# data[].attributes.body
Click on this link to access Crash Course Mythology's YouTube Page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 41 episodes, Mike Rugnetta will teach you world mythology! This course is based on introductory college-level curriculum spanning mythologies around the g...

# data[].attributes.headline
Crash Course Mythology African Pantheons and Orishas

# data[].attributes.subject
Crash Course Mythology African Pantheons and Orishas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
African Pantheons and the Orishas: Crash Course World Mythology #11

# data[].attributes.headline
Cuban Mythology for "The Cursed Carnival:  'Calamity Juice'"

# data[].attributes.subject
Cuban Mythology for "The Cursed Carnival:  'Calamity Juice'"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Once known as "Santería," La Regla de Ocha-Ifá and La Regla de Lukumí came to the United States with Cuban immigrants. Typically practiced in private ritual communities rather than public worship spaces, many practitioners in the U.S. encounter a lack of knowledge about--and hostility to--their tradition. This serves as a brief, but not comprehensive, introduction to this religious and spiritual tradition with roots in Africa and the Caribbean.

Of all the New World societies, Cuba received people who were enslaved from the greatest diversity of African origins, and in larger numbers. Forcibly brought from all parts of the coast and interior of western Africa, between 500,000 and 700,000 Africans reached Cuba, the majority arriving in the 19th century. The size and diversity of this population has allowed a rich array of African-inspired religions to continue to flourish there, well beyond the end of the transatlantic slave trade.

The deities of the Yoruba religion from present-day Nigeria, Togo and Benin are called Orishas in Yoruba, Oricha in Spanish. Yoruba people also speak of a supreme being, Olorun or Olodumare, whose power or life-energy, called ashé becomes manifest through both blood-related ancestors called Egun and the Orisha. In Cuba, as in Haiti, West African deities became paired with Roman Catholic saints in syncretistic relationships. In Cuba, the ruler of lightning, called Shangó in Yoruba and Changó in Spanish, is identified with St. Barbara. Ogún, the Orisha who is a blacksmith and is considered the surgeon of the Yoruba pantheon, is identified with St. George, Babalu Ayé is identified with St. Lazarus, while Our Lady of Regla is the patroness of a Havana municipality called Regla.

Given the identification of the Orishas with the saints, it has long been common to refer to these religious practices as Santería, meaning the "way of the saints." However, this term is now being rejected for its emphasis on the Catholic and syncretistic elements and de-emphasis of the practice's African legacy. Increasingly, many within the Afro-Caribbean tradition prefer to call it La Regla de Lukumí, "the order of Lukumí": the term Lukumí is said to derive from a Yoruba greeting meaning "my friend." It is also regularly referred to as La Regla de Ocha-Ifá, "the rule of the Orishas," or simply, Ocha.

In the past few decades, Ocha has come to the United States with Cuban immigrants: in New York, for instance, some believe the Statue of Liberty embodies the presence of Yemayá. Botanicas selling the religious articles, herbs, candles, and images of the tradition proliferate in Miami, Seattle, and New York. It is estimated that between 250,000 and one million practice these traditions in the United States. However there is no visible public infrastructure, as private homes--called Casa-templo ("home temples") serve as sacred spaces for all ceremonies and initiations.

The practice of Ocha is organized in Ilés (or "houses") chosen kinship communities of initiates and aspirants led by a particular priestess ( Iyalocha) or priest ( Babalocha). Most members of the house who have been initiated are referred to as "godchildren."

New initiates are called Iyawó, "bride of the Orisha," having made a lifelong commitment to a deity who becomes central to the devotee's life and consciousness. From the time of initiation, Iyawó present regular offerings and ceremonies. After a period of ritual seclusion, the new initiate becomes becomes an Iyalocha or Babalocha (also referred to as Santera or Santero), and in time, may initiate their own godchildren.

Some cis-male priests are initiated to conduct divination or to discern hidden realities by means of an oracle. These highly prestigious diviners ( Babalawos) work with individuals and families, ccommunicating with the Orishas to determine spiritual needs. Babalawos also play a critical role in many initiation ceremonies.

On the altars of initiates, the Orisha are often represented by stones-embodiments of the divine power-placed alongside other sacred emblems inside lidded calabash gourds, bowls, tureens, or jars. Each Orisha also has their own foods, Patakís or sacred stories (myths), numbers, colors, dances, and drum rhythms. At a ceremonial ritual festival in Miami, for instance, Cubans easily recognize each manifest Orisha by means of one's movements.

On the annual anniversary of an Iyalocha/Babalocha initiation, considered their birthday in the religion, a series of ceremonies are made to their guardian Orisha. There are other annual festivities in the Ilé of Ocha including feast days, each one honoring a different Orisha. Many of these feast days roughly coincide with the Roman Catholic saints' days-again reflecting the symbiotic relationship between Lukumí and Christian traditions. In America, the tradition has developed through these Ilés, which are practitioners' homes.

Although there are large Cuban immigrant communities, the public profile of La Regla de Ocha-Ifá and La Regla de Lukumí has remained very low in part because of hostility and misunderstanding on the part of the dominant culture and anti-Blackness. Though animal sacrifice is but one part of the ceremonies of healing and honorable feasting, it is the aspect most scrutinized by the general public. Conflict over this issue became public in Hialeah, Florida, when the city passed legislation to ban animal sacrifice. The city claimed the legislation was religiously "neutral," but the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye in Hialeah maintained that the legislation was aimed specifically at Regla de Ocha-Ifá practices. Ernesto Pichardo, the Babalocha of the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, took his case to the courts. Eventually, in 1993, the Supreme Court determined that Hialeah had overstepped the bounds of the law by directing such restrictions on religious practices ( Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Santeria": La Regla de Ocha-Ifa and Lukumi

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Once known as "Santería," La Regla de Ocha-Ifá and La Regla de Lukumí came to the United States with Cuban immigrants. Typically practiced in private ritual communities rather than public worship spaces, many practitioners in the U.S. encounter a lack of knowledge about--and hostility to--their tradition.

# data[].attributes.body
Click here to get links to The Big Myth Creation Stories by Fiona Passantino.

# data[].attributes.body
Click on this link for the podcast that covers everything Myth and Legend in an audio format!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Awesome stories from folklore, every Wednesday.

# data[].attributes.headline
31 Mythical Creatures Used to Scare Children from around the World

# data[].attributes.subject
31 Mythical Creatures Used to Scare Children from around the World

# data[].attributes.body
Click on this link to access an infographic, which will be a place to start in your research.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Embed this image on your site:
There are far more sinister creatures out there to terrify children into staying in bed than just the boogeyman under the bed or the monster living in the closet. Around the world, parents have employed grotesque and disturbing creatures to spook children into behaving. These boogeyman equivalents dissuade children from wandering into forests, staying out too late after school, peering into wells, or just being brats. These monsters go beyond scary Halloween stories of ghosts, demons, vampires, and werewolves. England's Black Annis tans the skins of naughty children and wears them around her waist. The Nalusa Falaya from Choctaw mythology slithers like a snake, preying on children who stay out too late. If you dare, scroll through this roster of scary monsters for a creative Halloween costume ideas. Or if you need more scary stories to tell in the dark, read up on the fascinating mythology below the creepy pictures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
31 Mythical Creatures Used to Scare Children From Around the World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Embed this image on your site: There are far more sinister creatures out there to terrify children into staying in bed than just the boogeyman under the bed or the monster living in the closet. Around the world, parents have employed grotesque and disturbing creatures to spook children into behaving.

# data[].attributes.headline
30 Mythical Creatures--List of Mythological Creatures

# data[].attributes.subject
30 Mythical Creatures--List of Mythological Creatures

# data[].attributes.body
Click on this link to access an article about mythical creatures, which will be another source to start in your research.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
30 Most Mythical Creatures From Folklore, Legends and Fairytales

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For centuries or more, tales of mythological creatures and mythical beasts have captured our minds. Stories of mythical animals, supernatural monsters, and

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! A Greek and Roman Mythology Podcast

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Greek and Roman mythology podcast. Liv, a mythology geek tell stories of different myths in an honest, liberal, millennial way. Gods, goddesses, heroes, monsters, and everything in between.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
0:00 / 9:21•Watch full video

# data[].attributes.body
Click here for a link to the podcast!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sopona is one of the most powerful gods of the Yoruba religion. He’s the god of the earth, in charge of blessing the crops and grains. But if you anger him, he’ll clap back in a fearsome way, infecting your body with a deadly rash — a disease known today as smallpox. Learn more about your ad choices…

# data[].attributes.body
Article about a podcast focusing on mythical creatures

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Throughout history, stories have been told about fantastical creatures that spark the imagination. From Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster, from mermaids to the Kraken, tales of supposed firsthand accounts have been passed down through generations. Although there is no evidence backing the existence of these creatures, either in present day or at any point in the past, there must be a reason why such legends were created in the first place. In most cases, the legends are grounded in fact.

During this Halloween season, Third Pod from the Sun is highlighting four stories from scientists who know a little something about the real-life animals that inspired these legendary creatures. In the first episode, Cristina Brito, director of the Centre for the Humanities at NOVA University of Lisbon, and Ryan Haupt, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming and cohost of the podcast Science...Sort Of, talk about the connections between mermaids and manatees, as well as the connections between Bigfoot and prehistoric giant sloths, respectively. In the second episode, Rodrigo Salvador, curator of invertebrates at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Danielle J. Serratos, director/curator of the Fundy Geological Museum, describe the connections between giant squids and the Kraken, as well as between prehistoric aquatic reptiles and the Loch Ness Monster, respectively.

These episodes were produced and mixed by Shane M. Hanlon.

-Shane M. Hanlon (@EcologyOfShane), Program Manager, Sharing Science Program, AGU

Episode Transcript

Shane Hanlon (00:00): Hi Nancy.

Nanci Bompey (00:01): Hey Shane.

Shane Hanlon (00:03): So it is, well, I guess it's mid-October right now. With this is will be coming out around Halloween. What are your feelings on Halloween? Some people love it. Some people are completely indifferent about it.

Nanci Bompey (00:14): Yeah. I'm in the latter camp, I guess. I just, I'm not like a big fan of dressing up and things. I just like don't care that much about it.

Shane Hanlon (00:21): There are some times I wish that like people could see the video recording of what we're doing and just like your face. You're like, "Eh, not really."

Nanci Bompey (00:27): Yeah.

Shane Hanlon (00:28): You and I live pretty close to each other out here in Arlington. Do you get trick or treaters at your place?

Nanci Bompey (00:35): Not many. I mean here and there but we didn't get a ton just because like, we're not on the main, we're not on the street where like towards the woods and stuff, but did you get a lot? Do you get a lot?

Shane Hanlon (00:45): Well, no one's getting any this year, right? But-

Nanci Bompey (00:49): We'll see what happens. I mean I don't know.

Shane Hanlon (00:50): I guess that's true. We usually get a decent amount. Yeah. We have a house on a main street, but I will say so okay, we don't know actually what's happening with trick or treating in our neighborhood, but my partner volunteered to essentially like bag candy for some charity drives. And so last night we were just hanging out, watching TV and she said, "Oh, by the way, there's a big box of candy on the front porch. Can you grab it?" And I literally opened the door and there is a giant box of just like 10 bags of trick or treating candy. And I just bring it in and plop it down and say, "What is this?"

Shane Hanlon (01:25): She said, "Oh yeah, I'm doing this thing." I can't have candy in the house. Like I have zero self-control. So I was like, "Can I eat any of this?" She's like, "No, you can't. That's for charity." And so I had to watch, and I couldn't take part in that either, so I had to watch her do this because I have zero self control and like the moment I literally got my hands on candy, I wouldn't be able to stop myself.

Nanci Bompey (01:46): I do love candy. So I do love that part of Halloween. Yeah.

Shane Hanlon (01:50): There's something everyone can love, right?

Nanci Bompey (01:52): Exactly.

Shane Hanlon (01:55): Welcome to the American Geophysical Union's Podcast about the scientists and the methods behind the science. These are the stories you won't read in the manuscript or hear in a lecture I'm Shane Hanlon.

Nanci Bompey (02:04): And I'm Nancy Bompey.

Shane Hanlon (02:06): And this is Third Pod from the Sun.

Shane Hanlon (02:10): All right. So our episode, I guess, corresponds with Halloween, let's say, but we've had this idea at the podcast for a while about talking to folks who study things that have roots in kind of myth and legend. Like these creatures that have inspired things like mermaids or Bigfoot and I feel like a lot of times these legends, they don't just pop up out of nowhere, right? They have to have something that inspires them. And in many cases, there's kind of these prehistoric reasons why folks thought of these things, why folks created these legend. And so we figured since it's Halloween season, we put out a couple of episodes where we interviewed a handful of scientists to talk about these linkages between science and monsters.

Nanci Bompey (02:55): So we have two interviews for this episode, right? And the first comes from a researcher who knows a little something about mermaids.

Shane Hanlon (03:03): How do you pronounce your name?

Cristina Brito (03:05): Cristina.

Shane Hanlon (03:06): And your last name?

Cristina Brito (03:07): Brito.

Shane Hanlon (03:09): Brito. Okay. I didn't know if it was Brito or Brito.

Cristina Brito (03:14): Listen to the rs as I do in Portuguese. It's Cristina Brito.

Shane Hanlon (03:15): Okay. Yeah. Thank you. I am very American with my speech, so I just want to make sure I get the vowel sounds right.

Cristina Brito (03:22): Don't worry. No worries. Okay. So I'm a researcher on mostly early modern marine environmentalist history. Currently, I'm the director of CHAM, which is the Center for the Humanities of Nova University in Lisbon but my background in marine biology. So earlier in my career, I was working on field with ecology behavior conservation of [inaudible 00:03:54] and then I flipped into history. So history of marine environment, as well as the history of marine animals and the history of relationships with people with the ocean and the animals.

Shane Hanlon (04:09): What inspired your shift from doing more of the hard science field work type stuff into more of like what you said from the looking at things from the more historical aspect of things?

Cristina Brito (04:22): There was a shifting moment. I was doing field work in Sao Tome which is an archipelago in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa and we were doing field work, going out to the sea to spot while record sounds. That is a breeding ground for humpback whales and I do get terribly sea sick. So one of the days I stayed home and I went to [inaudible 00:04:56] and pick up some books and start reading them and they were full of animals. Descriptions of large whales, large animals that people thought they were strange. They were different, they were scared and so that was it. And then I changed completely from biology into history.

Shane Hanlon (05:17): And it's probably helpful now that you don't have to go out on ships because that's not necessarily a great thing when you get seasick pretty easily.

Nanci Bompey (05:23): So I know we're going to talk about the linkage between mermaids and manatees. So how did she get interested in this question?

Cristina Brito (05:31): The first thing was data. When I start doing early modern history of natural history and coming back from reading classical antiquity and many best theories or natural history treaties in medieval times in Europe, mermaids or other beings, either beings from the water or from the aquatic bodies are present a lot, many times. They are described as these creatures that come out of the water and people do have a reaction to them, either positive or negative. And then I thought, well, most of our myths that are related to nature, they come from a sighting of something in nature and observation. And when we are dealing with marine animals that are harder to spot and to see and to comprehend in the marine environment in comparison with, for instance, birds or terrestrial mammals, people do tend to add to their own observations features that they have in their minds, in their own perception of the world, in their world views.

