Mythology Monday #4 Guarani

A row of clay statues stood firm, crafted to be perpetually focused and attentive. The god who had crafted them was focused on his work and he examined each of the statues with a painstaking attention to detail. Quietly he confirmed that they were ready, and then blew on them, his breath containing the mixture of chemical and magical ingredients necessary for life to spring forth from nothingness. And slowly, the clay hardened and than after a while began to soften. Transforming and molding itself carefully, as part of a process Tupa had perfected over a long period of time. Countless years. Countless centuries. And now the lord of all of creation had a plan. A plan which would result in Jasy-Jaterei dying. The demon god of naps had finally pushed the one who created everything too far. No longer would the imp get away with his pranks.

 The Guarani people have a complex set of myths revolving around their creation. Well they did. Many of them have converted to Christianity, but the records of their ancient beliefs still exist and thus we can chat about them!

Tupa is the lord of creation. He and his wife, Arasy are the deities of the Sun and the Moon. He is the creator in the ancient myths, and he creates Tau and Angatupyry (the spirits of evil and good respectively). Humans are made out of clay, and brought to life by Tupa. The first were Rupave and Sypave. They had kids, among them Marangatu (a leader), and Kerana (she’s the Echidna or Lilith or even the Persephone of Gurani mythology.). Kerana’s beauty attracted Tau, and Tau eventually pursued her, even directly fighting Angatupyry for days prior to kidnap her. Their children were and are… well less than pleasant. From the impish Jasy, to the “cannibal” (although I think “man-eating” would be more appropriate) Ao Ao, the kids produced by Kerana and Tau were monstrous and while some were calm and only monstrous in appearance, all were pretty scary to be around in one way or another. The sources I used talk about the children in some detail so I’ll leave to them. But here’s the basics: the children are all monstrous even in personality if not in appearance. For example Luison is contemporarily considered by some to be a werewolf like creature (although this is an example of the protean nature of myths because this isn’t the same as Luison was originally considered to be). Teju-Jagua has 7 heads and the body of an alligator.

As you will be able to see from the links I post, records related to this mythology are actually surprisingly uniform and non-contradictory (with one exception, which I included because aside from the names it isn’t vastly different from the others with more specific details). (This is an edit on 4/19/16. I misspoke and showed only a one-sided portrayal of Guarani mythology, and would like to invite readers to go to the comments section to see a more accurate breakdown of the mythology. Sometimes things like this happen, and it’s important to acknowledge them when they occur. I’d also like to thank commentator Kreator for providing a correction. It’s awesome that everyone here truly wants to learn about the mythologies found throughout Latin America. Kreator’s comment is fantastic, and even has a source embedded within it. Give it a quick read!) Given that this is the case, I am happy to let others explain more of this mythology than I usually do. In later weeks I’ll be covering in more detail the myths of other cultures, but this is the first time I’ve seen the myths be remembered and discussed so clearly. It’s a pleasant change. Remember: the purpose of Mythology Monday is to introduce people to Latin American mythological features and legends.

Some sources can be found here, here, here, and here. Another source similar to the one with different names can be found here.

If We Lived In a World of More Diverse Fantasy…

The flames that poured out of the hands of the adventurer served as part of the reason his opponents were weary. He had an ominous looking sheathe on his hip, one carrying the telltale symbol of the chief of the Pemon people. The symbol was so well-known and so easy to spot that it made even monsters take steps back and behave more cautiously. As evidenced by the fact that his opponents, “humans” created by Tuenkaron, the woman in the river, didn’t want to approach him. He raised his hands, and aimed them at the two “humans” who stood closest to where he was. “Back off impostors.” Said the warrior, unafraid and waiting to test out his abilities. But that made the “humans” angry. “Impostors” was considered derogatory slang by the “children” of Tuenkaron, who the woman in the river created using mud, and occasionally using wax. Only her most favored children were crafted from sandstone, the material that had once been used to craft Aromadapuen. When the women lunged, enraged by the lack of sensitivity shown by the young man, they were instantly defeated. The merciless warrior set forth a wave of flame from his palms which incinerated his opponents. “Weakling.” Said the young man, annoyed. And after stopping for a second and ensuring that his opponents were truly reduced to hollow piles of wax, and mud, he continued. Like the deity he believed to be his ancient ancestor, he’d approach Tuenkaron for a bride.

