World Mythology Research Articles

The origins of the world's mythologies

The origins of the world's mythologies

Sanctity and Malevolence of Cat in World Mythology and Persian Prose and Verse

The pioneers of the Persian literature have described utopia in the form of story in the prose and verse and have chosen animals instead of human characters and assigned humanly characteristics to the animals. In this regard, horse is noble and descent and owl is symbol of destruction .Indeed, these literary men have two goals, they wanted to transfer humanly exalted thoughts in the form of story in addition to entertaining the readers. Cat symbolizes greed, playfulness, arrogance, hostility, imprudence, cruelty, ostentation and cunning in Persian literature .Cat has heterogeneous status between propitious and malevolent in myths. But all indecent traits of cat symbolize human carnal soul that it sometimes becomes evil and sometimes achieves divine and humanly status. This article investigates the mythology and legends of cat and its attendance in Persian literature tales and verse.

Return to Interactivity

The introduction of information technology into the classroom brought about obvious and subtle changes. One of the latter was counterintuitive, namely increased passivity of students toward learning. However, with increasingly sophisticated tools available, faculty can now recreate the conditions for active learning. This situation is demonstrated in a case study involving a large lecture class on World Mythology. The study also addresses the perplexing question of how information technology can be employed to improve student learning.

The End of the Supersensory World’s Mythology: Marx’s Ontological Revolution and Its Contemporary Significance

The whole of Western metaphysics, particularly Platonism, sets up a partition between the world and the supersensory world, laying the foundation for the mythology of the supersensory world. After Descartes set contemporary metaphysics on its course, Feuerbach became the first to attack the essence of the supersensory world on an ontological level and to transfer the criticism of theology to that of metaphysics in general. While in the final analysis Feuerbach's criticism fails, Marx's revolution appeals to the ontological notion of sensory activity or objective activity (i. e., practice), the core of which rests in piercing and overturning the fundamental framework of contemporary metaphysics—the immanence of consciousness. It is this ontological revolution which reveals the camouflage of the supersensory world's mythology (i. e., ideology) and which simultaneously establishes a solid foundation for the critical analysis of the latter. Marx's science of history is based on this foundation and develops from it.

In search of vampires

The vampires. Some of the most intriguing creatures of various world mythologies. From the 18th century till today, the archetype image of vampires went through many transformations - on the one hand they were the gothic image of a male masculine figure and on the other - the image of cosmetic contemporary man. The 19th century promoted vampires as very specific creatures that needed exploring, the 20th century introduced the fascination with the horrific aspect of the vampires, and finally the 21th century exploited the idea of vampires equal to men, while the creatures from the past were treated as minority members. What have we actually found looking for the truth about vampires? And is that the truth that we wanted to see? How much did it change the iconic face of an ancient race?.

Symbols of Transformation, Phenomenology, and Magic Mountain

When C. G. Jung partnered with Sigmund Freud, he already had a broad knowledge of world mythology and an understanding of the unconscious formed largely from Schopenhauer’s Will and Nietzsche’s Dionysian energy of nature, or physis. Unwilling to reduce this unconscious—matrix of dreams, myth, and literature—to Freud’s infantile sexual libido, Jung’s break with Freud was inevitable. His long suppressed ideas emerged in Symbols of Transformation, a mythically enriched study of regression in service of development, which rejects Freud’s limited libido. This paper uses Heidegger’s phenomenology to purge remaining traces of psychic encapsulation from Jung’s significant archetypal insights and demonstrates the modified Jungian articulation in the context of Thomas Mann’s novel, Magic Mountain, a study of hermetic individuation. Not only does this paper use Jung’s insights to clarify the labyrinthine development of the novel, thereby taking sides in a literary debate about its meaning, but it uses Mann’s artistic insights to expose limitations of Jungian theory.