Cristina Brito (06:39): And so I sought well, so people thought there that there were mermaids because they weren't sure of what they were seeing. And from the moment on, they realized that there are these animals that may look like a mermaid, that a shift would occur into the perception of what the mermaid is from a mythological being into a real animal. So this was my starting question and the fact is that that's not the case. So yeah. So mermaids are always side by side, either with seals, sea lions, manatees, sometimes whales, and sometimes they are presented as real animals at the same time as you described for instance manatees.

Shane Hanlon (07:21): That's interesting. So it's actually the reverse for a lot of creatures out there. So manatees were actually, at least the name and comparison we're influenced by the mythological creatures of mermaids.

Cristina Brito (07:36): Yeah.

Shane Hanlon (07:36): Oh, that's fascinating. So how far back, so for mermaids, how far back are we talking? Like when is the first kind of mention or mentions of mermaid sirens, whatever it might be in history?

Cristina Brito (07:47): Way back to the beginning of human history. Yeah.

Shane Hanlon (07:50): Really?

Cristina Brito (07:51): Yeah. There are gods for ancient Mesopotamia for instance, that we can relate them to the figure for what would become the Greek or the Roman mermaid, for instance. And we can somehow follow the path of understanding of these gods of the water. So those that were hybrids of human or animal of the sea. So and mermaids are present across time and across societies. Every time there's this connection of people with the water, this relationship, there's not always mermaid per se as we could imagine them today. But if hybrid figure of a God, a semi God, mythological being that relates to the water and is represented partially by an animal. For instance, in the Renaissance, natural history, encyclopedia, naturalists might describe side-by-sides are real animals, real manatees, or dugongs and then have another entry for mermaids.

Cristina Brito (08:59): And this could be one of two situations, either because they believed that they existed in a similar way. So they were equivalent to one another or it might be that even though they knew that sirens weren't real, they wanted to keep it there so that the readers would be fascinated by these tropical exotic, different and strange animals/creatures out there. And just another example, for instance, in West Africa, where manatees, the West African Manatee, although being endangered, do occur. You see a kind of disconnection in between the understanding of the animal as a resource. It used to be hunted and used for their meat, for their bones or for defense hence the symbolic animal, so like a deity. That still exists today. Maame Water, which is an African origin deity of the waters and that's still there. So in some cultures they are present at the same time, but they are different entities. I'm seeing is like a fish from the ocean that we can use as food and the other is our deity that we venerate for many different reasons.

Shane Hanlon (10:23): I was wondering if there were folks out there who are trying to show mermaids exist in a scientific way, like the folks on, I don't know, Discovery Channel or something like that. Are there people saying or there's fossils out there or bones out there that might show that mermaids actually do exist now?

Cristina Brito (10:42): Not so much these days. That was really a thing until at least middle 20th century. And there are several, at least European zoology or naturalists that were trying to prove that mermaids existed back then and across time and in different places, both in Europe, in Japan and other areas, people tend to put together these siren puppets. So it's to prove that they were real. So they will take the hand of a monkey, the body of an aquatic animal, the legs, and they would just put them all together and create an animal that's not real, but that would be there in exhibition for people to go and see. That is until kind of the late 19th century.

Cristina Brito (11:33): But for instance, in the US, there was this, how do they call it mockumentary I think not the true documentary that is entitled the Body Found. And it's something about mermaids, these aquatic humanoids. It has a couple of years. It was from 2016, something like that. It came out and Noah had to release a statement stating that mermaids are not real because the documentary, which is just putting together loose pieces of information in one place, made people believe once again that mermaids were a possibility, a true possibility.

Shane Hanlon (12:21): Yeah, actually, so I just looked it up and looking at the art for it. I remember this, it was 2011.

Cristina Brito (12:27): Yes.

Shane Hanlon (12:27): And yeah, because it was on, it was on the Discovery Channel, which isn't quite, yeah. It's not people understand now that Discovery doesn't really do science anymore but-

Cristina Brito (12:37): Yeah and people saw it as a real thing, as a real documentary and that they were taking the lead on that.

Nanci Bompey (12:43): I don't recall this show. Sorry.

Shane Hanlon (12:47): I actually, so like I said, I had to look it up while we were talking and I do kind of remember it, but the only kind of mermaids I can think of now is I was going to say Harry Potter, like, of course you, Nancy B you don't really like Harry Potter, do you?

Nanci Bompey (12:58): I just never read it, so sure, great Harry Potter.

Shane Hanlon (13:02): Right. Well, so in addition to kind of the, let's say mermaid truthers, I was fascinated by how maritime folks let's say, saw mermaids as signs of maybe good omens or bad omens. Why are mermaids seen in some cases as a good luck charm and in some cases seen as a bad thing that would lure fishermen in and kill them or whatever.

Cristina Brito (13:30): Yeah, that's true. And they have ... these both sides are always present, but I think they do represent much of what the open ocean represents to people, which is at the same time, a place of wonder and discovery and good fortune. Something can come out of it as good but at the same time, it's a place of danger and often known and off the great depths and the darkness and so on. And so I think these double view, the double aspect of the ocean has to it in terms of attraction to people, how people see the ocean as good and as bad as light and dark is also reflected in the mermaid very well. So the mermaid does encompass all the ways that people can see and perceive the ocean and you can see at the same time.

Cristina Brito (14:20): So you have mermaids that ... So there are several mermaid sirens, selkies and so on, well across different cultures. And one of these creatures can be all good and represent all the goods. And then you can have another one that represents the bad, but then you ask them and there's really no explanation or reason for that, that in the same reach and in the same meeting being the good and the bad is there. So if you do good things, if your behavior is good, you will get all the good parts of being in touch with the mermaids. But if you do something that's not good, you can get the other part. So it just relates the beat with the [inaudible 00:15:09] of humanity, who we are and how humans see themselves reflected on the ocean.

Shane Hanlon (15:14): I wanted to know, of course we were talking to her about mermaids and manatees. So I was personally interested, but do people out there and kind of popular culture still care about and are still fascinated by mermaids?

Cristina Brito (15:27): People still are very interested in them and the fact is that both myself and other colleagues in my research group, we do a lot of research on animals, real animals, but also on sea monsters. And that's what people will recall the most, the mermaids, the sea monsters and everything and they try to find an explanation for that. And our viewpoint is just going both to the natural sciences, what biology and ecology and environmental knowledge tell us about the animal populations, where they were in the past, how abandoned were they, how were their behaviors similar to present-day alongside with the historical sources and we will find these in written letters, in natural treaties, in several documents. And there we have many, many accounts of mermaids and sea monsters in maps and drawings and representation in sculptures, in poetry. So they are everywhere.

Cristina Brito (16:34): It does show us that people were very eager to know more of what this being was. And today we can have this double disintegrated view and kind of understanding both the cultural aspects-

Shane Hanlon (16:50): Sure.

Cristina Brito (16:51): ... of a mermaid, which is a symbol which is a deity even today, so it's present. It's still in some cultures as a religious symbol in Africa, in Brazil, for instance, in other parts of the world. But the animal is the only thing that still remains. So there are no extant evidence whatsoever of a mermaid and what people would think a mermaid was. So we are relying on written accounts mostly, and that's the source of our research. And then I think that's still a topic that will come to be addressed in many different ways. The fact that the mermaids are hybrid or are dual in many aspects, does relate to many aspects of how today we are say society and some societal issues of groups of people that are somehow not understood and mermaids can be used as a framework of thinking all of these. Yeah. So I think there's still a long way with mermaids ahead of us.

Shane Hanlon (18:01): I have to say, when I first reached out to Cristina, I didn't quite understand the direction of things, meaning that, what's unique I think about mermaids is that the myth of mermaids has been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and was probably inspired by fish and sharks and different things. But when they got to the new world, they actually, like folks actually thought that manatees were mermaids. Usually it goes in the opposite direction I think when you have someone who knows something about, say, prehistoric creatures inspiring the myth or the legend.

Nanci Bompey (18:36): Right. And I think you also talked to someone who can tell us a little bit about something along those lines.

Ryan Haupt (18:42): My name is Ryan Haupt. I'm a vertebrate paleontologist. I'm at the very tail end of my PhD at the University of Wyoming, depending on when this episode comes out, it might already be done, which would be awesome. And I'm spending the year as the science policy fellow for the Geological Society of America and that is also coming to an end. So I'm soon to be on the market as a vertebrate paleontologist. So I usually self-identify as a paleontologist. So I studied the, and I sometimes we'll put paleo in parentheses because I actually kind of do modern ecology too and so I sort of studied the connection between modern ecosystems and past ecosystems. And the part that I focus on specifically is sloths.

Ryan Haupt (19:21): I don't only study sloths, but that's sort of the main thing that I focus on and the aspect of their ecology that I'm the most interested in is diet. So I really try to figure out what the life of a sloth was like based on their diet. And I use a variety of techniques, principally stable isotope analysis, and dental microwave texture analysis, to sort of unlock the secrets of what sloths were eating today and in the past.

Shane Hanlon (19:43): So I haven't even ever actually asked you this. Did you do field work, like actually interacting with sloths?

Ryan Haupt (19:50): Yeah. I've done both field work at different fossil sites looking for fossils, and I've done field work with wild and captive sloths.

Shane Hanlon (20:00): Interesting. And so you were saying kind of how you're dating them. So the historic stuff, the prehistoric, I guess, are you, the isotope things, like that's just your dating teeth, essentially? You are-

Ryan Haupt (20:14): So the stable isotope stuff, it's actually the, getting dates you use the radioactive isotopes, stable isotopes just tell you about various aspects of their ecology and life histories. Actually the primary source of my stable isotope data for my dissertation, at least for the fossil component were coprolites.

Shane Hanlon (20:33): Which are?

Ryan Haupt (20:34): Fossilized feaces.

Shane Hanlon (20:36): Nice, of course. I do love the jargon phrase for a lot of these things.

Ryan Haupt (20:42): Yeah. So coprolite literally means poop rock.

Shane Hanlon (20:46): So Nancy, did you know what coprolite was?

Nanci Bompey (20:48): I mean, no. Who would know that?

Shane Hanlon (20:51): Ryan knows it.

Nanci Bompey (20:52): Like two people in the world.

Shane Hanlon (20:56): Well, I found learning about coprolites fascinating, but I was really interested. So what do you picture now, when you think of sloths? Like, if I say picture of sloth, what are you picturing?

Nanci Bompey (21:09): There was like, I feel like there's sloths like people have them, like they're a funny thing, right? Like my friend has one, like a big one that she puts like in the back of her van and it's like waving at people. Do you know what I'm saying?

Shane Hanlon (21:20): Yeah. Like the things that stick on the window?

Nanci Bompey (21:22): Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I feel like people use them in a funny way now.

Shane Hanlon (21:26): Yeah, sloths are really having kind of a moment, I feel like in pop culture. And I feel like at a zoo or something, if you see a slot, people will put up egg crates and they'll like curl up into a small little thing. So sloths, they're not huge, but the sloths that Ryan study and potentially where the inspiration for some of these legends were very, very different from that. When thinking about you and your work, I'm really fascinated by this idea that pre historic sloths, who for the record are much larger and much different than the sloths we have today. Correct?

Ryan Haupt (22:02): Yeah. So we're living at a weird time for sloths is something I like to say, because sloths are as small and undiversified and geographically restricted, as they've basically ever been. The fossil history of sloths is one of great success. They evolved in South America and then spread all over that continent and then as soon as that continent, actually before that continent was even connected to North America via the Panamanian Isthmus, they had distributed over the shallow sea, into North America and all throughout the Caribbean and lived as far North as Alaska, the Yukon territory of Canada, up in the mountains of Colorado, like they were everywhere.

Shane Hanlon (22:42): Oh, okay. So, all right. So much more diverse and in many cases, or at least in some cases larger-

Ryan Haupt (22:49): [crosstalk 00:22:50]. the ones today really are as small as they've ever been.

Shane Hanlon (22:53): Oh, okay.

Ryan Haupt (22:55): And they got as big as a modern elephant, but walking around on two legs because we have fossil trackways.

Shane Hanlon (23:02): Oh, wow. Okay. Well then that leads into kind of this next point. That there's, well, you can explain this more, but potential that our modern, again mythology is not the right word, cryptobiology, cryptozoology, I guess. Things like Sasquatch and Yeti and all of the different names, we have Bigfoot, they may have been inspired in part by prehistoric sloths, right? Or maybe,

Ryan Haupt (23:33): Yeah. It gets a little complicated and part of it is cryptozoology has this really weird relationship with paleontology because there's ... So cryptozoologist are people who look for animals that according to "science", sky quotes on science don't exist. And sometimes the reason that they're claimed to not exist is because other types of scientists, biologists, and paleontologists say that they're extinct. So if you think about like mega megalodon shark, right? Most scientists say that's extinct, cryptozoologist say, well, maybe it's not, let's go look for it.

Ryan Haupt (24:08): So those kinds of animals are referred to as cryptids. And there's Bigfoot is a cryptid and Bigfoot is not necessarily based on an animal that we know existed and a lot of people will turn to giant apes that lived in Asia. Aegyptopithecus is the extinct genus of giant ape, similar to like a really large orangutan and Bigfoot doesn't ... that's sort of the claim, but like there's no fossil evidence of that. And so it doesn't really hold a lot of water to me. And I'll just go ahead and say, I don't put a ton of stock in the modern conception of Bigfoot as this animal that is still existing out in the Pacific Northwest that's being seen and heard and interacting with people-

Shane Hanlon (24:53): Pictured in a fuzzy way?

Ryan Haupt (24:54): Right? Yeah. I love the mid shepherd joke, like maybe Bigfoot is fuzzy. That's the problem. There's a large out of focus monster. But I think it's important to acknowledge that the initial stories of this animal came from First Nations peoples and, and First Nations is the term that often gets used in Canada and since they kind of crossed the border, it's just a catch all term that I use as well, just to be as respectful as possible and these people still exist. And so it isn't really fair to say that it's strictly a legendary claim because these people still exist in these beliefs may still exist, and I don't want to denigrate that at all.

Ryan Haupt (25:30): And so when the white people in this region were first collecting these stories, it was offensive to the First Nations people to say that these stories were legendary of these forest people living out in the forest away from humanity. And so I think that's fair enough. And different groups obviously had different names for the race of beings that they said lived out in the forest or up in the mountains. But the term Sasquatch was borrowed from the Halkomelem language, and I'm probably butchering the pronunciation of that, and that's sort of become the default term when we first referred to more of the tribal First Nations concept of this animal.

Shane Hanlon (26:05): Sure, all right.

Ryan Haupt (26:05): And so my sort of take on the whole thing is, and I've been a fan of cryptozoology since, before I was going to be a paleontologist. I think my love of like undiscovered animals came both from like, what's out in the forest and what's under the ground as a fossil. Like I kind of come at it from both directions. And so I have this deep fascination with all this stuff from when I was a kid and I don't necessarily believe in it now, but I'm still fascinated by it. And so my view is, I don't think there's a Bigfoot out there today. I've not seen any good evidence of that being the case, but I do want to take the stories at face value and think about the reality of that and then work sort of from that perspective,

Shane Hanlon (26:45): Nancy?

