Tag: Mythology

The Agama Texts of Hinduism

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Hinduism is not a religion of the book as there is no central source of authority like the Christian Bible or the Islamic Quran to refer to, however there is no shortage of scripture. The whole canon of Hindu philosophy thrives upon debate and spiritual inquiry, much of it contradictory. Collected all together, these texts would fill many, many volumes of text. The Agamas were created to be a set of rules to guide those who subscribe to Hinduism and its ideological principles. The Agamas are incredibly vast in their range of topics offering instructions upon temple construction, the intricacies of the guru and disciple relationship, and meditation practices, covering every moment of life from waking to sleeping, from birth to death. The agamas originated in Tamil Nadu and are written in the Tamil language. The agamas provided Hinduism a formal structure which are still considered cornerstones in the practice of Hinduism during the modern day

The Mythology of Japan Having a Closed Society Throughout History

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It is a myth that Japan was completely cut off from the rest of the world throughout history, developing in a vacuum, as the official policy of the state was to close its doors, but the unofficial policy of the people was to remain open to the influence and ideas of other civilizations. The shoguns made a single exception to this rule pertaining to outsiders which was the advent of Deshima Island, a trading port that was the only place in Japan which Europeans were allowed to live and trade. Only Dutch traders were permitted access to this site due to the fact that the Dutch understood how to curry favor with influential members of Japanese society by showing tribute and swearing allegiance to the shogun, therefore becoming part of Japan’s internal feudal system. The narrow bridge between Deshima Island, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan upon the mainland was the only connection Japan had with the outside world for centuries

The Greek Mythology of Icarus

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In Greek mythology, Icarus, the son of the master craftsperson Daedalus, is the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of crafted wings which Icarus’ father constructs from feathers and wax. Daedalus warns Icarus of complacency and hubris, instructing that he fly neither too low nor too high, so that the seas dampness would not clog his wings but also so that the sun’s heat would not melt them. Icarus ignored his father’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun and when he did, the wax in his wings melted causing him to tumble out of the sky and into the sea where he drowned

The Ancient Roman River of Memory Loss

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The Limia River in Galicia, Spain which is in the Ourense province was claimed to be cursed by the Ancient Celt’s and crossing this river was believed to cause the loss of one’s memory. In the year 135 B.C., the Roman forces led by General Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus reached the banks of the River Lethes, or as it is referred to in Spain, the river “Limia”, and proceeded no further with their invasion of Spain because the soldiers were afraid of losing their memories. Callaicus, single handedly dismantled this myth by crossing to the other side and then listing the names of all his soldiers one by one

Camels Not Being Indigenous in the Middle East

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Camels originally inhabited North America, not the Middle East. Radiometric dating has allowed archeologists to approximate the arrival of the camel to the Middle East which was confirmed to be 930 B.C., which was long after their first appearance in literature like the Bible. Scientists now think the Bible was written up to 500 years after the authors who originally wrote it claimed it to be. Camels were brought to the Middle East as the Egyptians recognized a bustling copper trade and needed a way to import and export copper quickly and cost effectively

The Etymology of “Thug” and the Indian Thuggee

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The term “thug” is derived from the term “thuggee” which was a Hindi term used to describe a cult in India who killed 2,000,000 (2 million) people by strangulation. This group performed these murders in the name of Kali, the goddess they worshiped, who according to Indian mythology would drink her victim’s blood

The Meaning of Comets and Asteroids Throughout History and the Fallacy of Patterns

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Comets and asteroids meant different things to different cultures throughout history. To the Masai of East Africa they meant famine, to the Zulu of South Africa they meant war, to the Ighat* of West Africa they meant disease, to the Jaga of Sier* they meant smallpox, and to their neighbors the Luba, they foretold the death of a leader. The Chinese tracked and cataloged comets and asteroids starting in 1400 B.C. In Chinese mythology, a 3 tailed comet or asteroid meant calamity for the state, and a 4 tailed comet or asteroid signaled an epidemic was coming. The human being ability to recognize patterns can be a double edged sword as it can lead us to believe a pattern exists when really there is no correlation between the before scenario and after event. This phenomena is referred to as “post hoc ergo propter hoc” which is Latin for “after this, therefore because of this”. Post hoc ergo propter hoc explains a logical fallacy which states “since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X.” This theory of thought is often shortened to simply “post hoc fallacy”. An example of this incorrect theory of thought would be “the rooster crows immediately before sunrise; therefore the rooster causes the sun to rise”. Oddly enough, the reason roosters crow at sunrise is because they actually believe they are prompting the sun to rise into the sky due to their limited brain capacity and ability to utilize logic and/or reason

*spelling may be slightly inaccurate for the indigenous people listed