Tithonus and Eos

Today's myth is about the Ancient Greek story of Tithonus and Eos. Eos was the daughter of Hyperion and Theia. Her brother was Helios and her sister was Selene. Eos herself was the Titan and Goddess of the dawn. It was said that she would rise each morning and with rosy fingers she would open the gates of heaven and allow the sun to rise.

Eos once had a very short lived tryst with the god of war Ares. The reason it was so short lived was because of Aphrodite's jealousy. She was so enraged by the affair that she cursed Eos with a voracious sexual appetite. She could not satisfy her desire no matter how hard she tried and this is why she was know to abduct young men to feed her desire. Tithonus was one of these men Eos abducted but there was something different about him.

Tithonus was a Trojan by birth and the son of King Laomedon of Troy by water nymph named Strymo. One day he was kidnapped from the royal house of Troy by Eos to be her lover. She was truly infatuated with Tithonus and wanted him to be hers, forever. 

Eos went to Zeus to plea to make her lover immortal for she wanted to be with Tithonus until the end of time. Aphrodite was having an audience with Zeus when Eos came arrived and stated her case. Aphrodite still bitter about Ares listened intently to the conversation between the titan and the god and smirked.

Aphrodite whispered into Zeus' ear after Eos was finished with her plea to which Zeus nodded. He told Eos that he would grant Tithonus immortality and her heart leaped at the idea of getting to live with her love for the rest of her life.

She returned to Tithonus and told him the good news about Zeus granting him immortality. They were happy for some time until Eos noticed Tithonus aging. His hair had began to thin and turn white and his once youthful physique fell into adulthood. In a panic she retreated to Olympus and sought another audience with Zeus.

She explained what was happening to Tithonus and asked for help but Zeus refused. He told her that Aphrodite pointed out during their original meeting that she had simply asked for immortality and not eternal youth so that is what Zeus granted her. Reeling from the betrayal Eos begged Zeus to reverse what he had done but he refused.

She returned home to Tithonus pained and heartbroken. Centuries passed and Tithonus was still living although he had wasted away to nothing. She could not take the pain of seeing her withered lover anymore so she lay him in a cave on a mountain where she blocked the door.

In some myths it is said that Tithonus could be heard talking from the cave until he finally got too weak to talk. Other myths state that Tithonus finally withered down to nothing more than a cicada forever making noise letting Eos know that he was still alive. 

Chinese "Lunar" New Years.

HAPPY NEW YEARS READERS! That is right today is the Chinese new years. Chinese new years is marked by the first new moon of the calendar year. We are now leaving the year of the Dragon and entering the year of the Snake. Just like most holidays there is folklore and mythology behind the Chinese new years.

It was said that on the first new moon of the year the dreaded 年獸 Nian was said to visit villages all across China. The 年獸 Nian is a beast from beneath the sea that was said to surface during the first new moon of the season to feed. The Nian was said to feed on livestock, crops, and even the villagers of the town especially children.

To protect themselves the villagers would leave food on their doorsteps to satiate the beast. It was said that if the beast were to eat your food that it would not only protect you but it would also protect the other people in the village.

One day a young boy was out after curfew and the Nian snuck up on the boy but when the Nian saw the bright red of the boy's robes it fled back into the sea. One of the villagers of the town noticed this and so when the next new year came around he strung out red lanterns and red spring scrolls and noticed that the Nian did not visit him.

This was a revelation for the villages and so red became the popular color of new years. It was then descovered that the Nian's ears were sensitive to sound so they began setting off fireworks to keep the Nian at bay.

From this point on the Nian did not return to the villages and was believed to be dead until the Taoist monk Hongjun Lao Tzu captured him. This is why the Nian is shown as Lao Tzu's mount. 

Just like it is customary in the Southern United States to eat black eyed peas and greens Chinese cultures also have many customs. One of the customs is to do a complete clean sweep of the house essentially sweeping out the ill-fortune to make room for the good fortune. 

Coatlicue

Today's entry is on the Aztec goddess Coatlicue. She is known as the mother of all gods and also she is the goddess who gave the world the moon and the stars. Our story begins in centuries ago in a large Aztec village. Coatlicue  was not the most attractive of  women but she was the mother of half the village. She birthed over 400 children and was still fertile.

