for the material comfort of man is, according to them, the be-all and end-all of human existence; and the sooner the followers of this curious mixture of ignorance and fanaticism come out in their true colours and join, as they well deserve to do, the ranks of atheists and materialists, the better will it be for the world. One ounce of the practice of righteousness and of spiritual Self-realisation outweighs tons and tons of frothy talk and nonsensical sentiments. Show us one, but one gigantic spiritual genius growing out of all this dry dust of ignorance and fanaticism; and if you cannot, close your mouths, open the windows of your hearts to the clear light of truth, and sit like children at the feet of those who know what they are talking about the sages of India. Let us then listen attentively to what they say.
1.03 - The Sephiros, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
Wisdom who sprang full-armed from the brain of Zeus, is attri buted to Chokmah. In Greek Mythology, she appeared as the preserver of human life, and instituted the ancient court of the Areopagus at Athens. She is also Minerva in
THE SEPHIROS
--
the correspondence of Poseidon the ruler of the seas in Mythology, and Jupiter, or rather that aspect of him which was originally, in earliest Rome, an elemental or tutelary divinity, worshipped as the God of Rain, Storms, and
54
1.04 - Sounds, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
When I meet the engine with its train of cars moving off with planetary motion,or, rather, like a comet, for the beholder knows not if with that velocity and with that direction it will ever revisit this system, since its orbit does not look like a returning curve,with its steam cloud like a banner streaming behind in golden and silver wreaths, like many a downy cloud which I have seen, high in the heavens, unfolding its masses to the light,as if this travelling demigod, this cloud-compeller, would ere long take the sunset sky for the livery of his train; when I hear the iron horse make the hills echo with his snort like thunder, shaking the earth with his feet, and breathing fire and smoke from his nostrils, (what kind of winged horse or fiery dragon they will put into the new Mythology I dont know), it seems as if the earth had got a race now worthy to inhabit it. If all were as it seems, and men made the elements their servants for noble ends! If the cloud that hangs over the engine were the perspiration of heroic deeds, or as beneficent as that which floats over the farmers fields, then the elements and Nature herself would cheerfully accompany men on their errands and be their escort.
I watch the passage of the morning cars with the same feeling that I do the rising of the sun, which is hardly more regular. Their train of clouds stretching far behind and rising higher and higher, going to heaven while the cars are going to Boston, conceals the sun for a minute and casts my distant field into the shade, a celestial train beside which the petty train of cars which hugs the earth is but the barb of the spear. The stabler of the iron horse was up early this winter morning by the light of the stars amid the mountains, to fodder and harness his steed. Fire, too, was awakened thus early to put the vital heat in him and get him off. If the enterprise were as innocent as it is early! If the snow lies deep, they strap on his snow-shoes, and with the giant plow, plow a furrow from the mountains to the seaboard, in which the cars, like a following drill-barrow, sprinkle all the restless men and floating merchandise in the country for seed.
1.04 - The Aims of Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
possible about primitive psychology, Mythology, archaeology, and
comparative religion, because these fields offer me invaluable analogies
1.04 - THE APPEARANCE OF ANOMALY - CHALLENGE TO THE SHARED MAP, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
existence upon a Mythology, which is a collection of images of behaviors, which emerge, in turn, as a
consequence of social interaction (cooperation and competition), designed to meet emotional demands.
--
Arrival of the stranger, concretely presented in Mythology, constitutes a threat to the stability of the
kingdom metaphorically indistinguishable from that posed by environmental transformation. The stable
--
fundamental idea is embodied in Mythology in the figure of the revolutionary hero. He is the fourth manner
in which threat to the stability of cultural tradition may be presented and, simultaneously: is solution to
--
the meaning of experience, and therefore, the Mythology of history and being. If resolution is not reached
in time of crisis, mental illness (for the individual) or cultural degeneration (for the society) threatens. This
--
unexpectedly. However, context determines salience determines meaning in Mythology as elsewhere.
The conditions of existence that is, the balance obtained by the forces of order, chaos and consciousness
--
absence of our understanding. But the primal matter of Mythology (a more comprehensive substance
than the matter of the modern world) is much more than mere substance: it is the source of everything,
--
fundamental to the world of experience as fundamental as things themselves. The matter of Mythology
therefore seems more than superstition, that must be transcended seems more than the dead stuff of the
--
widespread motif of Mythology, and manifests itself as well as a literary theme. Fryes comments on
Melvilles Moby Dick are relevant here. Moby Dick is a great white whale, who lives in the depths of the
--
Freuds inclusion of all the elements of the world-tree (negative and positive) that has given his Mythology
its remarkable strength, influence and power.
--
The snake serves Mythology in a dual role, as agent and symbol of transformation, and as prime
representative of fundamental, undifferentiated uroboric power. The Edenic serpent provides the individual
1.04 - The Crossing of the First Threshold, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
even in Mythology" (Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, p. 155). The
name Oedipus, it should be noted, means "the swollen footed."
--
will be found in Mchal's Slavic Mythology (The Mythology of All Races,
Vol. Ill, Boston, 1918).
1.04 - The Paths, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
The animal appropriate to Aleph is the Eagle, the king of the birds, since we learn from classical Mythology that the Eagle was sacred to Jupiter ; whose sacrifices, I may add, generally consisted of bulls and cows. Its element is
Air A, rushing aimlessly hither and thither, always pressing or tending in a downward direction.
--
Msenads of poetry and Mythology, among more beautiful proofs of their superhuman character, have always to tear bulls in pieces and taste of the blood. The reader will also recall to mind the fair promise of Lord Dunsany's most interesting story, The Blessing of Pan.
In India we see the sacred bull revered as typifying Shiva in his creative aspect ; also as glyphed in their temples by an erect Lingam. Here, the Goddess of Marriage, and
--
Anderson in his Norse Mythology says that the Valkyries
" are the handmaidens of Odin, and the God of War sends his thoughts and his will to the carnage of the battlefield in the form of mighty armed women, in the same manner as he sends his ravens all over the earth ".
1.04 - The Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
edge of comparative Mythology. They have no difficulty in rec-
ognizing the shadow as the adverse representative of the dark
--
found in possession of living fragments of Mythology. After this
date the world of heroes and monsters spread like a devastating
1.05 - Solitude, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
I have occasional visits in the long winter evenings, when the snow falls fast and the wind howls in the wood, from an old settler and original proprietor, who is reported to have dug Walden Pond, and stoned it, and fringed it with pine woods; who tells me stories of old time and of new eternity; and between us we manage to pass a cheerful evening with social mirth and pleasant views of things, even without apples or cider,a most wise and humorous friend, whom I love much, who keeps himself more secret than ever did Goffe or Whalley; and though he is thought to be dead, none can show where he is buried. An elderly dame, too, dwells in my neighborhood, invisible to most persons, in whose odorous herb garden I love to stroll sometimes, gathering simples and listening to her fables; for she has a genius of unequalled fertility, and her memory runs back farther than Mythology, and she can tell me the original of every fable, and on what fact every one is founded, for the incidents occurred when she was young. A ruddy and lusty old dame, who delights in all weathers and seasons, and is likely to outlive all her children yet.
The indescribable innocence and beneficence of Nature,of sun and wind and rain, of summer and winter,such health, such cheer, they afford forever! and such sympathy have they ever with our race, that all
1.05 - THE HOSTILE BROTHERS - ARCHETYPES OF RESPONSE TO THE UNKNOWN, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
representation, comprising the individual as such, embodied in Mythology as the hostile brothers. One of
these hostile brothers, or eternal sons of God, is the mythological hero. He faces the unknown with
--
constitute true Mythology. These ideas surround the established central writings and ideas of Christianity,
like a cloud surrounds a mountain. They have been transmitted to us, in part, as religious doctrine; in part,
--
can be most clearly comprehended through examination of the personality it has adopted in Mythology,
literature, and fantasy, elaborated in the lengthy course of historical development. This personality consists
--
the terrible underworld of Mythology and its denizens in intrapsychic space. It is no wonder that this idea
has become unpopular: nonetheless, evil exists somewhere. It remains difficult not to see hypocrisy in the
--
fought in abstraction, image and in the course of genuine earthly combat portrayed in Mythology as
spiritual war, played out in heaven (which is the place where transpersonal ideas exist). The Deity who
--
Christian Mythology portrays Satan as the highest angel in Gods heavenly kingdom. This fact
renders his association with reason more comprehensible. Reason may well be considered the highest
--
representation in narrative) appears represented in Mythology as brought about by revelation. This
294
--
thought that Christ represents is necessarily there in any narrative or Mythology, sufficiently compelling
to embed itself in memory. The reasons for this implicit existence are clear, in a sense: Christ embodies the
--
exploited to that end in great literature and Mythology. True evil, by contrast, is anything but noble.
Participation in acts whose sole purpose is expansion of innocent pain and suffering destroys character;
--
(or think they describe) what happened. The traditions of Mythology and religion describe the
significance of what happened (and it must be noted that if what happens is without significance, it is
--
Campbell, J. (1964). Occidental Mythology: The masks of God. London: Penguin Books.
Campbell, J. (1968). The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
--
Campbell, J. (1987). The masks of God: Vol. 1. Primitive Mythology. New York: Penguin.
Carver, C.S. & Scheier, M.F. (1982). Control theory: A useful conceptual framework for personality,
1.06 - The Sign of the Fishes, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
on the well-attested fact that glimpses of astrological Mythology
may be caught behind the stories of the worldly and other-
1.07 - Production of the mind-born sons of Brahma, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
[15]: The three first of these are more particularly described in the last book: the last, the Nitya, or constant, is differently described by Col. Vans Kennedy (Ancient and Hindu Mythology, p. 224, note). "In the 7th chapter," he observes, "of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa four kinds of Pralaya are described. The Naimittika takes place when Brahmā slumbers: the Prākritika when this universe returns to its original nature: Atyantika proceeds from divine knowledge: and Nitya is the extinction of life, like the extinction of a lamp, in sleep at night." For this last characteristic, however, our text furnishes no warrant; nor can it be explained to signify, that the Nitya Pralaya means no more p. 57 than "a man's falling into a sound sleep at night." All the copies consulted on the present occasion coñcur in reading ### as rendered above. The commentator supplies the illustration, 'like the flame of a lamp;' but he also writes, 'That which is the destruction of all that are born, night and day, is the Nitya, or constant.' Again, in a verse presently following we have the Nitya Sarga, 'constant or perpetual creation,' as opposed to constant dissolution: 'That in which, oh excellent sages, beings are daily born, is termed constant creation, by those learned in the Purāṇas.' The commentator explains this, 'The constant flow or succession of the creation of ourselves and other creatures is the Nitya or constant creation: this is the meaning of the text.' It is obvious, therefore, that the alternation intended is that of life and death, not of waking and sleep.
1.08 - The Gods of the Veda - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Yet the most fundamental and important part of this imperishable Scripture, the actual hymns and mantras of the Sanhitas, has long been a sealed book to the Indian mind, learned or unlearned. The other Vedic books are of minor authority or a secondary formation. The Brahmanas are ritual, grammatical & historical treatises on the traditions & ceremonies of Vedic times whose only valueapart from interesting glimpses of ancient life & Vedantic philosophylies in their attempt to fix and to interpret symbolically the ritual of Vedic sacrifice. The Upanishads, mighty as they are, only aspire to bring out, arrange philosophically in the language of later thinking and crown with the supreme name of Brahman the eternal knowledge enshrined in the Vedas. Yet for some two thousand years at least no Indian has really understood the Vedas. Or if they have been understood, if Sayana holds for us their secret, the reverence of the Indian mind for them becomes a baseless superstition and the idea that the modern Indian religions are Vedic in their substance is convicted of egregious error. For the Vedas Sayana gives us are the Mythology of the Adityas, Rudras,Maruts, Vasus,but these gods of the Veda have long ceased to be worshipped,or they are a collection of ritual & sacrificial hymns, but the ritual is dead & the sacrifices are no longer offered.
Are we then to conclude that the reverence for the Vedas & the belief in the continued authority of the Vedas is really no more than an ancient superstition or a tradition which has survived its truth? Those who know the working of the human mind, will be loth to hasten to that conclusion. Great masses of men, great nations, great civilisations have an instinct in these matters which seldom misleads them. In spite of forgetfulness, through every misstatement, surviving all cessation of precise understanding, something in them still remembers their origin and holds fast to the vital truth of their being. According to the Europeans, there is a historical truth at the basis of the old persistent tradition, but a historical truth only, a truth of origin, not of present actuality. The Vedas are the early roots of Indian religion, of Indian civilisation; but they have for a long time past ceased to be their present foundation or their intellectual substance. It is rather the Upanishads & the Puranas that are the living Scriptures of mediaeval and modern Hinduism. But if, as we contend, the Upanishads & the Puranas only give us in other language, later symbols, altered forms of thought the same religious truths that we find differently stated in the Rigveda, this shifting of the immediate point of derivation will make no real difference. The waters we drink are the same whether drawn at their clear mountain sources or on their banks in the anchorites forest or from ghats among the faery temples and fantastic domes of some sacred city.The Hindus belief remains to him unshaken.
--
With the acceptance of these modern opinions Hinduism ought by this time to have been as dead among educated men as the religion of the Greeks & Romans. It should at best have become a religio Pagana, a superstition of ignorant villagers. Itis, on the contrary, stronger & more alive, fecund & creative than it had been for the previous three centuries. To a certain extent this unexpected result may be traced to the high opinion in which even European opinion has been compelled to hold the Vedanta philosophy, the Bhagavat Gita and some of the speculationsas the Europeans think themor, as we hold, the revealed truths of the Upanishads. But although intellectually we are accustomed in obedience to Western criticism to base ourselves on the Upanishads & Gita and put aside Purana and Veda as mere Mythology & mere ritual, yet in practice we live by the religion of the Puranas & Tantras even more profoundly & intimately than we live by & realise the truths of the Upanishads. In heart & soul we still worship Krishna and Kali and believe in the truth of their existence. Nevertheless this divorce between the heart & the intellect, this illicit compromise between faith & reason cannot be enduring. If Purana & Veda cannot be rehabilitated, it is yet possible that our religion driven out of the soul into the intellect may wither away into the dry intellectuality of European philosophy or the dead formality & lifeless clarity of European Theism. It behoves us therefore to test our faith by a careful examination into the meaning of Purana & Veda and into the foundation of that truth which our intellect seeks to deny [but] our living spiritual experience continues to find in their conceptions. We must discover why it is that while our intellects accept only the truth of Vedanta, our spiritual experiences confirm equally or even more powerfully the truth of Purana. A revival of Hindu intellectual faith in the totality of the spiritual aspects of our religion, whether Vedic, Vedantic, Tantric or Puranic, I believe to be an inevitable movement of the near future.
There has already been, indeed, a local movement towards the rehabilitation of the Veda. Swami Dayananda, the founder of the Arya Samaj, preached a monotheistic religion founded on a new interpretation of the sacred hymns. But this important attempt, successful & vigorous in the Panjab, is not likely to comm and acceptance among the more subtle races of the south & east. It was based like the European rendering on a system of philology,the Nirukta of Yaska used by the scholastic ingenuity & robust faith of Dayananda to justify conclusions far-reaching & even extravagant, to which it is difficult to assent unless we are offered stronger foundations.Moreover, by rejecting the authority of all later Scriptures and scouting even the Upanishads because they transcend the severity of his monotheistic teaching, Dayananda cut asunder the unity of Hindu religion even more fatally than the Europeans & by the slenderness of vision & the poverty of spiritual contents, the excessive simplicity of doctrine farther weakened the authority of this version for the Indian intellect. He created a sect & a rendering, but failed to rehabilitate to the educated mind in India the authority of the Vedas. Nevertheless, he put his finger on the real clue, the true principle by which Veda can yet be made to render up its long-guarded secret. A Nirukta, based on a wider knowledge of the Aryan tongues than Dayananda possessed, more scientific than the conjectural philology of the Europeans, is the first condition of this great recovery. The second is a sympathy & flexibility of intelligence capable of accepting passively & moulding itself to the mentality of the men of this remote epoch.
--
But for my own part I do not hold myself bound by European research&European theories.My scepticism of nineteenth century results goes farther than is possible to any European scepticism. The Science of comparative religion in Europe seems to me to be based on a blunder. The sun & star theory of comparative Mythology with its extravagant scholastic fancies & lawless inferences carries no conviction to my reason. I find in the Aryan & Dravidian tongues, the Aryan and Dravidian races not separate & unconnected families but two branches of a single stock. The legend of the Aryan invasion & settlement in the Panjab in Vedic times is, to me, a philological myth. The naturalistic interpretation of theVedas I accept only as a transference or adhyaropa of European ideas into the Veda foreign to the mentality of the Vedic Rishis & Max Mullers discovery of Vedic henotheism as a brilliant & ingenious error. Whatever is sound & indisputable in European ideas & discoveries, I am bound to admit & shall use, but these large generalisations & assumptions ought, I think, no longer to pass current as unchallengeable truth or the final knowledge about the Vedas. My method is rather to make a tabula rasa of all previous theories European or Indian & come back to the actual text of the Veda for enlightenment, the fundamental structure & development of the old Sanscrit tongue for a standard of interpretation and the connection of thought in the hymns for a guide to their meaning. I have arrived as a result at a theory of the Vedic religion, of which this book is intended to give some initial indications.
I put aside at the beginning the common assumption that since religion started from the fears & desires of savages a record of religion as ancient as the Vedas must necessarily contain a barbarous or semi-barbarous Mythology empty of any profound or subtle spiritual & moral ideas or, if it contains them at all, that it must be only in the latest documents. We have no more right to assume that the Vedic Rishis were a race of simple & frank barbarians than to assume that they were a class of deep and acute philosophers. What they were is the thing we have to discover and we may arrive at either conclusion or neither, but we must not start from our goal or begin our argument on the basis of our conclusion. We know nothing of the history & thought of the times, we know nothing of the state of their intellectual & social culture except what we can gather from the Vedic hymns themselves. Indications from other sources may be useful as clues but the hymns are our sole authority.
The indications from external sources are few and inconclusive, but they are by no means favourable to the theory of a materialistic worship of Nature-Powers. The Europeans start with their knowledge of the old Pagan worship, their idea of the crudity of early Greek & German myth & practice and their minds naturally expect to find & even insist on finding an even greater crudity in the Vedas. But it must not be forgotten that in no written record of Greek or Scandinavian do the old religions appear as mere materialistic ideas or the old gods as mere Nature forces; they have also a moral significance, and show a substratum of moral and an admixture even of psychological & philosophical ideas. If in their origin, they were material and barbarous, they had already been moralised & intellectualised. Already even in Homer Pallas Athene is not the Dawn or any natural phenomenon, but a great preterhuman power of wisdom, force & intelligence; Apollo is not the Sunwho is represented by another deity, Helios but a moral or moralised deity. In the Veda, even in the European rendering, Varuna has a similar moral character and represents ethical & religious ideas far in advance of any that we find in the Homeric cult & ethics. We cannot rule out of court the possibility that others of the gods shared this Vedic distinction or that, even perhaps in their oldest hymns, the Indians had gone at least as far as the Greeks in the moralising of their religion.
--
The modern naturalistic account of Indra is that he is the god of rain, the wielder of lightning, the master of the thunderbolt. It is as the lightning, we presume, that he is addressed as harivas and chitrabhno, brilliant and of a richly varied effulgence. He comes to the brahmni, the hymnal utterances of the Rishis, in the sense of being called by the prayer to the sacrifice, and he comes for the sole purpose of drinking the physical Soma wine, by which he is immediately increased,sadyo vriddho ajyathh, says another Sukta,that is, as soon as the Soma offering is poured out, the rains of the monsoon suddenly increase in force. So at least we must understand, if these hymns are to have any precise naturalistic sense. Otherwise we should have to assume that the Rishis sang without attaching any meaning to their words. If, however, we suppose the hymns to Indra to be sung at monsoon offerings, in the rainy months of the year only, we get ideas, imbecile enough, but still making some attempt at sense. On another hypothesis, we may suppose Indra to be one of the gods of light or day slaying Vritra the lord of night & darkness, and also a god of lightning slaying Vritra the lord of the drought. Stated generally, these hypotheses seem plausible enough; systematically stated & supported by Comparative Mythology and some Puranic details their easy acceptance & great vogue is readily intelligible. It is only when we look carefully at the actual expressions used by the Rishis, that they no longer seem to fit in perfectly and great gulfs of no-sense have to be perfunctorily bridged by empirical guesses. A perfect system of naturalistic Veda fails to evolve.
When we look carefully at the passage before us, we find an expression which strikes one as a very extraordinary phrase in reference to a god of lightning and rain. Indryhi, says Madhuchchhanda, dhiyeshito viprajtah. On any ordinary acceptance of the meaning of words, we have to render this line, Come, O Indra, impelled by the understanding, driven by the Wise One. Sayana thinks that vipra means Brahmin and the idea is that Indra is moved to come by the intelligent sacrificing priests and he explains dhiyeshito, moved to come by our understanding, that is to say, by our devotion. But understanding does not mean devotion and the artificiality of the interpretation is apparent.We will, as usual, put aside the ritualistic & naturalistic traditions and see to what the natural sense of the words themselves leads us. I question the traditional acceptance of viprajta as a compound of vipra & jta; it seems tome clearly to be vi prajtah, driven forward variously or in various directions. I am content to accept the primary sense of impelled for ishita, although, whether we read dhiy ishito with the Padapatha, or dhiy shito, it may equally well mean, controlled by the understanding; but of themselves the expressions impelled & driven forward in various paths imply a perfect control.We have then, Come, O Indra, impelled (or controlled, governed) by the understanding and driven forward in various paths. What is so driven forward? Obviously not the storm, not the lightning, not any force of material Nature, but a subjective force, and, as one can see at a glance, a force of mind. Now Indra is the king of Swar and Swar in the symbolical interpretation of the Vedic terms current in after times is the mental heaven corresponding to the principle of Manas, mind. His name means the Strong. In the Puranas he is that which the Rishis have to conquer in order to attain their goal, that which sends the Apsaras, the lower delights & temptations of the senses to bewilder the sage and the hero; and, as is well known, in the Indian system of Yoga it is the Mind with its snares, sensuous temptations & intellectual delusions which is the enemy that has to be overcome & the strong kingdom that has to be conquered. In this passage Indra is not thought of in his human form, but as embodied in the principle of light or tejas; he is harivas, substance of brightness; he is chitrabhnu, of a rich & various effulgence, epithets not easily applicable to a face or figure, but precisely applicable to the principle of mind which has always been supposed in India to be in its material element made of tejas or pure light.We may conclude, therefore, that in Indra, master of Swarga, we have the divine lord of mental force & power. It is as this mental power that he comes sutvatah upa brahmni vghatah, to the soul-movements of the chanter of the sacred song, of the holder of the nectar-wine. He is asked to come, impelled or controlled by the understanding and driven forward by it in the various paths of sumati & snrit, right thinking & truth. We remember the image in the Kathopanishad in which the mind & senses are compared to reins & horses and the understanding to the driver. We look back & see at once the connection with the function demanded of the Aswins in the preceding verses; we look forward & see easily the connection with the activity of Saraswati in the closing riks. The thought of the whole Sukta begins to outline itself, a strong, coherent and luminous progression of psychological images begins to emerge.
1.08 - The Historical Significance of the Fish, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
45 De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, II, pp. 334^
46 Shatapatha Brahmana (Eggeling trans., pp. 2i6ff.).
1.09 - A System of Vedic Psychology, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The successes of European science have cast the shadow of their authority & prestige over the speculations of European scholarship; for European thought is, in appearance, a serried army marching to world-conquest and we who undergo the yoke of its tyranny, we, who paralysed by that fascination and overborne by that domination, have almost lost the faculty of thinking for ourselves, receive without distinction all its camp followers or irregular volunteers as authorities to whom we must needs submit.We reflect in our secondh and opinions the weak parts of European thought equally with the strong; we do not distinguish between those of its ideas which eternal Truth has ratified and those which have merely by their ingenuity and probability captivated for a short season the human imagination. The greater part of the discoveries of European Science (its discoveries, not its intellectual generalisations) belong to the first category; the greater part of the conclusions of European scholarship to the second. The best European thought has itself no illusions on this score. One of the greatest of European scholars & foremost of European thinkers, Ernest Renan, after commencing his researches in Comparative Philology with the most golden & extravagant hopes, was compelled at the close of a life of earnest & serious labour, to sum up the chief preoccupation of his days in a formula of measured disparagement,petty conjectural sciences. In other words, no sciences at all; for a science built upon conjectures is as much an impossibility & a contradiction in terms as a house built upon water. Renans own writings bear eloquent testimony to the truth of his final verdict; those which sum up his scholastic research, read now like a mass of learned crudity, even the best of them no longer authoritative or valid; those which express the substance or shades of his lifes thinking are of an imperishable beauty & value. The general sentiment of European Science agrees with the experience of Renan and even shoots beyond it; in the vocabulary of German scientists the word Philologe, philologist, bears a sadly disparaging and contemptuous significance & so great is the sense among serious thinkers of the bankruptcy of Comparative Philology that many deny even the possibility of an etymological Science. There is no doubt an element of exaggeration in some of these views; but it is true that Comparative Philology, Comparative Mythology, ethnology, anthropology and their kindred sciences are largely a mass of conjectures,shifting intellectual quagmires in which we can find no sure treading. Only the airy wings of an ingenious imagination can bear us up on that shimmering surface and delude us with the idea that it is the soil which supports our movement & not the wings. There is a meagre but sound substratum of truth which will disengage itself some day from the conjectural rubbish; but the present stage of these conjectural sciences is no better but rather worse than the state of European chemistry in the days of Paracelsus.But we in India are under the spell of European philology; we are taken by its ingenuity, audacity & self-confidence, an ingenuity which is capable of giving a plausibility to the absurd and an appearance of body to the unsubstantial, an audacity which does not hesitate to erect the most imposing theories on a few tags of disconnected facts, a confidence which even the constant change of its own opinions cannot disconcert. Moreover, our natural disposition is to the intellectuality of the scholar; verbal ingenuities, recondite explanations, far-fetched glosses have long had a weight with us which the discontinuity of our old scientific activities and disciplined experimental methods of reaching subjective truth has exaggerated and our excessive addiction to mere verbal metaphysics strongly confirmed. It is not surprising that educated India should have tacitly or expressly accepted even in subjects of such supreme importance to us as the real significance of the Vedas and Upanishads, the half patronising, half contemptuous views of the European scholar.
What are those views? They represent the Veda to us as a mass of naturalistic, ritualistic & astrological conceits, allegories & metaphors, crude & savage in the substance of its thought but more artificial & ingenious in its particular ideas & fancies than the most artificial, allegorical or Alexandrian poetry to be found in the worlds literaturea strange incoherent & gaudy jumble unparalleled by the early literature of any other nation,the result of a queer psychological mixture of an early savage with a modern astronomer & comparative mythologist.
--
Nevertheless a time must come when the Indian mind will shake off the paralysis that has fallen upon it, cease to think or hold opinions at second & third hand & reassert its right to judge and inquire with a perfect freedom into the meaning of its own Scriptures. When that day comes, we shall, I think, discover that the imposing fabric of Vedic theory is based upon nothing more sound or lasting than a foundation of loosely massed conjectures. We shall question many established philological myths,the legend, for instance, of an Aryan invasion of India from the north, the artificial & unreal distinction of Aryan & Dravidian which an erroneous philology has driven like a wedge into the unity of the homogeneous Indo-Afghan race; the strange dogma of a henotheistic Vedic naturalism; the ingenious & brilliant extravagances of the modern sun & star myth weavers, and many another hasty & attractive generalisation which, after a brief period of unquestioning acceptance by the easily-persuaded intellect of mankind, is bound to depart into the limbo of forgotten theories. We attach an undue importance & value to the ephemeral conclusions of European philology, because it is systematic in its errors and claims to be a science.We forget or do not know that the claims of philology to a scientific value & authority are scouted by European scientists; the very word, Philologe, is a byword of scorn to serious scientific writers in Germany, the temple of philology. One of the greatest of modern philologists & modern thinkers, Ernest Renan, was finally obliged after a lifetime of hope & earnest labour to class the chief preoccupation of his life as one of the petty conjectural sciencesin other words no science at all, but a system of probabilities & guesses. Beyond one or two generalisations of the mutations followed by words in their progress through the various Aryan languages and a certain number of grammatical rectifications & rearrangements, resulting in a less arbitrary view of linguistic relations, modern philology has discovered no really binding law or rule for its own guidance. It has fixed one or two sure signposts; the rest is speculation and conjecture.We are not therefore bound to worship at the shrines of Comparative Science & Comparative Mythology & offer up on these dubious altars the Veda & Vedanta. The question of Vedic truth & the meaning of Veda still lies open. If Sayanas interpretation of Vedic texts is largely conjectural and likely often to be mistaken & unsound, the European interpretation can lay claim to no better certainty. The more lively ingenuity and imposing orderliness of the European method of conjecture may be admitted; but ingenuity & orderliness, though good helps to an enquiry, are in themselves no guarantee of truth and a conjecture does not cease to be a conjecture, because its probability or possibility is laboriously justified or brilliantly supported. It is on the basis of a purely conjectural translation of the Vedas that Europe presents us with these brilliant pictures of Vedic religion, Vedic society, Vedic civilisation which we so eagerly accept and unquestioningly reproduce. For we take them as the form of an unquestionable truth; in reality, they are no more than brilliantly coloured hypotheses,works of imagination, not drawings from the life.
***
1.09 - Fundamental Questions of Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
of Mythology, and they govern the psychic and social life of the primitive
in much the same way as our lives are governed and moulded by the
1.09 - Saraswati and Her Consorts, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Life-breath. In the lesser gods the naturalistic interpretation has less ground for confidence; for it is obvious that Varuna is not merely a Vedic Uranus or Neptune, but a god with great and important moral functions; Mitra and Bhaga have the same psychological aspect; the Ribhus who form things by the mind and build up immortality by works can with difficulty be crushed into the Procrustean measure of a naturalistic Mythology. Still by imputing a chaotic confusion of ideas to the poets of the Vedic hymns the difficulty can be trampled upon, if not overcome.
But Saraswati will submit to no such treatment. She is, plainly and clearly, the goddess of the Word, the goddess of a divine
--
The association of a river with the poetical inspiration occurs also in the Greek Mythology; but there the Muses are not conceived of as rivers; they are only connected in a not very intelligible fashion with a particular earthly stream. This stream is the river Hippocrene, the fountain of the Horse, and to account for its name we have a legend that it sprang from the hoof of the divine horse Pegasus; for he smote the rock with his hoof and the waters of inspiration gushed out where the mountain had been thus smitten. Was this legend merely a Greek fairy tale or had it any special meaning? And it is evident that if it had any meaning, it must, since it obviously refers to a psychological phenomenon, the birth of the waters of inspiration, have had a psychological meaning; it must have been an attempt to put into concrete figures certain psychological facts.
We may note that the word Pegasus, if we transliterate it into the original Aryan phonetics, becomes Pajasa and is obviously connected with the Sanskrit pajas, which meant originally force,
--
Saraswati comes to our rescue against the last absurd supposition, but it negatives equally the naturalistic interpretation. This characterisation of Mahi, Saraswati's companion in the sacrifice, the sister of the goddess of inspiration, entirely identified with her in the later Mythology, is one proof among a hundred others that light in the Veda is a symbol of knowledge, of spiritual illumination. Surya is the Lord of the supreme Sight, the vast
Light, br.haj jyotih., or, as it is sometimes called, the true Light, r.tam jyotih.. And the connection between the words r.tam and br.hat is constant in the Veda.
1.09 - Sri Aurobindo and the Big Bang, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
like the cycles of time were part of the Mythology of an
cient Greece. Now, amazingly, not only is the universe sup
1.10 - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
But in spite of this great downfall the ancient tradition, the ancient sanctity survived. The people knew not what Veda might be; but the old idea remained fixed that Veda is always the fountain of Hinduism, the standard of orthodoxy, the repository of a sacred knowledge; not even the loftiest philosopher or the most ritualistic scholar could divest himself entirely of this deeply ingrained & instinctive conception. To complete the degradation of Veda, to consummate the paradox of its history, a new element had to appear, a new form of intelligence undominated by the ancient tradition & the mediaeval method to take possession of Vedic interpretation. European scholarship which regards human civilisation as a recent progression starting yesterday with the Fiji islander and ending today with Haeckel and Rockefeller, conceiving ancient culture as necessarily primitive culture and primitive culture as necessarily half-savage culture, has turned the light of its Comparative Philology & Comparative Mythology on the Veda. The result we all know. Not only all vestige of sanctity, but all pretension to any kind of spiritual knowledge or experience disappears from the Veda. The old Rishis are revealed to us as a race of ignorant and lusty barbarians who drank & enjoyed and fought, gathered riches & procreated children, sacrificed and praised the Powers of Nature as if they were powerful men & women, and had no higher hope or idea. The only idea they had of religion beyond an occasional sense of sin and a perpetual preoccupation with a ritual barbarously encumbered with a mass of meaningless ceremonial details, was a Mythology composed of the phenomena of dawn, night, rain, sunshine and harvest and the facts of astronomy converted into a wildly confused & incoherent mass of allegorical images and personifications. Nor, with the European interpretation, can we be proud of our early forefa thers as poets and singers. The versification of the Vedic hymns is indeed noble and melodious,though the incorrect method of writing them established by the old Indian scholars, often conceals their harmonious construction,but no other praise can be given. The Nibelungenlied, the Icelandic Sagas, the Kalewala, the Homeric poems, were written in the dawn of civilisation by semi-barbarous races, by poets not superior in culture to the Vedic Rishis; yet though their poetical value varies, the nations that possess them, need not be ashamed of their ancient heritage. The same cannot be said of the Vedic poems presented to us by European scholarship. Never surely was there even among savages such a mass of tawdry, glittering, confused & purposeless imagery; never such an inane & useless burden of epithets; never such slipshod & incompetent writing; never such a strange & almost insane incoherence of thought & style; never such a bald poverty of substance. The attempt of patriotic Indian scholars to make something respectable out of the Veda, is futile. If the modern interpretation stands, the Vedas are no doubt of high interest & value to the philologist, the anthropologist & the historian; but poetically and spiritually they are null and worthless. Its reputation for spiritual knowledge & deep religious wealth, is the most imposing & baseless hoax that has ever been worked upon the imagination of a whole people throughout many millenniums.
Is this, then, the last word about the Veda? Or, and this is the idea I write to suggest, is it not rather the culmination of a long increasing & ever progressing error? The theory this book is written to enunciate & support is simply this, that our forefa thers of early Vedantic times understood the Veda, to which they were after all much nearer than ourselves, far better than Sayana, far better than Roth & Max Muller, that they were, to a great extent, in possession of the real truth about the Veda, that that truth was indeed a deep spiritual truth, karmakanda as well as jnanakanda of the Veda contains an ancient knowledge, a profound, complex & well-ordered psychology & philosophy, strange indeed to our modern conception, expressed indeed in language still stranger & remoter from our modern use of language, but not therefore either untrue or unintelligible, and that this knowledge is the real foundation of our later religious developments, & Veda, not only by historical continuity, but in real truth & substance is the parent & bedrock of all later Hinduism, of Vedanta, Sankhya, Nyaya, Yoga, of Vaishnavism & Shaivism&Shaktism, of Tantra&Purana, even, in a remoter fashion, of Buddhism & the later unorthodox religions. From this quarry all have hewn their materials or from this far-off source drawn unknowingly their waters; from some hidden seed in the Veda they have burgeoned into their wealth of branchings & foliage. The ritualism of Sayana is an error based on a false preconception popularised by the Buddhists & streng thened by the writers of the Darshanas,on the theory that the karma of the Veda was only an outward ritual & ceremony; the naturalism of the modern scholars is an error based on a false preconception encouraged by the previous misconceptions of Sayana,on the theory of the Vedas [as] not only an ancient but a primitive document, the production of semi-barbarians. The Vedantic writers of the Upanishads had alone the real key to the secret of the Vedas; not indeed that they possessed the full knowledge of a dialect even then too ancient to be well understood, but they had the knowledge of the Vedic Rishis, possessed their psychology, & many of their general ideas, even many of their particular terms & symbols. That key, less & less available to their successors owing to the difficulty of the knowledge itself & of the language in which it was couched and to the immense growth of outward ritualism, was finally lost to the schools in the great debacle of Vedism induced by the intellectual revolutions of the centuries which immediately preceded the Christian era.
--
This theory, although it starts really from a return to the point of view of the early Vedantic writers, appears at the present day doubly revolutionary, because it denies the two established systems of interpretation which have conquered and still hold the modern mind and determine for it the sense of the Veda. Sayana is for the orthodox Indian the decisive and infallible authority; for the heterodox or educated the opinions and apparent discoveries of European philologists are the one infallible and irrefutable pramna. Is it then really true that either from the point of view of orthodox Hindu faith or on the basis of a rational interpretation based on sound philology and criticism the door is closed to any radically new interpretation and the true sense of Veda has, in the main, been settled for us & to all future generations? If so, if Sayanas authority is unquestionable, or if the system of the Europeans is sound and unimprovable in its essential features, then there is no room for the new theory of which I have briefly indicated the nature. The Veda then remains nothing more than a system of sacrificial ritual & Mythology of the most primitive crudeness. I hope to show briefly that there is no such finality; the door is wide open, the field is still free for a better understanding and a deeper knowledge.
The modern world cares little for orthodox Hindu opinion, for the opinion of its Pandits or for the ancient authority of its received guides; putting these things aside as the heavy and now useless baggage of the dead past it moves on free and unhampered to its objective, seeking ever fresh vistas of undiscovered knowledge. But a Hindu writer, still holding the faith of his ancestors, owes a certain debt to the immediate past, not so much as to hamper his free enquiry and outlook upon truth, but enough to demand from him a certain respect for whatever in it is really respectworthy and some attempt to satisfy his coreligionists that in opening out a fresh outlook on ancient knowledge he is not uprooting truths that are essential to their common religion. Nothing in those truths compels us to accept the plenary authority of Sayana or the ritualistic interpretation of the Vedas. The hymns of the Veda are, for us, inspired truth and therefore infallible; it follows that the only interpretative authority on them which can claim also to be infallible is one which itself works by the faculty of divine inspiration. The only works for which the ordinary tradition claims this equal authority are the Brahmanas, Aranyakas & Upanishads. Even among these authorities, if we accept them as all and equally inspired and authoritative, and on this point Hindus are not in entire agreement,the Brahmanas which deal with the ceremonial detail of Vedic sacrifice, are authoritative for the ritual only; for the inner sense the Upanishads are the fit authority. Sayana can lay claim to no such sanctity for his opinions. He is no ancient Rishi, nor even an inspired religious teacher, but a grammarian and scholar writing in the twelfth century after Christ several millenniums subsequent to the Rishis to whom Veda was revealed. By his virtues & defects as a scholar his interpretation must be judged. His erudition is vast, his industry colossal; he has so occupied the field that everyone who approaches the Veda must pass to it under his shadow; his commentary is a mine of knowledge about Vedic Sanscrit and full of useful hints for the interpretation of Veda. But there the tale of his merits ends. Other qualities are needed for a successful Vedic commentary which in Sayana are conspicuous by their absence; and his defects as a critic are almost as colossal as his industry and erudition. He is not a disinterested mind seeking impartially the truth of Veda but a professor of the ritualistic school of interpretation intent upon reading the traditional ceremonial sense into the sacred hymns; even so he is totally wanting in consistency, coherence and settled method. Not only is he frequently uncertain of himself, halts and qualifies his interpretation with an alternative or not having the full courage of his ritualistic rendering introduces it as a mere possibility,these would be meritorious failings,but he wavers in a much more extraordinary fashion, forcing the ritualistic sense of a word or passage where it cannot possibly hold, abandoning it unaccountably where it can well be sustained. The Vedas are masterpieces of flawless literary style and logical connection. But Sayana, like many great scholars, is guiltless of literary taste and has not the least sense of what is or is not possible to a good writer. His interpretation of any given term is seldom consistent even in similar passages of different hymns, but he will go yet farther and give two entirely different renderings to the same word though occurring in successive riks & in an obviously connected strain of thought. The rhythm and balance of a sentence is nothing to him, he will destroy it ruthlessly in order to get over a difficulty of interpretation; he will disturb the arrangement of a sentence sometimes in the most impossible manner, connecting absolutely disconnected words, breaking up inseparable connections, inserting a second and alien sentence in between the head & tail of the first, and creating a barbarous complexity & confusion where the symbolic movement of the Rishis, unequalled in its golden ease, lucidity and straightforwardness, demands an equal lucidity & straightforwardness in the commentator. A certain rough coherence of thought he attempts to keep, but his rendering makes oftenest a clumsy sense & not unoften no ascertainable sense at all; while he has no scruple in breaking up the coherence entirely in favour of his ritualism. These are, after all, faults common in a scholastic mentality, but even were they less prominent & persistent in him than I have found them to be, they liberate us from all necessity for an exaggerated deference to his authority as an interpreter. Nor, indeed, were Sayana an ideal commentator, could he possibly be relied upon to give us the true sense of Veda; for the language of these hymns, whatever the exact date of their Rishis, goes back to an immense antiquity and long before Sayana the right sense of many Vedic words and the right clue to many Vedic allusions and symbols were lost to the scholars of India. Much indeed survived in tradition, but more had been lost or disfigured, and the two master clues, intellectual & spiritual, on which we can yet rely for the recovery of these losses, a sound philology and the renewal in ourselves of the experiences which form the subject of the Vedic hymns, were the one entirely wanting, the other grown more & more inaccessible with time not only to the Pandit but to the philosopher. Even in our days the sound philology is yet wanting, though the seeds have been sown & even the first beginnings made; nor are the Vedic experiences any longer pursued in their entirety by the Indian Yogins who have learned to follow in this Kali Yuga less difficult paths and more modern systems.
