The Twenty Percent True Podcast
Season 5: Monster of the Week
Episode 2: Dragon Island
For more: Background Information
August 29, 2019
Monster of the Week: Dragon Island
The Twenty Percent True Podcast
Season 5: Monster of the Week
Episode 2: Dragon Island
For more: Background Information
More about Al-Mi'raj
Season 5, Episode 2: Dragon Island
The mi'raj is a rabbit from Persian poetry. It has a single, black, spiraling horn coming out of its forehead. It is territorial and can kill people and animals several times its size by stabbing them. It can also eat foes several times its size. Wildlife feared and avoided it, and people feared it because it would kill and eat them and their livestock.
The mi'raj is from Jezîrat al-Tennyn, or "Sea Serpent Island," which is in the Indian Ocean. When Alexander the Great visited the island, he defeated a fire-breathing dragon that was terrorizing the locals and demanding two dozen oxen be presented to him a day. Alexander stuffed two ox skins with pitch and sulfur, making the beast sick. Soon afterward, it died. The people of the island showed their gratitude by gifting him a mi'raj.
It was said that the people of the island feared the mi'raj, and needed a witch to ward the animal away whenever it was sighted nearby. Only a true witch could subdue the mi'raj so they could remove it from the area.
This story makes me think they sent one off with Alexander the Great just to get rid of it.
Al-Mi'raj is mentioned in the bestiary portion of "ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdā" or "Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing" (shortened to "The Wonders of Creation"), a precursor to an encyclopedia by Zakariya al-Qazwini. The book uses its bestiary section to say, "if these weird animals exist, why are you questioning that angels exist?" and therefore focuses largely on strange birds. Al-Qazwini was a Persian physician, astronomer, geographer and what would today be called a science fiction writer. He made up a lot of the creatures and stories, probably including the mi'raj, because it does not seem to appear prominently anywhere else until it was used as a monster in Dungeons and Dragons.
You'll often see it written as "al-mi'raj," but the prefix "al" is like an article so saying "the al-mi'raj" is like saying "the the mi'raj."
The mi'raj is a rabbit from Persian poetry. It has a single, black, spiraling horn coming out of its forehead. It is territorial and can kill people and animals several times its size by stabbing them. It can also eat foes several times its size. Wildlife feared and avoided it, and people feared it because it would kill and eat them and their livestock.
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| From "Myth Match," a fantastic creature mix-an-match book by Good Wives and Warriors |
It was said that the people of the island feared the mi'raj, and needed a witch to ward the animal away whenever it was sighted nearby. Only a true witch could subdue the mi'raj so they could remove it from the area.
This story makes me think they sent one off with Alexander the Great just to get rid of it.
Al-Mi'raj is mentioned in the bestiary portion of "ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdā" or "Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing" (shortened to "The Wonders of Creation"), a precursor to an encyclopedia by Zakariya al-Qazwini. The book uses its bestiary section to say, "if these weird animals exist, why are you questioning that angels exist?" and therefore focuses largely on strange birds. Al-Qazwini was a Persian physician, astronomer, geographer and what would today be called a science fiction writer. He made up a lot of the creatures and stories, probably including the mi'raj, because it does not seem to appear prominently anywhere else until it was used as a monster in Dungeons and Dragons.
You'll often see it written as "al-mi'raj," but the prefix "al" is like an article so saying "the al-mi'raj" is like saying "the the mi'raj."
August 22, 2019
Monster of the Week: Capricorn
The Twenty Percent True Podcast
Season 5: Monster of the Week
Episode 1: Capricorn
For more: Background Information
More about the Capricorn
Season 5, Episode 1: Capricorn
The Capricorn is often called a goat-fish or a sea-goat as it has the front half of a goat and the back half of a fish.
It's most commonly known as a constellation, especially since it's one of the constellations of the zodiac. (December 22nd-January 19th) According to Cosmopolitan (the experts), people born under the sign of Capricorn are "practical, self reliant, stoic and ambitious. You'd want them in your corner... but maybe not at a party."
Imagery of sea-goats dates back to Babylonian times, but there isn't a whole lot of information about their myths. Sea-goats are often associated with the Egyptian god Khnum, who is part man, part goat.
