Myth: The First and Last Word

Echo Cain
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Updated Biweekly

Myth: The First and Last Word is a biweekly program examining the diverse myths of our world. Join me, Echo Cain, as I tell these myths and discuss their cultural heritage, their implications on a people, and what may have led a people to write the myths they did. We'll consider small folktales and epic poems within the same month, placing an emphasis on equity amongst story. We'll ask what myths say about gender, sexuality, race, religion, and class to better center our understanding of the ancient world and its effect on the modern one. Listen... Do you hear the first word?

  1. 09/07/2022

    EP 39 - What Oldest Human Didn't Know (Season 1 Finale)

    Content Warning: Brief mention of death. In this episode, I tell a modern myth entitled "What Oldest Human Didn't Know". Normally I cannot tell myths from the modern day, as they are typically inaccessible under copyright law. This story was written by myself, and thus I am able to record it. The tale tells of the Oldest Human's once-in-a-decade walk, the transformation of a boat, and the chance meeting of the Oldest Human and a young child. The themes of the story include the concepts of cyclicity, the lacking of knowledge, death, and natural transformation. Today, I leave the analysis up to you. You can find a written copy of the myth on my website (linked below). Feel free to send me a response at theechocain@gmail.com.  Thank you for listening! You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  2. 09/04/2022

    EP 38 - The Descent of Ishtar

    In this episode, I tell an Akkadian myth called "The Descent of Ishtar". The story is a reinterpretation of a longer Sumerian work written approximately 500-900 years prior called "The Descent of Inanna". The version of the myth that I will be telling was unearthed at the great library of Nineveh. The author of the stone cuneiform tablet remains unknown, though this myth was ubiquitous across Mesopotamia. The tale makes use of repetition to parallel an ancient, recorded ritual glorifying the change of seasons in which a statue of Ishtar/Inanna was undressed and clothed again.  We'll discuss the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy and this historical conflict's relation to the written word. We'll also seek to understand the characterization of these deities, their perceived effect on the Mesopotamian world, and how these themes were exported to other surrounding cultures. (I am currently writing a screenplay reinterpreting this myth, so my analysis will be sparse on this episode to reflect the bias I have towards this story). Thank you for listening! You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  3. 09/01/2022

    EP 37 - The Children of the Sun

    Content Warning: Brief discussion of sex, ritual murder, colonization of indigenous peoples, genocide, slavery, kidnapping, classism, and misogyny. In this episode, I tell a central origin myth of the Inca Empire: "Children of the Sun". The Inca, especially those in the higher social classes, saw themselves as educators working under their King, an incarnation of the myth's "Father Sun". The story was probably first told early in the foundation of the Kingdom of Cuzco, as it decrees a particular way of civilizing so-called wild peoples and mythologizes the first ruler, Manco Capac. The re-education process described in the myth would be what the Inca carried out over the 10 Million people they ruled at the height of their power in the Andean mountain range. The tale has also been recorded numerous times by different anthropologists and recounted by a multiplicity of storytellers.  We'll discuss the complicated and lengthy history of the peoples who historically inhabited the Andes, demonstrating that the development of civilization is not a unique occurrence in any capacity, nor is it always bounded by the same set of rules and worldviews. We'll also make sense of the strict gender roles in the myth, the importance of defining humanity in expansive ways, and critiquing the usage of the education narrative by Imperialists and Fascists. Thank you for listening! You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  4. 08/27/2022

    EP 36 - The Doomed Rider

    Content Warning: Brief mention of colonization and death. In this episode, I tell a short folktale from Scotland entitled "The Doomed Rider". This entertaining myth is likely quite old and functioned as a campfire-style ghost story throughout Scottish history. The tale surrounds a prophecy spoken by the Kelpie, a mythical creature associated with Celtic stories. Much of the language is in antiquated English which I have modernized for your listening pleasure. The story was initially published in 1889 by Charles John Tibbitts in one of his many collections of folktales. Little information is available concerning this editor's life despite his relatively enormous impression left on folklore studies, as he published numerous stories in multiple anthologies from across Eurasia.   We'll analyze how this story comments on fate, the indigenous connection to the land, and the dangers of "false fords". Furthermore, we'll make sense of the position of mythical creatures in etiological analysis of myth and how the trope of the "encroaching beast" remains in our entertainment today. Thank you for listening! You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  5. 08/24/2022

    EP 35 - Maui Traps Sun

    Content Warning: Brief mention of colonization of indigenous peoples and war. In this episode, I tell "Maui Traps Sun", a myth from the people of Hawaii. The titular protagonist, Maui, is a culture hero present across Polynesian peoples' stories, Maori stories, and Hawaiian stories. He is best known today from his reinterpreted presentation in Disney's 2016 film, Moana. The myth's origin remains a mystery, though it is clearly ancient due to the prevalence of analogues across the vast expanse of the Pacific ocean. The tale was not recorded until the arrival of European colonizers on Hawaii's shores. The occurred almost certainly post-1820, the year that King Liholiho permitted European settlers and missionaries to permanently reside on the island.   We will be discussing the etiological importance of this myth, the non-dual nature of gender roles in story, and the position of story within modern science education.  Thank you for listening! You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  6. 08/20/2022

