Mythology and Folklore Blog

 This week has been a bit overwhelming. Having 5 jobs and being a full-time student isn't particularly easy. I work at Headington hall as a desk clerk, I work at a church where I serve as a youth pastor, I teach a class for the university as a peer teaching assistant, I run a small business personally training kids from 6th-12th grade, and I work as a bouncer at The Porch on campus corner. Trying to balance all of these has been pretty rough lately. This last week I finally went from Wednesday through Saturday with just about no sleep. It didn't help that there was a time change this week so I lost an extra hour of sleep. Nevertheless, I know that in each of these capacities I am serving my brothers and sisters in Christ. I teach those at the church, I encourage kids in my business to love themselves, and I look out for my peers at the bar looking for any opportunity to keep them safe and behaving responsibly.  I would love some time to myself, however. I am starting to fall b...

How the Hills Turned Green In a time long ago, the hills were scattered with colors. Blues and yellow as far as the eye can see. There was a great battle of this time. The trees, with leaves of blue spread seed as much as possible to cover the land with blue. But the grass, of yellow did much the same. Each wanted control of the hills and valley. Each wanted to live and be amongst family. The grass and trees battled for centuries, each gaining the upper hand, only to lose it years later. This battle wore on until one day a blade of grass and a small pine tree met. As they grew side by side they talked of the war between their people. They discussed the pain it had caused each of their families. Through this bonding, they fell in love. As they were able to grow together, they became bonded. When it came time for each of them to spread their seed something magical happened. The pine tree and the grass changed. They became one, bonded through their love and hatred for war. As the grass se...

 When the Rainbow was Torn   Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936). Original Source Plot : Cactus flowers resemble a rainbow.  The cactus flower used to be white until they were given color by a rainbow.  each end of the rainbow bathe things in color, but the rainbow never touched a cactus for some reason.  One day the rainbow didn't see a bushel of cactus and accidentally fell on them.  When this happened the thorns caught the color. Suddenly the flowers bloomed and absorbed color.  Thoughts : Im not sure if im supposed to believe that rainbows are sentient here. It seems that rainbows and plants have minds of their own. If that is true then it says a lot about Indian culture. We ought to treat all things with respect as they are all capable of feeling and desire. This opens up a world of possibilities in which anything can have wants and feelings...

 Why the Woodpecker Pecks   Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936). Original Source  Plot : The woodpecker pecks at the dead wood. He is smart and moves if you look at him Woodpeckers used to be Indians.  There was a plant called a mescal plant. When you ate of it you had visons of gods and ancestors. Only medicine men had this right to use the plants.  One boy didn't listen and tried the plants and fell asleep. The next day the boy told the other boys what he had seen and they all went out to try them and also saw strange visions.  The boys told their fathers and their fathers told their mothers until everyone was eating them.  They eventually stopped hunting, and doing chores until all anyone did was sit around and eat this plant.  Parents forgot children, so the children started to wander the woods for food.  One woman did not eat the p...