I suppose dharma would have completed this post on time =)

Dharma has a variety of meanings in the Indian culture depending on your chosen religion.  However, a general interpretation, if we were to look at Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, is “the right way of living” and “the path of righteousness.”  One could make the argument that dharma is the moral code by which these religions rely on.  Those who practice Hinduism believe in reincarnation and that karma determines person’s next existence, karma is the actions undertaken by the body and mind.  In order to achieve good karma it is important to live life according to dharma, what is right. (aboutreligion.com)

In The Ramayana, the main focus is on the life of Rama.  Rama is considered a hero in Hindu culture because he lives his entire life following the rules of dharma.  He is a perfect son allows going along with his father’s will.  He was a faithful and ideal husband to Sita and later a grand and responsible ruler.

He is not the only character that practices and displays good dharma in this story.  His brother, Bharatha, learns that his mother has used one of her wishes to have Rama exiled.  He knows that dharma requires that the eldest son rule and therefore promises to Rama that he will hold the throne as regent until Rama is able to return from exile. (pg. 60-61)

Rama’s wife, Sita, upholds dharma by remaining at her husband’s side and going with him into exile even though she herself was not exiled, because it is a family’s duty to remain faithful to one another and stick together. (pg. 53)

I think we could all use a little more dharma in our lives.

What if you discovered your entire life was a lie?

My latest obsession is fantasy novels geared more towards teens.  I think it’s because they are a quick easy read and that’s just about all I can find time for.  Not too many days I finished up The Mortal Instruments series and purchased the City of Bones.  In this series Clary Fray is the heroine alongside her mentor/ the hero of the series, Jace Wayland.

The City of Bones opens in the normal/average teenage life of Clary Fray, being raised by her mom with the support of her mother’s best friend Luke.

The hidden truth that Clary is soon to reveal is that she is in fact a Shadow Hunter.

She begins drawing this symbol repetitively and often times subconsciously.  In her efforts to discover what it is that the symbol represents she meets Jace Wayland.  He too is a Shadow Hunter and realizes and reveals to her that she is not mundane (human) but he has yet to uncover the entire truth as well.

Her adventure begins when her mom disappears.  The only message her mom manages to get through to her is that “Valentine’s alive and he found [her].”  As it turns out, Clary’s mother has had a spell placed on Clary by a Warlock and this is blocking all of Clary’s memories of the other realm and even suppressing her powers.

Clary begins her journey in an attempt to locate and rescue her mother but it soons intertwines into a mission to locate the Mortal Cup which her mother has been hiding from Valentine.  Clary has many mentors along the way. Jace Wayland who is immediately on her side and there to help her. Two other Shadow Hunters, Isabelle and Alexander, a brother/sister duo who aren’t entirely with her but go along with the plans because of Jace.  Also, there is Hodges, he essentially runs the institute and is able to fill Clary in on some of her past.

In this story the special world is the world of the Shadow Hunters and Under-Worlders.  Their world is kept hidden from the mundanes.  Shadow Hunters derive many of their powers from the use of runes, which they also use to mask their society.

Clary faces many trials along the way.  She learns that her neighbor is a witch who was protecting her mother’s secret, Luke IS a werewolf whom she actually “can’t trust,” and that Valentine isn’t the only person after the Mortal Cup.  She has to develop her skills in the midst of battle as there is no real time for proper training.

The main battle takes place when Clary discovers where her mother has hidden the cup.  She first must battle a demon in order to retrieve it and then upon returning to the institute she reveals the cup to Hodges and he reveals that he is working alongside Valentine.  Clary must now fight against Valentine and re-hide the cup even at the risk of potentially never seeing her mother again.  Valentine uses deception against Jace and Clary, who have fallen in love (the struggles of being female and having a heart lol) and tells them that they are in fact brother and sister (spoiler alert…they are not). Clary actually goes MIA for a good part of the battle and then returns just in time to rescue Jace by threatening to throw the cup into a portal.  As females, we have a tendency to let our hearts do the thinking.  Don’t be fooled though, turns out the cup was a fake and she is able to shove Valentine into the portal.

The battle is over and her reward is the safety of her still unconscious mother and the Mortal Cup.  She chooses to keep the cup hidden though so that it’s powers do not fall into the wrong hands.  There can be no return to normal for Clary.  She is not a mundane and being a Shadow Hunter is now her new normal.

This video does a fairly decent recap of the first installment but only up until 2 min 48 sec:

The Hero

Campbell views a hero’s journey in 3 parts: the separation or departure, the trials and victories, and the return. He then further breaks down these components into a total of 17 more specific elements.  Winkler managed to abridge these elements into a simple 11-13 elements which I will be utilizing for the purposes of this blog.

