Introduction to Slavic Mythology

Early Slavic mythology has been a challenge for historians to study. Unlike many other mythologies, there is no existing original source material because the early Slavs left no records of their gods, prayers, or rituals. However, secondary sources, mostly written by monks during the period in which the Slavic states were Christianized, have provided a rich cultural tapestry woven with the mythology of the region. Key Takeaways: Slavic Mythology The old Slavic mythological and religious system lasted for about six centuries, until the arrival of Christianity.Most Slavic myths feature gods who have dual and opposite aspects.A number of seasonal rituals and celebrations were held according to agricultural cycles. History It is believed that Slavic mythology can trace its roots back to the Proto-Indo European period, and perhaps as far back as the Neolithic era. The early Proto-Slav tribes split into groups, consisting of the East, West Slavs, and South Slavs. Each group created its own distinct set of localized mythologies, deities, and rituals based upon the beliefs and legends of the original Proto-Slavs. Some of the Eastern Slavic traditions see some overlap with the gods and practices of their neighbors in Iran. The Svantevit-Stone in the church in Altenkirchen. Heritage Images / Getty Images The predominant Slavic indigenous religious structure lasted for about six hundred years. In the late 12th century, Danish invaders began to move into the Slavic regions. The Bishop Absalon, an advisor of King Valdemar I, was instrumental in replacing the old Slavic pagan religion with Christianity. At one point, he ordered the toppling of a statue of the god Svantevit at a shrine in Arkona; this event is considered the beginning of the end of ancient Slavic paganism. Deities There are numerous deities in Slavic mythology, many of whom have dual aspects. The deity Svarog or Rod, is a creator and considered a father god to many other figures in Slavic mythology, including Perun, a god of thunder and the sky. His opposite is Veles, who is associated with the sea and chaos. Together, they bring balance to the world. There are also seasonal deities, like Jarilo, who is associated with the fertility of the land in the spring, and Marzanna, a goddess of wintertime and death. Fertility goddesses like Mokosh watch over women, and Zorya represents the rising and setting sun at dusk and dawn each day. Rituals and Customs The traditional annual Slavic holiday of Ivan Kupala. SERHII LUZHEVSKYI / Getty Images Many Slavic rituals in the old religion were based on agricultural celebrations, and their calendar followed the lunar cycles. During Velja Noc, which fell around the same time that we celebrate Easter today, the spirits of the dead wandered the earth, knocking on the doors of their living relatives, and shamans put on elaborate costumes to keep evil spirits from doing harm. During the summer solstice, or Kupala, a festival was held involving an effigy set alight in a great bonfire. This celebration was associated with the wedding of the fertility god and goddess. Typically, couples paired off and celebrated with sexual rituals to honor the fertility of the land. At the end of the harvest season each year, priests created a huge wheat structure—scholars disagree on whether this was a cake or an effigy—and placed it in front of the temple. The high priest stood behind the wheat, and asked people if they could see him. No matter what the answer was, the priest would plead to the gods that the following year, the harvest would be so bountiful and big that no one would be able to see him behind the wheat. Creation Myth Maslenitsa, representing winter and death in Slavic mythology. bruev / Getty Images In the Slavic creation myths, in the beginning, there was only darkness, inhabited by Rod, and an egg that contained Svarog. The egg cracked open, and Svarog climbed out; the dust from the shattering eggshell formed the sacred tree which rose to separate the heavens from the sea and the land. Svarog used gold powder from the underworld, representing fire, to create the world, full of life, as well as the sun and the moon. The debris from the bottom of the egg was gathered and shaped to make humans and animals. In different Slavic regions, there are variations of this creation story. They almost always include two deities, one dark and one light, representing the underworld and the heavens. In some tales, life is formed from an egg, and in others it comes out of the sea or the sky. In further versions of the story, mankind is formed from clay, and as the god of light forms angels, the god of darkness creates demons to provide balance. Popular Myths There are numerous myths in Slavic culture, many of which focus on the gods and goddesses. One of the best known is that of Czernobog, who was the incarnation of darkness. He decided he wanted to control the