By this time Ra was very old, and he decided to leave the ruling of the earth to humanity. He took his place in the heavens, traveling through the sky by day and crossing the underworld in a boat through the twelve divisions of Duat by night. Though it is a dangerous journey, each morning Ra is reborn by the goddess Nut.
Matsuo’s Sake
JAPAN, JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
According to Shintoism, Japan is home to innumerable spirits or gods called kami. Some kami are smaller gods of tiny villages or specific crossroads. Some kami are larger gods of cosmic forces, like the Sun or Moon, and some kami are whole mountains or significant rivers. Regardless of their importance, all kami gather once a year at Izumo Oyashiro shrine for a month during Kami-ari-zuki, or the month of the gods. While there, all the kami discuss important matters. For instance, this is when the kami of relationships, farming, and nation-building, called Okuninushi, decides the kinds of connections different people will have with each other for the following year. But it is also when all the kami come together to celebrate with each other.
One year, the kami Matsuo wanted to impress and delight the other gods. So he took rice from Arashiyama and water from Kyoto and brewed the very first sake. All the other kami loved it so much that it became the drink of the kami. Matsuo became the God of Sake, and many breweries began to worship him. But more important, sake became one of the best offerings to give a kami.
During festivals, people offer sake to kami in thanks and in celebration. The kami accept the gift and consecrate it so that the people can drink the sake and become even closer to the gods. Sake is used to banish evil and bless spaces, and it is even used in marriage ceremonies.
Sake is so powerful that all dragons covet it. The warrior-god, Susano-O, was able to defeat the eight-headed Yamata-no-Orochi, who had captured the beautiful maiden Kushinada-Hime by leaving out eight barrels of sake. Yamata-no-Orochi drank all of them and instantly passed out, allowing Susano-O to kill him and rescue Kushinada-Hime.
The Enchanted Pig
ROMANIA, ROMANIAN FAIRY TALE
Once upon a time, there was a king who had to go to war. He told his three daughters they were free to go anywhere in the castle except one particular room in one particular tower. They disobeyed him, and in the room they found a book that foretold that the eldest daughter would marry an eastern prince, the middle daughter would marry a western prince, and the youngest would marry a pig from the north. Shortly after the king returned, he discovered his daughters had read the book. Soon, an eastern prince married the eldest, a western prince married the middle, and a pig came to woo the youngest daughter.
At first the king refused the pig, and his city was soon overrun with pigs. The king was forced to consent. The princess married the pig and lived in his beautiful castle. Each night, he became a man and was so kind to her that she fell in love with him and wished to break his curse.
The princess encountered a witch, who told her to tie a thread to her husband’s foot. But the princess didn’t realize the witch was evil, and instead of breaking the curse, it solidified it. Her husband was then forced by the curse to flee, and the young princess chased after him.
The princess wore through three pairs of iron shoes and three walking staffs in her journey to find her husband. She asked for help from the Moon, the Sun, and the Wind, and they all gave her guidance and a sack of chicken bones. She arrived at the Milky Way and used the bones to form a ladder to climb to a castle in the sky where her husband was. Unfortunately, her ladder was one bone short, so she cut off her smallest finger with a dagger and used the bone to climb the last bit to the sky.
After the princess freed her husband from the castle, he revealed he was a prince who had killed a dragon. The dragon’s mother was a witch who had cursed him, the same witch who then deceived the princess. The curse on the prince lifted as they climbed down from the sky. They then lived happily ever after.
The Three Princesses of Whiteland
NORWAY, NORWEGIAN FAIRY TALE
One day a poor fisherman wasn’t catching anything. Just as he was ready to give up, a fish poked its head out of the water and promised the fisherman plenty of fish if he promised what was beneath his wife’s apron. The fisherman agreed and was happy with the bargain until he found out his wife was pregnant and he had just promised the fish his baby. The king of that country, finding out about this predicament, promised to raise the baby, a boy named Halvor, in his home away from the water. But when Halvor was grown, he felt the lure of the water. As soon as he set foot in a boat, it whisked him away to a distant place called Whiteland.
