Story Lab: Writers Write

C.S. Lewis advice:
-be clear with what you mean, make sure that you aren't meaning something else in your sentence.
-use the direct word rather than a long, vague one.
-don't use abstract nouns, use concrete ones.. i.e. "more people died" instead of "mortality rose".
-don't use the adjectives we want people to feel but rather describe it in such a way that they will feel like that without us telling them to.
-don't use words to big for the subject or you'll not have anything else to talk about when needing that word i.e "infinitely" in place of "very".


Source: Rules for Writers by Amanda Patterson




All About Parts of Speech:
-parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, conjunction, preposition, interjection.
-noun: a naming word, identifies people, places, or things.
          common noun- identified with 'a', 'an', or 'the'.
          proper nouns- names given to people, places, days, months, ideologies, subjects or titles
          pronouns- substitutes for nouns.. i.e I, hers, myself, who
              4 types of pronouns: personal, possessive, relative and reflexive
          abstract nouns- something that cannot be seen, touched, or measured, such as a feeling or emotion
-adjectives: a word that describes a noun, 2 kinds
          attributive- stands next to a noun and describes it; usually in front of the noun
          predicative- when a verb separates it from the noun or pronoun it describes
-conjunctions: join words, sentences, phrases or clauses
    NEVER BEING A SENTENCE WITH A CONJUNCTION IN BUSINESS WRITING
-articles: give info about nouns; 'a' and 'the'
          indefinite article- 'a'
          definite article- 'the'
-pronouns: used in place of nouns referring to specific people or things
          subjective pronouns- personal pronouns: I, you, we, he , she, it.. act as the subject
          objective pronouns- personal pronouns: me, you, us, him, her, it, and them.. act as the object; being done to pronoun
           possessive pronouns: mine, yours, hers, his, ours and theirs
           reflexive pronouns- end in -self or selves
-adverbs: descriptive words used to qualify (mostly) verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
           9 type of adverbs: time, place, manner, degree, frequency, probability, duration, emphasis, interrogative
-prepositions: connect nouns and pronouns with other words in a sentence; usually give info about time, place, and direction
Source: All About Parts of Speech by Amanda Patterson

Parts of speech

Wikipedia Trail from Lillith to

While watching the video "Seven Secrets of the Goddess", a name came up that I seem to hear more often than previously. The name is Lilith. Lilith apparently is a figure in Jewish mythology but it is believed that she is linked to even older mythology in ancient Mesopotamia literature and religion. Ancient Mesopotamian religion was practiced between the years 3500 B.C and 400 A.D. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia were the first peoples to create city-states, and they called each ruler of these city-states, "ensi". The word "ensi" translates to "lord of the plowland". During the Third Dynasty of Ur, ensi referred to the governor of the kingdom rather than the small city states. Ensi's during this time were often associated with more power than in previous times. During the Uruk period however, they had the most power. The Uruk period took place between 4000- 3100 B.C, often refereed to as the Copper Age.

Reading Notes: Gaia's Secret Part B

-rural cultures desired fertility
-urban cultures desired obedience
-it was forced thru men
-more rules created during city buildings
-city was masculine invention
-yang and yin in Chinese culture are 2 opposing forces that work in harmony to create life
-yang is like masculine and like dragon in the sky
-yin is feminine and like the earth or the Phoenix.. regenerates from its own ashes, no superior or inferior
-in Confucianism, inequality emerges and equality becomes more important
-the emperor is to sit on the thrown in the city and bring order to earth where there is chaos
-patriarchal society links women with nature and men with cult, just as culture domesticates nature, men are asked to the same for women.
-Mesopotamia epic.. god king defeats primal female and brings order to the world
-apparent in Greek myth where Zeus chased and raped nymphs across the land, fathering offspring
-in Japanese mythology, the first man and the first woman stir the ocean to create the islands of Japan, build a house with a pillar, populate when they meet.
-they meet and the woman speaks, demons are born but when the man speaks, normal people are born.. obvious that its the need to make women subservient to men.
-the sun goddess, shares the sky with her brother the moon god.. the goddess of earth is trapped by the moon god and creates day and night

-all these stories show that women are not as equal or valuable as men.

