Reading Diary A: Tibetan Folk Tales

This week I chose to read stories from the Tibetan Folk Tales unit. Below are my favorite stories:

(Illustration of the beautiful woman and the yak by Mildred Bryant, 1925.)

The Ingratitude of Man:

• Animals were rescued by man, man scorned animals, gets into a sticky situation and then animals rescue him.
• This story reminds makes me think of how humans treat animals. We don't give them the respect and gratitude that they deserve. We should treat them better because they help us. I feel that we should be constantly reminded of the importance of animals.

The Man and the Ghost:

• This man was walking alone and met a ghost. They decide to be friends.
• Their friendship involveer the ghost stealing things and helping the man out.
• In the end. the man benefits from the friendship and thinks this is how a friendship between a man and a ghost works.
• I really liked this story because it seems silly but I just like how it's all based on the ghosts fear. The man internalizes his fears.

The Story of the Two Devils:

• Beautiful lady is looking for a lost yak. Turns out that she is a devil and so is the yak. They are married. 
• Lady marries one of the sons helping her find the yak. Each year a brother dies one by one. Parents seek out help from a fortune teller.
• The parents find out that the woman and the yak are devils, so they kill them.
• Fortune teller ends up as ruler of half of the King's land.
• This made me think about what you see is not always what you get. Something can look good, but actually be really horrible.

Week 5: Thoughts About Comments

I was a bit nervous at first when I learned that many people were going to be reading my works in this class. I am not one to enjoy criticism beyond what my professor is willing to give. Despite this, I have really started to enjoy receiving the feedback that I get from my peers. Having multiple people read my works and tell me what is working and what is not allows me to become a better writer. While making and receiving comments on introductions are some of my favorite comments, I really enjoy the storytelling comments the most. I like learning from other people and seeing how they use different techniques than I do. I have to work on providing more feedback to others, but I think it is something I can improve over time with this class.

Week 4: Review

I must say that this week, my favorite announcement this semester comes from the September 16 post. This linguistic family tree illustrated by Minna Sunburg is so cool. I wonder if they have it as a poster anywhere.... I'd love to have it hanging in my apartment.

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

Woooo! Guys, you can now know the weather when reading my blog. Unlike most people in Oklahoma, I cannot wait for winter.

Week 4 Storytelling: Ra's Creation

(Ra, the Sun God, illustrated by Dixey)

When Ra, the Sun God, was created by the wastewater, Nu, he knew he had to build something great. He felt the desire to fill the world with something that would take care of it. His companions made the stars, rain, and the beautiful features of the earth, so why not create creatures that appreciated this beauty.

So, for an uncountable amount of time, he spoke about the creation of beings. He kept the final design of them to himself, but spoke about how they would act to the other gods. He requested for suggestions from the other gods. The three hints that he unveiled to the other gods were that the beings would worship the gods, they would build a great empire, and that if they obeyed the gods, they would enter the heavens when they died. 

Ra stayed tight lipped about the plans he had. He would not tell the other gods and goddesses when this event was occurring or how it would happen. The gods and goddesses just knew it was going to happen soon. So, they waited patiently.

Then one day, Ra approached Tefnut, the Goddess of Rain, and asked that she meet him in private. Ra told her the next time she makes it rain, the beings would come into existence. Tefnut agreed to keep these plans a secret, but struggled with hiding her excitement.

A short time after the meeting with Tefnut, it was raining. Ra watched the water droplets hit the grounds of Egypt and prepared to reveal his creations. He sat upon his throne, hidden by the clouds, and wept. His tears would turn into humans as they fell to Egypt. He cried the entire time it rained. Hundreds of human beings were created in a matter of hours and the gods and goddesses were watching with excitement. 

Once the rain stopped, Ra met with the gods and goddesses and spoke of his plan. He, himself, would be disguised as a human and rule over them for a period-of-time. He wanted to establish the rules and teach them about the gods and goddesses. Ra wanted to build the foundation of the empire he envisioned. The other gods and goddesses were nervous, but agreed. Ra reassured them that his absence would only be for the span of a typical human life and that he would be back.

Ra promised that each god or goddess would get worshiped for the roles they played in creating these new beings. 