world, and the entire universe as well, so he turned into a great black serpent. Svarog knew that Czernobog was up to no good, so he took up his hammer and forge and created additional gods to help him stop Czernobog. When Svarog called for aid, the other gods joined him to defeat the black serpent. Veles was a god who was banished from the heavens by the other gods, and he decided to get his revenge by stealing their cows. He called up the witch Baba Yaga, who created a massive storm that made all of the cows fall from heaven down to the underworld, where Veles hid them in a dark cave. A drought began to sweep the land, and people became desperate. Perun knew that Veles was behind the chaos, so he used his sacred thunderbolt to defeat Veles. He was eventually able to free the heavenly cows, take them back home, and restore order to the land. In Popular Culture Baba Yaga is one of many Slavic folk characters appearing in pop culture. AlexStepanov / Getty Images Recently, there has been a resurgence in interest in Slavic mythology. Many modern Slavs are returning to the roots of their ancient religion and celebrating their culture and traditions of old. In addition, Slavic myth has made its appearance in a number of pop culture mediums. Video games like The Witcher series and Thea: The Awakening are heavily influenced by Slavic folktales, and Baba Yaga shows up in Rise of the Tomb Raider. In film, Disneys Fantasia features a sequence called Night on Bald Mountain, in which Czernobog is the great black demon, and a number of successful Russian movies like Finest, the Brave Falcon and Last Night all draw from Slavic legends. In the STARZ television series, American Gods, based on Neil Gaimans novel of the same name, both Zorya and Czernobog play important roles. Sources Emerick, Carolyn. â€Å"Slavic Myth in Modern Pop Culture.†Ã‚  Oakwise Reikja, https://www.carolynemerick.com/folkloricforays/slavic-myth-in-modern-pop-culture.GliÅ„ski, MikoÅ‚aj. â€Å"What Is Known About Slavic Mythology.†Ã‚  Culture.pl, https://culture.pl/en/article/what-is-known-about-slavic-mythology.Hudec, Ivan.  Tales from Slavic Myths. Bolchazy-Carducci, 2001.Morgana. â€Å"Creation Stories in Slavic Tradition.†Ã‚  Wiccan Rede, https://wiccanrede.org/2018/02/creation-stories-in-slavic-tradition/.

Women s Rights And General Moral Values - 1631 Words

Over the course of American history, there have been many controversial issues within America such as gun control, the legalization of marijuana, the death penalty, and abortion. Abortion has been debated as a topic concerning a woman s rights and general moral values. There are two main opposing sides to this issue: people who are pro-life, and people who are pro-choice. People who are pro-life are against abortion at any time during the pregnancy, no matter the circumstances, while people who are pro-choice feel it is a woman s decision to choose if she should have an abortion because it is her body. Abortion has stimulated many intense discussions throughout the United States, and one should become fully informed on its history, the†¦show more content†¦Stanton says that if the government and society started treating women with respect and giving them the same rights as men, they won t feel the need to get an abortion because they would be receiving government financial support and therefore feel safer having a child. This movement continued and finally in 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed and women received their right to vote, yet getting an abortion was still a struggle for women (Foster 2). In the 1950’s, it is said that between 200,000 and 1.2 million abortions were illegally performed due to the previous laws that were passed banning abortion (Eichenwald 3). The United States continued to enforce abortion laws between 1967 and 1973 that allowed abortion â€Å"when performed by a licensed physician who judged that there was a substantial risk that continuance of pregnancy would gravely impair the physical or mental health of the mother, that the child would be born with serious defects, or when pregnancy resulted from rape or incest† (Abortion: Background and Issues 2). In the case of Roe vs. Wade, Sarah Weddington, the attorney of the case, explained the inequality pregnant women endured who work, are in school, or lack money . She asked the jury to understand that the pregnant women who want an abortion feel it is the best decision for them because of the injustices they face (Foster 3). So, in 1973, the Supreme Court allowed abortion within the first three months of a

