Humberto Garcia Religion 110 Professor W. Raver Popol Vuh Myths organize the way we perceive and

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

Since the dawn of time, mankind relied on water as a precious “essence of life.” And perhaps the roots of the admirable perspective of all religions across the world toward water could be sought trough this undeniable reliance of humans on water. There were a time even when magnificent philosophers of the prehistoric civilizations from Greece, Egypt, Babylonia to Japan, Tibet, and China believed that the complexity of nature could be explained trough a pack of five fundamental elements included water. And even times when the greatest minds of the ancient era believed that the universe was made out of water or “why else would the gods drop water from the heavens, allow it to flow into rivers and eventually to the oceans, and require that all

Myths are not solely a matter of representation, but are narratives of value within a culture that is paradigmatic, authoritative and applicable. Paden explains that within religious worlds, myths set the foundation that shape people’s way of life. Subsequently, they shape societies moral compasses and beliefs. The creation story in the bible is sort of a grounding prototype that shaped the belief of the catholic church. This story shows how myth is being applied and used to orient people to a higher power both in the past and currently. It is also a characteristic of myth as it tries to explain life’s fundamental questions. This relates to Paden’s thoughts about myth being labelled as more than just a language, but one with an authoritative

Throughout the world myths are used to teach morals and spread information in a way that is entertaining and delightful to children and adults alike. One popular type of story is the creation myth. In the story of “The World on a Turtle’s Back” the Iroquois people live in harmony and balance with nature, whereas the Cherokee in “The story of Corn and Medicine” work against nature.

Then God made the land and water. He named the land “earth” and the water was called “sea”. Plants and animals were put on the land and fish and the other water creatures were in the sea. There were birds that flew above land. God told the all the animals, the fish, and the birds to be fruitful and multiply.

Due to the ineptness of the books I will attempt to make these occurrences in short precise detail. Most importantly, I will give my final interpretation of the symbolic meaning of how the word the word “Water.” Is used in my own personal life. So to recap this will be in a Factual, spiritual, imaginative, and most important my personal revelation…

Next water is used to create the world. Naturally, the universe-- God or no God-- used water to increase algaculture, breed animals, and mature humans. In East Asia, water is an element used Yin. In the Eight Trigrams, water is included. This is represented as a double Yin line outside of a single Yang line. The legend says that Brahma, a Hindu God that created the world, was born in water. This important God is also linked to the lotus flower that represents purity and beauty. For this religion, water is connected to growth and development. On the other hand, in Christianity water is a gift of eternal life. God said, "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Thus,

s paper one will discuss two myths from different cultures. The two myths chosen for this paper are the Genesis creation (Hebrew origin) of the Christian culture, and the Norse culture of Iceland (the Vikings). Both of these creation myths start with an emptiness where conflict and chaos eventually develop. The Genesis crearion is between God, nothing, blackness, emptiness, loneliness, and the need to create something. The Norse creation is between the dark cold realm of Niflheim, within the emptiness of Ginnungagap, and the fiery realm of Muspell, where nothing can grow.

Myths are things people believe to be true that are not actually true. Webster’s online dictionary defines a myth as “an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution” (myth).

Maize was the most important food to the Mayan people. Found in the modern day pyramid temple, in Copan, Honduras the Mayan maize God statue was accompanied by many other maize God statues. The Mayan people believed if they decapitated the Mayan maize God at the beginning of each harvest the God would be reborn at the beginning of each season. The Mayan people believed that the death and re-birth of the Mayan maize God was a symbol of the cycle of the seasons, as the maize crops would die in the winter months and be re-born in the spring. The Mayan people relied heavily on the maize harvest to return each year.

The body of water (likely meant to be the Nile River) where land first rose was dark and disorderly. The Earth represented order from which there was none.

Water is always looked at as the birthplace of life on earth , and in Beloved Toni Morrison uses it as a symbol In Beloved Toni Morrison uses places, characters and things to create symbols to symbolize larger picture ideas. One symbol that I want to draw attention to is the symbol of water. Water is proven to be where all the life on earth started and in the novel Morrison brings back that notion of how life started. Water appears many times throughout the story and was not implemented on accident by Morrison. Water is used to symbolize theme elements such as birth/rebirth as well as baptism.

Greek mythology is the myths and legends the ancient Greeks centred their lives around. The ancient Greeks used it to explain the events and components of the world around them. Their religion included gods and heroes, creation stories, and the origins of their civilisations and rituals. It is topic that had been studied and examined in great depth for thousands of years. This fascinating religion's messages and influences are reflected in today’s modern society, and many similarities can be found between Greek mythology and modern religions, such as Christianity. This proposal will outline the research and project I hope to successfully complete.

When Campbell suggested to study mythology with an open mind, he means to set a side your personal views. Particularly your religious and scientific beliefs, because you will venture into different ideologies of the world’s ancient civilizations. Even thought I was raised as a catholic with one God, there might be stories that will challenge my own faith. To Illustrated, the biblical story which I was told since a child of how God made the first woman Eve out of Adam’s ribs. However, there are other parallel myths in which the first women were created from the left knee of the first man instead. But I must read it with objectiveness not letting my personal beliefs get clouded my judgment. That is the beauty of this course, that we can become

When this word “myth” is used, the term is usually related to a fable, invention or a fiction story. Over the years, many scholars started approaching the study of myth differently. These scholars have approach myths in a way their meaning was traditionally regarded. In many traditions these myth are true stories and never refer to as false stories. ( http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/whatismyth.htm )