CMLIT 108/Elliott, 1 of 53

who is inanna?

Exam 1: Ancient Near Eastern Unit

Myths –

∙ Establish or codify social structures

∙ Describe creation of natural order

Mythic Systems – describe how the physical world came to be, how human activities  are structured within society

Monogenesis – all myths are derived from one original source, transmitted through  direct culture

Polygenesis – myths of similar type arose independently of each other in various parts  of the world

Characteristics of a myth: 

∙ Supernatural or fantastic beings

∙ Comes from oral tradition

∙ Represent figurative social and cosmological structures

∙ Presents world view of community or social structures

∙ Presented as a narrative

Myths are metaphors

Religion – an articulated belief system

Myths – exemplify those beliefs

Carl Jong – theist who believed all human beings share certain fears and ideas from  birth (Collective Unconscious)

what is the Enuma Elish?

If you want to learn more check out sociocultural psychology is the study of the _____ .

???? Architype – stark or standard character that is repeated through myths

Levi-Strauss – theist who believes that society is a machine and that myths help  provide order

???? Contradictory lifestyle in myths

???? Source of myth is internal

Motif – symbol or concrete idea that is repeated across mythology

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 2 of 53

Descent of Inanna 

- Sumerian, first to move from pastoral/nomadic life to agricultural life Inanna – Queen of Heaven, represents agriculture

Ereshkigal – sister of Inanna and ruler of the Underworld Don't forget about the age old question of joel caughran

Dumuzi – husband and brother of Inanna, represents pastoral fertitlity, “Shepherd God”

Gestinanna – another sister of Dumuzi who trades places with him every couple of  months in the Underworld

Motifs: 

- Power struggles among the deities – Inanna trying to go after Ereshkigal’s  power

whas is the story of Massacre of Wounded Knee?

- Dying-Rising Divinity – Dumuzi when he comes up from the Underworld =  fertility of animals

- Incest – keeping godly power in the family

Story: 

Inanna, queen of Heaven, goes down to the underworld where her sister rules  under the pretense of mourning her sister’s late husband. Really goes to get  more power.

She is stripped of her jewels and clothes

???? Represents taking away her powers

Inanna is freed from the Underworld with the help of another God, but she has to  send someone in her place

She chooses Dumuzi, her husband, who had taken over the throne while she  was gone

???? Represents Agricultural way of life overtaking the pastoral way of life

Another sister, Gestinanna, takes Dumuzi’s place in the underworld every 6  months

???? Dumuzi in the Underworld = lack of fertility

???? Dumuzi out of the Underworld = fertility

Significance of Myth: 

Historical: Shows Sumerian history where pastoral life became agricultural life

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 3 of 53

Death is the ultimate power – praise ritual to the goddess of the Underworld END If you want to learn more check out ray initials functions

The Enuma Elish 

- Babylonian creation myth, ritual

Apsu – male, god of fresh water (rivers)

Tiamat – female, goddess of salt water, represents chaos

Ea – god of wisdom, kills Apsu in a power struggle

Marduk – kills Tiamat (destroys chaos), creates calendar (creates order) Kingu – captain to Tiamat, humans are created from his blood

Motifs: 

- Power struggles among the deities – “too noisy”, children trying to usurp Apsu  and Tiamat

- Power of Language – Tiamat forcing her two would-be killers away, Marduk  makes clothing disappear and reappear

- Body of Divine, cut up to become part of creation – Tiamat’s skull used, body  creates Heaven and Earth

- Incest (suggested)

Story: 

Apsu and Tiamat create gods. They “make too much noise.”

???? Represents their children becoming more powerful

Apsu decides to kill all of the younger gods before they could kill them, ends up  getting killed by Ea, his son and the god of wisdom, instead

Tiamat creates “monsters” (weather) to fight the younger gods to avenge her  husband

Tiamat’s biggest mistake – giving Kingu, the captain of the monsters, the Tablets  of Destiny, Apsu’s power

Younger gods are infuriated and plan to kill Tiamat, only to be forced away by her  Power of Language

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 4 of 53

Marduk steps forward to fight Tiamat in exchange for the supreme power. The  gods agree, but he has to use the Power of Language to make clothes disappear  and reappear as a test.

He fights Tiamat and defeats her by making the wind fill her belly when she  opens her mouth then pops her like a balloon with his spear If you want to learn more check out messi company is considering an investment that will return a lump sum of $900,000 6 years from now. what amount should messi company pay for this investment to earn an 8% return?

Marduk takes Apsu’s power from Kingu and takes one half of Tiamat to make  Heaven and the other half to create Earth

???? Takes Chaos (Tiamat) and creates order within the universe

Significance of Myth: 

Ordering the universe and society

The people use this myth to ask for order in the world when performing the ritual every  spring.

END

Epic of Gilgamesh 

- Sumerian, poetic, not a ritual

Gilgamesh – King of Uruk, one-third man and two-thirds god

Enkidu – “Wild” man sent as a companion/lover and equal to Gilgamesh Humbaba – “Monster” who guards the Cedar Forest, under the protection of Enlil We also discuss several other topics like psychology 101 final exam

Ishtar – (Inanna), Queen of Heaven, patron goddess of Uruk, would-be suitor of  Gilgamesh until rejected by Gilgamesh

Shamash – god of the sun who helps Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeat Humbaba Enlil – god of earth, wind, and air who aids Humbaba

Utnapishtim – only survivor of the great flood, only human to attain immortality Motifs: 

- Power struggle among the deities – Shamash and Enlil use humans as  puppets/proxies

- Sleep as death – used when Gilgamesh attempts to gain immortality - Power of Language – Gilgamesh writing his story on the wall, form of  immortality

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Story: 

Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, is abusing his power.

The people gather and ask gods to contain him. They can’t because he’s more  god than human.

The gods create Enkidu, a wild man, who will become the companion/lover equal to Gilgamesh in strength

A prostitute “tames” Enkidu – “civilizes” him by having sex for pleasure, which  only humans do. Also teaches him to drink wine and eat bread (human-made  products).

Gilgamesh has dreams before Enkidu arrives

- Young hero coming to Uruk. Gilgamesh is as attracted to him as he is to a  woman

- Attracted to an axe  

???? phallic symbol

Gilgamesh was going to sleep with a virgin bride, Enkidu stops him and fights  him. They are evenly matched. Gilgamesh is humbled.

They “embrace” after the fight.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh go to the Cedar Forest to fight Humbaba, they kill him. We also discuss several other topics like kines psu

Proxy battle between Shamash and Enlil by the fight of Gilgamesh and Enkidu  vs. Humbaba  

???? humans are puppets of the gods

When they return home, Gilgamesh is propositioned by the goddess Ishtar.  He refuses her because he knows what she did to her previous lovers. ???? by rejecting her, he lost his chance to become a full god

Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven (earthquake)

Gilgamesh kills Bull of Heaven

Enkidu rips off its leg and throws it at Ishtar

???? Insult to Ishtar

Ishtar kills Enkidu in place of Gilgamesh for killing the Bull. Enkidu becomes ill  and dies in bed.  

???? Gilgamesh is saddened by the reminder of his own mortality.

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Gilgamesh goes on a search for everlasting life. He heard of Utnapishtim who  survived the Great Flood and became immortal.

Gilgamesh walked through the darkness of the mountain for 12 leagues.  

???? Represents death, Gilgamesh is hoping to be reborn as an immortal on  the other side

Embedded Myth – Myth within a myth

- ‘The Story of the Flood’ in Epic of Gilgamesh, story of how Utnapishtim  became immortal

- Humans were ‘becoming noisy’ – humans were numerous and the gods  were afraid the humans would usurp them

Utnapishtim decides to give Gilgamesh a test to see if he is worthy of immortality Gilgamesh must stay awake for 7 days

Bread is placed beside him each time he sleeps

- Bread is human-made

- Moldy bread is a reminder of how the body rots

Gilgamesh fell asleep, can’t be immortal. His human side ruined it.

Gilgamesh gets a consolation prize: a plant that will make him forever youthful Snake steals plant – snakes shed skin, renewing themselves, “become youthful”

Gilgamesh has no immortality, no eternal youth. Goes back home and writes his  story on the walls of Ururk  

???? Power of Language

Significance of Myth: 

Teaches us about being human (mortality)

Basic human concern: immortality vs. mortality

END

Osiris Myth 

- Egyptian

Geb – the earth god (usually female, flipped in Egyptian culture)

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Nut – sky goddess (usually male, flipped in Egyptian culture)

Osiris – represents the fertility of the Nile River, the Pharaoh after death Isis – Osiris’s wife and sister

Seth – brother of Osiris who represents death and sterility

Horus – son of Osiris and Isis, represents the Pharaoh in life

Motifs: 

- Power struggles among the deities – Osiris vs. Seth, Seth vs. Horus - Dying-Rising Divinity – Osiris and the Nile River  

???? Water rises = Osiris is reborn  

???? Water recedes = Osiris dies

- Body of Divine, cut up to become part of creation – penis in the Nile River - Power of Language – Isis bringing back the child and Horus back to life - Incest 

Story: 

Seth is jealous of Osiris who is the most beloved by the people, so he decides to  get rid of him.

He gets a coffin that only fits Osiris, throws a party, and tricks Osiris into it.

Osiris knows what is about to happen, but to assure the fertility of his land, he  sacrifices himself and the coffin gets thrown into the Nile River.

Isis hides in the swamp, gives birth to Horus.

She meets a woman in the swamp whose son is dead, bitten by a scorpion, and  revives him with a spell.

???? Power of Language

Horus is bit later and she asks for the help of Ra to bring Horus, a god, back  because she didn’t have the power to.

???? More Power of Language

Osiris’s box was found lodged in a tree that was quickly growing around the  coffin.

???? Osiris is the bringer of life

Isis decides to make the King and Queen’s son immortal in exchange for finding  Osiris’s coffin. Is interrupted by the screaming Queen, no immortality for the son.

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A boy is killed when witnessing a private moment of Isis’s.  

???? Line that cannot be crossed, separation between gods and humans. Isis returns with the body of Osiris

Seth finds out and chops Osiris into 14 pieces then hides them around Egypt. Isis finds all but one body part

- Each place she found a body part, she built a shrine for Osiris  

???? represents establishing state religion and unifying Upper and Lower  Egypt

The penis of Osiris was thrown into the Nile River  

???? represents fertility of the Nile and stability

Horus, older now, decides to take revenge on Seth for killing his father Isis stops Horus before he kills Seth

Killing Seth meant there would be no desert, which means no stability.