Another example might be the following:

As far as the eye could see stood battle-tested warriors. Some of them weren’t human, and were demons, minor deities, ancient monsters, and in some cases beings that looked like nightmarish fusions of cave-paintings and terrible animals. These were warriors and gods, monsters and demons, who had banded together to prevent a once minor deity from taking over the world. And together this army led by a human, had pushed back the end of the world by defeating human after human, and dominated deity after dominated deity. That human was accompanied by a small band of deities. Currently he sat atop a horse as he faced the final foe: the nameless deity who had attempted to take over the world. This deity, who looked like an unassuming and fairly harmless human but floated in the air, silently watched the mismatched army that stood before him. And then he began to laugh. The laugh could be heard by everyone who was participating or who would have participated, had they survived. And for many it’d be the last sound they ever heard. Because at that moment, the nameless god who was once posed to conquer the world decided to destroy it. Once he finished laughing, the sound empty and cruel, he clapped. The clap was but a fraction of his power, and the shock-wave it caused killed over 80% of the army that the human champion had gathered. Man, myth, and legend, none were sparred but the very strongest. “Do you want to continue?” The nameless one asked, his voice beautiful but filled with cruelty, similar to the sensation of touching a rose and suddenly feeling the tip of a thorn. Elal stepped forward, bow in hand and arrow aimed at the deity. “You don’t get to destroy everything just because people refuse to serve you.” He said, his voice powerful and restorative to those who survived the first strike of the nameless one. The survivors began to truly recover from the strike upon hearing Elal’s statement. “I suppose given that I could erase you from existence at anytime… I’ll humor your desire to fight to the death.” Said the nameless god, with that same beautiful yet cruel voice. “Till the world ends.” Said the human champion, amused yet tense. And with that he gathered ice in his hands, before hurling it at the nameless god, who responded by grabbing the ice, which had transformed midair into a harsh looking spear. “Pathetic.” He said, but despite that the god without a name couldn’t help but smile. And thus the fight to end the world or to save it began. 

If fantasy looked more diverse, there’d be more stories. Stories wherein a certain nameless deity is treated as the antagonist of life in general. Where the lords of ancient South America and Central America are known by name. And where heroes of Native America are treated with respect. It’d be cool to see stories in fantasy where good and evil are reversed. Or where characters from global mythology are incorporated (like Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). What do you think?

This could also be known as: THA wanted an excuse to write some short sentences and call it a “story”. But I’d love to hear what sort of diverse fantasy you’d like to see!

History, Religion, and Mythology

History, religion, and mythology must all be taught in public schools and in public universities. And the history of religion must also be taught in public schools and in public universities. This is inconvenient but it’s true. And I’m going to make an argument in favor of this using Latin America.

If you want to study Latin American history, you are studying the history of religion. As someone who is working towards a degree in history and who is Latin American this is a fundamental fact. When you study the history of Latin America, especially it’s early history, you are not JUST studying the history of Mexico, and all of the countries south of it. You are not JUST studying how the Spanish ruled over Latin America. You are studying an immensely complex relationship between the Catholic Church, the Spanish Crown, and tens of thousands of Indigenous people (and their descendants), Spanish conquistadors (and their descendants), Africans (enslaved, and not, and their children), and regular Spanish people who came over because they wanted an attempt at a restart (and some of them were kicked out) (and of course, their descendants). It is not possible to gain an understanding of the history of Latin America without also knowing at least a bit about the Catholic Church. At least bits and pieces of the history of the Church are taught when we learn about the history of Latin America. We learn about the Catholic Church’s debate over whether or not the native people of Latin America had souls and the question of whether or not they could be enslaved. If you want to learn about this specific moment in history, I recommend researching the Sublimis Deus and the Valladolid debate (this is apparently part of a lecture on the topic from, the University of British Columbia and a solid summary of it) in which Bartolome de las Casas argued in favor of (this is a summary) treating the Indigenous peoples with the similar respect to what the colonizers received or were thought worthy of, against (among others) Juan Gines de Sepulveda who wanted to see that the Natives be forced to end their controversial practices and was more than willing to use force to achieve this goal.

