With today being Cinco de Mayo, I thought a brief look into Mexican mythology would be appropriate. Mexican mythology is one of the most interesting groups of myths out there. Due to the vastly different cultures that make up Mexico, its myths are wide ranged. When you factor in the amount of times it has been conquered, it is hard to believe Mexico can keep its history straight. It is because of these two factors that their myths are so captivating. They are a mixture of the beginning cultures and the newer ones. They are the definition of a cultural salad for myths.
Mexico’s most widely adopted creation myth is that of The Five Suns. This creation myth is a more complicated one. It deals with exact and approximate numbers. This is not surprising considering what else the Aztecs achieved. The myth that is considered Mexico’s hero myth is that of Quetzalcoatl. (I could not find a decent version of the myth; I apologize for that). This is also an Aztec myth. It is one of cunning and bravery. I recommend researching it at the library, since it is far too long to summarize it properly.
Neither of these myths, however, is as well-known as the legend of La Llorona. This story is known by many Mexican and Spanish households as well as by many who live along the border in the United States. It is the story of a mother gone mad then taken over by grief. It is also a very scary story to hear when you are in the third grade sitting next to the cooling vent while your teacher is reading with the lights out. One of the best versions out there can be found in a book that contains a small collection of Mexican legends that makes for a good read on a stormy night.
These are just a few of Mexico’s great myths. Although they mainly come from the Aztecs, all of their myths are touched by different cultures. When they were conquered, the ruling country influenced each myth (some more than others) with their values. This is why some of them, La Llorona, for instance, have different versions. Regardless of which version you read, they are all excellent.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Danielle Patterson
(photo credit: gail)
April 12th, 2009 by admin | Posted in Myths | Comments (0)
Every culture and country has their own versions of the basic myths or legends, or as we now call some of them today fairytales. The most widely known and commonly told is the story of Cinderella, as it is known in America, or the many other names the girl goes by. However, no matter what name she goes by her story is still made from the same formula.
It starts out with the only daughter to a handsome and often rich man who is newly widowed being given a stepmother. This stepmother usually comes with baggage in the form of two horrible, and often ugly, daughters. Shortly after this the father has to go away, or in some versions he dies as well. After the father is out of the picture the daughter is made to do chores without breaks and to wait hand and foot on the stepmother and her two daughters. Sometime during her labor a ball is thrown and the girl is promised that she may go.
However, the stepmother changes her mind and the girl is left home. After this, some form of a fairy godmother appears and the girl is given beautiful things to wear to the ball. Once at the ball the girl dances with the prince who falls madly in love with her. As her curfew approaches, because all magical things must end, the girl flees the party and leaves behind a shoe, or some other object. The prince then spends the next few weeks searching for the woman who owns the item left behind. He finds her and they live happily ever after.
That is the basic story line for the Cinderella themed stories. However, I have recently come across a refreshingly new version of this story. It is the Russian version to this classic tale. The story is entitled Valissa the Beautiful and contains not only the evil stepmother and the ugly stepsisters, but also a witch, light up skulls, a house with chicken feet, a talking doll, and a creepy tale of a poor girl who is made to get light.
While I could not find a good internet version of the tale, I highly recommend finding it in book form. Besides you never know when you might need a scary story to tell a class or you kids.
(photo credit: expressmonorail)
April 11th, 2009 by admin | Posted in Myths | Comments (0)
The myth that I am about to share with you is long and must be broken into two posts. Although it may be long it is well worth the reading to see a different kind of population myth. I hope you enjoy it.
Every country has at least one myth as to how it was inhabited. This myth takes many different forms. Some cultures believe they are born of gods and other that they were made of mud. Very few cultures accredit their lives to that of another country. This is what makes the inhabitation of the British Isles stand out. Instead, of being born of clay they attribute their population to that of the a Greek king and Giants born of his daughters.
The story starts out in Greece at a time when a most powerful king was ruling over every other king that existed in the world. This king had some thirty daughters and when each daughter came of age he married them to one of the kings he ruled over. His daughters however did not like the idea of being ruled over by their husbands since no one had ruled over them before, so they got together for a secret meeting. At this secret meeting they all plotted together to kill their kings on the same day and rule in their stead, all save for the youngest that is.
Upon returning home the youngest daughter wept at her lords feet, for she loved him and did not want him dead, and told him of her sisters plot. Her lord told her not to worry and on the next day they rode out to see her father. The great king was sickened by what his youngest old him that he summoned his remaining daughters to him. Once they arrived he accused them of treason and had them thrown into jail. The judges decided that rather then kill them and put their families to shame they would exile the girls instead. A few days later the daughters were put on a ship with no food and shoved off to sea.
To be continued…
(photo credit: homeofbastian)
April 8th, 2009 by admin | Posted in Myths | Comments (0)
When last we left this myth the daughters of the great king were sentenced to exile for plotting to kill their husbands. They were placed on a ship without any food to eat or water to drink. Once they were all aboard their ship was pushed out to sea and they were left to the elements. The following is the rest of their tale.
They remained at sea for so long that they became weak from hunger and spent their days lying about the ship even in the most fearful storms. After many moons their ship came upon the shore of what today is known as England. They fled from the ship and spent their time along the shore eating fruits and nuts to regain their strength. Eventually the women grew large and the desire of a mans touch came over them. However, they were the only ones to inhabit the land and this saddened the daughters.
Luckily for them the incubi, devilish fiends who impregnated women then left them, saw this. The next time the daughters were in longing the incubi came to them in different forms of human males. They laid with the daughters until they became pregnant then vanished. The daughters bore their children by themselves and raised them. Unfortunately for the daughters the desire for a mans touch once again came upon them. This time the incubi were not there to save them from the burning desire. Instead the women waited until their sons were of age and took them to bed instead, and so it was for many generations that brothers lay with sisters and sons with their mothers.
Eventually the children became monstrous in size and were known as Giants. It was during the time of the Giants that Brutus came to the isle. He took the island by force and gave it the name of Britain. He slew every Giant save the tallest. The Giant told him the story of the daughters and since then it has been passed down so that the people of Britain may know their heritage.
(photo credit: mastrobiggo)
April 7th, 2009 by admin | Posted in Myths | Comments (0)
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