Week 14, Famous Last Words

Alright so this last week was Thanksgiving week and I really wanted to finish up with this class this week so to pass that final hurtle, I'm writing this.

This last week a did a lot of reading on famous ceremonies that pertained to some Indian gods that were a little more obtuse than most.  There were even a few that I read twice but were under different names.  I really enjoyed this reading because the sections were fairly short and easy to read while also containing very relevant information.  It was a good way to learn about several gods in a short amount of time.

I actually haven't done any writing this last week since I"m pretty much done with the class, but I think I've done some really interesting writing in my spare time.  I like to write stories in my spare time and I've just been playing around with writing a medieval fantasy story, which helps me get out my creative side and keeps me from buying reading books at the bookstore.

So far in my other classes it has been going pretty slow.  I had to write a short five page paper for a low level politics class which really wasn't my style and it was really hard to just make myself sit down and write it despite having all the information together a week ago.  I submitted it ten minutes before it was due. :(  Then I'll have another short quiz for the same class this Tuesday which I think will continue in the same fashion.  However my Capstone class is where I really need to work hard because I have a 20 page paper and a presentation on said paper due in December for finals which I really need to get on top of.  I don't even have my subject picked out yet....I know dumb.

In other news though, I had to work through Thanksgiving so that all the lovely people in my city could have their Thanksgiving centerpieces and arrangements.  However I'm not upset about it because my boyfriend had to work too and really my job isn't that bad at all so it's forgivable.  Also there was holiday pay involved. :)

Week 14, Reading Diary B, Neogi

The Fatal Oath
About the goddess Sashthi, another journey of self discovery where the main character searches for the goddess, finds her, and everything becomes well again.

Sacrificed to Varuna
A Brahman sacrifices his grandson to Varuna so that they can get water for their well/pond, then by praying ardently to Sashthi, the daughter-in-law regains the sacrificed child.

The gift of Joya
A father commits some psychotic acts against his son in order to try and prove the falsity of his wife's deity.  However the goddess passes every test.

Saved from the Cat
Another about goddess Sashthi and her ability to save people.

The wife Who Use to Eat the First Morsel
So apparently in this fable, the gods were upset with a woman because she always ate the first morsels that were suppose to be given to them so the gods never let her children live past the age of the cradle.  The mother-in-law fixed this.

The Wife who Cooked Beef
in this a servant kills a calf for meat and her mistress cooks it unaware it is beef, when she finds out, she cannot serve it and throws it out and then after sacrificing to the gods she reanimates the cow.

The Banished Girls
This is just a repeat of "The Pir's Power" which places the girls in opposite positions and excludes the father Brahmin from the later part of the story.

Sashthi

Week 15, Reading Evaluation

Honestly I didn't have any readings that I really didn't like because every reading that I read was free.  That was possibly the best part about this class!  However out of the two epics I think that the Mahabharata was the better reading just because of the different characters and the evil characters in it.  I also really liked being able to choose my own readings in between the readings of the two epics and in the ending weeks before the end of the semester. It gave me the freedom to get more information on different characters within the story and the different gods and goddesses within the realm of the stories.

Really I don't think that reading diaries did a whole lot for me because I am really great at retaining the information form things that I read.  Overall it was easiest to really just do sort of a bullet point list to take small amounts of notes just to basically show that I had read the reading for that week.

I think overall the balance between everything was really good.  The class really challenged me in terms of writing and commenting and the reading could sometimes be a struggle get through because there was so much of it to read.  I feel like maybe the reading could have been stretched out a little more over a few more days so that way it wouldn't be so hard to force yourself to read it.

Like those that came before me in this class, my best advice I can give is to work ahead.  Really try and do everything to stay ahead so that way, in case they do fall behind, they aren't really behind.  Umm doing the extra credit can really help too. I remember sitting down one day and just cranking out a bunch of tech tips to pad my grade because it gave me some extra wiggle room.  So WORK AHEAD!!!!

Week 15, Reflections

So looking back, I've really learned a whole lot from this class.  I've learned a lot about creativity and how to tap into that little nugget in my brain.  However, most of all I've learned a lot about the Indian Epics of India.  I know characters by name, I know regions associated with certain epics, gods and goddesses that I didn't know or understand beforehand, and a whole lot about Indian culture.