Significance of Myth: 

Geographical Features: Desert vs. Nile Valley

History: beginning of unifying Egypt

Humans vs. Gods

Maintaining order and balance in the universe

END

Atum Creation Myth: 

- Egyptian, older version, Heliopolis

Re/Ra – the Sun and the first King

Atum – the creator, creates from masturbation, arises from the primordial ocean,  humans were created from his tears

Significance of Myth:

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 9 of 53

Creation as a result of masturbation

One who put his fist (penis) in his mouth (vagina) then spits out creation (male birth) END

Ptah Creation Myth: 

- Egyptian, newer version, Memphis

Ptah – creates from the Word (Power of Language)

- Verbal, or mental creation replaces earlier, physical creation

Significance of Myth: 

Linguistic metaphor for creation

Speaks the other deities and the world into existence

Power of Language

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 10 of 53

Exam 2: Native American Unit

Pantheism – spirits exist in everything

Mana – the “spirit” that exists in all things

Animals and humans are interchangeable

Number Four is sacred:

∙ Four elements

∙ Four seasons

∙ Four directions

∙ Four times of the day

Axis Mundi – the vertical center that is often represented in the myth  ???? Represents the connection between the earthly and the divine

Culture Hero/Trickster: 

∙ Pacific Northwest: Raven

∙ Southwest and Plains: Coyote

∙ Eastern Woodlands: Hare

Smaller animals = intelligent

Larger animals = stupid

Creation Motifs: 

∙ Earth Diver – who swims to the bottom of the primordial sea to bring up mud to  make land

Ex. “How the World Was Made” – Water Beetle (Cherokee)

 “Legend of the Sky-Woman” – Muskrat (Seneca)

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∙ Emergence – people move up from under the ground to evolve physically and  socially  

???? symbolizes birth

Ex. “The Emergence” (Zuni)

 “How the World Was Made” (Cherokee)

 “The Dine Bahane”

∙ Duality – two creators (one good, one evil) or a creator who is imperfect and  needs help

Ex. “How the World Was Made” – Sun too close to earth

 “Legend of the Evil-Minded and Good-Minded” – power struggle

The Emergence and Other Kachina Tales 

- Creation Motif: Emergence

- Southwest, Zuni culture group

Axis Mundi: tree trunks, prayer sticks

People emerged into the 5th World to be civilized with mouths to eat the food they  planted  

???? Development of agricultural society

Webbed hands were cut apart so they could cook

???? Symbolized Civilization

END

How the World Was Made: 

- Creation Motif: Earth Diver, Duality, and Emergence

- Southeast, Cherokee culture group

Earth Diver is the Water Beetle

Duality: sun was placed too close to the earth (too hot)  

???? mistake by the divine

Creation of Nocturnal animals and evergreens that don’t lose their leaves

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???? immortality by not sleep for seven days, sleep = death

Man hits woman with a fish, child is born later

???? Fish is a phallic symbol

???? Represents how the world is populated

END

Legend of the Sky Woman 

- Creation Motif: Earth Diver

- Northeast, Towanda Reservation, Seneca culture group

- Letter Format

Axis Mundi: Tree of Light

Non-Sexual Conception: husband breathes on her

Plants, crops, and animals are thrown through the opening from the Tree of Light  with the Sky-Woman  

???? Marks the beginning of Creation

Daughter marries man of the Great Turtle Race  

???? Two arrows on wall above her = phallic symbol

Earth diver is Musk-rat. Puts dirt on the back of a Great Turtle Shell. END

Legend of the Evil-Minded and Good-Minded 

- Continuation of the Legend of the Sky-Woman

- Letter format

- Creation Motif: Duality

Daughter of the Sky-Woman has twins  

???? symbolized through the two arrows

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Flint: Evil-minded twin, born through the daughter’s armpit, killing her. Blames it  on older brother Sprout

????Creates bad things for humans (ripples, waterfalls, fish with small  bones, monsters, disease, sickness)

Sprout: Good-minded twin. Sky-Woman hates him for killing her daughter ????Creates positive things for humans (streams, animals, birds)

Duality: Flint blames Sprout for the death of their mother; Sprout wins dominance  in game.  

???? Motif: resolving conflict through compromise or by playing a game Daughter of Sky-Woman buried in shallow grave. Crops spring from her body.  ???? becomes part of the natural world

Corn soup recipe in myth

???? Shows mindfulness to thank the Gods

???? Cooking represents civilization  

???? Gifts from the divine or semi-divine (ritual recipe)

Significance: 

Reflects but doesn’t explain the real world

- What is considered good or not as good is determined by how it affects the  humans

END

Origin of Stories 

- Northeast, Seneca culture group

The Stone: has been there since the beginning of time

???? symbol for creation and cultural identity

The Orphan: represents all the Seneca people who don’t know their past history The Stone asks for payment before telling the stories

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???? Introduces the Value of Stories – stories have value if payment is given  for them

Significance: 

Speaks about how important oral tradition is.

???? It’s the only history they have, so it must be passed down

END

Tricksters – semi-divine character who enjoys making trouble to get attention Culture Hero – semi-divine character who gives a gift to humanity

????Often times, the Trickster and the Culture Hero are the same character - Humans have to be tricked to accept the gift

Ex. Hares, Ravens, Coyotes are usually Tricksters and Culture  

Heroes

Raven Story 

- Pacific Northwest Myth

- Trickster: Tricks grandfather chief into giving him light, tricks giant into giving  him water

- Culture Hero: gives humans that light and water

- Light represents enlightenment

Story: 

Raven turns into dirt, goes into the water, and the daughter of the Sky Chief  drinks the water and becomes pregnant with Raven

???? Non-sexual pregnancy

The Sky Chief gives his “grandson” the sun to play with and Raven flies off with it

The Giant has water, Raven tricks the giant, then Raven swallows up the water  and flies off again.

Raven creates rivers and streams

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He asks humans who are fishing to ferry him over the river, then threatens to  release the sun if they don’t. They don’t.

He creates order in the natural world by releasing the sun.

???? Creates space and order among animals – sun determines if they are  land or sea creatures

Significance: 

Order was made in the Natural World by the Culture Hero/Trickster END

How Rabbit Killed the Giant 

- Midwest, Omaha culture group

Story: 

Rabbit arrives in town where humans are suffering from a food shortage because  the Giant keeps stealing it all

???? Members are supposed to share the food with each other

Rabbit kills the giant by telling an insect to bit him, saves the peoples’ food The villagers wanted him to become chief but he says he “left his old woman” ???? Earth mother

Then he returns back to his place in the forest.

Significance: 

Enforcing social rules of politeness.

END

The Toothed Vagina 

- Pacific Northwest, Yurok culture group

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 16 of 53

Story: 

Coyote wants to become part of society so he joins two women and a male  rabbit.

They are nice to him because he is their guest but he is extremely rude. They leave him by morning. He tries to follow them but drowns.

He comes back to life and stumbles across the rabbit’s children’s camp. Burns it  down.

Coyote is a Trickster and a Culture Hero – A woman kills men with teeth in her  vagina when they have sex with her

Coyote uses 10 sticks to have sex with her. Results in killing her.  

???? Gets rid of the threat to men and maintains society

Significance: 

Imperfect characters. Good and bad deeds but still able to be redeemed despite it all. END

Shamanism – one on one contact with the divine

- Trance-like state to connect with divinity

- Oldest method

- Bridge between the real world and the spirit world

- Typically seen in Nomadic Hunting Cultures  

???? Vision Quest

- Shaman was the one who had the most vision quests out of all of them  ???? Most receptive to the spirits

Vision Quest Aspects: 

∙ Individual goes out alone into nature to connect with the spirit world ∙ Sometimes uses hallucinogens to help connect

∙ Comes back to tell others what they saw

Ex. “The Boy Who Shot the Star”

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Group Ritual – a group of people gather for Sun Dance ritual

- Agricultural societies mostly perform it, American southwest

- Kiva – underground chamber where ritual was held

- Coming out of the kiva is a reenactment of emergence

Kachina – doll-like figures used in group rituals that represent the spirit of the ancestors Ex. “The Girl Who Married a Kachina”

 “Gift of the Sacred Pipe”

The Boy Who Shot the Star 

- Tingit Myth

Story: 

Younger boy insults moon by comparing it to his mother’s labret.

???? Offensive because the moon is large and supernatural, not ordinary  and small.

The younger boy is stolen away by the moon as they sleep and the older boy  goes to find him.

Shoots arrows into the sky to make a ladder to the spirit world.

???? Axis Mundi

Bushes in hair ripen as he climbs.

???? Represents a long journey

Old woman and girl he comes across represent the divine.

Older boy pulls younger boy through smoke hole of the moon.

???? Represents rebirth

The boys escape the moon by tricking it and wake up back where they fell  asleep.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 18 of 53

Significance: 

Mythical version of a vision quest

????Dream world isn’t separate from the real world

END

The Girl Who Married a Kachina 

- Southwest, Zuni culture group

- Kachina represents spirits of ancestors

Story: 

Girl wants to marry a kachina. He marries her then takes her away. She comes back after running away but he finds her and takes her back. He tells her she can never go back and live in the world of humans again. ???? She is dead and cannot return to life

Significance: 

If you think too much about the afterlife, you won’t pay attention to the present. END

Gift of the Sacred Pipe 

- Plains, Lakota culture group

- Bison hunting myth

- Ritual from hunting culture

White Buffalo Woman is a Culture Hero

???? Teaches people the ritual of the pipe  

???? Holy Woman – divine figure

Axis Mundi – center post of teepee lodge where pipe ritual takes place

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Woman transforms into a bison

???? Red/brown = real bison colors

???? White = divinity

???? Black = merging of divinity with earth

Significance: 

Teaches people the ritual of the pipe and why it is sacred.

END

Trail of Tears: 

- 1830s

- “Five Civilized Tribes”

- Indian Removal Act: President Jackson

- 25% to 33% (more than 4,000) Cherokee people killed

Massacre of Wounded Knee: 

- 1880s

- Black Hills (Sacred Native American ground) taken over

- Chief Crazy Horse – hero figure to Native Americans because he struck back  at the U.S. Army for attacking a hunting group

- Battle of Little Big Horn – battle with Custer, the idiot American army general - Wounded Knee – 300 out of 350 unarmed Sioux men, women and children  murdered

???? End of the Plains culture (No more free roaming nations)

Wokova – visionary of Ghost Dance

- Saw a flood wipe out white people and bring back the bison and return their  land

- U.S. government saw it as a declaration of war

- Led up to the Massacre of Wounded Knee (second event that caused it)

Black Elk – witness and visionary of Wounded Knee

- Vision of granted power

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- “a people’s dream died there [at Wounded Knee]”

Malinowski –

∙ Polish anthropologist

∙ Looked at the social aspects of myths

∙ Believed myths establish social rules but don’t explain them

Dine Bahane 

- Navajo Creation Myth

- Oral Tradition

- Emergence

Story: 

Air Spirit People – Navajo ancestors before social order was created (they fight  and commit adultery); begin as bugs

Move from 1st World to 2nd World

???? Flood because of adultery

Move from 2nd World to 3rd World

????Famine from Swallow people

Move from 3rd World to 4th World  

???? Social disorder (no food, water, or space) because of the Grasshopper  people

In the 4th World:

- Air Spirit People stop committing adultery, learn to build houses, till soil, and  become more intelligent

???? Social development

- Holy people teach them to bathe and create first man and woman from corn ???? Creates social structure

- Axis Mundi that appears: a reed

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First Man and First Woman

Created out of white and yellow ears of corn

Have 5 sets of twins

????Hermaphrodites: most creative (pottery, tools, sexuality, etc.) and  considered balanced and sacred because of androgyny