With that being said, he turned himself into a human and fell from the skies to join his creations.

Author's Note: I chose to base my story off of the Creation story in the Ancient Egypt Unit. The original story is about the creation of the Egyptian gods and goddesses. Much like the Greek creation story, there was a creature of sorts that created the gods and goddesses. The first was Ra and then after that, one by one, the gods were created. At the end of the story it mentions how Ra created humans and became human himself, and ruled them as the first king.

I wanted to focus on the human creation aspect of the story. I wanted to personify the gods and goddesses even more. I wanted it to seem like Egypt was planned to be this great empire blessed by the numerous Egyptian gods and goddesses. Even though the gods and goddesses were involved in the creation of the humans, I wanted it to be a surprise to them too. Ra was to be the only one who knew exactly what they were like until he was ready to share them. I wanted this story to seem like that Ra saw the humans as not only a gift to the world, but a gift to the gods and goddesses too.

Creation, Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Reading Diary B: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

This is the continuation of my reading diary for Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. I picked one of the two long stories to focus on in this diary and the short story.

(Anpu riding on the bull illustrated by Tristram Ellis)

The Two Brothers (one/two/three/four):

• Anpu is the older brother of Bata.
• They have disagreements because Anpu's wife lied, saying that Bata beat her when actually it was her that hit on Bata (causing one of the major issues of this story).
• Anpu plans to kill Bata, but the Oxen warns Bata and Bata weeps to Ra, who then creates a river between the two.
• Bata told Anpu what really happened, which resulted in Anpu killing his wife.
• Things get really weird because then a God wanted Bata's wife.
• The wife is the reason Bata dies, but he is resurrected as a bull kudos to his brother. 
• The wife then requests that the king kill the other forms of life that she knows is Bata.
• Eventually, Bata became king and his brother took the throne after he passed.
• This was such a weird story.

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus:

• This story seemed a lot like a setup to me. As if it was planted for them to try and steal these jewels and the one who was able to escape was pardoned. 
• I feel that this is a story that focuses on how if you were smart and able to succeed in things, the King was much more lenient with you.

Reading Diary A: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

For Week 4, I decided to read Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. Below I will focus on a few of my favorite stories from section A that captured my interest.

(A drawing of Osiris, King of the Dead, found on Egyptianmythology.org)

Creation:

• Ra was the first God and is the the ruler of them all.
• Does Ra or does Nu create all of the other Gods?
• They start creating the earth and Ra created man.
• Ra was God and first king. He ruled for centuries. 
• This creation story is different from others because Ra wasn't just their creator, but their actual king. He took human form and established a nation.

Osiris:

• Became king when Ra went to Heaven.
• Men were, in his eyes, savages. So he established laws and judged wisdom between men. His action caused a long period of peace.
• He was married to Isis, who was also of great wisdom. 
• Osiris travelled the world to learn and Isis patiently waited for him.
• Set, brother, grew impatient, was one to start issues, and drafted a plan to overcome Osiris by guile.
• I know that Osiris is killed by Set, but was it because Set wanted the throne or because Set really did not like him?

King of the Dead:

• I assume this answers my pervious question, Set wanted the throne because in this story he is ruling over Egypt.
• Horus, Osiris and Isis' son, is old enough to be ruler and has a dream/vision that Osiris tells him to over throw his uncle.
• Why did Ra heal both Horus and Set after battle? If the plan was to kill Set, did Osiris tell Ra?
• Seven pieces of Osiris' body were united and formed the body of the God. At this time, Osiris became the Judge and King of the Dead.
• If he was so fair, did he become King of the Dead because of his ability to judge wisdom between men?

The Green Jewel:

• Is The Green Jewel a legend told by other Egyptians to learn from? This story seems to vary, in my opinion, to other stories in this section so far because of the content of it.

Changelings: Styles Brainstorms

(Der Wechselbalg by Henry Fuseli, 1780)

Topic: After much research, I've decided that the topic of my storybook will be changelings. I know there are many different changeling stories from numerous locations that I can focus on in my storybook. My goal is to find four changeling stories from four different geographic locations and focus on the similarities and differences between the stories. Two stories that really stood out to me were The Fair Folk and The Killcrop of Halberstadt. I worry that my biggest challenge will be finding stories that have major, noticeable differences. I believe if they are from different time periods along with locations, it will be easier to find differences between the stories.

