Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Ex altere systemas de mythologia religiose


(Languages of this post: Interlingua, English)


Le natura arbitrari e irrational de systemas mythologic religiose facilemente se revela de un maniera forte e mesmo multo amusante quando on los compara.

Il es interessante notar que sovente il ha characteristicas simile inter iste systemas mythologic. Sovente le celo e un abysso ha rolos central. Un entitate in le celo, pro exemplo, sovente pote crear le luce e un figura mal sovente reside in un abysso obscure. Typicamente il ha luctas continue inter iste duo figuras, e altere figuras minus importante pote facer lor proprie contributiones a iste comedia.

Il ha duo possibile explicationes pro iste phenomeno. Le prime es le transmission oral o scribite de information inter culturas differente. Le secunde es que le possibilitate que iste information se disveloppa facilemente a causa del structuras neurologic e chimic de nostre cerebros.

Noam Chomsky crede que il ha un systema de structuras cerebral que nos da le capacitate de parlar e que iste structuras define le limites del grammatica de nostre linguas. Infelicemente, usque nunc nos non ha habite ulle maniera de verificar o falsificar iste hypothese.

Recercatores tamen nunc sta a apprender multo sur le structura e function de nostre cerebros, e lor discopertas comencia a indicar que nos es multo minus libere in le disveloppamento de nostre personalitates e nostre valores que nos ha credite usque nunc.

Forsan in le futuro nos sapera si il ha un "subconsciente universal human" o un facultate que vermente determina le structura de nostre linguas. Ma usque nunc, nos solmente pote facer conjecturas. Como nos dice in anglese, "We really don't know all that much right now and everything's up for grabs."

Probabilemente conditiones como le psychoses e le uso de stupifacentes anque joca un rolo in le disveloppamento de iste traditiones, e io nunc va presentar unes notas sur quatro ex iste traditiones, duo del aborigines Nord American e duo del hindus, le quales possibilemente se produceva durante un episodio psychotic o post que lor creatores fumava le marihuana o ingereva un altere stupefaciente durante que illes se relaxava in sessiones creative assatis prolongate.

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WAKANATAKA, LE GRANDE SPIRITO DEL LAKOTAS:

Le mythologia del lakotas (cognoscite con le nomine "sioux" per le franco- e anglparlantes american) ha un codice de colores. Rubie significa le celo; verde, le terra; e jalne, le substantia del montes e petras. Omne iste colores, secundo lor tradition, se unifica in le iride. Con un incredibile salto in lor logica inductive, illes conclude que omne le existentia es unificate in un spirito grande, Wakanataka.

Sword, (Gladio), un shaman del tribo lakota, provideva iste genealogia del figuras principal de lor systema mythologic: "Qui es le plus vetule? Le substantia del petras es le plus vetule, le granpatre. Post ille veni le terra, le granmatre. Post illa veni le celo, qui face viver e mover a omne le altere cosas que nos cognosce. Ma le sol es le plus vetule."

Le lakotas credeva que un alce appareva in le summitate del prime petra gigante, e a causa de su rugimentos, le prime alba ascendeva ex un grande abysso e confrontava le petra gigante. Ma naturalmente le alce, le abysso, e le alba esseva vermente Wakantaka. (Iste pare esser un systema pantheistic.)

LE HURONES E ATAENTSIC:

Secundo le hurones, un altere gruppo de aborigines de Nordamerica le dea Ataentsic ha le rolo le plus importante in le creation del mundo. Un ente sin nomine, como un exhalation del abysso, la impregnava. Immediatmente illa esseva expellite del celo e cadeva girante trans le spatio. In su ventre cresceva rapidemente duo gemines, ma il non habeva ulle loco ubi illa poterea parturir.

Illa cadeva in un palide aquee, e nulle terra solide la circumfereva. Tunc un tortuca veniva ex le profunditate del palide e su dorso provideva un loco ubi illa poteva parturir. Su prole esseva le entes spiritual que creava le die e le nocte. Un certe rodente gigante, intertanto, excavava terra solide ex le profunditates del palide, e le terra que nos cognosce es le resultato de su labores.

ATAENTSIC E LE TITANA GREC LETO:

Le dilemma de Ataentsic es simile a illo del titana grec Leto, qui habeva multe difficultates quando illa parturiva le deos del sol e del luna, Apollone e Artemide. Le terra e le mar conjunctemente habeva jurate que illos non lassarea que Leto trovarea un loco pro reposo. Ma finalemente le insula de Delos emergeva ex le profunditate del mar pro proteger la e fornir a illa un cuna pro le duo.

