I think I'm ready!!!

I must admit, thus far in the course I have been very intrigued and genuinely excited to be emerged into the world of mythology, but also feeling a little lost, a bit overwhelmed and quiet honestly very intimidated by the majority of the blogs and the insight most of the class shares.  Being very new to mythology, blogging and college literature as a whole has kept me from really diving in.  I have a bit more confidence now and a better understanding of the assignments.  I think I was over-thinking them and adding that to my intimidation pretty much kept me from moving forward.  So, here goes........

Sentences - Book I
TheCreation:
It seems there is a bit of confusion, at least vagueness of where exactly man came from which seems strange being the creation of everything else is very clear.  "Then man was born.  Either the Architect of All, the author of the universe, in order to beget a better world, created man from seed divine - OR else Prometheus, son of Iapetus, made man by mising new-made easrth with fresh rainwater."  HUH?  They seem so sure of everything else??

Lycaon:
I was again very intrigued with the description of the Milky Way in Lycaon.  I spent a wonerful night at my Aunts cabin this summer looking at a very clear Milky Way this summer so I was excited to see the reference to it in book one.  Here it is described to be a "high road that can be seen when heaven is serene:" That is exactly what I thougth this summer looking at it, that heaven, and I were very serene.

The Flood:  It all  seems so familiar, again, born and raised and still a practicing catholic.  So it was Jove who did all of this?? Who knew??

Deucalion and Pyrrha:  Again, what happened to Noah?  I don't recall Noah had a mate on the ark?  At least Deucalion had a date!

Apollo and Daphne:  How sweet that he still loves her after she becomes a tree.  Since you can't  be my wife, you'll be my tree!  I think in many relationships, your spouse is your tree.  Amen. I'm lovin this stuff!! 

Class Notes - 09/21/2010

Finishing up Creation stories
Amberly - Chinese Creation - Blood myth for Maori people.  Only 2 people left after flood.  Ozi wanted to marry his sister,she said no so he negtiated with a rock throwing contest.  Then a knife throwing - he fixes it and they ended up married - child with no arms and legs so he cut it up and the pieces became the people. 

Tristan - Maori Creation story = polinisian island = ex enillo = out of nothing = earth mother and father procreate - child decides to murder the parents - children argue over this so they decide to just seperate them so he seperates sky father and earth mother - then they decide to create women - older siblings create body and the younger ones do the rest - this eventually becomes women -

Abernaky tribe - New England = French Canadians = Corn  a man dragged a woman all over until she died. Where she was drug = corn grew.

Jenna = Chinese - starts with a man that slept for 18000years on an egg - then it broke the top became the heavens - bottom became the earth.  then he spent 18000 years making sure the never collide and then he dies and his parts become the soil, mountains rain etc. his bacteria becomes man

Katie - Crow Indian - In the beginning there was just water - old man saw ducks and asked them if there is anything else.  The ducks dive one comes up with some root - then the old man blew on some dirt  and the earth was born.

Herterocosm - to enter into another world.  myth is greek for story.  You willingly suspend your disbelief. 

"The final belief is to believe in a fiction which you know to be a fiction ,there being nothing else.The exquisite truth is to know it is a fiction but to believe in it willingly." 
That quote has summed up my experience here.  Where before I was unwilling to even explore myth, now I find it is awesome. 

When you get to your group.  Introduce yourself - choose a leader/king - not always good to be the king. The king should be killed and eaten at the end of the semester. 

Universal Tree - Axis Mundi - this happened in the exact center of the world.  The naval of the world.  Umphalos - the wolds point of beginning. 
There is almost always a problem with the tree causing seperation of the worlds.

Assignment - Have to write a blog about someone elses blog.  Education is about transformation not information. 

CG Jung- not as concerned with behavioral psychology - disciple of frued.  The ego, id, superego. 
Psyche - means soul from the greek does not mean mind.  Jung felt that Frued was missing something- dreamed about being in his house - found a stairway that he did not know about - looked in trap door - found a stairway with another trap door kept going down and down and down. House dream.  The ground floor was dirt - awoke and realized the problem with Frued - Developed the theory of the collective unconscious.  derived from ancestral memory and experience and is common to all humankind.

