Air Quotes=More Awkward Moments In Mythology

SO after experiencing different people in different situations react practically the same way to me putting air quotes around random words during various conversations, I have decided that air quotes create a somewhat scandalous or sarcastic meaning behind the quoted subject. Basically hints at the idea that you are not really meaning exactly what you say, but maybe something more? If you are familiar with the person you are talking to with the quotes, then it is sometimes easy to interpret, but to a complete stranger you might as well be asking for something inappropriate!

"...what life had been waiting for: intoxication"

In our culture today it is almost a rite of passage to turn the age 21 and become old enough to legally purchase and drink alcohol. Of course this doesn't stop most underage boys and girls from slipping out their windows at night in order to go get drunk. Then of course when you go to college it becomes much more of an expectation to drink, get drunk, and have a good time; no matter your age. In Greek mythology Dionysus uses this intoxicating liquid to overpower women that were just beyond his reach. To put it bluntly, this god tricked these women into drinking wine then raped them after they passed out...
     "No other god, let alone Athena with here sober olive, or Demeter with her nourishing bread, had ever had anything that could vie with that liquor. It is exactly what had been missing from life, what life had been waiting for: intoxication."- Pg. 36                              
                Does it sound like a college experience about to turn bad yet??                

Displaced Myth

There was this young guy, Jake. He was extremely athletic and probably could have been at the top of his class. After graduation, he decided to go on a road trip with his friends around the country. While driving through Ohio one night, they decided to stop in a small town for the night and have a few drinks, for the driving cramped their bodies and made them restless. They had a few drinks at the local bar and started conversing with some of the locals. Jake listened to a story of an old abandoned theater that had been known to be haunted, and was only a couple miles away. Eager for an adventure, Jake gathered his companions and sped off towards this old theater. As soon as they arrived, they saw the NO TRESPASSING sign and felt a rush of excitement. The crew quickly slipped through a hole in the fence and proceeded into the run down building. Shortly after the last adventured wandered into the shadows, a police cruiser arrived with his spotlight scanning the property. Seeing their vehicle parked outside the fence, the officer grabbed his flash light and went looking for the gang.
Jake looked around as he walked through the dark corridor, noticing ghostly shadows and eerie props. Remnants of the drama company that worked on this stage. He soon noticed the police officers flashlight scanning around inside the building, and began to think fast. He threw a piece of debris towards the stage to catch the officers attention and allow him to lead his friends away. Jake then waited for the officer to reach the stage, and dropped the heavy dusty curtain onto the officer and ran towards the door. The officer hollered stop and freeze and whatnot but it didnt matter. Jake turned before he closed the door and yelled back "Nobody you will ever catch!".

#11 of the 25 crazy initiation rites?!

In the Nigerian delta region, there are waterways all over the place. So there many local legends and spiritual beliefs full of water spirits. In the Okrika tribe of this area believe that the water spirits form romantic relationships with the women of the tribe as children. Through the Iria ceremony this young woman must end this relationship with the water spirit in order to be married to a man of her tribe. Essentially the girl's body is painted from her breasts up and covered in ceremonial cloth from under the breasts down. Then they are put on display for a period of time until they must go to a river and sing and dance for days on end in an attempt to break the romantic bond between the young girl and the river spirit. It sounds pretty exhausting, but not nearly as bad as much of the other rites of passage on this list!!

"My Life as a Mythic Detective"

“My Life as a Mythic Detective”

In the famous words of Bob Dylan, “...oh times they are changin’...”. In my middle school history class, the teacher would play Bob Dylan tracks and ask us what our own interpretation of the lyrics we just listened to were. The teacher would tell us that Mr. Dylan didn’t write the songs to mean something, but to mean anything as long as you were really thinking about it. As you listen to a myth, you delve into the meanings behind each twist and turn in the story, wondering what each lyric or line means besides its obvious statement. Just like music, myths have many different interpretations for the words used and stories told, but the elements present in each interpreter’s point of view will tend to correlate. When I think of a myth, I see many layers of detail describing various aspects of the story, but as you peel away each layer of detail, you eventually find yourself at the same foundation of belief as you would if you were to delve into many other myths from different cultures. The Earth Diver myths, and the other creation stories, are great examples of very similar mythological elements found among very different cultures.

When I first walked into this class last August, I came with an open mind and a slight thirst for knowledge. Greek and Egyptian mythology, as well as urban legends, has fascinated me ever since I can remember, so I was excited to study mythologies in college. I enjoyed the different aspects of mythology we studied, as well as the different activities we used to study these myths. From various initiation rites, rites of passage, to several different variations of the same etiological myth spanning across multiple cultures. From being stung by the most painful-stinging bug on the planet hundreds of times, jumping off the top of a rickety tower of sticks with nothing but a tree vine tied to your ankle keeping you from splitting your head open on the ground, to singing to the river for several days. Then from the hundreds of different stories passed down through the generations that describe different explanations of origins for just about anything.

