Superstitions and Mythology – Recent Books I’ve Been Reading
Superstitions and Mythology : it's impact on every day life. Sounds like a senior thesis huh? Ever wonder why we think 13 is unlucky? fear of black cats? how a cow got it's tail?
just went and saw the lord of the rings : the two towers. i forgot how much i love reading mythological types books. well let me go back quickly. i dug the movie, but i got stuck in crappy seats because i underestimated how many people go to the movie for opening weekend. i guess that tell you how long it's been since I've been to the movies. Let's just say the last movie i remember seeing the first run of opening day was star wars episode one. Which brings me to remembering when i went to go see the original star wars during it's opening (1977, i was 7 going on 8) one rainy day during football season when my dad and my uncle wolf decided we all should go see a movie. me, my brother terry, my mom, my aunt Janet and my cousins Andy + jimmy all went to see it on cape cod. on the way home the windshield wipers broke.
Do you see how my brain jumps from one subject to the next? I'll be getting to the superstition and mythology part in a sec. i happen to type while I'm talking in my head, it makes for a difficult time following me in conversation some times. however in my defense lord of the rings, star wars and dune are all similar in nature to me. although they are all tend to be classified in the "sci-fi" genre i never really saw dune to be that way because it was humans or mutated humans, with the exception of the sand worms. dune didn't have alien creatures so i didn't see it as sci-fi. i wonder what the dictionary classifies sci-fi as?
OK I'm ranting, let's just say they are all more mythological to me and given my love of mythology it's no surprise that i enjoy reading these kind of books. it's neat to remember all the history, who people are related to, where ideas came from and how a lot of mythology is present in every day life. like with Greek mythology..
i love how i can remember the story of narcissus becoming a flower that is found around water, because narcissus was so enamored of his own reflect in the water he feel in love with himself. the gods took pity and turned him into a flower forever looking into the water. or how Hera (queen of the gods) when her 100-eyed giant was slain, took his eyes to create the circle-like parts of the peacocks tail. *ever looked at a peacocks tail?* you'll see those eyes. i guess the whole idea of having an explanation for things is a little comforting.
to know that 13 is an unlucky number because Jesus and the disciples (Judas being the 13th one to arrive at the last supper) or the viking version, I've got a great book on the origins of superstitions. I'm going on and on at the moment, the funny thing to me being i really didn't even talk much about the movie that i saw. it was good, i dug it and want to see it again when I've got better seats. if anything the movie made me want to read more. and for you cynics out there I'm just as excited about the history of the real world as i am with the history of mythological lands too.
hmm does that make me a sci-fi fan because i enjoy it? a fantasy fan? I'll never be able to accept labels. one lil' quote did strike me as fun when i read it: geeks like star trek; nerds become trekkies. while i don't even like star trek the analogy cracked me up.