LE HINDU MARKANDEYA PURANA, COMO LE AUTORES DEL BIBLIA, CREDE QUE PRIME VENIVA LE PAROLA:

Le hindu Markandeya Purana, como le autores del biblia, crede que in le initio del existentia universal il habeva le parola. (Naturalmente, ille, como le autores del biblia non explica como un parola pote exister sin un ente que pote pronunciar o scriber lo, ma le pensamento rational es ultra le capacitates de iste drogadictos o psychoticos.)

Ma commentarios ulterior ex le tradition hindu nos informa que le litteras possede lor existentia in le regno del ideas mesmo si nemo los pronuncia o scribe. Isto es un concepto multo simile al regno del formas de Platone, ubi le structura de toto existe de un maniera abstracte e ha un controlo a priori e directe sur le creation de toto, includente omne nostre plantas e animales.

(Quanto a nostre litteras, io, stupide como io es, credeva que quasi omne nostre alphabetos contemporanee se deriva de un alphabeto semitic ancian probabilemente adaptate ex symbolos hieroglyphic egyptian. Forsan io debe facer studios ulterior plus attente del libro "Grammatologia" de Jacques Derrida, denunciate per Noam Chomsky como syntaxe vacue sin contento semantic, multo simile a "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures", sur le qual Mark Twain, in su libro "Christian Science" faceva commentarios multo hilare.)

VASUKI VOMITA VENENO E LACTE CUALIATE DEL MONTE MERU.

Un altere mytho del hindus es le storia del monte Meru, que emergeva ex un oceano de lacte. Iste oceano esseva le focar de un racia de serpentes con un longor de milles de kilometros.

Vasuki, le monarcha del serpentes, emergeva ex le mar pro imbraciar le monte Miru, ubi ille dormiva con su capite restante sur le summitate nivee de Miru.

Un die le deos, in un spirito de hyperenthusiasmo, sasiva Vasuki e le tirava con omne lor fortia combinate. Altere demones, equalmente potente, le tirava in le direction inverse. Le monte Meru girava in le spiras del serpente. Inter illes le deos e le demones faceva girar le monte. Le mar de lacte se agitava violentemente a causa de iste disturbios e eventualmente se converteva a in caseo.

Septe cosas multo pretiose surgeva de omne iste agitation, e ex illo anque emergeva grande quantitates de veneno e lacte cualiate que Vasuki vomitava. Inter illos esseva le petra madre de omne le gemmas del mundo, un arbore celestial, e Lakshima, le dea del beltate.

Il ha multe simile contos equalmente hilare ex le systemas mythologic describite in le litteratura del religiones del mundo. Le linguage que los narrava es sovente multo hypnotic, un characteristica que, naturalmente, assecura que illos vermente occurreva secundo lor descriptiones.

In le Statos Unite multe christianos vole que nostre studentes de gymnasio apprende in lor classes de biologia le mytho de creation principal del hebreos como un maniera alternative de describer creation del vita. Forsan isto esserea un bon idea si al mesme tempore illes anque poterea apprender le historia del monte Meru e le inundation de veneno e lacte cualiate que Vasuki vomitava.

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The arbitrary and irrational nature of religious mythological systems shows up strongly in very funny ways when they are compared.

It is interesting to note that often there are similar characteristics among these mythological systems. Often the sky and an abyss have central roles. An entity in the sky, for example, can often create light, and an evil figure often lives in a dark abyss. Typically there are continual fights between these two figures, and other less important figures can make their own contributions to this comedy.

There are two possible explanations for this phenomenon. The first is the oral and written transmission of information among different cultures. The second is the possibility that this information is easily developed because of the neurological and chemical structures of our brains.

Noam Chomsky believes that there is a system of brain structures that give us the ability to speak and that these structures define the grammatical limits of our languages. Unfortunately, up to now we haven't had the ability to verify or falsify this hypothesis.

Researchers now are learning a lot about the structure and function of our brains, however, and their discoveries are beginnning to indicate that we are much less free in the development of our values and personalities than we have believed up to now.

Perhaps in the future we will know if there is a "universal human subconsciousness" or a faculty that really does determine the structure of our languages, but we really don't know all that much right now, and everything's up for grabs.

Probably conditions like psychoses and the use of stupefying drugs also play a role in the development of these traditions, and I am now going to present some notes on four of them, two from North American Indians and two from the Hindus, which were possibly produced during a psychotic episode or after their creators smoked marihana or some other stupefying drug as they relaxed in rather long creative sessions.