I once co-led a club about Latin American culture, language, and dance. This club was located at an elementary school, in Greensboro North Carolina. I was (and am) a college student. I was teaching children about the history of Latin America. My girlfriend was the other co-leader and we decided to watch The Book of Life. A good portion of the film takes place in the world of the dead. This afterlife is set in two distinct places, the “Land of the Forgotten” and the “Land of the Remembered”. I had to pause the movie and explain a bit of Latin American history, in order to teach the children that there are many different beliefs and that the perception of what comes after death isn’t universal. One of them had actually asked Jessica and myself why weren’t the characters in Heaven. This single statement is enough to support the creation of classes around religion, and mythology, but there’s a real need for it. Religion motivates and motivated people (in the present day) and people throughout history. In attempting to teach people about history, we MUST also teach about religion and about religious beliefs because these beliefs did have an effect on kings and queens, and on heroes and “villains” throughout history.

This is a topic that can be approached objectively. And in today’s society it should be approached. I understand that this is controversial, but in order to truly teach history effectively, one cannot afford to forget how religion has molded the world around us. We cannot afford to forget how religion motivated people and how it drove them further than perhaps any other factor. Missionaries from the Catholic Church moving to the New World affected how the Spanish Crown viewed the Native people. Religious persecution drove people to the New World. Religious persecution (both actual and imagined) drove Christians and Pagans to be weary of each other in ancient Rome. In a lot of ways religion has indirectly contributed to the way the world looks even right now. We can no longer act like history and religion exist separately, and if we truly value education we should push for classes centered around religion, mythology, and the history of religion (and why it affects the world even today). Let’s work to improve education as much as we can, and to teach as much as we can, about history. That should include religion and how it evolved.

Fallacy Friday #4 “‘E’ For Effort”

This is a fun one, brought to you by a list of fallacies online. I had never heard of this fallacy until today, and it’s an interesting one. Despite never hearing it before, I’ve seen it used and just didn’t know this sort of faulty argument had a name.

This is the fallacy that Christians commit when they make the claim that “Are you telling me martyrs who witnessed Jesus in the flesh died for a lie?”. It might sound harsh, but this is functionally the fallacy that they are committing. Simply because someone believed in something so much that they refused to renounce it, even in death, DOESN’T MAKE WHAT THEY DIED FOR TRUE. I hear this claim all the time as a vocal atheist who is willing to debate with theists, and I was seriously unaware that this format of argument had a name. The form this fallacy takes is the following: “Someone fought/tried really hard to prove X. Therefore X is true/has some sort of desirable trait, such as value or honor.”. It is also known as the “Notable Effort” fallacy and the “Noble Effort” fallacy.

This is a fallacy because it isn’t evidence for the truth of the argument. If the argument is that something exists, and the “reason” people have proof of it existing is that people were willing to die for it, that doesn’t make it true. Especially if it’s some sort of extraordinary claim. This is something interesting to ponder if you look at other stories in the Bible. The army that pursued the Jews while they fled Egypt is a good example. Were they “right” to have slaves, or did it have some sort of value, given the extent to which they pursued the Jews (I know the chapter states that the God hardened the heart of the Pharaoh but stick with me for a second), as the Jews fled, eventually being unable to chase them following the supposed incident at the Red Sea (specifically Exodus 14)? Does the death of the Egyptians somehow validate their beliefs? Of course not. This fallacy is extremely silly, and it should be viewed as such. Someone dying for a belief, be it religious, political, historical, or whatever else it could be does NOTHING for the value, or objective truth of a position.

Try to avoid this fallacy. Especially because sometimes people have to sound like a jerk explaining why the argument is flawed. And that always sucks. In order to beat this fallacy back, simply point out that an argument’s level of truth isn’t determined by the number of people who have died for it. Or that have fought hard for it. If one wants to, they could ask to see if the number of scientists with relevant degrees who assert that evolution happened, vs the number of equally certified scientists who assert that creation happened determines the “truth” of the evolution position. Perhaps after that people who make this argument will think twice.

Some information on this fallacy can be found here, and here.

Remember: every Friday is Fallacy Friday!

Why Should We Talk About Indigenous Latin American Mythology?