The separation or departure involves a “retreat from the world” into a place where our hero will find the resolution to his conflicts and his fears. The elements of this journey are the call to adventure, the need for assistance and the departure.  The call to adventure usually involves a mysterious message or invite.  Our hero will often times need advice or mentorship from someone wiser and possibly older.  The departure involves them leaving their ordinary world and reentering a special world, the realm in which the adventure will take place.  This is where the main story/the plot takes place.  The trials and victories can be broken down into five elements.  The trials, the approach, a crisis, treasure, and the result.  The trials will involve hard work and will lead to the approach where the hero must face his nerves and often his worst fears.  The crisis is the darkest hour, but our hero will receive a treasure of special recognition or power and the bad guys will either bow down to him or chase him from their realm.  Either way, he is successful and must now return to the ordinary world.  Upon his return he will notice that he has outgrown his old world and as such his status quo will be upgraded.

Theseus is able to lift the stone to retrieve the sandals and sword and so his adventure begins. Upon retrieving these tokens he must travel to Athens to take up his rightful crown.  During his journey his faces many opponents: Periphetes, Sinis, Phaia, Skiron, Kerkyon, and Procrustes.  His trials are not over yet.  He volunteers for his next journey, a trip to Crete to defeat the bull in the labyrinth and end the sacrifices to Minos.  He falls in love with Ariadne and she in turn becomes his “mentor” by obtaining information from Daedalus on how to defeat the bull.  He finds the Minotaur and is able to batter him senseless.  When he was leaving, he told his father he would use a white sail on his return to show he was alive. For whatever reason, he forgot to put up the white sail. His father threw himself from a cliff in despair, thinking his son was dead. Theseus took the role of King of Athens, but convinces them to create a government to rule themselves.

“The Labors of Herakles” details 12 different adventures that Herakles must go on in order to rid him of his guilt for killing his family.

1st: Kill the invincible lion of Nemea

2nd: Kill the 9-headed hydra in Lerna

3rd: Bring back the stag with golden horns, sacred to Artemis

4th: Capture the great boar on Mount Erymanthus

5th: Clean the Augean stables in a single day

6th: Drive away the Stymphalian birds

7th: Bring the bull Poseidon had given Minos

8th: Claim the man-eating mares of Diomedes

9th: Bring the girdle of the Queen of the Amazons

10th: Bring back the cattle of Geryon

11th: Bring back the Golden Apples of Hesperides

12th: Bring Cerberus up from the underworld

He receives help from many throughout the completion of these tasks. His reward is his “freedom” from his guilt.  After completion of his tasks the realization of his current state begins to sink in.  He is free from his labors but has no family to return to and therefore he sets out on a new journey.

Will you leave behind a legacy?

The terror management theory is unique to human beings and says that we have a desire to live and thrive and this is shadowed only by our realization that death is inevitable. I believe Stephen Cave put it best when he said, “We each live in the shadow of a personal apocalypse.” (Cave, 2013). Cave has also found that society has created four stories that help us cope by making us in some way immortal. His four immortality stories are elixir, resurrection, soul, and legacy.  We often times find one or more of these to be the plot of ancient myths and modern stories of death.

Elixir- The idea of avoiding death all together by taking some sort of elixir of life that will keep us going. In the book of Genesis, God discusses the tree of life and how man must not eat from it or they will not only hone the knowledge of God (from the eating of the apple from the tree of knowledge) but also his immortality.  “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever,’” (Genesis 3:22)

Cave discusses how in modern day we no longer rely on finding the “Fountain of Youth” but rather on creating one through science. We utilize modern technology to develop hormone treatments, stem cell research, etc. that will increase our vitality, functionality, and length of time on Earth.

Resurrection- We can rise up and live again as someone or even something different, therefore not really dying but rather evolving or transitioning into a different life. Many Egyptians believed that death was simple a transition period in life and that their ka left the body at the point of death.  This is why they mummified their dead and buried them with their riches, so that when their ka returned it would have a body to return to.  They also believed in Osiris, the god of the afterlife, regeneration, and rebirth.

Soul- A majority of people believe that we all have a soul (except for gingers…only kidding) and that death only occurs to the body. Our soul leaves our dead body but lives on to watch over our loved ones.  The ka that I referred to previously is what Egyptians believe is their soul.  It lives on before they are resurrected in body.