In Whiteland, Halvor met three beautiful princesses guarded by three trolls with three, six, and nine heads each. Through cunning and strength, he rescued all three princesses and married the youngest, who was the most beautiful. For a time, he lived happily with her in her castle with all her riches, but eventually he missed his parents. When he begged the princess leave to return home, she gave him a ring that would transport him twice—once there and once back. Finally, she made him promise to do only as his father asked, not as his mother wished. He agreed and was transported back.
When he arrived, his mother wished to take him to see the king, but his father asked that they not go. Ignoring his father, they went to the king and Halvor told his tale. When the king said he didn’t believe the princess could be more beautiful than his wife the queen, Halvor grew prideful and used his ring to summon his wife to prove the king wrong. The princess appeared, scolded Halvor for breaking his promise, took back her ring, and transported herself back home.
Distressed, Halvor tried to get back to Whiteland, but no one knew where it was. Not any king, or animal, or bird. Everyone was asked until an old pike fish said he knew the way. The fish guided Halvor back to his princess, arriving just in time to stop her from marrying someone else.
Julnar the Sea-Born
PERSIA, ARABIC FOLKTALE
There once lived a king of Ajam-land called Shahrimán. He had a hundred concubines, each more beautiful than the last, but none had given him a child. Shahrimán began to despair and worried he would never father an heir. It was at this time that a merchant appeared in his court, accompanied by the most lovely and graceful woman anyone had ever seen. She appeared otherworldly in all her perfection, and the king asked the merchant how much she cost, for he realized she was a slave. The merchant had bought her for a fair sum of money, and her upkeep over the past three years had been exorbitant. Yet, he intended to gift her to the king because he wanted to ensure she had a good home.
King Shahrimán accepted the merchant’s gift and gave him a lovely cloak and more money than the merchant could have ever dreamed. The merchant was sent on his way. For a year, the king was devoted to the beautiful and mysterious woman. And for a year, though he gave her presents, served her lavish foods, and entertained her with music, she spoke not a single word. Finally, the king told her that, should she bear him a son, he would name her his queen, to which the woman smiled and said that she was indeed pregnant. The king rejoiced, for the woman with whom he had fallen in love had finally spoken to him, and he was soon to be a father.
Shahrimán asked the woman why she had not spoken, and she told her story. Her name was Julnar, and she was a princess of a sea kingdom, but she had had a disagreement with her brother and had climbed up on land. There she met a man who was vile and had almost killed him. However, she had also met the merchant, who was kind and virtuous, and he brought her to the king. Julnar told Shahrimán that if he hadn’t treated her so well, she would have escaped to the sea long ago. With that, she reconciled with her family, and they helped her give birth to her son, Prince Badar Basim. Queen Julnar was crowned and lived happily with King Shahrimán and their son, being visited often by her sea-family.
Heitsi-Eibib
SOUTH AFRICA, KHOIKHOI DEITY
Near the beginning of the world, there was a beautiful cow. One day w
hile she was grazing, she found and ate some delicious magical grass, and a short time later she gave birth to Heitsi-Eibib. Heitsi-Eibib grew to be a man with incredible magic, unparalleled fighting skills, a quick wit, the ability to change his shape, and even the power to resurrect himself when he died. He walked upon the earth and used his powers to place the animals in their ideal environments, such as taking fish out of the desert and putting them into the sea and taking lions out of trees and placing them on the ground. In this way he became the god of the hunters.