I wrote a post about this on my Facebook and it got a nice amount of attention from people who had liked the page at the time. In this post I want to explain why I like talking about the mythologies found throughout Latin America. It’s not just because these are remarkable deities who could help redefine the fantasy genre, but that is part of it.

Expanding knowledge related to the beliefs that the people who lived in the Americas once believed (and still do believe in some instances) is empowering to skepticism. Christianity and Catholicism have spread throughout the Americas in a mixture of genuine conversion, violent torture, and tiny wars (most notably used by the Spanish when conquering their chunks of the New World), but also by wiping out records and pieces of literary which codified the ancient beliefs wherever and whenever the Spanish could find them. This wasn’t extraordinarily common, but at least one known instance and one major figure tied to this are known to exist beyond any shadow of a doubt: Diego de Landa, who was known to have ordered the destruction of Mayan texts and idols, allegedly following a discovery which was tied to cases of human sacrifice. The Spanish, the Catholics, and the other types of Christians, all sought to undermine Indigenous beliefs and to wipe them out. In doing our part to remember the mythologies and beliefs of those who lived here before the Europeans, and to revive interest in them, we are undermining centuries of oppression inflicted on the Indigenous peoples of Latin America, and weakening the majesty of the Church relative to the minds of those who live in Latin America and adore the Church (not that this is everyone in Latin America, including Catholics, because believe me it isn’t).

The beliefs of the Indigenous peoples of Latin America were and are incredible. From the story of Hunahpu and Xbalanque, to the myths of Wei and his children, to the battle in which Coatlicue lost her life, Indigenous American mythology is truly incredible. It’s every bit as remarkable as the creation story and myths within the Bible. And that’s where the danger starts to appear to Christianity. Once people throughout the world start to hear of other virgin birthed deities who overcame death (like Hunahpu and Xbalanque from Mayan mythology) Christianity starts to get easier to question. Skepticism starts to creep in when people hear of deities who claim to be the sole path towards truth and eternity, and then hears of other gods with similar backgrounds but different stories. And of altogether unique deities.

In reminding ourselves of the vast array of gods who were and are believed to walk throughout Latin America we begin to undo the vast harm done to the oral history of Latin America, by the Spaniards who willingly and happily destroyed centuries of records with each 5 or so codices they burned. We also begin to remember the history of the land we walk on. And we begin to see Indigenous Americans as more than just 1 “super-civilization” but instead as a variety of distinct and unique cultures each deserving of study and respect. We can honor those who came before us by learning about them and what they thought of the world they lived in, and mythology is an important aspect of this. In remembering the mythologies constructed by the Indigenous people of Latin America we can potentially see history being rewritten by our own hands, and being expanded upon. We can also envision a world where fantasy media is more than Zeus, Lucifer, Odin, and a 9-tailed fox or two. We can see a world where fantasy video games include tributes to the remarkable deities who roam forgotten and magical spaces in the Amazon, and swim deep beneath Latin American streams and rivers. We can create this world ourselves by taking it upon ourselves to not forget the monsters who stalked primeval jungles and forests throughout South and Central America. In learning about Axomama and teaching what she supposedly did, as lessons about the human imagination to our children we strengthen the ability of our children to resist superstitions. We teach them to detect extraordinary claims which demand equally extraordinary evidence.

We cannot afford to forget the beliefs of those who came before us. Even if those beliefs aren’t Christianity. Even if those beliefs have no formal name, or are not recognized as an international religion.

I like talking about mythology because mythology, especially Latin American mythology is incredible. And in teaching my fellow skeptics and even a believer or two about mythology I get to help them learn about history. I get them to care just a bit more about Latin America. And I get to work to expand how even we ourselves view Latin America’s remarkable history, both factually, and the “mythical” history of our part of the world. The human imagination is pretty amazing isn’t it?

What do you think?

Mythology Monday #3 A Very Brief Intro to Pemon Mythology

First of all: Who are the Pemon? The Pemon are a group of Indigenous Americans who live in Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana (one of the least discussed countries in South America). Like Guyana, the Pemon aren’t often discussed unless by someone with a personal interest in their culture. But this week’s Mythology Monday is all about their beliefs, particularly their creation myth. Meet Wei.

