#culturalmyths

[mecthology]

Torakoishi from Japanese folklore.

The stone was invented by Utagawa Yoshikazu in his series depicting the fifty stations of the Tōkaidō, and its name is a pun based on a legendary stone named Toragoishi kept at Endaiji Temple in Ōiso.

The story behind Torakoishi dates back to the late 12th century when a samurai named Yamashita Chōja prayed to Toraike Benzaiten for a child. Benzaiten appeared to his wife in a dream, resulting in the miraculous appearance of a stone that grew with their daughter Tora. The stone grew in size as Tora grew older, and she became a renowned dancer, courtesan, and eventually a concubine of the warrior Soga Sukenari.

One day, Sukenari's enemy sent an assassin to kill him, but the stone magically disguised itself as Sukenari and saved his life. The chips in the stone from the arrow and sword strikes remain as proof of its life-saving power, and the miraculous stone became a famous tourist attraction in Ōiso. It is now enshrined at Endaiji, where it is popular among worshippers seeking safe childbirth, protection, and other blessings.

Follow @mecthology for more lores and legends.

Source: yokai.com/torakoishi/

[sidianmsjones]

Unearth and equip the gems 💎 of your mythos. Your story is your greatest power and your greatest weakness. Wield it wisely with personal mythology.

[generativetenebrousautomata]

[sidianmsjones]

Quick and easy personal mythology technique.

[sidianmsjones]

Reenchant and breathe life into your problems. Wait what??

Yeah you heard me right. How often have you felt like there is this idealized version of yourself: the gardener, the artist, the parent, or whatever it is, and that somehow, every day, life finds ways to stretch you away from that feeling of satisfaction and magic? So there is this big disconnect between who you see yourself as and then the lifeless, soul sucking life problems that keep you from being your real self, right?

Right...I mean if that's what you think then that's what you get. But if you want to think and feel something much more romantic; if you want to feel like the tribulations of life have a relevant place with depth and meaning in your life, I have a quick and easy Personal Mythology technique for you:

1. Identify what you like and associate with in life: gaming, gardening, movies, music, etc. Break it down to traits. Let's say it's gardening, so the traits might be: peace, growth, nurturing.

2. Identify your life issue and break it down into traits as well. Let's say you are frustrated trying to help someone you love and you are becoming overbearing in the process. Traits you might list: frustration, love, caring, worry.

3. Look at the traits you listed for the issue. How can they be related back to what you love in life? Create a metaphor. In our example, perhaps the sun. It normally nurtures the plants but if it becomes overbearing it destroys them.

This simple exercise will give you a mythic foundation from which you can find better understanding, empathy, solutions, and meaning in your problems. It opens the doors for mythic conversations to convey your feelings to others, and for poetry, art, and deepening the metaphor over time. I'll cover more details of these benefits in my new book

[sidianmsjones]

There is a universe inside you. Explore Inner Space with the upcoming MyMythos book. You are what you believe.

[sidianmsjones]

Crazy as it seems, there is definitely a very important space for shamanism in modern healing, and there is scientific proof to back it up.

Sham surgeries, elaborate healing rituals, chanting, guided imagery, beating drums and rattling rattles. All of these have been shown to activate placebo effects that western medicine is often unable to achieve.

Placebo has been clinically shown to improve pain, depression, weight loss, quitting smoking, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and oxygen rates, alter brain waves, temperature, hormone balance, anxiety, coughs, erectile dysfunction, IBS, Parkinson's, and epilepsy.

Placebo is so powerful in fact, that modern drugs must clinically prove they are stronger than placebo in order to get approved!

Do you incorporate any of this kind of practice in your life?

[sidianmsjones]

There is an age old cultural myth around the world regarding art. It goes something like "Great art is made by great talent.". In other words, you must practice and hone a set of skills to even begin attempting what could be considered art.

That's all about to change.

AI generated art has already become breathtakingly great, setting countless imaginations free. But there isn't much skill involved, so is it art? Are the people creating these things artists?

Well what is art in the first place? Without getting too deep and philosophical, art is a conveyance of thought and emotion through some medium. Thing is, all people have thought and emotion, but not all people have the skills to convey them.

Now that skill is becoming unnecessary we're going to have to ask ourselves - did art ever need to pass the gates and judgement of talent before being loved? Or was art always meant to simply be an expression, accessible to everyone?

Yes, by reason of simply not having AI in the past, great art necessitated great talent. But with that obstacle removed, what now?

If you put on your Mythologist's Lenses, there is so much personal and cultural mythology out there to watch. It shifts like living dreams and you can influence it if you are lucid enough.

[sidianmsjones]

Am I wrong to reject "living my best life"? I just feel like striving for 'best' means nothing is ever optimal and everything must be judged.

But if I live my favorite life, my favorite self, then I am free to indulge in every moment I like.

[sidianmsjones]

I'm trying to be more of what I want to see in the world.