OU Mythology and Folklore Fall 2018 - Daegan Layman

In Canto XVII of Inferno, Dante explicitly attacked then Pope Boniface VIII with this passage: “As the Sicilian bull, that rightfully his cries first echoed who had shaped its mould did so rebellow with the voice of him tormented. That the brazen monster seemed pierced through with pain; thus, while no way they found nor avenue immediate through the flame into its language turned the dismal words: But as soon as they had won their passage forth, up from the point, which vibrating obeyed their motion at the tongue, these sounds were heard: ‘O thou, to whom I now direct my voice, that lately didst exclaim Lombard phase, ‘Depart though; I solicit thee no more.” His anger resounded throughout excerpts of Inferno, dwelling on his hatred of Boniface VIII. Alighieri opposed the reign of Boniface heavily, grudgingly manifesting his fury at being expelled from Florence by him, thinking him unworthy of ruling because of his widespread corruption and apparent incompetency. Dante wrote letters an...

Source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend  by E.W. and F. Champney. Izanagi and Izanami : Before the beginning, there was nothing but chaos. Out of that chaos there became space, which like a flower bloomed, giving rise to the Sun and Moon. From this as well there spawned a plethora of gods. In a poem at the beginning of this reading, it tells that the lovemaking of The God Izanagi and his wife, the Goddess Izanami, gave rise to the other gods, men, mammals, the sea, the earth, and countless other things. In the actual reading it is this mercurial blooming of the space born from chaos that divines these things. Izanagi and Izanami lived on the isle of Onogoro and eventually became surrounded by the eight islands called Yamato, Tsukushi, Iyo, Tsushima, Ahaji, Shikoku, Oki, and Lado. They then gave birth to a son and daughter, Susa-no-wo-no-mikoto and the Amaterasu-omikami (who is really well represented by a white dog with a paint brush in a game called Okami that...