Week 10 Storytelling: Raven

Before there were humans on Earth, there were Animals. Animals like Bear roamed the silent forests, Snake slithered across fallen leaves, Beaver built sturdy dams, and so on. One such Animal was Raven. Raven was different from some of the other Animals because he could create things. Beaver might have been able to create dams, but Raven could create plants, new animals, and anything else he wanted. 

When Raven first started creating, he created grass. Before, the land was covered in dirt as far as the eye could see. Raven found this rather boring, and wanted something better. So, Raven landed on the dirt and used his beak to pull at it, as if pulling something out of it. After a few tries, Raven pulled up a single blade of fresh, green grass. He continued this way for years and years until grass grew in most places.

(Agriculture Grass on Wikimedia)

After creating many types of plants, Raven decided to create something more. He started small and created a caterpillar. He did this by taking a small bit of wet clay from the ground and wrapping it in a dark green leaf from one of the trees. He flapped his wings over the small form and watched as it started to wriggle with life. Over the next few days, Raven watched the caterpillar closely, studying its movements. 

(Papilio machanon Caterpillar on a leaf from Wikimedia)

Eventually, Raven wanted to create something bigger. Starting with tiny mice, Raven began creating all sorts of animals. Bears, snakes, beavers, and more were created day after day. It took many years, but Raven created all the different animals, one animal at a time. This filled Raven with great pride, and he spent many happy years among his animal creations.

One day, Raven decided his life could be better if he gave some of the other animals the ability to think like he did. Raven chose one animal of each species, and granted them a sort of higher thought. These animals became known by their names, Bear, Snake, Beaver, and so on, just like Raven. All of these higher animals made up a great court which operated under Raven. And so it was for many millennium. 

(Kamchatka Brown Bear from Wikimedia)

Years and years later, Raven was flying through a forest that rested on the edge of a beach when he saw something strange. A large pod had been hanging from a vine, similar to when caterpillars transformed, but much larger. Raven flew closer to investigate. As he drew nearer, he noticed the large pod was broken open at the bottom, and beneath it in the sand was a strange creature.

Raven landed on the sand beside the creature and looked over it curiously. Being the creator of all other creatures, Raven was confused because he certainly did not remember creating this one. While he was pondering, Raven remembered something. Using his wing, he lifted his beak which suddenly transformed into a type of mask and was lifted away from his face. It had been thousands of years since Raven had changed from his bird form, and he had forgotten what his other form felt and looked like.

Now that he was transformed, Raven could see this strange creature very much looked like his non-bird form. Raven shook the creature awake. When it woke up, it seem dazed and unsure of where it was. After talking for a bit, Raven called the creature Man, and decided this man was to be the first of many. 

(People on pixabay)

Over the next few years, Raven taught Man how to navigate the world they lived in. Raven even created more men and some women so that Man could have a community. Raven and Man went on this way, teacher and student, until the day Man could teach what he had learned to the other people.

As humanity expanded, Raven was always there watching, proud of the people, animals, and plants he had created.

(Planet Earth by Dawn Hudson on publicdomainpictures.net)

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Author's note: In the original story, Raven creates all sorts of animals, plants, and non-living things. He finds Man on the ground one day, where Man had broken out of a pod. Raven then takes Man and creates many animals for him to hunt and eat, and explains which animals are good to catch. Raven eventually makes Woman out of clay for Man. More men and women are created and they all live together while Raven continues to teach Man different things about the world.  

I wanted to tell more about the world before Man came to be. In that way, I guess this is sort of a prequel to the original story. I also wanted to challenge myself to keep the story shorter this time, instead of right at the max word limit. 

Bibliography: Bibliography: Alaskan Legends Unit from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). (Web Source)

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Unit, Part B

My favorite story from this reading was "The Land of the Dead." I thought the journey through the Land of the Dead in the story was really interesting. The idea that people who did certain things in life, like hit dogs or pull up grass, have punishment like things related to that after death is something that I think can be found in different legends. I know I have heard different ideas about hell and how people would be punished according to their wrong-doings on Earth, similar to this story. In the Alaskan legend though, all of these different people were in the same after-life together.

I think this story could be interesting to re-tell from the perspective of someone who has just died, similar to the original. Walking through the land and seeing those who have died before them.