Nanci Bompey (26:46): Yeah.

Shane Hanlon (26:47): Do you think that Bigfoot exists?

Nanci Bompey (26:50): No.

Shane Hanlon (26:53): That was very quick. And like, there's just no possibility, not even an inkling?

Nanci Bompey (26:57): Nope.

Shane Hanlon (26:59): I appreciate your certainty in this. I have to say I'm probably on the no spectrum as well, but there's been some actual scientific evidence to back up your assertion.

Ryan Haupt (27:12): So this paper came out a little while ago where these ecologists wanted to show that if you just look at like self-reported occurrence data where people say they saw an animal, you can create an ecological niche model for an animal that doesn't exist. So they did that for Bigfoot. So like, cause there are databases out there where people will say like I was camping and I heard the call, right? And I saw the footprint.

Ryan Haupt (27:38): So all these databases of evidence, and you can use that to build a pretty convincing model of what's the prime Bigfoot habitat and that's what they did and then once they built it, they were like, "This looks familiar." And they realized that they had just made a pretty convincing plot of where black bears live, which is not terribly surprising when you think about it, because like we've got a large fuzzy animal that can move around on two legs, however awkwardly. And I think you work with students and you do ecology. Like it takes a lot of time in the forest and a lot of expertise to be good at identifying things, especially things you only see briefly and that you're not super familiar with.

Shane Hanlon (28:18): Sure.

Ryan Haupt (28:19): So I think a lot of big foot sightings today are probably coming from people just not being as familiar with bears as, as they ought to be because I think bears are great. And I started thinking about like, how does that work 11,000 to 10,000 years ago when people were coming across the Bering Land Bridge into North America for the first time and I'm thinking, okay, they're probably not going to be super surprised by a bear. Bears live in Asia, that's an animal that they would have been familiar with.

Shane Hanlon (28:45): Right.

Ryan Haupt (28:46): But we do have fossils showing that one particular type of ground sloth called Megalonyx, which means great claw, which was a very large animal easily maybe grizzly bear sized and it's at its biggest about 10 feet, maybe a couple thousand pounds, 2000 pounds or so. That is an animal that is only found in the Americas, right? It's only in North and South American. Megalonyx is an iconically North American sloth. It's the one that's found ... it was the first one found in the caves of what is now West Virginia, what was then Western Virginia. We find them in the La Brea Tar Pits, we find them up on mountains in Colorado. The sloth just got everywhere.

Ryan Haupt (29:25): So that's the sloth that's up in Alaska and the Yukon territory and it probably could move around on two legs as well. It was probably pretty shaggy. Modern sloths are pretty shaggy and in those cave deposits where we have the coprolites, we also get fur fossils. And so we, that the ground sloths were also shaggy. And so to me, it makes at least it connects logically that this is an animal that they wouldn't have been immediately familiar with coming over from Asia and shares some of the same characteristics that we think of as the Sasquatch.

Shane Hanlon (30:00): Is there evidence of them coexisting?

Ryan Haupt (30:02): Oh, that's a great question.

Shane Hanlon (30:04): Early sloths and early human ancestors, essentially?

Ryan Haupt (30:08): There is surprisingly little evidence of that. We don't see a ton of sloths in cave art, which is kind of interesting. There's not a ton of convincing evidence of like butchery sites where bones are cut with tools that way we can then infer hunting occurred. There's a very recently discovered fossil site in Arizona, New Mexico that is a footprint of a Nothrotheriops, which is the psychotic Southwestern American sloth. And then there's a human footprint inside that footprint and footprint fossils have to occur pretty quickly together. It's not a thing where like, it could have been a couple of days or even, would have been within hours. Right?

Shane Hanlon (30:54): Okay.

Ryan Haupt (30:55): And so one possibility is that the humans were stalking this sloth, but that's, again, it's still a little bit circumstantial, but we do know that they overlapped. And there's a lot of debate in the paleontological community about like, why did these animals go extinct? They went extinct at the same time, all these other giant American taxa, the Sabretooth cats and the mammoths all went extinct. And so the debate is, was it the end of the last Ice Age and this period of great climate change or was it hunting pressure from humans or was it a combination of both?

Ryan Haupt (31:27): It's harder to figure that out on a continent scale, but in the Caribbean, there were also ground sloths that lived in the Caribbean and those sloths actually survived up until about four, four and a half thousand years ago. Pretty recently.

Shane Hanlon (31:39): Okay.

Ryan Haupt (31:39): Like the Great Pyramids in Giza were finished and there were still ground sloths walking around.

Shane Hanlon (31:44): That's wild.

Ryan Haupt (31:45): And they go extinct almost exactly when humans first arrive on those islands. So like the case on the islands is pretty cut and dry, but islands work a little bit differently. But we do know that that humans and slots overlapped, interacted to some extent that the extent of those interactions is up for some debate.

Shane Hanlon (32:02): What's the most ... do you know what the most recent fossil is like date-wise for any species of giant sloths?

Ryan Haupt (32:12): Well, so we have fossils from the Caribbean that are recent as recent as that four and half thousand year mark. Generally in paleontology, we have sort of a soft cutoff at around 10,000 years. So anything younger than 10,000 year, we might call a sub fossil. So it has to reach that 10,000 year mark to really be considered a part of the fossil record, truly. It's not a hard and fast rule, but that's sort of how we work.

Shane Hanlon (32:36): When Ryan and I were talking, we very cognizant that much of what we were talking about are, is North American centric and coming at it from a strictly scientific point of view. But these myths and legends are global and rooted in a lot of cultures that are not ours.

Ryan Haupt (32:54): One other interesting part of this story, and again, it's something that because of my own limitations as a researcher, I haven't been able to dig into very much is there is a sort of South American component to this called the mapinguari and again, I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but it is a folkloric entity said to live in the Amazonian Rainforest that is sort of a large, hairy smelly and it's weird that there always a smell associated with it. Like I've been around a lot of modern sloths. Modern sloths actually don't smell. They smell better than a lot of other wild animals I've worked with just because not smelling like anything is another defense mechanism when you don't want to be eaten. And a lot of times they got algae growing on them. So they got kind of like an algae smell, not like a weird, and they don't have like an animalistic musk or funk like we think of with a lot of other mammals.

Ryan Haupt (33:43): So I think a lot of the information on the mapinguari is very limited in English. And maybe if I spoke Portuguese, lik my Spanish is pretty good, but I don't really speak Portuguese. And I obviously don't speak any of the many languages that are spoken throughout the Amazon by the peoples who live there. But it is sort of said to be this large lumbering, hairy entity, and the thing that gets really wide with the mapinguari is it is said to have a stomach or a mouth on its stomach. So it just shovels food right into its stomach, which is kind of crazy. But there are people that say that it, that have noticed that it maybe shares some characteristics with ground sloths. The information in English just isn't that out there for me to do much with that though.

Shane Hanlon (34:23): Well, Nancy, have you enjoyed your time learning about mermaids and giant sloths?

Nanci Bompey (34:29): Yes, very much.

Shane Hanlon (34:32): It's kind of a unique episode and we don't necessarily talk about ... we don't get a lot of biology in I feel our episodes, which is fine.

Nanci Bompey (34:40): We do from time to time.

Nanci Bompey (34:42): But yeah,

Shane Hanlon (34:42): I'm excited for this. And just a reminder, this is the first in a two-part series. So we'll have another one of these coming out.

Nanci Bompey (34:51): Excellent.

Shane Hanlon (34:52): For now that is all from Third Pod from the Sun.

Nanci Bompey (34:56): Thanks so much Shane for bringing us this story and of course, to Cristina and Ryan for sharing their work with us,

Shane Hanlon (35:03): This podcast was produced and mixed by me.

Nanci Bompey (35:06): We would love to hear your thoughts, please rate and review us. And you can find new episodes wherever you get your podcasts or at thirdpodfromthesun.com. And as Shane alluded to, be on lookout for part two of our Monsters and Myths series that'll drop in a few days.

Shane Hanlon (35:24): All right. Thanks all. And we'll see you next time.

Ryan Haupt (35:29): Can I plug Science Sort Of?

Shane Hanlon (35:31): Oh, sure. Yeah, go ahead.

Ryan Haupt (35:34): So people if want more of my sort of ramblings on topics like these, I do a podcast that is actually quite appropriate as a companion piece to this conversation called Science Sort Of where we talk about things that are science, things that are sort of science and things that wish they were science. We did actually cover this Bigfoot story of the black bear paper that came out, that is episode 205, chemical free Sasquatch.

Episode Transcript

Shane Hanlon (00:00): Hi Nanci.

Nanci Bompey (00:02): Hi Shane.

Shane Hanlon (00:03): So, today, I have a little quiz for you.

Nanci Bompey (00:08): Oh, I love the quiz times.

Shane Hanlon (00:10): Yeah. So, we should say, this is the second part of a two-part series where we're talking about mythical monsters and the real life animals that inspired them. And so, my first question for you is, what two creatures make up a griffin? Can you picture a griffin?

Nanci Bompey (00:31): Yeah. Aren't those the things that sometimes are on Gothic buildings?

Shane Hanlon (00:37): Sometimes.

Nanci Bompey (00:38): So, it looks kind of scaly, right? Dragony?

Shane Hanlon (00:44): It flies.

Nanci Bompey (00:45): It flies. So, it has wings. So, we're going to go with bird.

Shane Hanlon (00:50): Bird, sure.

Nanci Bompey (00:52): And a lizard or a dragon, but a dragon is not a real thing. I don't know.

Shane Hanlon (01:01): No. So, a griffin is traditionally an eagle and a lion.

Nanci Bompey (01:09): Oh, okay.

Shane Hanlon (01:12): Yeah. Not quite as scaly.

Nanci Bompey (01:13): Okay.

Shane Hanlon (01:15): All right. I have a multiple choice for you. Which of these is not a nickname for mermaids: siren, a nyad, a kelpie, or a sirenia.

Nanci Bompey (01:30): Kelpie.

Shane Hanlon (01:33): No, actually sirenia.

Nanci Bompey (01:33): What?

Shane Hanlon (01:39): Sirenia is-

Nanci Bompey (01:40): I knew the first two were.

Shane Hanlon (01:42): Sirenia is the order that manatees are in. It's a scientific name.

Nanci Bompey (01:47): Kelpie? I never heard of kelpie.

Shane Hanlon (01:48): Kelpie. Yeah. So we could dive deep into this. People in mythology would argue with kelpie, because it's a shape-shifting thing that oftentimes takes the form of a mermaid.

Nanci Bompey (01:59): Okay, that just went down a weird route.

Shane Hanlon (02:01): I know. I did a lot of research for these questions. All right. One more quick one. What region do these bigfoot names come from? There's a lot of different names for bigfoot, so where's Sasquatch from?

Nanci Bompey (02:14): What part of the world?

Shane Hanlon (02:15): Yeah.

Nanci Bompey (02:18): The Western United States. Canada.

Shane Hanlon (02:20): Canada.

Nanci Bompey (02:22): Nice.

Shane Hanlon (02:22): What about Yeti?

Nanci Bompey (02:24): Yeti. Canada.

Shane Hanlon (02:26): No. Think Himalayas.

Nanci Bompey (02:32): Oh, the Himalayas. That's my answer.

Shane Hanlon (02:36): Nepal. What about a yowie?

Nanci Bompey (02:36): A yowie?

Shane Hanlon (02:39): A yowie.

Nanci Bompey (02:40): Maybe Australia.

Shane Hanlon (02:42): Australia.

Nanci Bompey (02:43): Oh my gosh. That was totally a guess.

Shane Hanlon (02:45): And the last one, a skunk ape?

Nanci Bompey (02:48): A skunk ape. I'm going to go Africa.

Shane Hanlon (02:50): Nope.

Nanci Bompey (02:51): Somewhere. A skunk ape, Mexico.

Shane Hanlon (02:57): Florida.

Nanci Bompey (02:58): Florida?

Shane Hanlon (03:04): Welcome to the American Geophysical Union's podcast about the scientists and the methods behind the science. These are the stories you won't read in the manuscript or hear in lecture. I'm Shane Hanlon, and I'm Nanci Bompey, and this is Third Pod from the Sun. So like I said up top, this is a second episode in a two part series where we're looking at mythical creatures and the animals that inspired them. And this is just coincidence, but we're talking about two sea creatures. And so we're going to start with the Kraken.

Nanci Bompey (03:39): What's a Kraken? I heard [inaudible 00:03:42] bring on the Kraken. Isn't that from a movie?

Shane Hanlon (03:45): Yeah, well, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies had that in it. It's a mythical sea creature that we're going to learn more about. And so we'll bring in our first interviewee to talk about it.

Rodrigo Salvado (04:00): So my name is Rodrigo Salvador, and I'm a curator of invertebrates at the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington. And I actually specialize in snails, land snails mostly. And as a curator, my job is to conduct research on mollusks and to look after, take care, and expand our collection of mollusks and also do outreach activities in the museum.

Nanci Bompey (04:33): Okay. That still does not explain what a Kraken is.

Shane Hanlon (04:35): Oh, we're getting there. All right, just wait.

Rodrigo Salvado (04:38): Let's start in the beginning. As for my interest, it kind of started very early. The first memory of receiving a book as a gift was a book about Greek mythology that I got from my sister and I immediately got into it. And ever since then, it's just been a sort of expansions of it. So I've always liked to read about these monsters, the stories about the gods, et cetera.

Shane Hanlon (05:14): And this was independent of your scientific interest. You just have this interest in Greek mythology?

Rodrigo Salvado (05:14): Completely independent.

Shane Hanlon (05:20): Okay.

Rodrigo Salvado (05:20): Because when I was a child, of course I was interested in dinosaurs. As all children are, but then that faded away a little bit. I got into a computer, I got into engineering and university actually. And then I dropped out and changed to biology. So I lost interest in all the dinosaurs and the living word at some point, but then got back in it. In between there was Dungeons and Dragons, of course. And I suppose that after I started biology, one thing just led to another, in a natural way.

Shane Hanlon (06:05): The initial interest then was in Greek mythology.

Rodrigo Salvado (06:08): Yeah. I suppose that that has to do with Dungeons and Dragons. I'm always stuck as the dungeon master. So I have to prepare adventures, come up with monsters, et cetera. So I already had an interest in mythology. So I was looking into several monsters that started off as a common animal and the legend just built up and the Kraken was just one of them, but then there came one day that I, that I thought, well, I could actually write an article about this Kraken, I'm already studying [inaudible 00:00:06:51], so it just felt natural. And so I started to investigate it, the story behind it, all the reports that we have in the literature about sightings of these monsters, et cetera. And that goes back to the 12th century in Norway. So that's the first actual reports of the Kraken, if you believe it.

And the thing is, back then there were several sea monsters around. And there is this very old manuscript written by a king of Norway in the 12th century and he lists all sorts of sea monsters, a Kraken is just one of them. But I think what happened in time as the centuries past, all these monsters, some of them, they were not strong enough, I suppose, in the folklore, in the people's minds, et cetera. And they just faded away and the Kraken was a strong enough monster to survive in people's memory, I suppose.

Shane Hanlon (08:01): There was mention of Kraken and going back hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, right? The connection you're making, and I want to ask, is this a connection unique to you or are there other folks out there who have looked at Kraken and thought, okay, these people are probably seeing a giant squid.

