Myths and Legends of the World

Dragons are probably the single most important mythical creatures in Chinese culture. They appear in multiple national celebrations, Chinese idioms (known as Chengyu), as well as being part of the Chinese zodiac. They adorn multiple buildings and doors as carvings, are weaved into fabrics for traditional Chinese clothes, and are painted in murals and used in dances to this day. Unlike their Western or European counterparts, Chinese dragons are loved and worshiped. Chinese people consider themselves to be descended from the dragon. It is the symbol of emperors and imperial rule, and its legends have shaped a good portion of modern Chinese culture. In Eastern culture the dragon started out as an elongated, almost serpentine creature, usually, but not always showing four shortened legs, and a spaded tail. They were covered in scales, had a crest on the head, and were brightly colored in many hues. The dragon is a positive force, and represents power, excellence, and striving for goal...

Popular Gods and Goddesses of Love from around the world Inanna was the oldest of the love goddess of the Mesopotamian region. She was a Sumerian goddess of love and war. Although she is regarded as a virgin, Inanna is a goddess responsible for sexual love, procreation, and fertility. Hathor (Het-Heru) , meaning "House of Horus the Elder", was a goddess of many things, from the celestial to the alcoholic!  Hathor is one of the most beloved of Egypt's goddesses, a benevolent, understanding and stunningly beautiful figure responsible for all artistic endeavor and happiness in the world. Hathor brings happiness, romance and an appreciation for musical arts into our lives. Hathor was worshipped by both men and women in ancient Egypt. She presides over festivals whose sole purpose is to bring joy to the participants. Devotees of the Goddess were mostly dancers, musicians, and artisans. Dance and music were the sacred arts of Hathor and Hathor was thought to be th...

The Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as it’s been called since the 20th century, remains the most important social and economic holiday in China. Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4713 begins on Feb. 19, 2015. Originally tied to the lunar-solar Chinese calendar, the holiday was a time to honor household and heavenly deities as well as ancestors. Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. It was also a time to bring family together for feasting. With the popular adoption in China of the Western calendar in 1912, the Chinese joined in celebrating January 1 as New Year’s Day. China, however, continues to celebrate the traditional Chinese New Year, although in a shorter version with a new name–the Spring Festival. In Chin...

When I start to feature creation stories from around the world I want to show everyone that we are all connect to one another by a common thread. Now featuring Chinese creation in two parts. Pangu In the beginning there was darkness everywhere, and Chaos ruled. Within the darkness there formed an egg, and inside the egg the giant Pangu came into being. For aeons, safely inside the egg, Pangu slept and grew. When he had grown to gigantic size he stretched his huge limbs and in so doing broke the egg. The lighter parts of the egg floated upwards to form the heavens and the denser parts sank downwards, to become the earth. And so was formed earth and sky, Yin and Yang. Pangu saw what had happened and he was pleased. But he feared that heaven and earth might meld together again, so he placed himself between them, his head holding up the sky and his feet firmly upon the earth. Pangu continued to grow at a rate of ten feet a day for 18,000 years, so increasing the distance betw...

Gong Xi Fa Ca! That’s the traditional Chinese New Year greeting that means “wishing you prosperity” in Mandarin. The first day of the Chinese New Year – which begins at midnight on January 23, 2012 – is the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by over 1.3 billion people in China and by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world. It’s a celebration that lasts for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2012, it’s the Year of the Dragon. The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, in other words, a combination of solar and lunar calendars. It has a long history spanning several Chinese dynastic rules from as far back as the Shang Dynasty around fourteenth century B.C. There are several different symbolic cycles within the calendar, used in Chinese astrology, that make it an intricate and complex measure of time. A month in the Chinese calendar spans a single luna...