The serpent disliked the weight upon his head

“At the beginning of time, the surface of the Earth was primeval ocean where this great serpent swam or lay. The daughter of the highest deity (who dwelt in the heavens and had birds as servants) came down from the upper realm and spread a handful of earth to form the world. The serpent, however, disliked the weight upon his head, and, turning over, caused this newly made world to be engulfed by the sea.”

A folktale from Indonesia.

from: Dixon, R. B. Oceanic Mythology, Cooper Square Publishers, New York. (1916)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/om/om16.htm

Frazer: The flood myth

It might be time for a clarification. Since flood myths play quite a big role in cristian creationist ideology and since there is a lot of material online on the subject hosted on creatonist propaganda websites, I feel I need to distance myself from the creationist idoelogy once and for all. I am arguing in this blog that mythology and folklore are aesthetic reflections of natural events like tsunamis, high tides or other extreme weather phenomena. In othe words, most myths are most likely creative renditions of lived experience. This does however not mean that myths are true or – for that matter – that the bible is right. In fact I am opposed to any creationist ideology, particularly of the US-American Christian ultra-right, and fundamentally opposed to the idea of founding ethical codes of conduct on religious authority.

Having said that much, here is an online source of a chapter from Sir James George Frazer‘s book “Folk-Lore in the Old Testament” from 1918. (On a creationist website…)

The Scotish scientist Frazer is one of the founding fathers of anthropology and his study “The Golden Bough” (1928) became one of the most influential and popular texts in anthropology.

This is the section from “Folk-Lore in the Old Testament” on the flood myth. In it he gives a very detailed account of several flood myths from all continents:

https://creationism.org/books/FrazerFolkloreOT/FrazerFolkloreOT_4.htm

Flood stories from around the world

In this really impressive online source, a guy called Mark Isaak has collected hundreds of flood myths from literally all over the world. Quite a collection! It gives a good impression of the omnipresence of the flood myth. Check it out here:

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html


You can also chek out this article on the topic online which gives more of an overview.

The louse and the flea

A fairy tale as collected by the Brothers Grimm:

A little louse and a little flea kept house together. They were brewing beer in an eggshell when the little louse fell in and burned herself to death. At this the little flea began to cry loudly.

Then the little parlor door said, “Why are you crying, little flea?”

“Because little louse has burned herself to death.”

Then the little door began to creak.

Then a little broom in the corner said, “Why are you creaking, little door?”

“Why should I not be creaking?

Little louse has burned herself to death.
Little flea is crying.”

Then the little broom began to sweep furiously.

Then a little cart came by and said, “Why are you sweeping, little broom?”

“Why should I not be sweeping?

Little louse has burned herself to death.
Little flea is crying.
Little door is creaking.”

Then the little cart said, “Then I will run,” and it began to run furiously.

It ran by a little manure pile, which said, “Why are you running, little cart?”

“Why should I not be running?

Little louse has burned herself to death.
Little flea is crying.
Little door is creaking.
Little broom is sweeping.”

Then the little manure pile said, “Then I will burn furiously,” and it began to burn in bright flames.

A little tree that stood near the little manure pile said, “Little manure pile, why are you burning?”

“Why should I not be burning?

Little louse has burned herself to death.
Little flea is crying.
Little door is creaking.
Little broom is sweeping.
Little cart is running.”

Then the little tree said, “Then I will shake myself,” and it began to shake itself until all its leaves fell off.

A girl who came up with her water pitcher saw that, and said, “Little tree, why are you shaking?”

“Why should I not be shaking?

Little louse has burned herself to death.
Little flea is crying.
Little door is creaking.
Little broom is sweeping.
Little cart is running.
Little manure pile is burning.”

Then the girl said, “Then I will break my little water pitcher.” And she broke her little water pitcher.

Then the little spring from which the water was flowing said, “Girl, why did you break your little water pitcher?”

“Why should I not break my little water pitcher?

Little louse has burned herself to death.
Little flea is crying.
Little door is creaking.
Little broom is sweeping.
Little cart is running.
Little manure pile is burning.
Little tree is shaking.”

“Oh,” said the spring, “then I will begin to flow,” and it began to flow furiously. And everything drowned in the water: the girl, the little tree, the little manure pile, the little cart, the little broom, the little door, the little flea, and the little louse, all together.

from: Children’s and Household Tales (1812 – 1857)
online source: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm030.html

The Great Flood of Gun-Yu

The Great Flood of Gun-Yu (Chinese: 鯀禹治水), also known as the Gun-Yu myth, was a major flood event in ancient China that allegedly continued for at least two generations, which resulted in great population displacements among other disasters, such as storms and famine. People left their homes to live on the high hills and mounts, or nest on the trees. According to mythological and historical sources, it is traditionally dated to the third millennium BCE, or about 2300-2200 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Yao.

Emperor Yu and the great flood

Treated either historically or mythologically, the story of the Great Flood and the heroic attempts of Emperor Yu and various human characters to control it and to abate the disaster is a narrative fundamental to Chinese Culture. Among other things, the Great Flood of China is key to understanding the history of the founding of both the Xia dynasty and the Zhou dynasty, it is also one of the main flood motifs in Chinese mythology, and it is a major source of allusion in Classical Chinese poetry.

from wikipedia

see also this article about the geological facts behind this and other flood myths.

