Creation Myth

In the very beginning there was only the land of the Gods:Paradise. The Mother Goddess and the Father God had many children.
But the older the children got, the more they argued and fought over ridiculous things. The fighting was ruining the peace in Paradise.

Finally the Mother and Father decided that it was time to teach their children a lesson, so they created a world. They created this world out of the elements of their own home. They took water from their ocean,earth from their mountains,scattered the seeds of their own plants, and separated a fragment of light from their sun to create light and warmth so the world could grow.
Then they created things that their world did not have, such as natural disasters, dangerous animals, disease,weapons,and poverty.

Last of all they created Man. When they created man they included their best qualities and their worst qualities.
The reason they created bad things on the world was to teach their children perspective.
As the children of the two immortals watched the disasters on earth they stopped fighting. They began to be horrified at the disasters and violence that befell mankind. They couldn't stand watching the humans who were victimized by the terrible deaths and tragedies. They were shocked by how greed,insanity,and anger destroyed people, how evil it made the humans.
Most of all, they couldn't stand to see good people die into nothing-ness. They plead with their parents to do something, anything that would reward the humans who lived life honorably. So the Mother and Father agreed that the good humans would not die in vain, they could come to live with them in Paradise, in beauty forever. And to punish the wrong they let die and be nothing.

The immortal children fell in love with the humans and they never fought again.

The Origin Of The Medicine Pipe summary

Thunder is a powerful being to be feared by all. He is the master of destruction who enjoys stealing women.

One day a man and his wife were sitting in their home when Thunder struck them both. The man fell unconscious and when he woke his wife was not there. Even though he kept telling himself that she had just gone out to gather water or wood, deep down he knew that Thunder had taken her. Finally accepting this he went into the hills to mourn. The next day he began to ask all the animals where Thunder lived. Most of them laughed at him or did not answer.
The Wolf told him that you could not escape from Thunder and for this reason he was the only thing they feared, that no one in their right mind would try to find Thunder and that was that.

The man continued his search until he came upon the Raven chief. While the Raven chief gave him food and drink, the man told him about Thunder and his wife and how he needed to find Thunder's home, even though it was dangerous. The Raven chief, who was wise and powerful, told the man about the horrible things awaiting him at Thunder's home and then asked him if he was still sure about going. "No, I am very afraid. What person could live after enduring this?" asked the man . The Raven replied that no man could, that he himself was the only one that Thunder feared and could not kill.

So he gave the man medicine so he would not be harmed by Thunder's lightening, a raven wing to create fear in Thunder, and a shaft made of elk-horn to shoot through Thunder's lodge. However,the man began to cry, thinking that the Raven was making fun of him. Finally the Raven convinced the man that what he said was true and the man went on his way to get his wife back.

Almost immediately the man came upon Thunder's lodge. Thunder became very angry when he understood why the man had come and rose to strike the man down, but as soon as the man realized this , he pointed the raven wing at Thunder, making him falter. Again, Thunder tried to strike the man, but the man was too quick and shot the elk-horn arrow through the domain to let in light.

Thunder, frightened of this man, admit his defeat and gave the man his wife and his medicine pipe to light for prayer every spring, thus the people got their first medicine pipe.

citations

Written Source:
“Origin of the Medicine Pipe.” Indian Myth.2006. 7 November 2008.
http://indianmythology.org.

Image Source:
Darkmatter. “Spectacular Lightening Image.” Photograph. The Internet Journalist.
11 November 2008.
http://www.theinternetjournalist.com.

Hero Quest

Atlanta

Hero: founder of something new, new age, new religion, new way of life.

"A number of men wanted to marry her because she could hunt and shoot and wrestle."


Universal: Applies to all

"Atlanta's father, whatever his name was, when a daughter and not a son was born to him, was, of course, bitterly dissappointed."

Unique: Has a special characteristic that sets him/her apart.

"A she bear took charge of her, nursed her, and kept her warm and the baby grew up thus into an active, daring little girl."

Major Flaw: Special but not perfect.

"She saw the gleam through the green, she could not resist it."

Initiation: The entering of a strange world and leaving behind the familiar.

"Her arrow was the first to strike it."

Journey:Road of trials, battles, and obstacles.

"Some say she sailed the Argonauts."

"At the funeral games...Atlanta appeared among the contestants."

"She declared that she would marry whoever could beat her in a footrace."

