Imperial guardian lion (獅)
Alternative Names (異名):
獅, Shi, Imperial guardian lion, Fu Lion, Fu Dog, Foo Dog
An imperial guardian lion, also called a Fu Lion or a Foo Dog, and called Shi (獅) in Chinese, is a kind of statue believed to have powerful mythic protective powers that has traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, temples, emperors' tombs, government offices, and the homes of government officials and the wealthy from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), until the end of the empire in 1911. In Greater Tibet, the guardian lion is known as a Snow Lion and similar to Japanese shishi. Imperial guardian lions are still common decorative and symbolic elements at the entrances to restaurants, hotels, and other structures. In Myanmar they are called Chinthe and gave their name to the World WarChindit soldiers.
The lions are traditionally carved from decorative stone such as marble and granite or cast in bronze or iron. Because of the high cost of these materials and the labor required to produce them, private use of Imperial guardian lions was traditionally reserved for wealthy or elite families. Indeed, a traditional symbol of a family's wealth or social status was the placement of Imperial guardian lions in front of the family home. However, in modern times less expensive lions, mass produced in concrete and resin, have become available and their use therefore no longer restricted to the elite.
The lions are generally present in pairs, with the female on the left and the male on the right. The male lion has his right paw on a ball, which represents the "flower of life" The female is essentially identical, but has a single cub under her left paw. Symbolically, the female fu dog protects those dwelling inside, while the male guards the structure. Sometimes the female has her mouth closed, and the male open. This symbolizes the enunciation of the sacred word "om". However, Japanese adaptions state that the male is inhaling, representing life, while the female exhales, representing death. Other styles have both lions with a single large pearl in each of their partially opened mouths. The pearl is carved so that it can roll about in the lion's mouth but sized just large enough so that it can never be removed.
Interestingly, the lion is not indigenous to China. When Buddhist travelers, probably out to trade, brought stories about lions to China, Chinese sculptors modeled statues of lions after the travelers' descriptions--and after native dogs, since no one in China had seen a lion with his or her own eyes. The mythic version of the animal was originally introduced to Han China as the Buddhist protector of dharma. Gradually they were transformed into guardians of the Imperial dharma, and some Qing realizations of them came to look more like the dogs of Fo. (Compare the Chow Chow, Pekingese, Shi Tzu, Shar-Pei, and Pug breeds.) These beasts have been found in art as early as 208 BC. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the ruling Manchu derived their name from the Manjushri Buddha, who rides on a lion.
The beast is sometimes associated with feng shui or Buddhism. Fu means 'happiness' in Chinese; however, the term "Fu Dog" and its variants are not used in Chinese. Instead, they are known as Rui Shi (瑞獅) ("auspicious lions") or simply Shi ("lions").
There are various styles of imperial guardian lions reflecting influences from different time periods, imperial dynasties, and regions of China. These styles vary in their artistic detail and adornment as well as in the depiction of the lions from fierce to serene.
Asiatic lions found in nearby India are the ones depicted in the Chinese culture.
See also
Culture of China
Chinese dragon
Door god
Lion dance, another use of lion imagery in costume and motion.
Shisa similar lion statues on the islands of Okinawa, Japan
Nian (年獸) to compare with a similar but horned (unicorn) mythical beast
Pixiu to compare with a similar but winged mythical beast
Haetae to compare with similar lion-like statues in Korea
Koma-inu to compare its use in Japanese culture
Chinese mythology
Asiatic lions found in nearby India are the ones depicted in the Chinese culture.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/imperial_guardian_lion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese architectural history | Chinese mythology | Mythological dogs | Chinese culture | Buddhist mythology
Saturday, January 16, 1988
Friday, September 12, 1986
Huli jing (狐狸精, Chinese)
Huli jing
Alternative Names (異名):
狐狸精, húli jīng, Huli jing, Fox spirit
Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精; Pinyin: húli jīng; huli means fox, and jing means spirit) in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries or to the Japanese kitsune. Huli jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits.
In mythology
In Chinese mythology, it is believed that all things are capable of acquiring human forms, magical powers, and immortality, provided that they receive sufficient energy, in such forms as human breath or essence from the moon and the sun.