Emperor Yu once more, batteling the flood and a dragon.
A statue of Yu The Great in today’s China

“Orașele înecate” by Felix Aderca

In this 1936 classic Sci-Fi novel (english title: The Drowned Cities), Romanian author Felix Aderca describes a future, when global cooling has forced humans to flee the Earth’s surface, rebuilding civilization on the seafloor, accessing the heat of the inner core.  Here are some quotes from the German edition, describing the nearing end of the submarine citites:

„Mit unfehlbarem Instinkt begannen die Einwohner das nahende Ende zu fühlen. Ihr Arbeitsvermögen nahm rasch ab. Die Aufmerksamkeit ließ nach und die unsinnigsten tödlichen Unfälle häuften sich. Die Leute verunglückten unter unglaublichen Umständen. Es wurden sogar bei dem Bewetterungsdienst Tote gefunden, wo die Leute nur zwei automatische Metalschleusen zu überwachen hatten. Wie es hier zu tödlichen Unfällen kam, konnte niemals geklärt werden. In den Werkstätten und Laboratorien mit großen Arbeitsgruppen bewegten sich die Menschen kolonnenweise. Die einzelnen Menschen trugen kleine Lämpchen an der Stirn und, um in der Dunkelheit lastenschleppend nicht aufeinanderzuprallen, warnten sie Entgegenkommende mit langgezogenen UUU-Rufen, als seien sie im Nebel kreuzende Schiffe.“

„Die vier Städte am Meeresboden, von denen nur eine einen schwachen Lichtschimmer aussandte, schwangen in der Stille der Wassermassen wie tonlose Gongs. Haie, Stachelrochen und Polypen warteten geduldig das Ende ab.“


english google translation:

“With unerring instinct, the inhabitants began to sense the approaching end. Her ability to work declined rapidly. Attention waned and the most senseless fatal accidents began to pile up. People crashed under unbelievable circumstances. Dead bodies were even found at the ventilation service, where people only had two automatic metal airlocks to monitor. How fatal accidents happened here has never been clarified. In the workshops and laboratories with large working groups, people moved in columns. The individual people wore small lamps on their foreheads and, so as not to crash into each other in the dark, carrying loads, they warned oncoming people with long drawn-out UUU calls, as if they were ships crossing in the fog.”

“The four cities at the bottom of the sea, only one of which emitted a faint glimmer of light, rang like soundless gongs in the stillness of the waters. Sharks, stingrays and polyps patiently awaited the end.”

The new Alexandria skyline

In an effort to protect the city of Alexandria against coastal erosion, the local government plants thousands of concrete tetrapods along the remaining beach. This creates a bizarre, futuristic urban landscpae, unlike anything we know:

The images are from a German TV report from September 4. 2022. Find the video here.

Thanks to Annette Possmann for the lead.

The Sea Wall in the shape of a Bird

Image may contain Outdoors Nature Land Shoreline Water Ocean Sea Scenery Landscape Coast and Aerial View

While Jakarta has serious evacuation plans, there are apparently also plans to build a new and unique sea wall. Quote from an article from 2016:
“The National Capital Integrated Coastal Development consortium will build a new set of barrier islands and a sea wall that will guard the city from waves and storm surges. The extensive project will take the shape of the Garuda, a mythical bird and symbol of Indonesia. While construction is already under way (the first pile was planted in October 2014), KuiperCompagnons, the Dutch firm behind much of the design, estimates that the project will take 30 to 40 years to complete.”

Read the full article here.
And more info here and here:

And this is Garuda:

Quote from wikipedia:
“Garuda is described as the king of the birds and a  kite-like figure. He is shown either in a zoomorphic form (a giant bird with partially open wings) or an anthropomorphic form (a man with wings and some ornithic features). Garuda is generally portrayed as a protector with the power to swiftly travel anywhere, ever vigilant and an enemy of every serpent. Garuda is a part of state insignia of India, Indonesia and Thailand. The Indonesian official coat of arms is centered on the Garuda and the national emblem of Indonesia is called Garuda Pancasila.”

Thanks to Johanna Fischer for the lead!

Very Large Floating Structures

To answer the never-tiring desire for more space for residential buildings along the coasts – nearly 50% of the industrialized world now lives within a kilometer of the coast – floating structures are repeatedly discussed in urbanization discourse. So called VLFS, very large floating structures, are a fashionable topic in architectural discourse – see for example the “Mega-Float” by Japanese architects M. Fujikubo and H. Suzuki from 2015 -, but so far no city has actually built one to house it’s residents. There are as far as I know only parking lots built on floating strutures in New York or Goetborg for example.

This image is from a brochure about the Floating Parking Garage in Goetborg

And there are of course accomodation units for employees working on off shore oil platforms. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accommodation_platform )

As always – the idea of floating habitats is not a new one. The oldest source is – as almost always – Homer’s Odysee. There the hero sails to the island Aeolia, which is floating on open sea in the western Mediteranean. The island and the city on it are home to the god of Winds, Aeolus, thus the name of the island. Today a group of islands near Sicilly is refered to as Aeolian Islands.

Homer does not give away alot about his floating island and how and why it floats. This is the main passage from verse 10 of the text:

“Then to the Aeolian isle we came, where dwelt Aeolus, son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods, in a floating island, and all around it is a wall of unbreakable bronze, and the cliff runs up sheer. […] And the house, filled with the savour of feasting, resounds all about even in the outer court by day, and by night again they sleep beside their chaste wives on blankets and on corded bedsteads. To their city, then, and fair palace did we come…”

source: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D10

Mazu: Taoist Goddess of the Sea

The bronze statue in the center depicts Mazu or Matsu, the chinese sea goddess, who is particularly popular in Taiwan and Chinese communities outside of mainland China. This monument is at Chengshan Peak (成山头 Chéngshāntóu), in the harbur city Weihai on the Chinese east coast. According to wikipedia: “Today, Mazuism is practiced in about 1.500 temples in 26 countries around the world, mostly in the Sinosphere or the overseas Chinese communities such as that of the predominantly Hokkien Philippines.” The first mentions of Mazu are from the 10. Century AD.