There's one story (with a bunch of variants) where after the Greek Olympian gods defeated the titans, one titan, Typhon, was unhappy about this and attacked, forcing the gods to flee to Egypt and go into hiding as various animals. Dionysus turned into a goat and while hanging out in Egypt jumped/drunkenly fell into the Nile. As the titan was about to land a killing blow against Zeus, a drowning Dionysus called out in surprise, and the titan was distracted, wondering what that alarmed goat noise was, enough for Zeus to finish him off. Zeus was so pleased with Dionysus' quick thinking (sure, Zeus, we'll call it that) that he turned Dionysus into a constellation and let him ride through the heavens forever. This story doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because Dionysus is still kicking around on earth long after this event, so sometimes instead of Dionysus, it's the god Pan, and since Pan and Dionysus are so similar they get interchanged a lot.
But my favorite story about sea-goats is about Pricus, the immortal father of the sea-goat race. He and his children lived in the ocean, but enjoyed pulling themselves up onto the beach with their front hooves to sun themselves. However, as the sea-goats spent time on land, they became more goat than sea-goat and they forgot how to reason and speak until they were eventually just regular old goats. This made Pricus very sad, and he forbade all his children from going on land, which just made them churlish and determined to go on land anyway. You can't tell me what to do, dad! But! Pricus was created by Chronus, the god of time, and so Pricus possessed magic time powers, where he was able to turn back time and no one would know except him. This brought his wayward goat children back into the ocean where he would have a second chance to keep them off land. Then a third chance. And a fourth. Eventually he realized there was no stopping them, and he stopped turning back time. He begged Chronus to let him die, but Chronus said no and instead turned him into a constellation so he could watch his mindless goat children do goat things for all eternity.
There's a lot going on there!
Now, in the spirit of full disclosure: my mom is a Capricorn. Capricorns and moms are linked in my brain for all time, so this story caught my attention because the Capricorn is a parent. So I, of course, called my mom, told her all about it, and then asked what she thought about it, as a Capricorn. She said it certainly fit with her understanding of Capricorns, in that they're stubborn, and if their babies turn into goats, they'll just try again and again and again until their babies cut it out. Then she asked me, as the daughter of a Capricorn what I thought of it. I said that I didn't know, because she's always been very supportive of my decisions and has never told me to not turn into a goat. "That's true," she said. "I've never told you not to turn into a goat." She then said that if I did want to turn into a goat, she would try to be supportive, and then listed several reasons why it would be a bad idea.
The Capricorn is often called a goat-fish or a sea-goat as it has the front half of a goat and the back half of a fish.
 |
| Image from askastrology.com |
It's most commonly known as a constellation, especially since it's one of the constellations of the zodiac. (December 22nd-January 19th) According to Cosmopolitan (the experts), people born under the sign of Capricorn are "practical, self reliant, stoic and ambitious. You'd want them in your corner... but maybe not at a party."
Imagery of sea-goats dates back to Babylonian times, but there isn't a whole lot of information about their myths. Sea-goats are often associated with the Egyptian god Khnum, who is part man, part goat.
There's one story (with a bunch of variants) where after the Greek Olympian gods defeated the titans, one titan, Typhon, was unhappy about this and attacked, forcing the gods to flee to Egypt and go into hiding as various animals. Dionysus turned into a goat and while hanging out in Egypt jumped/drunkenly fell into the Nile. As the titan was about to land a killing blow against Zeus, a drowning Dionysus called out in surprise, and the titan was distracted, wondering what that alarmed goat noise was, enough for Zeus to finish him off. Zeus was so pleased with Dionysus' quick thinking (sure, Zeus, we'll call it that) that he turned Dionysus into a constellation and let him ride through the heavens forever. This story doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because Dionysus is still kicking around on earth long after this event, so sometimes instead of Dionysus, it's the god Pan, and since Pan and Dionysus are so similar they get interchanged a lot.