The fox spirits encountered in tales and legends are usually females and appear as young, beautiful women. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was Daji (妲己), who is portrayed in the Ming novel Fengshen Yanyi. A beautiful daughter of a general, she was married forcibly to the cruel tyrant Zhou Xin (紂辛 Zhòu Xīn). A nine-tailed fox spirit who served Nüwa, whom Zhou Xin had offended, entered into and possessed her body, expelling the true Daji's soul. The spirit, as Daji, and her new husband schemed cruelly and invented many devices of torture, such as forcing righteous officials to hug red-hot metal pillars.[1] Because of such cruelties, many people, including Zhou Xin's own former generals, revolted and fought against Zhou Xin's dynasty, Shang. Finally, King Wen of Zhou, one of the vassals of Shang, founded a new dynasty named after his country. The fox spirit in Daji's body was later driven out by Jiang Ziya (姜子牙), the first Prime Minister of the Zhou Dynasty.
Typically fox spirits were seen as dangerous, but some of the stories in Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi are love stories between a fox appearing as a beautiful girl and a young human male.
In modern Mandarin and Cantonese slang, the term huli jing is a derogatory expression describing a woman who seduces a man ("gold digging").
The fox spirit has also been used as an explanatory factor in the incidence of attacks of koro, an ethnic psychosis found in Southern China and Malaysia in particular.
In popular culture
The main character of Victor Pelevin's novel "The Sacred Book of Werewolf" (Russian: Священная Книга Оборотня) is inspired by the Chinese fox spirit.
In Pokemon, the creature Ninetales is a fox with nine tails.
In the anime Naruto, the lead character has the spirit of the nine tailed fox trapped within him.
See also
Kumiho (九尾狐), a Korean fox spirit
Kitsune (狐, きつね), a Japanese fox spirit
Jade Pipa
Da Ji (妲己)
Trickster
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huli_jing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese mythology | Shapeshifting | Chinese legendary creatures | Fictional foxes | Fairies
Alternative Names (異名):
狐狸精, húli jīng, Huli jing, Fox spirit
Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精; Pinyin: húli jīng; huli means fox, and jing means spirit) in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries or to the Japanese kitsune. Huli jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits.
In mythology
In Chinese mythology, it is believed that all things are capable of acquiring human forms, magical powers, and immortality, provided that they receive sufficient energy, in such forms as human breath or essence from the moon and the sun.
The fox spirits encountered in tales and legends are usually females and appear as young, beautiful women. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was Daji (妲己), who is portrayed in the Ming novel Fengshen Yanyi. A beautiful daughter of a general, she was married forcibly to the cruel tyrant Zhou Xin (紂辛 Zhòu Xīn). A nine-tailed fox spirit who served Nüwa, whom Zhou Xin had offended, entered into and possessed her body, expelling the true Daji's soul. The spirit, as Daji, and her new husband schemed cruelly and invented many devices of torture, such as forcing righteous officials to hug red-hot metal pillars.[1] Because of such cruelties, many people, including Zhou Xin's own former generals, revolted and fought against Zhou Xin's dynasty, Shang. Finally, King Wen of Zhou, one of the vassals of Shang, founded a new dynasty named after his country. The fox spirit in Daji's body was later driven out by Jiang Ziya (姜子牙), the first Prime Minister of the Zhou Dynasty.
Typically fox spirits were seen as dangerous, but some of the stories in Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi are love stories between a fox appearing as a beautiful girl and a young human male.
In modern Mandarin and Cantonese slang, the term huli jing is a derogatory expression describing a woman who seduces a man ("gold digging").
The fox spirit has also been used as an explanatory factor in the incidence of attacks of koro, an ethnic psychosis found in Southern China and Malaysia in particular.
In popular culture
The main character of Victor Pelevin's novel "The Sacred Book of Werewolf" (Russian: Священная Книга Оборотня) is inspired by the Chinese fox spirit.
In Pokemon, the creature Ninetales is a fox with nine tails.
In the anime Naruto, the lead character has the spirit of the nine tailed fox trapped within him.