One day she was sweeping the village temple when a ball of feathers floated down and touched her bare stomach. She had not noticed at the time but the ball of feathers had impregnated her. Her pregnancy was quicker than normal and this was because her womb was not occupied by a mortal but by gods. She gave birth to the gods Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl.

One of her daughters, Coyolxauhqui, was embarassed that her mother did not know who impregnated her so she led her other 400 siblings on a crusade to murder their mother. One day when she was cleaning the temple she was ambushed by her children. They cut her flesh and eventually decapitated her.

The minute she was dead there was a rumbling inside of her womb. Her children began to back away slowly as her stomach began to extend. Just then the god Huitzilopotchli sprung forth from her womb full grown and armed for battle. The brothers and sisters began to run, but before many of them could escape Huitzilopotchli began a killing spree. He would cut off someone's head and then turn and take out someone's heart. When he was done most of Coatlicue's children lay dead on the temple floor.

When all was done and over with he collected the body parts of the fallen and made a necklace which he placed around the neck of his fallen mother. Once the necklace was in placed around her neck the spurts of blood from her neck began to form two gigantic serpents.

She is always portrayed as having two serpents looking at each other as her head. Her necklace, which consists of hands, hearts, and skulls, lays over her breasts which are flaccid from pregnancy. She is viewed as the devouring mother, in which both the womb and the grave exists.  

The 化け猫 quiz!

How to tell if your cat is 化け猫

Hello there all. Some of you asked what things made a cat a 化け猫 (bake-neko) or Monster cat. So here is a quick quiz to tell if your cat may possibly be a demon spawn.

1. Is your cat over 100 years old


Yes

No




2. Is your cat's tail over two feet long and split into two tails somewhere along the way?


Yes

No




3. Does your cat weigh over 8 1/4 pounds?


Yes

No




4. Has your cat aquired a certain fondness of human flesh?


Yes

No




5. Does your cat talk to you in plain English or Japanese?


Yes

No




6. Has your cat leaped over a fresh corpse lately only to have it turn it into a zombie?


Yes

No




7. Has your cat ever shape shifted into Professor Mcgonagall or other forms?


Yes

No




8. Has your cat ever eaten another human in their sleep?


Yes

No




9. Does your cat ever levitate or fly around the room perching upon the highest perch?


Yes

No




10. Lastly have you noticed any ghostly fireballs emanating from your cat lately?


Yes

No

If you have answered no to all of these Congratulations! You have a plain ol' cat. However, If you answered yes to any of these questions keep an eye on that pussy because it could turn bad at any minute!!!

青木が原 （Aokigahara)

Many centuries ago in feudal Japan there lived a very skilled samurai. Stories of his swordsmanship spread through the land and piqued the interests of many generals. They sought the samurai out and offered him a position in their army but every time he turned them down stating that his purpose was for a much higher calling; For you see the samurai was a demon hunter.

His task was seeking out the many demons of Japan and slaying them one by one. He was charged by no one and took the responsibilty on himself when his family was killed by a demon cat by the name of　化け猫 (Bake-Neko). 化け猫 came in the night and carried his parents and his sister away and since then he devoted his life to killing all demons.

He arrived at a town near the base of Mount Fuji where he had heard rumors of a river demon terrorizing the villagers. He was welcomed like a king for everyone in the town knew who he was, everyone except one maiden. She was one of the town elder's daughter and she was extremely beautiful. The samurai fell in love at first sight. The the maiden rejected his advances at first but soon she couldn't resist his charm. They had a whirlwind romance and were to be wed when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

One warm spring night they lay in bed together listening to the crickets outside when he thought he heard the soft thud of paws on dirt. He attributed it to one of the many mutts in the town and began to drift off again when just then there was a loud BANG! The front door had disappeard into a thousand splinters and in it's place was a giant cat eye.

 化け物　had returned for him. His maiden woke up and screamed at the sight of a large paw clawing it's way through the door. He leaped to his feet and grabbed his sword but it was too late. The paw had reached in and grabbed the maiden and her screams seemed to bring him back to that day so many years ago when his family was taken away from him. He ran after the cat as it disappeared into wood and he stopped at the woods edge for this was the demon's woods.

