Egyptian Mythology

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Norse Mythology Review

1. Vikings: The Scandinavian people of far northern Europe that worship the Norse Pantheon.
2. Ginnungagap: The empty void that existed before anything else came.
   
3. Nifleheim: The land of ice and fog where the giants live.
   
4. Muspellheim: The land of smoke and fire that is guarded by the giant Surt.
   
5. Yggdrasil: The giant ash tree that holds up all the different parts of the world.
   
6. Asgard: The wonderful land where all of the gods live.
   
7. Midgard: The land where human beings and other mortals live.
   
8. Hel: Loki's daughter and the goddess of the underworld.
   
9. Bifrost Bridge: The bridge that links humans and gods, a burning bridge or a rainbow.
   
10. Ymir: He was the first frost giant and the father of all the other giants.
    
11. Odin: The god of war and the ruler of all the other gods.
    
12. Frigg: Wife of Odin and the queen of the gods.
    
13. The Valkyries: Servants of the gods that decide who gets to enter Valhalla.
    
14. The Norns: The fate maidens who control the destinies of all the humans and gods.
    
15. Thor: Son of Odin and the god of thunder, wields the hammer Mjollnir.
    
16. Balder: Odin's other son, god of radiance, rebirth, and justice.
    
17. Njord: God of the wind and sea, also the patron of sailors.
    
18. Frey: God of prosperity, sun, and rain.
    
19. Freya: Goddess of love, fertility, beauty, magic, war, and death.
    
20. Idunn: Goddess who grows and keeps the golden apples that the gods eat to stay young.
    
21. Loki: Half giant and half god, cunning and deceitful, he can be a menace or a helper.
    
22. Fenrir: A giant ferocious wolf and the son of Loki.
    
23. Jormungandr: The world serpant and another son of Loki.
    
24. Ragnarok: The day of destruction when go0d and evil will both be killed and the world will be destroyed.
    
25. Runes: Magical symbols that can be used to cast spells and other incantations as well as predict peoples moods and feelings.
    

Native American Picture

The Fast Thinker

The Frog and the Antelope
Summary by: Robert Herriott

The story of Frog and Antelope is one of my favorite from Native American mythology. It comes from the Kootenai people of Montana. Throughout the myth we learn about two equally important values: the value of knowledge, as well as the importance of humility.

In the beginning of the myth, Antelope is boasting over how amazing his running skills are. Frog begins to tire of this and decides to challenge Antelope to a race. Antelope immediately accepts the challenge, thinking that there is no way a small frog could possibly beat him in a race.

The race begins and, as expected, Antelope quickly pulls ahead. It seems the race will be over in no time, but as soon as Frog is out of site behind Antelope, Frog suddenly appears in front of him. During the days before the race, Frog had gotten all of his relatives to conceal themselves at various locations across the race course. Whenever the next frog in line saw Antelope coming, they would jump out in front of him. This made it look like Frog was always one step ahead of Antelope.

As a result Antelope becomes discouraged, and he starts becoming more and more tired, and moving slower and slower. He is almost to the finish line when the last frog jumps out in front of him and wins the race. Because Frog is declared the winner, Antelope is forced to stop his boasting.

This myth clearly shows how necessary humility is. The character who thought he was better than everyone else was the one who ended up losing. Therefore, we must be sure to never set ourselves above others. You never know when you might run into a frog.

Source:
Summary:
Anderson, John. “A Kottenai Folk Tale About Gambling.” The Fast Thinker. Sandpoint:
AmDes Publishing, 1994. 7 Novmber 2008. .
Image:
Anderson, John. “The Fast Thinker.” 1994. Painting. Angel Fire. 11 November 2008.
.

Cosmology Research

Cosmology is the branch of study that deals with discovering the origin, structure, and nature of the universe. Though it may not seem very pertinent at first, this idea actually fits within the 3 levels of interpretation that we learned about very well.