See also
Kumiho (九尾狐), a Korean fox spirit
Kitsune (狐, きつね), a Japanese fox spirit
Jade Pipa
Da Ji (妲己)
Trickster
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huli_jing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese mythology | Shapeshifting | Chinese legendary creatures | Fictional foxes | Fairies
Saturday, September 6, 1986
Hsigo (Chinese)
Hsigo
Alternative Names (異名):
Hsigo
In Chinese legend, hsigo are flying monkeys with human faces and wings.
The flying monkeys in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz could be considered hsigo.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsigo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs | Oz stubs
Alternative Names (異名):
Hsigo
In Chinese legend, hsigo are flying monkeys with human faces and wings.
The flying monkeys in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz could be considered hsigo.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsigo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Chinese mythology | Chinese mythology stubs | Oz stubs
Tuesday, June 5, 1984
Greenland shark
The Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus, also known as the sleeper shark, gurry shark, ground shark, grey shark, or by the Inuit languages name Eqalussuaq, is a large shark native to the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland and Iceland. These sharks live farther north than any other shark species. They are closely related to the Pacific sleeper shark. This is one of the largest species of shark, of dimensions comparable to those of the great white shark. Large Greenland sharks grow to 6.4 metres (21 ft) and 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb), and possibly up to 7.3 metres (24 ft) and more than 1,400 kilograms (3,100 lb). However, most greenland sharks observed have been around 3–4.8 metres (9.8–15.7 ft) long and weigh up to 400 kilograms (880 lb). It rivals the Pacific sleeper shark (possibly up to 7 m or 23 ft long) as the largest species in the family Somniosidae. There are no reliable data on their life span, but fully grown Greenland sharks have been recaptured 16 years after being tagged.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
Sunday, March 18, 1984
Gorgon (Greek myth)
Gorgon
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon (plural: Gorgons) (Greek: Γοργών or Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) was a terrifying female creature. It derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying gaze that turned those who beheld it to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not, and was slain by the mythical hero Perseus.
Gorgons were a popular image of Greek mythology, appearing in the earliest of written records of Ancient Greek religious beliefs such as those of Homer. Because of their legendary gaze, images of the Gorgons were put upon objects and buildings for protection. For example, an image of a Gorgon holds the primary location at the pediment of the temple at Corfu. It is the oldest stone pediment in Greece and is dated to c. 600 BC.
Classical tradition
Gorgons sometimes are depicted as having wings of gold, brazen claws, the tusks of boars, but most often with the fangs and skin of a serpent. The oldest oracles were said to be protected by serpents and a Gorgon image often was associated with those temples. Lionesses or sphinxes frequently are associated with the Gorgon as well. The powerful image of the Gorgon was adopted for the classical images and myths of Zeus and Athena, perhaps being worn in continuation of a more ancient imagery. The Gorgons were said to be the daughters of the sea god Phorcys and sister Ceto the sea monster.
Homer, the author of the oldest known work of European literature, speaks only of one Gorgon, whose head is represented in the Iliad as fixed in the center of the aegis of Zeus:
"About her shoulders she flung the tasselled aegis, fraught with terror...and therein is the head of the dread monster, the Gorgon, dread and awful, a portent of Zeus that beareth the aegis."(5.735ff)
Its earthly counterpart is a device on the shield of Agamemnon:
"...and therein was set as a crown the Gorgon, grim of aspect, glaring terribly, and about her were Terror and Rout."(11.35ff)
The date of Homer was controversial in antiquity, and is no less so today. Herodotus said that Homer lived 400 years before his own day, which would place Homer about 850 BC; but other ancient sources gave dates much closer to the Trojan War. Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War derive from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the twelfth or eleventh centuries BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 1194–1184 BC, which roughly corresponds with archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VIIa. For modern scholarship, 'the date of Homer' refers to the date of the poems as much as to the lifetime of an individual.
The scholarly consensus is that "the Iliad and the Odyssey date from the extreme end of the ninth century BC or from the eighth, the Iliad being anterior to the Odyssey, perhaps by some decades." They are presumed to have existed as an oral tradition that eventually became set in historical records. Even at that early time the Gorgon is displayed as a vestige of ancient powers that preceded the historical transition to the beliefs of the Classical Greeks, displayed on the chest of Athene and Zeus.
