So, today we’re talking about African Pantheons. Now, you might say, that’s …
So, today we’re talking about African Pantheons. Now, you might say, that’s ridiculous. Africa isn’t a single place with a single pantheon, and we’d be fools to try and cover all that in an eleven minute video. You’d be right. Instead we’re going to focus on Yoruba religion from west Africa, and the Orishas that populate Yoruba stories. The many, many Orishas cover all aspects of life, and can be pretty specialized. We’re going to focus on a dozen or so.
We don’t want to deluge you with information on the subject, but …
We don’t want to deluge you with information on the subject, but this week on Crash Course Mythology, Mike Rugnetta is talking once again about floods. We’re looking at ancient flood myths in the Americas, and what they can tell us about the stories that people tell, and how they can look similar, even in cultures separated by large swathes of time and space. We’ll talk about floods from Mayan and Aztec traditions, and as always, see if we can find something in these tales that gives us some insight into what it means to be a human.
Mike Rugnetta is going to tell you stories of death, destruction, divine …
Mike Rugnetta is going to tell you stories of death, destruction, divine judgment, damnation, and the occasional happy ending. That's right, this week we're talking about the Apocalypse. Actually, we're talking about a bunch of ways the world could end. Prepare for stories of the end times from Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam! It's the (mostly) Abrahamic Apocalypses on Crash Course World Mythology.
This week on Crash Course Mythology, Mike is teaching you about the …
This week on Crash Course Mythology, Mike is teaching you about the archetypes that are often associated with male divinities. We’re going to talk about Fathers & Sons, Kings & Judges, Saviors & Sages, Shamans, Tricksters, and Lords of Destruction. Along the way, we’ll look at the story of Hwaning, Hwanung, and Dangun from the Korean peninsula, and we’ll learn about Arjuna and all the help he got from Krishna. We’ll also touch on a ton of other myths from around the world. These things play out this way all the time, man.
This week on Crash Course Mythology, we're getting urban. Mike Rugnetta is …
This week on Crash Course Mythology, we're getting urban. Mike Rugnetta is the man with the orange umbrella who's about to give you a free tour of mythical cities. We'll talk about a few cities that didn't exist, but we're going to focus on real cities with mythical founding stories. We'll talk about Jericho, Jerusalem, and Rome, among others.
In which Mike teaches you about the creation of the universe, with …
In which Mike teaches you about the creation of the universe, with sex. This week we're talking about creations stories from Egypt, West Africa, Greece, China, and Persia that have a lot in common with human sexual reproduction. And also some castration and puking, to boot. We've got your cosmic eggs, right here!
Mike Rugnetta continues to teach you about Tricksters in myth, and this …
Mike Rugnetta continues to teach you about Tricksters in myth, and this time we're headed to the Americas. Coyote and Raven appear in stories from many Native American groups, and more often than not, they're tricky. They're also often kind of, well, nasty. Not to get too judgy. But we do a lot of talking about poop in this episode. I'm just saying. We also talk about Tricksters as creators, as Coyote creates constellations, and Raven creates some rivers.
Today on Crash Course Mythology we’re starting in on creation stories. This …
Today on Crash Course Mythology we’re starting in on creation stories. This week, we’ll focus on the creation of the universe out of nothing, or Ex Nihlio creation. Basically, a god decides to make a universe out of nothing. We’ll look at the Genesis story (which has nothing to do with Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins), a Mayan creation tale, a Kono story of the beginning, and we’ll even look at the Big Bang.
This week on Crash Course World Mythology, it's the Circle of Life. …
This week on Crash Course World Mythology, it's the Circle of Life. And Death. And sometimes, Life again. Mike Rugnetta is teaching you about Dying Gods, by which I mean gods that die, and then return to life. You'll learn about the Corn Mother from Native American Traditions, Adonis of the Greek and Roman pantheon, Odin of the Norse, and a little about the most famous dying deity, Jesus. These aren't all the dying gods in the world, but it's a good introduction to the archetype.
So, we’re still talking about sex this week, but we’re talking about …
So, we’re still talking about sex this week, but we’re talking about Earth Mothers and their children. We'll start with Gaia, and her son Kronos, who had a classic childhood rebellion, and castrated his father. We'll also get into Kronos’s son Zeus, who would go on to dethrone his father. We’ll talk about Norse mythology, too, and look at the family that created the world, and worked together to make people.
This week, we're continuing our discussion of heroes by talking about Gilgamesh, …
This week, we're continuing our discussion of heroes by talking about Gilgamesh, star of one of the earliest written hero stories, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a terrible ancient king who left his kingdom seeking adventure, and eventually on the prowl for immortality. Along the way, he checks pretty much all the boxes on the checklist of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.
This week, we’re continuing our talk about the characteristics of Goddesses, and …
This week, we’re continuing our talk about the characteristics of Goddesses, and we’re going to look in depth at two stories from parts of the world we haven’t visited much in this series so far. From Hawaii, we’re going to hear a story about Pe-le, the great goddess of the Hawaiian Islands, and we’ll hear the story of the gifts of the White Buffalo Calf Woman from Native American tradition. We’ll look at the similarities and the differences in these stories, and talk about how goddesses interact with the world and with humanity in pretty interesting ways.
In which Mike Rugnetta quests for knowledge of the Holy Grail of …
In which Mike Rugnetta quests for knowledge of the Holy Grail of Mythology. Which is the actual, literal Holy Grail! The cup of Christ! Legends about the Holy Grail are often connected to the British legends of King Arthur, and this episode is definitely about this. Except we’re not talking much about Arthur, since he never actually found the grail. Instead, we’re going to talk about a couple different versions of the Grail legend, the stories of Perceval and Galahad. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy learning Grail lore. You have chosen wisely!
This week on Crash Course Mythology, we're talking archetypes. Specifically, we're talking …
This week on Crash Course Mythology, we're talking archetypes. Specifically, we're talking about archetypes as they're applied to female deities. Goddesses, man. You'll learn about prehistoric fertility goddesses like the Venus of Willendorf, life and death goddesses like the Ancient Greek Fates and the Norse Norns. And we'll learn about regeneration goddesses like Ireland's Nimah, and Japan's Oto-Hime.
This week, Mike Rugnetta re-introduces Herakles, the strong man of Greek and …
This week, Mike Rugnetta re-introduces Herakles, the strong man of Greek and Roman myth. Strongman with a darkside, that is. You'll learn about Herakles' 10 actually 12 labors, the story of his birth, his death, some of his marriages, none of which turned out that great, and some of his character flaws that definitely wouldn't fly in the modern world.
In which Mike Rugnetta continues to teach you about tricksters. In this …
In which Mike Rugnetta continues to teach you about tricksters. In this episode, we're talking about tricksters as culture heroes. Basically, a culture hero is someone whose creativity adds to their mythological culture. We'll learn how the shennanigans of Hermes are credited with deeply influencing Greek culture and myth, and we'll look at how Loki's tricks led to a lot of important aspects of Norse myth. This episode has it all! Cattle rustling, cook outs, luthiery, joke haircuts, and Gullinbursti the Battle Swine. All that's to say, this is a good one.
Let's get Heroic with Mike Rugnetta. This week on Crash Course World …
Let's get Heroic with Mike Rugnetta. This week on Crash Course World Mythology, we're talking about the Hero's Journey and the Monomyth, as described by Joseph Campbell. Campbell's theories about the shared qualities of human story telling are pretty cool. And they've been hugely influential on the way we tell stories today. So, consider this your Call to Destiny. Crash Course is going to help you Cross the Threshold into the Belly of the Whale that is YouTube, and escort you through the Many Trials, on our way to the Ultimate Boon of knowledge. And there are a bunch of other steps in there, too. So, come along heroes! Let's learn this stuff!
In which Mike Rugnetta brings you the final installation of our unit …
In which Mike Rugnetta brings you the final installation of our unit on creation myths. This week, we're talking about human beings and their relationship to the natural world. It turns out foundational stories have a lot to teach us about the ways in which people relate to the physical world around them, and the other organisms that inhabit that world. We'll talk about the Biblical idea that humans have dominion over animals, and we'll talk about Native American stories in which people and nature collaborate to create the world.
In which Mike Rugnetta continues our unit on pantheons with the complex …
In which Mike Rugnetta continues our unit on pantheons with the complex Indian pantheon, focusing on stories that were written in Sanskrit. We start with a violent creation story. We talk about the concept of Brahman, and the personification as three deities: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Then, the goddess Durga teaches us how to behead a buffalo demon while riding a lion.
In which Mike Rugnetta teaches you about Ma'ui, prominent hero of many …
In which Mike Rugnetta teaches you about Ma'ui, prominent hero of many cultures in Oceania, aka the Pacific Island nations. Ma'ui is just the kind of hero we're interested in here at Crash Course. He's a culture hero, he's a an adventurer, he has a divine birth, AND he's a trickster. In short, he's pretty cool, and the tasks he accomplishes in his life are great examples of how human stories can touch on universal themes.
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