Indian Epics

(Quote from writer Neil Gaiman ) I chose this graphic because I love Neil Gaiman. He is one of my favorite writers - fun fact: he responded to me on Tumblr once. American Gods, Norse Mythology , and Neverwhere  are some of my favorite books by him as well as The Sandman  graphic novels. When he responded to me on Tumblr his writing advice was to the tune of this graphic. I just think he is a great writer and a pretty great guy.  ( Pete Seeger -"Forever Young" ) I chose this video because honestly I'm a sucker for a good banjo and this song is just so uplifting and I needed that after the week I've had. I also chose it because I was happy to see Pete Seeger. My grandmother introduced me to Pete Seeger when I was a kid and listening to this song took me back to a happier time.

(Made with GIPHY ) This is a visual representation of how my week is going. Everything that could've gone wrong, did. I lost some important files and had to recover older saves from the Dropbox backup and that put me way behind schedule. As did the tornado weather Wednesday night. I spent valuable time huddled in my apartment bathroom with 2 very angry cats, a 3-legged-dog, and my rat. However, its 5 am and everything is finally starting to fall into place. Hopefully, I will get to sleep soon. For some reason, I've had a tougher time this semester than usual. My brain injury has been acting up and my migraines have been worse so this semester has been a real struggle. I've managed to wrap up most of my other classes and feel confident going into my only final, its an essay test where we will be tasked with doing a critical reading of a text we covered this semester, thankfully that's something I'm good at. Next week: SUMMER and I am going to sleep for the entir...

Durga I chose to start with Durga because I just watched several videos featuring her from Seven Secrets of the Goddess by Devdutt Pattanaik (2016). Durga is a popular form of Hindu goddess associated with war and combatting demonic forces. Often depicted riding a lion or tiger with multiple arms wielding weapons that she uses both to defend and deal punishments. Durga Wik i Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrating the goddess Durga epitomizes the victory of good over evil but is also a harvest festival celebrates the goddess as motherly power behind all creation  Durga Puja Wiki Sindoor a red-orange cosmetic powder from India usually worn by married women along the part of their hair I got here from the Durga Puja page because it states that married women smear this on the statues of the goddess on the tenth day of the festival the main components of sindoor are usually cinnabar, turmeric, and lime Sindoor Wiki Lead Poisoning I ende...

As I type this I am sitting at my desk with a heating pad on my back like the 80-year-old woman I am. This is why I chose to do one of the deskercise challenges for my last learning challenge. Hopefully, some of these exercises will help me need my heating pad less frequently. I read " 6 Yoga Exercises You Won’t Be Embarrassed to Do at Your Desk " and went through the exercises as I read them. Some of the exercises are very similar to the motions my neurologist gave me to manage my neck pain so I will definitely be doing these when I have to sit at my computer for long periods of time. I especially liked the reverse prayer pose and chair twists. (Reverse Prayer Pose Illustration )

I really like the idea behind multiple intelligences. It shows that you don't have to be super good at math to be intelligent, or adept at interpreting literature, or even a great dancer, but that everyone is intelligent in their own way. I am intelligent in the linguistic and interpersonal ways, however not so much in the visual or mathematical ways. As an English Writing major, I have the opportunity to grow in my linguistic intelligence but I would also like the opportunity to work on my mathematical intelligence, however, I would rather do it outside of the university. University math classes are intimidating and too much pressure. I think either doing math exercises found online or forcing myself to do calculations in my head rather than immediately reaching for the calculator would help me grow in this area. (Graphic from " More Than IQ and EQ – Do We Have Multiple Intelligences? ")

The website is super easy to use so I decided to make a LOLcat out of one of my cats, O'Malley because he loves to lay on my homework so I have to pay attention to him. (Made with LOLBuilder at ICanHazCheezburger)

Durga the mind without nature = Shiva the withdrawn hermit nature without the mind = Brahma the controlling priest a key theme of the Puranas a preferred form of the goddess is Durga riding lion, defying domestication unbounded hair signifies that she is still wild like Kali nose ring signifies that she is domesticated like Gauri weapons in multiple hands reveal a different kind of violence restrained unlike Kali offers protection but also can be used for punishment Brahma's defiant daughter Vishnu's protected and protective sister Shiva's affectionate wife affection cannot be taken for granted she will not be exploited domestication of nature (goddess) must be mirrored by the awakening of the mind (god) Kanya-Kumari a tale from southern India challenges idea of domestication in order to establish culture name means one who is a virgin expresses a desire to be Shiva's wife Shiva agrees but devas aren't pleased because without a husb...