About Female Deities in the Mythology of Finno-Ugric Peoples

The most widespread female deity in world mythologies is the God- dess of the Earth, known among Finno-Ugric peoples as Mother Earth. Re- search presumes that the cult of Mother Earth is relatively recent in origin, and somewhat associated with and related to the development of agriculture. Still, the religion of Finno-Ugric peoples comprises abundant other female deities whose help and assistance women can account for when in need. Moreover, among those Finno-Ugric peoples whose tillage culture is less developed, the Goddess of the Earth can sometimes obtain even cosmogonic functions. The article gives an overview of Finno-Ugric female deities, their functions and the ways to sus- tain the favour of gods. The most prevalent deity in world mythology is the Goddess of the Earth - fertile, giving birth and devouring. This Great Mother combines both the sur- face of the earth, giving benefits to people, and the world of death underneath. The attaining of immortality in paganism is associated with the cult of the goddess personifying the archetype of motherhood, making it possible for the people to become one with the god. Among the majority of Finno-Ugrians, it is the figure of the Mother Earth who represents this archetype. Researchers presume that the cult of the god- dess, Mother Earth, does not go back to distant history, being of much more recent origin than that of other peoples involved in the cultivation of arable lands, for example the Slavic people. In the case of certain Finno-Ugric peoples (e.g. the Mordvins) the development of the cult of Mother Earth has evidently become more pronounced once agriculture became their prevalent field of sub- sistence. In the case of others (e.g. the Khanty and Mansi), natural conditions have added the motif of fertility to the cult, usually expressed in honouring the earth and associated with the meaning of the earth as the giver of life. This motif, however, has been borrowed as the land in these habitats would not provide a vitally necessary and expedient fruit of crops (Karjalainen 1995: 236- 237).

The Timely Mythologist

This collection of Joseph Campbell's essays, spanning nearly thirty years, reflects his originality, wit, and range as a student of mythology and ethnography and as a consummate teacher. It offers a sample of essays by the iconic teacher of mythology that fall into two major categories: Mythology and History, and Mythology and the Arts. The book opens with a talk Campbell gave on what and how he taught during his thirty-eight-year tenure at Sarah Lawrence College, the then experimental women's college located in Bronxville, NY. I chose three of the ten essays, discussing a few of what I see as weaknesses in Campbell's arguments, some of which can be allotted to progress the natural sciences have made since the essays were written and Campbell's death twenty-one years ago. I suggest that this is an important collection, one that offers an array of information on, and insights into, world mythology and human creativity, written with erudition in a style that is accessible to both the lay reader and academic researcher.

Whose World is Flat? Mapping the Globalization of Information Technology

Thomas L. Friedman's ``The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" maps the socio-cultural and geo-political aspects of the Information Technology global economy and suggests how American culture can be transformed to make the US globally competitive. This paper seeks a different perspective —rather than viewing culture as an important aspect of IT globalization, it reconceptualizes culture as a site of tremendous social, political, and economic struggle in which the legitimation of the very logic of globalization is at stake. ``The World Is Flat" deploys a New World mythology to develop an account of the contemporary world, but this mythology, I argue, embeds its ideas of IT globalization in a larger hegemonic narrative of European modernity that firmly positions Euro-America as the most privileged site from which to conceptualize the current phenomenon. I examine how this use of New World mythology harnesses the discourse of American exceptionalism to Americanize IT globalization, and obscures the role of new transnational classes and cultures linking India and the US. By paying attention to world geography, I argue that the growth of Bangalore, India, as a global IT hub should not be narrowly understood as creating a new platform for innovation and progress but as a transnational interlinking of world cities in a new IT-driven global economy with significant consequences for democratic governance.

