Mythology: the stranger the better

Dedicated to the weird, gross and always amazing stories of bygone times. This blog covers myths, folklore and legends from around the world. Except Antarctica. (Links are under the header, just fyi) Forewarning: I often make bad jokes and puns.

[ancient-egypts-secrets]

Heqet (Heket)

A goddess of childbirth and fertility, depicted as a frog, or a woman with the head of a frog. According to one tradition, she was the wife of Khnum, the creator god of Abu (Elephantine). He created each person on his potter’s wheel, and she breathed life into them before they were placed in their mother’s womb. Pregnant women wore amulets depicting Heqet for protection, and during the Middle Kingdom ritual ivory knives and clappers inscribed with her name were used to ward off evil during childbirth. She could also bring on labour and offer protection during labour. 

Heqet was depicted as a frog because, to the Egyptians, the frog was a symbol of life and fertility, since millions of them were born after the annual inundation of the Nile.

[aztecamemoria]

Xipe Totec “our lord the flayed one” as pictured in the codex Borgia. He’s also known as Red Tezcatlipoca. His direction is east. He is a god of agriculture, life-death-birth, and fertility.

He represents renewal and spring, as well as the growth to manhood for young men. Worshiped especially during the rainy season in March. The sacrificed were foreign warriors, often captured, and forced to participate in a gladiatorial games. He was then tied to a rope and given little to defend himself while he fought off four richly dressed Aztec warriors.

After the gladiator lost, he would be cut open and his still beating heart would be given to Xipe Totec according to Sahagun of the Florentine codex.

[fuckyeahstrangemythology]

well it's rather impossible not to have sex with Zeus . He's an eager guy when it comes to make love with humans ;) he simply has no bounds.

Yeah you got a point there

I mean, look at this handsome stud

he’s got the whole “scruffy beard” look going for him and an eagle

he’s got a sculpted body like hot damn boy

And Zeus just stole Ganymede yo’ gurl

And those deep piercing eyes!

Ladies and gentlemen please contain yourselves! I know what you’re thinking, “I wanna ride his lightning bolt” but you must resist the urge if you wanna live!

However like mythologicalmotherearth says, you’re probably screwed either way (both literally and figuratively)

[fuckyeahstrangemythology]

Do you have any myths or blogs that talk about voodoo :o

sorry if this is late!!

Hmm I haven't run across any blogs that deal with it so sorry you had to wait so long for such a bad reply!

If anyone knows of any please add on! Anon here isn't the only one interested in learning more.

[taskinen]

Lemminkäinen is a prominent figure in Finnish mythology. He is one of the heroes of the Kalevala, where his character is a composition of several separate heroes of oral poetry. He is usually depicted as young and good-looking, with wavy red hair.

The original, mythological Lemminkäinen is a shamanistic figure. In the Kalevala, he has been blended together with epic war-heroes Kaukomieli/Kaukamoinen and Ahti Saarelainen.

[shootingstarsue]

Pantheon Mesopotamia

art is mine.

these precious darlings are my redisgn of the anunnaki gods

[ohdeargods]

Dear Odin, what was it like hanging from Yggdrasil for nine days?

[airframeextender]

you know what really gets my goat?

[aglaja-deactivated20131222]

el chupacabra

[inonibird]

Stick-gods ~ God of Embalming

[thewickwheat]

I DREW ALL THE AESIR!!!! and Hel

Well, no, not all of them, just most of them XD

This is my own personal interpretations of them. I sketched them out in my sketchbook then scanned them and colored them in Photoshop. And I’m finally done! Yay!

I think I might have erased Frigga’s name on accident, so that’s who the goddess with no name (next to Odin) is XD

[the-fae]

Merrow (from Gaelic murúch) or Murrough (Galloway) is the Scottish and Irish Gaelic equivalent of the mermaid and mermen of other cultures. These beings are said to appear as human from thewaist up but have the body of a fish from the waist down. They have a gentle, modest, affectionate and benevolent disposition.

There are other names pertaining to them in Gaelic: Muir-gheilt, Samhghubha, Muidhuachán, and Suire. They would seem to have been around for millennia because according to the bardic chroniclers, when the Milesians first landed on Irish shores the Suire, or sea-nymphs, played around them on their passage.