Kali Many goddesses before Kali shared her name or attributes associated with her Associated with unbridled sexuality and female power represented in art as naked, with an outstretched tongue, and unbound hair, often sitting or standing on the dominated Shiva Proto-Kali (origins of modern Kali) Dirgha-Jihvi see as a threat by Indra sends a young man named Sumitra to overpower her she rejects him because he only has one manhood and she has "many vulvas seeking satisfaction" Indra, in turn, gives the young multiple manhoods this satisfies Dirgha-Jihvi the two "make love" while Dirgha Jihvi is pinned down during sex Sumitra uses the opportunity to kill her identified as a proto-kali because of representations depicting an outstretched tongue and unbridled sexuality "male anxiety before female sexual and reproductive prowess" by 1000 BCE Kali emerges out of the collective starts being seen as an independent goddess "the ...

This video caught my eye because I had heard the story of Esther many times in church but I liked the way they told the story in this video. The song was clever and the video was humorous. Also, I didn't know what the festival of Purim was or that it celebrated the story of Esther, pretty cool stuff.  ( Image Source ) I loved this image because it is an important thing to remember when writing. As a writer, I am always hypercritical of my own work. That's, why it took me so long to conclude that I should: a) be an English Writing major and b) actually let people read my writing. There have been several posts this week about remembering that a fear of being wrong or striving to be perfect will only hold you back.

Gaia I chose to start with Gaia because I have been watching the  Seven Secrets of the Goddess  by Devdutt Pattanaik (2016) videos on YouTube for my weekly readings and the first two videos deal with Gaia and female deities. "In Greek mythology, Gaia is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the immediate parent of Uranus (the sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods) and the Giants, and of Pontus (the sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra." Source: Gaia Wiki Hesiod "Hesiod was a Greek poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded as the first written poet in the Western tradition to regard himself as an individual persona with an active ...

I really enjoyed keeping a "happiness jar." Although I used the whiteboard on my fridge instead of stuffing pieces of paper into a jar. I might actually attempt to keep an actual happiness jar for a year. I liked the exercise because it reminded me to find happy moments even on bad days. Day 1: Romeo & O'Malley getting along (well sorta) I adopted a rare male calico cat for my mom last week and fostered him until she could come get him - she lives in Kentucky. The cat's name is Romeo and he is super sweet but my two cats weren't thrilled with sharing me or their house with a new cat. Finally, a few days into him being here, which just happened to be the day I started writing down happy moments, Romeo (my mom's cat) and O'Malley (my cat) sniffed each other's noses without hissing. It's the little things.  Day 2: Dinner with an old friend I had some great German food with an old friend and it made me pretty happy.  Day 3: Reaction to ...

( Source ) What did the graphic confirm? That observation is a key part of creativity. As a writer, I am very in tune with the world around me because noticing details others don't helps me craft my stories. Something New The website that this graphic comes from is awesome. Its full of inspiration and I am glad I stumbled across it.  Something I want to try Mindfulness. The idea of thinking about how to think is interesting and I really want to delve deeper into that idea. I think the only real way to "act" on this is to sit and ponder, as silly as that sounds.

This feature is awesome! I had no idea Google did this. I knew Google had a million functions but I never even thought of something as useful and simple as a timer being one of them. I actually used the timer to steep my tea for the correct amount of time as I typed this post. I usually set a timer on my phone when I need one but sometimes when I am doing homework and need to focus I put my phone in another room as to avoid getting distracted with Snapchat or whatever. So being able to use Google as a timer instead of getting my phone is super convenient.  (Aging Doctor Who GIF created byFeliks Tomasz Konczakowski on GIPHY )

Rural cultures v. urban cultures rural valued fertility - associated with women urban valued obedience - associated with men, making women subservient  indicated control and discipline urbanization led to more rules and the idea of evil - one who does not submit to the rules Chinese myth Yin & Yang work in harmony to create life Yin - male dragon in the sky yang- the earth like a phoenix that recreates itself from ashes  Confucian traditions favor culture over nature favoring hierarchy, making the man more important  patriarchal societies link women with nature and men with culture culture domesticates nature --> men are asked to domesticate women Mesopotamian myth Marduk (male god-king) defeats Tiamat the primal female monster and brings order to the world stories like this abound across cultures Adam & Eve Eve tempts Adam to eat the forbidden fruit before Eve, God created Lilith who refused to be subservient to Adam a...