Before this class I had never had a blog before, so this was something completely new for me.  I learned how to create a blog, change its template, change its design, do labels, edit posts, insert Pinterest into my posts and blog.  I learned how to add images, links, gidgets and gadgets, a little html coding, and how to express myself well through my words.  As my boyfriend often says, "Use your words!"

I learned a few things about growth mindset and I learned that I can sometimes rant pretty good when I get on a subject that I'm passionate about, like flowers, Syrian refugees, or baking.  Also I think I can come away from this class pretty proud of myself.  I always wondered what it would be like to not actually go to class and be able to sort of keep my own schedule.  I really liked this class and how it worked, the deadlines and all that.  My favorite part is being able to work ahead of the schedule and all the extra credit work there is.  I really feel like I could control what grade I wanted by how hard I actually worked which was awesome and rewarding, to see the points go up and the workload go down.  Overall I've loved this class, the feedback from Professor Gibbs, the feedback from my classmates and even those from the other class was really interesting!

I think I'm most proud of myself for the way that I continually tried to come up with something new for the storytelling posts and the projects.  I didn't want to have something super boring, I really wanted to give my stories that creativeness that some of the others had.  I was really inspired by some of the stories that my classmates wrote and I think it was great to get to know everyone and post to them on a weekly basis!  This was a really great class and I"m very glad that I took it!!

Week 14, Reading Diary A

The Gift of the Ascetic
A story about a king that is childless and in order to have children makes a deal with a yogee who requests that one of his children shall be his. Reminds me of Rumplestiltskin. In the end the prince that is taken ends up beheading the yogee during a sacrificial ceremony after which he was married to the young princess who was being held with him and they lived happily ever after.

The Sun’s Twin Sons
A pure woman, in a difficult circumstance, promised to wed the sun should he appear for her. He appeared and when she refused to appear he wed her spirit. Then she had two children and without a flesh and blood husband. Her children turned into blood during the day and human by night so that she poured her children into a tree during the day. They required 17 plums and plum leaves and rice and other things fit for gods from travelers.

The Consequences of Generosity
A devout woman lends her image of Narayana to her friend the milkmaid, after doing so the devout woman and her husband become very poor and are not recognized by any of their friends or family. They spend a year in poverty and then when the year it up the devout woman chastises all her friends and family for treating her and her husband horribly during the year of poorness.

The Brahman’s Ban
This is the story of when a Brahman turns Indra into a cat for twelve years because Indra insulted him. Then Indra’s wife lives with him and begs a boon of the goddess Kalika that she should let them sleep deeply throughout the whole twelve years.

The Pir’s Power
Basically this is the story of how easily a god can give and take away, flighty creatures.

The Gander-Eater
In this a young boy steals a gander from the king’s aviary and the king finds out a sends him to prison. The mother of the boy prays for her sons release. The boy ends up being released and engaged to the king’s daughter and becomes the heir to the kingdom.

gander

Week 13, Famous Last Words

Alright so this week I decided that since my other teachers gave me the week off from school that I would really push to get this class done completely for the semester. So I spent all of today, Tuesday, working on homework for this class so that I could at least get ahead so I'm not struggling to get everything done for this class plus the finals for my other two classes.

I think the one thing that I'm really sad about with the readings is that I wish there was more information about other characters instead of a whole lot of information just on the heroes of the stories. I know a whole lot about Rama and Arjuna and Yudhishthira but not a whole lot about Draupadi, Sita, or say all of the evil people. :(

So I don't think I really did any great writing this week. I feel like my brain is sort of burnt out and that its difficult to get even the most simplest forms of writing out. So I wen to the bookstore today to get inspired and ended up fumbling through the fantasy and fiction areas, where have all the good writers gone?!

I have noticed that due to this class I do find that I'm a lot more interested in the Indian culture now that I know some of their epics. I'm really interested in how the epics relate to modern life in India and if it's something that everyone seems to know or it is something that even they have to study.
Also I’m starting to really see why women in other parts of the world have such a hard time actually getting equal human rights. The inequality is basically ingrained in their culture and history. Women are taught from childhood storybooks that being a great wife is the most important thing in life.

frozen

Tech Tip, Google Site Themes

So I did this when I first created my site, I went through several times and changed my theme because I think the look and feel of a site really sets it off for the reader.  If the site design and look is good then the reader will be excited to read the actual information of the page.  I settled for one that looked fairly modern.  I modified the text color, the tab colors, the navigation colors, and the title colors. I really just wanted to have my hand in every piece of the design.