These days we have access to almost any cultures’ stories, traditions, and cultural preferences when it comes to social or religious belief, through various forms of technology in today’s world. With such tools as publishing and education, to the very modern tools such as the internet, google, wikipedia, and social networking sites, we can study multiple cultures and belief systems at the same time without having to travel to the other side of the world to hear it for yourself. I believe this has impacted not only oral traditions of beliefs being passed down through generations, but the necessity to continue using oral beliefs when education and acceptance of other cultures and religions has been introduced as well. Throughout world history, cultures have grown, expanded, and bonded with other cultures, often times sharing beliefs and other aspects of their lives with other cultures when their populations meet. In today’s world, you don’t need to travel to other countries to be influenced by other cultures. In Los Angeles, driving through the city you can experience numerous different cultural influences on every other block. Granted today people are a lot more accepting of other cultures than they were even decades ago, let alone centuries. Many cultures have spread across the globe, carrying their own etiology and mythology along for the ride.

During the presentations of the displaced myths, we were instructed to create a story that portrayed the same elements of similar belief as a myth of our choice. Then after each presentation, the class had to guess which displaced myth was behind each story. All of my peers did very well on their stories, but they guessed my displaced myth correct right away. In high school one of my favorite books I studied was the odyssey. It was one of the only books I read every assignment out of in highschool, and I really enjoyed all of the different elements of myth throughout the epic. It was because of these things that I decided to choose a displaced myth story from Odysseus’ great journey, specifically the confrontation of the cyclops.

I still remember one of my first experiences of a myth. My older brother told me that if you sleep with a blanket over your head, you would suffocate in your sleep and die before you wake up. Another myth my brother told me was that if you ride a bicycle bare feet, you would get your feet ripped off. Needless to say, my older brother found entertainment in my pre-education mind and its reaction to extreme danger from fairly common adolescent behavior, which was arguably understandable considering my age and his very convincing demeanor. Skepticism became somewhat of a necessity of growing up, which is common, but you can't deny curiosity from the adolescent mind. I still became fascinated with myths and legends, and after a decade or two, I still keep learning so much about mythology.

The Axis Mundi

The tree of life, your family tree, the tree of ages, in many ways trees are commonplace when referring to life or the process of  flowing life force or a central figure representing some illustration of life. When Apollo didn't cease to pursue Daphne, she ended up being transformed into a tree in order to be free from this seemingly endless chase. The axis mundi is essentially the center of the world, the central point for all life. The Mediterranean region is often referred to as the cradle of civilization, or the cradle of life. Is it a coincidence that the term axis mundi happens to originate from this very area of the world?
The ideas of life, death, interconnections between beings, these are all very present in mythology, and the axis mundi is a great way of bringing these ideas together in a way that befits the term.

I chose to hug a Joss brand pool cue. This magnificent and also expensive pool cue used to be a tree and was shaped into not only a work of art but a tool for incredible precision. 

Ahh Pain

A couple Friday nights ago, a friend and I closed down downtown and decided to go to a party and continue the night there. I continue to drink and have a good time with a bunch of people I really don't know til who knows how early in the morning. The next afternoon I wake up in the emergency room beyond dazed and confused. My nose had been broken sideways, my elbows were bruised and swollen, and my knees were torn and battered pretty well. The amount of pain that rushed to my brain as I awoken made me wonder if they gave me painkillers yet, because I did NOT want to feel this way anymore!
 Unfortunately, over the next few days I began to realize that what had happened to me was a myth. The one person I knew at the party left after I blacked out. From what I have gathered, I blacked out from drinking too much alcohol then I either got into a fight with multiple people, or got in multiple fights. For one reason or another, I assume because of the fighting, me as well as other people were asked to leave. One person who was said to have left with me was also said to have been seen dragging me down the street, then he returned after having shit his pants. I don't know any of this for certain, I have heard many different versions, but what I do know for sure is that I was left outside in some persons yard in the rain covered in blood. Then nothing but agonizing physical pain followed the next several days. I guess myths can have an element, or seed, of truth.
   Before                                                       After
                       

Bringing it All together

I have always been fascinated by Greek and Roman mythology, and reading the beginning of this book, even though it circles you around quite a bit with all of the information it is shuffling you through, is great. I recognize so many mythological names within the first chapter that it piqued my curiosity. The repetition of bull-like figures or human-like horned beings does bring about a few questions.
-What was going on back then that made bulls prime subjects of mythological power and imagery?
-Why are the gods the ones being related or affiliated to these creatures?
-Was cattle popular like that back in the day when things cost a nickel???