Bibliography: 
1. The Fair Folk, Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, (London: Folk-Lore Society, 1881), pp. 60-62.
2. The Killcrop of Halberstadt, Martin Luther, Werke, kritische Gesamtausgabe: Tischreden (Weimar: Böhlau, 1912-1921), v. 4, pp. 357-358.

Possible styles:

Changeling perspective. I think it would be super interesting to take the stories and tell them from the more sinister side. As you may be able to tell based on my other stories, I am interested in exploring things from the perspective that most people usually do not consider. This perspective would allow for me to explore a side of the story that is often kept in the dark.

The victims perspective. Many changeling stories are told in third person and with this opportunity, it would be interesting to hear from the people who were personally victimized by a changeling. It would be fun to explore the journey they take to get back to their home and get rid of the changeling. Having the victim's perspective could allow me to leverage a strong emotional pull to the stories.

Changeling creation. I think a creation story for the changelings would be fun to explore. As far as I can tell, the creation stories all are with minimal explanation and vary drastically by location. If you look back, these beliefs had gone on for hundreds of years and it wasn't too long ago that many of these legends were told. Having a creation story that goes into detail will humanize the changelings and bring a new third person perspective.

Super legend. Legends frequently have an eery feel to them. Combining the different qualities of changelings from the different geographic locations would be very fun. I could create a "super" legend that knows no borders and could be applicable to every location. I would have the ability to focus on the commonalities but hint at the differences to add a level of creepiness to the stories. The best part is that I can expand and add my own features to the changelings (within reason).

Week 3: Review

The review posts are becoming my favorite extra credit opportunity! They are so much fun to share and it is interesting to see people's favorite announcements. With that being said, this week my favorite thing from the announcements was this You Say Potato post on September 12! The way potato is spelled at the end looks like someone just smashed letters on a keyboard and called it a day. That is probably why I laughed so much.

Growth Mindset: Week 3

(Growth mindset meme created by Laura Gibbs, photo by Robert Lowe)

This semester, my hardest class is my capstone. It's not that it is really hard work, it is just time consuming and tedious. We have to build a campaign all in 16 weeks. Luckily, my professor staggers due dates and that makes it much easier to handle. Despite this, my biggest challenge this semester is focusing on time management.

I am trying really hard to not fall really behind in classes. This semester is so busy that I do not think that I have time to procrastinate, which is good, but I need to learn to do assignments as much in advance as possible. I am trying really hard to not focus on the grade either. Learning new information is my focus this semester. I want to maintain my GPA, but I know that it is silly to get an A without actually knowing the information.

I am using my capstone schedule to build my homework schedule for all of my classes. I am trying to take it day by day and not freak out about assignments due months ahead. So, here is to maintaining a good work ethic for my classes and learning along the way!

Week 3 Storytelling: Sammy's Sly Move

(The Lion, the Bear and the Fox illustration by Milo Winter 1919)

He had been searching for dinner for hours. He swore that it felt like years. Last time he ate was early in the morning and it was practically nothing. Jim, the lion, and Geoffrey, the bear, had been hunting all of his prey. They had just moved into the area rather recently and it was quite hard on Sammy, the fox.

Sammy has always been used to living practically alone. There was always plenty of game for him to eat and he could roam wherever he pleased without question. He loved it. It was absolutely perfect, that is, until they moved in.

It wasn't so bad when it was just Jim. Jim was really nice and always made sure that Sammy had enough food to eat. Jim want the lion that everyone really liked being around. He was fun, friendly, and didn't change the way the forrest was. Things stayed the same when Jim moved in; however, that all changed when Geoffrey came.

Geoffrey was Jim's rival. They used to be friends when they were little. They were tighter than any knot. In all honesty, no one really knows why they became enemies, but they knew that is wasn't good for the forrest. Geoffrey made Jim paranoid, bitter, and insanely mean. They constantly fought. So how does Sammy play into this?

He lived between them.