--
European scholars believe that they have fixed finally the meaning of Veda. Using as their tools the Sciences of Comparative Philology & Comparative Mythology, itself a part of the strangely termed Science of Comparative Religion, they have excavated for us out of the ancient Veda a buried world, a forgotten civilisation, lost names of kings and nations, wars & battles, institutions, social habits & cultural ideas which the men of Vedantic times & their forerunners never dreamed were lying concealed in the revered & sacred words used daily by them in their worship and the fount and authority for their richest spiritual experiences deepest illuminated musings. The picture these discoveries constitute is a remarkable composition, imposing in its mass, brilliant and attractive in its details. The one lingering objection to them is a possible doubt of the truth of these discoveries, the soundness of the methods used to arrive at them. Are the conclusions of Vedic scholarship so undoubtedly true or so finally authoritative as to preclude a totally different hypothesis even though it may lead possibly to an interpretation which will wash out every colour & negative every detail of this great recovery? We must determine, first, whether the foundations of the European theory of Veda are solid & certain fact or whether it has been reared upon a basis of doubtful inference and conjecture. If the former, the question of the Veda is closed, its problem solved; if the latter, the European results may even then be true, but equally they may be false and replaceable by a more acceptable theory and riper conclusions.
We ought at least to free our minds of one misconception which has a very strong hold of the average Indian mind and blocks up the way for free investigation & the formation of a strong & original school of Indian scholars better circumstanced than the Europeans for determining the truth about our past and divining its difficult secrets. The triumphant & rapid march of the physical sciences in Europe has so mastered our intellects and dazzled our eyes, that we are apt to extend the unquestioned finality which we are accustomed to attach to the discoveries & theories of modern Science, to all the results of European research & intellectual activity. Even in Europe itself, we should remember, there is no such implicit acceptance. The theories of today are there continually being combated and overthrown by the theories of tomorrow. Outside the range of the physical sciences & even in some portions of that splendid domain the whole of European knowledge is felt more & more to be a mass of uncertain results ephemeral in their superstructure, shifting in their very foundations. For the Europeans have that valuable gift of intellectual restlessness which, while it often stands in the way of mans holding on to abiding truth, helps him to emerge swiftly out of momentarily triumphant error. In India on the other hand we have fallen during the last few centuries into a fixed habit of unquestioning deference to authority. We used to hold it, & some still hold it almost an impiety to question Shankaras interpretation of the Upanishads, or Sayanas interpretation of the Veda, and now that we are being torn out of this bondage, we fall into yet more absurd error by according, if not an equal reverence, yet an almost equal sense of finality to the opinions of Roth & Max Muller. We are ready to accept all European theories, the theory of an Aryan colonisation of a Dravidian India, the theory of the Nature-worship and henotheism of the Vedic Rishis, the theory of the Upanishads as a speculative revolt against Vedic materialism & ritualism, as if these hazardous speculations were on a par in authority & certainty with the law of gravitation and the theory of evolution. We are most of us unaware that in Europe it is disputed and very reasonably disputed whether, for instance, any such entity as an Aryan race ever existed. The travail of dispute & uncertainty in which the questions of Vedic scholarship & ethnology are enveloped is hidden from us; only the over-confident statement of doubtful discoveries and ephemeral theories reaches our knowledge.
We should realise that these so-called Sciences of Comparative Philology and Comparative Mythology on which the European interpretation of Veda is founded are not true Sciences at all. They are, rather, if Sciences at all, then pseudo-Sciences. All the European mental sciences, not excluding Psychology, though that is now proceeding within certain narrow limits by a sounder method, belong to a doubtful class of branches of research which have absorbed the outward method of Science, without its inward spirit. The true scientists in Germany, the home of both Science & Philology, accustomed to sound methods, certain results, patient inquiry, slow generalisations, have nothing but contempt for the methods of Philology, its patchiness, its haste, its guesswork, and profess no confidence in its results; the word Philologe is even, in their mouths, a slighting & discourteous expression. This contempt, itself no doubt excessive, is practically admitted to be just by the great French thinker, Renan, who spent the best part of his life in philological & kindred researches, when he described apologetically his favourite pursuits as petty conjectural sciences. Now, a Science that is conjectural, a Science that proceeds not by fixed laws and certain methods, but by ingenious inference & conjecture, & this is in truth the nature of Comparative Philology & Comparative Mythology,is no science at all; it is a branch of research, a field of inquiry & conjecture in which useful discoveries may be made; it may even contain in itself the germs of a future science, but it is not yet itself worthy of that name & its results have no right to cloak themselves falsely in the robe of authority which belongs only to the results of the true Sciences. So long as a science is conjectural, its results are also conjectural, can at any moment be challenged and ought at all times even in its most brilliant & confident results to be carefully and sceptically scrutinised.
Among such branches of research which can even now be used in spite of new & hostile conclusions as a sort of side support to the modern theory of the Veda stand in a curious twilit corner of their own the researches of the ethnologists. There is no more glaring instance of the conjectural and unsubstantial nature of these pseudo-Sciences than the results of Ethnology which yet claims to deduce its results from fixed and certain physical tests and data. We find the philological discovery of the Aryan invasion supported by the conclusions of ethnologists like Sir Herbert Risley, who make an ethnological map of India coloured in with all shades of mixed raciality, Dravidian,Scytho-Dravidian, Mongolo-Dravidian, Scytho-Aryan. More modern schools of ethnology assert positively on the strength of [the] same laws & the same tests that there is but one homogeneous Indo-Afghan race inhabiting the whole peninsula from theHimalayas to Cape Comorin. What are we to think of a science of which the tests are so pliant and the primary results so irreconcilable? Or how, if the more modern theory is correct, if a distinct homogeneous race inhabits India, can we fail to doubt strongly as a philological myth the whole story of the Aryan invasion & colonisation of Northern India, which has been so long one of the most successful & loudly proclaimed results of the new philology? As a result perhaps of these later conclusions we find a tendency even in philological scholarship towards the rise of new theories which dispute the whole legend of an Aryan invasion, assert an indigenous or even a southern origin for the peoples of the Vedic times and suppose Aryanism to have been a cult and not a racial distinction. These new theories destroy all fixed confidence in the old without themselves revealing any surer foundations for their own guesses; both start from conjectural philology & end in an imaginatively conjectural nation-building or culture-building. It is exceedingly doubtful whether the Vedic terms Aryan & unAryan at all refer to racial or cultural differences; they may have an entirely different and wholly religious & spiritual significance & refer to the good and evil powers & mortals influenced by them. If this prove to be the truth, and the close contiguity & probable historical connection between the Vedic Indians & the Zoroastrian Persians gives it a great likelihood, then the whole elaborate edifice built up by the scholars of an Aryan invasion and an Aryan culture begins to totter & seek the ground, there to lie in the dust amid the wrecks of other once confident beliefs and triumphant errors.
The substance of modern philological discovery about the Vedas consists, first, in the picture of an Aryan civilisation introduced by northern invaders and, secondly, in the interpretation of the Vedic religion as a worship of Nature-powers & Vedic myths as allegorical legends of sun & moon & star & the visible phenomena of Nature. The latter generalisation rests partly on new philological renderings of Vedic words, partly on the Science of Comparative Mythology. The method of this Science can be judged from one or two examples. The Greek story of the demigod Heracles is supposed to be an evident sun myth. The two scientific proofs offered for this discovery are first that Hercules performed twelve labours and the solar year is divided into twelve months and, secondly, that Hercules burnt himself on a pyre on Mount Oeta and the sun also sets in a glory of flame behind the mountains. Such proofs seem hardly substantial enough for so strong a conclusion. By the same reasoning one could prove the emperor Napoleon a sun myth, because he was beaten & shorn of his glory by the forces of winter and because his brilliant career set in the western ocean and he passed there a long night of captivity. With the same light confidence the siege of Troy is turned by the scholars into a sun myth because the name of the Greek Helena, sister of the two Greek Aswins, Castor & Pollux, is philologically identical with the Vedic Sarama and that of her abductor Paris is not so very different from the Vedic Pani. It may be noted that in the Vedic story Sarama is not the sister of the Aswins and is not abducted by the Panis and that there is no other resemblance between the Vedic legend & the Greek tradition. So by more recent speculation even Yudhishthira and his brothers and the famous dog of theMahabharat are raised into the skies & vanish in a starry apotheosis,one knows not well upon what grounds except that sometimes the Dog Star rages in heaven. It is evident that these combinations are merely an ingenious play of fancy & prove absolutely nothing. Hercules may be the Sun but it is not proved. Helen & Paris may be Sarama & one of the Panis, but itis not proved. Yudhishthira & his brothers may be an astronomical myth, but it is not proved. For the rest, the unsubstantiality & rash presumption of the Sun myth theory has not failed to give rise in Europe to a hostile school of Comparative Mythologists who adopt other methods & seek the origins of early religious legend & tradition in a more careful and flexible study of the mentality, customs, traditions & symbolisms of primitive races. The theory of Vedic Nature-worship is better founded than these astronomical fancies. Agni is plainly the God of Fire, Surya of the Sun, Usha of the Dawn, Vayu of the Wind; Indra for Sayana is obviously the god of rain; Varuna seems to be the sky, the Greek Ouranos,et cetera. But when we have accepted these identities, the question of Vedic interpretation & the sense of Vedic worship is not settled. In the Greek religion Apollo was the god of the sun, but he was also the god of poetry & prophecy; Athene is identified with Ahana, a Vedic name of the Dawn, but for the Greeks she is the goddess of purity & wisdom; Artemis is the divinity of the moon, but also the goddess of free life & of chastity. It is therefore evident that in early Greek religion, previous to the historic or even the literary period, at an epoch therefore that might conceivably correspond with the Vedic period, many of the deities of the Greek heavens had a double character, the aspect of physical Nature-powers and the aspect of moral Nature-powers. The indications, therefore,for they are not proofs,even of Comparative Mythology would justify us in inquiring whether a similar double character did not attach to the Vedic gods in the Vedic hymns.
The real basis of both the Aryan theory of Vedic civilisation and the astronomical theory of Aryan myth is the new interpretation given to a host of Vedic vocables by the comparative philologists. The Aryan theory rests on the ingenious assumption that anarya, dasyu or dasa in the Veda refer to the unfortunate indigenous races who by a familiar modern device were dubbed robbers & dacoits because they were guilty of defending their country against the invaders & Arya is a national term for the invaders who called themselves, according to Max Muller, the Ploughmen, and according to others, the Noble Race. The elaborate picture of an early culture & history that accompanies and supports this theory rests equally on new interpretations of Vedic words and riks in which with the progress of scholarship the authority of Sayana and Yaska has been more & more set at nought and discredited. My contention is that anarya, dasa and dasyu do not for a moment refer to the Dravidian races,I am, indeed, disposed to doubt whether there was ever any such entity in India as a separate Aryan or a separate Dravidian race,but always to Vritra, Vala & the Panis and other, primarily non-human, opponents of the gods and their worshippers. The new interpretations given to Vedic words & riks seem to me sometimes right & well grounded, often arbitrary & unfounded, but always conjectural. The whole European theory & European interpretation of the Vedas may be [not] unjustly described as a huge conjectural & uncertain generalisation built on an inadequate & shifting mass of conjectural particulars.
--
If this hypothesis were wholly at variance with the facts known to the students of Comparative Religion or the interpretation [on] which it is based not clearly justifiable by sound principles of Philology, it would be an act of gross presumption in the present state of our knowledge to advance it without a preliminary examination of the present results held as proved by modern Philology & by the Study of Comparative Religion. But my hypothesis is entirely consistent with the facts of religious history in this & other countries, entirely reconcilable with a sound method of Comparative Religion, entirely baseable on a strict and rational use of Philology. I have criticised & characterised these branches of research as pseudo-Sciences. But I do not for a moment intend to suggest that their results are to be entirely scouted or that they have not done a great work for the advancement of knowledge. Comparative Philology, for instance, has got rid of a great mass of preexistent rubbish and unsoundness and suggested partly the true scientific method of Philological research, though it seems to me that overingenuity, haste & impatience in following up exclusively certain insufficient clues have prevented an excellent beginning from being rightly & fruitfully pursued. If I cannot attach any real value to the Science of Comparative Mythology, yet the study,not the Science, for we have not yet either the materials or the equipment for a true Science,the comparative Study of Religions & of religious myths & ancient traditions as a subordinate part of that study is of the utmost use & importance.
The researches of Comparative Religion although they cannot yet constitute a science, should at least follow as far as possible the lines & methods adopted by the physical Sciences, especially of Biology; they should therefore consist mainly, apart from the mere collection of data, first, in the tracing of existing or later forms to their earlier history & origins, if possible, to their embryonic origins and, secondly, in the careful comparison both of the origins & later history of similar forms in different environments. In India [incomplete]
1.14 - Bibliography, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
de Gubernatis, Angelo. Zoological Mythology. London, 1872. 2 vols.
Delatte, Louis. Textes latins et vieux francais relatifs aux Cy-
1.14 - INSTRUCTION TO VAISHNAVS AND BRHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"At first he was a bigoted worshipper of akti. He used to pick up tulsi leaves with a couple of sticks, so as not to touch them with his fingers. (All laugh.) Then he went home. When he came back he didn't behave that way any more. He gave remarkable interpretations of Hindu Mythology. He would say that the ten heads of Ravana represented the ten organs. Kumbhakarna was the symbol, of tamas, Ravana of rajas, and Bibhishana of sattva. That was why Bibhishana obtained favour with Rma."
After the Master's midday meal, while he was resting, Ram, Trak, and some other devotees arrived from Calcutta.
1.18 - The Human Fathers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is Indra and the serpent Vritra, it is Apollo and the Python, it is Thor and the Giants, Sigurd and Fafner, it is the mutually opposing gods of the Celtic Mythology; but only in the Veda do we find the key to this imagery which conceals the hope or the wisdom of a prehistoric humanity.
The first hymn we will take is one by the great Rishi, Vishwamitra, III.39; for it carries us right into the heart of our subject.
1.42 - Osiris and the Sun, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
of solar Mythology, assigns for the identification are exceedingly
slight.
1.46 - The Corn-Mother in Many Lands, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
now as external to it. In Greek Mythology, on the other hand,
Demeter is viewed rather as the deity of the corn than as the spirit
--
the same natural object comes to be represented in Mythology by two
distinct beings: first by the old spirit now separated from it and
--
problem for Mythology is, having got two distinct personifications
of the same object, what to do with them? How are their relations to
--
in Mythology, as parent to child, and if both spirits are conceived
as female, their relation will be that of mother and daughter. In
--
husband, and son; for of course Mythology would always be free to
account for the coexistence of the two divinities in more ways than
1.47 - Lityerses, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
stately figure of Mythology, adored and mourned in splendid cities
far beyond the limits of his Phoenician home, Linus appears to have
1955-10-26 - The Divine and the universal Teacher - The power of the Word - The Creative Word, the mantra - Sound, music in other worlds - The domains of pure form, colour and ideas, #Questions And Answers 1955, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In Indian Mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, The Creative Word. And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation or creation or formation or transformation; the words sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think. It may be a good power and it may be a bad power. It creates vibrations which have an undeniable effect. It is not so much the idea as the sound; the idea too has its own power, but in its own domainwhereas the sound has a power in the material world.
I think I have explained this to you once; I told you, for example, that words spoken casually, usually without any reflection and without attaching any importance to them, can be used to do something very good. I think I spoke to you about Bonjour, Good Day, didnt I? When people meet and say Bonjour, they do so mechanically and without thinking. But if you put a will into it, an aspiration to indeed wish someone a good day, well, there is a way of saying Good Day which is very effective, much more effective than if simply meeting someone you thought: Ah! I hope he has a good day, without saying anything. If with this hope in your thought you say to him in a certain way, Good Day, you make it more concrete and more effective.
1956-07-18 - Unlived dreams - Radha-consciousness - Separation and identification - Ananda of identity and Ananda of union - Sincerity, meditation and prayer - Enemies of the Divine - The universe is progressive, #Questions And Answers 1956, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This has been symbolised here in India in the stories of those who wanted to identify themselves with the divine Reality and chose to become His enemies, for the path of the enemy was more direct than the path of the worshipper. These are well-known stories here, all the old legends and Indian Mythology speak about it. Well, this simply illustrates the fact that one who has never put the problem to himself and never given the faintest thought to the existence of the Divine is certainly farther away from the Divine than one who hates Him or denies Him. For one cant deny something one has never thought about.
He who says or writes: I declare, I certify, all my experience goes to prove that there is no Divine, no such thing exists, it is just mans imagination, mans creation, that means he has already thought over the problem any number of times and that something within him is prodigiously interested in this problem.
--
In Indian Mythology Prahlad is the son of King Hiranyakashipu, an ardent enemy of the god Vishnu. The king had banned the worship of Vishnu in his kingdom, and when he learnt that his son Prahlad was worshipping this god in his own palace, he delivered him to serpents, but they did not bite him. Then he had him thrown down from the top of a hill into the sea, but the child was miraculously carried by the waters. When the enraged king asked his son, "Who has saved you?", the child replied, "Vishnu is everywhere, in the serpents and in the sea." It is interesting to note that the king himself had been a soul temporarily driven out from the heaven of Vishnu due to the curse of some rishis who had given him the choice between three lives on earth as the enemy of Vishnu and ten lives on earth as the worshipper of Vishnu the king had chosen the shorter way back.
Later, someone asked Mother: "What is this 'it'? the universe?" To which Mother replied, "I said 'it' deliberately, so as not to make it precise. I don't like the word 'creation'; it immediately gives the impression of a special creation as though it were made out of nothing but it is He Himself! And it is not the universe 'which begins': the universe 'is begun'. How to put it? It is not the universe which takes the initiative of the movement! And if one says that the Lord began the universe, it becomes false. All these are such fixed ideas! If I say: 'The Lord began the universe,' one sees at once a personal God deciding to begin the universeit is not that!
1956-12-05 - Even and objectless ecstasy - Transform the animal - Individual personality and world-personality - Characteristic features of a world-personality - Expressing a universal state of consciousness - Food and sleep - Ordered intuition, #Questions And Answers 1956, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The animal thats all the instincts of the physical being, the needs of the physical being and all the habits, all the impulses, all the movements of the physical being, the need for food, the need for sleep, the need for activity, indeed all that constitutes the animal part of the being. And then Sri Aurobindo gives the image of Krishna, whom he describes as the Driver of the herds, which is only an image; this means that it is the divine Consciousness which takes possession of all the activities of the physical being and directs and guides all those activities, all its needs, which controls and governs all the movements of the physical animal in man. Sri Aurobindo uses what could be called Indian Mythology, taking Krishna as the symbol of the Divine and the herds as the symbol of the animal instincts and animal needs of man. So instead of being one of the animals of the herd, you become the one who leads the herds and governs all their movements instead of allowing them to dominate him. One is bound; in ordinary life one is bound to all these activities of the physical life and all the needs it represents the need for food, sleep, activity, rest, etc.well, instead of being an animal, that is, one subjected to these things and obliged to submit to them, one becomes the Driver of the herd whom Sri Aurobindo calls Krishna, that is, the Divine who takes possession of all the movements of the being and guides and leads them in accordance with the divine Truth.
Sweet Mother, when one has a world-personality, does one still need the individual personality?
1f.lovecraft - At the Mountains of Madness, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Integral Yoga
back on Mythology for a provisional namejocosely dubbing his finds
The Elder Ones.
--
universescan readily be interpreted as the fantastic Mythology of
those beings themselves; yet such parts sometimes involved designs and
--
invading foes are not pure Mythology. Conceivably, the Old Ones might
have invented a cosmic framework to account for their occasional
1f.lovecraft - The Electric Executioner, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Integral Yoga
Mythology to make it worth trying; though I would try other delaying
influences first and let the prophecy come as a sudden revelation.
--
Mustering up my scraps of Nahuan-Aztec Mythology, I suddenly threw down
pencil and paper and commenced to chant.
--
account of Mexican Mythology, yet had been overheard by me more than
once as an awestruck whisper amongst the peons in my own firms
1f.lovecraft - The Mound, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Integral Yoga
native Mythology. All of them were woven around the vast, lonely,
artificial-looking mounds in the western part of the state, and all of
1f.lovecraft - The Rats in the Walls, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Integral Yoga
learnt more of comparative Mythology in my youth. There was, for
instance, the belief that a legion of bat-winged devils kept Witches
1f.lovecraft - The Shadow out of Time, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Integral Yoga
legends of prophets, including those in human Mythology.
In its vast libraries were volumes of texts and pictures holding the
1f.lovecraft - The Tree on the Hill, #Lovecraft - Poems, #unset, #Integral Yoga
1938. He was writing a treatise on Egyptian Mythology, and I found
myself alone much of the time, despite the fact that we shared a modest
1.jk - Endymion - Book I, #Keats - Poems, #John Keats, #Poetry
I hope I have not in too late a day touched the beautiful Mythology of Greece, and dulled its brightness: for I wish to try once more, before I bid it farewell.
Teignmouth, April 10, 1818.
1.jk - Endymion - Book IV, #Keats - Poems, #John Keats, #Poetry
(line 885-86): A curious importation from Hebrew theology into a subject from Greek Mythology. Compare St. Matthew, X, 29: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." Or, as made familiar to our childhood by the popular hymn-wright,---
'A little sparrow cannot fall,
2.01 - The Road of Trials, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
S. N. Kramer, Sumerian Mythology (American Philosophical Society
Memoirs, Vol. XXI; Philadelphia, 1944), pp. 86-93. The Mythology of Sumer
is of especial importance to us of the West; for it was the source of the
2.02 - Meeting With the Goddess, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
Woman, in the picture language of Mythology, represents the
totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes to
2.02 - The Ishavasyopanishad with a commentary in English, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Integral Yoga
has done away with the Gods of the old crude Mythology.
The Ishavasyopanishad
2.02 - The Mother Archetype, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
the Virgin, and Sophia. Mythology offers many variations of the
mother archetype, as for instance the mother who reappears as
--
ample evidence in the countless treasure motifs of Mythology.
An archetype is in no sense just an annoying prejudice;
2.03 - Karmayogin A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Integral Yoga
of the gods. All this is of course Mythology and metaphor, but
the Asuric worlds are a reality; they are the worlds of gloom
2.03 - On Medicine, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo: That is possible; there are various forms of Matter. What we know is the grossest form but there are other subtler ranges of Matter, and each form has its own properties. There are seven earths mentioned in Indian Mythology; also according to the Veda there are three earths. King Kartavirya is reported to have conquered fourteen earths!
Disciple: Are there other bodies than the physical?
2.04 - On Art, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Integral Yoga
He takes as an illustration the "Transfiguration" of Michelangelo. He argues that aesthetically it is not necessary for one to know Christian Mythology in order to enjoy the picture. These are overtones and have nothing to do with the pure aesthetic feeling of the picture. The disposition of the mass, the composition, the design, the colour-scheme these alone contribute to the pure aesthetic value of the picture.
Sri Aurobindo: Does he mean to say that Michelangelo painted it keeping in view the masses and the colour scheme? I thought aesthetics had something to do with beauty, and beauty is not only formal. It is also beauty of the emotion, in fact, beauty of the whole thing taken together.
2.04 - Positive Aspects of the Mother-Complex, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
analysis all the statements of Mythology on this subject as well
as the observed effects of the mother-complex, when stripped of
--
cannot (except in psychotic cases). As Mythology shows, one of
the peculiarities of the Great Mother is that she frequently
2.05 - Apotheosis, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
Cf. E. T. C. Werner, A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology (Shanghai,
1932), p. 163.
21.03 - The Double Ladder, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Now this process of devolution has gone on; from the supreme Consciousness, it has entered into the Supramental, then into the Overmental and then into the mental regions, and peopled all of them with gods and divinities. In the lower regions - lower, that is to say, denser, obscurer, and more ignorant forms of consciousness - they have become smaller gods, dwarf gods. Perhaps to these also the Vedic Rishis offered their namasand stoma,their obeisance as blakhilyagods. The gods have come down farther still and proliferated liberally in the earth's atmosphere. The gods and goddesses of the woodland, of rivers and springs, of mounts and hills, form a whole world of Mythology - they are not mere creations of fancy or abstract imagination. The totems of the primitive people continue the same story of proliferation into still darker and denser regions of being and consciousness that may rather be called non-being and unconsciousness. And even, I may say if I am allowed to, the world of rocks and stones is not excluded: they too in their solid material dead body enshrine something of the god in devolution.
There is no question here of any human intervention - of the infusion of man's will and thought-formation. That is another subject altogether. Here I am speaking of the inherent intrinsic spiritual status or even divinity of a material body - Its dravya-guna- that which a lingam or a Kaaba possesses.
2.14 - The Unpacking of God, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
The Eco camps likewise too often misinterpret the intuition of the World Soul, but in the other direction, as some sort of Gaia-self, but still and equally framed in monological and flatl and terms. Not NATURE, but nature, is their beloved God/dess. Actual hierarchies of any sort are denied in the name of a diversitarian stance that explicitly denies that which its own stance implicitly presupposes. In their understandable zeal to go transrational, they often embrace any prerational occasion simply because it is nonrational-any occasion that looks biocentrically oriented, from horticultural planting Mythology to rampant tribalism to indissociated magic and sensual glorification of a sentimental nature, all in the name of saving Gaia.
The Eco-Noetic Self is thus often misinterpreted as a merely ecological self (the absolutizing of the biosphere)-completely overlooking the fact that no ecological self can take the role of other. The resultant regressive slide is just as disheartening as the Ego's aggressive repression. This is not Agape; this is Thanatos. An attempt to save the lower by killing the higher.
2.15 - On the Gods and Asuras, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo: I do not know Buddhist Mythology. But what do you mean by Arupa Loka?
Disciple: A plane of consciousness where the Gods have no forms, perhaps. Or they have forms which are so different from man's, that for man they are no forms at all.
2.24 - The Evolution of the Spiritual Man, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
But this primitive stage, - if it is indeed such and not, in what we still see of it, a fall or a vestige, a relapse from a higher knowledge belonging to a previous cycle of civilisation or the debased remnants of a dead or obsolete culture, - can have been only a beginning. It was followed, after whatever stages, by the more advanced type of religion of which we have a record in the literature or surviving documents of the early civilised peoples. This type, composed of a polytheistic belief and worship, a cosmology, a Mythology, a complexus of ceremonies, practices, ritual and ethical obligations interwoven sometimes deeply into the social system, was ordinarily a national or tribal religion intimately expressive of the stage of evolution of thought and life reached by the community. In the outer structure we still miss the support of a deeper spiritual significance, but this gap was filled in in the greater more developed cultures by a strong background of occult knowledge and practices or else by carefully guarded mysteries with a first element of spiritual wisdom and discipline.
Occultism occurs more often as an addition or superstructure, but is not always present; the worship of divine powers, sacrifice, a surface piety and social ethics are the main factors. A spiritual philosophy or idea of the meaning of life seems at first to be absent, but its beginnings are often contained in the myths and mysteries and in one or two instances fully emerge out of them so that it assumes a strong separate existence.
3.02 - SOL, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[126] It cannot have escaped the alchemists that their Sol had something to do with man. Thus Dorn says: From the beginning man was sulphur. Sulphur is a destructive fire enkindled by the invisible sun, and this sun is the Sol Philosophorum,60 which is the much sought-after and highly praised philosophic gold, indeed the goal of the whole work.61 In spite of the fact that Dorn regards the sun and its sulphur as a kind of physiological component of the human body, it is clear that we are dealing with a piece of physiological Mythology, i.e., a projection.
[127] In the course of our inquiry we have often seen that, despite the complete absence of any psychology, the alchemical projections sketch a picture of certain fundamental psychological facts and, as it were, reflect them in matter. One of these fundamental facts is the primary pair of opposites, consciousness and unconsciousness, whose symbols are Sol and Luna.
3.02 - The Practice Use of Dream-Analysis, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
Lehmanns expression, whose equivalents in Mythology and in dreams are
the bull, the ass, the pomegranate, the yoni, the he-goat, the lightning, the
--
Horse is an archetype that is widely current in Mythology and
folklore. As an animal it represents the non-human psyche, the subhuman,
--
comparative studies in Mythology, folklore, religion, and philology that we
can evaluate their nature scientifically. The evolutionary stratification of
3.02 - The Psychology of Rebirth, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
Essays on a Science of Mythology. Editors.]
117
3.04 - LUNA, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[166] Besides the connection between Luna and intellect we must also consider their relation to Mercurius, for in astrology and Mythology Mercurius is the divine factor that has most to do with Epinoia. The connections between them in alchemy have classical antecedents. Leaving aside the relation of Hermes to the Nous, I will only mention that in Plutarch Hermes sits in the moon and goes round with it (just as Heracles does in the sun).233 In the magic papyri, Hermes is invoked as follows: O Hermes, ruler of the world, thou who dwellest in the heart, circle of the moon, round and square.234
[167] In alchemy Mercurius is the rotundum par excellence. Luna is formed of his cold and moist nature, and Sol of the hot and dry;235 alternatively she is called the proper substance of Mercurius.236 From Luna comes the aqua Mercurialis or aqua permanens;237 with her moisture, like Mercurius, she brings the slain dragon to life.238 As we have seen, the circle of the moon is mentioned in the Super arborem Aristotelis, where a stork, as it were calling itself the circle of the moon, sits on a tree that is green within instead of without.239 Here it is worth pointing out that the soul, whose connection with the moon has already been discussed, was also believed to be round. Thus Caesarius of Heisterbach says that the soul has a spherical nature, after the likeness of the globe of the moon.240
--
[216] In the Table of Correspondences in Penotus357 the following are said to pertain to the moon: the snake, the tiger, the Manes, the Lemurs, and the dei infernales. These correlations show clearly how Penotus was struck by the underworld nature of the moon.358 His heretical empiricism led him beyond the patristic allegories to a recognition of the moons dark side, an aspect no longer suited to serve as an allegory of the beauteous bride of Christ. And just as the bitch was forgotten in the lunar allegory of the Church, so too our masculine judgment is apt to forget it when dealing with an over-valued woman. We should not deceive ourselves about the sinister tail of the undoubtedly desirable head: the baying of Hecate is always there, whether it sound from near or from far. This is true of everything feminine and not least of a mans anima. The Mythology of the moon is an object lesson in female psychology.359
[217] The moon with her antithetical nature is, in a sense, a prototype of individuation, a prefiguration of the self: she is the mother and spouse of the sun, who carries in the wind and the air the spagyric embryo conceived by the sun in her womb and belly.360 This image corresponds to the psychologem of the pregnant anima, whose child is the self, or is marked by the attri butes of the hero. Just as the anima represents and personifies the collective unconscious, so Luna represents the six planets or spirits of the metals. Dorn says:
--
[222] Statements by men on the subject of female psychology suffer principally from the fact that the projection of unconscious femininity is always strongest where critical judgment is most needed, that is, where a man is involved emotionally. In the metaphorical descriptions of the alchemists, Luna is primarily a reflection of a mans unconscious femininity, but she is also the principle of the feminine psyche, in the sense that Sol is the principle of a mans. This is particularly obvious in the astrological interpretation of sun and moon, not to mention the age-old assumptions of Mythology. Alchemy is inconceivable without the influence of her elder sister astrology, and the statements of these three disciplines must be taken into account in any psychological evaluation of the luminaries. If, then, Luna characterizes the feminine psyche and Sol the masculine, consciousness would be an exclusively masculine affair, which is obviously not the case since woman possesses consciousness too. But as we have previously identified Sol with consciousness and Luna with the unconscious, we would now be driven to the conclusion that a woman cannot possess a consciousness.
[223] The error in our formulation lies in the fact, firstly, that we equated the moon with the unconscious as such, whereas the equation is true chiefly of the unconscious of a man; and secondly, that we overlooked the fact that the moon is not only dark but is also a giver of light and can therefore represent consciousness. This is indeed so in the case of woman: her consciousness has a lunar rather than a solar character. Its light is the mild light of the moon, which merges things together rather than separates them. It does not show up objects in all their pitiless discreteness and separateness, like the harsh, glaring light of day, but blends in a deceptive shimmer the near and the far, magically transforming little things into big things, high into low, softening all colour into a bluish haze, and blending the nocturnal landscape into an unsuspected unity.
3.05 - SAL, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[277] The fourth function has its seat in the unconscious. In Mythology the unconscious is portrayed as a great animal, for instance Leviathan, or as a whale, wolf, or dragon. We know from the myth of the sun-hero that it is so hot in the belly of the whale that his hair falls out.506 Arisleus and his companions likewise suffer from the great heat of their prison under the sea.507 The alchemists were fond of comparing their fire to the fire of hell or the flames of purgatory. Maier gives a description of Africa which is very like a description of hell: uncultivated, torrid, parched,508 sterile and empty.509 He says there are so few springs that animals of the most varied species assemble at the drinking-places and mingle with one another, whence new births and animals of a novel appearance are born, which explained the saying Always something new out of Africa. Pans dwelt there, and satyrs, dog-headed baboons, and half-men, besides innumerable species of wild animals. According to certain modern views, this could hardly be bettered as a description of the unconscious. Maier further reports that in the region of the Red Sea an animal is found with the name of Ortus (rising, origin). It had a red head with streaks of gold reaching to its neck, black eyes, a white face, white forepaws, and black hindpaws. He derived the idea of this animal from the remark of Avicenna: That thing whose head is red, its eyes black and its feet white, is the magistery.510 He was convinced that the legend of this creature referred to the phoenix, which was likewise found in that region. While he was making inquiries about the phoenix he heard a rumour that not far off a prophetess, known as the Erythraean Sibyl, dwelt in a cave. This was the sibyl who was alleged to have foretold the coming of Christ. Maier is probably referring here not to the eighth book of the Sibylline Oracles, verse 217, at which point thirty-four verses begin with the following letters: IHOY XPEITO EOY YIO THP TAYPO,511 but to the report of St. Augustine in Decivitate dei,512 which was well known in the Middle Ages. He also cites the passage about the sibyl in the Constantini Oratio of Eusebius and emphasizes that the sibylline prophecy referred to the coming of Christ in the flesh.512a
[278] We have seen earlier that the Erythraean Sea is a mysterious place, but here we meet with some noteworthy details. To begin with, our author reaches this sea just when he has completed the journey through the three continents and is about to enter the critical fourth region. We know from the Axiom of Maria and from Faust the crucial importance of that seemingly innocent question at the beginning of the Timaeus:
3.07 - The Ascent of the Soul, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
of traditional Mythology, which has already proved comprehensive enough
for all practical purposes. This does not preclude the satisfaction of
33.15 - My Athletics, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Whatever the method you adopt, your strength and capacity have to be increased in this manner. If you go beyond your limits, there is always a chance of accidents, but some accept the risk. The carefree enthusiast asks you to hitch your wagon to a star whereas the more cautious would point to the tragedy of Icarus. The legendary hero of Greek Mythology had invented wings for man to fly, but he built them of wax. His aim had been to reach the sun, but as he came near that burning orb the wax got melted by the heat and his wings vanished and he was hurled back headlong down to earth.
Well, it was from Chinmoy that I got the courage or the foolhardiness for an attempt of this kind. This has been of great help to me. But there was a considerable resistance born of old age, even though we are here precisely to get rid of that. The resistance comes from two sources. It is there first of all in your own individual consciousness; you have heard of the adage about getting old before twenty. It is true that here in the Ashram we are often apt to forget, or we try to forget, to take count of our age. For example, even at the age of sixty, I did not quite realise or, rather, my body did not feel - it is quite natural for the mind not to feel, but the body itself must realise - that it carried any load of more than twenty-five or thirty years. This kind of feeling must have come at one time or another to many among the older people here. This is indeed the root idea behind our desire to conceal the true age and reckon our age at less than the true figure. This recourse to a slight falsehood comes. of an attempt to express and maintain the fact of our youth that is still effective in our life and inner consciousness in spite of our years. But the inexorable law of the external physical nature is still in operation; It invades our mind and afflicts it at times. Moreover, in addition to this resistance in our own individual consciousness, our frame of mind, there is pressing upon us from all around the collective resistance, a resistance that comes from the consciousness arid mental attitude of everybody else, the neighbours with whom we live. Even if we manage to forget, they will remind us of the pressure of advancing age. It is difficult ordinarily to escape from the influence of this double pressure. But to get rid of this influence and pressure is after all the very aim of our endeavour here.
3-5 Full Circle, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Gerald Clarke's comment in a Time Essay has the sharpest point: "The mythologists (such as Joseph Campbell) are not providing myths, but they are indicating that something is missing without them. They are telling modern man that he has not outgrown Mythology and will never outgrow it".44
The thing that has been missing is a reliable, practical, and spacious bridge between our old and enormous Literary Culture, whose language is basically myth in the sense of veiled truth; and our new Scientific Culture whose language is basically technical--in the sense of, for many, incomprehensible truth. I shall now bring evidence to show that with this bridge, the missing "something" is in place; that now at last science has come full circle. That the people who belong to our Two Cultures can now communicate across the Industrial world's cultural chasm, can orient each other, and together can transmute our Lower Industrial civilization as a whole into the Higher Industrial Period, Human Period 7. Switzerl and has transmuted herself spontaneously. She is our little pilot plant, presenting us with decades of research and development, giving us vast amounts of data and experience on which to base our Creative Centrist alternative to the political ideologies of Extreme Left and Extreme Right (Figure II-16) on how to damp out their fatal rhythm of disintegration.
37.05 - Narada - Sanatkumara (Chhandogya Upanishad), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Integral Yoga
RISHI Sanatkumara was once approached by Narada (evidently not yet become a Rishi), who said, "Lord, I desire to be taught by you. Please teach me." The Rishi replied, "Very well, but first tell me how much you know; then I shall tell you if you need more." Narada thereupon made out an inventory of his learning; it was a formidable list. "My Lord, this is what I have learnt: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda, the Fifth Veda comprising History and Mythology; next, Grammar, Mathematics, Logic and Politics, the Science of Computing Time, Theology, Fine Arts and the Ritual Lore; Demonology, Astrology, and the Art of Predicting Fate; the Knowledge of Ancestors and of Serpents. I know all this, my Lord, and very well. This has made me master of the Word, but has not given me knowledge of the Self. I have heard that only by the knowledge of the Self can one pass beyond sorrow and pain. I am immersed in sorrow and pain, please reach me to the other shore."
Sanatkumara said, "All that you have studied and learnt is nothing but 'Name', no more than words. You have reached as far as 'Name' can take you, giving you as fruit the power to roam at will, that is, you can go unimpeded where you will. But that is about all." Then Narada asked, "Is there anything superior to Name?" "Of course, there is," replied Sanatkumara. "Then tell me about it." "Superior to Name is Speech, that is, Name with form and meaning." Thus he went on replying to the series of Narada's questions.