(The Ghost Town of Falk by Bureau of Land Management on flickr)

Bibliography: "The Land of the Dead" from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). (Web Source)

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Unit, Part A

I enjoyed how all of the stories were about Raven and the different things he created in the world. The unifying theme helped keep my interest as I read. Corvids are my favorite kinds of birds, so I like that Raven was the main focus in these different stories.

The first, longer, story about the creation of Man was really interesting to read, and I think I would maybe want to focus on Raven and Man if I choose to use these stories for my retelling. I'm not sure what sort of story I would want to tell with them, though... Maybe I would make up a story explaining the creation of something that was not covered in this unit.

(Visit From A Raven by Ingrid Taylar on flickr)

Bibliography: Alaskan Legends Unit from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). (Web Source)

Week 9 Storytelling: The Man Who Wished to Die

Once there was a man named Sentaro. He was a fairly well-off man, living comfortably in a large home by himself. He had inherited all of his wealth from his father. Sentaro spent his time as he pleased since he never had to worry about working to earn a living.

When he was about thirty-two, Sentaro started to feel sadder and sadder about his life. Living all alone with not a care in the world had once been the most magnificent thing in the world. But as he aged, Sentaro found he was more and more depressed, until the day he realized he very much wished to die.

“Why should I live,” he muttered to himself, “if all I do is spend my days alone. Without the comfort of any living soul. This life of mine is not truly living.”

He wondered to himself if it might just be easier to end his loneliness, pain, and suffering by ending his own life. Surely he could find some easy way to do it that would also be painless for him. He had heard stories of people in similar states that had done similar things.

Sentaro decided he would travel around and see what he could find out about these people, and if any of their stories could help him in his quest.

After a week or so, Sentaro had been through a couple of different villages, but no one had shared any information with him about people in his state who had come before him. Feeling even more defeated, Sentaro found his way to a local shrine. 

(Oomatono Tsunoten Shinto Shrine in Inagi on wikimedia)

The shrine was a simple one, it was obviously kept clean and there were only a few offerings there. Sentaro knelt down at the shrine and covered his head and prayed.

He prayed for seven hours, asking that whoever might hear him would give him advice about what to do. Sentaro still very much wanted to die, but he was unsure of how or what might happen to him afterwards.

At the end of the seventh hour, someone appeared beside Sentaro. Sentaro was startled and jumped to his feet in surprise. In front of him stood a man staring at him.

“I have heard your desires, and they are very selfish indeed. What man shall request help in killing himself, and to ask as if to absolve yourself of the blame? Do you now know what death is? Cold clinging to you until you draw your last breath? It is truly an unpleasant thing if it is brought about before its time.”

Sentaro listened to this person, and at the end he felt upset with the person. He stormed off, not looking back at the shrine, all the while muttering to himself about he was not a selfish man and he knew what was best for himself.

As he was walking back to the nearest village through the woods, he stepped onto a venomous snake. Before Sentaro could even react, the snake lashed out and bit his foot. Sentaro stumbled back and landed on his back on the trail. For a moment, his entire foot felt like it was on fire. Quickly after that, his foot felt ice cold, and that coldness started making its way up his leg, down his other leg, up his torso, down his arms, up his neck, and into his face. As Sentaro felt the cold wash over him, he became sleepier and sleepier. Letting himself embrace the cold touch of death, Sentaro closed his eyes.

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(Black Background on publicdomainpictures.net)

With a start, Sentaro woke up. He found himself no longer in the forest, and instead somewhere where everything was completely dark. He wandered around for hours, thinking eventually the sun would come up, or he might stumble across someone else in this place. But he found nothing. The sun never rose.

Sentaro spent years this way. For the first few, he found it easy to entertain himself with singing songs, telling himself stories, or reenacting some of his favorite things. After a while, however, he could no longer pretend that he was not incredibly alone and bored.

Even after this acceptance of being alone, Sentaro continued existing this way for many more years. Eventually it got to the point where Sentaro spent most of his time screaming into the black void, cursing everything he could think of.

One day, after having spent almost three hundred years in the black space, Sentaro laid down and closed his eyes. Trying to sleep, to die again, he wasn’t sure.

When he opened his eyes, though, he was back at the small shrine where he had met the other person who warned him about an untimely death. Sentaro jumped up and looked around, confused, but overjoyed.

