IRISH LITERATURE, MYTHOLOGY, FOLKLORE, AND DRAMA Irish Writers OnlineIrish PlayographyStudy Ireland: Poetry - BBCIrish Women Writers - M. OckerbloomIreland Literature GuidePoetry Ireland / Éigse ÉireannEarly Irish Lyric Poetry - Kuno MeyerSonnets from Ireland - E. BlomquistColum's Anthology of Irish Verse - Bartleby.comBREAC - Digital Journal of Irish Studies Medieval Celtic ManuscriptsThe Book of KellsCarmina GadelicaCELT Irish Electronic Texts Irish Writers OnlineIreland Literature ExchangeBibliography of 19th-c. Jonathan SwiftJonathan Swift ArchiveJonathan Swift Biography - IncompetechGulliver's Travels - U. Bram StokerDraculaBram Stoker Biography - Classic Literature LibraryBram Stoker's Dracula - Carstens smith Oscar WildeThe Official Home Page of Oscar WildeWilde Biography - BBCOscar Wilde OnlineCELT: Oscar WildePoetry of Oscar Wilde - Bartleby.com George Bernard ShawShaw Biography - C. William Butler YeatsYeats Biography - Poetry FoundationCollected Poems - W. Donn ByrneByrne Biography - J. Fine Art The Faery Harper Oisín
Norse Mythology for Smart People - The Ultimate Online Resource for Norse Mythology and ReligionNorse Mythology for Smart People | The Ultimate Online Resource for Norse Mythology and Religion Norse Mythology | Your Source for Norse Mythology and Vikings A Form of Magic in Norse Paganism | CulturePotion Seid, or seiðr in Old Norse, or seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr, or seithis in its anglicized versions, is a type witchcraft associated with women belonging to the pagan culture of the Norse in pre-Christian times. Mythologically, in the Ynglinga saga, written in 1225, it is stated that Freyja – the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and war – is the one who introduces seid to the Æsir (the first gods), when she and the Vanir (the second gods) join pantheons. An example of seid magic appears in Völuspá, the first poem of the Poetic Edda, written sometime in the 10th or early 11th century; it depicts a vision of the creation of the world, and its approaching end as narrated by a völva addressing Odin – the ruler god. Mainly known by its Icelandic term, a völva, or vǫlva in Old Norse, or vala in English, was a type of female prophet/shaman throughout Norse paganism. “With a cord, one can not only bind, but also attract things, and this is characteristic of seiðr. [1] Kathleen N.
Loki | Norse Mythology Loki (pronounced “LOAK-ee;” Old Norse Loki, whose meaning/etymology is unknown[1]) is the wily trickster god of Norse mythology. While treated as a nominal member of the Aesir tribe of gods in the Eddas and sagas, Loki occupies a highly ambivalent and ultimately solitary position amongst the gods, giants, and the other classes of invisible beings that populate the traditional spirituality of the Norse and other Germanic peoples. His familial relations attest to this. His father is the giant Fárbauti (“Cruel Striker”), and his mother, Laufey (possibly “Tree”), could be a goddess, a giantess, or something else entirely – the surviving sources are silent on this point. Loki is the father, by the giantess Angrboða (“Anguish-Boding”) of Hel, the goddess of the grave, Jormungand, the great serpent who slays Thor during Ragnarok, and Fenrir, the wolf who bites off one of the hands of Tyr and who kills Odin during Ragnarok – hardly a reputable brood, to say the least. References:
Ordering the Heavens: A Visual History of Mapping the Universe by Maria Popova From Copernicus to Ancient Korea, or what the Chinese concept of change has to do with Aztec astrology. The love of maps is a running theme here at Brain Pickings, from these 7 must-read books on creative cartography to, most recently, BBC’s fantastic documentary on important medieval maps. Humanity’s long history of visual sensemaking is as much a source of timeless inspiration as a living record of how our collective understanding of the universe and our place in it evolved. It seems like the farther from the known mapmakers’ imaginations traveled, the more fascinating their maps became. And hardly does the unknown glimmer with more alluring sparkle than the cosmos. The Emperor's Astronomy Petrus Apianus. The 'Emperor's Astronomy'(dedicated to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) elegantly depicts the cosmos and heavens according to the 1400-year-old Ptolemaic system, which maintained that the sun revolved around the earth. Popular Sixteenth-Century Scientific Work
The Mesopotamian Pantheon - World History Encyclopedia The gods of the Mesopotamian region were by no means uniform in name, power, provenance or status in the hierarchy. Mesopotamian culture varied from region to region, from city-state to city-state and, because of this, Marduk should not be regarded as King of the Gods in the same way Zeus ruled in Greece. While Marduk was venerated highly in Babylon, Enlil held that place in Sumer. It should also be noted that the English word 'demon', understood as an evil spirit, derives from the Greek word 'daimon' which meant, simply, 'spirit' and that many of the supernatural entities of the Mesopotamian pantheon designated as 'demons' were not necessarily evil. The following is a list of the gods of the Mesopotamian Pantheon but, as the Mesopotamian people worshipped between 300 and 1000 different gods, it is by no means a complete listing. ABGAL - The seven sages in Sumerian mythology sent to the earth by Enki at the beginning of time to give human beings the sacred `me' (laws) of civilization.
