Cryptology 101

[superluser]

Huh. when i looked up homonculi, it was about little "golems" to do your bidding, or something.

Sigh.

(1) Homunculus is the proper spelling, despite what Firefox might suggest (`avuncular?').  It comes from the Latin.  Homunculi is the plural.

(2) The golem is a really fun item, but has nothing to do with homunculi.  I understand that it appears in the Talmud, but a brief search of the Jewish Encyclopedia turns up nothing.

The concept is that God made man from earth, and so why couldn't man do the same?

You take a bunch of soil and shape it into a man, and...obviously, there was something else that was needed.  What this was has been variously described.  Usually it's something like a scroll with God's true name stuffed in the mouth of the thing.  Then it comes to life.  It still has no soul (only God can create souls), and as such cannot speak.

In the 16th century, Rabbi Löw created a golem to keep the antisemites out of the Jewish quarter in Prague.  The golem from this legend tends to be portrayed as a rampaging Frankenstein's monster, but the source material that I have indicates that it was nothing of the sort.  Just kind of a bouncer.  Rabbi Löw would give it work to do, and the golem would do it.  There is a tale of the Shabbat when the rabbi forgot to order it to do nothing, so it went out trying to find work to do, but that's hardly a rampage.

When the golem of Prague outlived its usefulness, Rabbi Löw ordered it into a corner in the rafters of the Old-New Synagogue and took the paper out of its mouth.  It crumbled into dust.

There are two addenda to this.  Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark?  It turns out that the Third Reich really did (appear to) look for famous legendary artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant and the Spear of Longinus.  The theory was that the Third Reich was going to be everlasting, and they were fated to have these artifacts of power at their disposal.  How much was actually done to find these things, and how much was just PR is a matter of speculation.

Despite looking for these things, they never once went up to the rafters of the Old-New Synagogue to look for the golem, even though Prague was firmly in Nazi control.  That was a Jewish myth, see.

Also, a couple of years ago, I happened to be in Prague for one day (we were continuing on to Poland to visit family), and I actually visited the Old-New Synagogue.  It's really neat.  It was originally called the New Synagogue to differentiate it from another one in the area, but that one was destroyed.  Now it's actually the oldest active synagogue in Europe.

[Aridas]

Yeah, I understand the spelling. i didn't make the mistake on purpose, since that was probably the first or second time i've ever spelled it that way.

[superluser]

Yeah, I understand the spelling. i didn't make the mistake on purpose, since that was probably the first or second time i've ever spelled it that way.

Well, Brunhidden misspelled it, too, so I just wanted to make sure that nobody got the wrong idea from him.  I really didn't want to correct his spelling, because--aside from the spelling--he seemed to do a really good job. (I don't know anything about homunculi, aside from how to spell it)

[Brunhidden]

sorry if i misspell things, i have a bit of a typeing impediment.

first off i have hands like sacks of walnuts and cocktail weenies so typeing HURTS to begin with. secondly, for some reason sometimes i hit they keys out of order. its like all the moves are lined up but suddenly one finger is faster then the rest so i type things with letters juxtaposed or i hit the one next to it.

_______________________________________
example- that last scentance was originally typed "fatser then the rest os i type thigns with lettesr juxtaposed or i tih the one nexr to ir."
_______________________________________

why on earth whas 'juxtaposed' spelled correctly? i got freaking "it" wrong yet i could do justaposed without even looking at the keyboard? ....wait, scratch that, i just spelled it with an 's' instead of a 'z' in that last line. i had to say it didn't i?



also, in the story of the golem there are several versions. with key diffrences in each version.

the two basic varryants are if the golem is what i like to call "baked" or "half baked".

in the 'baked' version the caly of the golem has been baked hard, makeing it a terra cotta statue of slightly larger then human proportions, and a scroll is palced in its mouth. this scroll does NOT have the true name of god on it (see entry on Ring of Soloman) but instead has a long prayer taken from the old jewish mystical texts called the cabala (or kabala, im not certan which, and im vaugely aware theres many diffrent versions of this too). to envision this prayer find a doccument that takes up a full page, single spaced, size 12 type, and in new york times font. it looks kinda like that, but in hebrew. prior to activating the golem you must have a rabbi read the prayer aloud before placeing it in the golems mouth, the golem now will do whatever the rabbi tells it AND whatever the scroll says. the problem here is that sometimes this can conflict, the golem from pauge was supposedly built with its scroll stateing it must endeavor to protect the jewish people, and thus if left unsupervised would react violently to anyone who seemed threatening to the jews in prauge.