The merrow were capable of attachment to human beings and there are reports of them inter-marrying and living among humans for many years. However, most times they eventually return to their former homes beneath the sea.

{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrow}   

[generationexorcist]

Inuit Mythology: Mahaha, Tuniit, and Other Creatures.

Inuit Mythology has proven time and time again to be an important element in society for the Inuit. Although it had more importance during the early years of the tribe, many of the Inuit Myths are still taken seriously to this day.

This Inuit had quite a few more myths than the other tribes, which focused primarily on the creation aspect of society.

There are a variety of different creatures that comprise these Inuit Myths such as the Mahaha, Ijiraat, Taqriaqsuit, Gallupilluk, Inupasugjuk, and Tuniit. Exploring these creatures is an important task to fulfill for any individual whom wishes to know more about this aspect of the Inuit tribe.

Full Article

Image Source

[fuckyeahmythologicalbeasts-blog]

Qallupilluit

In Inuit mythology, the Quallupilluit is a creature that lives beneath the ice. It takes many forms, depending on the storyteller, and snatches wandering children who venture out too far, alone. The story of the Quallupilluit served as a cautionary tale, to keep Inuit children from playing too close to dangerous cracks in ice.

[britta-perry]

[freedominwickedness]

In medieval culture, an event like a royal christening is not a private party; it’s the public social event of the year. To not invite any person of rank to such an event is a deadly insult.

Maleficent is certainly someone you wouldn’t want at a party, but she’s also someone powerful enough that only a fool would ever dare treat her with such blatant disrespect. The only way the King and Queen could possibly have gotten away with not inviting Maleficent was to not invite any of the fairies at all; inviting the other fairies and excluding her is explicitly taking sides in the conflict between the fairy factions.

Which means they made themselves her sworn enemies, and she responded by treating them as such from then on. If you actually get into analyzing the social dynamics of the scene, it’s very clear that Maleficent was willing to show mercy at first by giving the King and Queen a chance to apologize for their disrespect to her. She doesn’t curse Aurora until after she gives them that chance and they throw it back in her face with further disrespect.

And yeah, if the King and Queen had done the properly respectful thing and invited her, Maleficent would have given Aurora a scary awesome present. Moreover so would the other fairies, because at that point both sides would be using it as an opportunity to show off and one-up each other. What they gave her before Maleficent showed up was basically just trivial party favors by fairy standards.

[fuckyeahwomenprotesting]

How do you know so much about the social dynamics of medieval fairies

[fuckfriendsimfine]

How don’t you

[poppypicklesticks-blog]

Not just that, Maleficent is a fairy. Whilst Flora, Fauna and Merryweather represent the Victorian revision of fairies as kind, helpful and friendly to humans, Maleficent is the Fair Folk from traditional folklore: unpredictable, dangerous, vicious, primal and very much operating on a moral code very different to that of humans.  Cursing a baby for the passive aggressive rich people behaviour of her parents, and then “punishing” the girl’s betrothed to boot is very much typical behaviour of the Fair Folk: we are talking about the creatures that stole babies and replaced them with changelings in the dead of night, controlled the forces of nature and are capable of catastrophic acts of retribution for a slight, real or imagined.   Even the few humans they take a liking to are not safe: folklore fairies are distinctly non-sentimental, and decades of charity and faithful service can be undone and earn fury fairy wrath with one simple act of breaking a fairy bargain or personal standard, unthinking or otherwise.  If a fairy says you are not to leave any eggshells lying out under a full moon after showering you with riches, you better do as they fucking say or you will be very, very, very sorry.  In fairy code, you can be punished for a loved one’s act of “transgression”, as Aurora and Philip found out.  

I would have loved Maleficent to not do the stupid blah blah Wicked ripoff crap and focus on her lore as a fairy witch: one way i would do that is focus on the traditional weakness to iron (that’s why steel types are strong against fairy types folks): the very touch of iron is painful to a fairy and the slightest wound with the substance is deadly to them.  One way I would show this is when Flora and friends present Philip with the Sword of Truth, they are very careful not to touch it with their bare hands, and usually keep it wrapped up (and even then they get a very uncomfortable prickling feel when they touch it through the fabric) and an iron sword straight through Melly’s evil heart is the only way to do the bitch in. 