All other twins marry each other (incest) so First Woman makes them marry  others

First Woman creates genitalia to create attraction between husband and wife  ???? Marriage is important in social structure

Ritual/Rite of Passage when girl or boy hits puberty

1st Argument over credit for dinner splits men and women

Both man and women realize they cannot live without the other ???? Gender roles are equally important

Move to 5th World

- Women give birth to “monsters” (drought, overused soil, insects) as a result of  masturbation from the 4th World

???? to keep growing crops, don’t masturbate

Really is Don’t break the rules of society to be able to continue  growing crops

???? Gave them the idea that they could control the natural  

world

Coyote in the Dine Bahane

Comes in after the First Man and Woman reunite

Steals water creature’s babies and creates flood

???? Accidental Culture Hero: it moves people from 4th to 5th World; shows  them a better way to hunt

Negative role model – shows people what NOT to do, shows people the  consequences of breaking social rules

Ex. Coyote tells humans he’s a god, he is tricked off the edge of a cliff

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Makes men and women too attractive by creating pubic hair

????First Woman makes clothes to cover them up

Represents chaos when he ruins the order of the stars

Introduces death by throwing a stone into the river (if it sinks you will go back to  your previous life)

Trickster: tries to enter society through marriage; seducing backfires because the  brothers don’t approved and he is rude and doesn’t listen so he is killed

Wife gains his regenerative magic and shape shifting magic (“Sexually  Transmitted Magic”)  

???? doesn’t die when Coyote tries to kill her because she’s no more use to  him when they’re kicked out

???? turns into a bear, kills all but one brother who defeats her

???? her body parts become part of the natural world (head becomes a real  bear, nipples become pine nuts)

END

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Exam 3: Hindu Unit

Hindu – monotheistic faith (one god)

Polymorphis monotheistic – a single god that takes on many different forms

Brahman

(God, inactive. No physical representation/gender)

Ishvara

(active godhead. No physical representation)

The Trimurti (depicted as Male) – The Three

Brahma – the creator, often depicted with a white swan; world being created

Vishnu – the preserver, often pictured with the bird Garuda, mostly seen as an  avatar (Rama, Krishna); world being maintained

Shiva – the destroyer, often depicted with snakes or skulls around neck, third eye, and  a blue throat; world being destroyed

The Shaktis (female energy counterparts) – catalysts

Sarasvati – Brahma’s wife, knowledge and learning, depicted with books and musical  instruments

Lakshmi – Vishnu’s wife, represents beauty, mostly seen as avatar (Sita) Sati – Shiva’s first wife, represents loyalty and fertility

Uma/Parvati – Shiva’s second wife, represents faith and devotion, often pictured with  her mount, a lion

Kali – Shiva’s third wife, represents death and motherhood, represented holding a  demon’s head, tongue sticking out, and stepping on Shiva

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Every time God does something, the action gets a different name. 

No such thing as evil in Hinduism

Avatars – human visages of the god that can walk on earth

Ex. Vishnu – Rama, Krishna; Lakshmi – Sita  

Sex is a sacred (ritualistic) act

Time is circular:

Created ???? Preserved ???? Destroyed ???? Nothingness ???? Created

Reincarnation – based on the caste system

Dharma – your (social) obligations in each life, determined by the caste system, that  you need to complete in that life to be reincarnated

Karma – every decision you make has a consequence that can affect you and things  around you (good and bad karma)

Nirvana – a state of being that is the ultimate goal for a Hindu. It is a release from the  cycle of reincarnation (Moksha) when the soul loses its individuality and  joins Brahman

Moksha – the releasing from the cycle of reincarnation for Nirvana Atmun – “the self of all souls”, another name for Brahman  

Maya – the significance of the material world is an illusion

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Swarga – physical heaven-like place where souls pend time between lives. Devas live  here

Yama – underworld where rakshasas (demons) live

Caste System – institutionalization of the division of labor

∙ Brahmans (priestly class)

∙ Kshatriyas (soldiers and rulers)

∙ Vaishyas (merchants and farmers)

∙ Shudras (servants, working class, “untouchables”)

Myth of Manifestation – used instead of a creation myth, since Hinduism doesn’t  recognize an “original” creation (time is circular)

Creation ???? Destruction (Shiva is offended) ???? Recreation

The Churning of the Ocean 

- Myth of Manifestation

Story: 

Indra (storm god) is cursed by Shiva (destruction) and loses all energy for the  three worlds and everything falls to ruins.

Milky Sea ???? semen, fertility

Churning Stick ???? phallic symbol, sex and creation

Gods and demons join together to create life using the Milky Sea

Out of the sea comes a cow (symbol of divinity), Lakshmi, the moon, and the dew  of life (light)

Shiva steals the moon as it comes out of the sea and puts it on his brow

Demons try to steal the light but Vishnu transformed into a woman to distract  them then steals it away

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 26 of 53

Three Worlds – physical plane, astral plane, and Swarga (heaven) Indra composed a praise hymn for Lakshmi and she grants him two wishes Whoever reads this myth will have their family blessed for three generations

Significance: 

“Creation” Myth, Myth of Manifestation

END

Lingam – Shiva’s representation, cosmic pillar, phallic symbol

Shiva’s Dance – represents the energy and movement (activity) of the Universe and  the human soul

The Potter Analogy: 

First Cause: The Potter

???? Represents the Trimurti, when god decides to act

Instrumental Cause: The Wheel

???? Represents the Shakti, the energy/power to act

Material Cause: The Pot

???? Represents the world; what is created, maintained, or destroyed

Supremacy of Shiva 

- Describes the articulation of the idea of a destructive aspect of God. - Beginning of human understanding of the existence of Shiva

- Narrated by Brahma

- Lingam appears, representing Shiva the inseparable link between destruction  and recreation

Significance: 

Explains why there is no good vs. evil in Hinduism

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 27 of 53

Sati Myth 

- Describes the establishment of the worship of Shiva

Story: 

Daksha, a chief of the gods, is angry with Shiva and refuses to invite him to  events (refuses to accept him as part of god)

Shiva, in return, curses Daksha to a life of ceremony in the material world with a  face of a goat

Sati, Daksha’s daughter, chooses Shiva as her husband. Daksha is angry. At their house, Shiva dresses as a dirty beggar

???? Represents his destructive yet not evil nature

Sati dies because her father insults her husband to her face and doesn’t approve  of the marriage

Shiva, in mourning, strode around the earth destroying everything in his path  while carrying Sati on his back

Vishnu cuts up the body of Sati into 52 pieces and scatters them

????Establishes the worship of Sati (and hence Shiva)

Shiva returns to meditative state so Brahma and Vishnu explain Shiva’s role

Significance: 

Describes the spread and acceptance of the existence of the third aspect of God  (Shiva)

END

Eye-Saint 

Sturdy – the son of the forest chieftain becomes a devotee of Shiva without knowing  proper rituals but the devotion is still there. Also named Eye-Saint

Story:

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 28 of 53

Sturdy, the clueless hunter, offers meat and dirty water (represents  destruction) to the lingam (Shiva) at night.

The Brahman is offended on Shiva’s behalf and gives the “correct” offerings of  flowers and pure water (represents meditation) to Shiva.

Shiva finds both gifts acceptable because a worshipper of Shiva must be pure of  heart and express this purity in actions, not words

To test this, Shiva makes the eye of the lingam bleed. Sturdy comes and cuts out  his own eye to heal the lingam’s eye, then moves to cut out his other when the  lingam’s other eye began bleeding.

Devotion is more important than anything.

Sturdy melted into an image of Shiva

????Represents the abandonment of the physical form

Significance: 

Describes acceptable ways to express reverence and worship for Shiva. END

Uma’s Sport 

Story: 

Shiva is meditating when Uma appears and plays “Guess Who”, covering his  eyes, making everything go dark.

???? Darkness represents destruction

Creates third eye (the moon) which gives light but then burns everything ???? recreation and destruction

Significance: 

Uma is a catalyst for Shiva’s destroying

???? Describes the role of the Shakti and the cyclic nature of the universe END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 29 of 53

The Ramayana 

- Oral tradition, written down in Sanskrit

Valmiki – the author of the Ramayana

Rama – son of Dasharatha, heir to the throne, exiled because of step-mother, avatar of  Vishnu

Bharata – son of Dasharatha, his mother convinces the King to exile Rama. Bharata  refuses to take the throne. Also avatar of Vishnu.

Lakshman – another son of Dasharatha, accompanies Rama into exile. Another avatar  of Vishnu

Sita – wife of Rama, avatar of Lakshmi

Ravana – leader of the demons (rakshasas)

Sugriva – monkey king who helps Rama

Hanuman – “son of the wind”, a monkey who jumps across the ocean to search for the  kidnapped Sita

Story: 

Dasharatha’s wives drink rice milk and become pregnant

???? Non-sexual conception

???? Rice milk represents semen, fertility

Sita, incarnation of Lakshmi, is born of the earth

Bharata’s mother wants to cash in her two favors for saving the king on the  battlefield.

She asks him to exile Rama for 14 years and put her son on the throne instead.

The King’s Karma: honoring Bharata’s mother’s favors (Rama being exiled to  fulfil his own dharma) and previous life, killing someone’s son so he was cursed  to die of grief over the loss of his own son (Rama).

Rama still doesn’t have a reason to go after Ravana and fulfil his dharma

Battle occurs between Ravana’s men and Rama after he scorns Ravana’s sister  – still no reason to go after Ravana

Ravana kidnaps Sita using a distraction of a golden deer

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 30 of 53

????Sita is the catalyst for Rama to complete his dharma

Ravana’s karma: cannot rape Sita because if he rapes anyone ever again, he’ll  be cursed

Sugriva and Hanuman help Rama save Sita

Hanuman’s tail is a phallic symbol that when set on fire, “rapes” the town Lanka  (Lanka is described as a woman)

Rama rescues Sita. She must prove she did not have sex with Ravana. Proved it  by not burning when she stepped into a pyre.

10,000 year rule, Rama is forced to exile Sita, despite her innocence, to make an  example that adultery is not good.

