AH NHI – The Vietnamese god of fire. The child of the sun goddess, he is often depicted holding a burning golden crow similar to the golden roosters that adorn his mother’s palanquin. In other myths about the fire god this Continue reading
Category Archives: Mythology
VIETNAMESE MYTHOLOGY: BA CO, THE “SIRENS” OF HALONG BAY
Halong Bay, home of the Ba Co, or Sirens of Vietnam
BA CO – “Three girls.” Water goddesses of Quang Hanh Grotto (9 km west of Cam Pha), often called the tunnel grotto.
Long ago three young ladies, in some versions friends, in others sisters, were journeying around Halong Bay. The Quang Hanh Grotto is accessible by boat or on land but the entrance is only visible when the tide is out.
The Ba Co sought shelter from heavy rainfall by entering the grotto when the tide was out. Entranced by the beauty of the grotto they Continue reading
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VIETNAMESE MYTHOLOGY: THE TRUNG SISTERS
The Trung Sisters, national goddesses of ancient Vietnam, atop their war elephants
THE TRUNG SISTERS – Trung Trac and her sister Trung Nhi occupy a special place in Vietnamese mythology. If you want a glib or simplistic comparison to approach their story with think of them as an ancient Vietnamese version of Lakshmibai of Jhansi in the history of India or Joan of Arc in Western lore. In the early 40’s C.E. Trung Trac led an uprising against the latest Chinese occupiers with
her sister acting in a much smaller capacity according to all accounts but the Trung Sisters are always mentioned as a team and iconography usually depicts them together astride their battle elephant.
Trung Trac’s uprising, consisting largely of former noble families and by all accounts (even on the Chinese side) large numbers of female combatants, succeeded in driving the occupying forces far to the north. She then abolished all the Chinese taxes and restored Continue reading
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IROQUOIS EPIC MYTH: HODADEION PART EIGHT
Iroquois
Part 8: Niagara Falls Death Trap – As part 7 concluded Hodadeion, the Iroquois god of magic, was alarmed to find that the twin enchantresses who were in reality two giant white herons had flown him in a huge basket to a rock at the top of what is now called Niagara Falls. They had stranded him there surrounded by a massive volume of water roaring its way past the small outcropping of rock the demigod was on, ultimately descending in a loud roar of falling liquid.
Hodadeion did not know what fate awaited him in that precarious position, or what dire menace the Heron Maidens expected to assault him in his perilous situation but he Continue reading
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AUGUST 15TH’S RITUAL FOR THE CHINESE MOON GODDESS: THE SENSES-SHATTERING ORIGIN
Yi the Divine Archer
On August 15th the Chinese people offered up gifts to Chang-O, their moon goddess. Balladeer’s Blog presents the story of Chang-O, her husband Yi the Divine Archer, and the origin of that ritual.
I.WHAT’S UP WITH YI? – Yi the Divine Archer from Chinese mythology deserves to be remembered in one breath with some of the other great heroes and monster slayers from belief systems around the world. Most people are only familiar with his feat of shooting down multiple suns that appeared in the sky one day, but this article will provide a light- hearted look at all of his fantastic adventures.
Yi is Continue reading
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MYTHOLOGY: THE EPIC OF AIWEL LONGAR
Aiwel Longar
Once again Balladeer’s Blog examines a neglected epic myth from around the world. Previously I have dealt with epics from the Navajo, Vietnamese, Iroquois, Aztec, Hawaiian, Chinese and other belief systems.
The mythic tale of Aiwel Longar comes from the Dinka pantheon. Nhialic is the supreme deity to the Dinka and the first man and woman he created were Garang and Abuk. The Dinka people live in the Upper Nile in Sudan, as they have for centuries.
AIWEL LONGAR
I often cover the way in which cultures which come into contact borrow mythic material from each other to embellish their own respective belief systems. The story of Aiwel Longar clearly influenced (and vice versa) Egyptian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim myths. It also bears striking similarities to the Gnostic Hymn of the Pearl.
PART ONE – Born as simply Aiwel, this figure was a gift from the god of the Nile River to Aiwel’s widowed and childless mother. The infant already had a full set of teeth when his mother picked him up out of the Nile River, where the river god had set him adrift.
Like many mythic figures Aiwel could Continue reading
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IROQUOIS EPIC MYTH: HODADEION PART SEVEN
Iroquois Confederation
Continuing the adventures of the Iroquois god of magic, Hodadeion.
PART 7 – THE TWIN HERONS – Hodadeion moved swiftly through the forest. He wanted to put as much space between himself and the giant horned serpents as possible before they grew hungry again. He continued heading north and at length came upon a pathway guarded by two enormous white herons. Each bird was bigger than a horse and at the sight of the demigod they attacked him, trying to claw and peck at him while simultaneously battering him with their powerful wings.
Hodadeion fled as quickly as Continue reading
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LISA LIPPS: HER NEW SITE IS ROLLING!
Le Lei
If you missed my exclusive interview with living legend Lisa Lipps consider this your official notice that her spiritual healing, cleansing and channeling site is in full swing now.
For one-to-one readings and consultations with this talented healer click here: Continue reading
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BLOOM’S DAY 2013
Yes, it’s the 16th of June, better known to James Joyce geeks like me as Bloom’s Day. The day is named in honor of Leopold Bloom, the Jewish advertising sales rep and Freemason who is one of the major characters in Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The novel also brings along Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of his earlier novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. For those unfamiliar with this work, Ulysses is Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness novel in which he metaphorically features the events from the Odyssey in a single day – June 16th, 1904, in Dublin. (The day he met Nora Barnacle, the woman he would eventually marry after living together for decades) Bloom represents Ulysses/Odysseus, Stephen represents Telemachus and Leopold’s wife, Molly Bloom, represents Penelope.
The novel is jam-packed with Continue reading
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IROQUOIS EPIC MYTH: HODADEION PART SIX
PART 6: HORNED SERPENTS – Continuing his journey, Hodadeion the god of magic came to a river across which an impossibly long and thick tree served as a bridge. Believing this might lead to the village of the cannibalistic wizards he was searching for the demigod set off across the makeshift bridge.
When he was halfway across Hodadeion abruptly stopped. He sensed something immense lying in wait on the other side of the river. Frustrated by being detected by their potential prey two enormous serpents with deerhorns on their heads sprang from hiding and hissed insults at the demigod who stood tantalizingly just outside their reach. Unafraid, Hodadeion shouted insults of his own back at the two monstrous serpents, who were as big around as several tree-trunks and as long as Continue reading
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