Rodrigo Salvado (08:22): So yeah, in the very first reports, we don't have actually much information besides the fact that the Kraken was gigantic. So at first it had a sort of a morphous quality to it. Some people said it was like a mounting or an island, so you can also imagine the proportions of the monster. But then it started to evolve along the centuries, so we have representations of the Kraken as a giant humanoids, like a giant lobster, and a giant cephalopods too, of course. But the thing is, by the time you reach the 18th century, the Kraken already had a established cephalopod look. And it was such a strong image in the minds of the Nordic countries that Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy, the modern biological classification, he actually included the Kraken as a cephalopod in his book. The original book Systema Naturae that defined and started the system of biological classification, it had the Kraken listed as real animal under cephalopods.

Shane Hanlon (09:44): I found it really interesting that the Kraken was listed as a species in and of itself, but it turns out there's a lot of murkiness in the... is it a squid or is it a Kraken realm? So I asked Rodrigo for some clarity. When was the first description of a giant squid as something separate and apart from this, as itself, when did that first description happen?

Rodrigo Salvado (10:07): That was in Greece actually. So it's Aristotle, I think fourth century BC.

Shane Hanlon (10:13): God, long time ago. Okay.

Rodrigo Salvado (10:15): So, that's funny because back then they knew that it was the word squids, normal squids, and there was a giant version of squids that was a different animal and they actually just treated it as an animal, not a monster. And they had plenty of monsters, so you are left wondering why this one is not a monster, but anyway, they treated it as a real animal.

Shane Hanlon (10:42): Was there Kraken, and then as people found out that there's also this thing out there that potentially could be the Kraken, did they come together separately? Because I think in my mind it was, giant squid and it turns out the thing that people thought was a Kraken was actually always just a giant squid. But from the way you describe it, it's that the Kraken wasn't always a squid, it was this thing in the sea that was destroying stuff.

Rodrigo Salvado (11:09): So, it's very possible that the animal that started the whole thing was actually a giant squid. We can never be a hundred percent sure about it, but there are good indications of it. So if you go back to other reports of the Kraken along the centuries, you will find... there's a Bishop Pontoppidan in Norway, and he wrote extensively about the Kraken. And that was the first moment when it was clearly a cephalopod. Despite the huge colossal size he assigns to the monster, there are some things, the fact that it could make the waters around it dark. So that's a cephalopod thing, expelling ink to warn off predators, et cetera. I think those were the very first signs that it was related to a cephalopod. Of course, anything back then in the 12th century, even before that, anything that people would see, while they were like crossing from Norway to Iceland, anything that they will see floating around and it was kind of big, people would get scared of it.

Shane Hanlon (12:29): I know with Kraken, there are these myths and stories of Kraken taking down ships and causing all of this damage. So assuming that giant squids are actually Krakens, is there evidence that giant squids have ever done anything like this? Have they ever taken down a ship or anything like that? Is there any validity to the myths that were told in the past?

Rodrigo Salvado (12:59): No, definitely not. So I suppose that seeing one of those on the surface of the water might scare you quite a lot, especially if you're traveling around in a flimsy wooden boat back then. But the reality is that when squids are floating on the water like that, especially the giant squid, which lives deep under water, they usually reached the surface when they have already spawned their eggs and are dying. So they would not be able, in any sense, to attack a ship or anything. But the thing is they still have the defense mechanisms. So that includes of course, releasing ink on the water. And they can also spout water through a structure called the funnel, that's how they move, which adds propulsion, but if they do that in the surface and people see like just a jet of water, that might scare someone. And it's very likely that when they got back home, they wanted to tell the story and this story is increased a little bit every time they were told. And then that's how we wind up with a monster.

Shane Hanlon (14:21): Yeah. I can imagine over the years, they become more and more exaggerated as the stories get passed on.

Rodrigo Salvado (14:29): Yeah. I would just add one other detail, and of course, if you're telling a good story about monster, it needs to be big, it needs to be able to sink a ship and eat its entire crew, that sort of thing.

Shane Hanlon (14:43): So Nanci, now do you know what a Kraken is?

Nanci Bompey (14:45): Yes, I do.

Shane Hanlon (14:50): Do you enjoy learning in our podcast interviews?

Nanci Bompey (14:55): Always learn something new.

Shane Hanlon (14:56): Well we happened to end up sticking with this theme of aquatic monsters, and we talked to someone else who has some expertise on these linkages between real life animals and the mythical monsters.

Danielle Serrat (15:12): So my name is Danielle Serratos, I'm the Director Curator at the Fundy Geological Museum, which is located in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia on the Bay of Fundy, which is worldwide famous for having the highest tides in the world. I specialize in researching Mesozoic marine reptiles, which would include plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and mosasaurs. Mosasaurs have been fairly popular in media for the past couple of years due to Jurassic World. And the quite voracious mosasaur that's in the water pen in that movie. But more recently I've been working on Canada's oldest dinosaurs, the prosauropods, and the earliest reptiles, as well as the reptiles that were living alongside Canada's earliest dinosaurs. So moving more into the land environments.

Shane Hanlon (16:07): I think it'd be helpful to place folks in time. So when was the Mesozoic? When is the period where these animals that we're going to be talking about lived?

Danielle Serrat (16:20): So I'm actually going to go on a bit of a tangent here because-

Shane Hanlon (16:24): Perfect.

Danielle Serrat (16:24): Providing a quick overview of Mesozoic marine reptiles is not really all that quick.

Shane Hanlon (16:30): Fair enough.

Danielle Serrat (16:32): So the Mesozoic was the geological era from 252 to 66 million years ago and includes the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. So, that's the Mesozoic part. The marine reptiles is a bit more complicated. So they're reptiles the same way that dinosaurs were, but there are some pretty significant differences between marine reptiles and dinosaurs. The biggest one is marine reptiles, there's a lot of fossil evidence that they gave birth to live young. So instead of laying eggs, the way that dinosaurs did. A notable exception would be turtles, which just goes to show that classifying animals can be a really tricky problem. Marine reptiles, they also lived in the ocean, or at least in brackish waters, like an estuarian system.

The only aquatic dinosaur that we currently know of is the spinosaurus, and it seems to have stuck to freshwater. So that designation of mostly being on land versus mostly being in the ocean is a pretty clear delineation. And then lastly, marine reptiles had fans or flippers, whereas dinosaurs had and have toes with claws. So it's important to keep in mind that these evolutionary relationships are incredibly complicated and general statements and science should always come with a caveat. For example, dinosaurs evolved from some reptiles the same way birds evolved from some dinosaurs, but that doesn't mean that birds are actually reptiles. They just share many characteristics due to sharing ancestors.

Shane Hanlon (18:14): Nanci.

Nanci Bompey (18:16): Yes.

Shane Hanlon (18:18): Do you know your geologic epochs? Your timescales?

Nanci Bompey (18:24): Mesozoic, Jurassic, centazoic... I have no idea, I'm just saying words.

Shane Hanlon (18:30): This is why we had Danielle. What about your different aquatic reptiles, right? Like mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs?

Nanci Bompey (18:38): Dinosaurs, mirasaurs, no.

Shane Hanlon (18:45): We got a quick background on the eras, now I really wanted to ask Danielle to dive into plesiosaurs in particular and their influence on these myths that we're going to be talking about.

Danielle Serrat (18:59): Plesiosaurs were around mostly from the end of the Jurassic through the end of the Cretaceous, or the mass extinction event that wiped out almost all the dinosaurs and all the marine reptiles that we were talking about as far as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs go. So when we talk about marine reptiles, especially during the Mesozoic era, so during the age of dinosaurs, we're talking about four major groups, plesiosaurs being my area of interest, but there's also mosasaurs, which people would associate with the Jurassic World movies.

Shane Hanlon (19:37): I was going to ask about that, all right.

Danielle Serrat (19:40): Yeah. And then ichthyosaurs, which are very popular in England because the first ichthyosaur skeleton was found on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, and turtles. So of course, turtles are still around today, but they look vastly different than they did during the age of dinosaurs. In fact, archelon, which was a turtle that is hundreds of millions years old at this point, was roughly the size of a Volkswagen beetle.

Nanci Bompey (20:11): So she's interested in these prehistoric reptiles, but how does that lead to her interest in Loch Ness monster, these other kinds of things?

Danielle Serrat (20:20): I have been a science communicator for the majority of my career in paleontology, and inevitably when you work with plesiosaurs, you have to learn about the Loch Ness monster. It's just something that comes with the territory. So the Loch Ness monster is a story that most likely dates back about 1500 years ago to the Pictish standing stones and the Scottish Highlands. So nowadays these Pictish standing zones are more frequently associated with the term water horse or kelpie, but these depictions have fans and flippers, which really encourages that connection to prehistoric plesiosaurs and other Mesozoic marine reptiles to some extent as well. Like you alluded, the ichthyosaurs, while they look different, a lot of these mythological creatures have a weird accumulation of different types of body parts. So it's totally fair game to say that ichthyosaurs would be a part of this inspiration as well. Well, ichthyosaur skeletons and fossils would be.

Shane Hanlon (21:31): Right, there was like a lot of chimeras, right? Essentially just pulling different body parts from different organisms to make the thing of your choosing almost.

Danielle Serrat (21:39): Absolutely. And that totally makes sense when you think about it from a paleontological perspective, because so often the fossils that we find are not articulated, which just means that we find individual bones scattered about and moved in different areas relative to how they would have been connected when the animal was still alive. So, going back to the Loch Ness monster, there's this story of a missionary who in the year 565 claims to have come up on a swimmer being attacked by a monster in the lock, which was recorded in his biography. And then the history of digging up fossils predates the written word, but there were significant advances in what would become the field of paleontology in the early 1800's. When Mary Anning, who we talked about before, when Mary Anning discovered the first ichthyosaurus and the first complete plesiosaur at the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, which is now a UNESCO world heritage site, because it's so incredibly important for the fossils that we find there.

So 110 years later from her discovery of that plesiosaurus, a local couple made newspaper headlines, claiming to have seen an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the lock surface. A year later, so this would have been the early 1930s, a physician published a picture of the long neck monster, but a deathbed confession from a stepbrother 60 years later revealed that the photo had been an elaborate hoax that they had made with wood and a toy submarine.

Shane Hanlon (23:27): Oh, wow. That's dedication.

Danielle Serrat (23:30): It is. And it's funny how that part of the story is not commonly known. A lot of people know about the surgeon's photograph, but very few people know that there was an official retraction of that photograph.

Shane Hanlon (23:42): That's how retractions work, unfortunately.

Danielle Serrat (23:46): True. Yeah. So, while we're drawn to this idea of prehistoric monsters, especially in the ocean. I think it really draws from this idea that humans love a good mystery, right? They really love the idea of this is phenomenal or extraordinary. And let's tell this story and not worry about the pesky facts that redact it later.

Shane Hanlon (24:14): Sure. When were the first connections... so people talking about stories for what you said, 1500 years almost, when did the connections first start happening between the stories and these supposed firsthand accounts to, oh, but it could actually be this, or it could be backed up by the fossil record or whatever it might be. When did that start happening?

Danielle Serrat (24:51): I would say that the first well-documented evidence that people were tying fossils in the rock record to these mythological stories like the Loch Ness monster probably weren't appearing until the early 1900's. Fossils were really being bought and sold for museums and private collectors in the late 1800's, but it was mostly a hobby for people, especially in the UK at that time. Yes, there was scientific research going on, but it was a beginning field at that time. And it was very insular. It was very classist. It was very sexist. So there were very few people that had access to that information, even though they were being put in museums, the fossils weren't necessarily being put together accurately. There was a lot of confusion and building from the ground up in that field at that time. So I would say fairly confidently that those sorts of interactions or relations between mythological creatures and actual fossils, full fossil skeletons at least, being compared wasn't happening until the early 1900's.

Shane Hanlon (26:14): When talking to Danielle, I found it interesting that the Loch Ness monster truthers, they like to use fossil evidence to say that yes, the monster existed and may still exist. And that was the case dating back hundreds of years, using these fossils to support their claims. I wanted to know though, the opposite. I was wondering when folks started looking at the fossil record and using current technology to say yes, something like this may have existed our history, but most certainly does not now.

Danielle Serrat (26:46): I think when you talk about using scientific evidence of fossils, specifically with plesiosaurs, to debunk this idea of the Loch Ness monster, that idea had been around probably as long as the surgeon's photograph had been a thing. However, the evidence has really accumulated strongly and been strongly presented in the last probably 30 to 40 years. So there's this desire for this compelling horror story that there's this Lake monster that's going to come out and attack innocent bystanders, right? But extensive LIDAR sweeps across the Loch Ness and the surrounding area have pretty definitively verified that nothing near the size of plesiosaur is living in that lake. And nothing really on that size scale would even be possible to survive and Loch Ness, at this point, just because we have really good understanding of what size these animals would have been on a global distribution, not just in the UK.

And these were large Marine reptiles. We're talking anywhere between three and 11 meters long, they were sizeable creatures. And the fossil evidence shows us that they all lived in salt water to brackish water. And of course the Loch Ness is freshwater, so that's another indicator that there's no scientific evidence to really support this idea that they'd still be living in a freshwater environment. Now to top it all off,. there's also this idea that we really understand ecological niches and food webs and these big picture ideas about how animal communities live nowadays. And yes, that's comparing them to modern species, but we have enough fossil evidence to talk confidently about what resources would be necessary for animals like plesiosaurs to have survived. And the Loch Ness simply doesn't have that size or that level of resources to support even one plesiosaur let alone generations needed to survive at least the past 66 million years.

Shane Hanlon (29:09): Are there still people out there who fervently believe that Loch Ness is still there? Can you speak to... do you know any of their arguments or why they would still think this?

Danielle Serrat (29:23): There are definitely people who still believe the Loch Ness monster is real. Even people who are not invested in it, they just casually assume that's true because they know someone who have said it or they read some article online or watch some fake documentary or something. So there's definitely people who are casually interested in that idea and also vehemently believe that the Loch Ness monster is real and it's simply outsmarted everyone who's gone looking for it. You know, the excuses abound, right?

Nanci Bompey (30:02): So we're talking about the Loch Ness monster, but do other countries have these kind of same, similar myths like the Loch Ness?

Danielle Serrat (30:08): So one of the most famous examples of people thinking they had found a live plesiosaur would have been in the seventies off the coast of Japan. There was a fishing vessel that brought up a carcass that, when they pulled it up with their, I believe it was a trawling net, it had this really elongated neck. The skull still had some dead tissue on it and the fins did as well, but a lot of the ribs were exposed and a lot of the cartilage and bone like structures were exposed. So it was very decayed and it had been scavenged upon. So it wasn't clear what the animal was. So people took photos from the docks when the boat came in and it just plastered global newspapers. It was this massive headline of fisher folk discover prehistoric ocean dinosaur or something.

