Creation Myths

An example of a creation myth

The dictionary of creation myths says a myth is the projection of a cultures soul. Many people believe that is true indication that different myths show you what their cultures are like. Themes of creators, birth, and separation are at the center of many creation myths, which is unusual because the places are so far away from each other and they couldn't travel and communicate with each other.

Common elements in many myths are the creators of the world. For example in the one of the Chinese myths, Phan Ku was the creator of the world because once he died his body parts became the features of the world. Also in the Maori myth there were two Gods who gave birth to different children like the deserts and forests. Therefore it can be said that even though the myths were from different places and the people weren’t able to travel to each other or communicate with each other it can be said there is some kind of connection between them.

In the beginning of many myths they talked about birth. For example in the Inca myth the people were made out of stone and therefore humankind was born. Another example of this is in the myth of Phan Ku. Once Phan Ku died the fleas that surrounded him became mankind. This proves that no matter where the myth is from the people have the same styles of thinking.

A similar element in many myths is separation. For example in the Maori myth the sky God was physically forced to separate from the earth God. This is related to when in the Inca myth the men and ladies were separated and lived in different cities and worshiped other Gods. As we can see many elements in myths was separation even though the places from where the myth was from were so far away from each other.

Even though the countries are so far away, their myths are still similar. Which shows that their cultures are similar and it really is a small world after all.

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My Bag

Items in my picture: Thai bag, Archie Comic, camera cover, red elephant, toy dog, goggles, charm bracelet, ipod, Langkawi key chain, and colored stabilo pens

Is it possible that ten items of yours can almost exactly describe you? Well you are about to find out. I chose ten items that I thought really described me. So here they are. I chose my Thai bag because it represents where I was born. I was born in Bangkok, Thailand and in 1998 my mom got this bag for herself. One day I found it in my mom's room and absolutely loved it. I told my mom that and she gave it to me. She told me to keep it so that once I grow up it will remind me of Bangkok. I have moved around a lot and was only in Bangkok for three years. This might not seem so important but once I have grown up and have lived in so many places I can be assured that I will remember Bangkok, my birth place.

Another item I took a picture of to represent me is one of my Archie Comic books. The reason is that I usually don't like reading comic books. That might sound weird for a kid of my age but for me, Archie Comics are the only exception. I started reading Archie Comics when I was only 8! I once saw my brother reading them and I tried to read them too. Of course when I was 8 I didn't understand it that much but now I do. I have 14 Archie Comics but there are over 1000 different books!

One item that is really important to me is my camera. I couldn't take a picture of my camera because I was using it to take the picture of my ten objects. So instead I put my camera cover. Ever since I was small I loved taking pictures. When ever my family went on a vacation instead of wanting to be in the picture, I always wanted to take the picture. So just recently my dad bought me my very own camera. What made me happy was it wasn't a cheap camera and has lots of good qualities. This is important to me because it shows how much I like taking pictures.

The red elephant in my photo might seem like any ordinary toy but it isn't for me. This was the first toy that my brother bought for me. When I was born my brother was only seven but he wanted to buy something special for me. So he saved up his allowance money and went to the store and bought me this gift. When I was just born I wasn't old enough to appreciate it and like most babies bit it and ripped it. When I got older my mom stitched the part that I ripped and told me that my brother bought this for me. Since then I have treasured it and made sure nothing bad happened to it.

My toy dog is not as important to me as my red elephant but it does tell you a little about me. It shows you that I really love dogs. Most of my toys are dogs. I have always wanted a dog of my own but since we keep on moving to different places my mom didn't buy me one. Even though my dogs aren't real they are good enough for me!

Something else that tells you a little about me is that I love swimming! So that is why I have my goggles in my picture. When I was small and had swim lessons I used to hate the water but now I love being in the water. Sometimes my brother says that I am more like a water mammal than a human being! Although I would rather play in the water than have to do laps, if I got a choice between swimming laps or running laps I would choose to swim them. So that shows how much I love swimming!

My charm bracelet is important to me because not only is it the first charm bracelet I ever got but it was also my first bracelet. My mom bought it for me when I was six years old! Back then it was too big for me and still is but I still love it. Anyways once she got it for me I liked it so much that I wanted another bracelet. Since then I have more that 20 different bracelets!

The next item I am going to talk about is my ipod. My brother bought it for me last year from America (he goes to university there). The reason that I find it important is not because he got it for me but because I use it almost everyday. When I am bored I listen to my ipod or when I am angry, sad, anything! I feel that the type of music that you listens to expresses who you really are.

My Langkawi key chain doesn't express who I am or what I like to do but it does represent two things. It represents that every country I go to I always get a souvenir. The second thing it represents is that I love to collect key chains. I am not sure why but I have a lot of key chains in different shapes and sizes. Although it is more common to collect stamps or coins I find that boring. Key chains can look so different and come in so many colors and that is why I collect them.

Last but not least, the last item in my picture is my stabilo pens. Once again this tells you two things about me. The first thing is, like most girls, I love stationary. The second thing it tells you about me is that I like many colours. Like music, colours also really express your personality. I don't have one favorite colour because I like all the colours in the rainbow. That is why most of my stuff at home is colourful. So those are the ten things in my picture. Ten objects can really tell you a lot about a person and I hope after reading this you know a little more about me!

What's in a name?

The Greek Goddess Rhea!

What is in a name? That question might not make sense to you but if you think about it it is asking the origin and definition of your name. Before you click the exit button on your computer, try and actually find out "what is in your name". Of course this is an optinal activity for you, but for me and the rest of my humanities class this was our assignment. Every teacher I have had in elementry since 3rd grade has asked me that question and all my humanities teachers in middle school have done so to. So this is not new to me but as I dug deeper into the assignment I found out lots of new information! So, how was my name choosen?

Well my mom wanted a simple name which was easy to pronounce and it had to start with the alphabet R since the rest of my family also started with R. My name was chosen like how you would choose a hotel to stay in when you went on vacation. You would look up acceptable hotels on the Internet, ask your friends, and finally find one. You would read the descriptions and find out how it was and if you liked it you made a reservation in that hotel. That was how my name was chosen. My parents looked up names on the Internet for girls, asked their friends and family and finally came up with a name. They looked up what the name meant and loved the meaning. So it was final that that was going to be my name. My name is the Latin version of the Greek name Rheia. My name is Rhea. In Greek Rhea means “earth”, the reason being that there was a Greek Goddess named Rhea and she was the mother of all gods therefore the earth. Rhea is a stream of water; serenely and steadily moving forward. Rhea is the sunshine of her mom's life.

Rhea is an international name and most people know how to pronounce it but once in a while there is always one person who pronounces it wrong. At first I used to get extremely annoyed but now I have grown accustomed to it. I don’t mind how my name is pronounced because at the end of the day my name is still Rhea and nothing can change that.

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