Genbu (玄武 げんぶ) is a large tortoise or turtle combined with a snake. Genbu means dark warrior. Another name for Genbu is Tengoku no kurai kōtei, which means dark emperor of the heavens orブラックトータス which means black Tortoise. Genbu is in the northern sky. Genbu is portrayed as two creatures, a tortoise with a snake coiled around it. Other times he is described as one being, a snake tortoise chimera. Genbu resides in the northern part of the sky. He is in seven of the twenty-eight constellations. He takes up one-quarter of the sky. The snake’s neck can found in Sagittarius. The tortoise’s shell resides in Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pegasus. In Pegasus and Andromeda, you can see the snake’s tail. Genbu is the protector of the north. He symbolizes
These detailed descriptions of a simple tattoo create a vivid image of seemingly mythical proportion. The words “neat lines” and “blue swirls” suggests that the setting of the scene is supernaturally created, as lightning strikes are seldom “neat” nor are ocean waves “blue” in reality. Yet, this supernatural setting provides a fitting backdrop, for the violence and struggle in the foreground. Serpents and dragons are certainly supernatural beings: both are associated with great power, violence and destruction. The word “twist” may describe the natural movement of the body of the serpent, but can also suggest that its body is twisted out of shape from great exertion or from sustained injuries.
When I was little, I used to stay up late at night, watching old movies with my father. He worked at night, so on his nights off, he often could not sleep. Our dad-daughter bond was, no doubt, forged by our love of old black and white and even cheesy films. It was on one of those late nights that I first saw a huge snake coiled next to a tree, draped in a glittery sheep’s fur. I am sure that my eyes were big in awe the whole time, for to this day, when I watch or even read mythological stories, I feel the same childhood awe.
Ménez, Andre’. The Subtle Beast: Snakes, from Myth to Medicine. New York, New York: CRC Press, 2003.
Shintoism is a polytheistic religion that believes the world was created by “Kami” (deities or spirits). Although Kami are thought to be invisible presences, they are treated as persons and are given names. Kami are not believed to be living beings in a distant realm; rather their presence is felt as powers in or near this world. Two of these Kami, Izanami (“female who invites”) and Izanagi (“male who invites”) are said to be the creators of the Japanese Islands, as well as three major
In order for a written work to be considered as Literature; it should portray any element of literature such as: figurative language, irony, simile, symbolism, personification, metaphor, etc. Some of these elements are portrayed in the book of Genesis. As for example in its third chapter, there is a use of figurative language. The term figurative language refers to a word or a phrase that an author uses to extend the meaning of the language which is exactly what the author of the Genesis 3 did by using the serpent as a character. In the text, the serpent is not only a normal serpent; it also happens to be a representation of the devil. As professor Dafni in his article “Genesis 2–3 and Alcibiades’s Speech in Plato’s Symposium” points out, “the serpent changes fundamentally the meaning of the divine command and bears malice toward Yahweh, God the Creator… So the talking serpent as a devil articulates its most decisive argument (Gn 3:5): ‘God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil’. The serpent concealed and suppressed completely the possibility of death and makes God seem a liar and a fraud”(Dafni,2015). When the author of Genesis, portrays the serpent talking and making God looks like a liar makes a deviation from the literal meaning of the word serpent because is something that a regular serpent
Now the Serpent was the most cunning of the animals that the LORD God had made. The Serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it lest you die’.” But the Serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” (Genesis 3:1-5) Serpent, Devil, Tempter, , Prince of Darkness, Fallen Angel, the Evil One, Lucifer, Diabolus, all of theses titles refer to the same figure, Satan. The name Satan comes from the Hebrew for adversary. It is theorized that Satan is a symbolic figure for those who opposed the Biblical writers, in the Old Testament the Satan was meaning the other nations, the idol worshipers, and in the New the Pharisees and the Jews who ejected the growing Christian faith from the Jewish community. In the time of the later church, Satan and his works were meaning heretics and such. Anything on the outside that appeared to be a threat became of Satan. It is also a theory that Satan is a real individual, a real spirit, the fallen angel. Some stories hold that selfish pride and lust for power brought about the fall of Lucifer, “the light bearer”. St. Augustine wrote that the Devil was “inflated with pride, he wished to be called God”. The words of the prophet Isaiah illustrate this idea: How you are fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, you who mowed down the nations! You said in your heart: ‘I will scale the heavens; above the stars of God I will set up my throne; I will take my seat on the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the North. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will be like the most high.’ Yet down to the nether world you go, into the recesses of Sheol! (Isaiah 14:12-15) St.