That's right, Sammy was the unfortunate neighbor between the two rivals. And he hated it. All of his roaming was monitored by Jim and Geoffrey, as both were worried that the other had sent Sammy to spy on them. All of the prey that Sammy used to get was being captured and eaten by the rivals to spite one another. They bullied each other, and in the end Sammy was the one most affected by it.

So that leads us to today, where Sammy is searching for his dinner in hope that neither of them caught the stray kid he saw last night.

In the midst of his search, Sammy heard loud grunting and yelling. He kept trying to ignore it, but as he searched for his prey, the noises got louder and louder. So, of course, Sammy decided to check it out.

He went over to the bushes where the noises seem to be coming from and peeked through the branches to have a look. Not to his surprise, Geoffrey and Jim were at it again! They were fighting constantly and he was getting sick of it. He was about to turn around, give up on hunting, and go home, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

He poked his head out a bit further and saw that the animal he had been until was lying next to Jim and Geoffrey. He was so happy that he almost shouted with joy, but he didn't want to bring his presence to Jim and Geoffrey's attention.

This gave Sammy a brilliant idea. He would sneak over to the animal, grab it and then as quiet as possible, he would leave. He assumed that Jim and Geoffrey would never notice as long as he was quiet, because often they fought for hours or days.

So with the brilliant idea in mind, Sammy decided to do it. He did it before he could talk himself out of it. He snuck out of the branches, grabbed the stray kid and swiftly snuck back. He succeeded.

Author's note: My story is based on the Aesop's Story of The Lion, the Bear and the Fox. The story focuses on two animals that argue over prey, but both miss out in the end. In the original story, the Lion and the Bear notice that the Fox had taken away the stray kid and agree that they should have just shared it. The original story is quite short.

The reason I chose this story is because I really liked that the fox was able to sneak prey away from two animals that were much larger than him. Foxes are much smaller in comparison and because of this, I decided to focus my story on the fox. After picking what point of view I wanted in the story, I decided to make the fox more sly and assume that it was his prey that he was stealing back and would not get caught.

I used the illustration from the original story.  Without this illustration, I honestly would have been less likely to use this story. This image, in my mind, helps the reader picture how clever the fox is, and how he was able to get away with the prey so easily.

The Aesop for Children, with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919).

Reading Diary A: Aesop (Winter)

For this week, I decided to focus on the Aesop (Winter), I only took notes for a few of the stories. They are listed below:

(The Dog and the Hides illustration by Milo Winter 1919)

The Boy and the Filberts:

• Real life experience, very relatable to me. I often do too much at a time.
• Short but the theme is easy to pick out.
• I think this is applicable to almost everyone currently.

The Oxen and the Wheels:

• Inanimate object is making more noise than a living object.
• The oxen do not really make any noise.
• The oxen are carrying all the weight and the wheels are not carrying much. Ironically, the wheels are the ones who are complaining.

The Lion and the Ass:

• Lion walking by without bothering anyone and donkey makes a comment about him.
• His comment made the lion angry, and the lion almost attacked him.
• Lion is the better one because he ignored the donkey's comment and kept going on with his life.

The Dog and the Hides:

• Hungry dogs saw hides to eat at the bottom of a river.
• They came to the conclusion that they could drink the river until they could reach the bottom.
• I really liked this story because it was about not doing what is impossible. I think a lot of people try to do impossible things and get upset when they fail them.

MythFolklore Topics Brainstorm

("Bear the changeling child to my bower in fairy land" - Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1908)

Topic: Lost cities
Comments: I've always been interested in cities. I like how they are all different, yet the same. Lost cities are exciting because of the mystery that surrounds them. How does a whole city disappear? Was there something about that city that was so different that it caused an economic or social collapse?
Possible Stories: Atlantis is one of the most theorized "lost" cities. We do not know if Atlantis ever existed and if it did, all the possible locations where the city would have been are so far apart from one another. There are also many lost cities listed on Wikipedia.
Sample Story Comments: There are so many possible options with Atlantis, from making it some ethereal city to a realistic story that disappeared with a natural disaster.
Bibliography Section:
Sample Story: Lost City Wikipedia
Author: Unknown
Year: Last modified August 7, 2015.