The Prince of Tides as Archetypal Hero Quest

office of modern psychoanalyst, stages of hero-adventure to light again in dreams and hallucinations of patient. Depth beyond depth of self-ignorance is fathomed, with analyst in role of helper, an initiatory priest. And always ... adventure into a journey of darkness, horror, disgust, and phantasmagoric fears (Campbell Hero 121). This passage, quoted from mythologist Joseph Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, reads like an introduction to Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides. After all, novel is structured around fantastic Wingo family history that is unraveled in office of psychoanalyst Susan Lowenstein. The plot focuses on Tom Wingo and his attempts to help heal his suicidal sister Savannah and himself, but it is third sibling, Luke, whose life fits pattern of archetypal hero adventure outlined by Campbell in his studies of world mythology. The narrative center of Conroy's novel may lie largely with Tom, but when Campbell writes of the deluge hero [who] is a symbol of germinal vitality of man surviving even worst tides of catastrophe and sin, focus turns to Luke Wingo, Prince of Tides (Hero 37). Landon C. Burns notes that although Luke is protagonist of novel, he becomes a hero in an almost mythological sense. That he is a prince in every way become[s] abundantly clear as novel develops (115). Others commented on aspects of mythological in Conroy's work. Noted author Gall Godwin, in a New York Times review, writes that in The Prince of Tides everything is bulging with symbol and jacked up to lofty realm of myth (14). In his study of The Great Santini, Robert E. Burkholder notes that the title of novel emphasizes important role myths play, an observation equally applicable to The Prince of Tides. David Toolan refers to Luke as a good-natured Rambo with more brawn and pure instinct than brain ... perfect athlete and martyr-for-a-cause that Conroy's central heroes are not (130). Toolan is first critic who falls prey to notion that Luke Wingo is lacking in intelligence. In contrast, Burns points to mental acumen: Throughout their childhood, Luke is thought of as very bright and even told so by his parents. Actually, Savannah finds out by snooping through school records that Luke has highest I.Q. of three (116). Burns also notes that Luke's eloquent speech at hearing about Atomic Energy Commission's plans for Colleton shows that, when occasion demands, this usually taciturn man is capable of same verbal power that his siblings have (132). Pat Conroy has said that Luke Wingo is one character in this novel that he cannot account for, that he cannot directly correlate with someone in his own life (Malphrus interviews). Perhaps Luke Wingo rose up out of realm of archetypal world mythology that lies within each of us, brought to life by author's having braved dangers of his own subconscious. Campbell writes that the unconscious sends all sorts of vapors, odd beings, terrors, and deluding images up into mind-whether in dream, broad daylight, or insanity; for human kingdom, beneath floor of comparatively neat little dwelling that we call our consciousness, goes down into unsuspected Aladdin (Hero 8). In an interview Conroy says that he has come to trust unconscious of writer. That voice is coming from somewhere. That voice is asking for admission for some reason. And that voice is asking for permission to be heard (Powell 51). From that voice and within dark Aladdin's caves of The Prince of Tides, there emerges a hero whose life follows quest outlined in Campbell's work. Campbell refers to hero-quest as a pageant of marvels, and when one considers events that comprise Luke Wingo's life, they truly do read as a parade of fantastic, a showcase of unbelievable (Hero 319). …

The Archetypal Female in Mythology and Religion: The Anima and the Mother

Carl Jung observed that myths and religions across cultures contain common themes and entities: for example, images of the mother, father, wife, husband, lover, fool, devil, shadow, hero, saviour, and many others. The stories woven from these beings, as gods, goddesses, semi-mortals, heroes, and demons, constitute the myths and religious stories of humankind. Carl Jung postulated that these myths about such archetypal entities constitute the ‘dreams’ of cultures, and that the stories and archetypes originate in the dreams and fantasies of individuals. This study explores, in two parts, two of these archetypal entities: the anima and the mother, and how they manifest as goddesses in the myths of various cultures and sometimes combine with each other. Part one describes the two archetypes, their characteristics and manifestations, and how they can be divided into three categories or realms: goddesses of the underworld, the earth, and the sky or celestial realm. It details the difference between the anima in male consciousness and the animus in female consciousness. Using a personal dream example and Jungian theory, it then demonstrates that the anima in dreams and mythology can be relevant to women as well as men. Focusing on the anima, it then explores the underworld – the myths and entities of this shadowy realm as an expression of the unconscious mind of the individual and whole cultures. Part two extends the exploration to the animas and mothers of the earth and sky, and how in these realms, the mother excels. While this exploration focuses mainly on the primary sources from Jung, world mythology, and personal experiences and intuitions, it also draws on the work of post-Jungian thinkers such as James Hillman, Ginette Paris, Marion Woodman, and Michael Vannoy Adams.

Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from Around the World (review)

Reviewed by: Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from Around the World Maggie Hommel Tchana, Katrin Hyman , ad. Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from Around the World; illus. by Trina Schart Hyman. Holiday House, 200680p ISBN 0-8234-1999-1$18.95 R Gr. 6-8 Daughter-mother duo Katrin Hyman Tchana and Trina Schart Hyman team up, in Hyman's last artistic endeavor before her death in 2004, to portray ten stories of goddesses from a broad range of world cultures and religions. Representing wide-ranging perspectives from Inuit, Mayan, Celtic, and Hindu to the Fon of West Africa, the tales each begin with an informational paragraph that briefly outlines context then move into a story retold from collected and documented goddess myths. The stories are powerful and sometimes authentically violent—the father of Sedna, deity of the Inuits, cuts off her hands and allows her to drown to save himself, and the Celtic goddess Macha is forced to race a team of horses while she is giving birth. They also portray love, faith, and compassion—Shinto's Kuan Yin devotes herself to eliminating suffering, and the Navajo Changing Woman lovingly prepares a good earth in which humans will dwell. The collection's breadth makes it a valuable sampling of world mythology, with the engrossing goddess theme tying the tales together; adult guidance or outside research may be necessary for [End Page 37] young readers to fully appreciate these complex tales, which are often intertextually intertwined with larger bodies of mythology. Tchana makes the most of the brief space available, however, to preserve the original culture in her retellings and to make each tale independently readable. Hyman's art departs somewhat from her customary detailed linework, instead portraying each goddess in acrylic paintings layered among collaged photographs and found items, tapping into the native artistic styles of the tales' cultures and effectively interweaving the traditional and modern. A thorough artist's note, bibliography for each tale, afterword, and author's note are included. This will be a rich resource for those students wishing to delve more deeply into world legends than the requisite classical mythology unit allows. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