Black Feminism for Liberation Movement - myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theBlack Feminism for Liberation Movement. Answer: Insight into black feminism Black feminism projects the interconnectedness of philosophies like sexism, racism, oppression and gender identity. The concept Black feminism first appeared in the creations of Crenshaw, where he enhances the clarity of the readers regarding the independent existence of black and the tragedy of being a women. Intolerable racial oppressions encountered by the members of the Black community resulted in the birth to feminism (Evans, 2015). According to the researchers, Black Liberation Movement was one of the other reasons for the formation of Black Feminism. Countering this, liberation means freedom. Protests and revolts in this direction signify fighting for the needs of the black women, struggling to find meaning to their existence. Black women in black liberation movement The color black represented the dark tragedy in the lives of the black community women. Continuous sexual and racial oppression from powerful patriarchy compelled them to undergo identity crisis. The category black included the black men and white women. The inclusion of men within these movements distorts the stereotypical notion regarding men dominating women (Digby, 2013). Attachment of racial concept in this direction upholds the tragic fate of the tribes of Black community. Incapability to counter these harsh blows aggravated their complexities. As a matter of specification, the black women were at a loss, which necessitated the formation of Black Feminist Movement. At the initial stages, the movement faced hard-core opposition from the patriarchy; however, the formation of National Black Feminist Organization in New York assured the masterminds of the movement about making noticeable progress. Under the leadership and guidance of National Black Feminist Organization, several sub-movements were formed- Civil Rights Movement, Black Nationalism, The Black Panthers, Student Nonviolent Coordinating committee and others (Meyers, 2014). All these movements possessed enough flexibility to provide freedom to the black race from their tragic fate. Here, black signified the black men, which needed to be protected for securing manhood within the threshold of United States. This consideration can be considered as an affirmation to masculinity, negating the aspect of liberating women from their black fates. Discussion on men is a deviation from the aspect of feminism, placing women out of the feminist movement. Achievement of success in the form of restoring the lost rights made the black men powerful, which can be reflected from the utterance of sexist and racial comments in order to demotivate the women in terms of fighting for their rights (Patterson, Howard Kinloch, 2016). Acceptance of these comments without criticism seemed a mature step of the feminists in terms of studying the scenario, prior to the initiation of the actions. Through these concepts, Amiri Baraka and Eldridge Cleaver shed light on the fact that racial discrimations between men and women are self-made. Countering this, these discriminations are an affirmation to the stereotypical notions injected within the minds of the people by the hard-core followers of religion and fail to accept the changes in the civilization. Embracing a value system does not change our traditional origin; it just reflects the mentality to blind acceptance of what the others do (Love, 2016). Discriminations and oppressions of women is one of the components, which the people perform under the company of certain people, hungry for the fulfillment of their needs. Society has never accepted the equality between men and women and therefore, the result is the formation of patriarchy for dominating and suppressing the women. Bakara correctly projects the outcome of this suppression, We could never be equal. Nature has not provided thus. Countering this, the movements like civil rights sheds off the aspect of women could not be equal to men in terms of power. Bakara also shuns the presence of reciprocation in the relationship between men and women. In most of the cases, it is seen that the women submit themselves (Chambers Worrall, 2017). This submission is mostly against the wishes of the women, which affirms the identity of th e men as rapist, as intrusion into femininity against her wishes is considered as rape. Cleaver on the other hand expresses dual attitude to these perceptions of Bakara. On one hand, he sympathizes with women for getting such a societal position. On the other hand, it sticks to his standpoint regarding the importance of both sexism and racism in suppression of women. Typical evidence of this lies in the provision of less power to the black girls in terms of the white ones. Cleaver can be applauded for mentioning the strict laws, which function for providing justice to the women. Instances of discriminations and harassments diminish the individuality of black women; however, the strict actions undertaken by the statutory bodies of law are flexible enough to liberate women in terms of restoring their lost honor and justice (Alexander, 2017). Misogynist writings about Black Liberation Movement upholded the tragic