But my favorite story about sea-goats is about Pricus, the immortal father of the sea-goat race. He and his children lived in the ocean, but enjoyed pulling themselves up onto the beach with their front hooves to sun themselves. However, as the sea-goats spent time on land, they became more goat than sea-goat and they forgot how to reason and speak until they were eventually just regular old goats. This made Pricus very sad, and he forbade all his children from going on land, which just made them churlish and determined to go on land anyway. You can't tell me what to do, dad! But! Pricus was created by Chronus, the god of time, and so Pricus possessed magic time powers, where he was able to turn back time and no one would know except him. This brought his wayward goat children back into the ocean where he would have a second chance to keep them off land. Then a third chance. And a fourth. Eventually he realized there was no stopping them, and he stopped turning back time. He begged Chronus to let him die, but Chronus said no and instead turned him into a constellation so he could watch his mindless goat children do goat things for all eternity.
There's a lot going on there!
Now, in the spirit of full disclosure: my mom is a Capricorn. Capricorns and moms are linked in my brain for all time, so this story caught my attention because the Capricorn is a parent. So I, of course, called my mom, told her all about it, and then asked what she thought about it, as a Capricorn. She said it certainly fit with her understanding of Capricorns, in that they're stubborn, and if their babies turn into goats, they'll just try again and again and again until their babies cut it out. Then she asked me, as the daughter of a Capricorn what I thought of it. I said that I didn't know, because she's always been very supportive of my decisions and has never told me to not turn into a goat. "That's true," she said. "I've never told you not to turn into a goat." She then said that if I did want to turn into a goat, she would try to be supportive, and then listed several reasons why it would be a bad idea.
August 6, 2019
I read "Keep Going"
I read Keep Going, the latest book about creativity from Austin Kleon (the writer of Steal Like an Artist, which is a favorite of mine). This one was mostly focused on what to do when you feel stuck or uninspired.
My favorite and the most useful point I found was that productivity is not the same as creativity. To be productive, sometimes you need to lock yourself away from all distractions and get things done. To be creative, you need to go for a long walk, or take a nap, or go to a museum, or read a magazine. It doesn't look like you're being productive, because you aren't. So often, I hear that "thinking about writing is not the same as writing," so it was refreshing to hear the same advice, but put in a different light. You need time to be creative. You need time to be productive. Acknowledging that and separating those into what I'll now forever call "productive time" and "creative time" is going to be wildly helpful.
On the whole though, this book resonated much less with me than the others. Maybe it was the content, but I suspect it was the tone. In this one, Kleon cites other people and then calls them out for being wrong. For example, there are four shots fired at Marie Kondo. I don't think any of them are necessary when he could have just jumped to his point that a messy studio helps him be creative by allowing him to see some materials next to other materials that never would have gone together if they were never thrown into a pile on the floor. That's an interesting point. But framing it as "the lady who helped you get all your son's Legos in one place so you would stop crying and feeling claustrophobic is WRONG! I scoff that your kitchen brings you joy!" is off putting. I don't remember the previous books trying to be inspiring and uplifting by putting down other advice, but maybe I'm just not remembering it.
My favorite and the most useful point I found was that productivity is not the same as creativity. To be productive, sometimes you need to lock yourself away from all distractions and get things done. To be creative, you need to go for a long walk, or take a nap, or go to a museum, or read a magazine. It doesn't look like you're being productive, because you aren't. So often, I hear that "thinking about writing is not the same as writing," so it was refreshing to hear the same advice, but put in a different light. You need time to be creative. You need time to be productive. Acknowledging that and separating those into what I'll now forever call "productive time" and "creative time" is going to be wildly helpful.
On the whole though, this book resonated much less with me than the others. Maybe it was the content, but I suspect it was the tone. In this one, Kleon cites other people and then calls them out for being wrong. For example, there are four shots fired at Marie Kondo. I don't think any of them are necessary when he could have just jumped to his point that a messy studio helps him be creative by allowing him to see some materials next to other materials that never would have gone together if they were never thrown into a pile on the floor. That's an interesting point. But framing it as "the lady who helped you get all your son's Legos in one place so you would stop crying and feeling claustrophobic is WRONG! I scoff that your kitchen brings you joy!" is off putting. I don't remember the previous books trying to be inspiring and uplifting by putting down other advice, but maybe I'm just not remembering it.
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