in the 'half baked' version the prayer is chanted as the golem is made, and the golem is still mostly unbaked other then whatever heat the sun does to it. this leaves the golem somewhat pliable, like playdough left in the sun. in order to activate the golem a word was drawn on its forhead. this word was 'emet' which means truth, and to deactivate the golem you smudged out the 'e' to make it 'met' which means dead. in this version of the story the golem is under feeble controll by the rabbi and almost exclusively follows the words of the prayers used to make it. thus said if the golem decided a certan action was what it should do then the rabbi had to beg, plead, scream, threatten, and bodily fling himself onto the golem to try to smudge out the word.

for more information on the creation of golems, heres some of the instructions required to make one, good luck




also, in many versions of the golem of prauge you should note that rabbi low for the most part kept the golem hidden, including dressing it like a man and telling everyone he was a mute. while the golem could understand low, he could only reply in hand gestures.

in the version i am famillar with the big problem happened when someone tried to accuse rabbi low of being a heretic or an infidel or whatever the right word is. this man meant serious business. among the accusations were a set of small vials containing blood and labled whose blood it was, when it was to be drank, and 'property of rabbi low'. frankly, i would be supprised if anyone believed that part, as serious a crime against jewish law it was to taste blood theres no way anyone would be dumb enough to lable it much less aquire it from unknowing townsfolk. despite this accusation failing to be believed entirely people were growing skeptical of low, and he was followed everywhere and had no privacy, so he feared someone would find out the golem was not a man.

the point that i remember quite clearly is that at one time in the story the rabbi susspected someone was going to poison food, so he asked the golem to eat a passover loaf he himself had prepared. the golem rubbed its belly to say it was good. then the rabbi handed him a loaf which he suspected was poisoned. the golem made barfing motions. thus the golem saved lives...but i forget who was the target of the poison....i suspect it was either the rabbi or someone whose death would have been blamed on the rabbi.

one last point, in the story of rabbi low and the golem of prauge, the directions for makeing a golem had already existed at that time. someone BEFORE had made them, and it had been something needed enough to warrant being written down. to be honest weve never heard of theese other golems and as such cant say if the golem of prauge was typical or used in unusual ways. for all i know the original golems were tools of war, used for menial labor so that jewish communities woldnt have to labor on the sabbath, or even the possibility that golems made the pyramids. its anybodys guess really, but i wonder why nobody recorded thier existance.



recap- theese topics are lined up
_____________________________
Mermaids/Merrow/Selkies
Sasqwatch/Bigfoot/Yeti/Skunk apes/Orange eyes/Hodags
Homunculus/Hommonculi *answered*
Wolpertinger
More on:
-Atlantis- technology/dates/location/relations
-Giants- Cyclopes/ogres/trolls/titans/firbolgs/frost giants/oni/hopi ogres/whendigo
-Basilisks
-Phönix/pheonix
Lycanthropes- Werewolves/vampires/selkies/druids
Hydra (again)
Gemstones and their healing/destructive/enhancement powers in myths


think of some more, ask questions about stuff already answered, murmur amongst yourselves, form a lynch mob if you like. ill see you all next time.

Havent you heard? they do all the mucky jobs

[Tapewolf]

There are two addenda to this.  Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark?  It turns out that the Third Reich really did (appear to) look for famous legendary artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant and the Spear of Longinus.  The theory was that the Third Reich was going to be everlasting, and they were fated to have these artifacts of power at their disposal.  How much was actually done to find these things, and how much was just PR is a matter of speculation.

They certainly got the spear, or at least a spear which they believed to be the one which pierced Christ's side  (Yay, more stuff I read in "The Unexplained!").  Apparently Hitler killed himself on the day the allies took it back.  According to Wikipedia, the thing is currently in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Austria and the spearhead is said to date from the 7th century.

Brunhidden, that's an interesting set of Golem legends.  Thanks for posting it.