Rama as a role model:

???? establishing and maintaining social order

???? sacrifices his love for Sita to maintain order

END

Hinduism as a Hybrid Religion: 

1.) Native Cultures:

- Indus Valley Civilization: snakes and symbols of agricultural fertility (earth  deities, lingam)

- Dravidian culture: South India. Bull = symbol of fertility. Earth mother notion

2.) Aryan Culture:

- Sanskrit language

- Introduced caste system to keep Aryan cultures separate from Natives, but  eventually turned into a labor division structure

- Three levels of the universe: upper heaven, mid-heaven (astral plane), and  earth

Devas – live in Swarga

∙ Varuna – sky god

∙ Indra – storm god

∙ Agni – fire god

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 31 of 53

∙ Soma – god of feasting

∙ Yama – god of the underworld

Vedas – Sanskrit texts (oral then written)

- Comprised of holy texts that describe the combination of Aryan religion and  Native religion, questioning with contradictory answers

???? Pre-Hindu

???? Polytheistic

???? Nature oriented

Upanishads – “sit next to”, later Sanskrit texts

???? Describes modern religion

???? One god (Brahman)

???? Reincarnation

???? Asks questions, gives contradictory answers

Modern Hinduism – combination of Pre-Vedic (Native) and Vedic (Aryan) influences

- Belief in caste system

- Karma and reincarnation

- Replacement/Modification of Vedic deities

- Cow = divinity

The Mahabharata 

- Longest piece of literature ever

Bhishma – the “retired” king, father of Dhritarashtra and Pandu

Pandavas: sons of non-biological son Pandu

Yuddhistira – oldest son of Pandu (actually of Dharma personified), named heir  by blind Uncle Dhritarashtra

Bhimu

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 32 of 53

Nakula and Sahadeva – twins of second wife

Arjuna – son of Pandu, rival of Karna

Kurus: sons of Dhritarashtra, the blind king

Duryodhana – the true heir to his father’s throne, feels slighted by his father’s  choice to give his cousin Yuddhistira the throne

Karna – half-brother of the Pandavas, raised by a charioteer, rival of Arjuna Krishna – avatar of Vishnu, later becomes allied with the Pandavas Draupadi – wife of all of Pandu’s sons, originally was just supposed to marry Arjuna Drona – master archer who taught all of the cousins archery, later allied with Kurus

Main Conflict: 

The Kurus and the Pandavas fight for the throne

Story: 

Yuddhistira gets too obsessed with material wealth. Loses everything (even  kingship) to Duryodhana in a dice game.

Forced into exile into the forest with the rest of the Pandavas

???? Teaches Yuddhistira about spiritual dharma through trials

Trials in the forest –

1.) Bhima is attacked by ancestor-python. Yuddhistira answers the spiritual order  question correctly which frees Bhima and the ancestor who is then  reincarnated.

2.) Kurus attacked by enemies, Pandavas rescue them.

???? A kingdom is not as important

3.) Draupadi is kidnapped then rescued, told the story of the Ramayana as she is  captive

4.) Everyone drinks from a pool of water and dies except Yuddhistira. Crane  allows him to bring back one brother. Chooses Nakula so each wife of  Pandu has one living son. All brothers come back to life because he chose  right.

12 Years of exile in the forest and 1 year in disguise as people in another caste  before Bhishma invites them home

Krishna, avatar of Vishnu, suggests the cousins split the kingdom between them

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 33 of 53

???? Back to the beginning, no deal

War erupts between the Kurus and Pandavas to see who gets the kingdom.

Krishna says one side can have him, and the other side can have his army.  Duryodhana chooses Krishna’s army.

???? He is still stuck in the physical world, makes choices that says he isn’t  fully aware of spiritual power.

Bhagavad Gita – Arjuna doesn’t want to fight his cousins, Krishna explains a  principle of Hinduism, reincarnation, to explain why it’s okay that Arjuna fights.

???? War becomes a ritual that outlines Hindu beliefs

The Pandavas win because Yuddhistira has Krishna on their side and because  Yuddhistira tells a half-lie that makes Drona give up (that Drona’s son is dead  when it’s really an elephant with the same name).

Bhishma’s Resistance

Bhishma is allowed to choose his time of death, decides during the war that he’s  sick of the material world.

Lays on a bed of arrows and contemplates the divine

???? Separating himself from the material world

Becomes an advisor/wise man to his family because he transcended materialism  and reached spiritualism

Yuddhistira becomes King, rules for 36 years before things fall apart and the  family decides to go to Swarga (heaven).

Each told they could not go to Swarga:

???? Draupadi denied first because she didn’t love her husbands equally ???? Nakula – boastful  

???? Sahadeva – vanity

???? Arjuna – high opinion of heroism

???? Bhima – gluttony

Yuddhistira continues on with his dog, told he cannot bring his dog with him. ???? a test. Dog = dharma incarnate

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 34 of 53

Yuddhistira refuses to leave the dog (dharma) = him knowing his spiritual dharma

He feels like can’t live in Swarga without his family so he goes to Yama (the  Underworld) for a couple of minutes.

???? Atoning for his half-lie about the elephant during the war

After those couple of minutes, he’s able to leave Yama, bringing everyone  (Pandavas and Kurus) up with him

Significance: 

Social order is less important than spiritual order.

Order is important up to the point where order can no longer be maintained  (destruction).

All conflict (who rules, the caste, material wealth, etc.) is not important compared to  spiritual issues.

END

Animals are very important in the creation of social and spiritual order Ramayana – monkeys

Mahabharata – python, crane, and dog

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 35 of 53

Exam 4: African Unit

West Africa (old kingdoms) colonized by the French

East Africa (safari, exotic animals) colonized by the British

Imperfect Gods

Humans are allowed to challenge the gods

Welfare of the community comes before the welfare of the individual Humans are almost at the same level as god 

Hybrid Religion – traditional African beliefs plus Muslim or Christianity

Motifs: 

Duality – imperfect god, or nature as a source of danger and fertility

Divination – a way of communicating with the gods, the patterns of a handful of thrown  sticks/stones/shells is how god communicates

Use of Language – a motif for creating the world

Griot/Griotte – keeper of the oral tradition, storyteller, most important cultural figure

Ananse – spider character from the Asante people (West Africa), trickster figure, small,  cheats others, achieves without the use of magic (not divine)

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 36 of 53

How the Spider Obtained the Sky God’s Stories 

- West Africa

Story: 

Ananse goes to the Sky God (Onyame) to get the Sky God’s stories ????Wants to become more like God by getting the knowledge only God has Negotiates with God for the stories.

Ananse offers God several large animals and his own old mother in exchange for  the stories

???? Doesn’t respect and actively rejects social rules by offering up the  mother

???? Big animals = stupid, Little animals = intelligent (Like in Native  

American stories)

Python, Leopard, Fairy, and Hornets are each tricked and brought to Onyame The Sky Gods stories then become the Spider Stories

???? if Ananse has the stories, he can change the stories about him

Significance: 

Shows that humans can challenge God even without magic

END

How Diseases Came to the Ashanti 

- West Africa

Story: 

Ananse asks the Sky God for his sheep to eat in exchange for a beautiful woman Ananse ate the sheep then went to a village of all women and married them all

A hunter told the Sky God what happened and the Sky God sent messengers to  take all the wives, but left the only sick, ugly one.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 37 of 53

Ananse, on the sick woman’s orders, bathed the woman then poured the  bathwater into a gourd. She became beautiful.

The hunter returned and told God about the beautiful woman and God took her  away too.

Ananse stretched a skin over the diseased water gourd, creating a drum, then  composed a song and dance.

The Sky God wanted the dance but Ananse would only perform it in the harem

Ananse struck the once-ill woman with the gourd, scattering diseases  everywhere.

The Sky God was the cause of Ananse bringing diseases to the world

Significance: 

Ananse owns the stories, so he can write the ending however he wants and blame God END

Ananse and the Ear of Corn 

- West Africa

Story: 

Ananse, a human, asks God for an ear of corn, promising to repay God with 100  servants.

Ananse set out with the ear of corn and came across a village. He called it a  sacred ear of corn from God and the villagers treated him like a king.

At night, Ananse fed the corn to a chicken.

In the morning, he woke the villagers with his cries that God would punish them.  The villagers gave him a whole bushel of corn as an apology.

Ananse went toward the next town with the bushel of corn. Ananse exchanges  the corn for a chicken outside of town. Introduces the chicken to the town as the  sacred chicken of God.

At night, Ananse smeared chicken’s blood on the chief’s doorway. Threatens  God’s wrath in the morning. Leaves the village with 10 fine sheep as an apology.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 38 of 53

Ananse trades the sheep for a dead body outside the next village. Claims the  corpse was a sleeping son of God to the villagers.

Can’t wake the son of God the next morning and threatens God’s wrath. Is  allowed to pick 100 young men as slaves to “save” them.

Ananse returns to God having turned the corn into 100 servants

Significance: 

Ananse takes advantage of the people’s fear of God which enables him to make the  trades and ultimately get 100 servants for God.

END

The Separation of God from Man 

- West Africa

Story: 

Wulbari (God) retreats to the sky for several reasons: no space on Earth, pain  from being grinded on with a pestle, smoke in his eyes, being used as a rag, and  being cut apart and used for food.

Wulbari forms a court of animal attendants in the sky.

Ananse, the spider Captain of the Guard, one day boasts about his own  cleverness and Wulbari overhears him.

Wulbari tells Ananse to fetch him “something” but doesn’t tell Ananse what.

Ananse leaves the sky, weaves a feathered garment, and puts it on once he  returns, disguising himself as a bird.

Wulbari wants to find out what type of bird it is but no one knows. Someone  suggests Ananse would know and Wulbari reveals his trick.

Ananse discovers that the “something” Wulbari wants is the sun, the moon, and  darkness.

He finds them and brings them back to Wulbari.

First Ananse pulls out darkness, then the moon, then the sun. The bright sun  blinds or half-blinds some humans.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 39 of 53

Blindness came to the world all because Wulbari wanted “something.”

Significance: 

God is prompted to pull away from the humans because he feels threatened. His pride  results in human blindness.

END

God Retreats to the Sky 

- Central Africa

Story: 

Nyambi (God) creates Kamonu, a human who repeats everything he does.  Nyambi began to fear Kamonu.

Kamonu kept killing his “brothers” (other animals) and Nyambi cast him out.  Kamonu later returns but was just as violent.

Nyambi tried many ways to flee Kamonu but they didn’t work. Humans were  multiplying at the same time.

Nyambi went to Spider who spun a thread from earth to the sky.

???? Axis Mundi

Nyambi climbed up the thread then put out Spider’s eyes so it couldn’t find its  way to heaven again.

Kamonu tried to build a tower of logs up to the sky but it fell.

???? Tower of logs = another Axis Mundi

Every morning, Kamonu greeted the rising sun (Nyambi) as “king”. Others soon  copied him.

???? Created a ritual.

Significance: 

Ritual is established in order for humans to interact with God

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 40 of 53

The Chameleon Finds 

- South Africa

- Bantu culture group

Story: 

Mulungu (God) and peaceful beasts inhabited the world.

One day, Chameleon catches a little man and woman in his trap and takes them  to Mulungu

Mulungu tells Chameleon to free them and let them grow.

The grown humans develop socially which is threatening to Mulungu and kill the  peaceful beasts for food.

The animals are forced to flee to keep from getting eaten and Mulungu leaves  earth.

He calls on Spider to spin him a robe to climb into the sky.

???? Axis Mundi

“The Gods were driven off the face of the earth by the cruelty of man” – Last line  of story

Significance: 

If God feels threatened by humans, he will escape.

END

Yoruba Culture Group – Africa’s largest and best known culture group, located in  Nigeria

“Original” town where Obatala first comes to earth is called Ile--Ife (ile--ife)  (Oracle’s name and the actual town site)

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 41 of 53

The Descent From the Sky 

- Yoruba culture group

Olorun – supreme god of the sky domain

Orunmila – also called Ifa, the eldest son of Olorun who was given the power to read  the future (Oracle, uses divination)

Obatala – King of the White Cloth, descends to earth and creates humans Eshu – a neutral god, Olorun’s linguist

Olokun – goddess of the water and wild marshes below the sky

Story: 

Obatala goes to Olorun and suggest covering the water with solid land so they  could inhabit it.