Topic: Changelings
Comments: I listen to a podcast, Lore, and there was an episode about changelings. I think it is interesting how this trend of believing people were replaced with changelings spread like fire throughout Europe.
Possible Stories: Based on the podcast I have listened to, I know that there are many stories about changelings from Wales, Ireland and more locations in Western Europe. I searched Sacred Texts Archive and found numerous stories about changelings, so my options are endless.
Sample Story Comments: When searching for changeling stories, I found one that was about how to get rid of the changeling and bring back the person. In this story, it was a baby that was replaced by a changeling. One of the suggested methods of bringing the baby back was to throw it in a river.
Bibliography Section:
Sample Story: Another Changeling
Book Title: The Welsh Fairy Book
Author: W. Jenkyn Thomas
Year: 1908

Topic: Gaelic Gods
Comments: I feel that I've learned a lot about Greek Gods, Christianity, Islam and other well known religions; however, I do not know much about Gaelic Gods. I would love to use this opportunity to learn more about Gaelic deities. I feel there would be as many tales as the Greek gods, so the story options are endless.
Possible Stories: I feel that because it is a polytheistic religion, that there will be numerous Gods or Goddesses to write about. I could read and write about the Sun-god or sea-god. Sacred Texts Archive has a collection of stories about the Gaelic Gods.
Sample Story Comments: I used Sacred Archive Texts to find stories, but I used Wikipedia to get a better understanding/background of the Gods. The one that interests me is Ankou, the god of death. He collects souls and protects graves. 
Bibliography Section:
Sample Story: The Rise of the Sun-God
Book Title: Celtic Myth and Legend
Author: Charles Squire
Year: 1905

Topic: Trolls
Comments: Last year, I watched Norwegian film, Trollhunter. It plays on the Scandinavian troll folklore. I haven't explored the topic much, but I do have an interest in it. Norway seems to be particularly fond of their troll storytelling traditions. 
Possible Stories: There are many norse stories about trolls. From what I've read so far, most of them are saying how trolls are unintelligent and harmful to humans, but they live isolated in mountains. I found a few interesting stories on Sacred Archive Texts that I can use for my Storybook.
Sample Story Comments: I found a story about a Troll that turned himself into a cat, and live with a poor old man until his rival had died. It is interesting because I did not know trolls can transform!
Bibliography Section:
Sample Story: The Troll Turned Cat
Book Title: The Fairy Mythology
Author: Thomas Kneightly
Year: 1870

Week 2: Review

Out of the class announcements this week, the post from yesterday, September 6th, featured my favorite clip. I did not know what to expect with Tiny Hamster is a Giant Monster, but I suggest you watch it to find out. I laughed so much, because it was so unbelievably cute!

Warning: The videos are addictive. There are more episodes of this cute, destructive hamster. I went on a youtube binge and watched quite a few.

Extra Reading Diary: Ovid's Metamorphoses

For this week, I chose to use Ovid's Metamorphoses I as my extra reading diary.

(Callisto illustration by Virgil Solis)

Deucalion and Pyrrha:

• Story has many parallels to the great flood in Christianity.
• Human race was re-created from the earth.
• A lot of analogies so many can understand the importance of the earth. Earth = Mother. It is easily understood because humans have something to compare it to.
• All religions have "creation" stories that have similar tropes in them.

Io, Callisto & Semele:

• Jupiter/Zeus causes a lot of issues because of his lust. 
• Gods have a lot of flaws that humans often struggle with. Jealousy, anger, lust, etc.
• Jupiter never gets punished even though he is often the source of the issue. Patriarchal themes.
• Jupiter is often the only one who can convince Juno to stop her vengeance.
• These unfaithful interactions explain how things happen. I.e. the star constellations.
• I wonder if these were also explanations for a type of "immaculate conception" involving the children of Zeus and his lovers.

Phaethon and the Sun, Phaethon's Ride & The Death of Phaethon:

• Phaethon is trying to look for his father, whom he assumes is in the heavens.
• His father is the sun god.
• He asks to drive the sun chariot, but many try to convince him not to do it. 
• He eventually does and this leads to his death. Because of his death, his father refuses to continue his job for a while.
• Assuming this is an explanation for weather related issues that Greeks/Romans had no understand of.