The Oxford companion to world mythology

Cave paintings at Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, fraught with expression thousands of years later; point to an early human desire to form a cultural identity. In the Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming explores the role of mythology, or myth-logic, in history and determines that the dreams of specific cultures add up to a larger collective story of humanity. Stopping short of attempting to be all-inclusive, this fascinating volume will nonetheless be comprehensive, opening with an introduction exploring the nature and dimensions of myth and proposing a definition as a universal language. Briefly dipping into the ways our understanding of myth has changed from Aristotle and Plato to modern scholars such as Joseph Campbell, the introduction loosely places the concept in its present context and precedes articles on influential mythologists and mythological approaches that appear later in the Companion. The main body of Leeming's work consists of A-Z entries covering all aspects of mythology, including substantial essays on the world's major mythological traditions (Greek, Native American, Indian, Japanese, Sumerian, Egyptian), mythological types and motifs (Descent to the Underworld, the Hero, the Trickster, Creation, the Quest), mythological figures (Odysseus, Zeus, Osiris, Spider Woman, and Inanna) as well as numerous interrelated subjects such as fairy tales and legends. The Companion also locates myth in our lives today, relating it to language patterns, psychology, religion, politics, art, and gender attitudes. Many of the better-known and more significant myths are vividly retold in this volume that will be illustrated with maps, more than 70 black and white images, and eight pages of color highlighting the central role art has often played in the transmission and perpetuation of myth. Following the entries, a rich section of appendices will include family trees of the major pantheons, equivalency charts for the gods of Greece and Rome, Babylon and Sumer, as well as other traditions, an extensive bibliography, and an index.

Guest Editor's Introduction: Children's and Teen Culture

The Journal of American CultureVolume 29, Issue 1 p. 1-2 Guest Editor's Introduction: Children's and Teen Culture Harry Eiss, Harry EissSearch for more papers by this author Harry Eiss, Harry EissSearch for more papers by this author First published: 10 February 2006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1542-734X.2006.00322.x Dr. Harry Eiss is a full professor in the English Department at Eastern Michigan University, specializing in World Mythology, Creative Writing, and Children's Literature. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume29, Issue1March 2006Pages 1-2 RelatedInformation

Tree of souls: the mythology of Judaism

Only one of the world's mythologies has remained essentially unrecognized-the mythology of Judaism. As Howard Schwartz reveals in Tree of Souls, the first anthology of Jewish mythology in English, this mythical tradition is as rich and as fascinating as any in the world. Drawing from the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud and Midrash, the kabbalistic literature, medieval folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral lore collected in the modern era, Schwartz has gathered together nearly 700 of the key Jewish myths. The myths themselves are marvelous. We read of Adam's diamond and the Land of Eretz (where it is always dark), the fall of Lucifer and the quarrel of the sun and the moon, the Treasury of Souls and the Divine Chariot. We discover new tales about the great figures of the Hebrew Bible, from Adam to Moses; stories about God's Bride, the Shekhinah, and the evil temptress, Lilith; plus many tales about angels and demons, spirits and vampires, giant beasts and the Golem. Equally important, Schwartz provides a wealth of additional information. For each myth, he includes extensive commentary, revealing the source of the myth and explaining how it relates to other Jewish myths as well as to world literature (for instance, comparing Eve's release of evil into the world with Pandora's). For ease of use, Schwartz divides the volume into ten books: Myths of God, Myths of Creation, Myths of Heaven, Myths of Hell, Myths of the Holy Word, Myths of the Holy Time, Myths of the Holy People, Myths of the Holy Land, Myths of Exile, and Myths of the Messiah. Schwartz, a renowned collector and teller of traditional Jewish tales, now illuminates the previously unexplored territory of Jewish mythology. This pioneering anthology is essential for anyone interested in the Hebrew Bible, Jewish faith and culture, and world mythology.