Test

This is only a test.  Don't want to lose everything again.

Magic, the bastard sister of science.

"The fatal flaw of magic lies not in its general assumption of a sequence of events determined by law, but in its total misconception of the nature of the particular laws which govern that sequence.....
The principles of association are excellent in themselves, and indeed absolutely essential to the working of the human mind.  Legitimately applied they  yeild science; illegitimately applied they yield magic, the bastard sister of science.  It is therefore a truism, almost a tautology, to say that all magic is necessarily false and barren; for were it ever to become true and fruitful, it would no longer be magic but science." 

This whole section of "The Golden Baugh" made me shake my head and laugh a bit.  As I mentioned before, my husband loves mythology, science fiction shows, all of this kind of stuff and he always expressed frustration that I just couldn't bother trying to embrace it.  It all seemed senseless to me and he was always trying to convince me that it all symbolizes something and that I should not be so judgemental.  Now that I have had this wonderful opportunity to study it all and see it all in a different light I have a much deeper appreciation for not only his point but I have to appreciate again how much of what I have lived and studied in my Catholic faith is really no different than many or most of these stories.  The fact that I never questioned any of that but seemed to be unwilling to even look at mythology and many of these stories as having any validity is starting to seem absurd to me.  Wow.  Didn't see that coming!!!

Bummer

As Dr. Sexson mentioned, I diligently took notes through all of your wonderful creation stories.  At least I got the type and the general jist of each one.  When I went to log off, it never gave me the option to post, just kinda went black.  Now I see that, no nothing posted. 
So......Thanks for the stories, they were awesome.  Hope you all remember them.  Sorry.  ms

My earliest memory

I have often wondered why I can remember this particular memory, but I can. 
I have a very clear memory of being out on a walk with my mother.  From my viewpoint I am being pushed in a stroller and it begins to rain.  I can clearly remember my Mom pushing me in the stroller into a building that had different colored panels on the outside of it.  We stood and waited in a stairway/foyer area of the building until the rain stopped.  I can recall my Mom having conversation with someone else that also came into the building to get out of the rain.  For some reason many, many, many years later, probably about 30 years later, I related that story to my Father.  He was shocked at the detail I could remember about the building, I remebered what my Mothers coat looked like etc. He then explained to me that the building that I described was an apartment building that was around the corner from our house, along the direction my Mother would take me for a walk every day.  He then told me that the apartment burned down when I was about a year old.  Being I was born in the summer, it would be safe to say that I was only around 9 months old when that happened.  Interesting, I havent thought about that for many years and the memory is still very clear.  I wonder why?

Who Knew!?

I had full intentions of doing a whole blog as requested with an excerpt from The Golden Bough etc. but once again my day has gotten away from me and I am feeling a little nervous, not to mention unqualified to match some of the other blogs from this class.  But I found myself very compelled to blog this evening after a week of very clear revelation. 
To  explain.   Prior to this class, and specifically this week, I would have argued vehemently that I do not really "believe" or worse yet, care for mythology.  My husband is very intrigued with the whole mythology thing, but he also love the sci-fi channel etc.  I am not like that. Much more serious, grounded, logical.  hmmmmm.  I am also, Catholic, and yes, I am a practicing Catholic, not a recovering Catholic like many people describe themselves to me as.  I am actually one of those that goes to church every week, has lived my whole life, living it, believing it and taking great pride and peace from my religious beliefs. 
I sat and listened to my priest give a very lengthy explanation of the eucharist and how, yes, we do consume the body and blood of Christ at communion, it is not a symbol, but yes it is the real thing.  I have never in my life questioned that fact.  Now today I sat and looked through the internet and looked for unique creation stories. It should not come as a suprise to tell you all that I am also of Irish heritage.  So,of course I looked for Celtic creation stories.  I will share in class what I learned that still makes me giggle about that.  Anyhow, I had a meeting at my church tonight.  One that included all of the rituals that I have followed forever, without question.  But what opened my eyes and gave me a true Ah-ha moment was when I recited one of the prayers that I have said a million times, again without questioning it ever.  Glory be to the Father, to the son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever will be, world without end.  Amen. That just seemed to sum up so much of what we have discussed in class regarding how things never change, etc. etc. etc.  And to think I never believed in myth!!  Who knew??