The woman within the stream was busy. She was frantically constructing a basic “mold” in the shape of a comely woman. Her hands moved rapidly as she focused with inhuman precision on the task before her. Her impossible focus was due to the pressure she faced. If she failed at the task she was attempting to do it would mean the end of her freedom, and that she was something she simply couldn’t and wouldn’t lose. She was nervous, for she had already failed twice. She feared she wouldn’t get a third chance. “First of mud. Afterwards of wax. What comes next? Perhaps… stone.” Whispered the woman who lived beneath the stream. (Please note, there’s no reason to believe Tuenkaron the figure who is known as “The woman” in this story lives within the water. This is just one possible way to write her into a story, or at least one example of what someone who wants to use her as a character might choose to do)

Wei is the deity of the sun. He’s a figure who resembles an Indigenous person, and he spent his time tending a garden of ocumo, his preferred food. The creation myth of the Pemon involves his as he attempts to find a wife. By accident, at first.

Wei decides it’s time to take a bath. And comes across a stream that has been recently disturbed, and he can see the ripples as they flow through the water. The strange deity makes a decision to come back later, but bathes there before leaving. Unbeknownst to him at the time, this was where Tuenkaron was resting, and she dove into the water in an effort to remain hidden. She wouldn’t be as successful the next day she tried this.

Wei decides to return to the stream, but does so in a more sneaky manner and manages to capture the woman, by her hair (which stretched down to her feet). She begs in order to stay free, and convinces him that she’ll send him a woman to be his wife. She does. Or she tries anyway. Let’s say it takes a few tries before she gets it right.

Lady number 1: White lady made of clay/white mud. Begins to collapse/muddy the water when exposed to water. Went to go get water due to orders from Wei.

Lady number 2: Black lady made of wax. Melts/collapses when exposed to fire. Went to set fire to piles of ocumo that Wei had gathered.

Lady number 3: Red lady made of sandstone (possibly). Doesn’t muddy water when sent to fetch it, and doesn’t melt when setting stuff on fire, or cooking it. Just right for Wei.

This is that woman who Wei eventually falls in love with and the children that Aromadapuen (one of the sources I found says this is the name of the lady made of sandstone) gives birth to are known as the Makunaima. The names of the children are: Weruwarek/Meriwarek (the oldest), Chiwadapuen (a daughter), Arawadapuen (a daughter), and Arukadari (the youngest).

If you want to know some more here’s a bit of information: I found a source which states that Aromadapuen dies due to eating poisonous lice from an old toad. In revenge her children burn the toad. Arukadari who is known to some as Chike (it’s one of nicknames of the deity allegedly because Chike always opposed the plans of the oldest) ascends to the heavens and becomes the Tauna star.

The Sun and Moon? Wei, and Kapui. So why do these two people hang in separate circles? Because back when Wei was friends with Kapui, Wei apparently abused one of Kapui’s daughters. In response the two became foes and one was in charge of the day and the other dominated the darkness.

If you want to read more about the myths of the Pemon here are a few sources!

First of all Scribd has a source in Spanish and in Pemon.

There’s also this source featuring handmade drawings and text in Spanish and in Pemon.

There’s also the sources I’ve posted links too. If you can find others definitely comment and share them! If you can, you’re awesome because I searched for videos and for more links, and everything talked about Chinese mythology, and about Pokemon. Finding some of this was hard.

I really enjoy highlight indigenous cultures throughout Latin America and I am glad that people enjoy reading my work. Have a great night!

Quick Update: Mythology Monday, and Patheos

So hi! First of all: there is a Mythology Monday that’s going to go up today, but I am also doing paperwork and filling out forms to become a member of Patheos’s atheist channel. I’ll be continuing this blog, but also doing posts on there as well. I have every intention of doing separate, and distinct content on both, but that’s part of the reason why posts last week were a bit slower than the past few weeks. I’m a college senior preparing to enter my penultimate semester, and it’s a bit hectic, but the summer is fast approaching. Once summer comes I am planning on posting daily. And I fully intend to do that, understanding how ambitious it is.

I don’t want to live solely as a blogger, but if I can that’d be awesome. If I can make a living blogging full time, that’d be awesome. I want to improve my ability to post regularly, and I want to build up an audience that follows me and works with me. And I think that blogging here is a first step in that process. But I don’t think I’ll be stopping my blog here in the foreseeable future, even if other blogs I work at “blow up” so to speak. If you want to here more about Patheos as that develops be sure to like my page on Facebook The Hispanic Atheist so you stay up to date on my posts and activities relative to atheism, and Latin America!

