Al’s Comments (group member since Jun 15, 2009)

Al’s comments from the mythos group.

I've been trying to convince my library to invest in a copy of Age of Ra. I'm looking forward to reading it when they do.

I haven't heard of "The Age of Ra." You'll have to let me know if it's any good. Maybe I'll check it out.

How about The Hounds of the Morrigan and Warriors of Alavna? Both of those are rooted in Celtic myths.

Sorry. My school is pretty big on unique research projects. They have us trained so well that the strangest things will pop into my head as thesis topics.

Yeah. He pulled a lot as do many writers. Although it can get annoying when a writer uses a creature or god from mythology without doing the research. Some things you read are just wrong beyond what creative license should allow.

I don't know if you're into research, Andrew, but if you do end up studying creative writing you could totally do a study on "creative mythologies." You know, like how fiction evolves from mythology or rather how much mythology seeps into our culture as portrayed in literature. It could make for an interesting thesis. (although I would assume creative writing majors would have portfolios instead of a senior thesis as their capstone project.)

Andrew wrote: "on a side note I just returned from a road trip/vacation - I saw the king tut exhibit in SF, it was awsome"

Isn't it amazing?! The Tut exhibit has got to be my second favorite of all the museum exhibits I've seen. It was wonderful. There was so much found in his tomb! It really was a great break for Egyptology.

BTW what is creative mythology? Do you mean fictional mythologies like what is created by authors i.e. J. R. R. TOLKIEN?

These are the schools I found with the folklore major if anyone is interested.

Laurentian University
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Université Laval
University of Alberta
Marlboro College

This topic kind of got started in another thread, but I thought I'd start a new discussion with it.

Do any of you study mythology in university? If so what is the major called? I tried to find some schools in the states with majors in ancient myths. The best I came up with was ethnic and cultural studies and folktales. Does anyone know what those majors are about? Would they cover ancient cultures?

Christine wrote: "Hey Alex, thanks for the tip about Christian Jacq, I got his first five books in his seires about Ramses 11 off ebay! Looking forward to reading them!"

His Ramses books are great. I've read the first five too. I've read through the fourth book I think. I can't remember if I've read the fifth yet, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them. I know I am.

Really? That's awesome! I will have to look into that.

Actually Andrew I don't study it. This stuff is really just kind of a hobby of mine. I know a lot about ancient Egyptian mythology because I've been "studying" it on my own since I was a kid.

Are there majors that are specifically for ancient mythologies? It would be so amazing to be able to take classes on this stuff, but my current college schedule is too busy. I'm a double major in English and Deaf Education. Perhaps after when I have time and funds...

Absolutely... Set is also known as Seth and, as some claim, Seti (although personally I think this was just a name people took that was derived from the god's name; I don't know of any actual documents that refer to the god as Seti). He's the god of infertility and chaos, commonly associated with desert storms. He was represented as a strange, possibly extinct, sort of dog-like animal with a forked tail or a man with this unknown animal's head.

As far as myths go, if you know about Horus's revenge then I assume you know the story of his murderous power struggle with his brother Osris. There is also the story of his birth (which occured violently on a day outside of the year those causing this dangerous day to be dubbed one of the five "days of the demons") from Nut, the sky goddess, and the Book of the Dead describes him in one instance defending Ra/Re from Apophis the serpent demon.

At certain periods in history the mother goddess of Anat was held as Set's consort by various ancient Egyptian cults, some scholars believe this was a tribute to the belief that chaos is not necessarily evil and can exist among the benevolent. Another of his consorts was the war and funeral goddess Neith who bore him a son, the crocodile god Sobek. His sister Nephthys was yet another of his lovers.

There are many stories of his various exploits. Although, now that I think of it I don't know of any myths that only involve Set; he is usually discussed according to his relations with other gods and goddesses. The most common, obviously have to do with Osris and Horus. The others are mainly associeted with either his son or his current consort of the time period.

Christine, Christian Jacq is a great writer and Egyptologist. He writes both non-fiction and historical fiction. You'll find some great reads on ancient Egyptian culture and, if I'm not mistaken, myths if you follow his works.

Also, the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (the acutal one, not the explanations of it or the modern adaptations and fictional books by the same name) has a lot about the religious practices of the ancient Egyptians. You'll need some background knowledge for that one though. It was a work of the priests that was included in the tombs of many of their important dead, so it assumes that you are familiar with the religion. I would think you should be able to find some editions that explain the in-depth beliefs though.

I got hooked while studying ancient Egyptian culture (which I started in second grade after a genealogy project). You can't look at a culture without also looking at their myths. One culture led to another, and well, here I am.

Andrew wrote: "The Norse ROCK THE HOUSE
greek is cool to

all hail the Allfather!!!!"

You can't read the Norse and not love them!

So what got you started reading myths?

Sure. A good book to start with is Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Religion. It'll give you a good overview of some of the more important, and therefore more well-known, myths as well as get you familiar with some important names and symbols you will need to know to get more in-depth into other myths of ancient Egypt. When I started studying Egyptian mythology I was seven, so a lot of the my basics came from children's books or books that at least could be understood by someone that age. I think however if you read this one you should be fine with some of the other books I might recommend. Let me know what you think of this one, and I'll get you some more titles (I have to try and remember them all!)

Whose myths do you absolutely love to learn more about? Which culture has your favorite folktales?

For me, it is the ancient Egyptians. I can never learn enough about their mythology.