Mentawia Tribe Teeth Sharpening Initiation

The Mentawia Islands are located in western Sumatra Indonesia, and are the home to the Mentawia tribe. This tribe still participates in the ancient ritual of teeth sharpening. This tradition involves the females in the tribe filling their teeth to points using small stone chisels in order to be more beautiful. They believe that the spirt and human world are separate, if the spirt becomes unsatisfied with its human form the spirt will leave the body and go to the spirt world. The Mentawia believe that sharpening their teeth makes them more attractive to their spirit keeping their two firms together. Old tradition mandated that the initiate was performed to all females at puberty. Although the tradition is no longer mandatory at puberty and has become much less ceremonial some tribe members still perform the ritual in order to be seen more beautiful by their tribe. To perform this ritual a medicine man uses a small stone chisel to chip the teeth to sharp points and then uses a file to shape and smooth the teeth. 

My Adventure as a Mythologic Detective

I will not elaborate over the great many myths presented during this class, 

I cannot begin to explain the intricate entanglement of the ancient mythological tree, nor 

the meaning behind every symbolic representation in the world of myth 

but… I think we could all agree that is no the intention of this class.

Myth represents life, the past, present and future; 

it is the story of separation, initiation and transformation in which life is defined at its finest.

As defined by Calasso, “myth is the precedent behind every action, it is invisible, ever-present lining.”

Stories are the map to life, and the actions of our hero act as our compass

The future will be distorted repetition from the past, while the present is an individual’s interpretation of mythological tales whether they recognize it or not. 

As an engineer this class came as a shock to me, how could I endure an entire class based on nothing but lies, that contradicts everything I’ve been taught, in the engineering world if it can’t be proven or at understood than there is no point, it’s a bust 

Not in mythology, if I seemed to understand something than I was certain I looking at it the wrong way. 

This class has urged me to relearn if you will what has been repressed throughout my college career, my ability to interpret what I am reading in an abstract way, 

The text book style of writing that I had grown accustom to had transformed the process of reading to a dull, transparent process with little to no enjoyment. 

To begin to understand this class I needed to be truly interested in the discussion. 

Interest is the most essential part of mythology, without interest what is the point of a story? There is none, it is simply lost.

As the class continued it seemed that each myth explored seemed to represent glorified desires of mankind to form some sort of a model that presents patterns in human life.

Connecting with these stories in a way was my initiation into mythology, all of a sudden I understood.

This concept of finding enjoyment finding a purpose can be a great challenge Sisyphus, a king who was sentenced to endure the most repetitive pointless job thinkable. He was forced to role a giant boulder up a steep hill where, upon arrival the stone would simple roll back to the bottom continuing the never ending process.  Possibly one of the most painful punishments imaginable.If only Sisyphus had been able to find a meaning within his punishment he alone could have freed himself from his own fate. If an individual can find meaning in their actions then they will be free to fulfill thier life. 

Myths tell tales, tales of betrayal, deception, love, pain… most of all pain, it is the sculpting knife for life. Pain of any kind, physical or emotional, is in itself initiation, a rite of passage that molds and defines an individual.

I have scars, many scars, scars from Ignorance, scars from stupidity, scars I couldn’t have prevented, scars provided by machines, by mother nature, none of which I would rather live without. Each scar represents a memory that will never be forgotten, a memory that will never fade.

Scars are tattoos, only with better stories

Now I understand life is adventure, and what is an adventure without stories to remember it by.

Pain is, now in a way humbling, it no longer is a sign of failure but more a test, an opportunity to shape my own story, in some ways pain seems immortalizing in a way that

Pain is powerful, pain is strength, never to be forgotten, pain is temporary yet lives forever for pain is a story and stories never die.

As I find myself approaching the end of my time in this class, and on this campus I find myself reminiscing on the stories I have created over the past five years. I could tell stories love, stories of loss, stories of pain, I could tell stories of stories I can’t fully remember for a verity of reasons. But what of these stories they are not unique, I am not a collegiate pioneer discovering the effects of alcohol and various other substances. No, these stories I have experience are simply renditions of far older tales, tales that have been passed down for thousands of years. Now I ask myself what I have learned from this class, I have learned the importance of these stories, I have learned that there is no path not traveled “for every step, the footprint is already there” all I hope for is the opportunity to create a new story, define an experience that in its self is unique and until this happens I wait patiently because to live life by myth is to live the life of a god, and living like a god ain’t so bad.  Or at least that is what I have learned

And this anyway is what I have "learned"

I will not elaborate over the great many myths presented during this class, I cannot begin to explain the intricate entanglement of the ancient mythological tree or the meaning behind every symbolic representation in the world of myths However, myths are not meant to be interpreted literally, it doesn't do justice to their true meaning. Myth represents life, the past, present and future; it is the story of separation, initiation and transformation that defines life at its finest. As defined by Calasso, “myth is the precedent behind every action, it is invisible, ever-present lining.” The future will be distorted repetition from the past, while the present is an individual’s interpretation of myth. To begin to understand mythology one must understand its purpose not as a story but as a representation of human desire.