3 - Commentaries and Annotated Translations, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
as in Greek Mythology Apollo the Sungod is also the Master of
poetry and of prophecy. Ghrita means clarified butter, but also
--
There are certain a priori objections which can be brought against this theory. One may be urged against it from the side of Western scholarship. It may be objected that there is no need for all this mystification, that there is no sign of it in the Veda unless we choose to read it into the primitive Mythology, that it is not justified by the history of religion or of the Vedic religion, that it was a refinement impossible to an ancient and barbaric mind. None of these objections can really stand. The Mysteries in Egypt and Greece and elsewhere were of a very ancient standing and they proceeded precisely on this symbolic principle, by which outward myth and ceremony and cult objects stood for secrets of an inward life or knowledge. It cannot therefore be argued that this mentality was non-existent, impossible in antique times or any more impossible or improbable in India, the country of the Upanishads, than in Egypt and Greece. The history of ancient religion does show a transmutation of physical Nature-gods into representatives of psychical powers or rather an addition of psychical to physical functions; but the latter in some instances gave place to the less external significance.
I have given the example of Helios replaced in later times by Apollo. Just so in the Vedic religion Surya undoubtedly becomes a god of inner light, the famous Gayatri verse and its esoteric interpretation are there to prove it as well as the constant appeal of the Upanishads to Vedic riks or Vedic symbols taken in a psychological and spiritual sense, eg, the four closing verses of the Isha Upanishad. Hermes, Athena represent in classical Mythology psychical functions, but were originally Nature gods, Athena probably a dawn goddess. I contend that Usha in the Veda shows us this transmutation in its commencement. Dionysus the winegod was intimately connected with the Mysteries; I assign a similar role to Soma, the wine-god of the Vedas.
But the question is whether there is anything to show that there was actually such a doubling of functions in the Veda. Now in the first place, how was the transition effected from the alleged purely materialistic Nature-worship of the Vedas to the extraordinary psychological and spiritual knowledge of the Upanishads unsurpassed in their subtlety and sublimity in ancient times? There are three possible explanations. First, this sudden spirituality may have been brought in from outside; it is hardily suggested by some scholars that it was taken from an alleged highly spiritual non-Aryan southern culture; but this is an assumption, a baseless hypothesis for which no proof has been advanced; it rests as a surmise in the air without foundation. Secondly, it may have developed from within by some such transmutation as I have suggested, but subsequent to the composition of all but the latest Vedic hymns. Still even then it was effected on the basis of the Vedic hymns; the Upanishads claim to be a development from the Vedic knowledge, Vedanta repeatedly appeals to Vedic texts, regards Veda as a book of knowledge. The men who gave the Vedantic knowledge are everywhere represented as teachers of the Veda. Why then should we rigidly assume that this development took place subsequent to the composition of the bulk of the Vedic mantras? For the third possibility is that the whole ground had already been prepared consciently by the Vedic mystics. I do not say that the inner Vedic knowledge was identical with the Brahmavada.
4.01 - Introduction, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
volume was translated by R. F. C. Hull as Essays on a Science of Mythology (Bol-
lingen Series XXII; New York, 1949), of which the London (1950) edition was
titled Introduction to a Science of Mythology; the text of the two studies here
presented is a revision of that of 1949/50. The complete German volume was
--
*59 The author of the companion essay 1 on the Mythology of
the "child" or the child god has asked me for a psychological
--
in Mythology. Kerenyi himself has enlarged upon the occur-
rence of this motif in Greece and Rome, with parallels drawn
4.03 - The Special Phenomenology of the Child Archetype, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
these are so many rationalized substitutes for Mythology, and
their unnaturalness does more harm than good.
--
on every path. At night the whole of Mythology was let loose.
2. The Invincibility of the Child
4.04 - Conclusion, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
versely, an expert in Mythology and comparative religion is as
a rule no psychiatrist and consequently does not know that his
--
9 Cf. Symbols of Transformation. H. G. Baynes' book, The Mythology of the Soul,
runs to 939 pages and endeavours to do justice to the material provided by only
--
familiar to us from Mythology. These images present themselves
spontaneously and are based on no conscious knowledge what-
--
of Mythology. The innumerable attempts that have been made
in the sphere of Mythology to interpret gods and heroes in a
solar, lunar, astral, or meteorological sense contri bute nothing
4.04 - THE REGENERATION OF THE KING, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[401] While peacock flesh135 was the queens diet, her drink was the blood of the green lion. Blood136 is one of the best-known synonyms for the aqua permanens, and its use in alchemy is often based on the blood symbolism and allegories of the Church.137 In the Cantilena the imbibitio (saturation)138 of the dead 139 arcane substance is performed not on the king, as in the Allegoria Merlini, but on the queen. The displacement and overlapping of images are as great in alchemy as in Mythology and folklore. As these archetypal images are produced directly by the unconscious, it is not surprising that they exhibit its contamination of content 140 to a very high degree. This is what makes it so difficult for us to understand alchemy. Here the dominant factor is not logic but the play of archetypal motifs, and although this is illogical in the formal sense, it nevertheless obeys natural laws which we are far from having explained. In this respect the Chinese are much in advance of us, as a thorough study of the I Ching will show. Called by short-sighted Westerners a collection of ancient magic spells, an opinion echoed by the modernized Chinese themselves, the I Ching is a formidable psychological system that endeavours to organize the play of archetypes, the wondrous operations of nature, into a certain pattern, so that a reading becomes possible. It was ever a sign of stupidity to depreciate something one does not understand.
[402] Displacement and overlapping of images would be quite impossible if there did not exist between them an essential similarity of substance, a homoousia. Father, mother, and son are of the same substance, and what is said of one is largely true of the other. This accounts for the variants of incestbetween mother and son, brother and sister, father and daughter, etc. The uroboros is one even though in the twilight of the unconscious its head and tail appear as separate figures and are regarded as such. The alchemists, however, were sufficiently aware of the homoousia of their basic substances not only to call the two protagonists of the coniunctio drama the one Mercurius, but to assert that the prima materia and the vessel were identical. Just as the aqua permanens, the moist soul-substance, comes from the body it is intended to dissolve, so the mother who dissolves her son in herself is none other than the feminine aspect of the father-son. This view current among the alchemists cannot be based on anything except the essential similarity of the substances, which were not chemical but psychic; and, as such, appurtenances not of consciousness, where they would be differentiated concepts, but of the unconscious, in whose increasing obscurity they merge together in larger and larger contaminations.
4.05 - THE DARK SIDE OF THE KING, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[482] In Amente, the Egyptian underworld, dwells the great seven-headed snake,318 and in the Christian underworld is the most celebrated snake of all, the devil, that old serpent. 319 Actually it is a pair of brothers that inhabit hell, namely death and the devil, the devil being characterized by the snake and death by worms. In old German the concepts of worm, snake, and dragon coalesce, as they do in Latin (vermis, serpens, draco). The underworld signifies hell320 and the grave.321 The worm or serpent is all-devouring death. The dragon-slayer is therefore always a conqueror of death. In Germanic Mythology, too, hell is associated with worms. The Edda says:
A hall did I see
4.07 - THE RELATION OF THE KING-SYMBOL TO CONSCIOUSNESS, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[501] The starting-point of our explanation is that the king is essentially synonymous with the sun and that the sun represents the daylight of the psyche, consciousness, which as the faithful companion of the suns journey rises daily from the ocean of sleep and dream, and sinks into it again at evening. Just as in the round-dance of the planets, and in the star-strewn spaces of the sky, the sun journeys along as a solitary figure, like any other one of the planetary archons, so consciousness, which refers everything to its own ego as the centre of the universe, is only one among the archetypes of the unconscious, comparable to the King Helios of post-classical syncretism, whom we meet in Julian the Apostate, for instance. This is what the complex of consciousness would look like if it could be viewed from one of the other planets, as we view the sun from the earth. The subjective ego-personality, i.e., consciousness and its contents, is indeed seen in its various aspects by an unconscious observer, or rather by an observer placed in the outer space of the unconscious. That this is so is proved by dreams, in which the conscious personality, the ego of the dreamer, is seen from a standpoint that is toto coelo different from that of the conscious mind. Such a phenomenon could not occur at all unless there were in the unconscious other standpoints opposing or competing with ego-consciousness. These relationships are aptly expressed by the planet simile. The king represents ego-consciousness, the subject of all subjects, as an object. His fate in Mythology portrays the rising and setting of this most glorious and most divine of all the phenomena of creation, without which the world would not exist as an object. For everything that is only is because it is directly or indirectly known, and moreover this known-ness is sometimes represented in a way which the subject himself does not know, just as if he were being observed from another planet, now with benevolent and now with sardonic gaze.
[502] This far from simple situation derives partly from the fact that the ego has the paradoxical quality of being both the subject and the object of its own knowledge, and partly from the fact that the psyche is not a unity but a constellation consisting of other luminaries besides the sun. The ego-complex is not the only complex in the psyche.386 The possibility that unconscious complexes possess a certain luminosity, a kind of consciousness, cannot be dismissed out of hand, for they can easily give rise to something in the nature of secondary personalities, as psychopathological experience shows. But if this is possible, then an observation of the ego-complex from another standpoint somewhere in the same psyche is equally possible. As I have said, the critical portrayal of the ego-complex in dreams and in abnormal psychic states seems to be due to this.
5 - The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
tions based on astronomy, meteorology, Mythology, and last
but not least the sexual theory.
--
figuratively. Moreover, incest plays a significant part in Mythology as well as in
alchemy.
--
trickster in American Indian Mythology within the confined
space of a commentary. When I first came across Adolf Ban-
--
Study in American Indian Mythology (London and New York, 1956); it is repub-
lished here with only minor revisions Editors.]
--
tom of the trickster haunts the Mythology of all ages, sometimes
in quite unmistakable form, sometimes in strangely modulated
6.02 - STAGES OF THE CONJUNCTION, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[677] The second step on the way to the production of this substance was the reunion of the spirit with the body. For this procedure there were many symbols. One of the most important was the chymical marriage, which took place in the retort. The older alchemists were still so unconscious of the psychological implications of the opus that they understood their own symbols as mere allegories orsemioticallyas secret names for chemical combinations, thus stripping Mythology, of which they made such copious use, of its true meaning and using only its terminology. Later this was to change, and already in the fourteenth century it began to dawn on them that the lapis was more than a chemical compound. This realization expressed itself mainly in the Christ-parallel.66 Dorn was probably the first to recognize the psychological implications for what they were, so far as this was intellectually possible for a man of that age. Proof of this is his demand that the pupil must have a good physical and, more particularly, a good moral constitution.67 A religious attitude was essential.68 For in the individual was hidden that substance of celestial nature known to very few, the incorrupt medicament which can be freed from its fetters, not by its contrary but by its like. The spagyric medicine whereby it is freed must be conformable to this substance. The medicine prepares the body so that the separation can be undertaken. For, when the body is prepared, it can be separated more easily from the other parts.
[678] Like all alchemists, Dorn naturally did not reveal what the spagyric medicine was. One can only suppose that it was thought of as physical, more or less. At the same time he says that a certain asceticism is desirable, and this may be a reference to the moral nature of the mysterious panacea. At any rate he hastens to add that the assiduous reader will thenceforth advance from the meditative philosophy to the spagyric and thence to the true and perfect wisdom. It sounds as if the assiduous reader had been engaged at the outset in reading and meditating, and as if the medicine and the preparation of the body consisted precisely in that.69 Just as for Paracelsus the right theoria was part of the panacea, so for the alchemists was the symbol, which expresses the unconscious projections. Indeed, it is these that make the substance magically effective, and for this reason they cannot be separated from the alchemical procedure whose integral components they are.
6.07 - THE MONOCOLUS, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
[735] The relation of alchemical fantasies to the primordial images of Greek Mythology is too well known for me to document it. The cosmogonic brother-sister incest,208 like the Creation itself, had been from ancient times the prototype of the alchemists great work. Yet we seek the Graeco-Roman tradition in vain for traces of the wonder-working monocolus. We find him, perhaps, in Vedic Mythology, and in a form that is highly significant for our context, namely, as an attri bute of the sun-god Rohita209 (red sun), who was called the one-footed goat210 (ag kapada). In Hymn XIII, i of the Atharva-veda he is praised together with his wife Rohini. Of her it says: Rise up, O steed, that art within the waters, and The steed that is within the waters is risen up.211 The hymn begins with this invocation to Rohini, who is thereby united with Rohita after he has climbed to his highest place in heaven. The parallel with our French text is so striking that one would have to infer its literary dependence if there were any way of proving that the author was acquainted with the Atharva-veda. This proof is next to impossible, as Indian literature was not known in the West at all until the turn of the eighteenth century, and then only in the form of the Oupnekhat of Anquetil du Perron,212 a collection of Upanishads in Persian which he translated into Latin.213 The Atharva-veda was translated only in the second half of the nineteenth century.214 If we wish to explain the parallel at all we have to infer an archetypal connection.
[736] From all this it appears that our picture represents the union of the spirit with material reality. It is not the common gold that enters into combination but the spirit of the gold, only the right half of the king, so to speak. The queen is a sulphur, like him an extract or spirit of earth or water, and therefore a chthonic spirit. The male spirit corresponds to Dorns substantia coelestis, that is, to knowledge of the inner light the self or imago Dei which is here united with its chthonic counterpart, the feminine spirit of the unconscious. Empirically this is personified in the psychological anima figure, who is not to be confused with the anima of our mediaeval philosophers, which was merely a philosophical anima vegetativa, the ligament of body and spirit. It is, rather, the alchemical queen who corresponds to the psychological anima.215 Accordingly, the coniunctio appears here as the union of a consciousness (spirit), differentiated by self-knowledge, with a spirit abstracted from previously unconscious contents. One could also regard the latter as a quintessence of fantasy-images that enter consciousness either spontaneously or through active imagination and, in their totality, represent a moral or intellectual viewpoint contrasting with, or compensating, that of consciousness. To begin with, however, these images are anything but moral or intellectual; they are more or less concrete visualizations that first have to be interpreted. The alchemist used them more as technical terms for expressing the mysterious properties which he attri buted to his chemical substances. The psychologist, on the contrary, regards them not as allegories but as genuine symbols pointing to psychic contents that are not known but are merely suspected in the background, to the impulses and ides forces of the unconscious. He starts from the fact that connections which are not based on sense-experience derive from fantasy creations which in turn have psychic causes. These causes cannot be perceived directly but are discovered only by deduction. In this work the psychologist has the support of modern fantasy material. It is produced in abundance in psychoses, dreams, and in active imagination during treatment, and it makes accurate investigation possible because the author of the fantasies can always be questioned. In this way the psychic causes can be established. The images often show such a striking resemblance to mythological motifs that one cannot help regarding the causes of the individual fantasies as identical with those that determined the collective and mythological images. In other words, there is no ground for the assumption that human beings in other epochs produced fantasies for quite different reasons, or that their fantasy images sprang from quite different ides forces, from ours. It can be ascertained with reasonable certainty from the literary records of the past that at least the universal human facts were felt and thought about in very much the same way at all times. Were this not so, all intelligent historiography and all understanding of historical texts would be impossible. Naturally there are differences, which make caution necessary in all cases, but these differences are mostly on the surface only and lose their significance the more deeply one penetrates into the meaning of the fundamental motifs.
6.0 - Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
p. 768. 158 De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, II, p. 355.
159 Roscher, Lexikon, II, col. 959, s.v. "Karkinos." The same motif occurs in a
--
Baynes, H. G. Mythology of the Soul. London, 1940.
Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). The Poetic Edda. New York, 1923.
--
de Gubernatis, Angelo. Zoological Mythology. London, 1872. 2 vols.
Delacotte, Joseph. Guillaume de Digulleville. . . . Trois romans-
--
In: Kerenyi and C. G. Jung. Essays on a Science of Mythology.
(Bollingen Series XXII.) New York, 1949. (Also pub. as Introduc-
tion to a Science of Mythology, London, 1950.) See also Torch-
books edn., rev., 1963.
--
invincibility of, 170^; Mythology
of, 151$, 170; numinous charac-
--
and Mythology, 152; psychology
of, 152; relation to dreamer, 118;
9.99 - Glossary, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Dhruva: A saint in Hindu Mythology.
Dhruva Ghat: A bathing-place on the Jamuna river at Vrindavan.
--
Hiranyakasipu: A demon king in Hindu Mythology, the father of Prahlada.
Hiranyaksha: A demon in Hindu Mythology.
Holy Mother: The name by which Sri Ramakrishna's wife was known among his devotees.
--
Jadabharata: A great saint in Hindu Mythology.
jada samadhi: Communion with God in which the aspirant appears lifeless, like an inert object.
--
Janaka, King: One of the ideal kings in Hindu Mythology and the father of Sita. Sri Ramakrishna often described him as the ideal householder, who combined yoga with enjoyment of the world.
japa: Repetition of God's name.
--
Kapila: A great sage in Hindu Mythology, the reputed author of the Samkhya philosophy.
karana: Cause; also consecrated wine.
--
Madan(a): The god of love in Hindu Mythology; also a Bengali mystic and writer of songs.
Madhai: See Jagai.
--
Narada: A great sage and lover of God in Hindu Mythology.
Narada Pancharatra: A scripture of the Bhakti cult.
--
Parashurama: A warrior sage in Hindu Mythology, regarded as a Divine Incarnation.
Parikshit: A king of the lunar race and grandson of Arjuna, mentioned in the Mahabharata.
--
Purana(s): Books of Hindu Mythology.
purascharana: The repetition of the name of a deity, attended with burnt offerings, oblations, and other rites prescribed in the Vedas.
--
Rahu: A demon in Hindu Mythology, said to cause the eclipse by devouring the sun and the moon.
Rajarajesvari: (Lit., the Empress of kings) A name of the Divine Mother.
--
Sumeru: The sacred Mount Meru of Hindu Mythology, around which all the planets are said to revolve.
Sushumna: Sushumna, Ida, and Pingala are the three prominent nadis, or nerves, among the innumerable nerves in the nervous system. Of these, again, the Sushumna is the most important, being the point of harmony of the other two and lying, as it does, between them. The Ida is on the left side, and the Pingala is on the right. The Sushumna, through which the awakened spiritual energy rises, is described as the Brahmavartman or Pathway to Brahman. The Ida and Pingala are outside the spine; the Sushumna is situated within the spinal column and extends from the base of the spine to the brain. See Kundalini.
--
Varuna: The presiding deity of the ocean in Hindu Mythology.
Vasishtha: The name of a sage mentioned in the Purana.
--
yuga: A cycle or world period. According to Hindu Mythology the duration of the world is divided into four yugas, namely, Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali. In the first, also known as the Golden Age, there is a great preponderance of virtue among men, but with each succeeding yuga virtue diminishes and vice increases. In the Kaliyuga there is a minimum of virtue and a great excess of vice. The world is said to be now passing through the Kaliyuga.
Yugala Murti: The conjoined figures of a pair; generally used to denote the combined figures of Radha and Krishna.
Apology, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Again, when Socrates argues that he must believe in the gods because he believes in the sons of gods, we must remember that this is a refutation not of the original indictment, which is consistent enoughSocrates does not receive the gods whom the city receives, and has other new divinitiesbut of the interpretation put upon the words by Meletus, who has affirmed that he is a downright atheist. To this Socrates fairly answers, in accordance with the ideas of the time, that a downright atheist cannot believe in the sons of gods or in divine things. The notion that demons or lesser divinities are the sons of gods is not to be regarded as ironical or sceptical. He is arguing ad hominem according to the notions of Mythology current in his age. Yet he abstains from saying that he believed in the gods whom the State approved. He does not defend himself, as Xenophon has defended him, by appealing to his practice of religion. Probably he neither wholly believed, nor disbelieved, in the existence of the popular gods; he had no means of knowing about them. According to Plato (compare Phdo; Symp.), as well as Xenophon (Memor.), he was punctual in the performance of the least religious duties; and he must have believed in his own oracular sign, of which he seemed to have an internal witness. But the existence of Apollo or Zeus, or the other gods whom the State approves, would have appeared to him both uncertain and unimportant in comparison of the duty of self-examination, and of those principles of truth and right which he deemed to be the foundation of religion. (Compare Phaedr.; Euthyph.; Republic.)
The second question, whether Plato meant to represent Socrates as braving or irritating his judges, must also be answered in the negative. His irony, his superiority, his audacity, regarding not the person of man, necessarily flow out of the loftiness of his situation. He is not acting a part upon a great occasion, but he is what he has been all his life long, a king of men. He would rather not appear insolent, if he could avoid it (ouch os authadizomenos touto lego). Neither is he desirous of hastening his own end, for life and death are simply indifferent to him. But such a defence as would be acceptable to his judges and might procure an acquittal, it is not in his nature to make. He will not say or do anything that might pervert the course of justice; he cannot have his tongue bound even in the throat of death. With his accusers he will only fence and play, as he had fenced with other improvers of youth, answering the Sophist according to his sophistry all his life long. He is serious when he is speaking of his own mission, which seems to distinguish him from all other reformers of mankind, and originates in an accident. The dedication of himself to the improvement of his fellow-citizens is not so remarkable as the ironical spirit in which he goes about doing good only in vindication of the credit of the oracle, and in the vain hope of finding a wiser man than himself. Yet this singular and almost accidental character of his mission agrees with the divine sign which, according to our notions, is equally accidental and irrational, and is nevertheless accepted by him as the guiding principle of his life. Socrates is nowhere represented to us as a freethinker or sceptic. There is no reason to doubt his sincerity when he speculates on the possibility of seeing and knowing the heroes of the Trojan war in another world. On the other hand, his hope of immortality is uncertain;he also conceives of death as a long sleep (in this respect differing from the Phdo), and at last falls back on resignation to the divine will, and the certainty that no evil can happen to the good man either in life or death. His absolute truthfulness seems to hinder him from asserting positively more than this; and he makes no attempt to veil his ignorance in Mythology and figures of speech. The gentleness of the first part of the speech contrasts with the aggravated, almost threatening, tone of the conclusion. He characteristically remarks that he will not speak as a rhetorician, that is to say, he will not make a regular defence such as Lysias or one of the orators might have composed for him, or, according to some accounts, did compose for him. But he first procures himself a hearing by conciliatory words. He does not attack the Sophists; for they were open to the same charges as himself; they were equally ridiculed by the Comic poets, and almost equally hateful to Anytus and Meletus. Yet incidentally the antagonism between Socrates and the Sophists is allowed to appear. He is poor and they are rich; his profession that he teaches nothing is opposed to their readiness to teach all things; his talking in the marketplace to their private instructions; his tarry-at-home life to their wandering from city to city. The tone which he assumes towards them is one of real friendliness, but also of concealed irony. Towards Anaxagoras, who had disappointed him in his hopes of learning about mind and nature, he shows a less kindly feeling, which is also the feeling of Plato in other passages (Laws). But Anaxagoras had been dead thirty years, and was beyond the reach of persecution.
It has been remarked that the prophecy of a new generation of teachers who would rebuke and exhort the Athenian people in harsher and more violent terms was, as far as we know, never fulfilled. No inference can be drawn from this circumstance as to the probability of the words attri buted to him having been actually uttered. They express the aspiration of the first martyr of philosophy, that he would leave behind him many followers, accompanied by the not unnatural feeling that they would be fiercer and more inconsiderate in their words when emancipated from his control.
APPENDIX I - Curriculum of A. A., #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
For Mythology, as teaching Correspondences:
Books of Fairy Tales generally.
BOOK II. -- PART I. ANTHROPOGENESIS., #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
"Analysis of Ancient Mythology," Vol. II., p. 760) concurs with all those who are of opinion, that Sydic,
or
--
Antediluvian Earth over which ten princes were born to rule according to the Mythology of the West
(and of the East, also) but seven only of them sat upon the throne." (Vol. III. p. 286.) . . Some also are
--
the highest god in the German and Scandinavian Mythology, is one of these thirty-five Buddhas; one
of the earliest, indeed, for the continent to which he and his race belonged, is also one of the earliest.
BOOK II. -- PART III. ADDENDA. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
preserved us so little of the records of antiquity concerning them. Yet in nearly every Mythology -which after all is ancient history -- the giants play an important part. In the old Norse Mythology, the
giants, Skrymir and his brethren, against whom the sons of the gods fought, were potent factors in the
--
Atlantides of Mythology are based upon the Atlantes and the Atlantides of history. Both
Sanchoniathon and Diodorus have preserved the histories of those heroes and heroines, however much
--
* Professor Max Muller's Lectures -- "on the Philosophy of Mythology" -- are before us. We read his
citations of Herakleitos (460 B.C.), declaring that Homer deserved "to be ejected from public
--
the general public about Greek Mythology have been still further perverted and biassed. Homer is
credited with an inner thought, which is regarded by Mr. Gladstone as "the true key to the Homeric
--
images of Mythology and to lose sight of their inner meaning: and it is remarkably illustrated in the
case of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, as we have shown. While almost the most conspicuous figure
--
whole question of symbolism and Mythology, judge that he has failed to grasp the spirit of the
religious system which he has often criticised from the dogmatic Christian standpoint. In that future
--
most commonly explored for the elucidation of the Greek Mythology" (Nineteenth Century, July,
1887.)
--
The island of Delos, the Asteria of the Greek Mythology, was never in Greece, a country which, in its
day, was not yet in existence, not even in its molecular form. Several writers have shown that it
--
Now Mythology, built upon Hesiod's Theogony, which is but a poetised record of actual traditions, or
oral history, speaks of three giants, called Briareus, Kottos, and Gyges, living in a dark country where
--
Bearing in mind that in Mythology every personage almost is a god or derni-god, and also a king or
simple mortal in his second aspect;* and
--
[[Vol. 2, Page]] 777 Mythology BUILT ON HISTORY.
thought of the world, and succeeded. For nearly two thousand years they impressed thinking Humanity
--
therefore are these passages from Mythology brought forward in our discussion upon modern learning
in this Addendum.
--
a previous and richer age. The idea that the Australians have no religion or Mythology is thoroughly
false. But this religion is certainly quite deteriorated." (Cited in Schmidt's "Doctrine of Descent of
BOOK II. -- PART II. THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
In the Mythology of the earliest Vedic Aryans as in the later Puranic narratives, mention is made of
Budha, the "Wise"; one "learned in the Secret Wisdom," and who is the planet Mercury in his
--
hidden meaning of their glyph. In Mythology they are semi-divine beings with a human face and the
tail of a Dragon. They are therefore, undeniably, the Jewish seraphim (from Serapis and Sarpa,
--
the Greeks is the celestial tree common to every Aryan Mythology. This ash is the Yggdrasil of the
Norse antiquity, which the Norns sprinkle daily with the waters from the fountain of Urd, that it may
--
There are many such "dark sayings" throughout Puranas, Bible and Mythology; and to the occultist
they divulge two facts: (a) that the ancients knew as well, and better, perhaps, than the moderns
--
Sun altogether. Yet it may explain the teaching of the Northern Mythology (in Jeruskoven) that, before
the actual order of things, the Sun arose in the South, and its placing the Frigid Zone in the East,
--
the sky and light, or the Sun; in Mythology he is the progeny of Jupiter and Maia. He is the
"messenger" of his Father Jupiter, the Messiah of the Sun; in Greek, his name "Hermes," means,
--
are seven earths.*** Parsi Mythology knows also of seven heavens. Hvaniratha itself is divided into
seven climes. (Orm. Ahr. 72. "Vendidad Introd. p. Lx.,)" and the same division and doctrine is to be
BOOK I. -- PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
modern Comparative Mythology any better proof to show, that those learned writers, who have
insisted for the last century or so that there must have been "fragments of a primeval revelation,
--
the Brahmans, for Rawlinson shows an undeniably Vedic influence in the early Mythology of Babylon;
and Col. Vans Kennedy has long since justly declared that Babylonia was, from her origin, the seat of
--
This stage of evolution is spoken of in Hindu Mythology as the "Creation" of the Gods.
In Stanza V. the process of world-formation is described: --- First, diffused Cosmic Matter, then the
--
minutely described. As in the oldest Grecian Cosmogony, differing widely from the later Mythology,
Eros is the third person in the primeval trinity: Chaos, Gaea, Eros: answering to the Kabalistic En-Soph
--
in early Greek Mythology. Erebos and Nux are born out of Chaos, and, under the action of Eros, give
birth in their turn to Ether and Hemera, the light of the superior and the light of the inferior or
--
those in the Scandinavian legends, all refer to the same subject. Northern Mythology refers to it as the
battle of the Flames, the sons of Muspel who fought on the field of Wigred. All these relate to Heaven
--
in every Mythology, especially the Grecian, with child-birth, because of the lunar influence on women
and conception, the occult and actual connection of our satellite with fecundation is to this day
BOOK I. -- PART III. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
that the innumerable gods of the Hindu Mythology were but names for the ENERGIES of the First
Triad in its successive AVATARS or manifestations unto man," whither can we turn to trace these
--
allegories in the so-called Mythology of every nation; demonstrating the wonderful philosophy and
the deep insight into the mysteries of nature, in the Egyptian and Chaldean as well as in the Aryan
BOOK I. -- PART II. THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
* Ancient Mythology includes ancient Astronomy as well as Astrology. The planets were the hands
pointing out, on the dial of our solar system, the hours of certain periodical events. Thus, Mercury was
--
"In this way it can be proved that our Christology is mummified Mythology, and
legendary lore, which have been palmed off upon us in the Old Testament and the New,
--
understood by us. Otherwise Mythology will be ever haunting the Orientalists as simply "the disease
which springs up at a peculiar stage of human culture!" -- as Renouf gravely observes in a Hibbert
--
classes. They are said in exoteric Mythology to be born of Brahma's side, like Eve from the rib of
Adam.
Book of Imaginary Beings (text), #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
the Mythology of Mazdaism, this beneficent monster is one
of the helpers of Ahura Mazdah (Ormuzd), the principle of
--
In Norse Mythology, a blood-spattered dog, Garmr, keeps
watch over the house of the dead and will fight against the
--
Nagas belong to the Mythology of India. They are serpents
but often take the form of a man.
--
In medieval Norse Mythology the Norns are the Fates. Snorri
Sturluson, who at the beginning of the thirteenth century
--
Adolf Erman writes that in the Mythology of Heliopolis, the
Phoenix (benu) is the lord of jubilees or of long cycles of
--
gold, which a goddess in William Blakes Mythology caught
in silken nets for the delight of her lover; and the metal birds
--
Poets and Mythology seem to have ignored it, but everyone
at some time has discovered a Tao Tieh for himself at the
--
of Austria imagined them; in Norse Mythology they are
lovely maidens who bear weapons. Their usual number was
--
Norse Mythology, , , ,
,
BOOK XIX. - A review of the philosophical opinions regarding the Supreme Good, and a comparison of these opinions with the Christian belief regarding happiness, #City of God, #Saint Augustine of Hippo, #Christianity
But let us suppose a man such as poetry and Mythology speak of,a man so insociable and savage as to be called rather[Pg 317] a semi-man than a man.[640] Although, then, his kingdom was the solitude of a dreary cave, and he himself was so singularly bad-hearted that he was named , which is the Greek word for bad; though he had no wife to soo the him with endearing talk, no children to play with, no sons to do his bidding, no friend to enliven him with intercourse, not even his father Vulcan (though in one respect he was happier than his father, not having begotten a monster like himself); although he gave to no man, but took as he wished whatever he could, from whomsoever he could, when he could; yet in that solitary den, the floor of which, as Virgil[641] says, was always reeking with recent slaughter, there was nothing else than peace sought, a peace in which no one should molest him, or disquiet him with any assault or alarm. With his own body he desired to be at peace; and he was satisfied only in proportion as he had this peace. For he ruled his members, and they obeyed him; and for the sake of pacifying his mortal nature, which rebelled when it needed anything, and of allaying the sedition of hunger which threatened to banish the soul from the body, he made forays, slew, and devoured, but used the ferocity and savageness he displayed in these actions only for the preservation of his own life's peace. So that, had he been willing to make with other men the same peace which he made with himself in his own cave, he would neither have been called bad, nor a monster, nor a semi-man. Or if the appearance of his body and his vomiting smoky fires frightened men from having any dealings with him, perhaps his fierce ways arose not from a desire to do mischief, but from the necessity of finding a living. But he may have had no existence, or, at least, he was not such as the poets fancifully describe him, for they had to exalt Hercules, and did so at the expense of Cacus. It is better, then, to believe that such a man or semi-man never existed, and that this, in common with many other fancies of the poets, is mere fiction. For the most savage animals (and he is said to have been almost a wild beast) encompass their own species with a ring of protecting peace. They cohabit, beget, produce, suckle, and bring up their young, though very many of them are not gregarious, but solitary,not like sheep, deer, pigeons, starlings,[Pg 318] bees, but such as lions, foxes, eagles, bats. For what tigress does not gently purr over her cubs, and lay aside her ferocity to fondle them? What kite, solitary as he is when circling over his prey, does not seek a mate, build a nest, hatch the eggs, bring up the young birds, and maintain with the mother of his family as peaceful a domestic alliance as he can? How much more powerfully do the laws of man's nature move him to hold fellowship and maintain peace with all men so far as in him lies, since even wicked men wage war to maintain the peace of their own circle, and wish that, if possible, all men belonged to them, that all men and things might serve but one head, and might, either through love or fear, yield themselves to peace with him! It is thus that pride in its perversity apes God. It abhors equality with other men under Him; but, instead of His rule, it seeks to impose a rule of its own upon its equals. It abhors, that is to say, the just peace of God, and loves its own unjust peace; but it cannot help loving peace of one kind or other. For there is no vice so clean contrary to nature that it obliterates even the faintest traces of nature.
He, then, who prefers what is right to what is wrong, and what is well-ordered to what is perverted, sees that the peace of unjust men is not worthy to be called peace in comparison with the peace of the just. And yet even what is perverted must of necessity be in harmony with, and in dependence on, and in some part of the order of things, for otherwise it would have no existence at all. Suppose a man hangs with his head downwards, this is certainly a perverted attitude of body and arrangement of its members; for that which nature requires to be above is beneath, and vice vers. This perversity disturbs the peace of the body, and is therefore painful. Nevertheless the spirit is at peace with its body, and labours for its preservation, and hence the suffering; but if it is banished from the body by its pains, then, so long as the bodily framework holds together, there is in the remains a kind of peace among the members, and hence the body remains suspended. And inasmuch as the earthy body tends towards the earth, and rests on the bond by which it is suspended, it tends thus to its natural peace, and the voice of its own weight demands a place for it to rest; and though now lifeless and without feeling, it does[Pg 319] not fall from the peace that is natural to its place in creation, whether it already has it, or is tending towards it. For if you apply embalming preparations to prevent the bodily frame from mouldering and dissolving, a kind of peace still unites part to part, and keeps the whole body in a suitable place on the earth,in other words, in a place that is at peace with the body. If, on the other hand, the body receive no such care, but be left to the natural course, it is disturbed by exhalations that do not harmonize with one another, and that offend our senses; for it is this which is perceived in putrefaction until it is assimilated to the elements of the world, and particle by particle enters into peace with them. Yet throughout this process the laws of the most high Creator and Governor are strictly observed, for it is by Him the peace of the universe is administered. For although minute animals are produced from the carcase of a larger animal, all these little atoms, by the law of the same Creator, serve the animals they belong to in peace. And although the flesh of dead animals be eaten by others, no matter where it be carried, nor what it be brought into contact with, nor what it be converted and changed into, it still is ruled by the same laws which pervade all things for the conservation of every mortal race, and which bring things that fit one another into harmony.
BS 1 - Introduction to the Idea of God, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Part of the dream that surrounds our articulated knowledge is extracted as a consequence of us watching each other behave, and telling stories about it, for thousands and thousands and thousands of yearsextracting out patterns of behaviour that characterize humanity, and trying to representpartly through imitation, but also drama, Mythology, literature, art, and all of thatwhat were like, so that we can understand what were like. That process of understanding is what I see unfolding, at least in part, in the Biblical stories. Its halting, partial, awkward, and contradictory, which is one of things that makes the book so complex. But I see, in that, the struggle of humanity to rise above its animal forebears and become conscious of what it means to be human.
Thats a very difficult thing, because we dont know who we are, or what we are, or where we came from. Life is an unbroken chain going back 3.5 billion years. Its an absolutely unbelievable thing. Every single one of your ancestors reproduced successfully for 3.5 billion years. Its absolutely unbelievable. We rose out of the dirt and the muck, and here we are, conscious but not knowing, and were trying to figure out who we are. A set of stories that weve been telling for 3,000 years seems, to me, to have something to offer.
--
Jung got very interested in dreams, and he started to understand the relationship between dreams and myths. He was deeply read in Mythology, and he would see, in his clients dreams, echoes of stories that he knew. He started to believe that the dream was the birthplace of the myth and that there was a continual interaction between the two processes: the dream and the story, and storytelling. You can tell your dreams as stories, when you remember them, and some people remember dreams all the timetwo or three, at night. Ive had clients like that. They often have archetypal dreams that have very clear mythological structures. I think thats more the case with people who are creativeespecially if theyre a bit unstable at the timebecause the dream tends to occupy the space of uncertainty, and to concentrate on fleshing out the unknown reality, before you get a real grip on it. So the dream is the birthplace of thinking. Thats a good way of thinking about it, because its not that clear. Its doing its best to formulate something. That was Jungs notion, as of post-Freud, who believed that there were internal censors that were hiding the dreams true message. Thats not what Jung believed. He believed the dream was doing its best to express a reality that was still outside of fully articulated, conscious comprehension.
A thought appears in your head, right? Thats obvious. Bangits nothing you ever asked about. What the hell does that mean? A thought appears in your head. What kind of ridiculous explanation is that? It just doesn't help with anything. Where does it come from? Well, nowhere. It just appears in my head. Thats not a very sophisticated explanation, as it turns out. You might think that those thoughts that you think...Well, where do they come from? Theyre often someone elses thoughtssomeone long dead. That might be part of itjust like the words you use to think are utterances of people who have been long dead. Youre informed by the spirit of your ancestors. Thats one way of looking at it.
--
When I was first married, Id have fights with my wifearguments about this and that. Im fairly hot-headed, and Id get all puffed up and agitated about whatever we were arguing about. Shed go to sleep, which was really annoying. It was so annoying, because I couldnt sleep. Id be chewing off my fingernails, and shed be sleeping peacefully beside me. Maddening. But, often, shed have a dream, and shed discuss it with me the next morning. Wed unravel what was at the bottom of our argument. That was unbelievably useful, even though it was extraordinary aggravating. I was convinced by Jung. His ideas about the relationship between dreams, Mythology, drama, and literature made sense to me, and his ideas about the relationship between man and art.
I know this Native carver. Hes a Kwakwakawakw guy. Hes carved a bunch of wooden sculptures, totem poles, and masks that I have in my house. Hes a very interesting personnot particularly literate, and really still steep in this ancient, 13,000-year-old tradition. Hes an original language speaker, and the fact that he isnt literate has sort of left him with the mind of someone who is pre-literature. Pre-literature people arent stupid; they just arent literate. Their brains are organized differently, in many ways.
--
We know we dont understand our actions. Almost every argument you have with someone is about that. Its like, why did you do that? You come up with some half-baked reasons why you did it; youre flailing around in the darkness; you try to give an account for yourself, but you can only do it partially. Its very, very difficult, because youre a complicated animal, with the beginnings of an articulated mind, and youre just way more than you can handle. So you act things out, and thats a kind of competence. Then you imagine what you act out, and you imagine what everyone else acts out. Theres a tremendous amount of information in your action, and that information is translated up into the dream, and then into art, Mythology and literature. Theres a tremendous amount of information in that, and some of that is translated into articulated thought.
Ill give you a quick example of something like that. I think this is partly what happens in Exodus, when Moses comes up with the law. Hes wandering around with the Israelites in the desert. Theyre going left and going right, worshipping idols, having a hell of a time, and getting rebellious. Moses goes up in the mountain, and he has this tremendous revelation in the sight of God. It illuminates him, and he comes down with the law. Moses acted as a judge I know this is a mythological storyin the desert. He was continually mediating between people who were having problems, and he was constantly trying to keep peace. What are you doing when youre trying to keep peace? Youre trying to understand what peace is. You have to apply the principles. What are the principles? Well, you dont know. The principles are whatever satisfied the people enough to make peace.
--
What seems to happen is represented in Mythology as a battle of the gods in celestial space. From a practical perspective, its more like an ongoing dialog. You believe this; I believe this. You believe that; I believe this. How are we going to meld that together? You take God A, and you take God B, and maybe what you do is extract God C from them, and you say, God C now has the attri butes of A and B. And then some other tribes come in, and C takes them over, too. Take Marduk, for example. He has 50 different names, at least in part, of the subordinate gods that represented the tribes that came together to make the civilization. Thats part of the process by which that abstracted ideal is abstracted. You think, this is important, and it works, because your tribe is alive, and so well take the best of both, if we can manage it, and extract out something, thats even more abstract, that covers both of us.