In the Odyssey, the Gorgon is a monster of the underworld to which the earliest deities were cast:
"...and pale fear seized me, lest august Persephone might send forth upon me from out of the house of Hades the head of the Gorgon, that awful monster..."(11.635)
Around 700 BC, Hesiod (Theogony, Shield of Heracles) increases the number of Gorgons to three—Stheno (the mighty), Euryale (the far-springer), and Medusa (the queen), and makes them the daughters of the sea-god Phorcys and of Keto. Their home is on the farthest side of the western ocean; according to later authorities, in Libya. Ancient Libya is identified as a possible source of the deity, Neith, who was called Athene in Greece.
The Attic tradition, reproduced in Euripides (Ion), regarded the Gorgon as a monster, produced by Gaia to aid her children, the Titans, against the new Olympian deities and she was slain by Athena, who wore her skin thereafter. Of the three Gorgons, only Medusa is mortal.
Apollodorus, c. 180–120 BC, (11.2.6, 2.4.1, 22.4.2) provides a good summary of the Gorgon myth. Much later stories claim that each of three Gorgon sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, had snakes for hair, and that they had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.
According to Ovid (Metamorphoses), a Roman poet writing in 8 AD who was noted for accuracy regarding the Greek myths, Medusa alone had serpents in her hair, and that this was due to Athena (Roman Minerva) cursing her. Medusa had copulated with Poseidon (Roman Neptune) in a temple of Athena after he was aroused by the golden color of Medusa's hair. Athena therefore changed the enticing golden locks into serpents.
Pausanias (5.10.4, 8.47.5, many other places), a geographer of the second century A.D., supplies the details of where and how the Gorgons were represented in Greek art and architecture.
Perseus and Medusa
In late myths, Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was not immortal; hence Perseus was able to kill her by cutting off her head while looking at her in the reflection of a bronze mirrored shield he supposedly got from Athena.
Some authors say that Perseus was armed with a scythe by Hermes (Mercury) and a mirror (or a shield) by Athena (Minerva). Whether the mirrored shield or the scythe, these weapons allowed him to defeat Medusa easily. From the blood that spurted from her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, her sons by Poseidon. Other sources say that each drop of blood became a snake. He gave the head, which had the power of turning into stone all who looked upon it, to Athena, who placed it on the shield called Aegis which she gave to Zeus. According to another account, Perseus buried it in the marketplace of Argos.
According to other accounts, either he or Athena used the head of Medusa to freeze Atlas into stone, transforming him into the Atlas Mountains that held up both heaven and earth. He also used it against a competing suitor. Ultimately, he used it against King Polydectes, who originally had sent him to kill Medusa in hopes of getting him out of the way, while he pursued Perseus's mother, Danae.
So the story goes, Perseus returned to the court of King Polydectes, who sat at his throne with Danae. The king asked if Perseus has the head of Medusa, and he replied "here it is" and held it aloft, turning the whole court to stone.
Protective and healing powers
In Ancient Greece a Gorgoneion (or stone head, engraving, or drawing of a Gorgon face, often with snakes protruding wildly and the tongue sticking out between her fangs) frequently was used as an apotropaic symbol and placed on doors, walls, floors, coins, shields, breastplates, and tombstones in the hopes of warding off evil. In this regard Gorgoneia are similar to the sometimes grotesque faces on Chinese soldiers’ shields, also used generally as an amulet, a protection against the evil eye.
In Greek mythology, blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon could bring the dead back to life, yet blood taken from the left side was an instantly fatal poison. Athena gave a vial of the healing blood to Asclepius, which ultimately brought about his demise. Heracles is said to have obtained a lock of Medusa’s hair (which possessed the same powers as the head) from Athena and to have given it to Sterope, the daughter of Cepheus, as a protection for the town of Tegea against attack. According to the later idea of Medusa as a beautiful maiden, whose hair had been changed into snakes by Athena, the head was represented in works of art with a wonderfully handsome face, wrapped in the calm repose of death.
