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Lecture IV: The Origins of Tales

 

Connecting to Supernatural Powers

Caption:  The Ba Spirit leaving the body in the Tomb and Going Forth by Day

Finally, we have a large contingent of scholars and garden-variety aficionados who claim that folklore and myth is primarily a way to connect with the Supernatural - and that it is the veiled, outward expression of secrets and magic that allow us access to the unknown.

Caption:  American Indian ceremony in the Main Lodge

One of the sites in your Resources Page explores magic and conjuring among the American aboriginal tribes.

This is a poem about Ishtar's descent into the land of the dead:  

To Kurnugi, land of no return,
Ishtar daughter of Sin was determined to go;
The daughter of Sin was determined to go
To the dark house, dwelling of Erkalla's God,
To the house which those who enter cannot leave,
On the road where traveling is one-way only,
To the house where those who enter are deprived of light,
Where dust is their food, clay their bread.
They see no light, they dwell in darkness,
They are clothed like birds, with feathers.
Over the door and the bolt, dust has settled.

Caption:  The magic Betony plant

The Betony is said to protect one from Witchcraft.

The conclusion of this lecture represents the end of our survey sessions.  We have looked at many aspects of fable and folktale from a theoretical point of view.  We may believe that folklore originates in a need to explain the sky, a need to preserve survival behavior, a tonic for spiritual health, or a way to contact the supernatural.  All of these however, are accounted for in the first disciplinary approach we will take in the next lecture - when we will begin to look at Literary types of analysis of folktales and fables.

end  Lecture Notes IV.

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