Ill give you a couple of Marduks interesting features. He has eyes all the way around his head. Hes elected by all the other gods to be king God. Thats the first thing. Thats quite cool. They elect him because theyre facing a terrible threatsort of like a flood and a monster combined. Marduk basically says that, if they elect him top God, hell go out and stop the flood monster, and they wont all get wiped out. Its a serious threat. Its chaos itself making its comeback. All the gods agree, and Marduk is the new manifestation. Hes got eyes all the way around his head, and he speaks magic words. When he fights, he fights this deity called Tiamat. We need to know that, because the word Tiamat is associated with the word 'tehom.' Tehom is the chaos that God makes order out of at the beginning of time in Genesis, so its linked very tightly to this story. Marduk, with his eyes and his capacity to speak magic words, goes out and confronts Tiamat, whos like this watery sea dragon. Its a classic Saint George story: go out and wreak havoc on the dragon. He cuts her into pieces, and he makes the world out of her pieces. Thats the world that human beings live in.
Euthyphro, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Socrates has a dislike to these tales of Mythology, and he fancies that this dislike of his may be the reason why he is charged with impiety. 'Are they really true?' 'Yes, they are;' and Euthyphro will gladly tell Socrates some more of them. But Socrates would like first of all to have a more satisfactory answer to the question, 'What is piety?' 'Doing as I do, charging a father with murder,' may be a single instance of piety, but can hardly be regarded as a general definition.
Euthyphro replies, that 'Piety is what is dear to the gods, and impiety is what is not dear to them.' But may there not be differences of opinion, as among men, so also among the gods? Especially, about good and evil, which have no fixed rule; and these are precisely the sort of differences which give rise to quarrels. And therefore what may be dear to one god may not be dear to another, and the same action may be both pious and impious; e.g. your chastisement of your father, Euthyphro, may be dear or pleasing to Zeus (who inflicted a similar chastisement on his own father), but not equally pleasing to Cronos or Uranus (who suffered at the hands of their sons).
--
Thus begins the contrast between the religion of the letter, or of the narrow and unenlightened conscience, and the higher notion of religion which Socrates vainly endeavours to elicit from him. 'Piety is doing as I do' is the idea of religion which first occurs to him, and to many others who do not say what they think with equal frankness. For men are not easily persuaded that any other religion is better than their own; or that other nations, e.g. the Greeks in the time of Socrates, were equally serious in their religious beliefs and difficulties. The chief difference between us and them is, that they were slowly learning what we are in process of forgetting. Greek Mythology hardly admitted of the distinction between accidental homicide and murder: that the pollution of blood was the same in both cases is also the feeling of the Athenian diviner. He had not as yet learned the lesson, which philosophy was teaching, that Homer and Hesiod, if not banished from the state, or whipped out of the assembly, as Heracleitus more rudely proposed, at any rate were not to be appealed to as authorities in religion; and he is ready to defend his conduct by the examples of the gods. These are the very tales which Socrates cannot abide; and his dislike of them, as he suspects, has branded him with the reputation of impiety. Here is one answer to the question, 'Why Socrates was put to death,' suggested by the way. Another is conveyed in the words, 'The Athenians do not care about any man being thought wise until he begins to make other men wise; and then for some reason or other they are angry:' which may be said to be the rule of popular toleration in most other countries, and not at Athens only. In the course of the argument Socrates remarks that the controversial nature of morals and religion arises out of the difficulty of verifying them. There is no measure or standard to which they can be referred.
The next definition, 'Piety is that which is loved of the gods,' is shipwrecked on a refined distinction between the state and the act, corresponding respectively to the adjective (philon) and the participle (philoumenon), or rather perhaps to the participle and the verb (philoumenon and phileitai). The act is prior to the state (as in Aristotle the energeia precedes the dunamis); and the state of being loved is preceded by the act of being loved. But piety or holiness is preceded by the act of being pious, not by the act of being loved; and therefore piety and the state of being loved are different. Through such subtleties of dialectic Socrates is working his way into a deeper region of thought and feeling. He means to say that the words 'loved of the gods' express an attri bute only, and not the essence of piety.
--
The subtle connection with the Apology and the Crito; the holding back of the conclusion, as in the Charmides, Lysis, Laches, Protagoras, and other Dialogues; the deep insight into the religious world; the dramatic power and play of the two characters; the inimitable irony, are reasons for believing that the Euthyphro is a genuine Platonic writing. The spirit in which the popular representations of Mythology are denounced recalls Republic II. The virtue of piety has been already mentioned as one of five in the Protagoras, but is not reckoned among the four cardinal virtues of Republic IV. The figure of Daedalus has occurred in the Meno; that of Proteus in the Euthydemus and Io. The kingly science has already appeared in the Euthydemus, and will reappear in the Republic and Statesman. But neither from these nor any other indications of similarity or difference, and still less from arguments respecting the suitableness of this little work to aid Socrates at the time of his trial or the reverse, can any evidence of the date be obtained.
EUTHYPHRO
Gorgias, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Neither this, nor any of the three greater myths of Plato, nor perhaps any allegory or parable relating to the unseen world, is consistent with itself. The language of philosophy mingles with that of Mythology; abstract ideas are transformed into persons, figures of speech into realities. These myths may be compared with the Pilgrim's Progress of Bunyan, in which discussions of theology are mixed up with the incidents of travel, and mythological personages are associated with human beings: they are also garnished with names and phrases taken out of Homer, and with other fragments of Greek tradition.
The myth of the Republic is more subtle and also more consistent than either of the two others. It has a greater verisimilitude than they have, and is full of touches which recall the experiences of human life. It will be noticed by an attentive reader that the twelve days during which Er lay in a trance after he was slain coincide with the time passed by the spirits in their pilgrimage. It is a curious observation, not often made, that good men who have lived in a well-governed city (shall we say in a religious and respectable society?) are more likely to make mistakes in their choice of life than those who have had more experience of the world and of evil. It is a more familiar remark that we constantly blame others when we have only ourselves to blame; and the philosopher must acknowledge, however reluctantly, that there is an element of chance in human life with which it is sometimes impossible for man to cope. That men drink more of the waters of forgetfulness than is good for them is a poetical description of a familiar truth. We have many of us known men who, like Odysseus, have wearied of ambition and have only desired rest. We should like to know what became of the infants 'dying almost as soon as they were born,' but Plato only raises, without satisfying, our curiosity. The two companies of souls, ascending and descending at either chasm of heaven and earth, and conversing when they come out into the meadow, the majestic figures of the judges sitting in heaven, the voice heard by Ardiaeus, are features of the great allegory which have an indescribable grandeur and power. The remark already made respecting the inconsistency of the two other myths must be extended also to this: it is at once an orrery, or model of the heavens, and a picture of the Day of Judgment.
The three myths are unlike anything else in Plato. There is an Oriental, or rather an Egyptian element in them, and they have an affinity to the mysteries and to the Orphic modes of worship. To a certain extent they are un-Greek; at any rate there is hardly anything like them in other Greek writings which have a serious purpose; in spirit they are mediaeval. They are akin to what may be termed the underground religion in all ages and countries. They are presented in the most lively and graphic manner, but they are never insisted on as true; it is only affirmed that nothing better can be said about a future life. Plato seems to make use of them when he has reached the limits of human knowledge; or, to borrow an expression of his own, when he is standing on the outside of the intellectual world. They are very simple in style; a few touches bring the picture home to the mind, and make it present to us. They have also a kind of authority gained by the employment of sacred and familiar names, just as mere fragments of the words of Scripture, put together in any form and applied to any subject, have a power of their own. They are a substitute for poetry and Mythology; and they are also a reform of Mythology. The moral of them may be summed up in a word or two: After death the Judgment; and 'there is some better thing remaining for the good than for the evil.'
All literature gathers into itself many elements of the past: for example, the tale of the earth-born men in the Republic appears at first sight to be an extravagant fancy, but it is restored to propriety when we remember that it is based on a legendary belief. The art of making stories of ghosts and apparitions credible is said to consist in the manner of telling them. The effect is gained by many literary and conversational devices, such as the previous raising of curiosity, the mention of little circumstances, simplicity, picturesqueness, the naturalness of the occasion, and the like. This art is possessed by Plato in a degree which has never been equalled.
--
To the first there succeeds a second epoch. After another natural convulsion, in which the order of the world and of human life is once more reversed, God withdraws his guiding hand, and man is left to the government of himself. The world begins again, and arts and laws are slowly and painfully invented. A secular age succeeds to a theocratical. In this fanciful tale Plato has dropped, or almost dropped, the garb of Mythology. He suggests several curious and important thoughts, such as the possibility of a state of innocence, the existence of a world without traditions, and the difference between human and divine government. He has also carried a step further his speculations concerning the abolition of the family and of property, which he supposes to have no place among the children of Cronos any more than in the ideal state.
It is characteristic of Plato and of his age to pass from the abstract to the concrete, from poetry to reality. Language is the expression of the seen, and also of the unseen, and moves in a region between them. A great writer knows how to strike both these chords, sometimes remaining within the sphere of the visible, and then again comprehending a wider range and soaring to the abstract and universal. Even in the same sentence he may employ both modes of speech not improperly or inharmoniously. It is useless to criticise the broken metaphors of Plato, if the effect of the whole is to create a picture not such as can be painted on canvas, but which is full of life and meaning to the reader. A poem may be contained in a word or two, which may call up not one but many latent images; or half reveal to us by a sudden flash the thoughts of many hearts. Often the rapid transition from one image to another is pleasing to us: on the other hand, any single figure of speech if too often repeated, or worked out too much at length, becomes prosy and monotonous. In theology and philosophy we necessarily include both 'the moral law within and the starry heaven above,' and pass from one to the other (compare for examples Psalms xviii. and xix.). Whether such a use of language is puerile or noble depends upon the genius of the writer or speaker, and the familiarity of the associations employed.
Liber 46 - The Key of the Mysteries, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
which he raises the veil of universal Mythology.
We invite conscientious students to read these various {183} works, and
Liber, #Liber Null, #Peter J Carroll, #Occultism
Liber LXI. (61) [D] - Liber Causae. ::: The Preliminary Lection, including the History Lection. - Crowley: 'Explains the actual history of the origin of the present movement. Its statements are accurate in the ordinary sense of the word. The object of the book is to discount Mythopia. A manuscript giving an account of the history of the AA in recent times. This history contains no Mythology; it is a statement of facts susceptible of rational proof.'
Liber LXIV. (64) [B] - Liber Israfel, formerly called Anubis. ::: An instruction in a suitable method of preaching. Unpublished.
LUX.03 - INVOCATION, #Liber Null, #Peter J Carroll, #Occultism
There are many maps of the mind (psychocosms), most of which are inconsistent, contradictory, and based on highly fanciful theories. Many use the symbology of god forms, for all Mythology embodies a psychology. A complete mythic pantheon resumes all of man's mental characteristics. Magicians will often use a pagan pantheon of gods as the basis for invoking some particular insight or ability, as these myths provide the most explicit and developed formulation of the particular idea's extant. However it is possible to use almost anything from the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the elemental qualities of alchemy.
If the magician taps a deep enough level of power, these forms may manifest with sufficient force to convince the mind of the objective existence of the god. Yet the aim of invocation is temporary possession by the god, communication from the god, and manifestation of the god's magical powers, rather than the formation of religious cults.
Meno, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Plato's doctrine of ideas has attained an imaginary clearness and definiteness which is not to be found in his own writings. The popular account of them is partly derived from one or two passages in his Dialogues interpreted without regard to their poetical environment. It is due also to the misunderstanding of him by the Aristotelian school; and the erroneous notion has been further narrowed and has become fixed by the realism of the schoolmen. This popular view of the Platonic ideas may be summed up in some such formula as the following: 'Truth consists not in particulars, but in universals, which have a place in the mind of God, or in some far-off heaven. These were revealed to men in a former state of existence, and are recovered by reminiscence (anamnesis) or association from sensible things. The sensible things are not realities, but shadows only, in relation to the truth.' These unmeaning propositions are hardly suspected to be a caricature of a great theory of knowledge, which Plato in various ways and under many figures of speech is seeking to unfold. Poetry has been converted into dogma; and it is not remarked that the Platonic ideas are to be found only in about a third of Plato's writings and are not confined to him. The forms which they assume are numerous, and if taken literally, inconsistent with one another. At one time we are in the clouds of Mythology, at another among the abstractions of mathematics or metaphysics; we pass imperceptibly from one to the other. Reason and fancy are mingled in the same passage. The ideas are sometimes described as many, coextensive with the universals of sense and also with the first principles of ethics; or again they are absorbed into the single idea of good, and subordinated to it. They are not more certain than facts, but they are equally certain (Phaedo). They are both personal and impersonal. They are abstract terms: they are also the causes of things; and they are even transformed into the demons or spirits by whose help God made the world. And the idea of good (Republic) may without violence be converted into the Supreme Being, who 'because He was good' created all things (Tim.).
It would be a mistake to try and reconcile these differing modes of thought. They are not to be regarded seriously as having a distinct meaning. They are parables, prophecies, myths, symbols, revelations, aspirations after an unknown world. They derive their origin from a deep religious and contemplative feeling, and also from an observation of curious mental phenomena. They gather up the elements of the previous philosophies, which they put together in a new form. Their great diversity shows the tentative character of early endeavours to think. They have not yet settled down into a single system. Plato uses them, though he also criticises them; he acknowledges that both he and others are always talking about them, especially about the Idea of Good; and that they are not peculiar to himself (Phaedo; Republic; Soph.). But in his later writings he seems to have laid aside the old forms of them. As he proceeds he makes for himself new modes of expression more akin to the Aristotelian logic.
--
The question which Plato has raised respecting the origin and nature of ideas belongs to the infancy of philosophy; in modern times it would no longer be asked. Their origin is only their history, so far as we know it; there can be no other. We may trace them in language, in philosophy, in Mythology, in poetry, but we cannot argue a priori about them. We may attempt to shake them off, but they are always returning, and in every sphere of science and human action are tending to go beyond facts. They are thought to be innate, because they have been familiar to us all our lives, and we can no longer dismiss them from our mind. Many of them express relations of terms to which nothing exactly or nothing at all in rerum natura corresponds. We are not such free agents in the use of them as we sometimes imagine. Fixed ideas have taken the most complete possession of some thinkers who have been most determined to renounce them, and have been vehemently affirmed when they could be least explained and were incapable of proof. The world has often been led away by a word to which no distinct meaning could be attached. Abstractions such as 'authority,' 'equality,' 'utility,' 'liberty,' 'pleasure,' 'experience,' 'consciousness,' 'chance,' 'substance,' 'matter,' 'atom,' and a heap of other metaphysical and theological terms, are the source of quite as much error and illusion and have as little relation to actual facts as the ideas of Plato. Few students of theology or philosophy have sufficiently reflected how quickly the bloom of a philosophy passes away; or how hard it is for one age to understand the writings of another; or how nice a judgment is required of those who are seeking to express the philosophy of one age in the terms of another. The 'eternal truths' of which metaphysicians speak have hardly ever lasted more than a generation. In our own day schools or systems of philosophy which have once been famous have died before the founders of them. We are still, as in Plato's age, groping about for a new method more comprehensive than any of those which now prevail; and also more permanent. And we seem to see at a distance the promise of such a method, which can hardly be any other than the method of idealized experience, having roots which strike far down into the history of philosophy. It is a method which does not divorce the present from the past, or the part from the whole, or the abstract from the concrete, or theory from fact, or the divine from the human, or one science from another, but labours to connect them. Along such a road we have proceeded a few steps, sufficient, perhaps, to make us reflect on the want of method which prevails in our own day. In another age, all the branches of knowledge, whether relating to God or man or nature, will become the knowledge of 'the revelation of a single science' (Symp.), and all things, like the stars in heaven, will shed their light upon one another.
MENO
MoM References, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Campbell, J. (1964). Occidental Mythology: The masks of God. London: Penguin Books.
Campbell, J. (1968). The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
--
Campbell, J. (1987). The masks of God: Vol. 1. Primitive Mythology. New York: Penguin.
Carver, C.S. & Scheier, M.F. (1982). Control theory: A useful conceptual framework for personality, social, clinical, and health psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 111-135.
Phaedo, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
4. Modern philosophy is perplexed at this whole question, which is sometimes fairly given up and handed over to the realm of faith. The perplexity should not be forgotten by us when we attempt to submit the Phaedo of Plato to the requirements of logic. For what idea can we form of the soul when separated from the body? Or how can the soul be united with the body and still be independent? Is the soul related to the body as the ideal to the real, or as the whole to the parts, or as the subject to the object, or as the cause to the effect, or as the end to the means? Shall we say with Aristotle, that the soul is the entelechy or form of an organized living body? or with Plato, that she has a life of her own? Is the Pythagorean image of the harmony, or that of the monad, the truer expression? Is the soul related to the body as sight to the eye, or as the boatman to his boat? (Arist. de Anim.) And in another state of being is the soul to be conceived of as vanishing into infinity, hardly possessing an existence which she can call her own, as in the pantheistic system of Spinoza: or as an individual informing another body and entering into new relations, but retaining her own character? (Compare Gorgias.) Or is the opposition of soul and body a mere illusion, and the true self neither soul nor body, but the union of the two in the 'I' which is above them? And is death the assertion of this individuality in the higher nature, and the falling away into nothingness of the lower? Or are we vainly attempting to pass the boundaries of human thought? The body and the soul seem to be inseparable, not only in fact, but in our conceptions of them; and any philosophy which too closely unites them, or too widely separates them, either in this life or in another, disturbs the balance of human nature. No thinker has perfectly adjusted them, or been entirely consistent with himself in describing their relation to one another. Nor can we wonder that Plato in the infancy of human thought should have confused Mythology and philosophy, or have mistaken verbal arguments for real ones.
5. Again, believing in the immortality of the soul, we must still ask the question of Socrates, 'What is that which we suppose to be immortal?' Is it the personal and individual element in us, or the spiritual and universal? Is it the principle of knowledge or of goodness, or the union of the two? Is it the mere force of life which is determined to be, or the consciousness of self which cannot be got rid of, or the fire of genius which refuses to be extinguished? Or is there a hidden being which is allied to the Author of all existence, who is because he is perfect, and to whom our ideas of perfection give us a title to belong? Whatever answer is given by us to these questions, there still remains the necessity of allowing the permanence of evil, if not for ever, at any rate for a time, in order that the wicked 'may not have too good a bargain.' For the annihilation of evil at death, or the eternal duration of it, seem to involve equal difficulties in the moral government of the universe. Sometimes we are led by our feelings, rather than by our reason, to think of the good and wise only as existing in another life. Why should the mean, the weak, the idiot, the infant, the herd of men who have never in any proper sense the use of reason, reappear with blinking eyes in the light of another world? But our second thought is that the hope of humanity is a common one, and that all or none will be partakers of immortality. Reason does not allow us to suppose that we have any greater claims than others, and experience may often reveal to us unexpected flashes of the higher nature in those whom we had despised. Why should the wicked suffer any more than ourselves? had we been placed in their circumstances should we have been any better than they? The worst of men are objects of pity rather than of anger to the philanthropist; must they not be equally such to divine benevolence? Even more than the good they have need of another life; not that they may be punished, but that they may be educated. These are a few of the reflections which arise in our minds when we attempt to assign any form to our conceptions of a future state.
--
14. Returning now to the earlier stage of human thought which is represented by the writings of Plato, we find that many of the same questions have already arisen: there is the same tendency to materialism; the same inconsistency in the application of the idea of mind; the same doubt whether the soul is to be regarded as a cause or as an effect; the same falling back on moral convictions. In the Phaedo the soul is conscious of her divine nature, and the separation from the body which has been commenced in this life is perfected in another. Beginning in mystery, Socrates, in the intermediate part of the Dialogue, attempts to bring the doctrine of a future life into connection with his theory of knowledge. In proportion as he succeeds in this, the individual seems to disappear in a more general notion of the soul; the contemplation of ideas 'under the form of eternity' takes the place of past and future states of existence. His language may be compared to that of some modern philosophers, who speak of eternity, not in the sense of perpetual duration of time, but as an ever-present quality of the soul. Yet at the conclusion of the Dialogue, having 'arrived at the end of the intellectual world' (Republic), he replaces the veil of Mythology, and describes the soul and her attendant genius in the language of the mysteries or of a disciple of Zoroaster. Nor can we fairly demand of Plato a consistency which is wanting among ourselves, who acknowledge that another world is beyond the range of human thought, and yet are always seeking to represent the mansions of heaven or hell in the colours of the painter, or in the descriptions of the poet or rhetorician.
15. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul was not new to the Greeks in the age of Socrates, but, like the unity of God, had a foundation in the popular belief. The old Homeric notion of a gibbering ghost flitting away to Hades; or of a few illustrious heroes enjoying the isles of the blest; or of an existence divided between the two; or the Hesiodic, of righteous spirits, who become guardian angels,had given place in the mysteries and the Orphic poets to representations, partly fanciful, of a future state of rewards and punishments. (Laws.) The reticence of the Greeks on public occasions and in some part of their literature respecting this 'underground' religion, is not to be taken as a measure of the diffusion of such beliefs. If Pericles in the funeral oration is silent on the consolations of immortality, the poet Pindar and the tragedians on the other hand constantly assume the continued existence of the dead in an upper or under world. Darius and Laius are still alive; Antigone will be dear to her brethren after death; the way to the palace of Cronos is found by those who 'have thrice departed from evil.' The tragedy of the Greeks is not 'rounded' by this life, but is deeply set in decrees of fate and mysterious workings of powers beneath the earth. In the caricature of Aristophanes there is also a witness to the common sentiment. The Ionian and Pythagorean philosophies arose, and some new elements were added to the popular belief. The individual must find an expression as well as the world. Either the soul was supposed to exist in the form of a magnet, or of a particle of fire, or of light, or air, or water; or of a number or of a harmony of number; or to be or have, like the stars, a principle of motion (Arist. de Anim.). At length Anaxagoras, hardly distinguishing between life and mind, or between mind human and divine, attained the pure abstraction; and this, like the other abstractions of Greek philosophy, sank deep into the human intelligence. The opposition of the intelligible and the sensible, and of God to the world, supplied an analogy which assisted in the separation of soul and body. If ideas were separable from phenomena, mind was also separable from matter; if the ideas were eternal, the mind that conceived them was eternal too. As the unity of God was more distinctly acknowledged, the conception of the human soul became more developed. The succession, or alternation of life and death, had occurred to Heracleitus. The Eleatic Parmenides had stumbled upon the modern thesis, that 'thought and being are the same.' The Eastern belief in transmigration defined the sense of individuality; and some, like Empedocles, fancied that the blood which they had shed in another state of being was crying against them, and that for thirty thousand years they were to be 'fugitives and vagabonds upon the earth.' The desire of recognizing a lost mother or love or friend in the world below (Phaedo) was a natural feeling which, in that age as well as in every other, has given distinctness to the hope of immortality. Nor were ethical considerations wanting, partly derived from the necessity of punishing the greater sort of criminals, whom no avenging power of this world could reach. The voice of conscience, too, was heard reminding the good man that he was not altogether innocent. (Republic.) To these indistinct longings and fears an expression was given in the mysteries and Orphic poets: a 'heap of books' (Republic), passing under the names of Musaeus and Orpheus in Plato's time, were filled with notions of an under-world.
--
21. The ethical proof of the immortality of the soul is derived from the necessity of retri bution. The wicked would be too well off if their evil deeds came to an end. It is not to be supposed that an Ardiaeus, an Archelaus, an Ismenias could ever have suffered the penalty of their crimes in this world. The manner in which this retri bution is accomplished Plato represents under the figures of Mythology. Doubtless he felt that it was easier to improve than to invent, and that in religion especially the traditional form was required in order to give verisimilitude to the myth. The myth too is far more probable to that age than to ours, and may fairly be regarded as 'one guess among many' about the nature of the earth, which he cleverly supports by the indications of geology. Not that he insists on the absolute truth of his own particular notions: 'no man of sense will be confident in such matters; but he will be confident that something of the kind is true.' As in other passages (Gorg., Tim., compare Crito), he wins belief for his fictions by the moderation of his statements; he does not, like Dante or Swedenborg, allow himself to be deceived by his own creations.
The Dialogue must be read in the light of the situation. And first of all we are struck by the calmness of the scene. Like the spectators at the time, we cannot pity Socrates; his mien and his language are so noble and fearless. He is the same that he ever was, but milder and gentler, and he has in no degree lost his interest in dialectics; he will not forego the delight of an argument in compliance with the jailer's intimation that he should not heat himself with talking. At such a time he naturally expresses the hope of his life, that he has been a true mystic and not a mere retainer or wand-bearer: and he refers to passages of his personal history. To his old enemies the Comic poets, and to the proceedings on the trial, he alludes playfully; but he vividly remembers the disappointment which he felt in reading the books of Anaxagoras. The return of Xanthippe and his children indicates that the philosopher is not 'made of oak or rock.' Some other traits of his character may be noted; for example, the courteous manner in which he inclines his head to the last objector, or the ironical touch, 'Me already, as the tragic poet would say, the voice of fate calls;' or the depreciation of the arguments with which 'he comforted himself and them;' or his fear of 'misology;' or his references to Homer; or the playful smile with which he 'talks like a book' about greater and less; or the allusion to the possibility of finding another teacher among barbarous races (compare Polit.); or the mysterious reference to another science (mathematics?) of generation and destruction for which he is vainly feeling. There is no change in him; only now he is invested with a sort of sacred character, as the prophet or priest of Apollo the God of the festival, in whose honour he first of all composes a hymn, and then like the swan pours forth his dying lay. Perhaps the extreme elevation of Socrates above his own situation, and the ordinary interests of life (compare his jeu d'esprit about his burial, in which for a moment he puts on the 'Silenus mask'), create in the mind of the reader an impression stronger than could be derived from arguments that such a one has in him 'a principle which does not admit of death.'
--
As in several other Dialogues, there is more of system in the Phaedo than appears at first sight. The succession of arguments is based on previous philosophies; beginning with the mysteries and the Heracleitean alternation of opposites, and proceeding to the Pythagorean harmony and transmigration; making a step by the aid of Platonic reminiscence, and a further step by the help of the nous of Anaxagoras; until at last we rest in the conviction that the soul is inseparable from the ideas, and belongs to the world of the invisible and unknown. Then, as in the Gorgias or Republic, the curtain falls, and the veil of Mythology descends upon the argument. After the confession of Socrates that he is an interested party, and the acknowledgment that no man of sense will think the details of his narrative true, but that something of the kind is true, we return from speculation to practice. He is himself more confident of immortality than he is of his own arguments; and the confidence which he expresses is less strong than that which his cheerfulness and composure in death inspire in us.
Difficulties of two kinds occur in the Phaedoone kind to be explained out of contemporary philosophy, the other not admitting of an entire solution. (1) The difficulty which Socrates says that he experienced in explaining generation and corruption; the assumption of hypotheses which proceed from the less general to the more general, and are tested by their consequences; the puzzle about greater and less; the resort to the method of ideas, which to us appear only abstract terms,these are to be explained out of the position of Socrates and Plato in the history of philosophy. They were living in a twilight between the sensible and the intellectual world, and saw no way of connecting them. They could neither explain the relation of ideas to phenomena, nor their correlation to one another. The very idea of relation or comparison was embarrassing to them. Yet in this intellectual uncertainty they had a conception of a proof from results, and of a moral truth, which remained unshaken amid the questionings of philosophy. (2) The other is a difficulty which is touched upon in the Republic as well as in the Phaedo, and is common to modern and ancient philosophy. Plato is not altogether satisfied with his safe and simple method of ideas. He wants to have proved to him by facts that all things are for the best, and that there is one mind or design which pervades them all. But this 'power of the best' he is unable to explain; and therefore takes refuge in universal ideas. And are not we at this day seeking to discover that which Socrates in a glass darkly foresaw?
Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (text), #Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
rocking. Then he thought of another plan to save it. He remembered that according to Mythology,
Hanuman was the son of the Wind-god. So he cried out, "Lord, I beg of Thee to spare this cottage; for it
Sophist, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
I. The Sophist in Plato is the master of the art of illusion; the charlatan, the foreigner, the prince of esprits-faux, the hireling who is not a teacher, and who, from whatever point of view he is regarded, is the opposite of the true teacher. He is the 'evil one,' the ideal representative of all that Plato most disliked in the moral and intellectual tendencies of his own age; the adversary of the almost equally ideal Socrates. He seems to be always growing in the fancy of Plato, now boastful, now eristic, now clothing himself in rags of philosophy, now more akin to the rhetorician or lawyer, now haranguing, now questioning, until the final appearance in the Politicus of his departing shadow in the disguise of a statesman. We are not to suppose that Plato intended by such a description to depict Protagoras or Gorgias, or even Thrasymachus, who all turn out to be 'very good sort of people when we know them,' and all of them part on good terms with Socrates. But he is speaking of a being as imaginary as the wise man of the Stoics, and whose character varies in different dialogues. Like Mythology, Greek philosophy has a tendency to personify ideas. And the Sophist is not merely a teacher of rhetoric for a fee of one or fifty drachmae (Crat.), but an ideal of Plato's in which the falsehood of all mankind is reflected.
A milder tone is adopted towards the Sophists in a well-known passage of the Republic, where they are described as the followers rather than the leaders of the rest of mankind. Plato ridicules the notion that any individuals can corrupt youth to a degree worth speaking of in comparison with the greater influence of public opinion. But there is no real inconsistency between this and other descriptions of the Sophist which occur in the Platonic writings. For Plato is not justifying the Sophists in the passage just quoted, but only representing their power to be contemptible; they are to be despised rather than feared, and are no worse than the rest of mankind. But a teacher or statesman may be justly condemned, who is on a level with mankind when he ought to be above them. There is another point of view in which this passage should also be considered. The great enemy of Plato is the world, not exactly in the theological sense, yet in one not wholly differentthe world as the hater of truth and lover of appearance, occupied in the pursuit of gain and pleasure rather than of knowledge, banded together against the few good and wise men, and devoid of true education. This creature has many heads: rhetoricians, lawyers, statesmen, poets, sophists. But the Sophist is the Proteus who takes the likeness of all of them; all other deceivers have a piece of him in them. And sometimes he is represented as the corrupter of the world; and sometimes the world as the corrupter of him and of itself.
--
Hegel is fond of etymologies and often seems to trifle with words. He gives etymologies which are bad, and never considers that the meaning of a word may have nothing to do with its derivation. He lived before the days of Comparative Philology or of Comparative Mythology and Religion, which would have opened a new world to him. He makes no allowance for the element of chance either in language or thought; and perhaps there is no greater defect in his system than the want of a sound theory of language. He speaks as if thought, instead of being identical with language, was wholly independent of it. It is not the actual growth of the mind, but the imaginary growth of the Hegelian system, which is attractive to him.
Neither are we able to say why of the common forms of thought some are rejected by him, while others have an undue prominence given to them. Some of them, such as 'ground' and 'existence,' have hardly any basis either in language or philosophy, while others, such as 'cause' and 'effect,' are but slightly considered. All abstractions are supposed by Hegel to derive their meaning from one another. This is true of some, but not of all, and in different degrees. There is an explanation of abstractions by the phenomena which they represent, as well as by their relation to other abstractions. If the knowledge of all were necessary to the knowledge of any one of them, the mind would sink under the load of thought. Again, in every process of reflection we seem to require a standing ground, and in the attempt to obtain a complete analysis we lose all fixedness. If, for example, the mind is viewed as the complex of ideas, or the difference between things and persons denied, such an analysis may be justified from the point of view of Hegel: but we shall find that in the attempt to criticize thought we have lost the power of thinking, and, like the Heracliteans of old, have no words in which our meaning can be expressed. Such an analysis may be of value as a corrective of popular language or thought, but should still allow us to retain the fundamental distinctions of philosophy.
Symposium translated by B Jowett, #Symposium, #Plato, #Philosophy
If it be true that there are more things in the Symposium of Plato than any commentator has dreamed of, it is also true that many things have been imagined which are not really to be found there. Some writings hardly admit of a more distinct interpretation than a musical composition; and every reader may form his own accompaniment of thought or feeling to the strain which he hears. The Symposium of Plato is a work of this character, and can with difficulty be rendered in any words but the writer's own. There are so many half-lights and cross-lights, so much of the colour of Mythology, and of the manner of sophistry adheringrhetoric and poetry, the playful and the serious, are so subtly intermingled in it, and vestiges of old philosophy so curiously blend with germs of future knowledge, that agreement among interpreters is not to be expected. The expression 'poema magis putandum quam comicorum poetarum,' which has been applied to all the writings of Plato, is especially applicable to the Symposium.
The power of love is represented in the Symposium as running through all nature and all being: at one end descending to animals and plants, and attaining to the highest vision of truth at the other. In an age when man was seeking for an expression of the world around him, the conception of love greatly affected him. One of the first distinctions of language and of Mythology was that of gender; and at a later period the ancient physicist, anticipating modern science, saw, or thought that he saw, a sex in plants; there were elective affinities among the elements, marriages of earth and heaven. (Aesch. Frag. Dan.) Love became a mythic personage whom philosophy, borrowing from poetry, converted into an efficient cause of creation. The traces of the existence of love, as of number and figure, were everywhere discerned; and in the Pythagorean list of opposites male and female were ranged side by side with odd and even, finite and infinite.
But Plato seems also to be aware that there is a mystery of love in man as well as in nature, extending beyond the mere immediate relation of the sexes. He is conscious that the highest and noblest things in the world are not easily severed from the sensual desires, or may even be regarded as a spiritualized form of them. We may observe that Socrates himself is not represented as originally unimpassioned, but as one who has overcome his passions; the secret of his power over others partly lies in his passionate but self-controlled nature. In the Phaedrus and Symposium love is not merely the feeling usually so called, but the mystical contemplation of the beautiful and the good. The same passion which may wallow in the mire is capable of rising to the loftiest heightsof penetrating the inmost secret of philosophy. The highest love is the love not of a person, but of the highest and purest abstraction. This abstraction is the far-off heaven on which the eye of the mind is fixed in fond amazement. The unity of truth, the consistency of the warring elements of the world, the enthusiasm for knowledge when first beaming upon mankind, the relativity of ideas to the human mind, and of the human mind to ideas, the faith in the invisible, the adoration of the eternal nature, are all included, consciously or unconsciously, in Plato's doctrine of love.
--
The speeches are attested to us by the very best authority. The madman Apollodorus, who for three years past has made a daily study of the actions of Socratesto whom the world is summed up in the words 'Great is Socrates'he has heard them from another 'madman,' Aristodemus, who was the 'shadow' of Socrates in days of old, like him going about barefooted, and who had been present at the time. 'Would you desire better witness?' The extraordinary narrative of Alcibiades is ingeniously represented as admitted by Socrates, whose silence when he is invited to contradict gives consent to the narrator. We may observe, by the way, (1) how the very appearance of Aristodemus by himself is a sufficient indication to Agathon that Socrates has been left behind; also, (2) how the courtesy of Agathon anticipates the excuse which Socrates was to have made on Aristodemus' behalf for coming uninvited; (3) how the story of the fit or trance of Socrates is confirmed by the mention which Alcibiades makes of a similar fit of abstraction occurring when he was serving with the army at Potidaea; like (4) the drinking powers of Socrates and his love of the fair, which receive a similar attestation in the concluding scene; or the attachment of Aristodemus, who is not forgotten when Socrates takes his departure. (5) We may notice the manner in which Socrates himself regards the first five speeches, not as true, but as fanciful and exaggerated encomiums of the god Love; (6) the satirical character of them, shown especially in the appeals to Mythology, in the reasons which are given by Zeus for reconstructing the frame of man, or by the Boeotians and Eleans for encouraging male loves; (7) the ruling passion of Socrates for dialectics, who will argue with Agathon instead of making a speech, and will only speak at all upon the condition that he is allowed to speak the truth. We may note also the touch of Socratic irony, (8) which admits of a wide application and reveals a deep insight into the world:that in speaking of holy things and persons there is a general understanding that you should praise them, not that you should speak the truth about themthis is the sort of praise which Socrates is unable to give. Lastly, (9) we may remark that the banquet is a real banquet after all, at which love is the theme of discourse, and huge quantities of wine are drunk.
The discourse of Phaedrus is half-mythical, half-ethical; and he himself, true to the character which is given him in the Dialogue bearing his name, is half-sophist, half-enthusiast. He is the critic of poetry also, who compares Homer and Aeschylus in the insipid and irrational manner of the schools of the day, characteristically reasoning about the probability of matters which do not admit of reasoning. He starts from a noble text: 'That without the sense of honour and dishonour neither states nor individuals ever do any good or great work.' But he soon passes on to more common-place topics. The antiquity of love, the blessing of having a lover, the incentive which love offers to daring deeds, the examples of Alcestis and Achilles, are the chief themes of his discourse. The love of women is regarded by him as almost on an equality with that of men; and he makes the singular remark that the gods favour the return of love which is made by the beloved more than the original sentiment, because the lover is of a nobler and diviner nature.
There is something of a sophistical ring in the speech of Phaedrus, which recalls the first speech in imitation of Lysias, occurring in the Dialogue called the Phaedrus. This is still more marked in the speech of Pausanias which follows; and which is at once hyperlogical in form and also extremely confused and pedantic. Plato is attacking the logical feebleness of the sophists and rhetoricians, through their pupils, not forgetting by the way to satirize the monotonous and unmeaning rhythms which Prodicus and others were introducing into Attic prose (compare Protag.). Of course, he is 'playing both sides of the game,' as in the Gorgias and Phaedrus; but it is not necessary in order to understand him that we should discuss the fairness of his mode of proceeding. The love of Pausanias for Agathon has already been touched upon in the Protagoras, and is alluded to by Aristophanes. Hence he is naturally the upholder of male loves, which, like all the other affections or actions of men, he regards as varying according to the manner of their performance. Like the sophists and like Plato himself, though in a different sense, he begins his discussion by an appeal to Mythology, and distinguishes between the elder and younger love. The value which he attri butes to such loves as motives to virtue and philosophy is at variance with modern and Christian notions, but is in accordance with Hellenic sentiment. The opinion of Christendom has not altogether condemned passionate friendships between persons of the same sex, but has certainly not encouraged them, because though innocent in themselves in a few temperaments they are liable to degenerate into fearful evil. Pausanias is very earnest in the defence of such loves; and he speaks of them as generally approved among Hellenes and disapproved by barbarians. His speech is 'more words than matter,' and might have been composed by a pupil of Lysias or of Prodicus, although there is no hint given that Plato is specially referring to them. As Eryximachus says, 'he makes a fair beginning, but a lame ending.'
Plato transposes the two next speeches, as in the Republic he would transpose the virtues and the mathematical sciences. This is done partly to avoid monotony, partly for the sake of making Aristophanes 'the cause of wit in others,' and also in order to bring the comic and tragic poet into juxtaposition, as if by accident. A suitable 'expectation' of Aristophanes is raised by the ludicrous circumstance of his having the hiccough, which is appropriately cured by his substitute, the physician Eryximachus. To Eryximachus Love is the good physician; he sees everything as an intelligent physicist, and, like many professors of his art in modern times, attempts to reduce the moral to the physical; or recognises one law of love which pervades them both. There are loves and strifes of the body as well as of the mind. Like Hippocrates the Asclepiad, he is a disciple of Heracleitus, whose conception of the harmony of opposites he explains in a new way as the harmony after discord; to his common sense, as to that of many moderns as well as ancients, the identity of contradictories is an absurdity. His notion of love may be summed up as the harmony of man with himself in soul as well as body, and of all things in heaven and earth with one another.
--
All the earlier speeches embody common opinions coloured with a tinge of philosophy. They furnish the material out of which Socrates proceeds to form his discourse, starting, as in other places, from Mythology and the opinions of men. From Phaedrus he takes the thought that love is stronger than death; from Pausanias, that the true love is akin to intellect and political activity; from Eryximachus, that love is a universal phenomenon and the great power of nature; from Aristophanes, that love is the child of want, and is not merely the love of the congenial or of the whole, but (as he adds) of the good; from Agathon, that love is of beauty, not however of beauty only, but of birth in beauty. As it would be out of character for Socrates to make a leng thened harangue, the speech takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and a mysterious woman of foreign extraction. She elicits the final truth from one who knows nothing, and who, speaking by the lips of another, and himself a despiser of rhetoric, is proved also to be the most consummate of rhetoricians (compare Menexenus).