-pandora opens the box of evil.. a woman who opens an evil box
-men were told to be wary from all men and that they are all the problems of life
-eve breaks the law of god and compels Adam to do so.. even is subservient.
-Lilith was his first wife but refused to be obedient so was cast out and became the mother of all monsters and demons.
-men were valued by what they had, women included as their belongings.. isolation of women began.
-the greater the isolation, the greater the desire of women.. which is why Snow White is so appealing.. she's a virgin in isolation.
-1,000 Greek ships were sent to get Helen]
-After the fall of the Trojans, the women were taken back to Greece

The Yin and the Yang

Source: Seven Secrets of the Goddess by Devdutt Pattanaik (2016).

Reading Notes: Gaia, Part A

Gaia
-the earth mother in greek mythology
-cronus was able to leave gaia's womb by her castrating his father
-Aphrodite rose from the blood drops
-irenes goddess of retribution
-cronus declared himself king and ate his own children to keep them from overtaking him
-gaia saves one son, zeus
-zeus kills cronus
-zeus declares himself king of gods
-inuit told a story similar.. seagulls attack humans and.. one dies and when she sinks to the bottom of the ocean, her limbs turning into marine life.
-people who want to hunt need to appease her and get permission from shamans
-india speaks of primal one, Adya.. took the form of a bird, laid 3 unfertilized eggs
-Bhrama, Shiva, and Vishnu were born from them
-she was set on fire and turned to ash
-from ash came 3 goddesses: sarawati, parvati, and Lakshmi.. all became Bhrama, Shiva and Vishnu's wives.
-grama devis came from the ash and they are deities in every human settlement
-in Egypt there was attum

Mother Earth: also known as Gaia


Source: Seven Secrets of Goddess by Devdutt Pattanaik

Wikipedia Trail from Jasper National Park to Paleo-Eskimo

With my winter vacation quickly approaching I was curious about Jasper National Park in Canada. My boyfriend and I have plans to visit Jasper National Park and spend a few days there. From the wikipedia trail starting with Jasper, I went to the next page that talks about the Arctic Ocean as this is a desolate place that has unknown history and fascinates me. It is the shallowest of the oceans and is almost completely surrounded by land masses. Some of the oldest history that has been discovered dates back to the Pre-Dorset times which were 3200- 850 B.C. During this time the Paleo-Eskimo culture lived in the arctic. Paleo-Eskimo peoples lived in what is now modern day Russia, across North America and into Greenland. They were gradually displaced by the Dorset culture.

Jasper National Park

Week 13: Ursa Minor

There once lived a great bear king named Urso who lived and loved greatly. Bar loved so deeply that he had two wives, one named Ursala and the other named Orsa. Each of his wives gave birth to a son; Ursala's named her son Ursulito, and Orsa named her son Borso.
Now legend has it that Ursula was a bear of infinite wisdom and wit but was not pleasant to look at, while Orsa had enough beauty to make up for what Ursula lacked. Unfortunately all of the bears in the kingdom would run away in disgust when they laid eyes on Ursula and even her son Ursulito, for he took after his mother and also lacked the looks. Although Ursala did not receive much attention from her towns bears she was content, all she needed was the attention and affection of her husband.
Over the years, Urso began to give more and more attention to Ursula as they continued to grow in their relationship. Urso and Ursala's relationship grew stronger each day and so did Ursa's relationship with his son Ursulito. Orsa grew more and more jealous of the time that HER husband, Urso, was spending with the hideous wife and the hideous child.
One day Orsa had seen enough and plotted a way to rid the kingdom of Ursulito for she knew that he stood a great chance at inheriting the kingdom. Her plot was quick and deadly, as deadly as a Black Mamba.
Jealous Orsa had returned back from a stay with family in a nearby province, and with her she brought gifts. She gave each of the family members' their gift and quietly waited for her gift to take its course.
Once back to his room, gladly and expiedtly Ursulito opened his gift that he had received from Orsa. In the basket he saw a snake who hissed fiercely. Immediately, Ursulito dropped the snake and ran away but the snake continued to follow him. As the child ran the snake seemed to continue to gain on him, until the snake was finally able to catch up.
The snake hissed at Ursulito, "dear boy, you must not be afraid. I am sent here to protect you from your evil stepmother. Orsa thought that when she bought me I was a venomous snake who could kill you but I am the opposite and I will lead you to safety, but you must trust me and follow me."
And so, Ursulito and the snake began their long journey and headed away from the kingdom. For many years Ursulito continued on this journey until he caught word that his brother was killed in battle and that his father had passed. The snake, who had been his companion this entire time urged Ursulito to return to the kingdom and pick up rule, and so he did.
Once Ursulito arrived back to his home kingdom, he was told the stories of how great his father was and that in his honor they named a group of stars after him, they called it Ursa Major.
Ursulito continued to rule the kingdom and all people who lived under his rule were happy. Many years passed and Ursulito became ill, the doctors worked diligently to save him but he finally was not longer able to continue on.
The towns bears wanted to honor Ursulito in a way that they had honored his dear father and so they named the constellation nearby to Ursa Major... they named it Ursa Minor.

