General Discussion

@Squeekyfox that was possibly one of the craziest stories I've ever heard. Also don't worry, although this isn't a repeat, we welcome repeats and varitations, because myths, legends, and folk talks are all cultural and vary to all! So hearing any version of the story can be a treat to anyone whom asks, or simply wants a good read :).

This isn’t a myth, but it’s an interesting piece of history I wanted to share.

On July 24, 1915, a Puerto Rican activist was arrested for wearing pants in public. An act for which she made no apology. Her name was Luisa Capetillo. This was not her last time wearing pants. Or getting arrested. Luisa had been a hellraiser from day one. Educated at home by two intellectual parents, she was not shy about expressing her many precocious opinions. She was born in 1879. Suffice to say, this was uncommon for girls of that era. Her independent streak only widened after her first romance—and ensuing heartbreak. He was from money; she was not. Their union was a scandal, producing two children but no wedding. She both loved and resented him deeply, abhorring her life as a housewife, while her lover lived a life of total liberty. After they separated, she never again relinquished her freedoms for a man. While her mom looked after the kids, she began working as a lectora; a reader. At the time, most of the workforce was illiterate and poorly-educated. So unions hired readers to read newspapers and books out loud, during work hours.

(An aside: to describe work back then as an assault on human dignity is charitable. Minimum wage? Child labor laws? Weekends? No such things existed. So workers organised, bargained, and went on strike. And it was dangerous. This era often gets glossed over—just understand, it wasn’t lazy grumbling. It was desperation. It was life and death. They wanted a better world.)

It's not surprising that Luisa's job as lectora led to her aiding strikes. Or becoming an anarchist. Or to her writing four books. Writing helped her envision a better world. Much of what she imagined, especially regarding female agency was ahead of its time. Her ideas on free love got a lot of notice. She was for informed, consensual affairs, without standardized structure. Basically, a forebear for modern non-monogamy. But most of her comrades didn't get it.Today, what echoes loudest is her pointing out how Puerto Rico's ruinous economy was the result of disastrous government policies and predatory banking. This came directly after a natural disaster (earthquake/tsunami) crippled the island and the U.S. dragged its feet on helping the recovery. This was in 1918. A full century ago.

She spent her thirties leading strikes in Puerto Rico, the United States, and Cuba. (Cuba tried deporting her for it.) She was attacked by strikebreakers. She was kept away from other women. To the end, she never stopped fighting. She died of tuberculosis at age 42. Her funeral was attended by thousands. Her work fell into obscurity for decades, due to bad preservation and few reprints. But in the 1970s and 80s, academics brought her work back to prominence—in all its messy complexity.

"I refuse to accept the assertion of any historian who erroneously believes that women have no right to use their freedom without being considered corrupt or immoral.” –Luisa Capetillo, March 22, 1914

@Sevlyna [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/530953834286284812/594734894303936525/FancySomberAlpinegoat-size_restricted.gif[/img]

I will never get over this.

In the Illiad, it was Odysseus that had to go and retrieve Achilles so that he could fight in the war. Except, Achilles' water-nymph mother put a curse on her son because she wanted him safe and away from the war

So basically he had been living on this island with a king and his absurd amount of daughters, and he had been cursed to think he was one of the daughters. I don't think his body was transformed or anything. Homie was a just chillin in a dress, thinking he was a princess this whole time.

Odysseus had to pretend to be a merchant, bringing gifts and such to the princesses, and at the very end he revealed this epic sword to Princess Achilles and his warrior instincts awakened, and then he joined the war.

@NorthStar1023 I have no reply to that other than typical freak out over hilarious yet ubsurd thing

@Ambivalence im gonna go ahead and be the one to bring up... [i][b]changelings[/b][/i] so this concept has plenty of different regional variations all over europe, but the general idea remains the same!! contrary to how they're depicted nowadays, faeries originally were very dangerous creatures. (like, seriously guys, please don't mess with the fae!) one thing they liked to do sometimes was to abduct human children, and leave an almost exact lookalike in their place- normally another fae, even. now why, exactly, do they do this? [i]who knows, it could[i][/i] be anything[/i] anyhow, these unsuspecting new parents are now stuck with a supernatural impostor of their own kid, and are in most cases unaware of it. things are fine at first, and then after a while they aren't, because changelings inevitably end up showing their true fae nature: ill-behaved, with strange habits and behaviors, maybe developmental problems, generally troublemakers who were very difficult to live with. i've also heard of them being depicted as either ravenously hungry or sickly and weak, but not always. way back when, people would do all sorts of things to ward the fae away from their children- they'd wear their clothes inside out, they'd leave a pair of iron scissors in the bed, they'd constantly be watching for the fae, anything that might help. no joke, people also would brew eggshells if they thought their child was taken, in an attempt to startle the changeling away! now, with all of this in mind, it's pretty much unanimously agreed that the changeling myth was invented as a way to explain certain disabilities- especially autism, considering their behavior, but some other ones too- back before people had any scientific basis for it. so, as a humble autistic person myself, i have to admit that the idea is one of my favorites in folklore. like. yes, i in fact [i]was[/i] secretly a faerie all along. [emoji=special eyes size=1]

hello! so, paganism. it has some really cool mythos

instead of one or a few specific gods, there is mostly the belief that nature is the divine force itself - or at least connected to any gods/goddesses. it is believed that everyone has a divine spirit inside them - which actually is a shared idea of japanese mythology too! the story of amaterasu's moral is that every person has an inherently good and divine spirit inside them, and we need to take care of ourselves to ensure its survival (she locks herself in a cave and only comes out upon seeing herself in a mirror, and seeing the good inside her). it is also believed that everything in nature is enchanted or has its own spirit, so be kind to the planet, even the rocks and the grass.

i really like the idea that the world is alive with divine energy, and we're part of it. its a common theme in pagan and japanese mythos and i really enjoy studying it

@abyssalcat You never know who could be one---[emoji=cat 3 size=1]

@Kazuichi Amaturasu is amazing and that is probably one of my favorite myths, one variation had the dawn goddess cause so much ruckus it forced her to come out!

I'm just gonna say this...

Some myths....

Are...

In fact...

REAL!