The last of the six discourses begins with a short argument which overthrows not only Agathon but all the preceding speakers by the help of a distinction which has escaped them. Extravagant praises have been ascribed to Love as the author of every good; no sort of encomium was too high for him, whether deserved and true or not. But Socrates has no talent for speaking anything but the truth, and if he is to speak the truth of Love he must honestly confess that he is not a good at all: for love is of the good, and no man can desire that which he has. This piece of dialectics is ascribed to Diotima, who has already urged upon Socrates the argument which he urges against Agathon. That the distinction is a fallacy is obvious; it is almost acknowledged to be so by Socrates himself. For he who has beauty or good may desire more of them; and he who has beauty or good in himself may desire beauty and good in others. The fallacy seems to arise out of a confusion between the abstract ideas of good and beauty, which do not admit of degrees, and their partial realization in individuals.
--
It is difficult to adduce the authority of Plato either for or against such practices or customs, because it is not always easy to determine whether he is speaking of 'the heavenly and philosophical love, or of the coarse Polyhymnia:' and he often refers to this (e.g. in the Symposium) half in jest, yet 'with a certain degree of seriousness.' We observe that they entered into one part of Greek literature, but not into another, and that the larger part is free from such associations. Indecency was an element of the ludicrous in the old Greek Comedy, as it has been in other ages and countries. But effeminate love was always condemned as well as ridiculed by the Comic poets; and in the New Comedy the allusions to such topics have disappeared. They seem to have been no longer tolerated by the greater refinement of the age. False sentiment is found in the Lyric and Elegiac poets; and in Mythology 'the greatest of the Gods' (Rep.) is not exempt from evil imputations. But the morals of a nation are not to be judged of wholly by its literature. Hellas was not necessarily more corrupted in the days of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, or of Plato and the Orators, than England in the time of Fielding and Smollett, or France in the nineteenth century. No one supposes certain French novels to be a representation of ordinary French life. And the greater part of Greek literature, beginning with Homer and including the tragedians, philosophers, and, with the exception of the Comic poets (whose business was to raise a laugh by whatever means), all the greater writers of Hellas who have been preserved to us, are free from the taint of indecency.
Some general considerations occur to our mind when we begin to reflect on this subject. (1) That good and evil are linked together in human nature, and have often existed side by side in the world and in man to an extent hardly credible. We cannot distinguish them, and are therefore unable to part them; as in the parable 'they grow together unto the harvest:' it is only a rule of external decency by which society can divide them. Nor should we be right in inferring from the prevalence of any one vice or corruption that a state or individual was demoralized in their whole character. Not only has the corruption of the best been sometimes thought to be the worst, but it may be remarked that this very excess of evil has been the stimulus to good (compare Plato, Laws, where he says that in the most corrupt cities individuals are to be found beyond all praise). (2) It may be observed that evils which admit of degrees can seldom be rightly estimated, because under the same name actions of the most different degrees of culpability may be included. No charge is more easily set going than the imputation of secret wickedness (which cannot be either proved or disproved and often cannot be defined) when directed against a person of whom the world, or a section of it, is predisposed to think evil. And it is quite possible that the malignity of Greek scandal, aroused by some personal jealousy or party enmity, may have converted the innocent friendship of a great man for a noble youth into a connexion of another kind. Such accusations were brought against several of the leading men of Hellas, e.g. Cimon, Alcibiades, Critias, Demos thenes, Epaminondas: several of the Roman emperors were assailed by similar weapons which have been used even in our own day against statesmen of the highest character. (3) While we know that in this matter there is a great gulf fixed between Greek and Christian Ethics, yet, if we would do justice to the Greeks, we must also acknowledge that there was a greater outspokenness among them than among ourselves about the things which nature hides, and that the more frequent mention of such topics is not to be taken as the measure of the prevalence of offences, or as a proof of the general corruption of society. It is likely that every religion in the world has used words or practised rites in one age, which have become distasteful or repugnant to another. We cannot, though for different reasons, trust the representations either of Comedy or Satire; and still less of Christian Apologists. (4) We observe that at Thebes and Lacedemon the attachment of an elder friend to a beloved youth was often deemed to be a part of his education; and was encouraged by his parentsit was only shameful if it degenerated into licentiousness. Such we may believe to have been the tie which united Asophychus and Cephisodorus with the great Epaminondas in whose companionship they fell (Plutarch, Amat.; Athenaeus on the authority of Theopompus). (5) A small matter: there appears to be a difference of custom among the Greeks and among ourselves, as between ourselves and continental nations at the present time, in modes of salutation. We must not suspect evil in the hearty kiss or embrace of a male friend 'returning from the army at Potidaea' any more than in a similar salutation when practised by members of the same family. But those who make these admissions, and who regard, not without pity, the victims of such illusions in our own day, whose life has been blasted by them, may be none the less resolved that the natural and healthy instincts of mankind shall alone be tolerated (Greek); and that the lesson of manliness which we have inherited from our fathers shall not degenerate into sentimentalism or effeminacy. The possibility of an honourable connexion of this kind seems to have died out with Greek civilization. Among the Romans, and also among barbarians, such as the Celts and Persians, there is no trace of such attachments existing in any noble or virtuous form.
The Act of Creation text, #The Act of Creation, #Arthur Koestler, #Psychology
because we pity him. And so again back to Mythology: Lot's wife
turned into a pillar of salt, Narcissus into a flower, the poor nymph
--
aspirations. In Mythology, this element is represented by the Pro-
methean quest for omnipotence and immortality; in science-fiction it
--
and Mythology. 'The recitation of the Homeric poems on the Pana-
thanaea corresponds to the recitation elsewhere of the sacred texts in
--
the allusive and oblique; it is as old as art itself. All Mythology is
studded with symbols, veiled in allegory; the parables of Christ pose
--
in the condition of man, which first occur in the symbols of Mythology,
and are restated in the particular idiom of each culture and period. All
--
his own Mythology.
The Guilt of Jonah
--
Just as there is no Mythology without some mention of the death and
rebirth motif, so there is hardly any epoch in world literature without
--
painter's frame, or the frame of Mythology, or the frame of science;
through half-closed eyes or eye glued to the lens of the telescope.
Theaetetus, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
The want of the Greek mind in the fourth century before Christ was not another theory of rest or motion, or Being or atoms, but rather a philosophy which could free the mind from the power of abstractions and alternatives, and show how far rest and how far motion, how far the universal principle of Being and the multitudinous principle of atoms, entered into the composition of the world; which could distinguish between the true and false analogy, and allow the negative as well as the positive a place in human thought. To such a philosophy Plato, in the Theaetetus, offers many contri butions. He has followed philosophy into the region of Mythology, and pointed out the similarities of opposing phases of thought. He has also shown that extreme abstractions are self-destructive, and, indeed, hardly distinguishable from one another. But his intention is not to unravel the whole subject of knowledge, if this had been possible; and several times in the course of the dialogue he rejects explanations of knowledge which have germs of truth in them; as, for example, 'the resolution of the compound into the simple;' or 'right opinion with a mark of difference.'
...
--
III. The theory of Protagoras is connected by Aristotle as well as Plato with the flux of Heracleitus. But Aristotle is only following Plato, and Plato, as we have already seen, did not mean to imply that such a connexion was admitted by Protagoras himself. His metaphysical genius saw or seemed to see a common tendency in them, just as the modern historian of ancient philosophy might perceive a parallelism between two thinkers of which they were probably unconscious themselves. We must remember throughout that Plato is not speaking of Heracleitus, but of the Heracliteans, who succeeded him; nor of the great original ideas of the master, but of the Eristic into which they had degenerated a hundred years later. There is nothing in the fragments of Heracleitus which at all justifies Plato's account of him. His philosophy may be resolved into two elementsfirst, change, secondly, law or measure pervading the change: these he saw everywhere, and often expressed in strange mythological symbols. But he has no analysis of sensible perception such as Plato attri butes to him; nor is there any reason to suppose that he pushed his philosophy into that absolute negation in which Heracliteanism was sunk in the age of Plato. He never said that 'change means every sort of change;' and he expressly distinguished between 'the general and particular understanding.' Like a poet, he surveyed the elements of Mythology, nature, thought, which lay before him, and sometimes by the light of genius he saw or seemed to see a mysterious principle working behind them. But as has been the case with other great philosophers, and with Plato and Aristotle themselves, what was really permanent and original could not be understood by the next generation, while a perverted logic carried out his chance expressions with an illogical consistency. His simple and noble thoughts, like those of the great Eleatic, soon degenerated into a mere strife of words. And when thus reduced to mere words, they seem to have exercised a far wider influence in the cities of Ionia (where the people 'were mad about them') than in the life-time of Heracleitusa phenomenon which, though at first sight singular, is not without a parallel in the history of philosophy and theology.
It is this perverted form of the Heraclitean philosophy which is supposed to effect the final overthrow of Protagorean sensationalism. For if all things are changing at every moment, in all sorts of ways, then there is nothing fixed or defined at all, and therefore no sensible perception, nor any true word by which that or anything else can be described. Of course Protagoras would not have admitted the justice of this argument any more than Heracleitus would have acknowledged the 'uneducated fanatics' who appealed to his writings. He might have said, 'The excellent Socrates has first confused me with Heracleitus, and Heracleitus with his Ephesian successors, and has then disproved the existence both of knowledge and sensation. But I am not responsible for what I never said, nor will I admit that my common-sense account of knowledge can be overthrown by unintelligible Heraclitean paradoxes.'
--
A profusion of words and ideas has obscured rather than enlightened mental science. It is hard to say how many fallacies have arisen from the representation of the mind as a box, as a 'tabula rasa,' a book, a mirror, and the like. It is remarkable how Plato in the Theaetetus, after having indulged in the figure of the waxen tablet and the decoy, afterwards discards them. The mind is also represented by another class of images, as the spring of a watch, a motive power, a breath, a stream, a succession of points or moments. As Plato remarks in the Cratylus, words expressive of motion as well as of rest are employed to describe the faculties and operations of the mind; and in these there is contained another store of fallacies. Some shadow or reflection of the body seems always to adhere to our thoughts about ourselves, and mental processes are hardly distinguished in language from bodily ones. To see or perceive are used indifferently of both; the words intuition, moral sense, common sense, the mind's eye, are figures of speech transferred from one to the other. And many other words used in early poetry or in sacred writings to express the works of mind have a materialistic sound; for old Mythology was allied to sense, and the distinction of matter and mind had not as yet arisen. Thus materialism receives an illusive aid from language; and both in philosophy and religion the imaginary figure or association easily takes the place of real knowledge.
Again, there is the illusion of looking into our own minds as if our thoughts or feelings were written down in a book. This is another figure of speech, which might be appropriately termed 'the fallacy of the looking-glass.' We cannot look at the mind unless we have the eye which sees, and we can only look, not into, but out of the mind at the thoughts, words, actions of ourselves and others. What we dimly recognize within us is not experience, but rather the suggestion of an experience, which we may gather, if we will, from the observation of the world. The memory has but a feeble recollection of what we were saying or doing a few weeks or a few months ago, and still less of what we were thinking or feeling. This is one among many reasons why there is so little self-knowledge among mankind; they do not carry with them the thought of what they are or have been. The so-called 'facts of consciousness' are equally evanescent; they are facts which nobody ever saw, and which can neither be defined nor described. Of the three laws of thought the first (All A = A) is an identical propositionthat is to say, a mere word or symbol claiming to be a proposition: the two others (Nothing can be A and not A, and Everything is either A or not A) are untrue, because they exclude degrees and also the mixed modes and double aspects under which truth is so often presented to us. To assert that man is man is unmeaning; to say that he is free or necessary and cannot be both is a half truth only. These are a few of the entanglements which impede the natural course of human thought. Lastly, there is the fallacy which lies still deeper, of regarding the individual mind apart from the universal, or either, as a self-existent entity apart from the ideas which are contained in them.
The Dwellings of the Philosophers, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
terrible fight between two dragons and Mythology teaches us that such was the origin of the
attri bute of Hermes who provoked their agreement by putting his stick between them. It is the
--
(Dictionary of the Fable or Greek, Latin, Egyptian, Celtic, Persian, Mythology)', Paris, Le Normant, 1801.
(8) According to the Armenian version of the Gospel of Childhood, translated by Paul Peeters, Jesus during his
--
stone. Mythology also offers us a few examples of the same prodigy. Callimachus ( Hymn to
Jupiter , 31) says of the Goddess Rhea, that as she struck the Arcadian Mountain with her
--
only goddess whose birth was a miraculous. Indeed, Mythology says that she sprung forth
fully armed from the brain of her father, whose head, by the order of the Master of Olympus,
The Library Of Babel 2, #Labyrinths, #Jorge Luis Borges, #Poetry
written (but did not) on the Mythology of the Saxon people, the lost books
of Tacitus.
The Wall and the BOoks, #Labyrinths, #Jorge Luis Borges, #Poetry
states of happiness, Mythology, faces belabored by time, certain twilights
and certain places try to tell us something, or have said something we should
Timaeus, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
Of all the writings of Plato the Timaeus is the most obscure and repulsive to the modern reader, and has nevertheless had the greatest influence over the ancient and mediaeval world. The obscurity arises in the infancy of physical science, out of the confusion of theological, mathematical, and physiological notions, out of the desire to conceive the whole of nature without any adequate knowledge of the parts, and from a greater perception of similarities which lie on the surface than of differences which are hidden from view. To bring sense under the control of reason; to find some way through the mist or labyrinth of appearances, either the highway of mathematics, or more devious paths suggested by the analogy of man with the world, and of the world with man; to see that all things have a cause and are tending towards an endthis is the spirit of the ancient physical philosopher. He has no notion of trying an experiment and is hardly capable of observing the curiosities of nature which are 'tumbling out at his feet,' or of interpreting even the most obvious of them. He is driven back from the nearer to the more distant, from particulars to generalities, from the earth to the stars. He lifts up his eyes to the heavens and seeks to guide by their motions his erring footsteps. But we neither appreciate the conditions of knowledge to which he was subjected, nor have the ideas which fastened upon his imagination the same hold upon us. For he is hanging between matter and mind; he is under the dominion at the same time both of sense and of abstractions; his impressions are taken almost at random from the outside of nature; he sees the light, but not the objects which are revealed by the light; and he brings into juxtaposition things which to us appear wide as the poles asunder, because he finds nothing between them. He passes abruptly from persons to ideas and numbers, and from ideas and numbers to persons,from the heavens to man, from astronomy to physiology; he confuses, or rather does not distinguish, subject and object, first and final causes, and is dreaming of geometrical figures lost in a flux of sense. He contrasts the perfect movements of the heavenly bodies with the imperfect representation of them (Rep.), and he does not always require strict accuracy even in applications of number and figure (Rep.). His mind lingers around the forms of Mythology, which he uses as symbols or translates into figures of speech. He has no implements of observation, such as the telescope or microscope; the great science of chemistry is a blank to him. It is only by an effort that the modern thinker can brea the the atmosphere of the ancient philosopher, or understand how, under such unequal conditions, he seems in many instances, by a sort of inspiration, to have anticipated the truth.
The influence with the Timaeus has exercised upon posterity is due partly to a misunderstanding. In the supposed depths of this dialogue the Neo-Platonists found hidden meanings and connections with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and out of them they elicited doctrines quite at variance with the spirit of Plato. Believing that he was inspired by the Holy Ghost, or had received his wisdom from Moses, they seemed to find in his writings the Christian Trinity, the Word, the Church, the creation of the world in a Jewish sense, as they really found the personality of God or of mind, and the immortality of the soul. All religions and philosophies met and mingled in the schools of Alexandria, and the Neo-Platonists had a method of interpretation which could elicit any meaning out of any words. They were really incapable of distinguishing between the opinions of one philosopher and another between Aristotle and Plato, or between the serious thoughts of Plato and his passing fancies. They were absorbed in his theology and were under the dominion of his name, while that which was truly great and truly characteristic in him, his effort to realize and connect abstractions, was not understood by them at all. Yet the genius of Plato and Greek philosophy reacted upon the East, and a Greek element of thought and language overlaid and partly reduced to order the chaos of Orientalism. And kindred spirits, like St. Augustine, even though they were acquainted with his writings only through the medium of a Latin translation, were profoundly affected by them, seeming to find 'God and his word everywhere insinuated' in them (August. Confess.)
There is no danger of the modern commentators on the Timaeus falling into the absurdities of the Neo-Platonists. In the present day we are well aware that an ancient philosopher is to be interpreted from himself and by the contemporary history of thought. We know that mysticism is not criticism. The fancies of the Neo-Platonists are only interesting to us because they exhibit a phase of the human mind which prevailed widely in the first centuries of the Christian era, and is not wholly extinct in our own day. But they have nothing to do with the interpretation of Plato, and in spirit they are opposed to him. They are the feeble expression of an age which has lost the power not only of creating great works, but of understanding them. They are the spurious birth of a marriage between philosophy and tradition, between Hellas and the East(Greek) (Rep.). Whereas the so-called mysticism of Plato is purely Greek, arising out of his imperfect knowledge and high aspirations, and is the growth of an age in which philosophy is not wholly separated from poetry and Mythology.
A greater danger with modern interpreters of Plato is the tendency to regard the Timaeus as the centre of his system. We do not know how Plato would have arranged his own dialogues, or whether the thought of arranging any of them, besides the two 'Trilogies' which he has expressly connected; was ever present to his mind. But, if he had arranged them, there are many indications that this is not the place which he would have assigned to the Timaeus. We observe, first of all, that the dialogue is put into the mouth of a Pythagorean philosopher, and not of Socrates. And this is required by dramatic propriety; for the investigation of nature was expressly renounced by Socrates in the Phaedo. Nor does Plato himself attri bute any importance to his guesses at science. He is not at all absorbed by them, as he is by the IDEA of good. He is modest and hesitating, and confesses that his words partake of the uncertainty of the subject (Tim.). The dialogue is primarily concerned with the animal creation, including under this term the heavenly bodies, and with man only as one among the animals. But we can hardly suppose that Plato would have preferred the study of nature to man, or that he would have deemed the formation of the world and the human frame to have the same interest which he ascribes to the mystery of being and not-being, or to the great political problems which he discusses in the Republic and the Laws. There are no speculations on physics in the other dialogues of Plato, and he himself regards the consideration of them as a rational pastime only. He is beginning to feel the need of further divisions of knowledge; and is becoming aware that besides dialectic, mathematics, and the arts, there is another field which has been hitherto unexplored by him. But he has not as yet defined this intermediate territory which lies somewhere between medicine and mathematics, and he would have felt that there was as great an impiety in ranking theories of physics first in the order of knowledge, as in placing the body before the soul.
--
Nature in the aspect which she presented to a Greek philosopher of the fourth century before Christ is not easily reproduced to modern eyes. The associations of Mythology and poetry have to be added, and the unconscious influence of science has to be subtracted, before we can behold the heavens or the earth as they appeared to the Greek. The philosopher himself was a child and also a mana child in the range of his attainments, but also a great intelligence having an insight into nature, and often anticipations of the truth. He was full of original thoughts, and yet liable to be imposed upon by the most obvious fallacies. He occasionally confused numbers with ideas, and atoms with numbers; his a priori notions were out of all proportion to his experience. He was ready to explain the phenomena of the heavens by the most trivial analogies of earth. The experiments which nature worked for him he sometimes accepted, but he never tried experiments for himself which would either prove or disprove his theories. His knowledge was unequal; while in some branches, such as medicine and astronomy, he had made considerable proficiency, there were others, such as chemistry, electricity, mechanics, of which the very names were unknown to him. He was the natural enemy of Mythology, and yet mythological ideas still retained their hold over him. He was endeavouring to form a conception of principles, but these principles or ideas were regarded by him as real powers or entities, to which the world had been subjected. He was always tending to argue from what was near to what was remote, from what was known to what was unknown, from man to the universe, and back again from the universe to man. While he was arranging the world, he was arranging the forms of thought in his own mind; and the light from within and the light from without often crossed and helped to confuse one another. He might be compared to a builder engaged in some great design, who could only dig with his hands because he was unprovided with common tools; or to some poet or musician, like Tynnichus (Ion), obliged to accommodate his lyric raptures to the limits of the tetrachord or of the flute.
The Hesiodic and Orphic cosmogonies were a phase of thought intermediate between Mythology and philosophy and had a great influence on the beginnings of knowledge. There was nothing behind them; they were to physical science what the poems of Homer were to early Greek history. They made men think of the world as a whole; they carried the mind back into the infinity of past time; they suggested the first observation of the effects of fire and water on the earth's surface. To the ancient physics they stood much in the same relation which geology does to modern science. But the Greek was not, like the enquirer of the last generation, confined to a period of six thousand years; he was able to speculate freely on the effects of infinite ages in the production of physical phenomena. He could imagine cities which had existed time out of mind (States.; Laws), laws or forms of art and music which had lasted, 'not in word only, but in very truth, for ten thousand years' (Laws); he was aware that natural phenomena like the Delta of the Nile might have slowly accumulated in long periods of time (Hdt.). But he seems to have supposed that the course of events was recurring rather than progressive. To this he was probably led by the fixedness of Egyptian customs and the general observation that there were other civilisations in the world more ancient than that of Hellas.
The ancient philosophers found in Mythology many ideas which, if not originally derived from nature, were easily transferred to hersuch, for example, as love or hate, corresponding to attraction or repulsion; or the conception of necessity allied both to the regularity and irregularity of nature; or of chance, the nameless or unknown cause; or of justice, symbolizing the law of compensation; are of the Fates and Furies, typifying the fixed order or the extraordinary convulsions of nature. Their own interpretations of Homer and the poets were supposed by them to be the original meaning. Musing in themselves on the phenomena of nature, they were relieved at being able to utter the thoughts of their hearts in figures of speech which to them were not figures, and were already consecrated by tradition. Hesiod and the Orphic poets moved in a region of half-personification in which the meaning or principle appeared through the person. In their vaster conceptions of Chaos, Erebus, Aether, Night, and the like, the first rude attempts at generalization are dimly seen. The Gods themselves, especially the greater Gods, such as Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Athene, are universals as well as individuals. They were gradually becoming lost in a common conception of mind or God. They continued to exist for the purposes of ritual or of art; but from the sixth century onwards or even earlier there arose and gained strength in the minds of men the notion of 'one God, greatest among Gods and men, who was all sight, all hearing, all knowing' (Xenophanes).
Under the influence of such ideas, perhaps also deriving from the traditions of their own or of other nations scraps of medicine and astronomy, men came to the observation of nature. The Greek philosopher looked at the blue circle of the heavens and it flashed upon him that all things were one; the tumult of sense abated, and the mind found repose in the thought which former generations had been striving to realize. The first expression of this was some element, rarefied by degrees into a pure abstraction, and purged from any tincture of sense. Soon an inner world of ideas began to be unfolded, more absorbing, more overpowering, more abiding than the brightest of visible objects, which to the eye of the philosopher looking inward, seemed to pale before them, retaining only a faint and precarious existence. At the same time, the minds of men parted into the two great divisions of those who saw only a principle of motion, and of those who saw only a principle of rest, in nature and in themselves; there were born Heracliteans or Eleatics, as there have been in later ages born Aristotelians or Platonists. Like some philosophers in modern times, who are accused of making a theory first and finding their facts afterwards, the advocates of either opinion never thought of applying either to themselves or to their adversaries the criterion of fact. They were mastered by their ideas and not masters of them. Like the Heraclitean fanatics whom Plato has ridiculed in the Theaetetus, they were incapable of giving a reason of the faith that was in them, and had all the animosities of a religious sect. Yet, doubtless, there was some first impression derived from external nature, which, as in Mythology, so also in philosophy, worked upon the minds of the first thinkers. Though incapable of induction or generalization in the modern sense, they caught an inspiration from the external world. The most general facts or appearances of nature, the circle of the universe, the nutritive power of water, the air which is the breath of life, the destructive force of fire, the seeming regularity of the greater part of nature and the irregularity of a remnant, the recurrence of day and night and of the seasons, the solid earth and the impalpable aether, were always present to them.
The great source of error and also the beginning of truth to them was reasoning from analogy; they could see resemblances, but not differences; and they were incapable of distinguishing illustration from argument. Analogy in modern times only points the way, and is immediately verified by experiment. The dreams and visions, which pass through the philosopher's mind, of resemblances between different classes of substances, or between the animal and vegetable world, are put into the refiner's fire, and the dross and other elements which adhere to them are purged away. But the contemporary of Plato and Socrates was incapable of resisting the power of any analogy which occurred to him, and was drawn into any consequences which seemed to follow. He had no methods of difference or of concomitant variations, by the use of which he could distinguish the accidental from the essential. He could not isolate phenomena, and he was helpless against the influence of any word which had an equivocal or double sense.
--
The charge of premature generalization which is often urged against ancient philosophers is really an anachronism. For they can hardly be said to have generalized at all. They may be said more truly to have cleared up and defined by the help of experience ideas which they already possessed. The beginnings of thought about nature must always have this character. A true method is the result of many ages of experiment and observation, and is ever going on and enlarging with the progress of science and knowledge. At first men personify nature, then they form impressions of nature, at last they conceive 'measure' or laws of nature. They pass out of Mythology into philosophy. Early science is not a process of discovery in the modern sense; but rather a process of correcting by observation, and to a certain extent only, the first impressions of nature, which mankind, when they began to think, had received from poetry or language or unintelligent sense. Of all scientific truths the greatest and simplest is the uniformity of nature; this was expressed by the ancients in many ways, as fate, or necessity, or measure, or limit. Unexpected events, of which the cause was unknown to them, they attri buted to chance (Thucyd.). But their conception of nature was never that of law interrupted by exceptions,a somewhat unfortunate metaphysical invention of modern times, which is at variance with facts and has failed to satisfy the requirements of thought.
Section 3.
--
(a) The Timaeus is more imaginative and less scientific than any other of the Platonic dialogues. It is conjectural astronomy, conjectural natural philosophy, conjectural medicine. The writer himself is constantly repeating that he is speaking what is probable only. The dialogue is put into the mouth of Timaeus, a Pythagorean philosopher, and therefore here, as in the Parmenides, we are in doubt how far Plato is expressing his own sentiments. Hence the connexion with the other dialogues is comparatively slight. We may fill up the lacunae of the Timaeus by the help of the Republic or Phaedrus: we may identify the same and other with the (Greek) of the Philebus. We may find in the Laws or in the Statesman parallels with the account of creation and of the first origin of man. It would be possible to frame a scheme in which all these various elements might have a place. But such a mode of proceeding would be unsatisfactory, because we have no reason to suppose that Plato intended his scattered thoughts to be collected in a system. There is a common spirit in his writings, and there are certain general principles, such as the opposition of the sensible and intellectual, and the priority of mind, which run through all of them; but he has no definite forms of words in which he consistently expresses himself. While the determinations of human thought are in process of creation he is necessarily tentative and uncertain. And there is least of definiteness, whenever either in describing the beginning or the end of the world, he has recourse to myths. These are not the fixed modes in which spiritual truths are revealed to him, but the efforts of imagination, by which at different times and in various manners he seeks to embody his conceptions. The clouds of Mythology are still resting upon him, and he has not yet pierced 'to the heaven of the fixed stars' which is beyond them. It is safer then to admit the inconsistencies of the Timaeus, or to endeavour to fill up what is wanting from our own imagination, inspired by a study of the dialogue, than to refer to other Platonic writings,and still less should we refer to the successors of Plato,for the elucidation of it.
More light is thrown upon the Timaeus by a comparison of the previous philosophies. For the physical science of the ancients was traditional, descending through many generations of Ionian and Pythagorean philosophers. Plato does not look out upon the heavens and describe what he sees in them, but he builds upon the foundations of others, adding something out of the 'depths of his own self-consciousness.' Socrates had already spoken of God the creator, who made all things for the best. While he ridiculed the superficial explanations of phenomena which were current in his age, he recognised the marks both of benevolence and of design in the frame of man and in the world. The apparatus of winds and waters is contemptuously rejected by him in the Phaedo, but he thinks that there is a power greater than that of any Atlas in the 'Best' (Phaedo; Arist. Met.). Plato, following his master, affirms this principle of the best, but he acknowledges that the best is limited by the conditions of matter. In the generation before Socrates, Anaxagoras had brought together 'Chaos' and 'Mind'; and these are connected by Plato in the Timaeus, but in accordance with his own mode of thinking he has interposed between them the idea or pattern according to which mind worked. The circular impulse (Greek) of the one philosopher answers to the circular movement (Greek) of the other. But unlike Anaxagoras, Plato made the sun and stars living beings and not masses of earth or metal. The Pythagoreans again had framed a world out of numbers, which they constructed into figures. Plato adopted their speculations and improved upon them by a more exact knowledge of geometry. The Atomists too made the world, if not out of geometrical figures, at least out of different forms of atoms, and these atoms resembled the triangles of Plato in being too small to be visible. But though the physiology of the Timaeus is partly borrowed from them, they are either ignored by Plato or referred to with a secret contempt and dislike. He looks with more favour on the Pythagoreans, whose intervals of number applied to the distances of the planets reappear in the Timaeus. It is probable that among the Pythagoreans living in the fourth century B.C., there were already some who, like Plato, made the earth their centre. Whether he obtained his circles of the Same and Other from any previous thinker is uncertain. The four elements are taken from Empedocles; the interstices of the Timaeus may also be compared with his (Greek). The passage of one element into another is common to Heracleitus and several of the Ionian philosophers. So much of a syncretist is Plato, though not after the manner of the Neoplatonists. For the elements which he borrows from others are fused and transformed by his own genius. On the other hand we find fewer traces in Plato of early Ionic or Eleatic speculation. He does not imagine the world of sense to be made up of opposites or to be in a perpetual flux, but to vary within certain limits which are controlled by what he calls the principle of the same. Unlike the Eleatics, who relegated the world to the sphere of not-being, he admits creation to have an existence which is real and even eternal, although dependent on the will of the creator. Instead of maintaining the doctrine that the void has a necessary place in the existence of the world, he rather affirms the modern thesis that nature abhors a vacuum, as in the Sophist he also denies the reality of not-being (Aristot. Metaph.). But though in these respects he differs from them, he is deeply penetrated by the spirit of their philosophy; he differs from them with reluctance, and gladly recognizes the 'generous depth' of Parmenides (Theaet.).
--
Lastly, Plato, though an idealist philosopher, is Greek and not Oriental in spirit and feeling. He is no mystic or ascetic; he is not seeking in vain to get rid of matter or to find absorption in the divine nature, or in the Soul of the universe. And therefore we are not surprised to find that his philosophy in the Timaeus returns at last to a worship of the heavens, and that to him, as to other Greeks, nature, though containing a remnant of evil, is still glorious and divine. He takes away or drops the veil of Mythology, and presents her to us in what appears to him to be the form-fairer and truer farof mathematical figures. It is this element in the Timaeus, no less than its affinity to certain Pythagorean speculations, which gives it a character not wholly in accordance with the other dialogues of Plato.
(b) The Timaeus contains an assertion perhaps more distinct than is found in any of the other dialogues (Rep.; Laws) of the goodness of God. 'He was good himself, and he fashioned the good everywhere.' He was not 'a jealous God,' and therefore he desired that all other things should be equally good. He is the IDEA of good who has now become a person, and speaks and is spoken of as God. Yet his personality seems to appear only in the act of creation. In so far as he works with his eye fixed upon an eternal pattern he is like the human artificer in the Republic. Here the theory of Platonic ideas intrudes upon us. God, like man, is supposed to have an ideal of which Plato is unable to tell us the origin. He may be said, in the language of modern philosophy, to resolve the divine mind into subject and object.
The first work of creation is perfected, the second begins under the direction of inferior ministers. The supreme God is withdrawn from the world and returns to his own accustomed nature (Tim.). As in the Statesman, he retires to his place of view. So early did the Epicurean doctrine take possession of the Greek mind, and so natural is it to the heart of man, when he has once passed out of the stage of Mythology into that of rational religion. For he sees the marks of design in the world; but he no longer sees or fancies that he sees God walking in the garden or haunting stream or mountain. He feels also that he must put God as far as possible out of the way of evil, and therefore he banishes him from an evil world. Plato is sensible of the difficulty; and he often shows that he is desirous of justifying the ways of God to man. Yet on the other hand, in the Tenth Book of the Laws he passes a censure on those who say that the Gods have no care of human things.
The creation of the world is the impression of order on a previously existing chaos. The formula of Anaxagoras'all things were in chaos or confusion, and then mind came and disposed them'is a summary of the first part of the Timaeus. It is true that of a chaos without differences no idea could be formed. All was not mixed but one; and therefore it was not difficult for the later Platonists to draw inferences by which they were enabled to reconcile the narrative of the Timaeus with the Mosaic account of the creation. Neither when we speak of mind or intelligence, do we seem to get much further in our conception than circular motion, which was deemed to be the most perfect. Plato, like Anaxagoras, while commencing his theory of the universe with ideas of mind and of the best, is compelled in the execution of his design to condescend to the crudest physics.
Verses of Vemana, #is Book, #unset, #Integral Yoga
Agajata (Paravati) causes him (Siva) who gave her half his body (see the Mythology) to be slain (i.e., her worship as shacti, supersedes his)? If he cannot revenge this cruel is he man and not a woman?