[Brunhidden]

According to Wikipedia, the thing is currently in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Austria and the spearhead is said to date from the 7th century.

the spearhead being slgihtly newer then chist dosent proove anything

This is my grandfathers axe. over the years weve had to replace the handle a few times, and even replace the head once or twice, but it is still my grandfathers axe.

[superluser]

sorry if i misspell things, i have a bit of a typeing impediment.

first off i have hands...

I get that it was a typo, and I wasn't very happy about correcting it in the first place.  No offense was intended.  I just wanted to set the record straight.  I'm sorry if I caused offense.

the old jewish mystical texts called the cabala (or kabala, im not certan which, and im vaugely aware theres many diffrent versions of this too).

The Kabalah (initial letter can be C, K, or Q, the b can be doubled, and the h can be omitted) is a group of non-canonical Jewish mystical writings.  Being non-canonical, there's a bit of debate as to which works are in the true Kaballah.  The Zohar is usually cited prominently.

I'm not well versed on them, but it is where the term `cabal' comes from.  Because, you know, a bunch of Jewish mystics meeting in secret to discuss apocryphal works was just prime for exploitation by anti-semites.  It's also important to note that mainline Jewish theology has never accepted any part of the Kaballah.

in the version i am famillar with the big problem happened when someone tried to accuse rabbi low [...] small vials containing blood [...] passover loaf

Oof.  This sounds very familiar.  One of the old stories used against Jews was something called the `blood libel.'  This was the strange theory that the Jews made the Passover matzoh with the blood of the Gentiles.  This is a rather strange theory, since blood is unclean and Jews are commanded never to come in contact with it at all.

The specific anti-semitism that was rampant in Prague at the time was in fact the blood libel, but the bit about the vials and the golem tasting the food is news to me.  Thanks!

one last point, in the story of rabbi low and the golem of prauge, the directions for makeing a golem had already existed at that time.

Quite.  I mentioned that there was a mention of a golem in the Talmud.  The Talmud, for those who don't know, is a legalistic text somewhat like the transcripts of the Supreme Court.  There are two versions, the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud.  Both date from at least 700 AD.

A bit of poking reveals that it's in Sanhedrin 65b.

They certainly got the spear, or at least a spear which they believed to be the one which pierced Christ's side

I heard that one.  I also heard that it's in one of the columns in St. Peter's Basilica.

[Brunhidden]

I get that it was a typo, and I wasn't very happy about correcting it in the first place.  No offense was intended.  I just wanted to set the record straight.  I'm sorry if I caused offense.

no offence and im not irritated in any way, i just felt it needed to be said, and think about that the next time you see how looooong of a post i put up nearly every time i speak.


yeah, a lot of little things like that pop up because im not a jew, and i thank you for fleshing out on some details i had to be vauge about. most of my knowledge comes from really old books, or coppies thereof. as time goes on old stories like the golem are re-translated again and again and also edited for length of the story, what parts of the story seem suitable, and to censor out things like the blood and the smashing of skulls when its put in a kids lybrary.

In any great adventure,
that you don't want to lose,
victory depends upon the poeple that you choose.
So, listen, Arthur darling, closely to this news:
We won't succeed on Broadway,
If you don't have any Jews.

You may have the finest sets,
Fill the stage with penthouse pets,
You may have the loveliest costumes and best shoes.
You my dance and you may sing,
But I'm sorry, Arthur king,
You'll hear no cheers,
Just lots and lots of boos.

You mahve have butch men by the score
Whom the audience adore,
You may even have some animals from zoos,
Though you've poles and krauts instead,
You may have unlevened bread,
But I tell you, you are dead,
If you don't have any Jews.

They won't care if it's witty,
or everything looks pretty,
They'll simply say it's shitty and profuse.
Nobody will go, sir,
If it's not kosher then no show, sir,
Even Goyem won't be dim enough to choose!
Put on shows that make men stare,
With lots of girls in underwear,
You may even have the finest of reviews.

The audience won't care, sir,
As long as you don't dare, sir,
To open up on Broadway
If you don't have any Jews.

You may have dramatic lighting,
Or lots of horrid fighting,
You may even have some white men sing the blues!
Your knights might be nice boys,
But sadly we're all goys,
And that noise that you call singing you must lose.

