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17 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Virtue of Compassion |
- hunter hit a tree with a poison arrow where a parrot lived. - tree was dying, but the parrot refused to leave - Indra the sky God came down in disguise and asked the parrot why he wouldn't leave the tree. The parrot replies that it is a faithful friend that has given him everything. - moved by the parrot's words, Indra restores life to the tree, praising that the parrot was the one who truly kept it alive |
Parrot and tree |
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The King, Hawk and Pigeon |
- a pigeon comes to king Vrishadarbha for protection from a hawk. The king vows to protect the pigeon at the expense of his own life, seeing it as a test from the gods - hawk comes and explains its his nature to eat nothing else but pigeons. The king offers equal amount of his own flesh - the pigeon is placed on a scale and the king removed all his flesh, yet the pigeon still weighs more - Indra was moved by the king, restored him to his healthy self, and carried him alive up to the heavens - "he who puts himself at risk to help others is truly a friend of the gods" |
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Guatama and the Elephant |
- there was a sage named Guatama who found an orphaned elephant and raised him - Indra came down disguised as a king and tried to sway Guatama to give him the elephant - Guatama refuses as the elephant is his friend and not property, and that his love for the it will never separate the two. - Guatama sees through Indra's disguise, who is delighted and offers to reward him. The only thing Guatama wished was to remain with the elephant |
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Anansi and the Ear of Corn |
- Anansi is given a simple ear of corn from God, promising 100 servants - goes to a village and claims the corn is holy. Overnight feeds corn to chickens. Making them fear divine wrath, the villagers give Anansi a bushel of corn - Anansi trades the corn for a chicken. Goes to next village and repeats what he did, killing the chicken. The villagers give him 10 sheep - exchanges the sheep for a corpse, goes into next village claiming it as the sleeping son of God. - the next morning Anansi makes the villagers believe they killed the son of God, so they give Anansi 100 men |
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Icarus and Daedalus |
- Daedalus and his son Icarus are imprisoned. Daedalus creates a pair of wings from feathers, wood, and beeswax - he has Icarus test them out, warning not to fly too high or too low - Icarus's dumb ass flies up too high and the sun melts the wax, causing him to plummet to his death in the sea |
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Blackfoot Two Brothers |
- there were two brothers: Nopatsis and Akaiyan - Nopatsis's wife lusted after Akaiyan but to no avail. Spited, she told her husband he had tried to rape her - Nopatsis left Akaiyan on an island where they were collecting feathers - Akaiyan survived for many months until a young beaver invited him to their dam - Akaiyan met the great white beaver who was outraged by the injustice done to him. Akaiyan spent the winter in their home learning magic and medicine - during the summer the older brother returned to bury Akaiyan's bones. Akaiyan stole his boat and went to the mainland with the great beaver's son. He did as the great beaver asked, building a lodge and teaching the people the sacred dances and chants. - Akaiyan returns the young beaver to the island and buries his brother's bones. The great beaver gives him a peace pipe |
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Two Brothers Anubis and Bata |
- Anubis and Bata were farmers and herders. One day Bata goes to their house to get seeds to plant, where Anubis's wife tries to seduce him and fails - Anubis's wife claims Bata raped her, and said she would kill herself if he didn't kill Bata. - Bata knew that the wife would tell lies, and was prepared when he saw Anubis waiting for him with a spear. As Anubis chased him, Bata prayed to Ra and sprouted a crocodile infested water between the two. - At sunrise Bata told Anubis the truth, and to vow by it and sacrifice to Ra, he cut off his own penis and bled to death - Grief stricken, Anubis kills his wife and feeds her to dogs |
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Hiawatha Tarenyawagon |
- awakened by the sound of anarchy, Tarenyawagon, the upholder of heaven, led a group of people into a cave. He then instructed them to build a lodge. There they flourished and multiplied. - Tarenyawagon then set out to create the Five Nations. First the Mohawks on the plains, then the Oneida in the forested valley, the Onondaga in the mountains, the Cayuga at the lake, and finally the Seneca. Each time he declared the tribe they began to speak a different language - each time he took a little girl by the hand, who grew to become the matriarch of their tribe. Tarenyawagon gave each tribe a skill: - the Onondaga were given knowledge of universal laws and how to understand the Creator - the Oneidas were given skill to make baskets and weapons - the Mohawks were given the skill to hunt
Tarenyawagon went to live among the Onondaga and became known as Hiawatha - being attacked by the Algonquins, the 5 Nations summoned Tarenyawagon for help. They waited 3 days and on the fourth he came in a canoe with his daughter Mnihaha - The Great Mystery Bird of Heaven came and took his daughter away. He mourned for three days. It's thought that he gave his daughter to god for peace - Hiawatha purified himself in a lake and told the 5 Nations to act as one nation. The Onondagas became the warriors, the Seneca the speakers, the Cayuga would be the river guardians, and the Mohawks would provide food |
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Sisyphus |
- Zeus abducted the river God Asop's daughter - Sisyphus made a deal with Asop that if he created a spring within the city, he would tell him what he knew - Angered, Zeus asks Hades to dispatch Death for Sisyphus. - Sisyphus tricked Death into putting on handcuffs. With Death his prisoner, nothing was dying. - Zeus dispatched Ares to free Death and seize Sisyphus, taking him to Hades - Sisyphus told his wife not to bury his corpse. Complaining that the proper burial rites had been performed, Hades gave him three days to set things in order. He tricked the gods again. - Zeus sent Hermes to retrieve Sisyphus back to the Underworld - Having mocked the gods, Sisyphus was sentenced to spend eternity rolling a rock up a hill, only to roll back down and force him to futilely repeat this |
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Camus' Perception on Sisyphus |