He left the temple and headed back to where he was from, careful to avoid any snakes. As he walked, he had time to reflect. Sentaro’s dream version of death had surely only been a manifestation of Sentaro’s greatest fear and unhappiness, being isolated and alone. He decided, that is not what he wanted from the rest of his life. And he made a promise to himself that we would reach out to others, make friends, and maybe one day even have a family with a son of his own.

(Light Road Path on maxpixel)

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Author's note: In the original story, Sentaro is a man who does Not want to die. He seeks out a shrine and Jofuku to ask for the Elixir of Life so that he might live forever. Jofuku gives Sentaro a dream where he lives for three hundred years. After living for so long, Sentaro wants to finally die. He is eaten by a shark, but at the last minutes cries for help because he did not want to die that way. After waking up, Jofuku explains to Sentaro that he does not really want to live forever, but he needs to live a full human-length life, and then he can die satisfied. 

I wanted to write a story about a man who Did wish to die, but in the end realizes he really wants to open up to people to fill his life. 

Bibliography: "The Man Who Did Not Want to Die" from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). (Web Source)

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part B

From this reading, I enjoyed the short story of "The Goblin of  Adachigahara." This story was about a human-eating goblin that lived near a small community. Everyone in the community knew the goblin was there, so they stayed away from that area at night. One night there was a priest that was wandering around and happened upon the goblin's house. Since the goblin was in the form of an old woman, he asked her to let him stay and she complied. Later, the goblin went out and warned the priest not to look in the back room. He did, of course, and found the room filled with bones of people the goblin had eaten. He fled from the house and outran the goblin so he was not eaten.

This story was short(er than some others) and I enjoyed it a lot.I think it's different than how I would expect the story to go, mostly because when a character does what they are told Not to do, I expect them to have consequences. This story is different because the priest looked in the back room, which he was told not to do, and instead of being eaten by the goblin, she escapes from her. I think that makes this less of a story about "do are you are told," and more of a story about "be diligent in prayer" maybe? Because the priest says he was able to escape the goblin because of his prayers to Buddha.

(Dwelling on pixabay)

Bibliography: "The Goblin of Adachigahra" from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). (Web Source)

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part A

I liked how this reading was comprised of a few number of longer stories. My favorite out of the three was "The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die." I liked this story because I think fear of death is something most, if not all, people have experienced at some point. I was not expecting it all to be a dream at the end, but I think I like that ending better than Sentaro being eaten by a shark. Because it was a dream, Sentaro was able to feel like he had lived three hundred years and also feel like he died when he did not want to. Those were both important for him to experience so that Jofuku could tell Sentaro that what he really wanted/needed was to live his normal length live as best as he possibly could.

I like the idea of someone learning what they actually want by dreaming about what they don't want. Maybe that can be what I focus my storytelling on this week. Someone who is convinced they know what they want, but then someone gives them the ability to see just that, and they don't want it anymore. The plot reminds me a little of A Christmas Carol in that way.

(Lyrics from "Fix You" by Coldplay, graphic made by me)

Bibliography: "The Man Who Did Not Want to Die" from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

(Web Source)

Week 8 Review

A review of a review week? Absolutely.

Graphic

(Bluetooth from Present & Correct Twitter, from the MythFolklore Class Blogspot)

I thought this graphic and the Wikipedia page about Bluetooth was interesting and kind of hilarious. Who would think to link a Viking King and modern technology? Jim Kardach, that's who. The Viking King Harald Bluetooth united two tribes so they could come together to be one cohesive kingdom. Kardach was reading a book about this when the technology to link phones to computers was being developed. He suggested the name Bluetooth as an allusion to the Viking king, because he saw the linkage of computer to phone as similar to what Harald Bluetooth did with the different countries. 

Then, using a bind rune of H and B, for Harald Bluetooth's initials, was the icing on the cake. Now it is the iconic symbol for Bluetooth. 

Video

How to Build a Fiction World - Kate Messner on Youtube

I chose this video because I am constantly learning new techniques to build fantasy/fiction worlds. The idea has always interested me since I was a child with a huge imagination. As I get older, I find ways I can use worlds, such as in storytelling for this class or even when I am being the DM for my D&D group. This video gave a list of things to consider and flush out, some of which I definitely forget in the world making process. After watching the video, I have a burst of inspiration to go create something fantastic! I definitely recommend it, and the longer TedEd lesson that even gives helpful "worksheets" to build your own world! 

I plan to use this lesson for myself, and maybe I will document what I come up with!