青木が原　(Aokigahara) Which means "sea of trees" is a forest said to inhabited by demons. He could not run in after her at night with him being the demon slayer he would not have survied so he waited till morning. He gathered his supplies and armor and ventured into the forest to find the cat. At the entrance of the forest he saw a thread of silk that seemed to extended deep into the trees. He knew that this was the same silk that his maiden was wearing when she was taken so he laid one hand upon the silk and ventured onward.

The silk led him to a cave where 化け物 lived. The entrance of the cave was strewn with the bones of both humans and animals. He couldn't turn back now and leave the love of his life at the mercy of the cat so he ventured into the cave. He found  化け物 and the maiden in a cavern deep within the cave. The cat had been expecting him and wanted to make a deal with him. He could exchange the maiden's life for his own.

The maiden tried to sway the samurai's decision but he had already made up his mind. He could not live life without her and he was sure she would find love eventually. The cat perked up his ears and in a sick smile before he pounced on the samurai. His death was instant, the cat made sure of that, and within a matter of seconds all that was left was the blood stained armor and sword of the samurai. The maiden was in shock, she could not believe what she had witnessed. She stood up and ran to the pile of armor that used to be her lover and began to weep.

化け物 began to laugh and his laughter echoed through the cave and through her soul. In an instant she unsheathed his sword and with one swipe took the head of the demon cat clean off. She then went to the cat's stomach and cut it open to reveal the lifeless body of her lover. She wept over his body for hours until the sun started to finally set. She could not bear the thought of leaving her love in the cave alone so she lay with him until darkness came.

The people of the town never knew what happened to the samurai and his love until one day a hunter discovered the thread of silk and followed it to find two skeletons in an embrace. He brought their bones back to the village where they were buried together and they remained together for all eternity.

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青木が原 Aokigahara is a real forest at the base of Mount Fuji and is the said to be the home of many demons. It is also the setting for many tragic love stories usually ending in the couples commiting suicide within the forest. Aokigahara is still one of the number one destinations for suicide in Japan. Victims usually enter and leave trails of colored ribbon, thread or caution tape to lead visitors to their body.

Here is a very interesting documentary that I have found for those who are interested in learning more about Aokigahara.

CREATIONISM SUNDAY!

Our story this Sunday is of the Finnish creation myth. Our story begins in a deep wide void of an ocean that was the world. There was nothingness except for Ilmatar, the mother divine, who floated among the waves for centuries all alone. She yearned for companionship for all those many years until the sea fell in love with Ilmatar and planted a child into her womb.

Ilmatar remained pregnant for many centuries more but one day she was visited by a sea bird. She was fascinated by the creature and watched it come and go as it pleased. One day the bird decided to make a nest upon Ilmatar's lap and in the nest she saw a single egg. The bird sat and sat on the egg every few days it would fly off and find itself food so it would not starve.

Soon the egg began to get warm with it's mother's constant care. The egg became much too hot for Ilmatar and she tried to rearrange the the egg but it slipped out of her hand. The egg broke once it hit the ocean and shattered into many fragments:

One egg's lower half transformed

And became the earth below,

And its upper half transmuted

And became the sky above;

From the yolk the sun was made,

Light of day to shine upon us;

From the white the moon was formed,

Light of night to gleam above us;

All the colored brighter bits

Rose to be the stars of heaven

And the darker crumbs changed into

Clouds and cloudlets in the sky.

(Taken from the Kalevala)

Seeing the new terrain Ilmatar stepped foot on the land and began to explore. Her giant footsteps formed the lakes and mountains of the earth. The wave of her arms created the beaches and the cliffs. She surveyed the land and saw it in it's raw form and all it's beauty, paired with the life growing in her womb she was truly happy.

Baba Yaga

SOMEWHERE, I cannot tell you exactly where, but certainly in vast Russia, there lived a peasant with his wife and they had twins — a son and daughter. One day the wife died and the husband mourned over her very sincerely for a long time. One year passed, and two years, and even longer. But there is no order in a house without a woman, and a day came when the man thought, "If I marry again possibly it would turn out all right." And so he did, and had children by his second wife.

The stepmother was envious of the stepson and daughter and began to use them hardly. She scolded them without any reason, sent them away from home as often as she wished, and gave them scarcely enough to eat. Finally she wanted to get rid of them altogether. Do you know what it means to allow a wicked thought to enter one's heart? The wicked thought grows all the time like a poisonous plant and slowly kills the good thoughts. A wicked feeling was growing in the stepmother's heart, and she determined to send the children to the witch, thinking sure enough that they would never return.