instances, which women faced in their daily life. One such instance is the meeting of Black congress, where Elaine Brown and her team members were compelled to wait for lunch until the men have been served well. One of the striking facts in this instance is the utilization of funds by Black Women community for serving the men. This incident reflects suppressing the initiatives of the black women in terms of establishing their independence. Explanation of the rules to Elaine and her friends is the live example, which enhanced their clarity regarding their position behind men and respecting men (Norwood, 2013). Calling men brother signifies the mentality of the black women to perceive men as their companions in the journey towards the establishment of individuality. Rejecting the offer of companionship made the black women sterner in their standpoint. Typical evidence is the denial of Elaine to leave the discussion of Regional Black student and go to the kitchen for helping in the preparation of foods. Side parting with men reflects the betrayals of some black women towards their sisters in terms of sharing a common goal- to fight back the lost honor and respect. These women encouraged sexism and racism, which divided the women into two groups- one, fighting for their rights and other one, submitting to mens wishes (Boylorn, 2013). This division created fissures within the goals of the feminist movements in terms of reciprocating to the orthodox visions of patriarchy. Black women in feminist movement Being a victim of racism compelled the black women to join Feminist Movement. However, the initial phases included rejection from participating in the conferences dealing with subjects other than the ailments and sufferings of the black or the third world women. There was a dearth of equal treatment of women in the Faculty of Women Studies Departments, who could make the black women aware of the actual history revolving around their predicament. One of the positive facts here is the representation of the sufferings and ailments as women experiences, which generalized the predicament of women as a whole (Lemieux, 2014). The creations by the black women were accepted as token, without any challenges or critical views. However considering these creations as black experiences is a kind of looking down on the efforts of the black women to voice out their opinions regarding their sufferings. The white women were unwilling to accept the dominations from the white men. Delving deep into the aspect, those who were oppressed from beforehand were unable to oppress others. However, being a part of this oppression, the women, irrespective of the tag, black or white, have learnt the basic dynamism of the movements. This acquaintance has enabled them to act according to the ideologies and establish their identities as the oppressors (Cohen Jackson, 2016). The story was not so simple. The women, in the process of altering their fates, faced severe oppression, which nullifies their attempts and resulted in the confession that these movements posed as an obstacle in the re-establishment of their individuality. The era of 1963 was a turning point in the life of women. This is when white women got employed as private household workers. This employment brings them out of the confinement from the four walls of the home. Treating the women as slaves compelled the women to treat the men as their enemy, nullifying the concept of brotherhood. Being anti-racist on one hand and not acknowledging the ability to oppress the other colored women applauds some white feminists in supporting their sisters in terms of fighting for their individuality (Mowatt, French Malebranche, 2013). Adrienne Rich is an example in this context, who has added to the power of the patriarchy by attaching a different perspective to it. Bell Hooks nullify the concept of strong anti-racist female tradition in terms of lack of evidence regarding the collective attempt of female advocates to preserve the rights of women. Movements were thus an agent to abolish malice like slavery and racism from the fates of women and ensure their societal upliftment. Music in civil rights movement Afro-American spirits, gospels and music were an important component of civil rights movement. This movement witnessed the conglomeration of singers and music composers for creating songs for increasing the enthusiasm of the people involved in movements, protests and marches (Cooper, 2016). Sometimes, songs were also created for adding momentum to the environment, making the wait for outcomes a thrilling one. Women, feminism and music The field of music can be considered as one of the other avenues selected by the women to express their individuality. A living example in this direction is the achievement of Grammy Award by rapper and actress Queen Latifah for UNITY in 1995. The song projects the domestic violence, which the women faced. Viewing it from