293
--- Overview of noun mythology
The noun mythology has 2 senses (first 1 from tagged texts)
1. (3) mythology ::: (myths collectively; the body of stories associated with a culture or institution or person)
2. mythology ::: (the study of myths)
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun mythology
2 senses of mythology
Sense 1
mythology
=> collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage
=> group, grouping
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
Sense 2
mythology
=> social anthropology, cultural anthropology
=> anthropology
=> social science
=> science, scientific discipline
=> discipline, subject, subject area, subject field, field, field of study, study, bailiwick
=> knowledge domain, knowledge base, domain
=> content, cognitive content, mental object
=> cognition, knowledge, noesis
=> psychological feature
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
--- Hyponyms of noun mythology
1 of 2 senses of mythology
Sense 1
mythology
=> classical mythology
=> Norse mythology
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun mythology
2 senses of mythology
Sense 1
mythology
=> collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage
Sense 2
mythology
=> social anthropology, cultural anthropology
--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun mythology
2 senses of mythology
Sense 1
mythology
-> collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage
=> procession
=> pharmacopoeia
=> string
=> wardrobe
=> wardrobe
=> population, universe
=> armamentarium
=> art collection
=> backlog
=> battery
=> block
=> book, rule book
=> book
=> bottle collection
=> bunch, lot, caboodle
=> coin collection
=> collage
=> content
=> ensemble, tout ensemble
=> corpus
=> crop
=> tenantry
=> findings
=> flagging
=> flinders
=> pack
=> hand, deal
=> long suit
=> herbarium
=> stamp collection
=> statuary
=> sum, summation, sum total
=> agglomeration
=> gimmickry
=> nuclear club
=> pile, heap, mound, agglomerate, cumulation, cumulus
=> mass
=> combination
=> congregation
=> hit parade
=> Judaica
=> kludge
=> library, program library, subroutine library
=> library
=> mythology
HAS INSTANCE=> Nag Hammadi, Nag Hammadi Library
=> biota, biology
=> fauna, zoology
=> petting zoo
=> set
=> Victoriana
=> class, category, family
=> job lot
=> package, bundle, packet, parcel
=> defense, defence, defense team, defense lawyers
=> prosecution
=> planting
=> signage
=> generally accepted accounting principles, GAAP
=> pantheon
=> Free World
=> Third World
=> Europe
=> Asia
=> North America
=> Central America
=> South America
=> Oort cloud
=> galaxy
=> galaxy, extragalactic nebula
=> fleet
=> fleet
=> fleet
=> repertoire, repertory
=> repertory, repertoire
=> assortment, mixture, mixed bag, miscellany, miscellanea, variety, salmagundi, smorgasbord, potpourri, motley
=> batch, clutch
=> batch
=> rogue's gallery
=> exhibition, exposition, expo
=> convoy
=> traffic
=> aviation, air power
=> vegetation, flora, botany
=> law, jurisprudence
=> menagerie
=> data, information
=> ana
=> mail, post
=> treasure
=> treasure trove
=> trinketry
=> troponymy, troponomy
=> smithereens
HAS INSTANCE=> Wise Men, Magi
Sense 2
mythology
-> social anthropology, cultural anthropology
=> garbology
=> mythology
=> ritualism
--- Grep of noun mythology
classical mythology
greek mythology
mythology
norse mythology
roman mythology
Wikipedia - Abenaki mythology -- Mythology of American indigenous people
Wikipedia - Abia (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Absyrtus -- In Greek mythology, a Colchian prince
Wikipedia - Acacallis (mythology) -- In Greek mythology, a princess of Crete
Wikipedia - Acanthis (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Acaste (Oceanid) -- Oceanid in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Achiroe -- A naiad in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Actaeus (mythology) -- Set of mythological Greek characters
Wikipedia - Actor (mythology)
Wikipedia - Adlet -- Mythological creature from Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Adlivun -- Spirits in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Admete -- In Greek mythology, a Mycenaean princess
Wikipedia - Adroanzi -- Guardian spirit in Lugbara mythology
Wikipedia - Aed (god) -- God in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Aega (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Aegisthus -- Figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Aegyptus -- Person in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Aeneads -- In Roman mythology, the friends, family and companions of Aeneas
Wikipedia - Aeneas -- Trojan hero in Greco-Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Aeolia (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Aeolus -- Group of characters in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Aether (mythology) -- Ancient Greek deity, personification of the upper air
Wikipedia - Afterlife -- Existential term in philosophy, religion, mythology, and fiction
Wikipedia - Agamemnon -- Figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Agathon (mythology) -- Figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Agelaus -- Set of various people in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Agenoria (mythology)
Wikipedia - Age of Mythology: The Titans -- Video game
Wikipedia - Age of Mythology -- Spinoff video game of Age of Empires
Wikipedia - Agloolik -- Spirit in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Agrippa (mythology) -- King of Alba Longa in Greco-Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Ahkiyyini -- Skeleton spirit in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Aion (deity) -- deity in Hellenistic mythology
Wikipedia - Aitvaras -- A nature spirit in Lithuanian mythology
Wikipedia - Aiy -- Benevolent spirits in Yakutmythology
Wikipedia - Akhlut -- Creature in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Akna (Inuit mythology) -- Inuit deity associated with fertility and childbirth
Wikipedia - Alatyr (mythology)
Wikipedia - Albion (Blake) -- Primeval man in the mythology of William Blake
Wikipedia - Alcaeus (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Alcyone (Pleiad) -- One of the Pleiades sisters, daughters of Atlas from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Alector -- Several characters in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Alicanto -- Bird from Chilean mythology
Wikipedia - Amalthea (mythology) -- A foster-mother of Zeus in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Amano-Iwato -- Cave in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Amarok (wolf) -- Name of a gigantic wolf in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Amazons -- Warlike all-female tribe from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ame-no-Tajikarao -- God in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Amphitryon -- Figure in Greek mythology, husband of Alcmene
Wikipedia - Amycus (centaur) -- Centaur in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Anaxibia -- Set index of characters in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Andriamahilala -- The first woman in Malagasy mythology
Wikipedia - Andriambahomanana -- The first man in Malagasy mythology
Wikipedia - Andromache -- Woman in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Andromeda (mythology) -- Ethiopian princess in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Angalo -- legendary creation giant from Ilocano mythology
Wikipedia - Anita Blake mythology
Wikipedia - Anjana (Cantabrian mythology)
Wikipedia - Annona (mythology)
Wikipedia - Annwn -- Otherworld in Welsh mythology
Wikipedia - Anqa -- Legendary bird from Arabian mythology
Wikipedia - Antaeus -- Character in Greek and Berber mythology
Wikipedia - Aon (mythology) -- Figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ao Run -- A Dragon King of the Four Seas in Chinese religion and Korean mythology
Wikipedia - Aos Si -- Supernatural race in Irish and Scottish mythology
Wikipedia - Apate -- Minor goddess in Greek mythology, personification of deceit
Wikipedia - Apemius -- Epithet of the god Zeus in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Apis of Argos -- King of Argos in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Apollo and Daphne -- Story from ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Apollonis -- One of the muses in Ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Apukohai -- Marine monster in the mythology of the island of Kauai, Hawaii
Wikipedia - Arabius (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Arachne -- Figure of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Aramazd -- Creator god in pre-Christian Armenian mythology
Wikipedia - Archemachus (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Archi (Hindu goddess) -- Queen in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Arete (mythology) -- Greek mythical character
Wikipedia - Arethusa (mythology) -- Nymph of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Argonauts -- Heroes in Greek mythology, companions of Jason
Wikipedia - Argo -- Ship in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Argus (Argonaut) -- Character from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Argus Panoptes -- Giant in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ariadne -- Daughter of Minos in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Arion (mythology) -- Mythical horse
Wikipedia - Aristaeus -- God of rural crafts in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Armenian mythology
Wikipedia - Aruna (Hinduism) -- Charioteer of the sun god in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Aruna (Hittite mythology) -- God of the sea and son of Kamrusepa
Wikipedia - Asgard -- Location in Norse Mythology
Wikipedia - Ask and Embla -- First two humans, created by the gods in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Astacia -- Character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Astika (mythology)
Wikipedia - Atlas (mythology) -- Deity in Greek mythology who held up the heavens or sky
Wikipedia - Atropos -- One of the Fates of Greek Mythology
Wikipedia - Atshen -- Spirit in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Aura (mythology) -- Divine personification of the breeze in Greek and Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Aurora (mythology) -- Goddess of dawn in Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology -- Ritual and traditional history of the Indigenous peoples of Australia
Wikipedia - Aventinus (mythology)
Wikipedia - Awanyu -- God of water in the Native American Tewa tribal mythology
Wikipedia - Axion (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Aziza (African mythology)
Wikipedia - Aztec mythology
Wikipedia - Babi (mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian deity
Wikipedia - Bai Mudan (mythology) -- Character in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Baku (mythology) -- Japanese supernatural beings
Wikipedia - Baltic mythology -- Mythology of the Baltic people stemming from Baltic paganism
Wikipedia - Baluba mythology
Wikipedia - Banshee -- Female spirit in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Bantu mythology
Wikipedia - Basilisk -- Legendary reptile in European mythology
Wikipedia - Basque mythology
Wikipedia - Batara Guru -- Supreme god in Indonesian mythology
Wikipedia - Bauk (mythology) -- Serbian mythological creature
Wikipedia - Bee (mythology)
Wikipedia - Beira (mythology) -- Mother goddess in Scottish mythology
Wikipedia - Between Scylla and Charybdis -- Idiom deriving from Greek mythology, "to choose the lesser of two evils"
Wikipedia - Bi Fang bird -- Bird in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Binbeal -- God of rainbows in Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology
Wikipedia - Bistonis -- Nymph in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Blackfoot mythology
Wikipedia - Black God (Navajo mythology) -- A god in Navajo mythology
Wikipedia - Bomazi -- ancestor-god in the mythology of the Bushongo people of the Congo River area
Wikipedia - Bragi -- Skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Bricriu -- Figure in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Brisingamen -- Torc or necklace in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Brokkr -- Dwarf smith from Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Brunhild -- Valkyrie or shieldmaiden in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Buddhist mythology -- Myths in Buddhist literature and history
Wikipedia - Bull of Heaven -- Figure in ancient Mesopotamian mythology
Wikipedia - Bunyip -- Mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology
Wikipedia - Bushongo mythology -- mythology of the Bushongo people of the Congo River area
Wikipedia - Cadmus -- Greek mythology character, founder of Thebes
Wikipedia - Caduceus -- Staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Camilla (mythology)
Wikipedia - Cantabrian mythology -- Myths, teachings, and legends of the Cantabri, a pre-Roman Celtic people
Wikipedia - Cassandra (metaphor) -- |Metaphor originating from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Catalan mythology about witches -- Large number of legends about witches
Wikipedia - Category:Buddhist mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Comparative mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Czech mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Deities in classical mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Demigods in classical mythology
Wikipedia - Category:East Asian mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Egyptian mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Eschatology in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Events in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Finnish mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Legendary creatures in classical mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Locations in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Locations in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Sources of Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Tibetan mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Trees in mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Voyagers in Celtic mythology
Wikipedia - Category:War in mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Welsh mythology
Wikipedia - Category:Yazidi mythology
Wikipedia - Cattle in religion and mythology -- Wikimedia list article
Wikipedia - Celtic mythology -- collective term for all the fabulous profane and religious narratives of the Celts
Wikipedia - Celtic Otherworld -- Realm of the deities in Celtic mythology
Wikipedia - CentzonhuM-DM-+tznahua -- The gods of the southern stars in Aztec mythology
Wikipedia - CentzonmM-DM-+mixcM-EM-^Ma -- The gods of the northern stars in Aztec mythology
Wikipedia - Cerberus -- Multi-headed dog in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Cerdo (mythology) -- Wife of Phoroneus in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ceres (mythology) -- Roman goddess of agriculture
Wikipedia - Ceryneian Hind -- Animal from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ceuthonymus -- Daimon in Ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Chandraghanta -- Third form of Durga in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Chaos (mythology)
Wikipedia - Charis (mythology) -- Greek goddess
Wikipedia - Charon (mythology)
Wikipedia - Charon -- Ferryman of Hades in Greek-Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Charybdis -- Whirlpool in the Strait of Messina named for a figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Chilote mythology -- Myths of the Chilote people of South America
Wikipedia - Chimera (mythology) -- Mythical or fictional creature with parts taken from various animals
Wikipedia - Chinese mythology -- Myths and practices of the Chinese people
Wikipedia - Chiron -- Centaur, figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Choctaw mythology
Wikipedia - Christian mythology -- Body of myths associated with Christianity
Wikipedia - Christ myth theory -- View that the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology
Wikipedia - Chromis (mythology) -- Mythological character
Wikipedia - Chryse and Argyre -- Legendary islands in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Cibaciba and Drakulu -- Two cave entrances to the underworld in Fijian mythology
Wikipedia - Cinyras -- Mythical founder of the city of Paphos in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Circe -- Enchantress in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Cisus -- King of Argos in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Classical mythology -- Both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception
Wikipedia - Clio -- Muse of history in Ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Clotho -- One of the Fates of Greek Mythology
Wikipedia - Clysonymus -- Character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Clytemnestra -- figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Comparative Mythology
Wikipedia - Comparative mythology -- Comparison of myths from different cultures
Wikipedia - Comus -- In Greek mythology, the god of festivity and son of Dionysus
Wikipedia - Concordia (mythology)
Wikipedia - Continental Germanic mythology
Wikipedia - Cook Islands mythology
Wikipedia - Cornish mythology -- Folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people in England
Wikipedia - Creative Mythology
Wikipedia - Creek mythology
Wikipedia - Crius -- Titan in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Crocus (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Cronus -- Ruler of the Titans in Ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Crossroads (mythology)
Wikipedia - Crow (Australian Aboriginal mythology) -- Trickster, culture hero and ancestral being in Australian Aboriginal mythology
Wikipedia - Cup of Jamshid -- Cup of divination in Persian mythology
Wikipedia - Cyclopes -- Member of a primordial race of giants in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Cycnus (son of Ares) -- Character in Greek mythology, son of Ares, killed by Heracles
Wikipedia - Dacian mythology
Wikipedia - Daedalion -- Character of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Daemon (classical mythology) -- Good or benevolent nature spirit in classical Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Daemon (mythology)
Wikipedia - Daeva -- Demon, ogre or giant from Persian mythology
Wikipedia - Dali (goddess) -- Hunting goddess from Georgian mythology
Wikipedia - Deer in mythology
Wikipedia - Deer Woman -- Spirit in various forms of Native American mythology
Wikipedia - Deluge (mythology)
Wikipedia - Demon -- Paranormal being prevalent in religion, occultism, mythology and folklore
Wikipedia - Dev (mythology) -- Mythical creature in Albanian, Armenian, Iranian and Turkic mythology
Wikipedia - Dexithea (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Diana (mythology)
Wikipedia - Dicaeus (mythology) -- Son of Poseidon
Wikipedia - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Wikipedia - Didamangisa -- Figure in Laz mythology
Wikipedia - Dies (deity) -- Personification of the day in Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Dike (mythology) -- Ancient Greek goddess of justice
Wikipedia - Dinka mythology
Wikipedia - Diomedes -- Hero in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Diomede -- Set of female names from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Dis -- Ghost, spirit or deity in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Diyu -- Realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - DM-DM-+pankara Buddha -- Figure of Buddhist mythology
Wikipedia - DM-JM-0eM-GM-5M-JM-0M-EM-^Mm -- Earth-goddess in Proto-Indo-European mythology
Wikipedia - Dodone (mythology) -- Figure in Greek Mythology
Wikipedia - Dokkalfar and Ljosalfar -- Two classes of elves in norse mythology
Wikipedia - Dolos (mythology) -- Ancient Greek spirit of trickery
Wikipedia - Donbettyr -- Water deity in Ossetian mythology
Wikipedia - Draft:Adipurush 3D -- Upcoming 2022 Mythology film by Om Raut
Wikipedia - Draft:Nayanezgani -- Entity of Local Belief; War God; Mythology of Navaho Indians of North America
Wikipedia - Draft:Tobadzistsini -- Entity of Local Belief; War God; Mythology of Navaho Indians of North America
Wikipedia - Dragon's teeth (mythology) -- Aspect of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Draupnir -- Gold ring possessed by the god Odin in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Dryad -- Tree nymph in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Duende (mythology)
Wikipedia - Dullahan -- Type of mythogical creature in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Dwarf (mythology) -- Being in mythology
Wikipedia - Dyggvi -- King in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - DyM-DM-^Sus -- Sky-god in Proto-Indo-European mythology
Wikipedia - Ebisu (mythology) -- Japanese water deity
Wikipedia - Echemmon (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Echion -- Name in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Echo and Narcissus -- Story of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Echo (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mountain nymph
Wikipedia - Efik mythology
Wikipedia - Egeria (mythology)
Wikipedia - Egyptian mythology -- Myths of the Ancient Egyptians
Wikipedia - Einherjar -- Dead warriors of Norse mythology, chosen by the valkyries to prepare in Valhalla for the battle of Ragnarok
Wikipedia - Eitri -- Dwarven smith from Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Ekecheiria -- Spirit in Greek Mythology
Wikipedia - Eldir -- Servant of M-CM-^Fgir in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Eleionomae -- Nymphs of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Elf -- Supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore
Wikipedia - Elivagar -- Rivers in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Elymus (mythology)
Wikipedia - Elysium -- Afterlife in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Emain Ablach -- Mythical island in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Empusa -- Legendary figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Enalus -- Man in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Encantado (mythology)
Wikipedia - Encheleus -- Character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Endymion (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythical character
Wikipedia - Enki -- God in Sumerian mythology
Wikipedia - Ennead -- Group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology worshipped at Heliopolis
Wikipedia - Enyalius -- character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Epidaurus (mythology) -- Greek mythologcal character
Wikipedia - Erebus -- Personification of darkness in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Eriboea (mythology) -- Set index
Wikipedia - Eris (mythology) -- Greek goddess of chaos and discord
Wikipedia - Erudinus -- Pagan god in Cantabrian mythology
Wikipedia - Ethniu -- Female figure in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Eudaemon (mythology)
Wikipedia - Eufydd fab Don -- Minor figure in Welsh mythology
Wikipedia - Euhemerism -- Rationalizing method of interpretation of mythology
Wikipedia - Europa (consort of Zeus) -- Greek mythology character, daughter of Agenor
Wikipedia - Europa (mythology)
Wikipedia - European mythology
Wikipedia - Eurynome (Oceanid) -- Oceanid of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Eurystheus -- King of Tiryns in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Evander of Pallantium -- Mythical character of Greek and Roman mythology, king of Pallantium
Wikipedia - Eye of Ra -- violent feminine counterpart of Ra in Ancient Egyptian mythology
Wikipedia - Family tree of the Greek gods -- Family tree of gods, goddesses and other divine figures from Ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion
Wikipedia - Fand -- Otherworldly woman in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Feminist revisionist mythology
Wikipedia - Fenrir -- Monstrous wolf in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Feronia (mythology)
Wikipedia - Feth fiada -- Magical mist in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Fifth World (mythology) -- The idea that the current world came into being after four other cycles of creation and destruction, found in Aztec, Navajo, and Hopi mythologies
Wikipedia - Fimafeng -- Servant of M-CM-^Fgir in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Finnish mythology
Wikipedia - Firefox (mythology) -- Finnish mythical creature
Wikipedia - Flidais -- female figure in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Fomorians -- Supernatural race in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Frankish mythology
Wikipedia - Fuzanglong -- Mythical dragon in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Gae Bulg -- Spear of Cuchulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Gaia (mythology)
Wikipedia - Galatea (mythology)
Wikipedia - Gandalf (mythology)
Wikipedia - Gangcheori -- Dragon-shaped monster in Korean mythology
Wikipedia - Ganymede (mythology) -- Young male figure from Greek mythology, "the most beautiful of mortals"
Wikipedia - Genius (mythology) -- In ancient Roman religion, an individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place, or thing
Wikipedia - Georgian mythology
Wikipedia - Geri and Freki -- 2 wolves in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Germakochi -- Figure in Laz mythology
Wikipedia - Germanic mythology
Wikipedia - Ghantakarna Mahavir -- Protector deity in Jain mythology
Wikipedia - Giant (mythology)
Wikipedia - Giants (Greek mythology) -- Giants from Greek myth
Wikipedia - Gimle -- Place in the Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Gjallarbru -- Location in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Gjoll -- One of the eleven rivers in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Glad (Norse mythology)
Wikipedia - Glauce -- Set of names from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Gnipahellir -- Mythical cave in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Golden Fleece -- Artefact in Greek mythology, part of the Argonauts' tale
Wikipedia - Gordian Knot -- Knot in Greek mythology as a metaphor for difficult problems with little or no solution
Wikipedia - Gorgon -- Female monster in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Grainne -- Figure in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Greek mythology -- Body of myths originally told by ancient Greeks
Wikipedia - Greek underworld -- Location in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Guarani mythology -- Mythology of the Guarani people of South America
Wikipedia - Gugalanna -- Husband of Ereshkigal in Sumerian mythology
Wikipedia - Gulltoppr -- Horse in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Gwydion -- Character from Welsh mythology
Wikipedia - Gyalpo spirits -- Spirits in Tibetan mythology
Wikipedia - Hades -- God of the underworld in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Haida mythology
Wikipedia - Hakuraku -- Hero in Oriental mythology
Wikipedia - Ha (mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian deity
Wikipedia - Haniyasu-hiko and Haniyasu-hime -- Gods of earth, clay, and pottery in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Harishchandra -- A truthful king in Indian Mythology
Wikipedia - Harmonia (mythology)
Wikipedia - Harpocrates -- God-child of the Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hebe (mythology) -- Ancient Greek goddess of youth
Wikipedia - Hecuba -- spouse of king Priam in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hel (being) -- Daughter of Loki in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Helen of Troy -- Daughter of Zeus in Greek Mythology
Wikipedia - Helice (mythology) -- Wikimedia disambiguation page
Wikipedia - Heracles -- Divine hero in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hera -- Goddess from Greek mythology, wife and sister of Zeus
Wikipedia - Hermaphroditus -- Son of Aphrodite and Hermes in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hesperides -- Nymphs in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Himas -- Character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Hippocampus (mythology)
Wikipedia - Hippolyta -- queen of the Amazons in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hippolytus (mythology)
Wikipedia - Hippotion (mythology) -- Two mythical figures
Wikipedia - Historical Atlas of World Mythology
Wikipedia - Hittite mythology and religion
Wikipedia - Hjuki and Bil -- Pair of characters in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Hlidskjalf -- In Norse mythology high seat of Odin
Wikipedia - HM-bM-^BM-^BewsM-EM-^Ms -- Dawn-goddess in the Proto-Indo-European mythology
Wikipedia - Hnitbjorg -- Mountain abode of the giant Suttung in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Ho-Chunk mythology
Wikipedia - Hoori -- Figure in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Hopi mythology -- Native american mythology
Wikipedia - Horae -- Greek mythology goddesses of the seasons and time
Wikipedia - Horses of the M-CM-^Fsir -- Horses belonging to the 'gods' in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Hudhud (mythology) -- Islamic legendary creature
Wikipedia - Huginn and Muninn -- Pair of birds in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Hu (mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian deity
Wikipedia - Hungarian mythology
Wikipedia - Hungry ghost -- Chinese conception of the preta of Buddhist mythology
Wikipedia - Hungry grass -- Patch of cursed grass in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Hutena -- Three goddesses of fate in Hurrian mythology
Wikipedia - Hvergelmir -- Spring in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Hyacinth (mythology) -- Mythological prince, loved by Apollo
Wikipedia - Hyades (mythology) -- In Greek mythology the Hyades were nymphs who were responsible for letting it rain.
Wikipedia - Hyagnis (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Hyang -- Spiritual entity in Indonesian mythology
Wikipedia - Hyperion (Titan) -- Titan in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Hyrmine -- Woman in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Iapetus -- Titan in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Igigi -- Gods of heaven in Sumerian mythology
Wikipedia - Ijiraq (mythology) -- Shape shifter in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Inca mythology
Wikipedia - Ino (Greek mythology)
Wikipedia - Inua -- Concept of inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Io (mythology) -- Mortal woman seduced by Zeus in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Ion (mythology) -- Mythical son of Apollo
Wikipedia - Iphigenia -- Figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Irish mythology -- Pre-Christian Mythology of Ireland
Wikipedia - Iris (mythology) -- Greek goddess of the rainbow
Wikipedia - Iroquois mythology
Wikipedia - Isfet (Egyptian mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian term
Wikipedia - Islamic mythology -- Body of myths associated with Islam
Wikipedia - Ixion -- King of the Lapiths in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Japanese creation myth -- Japanese mythology about the creation of the world and of Japan
Wikipedia - Japanese mythology in popular culture
Wikipedia - Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Jaratkaru -- Rishi (sage) in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Jesus in comparative mythology
Wikipedia - Jewish mythology -- Mythology derived from Judaism
Wikipedia - Jintong (mythology) -- Figure in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Jiutian Xuannu -- Goddess of war, sex, and longevity in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Joint-eater -- Type of fairy in Celtic mythology
Wikipedia - JorM-CM-0 -- Earth-goddess in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Jormungandr -- sea serpent in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Jotunn -- Race of giants in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Juno (mythology) -- Ancient Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth
Wikipedia - Jupiter Indiges -- Hero from Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Jupiter (mythology) -- King of the gods in ancient Roman religion and myth
Wikipedia - Kalakeyas -- Class of divine being in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Kale (mythology) -- Greek goddess
Wikipedia - Kalevi (mythology) -- Ancient Finnish ruler, known from the Finnish epic Kalevala
Wikipedia - Kali (demon) -- Demon in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Kamiumi -- Birth of the gods in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Kamsa -- Tyrant ruler of Mathura in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Kamuy -- Spiritual or divine beings in Ainu mythology
Wikipedia - Kanglei mythology -- About mythology of kangleipak which is sometimes intertwined with historical facts
Wikipedia - Kataw (Philippine mythology) -- Philippine mythical creature
Wikipedia - Kaveh the Blacksmith -- Legendary figure in Iranian mythology
Wikipedia - Kawas (mythology) -- Amis (Taiwan) supernatural entity
Wikipedia - Keelut -- Mythological beast in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Kek (mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian personification of primordial darkness
Wikipedia - Keres (mythology)
Wikipedia - Ketu (mythology) -- Hindu deity representing descending lunar node
Wikipedia - Khalkotauroi -- Creatures in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Khnum -- God of creation and the waters in Egyptian mythology
Wikipedia - Kigatilik -- Demon in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Kikituk -- Creature in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Kitsune -- Shapeshifting fox-spirits in Japanese folk mythology
Wikipedia - Konohanasakuya-hime -- in Japanese mythology, is the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life
Wikipedia - Korean mythology
Wikipedia - Kratos (mythology) -- Personification of strength in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Kunlun (mythology)
Wikipedia - KurdalM-CM-&gon -- Deity of blacksmiths in Ossetian mythology
Wikipedia - Kut (mythology) -- A kind of force vitalizing the body
Wikipedia - Kwakwakawakw mythology
Wikipedia - Lacedaemon (mythology) -- King of Sparta
Wikipedia - Lachesis -- One of the Fates of Greek Mythology
Wikipedia - Lada (mythology) -- Goddess in Slavic and Baltic mythology
Wikipedia - Laestrygon (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Lailah -- Angel in Jewish mythology
Wikipedia - Lakota mythology
Wikipedia - Lamassu -- Tutelary spirit in Mesopotamian mythology
Wikipedia - Lamia -- Figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Landdisir -- Ghost, spirit or deity in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Land of Maidens -- Motif in Irish mythology and medieval chivalric romance literature
Wikipedia - LandvM-CM-&ttir -- Spirits of the land in Norse mythology, Scottish druidry, and Germanic neopaganism
Wikipedia - Laocoon -- Trojan priest in Greek and Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Lapiths -- Legendary people in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Lausus (son of Numitor) -- Son of Numitor or Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Leda and the Swan -- Theme from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Leda (mythology) -- Greek mythological Aetolian princess who became a Spartan queen
Wikipedia - Lenape mythology
Wikipedia - Lernaean Hydra -- Ancient serpent-like chthonic water monster, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads, in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Leshy -- Forest spirit in Slavic mythology, tutelary deity
Wikipedia - Leucothoe (daughter of Orchamus) -- Figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Libya (mythology) -- Goddess in Roman and Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Lif and LifM-CM->rasir -- Parents of mankind in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Likhoradka -- Female spirit in Slavic mythology
Wikipedia - Lilith in popular culture -- Female demon from Jewish mythology
Wikipedia - Lilith -- Figure in Jewish mythology
Wikipedia - Linus (mythology)
Wikipedia - List of characters in mythology novels by Rick Riordan -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of dragons in mythology and folklore -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of dwarfs in Norse mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of elephants in mythology and religion -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of films based on Germanic mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of films based on Greco-Roman mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of films based on Slavic mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of giants in mythology and folklore -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of jotnar in Norse mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of jtnar in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - List of legendary creatures from Japan -- Wikipedia list article of legendary creatures and entities in traditional Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - List of legendary creatures in Hindu mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of many-eyed creatures in mythology and fiction -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of mythology books and sources -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of mythology books
Wikipedia - List of one-eyed creatures in mythology and fiction -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of people, items and places in Norse mythology -- list
Wikipedia - List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - List of sacred objects in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Lists of films based on mythology -- Wikipedia list article
Wikipedia - Lithuanian mythology -- Religion of pre-Christian Lithuanians
Wikipedia - Little people (mythology)
Wikipedia - Longma -- Winged horse in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Lords of the Night -- A set of nine gods in Mesoamerican mythology
Wikipedia - Lotuko mythology
Wikipedia - Lozi mythology
Wikipedia - Lugbara mythology
Wikipedia - Luminous gemstones -- Worldwide motif in mythology and history
Wikipedia - Luna (mythology)
Wikipedia - Lusitanian mythology -- myths of the ancient Lusitanian people
Wikipedia - Lycophron (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Maasai mythology
Wikipedia - Macelo (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Machai -- Daemons of battle and combat in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Mag Mell -- Mythical realm in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Maia -- One of the seven Pleiades sisters and the mother of Hermes from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Malina (mythology) -- Inuit deity
Wikipedia - Manannan mac Lir -- Sea god in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Manitou -- Fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the Native American mythology
Wikipedia - Mani -- Personification of the Moon in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Maori mythology
Wikipedia - Maria Makiling -- Spirit in Philippine mythology
Wikipedia - Mars (mythology) -- Roman god of war, and guardian of agriculture
Wikipedia - Marukos -- A legendary crossroads demon in Ilocano mythology
Wikipedia - Matter of Rome -- Literary cycle made up of Greek and Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Maya mythology
Wikipedia - Mbuti mythology
Wikipedia - M-CM-^AlfroM-CM-0ull -- Term and common kenning in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - M-CM-^Fsir-Vanir War -- In Norse mythology, the first war in the world between the M-CM-^Fsir and Vanir
Wikipedia - M-CM-^Fsir -- Principal pantheon in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - M-CM-^^orgerM-CM-0r HolgabruM-CM-0r and Irpa -- Divine figures in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Medusa -- monster from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Megaera -- one of the Erinyes or Furies in Ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Melanesian mythology
Wikipedia - Melia (mythology) -- set index
Wikipedia - Memnon (mythology)
Wikipedia - Meng Po -- A goddess in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Mercury (mythology) -- Ancient Roman god of trade, merchants, and travel
Wikipedia - Merope (Pleiad) -- One of the seven Pleiades sisters from Greek mythology and wife of Sisyphus
Wikipedia - Mesopotamian mythology
Wikipedia - Metanira -- Character from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Metatron -- Angel in Judeo-Islamic mythology
Wikipedia - Metis (mythology) -- Oceanid of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Miasma (Greek mythology)
Wikipedia - Micronesian mythology
Wikipedia - Mictlan -- Underworld of Aztec mythology
Wikipedia - Midgard -- Concept in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Milky Way (mythology) -- Mythological interpretations of the origin of the Milky Way
Wikipedia - Minotaur -- Creature of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Mintuci -- Creature from Ainu mythology
Wikipedia - Miwok mythology
Wikipedia - Mjolnir -- Hammer of the god Thor in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Mneme -- Muse in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Moirai -- Archetypical characters in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - MoM-CM-0i and Magni -- Pair of deities in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Momus -- The personification of satire and mockery in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Mongol mythology
Wikipedia - Montezuma (mythology) -- Heroic-god in the mythology of certain Amerindian tribes of the Southwest United States
Wikipedia - Mopsus -- Seer in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Morpheus (mythology)
Wikipedia - Mors (mythology) -- personification of death in Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Mount Meru (Mythology)
Wikipedia - Mount Penglai -- Mystical land in Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Muisca mythology
Wikipedia - Muisca religion and mythology -- Pre-Columbian beliefs of the Muisca indigenous people of Colombia
Wikipedia - MuM-EM-!M-aM-8M-+uM-EM-!M-EM-!u -- Dragon-like creature from Mesopotamian mythology
Wikipedia - Muspelheim -- Realm of fire in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Myrmex (mythology) -- Greek mythological figures
Wikipedia - Mythological king -- Archetype in mythology
Wikipedia - Mythology (fiction)
Wikipedia - Mythology of Benjamin Banneker -- Specific aspects of Benjamin Banneker's life and legacy
Wikipedia - Mythology of Italy
Wikipedia - Mythology of Romania
Wikipedia - Mythology
Wikipedia - Naga (mythology)
Wikipedia - Nambi (mythology) -- Figure in Ugandan mythology
Wikipedia - Nandi (mythology) -- Divine animal in Hinduism
Wikipedia - Narada -- Sage in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Narcissus (mythology) -- Hunter in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Natn (mythology)
Wikipedia - Neck (water spirit) -- Figures in Germanic mythology and folklore
Wikipedia - Nemesis -- Goddess of retribution in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Neper (mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian god of grain
Wikipedia - Neptune (mythology) -- Roman god of freshwater and the sea
Wikipedia - Nesaku -- Japanese mythology.
Wikipedia - Nestor (mythology)
Wikipedia - Nicaea (mythology) -- Ancient Greek water nymph
Wikipedia - Niflheim -- Realm of primordial ice and cold in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Nike (mythology) -- Goddess of victory in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Nilus (mythology) -- Ancient Greek god of the Nile river
Wikipedia - NiM-CM-0avellir -- Home of the Dwarves in Norse Mythology
Wikipedia - NiM-CM-0hoggr -- Dragon/serpent from Norse mythology
Wikipedia - NjorM-CM-0r -- One of the Vanir, a group of gods within Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Noatun (mythology) -- Mythological place
Wikipedia - Norns -- Group of characters in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Norse cosmology -- Conception of everything that exists in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Norse Mythology (book) -- Book
Wikipedia - Norse mythology in popular culture
Wikipedia - Norse Mythology
Wikipedia - Norse mythology -- Body of mythology of the North Germanic people
Wikipedia - Nuckelavee -- Horse-like demon from Orcadian mythology
Wikipedia - Numbers in Egyptian mythology
Wikipedia - Numbers in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Nu (mythology) -- Ancient Egyptian personification of the primordial watery abyss
Wikipedia - Nuu-chah-nulth mythology
Wikipedia - Nuwa -- Mother goddess of Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Nysa (mythology)
Wikipedia - Ocypete -- One of the Harpies in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Odin -- Widely attested deity in Germanic mythology
Wikipedia - Ogre -- Legendary monster featuring in mythology, folklore, and fiction
Wikipedia - Ohlone mythology
Wikipedia - Oizys -- Goddess of misery in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Okeus -- A malevolent god in the mythology of the Powhatan
Wikipedia - Onchestos (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Oneiros -- Personification of dreams in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Onogoro Island -- Island in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Ora (mythology) -- Ancient Albanian mythological figure of Fate
Wikipedia - Orestes (mythology)
Wikipedia - Orestes Pursued by the Furies -- event from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Orestes -- figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Orion (mythology) -- Giant huntsman in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Orpheus -- legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Osiris myth -- Story in ancient Egyptian mythology
Wikipedia - Ossetian mythology
Wikipedia - Palaechthon (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Palaestra (mythology) -- Figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Paleo-Balkan mythology -- Ancient Balkan beliefs
Wikipedia - Pana (mythology) -- Inuit underworld god
Wikipedia - Panlong (mythology)
Wikipedia - Pan (mythology)
Wikipedia - Papuan mythology
Wikipedia - Parabola (magazine) -- Quarterly magazine on the subjects of mythology and the world's religious and cultural traditions
Wikipedia - Paris (mythology) -- Son of Priam, king of Troy
Wikipedia - Pawnee mythology
Wikipedia - Pegasides -- Nymphs of Greek mythology connected with wells and springs, specifically those that the mythical horse Pegasus created by striking the ground with his hooves
Wikipedia - Pegasus -- Mythological creature in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Penthilus of Messenia -- King of Messenia in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Perkwunos -- Weather-god in Proto-Indo-European mythology
Wikipedia - Persian mythology -- Traditional legends and stories etc. from the Persian culture
Wikipedia - Phaedra (mythology)
Wikipedia - Philippine mythology
Wikipedia - Philoetius (Odyssey) -- Character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Phobos (mythology)
Wikipedia - Phoenix (mythology)
Wikipedia - Phthia -- In Greek mythology city or district in ancient Thessaly
Wikipedia - Physadeia -- Name in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Physcus (mythology) -- Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - Pierides (mythology) -- Group of sisters from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Pirene (mythology) -- Nymph
Wikipedia - Pleiades (Greek mythology) -- Celestial nymphs in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Plor na mBan -- figure in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Pluto (mythology) -- God in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Poemander (mythology) -- Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Polyphemus -- Son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Pomba Gira -- Figure in Brazilian mythology
Wikipedia - Pomona (mythology) -- Nymph and goddess of fruitful abundance
Wikipedia - Pontus (mythology) -- Primordial Greek god of the sea
Wikipedia - Popol Vuh -- Text recounting Maya mythology and history
Wikipedia - Portal:Mythology
Wikipedia - Porthaon -- Figure from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Portunus (mythology) -- Ancient Roman god of keys and ports
Wikipedia - Potamides (mythology)
Wikipedia - Prometheus -- Titan, culture hero, and trickster figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Proto-Indo-European mythology -- Body of myths and stories attributed to the Proto-Indo-Europeans
Wikipedia - Psyche (mythology) -- Ancient Greek goddess of the soul
Wikipedia - Puer aeternus -- Child-god who is forever young, in mythology and as an archetype
Wikipedia - Pygmalion (mythology) -- King, sculptor, and legendary figure of Cyprus
Wikipedia - Pyrrha of Thessaly -- Goddess, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Qat (deity) -- The principal god in the oral mythology of the Banks Islands, northern Vanuatu
Wikipedia - Qiqirn -- Large dog in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Queen Oronsen -- Orisha from Yoruba mythology
Wikipedia - Quest -- Plot device in mythology and fiction
Wikipedia - Ragnarok -- End times in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Raijin -- God of lightning, thunder, and storms in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - Rapa Nui mythology
Wikipedia - Rata (Tahitian mythology) -- Said to have become king of Tahiti when his uncle, king Tumu-nui, and his father Vahieroa (Tahitian mythology) are swallowed by a great clam while they are on their way to Pitcairn
Wikipedia - Red River (mythology) -- mythological river in Chinese culture
Wikipedia - Religion and mythology
Wikipedia - Rem (mythology)
Wikipedia - Reptilian humanoid -- Beings in mythology, folklore and fiction
Wikipedia - Rhea (mythology) -- Ancient Greek goddess and Titan
Wikipedia - Rituparna -- King of Indian mythology
Wikipedia - Roc (mythology) -- Legendary creature
Wikipedia - Roma (mythology)
Wikipedia - Roman mythology -- Traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system
Wikipedia - Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology
Wikipedia - Sadhbh -- figure in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Samdzimari -- Goddess in Georgian mythology
Wikipedia - Sanjeevani (plant) -- In Hindu mythology, a cure-all plant which can reverse even near death
Wikipedia - Sarangay -- creature in Visayan mythology
Wikipedia - Saturn (mythology) -- God in Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Satyr -- Bawdy male nature spirits in Greek mythology with horse-like tails and ears and permanent erections
Wikipedia - Sazae-oni -- Creatures from Japanese mythology resembling large mollusks
Wikipedia - Scamander -- Water deity in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Scathach -- Figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Scientific mythology
Wikipedia - Scylla -- Nymph transformed into a sea monster by Circe in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Sedna (mythology) -- Inuit deity
Wikipedia - Seeress (Germanic) -- Female shaman in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Selk'nam mythology
Wikipedia - Semele -- Mother of Dionysus in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Seneca mythology
Wikipedia - Serpent (mythology)
Wikipedia - Serpents in the Bible -- Serpents in ancient mythology
Wikipedia - Sessrumnir -- In Norse mythology hall located in Asgard
Wikipedia - Seven Logas -- Seven upper worlds in Ayyavazhi mythology
Wikipedia - Shakuntala -- A female character in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Shani -- In Hindu mythology, the planet '''Saturn''', as well as a deity
Wikipedia - Sharanga (Hindu mythology)
Wikipedia - Shield-maiden -- Female warrior in Norse folklore and mythology
Wikipedia - Sidh Bawa Balak Nath -- Figure in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Sigurd -- Fictional character in Germanic and Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Silap Inua -- Concept of inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Silvanus (mythology)
Wikipedia - Simurgh -- Mythical bird in Iranian mythology and literature
Wikipedia - Sindri (mythology) -- Norse mythical character
Wikipedia - Sinis (mythology)
Wikipedia - Sin (mythology)
Wikipedia - Siren (mythology)
Wikipedia - Sisyphus -- King of Ephyra in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Siyokoy (Philippine mythology) -- Philippine mythical creature
Wikipedia - SkiM-CM-0blaM-CM-0nir -- Artifact in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Slavic creation myth -- Cosmogonic myth in Slavic mythology
Wikipedia - Slavic mythology
Wikipedia - Sl (Germanic mythology)
Wikipedia - Snakes in Chinese mythology -- Mythological serpent
Wikipedia - Solar barque -- Solar barge of the sun god Ra in Ancient Egyptian mythology
Wikipedia - Sol (Norse mythology) -- Norse deity
Wikipedia - Sol (Roman mythology) -- solar deity in Ancient Roman religion
Wikipedia - Somali mythology
Wikipedia - Sons of Ivaldi -- Group of dwarf smiths from Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Souconna (mythology) -- Celtic water deity
Wikipedia - Spirit turtle -- Creature from Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Sterope (Pleiad) -- One of the seven Pleiades sisters from Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Stheno -- Monster from Greek mythology, eldest of the Gorgons
Wikipedia - Strix (mythology) -- Ill-omened bird of antiquity
Wikipedia - Stuhac -- Demonic creature in Serbian mythology
Wikipedia - Stymphalian birds -- Birds of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Styx -- River in Greek mythology that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld
Wikipedia - Sun goddess of Arinna -- Chief goddess and wife of the weather god TarM-aM-8M-+unna in Hittite mythology
Wikipedia - Syrinx -- Nymph transformed into hollow water reeds in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Tahiti-tokerau -- Water-nymph in the mythology of the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia
Wikipedia - Tala (goddess) -- Goddess in Tagalog mythology
Wikipedia - Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr -- Pair of goats in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Tannin (monster) -- Sea monster in Canaanite, Phoenician, and Hebrew mythology
Wikipedia - Tantalus (mythology) -- set of mythological Greek characters
Wikipedia - Tantalus (son of Broteas) -- Son of Broteas and ruler of Lydia in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Tariaksuq -- Creature in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Tecmessa -- Figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Telo (mythology) -- Celtic god
Wikipedia - Template talk:Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Template talk:Rishis of Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Terra (mythology) -- Roman deity
Wikipedia - Tethys (mythology) -- Ancient Greek mythological figure
Wikipedia - The Dreaming -- Sacred era in Australian Aboriginal mythology
Wikipedia - The Golden Bough (mythology)
Wikipedia - The Hero with a Thousand Faces -- 1948 book on comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell
Wikipedia - Theia -- female Titan in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Thetis -- Nereid of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Thrassa -- Character in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Thyestes -- King of Olympia and brother of Atreus in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Tibetan mythology -- traditional and religious stories of Tibet
Wikipedia - Tir na nM-CM-^Sg -- Land of eternal youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy in Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Titan (mythology)
Wikipedia - Titans -- Second order of divine beings in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Tizheruk -- Snake-like creature in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Tane -- God of forests and of birds in Maori mythology
Wikipedia - Togail Bruidne Da Derga -- Irish tale belonging to the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology
Wikipedia - Trauco -- Humanoid creature in Chilota mythology
Wikipedia - Trees in mythology -- Significance of trees in religion and folklore
Wikipedia - Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky -- 2019 children's fantasy and mythology novel by Kwame Mbalia
Wikipedia - Triton (mythology) -- Greek god, messenger of the sea
Wikipedia - Tsimshian mythology
Wikipedia - Tukoio -- Figure from Maori mythology
Wikipedia - Tumbuka mythology
Wikipedia - Tumburu -- celestial musician in Hindu mythology
Wikipedia - Tuonela -- Realm of the dead or the Underworld in Finnish and Estonian mythology
Wikipedia - Tupilaq -- Monster in Inuit mythology
Wikipedia - Turan (mythology) -- Etruscan goddess of love and fertility
Wikipedia - Turkic mythology -- Beliefs related to the nomadic existence of the Turkic peoples
Wikipedia - Typhon -- Deadly monster of Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Udug -- class of demons in ancient Mesopotamian mythology
Wikipedia - Ukko -- God of the sky, weather, harvest and thunder in Finnish mythology
Wikipedia - Uni (mythology) -- Etruscan goddess
Wikipedia - Uranus (mythology) -- Primordial Greek deity, god of the sky
Wikipedia - Usiququmadevu -- Monster from Zulu mythology
Wikipedia - Ute mythology
Wikipedia - Vahieroa (Tahitian mythology) -- mythological son of wife
Wikipedia - Vahieroa (Tuamotu mythology) -- mythological figure
Wikipedia - Valhalla -- Enormous hall located in Asgard, in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Valkyrie -- Figures in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Vedic mythology
Wikipedia - Ved (mythology) -- Legendary creature
Wikipedia - Venusberg (mythology)
Wikipedia - Venus (mythology) -- Ancient Roman goddess of love, sex and fertility
Wikipedia - Veritas -- Goddess of truth in Roman mythology
Wikipedia - Vermilion Bird -- One of Four Symbols of Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Vesta (mythology) -- Ancient Roman goddess of the hearth, home, and family
Wikipedia - Victoria (mythology) -- Roman goddess of victory
Wikipedia - Viracocha -- Creator deity in Inca mythology
Wikipedia - Volsung -- Character in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Vulcan (mythology) -- Ancient Roman god of fire, volcanoes, and metalworking
Wikipedia - Wandjina -- Spirit beings of north-western Australian Aboriginal mythology
Wikipedia - Wasteland (mythology) -- Celtic mythological motif
Wikipedia - Weak River (mythology) -- mythological river in Chinese culture
Wikipedia - Welsh mythology -- Folk traditions developed in Wales and by the Celtic Britons elsewhere
Wikipedia - Wewe Gombel -- Female ghost in Japanese mythology
Wikipedia - White horse (mythology)
Wikipedia - White Tiger (mythology) -- One of Four Symbols of Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Wikipedia:WikiProject Japan/Mythology task force -- Sub-project of WikiProject Japan
Wikipedia - Wikipedia:WikiProject Mythology -- Wikimedia subject-area collaboration
Wikipedia - William Blake's mythology
Wikipedia - Witte Wieven -- Spirits of "wise women" (or else elven beings) in Dutch mythology and legends
Wikipedia - Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology
Wikipedia - Wrestling mythology -- Examples of wrestling in mythology
Wikipedia - Wurugag and Waramurungundi -- The first man and woman in aboriginal mythology
Wikipedia - Xenopatra -- figure in greek mythology
Wikipedia - Xibalba -- The underworld in K'iche' Maya mythology
Wikipedia - Yaoguai -- Creature from Chinese mythology
Wikipedia - Yellow Dragon -- Figure in Chinese religion and mythology
Wikipedia - Ymir -- Primeval being in Norse mythology
Wikipedia - Yoruba mythology
Wikipedia - Zagreus -- Figure in Greek mythology
Wikipedia - Zlydzens -- Hazardous creatures in Belarusian mythology
Wikipedia - Zois (mythology) -- mythological martyr
Wikipedia - Zuni mythology -- Oral history, cosmology, and religion of the Zuni people
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10455110-treasury-of-greek-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1124833.Mythology_101
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1124834.Mythology_Abroad
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1124835.Higher_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11760562-sylvia-plath-and-the-mythology-of-women-readers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1245415.Bulfinch_s_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13075384-the-mythic-dimension---comparative-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13563920-mythology-of-touch
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15840611-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16194460-cthulhu-in-world-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1621194.The_Mythology_Class
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1698899.An_introduction_to_Viking_mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17189940-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/173051.Essays_on_a_Science_of_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17850482-viral-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18049006-greek-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181658.European_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18649717-mythology-for-teens-classic-myths-in-today-s-world
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187871.The_Everything_Classical_Mythology_Book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19224393-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20824828-tribal-mythology-and-folklore-the-arctic-circle
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21379496-the-hidden-world-of-poetry---unravelling-celtic-mythology-in-contemporar
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2139676.Kalevala_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22378915-classical-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22441543-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22493975-classical-mythology-unit-study
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23522.Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23523.Don_t_Know_Much_About_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23524.Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23525.Norse_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23566039-the-mythology-class
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23598652-the-mythology-class
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23627121-mythology-101
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24345966-treasury-of-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27017328.Bulfinch_s_Mythology_The_Age_of_Fable
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27248568-encyclopedia-of-norse-and-germanic-folklore-mythology-and-magic
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28354261-reflections-on-european-mythology-and-polytheism
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30809689.Norse_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30809689-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30831912.Norse_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30831912-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31139555-goddess-and-mythology-coloring-book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32078364-celtic-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32194280-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32732809-celtic-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33290550-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34097209-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35520.Oriental_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36747326-the-mythology-book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37541.Egyptian_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37903770.Norse_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37903770-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39673345-norse-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4374911-historical-critical-introduction-to-the-philosophy-of-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44177977-indo-european-mythology-and-religion
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/450350.Creative_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/497295.Scandinavian_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560237.Interpretations_of_Greek_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560238.Structure_and_History_in_Greek_Mythology_and_Ritual
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588147.Bulfinch_s_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6510242-mythology-madness-and-laughter
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6559423-sad-american-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6832938-astro-theology-and-sidereal-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/723158.The_Wood_Beyond_the_World_by_William_Morris__Fiction__Classics__Fantasy__Fairy_Tales__Folk_Tales__Legends___Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/785759.Dictionary_of_Celtic_Mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8030410-personal-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8185616-zuni-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8358183-bulfinch-s-mythology
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9734574-the-mythology-of-supernatural
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9775728-welsh-mythology
http://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Greek_Mythology_Wiki
http://mythology.wikia.com/wiki/File:JaciETupa.jpg
http://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Mythology_Wikia
http://mythology.wikia.org/nl/wiki/Mythology_wiki
http://mythology.wikia.org/pl/wiki/Mythology_Wiki
http://mythology.wikia.org/ru/wiki/
http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/m/my/mythology_pages_current.xml.7z
http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/m/my/mythology_pages_full.xml.7z
https://greekmythology.wikia.org
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/f
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/opensearch_desc.php
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Achelois
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Admetus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Adonis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aegis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aekhmagoras
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aella
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aeskhreis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aether
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Agamedas
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Agamemnon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Agathyrsus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Agelaus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aglaia_(Daughter_of_King_Thespius)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Agylleus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Akelus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Akhilles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Alexiares
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Alkippe_(Amazon)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Alkmene
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Alopius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Amathes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Amathous
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Amestrius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Amphitryon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ananke
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aniketos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antaios
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Anteros
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Anthaeia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Anthippe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antiades
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antileon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antimakhus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antiope
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antiope_(Amazon)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Antiphus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Adonis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Birth
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Gallery_of_Images_of_Aphrodite
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Gallery_of_Symbols_and_Attributes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Gigantomachy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Guardian_of_Rome
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Marriage_with_Hephaistos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Myth
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Navigation
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Personality_and_Appearance
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Relationships
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Sphere_of_Control
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#The_Lusiadas
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aphrodite#Trojan_War
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Animals
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Apollo.27s_Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Apollo_and_Eros
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Apollo_in_the_Iliad
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Attributes_and_Personality
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Birth_of_Apollo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Children
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Gallery
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Gallery_of_Symbols_.26_Attributes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Gigantomachy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#God_of_Prophecy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Kassandra_of_Troy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Male_Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#More_about_Apollo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Music_Contest
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Mythology
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Navigation
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Niobe.27s_Tragedy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Objects
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Other_Names
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Parents
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Plants
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Siblings
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Sphere_of_Control
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Spouse_.26_Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Telphousa
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#The_Erymanthian_Boar
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apollo#Trivia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Apple_Tree
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Arachne
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ares
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Arg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Argele
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Argonauts
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aries
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aristaeus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Arkhedikus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Arkhimakhus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Artemis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Asclepius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Asopis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Astraios
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Astromus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Astyanax
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Astybies
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Astydameia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Arachne
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Birth_of_Athena
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Gallery
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Gigatomachy_Gallery
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Hephaestus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Images_of_Athena.27s_Symbols.2C_Attributes_and_Sacred_Things
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Importance_and_Functions
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Navigation
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Other_Names
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Pallas_Athena
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Rivalry_With_Poseidon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Trivia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Athens
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Auge
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Aventinus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Azon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bargases
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Barge
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Blog:Recent_posts
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Boeus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bokolus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bolbe_(Okeanid)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bots
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bow_&_Arrows
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bretius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Brettus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Briareos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Britomartis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bront
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Buleus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Bureaucrats
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Cancer
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Capricorn_(Constellation)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Agriculture_Deities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Argonauts
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Browse
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Children_of_Zeus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Deities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Fathers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Females
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Fire_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Gift_of_Prophecy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Gigantomachia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Goddesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Health_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Heroes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Immortals
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Intelligence_Goddesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Lovers_of_Ares
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Lovers_of_Hermes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Males
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Medicine_Deities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Medicine_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Music_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Olympians
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Protogenoi
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Sky_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Sun_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Titans
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Twins
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Underworld_Deities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:War_Deities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Category:War_Goddesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Celtine
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Celtus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Centaur
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Chiron
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Chronos_(Protogenoi)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Coeus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Content
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Coronis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Crius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Cronus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Crow
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Daphne
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Deianeira
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Deikoon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Deimos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Delos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Delphi
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Demeter
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Demigods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dexamenus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dike
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Diomedes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dione_(Titaness)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dionysos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dionysus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dolphin
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dryope_(Pegaiai)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dyna
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dynaste
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Dynastes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eileithyia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eirene
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ekhephron
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ekhidna
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Elakhia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Elder_Kyklopes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Entelades
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Enyo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eone
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Epikaste
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Epilais
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Epimetheus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Erasippus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Erato_(Daughter_of_Thespius)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eratus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Erebos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Erinyes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eris
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eros
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eros_(Protogenoi)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ersa
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Erymanthian_Boar
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Erymanthos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eryx
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Euboea
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eubote
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eumedes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Euphrosyne
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eurybia_(Daughter_of_King_Thespius)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eurykapys
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Euryke
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Euryopes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eurypyle
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eurytele
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Eurythrus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Everus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Exole
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:01greek_hymen.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:01greekmythology.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:0b14db48ffc0a6ceb17d2947a3c54673.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:0Kronos.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1024px-Herakles_Ladon_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_SL89.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:105.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:112189083.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1280px-Athena_Enkelados_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_1612.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1280px-Black-Figured_Amphora_depicting_the_Battle_of_Gods_and_Giants.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1280px-Hercules_and_Iolaus_mosaic_-_Anzio_Nymphaeum.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:12th-labor-of-hercules-cerberus-pierre-salsiccia.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:170px-Apollo_Anzio_Musei_Capitolini_MC286.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:170px-Heracles_and_the_Erymantian_boar.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:170px-Hyacinthus.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1992.06Athena.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1992.06-.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1992.07Athena.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1992.07Sword.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1992.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:1ae9189af51106e64809ab4162fc425f.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:210px-White_pearl_necklace.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:21288K7XY93.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:220px-NAMA_Aphrodite_Syracuse.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:23022062-bow-and-laurel-wreath-stencil-illustration--Stock-Vector-archery-bow-arrow.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:250px-ApolloAndDaphne.JPG
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:250px-Apollo_Artemis_Brygos_Louvre_G151.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:250px-Niobe_JacquesLouisDavid_1772_Dallas_Museum_of_Art.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:255px-Giambologna-_Hercules_beating_Centaur_Nesso-Loggia_dei_Lanzi.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:29492_489401.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:2-bronze-tripod-with-horse-handles.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:330px-Hercules_killing_Kakos_at_his_Cave.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:3411771015_f3233176c9.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:3556824634_82ac63c07d_z.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:41WR+ZZkkzL._AC_UL320_SR218,320_.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:46563.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:471px-Saturnus_fig274.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:499758118_0dfb545f70_o.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:5458d088be89048542c6c07fc276edae--roman-mythology-greek-mythology.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:5db8fdba1ef8f21a8fa48c3d8d9a02dd.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:5lzw3psjxd.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:755mg.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:76438da9ceda552185bf4694b7f8a50e.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:7794027890_b43a07a3bd_b.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:7795084_f260.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:7f4ae4790d47d222fe505a4fbc499667.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:800px-Apollo_Musagetes_Pio-Clementino_Inv310.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:800px-Cnidus_Aphrodite_Altemps_Inv8619.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:800px-Hercules_slaying_the_Hydra.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:8765342133_6bcf93161e_b.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:9318_Chronos.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:98514_509370.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:A8fd842f0c3a49fa91d18c8480449a16.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Amsterdam_-_Museum_Willet-Holthuysen_18.JPG