Fallacy Friday #3 “No True Scotsman”

Happy April Fools Day! Now’s let’s talk fallacies. Today’s is a common one known as the “No True Scotsman”. This is an argument meant to exempt certain members of a population by claiming that they either are or aren’t “true” members of the group in question.

An example of this could look something like “True Christians don’t murder!”, and if you’re thinking that this is a bit heavy handed I’ve met several Christians who in debates have made this claim. They’ve used it to try and squirm out of things like the fact that studies have shown that the U.S. prison population has exceptionally few atheists even though we are also a very tiny percentage of the population.

Once again, not the easiest fallacy to call out, but easier than a few others we’ve talked about so far. This fallacy can and should be called out whenever it occurs. One way to do so is to point out that we do not have knowledge of someone’s motives, or of their “soul” for a lack of a better word. Nor do we have the authority, even if you’re debating a priest, to say that someone is or isn’t a true member of their faith. Some people like to claim that they can judge people, particularly by using a specific Bible verse, John 7:24. The full context of this is that it is the story of Jesus’s appearance at the Festival of Tabernacles. It’s a bit odd to try and use this to justify passing judgement righteously, given that Jesus was saying he ought not be judged based off of appearances alone, but instead he should be “judged correctly”. He was speaking specifically about how they thought he was demon possessed and how he was rebuking that belief. So do Christians who make this claim and use this verse about judgement believe the “not true” Christians are possessed by demons? It’s silly.

The reality is that we have no way of knowing whether or not someone believes, genuinely, and truly. The idea that there is some mechanism by which we can determine whether or not people who behave a certain way are automatically “not true” members of their faith is just a bad idea. It’s not true and it’s not worth spending time on. The simple reality is that people experience things differently and thus they act differently even if placed in the exact same situation. It’s exclusionary and foolish to try and categorize people as “true” and “untrue” members of their identities, based off of certain actions, unless those actions run directly contrary to the definition of the identity, in SOME cases. An example could be a self-described atheist who believes in God. Someone who for various reasons might believe but not worship. They might identify themselves as “atheists” but they aren’t. Depending on how they feel about “God” they could be deists, or agnostics, or even weird anti-theists who actually do “hate God” (like the Professor in God’s Not Dead, he qualifies as this weird anti-theist that I mentioned). Another example could be a “Christ-like” follower of another religion. This person could be told that they are “not true” members of whatever religion they follow to practice due to their behaviors. It doesn’t make it true.

Criminals who are Christian, are still Christian even if they repeatedly commit crimes. Killers who are Muslim are still Muslim even if they kill repeatedly. Atheists who are hateful bigots are still atheists independent of their hate filled attitudes.

This fallacy tends to be used as a distraction, in addition to being a tactic used to get a certain, indefinite amount of a population out of valid criticisms. The No True Scotsman fallacy is a silly, and lazy tactic used to escape conversations which make people belonging to a certain identity, or social group uncomfortable. But just because a conversation is uncomfortable doesn’t make it “wrong”, “false”, or “unnecessary”. Let’s try to avoid using it. But if someone does try it, ask who gave them the authority to make that call, and then depending on how they respond ask them to prove that the person in question has the relevant qualifications, and/or actually exists.

If you want to make suggestions about relevant fallacies to cover, let me know! Let me know what you think about my coverage of this fallacy. And of course have a great day!

 

 

 

Old Video From November

In November I made a video about atheism. I considered this to be a solid introduction to atheism, and what it “means” to be an atheist. I pointed out that atheism doesn’t demand that atheists not believe in the supernatural. I also talked about my objectives for the future. I feel like this video is fairly reflective of my opinions about atheism, and my objectives for the future. If you wanted to learn a bit about me, this is a nice way to see something I made which talks about what I think. I’m sharing this again because I am beginning to talk and write far more about atheism, and religion than I did before.

Let me know what you think! Do you think I accurately described atheism? Do you disagree? I want to know!