So, despite your pretty lights,
and naughty girls in nasty tights,
and the most impressive scenery you use...
You may have dancing mana-mano,
You may bring on a piano,
But they will not give a damn-o
If you don't have any Jews!

You may fill your play with gays,
Have Nigerian girls in stays,

GIRLS:
You may even have some schizas making stews!

You haven't got a clue,
If you don't have a Jew,
All of your investments you are going to lose!

There's a very small percentile,
Who enjoys a dancing gentile,
I'm sad to be the one with this bad news!
But never mind your swordplay,
You just won't succeed on Broadway,
You just won't succeed on Broadway,
If you don't have any Jews!

[Brunhidden]

sinse nobody has said anything i guess ill continue on the next topic.

bigfeet, sasquatch, and whatforth.

the great north american ape, rumored to exist but completely unproven. this is the posterboy for nutjobs and tabloid photographers. obvously theres a whole lotta nothin if the people who go on and on about bigfoot are so nuts right?

not really, because most of you are aware of how pervasive the bigfoot myth is. but did you know about how many places it exists? your all going to jump up and down proud that you know the yeti is in the himilayas, i just know it. but thats only the tip of it.

in florida, stretching an area almost to virginia too, theres accounts of people encountering 'skunk apes' which bear the same descriptions as a sasquatch except when motorists encounter it they always report a stench on par with a dead skunk. bigfoot itself has been seen primarily in the washington state area, with similar reports less frequently in the apalatian mountan area. near ohio similar accounts report an apelike animal of man size that has reflective orange eyes which really catch the shine of headlights. in wisconsin we have a miniature version called a hodag, measuring five foot or shorter hodags actually have been reported approaching houses and lookin in windows, areas that have frequent sightings also often report sounds like a womans screams comming from the forest at night.

all theese can easily be identified as a sasquatch, sharing the common description of being a cross between a man and an ape, and other descriptions of behavior matching as well. almost all of theese examples live in wooded areas, far enough from civilisation theyre only seen by a scant few who travel the backroads. most of them seem to know in advance the presence of items such as guns and cameras and are always reporte to be fleeing in any instance someone holding one of theese two items come anywhere near. most reports of actuall contact show them to be mostly nonviolent, and one or two yeti accounts claim they helped travelers. a small handfull of accounts report that a sasquatch kidnapped a small group of people, and actually killed one or tried to cause bodily harm to the people who escaped. roughly half of the close contact accounts include the reffrence to being taken to a family group of other sasquatches. only one account, which was a kidnapping brought to a family group, claimed the sasquatch had controll over fire.

not only is the bigfoot story spread wide, it also goes back a long way. the name sasquatch was used by native americans for the creature long before europeans ever settled in america, and sightings have carried on ever sinse. for some reason theese reports hit a peak near the 50s, but have not actually stopped. to date washington state is still the 'hotbed', and can easily be seen as a optimum environment for a manlike creature to live in hiding with adequate food.

why is this? well, thats what the studies done say. scientists of all manner of repute have tackled the bigfoot question, and many come to intresting conclusions despite being unable to produce a living sample. theese researchers hit a big surge in popularity when a german scientists visiting china discovered a tooth in an apothacary shop that he realised to belong to an ape- and so he discovered gigantapithocis, which is essentially a sasquatch of time past. sadly, most of the fosils had been long ago been ground to 'medicine' by chinamen who always believed that 'dragon bones' and tiger testicles had medicinal uses. the researchers involved claimed that such a creature could easily live out of sight in places like western china and, obviously, washington state due to requirements in geography, climate, local populations, and food supply.

the only one of theese that dosent quite fit all the observations is the hodag, which is rumored to eat people and white bulldogs, approaches human settlements without fear,  and only really seems to run away when you start shouting and waveing weapons at it. all that asside from being a full two feet shorter then almost any other sasquatch report.  the hodag is considered a real enough creature that the state of wisconsin has a team of researchers permanently assigned to gather data on the hodag. to date theyre still baffled, particularly after aquiring several samples of hair that dont match any known ape, wolf, or human despire being similar to all three.