Legacy- This isn’t a physiological part of you living on, much like what takes place in the three previous stories. This is more of the legend that you leave behind.  Something you did that was so phenomenal that it will live on forever, or damn near close to it.  Your legacy may be so small that it only survives by your family and friends or it may have made such a significant impact that it lives on throughout the entirety of the world, like Steve Job’s legacy of technology.

In truth, no one can really know for sure what we have to look forward to after death. Our legacy is almost the only thing we can guarantee with certainty and that is why “the only thing that matters is that you make [your life] a good story.” (Cave, 2013)

P.S. Would living in Never-Land be considered an elixir? =D

Here’s what I’m working with thus far…..

*****clarification: this is based on the film character Mystique, not the comic book character….difference are minor but they do exist*****

Myths are simply works of the imagination that help us to make sense of the world around us and deal with our fate. Just about every culture included a trickster in their myths; a character put in place to test the limits of right and wrong, good and evil.  Tricksters allow us to question our beliefs and morality while laying the excess shame and blame on someone else.  Most of today’s modern day tricksters are created simply for entertainment value but with some deep thought and investigation you can often times reveal their greater purpose.  According to Hyne’s in order for an individual to qualify as a trickster they must maintain at least one, preferably more, of the following six characteristics: ambiguity and anomalousness, they must be a deceiver or trick-player, the ability to shapeshift, be a situation inverter, a messenger and imitator of the Gods, or be a bricoleur.  The Oxford Dictionary defines mystique as “a fascinating aura of mystery, awe, and power surrounding someone or something and also as an air of secrecy surrounding a particular activity or subject that makes it impressive or baffling to those without specialized knowledge.” While this definition greatly compares to just about every trickster, it more specifically describes the X-Men and other mutants, and personified in particular by a mutant named Raven, who chooses to go by the alias Mystique.  Mystique fits into Hyne’s definition of a trickster by having a genetic anomaly that allows her to shape shift which assists her in deception and trickery.

The X-Men are omega-level, super-human, mutants. An anomaly in their genetic codes gives each of them a unique mutant ability.  These anomalies do not void their human nature but rather create an alternate race or subculture within the realm of humans.  Most of the mutants live in a state of solidarity.  They believe that they are the only of their kind that exist and they wish to remain hidden and anonymous from their peers.  It is in 1944 that a young Raven happens upon Charles Xavier and learns that she is not alone.  As Xavier’s powers of telepathy grow he is able to reach out to other mutants and together they form a team of mutants known as the X-Men.  Raised by/ alongside Xavier, Mystique was taught equality for all and that mutants should be proud of who they are but remain slightly hidden out of respect for the fragility of the human race.  It soon becomes clear to her that Xavier prefers her in a hidden human form to her blue natural form, even when no humans are around. Eric, also known as Magneto, joins the team and he holds the belief that mutants shouldn’t hide themselves and soon convinces Mystique of this as well.  It inevitably becomes clear that human nature is to fear difference, and to therefore fear the mutants.  Magneto leads a group of mutants to separate from the X-Men and Mystique chooses to unite with him.  She argues with Xavier over her decision to be herself and fight for the mutants saying, “I used to think it was going to be you [Xavier] and me against the world, but no matter how bad the world gets you don’t want to be against it, do you? You want to be a part of it.” (X-Men: First Class. 2011.)  Mystique fights an internal battle between her love for Xavier and his love of mankind against her undeniable drive to be herself and use her power for the greatness and victory of all mutants.  Hyde stresses that every trickster is driven by hunger.  In the beginning Mystique’s passion aligns with Xavier’s and is the protection and well-being of all mankind.  As her love of self begins to wear thin she has only a yearning for acceptance, expressing to Beast, “We shouldn’t be trying to fit into society. Society should aspire to be more like us…Mutant and proud.”(X-Men: First Class. 2011)  This clarification in her life leads to her ultimate drive: the rise of the mutants and the destruction of mankind.  This decision is what turns Mystique into the villain and trickster that she is known as.

Mystique’s greatest power of deception is her ability to shapeshift, much like Loki in Norse mythology. Mystique is able to shift not only her organic appearance but also the appearance of clothing and other material accessories such as glasses, handbags, etc.  Along with this shifting ability she is able alter her voice to replicate that of the person she is portraying.  Unfortunately, she is not skilled enough to take on the exact persona of her subjects so she must study them if she wants her act to be entirely believable.  She is found out by a young Xavier when they first meet and she is disguised as his mother.  She misrepresents her by mistakenly being mother like when his mother is anything but.  Obviously, it was helpful too that he has the ability to read minds.  Her power is used for good, when she shapeshifts into Sebastian Shaw in order to prevent Azazel from murdering the Beast, one of the X-Men.  However, she later uses her power of shifting against the X-Men when she is battling Wolverine and shapeshifts into his fellow X-Men, in an effort to throw him off guard and defeat him. This is similar to when Loki would use his abilities to help the gods but also use them for his own benefit, often going against them.