 The constellation, Ursa Major

Authors Note:
This story has been adapted from the original story called the Tale of the Pole Star by C.A. Kincaid, found in his book titled "Tales from the Indian Epics". The original story told by Kincaid is about a king, his 2 wives and their sons. One wife is far more gorgeous than the other and her son took after her, the other wife had a better personality and her son took after her. One day one of his wives grew jealous of the other's son and pushed him down. When the child asked his mother what to do she told him to retreat to the forest and pray to Krishna, and so he did. Krishna finally appeared to him after many years and told him to return. After his arrival his brother died and his father eventually did too, he took up rule. Many years passed under his rule which was a fair rule, but he longed to worship and be with Krishna. The king gave up his kingdom and pursued Krishna until he arrived at a path that continued above ground. Along the way he met 7 sages who watched him continue his journey and eventually until he found Krishna. Once he found Krishna he was turned into a star and the 7 sages were also turned into stars. The constellation was called the Seven Sages Constellation in Indian culture and the Great Bear in western culture. Ursa Minor represents the Great Bear or the Seven Sages Constellation.

Reading Notes: The Tale of the Pole Star, Part B

Uttanpad was a king who lived in India, he had 2 wives. One was named Suniti and the other was named Suruchi.. one had a beautiful personality but was neglected, while the other had a beautiful face and was not neglected. He had a son by Suruchi named Uttam (6) and by Suniti had a son named Dhruv (5). They got qualities from their mother. One day Suruchi pushed Dhruv over when he was being told a story by Uttanpad, because she was furious and told him to go pray to the gods. He went into the forest to pray and stayed there for many years until Krishna appeared. Krishna told him that he had to rule his father's kingdom and make people happy before he could go with him to heaven. Narada was summonsed by Krishna who directed him to lead Dhruv back to town. Suruchi and Uttam were both displeased with his arrival and were extremely jealous. Finally, Uttanpad rebuked Uttam who became even more furious. He begged and was given permission by his father to go to the forest with the army to fight a rivalry army but was told that he must take orders from the general. He decided not to and was lured to his death by the tribesmen within the forest. Dhruv was sent out to avenge the tribesmen and was successful. After years passed Dhruv was crowned king and Uttanpad went to the forest to live until it was his time to die. His people were happy but he was sad and thought of when he was young and worshipped Krishna, he longed to be with Krishna. He gave the kingdom to his son and returned to his old home in the forest to find a northern path. He followed the path which got higher and higher from the ground, he finally came upon the Sun and the Moon. He continued on to when he came to where the seven rishis lived. He didn't stop there and kept on the path to the end where he sat down and looked up at Krishna. He gradually became a shining object, the Rishis who watched him also became shining stars. The Great Bear is also called the Seven Sages and Dhruv is the Pole Star.

The Great Bear also known as the Seven Sages Constellation

Source: Tales from the Indian Epics, C.A. Kincaid (1918).