Right. And it actually took a little while to figure out what was going on there. So they did end up contacting some of their local scientists there in Japan. And they did some DNA testing of course, which the technology was not as advanced as it is today, but in the seventies, that was still a possibility. Right? So they eventually figured out that it had been a thrasher shark skeleton that the cartilage that makes up their bones of a shark were still fresh enough that the skeleton stayed together, still held together mostly by muscle that had not yet been scavenged and eaten. And so a lot of the exterior, the skin and a lot of the soft organs were missing, but that musculature and that cartilage was still there enough to kind of keep it together. And thrasher sharks actually, when you take away a lot of their ribs and organs, they look like they had a really long necks.

Shane Hanlon (32:09): Throughout this conversation, I was really interested. Why do folks find this so intriguing? I wondered why people still really want to and do believe in things like Loch Ness monster.

Danielle Serrat (32:22): As far as why people choose to believe those stories, I think human civilization has a very long and storied history of believing things that the evidence just simply isn't there for. And that's okay, right. Because if we don't that sense of wonder and sense of discovery, what are we doing? Right. You talk about being a scientist, that literally is the driving force for most scientific breakthroughs and endeavors, is that sense of wonder, that desire to discover new things, to make new understandings and share them with the world. So I can't fault people for wanting to believe something extraordinary because that's what makes the world interesting, right?

Shane Hanlon (33:11): Yeah. Nanci, do you believe in anything unexplained, like mythical creatures or ghosts or something like that?

Nanci Bompey (33:23): No, definitely not. Do you?

Shane Hanlon (33:28): I don't believe in the stuff we've been talking about. I don't not believe in ghosts.

Nanci Bompey (33:34): Oh, that's interesting.

Shane Hanlon (33:36): Again, I said this before, but I wish people could see the shade that you're throwing at me with your eyes. Well, all right, folks, that's all from Third Pod from the Sun.

Nanci Bompey (33:47): Thanks so much Shane for bringing us this story and of course, thanks to Rodrigo and Danielle for chatting with us.

Shane Hanlon (33:57): This podcast was produced by and mixed by me.

Nanci Bompey (33:57): We'd love to hear your thoughts. Please rate and review us wherever you find your podcasts and check us out at thirdpodfromthesun.com.

Nanci Bompey (34:00): Thanks all and we'll see you next time.
Citation:
Hanlon, S. M. (2020), Podcast: Mythical monsters and their real-life inspirations, Eos, 101, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO151053. Published on 28 October 2020.

Text © 2020. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Podcast: Mythical Monsters and Their Real-Life Inspirations - Eos

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Throughout history, stories have been told about fantastical creatures that spark the imagination. From Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster, from mermaids to the Kraken, tales of supposed firsthand accounts have been passed down through generations.

# data[].attributes.body
Click here for videos about monsters from the PBS collection!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Skip to Main Content

Monstrum takes a closer look at monsters, myths, and legends. More More

Close

The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn't afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster for each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature and film.

Support for PBS.org provided by:

X CLOSE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn't afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster for each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature and film.

# data[].attributes.headline
Brains On:  Mermaids, Kraken, and the Loch Ness monster

# data[].attributes.subject
Brains On:  Mermaids, Kraken, and the Loch Ness monster

# data[].attributes.body
Click here for the link to the podcast! Fun for the whole family!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mermaids, Kraken and the Loch Ness Monster: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 3

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.headline
Brains On:  Bigfoot, Unicorns, and Dragons

# data[].attributes.subject
Brains On:  Bigfoot, Unicorns, and Dragons

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bigfoot, Unicorns and Dragons: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.body
Another episode!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lost Cities: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.body
Click to access the link!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Julie and her daughter, children's author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children's books. Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities. Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Aliens and UFOs: Making Sense of Myths, pt. 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the final episode of our series about myths and legends, we're launching our imaginations into outer space! Monster expert Emily Zarka tells us about her favorite alien and why aliens fascinate so many people. In the Hoax Hunters season finale, Marc and Sanden bring us a UFO spoof.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A selection of programmes relating to creatures that may or may not exist

# data[].attributes.body
Enjoy this short film in which the monsters of Greek Mythology all live in the same city!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Whilst stories based around Greek Mythology might not be everyone's idea of a fun-time, Alexandra Hetmerova's decision to base the premise of her FAMU graduation film around characters from these tales feels like an inspired one. A playful story of family and friendship, which sees legendary figures from ancient tales living in contemporary society, join Medusa, Cyclops and other mythical creatures as they try to solve the problems faced in today´s world.

With the origins of the Mythopolis narrative beginning when Hetmerova was working on her previous film Swimming Pool, a short which also featured Greek mythological creatures (Centaur and Mermaid), it sounds like it took the filmmaker sometime before she found the right balance in her story. "I realised that Medusa had potential to be a great hero for a film", Hetmerova reveals, "after that I started writing a story about her. But it still wasn't good, not until I added more creatures. All of them have known characteristics which fit perfectly together into the final story". Although the impact of the film does somewhat rely on how familiar you are with the characters it portrays, even without this knowledge Mythopolis still feels like a relatable and accessible film - something that is echoed by the film's success on the festival circuit, where it has even picked up a few 'Chidlren's' awards.

Just over a year in production, Hetmerova spent six of those months working on the script and another six on the animation. Animating everything herself in TV paint, with a little help from her friends, the filmmaker says that her main aim with Mythopolis was to create "a film to entertain people...accessible to all". With Mythopolis now complete and released online, Hetmerova is already moving onto new projects. Currently working on a section of a movie based on the music of German composer Damian Marhulets, a script for her next short film (a tragicomedy about a strange-loser with a plastic bag on his head) and a TV series about two hungry bears, the filmmaker might need the many hands of Hecatonchires to help with all of that work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mythology by Alexandra Hetmerova | Short Film

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Whilst stories based around Greek Mythology might not be everyone's idea of a fun-time, Alexandra Hetmerova's decision to base the premise of her FAMU graduation film around characters from these tales feels like an inspired one.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cartoons by John Atkinson. ©John Atkinson, Wrong Hands

# data[].attributes.headline
Indian Pantheons:  Crash Course World Mythology

# data[].attributes.subject
Indian Pantheons:  Crash Course World Mythology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Indian Pantheons: Crash Course World Mythology #8

# data[].attributes.headline
Hindu Mythology for The Cursed Carnival:  

# data[].attributes.subject
Hindu Mythology for The Cursed Carnival:  

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By entering into Aru Shah this March, you are delving, brain first, into yet another mythological world! That can be daunting, especially when you've already mastered Greek, taken on Roman as a second language, and stamped your Mytho-Passport in Egypt and all nine of the Norse worlds!

So, we'll give you a head start on Hindu with a simple-some may say way too simple-comparison of Hindu to Greek. Please forgive us oh Hindu gods.

Indra

Like Zeus, Indra is the god of thunder and lightning. He too wields a lightning bolt but his is called Vajra, the Sanskrit word for . . . lightning bolt! You're going to learn all about the Pandava Brothers and the fact that Indra is father to Arjuna, arguably the most heroic of the brothers.

Dharma Raja

Dharma Raja oversees death and justice. Similar job description to Hades. This Hindu punisher of souls specifically uses something called a danda stick to do the job. In less grim news, he's the father of Yudhishthira, the oldest and wisest Pandava brother.

Boo

This blessed creature helps guide Aru on her adventure. Unlike another very famous guide, Grover Underwood, Aru's Boo (somehow short for Subala) is petulant, impatient, and demands to be taken seriously. He's also a talking pigeon.

Urvashi

An Apsara (heavenly dancer), known the world over for her un-paralleled beauty and vicious temper . . . which is why we draw a likeness to Aphrodite. These two are both gorgeous and they know it.

Soma

The drink of choice for the Hindu gods. Used as an offering during sacrifices. Reminiscent of Mr. D's beloved nectar.

The Pandava Brothers

Arjuna, Yudhistira, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva. The most famous demigods in Hindu culture. Five brothers who possessed divine power and weaponry. Also, each of them shared the same wife (one year at a time, of course).

Aru Shah and the End of Time head start achieved! Only one month left till we can get our hands on a copy!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hindu Mythology, Greek to You? | Read Riordan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By entering into Aru Shah this March, you are delving, brain first, into yet another mythological world! That can be daunting, especially when you've already mastered Greek , taken on Roman as a second language, and stamped your Mytho-Passport in Egypt and all nine of the Norse worlds!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Des mythes repris et adaptés à une histoire dans notre
société contemporaine. Un petit garçon se perd en
rentrant de l’école, va être aidé un cyclope et en même
temps se reconstituer une famille.

An adaptation of Greek myths to our contemporary
society. A little boy gets lost on his way back from
school. He receives the help of a cyclops and manages to
rebuild his family.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Talks, people, playlists, topics, and events about "Mythology" on TED.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(Click the above image for a high res version of the cover!)
INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS
UK/AUS/NZ: Hachette

French: TBA

German: Arena

Hebrew: Am Oved

Italian: Sperling

Spanish: Ediciones Urano

Russian: AST

Korean: Vision BNP

"LORE kept me awake far too many nights, needing to know what would happen in this ruthless battle between hunters, impostors, and gods. A brilliant and breathless twist on classic mythology!"

- Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Lunar Chronicles

"An epic from start to finish. Bracken deftly weaves a rich tapestry of new mythology steeped in ancient, time-honored legend-a story of power and old wounds and love, all anchored by a protagonist that I cheered from the instant she appeared, fists ready and heart brave, on the page. A tale worth passing down."

- Marie Lu, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Warcross

"★ "... an adventure that ultimately is as richly woven as it is violently captivating. A ferocious triumph.""

- Booklist Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man-now a god-responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost-and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love, and redemption.

( Please Note: Given the darkness of the source material, this book contains more mature content than my past work in the form of more graphic depictions of violence and discussion/mention of sexual assault, and therefore may not be the right fit for all readers.)

"With ambitious worldbuilding and breakneck pacing (...) Bracken's lively take on Greek mythology is an entertaining joyride."

- Publishers Weekly

"Bracken builds a rich world around a skeleton of ancient Greek mythology that is perfect to read on a dull weekend and sure to delight readers. "

- Kirkus Reviews

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(Click the above image for a high res version of the cover!) INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS UK/AUS/NZ: Hachette French: TBA German: Arena Hebrew: Am Oved Italian: Sperling Spanish: Ediciones Urano Russian: AST Korean: Vision BNP Every seven years, the Agon begins.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Book 1

Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and truant officers.

One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to track him down-his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about. When Magnus tries to outmaneuver his uncle, he falls right into his clutches. Randolph starts rambling about Norse history and Magnus's birthright: a weapon that has been lost for thousands years.

The more Randolph talks, the more puzzle pieces fall into place. Stories about the gods of Asgard, wolves, and Doomsday bubble up from Magnus's memory. But he doesn't have time to consider it all before a fire giant attacks the city, forcing him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents. . . .

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die.

View Book Page

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard | Rick Riordan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Book 1 Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and truant officers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sixteen-year-old Isadora talks a bit like a spoiled California teen, but she doesn't actually become one until her mother sends her to San Diego to keep her safe. Until that point, Isadora lives in an ancient temple complex in the Egyptian desert-this is because her mother is the goddess Isis, and her father is Osiris. What the danger is and why it apparently follows Isadora to America is unclear, hinted at only in dreams. Isadora would rather think about how much she wants to spite her mother, redecorate every room she enters (she's an aspiring interior designer), and not fall in love with the beautiful Greek boy, Ry, who's hanging around. As a character, Isadora is (by design) fairly arrogant and self-absorbed, but she also has a point: it's hard to understand why immortal parents would purposely give their child mortality. White (Mind Games) uses her technical prowess with narrative forms to break up the story, and she brings an irreverent sense of humor to Egyptian myth. Parents you're literally supposed to worship? Gross. Ages 13-up. Agent: Michelle Wolfson, Wolfson Literary. (Sept.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sixteen-year-old Isadora talks a bit like a spoiled California teen, but she doesn't actually become one until her mother sends her to San Diego to keep her safe. Until that point, Isadora lives in an ancient temple complex in the Egyptian desert-this is because her mother is the goddess Isis, and her father is Osiris.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. These gods informed the lives and rituals of the people, established order, and provided hope of a life after death.

Not all of the gods were venerated in all of the city-states of the Maya (at least, not by the same name) but the type of god, and what that god symbolized to the people, seems to have been universally recognized. An example of this can be seen in the different names given to the underworld by the Yucatec Maya of the north and the Quiche Maya of the south. The Quiche called their underworld ` Xibalba' while the Yucatec referred to the same place as `Metnal'. Though the names were different, the characteristics of the dark `land of fright', through which a soul had to travel after death, were the same.

Another instance of this can be seen in the creation myths where, for the Quiche, thirteen gods were involved in creating human beings from maize while, to the Yucatec, it was only two. Still, the message of the myths is the same: the gods struggled to create human beings just as humans struggle with their own attempts at creation and survival and, also, that life comes from the earth (here, in the form of corn, the staple of the Mayan diet) and so the earth must be honored and respected.

The gods were involved in every aspect of the life of the Maya. They controlled the weather, the harvest, they dictated one's mate, presided over every birth, and were present at one's death. As the gods were depicted as cross-eyed, mothers would dangle a bead from the forehead of their children so that their eyes would become crossed. Similarly, children's heads were bound, especially males, in order to elongate the forehead in emulation of the gods, especially the very popular Maize God figure. The clothing worn by the nobility, and especially the ruler of a city, mimicked the dress of the gods. The way in which a city was planned and the precision with which the central temples were constructed all followed from an understanding of the way of the gods.

The great Temple of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza is an embodiment of the secular calendar (the Haab) of 365 days but is also very specifically designed to make the god known as the Plumed Serpent back to earth twice a year. At the two equinoxes, each year, people still gather for this event. The steps of the Temple of Kukulcan (also known as El Castillo) run steeply down from the temple at the summit of the pyramid to stone serpent heads at the base of the stairs. On the twin equinoxes each year, the sun casts the shadow of a serpent which moves slowly down the stairs from the temple to the stone heads and creates the image of a serpent descending to the earth. Kukulcan (also known as Gucamatz and, more famously, Quetzalcoatl) was the most popular god among the Maya and it is not surprising that, even today, many of the Maya, and non-Mayan people, congregate at the temple twice a year to receive the blessings of his visit to the earth.

There were over 250 deities in the pantheon of the Maya.

There were over 250 deities in the pantheon of the Maya and, owing to the mass burning of their books by Bishop Diego de Landa in 1562, much information about the gods (and Maya culture) was irretrievably lost. The Quiche Mayan religious text, the , gives one set of names for the gods which the Yucatec Maya knew by other names.

Some gods remain unidentified while others' provenance is unclear or has become conflated with still other deities or with Christian concepts. Scholars are hardly in agreement over the age and prestige of the `king' of the gods, Hunab Ku, for example, whom some claim an ancient lineage for while others maintain a post- conquest status. Some scholars adamantly defend their definition of a certain god while other scholars maintain an opposing one and there is strong evidence for the truth of both sides. The following list, then, is by no means comprehensive as far as defining every god the ancient Maya worshipped in every region, village, or city but attempts to be comprehensive in detailing as much as is presently known about the gods and hopes to do so concisely.

`A'
A Maya god of death whose name is not yet known. He is depicted ruling a part of the underworld surrounded by the bones of his subjects. His symbols are a skull and obsidian knife, both related to the practice of human sacrifice.

Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter!