"Gaia's Secret" Parts 1 & 2 Part 1 tells about Gaia the Earth Mother from Greek mythology  it goes on to explain that a "primal female deity" is first adored "then brutally side-lined by a male deity"  this is present in cultures across the world including Egypt, Greece, and India Goddess Adya - India transforms into a bird and lays 3 unfertilized eggs  from these eggs, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are born Adya wanted to unite with he 3 male gods but Brahma refused because he considered Adya his mother - Adya cursed him saying there would be no temples in his honor Adya did not want to unite with Vishnu because she found him too "shifty and shrewd" Adya turned her attention to Shiva who agreed (through the advice of Vishnu) but only if she gave him her 3rd eye she agreed to give Shiva the 3rd eye Shiva used the eye to release a missile of fire that burned Adya and turned her to ash from the ash came 3 goddesses who would be...

(from PHD Comic blog) I really liked this graphic because I wrote a research paper in high school ont Dante's Inferno and a few years after I graduated I found a graphic novel version at Hastings. I bought it and gave it to the teacher I wrote that paper for as I gift.  I loved this video not only because the dancing was beautiful and the storytelling so intricate but because I think LGBT+ representation is so important. I am glad that there are people out there showcasing LGBT+ stories through traditional aspects of their culture. 

"I'll Fly Away" I started with this hymn because I wrote about the lyric essay I wrote in this week's famous last words assignment. It included hymns from my great-grandmother's old hymnal. "'I'll Fly Away', is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled Wonderful Message " Source: "I'll  Fly Away" Wiki Charley Pride Charley Pride is an Ameican country singer who was successful in the mid-70s.  His most known song is probably "Just Between You and Me." Fun Fact: Before he was a recording artist he played professional baseball. I ended up at Charley Pride's Wikipedia page because he recorded a version of "I'll Fly Away." Source: Charley Pride Wiki Negro American League I got here because Charlie Pride played baseball for the Memphis Red Sox which was a part of the Negro America League. "The Negro American...

My best writing for this week was not for this class. It was for my Advance Creative Non-fiction class. We are wrapping up the semester by writing what are called lyric essays. Lyric essays are kind of a hybrid form of writing that includes strong sensory details that give the language the lyrical feeling while also employing strategies to tie the writing together like an essay. I wrote mine using lines from gospel songs. The songs were out of my great-grandmother's hymnal and I used the lyrics to structure my essay into three parts. The real meat of the essay was about my great-grandma and I's relationship as we both grew older. It was really hard to write but I think it turned out beautifully. It was hard to write as in emotional, not difficult craft-wise. I am not particularly religious but the hymns were a way for me to connect with my childhood spent with my Grandma Polly. I got some great feedback from a small peer review group in class last week and I get to workshop the...

I really like the idea of keeping a happiness jar. It's a good way to remind yourself to be positive every day. I'm going to use the whiteboard on my fridge to write my happy moments every day. At the end of the week, I'll write another blog post to let everyone how it goes and whether or not I've learned something about myself through the exercise. Stay tuned. (Happiness Jar from Popsugar.com )

I love this one mostly because of the picture of the cat's fur blowing in the wind but it's also a good reminder that sometimes change isn't a bad thing. In the more info tab, there were the lyrics from a Bob Dylan song that inspired the meme. I really liked the lines "May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift." Honestly I just really liked the satisfied look on that cat's face. But, like the first picture, its inspiration in the form of a cat meme. The quote from Laura Ritchie's book that inspired this meme is fantastic and gave me a good boost to finish out this semester. Here is the quote, "Past experiences also influence a student's beliefs when approaching new projects, with positive experiences effectively building self-efficacy beliefs and negative experiences bringing them down. " - Fostering Self-Efficacy in Higher Education Students (2015).

