Kuyebiko was the Shinto scarecrow god. Originally he functioned as the protector of the rice fields, a task assigned him by his father Inari the rice god.
He was considered to be incarnate in all scarecrows and eventually came to be considered as a divinitory deity who knew everything that transpired under the heavens.
The leap from being the god of scarecrows to divinitory deity came about because of the never- closing eyes of scarecrows. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
Balladeer’s Blog
Balladeer’s Blog’s examinations of pantheons of deities outside of the frequently-covered Greco-Roman, Egyptian and Norse have been very popular and well-received. To make sure all mythology buffs who visit here are aware of how many belief systems I’ve looked at here’s a convenient overview.
AINU
Sampling of Deities: Shiramba the vegetation god, Hashinau-Uk the goddess of the hunt, Okikurmi the culture god and monster-slayer, Wakka-Ush the water goddess and Kando-Koro the sky god and ruler of the land of the gods.
Top Deity on List: Fuchi the fire goddess.
Comment: This is the most recent mythological pantheon I examined.
FULL LIST CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2014/11/20/the-top-gods-in-ainu-mythology/
TUPARI
Sampling of Deities: Mulher the Earth goddess, Arkoanyo the bird god, Karam the sun goddess, Valedjad the storm god and Aunyaina the wild boar god.
Top Deity on List: Patobkia, the god who rules over the afterlife and the series of trials each soul undergoes.
Comment: With only thousands of the Tupari people left this is a sadly neglected pantheon of deities.
FULL LIST CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2013/04/02/the-top-ten-deities-in-tupari-mythology/ Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
THE FLYING DOCTORS – Not to be confused with The Teleporting Accountants or The Swimming Chiropractors this was a terrific Australian television series about the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The show was based on the real-life Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, a brilliantly-conceived non-profit outfit that provided medical care – both emergency AND maintenance – for people who had no other access to doctors due to their locations in remote, lightly-populated portions of the Outback.
With its winning blend of doctors, nurses, life-or-death drama and beautiful Australian scenery this series should have been a NATURAL for crossover success here in the United States. Unfortunately that old t.v. executive excuse always applied to this and other Aussie programming: the belief that the accents would be too heavy for stateside audiences to make out the dialogue. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
August 22nd the 2019 college football season kicks off in the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog. Here’s more preseason rankings per the Glitternight Index.
NCAA Division Three – 1. UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS ### 2. UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS (Defending Champions) ### 3. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLUE JAYS ### 4. SAINT JOHN’S UNIVERSITY JOHNNIES ### 5. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT WHITEWATER WARHAWKS ###
6. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS TOMMIES ### 7. MUHLENBERG UNIVERSITY MULES ### 8. BETHEL (MN) ROYALS ### 9. WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE PRESIDENTS ### 10. HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY COWBOYS ### Continue reading
Filed under college football
TALHAE – Also called Tarhae. The wife of King Hamdalpa of Wan-Ha in Yongsong had been married to him for seven years but had yet to produce an heir to the throne. She prayed to the gods for a child and at length she produced a large egg, from which a handsome boy named Talhae emerged.
King Hamdalpa’s advisors told him a child born unnaturally from an egg was a bad omen and that he should get rid of the child. Hamdalpa had the boy placed in a large floating chest along with seven treasures plus a male and female slave.
A red dragon arose from the sea to guard the chest, a red dragon sent by a dragon god who was Talhae’s real father. The chest floated at sea for seven days, during which time Talhae grew to adulthood and stood a full nine feet tall.
Disembarking at Karak the young god bought even more slaves with his treasure and climbed Mount Toham, followed by his retinue. Talhae sat and pondered at the top of the mountain for seven days, neither sleeping nor eating. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
“Maldoror and His Smile” by Lord Orlando
Balladeer’s Blog has done a comprehensive examination of The Songs of Maldoror, often referred to as just Maldoror. The original 1868 French language work by the self-designated Count de Lautreamont (real name Isidore Ducasse) was in verse form, which is great for poetry geeks like me but if you prefer prose there are plenty of prose translations available.
This work of surreal horror was so far ahead of its time that the author himself, in one of the few existing copies of his correspondence, expressed fears that he might be jailed or thrown into an insane asylum and requested that the publisher literally “stop the presses.” Just 88 copies of the book were completed in that initial run and for a few decades The Songs of Maldoror languished in obscurity.
By the 1890s those few copies of Maldoror had been circulating among the more adventurous literati of the time period and the work began to be hailed as a forgotten masterpiece by Maeterlink, Bloy, Huysmans and de Gourmont. This new acclaim ultimately resulted in a new run of copies – this time in the thousands instead of dozens like the first run. This also accounts for why some reviewers mistakenly refer to The Songs of Maldoror as an 1890s work, despite its original publication date of 1868. Continue reading
Filed under Halloween Season, Maldoror
3,000 MILES THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1892) – Written by Francis W Doughty under a house pseudonym for The Boys of New York magazine, serialized from February 13th to April 2nd.
This story starts out like an imitation of Verne’s Mysterious Island but then becomes its own tale after a while. The action starts in 1864 when Union prisoners in the Confederate’s infamously hellish Libby Prison make their escape led by Captain Mark Wilbur. Their escape by balloon is aided by a sympathetic Confederate.
A storm blows our main characters – Mark, Noel Dupuy and their African-American friend Sam Sandyman – 3,000 miles to the north, where they finally come down into a crater that leads to a subterranean world. They discover a deserted futuristic city overflowing with jewels and precious metals. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