ah well, thats about all i have time for. if anyone has any more detailed questions let me know. otherwise, keep thinking about stuff youd like to hear about and stop in every once in a while. laters people


theese topics are lined up
_____________________________
Mermaids/Merrow/Selkies
Sasqwatch/Bigfoot/Yeti/Skunk apes/Orange eyes/Hodags *answered*
Golems *answered*
Homunculus/Hommonculi *answered*
Wolpertinger
More on:
-Atlantis- technology/dates/location/relations
-Giants- Cyclopes/ogres/trolls/titans/firbolgs/frost giants/oni/hopi ogres/whendigo
-Basilisks
-Phönix/pheonix
Lycanthropes- Werewolves/vampires/selkies/druids
Hydra (again)
Gemstones and their healing/destructive/enhancement powers in myths

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Thanks, Brunhidden. You've always got -some- interesting info floating about...

[Valynth]

This is a rather strange theory, since blood is unclean and Jews are commanded never to come in contact with it at all.

They certainly got the spear, or at least a spear which they believed to be the one which pierced Christ's side

I heard that one.  I also heard that it's in one of the columns in St. Peter's Basilica.

So wait, if Jewish people can't come into contact with blood, what about their own?  It's be kinda hard to avoid with, you know, dieing.  I love paradoxical religious teachings.

There are currently three spears that claim to be THE spear, but one of them isn't of Roman design, one is an un-common Roman design (reserved usually for upper-class gaurds and the like, but it is possible that it was in circulation in the Isreal area), and one is the standard Roman design that could be found everywhere throughout the empire.

Common sense eliminates one of the spears, but the real spear might have vanished long ago so the two remaining might and might not be it.  One of them is gaurded by a religous sect that has thus far refused to open the spear to the common world.  The other two are in museums.

As far as I know, the only factor that can truely determine the true spear (and not one of the hundreds upon hundreds of other spears that Rome had at the time.)  is the surfacing of supernatural powers, of which we have, as of yet, no confirmable reports.

[Brunhidden]

with the blood thing, yes they can contain blood within thier bodies, but consumption or comming in contact with spilt blood was forbidden. once again i have to say that i am not jewish so i dont know the exact reason why this is, sometime ask a rabbi why certan kinds of locust are kosher and others arent.

alright, this place kinda died again so ill hit another question from the list

Mermaids/Merrow/Sirens/Selkies

okay, this ones a bit of another odd one to handle because its one of those old kinda legends where many small and unnoteworthy stories have been around forever but no real big memorable legends can be pointed at as a sturdy rock of information. and before you say anything the story of 'the little mermaid' was written by a man named hans cristian anderson in the modern era and is no more a legend or myth then the book 'pride and predudice'.

although i cant point at any one big legend i can glean collective information from a great many little legends and cultural beliefs, and here goes the following.

mermaids- half lady half fish, and every legend agrees that theyre terrebly beautiful....as long as your not an 'ass man' that is. unlike the story of the little mermaid as told by disney mermaids do not really seem to be just some other kind of person, they are very similar to the fey and the word fey can describe thier mannerisims quite accurately. a mermaids behavior was entirely unpredictable, even though they often were friendly and commonly were believed to save sailors from drowning they also kept thier distance, were rumored to have powers to create ill weather, and occasionally were blamed for the dissapearance of crewmen or entire ships. while many modern experts claim that sailors were out to see far too long and had too much to drink so they thought that mantitees were mermaids....nuh, uh. those things are butt ugly, every account says theyre beautifull and im fairly sure sailors were rarely blind. in addition the mantitees which were of appropriate size are tropical creatures now found mostly in the area of florida, while the mantitees of the time and anywhere near europe were called the stellar sea cow- a now extinct aquatic mammal that would have given an elephant a run for its money on size and had more wrinkly skin then a small army of pug dogs. yeah, no matter how long youve been at sea and how drunk you are something in the water that looks like the ass end of a five rhino pileup will not make you randy, if anything randy the cabin boy will if you get that desperate.

merrow- simply put theese are male mermaids, but at the same time they are not. merrow are rarely portrayed as beautifull, sometimes even being called ogres of a sort, and have far more definate aquatic features of thier face. also merrow are universally agreed to be mean bastards and usually controll many supernatural powers of strength, weather controll, invisibility, super speed, putting people to sleep, being able to breathe on land, and so on. however most legends agree theese powers (or most of them) originate from the merrows hat, which he guards jealously and often hides, if one was to steal the hat he would not gain the merrows powers but the merrow will quickly offer to serve the thief...very quickly, usually they suffocate out of water in a matter of minutes.