    EP 34 - When Grizzlies Walked Upright

    Content Warning: Brief discussion of patriarchy and misogyny. Brief mention of colonization of indigenous peoples, genocide, war, exile, and racism. In this episode, I tell the myth: "When Grizzlies Walked Upright", by the Modoc tribe of Northern California and Oregon. The story was first written down by Ella Clark, an untrained anthropologist, in 1953. Ella Clark's work has been criticized, though this particular myth seems to have been recorded quite well, as modern accounts of this tale from Modoc storytellers follow the same beats. The myth tells the story of how the world was formed, how all beings came about, and how humans came to be through happenstance. Similar to many origin myths across the world, creation centers on a potentially destructive hazard present where the people who constructed the story lived. In this case a volcano, Mount Shasta is the center from which all the world came down from the sky. The Modoc today are mostly assimilated into the Klamath tribe on their reservation in Oregon. In total they represent a part of the estimated 6,000 Klamath. We'll discuss the many metaphors at play in the tale, the etiological nature of the myth, and the patriarchal worldview baked into the how creation is depicted. We'll also make sense of the non-dual nature of religion, describing the interlocked relationship of monotheism and polytheism across culture. You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  7. 08/08/2022

    EP 33 - The Analects (pt. 1)

    Content Warning: Brief discussion of war, xenophobia, misogyny, mental health, and classism. **EDITOR'S NOTE** -- While editing I looked into the name Confucius and found that I was incorrectly calling him Lao Tzu throughout this episode! In my preliminary research, I stumbled into a list of Confucian texts and ancient Chinese philosophy. The consistency with which both Lao Tzu and Confucius wrote confused me and made me assume they were the same person. Lao Tzu was a DIFFERENT philosopher alive at the same time as Confucius and primarily wrote about Taoism. Please excuse my unfamiliarity with ancient Chinese philosophy and my continued misuse of Lao Tzu's name as interchangeable with Confucius throughout this episode and the next. Apologies folx. I will remedy this in parts 3 and 4 of The Analects. In this episode, I tell the first five books of "The Analects". The title translates to "The Sayings of Confucius" and was likely compiled posthumously by his disciples. Within the text lies a heap of wisdom surrounding the topics of teaching, learning from others, benevolence to one's fellows, and the historical political situation of the Spring-and-Autumn period in ancient China. Unlike many other spiritual texts, the Analects are not bounded by a narrative, dialogue, or other centralizing structure. Instead, the text is composed of individual verses, almost entirely independent of each other. They appear to be grouped by vague theme, though each holds some grain of difference in topic from those around it. Confucius himself did not see himself as spiritually important, and his work today lies somewhere between philosophy and spirituality. We'll discuss the ancient history of pre-imperial China, the relation of Confucius' beliefs to his time period, the classism inherent in the ruling class' interpretation of the working class' needs, and the meaning of benevolence. Engaged action is a consistent theme in the work, and thus we will be exploring the many ways in which attempts at doing can go well, go wrong, not be done at all, or be done for the wrong reasons. Thank you for listening! You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com

  8. 08/04/2022

    EP 32 - Transcendental Knowledge (Bhagavad Gita pt. 4)

    Content Warning: Discussion of classism. Brief discussion of death and misogyny. In this episode, I continue telling the Bhagavad Gita with the fourth chapter: "Transcendental Knowledge". The text was written in post-Vedic India, responding to the rising popularity of Buddhism via the Vedic scholarship of the Upanishads. This chapter focuses on the mental processes required to attain Krishna Consciousness and pitfalls to avoid in doing so. The Gita was first published in The Mahabharata. The dialogue comes from the end of this long work and has often been republished with purports. I will be telling the version with purports, so as to ascertain cultural attitudes in two different eras of Indian history: during the production of the Upanishads and the 1900s CE. These distinct periods of time represent the original myth and its dialogues respectively. We'll discuss how the Bhagavad Gita supports metaphorical readings of Holy Texts, how my personal spiritual beliefs conflict and align with the Bhagavad Gita, and how caste systems are implemented via religious conditioning. We'll once again explore the metaphor of Sri Krishna, and thus the god concept. We'll be stripping these confusing spiritual ideas into their human elements, illuminating the ways in which organized religious dogmas reinforce certain human traits and seek to disincentivize others. You can find all of my work through the following links: https://linktr.ee/echocain www.echocain.com A note on the word "oppression" within this podcast: While editing I noticed that I reduced the meaning of the word oppression to just physical harm when speaking about religious intolerance. I did this to describe the bounds of RELIGIOUS oppression alone. The critique and even ridicule of religion is particular, in that it does not attack individual people, but rather entire systems of belief. Thus, ridicule does not hold the same oppressive characteristics as it would when used against peoples' identities. Religion is not intrinsic. Intrinsic and uncontrollable extrinsic characteristics such as: gender identity, race, class, sex, sexuality, disability, and ethnicity are readily oppressed in physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual ways. Religion itself is not.  To be clear: oppression often contains ridicule, vitriol, negligence, ignorance, and (at its most intense) physical harm when applied to a person's identity. Religion as a system is beyond a person's singular identity, thus making it incapable of receiving any oppression save the physical. You'll note that most religious oppression occurs along ethnic/racial/class lines (e.g.: pogroms against Jewish peoples in Tsarist Russia, concentration/reeducation of Uyghur peoples in Modern China, racial profiling of Muslim-Americans after 9/11, etc.). Hopefully that clears up any confusion surrounding my slightly vague use of the word in the context of religion.

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Myth: The First and Last Word is a biweekly program examining the diverse myths of our world. Join me, Echo Cain, as I tell these myths and discuss their cultural heritage, their implications on a people, and what may have led a people to write the myths they did. We'll consider small folktales and epic poems within the same month, placing an emphasis on equity amongst story. We'll ask what myths say about gender, sexuality, race, religion, and class to better center our understanding of the ancient world and its effect on the modern one. Listen... Do you hear the first word?

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