A Celestial Father

Week 13, Growth Mindset

So one of the challenges is to choose a meme and write a blog about it.  I chose this meme.

Laura Gibbs

I really liked this meme, not necessarily because of the picture, but I liked what was said in the blog with the picture.

"In our minds, the first bit of information we take in does hold special sway. The Anchoring cognitive bias is our tendency to rely heavily on our first impressions (or ‘anchor’ information) when making a decision. Once the anchor has been set, other judgments are made by adjusting away from that anchor without taking into consideration other viewpoints."

This really hit me because with my major I have learned a lot about the Middle East, specifically Islam and Judaism.  I think one of the worst things is to have to sit in public spaces and listen to people talk about either of those subjects when they are completely ignorant of how either of these religions work. A lot of people in the United States have a big problem with Islam because the only thing that most americans know about the religion is that extremist from the religion flew a plane into the twin towers and killed hundreds of people.  Now there is Paris added into the mix and it just gets worse.  My whole Facebook feed is full of people saying "no" to Syrian refugees simply because of their religious affiliation.  However I think that I once felt the same, before I came to college and started learning.  I was once that ignorant person, that awful person who spoke about things that she had no idea about.  I think the real difficulty is forgetting what you've already learned to learn the correct information.  

Week 13, Reading Feedback

I think the main reason I chose the readings that I did this week is because they were free and I would not be going to campus in time to read the comics that I originally wanted to read.  I actually did like the readings that I chose because I don't remember having seen the Neogi selection when I went through to make my reading guide in week 8.  

I think what is continuing to make the biggest impression on me is the focus of women on being a good wife.  Like Savitri actually is worshiped for being such a good wife that she would follow her husband into death.  I think the implication here is that there is no life after your husband dies, as if your husband is your only life and without him or children, then there is nothing for you.  I think that's crazy!

This reading did not come with a reading guide, but it didn't really need it. The readings were fairly short and easy to read.  I spent about four hours on the reading this time because I actually had the time. I read the online version of a print book which I tend to like better because the print is easy to read, you can zoom in and out, and the screen isn't quite so bright because it's paper color.  

Dr. Evil :)

Week 13, Storytelling, Sons of Padma

This is the story of Skye Hallaby. 

Skye was born in a small town just north of Nowhere, somewhere in the farmlands of what use to be a piece of someplace called the United States or something.  She was a young woman of sixteen years and lived with seven other young women on a small farm, cared for by a farmer and his wife.  Skye had no family, she had no brothers, no sisters, and her parents had died when she was very young.  Everyone knew this.

One day when she was out walking with the other girls they came across a small pond that contained two koi fish. In this time, where Skye lived, times were hard and she thought these fish would be great to bring home to the farmers that cared for her.  So she grabbed up the fish and took them back home with her.  Unfortunately after she stashed them in a pot they somehow turned into snakes.  However, Skye was not a girl who scared easily and in fact she began to care for the snakes. 

She moved the snakes and their pot from the kitchen into the barn, but when they were found she moved them again and again trying to find a spot for them.  She continued to care for these snakes, feeding them and giving them milk.  Even when the farmer and his wife begged her to let them go she continued to care for them.

Then one day, a messenger arrived with a letter for Skye. The letter read like this:

“Dear Skye,

You do not know us because we left before you were born, but we are your bothers.  Our names are Jonas and James and we have searched for a long time for you.  We are writing to you to invite you to come and live with us in our home and become one as a family again.  I realize this is a lot to ask since you have no knowledge of us, but should you wish to do so we will be arriving in a couple of days to escort you to our home.  If you do not wish to do so that is your prerogative, but we hope that you should like to get to know us and us know you.

Sincerely,

Jonas and James Hallaby.”