"Dear children," she said to the orphans, "go to my grandmother who lives in the forest in a hut on hen's feet. You will do everything she wants you to, and she will give you sweet things to eat and you will be happy."
The orphans started out. But instead of going to the witch, the sister, a bright little girl, took her brother by the hand and ran to their own old, old grandmother and told her all about their going to the forest.
"Oh, my poor darlings!" said the good old grandmother, pitying the children, "my heart aches for you, but it is not in my power to help you. You have to go not to a loving grandmother, but to a wicked witch. Now listen to me, my darlings," she continued; "I will give you a hint: Be kind and good to everyone; do not speak ill words to any one; do not despise helping the weakest, and always hope that for you, too, there will be the needed help."

The good old grandmother gave the children some delicious fresh milk to drink and to each a big slice of ham. She also gave them some cookies—there are cookies everywhere—and when the children departed she stood looking after them a long, long time.

The obedient children arrived at the forest and, oh, wonder! there stood a hut, and what a curious one! It stood on tiny hen's feet, and at the top was a rooster's head. With their shrill, childish voices they called out loud: "Izboushka, Izboushka! turn thy back to the forest and thy front to us!"
The hut did as they commanded. The two orphans looked inside and saw the witch resting there, her head near the threshold, one foot in one corner, the other foot in another corner, and her knees quite close to the ridge pole. "Fou, Fou, Fou!" exclaimed the witch; "I feel the Russian spirit."

The children were afraid, and stood close, very close together, but in spite of their fear they said very politely:
"Ho, grandmother, our stepmother sent us to thee to serve thee."
"All right; I am not opposed to keeping you, children. If you satisfy all my wishes I shall reward you; if not, I shall eat you up."
Without any delay the witch ordered the girl to spin the thread, and the boy, her brother, to carry water in a sieve to fill a big tub. The poor orphan girl wept at her spinning-wheel and wiped away her bitter tears. At once all around her appeared small mice squeaking and saying:
"Sweet girl, do not cry. Give us cookies and we will help thee."
The little girl willingly did so.
"Now,"gratefully squeaked the mice, "go and find the black cat. He is very hungry; give him a slice of ham and he will help thee."
The girl speedily went in search of the cat and saw her brother in great distress about the tub, so many times he had filled the sieve, yet the tub was still dry. The little birds passed, flying near by, and chirped to the children:
"Kind-hearted little children, give us some crumbs and we will advise you."
The orphans gave the birds some crumbs and the grateful birds chirped again:
"Some clay and water, children dear!"
Then away they flew through the air.
The children understood the hint, spat in the sieve, plastered it up with clay and rilled the tub in a very short time. Then they both returned to the hut and on the threshold met the black cat. They generously gave him some of the good ham which their good grandmother had given them, petted him and asked:
"Dear Kitty-cat, black and pretty, tell us what to do in order to get away from thy mistress, the witch?"
"Well," very seriously answered the cat, "I will give you a towel and a comb and then you must run away. When you hear the witch running after you, drop the towel behind your back and a large river will appear in place of the towel. If you hear her once more, throw down the comb and in place of the comb there will appear a dark wood. This wood will protect you from the wicked witch, my mistress."
Baba Yaga came home just then.
"Is it not wonderful?" she thought; "everything is exactly right."
"Well," she said to the children, "today you were brave and smart; let us see to-morrow. Your work will be more difficult and I hope I shall eat you up."
The poor orphans went to bed, not to a warm bed prepared by loving hands, but on the straw in a cold corner. Nearly scared to death from fear, they lay there, afraid to talk, afraid even to breathe. The next morning the witch ordered all the linen to be woven and a large supply of firewood to be brought from the forest.

The children took the towel and comb and ran away as fast as their feet could possibly carry them. The dogs were after them, but they threw them the cookies that were left; the gates did not open themselves, but the children smoothed them with oil; the birch tree near the path almost scratched their eyes out, but the gentle girl fastened a pretty ribbon to it. So they went farther and farther and ran out of the dark forest into the wide, sunny fields.