- Camus describes when Sisyphus finishes pushing the rock and descends the hill to repeat his actions is the time of his consciousness. During that time he is superior to his fate - Because Sisyphus is aware of his fate and understands it, he is victorious over it - Sisyphus scorns the gods, hates death and has a passion for life. - His awareness of his struggle parallels to a person's own existence. His task is futile and without hope, but the fact there is no hope, that he already knows the outcome and doesn't aspire for anything else, his fate is not horrible. - Sisyphus accepts his fate, and his lack of aspirations means the gods no longer have power over him |
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Ishtar in the Underworld |
-Ishtar wishes to visit the land of the dead where her sister Ereshkigal rules. She permits her to enter if she abides by the laws of the Underworld, which meant leaving all signs of status. - For each gate, Ishtar removes a piece of her jewelry until she is naked - when Ishtar arrives, Ereshkigal orders 60 miseries onto her. With Ishtar in the Underworld everything ceased to reproduce and all would eventually die. The gods intervene - Ea creates Asushunamir to distract Ereshkigal, allowing Ishtar to pass back through the gates as Asushunimar entered. - Ereshkigal was tricked, as this beautiful make was a eunuch |
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Marwe in the Underworld |
- Marwe drowns herself because monkeys ate her family's bean fields - she sinks to the Underworld and resides with an elderly woman who was her guide for many years - the woman knew Marwe wished to rejoin the living. She has Marwe dip herself in water, covering her with jewels. She dressed her in the finest robes and sent her home, predicting that she would marry a man named Sawoye. - Marwe chooses the suitor Sawoye, who had a terrible skin disease. But she could read people's hearts, and when they made love, the disease disappeared to show he was the most handsome man. The two became the wealthiest in the land. - Jealous neighbors kill Sawoye. Marwe already died and knew the secrets of the underworld and revived him. - Sawoye slated their enemies. The two went on to live happy lives, and died without fear |
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Savitri |
Savitri was a wise princess. Her father worried she would never marry, but she vows to choose a holy man of princely rank - she dons the outfit of a SADHU, a holy hermit, and travels the land doing great deeds. - when she returns she announces she wishes to marry Satyavant, a prince who lived among the sadhus - her father's sage Narada foretells that Satyavant would die within a year of their wedding - Savitri still chooses to marry him because she loves him. They marry and she never tells him of her fate. As a year comes close she prays to the gods - as the two go into the forest to cut wood, her husband turned white and collapsed, barely breathing. - Yama came to take Satyavant's soul. Savitri follows Yama to the underworld. He gives her a wish, which she uses to restore the kingdom of Satyavant's father. - He tells her to turn back, saying no man has ever entered his kingdom, to which she replies she is a woman. Respecting her wisdom, Yama gives her a second wish, which she uses to revive her husband - Yama says her love has more power than him, and that his blessing will follow her. - Satyavant wakes up thinking it was all a dream, but years later Savitri tells him that her love saved him. Satyavant's father's kingdom was restored as well as his sight. They live happy and simple lives, and when their time comes Yama greets them and they ascend to the highest heaven |
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Sayadio in the Land of the Dead |
- Sayadio's younger sister died, and he was determined to bring her back from the land of the spirits. He encounters a man who knows the secrets of the spirit world and is his guide. He gives him a magic gourd
- he meets Tarenyawagon who tells him the spirits were having a dance festival where his sister would be. He tries to embrace her but she disappears - Tarenyawagon gives Sayadio a magic rattle that entranced his sister, allowing him to catch her. - Sayadio returns to the living and begins preparing a ritual to unite her spirit with her body. But a little girl opens the gourd and sets the sister's soul free |
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Spirit Bride |
- a warrior's bride died on the eve of their wedding. He grieved until he overheard elders talking about a path to the spirit world - he travels until he meets an old man who takes him to the island of spirits. The old man chants and frees his spirit from his body - He sees his bride in her own canoe and notices she duplicates his movements. They had to enter separately. - because they were good, the warrior and his wife were able to cross the lake - he goes to the island and meets his bride, but the Master of Life tells him it is not his time and that he must return - the warrior returned to his body and the land of the living, becoming the chief, happy in the assurance he would see his bride again |
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Orpheus and Eurydice |
- Orpheus, a talented musician, married a woman named Eurydice. - Eurydice walks near a river when a man attempts to take her, causing her to be bitten by a poisonous snake - Orpheus travels to the Underworld, with his lyre moving Charon, the ferryman for the river Styx, Cerberus, and three judges. - Orpheus's music melted Hades's heart and agrees to give him Eurydice, as long as he does not look back at her until they make it to the land of the living - However, Orpheus can't help but look back, losing her forever |
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Persian Death Myth |
The soul hangs over the body for 3 days. - the first night it contemplates the WORDS OF ITS PAST LIFE - the second it contemplates its THOUGHTS - the third it contemplates its DEEDS - the soul goes to three judges who base their decision on the person's deeds. - The soul is put on a scale. If the good outweighs the bad it goes to heaven, if they're equal they go to purgatory and cleansed of sin, and if the bad outweighs the good the soul goes to hell - souls are met by a guide, whose appearance reflects their conscious. They are taken to the Chinvat bridge. For the good the bridge widens, but for the bad it's razor thin souls go to hell - souls have a chance to be judged again if sins are purged and get into heaven - at the last judgement, all will be resurrected with their body and soul judged as a whole |
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