Heitsi-Eibib traveled far and wide and soon became known for his strength and cleverness. He had a great many adventures, some where he was a hero and a few where he was a trickster. Around this time, there was a monster, Ga-gorib, who harassed the local people. They turned to Heitsi-Eibib for help. Ga-gorib had dug a giant pit and settled in beside it. He would then goad people into throwing rocks at him, but the rocks would magically rebound off him and hit the thrower, who would topple into the pit and die. By the time Heitsi-Eibib arrived, many people had died. Heitsi-Eibib was wise to the ways of Ga-gorib and waited for Ga-gorib to taunt him also. When Ga-gorib begged Heitsi-Eibib to throw rocks at him, he declined. Instead he pointed and shouted, “What’s that?” and when Ga-gorib looked, Heitsi-Eibib hit him behind the ear and pushed him into his own pit, where he fell to his death. Peace returned to the people, and they celebrated Heitsi-Eibib.
The Magic Paintbrush
CHINA, CHINESE FOLKTALE
There once was a very poor young man named Ma Liang who loved to draw very much. One night he had a dream that an old man gave him a magical paintbrush and asked him to help people. When he awoke, the magic paintbrush lay beside him.
Whatever Ma Liang drew with the magic paintbrush came into being, and he used its powers to benefit the struggling people around him. He used the brush to paint a river next to a dry field and to draw food for the poor. Quickly his fame grew, and everyone was grateful to Ma Liang.
In the same village lived a rich man who soon came to covet the magical brush. He didn’t want to help people but instead wanted to paint gold and make himself even richer. In the dark of the night, he sent his servants into Ma Liang’s home, and while Ma Liang was sleeping, they stole his brush.
The next day, the rich man painted many pictures of riches beyond belief. But no matter how many he drew, none of the images would come to life for him. Frustrated, the rich man ordered his guards to capture Ma Liang and bring him forward. When Ma Liang arrived, the rich man demanded that he draw for him or face punishment.
The quiet Ma Liang smiled and agreed. He asked the rich man what he would like, and the rich man said he wanted a mountain of gold. So Ma Liang painted a mountain, but he painted it in the middle of a vast sea. The rich man then demanded a large boat to sail the ocean with enough room in its hull to carry all the gold. So Ma Liang painted a huge sailboat, and the rich man and all his cronies got in it and set sail. But when they got halfway to the mountain, Ma Liang painted a wicked storm, and the boat capsized and all the men were lost at sea.
From that day on, Ma Liang and all the people of his village lived happy and peaceful lives.
Rhpisunt
PACIFIC NORTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA, HAIDA MYTHOLOGY
A long time ago, there was Rhpisunt, the chief’s beautiful daughter. One day she went out into the woods to pick berries and accidentally tripped over a pile of bear dung. She was indignant and began to loudly curse bears, calling them filthy and disgusting. The women she was with begged her to be quieter, but Rhpisunt would not be soothed, and they quickly left her. This was unfortunate because two bears happened to be nearby. They heard Rhpisunt’s insults and felt she had to be punished. One of the bears transformed himself into a handsome young man and approached the irritated woman. He cajoled and seduced her and lured her back to his mountain home. There among the bear village, she fell in love with him and decided to live with him.
Rhpisunt and the handsome bear married and had twin boy cubs. The children were plump and healthy and had the ability to transform freely between bear and human. But all was not well. In the time since Rhpisunt had disappeared, her brothers had been searching tirelessly for her. In their investigations, they found her footprints beside those of a bear. In their fear and rage, they began to hunt down the bears.
Led by Rhpisunt’s dog, the brothers managed to find Rhpisunt’s bear husband. Overpowering him, they were able to deal him a mortal blow. With the last of his strength, the bear gave his wife his magical spells and formulas to pass on to their sons. And so Rhpisunt’s brothers led her and her sons back to their tribe. There they lived as the twin boys grew up into men.
Although the twins were revered hunters and warriors, they were never comfortable among people. So when their mother died many years later as an old woman, the two transformed into bears and returned to the mountain woods, never to be seen again.