I love a good quote maker. It makes the little part of high school me that's still hanging on really happy to make a good song lyric post.  quotepixel.com is super easy to use.

(Kumbhakarna from Smite Game Official Wiki ) As he slumbered the pounding of drums and the ringing of trumpets rolled through his unconscious mind.  Though he was cursed to slumber for half of the year, Kumby still absorbed the happenings around him. Kumby slumbered on but the pounding of drums grew steadily louder. He rolled over, covering his ears with his massive arms. However, his giant arms were not enough to drown out the sounds. "Kumby! Wake up brother, I need you now!"  a distant voice called, cutting through the fog in his mind. "Rav?" he muttered groggily. The voice called again. Kumby's eyes opened slowly blinking away the sleep. He rubbed at them with the backs of his meaty hands. "Kumby, brother, the kingdom is under attack. We are at war. I need you fighting beside me," Rav said, clapping his brother on his enormous shoulder. Kumby, the giant, blinked again willing all of the grogginess out of his mind. "What wa...

Reading C, pages 72 - 110 the war begins most battles take place at night because that is when the Rakshasas are strongest Sita would be told the outcome the next day by Trijatha Indrajit, Ravana's son, a "powerful enchanter" summoned clouds to hide him while he fired arrows the arrows turned to snakes (the Naga) and wrapped around Rama and Lakshmana, constricting them Rama called for the aid of Garuda  Garuda is a divine bird who serves the god Vishnu The Nagas are an ancient enemy of Garuda because his mother had been enslaved by her co-wife who was the mother of the snakes Indra, the lord of heaven at the time, promised Garuda that snakes would always be his food Garuda came and devoured the snakes, setting Rama and Lakshmana free Kumbhakarna a giant and younger brother of Ravana cursed to sleep for 6 months of the year Ravana needed him in battle so he sent a legion of musicians to make such a ruckus that he would have to wake up when he awoke h...

Reading D: Sita's Ramayana Comic Book p. 111-149 after Ravana is defeated Sita is freed Rama is distant and won't look at Sita He claims that he cannot take her back because Ravana must have touched her so she is no longer pure Sita finds herself defending her virtue but Rama rejects her and does not listen Sita insists that Ravana never touched her but still Rama rejects her Sita has Lakshmana build a pyre and steps in it but the flames don't touch her the fire god Agni shows up and tells Rama that Sita's purity burns hotter than any flame and that he should not doubt her Storytelling notes: I chose to take notes on this particular part of the end of Sita's Ramayana because it makes me angry every time I read it, no matter the version. I want to rewrite it so that Sita has more agency and does not have to throw herself on a fire to prove her "virtue" to Rama. I'm just not cool with. And after all Rama put her through she leaves with him ...

Part B - pages 37 - 71 the dying Jatayu, king of the birds, told Lakshmana and Rama where Sita had been taken Rama and Lakshmana followed the trail of jewels Sita had dropped Rama sent Hanuman to Sita Hanuman tells Sita how Rama came to know the monkeys or Vanara and their chief Hanuman approached the brothers because they dressed like ascetics but they were carrying the weapons of warriors Rama told Hanuman of his missing wife and Hanuman took the brothers to his chief, Sugriva Sugriva tells Rama that he has seen Sita and that Ravana has taken her Sugriva also tells Rama that he will need an army to wage war on Lanka to get Sita back Rama is upset because he is an exiled prince and has no way to raise an army Sugriva offers Rama a deal Sugriva is also an exiled prince whose brother stole his wife and exiled him from the kingdom of the Vanara Sugriva said that if Rama helped him defeat his brother and reclaim his wife he would lead the Vanara army to fight Ravana Rama ...

Vritra I chose to start with Vritra because I am using him as a main character in my storybook project  He is a serpent or dragon, the personification of drought, and adversary of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi He appears as a dragon blocking the course of the rivers and is heroically slain by Indra. Source: Vritra Wiki Metal I ended up on the Wiki for metal because on the Vritra page part of the story about how Vritra is defeated by Indra says that he could not be attacked with anything made of metal, wood, or stone. Source: Metal Wiki Currency I then went from metal to coinage and ended up on the wiki page for currency "In the most specific use of the word, currency refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money (monetary units) in common use, especially in a nation." Source: Currency Wiki Tan...