While most of Mystique’s shapeshifting starts out as harmless fun, she quickly develops her gift and uses it frequently to deceive those around her. On more than one occasion, Mystique uses her powers to portray political figureheads, top military leaders, and other government officials She does this to trick the surrounding officials into changing their viewpoints on various important matters, ranging from missile defensives, waging war, and interrupting peace amongst society in order to prove beneficial for the mutants.

Trick or Treat

Tricksters have different qualities but always are described the same. Some of these similarities have to deal with their certain characteristics. From “Mapping the Characteristics of Mystic Tricksters” they all do not need all six characteristics but it fortunately pinpoints where the trickster is; tricksters are ambiguous, deceivers, shape shifters, situation inverters, imitators of Gods, and bricoleurs.

In the myth “Hermes Tricks Apollo” we learn of Hermes skills in deception and also his ability to invert the situation. Apollo refers to him as a cunning deceiver and trained thief. Even though he stole the cattle and killed a pair of them he is able to not only keep the cattle, but Apollo also gives him “a beautiful staff, the right to herd cattle and flocks, and full control over the Bee Women…” (Martin, 2003. pg. 60) all in exchange for the lyre. So ultimately, Hermes walks away entirely unpunished and learns very early in life that he can get away with outrageous behaviors.

Ananse is a shapeshifter, more often shifting between the form of a man and a spider. In the first tale, “The Story of Nanni”, Nanni deceives the children next door and manages to steal their father’s beans in order to feed his own family. When is caught by the farmer, the series of events that follow lead to his wives leaving him.  He then disguises himself in numerous ways to deceit them along their travels.  Hynes explains that sometimes shapeshifting may be as simple as changing one’s clothing.  In this tale he disguises himself as three different men, all telling of how they cast off their own wives. His final act of deceit is portraying himself as the voice of the fetish, instructing the wives to return home.

I believe that being a deceiver and a trick player is the ultimate and most common characteristic of a trickster. The coyote appears in many of the American Indian Myths as the trickster. The coyote is described as having a cleverness that allows him to deceive people.

For my essay I will focus on the ultimate villain…..The Joker, Gotham’s very own infamous trickster. He is deceitful and conniving. He is an “agent of chaos.” (The Dark Knight, 2008). He mocks the established order, and even the idea that there could be an order at all, and introduces irony and absurdity where once existed truth and sacredness. He is shapeshifter in the various costumes he dawns as well as the inability to distinctly place his past. His backstory is ever-changing.

Creation and Destruction

Once upon a time, in a la—well, first and foremost land must be created…

Greek myth comes out of chaos- an abyss of nothingness, a void that contains the material necessary for the creation of a place, Earth, and an attraction, Eros.

Norse mythology is a bit more difficult to define, but I perceive it to be a world parent myth, in which creation evolves from a parent, in this case, the flesh of Ymir.

The Hebrew story of Genesis begins out of nothing, creation ex nihilo. The world and all its possessions are brought into being by The Creator.

Many of the “American Indian myths” are emergence myths, in which humanity emerges from another world to form a new world, often when the old world is no longer of use.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  — 

Every so often, civilization makes a fool of themselves and the slate must be wiped clean; often times, this is where flood myths come into play.

In Greek mythology there are 3 great floods: Ogyges, Deukalion, and Dardanus. Perhaps the most famous of these three is Deucalion, in which Zeus makes the decision to rid the world of the generation of mankind that produced Lyakaon. Prometheus warns his son, Deukalion of the eminent flood. Together Deukalion and his wife, Pyrrha survive the flood in wooden chest. They create a new mankind from the rocks of the earth, the “bones” of the “parent.” (Martin, 2003. pg. 40-41)

While, Norse mythology doesn’t have a water specific flood story, it does tell the story of Ragnarok which is the end of the current cycle of the gods and mankind. “The earth will sink into the sea. The earth will rise again out of the water, fair and green…There will be life and new life, life everywhere on earth. That was the end; and this is the beginning.” (Crossley-holland, 1980. pg. 175-176) Although, water is eventually involved it is the battle that depicts the outcome of this ending.

The story of Noah’s Ark is the great flood myth in Genesis. In this story the creator himself, God, decided that Noah and his family along with 2 of each species will be the sole survivors of a great flood that will allow for the repopulation of a world created a new, although not entirely.