Olorun agrees and Obatala volunteers to do it.

Obatala goes to Orunmila and Orunmila divines how it should be done.

Orunmila says Obatala must descend on a gold chain carrying a snail shell full of  sand, a hen, a black cat, and a palm nut.

Obatala descends on the gold chain.

???? Axis Mundi

It stopped before he reached the bottom and Orunmila called to him, telling him  to pour out the sand then to drop the hen.  

The hen scattered the sand in all directions, making solid land (and hills and  valleys due to the unevenness).

Obatala named the place he had come down at Ife.

Obatala planted the palm nut which grew into a palm tree and dropped more  seeds when then grew.

????Vegetation

Obatala lived there with only his black cat as a companion.

Olorun sent Agemo the Chameleon down to see how Obatala was doing.  Obatala said it was still too gray so Olorun created the sun.

Obatala became lonely and crafted clay people.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 42 of 53

He became drunk and didn’t notice some of the clay people he crafted where  misshapen. Only when he became sober after Olorun breathed life into them did  he realize his mistake.

He took responsibility and pledged to take special care of the humans who were deformed.

Each god that went to earth once Obatala returned to the sky and told them  about it were given special responsibilities to fulfil below.

Olokun, the goddess whose domain Obatala built his land on, was angry and  humiliated.

When Obatala was resting in the sky, Olokun decided to destroy the land and  replace it with water.

Eshu takes the message from the humans (after getting a sacrifice for himself as  well) to Obatala, telling him what is happening.

Orunmila went down this time to settle it, drying up the marshes and water then  taught humans how to divine with shells, sand, or chains or by palm nuts.

???? Taught humans to communicate with the gods

Olokun challenged Olorun to a weaving contest.

Olorun sends Agemo the Chameleon down to Olokun to accept her challenge  and view her skills.

Agemo was able to turn all the colors of her finest weaving so she withdrew the  challenge to Olorun, considering him her better.

Significance: 

Conflict is resolved through contests.

God and humans have a close relationship.

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 43 of 53

How Shango Departed from Oya 

- Yoruba culture group

Story: 

Shango (God) who lived in Oyo conquered the lands around him with the help of  the heroes Timi and Gbonka.

Shango became jealous of their fame and called Timi to him then sent him away  to conquer and rule a nearby city, hoping he would die while fighting.

Timi didn’t die so instead Shango called upon Gbonka to go fight Timi, to bring  him back.

Gbonka tried to convince Timi to return but Timi refused so they fought. Gbonka knocked Timi out with a sleeping spell and brought him back.

Shango manipulated Timi into fighting Gbonka to regain his honor. The two  fought and Gbonka knocked him out again with a sleeping spell.

Shango was angry that they still hadn’t killed each other and argued the fight  wasn’t over until someone died.

Gbonka angrily agreed to fight Timi again. He sent Timi to sleep again, cut off  Timi’s head, then threw the head into Shango’s lap.

Shango, angry at the disrespect, put Gbonka to death, but Gbonka didn’t die. He  stepped out of the flames of the pyre unharmed and made the people of Oyo flee  until only Shango and his wife remained.

Gbonka gave Shango 5 days to leave Oyo.

By the fourth day, people were praising Gbonka and Shango left.

Shango’s wife left him too and Shango hung himself.

Shango’s wife found his body but when she returned with others, his body had  disappeared.

???? Shango had returned to the sky as the God of Storms

Significance: 

God can be imperfect and have dual qualities.

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 44 of 53

The Dogon Myth 

- West Africa

- Ogotemmeli the griot

- Creation Myth

- Entirely a metaphor

Amma – creator God

Nummo twins – represent water, fertility, balance, order

Story: 

Amma creates Earth.

???? Feminine body = fertility

Ant hill in Earth is the Earth’s vagina, the Termite hill is the clitoris.

Amma approaches and wants to have sex but the Termite hill rises and bars  entrance.  

???? Clitoris is masculine

Amma can’t have sex with the Earth while it’s still masculine so he cuts off the  clitoris.

Jackal is born from the removal of the clitoris.

???? Problem: he’s not a twin, imbalanced

2nd time Amma had sex with Earth, the Nummo twins were born. Nummo go to the heavenly realm after birth

- Look down on Earth and see naked Eath Mother

- Amma approached Earth while still masculine

???? Destroyed order

- The Nummo must teach to speak

???? Teach them order

1st Word – Creating order in the Natural World

(Spiral fibers) – clothing over Earth

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 45 of 53

Jackal has sex with the Earth Mother.

???? Violation of order (incest)

Fibers stained red = menstrual cycle

Amma decides to create people out of two lumps of clay.

- They are not identical, not perfect

Nummo says the humans must be given a male and a female soul be perfect. ???? Foreskin of penis = feminine, Clitoris = masculine

Humans cannot reproduce if they are both male and female.

Excision and Circumcision is done to make them just a man or a woman again. Amma can only fix the imperfection through social means.

The man and woman birth the Eight Original Ancestors; 4 men, 4 women, self fertilizing.

Nummo have the 8 ancestors go into the Earth and purify the Earth Mother.

The 7th Ancestor, while stepping into the Earth Mother, gives the second word.  Mouth join with the vagina and teeth around it  

???? tooth vagina

2nd Word – Creation of Order in Society

Interwoven strands (Fabric of Society) ???? interactions with humans (Tooth vagina and weaving)

Nummo tell the Ancestors to imitate the ant

- Each ant has a particular job

- Structuring society

- Learn to make shelter, hunt, etc.

The 8 ancestors are each given separate grains for their food but they can’t eat  together or share grain.

???? represents incest

Ended up doing it anyway and got kicked out of heaven.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 46 of 53

3rd Word – Creation of Cosmic/Spiritual Order

(Granary, Inverted Basket)

???? Axis Mundi on top of basket

???? Species of animals on each step

???? Granary described as a woman on her back with her arms and legs raised.

Significance: 

Creating order in the world through language.

END

The Dahomean 

Sogbo – Sky God

Sagbata – Earth God

Mawu-Lisa – Mawu (female/moon) – Lisa (male/sun)

Legba – trickster figure who is also the linguist

Story: 

Part One

Tells all the jobs of the gods.

Part Two

Sagbata is sold to Death, insults Death and is locked away without food.

Death ends up selling Sagbata to another country where Sagbata runs away and  returns home to take the kingship away from Sogbo, his friend.

Angry, Sogbo stops the rain from falling and caused drought.

Sagbata sends animals up to Sogbo to plead the return of rain, only the  Chameleon makes it.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 47 of 53

Sogbo agrees to send water if Sagbata and his people perform a ritual, and  Sogbo promises to not command the people on earth if Sagbata doesn’t try to  command the people of the sky.

Only if the people threw water over the mound of earth did rain fall ???? Ritual created

Part Three

Sagbata and Sogbo are brothers. The Creator delegated her sons to rule the  world for her.

The brothers fought and Sagbata, the oldest, decided to descend to earth while  Sogbo would not leave his mother in the sky

Sagbata took everything with him but water which humans needed most

Two men came to Earth to preach the writings of Destiny (Fa) and they told  Sagbata that Sogbo was angry and withholding the rain.

The men told Sagbata that he would need to sacrifice a portion of all the riches  on earth and give a message to Wututu, the bird friend of Sogbo, to make rain  fall.

The brothers reconcile and rain is returned.

Part Four

Sagbata was given Earth when Sogbo wanted it so Sogbo withheld the rain.

Legba had actually told him to, making the excuse to Mawu that there was no  water in the sky and everyone was dying of thirst, making Mawu order no water  should fall to keep the sky people alive.

Legba advised Wututu to tell Sagbata to set fire to the land after the Earth  dwellers complained about no water.

Legba tells Mawu that Wututu, his “little assistant”, had gone to Earth in his place  and told him that the heat had set everything on earth aflame and soon it would  reach the Heavens and destroy it. Mawu ordered Sogbo to let rain fall.

Compromise – rain falls when Earth needs it.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 48 of 53

Part Five

Lisa, Mawu’s son, is ordered by Mawu to take Gu, an iron cutlass, down to  earth to teach the humans how to use it.

???? Ordering of the World

Gu – metal tools, cultivates plants, creates civilizations.

Part Six

Aido-Hwedo, a giant serpent, was the companion of the Creator and followed her  around everywhere, creating curves, winds, high areas, and low areas across the  land.

The serpent’s poop is the mountains.

When the work of creating the world was finished, Mawu noticed there was too  much weight on the world.

Aido-Hwedo coiled up in a circle to let the earth sit on him.

He disliked the heat so Mawu made the ocean for him to live in, though he  doesn’t rule the sea because he isn’t of royal blood.

Now, when Aido-Hwedo stirs, there is an earthquake.

Part Seven

Long ago, a man and woman came down from the sky and became the first  family on Earth.

Sogbo sent them down.

The man and woman began to teach the worship of Mawu and Lisa. They established four shrines: one each for Mawu, Lisa, Gu, and Age.

They also established sacrifices to the four gods before the pair returned to the  sky, leaving behind their Lisa’s beads and a daughter.

The daughter birthed two children and the children grew, the wands they were  born with growing with them.

After seven years, the mother and father returned to the sky as well, leaving the  children behind to pass on the worshipping of the Sky-Gods.

Lisa had sent a chameleon with the first woman and man as a protector, which is  why the chameleon is the sacred animal of Lisa.

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Part Eight

First man was Agblo. Makes children with his wife.

The couple died and a ram was sacrificed and buried with them.

Cheyi, a man, was digging a well and he found a road as he dug. A woman told  him it was a Sacred Place to earth.

Cheyi was brought to a temple of Sagbata who told him that Cheyi was brought  there to learn how to worship the Earth gods and take the knowledge back with  him.

Cheyi was taught the cult of three gods: Sagbata, Lisa, and Mawu.

Cheyi went home, built temples, performed sacrifices, and learns how to worship  the divine fully.

Becomes the first priest of those gods.

Part Nine

Legba gives magic to Awe, a human. Awe gives it to other humans.

Mawu, angry, makes Legba invisible so he could not share such secrets again,  but Awe only takes his place as a chief of magic.

Awe challenges the power of Mawu.

He makes a human out of a tree but can’t make it come to life because he has no  divine power.

Mawu grows, harvests, and cooks corn to show him up.

???? Fertility, life

Awe returns to earth but Mawu sends Death after him who took away fire when  Awe attacked him.

???? If you challenge God, he will take away civilization.

Awe released Death and fire (civilization) was returned.

Significance: 

Myth creates order.

END

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African Epic – describes the exploits of a hero and/or the origins or history of the  culture group or nation

Gassire’s Lute 

- Soninke culture group

- West Africa

Gassire – heir to the Wagadu Kingdom

Wagadu – the capital city, over the years it changed its name and 4 times it  “disappeared” (was destroyed or forgotten about)

Story: 

Starts by introducing Wagadu. This is the story about how Wagadu was first lost  to Gassire’s vanity.

