The Great Flood

Greetings all!

Today's post is actually an old essay of mine from a mythology class.  With a little bit of tweaking, I felt that it fit for this blog's theme.  Without further ado, let's jump into the myth of the great flood!

In many cultures across the world stories are told about a great flood that all but wipes out humanity.  The stories vary depending on the locale, but all of them have much in common, leading one to wonder where these stories originate.  Some common themes include the great flood itself, and the fact that a god normally comes to warn a worthy human of the coming disaster.

In the Bible a great flood is depicted as God's wrath upon the world. Mankind had fallen into evil, and most were corrupt. God, looking down upon them, decided that He had had enough. He warned a man named Noah, one of the few good men left, and told him to build a great Ark that would carry he, his family, and two of every animal on the world - one male and one female. When the flood came Noah was prepared, and he and his family were saved.

A similar story is found in the writings of many Greek scholars, though all have a slightly different take on it. During what is known as the Age of Iron, mankind became so corrupt that Zeus looked down upon them with loathing. He swore to destroy them and called upon a great flood of waters to do so. Ovid and others speak of two humans surviving aboard a raft, but it is Apollodorus who offers an interesting perspective. He claims that the man, Deucalion, was warned by his father Prometheus that the flood was coming. Prometheus bade him build a great ark with which to escape, and Deucalion did so. He and his wife Pyrrha escaped because of this, and were instrumental in the repopulation of the earth.

The Sumerian myth of Ziusudra dates back to the old Babylonian Empire. The tablet it is inscribed upon speaks of a man named Ziusudra.  The god Enki, lord of the sea, warns that a great flood is coming. Ziusudra is told to build a boat to survive the waters. He complies.  Though much of the tablet is lost, it is obvious that he survives from the last part of the tablet, where he may be found prostrating himself before the gods as thanks for his survival.

In Hindu mythology the god Matsya appears to the first man, named Manu, and warns him that a great deluge is coming to destroy the earth. Manu is told to build a great boat to house his family and animals, who will later repopulate the world.  He obeys.

You can see that a powerful god bidding a man to build a boat to save himself and his family is a somewhat common theme against numerous mythologies. The trend continues in many other stories from many different cultures; the Qur'an and the Epic of Gilgamesh are but two of many that exist.

For me, the most interesting part of these stories is the fact that they originate from so many different places. While I am leery to believe that only two people survived to repopulate the earth, the number of cultures that reference the flood leads me to believe that it may have happened. The fact that cultures that had little to no interaction all bear the same myths fascinates me. Did such a disaster truly happen? The evidence of seashells and fishbones scattered beneath what is now solid ground across many countrysides leads me to wonder.

I hope you guys enjoyed this!  And if you're near an area where flooding is expected, please, stay safe.

Posts for the next several weeks are likely to be a bit shorter than usual.  I sprained my hand, and typing is somewhat difficult (and painful) with my thumb immobilized by a brace.  I do apologize for the inconvenience.  I'll do my best to keep my posts interesting, whatever their length!

I'll see you next week!

Diwali: The Festival of Lights

Hey guys!

Today I'm doing a special holiday post. That's because it's Diwali – the Hindu Festival of Lights!

If you're not familiar with the name, you may have also seen it spelled as Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali. I'll be sticking with Diwali in this post, but depending on where it is celebrated it can be called by different names. Diwali is celebrated all over the world, wherever Hindus worship. The holiday marks the beginning of the New Year for Hindus in northern India.

I regret to say that I had never heard of Diwali until about two months ago. I went to look at something on Etsy and they were advertising gifts for Diwali. I was immensely intrigued, and I've truly enjoyed looking into it! Diwali is a beautiful festival.

Here's some of what I've learned:

Gambling and games of chance are a major part of the festivities of Diwali. Stories in Hindu mythology tell of mortals gambling with the gods, or of the gods gambling with one another. When humans gamble during Diwali, it is hoped that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, beauty, and luck, will grant them some of her good fortune.

Besides gambling, Diwali celebrations are marked by two truly beautiful visual celebratory acts. The first are a series of patterns called alpanas. Only some regions of India make alpanas part of their celebration, but some of the places which do hold yearly competitions to find the most beautiful. Aplanas are designs painted on the floor, traditionally using a flour-based substance. I've also seen a similar style of floor art called rangoli. These patterns are believed to bring good luck the household...and they are beautiful.

(This pattern was called "simple".  I can't imagine painting something like that - let alone a more complicated pattern!)



Yet it is the second act for which Diwali is perhaps most famous. Throughout the celebration, there are lights everywhere. In recent years electric bulbs have begun to be used, but fires, candles, and oil-based lamps are still used. Enormous firework displays are also common.

Depending on where Diwali is being celebrated, the reasons for the lights vary. I've heard stories say that the lights were lit to welcome a great war hero home; other locations line paths with torches to help guide the spirits of departed ancestors to the afterlife; still others say that the lights are lit to celebrate a mighty god leading the world out of darkness. However, the tale I've heard most often revolves around Lakshmi. It says that the lights are lit to guide the goddess to the houses of her worshipers so that she might bless them.

“During the festival of Divali in October or November, Lakshmi roams the Earth in search of a place to spend the night and bestow her gifts. All over India hundreds of little oil lamps are lighted and placed around houses and rooftops and even in ponds and streams to attract her to them. The whole of India is like a fairyland, glittering and twinkling in devotion.”

Variations of Diwali are celebrated all over the world by Hindus, with the celebration taking on its own unique customs based on the country of celebration. An example is Tihar, a holiday similar to Diwali which is celebrated in Nepal. Though Tihar also honors sacred animals, it maintains many of the festivities of Diwali. Most similar is the practice of gambling and games of chance during Tihar (both of which are illegal during the rest of the year, but are allowed during the holiday) and the lighting of oil lamps to welcome Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, into a family's home.

If you're celebrating Diwali this year, I wish you a very happy one - and I'd love to see pictures!  Want to learn more about the festival?  Check out this link!

Tomorrow is another holiday, so if you'd like to read my post about Halloween/Day of the Dead/Samhain, check it out here.

I'll see you guys next week!