Origins
The concept of the Gorgon is at least as old in mythology as Perseus and Zeus. The name is Greek, being derived from "gorgos" and translating as terrible. Other scholars find the goddess to have early origins in Ancient Greek religion.
Author Marija Gimbutas (Language of the Goddess) believed she saw the prototype of the Gorgoneion in Neolithic art motifs, especially in anthropomorphic vases and terracotta masks inlaid with gold.
The large eyes, as well as Athena's "flashing" eyes, are symbols termed "the divine eyes" by Gimbutas (who did not originate the perception), appearing also in Athena's bird, the owl. They can be represented by spirals, wheels, concentric circles, swastikas, firewheels, and other images.
The fangs of the Gorgons are those of snakes and are likely derived from the guardians closely associated with early Greek religious concepts at the centers of oracles. In some cruder representations such as the image just above to the right, blood flowing under the head of the Gorgon has been mistaken for a beard or wings.
Cultural depictions of Gorgons
Gorgons, especially Medusa, have been a common image and symbol in Western culture since their origins in Greek Mythology, appearing in art, literature and elsewhere throughout history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon
Greek legendary creatures
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon (plural: Gorgons) (Greek: Γοργών or Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) was a terrifying female creature. It derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying gaze that turned those who beheld it to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not, and was slain by the mythical hero Perseus.
Gorgons were a popular image of Greek mythology, appearing in the earliest of written records of Ancient Greek religious beliefs such as those of Homer. Because of their legendary gaze, images of the Gorgons were put upon objects and buildings for protection. For example, an image of a Gorgon holds the primary location at the pediment of the temple at Corfu. It is the oldest stone pediment in Greece and is dated to c. 600 BC.
Classical tradition
Gorgons sometimes are depicted as having wings of gold, brazen claws, the tusks of boars, but most often with the fangs and skin of a serpent. The oldest oracles were said to be protected by serpents and a Gorgon image often was associated with those temples. Lionesses or sphinxes frequently are associated with the Gorgon as well. The powerful image of the Gorgon was adopted for the classical images and myths of Zeus and Athena, perhaps being worn in continuation of a more ancient imagery. The Gorgons were said to be the daughters of the sea god Phorcys and sister Ceto the sea monster.
Homer, the author of the oldest known work of European literature, speaks only of one Gorgon, whose head is represented in the Iliad as fixed in the center of the aegis of Zeus:
"About her shoulders she flung the tasselled aegis, fraught with terror...and therein is the head of the dread monster, the Gorgon, dread and awful, a portent of Zeus that beareth the aegis."(5.735ff)
Its earthly counterpart is a device on the shield of Agamemnon:
"...and therein was set as a crown the Gorgon, grim of aspect, glaring terribly, and about her were Terror and Rout."(11.35ff)
The date of Homer was controversial in antiquity, and is no less so today. Herodotus said that Homer lived 400 years before his own day, which would place Homer about 850 BC; but other ancient sources gave dates much closer to the Trojan War. Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War derive from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the twelfth or eleventh centuries BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 1194–1184 BC, which roughly corresponds with archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VIIa. For modern scholarship, 'the date of Homer' refers to the date of the poems as much as to the lifetime of an individual.
The scholarly consensus is that "the Iliad and the Odyssey date from the extreme end of the ninth century BC or from the eighth, the Iliad being anterior to the Odyssey, perhaps by some decades." They are presumed to have existed as an oral tradition that eventually became set in historical records. Even at that early time the Gorgon is displayed as a vestige of ancient powers that preceded the historical transition to the beliefs of the Classical Greeks, displayed on the chest of Athene and Zeus.
In the Odyssey, the Gorgon is a monster of the underworld to which the earliest deities were cast:
"...and pale fear seized me, lest august Persephone might send forth upon me from out of the house of Hades the head of the Gorgon, that awful monster..."(11.635)
Around 700 BC, Hesiod (Theogony, Shield of Heracles) increases the number of Gorgons to three—Stheno (the mighty), Euryale (the far-springer), and Medusa (the queen), and makes them the daughters of the sea-god Phorcys and of Keto. Their home is on the farthest side of the western ocean; according to later authorities, in Libya. Ancient Libya is identified as a possible source of the deity, Neith, who was called Athene in Greece.
