MetaFilter posts tagged with mythology

The Belly-Slitter's Knife: More Alpine Holiday Fun!

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:52:54 -0800

In alpine Europe, Perchta the Belly-Slitter (a.k.a Berta/Berchta/Frau Percht) roams during the Twelve Days of Christmas, and if you piss her off, she'll cut out your entrails and stuff you full of straw and garbage. And you thought Krampus was all you had to dodge to get through the holidays! Her name shares the same root as the word "bright". Also "birch", a tree she's associated with. She also related to the myths of the Weisse Frauen ("White Ladies"), elven spirits in female form who would appear to mortals (and inspire both The Professor's Galadriel and Eowyn (after she married Faramir and moved with him and his rangers to Ithilien </GEEK>) Some myths have Perchta (or her male aspect Berchtold) as the leader of the Wild Hunt. The Belly-Slitter is associated with animals, spinning, and fiber-crafts, and she not only blesses the shepherds and their flocks, girls/women spinning yarn during the holidays risk Perchta's knife. This is because they were lazy and didn't get their work done on time. Some versions have her boiling her victims like a skein of yarn. Also, people who don't feast enough during the holidays were considered to be not invoking enough good mojo for the community during the darkest, most liminal time of the year, and thus were also at risk. A full stomach is said to be proof against the Belly-Slitter's wrath. (Intestines on the floor she can handle, but I guess a big, wet mass of undigested holiday meal in a beer soup is gross.) Some myths depict Perchta as ugly, with a long nose, while in Slovenia, she is a tall, beautiful valkyrie-like figure. Perchta is attended by the spirits of children who died unbaptized known as perchten. They, like their mistress can be either Schönperchten ("beautiful") and bestow luck and blessings, or Schiachperchten ("ugly") and drive out demons and ghosts when they come. (I could be wrong on this, but it's my understanding that the masks that have horns are traditionally Krampus (Dec. 5th), and that those without are perchten (Jan. 5th). But these days, everyone brings out all their masks during the holidays, leading to some confusion.) So, don't be lazy, get your work done on time, party hearty... and you might just survive the holidays.

Search the Bible with Google Maps

Effigy2000 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:49:53 -0800

Biblemap.org is an interactive map system for the bible, which is great for visualising where certain biblical events are said to have occured. It's also great for people who don't subscribe to any kind of organised religion but do like looking at maps (like me!).

The Jade Calendar

tellurian — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:22:21 -0800

A Visitor's Guide to Hell - A translation of the Chinese version of what happens to the human soul after death [with some illustrations]. e.g. for the sin of engaging in eating cinebar [red lead], cloudy jujubes [which have been placed in a woman's vagina for up to 3 months], human afterbirths, or other medicines in order to fortify your sexual power you can be sent to The Dungeon Where People Are Trampled by Mules and Chewed by Badgers.

Ancient Greece

netbros — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:24:40 -0800

Explore the History of the Ancient Greek World from the Neolithic to the Classical Period. Covering important topics, such as Art and Architecture, Mythology, Wars, Culture and Society, Poetry, Olympics, History Periods, Philosophy, Playwrights, Kings and Rulers of Ancient Greece.

Lévi-Strauss at 100

fourcheesemac — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:38:14 -0800

Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss turned 100 on Friday. NPR's Frank Browning offers an appreciation of his work (audio). Anthropologist Dan Sperber (at OpenDemocracy) offers a succinct appraisal of his influence. Patrick Wilcken (TLS) writes about "the century of Claude Lévi-Strauss." Need to know the basics? Claude Lévi-Strauss (Wikipedia). Here are some Books by CLS. (Google Books search). There's no quick way to summarize a career that taught us whole new ways of understanding the place of mind in culture, the language-like qualities of myth and kinship, or the nature of cross-cultural inquiry and understanding. But here's some excerpts from his 1958 book Structural Anthropology, which was personally influential for me.

Women and children, depending on credit rating

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:29:15 -0800

"Women and children, first," is a familiar cultural refrain, with its popular roots in the gallant sacrifice made by the male contingent aboard the doomed Titanic. Their sacrifice has inspired poetry, sculpture, male social clubs, and, of course, cinema. Yet, this sacrifice of near-mythic scale was in some respects a myth, with survival statistics skewing well in favor of men of higher social and economic class than children (and, to a lesser extent, women) of lower status.