Week 2 Storytelling: The Restored City

(An ancient city found on Bechance.net)

I was once a beautiful city. Within my walls, I had a most glorious and holy temple that many traveled far to see. My streets were lined with charming, elegant domes and minarets. People loved to visit me. They came from all over the world to walk down my streets and praise my beauty. Oh, how they loved my temple. If I were a human, my temple would have been my heart. It kept me alive by bringing people in to see me. Many would just visit, but some would stay and it would make me happy that they chose me to live in. I was perfect and so were my citizens, that is, until I fell.

I am not quite sure how it happened, but I was ransacked. They ruined me. By piercing through my walls and eventually my heart, they invaded me and made me nothing but ruins. I spent hundreds of years building up to become a beauty only to turn into a desolate place in a short amount of time. I have never felt this way, not even when I was but a small and unnoticed city. After I was marred, I became oh so sad. My heart, my temple had been severely mutilated. Less people wanted to visit me, and when they did, they wept. I thought that I would never be fixed. I thought that I was ruined forever, until he came along.

He slept for one hundred years just outside my walls. I heard he was a rabbi. I heard from the whispers of others that during his sleep, my beauty would be restored. That day that he fell asleep after gazing upon my ruins, my hope returned. I hoped that it was true and my beauty would be restored. 

After a long wait, the rumors were true. It started with the foliage. The plants returned, making it easier for the animals to visit. After the plants grew and made me more colorful, the buildings were being rebuilt. At first, they were small, but over the one hundred year, they grew. Once again, my domes and minarets were a beacon of my grace. Once most of me was rebuilt, my heart was returned.  Once my temple was back, he woke up. Now people wanted to visit me just like before. I am happy and people love me again. I am now a beautiful city. 

Author's note: I wrote from the perspective of the city. I thought it would be interesting to tell the story of The Sleep of One Hundred Years through the eyes of the city. Going through the cycle that is mentioned in the story: greatness to ruins and then back to greatness. The Sleep of One Hundred Years is from the Jewish Fairy Tales unit. The story source: 

Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).

Reading Diary B: Jewish Fairy Tales

(The Fairy Frog found here)

The Sleep of One Hundred Years:

• Jersulaem had been destroyed. Onias wept and wished that it would be rebuilt.
• He fell asleep for 100 years and over that time Jerusalem had been restored.
• He did not believe it and thought it was a dream. It was then explained to him.
• Eventually he asked his grandson to lead him to his permanent resting place.

King for Three Days:

• Leader of the Crusades, Godfrey de Bouillon, hated Jews.
• His troops slaughtered a large number of Jews, but wanted the blessing of a rabbi.
• Rabi says he will be king for three days, Bouillon says if he is king for more he will put the rabbi to death.
• The Rabbi's prophecy came true and he became true but the hardships also happened. Bouillon was certain that the Rabbi was wrong. 

The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace:

• Collecting taxes on riches, Sarah was a rare jewel.
• "Come," said the king, "be not foolish. I cannot be angry with a creature so fair as thou art. But it is not meet—nay, it is not wise—to utter threats to one who wears a crown."
• A plague was brought upon the king and he accused Sarah of being a witch. 
• Sarah is Abraham's wife, and he tells them that the plague will hit again (like the one mentioned in the bible)

The Rabbi's Bogey-Man:

• Rabbi was troubled and needed a servant on Sabbath
• He built a man, which children were scared of and called the Bogey-man.
• The Bogey-man turned into a monster because he didn't want the rabbi to control him.
• He wanted to kill all the Jews.
• Rabbi killed him and now the story is told at the Synagogue.

The Fairy Frog:

• Hanina, the only son, visits his dying parents and is told to go to the market place and buy the first thing sold to him.
• He buys a silver basket that can only be opened by him on passover.
• It was a frog.
• They fed it and because they were kind to it, it returned the favor.
• Turns out that the frog is the fairy child of Adam and can assume any form.

• Hanina and his wife made their way home with their treasures. They became famous for their wealth, their wisdom and their charity, and lived in happiness with all peoples for many, many years.