In the Caddo legend of “The Voice, the Flood, and the Turtle” a family gives birth to 4 evil sons and to destroy the monster there is a great flood. Similar to the recreation of the world in Genesis, the man and woman hide alongside pairs of animals in order to reinhabit a newly cleansed world.

Notice that no civilization is entirely wiped out in flood myths, every story has a surviving man and woman and animals so that creation doesn’t have to begin over completely.

Crossley-holland, Kevin. The Norse Myths. New York: Pantheon Books. 1980. Print.

Martin, Richard P. Myths of the Ancient Greeks. New York: New American Library, 2003. Print.

Finding Differences in their Similarities

The contrasts between Greek mythology and Norse mythology seem to be vast. I also noticed some similarities in the contrasts of these gods. One similarities in these two the myths is, that while both people have several gods that they worship, each group of gods seems to have a leader. In Greek mythology the gods are led by Zeus and in Norse mythology they are led by the Allfather, Odin. While both of these gods serve the similar purpose of leadership, they do so with different powers. Zeus is the sky and thunder god, in Norse mythology these powers more greatly resemble the powers of Thor, who is the god of lightning and thunder. Odin is the god of battle and poetry, his powers compare more to the powers of Apollo.

All gods and goddesses need a place to dwell. In Greek mythology that place is Mount Olympus; in Norse mythology Asgard is home to the gods. While Mount Olympus is home only to the gods and goddesses, Asgard is also home to the hall of the slain, the Einherjar reside in Valhalla. The top most plane of the Norse universe consists of two other worlds as well: Alfheim – land of the Light Elves, and Vanaheim – Land of the Vanir (fertility gods).

Each mythology talks about a place where man lives. In Greek mythology this is simply the earth on which Mt. Olympus is located. In Norse mythology this is on a plane below Asgard, known as Midgard. The middle world also houses the giants, the dwarves, and the dark elves in Utgard, Nidavellir, and Svartalfheim.

Below the land of men in a sort of underworld. In Greek mythology the underworld houses all of the dead and is watched over by Hades. The lowest plane of the Norse universe is Niflheim and the daughter of Loki, Hel, is sent there by Odin to guard its dead. She resides in the realm Helheim.

Which brings me to my next contrast, life after death. In Greek mythology all of the dead go to Hades and from there it is determined whether they are good enough for heaven, The Elysian Fields, or if they go to hell, Tartartus. There are four places to “live” out life after death in Norse mythology. Folkvang becomes home to the everyday warrior who lost his life in battle, to sickness, or old age, etc. Ran’s Hall is for those who die from drowning. Helheim, the underworld, for those died a non-glorious death after living a non-glorious life. Most prestigious of all was Valhalla, Odin’s Hall, this is where the bravest warriors went and awaited the battle at the end of time, Ragnarok.

Since we’re on the subject of death, I would also like to point out that while Greek gods were on their own immortal, Norse gods were not. They were kept young and immortal only by Idun and her golden apples. Also, Greek gods required very little sustenance and Norse gods, though abnormally strong, needed the basics for survival, such as food and water.

Both sets of gods did have strong opinions on one’s destiny and the inability to change fate, try as they might.

vote APOLLO 2016

Is there any god better than the god who does it all? I’m not referring to Zeus, but to his son Apollo. Apollo is recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more. Born of Zeus and Lêto on the rocky shores of Delos, the only land daring enough to receive such a powerful god. He was born a bowman but also took on the lyre. A god strong enough to wield a bow, yet also gentle and caring enough to provide us with music and poetry.

When the going gets tough, Apollo toughs it out for everyone. “Apollo being the destroyer of the wicked was believed…to have given rise to his name Apollo, which they connected with apollumi, ‘to destroy.’” Just as easily as he can will an arrow, sickness, and death on a disgraceful man, he can also heal a worthy man. Apollo may be widely known as the archer but his talents and abilities extend far beyond that.

Apollo also had the gift of prophecy and was able to accurately predict and communicate future happenings. He can offer advice on everything from whom to go to war with, who to marry, how to handle your snobby kids, and even what toga will you win you fashion kudos from the queen herself, Joan Rivers (may she rest in peace).

Apollo is the god of many more things, all things that benefit mortals and immortals alike and that is why he gets my vote for supreme deity.

P.S. if the real Apollo looks anything like Luke Evans in Clash of the Titans, that’s a god I can worship. =)

Larsen, Jennifer. Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide. New York: Routledge, 2007. PDF

Martin, Richard P. Myths of the Ancient Greeks. New York: New American Library, 2003. Print.

“Apollo.” Theoi: Greek Mythology. Web. 2015. http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Apollon.html