Mayan Ruins Filter: Possible Portal to the Underworld Found in Mexico

grapefruitmoon — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:02:58 -0800

Mayan Ruins Filter: Possible Portal to the Underworld found in Mexico. Included in the underwater tunnels (video) are two underground temples and human bones - possibly the remains of human sacrifices. BBC Look at the underwater tunnels. Previously on MeFi: Mapping Mayan Ruins with Muons The Mayan World Maya Cities Exhibition Site

...robbed us of our souls and minds...

Wolfdog — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:59:23 -0800

3d renderings of the zodiac signs.

Classic Tales and Fables

Kattullus — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:41:39 -0800

Over 2000 classic tales and fables including Aesop's Fables, Bulfinch's Mythology, Indian "Why" Stories, tales by Oscar Wilde, Beatrix Potter, Rudyard Kipling, Louisa May Alcott, L. Frank Baum and Harriet Beecher Stowe and stories about Abraham Lincoln, Robin Hood and Baron Munchausen. And more! The folk and fairytale collection is particularly rich, with hundreds of stories from all over the world.

Indigenous Australian Dance Ceremonies

Effigy2000 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:40:27 -0800

Aboriginal dance (also known as a corroboree) helps indigenous Australians to interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the Dreamtime. Many of the ceremonies are sacred and people from outside a community are not permitted to participate or watch. However, there are many ceremonies we've been allowed to witness (here's one of my favourites). And there's plenty of related pictures available at the National Museum's website. Naturally, any indigenous Australians reading should note that these links may include images or names of people who may now be deceased.

Amar Chitra Katha

nickyskye — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:40:19 -0800

A collection of comic books, Amar Chitra Katha is like the American Illustrated Classics, except that the stories are from Indian sacred texts, mythology, history, folktales and legends. It was conceived by Anant Pai. The series has sold over 86 million copies of about 440 titles. If one clicks on the comic book covers there are the outlines of the stories.

Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology

Kattullus — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:33:33 -0800

Theoi Greek Mythology is an internet encyclopedia with over 1500 pages on various characters from classical myth, covering everything from famous gods and goddesses to obscure nymphs, titans and monsters. If the confusing familial relations of the Greek gods vex you, there are 10 different family trees to help you make sense of it all. There's also an extensive library of ancient works concerning classical mythology and a bibliography should you long for more to read. Last but not least, Theoi has a gallery of over 1200 artworks from antiquity, which I have been happily browsing for a good while.

The Dark Edge of the North

tellurian — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:48:27 -0800

Carta Marina - From 1518 to 1519, Olaus Magnus made a journey across Sweden. On his journey, he encountered fish the size of elephants, sea serpents, demons and a tribe of pygmies.

Death Grip

homunculus — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:45:30 -0800

Death Grip: How Political Psychology Explains Bush's Ghastly Success. Interesting article on the work of psychologists Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski. [Via Disinformation.]

Zeitgeist - Hegel would NOT be proud.

Baldons — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:16:39 -0800

Zeitgeist, the movie [Google Video link embedded] - An interesthing, if bizarre, mix of buffed-up comparative mythology, 9/11 conspiracy theories and New world order rambling about banks, loans, debts and war. Is paranoia the spirit of our times?

Sing to us, O Muse, of our Timeless Myths

Kattullus — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:33:39 -0800

Sing to us, O Muse, of our Timeless Myths. A site dedicated to Classical, Norse & Celtic mythology and Arthurian legends.

Through all your houses wandering...

gren — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:01:39 -0800

Welcome (well, almost, the roman calendar is a touch early) to the Year of the Fire Pig. See what it means for you as we finish the Fire Dog Year.

Stories of The Dreaming As Told Through Sight, Sound and Art.

Effigy2000 — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:25:38 -0800

The Dreaming (arguably better known as 'The Dreamtime') is more than just the story of how the world was created as told by Aboriginal Australians. It is also the basis for their way of life and death, their source of power in life and it tells of the life and influence of their ancestors on their culture. It was so important to Aboriginal Australians in the time before the white invasion of Australia that it was the one commonly held belief amongst a culture that consisted of over 500 different tribes (discussion of Dreamtime beliefs here). Thought to be the oldest continuously maintained cultural history on Earth, it is often presented as a series of inter-related stories explaining Aboriginal Australian origins and culture, such as how the Australian landscape was created or how the Mimi spirits taught them how to paint these stories on the walls of caves more than 40,000 years ago.

