Reading Diary A: Congo Stories

The two stories I enjoyed most from the Congo unit were Vanishing Wife and Another Vanishing Wife. The stories had very similar themes, which is what I liked about the stories. Both involve a man who is mistreated in his village and flee into the woods. Once in the woods they both end up finding a beautiful wife and live a very happy life; however, in both stories the men either have to do a daily task or no tell the village how he found his fortune. Both are very simply and very reasonable, and unfortunately both men end up doing the thing they are not supposed to and their wife and happy life vanish. They go back to the miserable mistreated life they originally had.  I think these stories have pretty powerful life lessons within the context. The man in the Vanishing Wife lost his life because he didn’t chop the heads off of the fish he caught. He threw away the prefect life for something so little. I feel the stories stresses the importance of valuing what we have and doing what it takes to keep it regardless of how small the task may seem. The man in the Another Vanishing Wife lost his happy life because he was warned not to tell his village how he came to find the life. Letting his guard slip he told his family (who were the people that mistreated him), and ruined everything he had. A very simply request but yet for some reason he could not keep it. “Value the things you cherish, do what it takes to keep them” that is what I took away from these two stories.

(Image from Wilderness Safaris)

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Essay Week 5: Gods and Goddesses of the Egyptians

The gods and goddesses of Egyptian Mythology were very interesting. I found is especially interesting that gods either chose to live among humans or live in their own realm. That is different from other religions. Some religions have their god/gods remain in their realm and only come to earth to aid humans. Egyptian gods/goddesses came and went when they wanted to. The gods and their abilities were also extremely accessible to humans. The idea that one can have the power of Ra (the head cheese) by just learning his true name is pretty interesting. Thoth’s book was kept on earth where humans have a chance to retrieve it (which one did).  I would think having the gods/goddesses come and go so freely and their power within grasp makes them more relatable to the Egyptians. I have never really read anything where gods are active and physically present throughout daily life until this unit.

            I still managed to see similarities with other mythologies though, particularity with Greek mythology. I actually saw more similarities than differences between the two. The Egyptian gods and goddesses did interact more; however, the Greek gods and goddesses still interacted is similar ways, just not as frequent. There are numerous gods and goddesses within the Egyptian belief and they are all offsprings, siblings, or spouses to each other, which is similar to Greek mythology. They are also fighting among each other is situations. The Secret Name of Ra was about the goddess Isis trying to inherit Ra’s power, and she did by poisoning him. She tortured him until he told her his true name. Greek mythology you have similar fights for power or prestige. Also both mythologies’ gods and goddesses had dominion over certain things or areas in the world. I really enjoy the similarities though; it brings up some curious questions for me.

(Image from Ancient Egyptian Gods)

Storytelling for Week 5: The Name of Power

             It’s extremely dark, cold, and dusty. David kept chipping away at the wall with his pickaxe. He has been working down in the coal mine since he left home at age 15.  He is 27 now, and has changed a lot from that timid child. He grew over 6 ft tall, and gained hard muscle from working the mine.

            He keeps working enough to make it by, hating life as he goes. All the time thinking that there is something more for him, something meaningful. He presses on in hope for that one day when he figures out what it is.

 As he was mining, dazing off about the future, he felt a violent shake. He knew what that shake was, and it wasn’t bring any good news with it.

“Earthquake, crap” David muttered.

Following the other miners’ actions, he dropped his tools and ran. The walls were shaking all around him and were starting to crumble. Pushing people out of his way left and right, he raced out with only the will to survive on his mind. The light from outside grew larger; he could smell the dew of the morning. He made it out. Looking back at the collapsed entrance he thought about the other miners he knocked down.

“It is their fault they didn’t make it. They were weaker than the rest of us.” David thought to himself.

Figuring out what was next for him, he set out to another town to find a job, but something interesting happened on his bus ride. A man sat next to him and talked about power beyond David’s imagination. The man promised to show him the way to absolute power. All it would take is to find the old man living alone in the woods, and to figure out his true name. David understood that this power was the thing that would bring meaning to his life, the power to dominate and control his own fate. The next morning he set out to find the old man, and after months of searching he found the old man.  The old man saw him and knew immediately why David had come.

“I will not give you what you seek. There is only hatred and evil in you, and this power will destroy you.” The old man stated

“You will tell your name old man. I did not come all the way for nothing.” David screamed.

            David blood was boiling at the point, and the man sat perfectly calm. David knew he could never get the man to yield willing. He needed to find something to break the man, and then he heard it

“Daddy!” a child said from a distance.

The old man’s heart sank. He had no choice now but to give in. “If you only knew what this power will do to you,” he said.

            David left both bodies where he struck them down. As we walked away for the house smiling, he knew his life was changed. Nobody would ever command him or look down on him. He was free.

( Image from movie plot )

Authors Note: This story was adopted from The Secret Name of Ra. It is about the god Isis poisoning Ra to give up his true name, so she could have the power of Ra as well. She finally gets his name and they share his ultimate power. In my story I wanted to create a more sinister character for that kind of power. I felt no one would want to share that kind of power with somebody, which is why I figured one who have to have evil intent to want that power. I chose the Joker as my image because I believe he is a true picture of evil. He cares for nothing or no one but himself, and enjoys power over others.