Ancient Egyptian Mythology - World History Encyclopedia Egyptian mythology was the belief structure and underlying form of ancient Egyptian culture from at least c. 4000 BCE (as evidenced by burial practices and tomb paintings) to 30 BCE with the death of Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. Every aspect of life in ancient Egypt was informed by the stories which related the creation of the world and the sustaining of that world by the gods. Egyptian religion influenced other cultures through transmission via trade and became especially widespread after the opening of the Silk Road in 130 BCE as the Egyptian port city of Alexandria was an important commercial center. The significance of Egyptian mythology to other cultures was in its development of the concept of an eternal life after death, benevolent deities, and reincarnation. One's earthly life was not, however, simply a prologue to something greater but was a part of the entire journey. The Creation of the World Love History? Osiris & Set The Importance of Ma'at
Timeless Myths: Celtic Mythology We now leave the mild climate of the ancient Aegean, and the cold, forbidding regions of the North. Here, we enter the lush, green land, shrouded in mists of magic and wonders. The land is young yet ancient; beautiful yet intriguing; and something quite magical. We meet people who are fair and noble. Yet when aroused into battle, these people can easily become savage. Here we turn our page to Celtic Mythology. Though Celtic myths was not written until eleventh century AD, after the Vikings was driven out of Ireland, their sources, mostly oral traditions, were quite old. Many of the myths that come to us, come mainly from Ireland and Wales. Though Celtic literature didn't appear until the Middle Age, Celtic people and their religions existed during the time of ancient Rome. Otherwise, continue on. The pages devoted to Celtic myths, has been divided into three section:
per-Bast.org myth: sex and sexuality It seems logical to the Western mind to link a cat goddess with sexuality, since felines are commonly associated with femininity and sex in our culture. However, in ancient Egypt it is clear based on imagery and offerings that it was Het-hert [GR: Hathor], not Bast, who most commonly presided over feminine appeal and warmth. That said, some scholars have concluded that the presence of a cat under a woman's chair in funerary images is a sign of her sexual viability in the afterlife. Felines, however, were more commonly associated with bountiful prosperity (cats producing kittens in litters) and protection, not sexuality. After all, if the ancient Egyptians wished to make a statement about sex and sexuality, they had no taboos preventing them from doing so. As for Bast as the "Goddess of Lesbians" in antiquity, it's a lie. myth: Bast and Sekhmet as Creator Gods Other myths include one in which Bast and Sekhmet create the world together.
The Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Shira Table of Contents Introduction Religious traditions from the ancient Middle East can be a rich source of creative inspiration for the modern-day dancer, poet, painter, or Pagan practitioner. Bast Hathor Isis Ma'at Nekhbet Nephthys Nut Sekhmet Serket Taweret Tefnut Wadjet Recommended for Further Reading These books may be helpful for further education on the spiritual belief system of ancient Egypt: Related Articles Other articles on this web site that you may find helpful include: Copyright Notice This entire web site is copyrighted. All articles, images, forms, scripts, directories, and product reviews on this web site are the property of Shira unless a different author/artist is identified. Academic papers for school purposes may use information from this site only if the paper properly identifies the original article on Shira.net using appropriate citations (footnotes, end notes, etc.) and bibliography.
Bastet (Bast) Symbols: cat, lioness, sistrum, Udjat (Eye of Horus) Cult Center: Bubastis Links: The Name of Bast The goddess Bastet was usually represented as a woman with the head of a domesticated cat. However, up until 1000 BC she was portrayed as a lioness. Bastet was the goddess of fire, cats, of the home and pregnant women. Bastet seemed to have two sides to her personality, docile and aggressive. Her center of worship was in Bubastis (Per-Bast, Pa-Bast, Pibeseth, Tell-Basta), in the eastern Delta. "When the Egyptians travel to Bubastis, they do so in this manner: men and women sail together, and in each boat there are many persons of both sexes. Digg This! Del.icio.us Stumble Upon