Seshat was the Egyptian Goddess of writing, wisdom and knowledge. She was either portrayed as one of the wives of the God Thoth or possibly his daughter. It was believed that there were no temples to her, but she played a very important role as her name means “female scribe”.
She also became identified as the goddess of sciences, accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. #egyptology #mythology #folklore
2. By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes!
Aicha’s story is chockfull of tropes and pieces from other folklore categories. The most obvious one is the pricking of the bone transferring a curse which is a staple of the Sleeping Beauty archetype (Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 410) but also of ‘The Maiden Seeks her Brothers’ (ATU type 451).
You may be familiar with these variants of stories such as the Wild Swans or the Twelve Brothers from European folktales. However, throughout Northern Africa, these stories are slightly different. For example, in the Moroccan tale, Udea and Her Seven Brothers, and the Algerian story, ‘The Girl who Banished Seven Brothers.’
After the sister finds her brothers, her cat puts out the fire in their kitchen. She unknowingly visits a ghoul, and it follows her, but before it can eat her, her brothers return to slay it. As with the story of Aicha, the ghoul’s finger bone pricks her, but instead of making her restless, it makes her fall into a death-like state. If this sounds familiar, then great you are thinking of Snow White!
There are so many references in this one story that it is hard to map all of them, but Aicha is a testament to the evolution of storytelling.
Image from the book, The Wild Swan by Susan Jeffers (2008) which is based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen. #folklore #fairytales #tropes #dailyfolklore #myth #books
At the end of each episode we have our Five Fantastic Finds! Here are some from the Aicha: The Demon Slayer episode!
1. Ghouls!
Aisha’s neighbour was a ghoul, and he cursed our heroine with restlessness. But what is a ghoul? Like trolls, ghouls are loosely defined monsters, so they change from story to story. Traditionally, they are associated with graveyards and cannibalism, which means ghouls become easy canon fodder in video games and tabletop role-playing games. Their descriptions will vary and can be easily modified slightly to give players new challenges while reusing the basics of a ghoul.
Sometimes ghouls were not always born monsters but started as humans. These mutant types become a zombie-like horde or cannibals. In rare instances, becoming a ghoul is like gaining superpowers, like in Tokyo Ghoul. The drawback being you are still a monster that must feast on human flesh.
Ghouls and their various hybrids/variants from around the world include many other monster types. These include Rakshasa (India), Jikininki (Japan), Aswang (Philippines), and Eurynomos (Greece).
Image from our website show notes: https://talesfromtheenchantedforest.com/2023/04/13/aicha-the-demon-slayer/
#myth #monsters #folklore #dailyfolklore #podcast #Scooby-doo #anime
curious ordinary
GaymerGeek
TalesfromtheEnchantedForest
curious ordinary