Companions: Sidekicks, partners, and support.

"Some of the heroes resented her presence..but Maleager insisted and they finally gave in to him."

"Kind hunters found her and took her to live with them."

Supernatural Guides:Provides information, magic, weapons, or charms.

"She could outshoot,outrun,and outwrestle the men of one of the two great ages of heroism."

Ultimate Battle: Final test

"Almost at once she had caught up with him and the goal was now very near, but the third golden sphere flashed across her path."

Transformation: Hero is altered in some way in the final battle.

"The two are said to have been turned into lions."

Death/Rebirth: Out with the old; in with the new

"Her free days alone in the forest and her athletic victories were over."

Boon: Gift of renewal;reward to be shared

"Atlanta had born a son, Pathenopaeus."

Vocabulary

Myth: A legend or folktale that sometimes explains natural events.
The myth of Demeter and Persephone explains the change of seasons.

Hero:Founder of something new.
Hercules was a hero who was incredibly strong and noble.

Hero Journey: The road of trials,battles, and obstacles.
Hercules was given 12 labors or assignments that took him on a journey all over the world.

Universal: Applies to all
The story of Pandora's Box and the escape of the evils that befall mankind applies to all because it effects all human, therefore, it is universal.

Sacrifice: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.
In the myth, Prometheus sacrifices himself so humans can have fire.

Cyclical: Occurring in cycles
The seasonal myth of Demeter and Persephone is a cyclical myth because it happens every year in cycles.

Creation:The act of creating
Many cultures have myths to explain the creation of mankind.

Life From Death:Reincarnation, out with the old, in with the new.
In a Egyption myth, Marduk kills Kingu and creates humans using parts of Kingu.

Archetype: The standard pattern or model.
In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, personality, or behavior

Duality: The quality or condition of being two or twofold, compromised of two.
People who are bipolar have the duality of personality.


Matriarchal: A leading female or mother.
Some tribes are matriarchal, they are governed by a matriarch.

Patriarchal: Characteristic of a patriarch; venerable.
A bishop would be considered a patriarch.

Interpretation Essay

Why do parents love their children? Why do architects love their buildings? Why do authors love the characters in their books? Why do people love the things that they have created SO much? It could be because each creation is a part of the creator and perhaps the part the creator loves best.

The story of the artist, Pygmalion, is a story of how art can not only effect those who view it, but also effect the artist and his life. Art can change an artist's life by explaining how the artist feels about the world, about others, and about himself. Art can also change an artist's life by making him a wealthy person. Artist authors like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling become wealthy and can change their family's lives. Artist actors can influence people politically or ethically by their popularity. Artist musicians make statements through their music that can become a soundtrack for a revolution.

Pygmalion was an artist who hated all women in general and decided that art was all he needed in life. Because of this, his strongest hatred became his strongest interest and he decided to create a sculpture of a woman. Perhaps he chose this because he wanted to create a woman that he would not hate. Maybe he also chose to make her so beautiful and perfect that all real women would pale in comparison, thus punishing them.

Pygmalion created a statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it. Just like the professor in the movie " My Fair Lady", he fell in love with his own creation. In My Fair Lady the gentleman brags that he can turn even a beggar into a lady and then he falls in love with her. "He had fallen in love, deeply, passionately in love, with the thing he had made."

The Goddess of Love, Venus, wanted to find someone who's love was original and help them. She took pity on Pygmalion and turned his statue into a live woman that he named Galatea.

In this myth, art is a catalyst for change. It changes the artist's attitude toward women. He ends up getting married and having a child which changes his life. The art itself changes from a hard,cold,inanimate object into a real person just like he changed from a hard, cold, non-loving person, into a loving husband and father.

As Pygmalion changes stone into a woman, he is showing the part of himself that can love. When the statue became so perfect it couldn't be recognized as a statue anymore. "The supreme achievement of art was his, the art of concealig art." Even though Pygmalion only wanted to love art, he ended up loving in a more human sense because his creation was so lifelike. He treated his art like a real person and so she became a real person to him. At that point, he was no longer loving the statue as art but as a person.

When Venus turned the statue into a living woman, she was actually only making the last step in Pygmalion's metamorphosis. Pygmalion had already changed himself by creating a woman that he could love.

Art is a catalyst for change. Sometimes art changes the creator more than anybody else.