Two Mythologies

O ne of the first two experience groups I wished to create here were "I Love Egyptian Mythology" and "I Love Ojibwa Mythology." I saw, however, that a general mythology group already existed; and, seeing as I doubted that there would be a great many other people on the site who are terribly interested in Egyptian or especially Ojibwa mythology, I decided to join the existing group instead.

My interest in Egyptian mythology came about in a rather funny way. Around 1986 my mother and I were seated on the couch when a dog food commercial came on. I paid it only casual attention at first; it depicted cartoon dogs in ancient Egyptian attire walking like Egyptians. I knew just enough about ancient Egypt to say, "Egyptian dogs," before a voice started singing, "King Kuts! King Kuts!" (which was the name of the dog food being advertised).

My mother and I instantly burst into laughter.

However, the commercial had a greater effect than of merely amusing me. After a while, I became interested in "King Kuts" as a fictional character and even started creating friends and enemies for him in an ancient Egypt of my own creation--a very, VERY bad ancient Egypt which included a Nile which flowed the wrong way, all of the kings and queens being alive in the same time period, oh, and of course, all the characters being talking animals. In time I wrote the first "novel" set in this fictional Egypt (see my experiences "How It All Started" and "The Plots Thicken"), then another, and more. Of course, writing about ancient Egypt led to me becoming interested in learning more about what I considered its most fascinating aspect, the mythology. I found the strange animal-headed Egyptian gods attractive in that they seemed almost like a ready-made element of what I was already interested in--anthropomorphic animals. I was especially intrigued by the myth of Horus and wrote my own (very terrible) version around 1988-9, complete with an Eighties soundtrack featuring Tiffany, Bobby Brown, and others. (Feel free to gag now.)

Even as my interest in writing this series waned, my interest in learning more about Egyptian mythology grew, and I began acquiring more and more books on the subject. Fewer of the books I bought had to do with ancient Egypt in general as I found I was no longer terribly interested in the kings and queens and daily life, but the myths fascinated me. I discovered the book Daily Life Of The Egyptian Gods, which reads like an anthropological study of real beings, and it's still one of my favorite books--it actually taught me a few things I still didn't know about the mythology, something which is difficult to do nowadays. (Check out any book on the subject and almost all of them just rehash the same old myths which I learned when I was a preteen.)

Around 1997 I rewrote Horus to be much better, though by today's standards I could improve it.

After going online in 2000, I wrote, in quick succession, various short stories/novellas featuring the Egyptian gods, even rewriting older stories I'd written about them in high school. In 2001, however, a different writing project of mine shifted my interest somewhat away from Egyptian mythology, and while I'm still interested in it and write about it on occasion, it's this second mythology that now holds most of my attention and current learning.

In 2001 I challenged myself to write a Web serial set on a fictional version of Michigan's Mackinac Island, entitled Manitou Island. I used several mythical beings I'd been introduced to in Mackinac Island's Haunted Theater, but it was only when I was well through the series that I thought it might be best if I learned more about the mythology I was utilizing. I didn't even know what mythology these beings were from! I did some digging, and it turned out it was Ojibwa. I planned to introduce the Ojibwa culture hero Manabozho into my story, and so I decided to start learning about all of this the best way I knew how: by reading books.

On a trip to an Indian-themed store I bought up all the books I could find on Ojibwa mythology. These included three books by author Basil Johnston, The Manitous, Ojibway Ceremonies, and Ojibway Heritage. The Manitous proved to be as informative and interesting as Daily Life Of The Egyptian Gods and quickly became a favorite; I could even start comparing Egyptian and Ojibwa myths and finding similarities. It was this book which strongly influenced the plot of the sequel to Manitou Island, and over time, with the use of eBay and local stores, I slowly acquired more and more books on the subject, and am still learning about it today.

Unlike ancient Egyptian belief, which faded out over time (revived today in a different form as Kemeticism), traditional Ojibwa belief is still alive and well despite various changes, and I hope over time to learn more about it. I feel "closer" to it as I live in the land where many of these myths were born. I would love finding an elder or someone with an inside perspective to discuss things with without fear of being called a "wannabe" or being criticized or shunned (as I've had the misfortune of having happen online once), just so I can learn more about this fascinating mythology which is not really a mythology but a living, evolving belief system--one which has even influenced my own beliefs.

And that is where my twin interests in Egyptian and Ojibwa mythology came from.