The cat sat down by the loom and tore the thread to pieces, doing it with delight. Baba Yaga returned.
"Where are the children?" she shouted, and began to beat the cat. "Why hast thou let them go, thou treacherous cat? Why hast thou not scratched their faces?"
The cat answered: "Well, it was because I have served thee so many years and thou hast never given me a bite, while the dear children gave me some good ham."
The witch scolded the dogs, the gates, and the birch tree near the path.
"Well," barked the dogs, "thou certainly art our mistress, but thou hast never done us a favor, and the orphans were kind to us."
The gates replied: "We were always ready to obey thee, but thou didst neglect us, and the dear children smoothed us with oil."

"The children ran away as fast as their feet could possibly carry them"

The birch tree lisped with its leaves, "Thou hast never put a simple thread over my branches and the little darlings adorned them with a pretty ribbon."
Baba Yaga understood that there was no help and started to follow the children herself. In her great hurry she forgot to look for the towel and the comb, but jumped astride a broom and was off. The children heard her coming and threw the towel behind them. At once a river, wide and blue, appeared and watered the field. Baba Yaga hopped along the shore until she finally found a shallow place and crossed it.
Again the children heard her hurry after them and so they threw down the comb. This time a forest appeared, a dark and dusky forest in which the roots were interwoven, the branches matted together, and the tree-tops touching each other. The witch tried very hard to pass through, but in vain, and so, very, very angry, she returned home.

The orphans rushed to their father, told him all about their great distress, and thus concluded their pitiful story:
"Ah, father dear, why dost thou love us less than our brothers and sisters?"
The father was touched and became angry. He sent the wicked stepmother away and lived a new life with his good children. From that time he watched over their happiness and never neglected them any more.
How do I know this story is true? Why, one was there who told me about it.

Folk Tales From the Russian, by Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal, [1903]

Ganesh

The great god Shiva lived with his consort Parvati on mount Kailash. Shiva used to leave his home and Parvati for long periods of time to meditate atop the mountain. During one of these stints Parvati decided to take a bath but without Shiva there to protect her she decided to create someone to guard her door. She reached around and gathered the dirt from the back of her neck and formed it into the shape of a small boy. She breathed life into the figure and he suddenly came alive!

Ganesh was the name given to little boy and Parvati loved him very much for he was her son. She handed Ganesh an great war mace and told him that under no circumstances is anyone allowed to enter her bath house while she was inside. Ganesh took his orders and stood outside of the door turning away all visitors that had come to see the goddess. 

Shiva returned from meditation atop mount Kailash and wished to see his consort however, a young boy blocked his way. The boy told Shiva that Parvati was not taking any visitors at the moment and to please come back later. Shiva, shocked, told the boy "I am Shiva, The God of gods and the destroyer, and I have come to see my consort. Step aside young man." However Ganesh politely informed him again that Parvati was not taking any visitors and to come back later. "You have made a grave mistake young man." Shiva said as he produced his trident and a great battle ensued.

Shiva and Ganesh were both very skilled warriors and neither could gain the upper hand on the other. Shiva would swing his trident but Ganesh would nimbly jump over it simultaneously bringing his mace down to crush Shiva's skull to which he would dodge. The two were evenly matched until Shiva decided to use his powers of illusion to distract Ganesh. In that instant Shiva swung his trident and lopped Ganesh's head clean off. 

Parvati hearing the noise outside of her bath got dressed and emerged to see Shiva standing over the lifeless body of her son.  Parvati was in shock and she looked at Shiva and said "You have killed my only son, the only reason I had for living." She was distraught and set out to destroy the universe.
Shiva's fellow gods urged him to stop Parvati but when he tried to reason with her she would not listen.  Shiva knew the only way to make things right was to bring their son back to life so he gathered a group of followers to find the head of the young Ganesh. They searched for days but could not find the head anywhere so they returned to Shiva for further instructions. 

Shiva was puzzled as to where the head had disappeared to but nonetheless he was wise and told his men to cut off the head of the first animal they see.. The men embarked again and within a short while they came across a slumbering baby elephant. They removed the head of the elephant and brought it back to Shiva to which he placed on the shoulders of the headless boy. Shiva breathed life into the boy and he arose and began to dance for he had gotten a second chance at life. From that day forward Shiva accepted Ganesh as his own son and decreed that those who were to worship him must worship Ganesh first.

Ganesh is known as the remover of obstacles. His statues are located near the entrance of almost all shrines devoted to Shiva.