Delugional

In ancient Greek mythology, the god Zeus became angry at the first race of men, the men of the "Bronze Age", so he sent a flood to destroy them. Deucalion was saved because of his prudence and piety. He and his family, along with many animals survived the flood, because they were advised to build a large chest in which they would float in. The animals came to him, and by Zeus' help the animals remained calm for the remainder of the flood.

In ancient Roman mythology, the god Jupiter, angered at the evil ways of humanity, resolved to destroy it. He was originally going to set fire to the world, but thought otherwise thinking it may also set the heavens ablaze. He asked for the god Neptune's help to flood everything except the summit of mount Parnassus, where Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha came by boat and found sanctuary.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the people became rebellious, and the god Atum said he would return the earth to it's primordial waters, which was it's original state.

The Celtics tell tales that the heavens and the earth were actual giants, and that in a quarrel the giant of the heavens spilt it's blood. It's blood became like rain from the sky, flooding the land and all humans died except for one pair who were saved by a beneficent Titan (or god) who helped them create a ship to survive.

In China, the Supreme Sovereign ordered the water god Gong Gong to create a flood as punishment and warning for human misbehavior. Gong Gong extended the flood 22 years and people had to live in high mountain caves, fighting with wild animals for resources.

In old Victorian mythology (Victoria, being the second most populous state in Australia), Bunjil, the creator, was angry with people because of the evil they did, so he flooded the earth by urinating on it. Only a few did he spare from death, and fixed them as stars in the night sky. One couple climbed up a tree on the top of a mountain and survived. All life came from them.

In ancient Hawaiian mythology, it is said that Nuu was of the thirteenth generation of man. The gods commanded Nuu to build an ark and carry on it his wife, three sons, and males and females of all living things. Waters covered the earth. They subsided to leave the ark on a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley. The gods entered the ark and told Nuu to go forth with all the life it carried. In gratitude for his deliverance, Nuu offered a sacrifice of pig, coconuts, and awa to the moon, which he thought was the god Kane. Kane descended on a rainbow to reproach Nuu for his mistake but left the rainbow as a perpetual sign of his forgiveness.

An Alaskan tribe, Tinneh, tells that the flood was caused by a heavy snowfall. One man foresaw the flood, and warned his tribe, but in vain, as the flood trapped their mountain escape. The one man survived in a canoe he had built, and picked up animals from the water as he floated along.

Now after giving you just a few examples of flood myths out there, from around the world, not only by countries in connection with each other, but by others oceans apart and centuries in between, I'm at a loss as to how to continue. All of these stories are so incredibly similar to the one told in the ancient Hebrew book of Genesis (or in Hebrew the book would be called B'reishit), that you either have to convince yourself that what I'm telling you is completely coincidental (and probably false), or you have to accept the fact that there is undeniable proof that a great deluge did indeed happen. I did leave out major details in the story of the great flood yesterday, which I am very sorry about and plan to rectify now. You see, Noah sent a dove out to search for land and it came back with a twig in it's mouth, giving Noah a sign that the water was descending. They landed on a mountain, Mount Ararat, where God unsealed the door to the ark and let them come out. That day, as Bible record tells us, introduced the first rainbow, which symbolized God's promise that he will never send a flood to destroy mankind again. This was very similar to the one tale from Hawaii, about the rainbow, and also his name Nuu is very similar to Noah.

There were a few very distinct points that stuck out between all these stories. One included that it was a God or gods that were very angry at the first race of humans. Another was that of the animals included in the tale. Another was the mountain they landed on. The rainbow. The fact that they tried to warn other humans, but no one listened. Sometimes the name of the person was the same, or very similar. But these stories are from the ancient histories of all corners of the world. If this account, that tells that all humans descended from this man and his family who survived a great flood, were not true in some sense, then how could it be possible that nearly every walk of life has it's roots in the same mythology?

Whether you believe that it was by God's hand or not, there is abundant real-world proof that this great flood of "Noah's day" did actually occur. For instance, on many peeks of mountains today, there has been found fossils of seashells and other marine life. What do you think? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

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For a full list (or a list that is definitely full) of other flood myths around the world, please visit here. I only spoke of about 8 or 9 different tales and myths today, but I can assure you that the link above has literally hundreds more, from all nations and tribes.

(EDIT) Just to be clear, the reason I waited to post the blog until today, November 1st, is because this is the month that the great flood supposedly took place, according to Mosaic account. The seventeenth day of the second month, the month nearly corresponding with our November. Also, it ties in well with the theme I've had for the entire week, about the origins of Halloween.

Origin of Halloween (Part 2)

So, yesterday, I forgot to mention there were other festivals around that point in time and place in the British Isles. To name a few Calan Gaeaf, Allantide, and Hop-tu-Naa, which were all very similar to Samhain, but distinctly different. All in distinct worship to the dead.

