FinnFolklorist

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

In an episode of Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas — the legendary Trojan hero and ancestor of the Romans — seeks to visit his father in the Underworld. In his quest, he receives help from Deiphobe, a Sybyl (oracle), who instructs him to bury a dead comrade with proper rites and find a golden bough that will grant him access to Hades.
#MythologyMonday 🧵

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

Vulcan, the Roman blacksmith god of fire, made a magic mirror that showed the past, present, and future. He also made one for his wife Venus, goddess of love. She used it to hide her actions so she could carry on an affair with Mars, the god of war.
#MythologyMonday

Source: https://www.icysedgwick.com/mirrors-spells/

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

Mirror of Floron’. This was a highly polished mirror of pure steel. You’d follow the prescribed ritual to trap the demon Floron in the mirror. Once you did, “the spirit [would] appear in the form of an armed knight seated on a horse and reveal everything about the past, present, and future”
#MythologyMonday

Source:

https://www.icysedgwick.com/mirrors-spells/

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

It’s not just breaking mirrors that brings bad luck. People considered it bad luck to let babies see themselves in a mirror, while young women who spent too long gazing in the mirror would see the Devil.
#MythologyMonday

Source: Simpson, Jacqueline and Steve Roud (2003), A Dictionary of English Folklore,

Art by https://www.alekseyillustration.com/

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

Tezcatlipoca, (Nahuatl: “Smoking Mirror”) god of the Great Bear constellation and of the night sky, one of the major deities of the Aztec pantheon. Tezcatlipoca’s cult was brought to central Mexico by the Toltecs, Nahua-speaking warriors from the north, about the end of the 10th century AD. 🧵
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

The ritual of oak and mistletoe is a Celtic religious ceremony, in which white-clad druids climbed a sacred oak, cut down the mistletoe growing on it, sacrificed two white bulls and used the mistletoe to make an elixir to cure infertility and the effects of poison. The ritual, known from a single passage in Pliny's Natural History, has helped shape the image of the druid in the popular imagination.
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

A libation is an offering involving the ritual pouring out of a liquid. In ancient Greece, such libations most commonly consisted of watered down wine, but also sometimes of pure wine, honey, olive oil, water or milk. It was a basic aspect of religion in ancient Greece, and possibly the most common religious practice.
#MythologyMonday 🧵

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

"Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes” is a Lithuanian folk tale, the story of girl Eglė who found a grass snake in her shirt and had to promise marry him for making him leave her clothes. Her family were angered but Eglė - has given her word. 🧵
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

Vužalki are the snake-women and daughters of the Serpent King in Belarusia folklore. According to the lore, vužalki preferred living nearby water in the forests.
They are traditionally described as young long-haired women with snake tails instead of legs. 🧵

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

The Yuxa is a magical snake in Tatar mythology that lives to 100 years. Just before her death, The Yuxa transforms herself into a beautiful human woman. She will seek out an appropriate Mate (to sire her many young). After which, Yuxa transforms back into her reptilian state (to kill her Mate and prepare to die)
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 4 months ago to random

In Finland the spring equinox was called Matopäivä(The day of the snakes) It was believed that the snakes woke up from the hibernation and danced to honour Akka the goddess of the earth and fertility.

Photo by Lisse Tarnanen

#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 5 months ago to random

Before the fall of Troy took place, Cassandra foresaw that if Paris goes to Sparta and brings Helen back as his wife, the arrival of Helen will spark the downfall and destruction of Troy during the Trojan War.
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 5 months ago to random

Apollo was the Ancient Greek god of the arts, especially music, and prophecies (predictions about the future). People asked him questions about their future through a priestess called the Oracle at Delphi.

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Apollo Belvedere, c. 120–140 CE
Photo by Dennis Jarvis

FinnFolklorist, 5 months ago to random

Throughout much of human history, bones have been associated not with death but with life. In many cultures, people actually believe bones are the seat of the vital principle or even the soul. 🧵
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 5 months ago to random

Gashadokuro (がしゃどくろ, literally "rattling skeleton", also known as Odokuro) are mythical creatures in modern Japanese mythology.

The Gashadokuro is a spirit that take the form of giant skeletons made of the skulls of people who died in the battlefield, 🧵
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 5 months ago to random

In the Finnish and Karelian epic Kalevala, the hero Väinämöinen catches a great pike and makes a musical instrument called kantele of its jaw bone.
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FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

Strawberries have special meaning to the Seneca of the northeastern United States. Because strawberries are the first fruit of the year to ripen, they are associated with spring and rebirth. The Seneca also say that strawberries grow along the path to the heavens and that they can bring good health.
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

According to a legend from Tahiti, the first coconut came from the head of an eel named Tuna.When the moon goddess Hina fell in love with the eel, her brother, Maui, killed it and told her to plant the head in the ground. However, Hina left the head beside a stream and forgot about it. When she remembered Maui's instructions and returned to search for the head, she found that it had grown into a coconut tree.

The art by an unknown artist

#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

Myths about the origin of the breadfruit are found on several Polynesian islands. One story told in Hawaii takes place during a famine. A man named Ulu (pronounced OO-loo), who died in the famine, was buried beside a spring. During the night, his family heard the rustle of flowers and leaves drifting to the ground. Next came a thumping sound of falling fruit. 🧵
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

The Voyage of Máel Dúin (Old Irish: Immram Maele Dúin, Modern Irish: 'Iomramh Maoile Dhúin') is the tale of a sea voyage written in Old Irish around the end of the 1st millennium AD. The protagonist is Máel Dúin, the son of Ailill Edge-of-Battle, whose murder provides the initial impetus for the tale.
#MythologyMonday

The full story can be found from here:

https://emeraldisle.ie/the-voyage-of-mael-duin

FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

The characters in Polynesian mythology are often said to make use of magical objects to aid them on their journey. From magic boats, to paddles, to fishhooks, to baskets: the protagonists of the stories always possess help to guide them on their quest. In addition to magical objects, supernatural phenomena also came to their aid. As a seafaring people, this included the winds, the meteors, the creatures under the sea and so on.

Source:
https://dipasanatani.com/2022/08/15/the-great-voyage-a-glimpse-into-polynesian-mythology/

#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

Hermaphroditus, the two-sexed child of Aphrodite and Hermes (Venus and Mercury) had long been a symbol of androgyny or effeminacy, and was portrayed in Greco-Roman art as a female figure with male genitals.
#MythologyMonday

FinnFolklorist, 6 months ago to random

In ancient Roman religion, Ceres (/ˈsɪəriːz/ SEER-eez, Latin: [ˈkɛreːs]) was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships.She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres".
#MythologyMonday 🧵