Class Notes - 09/14/2010

Blogs should be up running. 
Here is a copy of schedule - security blanket.  Not carved in stone. 
Some things to add and important - Oct. 7th first exam.  The day before the exam we will review.  The day before please come to class with a prepared question. 
Nov. 9 - second quiz.
Take Lisa Peters off Blog list.
Brett Goldade, KT Ruff ;Sarah Burke, Thomas Wright, and Courtney Nesler also off the list.
Group # - 3          Thursday get together with your group. The presentation:  The presence of myth in the contemporary world.  There are 7 groups with 6 people. 
Will reveiw Henderson the Rain King the week of Nov.16/18th. 
There are 3 images associated with the process of The Rain King - a closed cirle - one with a split in the middle and then a broken circle.
First all is in harmony.  Wonderful and peaceful
Then all is broken this is the middle.
Third is the return to the beginning - but it is broken or different.  Very important pattern in mythology.
Today subject is creation. 
Will look at Joseph Campbell interview with Bill Moyers.
Creation - wikipedia - is a symbolic narrative of a culture, tradition or people that describes their earliest beginnings, how the world they knew began and how they first came into it. 
*****Thursday assignment - come in with a one minute myth.  Find a creation myth online.  Come up and tell us a story. No notes.  By memory.  Just one minute .  Find a myth somewhere online there are thousands.  Don't go with the most familiar. 
The creation myth is extremely important to Eliade because it takes us back to our beginnings.  This part and parcel of all mythology.  Myths can be found in almost all religous traditions.
There are five basic types
1. Creation ex nihilo (out of nothing)- in which the creation is through the thought , work dearm or bodily secretion of a divine being.
2. Earth Driver- creation in which a diver,usually a bird or amphibian sent by a creator,plunges to the seabed through a promordial ocean to bring up sand or mud which develops into a terrestrial world.
3.Emergence myths - in which progenitors pass through a series of worlds and metamorphoses until reaching the present world.
4. Creation mythe by thedismemberment of a primoridal being.
5. Creation by the splitting or ordering of a primordial unity such as the cracking of a cosmic egg or a bringing into form from chaos.  Humpty Dumpty. Just like the cirles. whole, then broken then put back together.
Google Marta Weigle furhter developes and refines this into 9 areas.  google.
***Blog assignment - please blog about your very first memory. 
Kaba Stone - 0 know what this is.  It is the great stone of Islam.
Creation Stories:
4. Male God Speaks - 3. Division of female - 2. Female with consort often resembling a snake.1. A woman creates the world all by herself. ex nihilo. 
go to i-greek mythology.  or the from Primitives to Zen.
Snakes shed their skin.  How do we go from snakes and women ruling to the opposite where both snakes and women are suborndiate to other.
Remeber the name Mnemosyne it means memory.  She gave birth to the nine muses.  Nine beautiful girls.  Memory is the Mother of the muses.  We call upon the muses for everything we need for creation, tests, etc.
Speak through me Muse.....
Read John Nays blog.

Wow.

I have finally found an opportunity to go to all of the class blogs and "follow" them.  (Thanks to Mayan who taught this old dog a new trick.) 
Any way, I just felt that I had to take a moment and say how incredibly impressed I am with them.  I feel truly honored to be surrounded by such intellect.  I feel like I have learned more this morning, reading your blogs than I have in a very long time.  Thank you!