And what better way to learn of several of the many different Dreamtime stories than to listen and watch them being told by Aboriginal Australians elders themselves? And if that isn't enough Dreamtime mythology for you, here's some links to various sites which allow you to view Aboriginal rock art to see how these stories were translated into a form of artistic expression which is now five times older than the Egyptian Pyramids themselves.

Ye Largishe List ov Gods & Spirits

owhydididoit — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:43:10 -0800

I want to love the Table of Gods, a list of "4862 gods, godesses, deities, avatars, incarnations, angels, demons and various spirits, and 520 aliases, mispronounciations and generally confusing name variations." There isn't much more than a list of names with short descriptions, but you can search by keyword (say, chthonic), by origin (e.g., Canaan), and by name. The information and presentation are not in the same league as Encyclopedia Mythica, or even Godchecker, but it does list Hanuman.

The listings invite you to add keywords and comments, but unfortunately the feature is broken. You can add either, but they are appended unmoderated to the record for "A", which is consequently a mess. If I've been a good boy this year, this feature will work and be gleaning meaningful user contributions on Christmas morning, and I will get to love the Table of Gods.

Immortal Illustrated Stories

infini — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:42:23 -0800

Amar Chitra Katha were the comics of my youth. Illustrated painstakingly with loving details, the immortal epics and stories of India going back over 5000 years were crystallized in these thin graphic novels. I will always remember Mirabai, for the romance between her and the god of love and war, Krishna. And Chanakya, aka Kautilya, author of the Arthashastra but better known to me for his Nitishastra - niti means political ethics. But other nitishastras include the famous Panchantra [pdf], the equivalent of Aesop's Fables for India, a textbook of 'niti' or the wise conduct of life.

Picasso and the Minotaur - an animated short

madamjujujive — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:14:14 -0800

Minotauromaquia - a stop motion animated short set to Stravinsky's in which Picasso confronts the minotaur and some other painted characters come to life. The image of the Minotaur is a recurring symbol of self in Picasso's works. (main link via Milinkito [more])

Emperor Penguins Uber Alles!

jason's_planet — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 18:30:03 -0800

Why are political extremists so interested in UFOs? The Nation of Islam has its “Great Mother Wheels.” Their melanin-challenged brethren in the Neo-Nazi movement have the myth of Neu Schwabenland, an Antarctic redoubt where the remnants of the Third Reich fled after the war, with the U.S. military in hot pursuit. There, hidden among the ice and the Emperor Penguins, the frostbitten Aryans plotted to reconquer the world. To that end, they created a fleet of UFOs, using top-secret Nazi technology that They don’t want you to know about. Nizkor has recreated pamphlets published by the Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel on this topic, one of which includes a helpful list of German phrases to be used during an encounter of the Third Kind. (This myth is also covered in the eighth chapter of this book.)

APRIL FOOLS!

Eideteker — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:11:58 -0800

In the study of mythology, folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, human hero o r anthropomorphic animal who plays pranks or otherwise disobeys normal r u l e s and norms of behaviour.

Tricksters come in all forms, from all cultures. Notable examples include Br'er Rabbit, Odysseus, Eshu, Raven, and Loki; most or all of whom you are likely familiar with.

Jesus was way cool. But did he exist?

illovich — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 15:37:56 -0800

Jesus walked on the ~~water~~ ice. So sayeth... um... well, this guy at Florida State. Doron Nof has released a paper positing that when Jesus walked on the water in Galilee, he was actually walking on a patch of floating ice. What's interesting about science like this to me is that it both validates and invalidates scripture, since if Jesus was walking on ice... no miracle (although, it's a miracle he didn't slip and fall, har har har). But if Jesus was walking on ice, then at least he historically existed, which is still an open question at least in some quarters. In case you think you recognize Mr. Nof's name, you may be remembering his work explaining that the parting of the Red Sea was totally possible (flash video link).

Himmapan Creatures: Beasts of Asian Legend

Gator — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:28:39 -0800

Himmapan.com features illustrations and photos of artistic depictions of the creatures of the legendary Himmapan (or Himapan/Himaphan) Forest of the Himalayas. Fantastic chimeras of Asian mythology.