In this Chippewa-Ojibwa myth, a young boy goes off on the traditional vision quest to find his adult name and his mission in life. Uppermost in his mind is his desire to find a way to provide a constant food source for his people. He is visited by his Guardian Spirit, who challenges him to a series of wrestling matches. Though the boy loses the first three matches, his courage and determination so impress the Great Sky Spirit and his Guardian Spirit...
martes, 7 de junio de 2016
Prometheus and Pandora
In this Greek myth, the god Prometheus enrages Zeus by bringing the gift of fire to human beings. With this gift, humans are able to make tremendous changes that improve their lives, which is exactly what Zeus did not want to happen. To punish Prometheus, Zeus tries to tempt him into marrying Pandora, a human woman created for this purpose and sent to earth carrying a mysterious lidded jar. The ware Prometheus gets his brother Epimetheus to marry...
The Story of Oisin
In the Celtic myth, the king of the mystical land of Tir na N-og is told that he will lose his power if his daugther marries, for then his son-in-law would become king. To destroy her changes of finding a husband, the king changes the hapless girl's head into the head of a pig. Advised by a Druid that she will regain her beauty if she can get a human named Oisin to marry her, the princess goes to Eire (Ireland), finds Oisin, and so moves him with...
Thor & His Hammer
In this myth from Scandinavia, Thor the Thunder god loses his hammer through his own carelessness. Helpless to defend Asgard, the home of the gods, without his hammer, Thor must find a way to get it back from the Frost King who has stolen it. The Frost King says he will return the hammer only if the goddess Freyja consents to marry him. Because Freyja refuses such a marriage, Thos disguises himself as the goddess and goes with the trickster god Loki...
lunes, 6 de junio de 2016
Orion and the Sisters
Orion was a giant-sized hunter of prodigious strength. He was created by Zeus at the request of King Hyrieus of Boeotia, who had entertained Zeus most hansomely and who dearly wanted a son. Orion was such a passionate hunter that he offended even Artemis, the patroness of hunters, because he killed off all the wild animals of Crete. Orion then began to hunt young women, mainly the seven daughters of Atlas. Fleeing form the giant, the sisters prayed...
Chih-nii, the Heavenly Spinner
In this Chinese myth, Chih-nii, the daughter of a major deity, comes down to earth to bathe in a river. A simple cowherd, not knowing her identity, steals her robe and hides it, and -when the goddess comes to fetch it- convinces her to marry him. Unable to return to the heavens without her robe, Chihh-nii consents to the proposal. Years later, Chih-nii cajoles her husband into giving the robe back to her. She returns to the kingdom in the sky. Through...
The Dancing Children
This Onondaga myth tells of seven children who dismay their elders by dancing and frolicking all night on the shore of a lake where a group is camped for the winter. In spite of warnings from a mysterious wise man, the children continue their capers. Then, on one special night, the children ascen into the sky and become seven stars. In this form, they dance foreve...