Class Notes 09/09/10

Late to class - couldn't leave office in time. 
Eliade says that myth is  1. Sacred- connected with God (or gods) Myths provide safe passage into reality. 
promote social cohesion - put one in touch with the entire cosmos.
The year of living biblically.  Promise Keepers - religious mens group.
"History is bunk" -  Henry Ford.  You must mythologize your life.
Myth how something came to be the way it is. Not to question how it came to be, but how did anything come to be at all. 
The most famous line in literature - To be or not to be. He is speaking ediologically. 
Joseph Campbell - People living mythically know exactly what they have to do because it has all been spelled out.  Campbell says that mythology has
4 primary functions;  Mystical - Cosmological - Sociological - Psychological.
Psychological is the most important one becuase it supports the other 3.  Myth is at every stage of life to help us along.  However we no longer regard our elders the same.  Behind all heroes is the same pattern.  Leave home - has a revelation - comes home.
T.S.Elliot
 We shall arrive where we started
We shall not cease from exploration, at the end of all of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. 

Class Notes - Sept 7, 2010

Try to attend some of the inaguration ceremonies as this is a very mythological event.  Eating breakfast is an homage to the god ceres.  Ceres isthe godddessof grain and agriculture.  MSU  is a land grant university, agriculture school hence the inaguration of our new president is very mythological. 

Beginnings is the study of birth or more so creation.  Corrin was born in Franklin WI July 15th 1991 St,.Lukes hospital.  Know this for the 1st exam.  Sally is from Winifred, MT by Lewistown.

Creation is our concern for the next couple of weeks.  Read on line from Primitives to Zin.  The second part of the class is middles - Creation is about Harmony.  The middle is associated with warfare and pain.  There is the initiation phase.  Then comes the end.  Both the good and bad of this is revelation.  Apocalypse is the end of the world.
 By Mirecea Eliads accoutn a living myth is "" Seized by the sacred, exalting power of the events recollected. 
October 7 is the first quiz -
 November 9th second quiz -
Nov. 21 - group presentations.

Read the Metamorphis of Ovid
Mhyth and Reality
Golden Baugh
Creation Stories from primitives to Zen.

Get the essay from e-mail from Dr. Sexson.
Fable - a short  story, typically with animals as characters conveying a moral.  Myth is not another form of religion it is religion.  Most people when they say that is just a myth would mean it is not true.  James Frazer said we need to grow up. First he iwll makethe case against mythology.   A myth is not malicious it is just niave.  Like Santa, Easter Bunny.  Tradition and mythology as terms can be interchanged.  Everyone should know what you are supposed to do and who you are.  Tevia from Fiddler says these traditions are so important - where did they come from - I don't know.  Its tradition, the way it has always been. 
Sigmund Freud thought we should get rid of any thoughts of illusion/neurosis. 
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. 
Zenophanies - Greek thinker - believed in the literal Zues.  He threw out that the Gods were just projections of the mind..  He said that if horses etc. could draw pictures of their gods then they would look like horses.  Another example would be planet of the Apes - their gods looked like apes. 
Theomorphic is that animals were our gods.  Becuase animals were our food source. 
Plato was born when myths were falling apart - Logos and Mythos.  Logos is facts - Myths is stories.  Logos won the battle.  Logos the word of God or principle of divine reason. 
Uncle Remus -
Uuhemerus - is chiefly known for  rationalizing method of interpretation.  know as euhemerism.  That treats mythological accounts as a reflection of acutal hisorical events shaped by tetelling and traditional mores. 
Allegory = story poem or picture that can be interpreted to releal a hidden meaning typically a moral or political one. 
The song of songs - Christs love of the church - the allegory. 
The voyages of Columbus started the end - the world is not flat.  Figured out that the earth is not the center of the universe.  The 19th century is when the fatal blow was struck.  James G. Frazer.   Wrote the work the Golden Baugh.  This was written as science not myth.  Making fun of what we did believe. 
20th century - Frederick Niche - God is dead.  Said myth  and religion is the opiate of the masses.
Next - the way we are.  This was the way we were.  Another story is there to be told. 

The way we are.
Myth cannot be outgrown.  It is how the human mind tries to figure out what we are. 
in illo tempora - in that time.  "At that time" found often in Gospel lectures during masses used to mark an undetermined time in the past. 
Dreams is where the real things happen. Go home and dream.  Don't use the term just.  Nothing is Just it is used to minimize. 


  

Still Learning

Still just tying to figure this out.  This is only a test.

Here is my first post to a blog - ever! You learn something everyday!!