Gassire wants to become king so he goes to a Wise Man (a fortune teller) to ask  when his father will die.

Fortune teller tells Gassire that the king will die, but Gassire won’t be inheriting  the throne. Also says Gassire’s lute causes the loss of Wagadu.

There is currently a culture war between kingdoms and Gassire overhears a  partridge sing of how everyone dies but the Dausi, “the song of my battles.”

Gassire tries to escape his fate with a song so he has a smith craft a lute.

The lute has nothing to sing about so he needs to take the lute into battle with  him to absorb the bloodshed of war.

Each day of battle, one of his eight sons die and their blood drenches the lute as  he carries their bodies over his shoulder (only seven of the eight died).

Gassire’s mistake was that he extended the war longer than it needed to be so  the citizens revolted and kicked him out into the desert.

Gassire’s lute sang, the old king finally died, and Wagadu was lost. ???? Created history for his people about Gassire and his sons.

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Significance: 

Creation of oral tradition

Created history for his people

END

Epic of Askia Mohammed 

- West Africa

Askia Mohammed (Mamar) – semi-divine epic hero who overthrows his uncle and  becomes ruler

Si – uncle of Askia and the ruler

Story: 

Si kills all of his sister’s, Kassaye’s, children except Askia because she switched  her son with that of a captive woman’s daughter who gave birth at the same time  she did.

Askia was prophesized to kill Si and become the ruler.

Askia sees his father using a ring to peer into the underwater spirit world. His  father gives him weapons and Askia sets out to kill Si.

Askia decides to atone for killing his uncle by making a pilgrimage to Mecca,  converting people to Islam on his way.

Comes back, runs into the Bargantche people (like the woman his mother held  captive), but was able to escape them.

Significance: 

Gives people cultural heritage.

END

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The Adventures of Papaju 

- South Africa

Papaju – the hero and rightful king

Gegetsu – the witch who eats men and pursues Papaju

Story: 

A king wanted an heir but his first wife only bore him daughters.

He consulted the bones (divination) which told him a second wife would give him  a son.

The second wife had a son, Xigamana, first. Then the first wife birthed a son,  Papaju.

Traditionally, Papaju, belonging to the First House (first wife), would be the King’s  successor, but his half-brother argued it should be him considering he was older.

???? Power struggle

Papaju’s brother took the throne in the end though he always feared Papaju  would rise up and overthrow him.

Papaju was very popular which made his half-brother’s hatred grow, so  Xigamana decided to kill Papaju.

His brother tricked Papaju into swallowing a “lucky” stone and it stuck in Papaju’s  throat, making him mute.

After many months, Papaju leaves home to find a way to speak again.

He comes across a sympathetic iguana who tells Papaju he must skin the  iguana, then cook and eat the lizard’s heart. His skin and gall bladder should be  kept for good luck and his carcass should be thrown back into the river so the  iguana can live again.

Papaju trapped the iguana with the gum of a fig tree and killed it with an axe.  Before cooking the heart, he followed the iguana’s instructions to throw the  corpse into the river and the iguana came back to life.

Papaju went back home, free of his brother’s spell, then killed his half-brother  that night.

While on a hunting expedition, a honey bird appeared and led Papaju away on a  journey.

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He followed the bird’s advice to not enter any of the beautiful houses they  passed.

He came across a pen of fat goats, then fat sheep, and finally fat cows, and the  bird allowed him to take all of them.

Then he came across a basket and, starving and hoping it was food, he ignored  the honey bird’s warnings and opened it, unleashing Gegetsu the witch.

She tells him he must carry her on his back forever as a punishment.

After walking for a while with her on his back, still herding the animals, they  stopped to eat and he blinded her by throwing fruit waste into her eyes. He ran  with the animals. She chased after him.

Papaju came to a flooded river where bathing women helped him and the  animals cross. They hid him away from the witch who had also ravaged their  town before, eating all of their men.

Gegetsu parted the river with her beak-like tooth and came after Papaju, only to  be attacked by a guard dog. She fell asleep while waiting and Papaju was able to  slip away. She woke up and chased after him.

He climbed into a tree to escape the witch and called for his dogs. The witch ate  almost all of them and all of his goats, sheep, and cows. Only one dog remained.

The dog and the witch fought until the dog killed Gegetsu, ripping open her  stomach and freeing all of her victims, humans and animals.

Papaju returned home with the dogs, goats, sheep, and cattle.

????Matured into a good king, ruled with kindness, love, and wisdom unlike  his half-brother who had ruled through fear.

Significance: 

Following instructions is important.

Establishment of a kingdom and culture through a mature rule.

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 1 of 53

Exam 1: Ancient Near Eastern Unit

Myths –

∙ Establish or codify social structures

∙ Describe creation of natural order

Mythic Systems – describe how the physical world came to be, how human activities  are structured within society

Monogenesis – all myths are derived from one original source, transmitted through  direct culture

Polygenesis – myths of similar type arose independently of each other in various parts  of the world

Characteristics of a myth: 

∙ Supernatural or fantastic beings

∙ Comes from oral tradition

∙ Represent figurative social and cosmological structures

∙ Presents world view of community or social structures

∙ Presented as a narrative

Myths are metaphors

Religion – an articulated belief system

Myths – exemplify those beliefs

Carl Jong – theist who believed all human beings share certain fears and ideas from  birth (Collective Unconscious)

???? Architype – stark or standard character that is repeated through myths

Levi-Strauss – theist who believes that society is a machine and that myths help  provide order

???? Contradictory lifestyle in myths

???? Source of myth is internal

Motif – symbol or concrete idea that is repeated across mythology

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Descent of Inanna 

- Sumerian, first to move from pastoral/nomadic life to agricultural life Inanna – Queen of Heaven, represents agriculture

Ereshkigal – sister of Inanna and ruler of the Underworld

Dumuzi – husband and brother of Inanna, represents pastoral fertitlity, “Shepherd God”

Gestinanna – another sister of Dumuzi who trades places with him every couple of  months in the Underworld

Motifs: 

- Power struggles among the deities – Inanna trying to go after Ereshkigal’s  power

- Dying-Rising Divinity – Dumuzi when he comes up from the Underworld =  fertility of animals

- Incest – keeping godly power in the family

Story: 

Inanna, queen of Heaven, goes down to the underworld where her sister rules  under the pretense of mourning her sister’s late husband. Really goes to get  more power.

She is stripped of her jewels and clothes

???? Represents taking away her powers

Inanna is freed from the Underworld with the help of another God, but she has to  send someone in her place

She chooses Dumuzi, her husband, who had taken over the throne while she  was gone

???? Represents Agricultural way of life overtaking the pastoral way of life

Another sister, Gestinanna, takes Dumuzi’s place in the underworld every 6  months

???? Dumuzi in the Underworld = lack of fertility

???? Dumuzi out of the Underworld = fertility

Significance of Myth: 

Historical: Shows Sumerian history where pastoral life became agricultural life

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Death is the ultimate power – praise ritual to the goddess of the Underworld END

The Enuma Elish 

- Babylonian creation myth, ritual

Apsu – male, god of fresh water (rivers)

Tiamat – female, goddess of salt water, represents chaos

Ea – god of wisdom, kills Apsu in a power struggle

Marduk – kills Tiamat (destroys chaos), creates calendar (creates order) Kingu – captain to Tiamat, humans are created from his blood

Motifs: 

- Power struggles among the deities – “too noisy”, children trying to usurp Apsu  and Tiamat

- Power of Language – Tiamat forcing her two would-be killers away, Marduk  makes clothing disappear and reappear

- Body of Divine, cut up to become part of creation – Tiamat’s skull used, body  creates Heaven and Earth

- Incest (suggested)

Story: 

Apsu and Tiamat create gods. They “make too much noise.”

???? Represents their children becoming more powerful

Apsu decides to kill all of the younger gods before they could kill them, ends up  getting killed by Ea, his son and the god of wisdom, instead

Tiamat creates “monsters” (weather) to fight the younger gods to avenge her  husband

Tiamat’s biggest mistake – giving Kingu, the captain of the monsters, the Tablets  of Destiny, Apsu’s power

Younger gods are infuriated and plan to kill Tiamat, only to be forced away by her  Power of Language

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 4 of 53

Marduk steps forward to fight Tiamat in exchange for the supreme power. The  gods agree, but he has to use the Power of Language to make clothes disappear  and reappear as a test.

He fights Tiamat and defeats her by making the wind fill her belly when she  opens her mouth then pops her like a balloon with his spear

Marduk takes Apsu’s power from Kingu and takes one half of Tiamat to make  Heaven and the other half to create Earth

???? Takes Chaos (Tiamat) and creates order within the universe

Significance of Myth: 

Ordering the universe and society

The people use this myth to ask for order in the world when performing the ritual every  spring.

END

Epic of Gilgamesh 

- Sumerian, poetic, not a ritual

Gilgamesh – King of Uruk, one-third man and two-thirds god

Enkidu – “Wild” man sent as a companion/lover and equal to Gilgamesh Humbaba – “Monster” who guards the Cedar Forest, under the protection of Enlil

Ishtar – (Inanna), Queen of Heaven, patron goddess of Uruk, would-be suitor of  Gilgamesh until rejected by Gilgamesh

Shamash – god of the sun who helps Gilgamesh and Enkidu defeat Humbaba Enlil – god of earth, wind, and air who aids Humbaba

Utnapishtim – only survivor of the great flood, only human to attain immortality Motifs: 

- Power struggle among the deities – Shamash and Enlil use humans as  puppets/proxies

- Sleep as death – used when Gilgamesh attempts to gain immortality - Power of Language – Gilgamesh writing his story on the wall, form of  immortality

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Story: 

Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, is abusing his power.

The people gather and ask gods to contain him. They can’t because he’s more  god than human.

The gods create Enkidu, a wild man, who will become the companion/lover equal to Gilgamesh in strength

A prostitute “tames” Enkidu – “civilizes” him by having sex for pleasure, which  only humans do. Also teaches him to drink wine and eat bread (human-made  products).

Gilgamesh has dreams before Enkidu arrives

- Young hero coming to Uruk. Gilgamesh is as attracted to him as he is to a  woman

- Attracted to an axe  

???? phallic symbol

Gilgamesh was going to sleep with a virgin bride, Enkidu stops him and fights  him. They are evenly matched. Gilgamesh is humbled.

They “embrace” after the fight.

Enkidu and Gilgamesh go to the Cedar Forest to fight Humbaba, they kill him.

Proxy battle between Shamash and Enlil by the fight of Gilgamesh and Enkidu  vs. Humbaba  

???? humans are puppets of the gods

When they return home, Gilgamesh is propositioned by the goddess Ishtar.  He refuses her because he knows what she did to her previous lovers. ???? by rejecting her, he lost his chance to become a full god

Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven (earthquake)

Gilgamesh kills Bull of Heaven

Enkidu rips off its leg and throws it at Ishtar

???? Insult to Ishtar

Ishtar kills Enkidu in place of Gilgamesh for killing the Bull. Enkidu becomes ill  and dies in bed.  

???? Gilgamesh is saddened by the reminder of his own mortality.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 6 of 53

Gilgamesh goes on a search for everlasting life. He heard of Utnapishtim who  survived the Great Flood and became immortal.

