The cultural exchange thread.

[Beren3000]

I got this idea from a discussion Rian and I were having in the Gen. Lit forum.
We're all from different countries, how about if each one shares a certain myth, a funny anecdote, an interesting fact or even some traditions and customs specific to their country?

I'll start it off. I come from Egypt; here's one of our famous myths:

The Myth of Isis and Osiris:
Isis, Osiris and Seth were siblings, sons of the goddess Hathor (IIRC) which is the goddess of (procreative) fertility and "patron goddess" of pregnant women. Osiris fell in love with, and married, Isis his own sister (apparently such a thing was common at the time). Seth, green with envy, decided to murder his brother. In order to do so, he threw a great party and invited many people among whom was Osiris. Seth's party suprise was a precious coffin which he offered as a gift to whoever of the audience would fit inside it. (Death was sacred to the Ancient Egyptians, so such a gift would be considered a great honor). Needless to say, he had the coffin tailored to fit only Osiris. So each of the audience tried the coffin on (go figure ) and when Osiris went in, Seth locked the coffin up and had his brother killed.
Legend goes on to tell that he chopped up Osiris' body into pieces and scattered them in various parts of the Nile (Egypt's only river, and the longest in the world!). Isis, learning of that, endeavoured to bring together all the pieces of Osiris' body but she found one piece to be missing: the phallus! Tradition goes that it was swallowed by a crocodile in the Nile and that's why Ancient Egyptians reverred the crocodiles (I think!). So she used her "magic" powers to create another phallus for Osiris and then she revived him for the sole purpose of impregnating herself with a son that would eventually avenge his father. Osiris dies then and becomes the constellation Orion and the god of the Underworld. (Indeed it was believed that the souls of all the dead Pharaohs went up to one of the three stars know as Orion's belt, and the Great Pyramids are meant to be an accurate representation of these three stars). Isis then bore Osiris' son, Horus, who killed Seth thus avengeing his
father. Afterwards, Isis had many "medical" powers attributed to her and had the title "queen of the sky" among others. Horus became the protector of the pharaohs and it was believed that each pharaoh was a descendant of Horus.

Hope that wasn't too long!
Waiting to hear your stories

[Radagast]

World's Shortest War

On August 27th, 1896, a British battle fleet delivered Said Khalid, the pretender Sultan of Zanzibar, an ultimatum to vacate his palace. When he refused, fighting broke out. Hostilities peaked at 9:15 and ceased at 9:40 when Zanzibar surrendered. The war was over in 38 minutes, its turning point the sinking of Zanzibar's only warship, the aging Glasgow, with two shells.

As a final insult, local residents were ordered to pay for the ammunition used in the destruction of the Sultan's palace.

[Beren3000]

Here's a quickie:

-Ancient Egyptians were said to put a mummy at the table each time they ate, so that they would remember the fleeting nature of life and enjoy it while it lasts.

Also...thanks for sharing that, Rad. Hope others will join in soon!

[jerseydevil]

There is a New Jersey legend dating back from the early 1700's. Supposedly in 1735 a woman - Mrs. Leeds of Smithville was having a 13th child. She was tired of having children and cursed it during childbirth and said "I wish it was the devil" At which point when the child was born it sprouted wings - killed several people in the birthing room and flew out the window. Ever since it has terrorized and been seen thourghout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. There are of course several variations on the legend - but that its the most common one.

The devil stilll resides in New Jersey within the forests of the Pine Barrens that cover nearly 1/3 of New Jersey. We used to tell horror stories about the Jersey Devil on the school bus - so I decided to use it as my user name.

That, by the way, in case peope don't know - is why our professional hockey team is called the New Jersey Devils. It has nothing to do with the satanic variety - although I am waiting for an outcry from the hard core religious people.

If you want more info - check out this website - Devil Hunters

Also there is a cool movie called the Last Broadcast - it came before The Blair Witch Project and is much better - but it's about a couple of people in search of the New Jersey Devil.
Last Broadcast DVD


Oh here's a website for the Pine Barrens where the Jersey Devil lives - NJ Pine Barrens

----------------------------

This was taken from the "Origin of a Name (User Name)" thread with some minor changes.

[Beren3000]

Thanks for sharing that legend, JD. I have already checked the website from your sig. Sounds interesting! What's your opinion about it?

THIS IS MY 500TH POST!!!

[Mercutio]

I heard a program done by a English prof. at Univ. of DE-- He was talking about legends in Delaware and their basis in actually history. I won a free book of his at the program.

