Winter Holidays

See the Diversity in Libraries Blog for links to information about Diwali, Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas and Kwanzaa.

Mythology and Folklore

Mythology encompasses religion--that is, human relationships to god(s) and the god’s relationships with each other.

 Britannica.com:

•    “The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition.”

•    In anthropological terms, the word does NOT mean a myth is false. It means that it has been, or is, believed.

Myths are

•    the stories in which people believe and on which they base their moral code

•    they describe people’s understanding of the meaning of life

•    they are accepted as truth by members of the faith

Folklore

•    need not be accepted as truth

•    includes stories about the gods, magic, etc., related to and symbolically illustrating the myths

•    brings religious principles to life

•    includes folk medicine, folk art, folk music, folk tales, etc.

Folk culture is

•    tied to mythology and folklore

•    it includes life style customs (folk medicine, folk art, etc.)

Fairy tales:

•    Tales involving magical occurrences

•    Typically, they have authors, although they are often retellings of traditional tales

Importance of symbols:

•    Myths and folklore originated in prehistory when humans depended on the oral tradition

•    Symbols, according to Jung and Campbell, transcend the oral. They can communicate at a subliminal level, and people need not be able to understand or read the language to relate to the symbols [Book of Kells, Star Wars, e. g.]

Differentiating myth from folklore:

•    For Christians, the Resurrection is a core myth. It’s hard to imagine a Christian without that belief.

BUT you can easily be a Christian and not believe that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland! [although there is symbolic truth to that story -- the dragon/snake is a symbol of the Druids]

Remember about folklore:

•    It’s purpose isn’t to entertain. It’s to transmit traditional beliefs and values.

Brunvand, who studies urban folklore:

•    “...folklore is material that gets orally transmitted in different versions in the traditions of various social groups. Proverbs, riddles, rhymes, jokes, anecdotes, and ballads are among the folk forms that circulate in oral and usually anonymous variants.”

Anthropological views of myth:

•    myth performs an explanatory function. The nature of things is explained as established by the gods

•    myth expresses human or social need; it expresses the culture’s perception of the universe; it affirms the culture rather than explains it.

Creation myths

•    (Creation: the chaos of power out of which the proper conventions and institutions emerge)

•    Some say the universe was created out of nothing; some, that it resulted from violence among the gods

 •    Nearly all creation myths contain a flaw which explains the difference between the perfection of Creation and the imperfect world we live in

•    An element of healing is introduced

•    Creation myths set the model for other aspects of culture

Origin of the deities

•    Most myths reveal specific deities which existed at the time of creation

•    Oldest, earth/mother and father/sky. New deities appear as their offspring

•    Deities may express sacredness in phenomena (lightning, mountains, fire)

•    Involves order and causality

Myths of renewal and rebirth

•    Time is seen as having a cyclical rhythm

•    Rituals are associated with the cycle

•    The creative power runs down or is overrun by the actions of the gods or of humans

•    There is a ritual reenactment of creation

Folklore and children

•    Grimm’s fairy tales in the original are violent and explicit, not intended for children. The tales were collected to study German linguistics.

–  from the oral tradition

–  adults told and retold them for adults, children listened

Bettelheim’s Meaning of Enchantment

•    Bettleheim believed  folklore was/is critical to children's development

–  that they needed the unexpurgated versions because of the layers of meaning they contain. The children would understand based on their level of development.

 Notable writers:

Joseph Campbell wrote many books focusing especially on myth and folklore related to the Hero archetype.

Carl Jung studied and wrote about universal archetypes.

Women and folklore (Some titles)

•    Andrea Dworkin. Woman Hating

•    Jean Shihoda Bolen:

–  Crossing to Avalon

–  Goddesses in Every Woman

•    Maxine Hong Kingston. Woman Warrior

•    Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves

•    Faludi. Backlash

Men and Myth

•    Robert Bly. Iron John

•    Sam Keen. Fire in the Belly

•    Jean Shihoda Bolen. Gods in Every Man

•    Jane Tompkins. West of Everything

•    also

–  Faludi. Stiffed

–  Raising Cain

Family folklore:

Every family has its own folklore based on the families of origin of each of the parents. Examples:

•    traditions (ways of celebrating, grieving, etc.)