The Attic tradition, reproduced in Euripides (Ion), regarded the Gorgon as a monster, produced by Gaia to aid her children, the Titans, against the new Olympian deities and she was slain by Athena, who wore her skin thereafter. Of the three Gorgons, only Medusa is mortal.
Apollodorus, c. 180–120 BC, (11.2.6, 2.4.1, 22.4.2) provides a good summary of the Gorgon myth. Much later stories claim that each of three Gorgon sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, had snakes for hair, and that they had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.
According to Ovid (Metamorphoses), a Roman poet writing in 8 AD who was noted for accuracy regarding the Greek myths, Medusa alone had serpents in her hair, and that this was due to Athena (Roman Minerva) cursing her. Medusa had copulated with Poseidon (Roman Neptune) in a temple of Athena after he was aroused by the golden color of Medusa's hair. Athena therefore changed the enticing golden locks into serpents.
Pausanias (5.10.4, 8.47.5, many other places), a geographer of the second century A.D., supplies the details of where and how the Gorgons were represented in Greek art and architecture.
Perseus and Medusa
In late myths, Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was not immortal; hence Perseus was able to kill her by cutting off her head while looking at her in the reflection of a bronze mirrored shield he supposedly got from Athena.
Some authors say that Perseus was armed with a scythe by Hermes (Mercury) and a mirror (or a shield) by Athena (Minerva). Whether the mirrored shield or the scythe, these weapons allowed him to defeat Medusa easily. From the blood that spurted from her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, her sons by Poseidon. Other sources say that each drop of blood became a snake. He gave the head, which had the power of turning into stone all who looked upon it, to Athena, who placed it on the shield called Aegis which she gave to Zeus. According to another account, Perseus buried it in the marketplace of Argos.
According to other accounts, either he or Athena used the head of Medusa to freeze Atlas into stone, transforming him into the Atlas Mountains that held up both heaven and earth. He also used it against a competing suitor. Ultimately, he used it against King Polydectes, who originally had sent him to kill Medusa in hopes of getting him out of the way, while he pursued Perseus's mother, Danae.
So the story goes, Perseus returned to the court of King Polydectes, who sat at his throne with Danae. The king asked if Perseus has the head of Medusa, and he replied "here it is" and held it aloft, turning the whole court to stone.
Protective and healing powers
In Ancient Greece a Gorgoneion (or stone head, engraving, or drawing of a Gorgon face, often with snakes protruding wildly and the tongue sticking out between her fangs) frequently was used as an apotropaic symbol and placed on doors, walls, floors, coins, shields, breastplates, and tombstones in the hopes of warding off evil. In this regard Gorgoneia are similar to the sometimes grotesque faces on Chinese soldiers’ shields, also used generally as an amulet, a protection against the evil eye.
In Greek mythology, blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon could bring the dead back to life, yet blood taken from the left side was an instantly fatal poison. Athena gave a vial of the healing blood to Asclepius, which ultimately brought about his demise. Heracles is said to have obtained a lock of Medusa’s hair (which possessed the same powers as the head) from Athena and to have given it to Sterope, the daughter of Cepheus, as a protection for the town of Tegea against attack. According to the later idea of Medusa as a beautiful maiden, whose hair had been changed into snakes by Athena, the head was represented in works of art with a wonderfully handsome face, wrapped in the calm repose of death.
Origins
The concept of the Gorgon is at least as old in mythology as Perseus and Zeus. The name is Greek, being derived from "gorgos" and translating as terrible. Other scholars find the goddess to have early origins in Ancient Greek religion.
Author Marija Gimbutas (Language of the Goddess) believed she saw the prototype of the Gorgoneion in Neolithic art motifs, especially in anthropomorphic vases and terracotta masks inlaid with gold.
The large eyes, as well as Athena's "flashing" eyes, are symbols termed "the divine eyes" by Gimbutas (who did not originate the perception), appearing also in Athena's bird, the owl. They can be represented by spirals, wheels, concentric circles, swastikas, firewheels, and other images.