sirens- the only group actually in a big legend, specifically the oddesy of homer, yet they show up seldomly in any other legends or myths. the defining charicteristic of the sirens was thier song, later coined into the phrase 'sirens song', which had a mesmerising effect on men and compelled them to try to reach the sirens at all costs. this usually meant crashing thier ship against sharp jaged rocks and drowning, one can only assume the sirens did this to eat the corpses unless they had necrophiliac tendancies or were just really mean with too much free time. i myself am not entirely sure as to wether sirens belong here, seeing as how roughly half the time you hear of them they seem to be half fish nd the other half they are merely women standing on an island.

selkies- diffrent in many ways, and almost a lycanthrope. a selkie differs in that they actually spend much of thier time on land, they arent in any way fish, and interact very freely with humans. why? well this may sound like a soner trip but theyre seals man, and they, like, have theese freaky capes with eyes in them that give them magical powers man, and they turn into people and back into seals using this groovy cape with little beady eyes that keep staring at me. even moreso then the mermaids a selkie is definately a fey, and shares many common charicteristics with merrow so for all i know theyre one in the same. theese common charicteristics are that they are frequently men, have many (or few, some seem to be endowed more then others or people embellish a bit) supernatural powers involving water, weather, and aquatic animals, theese powers are given to them by  a sealskin rather then a hat. the sealskin is actually thier REAL skin, and they remove it to turn into humans (humans wearing a mildly disturbing sealskin, the hat is really the seals head and yes the beady little eyes stare at you) who can then pass as regular people and occasionally fall in love with mortals. much like the merrow you can steal the selkies skin to make them serve you, although the instant they get it back its your ass under twenty feet of water.


other stuff-

some other legends have some weird little things, such as the one legend of a man marrying a bride of the water. the way the story goes there was a man and a woman who lived by the river, and one night the wive up and left while her husband was sleeping to go outside. when she returned in the early morning she left wet footprints. this happened many nights and after a while the husband caught on and got worried, but one day she stopped. the wife was pregnant, and the husband was reasonably sure it was his, but felt odd. she drank a great deal of water, her footsteps were often still moist, and she seemed strangely distant. when she gave birth she sat by the fireplace in the ashes and a great flow of water came out, i mean a LOT of water, and the husband could have sworn he saw a small creature in the water quickly squirm across the floor and out the door. they never saw thier child again, assuming that was thier child, for nothing else came from her womb. about fifteen or so years later a man married a woman nobody had ever seen before, she seemed to come from the sea they said. uppon seeing her beauty he promised her his heart and all he could ever offer to her, despite not knowing who she was or where she was from. she aceppted, but warned that if he struck her three times she would leave. obviously he struck her three times over the ocurse of the following years, but not like the beatings which were common at the time. they were love taps the story says, slapping her on the back in high spirits. but she had to leave for she had said her warning. the man was crushed, and was found drowned in the night.

also of note are hags, extrordinarily ugly women of green skin who lurked in marshes, by muddy rivers, and in stagnant ponds to try and lure children to the waters edge to drown them. they never leave the water, and its often said that once, long ago, they had been drowned themselves and seek company in their miserable graves. hag legends are very common, and it seems half the fresh water in the brittish aisles are infested with the nasty things.

ah well, if you think of a more specific tidbit you want to know just say so. thats it for one day.

and remember, i need more topics before i run outta stuff, if that happens i essentially dont have a thread (if you hadnt notised i almost never start threads abot "hey, i got screwed over" or "wow, lokkit this stupid thing, isnt it stupid?" and the like) and i usually dont have anythign of value to add to any topics here.


kiss kiss, hug hug, spank spank, and all that stuff






Topics left
_____________________________
Mermaids/Merrow/Selkies answered
Sasqwatch/Bigfoot/Yeti/Skunk apes/Orange eyes/Hodags *answered*
Golems *answered*
Homunculus/Hommonculi *answered*
Wolpertinger
More on:
-Atlantis- technology/dates/location/relations
-Giants- Cyclopes/ogres/trolls/titans/firbolgs/frost giants/oni/hopi ogres/whendigo
-Basilisks
-Phönix/pheonix
Lycanthropes- Werewolves/vampires/selkies/druids
Hydra (again)
Gemstones and their healing/destructive/enhancement powers in myths

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.