•    foods

•    rituals

•    sayings

•    events

•    initiations

Other folklore:

•    local ghost stories

*   occupational lore

*   lore that bonds specific groups

Occupational Lore in Librarianship of the Past:

•     Card Catalogs

•     Corporate entries

•     Early days of automation

•     Library hand

•     Selectric typewriters

•     ALA filing rules

•     P-slips

•     On-order files

•     Storage rooms full of discards and unadded gifts

•     “favorite” characters (staff and patrons)

•     Major events in the life of the library

Lore that Bonds the “Silent Generation” (my generation)

•     D-Day

•     The Cold War

•     “The Shadow Knows…”

•     Burma Shave signs

•     Ed Sullivan

•     Perry Como

•     Captain Video

•     Candy cigarettes

•     Roy Rogers

•     Poodle skirts

•     Crinolines

•     Keds & PF Flyers for gym

•     Nylons in two pieces

•     The bomb

What lore bonds YOUR generation??

Contemporary folklore:

•    folklore isn’t just from the past

•    it’s all around us

•    it reveals something about our personal myth [belief system] and about the myth [belief system] of our culture(s)

Brunvand

“We are not aware of our own folklore any more than we are of the grammatical rules of our language.”

 Urban Folklore and Internet Hoaxes:

•    Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The Choking Doberman

The American Book of Kells

In the late 20th century, the Benedictine monks at St. Johns University in Collegeville, Minnesota, set about the task of creating a handwritten illuminated Bible on vellum in the style of the Book of Kells. In the illustrations, they used traditional Christian symbols, but they added contemporary symbolism (e. g., the DNA spiral) and animals and plants from the U. S. northern plains. They also included women in the illustrations. (In the Book of Kells, Mother Mary is the only female depicted.) I hope to see the St. Johns Bible someday! The first link below is the official page. The second link leads to and article about the Bible. Both links include color pictures of some pages.


The St. Johns Bible

Article about the St. Johns Bible

Introduction to the Book of Kells

    In another post, I will go into more detail about the meaning in the illustrations. 

     I first discovered the Book of Kells when I took a course on the history of the book during my masters program at the University of Washington in Seattle. I was fascinated by the intense detail, the colors and the artwork--especially the tendency to work in small animals or designs at the end of lines. I didn’t learn the symbolic meanings of the art until much later, although I did learn that the designs were pagan in origin and that the book was intended to communicate through its art with new converts who were illiterate. Since then I’ve discovered that there is a good deal more to it.

     Part of the reason I want to share this book with you is its sheer beauty, but I also want to share some of its background and symbolism. When the book was made, Ireland was only newly Christian. The monks were still very much involved in missionary work. They needed a way to communicate with people who could not read and to whom Christianity was strange. The art work is heavily symbolic. Of course, Christian symbols dominate, but the pagan and the ordinary and familiar appear, too.  We can recognize many of the symbols today (the cross, for example), but the meaning of most of the symbols is lost for us. In fact, some of the meaning is even lost on the scholars. Why, for example, are men often shown pulling each other’s beards? Over the centuries, the illuminators began to focus more on “prettiness” and less on visual symbolism. And with increased literacy, there was greater dependence on communicating through words. In very recent years there has been a return to an understanding of the importance of symbols in our lives. I think learning something about this book and its contents can enrich our spiritual lives today.

     Christianity was introduced into Ireland in the late 4th century. The fact that St. Patrick was sent to northern Ireland as a missionary in 431 B.C. suggests that southern Ireland was already evangelized. During the 7th to the 11th centuries, Irish monks established monasteries throughout Europe, among them Bobbio in Italy which was especially known for its illuminated manuscripts. The Book of Kells is the best known of several surviving manuscripts which the Irish monks made. It is not illuminated. That is, no silver or gold leaf was used.

     There is controversy about where the book was made. It was probably made at either the monastery at Iona or the monastery at Kells in the late 8th or 9th century. (It may have been made at both places. The Vikings were attacking the area of Iona at this time, so the monastery at Iona moved to Kells.)

     The Gospel books made by the Irish monks show a mix of styles and influences: Germanic, Mediterranean, and Celtic. The script, often called insular, originated in Northumbria and spread throughout England and Ireland.