Myths, Parables, Fables, and Legends

Let’s chat about literary terms and their definitions. Specifically about storytelling. And even more specifically about differences between some of these terms. They tend to be used interchangeably (parables and fables less so than myths and legends), and that’s not correct. It’s fine enough if you aren’t interested in formal or academic discussion, but the differences are kind of important for a genuine discussion about both ancient and contemporary theology.

What is a parable? These tend to be seen from the standpoint of contemporary popular beliefs, and they are simple stories meant to illustrate moral or spiritual lessons. There are parables in the Bible, and one well known example is The Ten Maidens. This story is meant to illustrate the importance of being prepared and being diligent even if it seems silly to us in the modern day. Parables do not need to have any sort of supernatural force in them.

What is a fable? Fables are short stories that can have supernatural elements (inanimate objects talking, and animals talking is pretty supernatural), meant to teach moral lessons. These stories tend to have inanimate objects and animals as characters, and an extremely famous example is the Hare and the Tortoise. A lesser known example could be the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, or the Man and the Wood (the morals from these two are “appearances can be deceiving” and “don’t give those who hate you/your enemies the tools they can use to destroy you”.). Plenty of examples, including the ones mentioned here can be found at this site.

So what’s the deal with legends? These are related to history. The formal definition of a legend is the following: a traditional story usually regarded as historical (popularly) but unauthenticated. Some examples include: the fountain of youth, the 7 cities of gold, Bigfoot (arguably), Antillia, and other such locations and alleged artifacts. The difference between legends and myths can be blurry, but an easy example can be how these things are perceived. If these things are viewed as historical, or a decent chunk of people view them as historical, they are legends. Also legends might not have and probably don’t have overtly supernatural elements to them (though they certainly can, such as the fountain of youth being somehow able to reverse the effects of time on skin and possibly the lifespan in the 15th and 16th centuries.)

Myths. The big M. So what exactly IS a myth? These are traditional stories, usually focused on early histories of a people, oftentimes meant to explain “events” such as the onset of language (Tower of Babel for instance) and WHY things were the way they were, typically involving heavy/extensive supernatural powers and beings. Examples of myths include the creation story of Christianity, and of virtually every single civilization. Creation stories tend to have very extreme accounts of supernatural beings and powers. The usage of the word “myth” doesn’t apply solely to less popular religions, or imply that the stories aren’t true. It’s merely an attempt to place stories and claims with similar elements closer together for comparative reading and so that people who are interested can find other stories or claims with similar themes easily.

Myths and legends can and are used interchangeably, as are myths and fables. Parables are occasionally interchanged with fables, but that’s considerably less common in my experience than someone switching out what would more appropriately be described as a legend, but calling it a myth. Or vice-versa. This isn’t important, but if we’re going to discuss civilizations we ought to know how to discuss them and talking about legendary events and actually CALLING THEM legendary is a good way to show that you care about the conversation you are having. Things that could be considered contemporary “legends” can be and oftentimes are debunked by internet groups like Snopes. Debunking myths is a bit more complex because myths almost always have high levels of belief behind them, but legends can be and are questioned by plenty of people.

If we’re going to talk about myths and legends, I would like for us to have a genuine understanding of these words before we use them. I want us to know the nuances of each word. Popular but unauthenticated stories can and should be questioned. As should stories which involve high levels of supernatural activity and occurrences. Fables and parables as stories which serve more to provide some sort of lesson should be viewed less critically, but even they shouldn’t be above questioning and criticisms. If we want to truly appreciate the old stories, and the old beliefs (and contemporary ones) we can and should understand how to properly categorize them. Having knowledge of definitions and of literary analysis helps with this.

So in short the differences are quite remarkable. Parables and fables are meant to teach some sort of lesson, spiritual, moral, or otherwise. And legends and myths relate to beliefs and to how people conceptualize history and the nature of the universe. These things have definitions that are fairly distinct and they shouldn’t be used interchangeably, but if you do that’s fine. Just remember the actual definitions of each word. Proper word usage and a willingness to bring up definitions in complex literary discussions and in interpretations of history can be and oftentimes is useful.

In the context of atheism and skepticism where this truly matters is about conversations concerning beliefs and why people have these beliefs. Being able to explain these definitions and why certain beliefs fall into these categories is important because it can help people learn to discern similarities between beliefs and views of history. This is important stuff to know if you care about having conversations related to beliefs.

Let me know what you think!