[superluser]

with the blood thing, yes they can contain blood within thier bodies, but consumption or comming in contact with spilt blood was forbidden. once again i have to say that i am not jewish so i dont know the exact reason why this is, sometime ask a rabbi why certan kinds of locust are kosher and others arent.

I was going to look for a precise citation, but I think I forgot.  Anyways, I'll find one later.

yeah, no matter how long youve been at sea and how drunk you are something in the water that looks like the ass end of a five rhino pileup will not make you randy, if anything randy the cabin boy will if you get that desperate.

Jim Gaffigan says that the manatee looks kinda like a guest on the Ricki Lake Show.

Manatee: Ricki, I'm here because I'm endangered.
Audience member: Yeah, I got a question for the sea pig.
Ricki: ...sea cow.
Audience member: See, Pig, you gotta get yourself an education and a job.

sirens- the only group actually in a big legend, specifically the oddesy of homer, yet they show up seldomly in any other legends or myths. the defining charicteristic of the sirens was thier song, later coined into the phrase 'sirens song', which had a mesmerising effect on men and compelled them to try to reach the sirens at all costs.

Interestingly, do you know what the sirens were selling?  It was knowledge.  Here's the sirens' song (Fagles translation):

Never has any sailor passed our shores in his black craft
until he has heard the honeyed voices pouring from our lips,
and once he hears his heart's content sails on, a wiser man.
We know all the pains that Achaeans and Trojans once endured
on the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so--
all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!

No man of learning could pass that offer up.  In fact (for those who haven't read the Odyssey), only one man ever heard the sirens' song, and lived.  Odysseus had his men stop up their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast, so that he could hear, but be unable to act on his desires.  When Odysseus heard the song, he called out to his men to set him free, but they only bound him tighter.

[Tiger_T]

Wow! Once more some pretty interesting tidbits of knowledge.

Thank you for keeping it up!



More things to write about:

Death in persona; The Grim Reaper, the blackhooded sickle swayer, (Jack )...
The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The toothfairy
Centaurs (and other Taurs if any)
Satyr

There you go.

[Tapewolf]

You're doing Atlantis - have you got any goodies on Lemuria, Mu, Ys and Lyonesse?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

In terms of things to write about....

Let's see.

What can you tell us about spiders?
Particularly large ones. :-)

[superluser]

Death in persona; The Grim Reaper, the blackhooded sickle swayer, (Jack )...
The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Satyr

I'm leaving these for Brunhidden, but I'll add a few tidbits.

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.  This comes from Revelation 6:1-8.  I'm looking at it now (I don't know if that's cheating), and War is on a white horse with a bow and crown.  He comes conquering and to conquer.  Pestilence is on a red horse and has a sword.  He convinces people to slaughter one another.  Famine is on a black horse and carries scales.  He tells people that they'll only get a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley for a day's pay.  Death is on a pale green horse (A/K/A The Pale Horse).  Death and Famine are pretty clearly identified, but I might have War (or Sword, as identified in the NRSV) and Pestilence switched.

These are not to be confused with the Four Horsemen of the Apocralypse (the apocryphal apocalypse) of Terry Pratchett's Discworld.  Death in that case is a pretty fun character who can only be recognized as Death by those of magical inclination, or cats.  DEATH TALKS IN SMALL CAPS, but that ability has been taken away for this forum.  Pestilence talks in italics.  War and Famine speak normally, I think.

The satyr was a goatlike character in satirical plays.  The satyr character was a stock character like the chorus in Greek plays.  One of the more famous satires was the Satyricon, but I'm not sure if satyrs were present in the thing.

You're doing Atlantis - have you got any goodies on Lemuria, Mu, Ys and Lyonesse?

Ooh!  And Brazil (which the real country of Brazil was presumably named after)!

[Tapewolf]

The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

This is hardly informative, but I'm always reminded of it whenever the four horsemen come up (15-rated).  Unfortunately this sketch is right on the join, so you'll need to wind this one to about 7-8 minutes where the missionary appears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ0jT9bf74c
...and then play this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SKYpCjjnEU