Anyway, legend has it that there was this little kid who would eat absolutely anything. He ended up swallowing Mason's (or was it Dixon?; as in the Mason-Dixon line) chronometer, which was at the time just being invented back in England too. I think up until this point its actually facts. Supposedly, the chronometer kept ticking inside of him. When he got married, his wife heard it and thought he was possessed/demon/something like that and left him. When he died, he was buried in a little cemetary in Landenberg, PA (about 10 min. from DE). To this day people claim that you can go to his grave, put your ear down to it, and hear the ticking. One of my friends lives about 5 minutes from it so we planned to go up sometime.

[Rían]

I must say, Beren, your story is gonna be hard to beat!

[Beren3000]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

I must say, Beren, your story is gonna be hard to beat!

I don't know about that, there seems to be people from all over the world (almost ) at the Moot and (I hope) we're gonna hear all sorts of myths and fun-facts soon enough!

Here's a fun-fact: Ramses II (one of the greatest Pharaohs Egypt has ever seen) had so many wives and concubines that his children numbered a 100 and something! Think the Von Trapp family X20

[Beren3000]

Here's another "quickie" for you:

-In Egypt (even to this day) it's considered a great humiliation to get slapped on the nape of one's neck.

Come on, people! Post your stories. They don't have to be myths or legends or folktales. Any fun-facts or interesting things about your country!

[Nerdanel]

cool!

when finland became independent in 1917, after being a part of russia for 109 years, we almost became a monarchy. but the one who was supposed to be king, a german prince i believe it was (don't ask why it was a german) died.
so we got a president instead.
(thank eru for that!! )

[HOBBIT]

USA - fast food

[BeardofPants]

... Yeah, and buckets of coffee.

*BoP is annoyed by Starbucks not having small coffee cups*

NZ = lots of sheep.

[Haradrim]

Now this is one thing I have found very odd about my life and it is the reason I am into a lot of conspiracy theroy stuff. I have lived in the three coolest places in the world. Scotland, Northern California, and Roswell, New Mexico. The lst two are states in the USA. Well most USAers will realize why this is so odd but some others might not. Where I lived in Scotland is a rather small area right next to Loch Ness. I swear to god the Loch Ness Monster (A large monster that reportedly lives in Loch Ness) is real. We had a boat and we tied it up at the dock and one day it just disappeared. We searched the entire Loch and didnt find a single timber of our boat. Then we moved to Northern California. Which is the place where BigFoot lives. (BigFoot is a large yeti like creature with brown fur and it looks like a half man half bear.) I never saw it but I do believe in it. Then we moved to Roswell, New Mexico. This is where Aliens are reporeted to have landed and the government is trying to keep it secret. Its big stuff down there. I dont know if it is true but I keep my mind open to it.

I was born in upstate New York before I moved to Ireland. Now I live in Boston, Massachusetts. THis is also around where the Salem witch trials took place. So I have almost always lived in fairly cool locations.

[Khamûl]

Originally Posted by Haradrim

Ireland, Northern California, and Roswell, New Mexico. [...] Where I lived in Ireland is a rather small area right next to Loch Ness.

Ummm... Loch Ness is in Scotland...

[Haradrim]

I'm sorry I keep calling scotland ireland recently because my friend was screwing it up and I yelled at him and now i cant stop doing it. Woopsie daisies Ill edit that right now. I dont know whats wrong with me. Also I keep calling New York Boston. I have a trouble saying what I feink. HEHEHEHEHE.....

[BeardofPants]

Oh Khammy, don't let a lil' thing like reality ruin a good story!

[Khamûl]

It's ok. I suppose it would be pretty easy to get the two confused.

[Nerdanel]

ok then..

finland = sauna, sausages and vodka.

[Nerdanel]

a quick one:
the Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, also a piece of literature that inspired Tolkien, is full of stories of old. there is a tale of the creation of the universe, and the end is interesting indeed.
at the time when the epic was created, the people living in Finland had many gods, nature gods. but the end of this big book, the last story, is about a small boy that is born and changes everything. there are several paintings of this boy, and most people believe it's jesus.
so jesus came and destroyed the fine culture we had before.

[HOBBIT]

because your boat disapeared the loch ness monster did it?? How does that make sense? You weren't there when it happened - so someone could have taken it. It's like assuming that someone has risen from the dead just because their body is missing from the grave without even thinking about grave robbers.