Skye read this and became very excited, she didn’t hate her life here with the farmers, but this was a real family, her flesh and blood!  So she waited impatiently for the day when they would arrive and finally the day came when two men and an escort of guards approached.  Skye quickly packed her few possessions and went to grab her pot that contained the snakes, but when she looked inside, they had vanished.  She wondered at this and realized suddenly who they were; they were children of Padma, the great mother of snakes.  With this realization Skye grew very humble and thanked Padma for granting her the family she had always dreamed of.

She left with her brothers that day and lived a long and happy life with many fruitful meals and a roof always over her head.

Snake Brothers

Author's note:

I adapted this story from the story of Padma's ceremony tale from Neogi's Sacred Tales of India.  The original story has this girl Lahana who is married to one of the seven sons of a farmer.  She finds the koi fish and wants to cook them but they turn into snakes.  She cares for the snakes who are actually the sons of Padma, who is considered the mother of snakes.  The two snakes then return to Padma and ask her to make Lahana their sister. Now this is where I stopped my story, but in the original story it continues to where the snake brothers influence a king to make Lahana a royal family member.

Week 13, Reading Diary B

So for my second reading I"m actually reading Neogi's "Sacred Tales", which are really quite interesting!!

The first tale is about the Manasa ceremony where the goddess Padma and her reptilian brood, as all her children are snakes.  A young wife of a farmer is sad because she has no family to return to for holidays.  She finds some young koi fish in a small puddle and pick them up and take them home. These fish turn into snakes and she takes care of them.  For this care they take care of her and in the end earn a place for her in the kings castle as an almost royal family member.

The second is the Savitri Ceremony in which a married woman places an earthen jar at the foot of a banyan tree and Savitri is suppose to animate it.  If the woman does the ceremony right, she will never lose her husband much like Savitri when she followed death when he tried to take her husband away.

The third is the Itu Ceremony.  The tale associated with this showed how by worshipping Itu he could provide wealth and happiness, but if they forgot to worship him they would hit rock bottom and be back right where they started before worshipping him.

Manasa

Week 13, Reading Diary A

So originally I was going to read some of the comics for this week's readings and next weeks, but unfortunately I think I won't be able to go to campus so I'm doing some free online readings instead.  This reading diary is continuing my last reading diary about the gods and goddesses.

Surya.

The lord of light, born of Dyaus and Prithwi, marries Sangna.  She tries to leave him because he is too bright, so he vows to never show his full brightness to her again.

Waruna.

A king asks for a son from Waruna, and promises the sons life as a sacrifice to him.  The son instead finds a Brahmins son who sings praises of the gods and then Waruna grants them all a long happy life.

Ushas.

This is the wife of Agni, she drives her chariot and brings light and good thoughts to all of men.  She loves to wander and to bring her light everywhere.

Indra.

Story of the fight between Indra and Ahi. Ahi is jealous of Indra and creates a citadel and spells that Indra’s rain will not leave the clouds.  Ahi is no match for Indra and Indra crushes him and brings back the rain.

Soma.

Creates a great draught of liquid that is loved by all gods and the children of men.  Was taken from Indra and put on Earth but he grew evil and caused men to do mad things and tried to take someones wife.

Brahma.

In this story Brahma is trying to make a sacrifice but can’t without his wife. SO he sends Indra to get him another wife causing his first wifes anger and curses.

Wishnu.

Wishnu marries Laxmi after she brought forth the gods physician from the milky sea to save the gods from the Asuras.  Wishnu was seen as the greatest because he was the best to greet the son of Brahma when he came to decide which god was the greatest.

Siwa.

The god of light, one of the three creators and destroyers. However this is more about Uma, his wife.  She died once, then went through challenges to marry him again, then she gained the name of Durga after defeating the Asura named Durg.

Ganesh.

Sprang from Siwa as the god of wisdom.  However as a babe his head was sliced off so Siwa replaced it with an elephant’s head an he had an elephants head the rest of his life.

Laxmi

Week 12, Famous Last Words

I think this week was really hard for me.  I think each week will continue to get harder as well, the closer we get to the end of the semester.  This time of year gets really hard for me because everything really starts hitting at once.  Luckily this class is fairly easy to keep up with, but I still have two more research papers to do in addition to some final presentations and a take-home final that I'm crossing my fingers on!