Reading Diary B: Ancient Egyptian Myths

Over all this was a really cool unit to read! The Ancient Egyptian Myths have quite a bit of legends and hidden secret, which is the reason why this unit is enjoyable! My favorite story from the latter half (The Secret Name of Ra is my favorite overall) was The Book of Thoth. This story was about a prince who desired the knowledge of power, and an ancient priest told him that the god Thoth wrote a book with all life mysteries. The priest said if he read this book, he would know power. Long story short the prince finds the book, but Thoth (with power from Ra) kills his family and him. The cool part was how whoever reads the book gains Thoth’s power. I wish the textbooks I am required to read would do that. The idea that one can gain power through reading and understanding is a cool way to look at it. Most of the power stories do involve very wise people, but never instantly clever like the prince became when he read. It was like Thoth’s powers come from simply seeing the words written. I obviously don’t know if that is how it works, but I only assume that because the prince was able to drink the pages and understand them (yes I said drink, read the story). Other stories about power don’t contain a shortcut like that. Most stories the people read ancient text and study them for lifetimes to understand it, but Thoth’s was just about the words themselves and not the meaning behind them. I feel like that added a very exciting spin to the myth for sure. If someone decides to do another reading diary this week, Egyptian Myths should be the unit.

(Image is from SMU Library)

Reading Diary A: Ancient Egyptian Myths

The Secret Name of Ra was my favorite story from The Ancient Egyptian Myths. I really liked the mystery the story had behind Ra’s secret name. It is cool that all his power is in his original name at birth. This story reminds me of one of favorite books, The Name of the Wind. That book discusses the ability to control the elements by finding their true name. I definitely drew some similarities with theses stories, which is probably why The Secret Name Ra ended up being my favorite story. I was a little shocked that Ra could not remove the venom himself since he is all-powerful; however, in his defense the snake was crafted from his saliva. I did like how the story didn’t reveal his name, just showed him revealing it to Isis alone. It keeps his name a mystery for others to search for. The story also left me curious as to why Isis wanted his power in the first place. Was it for a secret agenda she had? Is she going to use her new found power for the better of others? The story definitely left me hanging on that aspect, which I like! I can wonder/imagine what I want to about Isis and what she ended up doing after she obtained Ra’s power.

(Image of Ra and Isis from love-Egypt)

Storytelling Week 4: The Man and the Lamp

The Man and the Lamp

            There was man who lived constantly traveling. He has been to every country and has seen more wonders than anyone could wish to see. After seeing all those places and cultures, he was still unhappy with life.

“I have seen the world, yet I still can’t find happiness”, said the man, “Maybe one more adventure of solitude would allow me to see what happiness truly looks like so I can find it.”

 For his last and finally adventure, he decided to sail all the oceans in a sailboat. The man bought a beautiful boat to sail the oceans with. He set out from the Pacific and snaked his way around the world. He made it all the way to the Bahamas; however, things took a turn for the worst upon his arrival. The ma was caught in a huge storm and ended up being shipwrecked on an island. The man spent 3 months on the island living of what vegetation it had. One day, when the man was walking the shoreline, he tripped over an object in the sand. It was a lamp of some sort. The man thought nothing of it and threw it aside. All of a sudden a genie appeared from the lamp.

“Why did you not rub my lamp?” asked the genie. “Everybody knows you are supposed to rub a lamp when you see one!”

Being completely astonished, the man replied, “I am sorry, I did not think genies could exist.”

“Well we do, and even though you didn’t rub me, I will still grant you one wish,” said the genie.

“I thought everybody got three?” the man asked.

Are you bargaining with me, even though I didn’t have to give you ANY wishes?” the genie asked.

“Yes!” exclaimed the man.

“Whatever, I got nothing but time,” the genie stated.

“My first wish is for my boat to be restored,” the man said.

*With a snap of the fingers, the genie restored the boat*

“My second wish is for smooth sailing all the way home,” declared the man.

The genie granted that wish as well, and asked the man what his final wish was.

“I wish to learn the key to happiness,” the man said with a big smile.

As soon as the said that the genie disappeared, leaving the man utterly disappointed. The man returned home with no problems. Once he arrived home, he decided that he would stop the adventures and remain home. A year or so had past when a knock came to his door. It was a beautiful woman.

“I was told to come and find you”, the woman explained, “I love adventures and I heard you are the man to talk to.”

That moment, everything became clear to the man. Happiness in life is only found when someone else is beside you, helping you look along the way.

(image from inkspired)

Authors Note: I adopted this story from The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck from Persian Tales by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer (1919). The original story involves a man who wanted to have a better life, and his “luck” gave him two opportunities to obtain that. The man was too dumb to realize and was eaten by a wolf. I created this story from that, but made this man realize his fortune. Since this man realized his finding, he got to reap the reward unlike the man from the original story.