Anyway, around the time that Samhain was popular in Celtic Ireland, the Roman festival Pomona was also very popular. Pomona was a time of drunken and mystical reverie. Pomona was also a time to thank the goddess of harvest, Pomona herself. Pomona is indeed the Roman goddess of plenty and fertility, and her name derives from the latin POMUM (fruit). This festival took place around November 1st. To thank the goddess Pomona for her harvest, they would put out apples to be as a gift offering back to the god. Many games involving apples came from this event, including the ever-popular apple-bobbing.

Around 50 B.C.E., the Roman army expanded it's reign over the Celtics, and brought it's culture into Ireland. Likewise, the Romans were also very accepting of others cultures, so the Celtic traditions began to merge with the Roman, especially those involving Samhain and Pomona. The Romans also brought with them the apple tree. The Celts believed that the pentagram symbol was a sign of fertility, and when they cut the apple in half, the seeds plot out the points of a pentagram. Young, unmarried men and women would bob into a tub of water and tried to grab an apple with their teeth, and others would try and grab it dangling from a string (both very tough), and the one who would bite into it first would be the next to marry. Another form of divination, that's carried down the line.

Another Roman festival that has it's roots in Halloween is Lemuria, in which pumpkins were decorated. It was another celebration in worship of the dead, where they would do things to appease them and cast the evil spirits away from their homes, mostly with offerings of beans. This practice took place on May 13, far from Halloween, but I'll explain how it came into it tomorrow. Since it was such an evil day, the whole month of May was considered unlucky to be married in, just as the Latin term Mense Maio Malae Nubent says ("they wed ill who wed in May"). A popular custom to expel these spirits was to walk barefoot at night and throw beans over ones shoulder. The head of the household was said to have done so and chanted "Haec Ego Mitto; His Redimo Meque Meosque fabis" nine times, meaning "I send these; with these beans I redeem me and mine". Then the rest of the household would nine times say "Ghosts of my fathers and ancestors, be gone!" while banging pots.

Origin of Halloween (Part 1)

So, before it's asked of me, no I don't participate in any Halloween celebrations, but yes I've decided to start this lengthy 7 day blogging spree all about it's origins.  This is meant to be an informative series of posts, that give you but a glimpse of the worldwide holiday many today now celebrate.  So how am I going to break this up? I'm still asking myself the same thing. All I know is what I want to do for the seventh part.

So, I guess I'll go ahead and begin discussing the Celtic festival, Samhain (pronounced Sow-wen), which is Gaelic for "summer's end" and is a far earlier tradition than the "Christian" celebration today. In fact, the Celts were harvesters, so once Winter came around it became a tough time for their survival. Nevertheless, every year on the very night we now recognize as October 31st, the Celts had their Druidic priests pray to their gods for help, so they may be sustained throughout the Winter months. This also had to do with the Sun setting earlier at this time of the year. They thought that, since the gods controlled the Sun, they were showing their power by allowing it to set earlier. This transition was a very magical time for the pagan Celts. Weird things were said to have happened.

The Celts of Ireland believed that on the night of October 31st, the veil between the world of the living and the realm of the spirits was thinnest. They thought that the spirits of those who had died in the past year would awaken from their rest and walk the streets of Celtic villages. Not all of these "spirits" were friendly.

So as to ward off these evil spirits, they performed many rituals to both placate their dead ancestors and appease the gods. Many wore costumes and masks, impersonating the spirits. Others would carve faces into turnips to ward off the more harmful spirits, (much like how scarecrows scare crows, haha). While dressed, many Celts would parade towards the end of their villages with food, trying to coax the spirits from haunting or bringing any harm to their homes. Another custom was to leave food or sweets outside of their homes so that if their dead loved ones payed them visit, they would be at peace. If you didn't treat the spirits, they may decide to "trick" you.

Since the Celts were harvesters, they would thank the gods for their plentiful harvest they received during the Summer months, specifically their earth god Dagda. Doing so, they burnt blood offerings of cows and horses in large bonfires, as a sort of trade for the good food they had been provided. Many would walk in-between two bonfires as a manner of cleansing rituals. They then had the Druids of the villages look over the burnt entrails of the sacrificial offerings, and read the future, as some would read into tea leaves in modern times. Since the boundary of the living world and the spirit world was thinner, they believed the dead would help in the foretelling. The Druids would divine who would die within the next year. These divinations would travel throughout the villages and were told at bonfires and such. This is thought to be the ancient day origins of the now very popular ghost stories told on the very night that Samhain would take place thousands of years ago.

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If you found this interesting, please note that this is only the first of a seven part origin series that I plan to continue until October 31st. So please stay tuned, or follow the blog... cause you might just learn a little something here or there.