Mythology and Folklore

 The first article,  Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt by John Spencer, talks about ways to manage self-doubt. He says that self-doubt probably will not ever go away entirely. One of the ways that he suggests is getting rid of perfectionism. This stuck with me the most. In anything you do, whether it be painting, sculpting, writing, teaching, etc., there are going to be people that are ready and willing to poke holes in it. Accept that there are always going to be critics of your work—you are always going to get feedback from people. Accept it and move on. Feedback is not necessarily a bad thing, even if it is negative. The second article,  Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head by Sabina Nawaz, talks about the negative voices in our heads and ways to stop listening to them or to even (hopefully) stop them completely. After all, you cannot get away from the voices in your head. She suggests focusing on the positive by actively looking for positive things, hearing positiv...

Option 1: There were six children born to Kronos and Rhea—Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Most everyone concentrates on Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Hera, Demeter, and especially Hestia are forgotten a lot of the time. I could tell the story of the first female goddesses; one who was married to a god who would never be faithful, one who lost her daughter to another god, and the firstborn who was overlooked by most everyone—and lost her seat on Mount Olympus to Dionysus.                                                      Image of Hestia Information about Hestia Information about Zeus' Mortal Children Option 2: In the popular movie Clash of the Titans, there are several scenes that fell flat for me. The first is where Zeus disguises himself as Danae’s husband and sleeps with her (which is rape). Danae’s real husband (who had offended Zeus...

     There once was a Tiger trapped in a cage. A Brahman, having happened upon his cage, felt sorry for the clearly distressed Tiger and decided to let him out. The Tiger rumbled gratefully at the Brahman and sank into a stretch, grumbling about being quite famished. The Tiger did not know why the Brahman paled at this, but that thought was soon driven from his head when the Brahman offered to bring him something to eat. The Tiger, who had been trapped in the cage for a long time and was quite famished, wondered into the shade of a nearby tree and laid down. The Brahman took off at a run.      Now, this Brahman, having been second guessing his decision to let the Tiger out of the cage, had misheard what the Tiger said. This Brahman was now under the impression that he was going to be eaten for dinner. Distraught, he decided to ask the advice of the things around him. Firstly, he happened upon a pipal-tree. The pipal-tree, who was quite bitter about being st...

I ndian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912). https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/tricksters The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal Image of a Tiger It is interesting that the Jackal is the Trickster in this story. When I think of Tricksters, I think of the coyote or the raven, or the god Loki. The Tiger is the most interesting character of this story for me. Maybe I can change it to where the Tiger did not actually say he was going to eat the Brahman? He just thought he heard the Tiger say that. The Jackal tricks him for nothing, and the Tiger dies for nothing. Then it turns into more of a fable about stereotypes and how appearances can be deceiving than a story about tricksters. I would have to figure out a reason for the Tiger to still be there when the Brahman and the Jackal go back to the cage though. Maybe the Tiger thought the Brahman would bring him d...

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Homer's Odyssey  Week 4: Cupid and Psyche  Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Ancient Egypt Week 6: Arabian Nights Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: Brer Rabbit  Week 9: China (Folktales) Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: California/Southwest Week 11: Great Plains Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: King Arthur  Week 13: Celtic Tales Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Ashliman  Week 15: Hunt I am very excited about the Celtic Tales and King Arthur. My family is Celtic, and I have always loved the legends about the Once and Future King. I think I will also enjoy seeing how fairytales such as Red Riding Hood and Snow White differ in the Grimm version versus what I know.  Celtic Triskele , said to represe...