Acan
The god of intoxication, wine, and the art of brewing Balche (a kind of strong mead). His name means either `belch' or `groan' and he is associated with the Lacandon Maya god of drunkenness Bohr (also known as Bol).

Acat
The god of the art of tattooing and patron of tattoo artists, Acat is also associated with the growth and development of fetuses. He is further designated by the names Acat-Cib and Ah - Kat.

Ah-Cancum
A god of hunting.

Ah-Chun-Caan
A tutelary deity, he provided protection at sunrise and sunset.

Ah-Ciliz
The god of solar eclipses.

Ah-Cun-Can
A war god known as the Serpent Charmer.

Ah-Cuxtal
The god of birth. His name means `Come to Life' and he was responsible for the safe delivery of babies into the earthly realm, both physically and spiritually. After a birth he would wash his hands and then move on to the next one.

Ahluic
The god of merchants and material wealth often depicted as a member of a triad, with the deities Chac and Hobnil.

Ahmucen-Cab
A creator god who, according to the Chilam Balam creation story, covered the faces of the thirteen gods of the day and let them be captured by the nine gods of the night. During this captivity, he spread seeds and set boulders across the land which grew out of the darkness. This act of creation was later un-done and re-worked by the Becabs.

Ah-Hulneb
A minor god of water.

Ah-Kin
A deity who is an aspect of the sun god (Kinich Ahau) and controls drought and disease (also known as Ah-Kinchil).

Ah-Kumix-Unicob
These were minor water gods who attended to Cenotes and pools.

Ah-Mun
A god of fertility and protection who was also a personification of Maize.

Ah-Muzencab
The deities who presided over and cared for bees. They are also associated with air elemental spirits.

Ah-Patnar-Unicob
These deities were elemental gods of water. They were the lords of the Eight Day Rain Ceremony during which they were celebrated.

Ah-Pekku
A god of thunder.

Ah-Puch
A god of death, darkness, and disaster but also of regeneration, child birth, and beginnings. According to the Quiche Maya, he ruled over the underworld of Xibalba while according to the Yucatec Maya he was one of many of the Lords of Metnal (same as Xibalba). He is associated with Cizen, Yom Cimil/Yum Cimil (though Cizen seems to consistently be imagined more darkly).

Ah-Tabai
The god of the hunt and protector of animals.

Ah-Uaynih
The goddess of sleep. She was especially helpful in putting men to sleep.

Ah-Uncir-Dz'acab
The god of natural healing.

Ah-Uuc-Ticab
A Chthonic deity.

Ah-Wink-Ir-Masa
A nature goddess who protected wild animals, she is associated with deer.

Ahau-Chamahez
A god of medicine and healing.

Ahau-Kin
An aspect of the sun god also known as Jaguar Lord and Lord of the Underworld.

Ahmakiq
A god of agriculture and cultivated crops.

Ahulane
A war god associated with archery and known as The Archer.

Ajbit
One of the thirteen gods who assisted in the creation of human beings from Maize following two previous failed attempts.

Ajtzak
One of the thirteen gods involved in the attempts to create human beings.

Akhushtal
The goddess of childbirth.

Akna
A title applied to Akhushtal, among other goddesses, which means `Our Mother', and was closely associated with those deities concerned with fertility and childbirth.

Alaghom-Naom-Tzentel
The goddess of thought and intellect. She was also known as Ixtat-Ix.

Alom
One of the thirteen gods who participated in the creation of human beings. After the successful third attempt, he became known as Hunahpu-Guch.

Bacabs
The four gods of the winds and the directions who hold up the four corners of the world. In Yucatec Maya they are known as Muluc (of the east) Kan (of the south) Ix (of the north) and Cauac (of the west). Muluc and Kan generated positive energies while Ix and Cauac brought negative forces. This confluence of negative and positive energy enabled the early gods to create human beings and the physical and non-physical worlds. They are associated with the deities Acat, Akna, Backlum Chamm, and Chin.

Backlum Chaam
One of the Bacabs or an aspect of the Bacabs, he is the god of male sexuality.

B'alam
The Jaguar deities who protect individual communities against external threat. They also guard and protect people in daily life.

The B'alams
In the Quiche Maya tradition the Balams were the four gods who made possible the creation of man after two previous failed attempts. They were known as B'alam Agab (Night Jaguar) B'alam Quitze (Smiling Jaguar) Iqi B'alam (Dark Jaguar) and Mahucatah (Not Right Now). According to one myth, their fellow gods grew jealous of their abilities and so clouded their sight, rendering them mortal.

Bitol
One of the thirteen gods who participated in the creation of human beings. After the successful third attempt, he became known as Ixmacane (he is the early version of Ixmacane, a later god).

Bolon-D'zacab
The lightning god and patron of the harvest.

Bolontiku
A group of nine chthonic beings of the underworld, they were associated with regeneration.

Buluc-Chabtan
Also known as `God F', this deity is the god of war, violence and death to whom human beings were sacrificed regularly. In the Dresden Codices he is depicted as being eaten by maggots. He is further depicted setting homes on fire, killing people, and roasting them on skewers over a fire.

Cabaguil
One of the thirteen gods who assisted in the creation of human beings. His name means `Heart of the Sky'.

Cabrakan
Also known as Caprakan, he was the god of earthquakes and mountains. He was the son of the gods Vucub Caquix and Chimalmat and plays a significant role early in the Popol Vuh where he is defeated by the Hero Twins as is his brother Zipacna.

Cacoch
A creator god who presides over creativity and communication (especially relating to divine communications).

Cakulha
A lesser god of lightning bolts who, with his brother Coyopa, assist the supreme god of lightning, Yaluk, in creating the storms sent by the rain god Chac.

Camalotz
The servant of Alom who, after the second attempt at creation, beheaded most of the people in the world in order that the gods could begin again. His name means `Sudden Blood-letter'.

Cauac
One of the four Bacabs, Cauac controls the westerly direction and the west wind. Also known as Zac-Cimi.

Chac
The supreme god of storms and rain and associated with agriculture and fertility. He was known as the Lord of the Rains and Winds and maintained important water sources such as cenotes, wells, streams, and springs. He was widely popular and prayers and sacrifices were frequently offered to court his favor and that of the four, lesser, chacs. A lord of the sky, he was the sworn enemy of Camazotz of Xibalba and was thought of as a caring, if unpredictable, deity.

Chacs
These were four weather spirits, located at each of the corners of the world, who were under the command of the great god Chac and did his bidding.

Chac-Uayab-Xoc
The protector of fish and patron of fisherman.

Chamer
One of the gods of death and regeneration of Xibalba.

Chen
Also known as Chin, she was the goddess of maize, magic, and a councilor to the kings. She was also closely associated with homo-erotic relationships and homosexuality. According to the priest Las Cassas, she introduced homosexuality to the Maya nobles who encouraged their children to enter into homosexual marriages. She is associated with the moon and, sometimes, is depicted as a male deity.

Chicchan
These were four rain gods, from the four corners of the world, who were associated with the Bacabs.

Chin
Widely known as the Maya goddess of homosexuality. See Chen.

Chirakan-Ixmucane
A creator goddess who was formed out of four earlier creators and listed among the thirteen divinities who first engaged in the creation of human beings.

Cit-Bolon-Tum
One of two great healer gods (with Ahau-Chamahez).

Cizin
Also known as, or associated with, the names Kisen, Yom Cimil, Yum Cimil, and Ah Puch, he was a god of death who lived in Xibalba ( Metnal to the Yucatec Maya) and is often pictured as a dancing human skeleton smoking a cigarette. He is further identified by his `death collar' of human eyes dangling from nerve endings. Cizin came upon one suddenly and without warning but was accompanied by a foul smell and so was called `The Stinking One'. Unlike the other death god aspects with whom he is associated, Cizin is not associated with regeneration or re-birth. He keeps the souls of evil people in the underworld where they are subjected to his torments and trickery. Post-conquest, he became closely identified with the Christian devil.

Colel Cab
An earth goddess who cares especially for the bees. She is still invoked by modern-day Maya Daykeepers in chants to ward off attacks on nests, remedy nest problems, and aid hive keepers with their bees.

Colop-U-Uichikin
God of the sky and particularly of eclipses.

Cotzbalam
A servant of Alom who followed after Camalotz after the failed second attempt at creation and devoured the bodies of the people who were beheaded. His name means`Crunching Jaguar'.

Coyopa
A lesser god of sound and of thunder who works with his brother Cakulha under the guidance of the supreme god lightning, Yaluk, to create the storms sent by the rain god Chac.

Cuchumaquic
A lord of Xibalba whose name means `Blood Gatherer'. He is the father of the goddess Xquic and grandfather of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

Cum Hau
A god of death and regeneration who lived in Xibalba.

`E'
An agricultural god whose name is not yet known.

Ekchuah
A god also known as Ek Ahau and, earlier, as only `God M'. He presides over and protects travelers, merchants, and warriors and is depicted as a dark-skinned male carrying a bag over his shoulder. He is also recognized as the patron and protector of cacao and cacao products.

El Gran Dios
`The Great God' who was the god of the Christians and dwelled in the seventh level above the earth. In some stories he is associated with Hunab Ku. This figure is a late, post-conquest, addition to the Maya pantheon

`F'
A god of war associated with human sacrifice and repeated victories over Ekchuah. He is also known as Buluc-Chabtan. See Buluc-Chabtan.

Four Hundred Boys
Considered to be patron deities of alcohol and, later, the Pleiades. In the Popol Vuh, the Four Hundred Boys were youths who wished to build a hut on the beach but could not lift the massive tree they had cut down to use as the main support column. They asked the giant Zipacna, who was reclining nearby, for help. Zipacna agreed to use his great strength to move the tree but mocked the boys for their weakness and their inability to do so themselves. The boys agreed together that Zipacna should be killed but he overheard their plan, tricked them into thinking he was dead, and killed them. They ascended into the heavens and may be seen today as the star cluster known as the Pleiades. Zipacna was later killed by the Hero Twins.

Gucumatz
This god is one of the most important, if not the most important, in the pantheon of the Maya. The name Gucumatz (also Gukumatz) is the Quiche Maya designation for the god known to the Yucatec Maya as Kukulcan and most famously, in the Nahuatl language, as Quetzalcoatl (`the plumed serpent' or `the quetzal-featherd serpent') who was worshipped as early as the first century BCE at the great city of Teotihuacan. Gucumatz is identified as one of thirteen deities who shaped the world and created human beings. From Gucumatz, humans learned the rules of law, agriculture, literacy, the arts, medicine, architecture, construction, hunting, fishing, and all other aspects of civilization. He is said to have come from the sea, conveyed to the people his gifts and ruled wisely over them, and then returned to the sea, promising to come back one day. The god of all four elements, he was also the representation of the co-mingling of good and evil, light and darkness, and so became a central figure in many of the myths of the Maya and popularly depicted, in various forms, in virtually every city-state. As Kukulcan, he is the great plumed serpent who glides down the steps of El Castillo at Chichen Itza on the spring and autumn equinoxes and is thought to bring positive energy to the earth and to those present at his descent.

Gucup Cakix
This deity, also known as Vucub-Caquix (which means `Seven Macaw') is depicted in the Popol Vuh as an arrogant bird demon who pretended to be both the sun and the moon and thus threw life out of balance until he was defeated by Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the Hero Twins. He was the father of Cabrakan and Zipacna who were also overthrown by the famous twins.

Hacha'kyum
An astral god who created the stars by scattering sand into the sky. He was the patron deity of the Lacandon Maya.

Hero Twins
Hunahpu and Xbalanque (also given as Ixbalanque) are the two great mythical heroes of the Maya whose story is preserved in the Quiche Maya work `The Popol Vuh'. They were born of the virgin goddess Xquic after the severed head of their father, Hun Hunahpu, spit into her hand from a calabash tree in the underworld of Xibalba. Raised by their mother and grandmother the twins became great ball players, excelling at `the game of the gods', Poc-a-Toc. Once attaining manhood, they avenged themselves on the Lords of Xibalba, who had murdered their father and uncle, by accepting their invitation to the underworld where a series of traps and tests awaited them. They escaped the traps and snares set for them and defeated the forces of chaos and darkness. They then attempted to bring Hun Hunahpu back to life and, though they succeeded in putting his body back together and reanimating him, he could not return to the earth above. The twins promised him, however, that humans would pray to him for hope and comfort and he would be remembered and honored. The promise was kept as Hun Hunahpu became the Maize god, a dying-and-reviving god figure, who appears on earth as corn. Ascending from Xibalba, they meant to stop in the middle world of the earth but continued climbing up the World Tree and into paradise where, even then, they desired to climb higher and so became the sun and the moon (in another version the gods reward them for their victory by turning them into the sun and the moon). The Hero Twins have been thought to represent the legitimacy of the Maya ruling class, though this theory has been disputed. There is no doubt that their story was very popular among the Maya as the twins are depicted in art work throughout the region, often playing their famous game. Based upon these paintings, it seems clear there were many tales concerning the hero twins which have been lost and the Popol Vuh is the only surviving text of their story.

Hobnil
A god of agriculture and prosperity and a member of a triad with the deities Ahluic and Chac.

Hozanek
A god of the south, associated with the Bacab Cauac and the color yellow. He is a son of the
great couple Itzamna and Ixchel.

Hun-Batz
One of the two stepbrothers of the Hero Twins (the other being Hun-Chowen) also known as `One Howler Monkey' and depicted as a howler monkey. Along with his brother, he is the patron god of artists and writers.

Hun-Came
Also known as Hun-Cane, he is a lord of the underworld who, along with Gucup Cakix, kill Hun Hunahpu, the father of the Hero Twins. He is later killed by them.

Hun-Chowen
One of the two stepbrothers of the Hero Twins (the other being Hun-Batz) he is depicted as a howler monkey. Along with his brother, he is the patron god of artists and writers.

Hunab-Ku
While Gucumatz was the most popular god, Hunab-Ku is considered the supreme deity of the pantheon of the Maya, known as `Sole God'. While some scholars have asserted his antiquity, he seems most likely a concept which arose following the Christianization of the Maya during the Spanish Conquest and closely resembles the Christian god. He is invisible and without form but can be apprehended through his aspect in the god Itzamna, referred to as his son. Hunab-Ku is the husband of Ixazalvoh, the divine mother, associated with water, life, and weaving. Some inscriptions refer to him as `The Eyes and Ears of the Sun' in substantiating the claim that, like the Christian god, he is ubiquitous and knows all.

Hun-Hunahpu
Also known as The Maize God, Huh Hunahpu died but was regenerated by his sons, and returns to life as maize (corn) and so is identified as a dying-and-reviving god figure. The father of the great Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Hun-Hunahpu and his twin brother, Vucub Hunahpu, were demi-gods who, after the creation of the world, became proficient in the `ball game of the gods', Poc-a-Toc. The lords of Xibalba, beneath the earth, became enraged by the noise of the twins and so devised a plan to get rid of them. They invited the young men to the underworld to play a game of Poc-a Toc. Before the game could begin, however, the twins were tricked by the Xibalbans and killed. Hun-Hunahpu's head was placed in the axis of a calabash tree which grew heavy with strange fruit. The young virgin Xquiq came upon the tree and, reaching for the fruit, was asked by the head to open her palm. Hun Hunahpu's head spat into the maiden's hand and she became pregnant with Hunahpu and Xbalanque. The head then sent the girl to live with his mother, Xumucane.