Within cosmology there are 2 separate branches, the microcosm and macrocosm. The first of these, the microcosm, is the smaller of the two branches of cosmology. It deals with individual groups inside the universe, such as the human race, or animal race. Lots of things even smaller than a whole race could be considered a type of microcosm. The ecosystem around a lake, for example, could be considered a microcosm. Even things as small as the germs and bacteria on the top of a cracker you eat could be classified as a microcosm.

The idea of groups of things, small or large, that make up the universe or world fits right into the middle level of interpretation we studied, the social level. The religion of the ancient Egyptians had a lot to do with microcosms. They believed that every group of people had their own role in society; this was the basis for their hierarchy pyramid. Those of noble birth were considered to be the higher microcosm, and were therefore placed on the top of the pyramid to guide and rule the people under them. From there the pyramid branches downwards into larger and larger, but increasingly less powerful, microcosms. At the bottom you have you and me, the average people who just go about their daily business doing the best that they can.

The other branch of cosmology, the macrocosm, deals with the universe as a whole. The macrocosm encompasses everything, just like the universal interpretation level that we studied. Gods and the celestial bodies that they are represented by were the macrocosm within the Egyptian religion. Gods like Ra, the greatest of all, commanded the power of nature. Ra specifically commanded the sun and light. The sun is the center of the universe and nothing else could exist without its life-giving light. This makes it the perfect object to personify a macrocosm. The universe as a whole and everything it contains, stemming out from the sun, is our macrocosm.

The idea of cosmology unfortunately, does not work very well with the individual level of interpretation. It generally deals with larger groups, but if you stretch the definition just slightly, you can even fit it to groups of thoughts within an individual. If you picture your brain as a macrocosm, then certain types of emotions like happy emotions, and sad emotions could be considered microcosms.

That is the long and short of cosmology and the way that it pertains to mythology and the Egyptian culture. There are examples of cosmology in almost every culture. I just used the Egyptians because their religion is centered around celestial bodies.

Mythology Term Definitions

1.Myths are the stories that a given culture uses to explain the gods that they worship, natural events, or the stories of heroes that are passed down through generations. One example of a myth is the story of Persephone and Hades.

2.A hero is someone who has special qualities that differ from other people, they give something to society that it was preciously lacking and perform great feats. One hero we learned about in class is Aeneas.

3.A hero journey is the journey that a hero embarks on to receive the gift that he is going to give to society. The 12 feats that Hercules performs are a great example of a hero journey.

4.A universal quality is something that is found in all of us or something that applies to the whole world and everyone in it. One size fits all. A very universal hero that we learned about is Dionysus, he feels love for his family just like all of us.

5.An archetype is the original model of an idea that all subsequent models are compared to and based off of. The first god was Zeus, so he is an archetype that all the other gods are modeled after and compared with.

6.Something that is cyclical goes into a circle and repeats itself over and over, ending in the same place that it started. Ra's journey is very cyclical, he dies every night and is reborn every morning. He repeats this every single day.

7.Duality is two things contained within one. Two polar opposites working together to balance out the universe or whole. In many myths earth and heaven are used as a duality where the two balance each other out and create a whole.

8.A creation myth is something that explains how the universe was created and who did it. The Enuma Elish is the Mesopotamian creation myth.

9.Cosmology is the branch of study that deals with discovering the origin, structure, and nature of the universe. The Egyptians have a great interest in cosmology because a large portion of their gods are portrayed by heavenly spheres.

10.Life from death is a pattern in which someone or something dying gives life to the next generation or group of people. In the Enuma Elish, Tiamat is killed, but the world and sky are created from her body.

11.A matriarchal society is a society that is ruled and controlled by females. The Mor Soue of China are a matriarchal society.

12.A patriarchal society is a society that is ruled and controlled by males. The society in Afghanistan is a patriarchal society.

13.A sacrifice is when you give up something that is important to you for the greater good. Ra gives his life in his myth so that the world can have light every single day.

Cupid and Psyche cover art.