the other perspective, objectification of female sexuality, through the song, is an affirmation of the patriarchal views regarding women. The song UNITY ignited a spark of revolt in the Afro-American community especially in terms of the violence, which the women had to face. Indulging in music is the plea of the black women, searching for liberation (Saucier Woods, 2015). Here, music specifically relates to rappers, where women had dominance far more than men. Advent of hip-hop in 1970s popularized this mass appeal by black women in search of an escape from this black tragedy. Typical forms of these appeals were graffiti art, break dancing and rapping, which upholded the attempts of the black women in terms of preserving their culture. However, as rap gained prominence in the music industry, initiatives of women were looked down upon. The major drive behind the success of rap was obsessiveness with wealth, glamour and the original projection of the women in their roots (Lindsay, 2015). In other words, rap formed an important component for bringing a new wave in the Black feminism movement. Viewing it from other perspective, rap strengthened the vision of the Afro-American women in terms of preserving the culture. Mention can be made of Beyonce, whose Lemonade redefined authority from the perspective of black women. The musical movie makes usage of the utopian imagery provides an escape to the black women from their tragic ailments and sufferings. This escape is like a fairytale, ending in happiness in the form of entrusting the women with the responsibility to women to re-shape their lives (Cooper, 2016). Movies directed by black women, especially Malcolm X, carry the legacy of womens liberation to the extent of their awakening to their individuality. The major drive behind acting on different roles was ultimately to get acquainted to the true self. Projecting black women in the lead role sheds off the tag black and enhances her identity. Beyonce along with their contemporaries like Kasi Lemmons, Winnie Harlow Shares have established a firm standpoint regarding uprooting the reign of patriarchy by creating mass appeals through their artistic creations. Therefore, it can be said that the movements were flexible enough to inspire the black women to fight for the restoration of their rights (Mowatt, French Malebranche, 2013). Although there were failures in the initial stages, determination, persistence and commitment of these women assisted in enhancement of their individuality, which added value and meaning to their existence. References Alexander-Floyd, N. G. (2017). Radical Black Feminism and the Fight for Social and Epistemic Justice.Broadening the Contours in the Study of Black Politics: Political Development and Black Women, 63. Boylorn, R.M., 2013. Blackgirl blogs, auto/ethnography, and crunk feminism.Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies,9(2), pp.73-82. Chambers, D., Worrall, R. (2017). The Frontiers of Sisterhood: Representations of Black Feminism in Spare Rib (19721979). InRe-reading Spare Rib(pp. 159-178). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Cohen, C. J., Jackson, S. J. (2016). Ask a Feminist: A Conversation with Cathy J. Cohen on Black Lives Matter, Feminism, and Contemporary Activism.Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society,41(4), 775-792. Cooper, B. C. (2016).But some of us are brave: Black women's studies. The Feminist Press at CUNY. Digby, T. (Ed.). (2013).Men doing feminism. Routledge. Evans-Winters, V. E. (Ed.). (2015).Black feminism in education: Black women speak back, up, and out. Peter Lang. Lemieux, J. (2014). Black feminism goes viral.Ebony Magazine,69(5), 126-131. Lindsay-Dennis, L. (2015). Black feminist-womanist research paradigm: Toward a culturally relevant research model focused on African American girls.Journal of Black Studies,46(5), 506-520. Love, K. L. (2016). Black Feminism: An Integrated Review of Literature.ABNF Journal,27(1). Meyers, D. T. (Ed.). (2014).Feminist social thought: A reader. Routledge. Mowatt, R. A., French, B. H., Malebranche, D. A. (2013). Black/female/body hypervisibility and invisibility: A Black feminist augmentation of feminist leisure research.Journal of Leisure Research,45(5), 644. Norwood, C. (2013). Perspective in Africana Feminism; Exploring Expressions of Black Feminism/Womanism in the African Diaspora.Sociology Compass,7(3), 225-236. Patterson, A. N., Howard, A., Kinloch, V. (2016). Black Feminism and Critical Media Literacy: Moving from the Margin to the Center.Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism,15(1), 40-64. Saucier, P. K., Woods, T. P. (2015). Upgrade and Upstage: Injunctions Against Stephanie Rawlings?Blake,Black Feminism, and Hip Hop Studies at the Ledge (A Response to Forster).Journal of Popular Music Studies,27(3), 353-363. Smith, S. (2013). Black feminism and intersectionality.International Socialist Review,91, 6-24.