Wednesday, December 27, 2006

My recent mythoblogia links...

Burning Harry Potter
Forbes mag reports here on book-burnings , especially of Harry Potter novels . Now these fundamentalist views are right - author J K Rowling is indeed influenci..
One basis for religious myths
It's not hard to guess why we have epic myths about creation, but religion goes much further. The typically well formed religion offers buffers against all sort..
Revelations
I can't not write about Revelations. It's apocalyptic. It's about the end of the Earth. Or of our days on Earth, maybe. Supposedly written by John, Revelations ..
Months of the calendar
A bit Anglo-centric and Western I know but I've always liked the history behind seemingly simple things like the calendar. Firstly there are some contradictions..
Another snake's tale - Indra and Vritra
The Yahweh vs Leviathan story is all about slaying that pesky old religion and asserting the power of the new over the old. Same with Zeus defeating Typhon. It'..
Flood tales
You may have read or heard of Noah and his ark , or Utnapishtim and the Gilgamesh epic , or the even earlier Sumerian Epic of Ziusudra , and of the great flood ..
Kali and Medusa
No, they weren't flatmates in some sordid uni squat. But they do have some interesting parallels. Medusa , the Gorgon with writhing snake-hair, feared by all, o..
Tiresias, the blind seer
Another fascinating story that I have marvelled over for decades is the story of the blind seer, Tiresias. It's got it all. It goes somewhat like this (there is..
More on Goddesses
There's a long history here and it's natural that man, struggling in the wild, fighting tooth and nail for a niche in the wilderness should take special note of..
Griffins, Gryphons and their ilk
Griffins can be simply eagle-headed men or women, but more usually are lion-bodied and can have an eagle's wings as well as equine ears and - sometimes - even ..