Mythology and Folklore

Once upon a time, there was a grey cat named Ollie, and a chihuahua named Rory. The two were quite an unlikely pair. Ollie was confident and authoritative, while Rory was timid and submissive. However, the two had one very important passion in common: animal rights advocacy. They had seen one too many friend be treated poorly, and refused to stand for it any longer. So, they started a law firm together. They both already had their license, so it was a perfect idea! They would work together to insure that all animals would be treated kindly and with respect!                                                                                                             ...

Updated story! Once there was a young man who saw the world around him in shades of black and white. Now, this young man did not know that there was anything different about the way in which he viewed the world. One day, he went into town to the market, needing to buy a few items for dinner, including a lemon.  Normally, the market had signs near each pile of fruits or vegetable noting their name and price. However, there were no signs in sight this time. The young man asked a kind looking older woman if she knew which pile of fruit were the lemons. The woman looked a bit confused, and hesitantly said "the yellow ones".  Now this certainly puzzled the young man, who asked what 'yellow' was. When she told him that it was a bright color, he became even more confused. He had never seen anything like what the woman described as 'yellow', and knew something was wrong. He asked her a few more questions, and found out that there were many colors in the world that he ...

I chose to read Folklore of Laos part B for the reading today because I really enjoyed reading part A yesterday. Like part A, it was written by Katherine Neville Fleeson. I really enjoyed the first story in this section, The Wizard and the Beggar. I like that the moral of this story is that being greedy and ungrateful will often leave you with less than you had before. If the beggar had been grateful and satisfied with just the one magic jewel, he would still possess said jewel and have everything that he desired. Because he was greedy, he is now without the magic jewel and in the same position he was in when he met the wizard in the first place. I think that it could be interesting to retell this particular story in a more modern way. I could potentially make it more of a comedy, and perhaps have the main characters be a bratty teenager and her parents.  I also enjoyed the story of The Magic Well. I have heard or seen many stories in the past about magic wells or wishing wells, a...

I used BeFunky Collage-Maker  to make my collage. I used images that I took to fill the collage.

For this reading I decided to read the Folklore of Laos Part A by Katherine Neville Fleeson. I decided to choose this set of stories because I enjoy myths and folktales about various animals. I like that the stories depict such a serene picture of the nature surrounding the characters. I also like that nature is the main source of solitude in a lot of these stories.  I really enjoyed the story of The Mountain Spirits and the Stone Mortars. I have always been interested in folktales and myths that reveal the origin for something in the modern day world. The explanation of the stone mortars being strewn about because of mountain spirits is very intriguing. For this same reason, I also thoroughly enjoyed reading the story of Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops, The Origin of Lightning, and the rest of the stories in this unit. Photograph of a baby elephant

For my word cloud, I decided to use the words from a page in my Introduction to Forensic Science textbook. I chose a page about blood splatter analysis, as that is one of the chapters we are currently learning about. I used WordClouds.com.

The Cave of the Beasts , by R. Wilhelm was an interesting story to read. It was a bit darker than I was expecting. I think that it would be interesting to rewrite this fairy tale with a bit of a darker twist, where perhaps the daughters do not let their father into the cave. They could keep their newfound riches to themselves. This would make the moral of the story that greediness often leads to loss of wealth rather than gain.  Pile of Jewelry Why Dog and Cat are Enemies by R. Wilhelm also really interested me. As someone who owns a cat that absolutely hates dogs, I find this story very entertaining. I think that it would be fun to retell this story using the same basic idea, but a more modern and exciting backstory. Cat vs Dog by Mauro  

I chose to read the Tibetan Folk Tales this week because they touch on animal tricksters. For my storybook, I am exploring mythological creatures, and one of them is the trickster. In this group of stories, I really enjoy that all of the animals can talk to and understand one another. I also find it interesting that the animals featured in these stories are very humanlike, living in houses and wearing clothing. These stories focus on animals who have a natural ability and urge to trick people, rather than a supernatural trickster.  The Cony Who Got Into Bad Company by A.L. Shelton  would be interesting to explore from a human perspective, with all human characters. I think that all of the Tibetan Stories would be interesting to retell with humans in place of animals, and more modern surroundings and issues. King of the Frogs via pixabay

For this week's story laboratory, I chose to do some background research for my storybook project. I have tentatively decided to write about the Djinn, tricksters, and vampires. Tricksters In mythology: are archetypal characters, and break both physical and societal rules. Can be cunning or foolish or both. They are found in many cultures. The trickster (or clown) is an example of a Jungian archetype. Wikipedia Crash course on tricksters In Supernatural:  Tricksters  are a type of mischievous beings or demideities with the ability to warp reality and make real-looking objects and people out of thin air. Supernatural Wiki Episodes: 02x15, 03x11, 05x08, 13x20 Image of Archangel Loki from Wikimedia Supernatural trickster from Supernatural Wiki Vampires In mythology: creature from folklore that subsist by feeding on the vital essence (typically blood) of the living. Are recorded in most cultures. Are considered undead in European cultures. Wikipedia In Supernatural: bloo...