Tag Archives: myth

The Gentle Giant

Nationality: Spanish

Primary Language: Spanish/English

Age: 25

Occupation: Student

Residence: Madrid

Date: 3/28/2024

Text: 

The Basajaun is a large, hairy human-like creature that we believe as Basques. He is believed to be a gentle giant, guardian of the woods, that helped our ancestors with agriculture and helped keep livestock alive. One of our mythological creatures that is believed to be the friend of Baque Shepherds. 

Context:

The participant has known this mythological creature for as long as he can remember and explains its origin from his hometown, Basque Country. He believes his parents first told him about it as they explained there were other entities that helped their agriculture. 

Analysis:

This mythological creature reminds me of the agriculturally used mannequin, scarecrow, as they most scare away predators from eating entering their agricultural lands. Although the Basajaun is more human-like and is able to communicate with the farmers. This myth relates more to the Basque country’s history though and their first homo-sapien ancestors, as they possibly encountered another civilization that taught them the intricacies of agriculture. 

Zodiac Animal Order Origin

Context: the informant is a 21 year old USC student and the daughter of 2 Taiwanese immigrants. She told me that this was the story of how the zodiac animals were ordered the way they were, and said it was a story she learned growing up

The story goes that one day, the gods held a contest for all the animals. She was unsure exactly if the animals had been chosen beforehand or if it was for all the animals, but essentially, twelve animals were in competition with each other, and the ones that completed the race first would be earlier in the zodiac cycle. The biggest obstacle in this course was a large river. The rat, which is first, won by jumping onto the ox and waiting for it to ford the river normally; once the ox had crossed, the rat ran further ahead, which is why the rat is first and the ox is second. The tiger came next, with the rabbit following quickly after as it had to jump across logs to make it across the river. The dragon was fifth, as it had stopped to help others out on the way. The snake and horse came next; the horse was initially first, but was scared by the snake and fell behind. The monkey, rooster, and sheep followed after, having tried to help each other through. The dog came second to last, and the pig came last, as it had accidentally fallen asleep during the race. The order that the animals arrived in was the solidified zodiac order.

Analysis: this is very much a myth about the origins of the Chinese zodiac calendar, attaching stories to animals in a way similar to how ancient Greek constellations were categorized. It’s not a story that’s meant to be questioned — only to be believed. The informant and her family don’t necessarily believe in this directly but they know the story regardless, and believe that children born in different zodiac years carry different qualities. I’ve been friends with many East Asian kids growing up, and all of their parents attach different qualities to the zodiac years, much in the way that Westerners typically do with astrology. They’re aware that it acts as a sort of pseudo-science, but this does not affect their belief in it, which stands in line with the idea that myths are not questioned, only believed.

A Hindu Creation Story

Nationality: Indian, American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): N/A

Age: 19 yrs

Occupation: Student

Residence: Frisco, Texas

Performance Date: 1/18/2024

Text:

“Nah I don’t really believe in god. My parents when I grew up told me about The Hymn of Creation from this Hindu scripture. Basically I grew up thinking that nobody knows how the universe came into being and that the idea of one singular being God is like, not as realistic as you would think. I mean the concept wasn’t drilled into my head at all or anything like that so that specific Hindu based ideal never really crossed my mind again but it did form my idea of God and creation.”

Context:

My informant, PL, is a friend of mine from my freshman year at USC from Frisco, Texas. I talked with him and a bunch of my friends about our beliefs in God after one of us asked that question randomly during a 2am walk outside of campus. We all gave our answers and PL gave his, saying he doesn’t believe anymore but did. I asked him to elaborate on this later in time and that is what he said.

