The Light Stealer

Giant sat in the heavens, looking down upon the world.  There was not much going on, so The Trickster decided to have a bit of fun.  He put on a raven skin and dove to earth.  As he flew over the water, he dropped a stone, which turned into an island.  He landed on the island, and took some seeds from his pocket.  Then he flew over the land and dropped seeds, and all kinds of fruit trees sprang up.  Then he flew over the waters again and dropped fish eggs, which became trout and other fish.

Giant was still feeling mischievous, so he spotted the home of one of the goddesses.  In her home was the maa.  So he turned himself into a baby and hid inside of her.  He was soon born, and a remarkable baby he was!  He could sit up and speak before he was a month old, and his parents marveled at him.  One day, as he sat on the floor, cooing and laughing, he began to speak.  "Maa!  Maa!"  His father - or, rather, the man who thought he was the father - said, "I believe he wants the maa."  So they took it down form the hearth and gave it to him.  He rolled it along the floor, and soon they ignored him.

So giant, seeing the opportunity, grabbed the maa, shed his baby form, and took off running.  The gods were angry, and ran after him.  "Giant is taking the maa!" they cried.

Giant stood on the bank of a river, where people were fishing.  "Give me some fish!" he cried.

"No!  You are Giant!  You are a liar!"

"I will break the maa if you do not give me fish!" 

But the people refused.  So Giant broke the maa upon the ground, and the earth had daylight.  Then Giant put on the raven skin again, and flew off into the sky.

-From the Tsimshian peoples of Alaska, found in Giants: Legends and Lore of Goliaths


This week's myth is a classic example of Telephone Mythology at work.  The parallels between this Alaskan myth and the Greek myth of Prometheus are astonishing, and, unless we believe that Telephone Mythology is possible, difficult to dismiss.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Prometheus, here's a quick explanation:

Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, both Titans, were charged with creating the world and everything in it.  They split up the job, with Epimetheus creating the animals and people.  However, since he was rather liberal with his materials, when it came time to create man, he didn't have anything "special" left.  So Prometheus ascended into heaven, stole fire from the sun, and gave it to the newly-created humans.  This action earned him the nickname of "Trickster," but it also enraged the gods, who eventually punished him for his deeds.

Now consider:

In the Greek myth:                                          In the Alaskan myth:
1) A giant partially creates the world             1) A giant partially creates the world
2) Prometheus is known as a "trickster."        2) Giant is known as a "liar"
3) Prometheus brings fire from the sun to      3) Giant brings the light of the sun to the world
     earth.
4) The gods are angry with Prometheus         4) The gods are angry with Giant.


Coincidence?  Possibly, but if we're honest and realistic the parallels are far too similar to truly dismiss as independently invented.  It would, in fact, take far more blind faith to believe that these two myths were invented independently of each other than to believe that the story was passed down from generation to generation and culture to culture until it evolved into the story we see in the Native Americans of Alaska.

Telephone Mythology, which requires a singular event in the history of mankind that we commonly call The Tower of Babel, is not a popular theory.  And, while this week's myth certainly does not prove anything - after all, none of us were there - it does suggest that much of ancient literature may be more than just symbolism and superstition.  So now, readers, I leave it in your hands:  what do you think of Telephone Mythology?  Possible, plausible, or preposterous? 

Otos and Ephialtes

Otos and Ephialtes were two giants and children of Poseidon.  Just as the gods had challenged the authority of the Titans, so the giants desired to challenge the authority of the gods on Olympus.  The two of them lifted Mt. Pelion, placing it upon Mt. Ossa, in order to ascend into the heavenly realm of Olympus.  But Apollo noted their efforts, and with one arrow, slew them both.

-From Greece

 So let's talk about this for a moment.  There are obvious "Tower of Babel" implications here, something that comes up quite a bit in world mythology.  So much so, in fact, that it I would officially classify it - as if my word were ever truly "official"! - as a Global Myth.  But I think this story is much more than just another Global Myth; it is, rather, the lynch-pin that holds the entire theory of Telephone Mythology together.

Telephone Mythology, if you're unfamiliar with the phrase, states that the most ancient of our stories - Creation, Flood, Babel, etc. - all have their origin in real events, and that the Tower of Babel event is precisely why we have so many different versions of these stories, and yet the stories themselves are not only common to the ancient world (spanning the globe from Australia to Alaska), but they have several common threads that link them together.  The differences can be explained away, but the similarities are difficult to explain.  So is the presence of these stories in hundreds of cultures around the globe.  The only logical explanation for these occurrences is that, at some point in our history, the Tower of Babel actually occurred, mankind was struck with an instant change in languages, and the people, as a result, scattered and became isolated into whatever groups now existed.    

And what do we do with our children?  We tell them stories, of course.  We tell them stories we make up, we tell them stories that are important to us - family history - we tell them the stories we grew up hearing.  This is why "The Three Little Pigs" is still told.  I grew up reading a version of that story, and I tell it to my daughter now.  A singular event, such as the development of different cultures, would inarguably be told and retold.  

But it would also change.  This is why we have several versions of The Three Little Pigs.  In some, the wolf eats the first two pigs, in others, he doesn't.  In some, the wolf dies at the end (and even how he dies varies), in others, he runs away, angry, never to return.  Sometimes the pigs buy their building materials, sometimes they find them and gather them themselves.  The pig who uses straw can be either simple-minded, lazy, or just plain cheap.  The story, which isn't that old, has already morphed into numerous versions.

We also see languages change rather rapidly.  Here in America, we speak English.  But here's the deal: someone born and raised in New York City speaks a vastly different English from someone born and raised in Mobile, Alabama.  The dialects - though both of them English - are so different that many people in these areas can't even understand one another.  

If we look more broadly, the English spoken in America is different from its Mother English, that spoken across the pond in England.  Now, of course, the King's English has itself changed, even since the time of Shakespeare. 

And then there's culture.  While we originally started as (mostly) English colonies, our culture here in America is quite a bit different from the culture over in England.  Much to my dismay, for example, we do not have "tea time."  They regularly build multi-level bookstores.  

So when met with naysayers who scoff and claim that Telephone Mythology is impossible, that "everyone knows" there was no Global Flood, the Tower of Babel is a fairy-tale, and the like, I sort of get perplexed.  We see cultures changing - rapidly, at times - around us even today.  We see stories that are only a hundred or so years old changing around us.  We see languages and dialects changing around us.  In other words, most of the main components of this idea are visible to us, even today, and what we see in this story of Otos and Ephialtes is further example of Telephone Mythology at work.

Which must inevitably lead to the conclusion that the Tower of Babel was, in all likelihood, a real event.  Now, if you dismiss the Bible, you cannot do so on grounds of "science," "evidence," or "logic," for we see the evidence, the science, and the logic of it all around us.  Know, then, that if you dismiss it, it's because you choose to, not because you're smart enough to figure out that it's lying.  Because to assume that it must be false, you, indeed, must dismiss a great deal of this evidence and logic to which you claim to so desperately cling when building your view of reality.  I cannot make you believe the Bible, but I can leave you with no choice but to either accept it, or deny reality.  

And so the choice, then, is up to you.  I hope - no, I actually, literally pray - that you will see this, you will open an actual Bible, and perhaps for the first time, read it for what it is:  Truth.