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Why 1000 years and not 900 or 800 years for kitsune to ascend to heaven?
After reaching 1,000 years of age gaining its ninth tail, a kitsune turns a golden color, becoming a 'Tenko' (天狐 "heavenly fox"/"celestial fox"), the most powerful form of the kitsune, and then ascends to the heavens.
Kitsune are presumably…
Andrew Johnson
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What is the extent of control over a kitsune?
Kitsune have something called a Hoshi no tama, star ball or kitsune ball. They are white and/or gold orbs. The orb is like a kitsune's life force so they hide it, usually in their mouths or on their tails. If someone manages to get a hold of the…
Andrew Johnson
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Does hubris have an opposite?
Hubris is a Greek term that means excessive/deadly pride or arrogance before the gods. She is also a personified daemon. Soon after one succumbs to Hubris, Nemesis enacts retribution.
Since hubris is such a bad thing, did the Greeks have a term…
Andrew Johnson
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Does anyone else sample the food of the Underworld?
Most of us know the story behind the seasons in Greek Mythology, but just to recap...
Hades kidnapped the daughter of Demeter, Persephone. Demeter went in search for her, lead by Hecate's torches. She let the cosmos (land of humans) waste away…
Andrew Johnson
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Why are the three Judges of the Underworld Zeus's sons?
The Judges of the Dead in Greek Mythology are Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus.
Minos was a tyrant king of Crete. He made war with Athens because his son died there. He demanded 14 virgin youths, 7 girls and 7 boys, be sacrificed every nine (it…
Andrew Johnson
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Japanese god of tea
Is there a Japanese god or goddess of tea?
I’ve read that Inari is a god of various things, such as rice, sake, and tea... But is there a deity that is god of tea in particular?
TeachMe
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Mother Earth or Father Earth?
To explain my title, we humans call the earth 'Mother Earth'. I can trace this back to Gaia, the Greek goddess of the earth, Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and others. But, I remembered that Egyptian Mythology had a male as the god of the…
Andrew Johnson
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Is there a myth were Heracles chooses duty over pleasure?
Last year, I was handed a worksheet. It was an excerpt of an autobiography if I recall correctly.
One part I remember in particular involved Heracles, that he was given a choice between duty and pleasure.
Can anyone recall a myth like this?
Andrew Johnson
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Did tales about a house made of sweets predate Hansel and Gretel?
Having heard the tale of Hansel and Gretel orally, the brothers Grimm published it in 1812. One of its most memorable themes is the witch's house made of sweets. Does such a theme predate this tale? And if so, when did it first appear?
user1618
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Are there any love stories in Greek myth that don't have one or both dying?
Phaedra and Hippolytus:
Phaedra is cursed to love her own stepson Hippolytus, who dies.
Galatea and Acis:
Galatea attracts the love of Polyphemus, who kills her lover Acis.
Hero and Leander live on opposite sides of the Hellespont:
Leander swims to…
Andrew Johnson
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Why is Odin called the Wanderer?
On the Wikipedia page, under a depiction of Odin is a caption. The caption calls Odin the Wanderer, gives the year made and artist. It is mention again at the end, saying J.R.R. Tolkien used Odin's Wanderer guise as inspiration. But, it doesn't why…
Andrew Johnson
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Are dragons intelligent?
Intelligent can mean a number of things, so to simplify, lets limit it to capable of human speech. It is a common quality in movies and books to give dragons the power of human speech, but are such qualities given to any dragons in mythology?
Andrew Johnson
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A battle between Maximo and Digenis in Greek Folklore
While working on an essay, I came across a book called the "The study of Russian folklore" which mentions encounters between an Amazon Maximo and Digenis Akritas and also between Siegfried and a warrior maiden in which the belligerents make love…
Shatov
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Why did Vishnu rape Vrinda?
If Vishnu was the 'Supreme Personality of Godhead', why did he have to rape his sincere devotee Vrinda to defeat Jalandhar who was merely a demon who did not achieve any powerful boons? If Vishnu was God then he could have destroyed Jalandhar just…
Rayaz
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How did Homer describe Mycenae?
Did he link his description with myth of Perseus? Could we imagine how it looks like ?
historicus
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