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Aphrodite_Anadyomene_Louvre_CA2288.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Aphrodite_of_Cnidus.Munich.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:AphroditePearlsDraper_jpg_pagespeed_ce_baprf7u8yM.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Aphrodite-Pin-up-767x1024.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Aphrodite_Riding_a_Goose.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_Belvedere_5.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ApolloGod600.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo-killing-python.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_Kitharoidos_Antikensammlung_Berlin_2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollon_opera_Garnier_n3.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_of_the_Belvedere.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo-playing-lyre.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_python_baur_1.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo-statue.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_tourch.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apollo-WaltersArt.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apples.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Apple_Tree.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Athena_fighting_Enkelados,_one_of_the_Gigante_(giants),_children_of_Giaia,_in_their_war_against_the_gods;_flanked_by_two_Gigante;_two_lions_on_shoulder.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Athena-Pin-up.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Athena_Statue.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Athena-warrior-statue-US-WU75702A4.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Athene-vase-painting-Athena's_Birth.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Athens,_Greece,_Ca_2nd_quarter_5th_century_BCE._Super_rare_and_wonderful_pottery_kantharos._Decorated_in_red-figure_technique_with_owl_looking_forward_standing_between_two_laurel_sprigs,_Greek_key_along_base.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ATTIC_BLACK-FIGURE_SUB-DEIANIRA_LEKYTHOS_BY_THE_PHAROS_PAINTER.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Augean_Mosaico_Trabajos_H
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Austria_Parlament_Athena_bw.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Black_Figure_Amphora-Geryon.jpeg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Boar1.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Boar2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Boar3.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:CBME3INWQAEwjXP.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Chariot_clock_Apollo.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Chronos_oeuvre_grand1.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Cretan_Bull.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Cronos8910.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Cronosmur001.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Cronus-and-uranus1-716x400.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Cronus-greek-god-story-5411.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:D314220bdb2856bf942dd47dddb43955.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Diomedes_Devoured_by_his_Horses_1865.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Dove.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:DSCN5315.JPG
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Ed41d905440224d8cd19d4136426e14d_(2).jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:El_jabal_de_Erimanto_III_.JPG
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Ermanthian_Boar.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Erymanthischer_Boar.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Geryon1a.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Gigantes002.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:GrainStore.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Heracles_and_the_Cretan_Bull.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Heracles_Fighting_the_Amazons.jpeg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraclesHesperides.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraclesHindPalermo1(sculpture).jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraclesHippolyte.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Heracles_in_the_Garden_of_the_Hesperides.jpeg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Heracles_sm.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles10.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles38.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles58.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles70.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles71.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles73.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles74.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles76-Nereus.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraklesAmazonsLouvreF218.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Herakles_and_Kerberos.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraklesCHindLVF234bis.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraklesF167.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraklesKerberosF204.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HeraklesLionE812.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules_2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules_and_Antaeus.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules_and_megara_by_littlepleasureslife-d5ab7lb.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules_and_the_Lernaean_Hydra_ca_1876.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules-at-lake-stymphalos-1880.jpg!Blog.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules-ceryneian-hind.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules-cretan-bull.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules-fighting-with-the-nemean-lion-1634.jpg!Blog.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules-kills-the-symphalic-bird-1520.jpg!xlMedium.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HerculesPortMerion.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hercules-statue-vienna-austria-outside-hofburg-palace-showing-how-fulfills-legendary-labors-48341794.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HERECLES_FIGHTING_AL.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hippolyte's_Girdle.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:How-to-Make-a-Laurel-Wreath.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hydra_1.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Hydra2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HydraLouvreCA7318.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:HydraZurbaran.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Images2R3VTA5Q.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ImagesF4I05CAG.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Kerebrus.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:KINNOR.JPG
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Koios-or-coeus.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Kronos.jpeg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Kronos.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Labor03.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Labor1.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Labor2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Labor4.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Labor8.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Lettuce.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:L'hydre_de_lern.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Magic_Girgle.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Mares-Black_Amphora.jpeg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Mares-of-diomedes.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Mattei_Athena_Louvre_Ma530_n2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Mer_wgm_3022_large.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:MGObuzEI-MuapdNQnDGw1cQ.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Mosaico_Trabajos_H
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Mythological-scene-greek-mythology-16652618-2040-1454.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:NAMA_262_Aphrodite_Epidaure_2.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Nemean_lion_hercules-labors-louvre.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Nemean_Lion.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Olive_Tree.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Omphale_heracles.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Painting-aphrodite-sm.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Painting-apollo.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Painting-apollo-sm.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Painting-ares.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Painting-athena-sm.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_The_Judgment_of_Paris_(1630s).jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Pietro-muttoni-cronus-devouring-his-children_i-G-61-6114-AMXF100Z.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Pomegranate_DSW.JPG
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Porphyrion.gif
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Pottery_big-07.gif.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Prod_13169831719.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Reconsiliation.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Red_Figure_Kylix-Geryon.jpeg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Rhea_cronos.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:SaturnStatue.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Scallop_Shell.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:S-l1000.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Snow_owl.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Stables.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Stymphalian_birds.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:T30_0958_m.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Th6Z1QTUTO.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:The_Birth_of_Venus_by_William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1879).jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ThFIAUVK5X.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ThP39JWUCQ.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ThY2B3PAGO.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Tumblr_inline_mot3y3bv4u1qz4rgp.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Tumblr_lusezywoEm1r1eenfo1_500.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Tumblr_matv6s52ny1rnszofo10_1280.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Untitled11.png
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Venus-half-shell-front-ss-ven.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:ViewFileImageController.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:Virgil_Solis_-_Apollo_Python.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:W6amhbp8lw.jpg
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Forum:Index
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gaea
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gelon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gelonus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gemini_(Constellation)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gigantes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Glenos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Goddesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Goose
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Greece
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Greek_Mythology_Wiki
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Greek_Mythology_Wiki:Community_Portal
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Gyes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hades
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Halokrates
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hebe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hedylogos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hekatonchires
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hekatonkheires
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hekuba
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Helikonis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Helios
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hemera
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hephaestus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hephaistos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hera
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Heracles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#12_Labors_Gallery
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Adolescence
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Childhood
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Children
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Departure_From_the_Argonauts
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#First_Marriage
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Gallery_of_Herakles_in_his_various_adventures
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Gigantomachia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Gigantomachy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Male_Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Mythology
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Parents
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Personality
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Second_Marriage
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Spouse_.26_Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Eighth_Labor:_Steal_the_Men_Eating_Mares_of_Diomedes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Eleventh_Labor:_Steal_the_Apples_of_the_Hesperides
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Fifth_Labor:_Clean_the_Augean_Stables
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_First_Labor:_Slay_the_Nemean_Lion
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Fourth_Labor:_Capture_the_Erymanthian_Boar
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Ninth_Labor:_Obtain_the_Girdle_of_Hippolyta.2C_Queen_of_the_Amazons
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Second_Labor:_Slay_the_Lernean_Hydra
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Seventh_Labor:_Capture_the_Kretan_Bull
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Sixth_Labor:_Rid_the_Island_Stymphalos_of_the_Man-eating_Birds
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Tenth_Labor:_Obtain_the_Cattle_of_the_Giant_Geryon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Third_Labor:_Capture_the_Golden_Hind_of_Artemis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#The_Twelfth_Labor:_Capture_Kerbros_Hades.27_Watchdog
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Time_as_an_Argonaut
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Time_In_Lydia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Trivia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Trojan_Sea_Monster
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Herakles#Twelve_Labors
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hermaphroditus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hermes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hesikhaeia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hestia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Himeros
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hippeus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hippo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hippodamus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hippokrate
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hippozygus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Homolippus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hyacinth
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hylas
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hyllus_(Son_of_Herakles_&_Deianeira)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hyllus_(Son_of_Herakles_&_Melite)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hyperion
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hypnos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iobes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iolaus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iphinoe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iphis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Iphitus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Jason
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kabeira
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kadmillus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kalametis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kalliope
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kapylus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kassandra
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Keleustinor
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kerthe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kerynitis_Hind
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ketos_Troias
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Khalkiope
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Khania
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Khaos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Khromis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Khryseis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/King_Kreon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/King_Minos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/King_Oeneus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/King_Phylas_(King_of_Dryopis)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/King_Thespius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kleodaees
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kleolaus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Klytemnestra
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Klytippe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Koios
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kottos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kreon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kreontiades
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Krios
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Appearance
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Castration_of_Ouranos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Childhood
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Children
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Gallery
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Myths
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Navigation
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Parents
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Powers_.26_Abilities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Ruler_of_the_Isle_of_the_Blessed
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Saturnalia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Siblings
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Spouse_.26_Lovers
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#The_Golden_Age
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kronos#Titanomachy_and_Kronos.27s_punishment
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ktesippus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Kyrnus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Laomenes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Laothoe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Latinus_(Son_of_Herakles)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lavinia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lelantos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Leo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lernaean_Hydra
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Leto
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Leukippus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Leukites
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Leukoneus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Libra
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lykurgus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lynkaeus_(Son_of_Herakles)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lyre
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lyse
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lysidike
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Lysippe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Makaria_(Daughter_of_Herakles)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Maleus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Malis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Mares_of_Diomedes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Marpesia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Marse
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Meda
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Medusa
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Megara
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Meline
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Melinoe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Melite
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Melite_(Naiad)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Menippis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Menoitios_(Titan)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Mentor
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Metis_(Titaness)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Minor_Goddesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Minor_Gods
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Mnemosyne
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Morpheus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Mount_Olympus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Myrtle_Tree
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Myrto
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Naiades
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nemean_Lion
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nemesis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nephus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nestor
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nike
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nike_(Daughter_of_King_Thespius)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nikippe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nikodromus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Niobe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nymph
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Nyx
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Oceanus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Odysseus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Odyssey
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Oenites
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Oestrobleus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Okeanos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Olive_Tree
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Olympian
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Olympians
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Olympusa
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Olynthus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Onesippus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Oreia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Orion
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Orpheus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#A_final_child
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Children
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Early_History
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Family
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Goddesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Monsters
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Myth
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Navigation
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Other_Names
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Powers_.26_Abilities
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Rule_and_Demise
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Titanesses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ouranos#Titans
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Palaemon_(Son_of_Herakles)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Palantho_of_Hyperborea
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Palantia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pallas_(Libyan_Nymph)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pallas_(Son_of_Herakles_&_Dyna)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pallas_(Son_of_Herakles_&_Lavinia)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Palm_Tree
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pan
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pandaie
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Panope
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Paris
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Parthenope
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Patro
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Patroklus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pegaiai
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Peneios
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Persephone
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Perses_(Titan)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Perseus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Philoktetes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Phobos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Phoibe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Phyleis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Polylaus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pontos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pontus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Poseidon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/_Poseidon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pothos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Praxithea
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Priapus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Prokris
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Promakhus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Prometheus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Protogenoi
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Psophis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pyrene
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Pyrippe
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Queen_Megamede
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Queen_Omphale
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Quest_For_The_Golden_Fleece
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Rhea
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Rhea_(Italian_Priestess)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Rhodos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Rhopalus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/River_Styx
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Sagittarius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Satyr
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Scorpio
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Skythes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Skythian_Drakaina
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Sophax
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Sparrow
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Spear
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:AllPages
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Categories
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Community
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:CreatePage
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:NewFiles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Random
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:RecentChanges
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Upload
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Sterop
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Stratonike
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Stymphalian_Birds
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Swan
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Aphrodite
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Apollo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Athena
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Greek_Mythology_Wiki
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Herakles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Kronos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Ouranos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tartarus_(Location)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tartarus_(Protogenoi)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Taurus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Telephus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Teles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Teleutagoras
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Template:Olympians-nav
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Template:Protogenoi-nav
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Template:Titans-nav
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Terpsikrate
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tethys
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thalassa
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thanatos
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thebe_(Daughter_of_Adramys)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thebes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Daughters_of_Thespius
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Eighth_Labor:_Steal_the_Men_Eating_Mares_of_Diomedes
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Eleventh_Labor:_Steal_the_Apples_of_the_Hesperides
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Labor:_Clean_the_Augean_Stables
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_First_Labor:_Slay_the_Nemean_Lion
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Graces
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Theia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Themis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Muses
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Ninth_Labor:_Obtain_the_Girdle_of_Hippolyta,_Queen_of_the_Amazons
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Pythia
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Therimakhus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Second_Labor:_Slay_the_Lernean_Hydra
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Theseus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Seventh_Labor:_Capture_the_Kretan_Bull
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Sixth_Labor:_Rid_the_Island_Stymphalos_of_the_Man-eating_Birds
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thestalus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Tenth_Labor:_Obtain_the_Cattle_of_the_Giant_Geryon
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Third_Labor:_Capture_the_Golden_Hind_of_Artemis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thetis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Thettalus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/The_Twelfth_Labor:_Capture_Kerbros_Hades'_Watchdog
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Threpsippas
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tigasis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tinjis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tiphyse
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Titanomachy
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Titans
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tlepolemus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Toxikrate
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Triton
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Twelve_Labors_of_Herakles
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Tyche
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Agamedas)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Amathes,_Boeus_of_Bretius_and_Brettus)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Amathous)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Azon)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Dexamenus)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Khromis)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Kyrnus)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Leukites)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Manto)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Pandaie)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unknown_Consort_(Mother_of_Rhopalus)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unnamed_Daughter_of_Thespius_(She_became_by_Herakles_the_Mother_of_Kreon)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unnamed_Serpent_(With_Pyrene,_Daughter_of_King_Bebrykius)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unnamed_Slave_of_Queen_Omphale's_(Mother_of_Kleodaees)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Unnamed_Twin_Son_(Son_of_one_of_the_daughters_of_Thespius)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/User:Messenger_of_Heaven
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/User:SlendyBot
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Virgo
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Wolf
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Xanthis
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Zagreus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Zephyros_(Anemoi)
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Zeus
https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Zodiac
https://history.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology
https://history.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology
https://mythology.wikia.org
https://mythology.wikia.org/de
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/f
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/opensearch_desc.php
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Blog:Letzte_Beitr
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Chim
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Chupacabra
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Datei:Olymp001.jpeg
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Delling
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Diskussion:Mythology_Wikia
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Forum:
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Griechische_Mythologie
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Harpyie
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Hilfe:
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Hilfe:Administratoren-Handbuch
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Hilfe:Erweiterte_Funktionen
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Hilfe:FAQ
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Hilfe:Tipps_und_Tricks
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Kategorie:Inhalt
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Kategorie:Wiki
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Kerberos
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Kronos
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Mythologie_Wiki
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Mythologie_Wiki:Portal
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Mythology_Wikia
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/R
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Sirenen
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:Alle_Seiten
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:Community
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:CreatePage
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:Kategorien
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:Letzte_
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:NewFiles
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:Random
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Spezial:RecentChanges
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/s:user:Fingalo
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Yeti
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Zentauren
https://mythology.wikia.org/de/wiki/Zeus
https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Angel
https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/File:220px-Houghton_EC65.M6427P.1667aa_-_Paradise_Lost,_1667.jpg
https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Magic
https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Odin
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Acis_and_Galatea_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Aegina_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Aegle_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Aether_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Aethra_(Greek_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Agron_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Albanian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Altaic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Amaru_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ananke_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Andromeda_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/An_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism#In_religion_and_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Anti_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Anz%C3%BB_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Apis_(Egyptian_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Arabian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Arethusa_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Armenian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Arne_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Artemis#Artemis_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Asclepius#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ashanti_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Asia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Asopus#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Aztec_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Canaanite_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Egyptian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Greek_mythology/101
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Greek_mythology/201
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Hawaiian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Hindu_%26_Zoroastrian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Hindu_&_Zoroastrian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Ho-Chunk_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Inca_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Japanese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Mayan_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Navajo_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Norse_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Sumerian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Yoruba_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/At-a-glance/Zoroastrian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Athena#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Children
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Cultural_influence
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Encounter_with_Heracles
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Etruscan_Aril
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Etymology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Punishment
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)#Variations
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Aura_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ayyavazhi_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Aztec_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Babi_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Babylonian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Baltic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Baluba_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Baluba_mythology#Creation_myth_of_Kabezya-Mpungu
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Baluba_mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Baluba_mythology#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Baluba_mythology#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Basque_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bastet_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#Bee_deities
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#Language
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#Myth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#Symbolism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bee_(mythology)#Worship
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bel_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Berber_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Beten_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Buddhist_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Bushongo_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Callisto_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)#In_popular_culture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)#Name
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Calypso_(mythology)#The_Odyssey
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Canaanite_religion#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Abrahamic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:African_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Near_East_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Asian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Australian_Aboriginal_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Aztec_mythology_and_religion
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Brazilian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Buddhist_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Caribbean_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Carthaginian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Celtic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Chilote_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Crossroads_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Egyptian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Greek_Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Hawaiian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Hindu_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Inca_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Indo-European_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Islamic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Korean_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Kurdish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Lakota_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Levantine_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Lists_of_animals_in_mythology_and_religion
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mapuche_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Maya_mythology_and_religion
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Melanesian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mesoamerican_mythology_and_religion
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mesoamerican_mythology_stubs
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mesopotamian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Middle_Eastern_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Middle_East_mythology_stubs
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_of_the_indigenous_peoples_of_North_America
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology-related_lists
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_stubs
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Native_American_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Non-human_races_in_Hindu_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Norse_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Persian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Phoenician_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Polynesian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Roman_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Samoan_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category_talk:Abrahamic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category_talk:Buddhist_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category_talk:Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category_talk:Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Tongan_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Trees_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:War_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_articles_incorporating_text_from_the_Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Biography_and_Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Yoruba_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Celtic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ceres_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Cetus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chaac#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chaos_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Cherokee_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Cherokee_mythology#Creation_myth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chimera_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Creation_and_the_Pantheon
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Dragon
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Great_Flood
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Important_deities_and_mythological_figures
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Literary_sources_of_Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Major_concepts
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Mythical_creatures
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Mythical_places
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Religion_and_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Shang_Dynasty
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Three_August_Ones_and_Five_Emperors
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Time_periods
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology#Xia_Dynasty
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Ancient_religion
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Animal_explained_occurrences
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Birds_of_the_dark
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Choctaw_Creation
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#First_version
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Interactions_between_animals_and_people
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Little_People_and_other_human-like_creatures
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Second_version
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Shadow-like_beings
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Choctaw_mythology#Supernatural_Native_America
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Atonement_in_canonical_scripture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Atonement_in_non-canonical_literature
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Christ_and_the_.22Dying_Gods.22
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Christian_mythology_and_.22progress.22
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Connections_with_Zoroastrianism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Cosmogonic_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Founding_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#From_Roman_Empire_to_Europe
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Further_reading
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Genesis_1-2:3
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Genesis_2:4-3:24
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#History
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Immediate_afterlife_.28heaven_and_hell.29
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Important_examples_of_Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#In_.22Mythopoeia.22
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#In_canonical_scripture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#In-depth_discussion_of_representative_examples
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Influence_on_Western_progressivism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#In_literary_classics
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#In_non-canonical_tradition
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#In_popular_culture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Linear.2C_historical_time
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Millennialism_and_amillennialism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Narrative_of_Christ_and_the_atonement
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Other_connections
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Other_examples
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Resurrection_and_final_judgment
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Second_Coming
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Since_Enlightenment
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Sources
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#The_Cross_as_axis_mundi
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#The_End:_eschatological_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#The_Kingdom_of_Heaven_on_earth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology#Time_in_Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Chryse_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Classical_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Clymene_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Comparative_mythology_chart/Egyptian
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Continental_Germanic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Corus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#By_culture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#California
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#Coyote_in_the_modern_world
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#Functional_cognates
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#Great_Plains
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#Plateau
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Creek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Creek_mythology#Creation
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Cronus#In_Greek_mythology_and_early_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Cronus#In_Roman_mythology_and_later_culture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Cronus#Name_and_comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Crossroads_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Crow_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dactyl_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dahomey_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dahomey_mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dahomey_mythology#Mawu_and_Lisa_deities
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dahomey_mythology#Offspring-deities_of_Mawu_and_Lisa
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dahomey_mythology#Other_gods
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dahomey_mythology#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dance_in_mythology_and_religion
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Deimos_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Deluge_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Deluge_(mythology)#Hebrew_.28Genesis.29
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Demon#Influences_from_Chaldean_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Diana_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dike_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dike_(mythology)#Depiction
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dike_(mythology)#Dike_Astraea
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dike_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dike_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dike_(mythology)#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dione_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dionysus#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dolos_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_teeth_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dragons_in_Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dragon's_teeth_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Drakaina_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dwarf_(Germanic_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dwarf_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Dysnomia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)#Offspring
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Egyptian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Entheogen#Classical_mythology_and_cults
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Epimetheus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#Characteristics_in_Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#Cultural_influences
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#Discordianism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#Sinbad:_Legend_of_the_Seven_Seas
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eris_(mythology)#Sleeping_Beauty
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#Anteros
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#Eros
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#General_role_and_attributes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#Himeros
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#Members
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#Pothos
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Erotes_(mythology)#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Estonian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Etruscan_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eunomia_(goddess)#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Eupraxia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Europa_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Finnish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Frankish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#Etymology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#Family_tree
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#In_Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#In_modern_ecological_theory
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#In_Neopaganism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#In_other_cultures
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#Interpretations
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Genius_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Georgian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Germanic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Balt_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Basque_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Bulgarian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Christian_scriptures
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Hinduism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Jewish_scriptures
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Names_and_tribal_origin_of_giants
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Norse_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Other
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Religious_literature_and_beliefs
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)#Roman_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Giants_(Greek_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology#Cosmogony_and_cosmology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Guarani_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hades#Maps_of_the_Underworld_.28Greek_mythology.29
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Haida_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Haitian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia_(mythology)#Necklace
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia_(mythology)#Origins
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Harmonia_(mythology)#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hebe_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hecate#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hestia#In_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hindu_deities#Hindu_mythology_versus_Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hindu_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hippolytus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hippolytus_(mythology)#Hippolytus_as_Virbius
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hittite_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ho-Chunk_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Homonoia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hopi_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hopi_mythology#Four_Worlds
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hopi_mythology#Pahana
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Horus#Origin_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hu_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hungarian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hurrian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hyades_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(mythology)#Iapetus_and_Japheth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(mythology)#Myth_of_Iapetus
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Inari_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Inca_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Indonesian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Inuit_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Io_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Irish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Artwork
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Derivations
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Epithets
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Fictional_adaptations
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#In_language
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#In_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Namesake
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)#Representation
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Iroquois_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Beings.2C_places_and_events
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Biblical_stories_in_the_Qur.27an
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Central_Islam_stories
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Connection_with_Jewish_and_Christian_mythologies
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Contrasts_with_Jewish_and_Christian_beliefs
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Isaac_and_Ishmael
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Islamic_creation_belief
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Issues_surrounding_the_term_.22mythology.22
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Life_of_Muhammad
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Linear_time
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Sources
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#Subcategories
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology#The_Ka.27bah
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Jade_Emperor#Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Japanese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_in_comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Jewish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Jewish_mythology#Comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Jewish_mythology#The_mythological_flood
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Juno_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Keres_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Korean_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Kurdish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Kwakiutl_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ladon_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Lakota_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Lamia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Latvian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Leda_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Libya_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/List_of_divinities_in_Japanese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/List_of_Egyptian_mythology_topics
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/List_of_reptilian_humanoids#In_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Lusitanian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Maia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Malagasy_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Maltese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mam_(Maya_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Maori_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mapuche_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mars_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Maya_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Megara_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Melanesian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Menoetius_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mercury_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mesopotamian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mesopotamian_mythology#What_Deities_did_they_worship.3F
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Metis_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Miwok_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#19th-century_theories
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#20th-century_theories
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Allegory
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Comparative_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Euhemerism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Functions_of_myth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Further_reading
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_in_France
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Nature_of_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#CITEREFNassen-BayerStuart1992
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#CITEREFSproul1979
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#Mongolian
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples#Turkic
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Origins_of_myth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Personification
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Pre-modern_theories
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Related_concepts
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#The_myth-ritual_theory
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#The_study_of_mythology:_a_historical_overview
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mythology#Typical_characteristics
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Naga_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/National_Socialism_and_Occultism#Mythology_of_Nazi_occultism
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Native_American_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Navaho_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Navajo_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Navajo_mythology#Creation_story
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Neper_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Neptune_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Egyptian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Nu_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Nyx_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Ohlone_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Orion_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Paleo-Balkan_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pawnee_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pazuzu#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)#Literature
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)#Names
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Persian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phanes_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Philippine_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoebe_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#Analogues
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#Appearance
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#CITEREFBarnhart1995
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#CITEREFGarryEl-Shamy2005
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#CITEREFLundy1876
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#CITEREFVan_der_Broek1972
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#Etymology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#In_later_European_culture
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#Relation_to_the_Egyptian_Bennu
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pleione_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pluto_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Polynesian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pomo_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pomona_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pontus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Prussian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Python_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Rapa_Nui_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Reincarnation#Norse_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Religion_and_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Rhea_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Romani_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Roman_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Salish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sami_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Scottish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Scythian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Seneca_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(Bible)#Serpents_in_biblical_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(symbolism)#African_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(symbolism)#Cambodian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(symbolism)#Greek_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(symbolism)#Hindu_and_Buddhist_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(symbolism)#Native_American_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Serpent_(symbolism)#Nordic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Set_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sharanga_(Hindu_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Simurgh#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sin_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Slavic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#See_also
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snake-gods
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snakes_and_creation_myths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snakes_and_healing
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snakes_and_immortality
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snakes_and_the_underworld
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snakes_and_water
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_mythology#Snakes_and_wisdom
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sol_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Spanish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Crossroads_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Mythology-related_lists
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Trees_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sumerian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Swayambhunath#Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sybaris_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Asia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:At-a-glance/Hindu_&_Zoroastrian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:At-a-glance/Navajo_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Atlas_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Aura_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Baluba_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Bee_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Bia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Calypso_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Choctaw_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Christian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Chryse_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Corus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Coyote_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Dahomey_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Deimos_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Dia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Dike_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Dione_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Dolos_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Dysnomia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Echidna_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Epimetheus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Eris_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Erotes_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Eupraxia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Gaia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Giant_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Haitian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Harmonia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Hebe_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Homonoia_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Hu_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Hyperion_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Iapetus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Iris_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Islamic_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Kurdish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Peng_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Phoenix_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Snakes_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Uranus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:White_Tiger_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Template:Ancient_Near_East_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Template:Time_in_religion_and_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Terra_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Tethys_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Thalassa_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Thebe_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Titan_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Life_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Triton_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Turkish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Twins_in_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Consorts_and_children
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Creation_myth
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Cultural_context_of_flint
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Etymology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#External_links
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Notes
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Origins
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Planet_Uranus
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#References
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)#Uranus_and_V.C3.A1ru.E1.B9.87a
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Uras_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Venus_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Vesta_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Welsh_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/White_Tiger_(mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/World_egg#Chinese_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/World_egg#Egyptian_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/World_egg#Finnish_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Yama_(Buddhism_and_Chinese_mythology)
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Yoruba_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Yuanshi_Tianzun#In_Taoist_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Zulu_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Zuni_mythology
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Zuni_mythology#Creation
http://sr.mythology.wikia.com/
http://teenwolf.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Mythology
http://malankazlev.com/kheper/topics/mythology/greenman.htm -- 0
http://malankazlev.com/kheper/topics/mythology/index.html -- 0
selforum - history mythology and woman y
selforum - mythology ideology and subjective
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2012/10/celtic-mythology.html
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2012/10/comparative-mythology.html
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2012/10/magicand-mythology.html
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2012/10/religion-and-mythology.html
https://esotericotherworlds.blogspot.com/2013/12/genius-mythology.html
wiki.auroville - Mythology
Dharmapedia - Category:Buddhist_mythology
Dharmapedia - Hindu_mythology
Dharmapedia - Indo-European_mythology
Psychology Wiki - Greek_mythology
Psychology Wiki - Mythology
Psychology Wiki - Zoophilia#Mythology_and_fantasy_literature
Occultopedia - mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/ReligionAndMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/NorseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ArsonMurderAndJaywalking/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AwesomeButImpractical/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Awesome/MythologyAndFolklore
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BadassBookworm/ReligionAndMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BatmanGambit/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BittersweetEnding/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BlessedWithSuck/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BreakTheCutie/ReligionAndMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BreathWeapon/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ButForMeItWasTuesday/ReligionAndMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CentralTheme/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/BetiPahuinMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CelticMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ClassicalMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ClassicalMythologyMonsters
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ClassicalMythologyMortalsAndDemigods
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ClassicalMythologyOlympians
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/FinnishMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CharacterSheets/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/NorseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SlavicMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/YorubaMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/TheMythologyClass
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CurbStompBattle/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Determinator/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DrivenToSuicide/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/EldritchAbomination/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/EyeScream/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FaceHeelTurn/ReligionAndMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanficRecs/ClassicalMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanficRecs/NorseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FateWorseThanDeath/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FreudianTrio/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/GreenEyedMonster/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HaveAGayOldTime/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Headscratchers/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HoistByHisOwnPetard/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HotBlooded/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/IdiotHero/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ImAHumanitarian/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/StarWarsGalacticFolkloreAndMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AMythologyIsTrue
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClassicMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HinduMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MythologyGag
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MythologyGags
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MythologyUpgrade
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NorseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MakeMeWannaShout/Mythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Monster/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/AfricanMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/AkanMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/AltaicMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/AztecMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/BetiPahuinMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/CelticMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/ChineseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/CircassianMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/ClassicalMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/EgyptianMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/GreatLakesBantuMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/GreekMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/HebrewMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/HinduMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/InuitMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/IrishMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/JapaneseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/KoreanMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/MandeMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/MayanMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/MesopotamianMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/NativeAmericanMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/NorseMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/AnimatedFilms
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/AnimeAndManga
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/ComicBooks
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/DCExtendedUniverse
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/FanWorks
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/Injustice
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/LiveActionFilms
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/LiveActionTV
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/MarvelCinematicUniverse
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/PrettyCure
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/SonicTheHedgehog
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/SuperSentai
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/Theatre
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/VideoGames
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/Webcomics
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/WesternAnimation
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MythologyGag/XMenFilmSeries
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/PacificMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/PersianMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/RomaniMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/RussianMythologyAndTales
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/ScythianMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/SlavicMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/SonghaiMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Myth/TainoMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/NightmareFuel/MythologyAndFolklore
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/OneManArmy/MythologyAndReligion
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TropeNamers/ClassicalMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AgeOfMythology
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/MythologyAndReligion
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anz_(mythology)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Christian_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Germanic_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Islamic_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_themes_in_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Mesopotamian_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Middle_Eastern_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_by_religion
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Sumerian_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christian_mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mercury_(mythology)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mythology
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sin_(mythology)
The X-Files (1993 - 2002) - FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate cases of the paranormal each week, while occasionally piecing together clues about a larger conspiracy to cover up the truth, as part of the show's over-arching mythology arc.
