5 Things I’ve Learned About Mythology and Oral Tradition
From Neil Gaiman’s ‘Norse Mythology’ to Bolivian’s ‘Grandmother Cricket,’ here are some interesting facts about myths in general.
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Tag: myths
Notes from ECCC ’17: Folklore and the Death of Belief
Belief isn’t dead. It’s just shifted around a little.
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Dispelling the Myth of Myth: More on Courage From Stories
This article continues the thoughts on the importance of stories that I touched on in “Madeleine L’Engle on Courage From Stories” earlier this week.
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Literary SFF: ‘The Buried Giant’ by Kazuo Ishiguro
‘The Buried Giant’: A novel filled with layers and multiple meanings that might just be a work of genius.
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In Defense of Santa Claus
Maybe the Christmas Spirit would be purer if, instead of less Santa, we had more Santa– if we all had the courage and the heart to give regardless of what we might get back.
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Literary SFF – Salman Rushdie and ‘1001 Nights’ – Redux
Salman Rushdie writes about superheroes for our first investigation into literary SFF.
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The Green Snot Myth
Myeloperoxidase, a mostly helpful enzyme, has been the catalyst for one of the most widespread medical myths in the modern age: The Green Snot Myth.
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Kickstarter Alert: MERCS Recon – Cooperative Squad Based Board Game
You like really good cooperative board games? Well Megacon Games (creators of MYTH) just announced the official Kickstarter for their new cooperative board game MERCS Recon.
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Pirates: Myths vs. Facts
Hollywood and pirate novels would have you believe that pirates were swashbucklers living a life of pleasure on the seas, fighting only when they had to. They make it easy to see past the fact that they were stealing gold and other valuables by making the people they were stealing it from seem worse than them. Well, I enjoy Talk Like a Pirate Day as much as most other geeks, but I think it’s important to add a dose of reality. So I’m here to dispel some of the more popular myths about pirates, and to confirm a few as well.
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Greeking Out With Mythology Books for Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
For Greek mythology geeks excited about the latest Percy Jackson film, Michael Townsend’s graphic novel offers hilarious fun.
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Myth Board Game Opening Kickstarter Stretch Goals to Public Pre-Order
The fine folks over at MERCS miniatures have opened up pre-orders to the public for the Myth board game until June 17th, and you can qualify for all of the Myth Kickstarter stretch goals.
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Stormdancer: The Lotus War Book One
Japanese steampunk. Yeah, I said Japanese steampunk. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff is a dystopian feudal Japan setting with Iron Samurai wielding chainsaw katanas. Chainsaw katanas. It is a well-done kung-fu movie as a book, but with a female heroine, and a detailed new fantasy setting.
Continue ReadingMyth: A Fully Cooperative Dungeon Crawl Board Game Kickstarter
It’s difficult to find a cooperative dungeon crawl adventure that doesn’t require one of the players to play against their friends as the dungeon master, crypt keeper, or overlord. I’m very excited to see that MERCS Miniatures is Kickstarting a …
Continue ReadingBullspotting: Finding Facts in the Age of Misinformation
Georgia attorney Loren Collins, in his new book, Bullspotting, takes aim at the logical fallacies that underlie many of today’s most popular delusions. Where websites such as Snopes and the About Urban Legends page diligently catalog and refute individual examples …
Continue ReadingWhat Do Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lion King Have In Common?
Joseph Campbell. The famed American mythologist identified an underlying structure within stories and religions around the world. He called it “the hero’s journey.” Ultimately it has to do with each person’s search for the unknowable force that creates and sustains all that exists. This is expressed differently throughout history and is affected by culture, […]
Continue ReadingA Tradition of Storytelling Tales From The New Inn by Owen Staton
There’s something delicious about hearing a tale as told by a true storyteller. I’m not talking about hearing one read aloud from a book, but rather hearing one told with the drama and passion of someone whose voice becomes the story. Someone who makes the words come alive in your head and in your heart until you can […]
Continue ReadingDoes a Five-Weekend July Come Only Every 823 Years? (Spoiler Alert: No.)
Last October, you may have seen a “fact” from your email/Facebook/Twitter friends (you know the ones) that the month would have five weekends–five Fridays, five Saturdays, and five Sundays–and that that happens only once every 823 years. Now the “fact” is showing up again since the same thing will happen in July 2011. But just […]
Continue ReadingThe Science of Santa: Doubts Debunked
Naysayers of the existence of Santa have been rather vocal in years past. They come armed with all sorts of defenses as to why a single man in a red suit could never accomplish all he claims to do each and every Christmas Eve. Everything from the toys to the sleigh to the reindeer to […]
Continue ReadingGeek Stuff to Do: MythCon 2009
It’s well known that George Lucas used Joseph Campbell’s writings as the basis for Luke Skywalker’s heroic journey in Star Wars. But to the people of Mythopoeic Society, Campbell is just a short paragraph in a long-running book of how …
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