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Part A pages 1 - 36 starts with a pregnant Sita wandering into the Dandaka forest and awakening it the forest wonders why she is there says she is the daughter of the earth, princess of Mithila, and the last queen of Ayodhya asks the forest to let her live there because the world of man has banished her then the forest asks her to tell the story of how she came to be there and the story begins the story is told in Sita's voice Sita tells how her husband, Rama, and his brother Lakshmana were exiled from their kingdom and she came with them to live in the Chitrakuta Forest Sita enjoyed the peacefulness of forest life but Rama and Lakshmana were restless because they were meant for a life of palaces, war, chariots, and weapons One day Surpanaka, the princess of Lanka and a demoness, came in the form of a beautiful woman and desired Lakshmana  Lakshmana was on guard and saw through her disguise and cut off her nose with his sword, spurred on by his brother Rama ...

Hindu Mythological Wars Ancient Hindu wars are the battles described in the Hindu texts of ancient India. These battles depict great heroes, demons, magic weapons, supernatural beings. Most of the major wars were said to be fought to uphold Dharma (righteousness that brings prosperity to humanity) over Adharma (wickedness that causes humanity to suffer). Source: Hindu Mythological Wars Wiki Celestial Weapons Brahmastra: is a weapon said to be embedded with the power of Brahma that releases millions of missiles that can cause mass destruction and even the end of civilizations if not wielded by a celestial fighter. The power of this weapon is compared to that of modern nuclear weapons. Source: Celestial Weapons   Nuclear Weapon "A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or from a combination of fission and fusion reactions." Source: Nuclear Weapon Wiki Nuclear Fallout "Is the residual r...

Image Attribution: Floating Castle Wallpaper on walldevil.com uploaded by Melissa Quote Attribution: Henry David Thoreau from Walden  taken from a personal copy of the book

"Draupadi Dragged to the Assembly" I chose to read and take notes on this particular story because I have a soft spot for Draupadi Tells the story of Draupadi after her husbands gamble her away in a game  When she is fetched by the pratikamin she becomes angry and tells him to return to her husband and ask who her lord was when he gambled her away, was it before or after he had gambled himself  Duryodhana sends the pratikamin back to get Draupadi so that she may come to the hall and ask Yudhiṣṭhira the question herself the pratikamin returned to Draupadi again and she gives a speech about morality and sends the man to return to the assembly without her again Yudhiṣṭhira tells the pratikamin to fetch her even if she is clothed only in a single cloth because it is Duryodhana's command Yudhiṣṭhira's 4 brothers, who were also married to Draupadi, were ready to challenge Duryodhana and his 100 brothers to a fight but still awaited Yudhiṣṭhira's next move mor...

"The Elephant Girly-Face" another fable-like tale that teaches a lesson once a king had an elephant that was so gentle and good and looked so kind that he named him girly-face girly-face, the elephant, sat in his stall one night as some robbers knelt nearby discussing their plans the robbers said that they would break in and kill anyone who wakes up because a robber shouldn't be afraid to kill and should never be good, not even for a moment  girly-face heard the men talking and thought that this was how he was supposed to act the next morning the keeper of the elephants went to feet girly-face and the elephant picked him up with his trunk and threw him to the ground killing him then girly-face killed another keep who had come to see what was happening girly-face was said to have acted so ugly for days and days that food was left for him but no one would come near him the king sent one of his wise men to see what was wrong with girly-face the wise man had...

The Monkey and the Crocodile This version of the Jataka Tales is simplified and retold for children the monkey and the crocodile is about a crocodile who sets out to catch a monkey because his mother wants to eat monkey heart the young crocodile devises a plan to catch the monkey he visits the monkey's tree and convinces the monkey to jump on his back telling the monkey he will carry him across the water to an island with many ripe fruit trees the crocodile dives into the water while the monkey is still on his back the monkey holds on because he doesn't know what is in the water and is afraid to let go when the crocodile surfaces the monkey is sputtering and asks why the crocodile took him underwater the crocodile is stupid and tells monkey of his plans to drown him and feed his heart to his mother the monkey outwits the crocodile by convincing him that he had left his heart on the bank high in his tree the crocodile carried the monkey back to the tree and de...