Robin of Sherwood (1984 - 1986) - Robin of Sherwood was a series based on the Robin Hood legend, but with added elements of celtic and medieval mythology and some fantasy.
GeGeGe no Kitar (1968 - 2018) - focuses on the young Kitarthe last survivor of the Ghost Tribeand his adventures with other ghouls and strange creatures of Japanese mythology. Along with: the remains of his father, Medama-Oyaji (a mummified Ghost tribesman reincarnated to inhabit his old eyeball); Nezumi-Otoko (the rat-man); Ne...
Clash of the Titans(1981) - A fantasy movie based on the Greek mythology of Perseus featuring stop motion animation creatures by the great Ray Harryhausen. Perseus must save Princess Andromeda from being sacrificed to the sea creature the Kraken ,so he embarks on a quest aided by his companions and a mechanical owl named Bubo.
Son of the Mask(2005) - Based on characters appearing in Dark Horse Comocs' "The Mask". The film begins as Dr. Arthur Neuman is giving a tour of the Hall of Norse Mythology in the Edge City Museum to a mysterious black figure. After he talks about the imprisonment of Loki in the first film, the figure transforms into Loki!...
The Day the Earth Froze (Sampo)(1959) - Based on Finnish mythology, this movie traces the exploits of Lemminkainen as he woos the fair Annikki and battles the evil witch Louhi. Louhi kidnaps Annikki to compel her brother to build for her a Sampo, a magical device that creates salt, grain, and gold. When Lemminkainen tries (and fails) to r...
https://myanimelist.net/manga/30891/Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index_SS__Norse_Mythology
Ancient Aliens ::: TV-PG | 42min | Documentary, Fantasy, History | TV Series (2009 ) -- Science and mythology - and how they are the same thing. Creator: Kevin Burns
Cleverman -- 50min | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi | TV Series (20162017) ::: In the very near future, creatures from ancient mythology must live among humans and battle for survival in a world that wants to silence, exploit and destroy them. Creators:
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth -- 6h | Documentary | TV Mini-Series (1988- ) Episode Guide 6 episodes Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Poster ::: Mythologist Joseph Campbell presents his ideas about comparative mythology and the ongoing role of myth in human society. Stars: Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers, George Lucas
Zeitgeist (2007) ::: 8.1/10 -- Not Rated | 1h 58min | Documentary, History | Video 1 June 2007 -- Mythology and belief in society today, presenting uncommon perspectives of common cultural issues. Director: Peter Joseph Writer: Peter Joseph Stars:
https://modernmythology.fandom.com
https://mythology.fandom.com
https://global-mythology.fandom.com/
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/
https://mythology.fandom.com/
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mythology/images/e/ec/The_Gods_Assembled_by_Ville.fandom.com/
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Mythology
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Mythology:Portal
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Mythology:Tale_of_the_Dragon
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Mythology:The_Titans
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Barracks_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Chinese_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Civilizations_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Egyptians_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/General_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Greeks_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Hero_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Medusa_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Patch_1.03_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Priest_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Temple_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Units_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/War_Elephant_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Watch_Tower_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/White_Tiger_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Atlantean_mythology_(City_Beneath_the_Waves)
https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Tahitian_Mythology_(The_Monarchies_Map_Game)
https://animanga.fandom.com/wiki/Midgard_no_Shugosha_-_Re-Birth_of_Norse_Mythology
https://beegees.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://caucasus.fandom.com/wiki/Armenian_Mythology
https://clash-of-the-titans.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_Mythology
https://conmyth.fandom.com/wiki/Constructed_Mythology:Conmyth_(Mythopoeia)
https://conmyth.fandom.com/wiki/Constructed_Mythology:Main
https://conmyth.fandom.com/wiki/Constructed_Mythology:Relevant_Works_Vote
https://conmyth.fandom.com/wiki/Constructed_Mythology:Rules
https://conmyth.fandom.com/wiki/Constructed_Mythology:The_Pegasus_Council
https://conmyth.fandom.com/wiki/Sargish_Mythology
https://cthus.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_mythology
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Norse_Mythology_in_Fire_Emblem_series
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Monster_Mythology
https://global-mythology.fandom.com/wiki/Pluto
https://global-mythology.fandom.com/wiki/Ukko
https://hellenism.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_Mythology_Wiki
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Agamemnon_(Age_of_Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Aphrodite_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Apollo_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Artemis_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Astrea_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Athena_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Bastet_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Diana_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Elder_Gods_(Greek_mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Eos_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Freya_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Hades_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Hecate_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Helios_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Hercules_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Hermes_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Hestia_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Leto_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Madremonte_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Merpeople_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Odin_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Persephone_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Perun_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Pincoya_(Mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Poseidon_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Rama_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Raven_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Skadi_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Thor_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Triton_(mythology)
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Zeus_(mythology)
https://hoodoo.fandom.com/wiki/Haitian_mythology
https://isu.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://legend-quest.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://lifestyle.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://list.fandom.com/wiki/Echidna_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Achilles_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Daedalus_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_mythology
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Klingon_mythology
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Leto_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Neptune_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Pan_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Prometheus_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Romulan_mythology
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Torak_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Vulcan_mythology
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Vulcan_(mythology)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Xenomythology
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Blog:Recent_posts
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Cultist
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Current_events
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Emily_and_John
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Emily_and_John:001
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Flapsack
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Local_Sitemap
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Mecha_Hitler
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Runescape
https://modernmythology.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-man
https://mythologies.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://mythologies.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology_Wiki
https://mythologies.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology_Wiki:Wiki_rules
https://mythology.fandom.com/wiki/Blog:FANDOM_Staff_Blog
https://mythology.fandom.com/wiki/Local_Sitemap
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Ashanti_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Azkavlandian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Aztec_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Baltic_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Brazilian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Celtic_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Chinese_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Comics_based_on_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Dacian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Egyptian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Elamite_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/English_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Gaea_(mythology)
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Gaia_(mythology)
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Germanic_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_Mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Hawaiian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Hindu_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Inuit_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Irish_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Islamic_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Items_in_Greek_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Items_in_Norse_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Japanese_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Lamia_(Basque_mythology)
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Magian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page?file=Cropped-filipino-mythology-creatures12.jpg
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Maya_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Mazdian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Mesopotamian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology_in_literature
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Arabian_mythology_project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Asian_Mythology_Project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Celtic_Mythology_Project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Egyptian_Mythology_Project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Greek_Mythology_Project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Norse_Mythology_Project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Myths_and_Folklore_Wiki:Roman_Mythology_Project
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Norse_Mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Norse_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Persian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Philippine_Mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Philippine_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Romanian_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Roman_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Saxon_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/S%C3%B3l_(Germanic_mythology)
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Sirena_(Philippine_mythology)
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Slavic_mythology
https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Sol_(Roman_mythology)
https://shadowhearts.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology_in_the_Shadow_Hearts_series
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mythology/images/7/77/300px-Death_Sarpeds.apple.com/us/app/fandom-videos-news-reviews/id1230063803
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mythology/images/b/be/ParisGargoyle-oons.fandom.com/wiki/Sniper_Monkey
https://tales-of.fandom.com/wiki/Tales_of_the_World:_Radiant_Mythology
https://tales-of.fandom.com/wiki/Tales_of_the_World:_Radiant_Mythology_2
https://tales-of.fandom.com/wiki/Tales_of_the_World:_Radiant_Mythology_3
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Angel_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Artemis_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Daleks_in_popular_culture_and_mythology
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Gorgon_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_mythology
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Hyperion_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Iapetus_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Iris_Wildthyme_in_popular_culture_and_mythology
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Norse_mythology
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Oceanus_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Phoebe_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Prometheus_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Siren_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Time_Lords_in_popular_culture_and_mythology
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Titan_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Uranus_(mythology)
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire_(mythology)
https://theaquabats.fandom.com/wiki/The_Mythology!
https://toarumajutsunoindex.fandom.com/wiki/Egyptian_Mythology
https://toarumajutsunoindex.fandom.com/wiki/Greek_Mythology
https://toarumajutsunoindex.fandom.com/wiki/Norse_Mythology
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Apep_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Ares_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Balor_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Cerberus_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Crom_Cruach_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Cyclops_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Draug_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Dullahan_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Erlik_(Mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Fenrir_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Fomorian_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Hades_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Harpies_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Hela_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Hera_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Hydra_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Jormungandr_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/King_Arthur_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Kraken_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Kronos_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Lamia_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Loki_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Manticores_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Medusa_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Minotaur_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Moloch_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Mordred_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Morgan_le_Fay_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Pandarus_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Paris_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Phaedra_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Poseidon_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Romans_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Scylla_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Set_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Siren_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Stolas_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Succubi_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Surtr_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Titans_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Veles_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Wendigo_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Ymir_(mythology)
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Zeus_(mythology)
https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Aeldari_Mythology
https://wowwiki-archive.fandom.com/wiki/Tauren_mythology
https://www.instagram.com/getfandom//mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Germanic_mythology
https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/The_X-Files_Mythology,_Volume_1_-_Abduction
https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/The_X-Files_Mythology,_Volume_2_-_Black_Oil
https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/The_X-Files_Mythology,_Volume_3_-_Colonization
https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/The_X-Files_Mythology,_Volume_4_-_Super_Soldiers
https://xtvclamp.fandom.com/wiki/Mythology
Aragne no Mushikago -- -- - -- 1 ep -- Original -- Fantasy Horror Mystery -- Aragne no Mushikago Aragne no Mushikago -- Life could be better for shy, anxious university student Rin. The apartment she has rented is hardly the sunny palace the rental listings suggested. The housing complex is rundown, grim and haunted by troubled souls lurking in dark corners. Ghastly crimes are occurring in the vicinity. And a grinning stranger makes his unsettling presence known. -- -- Beyond all this, Rin is coming to realize that something even more sinister is manifesting itself, something at the cursed crossroads of mythology, monstrosity and medical science. Determined to find out more, Rin visits the library, where she meets a sympathetic young staffer. But what she learns does not begin to put her mind at ease. -- -- (Source: Fantasia) -- Movie - Aug 18, 2018 -- 2,910 5.13
High School DxD BorN -- -- TNK -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Action Comedy Demons Ecchi Harem Romance School -- High School DxD BorN High School DxD BorN -- The Red Dragon Emperor, Issei Hyoudou, and the Occult Research Club are back in action as summer break comes for the students of Kuoh Academy. After their fight with Issei’s sworn enemy, Vali and the Chaos Brigade, it is clear just how inexperienced Rias Gremory's team is. As a result, she and Azazel lead the club on an intense training regime in the Underworld to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. -- -- While they slowly mature as a team, Issei will once again find himself in intimate situations with the girls of the Occult Research Club. Meanwhile, their adversaries grow stronger and more numerous as they rally their forces. And with the sudden appearance of Loki, the Evil God of Norse Mythology, the stage is set for epic fights and wickedly powerful devils in High School DxD BorN! -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 604,761 7.44
Hoozuki no Reitetsu -- -- Wit Studio -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Demons Supernatural Fantasy Seinen -- Hoozuki no Reitetsu Hoozuki no Reitetsu -- Hell is a bureaucracy, and business is running smoother than ever thanks to the demonic efficiency of Hoozuki, chief deputy to Lord Enma, the King of Hell. Whether offering counsel to the Momotarou of Japanese folklore or receiving diplomatic missions from the Judeo-Christian Hell, the demon who runs the show from behind the king's imposing shadow is ready to beat down any challenges coming his way into a bloody pulp. Metaphorically, of course... -- -- The poster boy for micromanagement and armed with negotiation skills worthy of Wall Street, Hoozuki no Reitetsu follows the sadistic and level-headed Hoozuki as he spends his days troubleshooting hell. With an abundance of familiar faces from popular Japanese legends and East Asian mythology working middle management positions, this referential and anachronistic dark comedy brings new meaning to the phrase "employer liability." Just how hard could it be to manage employees from hell, anyway? -- -- 107,557 7.79
Hoozuki no Reitetsu -- -- Wit Studio -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Demons Supernatural Fantasy Seinen -- Hoozuki no Reitetsu Hoozuki no Reitetsu -- Hell is a bureaucracy, and business is running smoother than ever thanks to the demonic efficiency of Hoozuki, chief deputy to Lord Enma, the King of Hell. Whether offering counsel to the Momotarou of Japanese folklore or receiving diplomatic missions from the Judeo-Christian Hell, the demon who runs the show from behind the king's imposing shadow is ready to beat down any challenges coming his way into a bloody pulp. Metaphorically, of course... -- -- The poster boy for micromanagement and armed with negotiation skills worthy of Wall Street, Hoozuki no Reitetsu follows the sadistic and level-headed Hoozuki as he spends his days troubleshooting hell. With an abundance of familiar faces from popular Japanese legends and East Asian mythology working middle management positions, this referential and anachronistic dark comedy brings new meaning to the phrase "employer liability." Just how hard could it be to manage employees from hell, anyway? -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 107,557 7.79
Legend of Duo -- -- Marine Entertainment, Radix -- 12 eps -- Original -- Supernatural Drama Vampire Shounen Ai -- Legend of Duo Legend of Duo -- The fate of mankind is doomed in the early 21st century due to losing "purana," an essence of living force supporting all life forms. Not willing to witness the extinction of mankind, a vampire named Duo disclosed the secret of purana to humans, saving the latter from destruction. However, just like Prometheus in Greek mythology got punished for bringing fire to mankind, Duo is punished for breaking the taboo. The vampire sent to punish him is Zieg, Duo's best friend, or, more than the best friend. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- TV - Apr 21, 2005 -- 10,382 4.90
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa -- -- TMS Entertainment -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Action Adventure Martial Arts Shounen Super Power Supernatural -- Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa -- A Holy War, from ancient mythology, where the Goddess Athena and Hades have fought against each other while defending the earth repeatedly over the span of 200 years. The story takes place in 18th century Europe, 243 years prior to the original "Saint Seiya" Three small children, Tenma, Alone, and Sasha have all shared a very happy childhood together. Tenma who is quite aggressive but upstanding has moved to Sanctuary to become a saint. It is there that he is reunited with Sasha who is the sister of Alone and learns that she is the reincarnation of Goddess Athena. Alone, who is kind, gentle and loves painting was chosen for the body of enemy King Hades. Tenma eventually becomes a saint of Pegasus and engages in a fierce battle with his best friend Alone, the King of Hades. Pegasus Tenma, King Hades, and the Goddess Athena and through the twist of their 3 fates merge together which unfolds a prologue to the original Saint Seiya. -- -- (Source: TMS Entertaiment) -- -- Licensor: -- Discotek Media -- OVA - Jun 24, 2009 -- 86,701 7.99
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa -- -- TMS Entertainment -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Action Adventure Martial Arts Shounen Super Power Supernatural -- Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas - Meiou Shinwa -- A Holy War, from ancient mythology, where the Goddess Athena and Hades have fought against each other while defending the earth repeatedly over the span of 200 years. The story takes place in 18th century Europe, 243 years prior to the original "Saint Seiya" Three small children, Tenma, Alone, and Sasha have all shared a very happy childhood together. Tenma who is quite aggressive but upstanding has moved to Sanctuary to become a saint. It is there that he is reunited with Sasha who is the sister of Alone and learns that she is the reincarnation of Goddess Athena. Alone, who is kind, gentle and loves painting was chosen for the body of enemy King Hades. Tenma eventually becomes a saint of Pegasus and engages in a fierce battle with his best friend Alone, the King of Hades. Pegasus Tenma, King Hades, and the Goddess Athena and through the twist of their 3 fates merge together which unfolds a prologue to the original Saint Seiya. -- -- (Source: TMS Entertaiment) -- OVA - Jun 24, 2009 -- 86,701 7.99
Shuumatsu no Walküre -- -- Graphinica -- ? eps -- Manga -- Action Super Power Supernatural Drama Seinen -- Shuumatsu no Walküre Shuumatsu no Walküre -- High above the realm of man, the gods of the world have convened to decide on a single matter: the continued existence of mankind. Under the head of Zeus, the deities of Ancient Greece, Norse mythology, and Hinduism, among others, call assembly every one thousand years to decide the fate of humanity. Because of their unrelenting abuse toward each other and the planet, this time the gods vote unanimously in favor of ending the human race. -- -- But before the mandate passes, Brunhild, one of the 13 demigod Valkyries, puts forth an alternate proposal: rather than anticlimactically annihilating mankind, why not give them a fighting chance and enact Ragnarök, a one-on-one showdown between man and god? Spurred on by the audacity of the challenge, the divine council quickly accepts, fully confident that this contest will display the utter might of the gods. To stand a chance against the mighty heavens, Brunhild will need to assemble history's greatest individuals, otherwise the death knell will surely be sounded for mankind. -- -- ONA - Jun ??, 2021 -- 29,841 N/A -- -- Gintama: Dai Hanseikai -- -- Sunrise -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Action Comedy Parody Samurai -- Gintama: Dai Hanseikai Gintama: Dai Hanseikai -- Some of the characters get together and talk about "regrets" they have after 4 years of anime Gintama. Soon they fight over who gets more screen time. Special animation shown at the Gintama Haru Matsuri 2010 live event. -- Special - Mar 25, 2010 -- 29,677 8.07
Shuumatsu no Walküre -- -- Graphinica -- ? eps -- Manga -- Action Super Power Supernatural Drama Seinen -- Shuumatsu no Walküre Shuumatsu no Walküre -- High above the realm of man, the gods of the world have convened to decide on a single matter: the continued existence of mankind. Under the head of Zeus, the deities of Ancient Greece, Norse mythology, and Hinduism, among others, call assembly every one thousand years to decide the fate of humanity. Because of their unrelenting abuse toward each other and the planet, this time the gods vote unanimously in favor of ending the human race. -- -- But before the mandate passes, Brunhild, one of the 13 demigod Valkyries, puts forth an alternate proposal: rather than anticlimactically annihilating mankind, why not give them a fighting chance and enact Ragnarök, a one-on-one showdown between man and god? Spurred on by the audacity of the challenge, the divine council quickly accepts, fully confident that this contest will display the utter might of the gods. To stand a chance against the mighty heavens, Brunhild will need to assemble history's greatest individuals, otherwise the death knell will surely be sounded for mankind. -- -- ONA - Jun ??, 2021 -- 29,841 N/A -- -- Hyakujitsu no Bara -- -- PrimeTime -- 2 eps -- Manga -- Drama Yaoi -- Hyakujitsu no Bara Hyakujitsu no Bara -- Two soldiers from warring countries are bound by a pledge as master and servant. Taki Reizen is a Commander of sublime beauty, shouldering the fate of his nation. Called "Mad Dog" because of his rough temperament, Klaus has sworn his loyalty to him as a knight. Despite this, those around them are cold and disapproving, full of various misgivings. For all their genuine feelings, what will come of love made cruel by the violence of war? -- OVA - May 29, 2009 -- 29,624 6.61
Shuumatsu no Walküre -- -- Graphinica -- ? eps -- Manga -- Action Super Power Supernatural Drama Seinen -- Shuumatsu no Walküre Shuumatsu no Walküre -- High above the realm of man, the gods of the world have convened to decide on a single matter: the continued existence of mankind. Under the head of Zeus, the deities of Ancient Greece, Norse mythology, and Hinduism, among others, call assembly every one thousand years to decide the fate of humanity. Because of their unrelenting abuse toward each other and the planet, this time the gods vote unanimously in favor of ending the human race. -- -- But before the mandate passes, Brunhild, one of the 13 demigod Valkyries, puts forth an alternate proposal: rather than anticlimactically annihilating mankind, why not give them a fighting chance and enact Ragnarök, a one-on-one showdown between man and god? Spurred on by the audacity of the challenge, the divine council quickly accepts, fully confident that this contest will display the utter might of the gods. To stand a chance against the mighty heavens, Brunhild will need to assemble history's greatest individuals, otherwise the death knell will surely be sounded for mankind. -- -- ONA - Jun ??, 2021 -- 29,841 N/A -- -- Kannagi: Moshimo Kannagi ga Attara... -- -- A-1 Pictures, Ordet -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Comedy School Shounen Supernatural -- Kannagi: Moshimo Kannagi ga Attara... Kannagi: Moshimo Kannagi ga Attara... -- Unaired episode included in DVD Vol.7. -- -- In this episode they attempt to make a movie with some money they found lying on the ground. -- -- Licensor: -- Bandai Entertainment -- Special - May 27, 2009 -- 29,660 7.08
Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta -- -- TMS Entertainment -- 13 eps -- Light novel -- Adventure Drama Romance -- Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta -- In order to uncover the "end of the sky," as spoken of in ancient mythology, Kal-el Albus is sent to Isla, an island in the sky. There he attends Cadoques High's Aerial Division, where he enjoys a carefree life with his schoolmates. That is...until a surprise attack by the air tribe drags Isla into a bloody war. -- -- (Source: NIS America) -- TV - Jan 6, 2014 -- 87,731 7.18
Yakumotatsu -- -- Studio Pierrot -- 2 eps -- Manga -- Adventure Supernatural Historical Horror Shoujo -- Yakumotatsu Yakumotatsu -- Fuzuchi Kuraki is a quiet young high school student blessed with immense psychic powers and an ancient sword. He is searching for other magical artifacts with the help of Nanachi Takeo, a college student with latent powers of his own. They delve deep into the dark magic of Izumo, only to discover the secrets buried within the birthplace of all Japanese mythology. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- Media Blasters -- OVA - Oct 25, 1997 -- 3,654 6.10
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Iris_(mythology)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lamia_(mythology)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Uranus_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Animals_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Artifacts_in_Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Atlas_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Attic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Books_about_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ceres_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Children_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Comparative_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Coronations_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cyrene_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Daemon_(classical_mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dwarves_in_Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Etruscan_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:European_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Events_in_Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Females_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Figures_in_Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Gallery_pages_of_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Heroes_in_mythology_and_legend
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Illustrators_of_Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Illustrators_of_Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Intersex_in_religion_and_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lamia_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_themes_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Locations_in_Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maia_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Marriage_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythological_characters_by_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_by_culture
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_by_location
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_by_religion
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_in_art
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_of_Finland
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_of_Persia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mythology_on_stamps
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nature_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Norse_mythology_in_art
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pan_(mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:People_of_Roman_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Personifications_in_Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Proto-Indo-European_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rape_(abduction)_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Roman_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stars_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Textiles_in_mythology_and_folklore
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Mythology_of_All_Races_Vol_2_(Eddic)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Scripture_history_of_idolatry,_showing_the_connexion_between_the_traditions_of_pagan_mythology_and_the_Bible_(1838)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Trees_in_Germanic_paganism_and_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Twins_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:White_Tiger_(Chinese_mythology)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Women_in_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dance_drama_story_from_Indian_mythology.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grecian_and_Roman_mythology_(1876)_(14585185948).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Huron_and_Wynadot_mythology.pdf
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mythology.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine_worlds_of_Norse_mythology_runes.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine_worlds_of_Norse_mythology_runes.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Norse_mythology_(IA_norsemythology00ande).pdf
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Norse_mythology;_or,_The_religion_of_our_forefathers,_containing_all_the_myths_of_the_Eddas,_systematized_and_interpreted._With_an_introduction,_vocabulary_and_index_(IA_norsemythologyor01ande).pdf
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_dragon,_image,_and_demon;_or,_The_three_religions_of_China-_Confucianism,_Buddhism,_and_Taoism,_giving_an_account_of_the_mythology,_idolatry,_and_demonolatry_of_the_Chinese_(1887)_(14760951946).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tree_and_serpent_worship,_or,_Illustrations_of_mythology_and_art_in_India_in_the_first_and_fourth_centuries_after_Christ_-_from_the_sculptures_of_the_Buddhist_topes_at_Sanchi_and_Amravati_(IA_gri_33125010818173).pdf
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Category:Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Category:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Category:Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Mythology_of_Persia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category_talk:Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category_talk:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category_talk:Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Category:Germanic+mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Category:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Category:Norse+mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Category:Germanic+mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Category:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Category:Norse+mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UploadWizard&categories=Germanic_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UploadWizard&categories=Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UploadWizard&categories=Norse_mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Category:Germanic+mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Category:Mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Category:Norse+mythology
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere&target=Category:Mythology+of+Persia
Ababil (mythology)
Abenaki mythology
Abuk (mythology)
Acacallis (mythology)
Acacus (mythology)
Achaeus (mythology)
Actor (mythology)
Adi (mythology)
Adrasteia (mythology)
Adrastus (mythology)
Aega (mythology)
Aegina (mythology)
Aegle (mythology)
Aegypius (mythology)
Aegyptus (mythology)
Aether (mythology)
Aethra (mythology)
Agave (mythology)
Agenoria (mythology)
Age of Mythology
Age of Mythology: The Boardgame
Age of Mythology: The Titans
Agriculture in Chinese mythology
Agrippa (mythology)
Ahuizotl (mythology)
Aikanaka (mythology)
Akna (Inuit mythology)
Alatyr (mythology)
Albina (mythology)
Alcaeus (mythology)
Alcimus (mythology)
Alcippe (mythology)
Aloja (mythology)
A Low Life Mythology
Althaea (mythology)
Amala (mythology)
Amalthea (mythology)
Amaru (mythology)
Ameinias (mythology)
Amyntor (mythology)
Andromeda (mythology)
Angelos (mythology)
Anita Blake mythology
Annona (mythology)
Antenor (mythology)
Antimachus (mythology)
Antu (Mapuche mythology)
Aoede (mythology)
Ao (mythology)
Aon (mythology)
Apaturia (Greek mythology)
Apis (Greek mythology)
Arche (mythology)
Arethusa (mythology)
Arion (mythology)
Arisbe (mythology)
Aristomachus (mythology)
Armenian mythology
Aruna (Hittite mythology)
Asia (mythology)
Asius (mythology)
Asterius (mythology)
Athis (mythology)
Atlas (mythology)
Aura (mythology)
Aurora (mythology)
Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology
Aventinus (mythology)
Axion (mythology)
Axius (mythology)
Ayyavazhi mythology
Azhdahak (mythology)
Aztec mythology
Babi (mythology)
Bai Mudan (mythology)
Baku (mythology)
Baltic mythology
Baluba mythology
Bantu mythology
Barong (mythology)
Basque mythology
Batea (mythology)
Bee (mythology)
Beira (mythology)
Bel (mythology)
Bia (mythology)
Birds in Chinese mythology
Black God (Navajo mythology)
Book:Greek mythology
Book:The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1
Book:The X-Files Mythology, Volume 2
Book:The X-Files Mythology, Volume 3
Book:The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4
Bovidae in Chinese mythology
Brazilian mythology
Brian (mythology)
Bulfinch's Mythology
Bulu (Fijian mythology)
Bura (Greek mythology)
Busiris (mythology)
Cahuilla mythology
Callichore (mythology)
Callirhoe (mythology)
Callisto (mythology)
Calyce (mythology)
Calypso (mythology)
Canola (mythology)
Canopus (mythology)
Cantabrian mythology
Carme (mythology)
Category:Canadian mythology
Catha (mythology)
Cattle in religion and mythology
Caunos (mythology)
Cebriones (mythology)
Celtic mythology
Cephissus (mythology)
Ceres (mythology)
Cetus (mythology)
Chilote mythology
Chimera (mythology)
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology in popular culture
Choctaw mythology
Christian mythology
Chryses (mythology)
Chut (Belarusian mythology)
Classical mythology
Clymene (mythology)
Comparative mythology
Conand (mythology)
Concordia (mythology)
Continental Germanic mythology
Cornish mythology
Coronis (mythology)
Coronus (mythology)
Corybas (mythology)
Coyote (mythology)
Coyote (Navajo mythology)
Cragus (mythology)
Crane in Chinese mythology
Crantor (mythology)
Creative Mythology
Creek mythology
Crocus (mythology)
Cura (mythology)
Cychreus (mythology)
Cyzicus (mythology)
Dactyls (mythology)
Daemon (classical mythology)
Dalia (mythology)
Dance in mythology and religion
Decima (mythology)
Deer in mythology
Deimachus (mythology)
Deities and fairies of fate in Slavic mythology
Dev (mythology)
Dia (mythology)
Diana (mythology)
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Dike (mythology)
Dione (mythology)
Dog in Chinese mythology
Dolos (mythology)
Doris (mythology)
Dragons in Greek mythology
Dragons in Meitei mythology
Drakaina (mythology)
Dwarf (mythology)
Ebisu (mythology)
Echidna (mythology)
Echo (mythology)
Egeria (mythology)
Egyptian mythology
Electra (Greek mythology)
Elymus (mythology)
Endymion (mythology)
English mythology
Epistrophus (mythology)
Eris (mythology)
Erymanthus (mythology)
Estonian mythology
Eudaemon (mythology)
Eudora (mythology)
Eupraxia (mythology)
Evenus (mythology)
Feronia (mythology)
Fifth World (mythology)
Finnish mythology
Firefox (mythology)
Flaming sword (mythology)
Flora (mythology)
Fornax (mythology)
Frankish mythology
Fulgora (mythology)
Galatea (mythology)
Galene (mythology)
Gandalf (mythology)
Ganymede (mythology)
Gedi (mythology)
Gelos (mythology)
Genius (mythology)
Geomythology
Georgian mythology
Giants (Greek mythology)
Gram (mythology)
Greek mythology
Greek mythology in popular culture
Guarani mythology
Gun (Chinese mythology)
Haemon (mythology)
Hakawai (mythology)
Haliacmon (mythology)
Ha (mythology)
Haumea (mythology)
Hebe (mythology)
Hebrew mythology
Hebridean mythology and folklore
Helice (mythology)
Helle (mythology)
Hem (mythology)
Hemithea (mythology)
Hesperis (mythology)
Himalia (mythology)
Hindu mythology
Hinn (mythology)
Hippocampus (mythology)
Hippodamas (mythology)
Historical Atlas of World Mythology
Hittite mythology and religion
Ho-Chunk mythology
Homonoia (mythology)
Hopi mythology
Horse in Chinese mythology
Hudhud (mythology)
Hu (mythology)
Hungarian mythology
Hyacinth (mythology)
Hyades (mythology)
Ialysos (mythology)
Iara (mythology)
Imperial examination in Chinese mythology
Inca mythology
Incest in folklore and mythology
Index of Egyptian mythology articles
Indian mythology
Ino (Greek mythology)
Insects in mythology
Investigations into Germanic Mythology
Io (mythology)
Ion (mythology)
Iranian mythology
Irish mythology
Irish mythology in popular culture
Iris (mythology)
Iroquois mythology
Isfet (Egyptian mythology)
Islamic mythology
Japanese mythology
Jesus in comparative mythology
Jewish mythology
Jueyuan (mythology)
Juno (mythology)
Jupiter (mythology)
Kaitangata (mythology)
Kale (mythology)
Kalenjin mythology
Kalevi (mythology)
Kanglei mythology
Kataw (Philippine mythology)
Kek (mythology)
Kiwa (mythology)
Kon (Inca mythology)
Korean mythology
Korkyra (mythology)
Kra (mythology)
Kratos (mythology)
Kui (Mori mythology)
Kunlun (mythology)
Kurdish mythology
Kuru (mythology)
Kwakwakawakw mythology
Lada (mythology)
Laelaps (mythology)
Lamia (Basque mythology)
Landscape mythology
Latvian mythology
Leda (mythology)
Lenape mythology
Leucothoe (mythology)
LGBT themes in Chinese mythology
LGBT themes in classical mythology
LGBT themes in Hindu mythology
LGBT themes in mythology
Lilu (mythology)
Linus (mythology)
List of characters in mythology novels by Rick Riordan
List of dragons in mythology and folklore
List of dwarfs in Norse mythology
List of films based on Germanic mythology
List of films based on Greco-Roman mythology
List of giants in mythology and folklore
List of jtnar in Norse mythology
List of many-eyed creatures in mythology and fiction
List of megafauna in mythology and folklore
List of mythological objects (Hindu mythology)
List of mythology books and sources
List of one-eyed creatures in mythology and fiction
List of people, items and places in Norse mythology
List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology
Lists of films based on mythology
Lithuanian mythology
Little people (mythology)
Loki: Heroes of Mythology
Lona (mythology)
Losna (mythology)
Luana (mythology)
Lucina (mythology)
Lugbara mythology
Lupercus (mythology)
Lusitanian mythology
Lynx (mythology)
Lysidice (mythology)
Maasai mythology
Macedonian Slavic mythology
Machaon (mythology)
Magnes (mythology)
Magonia (mythology)
Mahina (mythology)
Makedon (mythology)
Malagasy mythology
Malina (mythology)
Mam (Maya mythology)
Manto (mythology)
Mori mythology
Marama (mythology)
Mari mythology
Maris (mythology)
Maron (mythology)
Mars (mythology)
Matton (mythology)
Mui (Hawaiian mythology)
Mui (Mori mythology)
Mui (mythology)
Maya mythology
Mayura (mythology)
Mbuti mythology
Meander (mythology)
Melite (mythology)
Memnon (mythology)
Me (mythology)
Menippe (mythology)
Menon (mythology)
Mercury (mythology)
Mese (mythology)
Metis (mythology)
Mexican mythology
Middle Eastern mythology
Miletus (mythology)
Milky Way (mythology)
Milu (mythology)
Minyas (mythology)
Money, A Mythology of Darkness
Mongol mythology
Mors (mythology)
Morta (mythology)
Moul (mythology)
Muisca religion and mythology
Muki (mythology)
Myrina (mythology)
Mythology (Bee Gees album)
Mythology (British band)
Mythology (disambiguation)
Mythology (Eloy Fritsch album)
Mythology in France
Mythology in Rick Riordan's works
Mythology in the Low Countries
Mythology of Australia
Mythology of Benjamin Banneker
Mythology of Carnivle
Mythology of Fringe
Mythology of Heroes
Mythology of Indonesia
Mythology of Italy
Mythology of Lost
Mythology of Oceania
Mythology of Stargate
Mythology of The Librarian
Mythology of The X-Files
Nambi (mythology)
Nana (Greek mythology)
Nandi (mythology)
Narcissus (mythology)
Neaera (mythology)
Nechtan (mythology)
Neper (mythology)
Neptune (mythology)
Ness (Irish mythology)
Nessus (mythology)
Nestor (mythology)
Nete (mythology)
Niamh (mythology)
Nicostratus (mythology)
Nike (mythology)
Nilus (mythology)
Niuean mythology
Natn (mythology)
Nomia (mythology)
Nomos (mythology)
Nona (mythology)
Norse mythology
Norse Mythology (book)
Norse mythology in popular culture
Numbers in Egyptian mythology
Numbers in Norse mythology
Nu (mythology)
Nuu-chah-nulth mythology
Nysa (mythology)
Ohlone mythology
Onchestos (mythology)
Ops (mythology)
Ora (mythology)
Orchomenus (mythology)
Orion (mythology)
Oscar (Irish mythology)
Ossetian mythology
ttar (mythology)
Ox in Chinese mythology
Pacha (Inca mythology)
Palamedes (mythology)
Paleo-Balkan mythology
Pamphylus (mythology)
Pana (mythology)
Paris (mythology)
Pawnee mythology
Perse (mythology)
Persian mythology
Petrifaction in mythology and fiction
P-Funk mythology
Phaeax (mythology)
Phidippus (mythology)
Philippine mythology
Philotis (mythology)
Philyra (mythology)
Phobos (mythology)
Phoenix (mythology)
Phthisis (mythology)
Pieria (mythology)
Pierides (mythology)
Plan (mythology)
Pleiades (Greek mythology)
Pluto (mythology)
Poemander (mythology)
Polydamas (mythology)
Pomona (mythology)
Pontus (mythology)
Portunus (mythology)
Porus (mythology)
Proto-Indo-European mythology
Prussian mythology
Puta (mythology)
Pygmalion (mythology)
Pygmy (Greek mythology)
Python (mythology)
Rainbow fish (mythology)
Rainbows in mythology
Rt (Mori mythology)
Rata (Tuamotu mythology)
Religion and mythology
Rem (mythology)
Rhea (mythology)
Rheda (mythology)
Rhodope (mythology)
Roc (mythology)
Rohe (mythology)
Roma (mythology)
Romani mythology
Roman mythology
Rongorongo (mythology)
Samoan mythology
Samseong mythology
Saturn (mythology)
Sava (mythology)
Scottish mythology
Sedna (mythology)
Selinus (mythology)
Selk'nam mythology
Semla (mythology)
Sethlans (mythology)
Shade (mythology)
Sheka (mythology)
She-wolf (Roman mythology)
Sila (mythology)
Silvanus (mythology)
Silvius (mythology)
Sindri (mythology)
Sinis (mythology)
Sin (mythology)
Sirena (Philippine mythology)
Siren (mythology)
Sisig (mythology)
Siyokoy (Philippine mythology)
Snakes in Chinese mythology
Snakes in mythology
Sl (Norse mythology)
Sol (Roman mythology)
Somali mythology
Soranus (mythology)
Souconna (mythology)
Spanish mythology
Stilbon (mythology)
Strix (mythology)
Structuralist theory of mythology
Susulu (mythology)
Tahiti and Society Islands mythology
Talamancan mythology
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3
Talk:Babylonian mythology
Tamil mythology
Tangaloa (Tongan mythology)
Taranga (Mori mythology)
Telesphorus (mythology)
Telipinu (mythology)
Telo (mythology)
Terra (mythology)
Tethys (mythology)
Teutonic Mythology
Theban kings in Greek mythology
The Mythology Class
The Mythology of All Races
Thero (mythology)
The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 Abduction
The X-Files Mythology, Volume 2 Black Oil
The X-Files Mythology, Volume 3 Colonization
The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 Super Soldiers
Thon (mythology)
Thunderbird (mythology)
Thyia (mythology)
Timandra (mythology)
Tonal (mythology)
Trees in Chinese mythology and cultural symbology
Trees in mythology
Triglav (mythology)
Triton (mythology)
Tros (mythology)
Tsimshian mythology
Tumbuka mythology
Tup (mythology)
Turan (mythology)
Tur (Bosnian-Slavic mythology)
Turkic mythology
Tutelina (mythology)
Twins in mythology
Uni (mythology)
Uranus (mythology)
Uras (mythology)
Ute mythology
Vallonia (mythology)
Venusberg (mythology)
Venus (mythology)
Vesta (mythology)
Victoria (mythology)
Viking (Norse mythology)
V The New Mythology Suite
Vulcan (mythology)
Weapons and armor in Chinese mythology, legend, cultural symbology, and fiction
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology in the arts and popular culture
West African mythology
White horses in mythology
White Tiger (mythology)
William Blake's mythology
Wi (mythology)
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology
Xiao (mythology)
Yali (mythology)
Zacynthus (mythology)
Zana (mythology)
Zhulong (mythology)
iva (mythology)
Zuni mythology
convenience portal:
recent: Section Maps - index table - favoritesSavitri --Savitri extended toc Savitri Section Map --1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
authors -- Crowley - Peterson - Borges - Wilber - Teresa -Aurobindo -Ramakrishna - Maharshi -Mother
places -- Garden - Inf. Art Gallery - Inf. Building - Inf. Library - Labyrinth - Library - School -Temple - Tower - Tower of MEM
powers -- Aspiration - Beauty - Concentration - Effort - Faith - Force - Grace - inspiration -Presence - Purity - Sincerity - surrender
difficulties -- cowardice - depres. - distract. - distress - dryness - evil - fear - forget - habits - impulse - incapacity - irritation - lost - mistakes - obscur. - problem - resist - sadness - self-deception - shame - sin - suffering
practices -- Lucid Dreaming - meditation - project - programming - Prayer - read Savitri - studysubjects -- CS - Cybernetics - Game Dev - Integral Theory - Integral Yoga - Kabbalah - Language - Philosophy - Poetry - Zen
6.01 books -- KC - ABA - Null -Savitri - SA O TAOC -SICP - The Gospel of SRK - TIC - The Library of Babel -TLD -TSOY - TTYODAS - TSZ - WOTM II
8 unsorted / add here -- Always - Everyday - Verbs