[meiamthefrenchcanadian-deactiva]

OHHH I LOVE THIS BITCH

[miasimia]

This has just made me so much more excited for that Maleficent movie.

[kieranwritesbooks]

How To Survive Greek Mythology:

Have you suddenly woken up in a parallel universe in which there are temples everywhere, marble statues all up in everything, and hot naked people running around? 

Congratulations! You might be in a Greek myth. 

There’s a good chance you might probably won’t make it out alive, but just in case, here’s ten things you can do to lessen your chances of a sudden and terribly painful death. 

Don’t have sex with anyone. 

Don’t have sex with anyone (especially not Zeus). 

DO NOT ENGAGE IN SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH ANYONE. I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE, MAN, WOMAN, GENDERQUEER, WHATEVER. DON’T FUCKING DO THE THING. 

Don’t boast: So many people in mythology could have been spared horrible fates if they had just been less rude. I don’t give a shit if you’re the best weaver/seamstress around, you don’t go bragging about that shit unless you want six more legs. 

Don’t eat anyone (including your children). This can save you a lot of strife later on down the line. 

Don’t kill anyone (including your own children). This can spare you a slithery end. 

Don’t sass off to maenads, gods, nymphs, nereids, prophets, priests, kings, monsters, gorgons, etc. Just keep your mouth shut. 

Don’t have sex with anyone, I swear this will save your life. 

Be nice. The gods like that shit. They usually give nice people nice things. 

Don’t get drunk unless Dionysus is the god in question: and even then, don’t get so drunk that you start sassing off, or having sex, or doing any of the other stuff I said not to do. 

So, there you have it. Have any other tips? 

[thedappledsky]

MAMALAMBO The goddess of the rivers of Natal in south-east Africa, Mamalambo’s name means ‘The River Mother’ and at times she appeared in the form of a snake. She was particularly helpful to those who brewed beer. In the old days, this was a job mainly undertaken by women; the following story, told to Jan Knappert and recorded in his book African Mythology, illustrates this. One day a woman who ran the local beer shop decided she lacked customers, so she went to the bank of the river Umgeni, near Durban, and performed a ceremony to call upon the River Mother to bless her beer. She watched carefully and after a time found a piece of wood no bigger than a matchstick floating on the water. This she knew to be the River Mother. She took the piece of wood home and placed it in the bottom of the barrel in which she kept her beer. Then she made a fresh brew and poured it into the barrel. From that time onward, her shop was always full of customers and the legendary fame of her beer spread far and wide. This attracted the attention of the police, and since brewing beer without a licence was illegal, the police invaded the premises to search for the illicit brew. They found the barrel and opened it, but all they found was a long snake that hissed at them. It was Mamalambo, protecting the woman and her customers. When everyone returned after the police had left, the beer barrel was found to be full again and the drink even better than before.

The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A—Z of Fantastic Beings From Myth and Magic

John & Caitlín Matthews

[mrockefeller]

Here are all 9 pieces from my first thesis project!

At the beginning of the semester, I read folktales from around the world and sought out interesting imagery and characters to develop into 9 full page illustrations. As I made each illustration, I did a ton of research into the clothing, symbols, patterns, and other related imagery from the each story’s culture.

I am fascinated by old stories and how they have been passed down and shaped future stories. I learned a lot from this project, but I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface! There is so much more to these unique cultures, and I’ll continue to draw inspiration from them.

For each individually, and some process sketches see the links below:

The Fisherman and the Gruagach of Tricks (Ireland)

The Giant Who Had no Heart In His Body (Norway)

The Firebird and the Horse of Power (Russia)

Sinbad and the Seven Voyages (Middle East)

The Magic Brocade (China)

Urashima (Japan)

Hats to Disappear With (Korea)

The Search for the Magic Lake ( Ecuador)

Oni and the Great Bird (West Africa, Yoruba Tribe)

All are available as prints on my inprnt!

Thank you everyone for your support over the past year! Here’s to a great 2014!