Gilgamesh walked through the darkness of the mountain for 12 leagues.  

???? Represents death, Gilgamesh is hoping to be reborn as an immortal on  the other side

Embedded Myth – Myth within a myth

- ‘The Story of the Flood’ in Epic of Gilgamesh, story of how Utnapishtim  became immortal

- Humans were ‘becoming noisy’ – humans were numerous and the gods  were afraid the humans would usurp them

Utnapishtim decides to give Gilgamesh a test to see if he is worthy of immortality Gilgamesh must stay awake for 7 days

Bread is placed beside him each time he sleeps

- Bread is human-made

- Moldy bread is a reminder of how the body rots

Gilgamesh fell asleep, can’t be immortal. His human side ruined it.

Gilgamesh gets a consolation prize: a plant that will make him forever youthful Snake steals plant – snakes shed skin, renewing themselves, “become youthful”

Gilgamesh has no immortality, no eternal youth. Goes back home and writes his  story on the walls of Ururk  

???? Power of Language

Significance of Myth: 

Teaches us about being human (mortality)

Basic human concern: immortality vs. mortality

END

Osiris Myth 

- Egyptian

Geb – the earth god (usually female, flipped in Egyptian culture)

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 7 of 53

Nut – sky goddess (usually male, flipped in Egyptian culture)

Osiris – represents the fertility of the Nile River, the Pharaoh after death Isis – Osiris’s wife and sister

Seth – brother of Osiris who represents death and sterility

Horus – son of Osiris and Isis, represents the Pharaoh in life

Motifs: 

- Power struggles among the deities – Osiris vs. Seth, Seth vs. Horus - Dying-Rising Divinity – Osiris and the Nile River  

???? Water rises = Osiris is reborn  

???? Water recedes = Osiris dies

- Body of Divine, cut up to become part of creation – penis in the Nile River - Power of Language – Isis bringing back the child and Horus back to life - Incest 

Story: 

Seth is jealous of Osiris who is the most beloved by the people, so he decides to  get rid of him.

He gets a coffin that only fits Osiris, throws a party, and tricks Osiris into it.

Osiris knows what is about to happen, but to assure the fertility of his land, he  sacrifices himself and the coffin gets thrown into the Nile River.

Isis hides in the swamp, gives birth to Horus.

She meets a woman in the swamp whose son is dead, bitten by a scorpion, and  revives him with a spell.

???? Power of Language

Horus is bit later and she asks for the help of Ra to bring Horus, a god, back  because she didn’t have the power to.

???? More Power of Language

Osiris’s box was found lodged in a tree that was quickly growing around the  coffin.

???? Osiris is the bringer of life

Isis decides to make the King and Queen’s son immortal in exchange for finding  Osiris’s coffin. Is interrupted by the screaming Queen, no immortality for the son.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 8 of 53

A boy is killed when witnessing a private moment of Isis’s.  

???? Line that cannot be crossed, separation between gods and humans. Isis returns with the body of Osiris

Seth finds out and chops Osiris into 14 pieces then hides them around Egypt. Isis finds all but one body part

- Each place she found a body part, she built a shrine for Osiris  

???? represents establishing state religion and unifying Upper and Lower  Egypt

The penis of Osiris was thrown into the Nile River  

???? represents fertility of the Nile and stability

Horus, older now, decides to take revenge on Seth for killing his father Isis stops Horus before he kills Seth

Killing Seth meant there would be no desert, which means no stability.

Significance of Myth: 

Geographical Features: Desert vs. Nile Valley

History: beginning of unifying Egypt

Humans vs. Gods

Maintaining order and balance in the universe

END

Atum Creation Myth: 

- Egyptian, older version, Heliopolis

Re/Ra – the Sun and the first King

Atum – the creator, creates from masturbation, arises from the primordial ocean,  humans were created from his tears

Significance of Myth:

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 9 of 53

Creation as a result of masturbation

One who put his fist (penis) in his mouth (vagina) then spits out creation (male birth) END

Ptah Creation Myth: 

- Egyptian, newer version, Memphis

Ptah – creates from the Word (Power of Language)

- Verbal, or mental creation replaces earlier, physical creation

Significance of Myth: 

Linguistic metaphor for creation

Speaks the other deities and the world into existence

Power of Language

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 10 of 53

Exam 2: Native American Unit

Pantheism – spirits exist in everything

Mana – the “spirit” that exists in all things

Animals and humans are interchangeable

Number Four is sacred:

∙ Four elements

∙ Four seasons

∙ Four directions

∙ Four times of the day

Axis Mundi – the vertical center that is often represented in the myth  ???? Represents the connection between the earthly and the divine

Culture Hero/Trickster: 

∙ Pacific Northwest: Raven

∙ Southwest and Plains: Coyote

∙ Eastern Woodlands: Hare

Smaller animals = intelligent

Larger animals = stupid

Creation Motifs: 

∙ Earth Diver – who swims to the bottom of the primordial sea to bring up mud to  make land

Ex. “How the World Was Made” – Water Beetle (Cherokee)

 “Legend of the Sky-Woman” – Muskrat (Seneca)

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 11 of 53

∙ Emergence – people move up from under the ground to evolve physically and  socially  

???? symbolizes birth

Ex. “The Emergence” (Zuni)

 “How the World Was Made” (Cherokee)

 “The Dine Bahane”

∙ Duality – two creators (one good, one evil) or a creator who is imperfect and  needs help

Ex. “How the World Was Made” – Sun too close to earth

 “Legend of the Evil-Minded and Good-Minded” – power struggle

The Emergence and Other Kachina Tales 

- Creation Motif: Emergence

- Southwest, Zuni culture group

Axis Mundi: tree trunks, prayer sticks

People emerged into the 5th World to be civilized with mouths to eat the food they  planted  

???? Development of agricultural society

Webbed hands were cut apart so they could cook

???? Symbolized Civilization

END

How the World Was Made: 

- Creation Motif: Earth Diver, Duality, and Emergence

- Southeast, Cherokee culture group

Earth Diver is the Water Beetle

Duality: sun was placed too close to the earth (too hot)  

???? mistake by the divine

Creation of Nocturnal animals and evergreens that don’t lose their leaves

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 12 of 53

???? immortality by not sleep for seven days, sleep = death

Man hits woman with a fish, child is born later

???? Fish is a phallic symbol

???? Represents how the world is populated

END

Legend of the Sky Woman 

- Creation Motif: Earth Diver

- Northeast, Towanda Reservation, Seneca culture group

- Letter Format

Axis Mundi: Tree of Light

Non-Sexual Conception: husband breathes on her

Plants, crops, and animals are thrown through the opening from the Tree of Light  with the Sky-Woman  

???? Marks the beginning of Creation

Daughter marries man of the Great Turtle Race  

???? Two arrows on wall above her = phallic symbol

Earth diver is Musk-rat. Puts dirt on the back of a Great Turtle Shell. END

Legend of the Evil-Minded and Good-Minded 

- Continuation of the Legend of the Sky-Woman

- Letter format

- Creation Motif: Duality

Daughter of the Sky-Woman has twins  

???? symbolized through the two arrows

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 13 of 53

Flint: Evil-minded twin, born through the daughter’s armpit, killing her. Blames it  on older brother Sprout

????Creates bad things for humans (ripples, waterfalls, fish with small  bones, monsters, disease, sickness)

Sprout: Good-minded twin. Sky-Woman hates him for killing her daughter ????Creates positive things for humans (streams, animals, birds)

Duality: Flint blames Sprout for the death of their mother; Sprout wins dominance  in game.  

???? Motif: resolving conflict through compromise or by playing a game Daughter of Sky-Woman buried in shallow grave. Crops spring from her body.  ???? becomes part of the natural world

Corn soup recipe in myth

???? Shows mindfulness to thank the Gods

???? Cooking represents civilization  

???? Gifts from the divine or semi-divine (ritual recipe)

Significance: 

Reflects but doesn’t explain the real world

- What is considered good or not as good is determined by how it affects the  humans

END

Origin of Stories 

- Northeast, Seneca culture group

The Stone: has been there since the beginning of time

???? symbol for creation and cultural identity

The Orphan: represents all the Seneca people who don’t know their past history The Stone asks for payment before telling the stories

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???? Introduces the Value of Stories – stories have value if payment is given  for them

Significance: 

Speaks about how important oral tradition is.

???? It’s the only history they have, so it must be passed down

END

Tricksters – semi-divine character who enjoys making trouble to get attention Culture Hero – semi-divine character who gives a gift to humanity

????Often times, the Trickster and the Culture Hero are the same character - Humans have to be tricked to accept the gift

Ex. Hares, Ravens, Coyotes are usually Tricksters and Culture  

Heroes

Raven Story 

- Pacific Northwest Myth

- Trickster: Tricks grandfather chief into giving him light, tricks giant into giving  him water

- Culture Hero: gives humans that light and water

- Light represents enlightenment

Story: 

Raven turns into dirt, goes into the water, and the daughter of the Sky Chief  drinks the water and becomes pregnant with Raven

???? Non-sexual pregnancy

The Sky Chief gives his “grandson” the sun to play with and Raven flies off with it

The Giant has water, Raven tricks the giant, then Raven swallows up the water  and flies off again.

Raven creates rivers and streams

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He asks humans who are fishing to ferry him over the river, then threatens to  release the sun if they don’t. They don’t.

He creates order in the natural world by releasing the sun.

???? Creates space and order among animals – sun determines if they are  land or sea creatures

Significance: 

Order was made in the Natural World by the Culture Hero/Trickster END

How Rabbit Killed the Giant 

- Midwest, Omaha culture group

Story: 

Rabbit arrives in town where humans are suffering from a food shortage because  the Giant keeps stealing it all

???? Members are supposed to share the food with each other

Rabbit kills the giant by telling an insect to bit him, saves the peoples’ food The villagers wanted him to become chief but he says he “left his old woman” ???? Earth mother

Then he returns back to his place in the forest.

Significance: 

Enforcing social rules of politeness.

END

The Toothed Vagina 

- Pacific Northwest, Yurok culture group

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 16 of 53

Story: 

Coyote wants to become part of society so he joins two women and a male  rabbit.

They are nice to him because he is their guest but he is extremely rude. They leave him by morning. He tries to follow them but drowns.

He comes back to life and stumbles across the rabbit’s children’s camp. Burns it  down.

Coyote is a Trickster and a Culture Hero – A woman kills men with teeth in her  vagina when they have sex with her

Coyote uses 10 sticks to have sex with her. Results in killing her.  