Danae and Perseus
GREECE, GREEK MYTHOLOGY
A long time ago in Argos lived King Acrisius and his only child, Princess Danae. When King Acrisius learned of a prophecy that he was destined to die at the hands of his daughter’s son, he locked Danae deep underground in a chamber made of bronze so that no man could come near her. However, the god Zeus infiltrated her prison and, in the guise of a shower of gold, impregnated her. Danae then secretly gave birth to a son whom she named Perseus. When her father learned of this, he commanded Danae and the child Perseus be put in a chest and set in the sea.
Mother and child drifted but by the grace of the gods landed safely on the shores of the island of Seriphos. There the kind fisherman Dictys offered them sanctuary, and they lived in peace as Perseus grew up. Meanwhile, the ruler of Seriphos, King Polydectes, began to covet Danae. He saw Perseus as an impediment, so he sent him on a quest to retrieve Medusa’s head.
Medusa was a Gorgon, a monster in the form of a woman with snakes growing from her head. Her appearance and her stare were so frightening that all who saw her turned to stone. Perseus was able to defeat her by using a mirror to avoid looking at her directly. He chopped off her head and put it in a bag, returning to Seriphos a hero. Unfortunately, the king never expected Perseus to return, and Danae, repulsed by Polydectes, had fled to the temple of Athena. Furious at the mistreatment of his mother, Perseus used the Gorgon’s head to turn Polydectes into stone.
Perseus then retrieved his mother, and together they returned to Argos. King Acrisius, terrified that he would die at the hands of his grandson, exiled himself instead. But at the games commemorating the exiled king, Perseus threw a discus that flew astray and hit Acrisius, killing him instantly.
Moses
EGYPT, HEBREW LEGEND
Long ago, the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt, forced to work for the Egyptians. The Pharaoh began to fear that they might overthrow him, and so he ordered all the baby boys born during a certain time to be killed. Yocheved feared for her son, Moses, so she put baby Moses in a basket and sent him down the river. As he floated in the water, he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who raised Moses as her own. After he had grown into a young man, Moses realized his true lineage and killed a slave master who mistreated a Jewish slave. He then decided to leave the riches of the palace and flee to a humbler life across the sea.
In Midian, Moses met and married a Kenite woman named Zipporah. They lived happily until God told Moses, through a burning bush, to go back to Egypt, liberate the Jewish people, and bring them to the chosen land. Moses reluctantly agreed.
Upon returning to Egypt, Moses demanded Pharaoh set the Jewish people free, and when Pharaoh refused, God sent down ten plagues. First the Nile River was turned to blood, killing all the fish. Then the country was beset by an infestation of frogs. Then everyone became covered in lice, followed by flies, then all the livestock died of sickness. People began breaking out in boils, and fire came raining down from the sky. Locusts ate all the crops, then the world became dark for thr
ee days. Finally, with the last plague, all the firstborn sons in Egypt died. But the firstborn sons of the Jewish people were spared because the families were warned ahead of time by Moses to mark their door frames with lamb’s blood.
Pharaoh, heartbroken at the death of his own son, ordered Moses and all the Jewish people to leave Egypt. But when Moses parted the Red Sea to create a path for the Jewish people to cross, Pharaoh changed his mind. He ordered his army to chase down the fleeing Israelites. After the last of the Jewish people crossed, Moses closed the sea on the Egyptian army, drowning all of them. And so Moses and the Jewish people were free.
Griffin
PERSIA, PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY
Griffins are giant hybrid creatures, part lion and part eagle. As griffins are the kings of both animals and birds, their majesty and power represent wisdom and strength in war. Their claws have medicinal properties, and their feathers can cure blindness. They guard treasure, and wherever a griffin is found, gold deposits are sure to be nearby. They even build nests of the gold they dig out of rocks. Pliny the Elder, a Greek historian, wrote of how the one-eyed warrior Arimaspian people constantly waged war with the griffins that lived near them. The warriors lived near the foot of the Rhipaion mountains in northern Skythia and fought continually with the griffins, who defended their rivers of gold.
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