This shadow takes form in mythology as a dark, shadowy, and imposing figure or as “the cosmic powers of evil, personified by dragons and other monsters.” (Henderson 111) This shadow is shown to Ged in different forms: “...Like a clot of black shadow, quick and hideous...it was like a black beast, the size of a young child, though it seemed to swell and shrink; and it had no head or face, only the four taloned paws with which it gripped and tore.” (LeGuin 61) As it appeared when the shadow was first created. Later as the shadow pursued him, it held the same form. “The shadow did not have the shape of man or beast. It was shapeless, scarcely to be seen, but it whispered at him, though there were no words in its whispering, and it reached out towards him.” (LeGuin 81). Once Ged stops running, the shadow takes on a more identifiable form “...now some likeness to a man, though being shadow it cast no shadow.”
Throughout several myths, monsters are described as many diverse creatures. At first glance, they all seem very distinctive. However, each monster is like a combination of several qualities and characteristics that are matched in different ways to form the monsters that appear in myths such as Hercules, Bellerophon, and Perseus. All monsters have very distinct looks that make them inferior to humans. Generally, they are a mixture of two or more different animals such as snakes, lions, or humans and they may have multiple heads. For example, Cerberus was a horrific three-headed dog that had the tail of a dragon and his back was covered with snakes. Several monsters have some part of them from a snake. Snakes symbolize an evil quality and that is why many monsters are forms of them. Cerberus had his whole back covered in snakes and a dragon tail. Both of these are snake-like parts that contribute to Cerberus looking terrifying. His tail is from a dragon which is very similar to a snake and his back is filled with snakes like fur. The Hydra of Lerna is also an im...
All animals under go a process of constant change in their physical appearance and in their behaviour. These changes take place over millions of years and the species that survive, do so because throughout their evolution they have perfected certain strategies that have enabled them to develop more successfully in the environment they inhabit. One such case of this successful development is the great hammerhead shark.
In Julie Otsuka’s novel, When the Emperor was Divine, the boy’s emotions are embodied through animals. In mid 1942, the boy and his family are displaced from their home in Berkeley, CA, and relocated to an internment camp. The family is forcibly imprisoned in response to Executive Order 9066, due to their Japanese heritage. The boy’s initial hope and innocence are expressed through a tortoise. The disappearance of these virtues become evident through the animal’s demise. Additionally, images of wild horses display the boy’s desire for freedom and an identity, while their death illustrates his inability to aspire to such things. A tortoise and horses manifest the boy’s internal struggles with his internment. The life and death of the creatures
In the scripture “Genesis” of The Hebrew Bible, a young lady by the name of Eve was created by God. Joined by the almighty power of God, Adam, and God’s first creation of man; together with Eve were united in Holy Matrimony by Heavenly Father. As time progressed, Eve stumbled upon a serpent with a vile
Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji mainly demonstrates the concepts of Buddhism. The Tale of Genji does however mentions some concepts of Shinto but Buddhism is more important to know in order to understand the plot and the key events of the story. The concepts of Buddhism that are mentioned in the Tale of Genji are duhkha, Buddhist clerics, and cremation rituals. The concepts of Shinto are the ideas about kami and spirits.
The two characters currently used for the word “Shinto” are “god” (shin) and “way” or “road” (to). In this way, Shinto can be defined as either “the way of the gods” or “the path to the gods” (b2). This definition presents Shintoism as a way of life with a set of customs that are followed. Several of these customs are regular festivals or ceremonies celebrating or honoring different deities. The dancing and music that can be found at all of these events are collectively referred to as kagura, the music of Shinto.
Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan. It means “the way of the kami”. Shintoism is mainly focused on beliefs in, and worships of Kami. Kami are spiritual or divine beings. They are sometimes referred to as the ‘gods’ in Shinto. But rather than the powerful and supernatural beings seen in Western religion, Kami is more like a mystical and sacred spirit that exist in the creative forces of nature. Shintoism follows the belief of animism, which is the belief that natural, material objects possess souls. These sacred spirits, called Kami are able to take the form of different things in nature. Kami not only exists as spiritual beings, but also takes the form of plants and animals, mountains and seas, and all natural phenomena.
As the religion grew older the many facets of the Devil developed as well. The characteristics of the Satan came from the Bible, theology and popular religion. From the horns that symbolize his higher status to his hooved feet inspired by the Greek Deity Pan, God of the wilderness, the image of Satan is an amalgam of traits taken from the fears of all humanity. The colour of his skin is most often described as red, reminiscent of a raging fire symbolizing our lack of control and the impending destruction that comes from it. Darkness and the colour black are also present in most, if not all, of the descriptions of the Satan representing the void or chaos that comes from evil . Moreover, they both expresses the unknown, a concept that has long and is still terrifying most of the humanity; for example, hate crimes mostly come from ignorance and fear of an unknown subject. In addition, his bottom is described as that of a goat with cloven feet and furry legs is a parallel to the Greek god Pan as expressed earlier which brings us to the wilderness and once again the concept of the unknown. The forests, seas, deserts and oceans were all extremely feared places that humanity avoided for a long time due to the darkness and the numerous unknown dangers looming around. Even to this day most people still hold an anxiety when entering a forest or going on the sea. Moreover, even if we praise ourselves