???? Gets rid of the threat to men and maintains society

Significance: 

Imperfect characters. Good and bad deeds but still able to be redeemed despite it all. END

Shamanism – one on one contact with the divine

- Trance-like state to connect with divinity

- Oldest method

- Bridge between the real world and the spirit world

- Typically seen in Nomadic Hunting Cultures  

???? Vision Quest

- Shaman was the one who had the most vision quests out of all of them  ???? Most receptive to the spirits

Vision Quest Aspects: 

∙ Individual goes out alone into nature to connect with the spirit world ∙ Sometimes uses hallucinogens to help connect

∙ Comes back to tell others what they saw

Ex. “The Boy Who Shot the Star”

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 17 of 53

Group Ritual – a group of people gather for Sun Dance ritual

- Agricultural societies mostly perform it, American southwest

- Kiva – underground chamber where ritual was held

- Coming out of the kiva is a reenactment of emergence

Kachina – doll-like figures used in group rituals that represent the spirit of the ancestors Ex. “The Girl Who Married a Kachina”

 “Gift of the Sacred Pipe”

The Boy Who Shot the Star 

- Tingit Myth

Story: 

Younger boy insults moon by comparing it to his mother’s labret.

???? Offensive because the moon is large and supernatural, not ordinary  and small.

The younger boy is stolen away by the moon as they sleep and the older boy  goes to find him.

Shoots arrows into the sky to make a ladder to the spirit world.

???? Axis Mundi

Bushes in hair ripen as he climbs.

???? Represents a long journey

Old woman and girl he comes across represent the divine.

Older boy pulls younger boy through smoke hole of the moon.

???? Represents rebirth

The boys escape the moon by tricking it and wake up back where they fell  asleep.

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 18 of 53

Significance: 

Mythical version of a vision quest

????Dream world isn’t separate from the real world

END

The Girl Who Married a Kachina 

- Southwest, Zuni culture group

- Kachina represents spirits of ancestors

Story: 

Girl wants to marry a kachina. He marries her then takes her away. She comes back after running away but he finds her and takes her back. He tells her she can never go back and live in the world of humans again. ???? She is dead and cannot return to life

Significance: 

If you think too much about the afterlife, you won’t pay attention to the present. END

Gift of the Sacred Pipe 

- Plains, Lakota culture group

- Bison hunting myth

- Ritual from hunting culture

White Buffalo Woman is a Culture Hero

???? Teaches people the ritual of the pipe  

???? Holy Woman – divine figure

Axis Mundi – center post of teepee lodge where pipe ritual takes place

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 19 of 53

Woman transforms into a bison

???? Red/brown = real bison colors

???? White = divinity

???? Black = merging of divinity with earth

Significance: 

Teaches people the ritual of the pipe and why it is sacred.

END

Trail of Tears: 

- 1830s

- “Five Civilized Tribes”

- Indian Removal Act: President Jackson

- 25% to 33% (more than 4,000) Cherokee people killed

Massacre of Wounded Knee: 

- 1880s

- Black Hills (Sacred Native American ground) taken over

- Chief Crazy Horse – hero figure to Native Americans because he struck back  at the U.S. Army for attacking a hunting group

- Battle of Little Big Horn – battle with Custer, the idiot American army general - Wounded Knee – 300 out of 350 unarmed Sioux men, women and children  murdered

???? End of the Plains culture (No more free roaming nations)

Wokova – visionary of Ghost Dance

- Saw a flood wipe out white people and bring back the bison and return their  land

- U.S. government saw it as a declaration of war

- Led up to the Massacre of Wounded Knee (second event that caused it)

Black Elk – witness and visionary of Wounded Knee

- Vision of granted power

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 20 of 53

- “a people’s dream died there [at Wounded Knee]”

Malinowski –

∙ Polish anthropologist

∙ Looked at the social aspects of myths

∙ Believed myths establish social rules but don’t explain them

Dine Bahane 

- Navajo Creation Myth

- Oral Tradition

- Emergence

Story: 

Air Spirit People – Navajo ancestors before social order was created (they fight  and commit adultery); begin as bugs

Move from 1st World to 2nd World

???? Flood because of adultery

Move from 2nd World to 3rd World

????Famine from Swallow people

Move from 3rd World to 4th World  

???? Social disorder (no food, water, or space) because of the Grasshopper  people

In the 4th World:

- Air Spirit People stop committing adultery, learn to build houses, till soil, and  become more intelligent

???? Social development

- Holy people teach them to bathe and create first man and woman from corn ???? Creates social structure

- Axis Mundi that appears: a reed

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First Man and First Woman

Created out of white and yellow ears of corn

Have 5 sets of twins

????Hermaphrodites: most creative (pottery, tools, sexuality, etc.) and  considered balanced and sacred because of androgyny

All other twins marry each other (incest) so First Woman makes them marry  others

First Woman creates genitalia to create attraction between husband and wife  ???? Marriage is important in social structure

Ritual/Rite of Passage when girl or boy hits puberty

1st Argument over credit for dinner splits men and women

Both man and women realize they cannot live without the other ???? Gender roles are equally important

Move to 5th World

- Women give birth to “monsters” (drought, overused soil, insects) as a result of  masturbation from the 4th World

???? to keep growing crops, don’t masturbate

Really is Don’t break the rules of society to be able to continue  growing crops

???? Gave them the idea that they could control the natural  

world

Coyote in the Dine Bahane

Comes in after the First Man and Woman reunite

Steals water creature’s babies and creates flood

???? Accidental Culture Hero: it moves people from 4th to 5th World; shows  them a better way to hunt

Negative role model – shows people what NOT to do, shows people the  consequences of breaking social rules

Ex. Coyote tells humans he’s a god, he is tricked off the edge of a cliff

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 22 of 53

Makes men and women too attractive by creating pubic hair

????First Woman makes clothes to cover them up

Represents chaos when he ruins the order of the stars

Introduces death by throwing a stone into the river (if it sinks you will go back to  your previous life)

Trickster: tries to enter society through marriage; seducing backfires because the  brothers don’t approved and he is rude and doesn’t listen so he is killed

Wife gains his regenerative magic and shape shifting magic (“Sexually  Transmitted Magic”)  

???? doesn’t die when Coyote tries to kill her because she’s no more use to  him when they’re kicked out

???? turns into a bear, kills all but one brother who defeats her

???? her body parts become part of the natural world (head becomes a real  bear, nipples become pine nuts)

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 23 of 53

Exam 3: Hindu Unit

Hindu – monotheistic faith (one god)

Polymorphis monotheistic – a single god that takes on many different forms

Brahman

(God, inactive. No physical representation/gender)

Ishvara

(active godhead. No physical representation)

The Trimurti (depicted as Male) – The Three

Brahma – the creator, often depicted with a white swan; world being created

Vishnu – the preserver, often pictured with the bird Garuda, mostly seen as an  avatar (Rama, Krishna); world being maintained

Shiva – the destroyer, often depicted with snakes or skulls around neck, third eye, and  a blue throat; world being destroyed

The Shaktis (female energy counterparts) – catalysts

Sarasvati – Brahma’s wife, knowledge and learning, depicted with books and musical  instruments

Lakshmi – Vishnu’s wife, represents beauty, mostly seen as avatar (Sita) Sati – Shiva’s first wife, represents loyalty and fertility

Uma/Parvati – Shiva’s second wife, represents faith and devotion, often pictured with  her mount, a lion

Kali – Shiva’s third wife, represents death and motherhood, represented holding a  demon’s head, tongue sticking out, and stepping on Shiva

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 24 of 53

Every time God does something, the action gets a different name. 

No such thing as evil in Hinduism

Avatars – human visages of the god that can walk on earth

Ex. Vishnu – Rama, Krishna; Lakshmi – Sita  

Sex is a sacred (ritualistic) act

Time is circular:

Created ???? Preserved ???? Destroyed ???? Nothingness ???? Created

Reincarnation – based on the caste system

Dharma – your (social) obligations in each life, determined by the caste system, that  you need to complete in that life to be reincarnated

Karma – every decision you make has a consequence that can affect you and things  around you (good and bad karma)

Nirvana – a state of being that is the ultimate goal for a Hindu. It is a release from the  cycle of reincarnation (Moksha) when the soul loses its individuality and  joins Brahman

Moksha – the releasing from the cycle of reincarnation for Nirvana Atmun – “the self of all souls”, another name for Brahman  

Maya – the significance of the material world is an illusion

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 25 of 53

Swarga – physical heaven-like place where souls pend time between lives. Devas live  here

Yama – underworld where rakshasas (demons) live

Caste System – institutionalization of the division of labor

∙ Brahmans (priestly class)

∙ Kshatriyas (soldiers and rulers)

∙ Vaishyas (merchants and farmers)

∙ Shudras (servants, working class, “untouchables”)

Myth of Manifestation – used instead of a creation myth, since Hinduism doesn’t  recognize an “original” creation (time is circular)

Creation ???? Destruction (Shiva is offended) ???? Recreation

The Churning of the Ocean 

- Myth of Manifestation

Story: 

Indra (storm god) is cursed by Shiva (destruction) and loses all energy for the  three worlds and everything falls to ruins.

Milky Sea ???? semen, fertility

Churning Stick ???? phallic symbol, sex and creation

Gods and demons join together to create life using the Milky Sea

Out of the sea comes a cow (symbol of divinity), Lakshmi, the moon, and the dew  of life (light)

Shiva steals the moon as it comes out of the sea and puts it on his brow

Demons try to steal the light but Vishnu transformed into a woman to distract  them then steals it away

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 26 of 53

Three Worlds – physical plane, astral plane, and Swarga (heaven) Indra composed a praise hymn for Lakshmi and she grants him two wishes Whoever reads this myth will have their family blessed for three generations

Significance: 

“Creation” Myth, Myth of Manifestation

END

Lingam – Shiva’s representation, cosmic pillar, phallic symbol

Shiva’s Dance – represents the energy and movement (activity) of the Universe and  the human soul

The Potter Analogy: 

First Cause: The Potter

???? Represents the Trimurti, when god decides to act

Instrumental Cause: The Wheel

???? Represents the Shakti, the energy/power to act

Material Cause: The Pot

???? Represents the world; what is created, maintained, or destroyed

Supremacy of Shiva 

- Describes the articulation of the idea of a destructive aspect of God. - Beginning of human understanding of the existence of Shiva

- Narrated by Brahma

- Lingam appears, representing Shiva the inseparable link between destruction  and recreation

Significance: 

Explains why there is no good vs. evil in Hinduism

END

CMLIT 108/Elliott, 27 of 53

Sati Myth 

- Describes the establishment of the worship of Shiva

Story: 

Daksha, a chief of the gods, is angry with Shiva and refuses to invite him to  events (refuses to accept him as part of god)

Shiva, in return, curses Daksha to a life of ceremony in the material world with a  face of a goat

Sati, Daksha’s daughter, chooses Shiva as her husband. Daksha is angry. At their house, Shiva dresses as a dirty beggar

???? Represents his destructive yet not evil nature

Sati dies because her father insults her husband to her face and doesn’t approve  of the marriage

Shiva, in mourning, strode around the earth destroying everything in his path  while carrying Sati on his back

Vishnu cuts up the body of Sati into 52 pieces and scatters them

????Establishes the worship of Sati (and hence Shiva)

Shiva returns to meditative state so Brahma and Vishnu explain Shiva’s role

Significance: 

Describes the spread and acceptance of the existence of the third aspect of God  (Shiva)

END

Eye-Saint 

Sturdy – the son of the forest chieftain becomes a devotee of Shiva without knowing  proper rituals but the devotion is still there. Also named Eye-Saint

Story: