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Week 13 Reading Part B: Seven Secrets of the Goddess

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Rama with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana during exile in forest, manuscript, ca. 1780,  Wikicommons Seven Secrets of the Goddess In the beginning both men and women were free Prostitutes of women and men existed, but the male prostitutes were often castrated and effeminate Over time females became property to a degree in different cultures either through marriage or through community Deukis were young girls offered to temples and were often refereed to as sacred prostitutes that could cure some diseases The idea of subservient women is observed If a women speaks first demons are born If a man speaks first then normal humans are born There was also a story where a blade gave to the creation of three women and a necklace the birth of three men. The contest was concluded with the men being the greater number in comparison to the women Women who avoided conceding power to men were cast out but in this casting out they were seen as more desirable Women are protect
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Week 13 Reading Part A: Seven Secrets of the Goddess

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Bull, Wikicommons Seven Secrets of the Goddess The women hold a higher position in dating in many old Indian texts Males who pushed themselves on females were killed The music of the video is very repetitive The imagery of the video is very interesting, there is many pictures and scenes from the Mahabharata and various statues The idea of one man for a town of women was entertained a lot Castration of bulls was common practice and this idea was extended somewhat to men in the past There were tales where men were to be killed unless they castrated themselves The virgin mother was a symbol in Indian stories, back then a virgin was not a women who had not had sex, but rather a women who was ready to have a child Women had a lot of power in there sexuality Yami rejects sex with her brother and becomes the goddess of death Gods of desire were associated with death and decay Reject women granted freedom from death Semen in the spine was thought to bring power to control
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Week 12 Story: Matsya the Savior

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Matsya, Wikicommons Matsya the Savior Matsya was the first incarnation of Vishnu. He was credited with saving Manu, the first human. What is not known about Matsya is that he is also credited with saving various different animals. Elephants are held very highly in cultural regards as they are very noble and smart animals. Matsya recognized this and decided right after he saved Manu from the floods that he must also save the elephants. This is where the story picks up. Matsya had just finished rescuing Manu from a great flood and place him atop a mountain. This is when Manu mentioned to Matsya, "I very grateful for my rescue, but I am sad to inform you that there is still a being that is very much in need of saving." Matsya was startled by this retort and immediately question Matsya. "What do you mean? I just saved you from the great flood! Who else could be in need of saving, you are the first man!" Manu was hesitant to respond but replied. "What ab
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Reading Week 12 Part B: 7 Secrets of Vishnu

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Matsya, Wikicommons 7 Secrets of Vishnu: The music selection for the videos is really good The story is really interesting how they expanded Vishnu's character The exposition really invests the reader into the story of Vishnu Learning about Matsya, Vishnu's fish form, was really interesting Matsya is the first incarnation of Vishnu Matsya also rescues the first human Manu Vishnu is very compassionate The images for this series are also very interesting Matsya is also the fish god During the time there was many floods Bibliography: Seven Secrets of Vishnu
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Week 12 Reading Part A: Seven Secrets of Vishnu

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Vishnu, Wikicommons Seven Secrets of Vishnu: Vishnu is typically reincarnated as a male, but in this story he is taken his female form There is typically a type of story and based on that type a male or female will play the part, Females are typically spiritual reality  Males are material reality This story Vishnu is demonstrating the spiritual reality, and this story helps to describe how humans can transcend reality and nature to be released into infinity Human couples are the merger of human reality and spiritual reality In Vishnu lore Lakshmi and Vishnu are both dependently on each other they need each other exist The interdependence between the two is stressed and makes the a very cool point that the two are important Bibliography: Seven Secrets of Vishnu
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Week 11 Story Planning Post: Mustard Seeds

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Mustard Seeds, Wikicommons For this week I chose to do another planning post, because it will help prepare me for writing a new story, and I also learned a few things about my topic through the Jatakas that I read. For instance, in one story there is a woman who marries a rich merchant and has one child. The child eventually falls ill and dies. The mother is very distraught over the death of her child. She seeks the help of everyone in the village to aid her in possibly healing her child from the dead. She eventually gets directed to Buddha who tells her to bring him some mustard seeds that are from a home where no one has died. She spends a long time searching but does not find a home that fits the criteria, and it comes clear to her that death is imminent and a part of life. This little story can tie into my writing by changing it up a bit by having someone find mustard seed from a home that does fit the criteria and have the person come back to life, this would be a pretty eas
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Week 11 Reading Notes Part D: Shedlock. Eastern Stories and Legends

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The eight spoke Dharma wheel symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path, Wikicommons THE CROW THAT THOUGHT IT KNEW: Bodhisatta in this version is a crow and he meets a man Viraka and Savitthaka. Savitthaka does not heed the warnings and dives deep into a pool of water and dies due to his hubris. THE JUDAS TREE: The king of Benares, Brahmadatta, had four sons. They were taken to see a Judas tree. They all had different descriptions of the tree. They failed to ask the charioteer who took them to see the tree, as he had see the tree year round. The moral of the story is that everyone has knowledge to share. THE RIVER FISH AND THE MONEY: Brahmadatta again is in this story as the king of Benares. There was a young brother who was thievish. They paid the river spirit and he grew. Eventually the river spirit was tricked by the thievish brother and had a fish swallow a thousand rupees. The fish was then sold to the owner of the thousand rupees but was charged the price minus the thousand he
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