Hunahpu
One of the great Hero Twins who feature prominently in the myths of the Maya and in the text of the Quiche work, the Popol Vuh. Son of Hun Hunahpu amd Xquiq, Hunahpu is the god of the evening who restores the stars to the sky and, with his brother, Xbalanque, defeated the lords of Xibalba and created order on the earth. He is associated with the sun and, in some myths, is the sun himself.

Hunahpu-Gutch
The name which the god Alom took after the successful third attempt at creating human beings.

Hunahpu-Utiu
A deity among the original thirteen who assisted in the creation of human beings.

Hun-Nal-Ye
A god of salt water and the sea who was the patron of sharks.

Huracan
Also known as `Heart of the Sky' and `One-Leg', Huracan is a storm god. In the Popol Vuh he is the supreme creator of earth who thinks existence into being, participates in the creation of human beings, and sends the great flood to destroy his inferior creations. He is further referred to as Lord of the Whirlwind and credited as one of the gods (sometimes the sole god) to give fire to humans.

`I'
An early goddess of water presiding over the sea, springs, and wells whose name is unknown but is thought possibly to be `Ixik'.

Itzamna
Considered the founder of the Maya culture, patron and protector of priests and scribes, Itzamna is an extremely important and popular god. Like Gucumatz, he taught the people the arts of literacy, medicine, science, art, sculpture, and agriculture. He created and ordered the calendar and instructed humans in the proper cultivation of maize and cacao. He is a creator and healer who can resurrect the dead. In later, post-Colombian writings, he is referred to as the son of Hunab-Ku and takes on many of the characteristics associated with the Christ figure. He is associated with the prophet Zamna, who brought the sacred writings to the city of Izamal on the command of the great goddess and also with Kinich Ahau, the sun god. In one myth he is the father of the Bacabs.

Itzam-Ye
Also known as Itzam-Yeh, The Serpent Bird, The Celestial Bird, and The Way of Itzamna, Itzam-Ye was a deity in bird form which nested in the axis of the great Ceiba tree, the World Tree, which connected the underworld with the middle world (earth) and upper world. From its perch, Itzam-Ye could see all of creation and knew all the secrets of all three planes of existence. Images of the bird god in the sacred tree have been found throughout many Maya sites and, usually, engraved on temples and shrines where the Daykeepers would chant and cast the spells which protected the world from chaos and maintained order. Itzam-Ye was considered a master of the spiritual world and well versed in what, today, would be considered sorcery and magical arts.

Ixazaluoh
A goddess associated with water and weaving.

Ixazalvoh
The Divine mother and consort of Hunab-Ku, Ixazalvoh is the goddess of water, life, and weaving. She also presides over female sexuality and childbirth and is known for her powers in healing. Her oracles were considered important conduits for divine messages for the people.

Ixbalanque
One of the great Hero Twins whose adventures are told in the Popol Vuh. See Xbalanque.

Ixcuiname
The goddess of the four ages of womankind (though whether this means four time periods in which women have existed or the four stages in a woman's life of child, maiden, mother, crone is unclear). Her name is interpreted as `Four Sisters' or `Four Faces'. She has been associated with the four creator gods Alom, Bitol, Qaholom, and Tzacol and, through this relationship, became known as Chirakan-Ixmucane, one of the thirteen deities who created human beings.

Ixmacane
One of the thirteen gods who participated in the creation of human beings, his name is the final form of the deity originally called Bitol (although the same name has been applied to other gods in their `final form' following creation).

Ixmucane
One of the thirteen gods who participated in the creation of human beings according to one version of the myth. Also a version of the name Xumucane, the grandmother of the famous hero twins, who, with her husband, Xpiayoc, created humans from maize and are considered the oldest and wisest deities in the Maya pantheon.

Ixpiyacoc
The name of the creator god Tzacol who, after the successful third attempt at creating human beings split into two separate entities and became both Tzacol and Ixpiyacoc. Also a variant spelling of Xpiayoc, the husband of Xumucane, who helped in creating humans from maize.

Ixtab
Also known as `Rope Woman', Ixtab was the goddess of suicides and, particularly, those who died by hanging. She is depicted as the rotting corpse of a woman hanging from a noose in the heavens which appears in the Dresden Codex. As suicide was considered an honorable alternative to living among the Maya, self-inflicted death guaranteed one an instant passage to paradise, by-passing the dark and dangerous underworld of Xibalba. Ixtab would escort the souls of suicides to paradise where they would enjoy eternal pleasure surrounded by other blessed souls such as those who died in battle, in childbirth, as sacrificial victims, or on the ball court playing Poc-a-Toc.

Ix-Tub-Tun
A serpent deity who spits precious stones and is associated with rain.

`K'
The name by which the god K'awi (or K'awiil) was formerly known. K'awai is the patron god of royalty, kingship, and the nobility.

Kan
One of the principal Becabs, Kan known as the Upholder of the South.

Kan-Xib-Yui
One of the creator gods who is sometimes mentioned as one of the original thirteen who created human beings. Probably originally a local fertility deity who was included as a creator-god, he does not appear on all lists of the thirteen.

Kianto
Also known as Kiant, he is the god of unwelcome influences which were designated primarily as disease and foreigners.

Kichigonai
In the Quiche Maya tradition, Kichigonai is the creator of day and the god of light.

Kinich Ahau
The sun god known as `Face of the Sun' and sometimes referred to as Kinich Ajaw. He was a god of healing and medicine. The later god, Hunab Ku is thought to be a conflation of Kinich Ahau and the Christian God. In some early myths, Kinich Ahau is the consort of the goddess Ixazalvoh whereas post-conquest stories place the divine mother with Hunab Ku.

Kinich Kakmo
The patron god of the city of Izamal, a solar deity who was represented by a macaw.

`L'
A god of the evening, of darkness and night whose name is not yet known.

Mam
A title of respect meaning `Grandfather' and applied to a number of different Maya deities including earth spirits, mountain spirits, and the four Bacabs. The god known as Mam Maximon is a post-conquest god of travelers, merchants, witchcraft, and bad luck that was conflated with the Christian figure of Judas and in modern times is part of the celebrations surrounding Holy Week.

Manik
The god of sacrifice, of sacrificial victims, and of purifying suffering.

Mitnal
Also known as `Metnal' , this is the Yucatec Maya word for the Underworld and corresponds with the Quiche Maya vision known as Xibalba. According to the Popl Vuh, Mitnal was a dark land flowing with rivers of blood and pus and populated by deities with names such as Bloody Teeth, Bloody Claws, and Flying Scab, among others.

Mulac
One of the four Bacabs and known as `Upholder of the East'.

Naum
The god who created the human mind and consciousness.

Nohochacyum
A creator-destroyer deity, the brother of the death god Kisin (or possibly another earthquake god also known as Kisin). He is the sworn enemy of the world serpent Hapikern and it is said that, in the end of days, he will destroy Hapikern by wrapping him around himself to smother him. In some versions of this story, life on earth is destroyed in the process. He is related, in some stories, to Usukan, Uyitzin, Yantho and Hapikern, all of whom wish human beings ill. Also the brother of Xamaniqinqu, the patron god of travelers and merchants.

Och-Kan
Also known as Ochan and Ahacan, he is the great Vision Serpent of the Maya. A Daykeeper (shaman) would have to experience the Vision Serpent first hand in order to understand the realm in which he was dealing and finalize his initiation into the mysteries. Och-Kan's presence was announced by a herald god named Uc-Zip in the underworld of Xibalba.

Paddler Gods
Two deities who paddle the divine canoe through the underworld and up into the sky. They row on opposite sides of the vessel with Old Jaguar Paddler in the front and Old Stingray Paddler in the back. They participated in the building of the Cosmic Hearth for the gods at the beginning of creation and are thought to symbolize night and day, light and darkness, and the eternal dance of opposites. They are also seen as representations of the Milky Way.

Pawahtuun
A calendar deity associated with the four Bacabs and the end of the year. He positions himself at the four corners of the sky and thus holds up the world.

Poxlom
The god of diseases.

Qaholom
One of the gods who participated in the creation of human beings along with Alom, Bitol, and Tzacol.

Tecumbalam
The great bird sent to break the bones and rend the muscles of the human beings who displeased the gods and were destroyed in the great flood sent by Hurakan.

Tepeu
One of the creator gods who participated, sometimes with Gucumatz and Huracan, in creating human beings.

Tlacolotl
The god of evil, of those who practice evil, and of the dark places where evil plans are made. The Maya also attributed earthquakes to him.

Tohil
The god of fire who was the patron deity of the Quiche Maya city of Q'umarka.

Tzacol
One of the thirteen gods who participated in the creation of human beings. After the successful third attempt, he split into two separate deities, Tzacol and Ixpiyacoc.

Tzultacaj
Also known as Tzuultaq'ah, he was the god of mountains and valleys.

Uc-Zip
A herald god to the Lords of Xibalba who announced the coming of the great Vision Serpent Och-Kan.

Usukan
A fearsome god who hates human beings and has the earthquake as his servant in his attempt to destroy human life. His brother is Hapikern, the world-girdling serpent, who is also hostile to humanity. He is almost always listed along with Uyitzin and Yantho in what is known as the `Yantho Triad' of supernatural `villains'. Xamaniqinqu, the god of travelers and merchants, is another brother.

Uyitzin
One of the fraternal triad with Usukan and Yantho, three brothers who hate humanity and are the enemies of the god Nohochacyum, who is also sometimes depicted as their brother as is Xamaniqinqu.

Vision Serpent
A mystical snake-god who was of great importance to the Maya as he knew the secrets of the universe and could impart these secrets to a Daykeeper (shaman). See Och-Kan.

Voltan
A chthonic deity who was lord of drums. He is not to be confused with Votan which is a god often invoked in the modern day `New Age' movement but has no basis in fact in the ancient Maya pantheon. Voltan seems to have been a mortal who was deified for his great deeds and was married to the goddess Ixchel.

Vukub-Cakix
A giant bird god with emerald teeth who did battle with, and was ultimately defeated by, Hun Hunahpu and Vukub Hunahpu, the father and uncle of the Hero Twins. Also known as Vucub-Caquix.

Vukubcane
A Lord of the underworld Metnal (Xibalba) in the Quiche Maya work The Popol Vuh.

Ways
In the Maya belief, every day has its own energy and this energy will either aid or hinder one in one's path on a given day. The Ways (Wayobs) are any one of a class of protector spirits whose energy aids and directs one through the course of a day and, so, in life. Every person has a Way who tends to that individual spiritually. A Way may manifest itself physically as an animal to help guide someone and, in this aspect, they would be recognized as Totems or Totemic Guides. The Ways may also communicate through dreams in which a dreamer is brought to the Wayib (the Dreaming Place) where the individual soul may commune directly with their Way. Even the gods of the Maya have a Way attached to them which guides and directs the energy of the deity if that god is open to such guidance.

World Tree
The great Ceiba Tree of Life (also known as Yaxche) which has its roots in the underworld, grows up through the middle world (earth) and has its branches in paradise. The World tree grows up through the nine levels of Xibalba, passes through the earth, and continues on up through the thirteen levels to Tamoanchan (paradise). The base of the world tree grows from the cracked shell of the Cosmic Turtle and the limbs can be seen as the Milky Way in a north-south orientation. In the axis of the World Tree sits the bird-god Itzam-Ye who knows all the secrets of the three planes of existence.

Witzob
The Maya believed the gods lived on mountains and Witzob means `mountain' and signifies the holy mountain of the gods in Tamoanchan. The mountain was not considered simply as a mass of inert rock, however, but as a living thing imbued with the same spiritual energy that coursed through a human being and through all living things. Mountains, owing to their height, became manifestations of spiritual power and influence. The famous temples of the Maya, all throughout the region from Chichen Itza down to Altun Ha, are artificial mountains built specifically to make the patron god of that particular city, and his or her friends and attendants, feel at home.

Xamaniqinqu
The patron god of merchants and travelers, god of the north and the northern energies, and brother to Nohochacyum, Yantho, Usukun, and Uyitzin. He is also known as Xaman Ek.

Xbalanque
One of the great Hero Twins who feature prominently in the myths of the Maya and in the text of the Quiche Maya work, the Popol Vuh. The son of Hun Hunahpu and Xquiq, Xbalanque is considered the warrior twin who leads the way through the underworld and, with his brother Hunahpu, defeats the lords of Xibalba to create order on the earth. He is associated with the moon and, in some stories, is the moon.

Xecotcovach
A bird servant of the god Alom. His name means `Face Gouger' and he participated in the destruction of the inferior human beings of the second creation attempt by tearing out their eyes.

Xibalba
The Quiche Maya term for the underworld which corresponds to the Yucatec Maya word `Metnal'. The name means `Place of Fright' and was thought to be populated by the Xibalbans who were dark, secretive, dangerous and hostile to human beings. At death, the soul of the individual had to pass through Xibalba before reaching paradise and, if that soul were particularly unfit, would remain in Xibalba at the mercy of various deities like Cizen for an eternity. At the same time, however, it should be noted that a number of the Lords of Xibalba are associated with regeneration and re-birth and in no way should Xibalba be equated with the Christian concept of hell.

Xumucane and Xpiayoc
The parents of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu, grandparents of the Hero Twins, most ancient of the gods of the Maya pantheon, and the divine couple and first Daykeepers who helped to create human beings. According to the Quiche Maya, after the thirteen creator gods failed in their attempt to make human beings, they consulted with the much older gods, Xumucane and Xpiayoc to find out what they were doing wrong. They asked the ancient couple if wood could be a proper medium for the fashioning of humans. The two Daykeepers consulted the sacred calendar and said that wood seemed a workable material but, when the wooden humans were made, they were unacceptable. They could walk and talk but had no respect for the gods and could not consult the calendar; so the gods destroyed them in a great flood. Xumucane then ground white and yellow corn (maize) and washed her hands, saving the water to brew a sacred broth which gave life to the humans who were created from the maize, thus beginning human life on the earth. Xumucane is the great grandmother and Xpiayoc the great grandfather of all human beings. She is known as the divine mid-wife responsible for all births and he is the divine matchmaker in charge of arranging all marriages. As the first two Daykeepers they are closely associated with the sacred calendar.

Yaluk
The supreme lightning god who creates the storms sent by the rain god Chac. He is assisted by the two fraternal deities, Coyopa and Cakulha.

Yantho
A deity hostile to humanity and linked to his brothers, Usukun and Uyitzin, in a triad, usually mentioned together, who despise human beings and take joy in human distress. They are associated with earthquakes and destruction and are brothers to the benevolent Nohochacyum, the god of merchants and travelers, Xamaniqinqu, and the world-girdling serpent, Hapikern.

Yaxche
The World Tree also known as The Tree of Life. See World Tree.

Yumbalamob
Protecting spirits who inhabit the first level just above the earth and are the guardians and protectors of Christians. In the daylight they are invisible but, at night, they position themselves by the crosses which the faithful have erected outside of their homes and stand guard. Wielding obsidian knives, they cut through the winds which would harm a Christian village and, also with these knives, fend off the dangers of the surrounding jungle and send messages to each other.