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend (2nd edition)

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend (2nd edition)

The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature

Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature Brian J. Frost. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003. Brian J. Frost's book provides a comprehensive overview of fiction and nonfiction, from ancient Roman writers such as Virgil and Ovid through what Frost calls boom years of the 1990s. breadth of Frost's coverage is impressive, making this book an essential reference guide for those interested in the literary pedigree of the werewolf. Although the term werewolf itself is Anglo-Saxon in origin, Frost notes that stories of human beings who transform themselves into wolves (or other kinds of animals) are common in world mythology, folklore, and literature. task Frost then establishes for himself is a formidable one: to catalogue most (if not all) of the known appearances of the in Western literature. He does so in workmanlike fashion, annotating the references as he sees fit. end result is a book that is somewhat inconsistent in the amount of detail given in the story synopses, and the depth of its commentary on the literary significance of the werewolf. However, the book cannot be faulted for its exhaustive listings and lengthy concluding bibliography. bibliography alone makes this volume indispensable for scholars with an interest in the subject. Chapter one, The Werewolf Phenomenon, situates the legends of England, France, Spain, Greece, Sweden, and other northern European countries within the larger mythological tradition of hybrid monsters. Based on such legends, Frost profiles the physical appearance of the the duration of the transformation, and the methods (either voluntarily or involuntarily) by which one becomes a werewolf. Frost then makes a crucial distinction between the terms lycanthrope and werewolf, the former referring to a person who believes that he or she is a wolf, and the latter referring to an actual shapeshifter. Frost points out that occult belief in werewolves as literal shape-shifters or psychic projections of inner savagery continued through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. Frost also summarizes the Freudian and Jungian psychological explanations of the as symbolic manifestation of unspeakable internal desires. Chapter two is entitled A Survey of Reference Works. Frost observes that most reference works on the subject address the ontology of the tradition and/or the literal existence of werewolves; until recently, few works have catalogued the in fiction. works cited in this chapter approach the legend from a variety of perspectives, including occult, theological, anthropological, and psychoanalytic. Frost identifies the most important studies as originating in the sixteenth century. Within the larger context of a belief in witchcraft and demonology, these works tend to conclude that so-called werewolves are mentally ill people under the satanic delusion that they have been transformed into beasts. Not until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, did several noted reference works bring the to popular attention. Some of the more recognizable twentieth-century authors (and a host of more obscure ones) cited by Frost include Montague Summers, Ernest Jones, and Robert Eisler. Toward the end of the chapter, while noting the contribution of writers such as Basil Copper and Stephen King, Frost states the purpose of his own work: to fill a void in the cataloguing and literary criticism of fictional tales. In chapter three, The Werewolf Enters Fiction, Frost embarks upon this primary mission. He points out the earliest known literary occurrences of the theme in works by Virgil, Petronius, and Marie de France. After the end of the medieval period, Frost says, the rarely appears in fiction again until the nineteenth century. Frost displays his impressive knowledge by pointing out such disparate moments as the first novel to have a as a central character (George W. …

Thematic guide to world mythology

The Afterlife Animals in Myth The Apocalypse Changing Ages Cosmic Egg Creation Myths Culture Heroes Deluge Motif Descent Motif Earth-Diver Motif Emergence Motif Etiological Myths The Fall Fertility Myths Gods Goddesses Guardians Messengers Monsters Primal Parents The Quest Rainbow Sacred Mountains Separation of Earth and Sky Theomachy Tricksters Twins The Underworld World Tree Ymir Motif

Genesis, structure, and meaning in Gary Snyder's Mountains and rivers without end

This reading of Gary Snyder's book-length poem from its evolution in the mid 1950s to its publication 40 years later traces the work's origins, as well as its themes and structure. It includes references to No drama; East Asian landscape painting; the rhythms of storytelling; chant and song; Jungian archetypal psychology; world mythology; Buddhist philosophy and ritual; Native American traditions; planetary geology; hydrology and ecology. The author examines such personal and cultural influences on Snyder's work as his travels in Asia and his association with the beat movement of the 50s.

The Facts on File encyclopedia of world mythology and legend

This encyclopedia provides an overview of approximately 3000 myths and legends from around the world and throughout the ages. These include evrything from Aesop's fables to the Viking gods and goddesses to the stories of the Ancient Greeks and Romans that form the basis of western lore.