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WANATAKA, THE GREAT SPIRIT OF THE LAKOTAS:

The mythology of the Lakotas (known by the name "Sioux" by North American French and English speakers) has a color code. Red signifies the sky; green, the earth; and yellow, the substance found in mountains and stones. All these colors, according to their tradition, are unified in the rainbow. With an incredibile leap in their inductive logic, they conclude from this limited collection of details that all existence is unified in a great spirit, Wakanataka.

Sword, a shaman from the Lakota tribe, provided this genealogy of the principal figures of their mythological system: "Who is the oldest? The substance of rocks is the oldest, the grandfather of everything. After him comes the earth, the grandmother. After her comes the sky, which gives life and movement to all the other things that we know. But the sun is even older." The Lakotas believed that an elk appeared on the summit of the first gigantic rock, and because of its bellowing the first dawn ascended from a great abyss and confronted the gigantic rock. But naturally the elk, the abyss, and the dawn were really Wakantaka. This seems to be a pantheistic system.

THE HURONS AND ATAENTSIC:

According to the Hurons, another group of North American Indians, the goddess Ataentsic has the most important role in the creation of the world. An unnamed entity, like an exhalation from the abyss, made her pregnant. She was immediately expelled from the sky and fell twisting around in space. In her belly two twins grew rapidly, but there wasn't any place where she could give birth.

She fell into a watery swamp, and no solid earth surrounded her. Then a turtle came up out of the depths of the swamp and its back provided a place where she could give birth. Her offspring were the spiritual beings that created day and night. A certain giant rodent, in the meantime, dug up solid earth from the depths of the swamp, and the earth that we know is the result of its labors.

ATAENTSIC E LE TITANA GREC LETO:

Ataentsic's dilemma is similar to Leto's, one of the Greek titans, who ran into many difficulties as she gave birth to the gods of the sun and the moon, Apollo e Artemis. The earth and sea had sworn together that they would not let Leto find a resting place. But finally the island of Demos emerged from the depths of the sea to protect her and give her a cradle for the two of them.

THE HINDU MARKANDEYA PURANA, LIKE THE AUTHORS OF THE BIBLE, BELIEVES THAT FIRST CAME THE WORD:

The hindu Markandeya Purana, like the authors of the bible, believes that at the beginning of universal existence there was the word. (Natually, he, like the authors of the bible, do not explain how a word can exist without an entity that can pronounce or write it, but rational thought is beyond the capabilities of these drug addicts or psychotics.)

Further commentaries from the Hindu tradition tell us that the letters have their existence in the realm of ideas, however, even if nobody pronounces or writes them. This is a concept quite similar to Plato's realm of forms, where the structure of everything exists in an abstract way and has a direct a-priori control over the creation of everything, including all our plants and animals.

(Regarding our letters, I myself, as stupid as I am, believed that all our contemporary alphabets are derived from an ancient Semitic alphabet probably adapted from Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols. Perhaps I should make further and more careful studies of the book "Grammatologia" by Jacques Derrida, denounced by Noam Chomsky as empty syntax without semantic content, very similar to "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," which Mark Twain, in his book "Christian Science" made fun of quite hilariously.)

VASUKI VOMITS POISON AND CURDLED MILK FROM MOUNT MERU.

Another myth of the Hindus is the story of Mount Meru, which emerged from an ocean of milk. This ocean was the home of a race of serpents thousands of kilometers long.

Vasuki, the monarch of the serpents, emerged from the sea to embrace Mount Miru where he slept with his head resting on the snowy summit of Miru.

One day the gods, in a spirit of hyperenthusiasm, grabbed hold of Vasuki and pulled on him with all their might. Other demons, equally strong, pulled him in the opposite direction. Mount Meru twisted around in the coils of the serpent. Acting together, the gods and the demons made the mountain spin around. The sea of milk was shaken violently because of this disturbance and eventually converted itself into cheese.

Seven very precious things arose from all this agitation, and out of it also emerged large quantities of poison and curdled milk that Vasuki vomited. Among them were the mother stone of all the gems of the world, a celestial tree, and Lakshima, the goddess of beauty.

There are many similar tales equally hilarious out of the mythological systems described in the literature of the religions of the world. The language they are told in is often very hypnotic, a characteristic that, quite naturally, assures that they really happened as described.

In the United States many Christians want our high-school students to learn in their biology classes about the principal creation myth of the Jews as an alternative way of describing the creation of life. Perhaps this would be a good idea if at the same time they could also learn the story of Mount Meru and the flood of poison and curdled milk that Vasuki vomited.

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