The fangs of the Gorgons are those of snakes and are likely derived from the guardians closely associated with early Greek religious concepts at the centers of oracles. In some cruder representations such as the image just above to the right, blood flowing under the head of the Gorgon has been mistaken for a beard or wings.
Cultural depictions of Gorgons
Gorgons, especially Medusa, have been a common image and symbol in Western culture since their origins in Greek Mythology, appearing in art, literature and elsewhere throughout history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon
Greek legendary creatures
Wednesday, March 24, 1982
Fox Spirits
Fox Spirits
Fox spirit or fox demon:
Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精; Pinyin: húli jīng; huli means fox, and jing means spirit), a Chinese fox known for causing mischief and seducing humans
Huli jing in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries. Huli jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits.
Kumiho (九尾狐, 구미호, literally "nine tailed fox"), an evil Korean fox over 1,000 years old, which seduces and kills human men
The kumiho is a creature that appears in the oral tales and legends of Korea, and are akin to European faeries. According to those tales, a fox that lives a thousand years turns into a kumiho, like its Japanese and Chinese counterparts (the kitsune and the huli jing). It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful girl often set out to seduce men. There are numerous tales in which the kumiho appears. Several of those can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (한국 구비문학 대계).
Kitsune (狐, きつね, kitsune, IPA: [kitsɯne]), a Japanese fox which can be either benevolent or mischievous
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; kitsune usually refers to them in this context, and are akin to European faeries. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.
Fox spirit or fox demon:
Huli jing (Chinese: 狐狸精; Pinyin: húli jīng; huli means fox, and jing means spirit), a Chinese fox known for causing mischief and seducing humans
Huli jing in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries. Huli jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits.
Kumiho (九尾狐, 구미호, literally "nine tailed fox"), an evil Korean fox over 1,000 years old, which seduces and kills human men
The kumiho is a creature that appears in the oral tales and legends of Korea, and are akin to European faeries. According to those tales, a fox that lives a thousand years turns into a kumiho, like its Japanese and Chinese counterparts (the kitsune and the huli jing). It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful girl often set out to seduce men. There are numerous tales in which the kumiho appears. Several of those can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (한국 구비문학 대계).
Kitsune (狐, きつね, kitsune, IPA: [kitsɯne]), a Japanese fox which can be either benevolent or mischievous
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; kitsune usually refers to them in this context, and are akin to European faeries. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.
Thursday, December 6, 1979
Elf: Name
Name
The English word elf is from the Old English ælf or elf; in compound as ælfadl "nightmare," ælfsogoða "hiccup," afflictions apparently thought to be caused by elves.
The Old English word is derived from the Proto-Germanic *albiz, which also resulted in Old Norse álfr and Middle High German elbe. *Albiz may be from the Proto-Indo-European root *albh- meaning "white", from which also stems the Latin albus "white". Alternatively, a connection to the Rbhus, semi-divine craftsmen in Indian mythology, has also been suggested(OED).
Originally ælf/elf and its plural ælfe were the masculine forms, while the corresponding feminine form (first found in eighth century glosses) was ælfen or elfen (with a possible feminine plural -ælfa, found in dunælfa) which became the Middle English elven, using the feminine suffix -en from the earlier -inn which derives from the Proto-Germanic *-innja). The fact that cognates exist (such as the German elbinne) could suggest a West Germanic *alb(i)innjo, but this is uncertain, as the examples may be simply a transference to the weak declension common in Southern and Western forms of Middle English. The Middle English forms with this weak declension were aluen(e) and eluen(e). By the earlier eleventh century ælf could denote a female.
The Modern German Elf (m), Elfe (f), Elfen is a loan from English. A masculine Elb is reconstructed from the plural by Jacob Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, who rejects Elfe as a (then, in the 1830s) recent anglicism. Elb (m, plural Elbe or Elben) is a reconstructed term, while Elbe (f) is attested in Middle High German. Alb, Alp (m), plural Alpe has the meaning of "incubus" (Old High German alp, plural *alpî or *elpî). Gothic has no direct testimony of *albs, plural *albeis, but Procopius has the personal name Albila.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf
http://marl.egloos.com/3196688
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