Analysis:

In my research I found that this creation Myth is well known in Hindu culture. The Hymn of Creation is from the Rig Veda: the oldest and most sacred Hindu scripture, which concludes that, as PL said, nobody knows how the universe came into being, and even questions whether anyone or thing could know. This ideal was founded in between 1500 and 1000 BCE and explained that the God Indra, in particular, is the creator of This world. Scriptures say that “He separated heaven and earth, made them two … The act of creative violation and the power of keeping apart the pair so that they become Father Heaven and Mother Earth … is the test by which a creator god establishes his supremacy. … He is hero and artist in one.” It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the world but not fully the universe. This well known Hindu creation story was seemingly passed down through generations is PL’s family, which is well versed in Hindu culture. I personally don’t know what to believe myself, but this creation story is one I’ve never heard of, and sounds very intricate and massive in Hindu mythology. 

The Land that Howls

Nationality: Ethiopian/Italian

Primary Language: English

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Residence: Los Angeles

Date: 2/20/2024


Text:

“In Eritrea, there is a town named Nefasit, meaning the village of the wind nested in the mountain highlands. Because of its high elevation, the wind frequently picks up and due to the shape of the surrounding mountains will make a lot of loud sounds. They say that the sound comes from our ancestors reaching out to us, and that the tone of the sounds lets us know of their intention. 

When the wind howls, it is them warning us to stay vigilant as danger nears. And sometimes when the wind hits the mountains the right way it vibrates everything with a humming that sounds like music. This means that the ancestors are pleased with our decisions and that good fortune is upon us, usually in the form of a woman blessed with a child or a fruitful new season.”

Context: He recounts the story behind a region in his motherland Eritrea. This is a known story that he heard growing up through his family. He explained also how important nature is in the country of Eritrea and how they are very in tune with the land around them. Therefore they listen and take in signs that mother nature is trying to show them and use it as a vice to predict the future. 

Analysis: It was really charming learning how a piece of folklore was so interconnected to mother nature. A distinguished tie to nature is rare from my own community, so hearing another community’s strong acknowledgement to nature and how that ties into their traditions is very insightful. My interpretation of the story is that the people of that region are very in tune with their surroundings and have gone through centuries of receiving signs from their environment that indicate fortune or misfortune. 

The Bunyip

Nationality: Australian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: 530 W. 27th st. Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/01/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “When Europeans first came to Australia they were worried about the native people–they did not really understand that it was a foreign place. There was a thing according to native Australians that would hang out in watering holes and billabongs called the Bunyip, and apparently it was some kind of water monster. There is no consensus description of it–some people say it looks like an ape, others say hippo or octopus, there’s a lot of variety. It’s mainly a thing in the northeast, because that’s where a lot of rivers and watering holes are. You don’t hear as much about it in Western Australia, but people still know what it is. The idea is if you go in the water, it will drown you or kill and eat you. I first heard it when I was very little from my parents–I mean there’s books about it and stuff too.”

Context: My informant, TC, communicated the legend of the Drop Bears with me and our other two roommates as we cooked a feast on a Saturday afternoon. This is a common setting for storytelling in our apartment. He first heard this story from his parents at a young age. TC’s relationship to the legend is closely intertwined with his age and maturity–as a very young boy, he believed in and feared the Bunyip, but as he aged he overcame this fear and has come of the age that is responsible for passing the legend down to younger generations. He interprets the legend as a regional cautionary story and as an entertainment piece for believers in the obscure. 

Analysis: In my interpretation, the legend of the Bunyip offers insights into both the Australian outlook on reality and into the historical attitude of aboriginals about Europeans. Nature in Australia can be particularly fatal to unprepared individuals, so it was no surprise that children are often the target audience when the legend of the Bunyip is told. Its aboriginal origin, however, does leave some room for interpretation–to me, it is unclear whether natives simply told Europeans about the Bunyip just to share culture, or if they were looking to play a joke or ward off unwelcome settlers. That being said, similar to Oring’s estimation of in-group folklore, I interpret this legend as a show of local knowledge relative to outsider ignorance–to an unfamiliar European, after seeing some of Australia’s unique wildlife, it would not be outrageous to believe a local explaining the legend of the Bunyip. This legend also highlights the Australian attachment to nature as the Bunyip inhabits watering holes, which historically have been crucial to survival for groups living in drier areas; the dangers of the legend indicate a great respect for the natural world and its power over humans.