Yum Caax
The god of the woods, of nature, of cacao, plants, and of the hunt. Also known as Yom Caax, Yum Kaax, Yum Ka'ax, he was regularly invoked by farmers before clearing the land for cultivation. He is regarded as a benevolent god who protects the plants and animals for human use and sustenance. He is able to either guide a hunter's arrow to a great kill or turn the arrow back on the hunter if proper obeisance and respect has not been given.

Yum Cimil
One of the Lords of Xibalba and closely associated with Ah Puch and Cizin. Like Cizin, he wears a collar of dangling eyes and is depicted as skeletal with bones adorning his meager clothing.

Yumchakob
Also known as Nukuchyumchakob, these are white-haired, elderly deities in charge of dispensing rain. The Yumchakob are kindly disposed toward human beings and love to smoke cigars. They are associated with Kukulkan and, according to some scholars, the great god was once one of their number before descending to earth. In post-conquest Yucatan they were depicted as dwelling in the sixth level above the earth just below El Gran Dios, the Christian god.

Zac-Cimi
One of the four Bacabs. See Cauac.

Zipacna
An arrogant giant whose story is told in the Popol Vuh. He was the son of Vucub Caquix and Chimalmat and the brother of Cabrakan and, like the rest of his family, was known for his arrogance. He is famous for two events: the tale of the Four Hundred Boys and his death at the hands of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, which they accomplished by dropping a mountain on him. See Four Hundred Boys.

Zotz
The god of bats, caves, and patron of the Tzotzil tribe. Also known as Zotzilaha and Sotz.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize...

# data[].attributes.headline
"The Twins Who Tricked the Mayan Gods of Death" for "The Cave of Doom"

# data[].attributes.subject
"The Twins Who Tricked the Mayan Gods of Death" for "The Cave of Doom"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The twins who tricked the Maya gods of death - Ilan Stavans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Myths of the Gumiho | Wicked Fox Inspiration | Booktube

# data[].attributes.headline
Korean Mythology for "The Cursed Carnival:  'The Initiation'"

# data[].attributes.subject
Korean Mythology for "The Cursed Carnival:  'The Initiation'"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by Charles La Shure
To understand more about the character and scope of Korean mythology and folklore, it is necessary to have at least a brief background in the history and geography of the country.
Geography
The Korean peninsula juts out from the mainland in Northeast Asia between China and Japan. This key location has made Korea the target of aggression by neighboring nations throughout history. To the east, Japan viewed Korea as a first and vital step to a conquest of the Asian mainland. To the west, China viewed Korea as a rightful part of its territory as the supreme power of Asia. For thousands of years, Korea managed to fend off advances and maintain cultural and political independence. It was not until 1910, when Korea became a colony of Japan, that a foreign power ruled over the Korean peninsula. For thousands of years Korea was beset on all sides, yet still managed to maintain its own unique cultural identity.

Its unique position also made it a natural conduit of culture in Asia. Much of Chinese culture was borrowed or adapted, later to be passed on to Japan. Trade was important as well, bringing news and culture as well as goods from distant lands. According to the legends, travelers came from as far away as India. Although Korea considered China to be a "big brother" nation - Korea was, for most of its history, under Chinese suzerainty - a fierce national pride preserved a unique Korean culture. King Sejong's invention of Hangul, the Korean alphabet, in the fifteenth century is an example of the independent spirit of the Korean people. Up to that point, all literature had been transmitted using Chinese characters. With the invention of Hangul, Korea now had a unique written language to match its unique spoken language - Korean, along with Japanese, is more closely related to Turkish than it is to Chinese.

The peninsula itself is very mountainous, divided by eight major mountain ranges. The larger of these ranges have historically hindered communication and interaction between the various regions of Korea. The result of this is that each province in modern-day Korea has its own distinct dialect. With regards to Korean mythology, the effect has been equally diversifying. Unlike the Greeks or Romans, who had a pantheon of gods that interacted with each other, the gods and spirits of Korea are more independent, and sometimes mutually exclusive. This is also due to the fact that what is now Korea was once five different nations. For a closer look, let us now turn to the history of the Korean peninsula.

Early History
The earliest political entities on the Korean peninsula were walled city-states that arose during the Bronze Age, not unlike the city-states of Greece. The most powerful of these states was called Chosŏn (now called Old Chosŏn to avoid confusion with the later Chosŏn kingdom). According to myth, Chosŏn was founded in 2333 BCE. near P'yŏngyang by Tangun. Sometime around the beginning of the second century BCE, Chosŏn fell due to pressure from Yen China. A refugee named Wiman founded a new kingdom, which he named Wiman Chosŏn. Not only did he keep the Chosŏn name, he also adopted Chosŏn customs and culture, in a sense reviving the fallen kingdom. Wiman Chosŏn exerted a fair amount of power in Asia, but fell in 108 BCE to China.

Late in the next century, the first of what would later be called the Three Kingdoms emerged. According to legend, Chumong founded Koguryŏ in 37 BCE near the Yalu River. The second kingdom, Paekche, developed some time around the third century CE in the southwestern corner of the Korean peninsula. The last of the Three Kingdoms, Shilla, developed in the fourth century in the southeastern portion of the peninsula. The small nation of Gaya did exist in the south of the peninsula between Paekche and Silla, but it was conquered by Silla in the mid-sixth century. An entirely separate nation developed on the island of ghosts of Paekche and Koguryŏ were resurrected in Later Paekche and Koryŏ (from which the modern name "Korea" is derived), and Koryŏ proved victorious. The Koryŏ kingdom lasted until 1392, when a coup d'etat began the kingdom of Chosŏn. Chosŏn kings reigned for over five hundred years, until the light of their kingdom was snuffed out by the Japanese as they began their Pacific War by colonizing Korea in 1910.

What is Mythology in the Korean Context?
Most people know what mythology is, but would have a very difficult time providing a precise definition if asked for one. My good friend Noah, always handy for a definition or two, once said that a myth is "a story of great but unknown age which originally embodied a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; an ancient legend of a god, a hero, the origin of a race, etc.; a wonder story of prehistoric origin; a popular fable which is, or has been, received as historical."

As good a definition as any, but somewhat broad and confusing. It denies that myth can be present ("great but unknown age," "ancient," "historical"), which is something Joseph Campbell would no doubt have disagreed with. Is age the primary condition of a myth? One would think so sometimes. It often appears that the older a story is, the more likely it is to be called a myth. The word "myth" has also come to mean "untrue story," thus raising the suspicion that perhaps veracity (or lack of it) is the measuring stick of myth.

The definition also uses the world "legend" in its definition - does that mean that all legends fall within the realm of myth? This is the true problem in defining myth: defining it in relation to the other genres, like legend, folktale, fable, fairy tale, etc. One would indeed be hard-pressed to find mutually exclusive definitions for these five genres, let alone all the others.

Now we turn to the field of Korean mythology, and we are faced with two problems. For one, scholars here have also struggled to classify and define the broad body of literature known as "tales" ( seolhwa). The most common division is a three-fold one: myth ( shinhwa), legend ( cheonseol), and folktale ( mindam). This is the division most often used, but there are others just as valid. Another three-fold division divides tales into animal tales, ordinary people tales, and anecdotes. A two-fold division would distinguish between "serious" and "fantastic" tales, while another would set myths against the group of legends and folktales. There is even a five-fold division, which arranges tales in a vertical hierarchy: supernatural tales, hero tales, ordinary people tales, humorous tales (or "idiot tales"), and plant and animal tales.

The second of our problems complicates matters even further, and this is the problem of language. The terms shinhwa, cheonseol, and mindam do not correspond exactly to myth, legend, and folktale in English. All three of the Korean terms are Sino-Korean-based on Chinese characters. To get a basic feel for the meaning of these terms, let's look first at the characters.

The keen observer will note that the characters hwa, seol, and dam all have a similar root (the left-hand character), which means "to speak." These three characters can be translated as either "story" or "tale." Shin refers to spirits, ghosts, monsters, and demigods as well as the gods that reside in heaven. Thus the term shinhwa would seem to refer to all supernatural tales. This, however, is not the case, as we will see shortly. The term cheonseol may be interpreted as either "a story that is handed down" or as "a story of something passed down." Both apply to the Korean cheonseol. Mindam, of course, is a tale of the common people.

Each of these genres has specific characteristics that distinguish it from the others. Before getting into these characteristics, though, it will be helpful to discuss two classification systems, both put forth by Dr. Cho Dong-Il, a professor of Korean Literature at Seoul National University. The first system is laid out in his " Classification System of Korean Tale Types. Here he defines the genres according to the changes in the protagonist's fortunes, a "+" representing a positive state and a "-" representing a negative state. The myth is a "+ +" type, the legend is a "+ -" type, and the folktale is a "- +" type. This is, of course, a simplification of a very large and complex system that covers all of the Korean tale types.

A quick look at the table immediately reveals that shinhwa and cheonseol are indeed quite different, and that mindam would appear to have more in common with shinhwa than with cheonseol. The typical motivation behind each genre is also revealed upon closer examination. Unlike other mythologies, which include creation, myths, origin myths, and various other types, the Korean shinhwa focuses almost exclusively on national-foundation myths ( keonguk shinhwa). As such, the shinhwa served to legitimize the existence of a government or nation, and they were vigorously handed down to succeeding generations.

To understand the cheonseol, we must know a little about Confucianism, perhaps the most important philosophy in Asia. It will suffice to say for our purposes that Confucianism promotes a rigid vertical social hierarchy, and was adopted by the ruling classes as a means of preserving their power. The cheonseol often depicted humans who, through exceptional but earthly power, rose above their stations to challenge the existing authority. Seen from a Confucian point of view, it is natural that these heroes should fail and that legends should invariably be tragic. Cheonseol are often quite similar to what a Western audience would call an origin myth, a myth explaining how something came to be. The clue to this is to be found within the word cheonseol itself; as explained before, it can mean both "a story that is handed down" or "a story of something passed down." Thus, a cheonseol almost always leaves something behind as proof, be it a rock, a flower, or an animal.

As mentioned above, the mindam does share more in common with the shinhwa than with the cheonseol, but it is still quite different from both. Unlike the semi-deified hero of the shinhwa, the hero of the mindam is an ordinary person, or sometimes even a bumbling idiot. He or she overcomes low station and hard times, succeeding by trickery or luck. This, of course, goes directly against the Confucianist philosophy that everyone has their place, and here lies the difference between the mindam and both the shinhwa and cheonseol. Shinhwa and cheonseol both served the interests of the ruling aristocracy, one serving political interests and the other serving social interests. Mindam, on the other hand, were a way for the common people to escape the harsh reality that surrounded them, and served the noble purpose of making people laugh. They were truly "tales of the people."

One should be able to see by now how very different shinhwa, cheonseol, and mindam are from myths, legends, and folktales, and I hope the reader will both understand and forgive me for consistently using the Korean terms. We began this section by asking "What is mythology in the Korean context?" and the answer is that it is something quite different from mythology in the Western context. Part of this, as we have seen, is due to Confucianism, and yet another part is due to other aspects of Korean thinking, such as Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religions (like shamanism). There are many cheonseol that would be considered myths in the Western context simply because they deal with spirits, or shin, but we must differentiate between two types of shin when discussing Korean tales. This is where those other systems of thought come in.

The shin in shinhwa are a breed apart. They are the gods who live in the heavens and more or less rule over the earth. The other shin (also called chapshin, chap meaning "various" or "miscellaneous") live on the earth and interact quite regularly with humans; these chapshin are a product of Korean folk religions. Ghosts, fairies, guardian spirits, and even what would be considered monsters in the West are all described by the term chapshin. Interestingly, ghosts and monsters in Korea do not hold the same place of horror and dread as they do in the west; there are, in fact, no truly evil chapshin. A ghost may of course take revenge on someone who has done them wrong, but the Western vampires, ghouls, zombies and the like - fearsome monsters evil to the core - have no counterparts in Korea. Chapshin often act as judges or guardians, punishing the evil and rewarding or protecting the good.

This harmony with the supernatural comes from the Buddhist influence with its circular worldview. Life and death are not separate states of being, they are merely part of the same process. Although this circular worldview is not so strictly adhered to in Korea as it is in Southeast Asia, the co-existence and harmony of life and death is a natural part of the worldview. We can say that the "natural" is emphasized in the "supernatural" in Korea.

There are other characters that appear in Korean tales who could easily appear in Western mythology. These are the Taoists, "the Followers of the Way," known as tosa and shinseon. Tosa ("practitioner of the Way") are humans noted for superhuman skills obtained through study of the Way. Some have, for example, the ability to run long distances in a short period of time, reminiscent of the Jewish prophet Elijah (See 1 Kings 18:44-46). Shinseon ("divine hermits"), on the other hand, live to extremely old age through ascetic mountain living and practicing of the Way.

What then, shall we do? Where do we draw the line? Is mythology in the Korean context limited to shinhwa, namely the small group of keonguk shinhwa? Or shall we define mythology in a much broader fashion, thus including many cheonseol and mindam as well? I think the reader would agree that an inclusive approach would be far more interesting and fruitful than an exclusive approach. As long as each tale is recognized for what it is and understood within its proper social context, there should be no problem in including tales that might not belong to the shinhwa type.

The thought and philosophy of a people is revealed in their myths. In our modern, rational world, "myth" has almost become synonymous with "untruth." In ancient Greece, though, mythos was accepted as truth without question, whereas logos was a truth that could be argued and proven. This is because the Greeks recognized that our myths tell the truth about who we really are, and that is a truth that can ultimately not be argued. These days we laugh at myth, or relegate it to children's books, because we are afraid of it - afraid of what it says about us. We like to think that we are so much smarter and more sophisticated than the ancients, but the truth is we are still the same people.

Webster echoes a common sentiment by denying that myth is present, but the reason that myths are still around is because they still speak to us as human beings. It is fine to know the modern history of Korea, but most people stop there and go no further into the mind of the Korean people. Hopefully a knowledge of Korean mythology will lead to a deeper understanding of Korea and her people, bringing the West a little closer to the East.

❧

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Charles La Shure To understand more about the character and scope of Korean mythology and folklore, it is necessary to have at least a brief background in the history and geography of the country. Geography The Korean peninsula juts out from the mainland in Northeast Asia between China and Japan.

# data[].attributes.headline
African-American Folklore for "The Gum Baby Files"

# data[].attributes.subject
African-American Folklore for "The Gum Baby Files"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About the Author: S.E. Schlosser
S.E. Schlosser is the author of the Spooky Series by Globe Pequot Press, as well as the Ghost Stories deck by Random House. She has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of "let's pretend" quickly built themselves into full-length tales acted out with friends. A graduate of both Houghton College and the Institute of Children's Literature, Sandy received her MLS from Rutgers University while working as a full-time music teacher and a freelance author. Read more

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
S.E. Schlosser is the author of the Spooky Series by Globe Pequot Press, as well as the Ghost Stories deck by Random House. She has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of "let's pretend" quickly built themselves into full-length tales acted out with friends.

# data[].attributes.headline
African American Folklore--Flight for  "The Gum Baby Files"

# data[].attributes.subject
African American Folklore--Flight for  "The Gum Baby Files"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
AFRICAN-AMERICAN FOLKLORE SERIES | Episode III: The Myth of the Flying African