Also, me and my boyfriend just moved into an apartment for the first time this year so it'll be a lot of fun to decorate for the holidays and really get into the spirit. We plan on getting a real tree, albeit a small one, and then decorating our small apartment with odds and ends from the ever-awesome Hobby Lobby.  However the tree will be our only presents this year, that's what happens when you work at a grocery store. :(

On top of all that, this time of year gets very busy for the floral industry. People start wording table centerpieces for thanksgiving since they start having family dinners and parties. Then on top of that you have to start gearing up for the christmas holidays in addition to weddings every weekend! It's gonna get crazy! Luckily I have an awesome boss who understands my priorities to my college classes comes first and she tries really hard to give me those 40 hours every week without interfering with my school work, she awesome!  Just another year of working full-time and trying to graduate from college!  :)

Here's a picture of one of the holiday centerpieces that I did for a holiday show the other day.  These are two foot long rectangles of nothing but flowers.  They're really really cool to make and are usually used for head tables at say weddings or parties where there will be a really long table or multiple tables.  I think they're really cool as you can put pretty much anything in these and they'll look amazing!

Personal photo of a two foot long floral arrangement for a holiday party.

Week 12, Reading Diary A, Krishna

This week I am reading about the gods more fully with a focus on Krishna again.  I'm reading Tales of Ancient India.

Krishna.

In this Krishna is again the focus, however it is interesting to note that this book shows the beginning of Kans as an evil ruler. So evil that when he was a babe he would throw his playmates off mountains, he would even crawl up people and strangle them with his arms. He caused his entire kingdom to basically wither up and die.  He brought demons into the land.  So bad that the gods begged for help from Vishnu and were reborn as mortals in the kingdom and that Vishnu himself would be born again as Krishna to defeat Kans.

After this then follows the regular turn of events and Krishna grows up, steals the milk, and fights the demons.  Then he went to Mathura and slew Kans and performed his funeral rights and all was well!

Krishna

Week 11, Storytelling, The birth of Krishna

Starship

It was known among the people in the starship fleet that the Emperor had received a dream message of his death.  This dream gave the people great hope and great fear all at once because it was told that in this dream the emporer heard the Great Voice whisper in his ear, “A boy-child will bring about the end of your reign in his twelfth year of life.”

The emperor then came to the Great Stork, the one man through which all children are birthed by.  He was the foremost midwife, the only trusted doctor, therefore known as the Great Stork among the people in the fleet.  He helped the women give birth and was trusted with the care of all the babes in their first week of birth.  Therefore the emporer asked that the Great Stork only allow the female children to live through their first week and that all the male children be neglected or else the Great Stork would find his life in the Emperor’s hands.

Despite this threat to his life, the Great Stork could not compromise the oath he had taken to provide the best care for all of the children under his watch.  He could not allow the Emperor to control the lives of these children, through which the fate of the whole fleet was held.  As such he withheld the male children as long as he could, telling the parents that a sickness had befallen the children and that they needed further watching before leaving his care.

During this extra time, the Great Stork plotted.  Then when the time came, he was prepared to save these children.  On the night he promised to release the male children, a fire broke out in the hospital wing of the starship. The Great Stork used the fire to cover the launch of an escape pod that would carry all the male children he had saved.  This escape pod would then be picked up by another starship that was responsible for the production of food; this was the farming starship known as “The Reaper”.  Inside the escape pod the Great Stork placed forged birth documents that would make the children seem older than they were and would place them in the care of families that were known for their large amounts of children.

This plan worked so well that as far as the Emperor was concerned, all the male children perished in the fire.  To the people who knew, the Great Stork became the Great Savior, for one of these boys would end the reign of the Emperor and would bring a better life to all people of the fleet.  This one boy would be Krishna, loved by all who beheld him, a boy of immense strength and wisdom.  Krishna would one day kill the emperor and his line and would bring great peace and prosperity to the fleet for a long time.

Author’s note:

I used Sister Nivedita’s story of Krishna’s birth as the base for my story.  I made a lot of changes.  In the original story, Krishna’s parents were related to the emperor and therefore were locked in a dungeon when the emperor learned that one of their children would cause his end.  In her story, Krishna was carried to a farm by his father who walked all night through a river in order to save him.

In my story the Great Stork replaces the role of the father.  I wanted to bring the story into a modern framework that would allow more creativity with the setting and characters but retain the origins of the saved child.