Some Symbols Used in the Art

     Below are some of the symbols used in the art work. In another post, I will go into more detail about the meaning in the illustrations. Here are some links where you can see color illustrations and hear a portion of a lecture. I'm also listing links for two books that include color illustrations. Perhaps your local library owns one or both:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B3-cqU-zFE  Timothy Graham's illustrated lecture excerpt

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Kells-Reproductions-manuscript/dp/039449475X 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Kells-Illustrated-Introduction/dp/0500277907/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Symbols of the Evangelists

[from the prophesies of Ezekiel and the Apocalypse]

a man, a lion, a calf, and an eagle:

     also represents the four stages of Christ’s life: birth, death, resurrection, ascension

     [Christ was a man in his birth, a calf in his death, a lion in his resurrection, and an eagle in his ascension]

In representing the Evangelists the symbols are man=Matthew, calf=Mark, lion=Luke, eagle=John). The symbols are often used together to signify the unity of the Gospels.

Eucharist Symbols

disc often marked with a cross [hosts] scattered throughout. 

Symbols of Christ

fish:  “swimming in the waters of baptism”

And the Greek word for fish (icthus) is an acrostic for Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior

snake: symbol of the Resurrection [also a reminder of the fall of man, the embodiment of evil]

lion: A symbol of Resurrection and of the Breath of Life. Also associated with majesty and power, the Royal House of Judah from which Christ was descended. 

December Religious Holidays in 2012

Note that Christians aren't the only ones who celebrate religious holidays this month. So the phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season" really should be "Jesus is the reason for this Christian season"!

December 9-16: Hanukkah (Judaism)

December 21: Solstice:
                       Yule/northern hemisphere (Pagan)
                       Litha/southern hemisphere (Pagan)
                     
December 25: Christmas (Christian)

Key to Literature Quiz

Literature Quiz Key

The following are first lines from selected well-known novels, poems, stories, or essays.  What is the title of the literary work from which each is taken? (This is just for fun ‑‑ no grade!)

1."Tom!"  No answer.  "Tom!"  No answer.

Tom Sawyer___________________________________________________

2.To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.

______________________________________Grapes of Wrath

3.Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again.

_____________________________________Rebecca

4.You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accomplished commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such foreboding.

____________________________________Frankenstein

5."Eh bien, mon prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now no more than family estates of the Bonapartes"

   _________________________________War and Peace

6.I sing of arms and of a man: his fate has made him fugitive...

_____________________________________________The Aneid

7.Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.

___________________________Lady Chatterley's Lover

8.Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen‑houses for the night but was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes.

___________________________Animal Farm

9.We are at rest five miles behind the front.

__________________All Quiet on the Western Front

10.It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . .

       __________________________Tale of Two Cities

11.The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon.

 __________________________________Lord of the Flies

12.Call me Ishmael.

_________________________________Moby Dick

13.It was a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

_______________________________________Pride and Prejudice

14.Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.

______________________________________Ullysses

15.It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

_______________________________________1984

16.The grandmother didn't want to go to Florida.

    __________________A Good Man is Hard to Find

17.Ones‑self I sing, a simple separate person.

________________________________Leaves of Grass

                                                             

18.Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head . . .

__________________________________Winnie the Pooh

19.His name was Gaal Dornick and he was just a country boy who had never seen Trantor before.

___________________________________Foundation

20.Because she was only fifteen and busy with her growing up, Lucia's periods of reflection were brief and infrequent; but this morning she felt weighted with responsibility.

________________________________The Robe

21.I address these lines‑‑written in India‑‑to my relatives in England.

_______________________________The Moonstone

22.Morgaine speaks…In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, priestess, wise-woman, queen.

       __________________________Mists of Avalon

23.Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth.

______________________________The Prophet

24.It unrolled slowly, forced to show its colors, curling and snapping back whenever one of us turned loose.

_______________________________Deliverance

25."Run!"  "Where?  Oh, hell!  Let's get out of here! Turk!

Turk! I'm shot!"

_________________________Manchild in the Promised Land

26.Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego.

_________________________________Dog of the Wild

27.When Augustus came out on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake‑‑not a very big one.

       __________________________Lonesome Dove

28.Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

_______________________________David Copperfield

29.He rode into our valley in the summer of '89.

________________________________Shane

30.When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home in Omaha, Nebraska, one night.

____________________Autobiography of Malcolm X

31.Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick.

______________________

32.The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out in the hills, resting.

_____________________Red Badge of Courage

33.In the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes.

____________________________Just So Stories

34.My dear Wormwood, I note what you say about guiding your patient's reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend.

_____________________________Screwtape Letters

35.Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs.

______________________Little House in the Big Woods

36.On Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays it was Cowl Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology.

______________________The Sword in the Stone or Once and Future King

37.It was a pleasure to burn.

______________________Fahrenheit 451   

38.The mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring cleaning his little home.

_____________________Wind in the Willows