The first class began with a simple question; what is myth? Followed by the simplest answer imaginable, myths are lies. This answer immediately lead to my first question, how can there be an entire class based entirely on the study of lies? Weeks and weeks of confusion slowly lead to my understanding of this question. Myths at the surface are yes, merely an intricate lie based on what seem to be human desires but the true greatness of a myth comes from beneath the words. The purpose of a myth is to intrigue, teach and possess the audience. 

To capture the true meaning of a myth one must look beyond the surface of a story, to understand not the obvious but the idea, the concept hidden beneath the words. The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony especially requires full attention to detail to gain even a slight understanding of what is being portrayed. As an engineering student the skill required understand any text written in such a style seems to have been replaced, possible just repressed with the need to read only with the intention of understanding the text at the most literal level, never looking for any deeper meaning. This “technical” reading style has distinguished the enjoyment that can be experienced when reading novel written with true depth, requiring involvement beyond the mindless search for individual spurts of information. The text book style of writing that has transformed the process of reading to a dull, transparent process that requires minimal involvement with even less reward. This class has urged me to relearn if you will what has been repressed throughout my college career, a skill to indulge myself in a story in order to find interest in the plot, to understand the true meaning of which the author is trying to portray. Interest is the most essential part of mythology, without interest what is the point of a story? There is none, it is simply lost.

This idea of finding interest in what could seem to be a tedious task reminds me of several class discussions where the idea was presented that every action, every event can be on its own fascinating, it requires simply right state of mind to understand it’s greatness.  Uncle John in this class represents a person who is fascinated with something that seems very dull and boring to others. When asked to think of an event that we do daily that seems boring or uninteresting and try to fascinate yourself with the details involved in this daily ritual with the hope that it could enrich one’s life. I interpreted this as a challenge to begin to interpret the ideas presented in class in such a way that could bring a deeper understanding and a higher level of interest to the stories. As the class continued it seemed that each myth explored seemed to represent glorified desires of mankind to form some sort of a model that presents patterns in human life.

The myth of Sisyphus, a king who was sentenced to endure the most repetitive pointless job thinkable. He was forced to role a giant boulder up a steep hill where, upon arrival the stone would simple roll back to the bottom continuing the never ending process. Now, one may struggle to find a connection with this story but does it not represent what we would call modern American life. An accountant, a factory laborer, any repetitive action with what would seem to be an insignificant outcome. If Sisyphus could have found some meaning in his task would that have not in itself relieved him from his punishment? If one can find meaning in tasks that they have been presented with than I would argue that they have found fulfillment, in their life giving them what many search a lifetime to find. "We all live pretty much boring lives. ... Yet if we tried to tell the complete story of a single day we'd never be done with it".  Live life as a storyteller, observe every detail, and reflect on every action, only then will you truly learn to appreciate life.

Myths tell tales, tales of betrayal, deception, love, pain… most of all pain, the sculpting knife for life. Pain of any kind, physical or emotional, is in itself initiation, a rite of passage that molds life and defines an individual. I have many scars, scars from Ignorance, scars from stupidity, scars I couldn't have prevented. Each scar represents a memory that will never be forgotten, a memory that will never fade. Scars are tattoos, only with better stories a phrase I heard often as a child, now I understand life is adventure, and what is an adventure without stories to remember it by.  As I add chapters to my life, stories compiled from the pain I will inevitably bring upon myself I begin to realizes that this powerful sensation is no longer what I remember as a child. Pain is, now in a way humbling, it no longer is a sign of failure but more a test, an opportunity to shape my story.  Pain is powerful, pain is strength, never to be forgotten, pain is temporary yet lives forever for pain is a story and stories never die.

As I find myself approaching the end of my time in this class, and on this campus I find myself reminiscing on the stories I have created over the past five years. I could tell stories love, stories of loss, stories of pain, I could tell stories of stories I can’t fully remember for a verity of reasons. But what of these stories they are not unique, I am not a collegiate pioneer discovering the effects of alcohol and various other substances. No, these stories I have experience are simply renditions of far older tales, tales that have been passed down for thousands of years. Now I ask myself what I have learned from this class, I have learned the importance of these stories, I have learned that there is no path not traveled “for every step, the footprint is already there” all I hope for is the opportunity to create a new story, define an experience that in its self is unique and until this happens I wait patiently because to live by a myth is to live the life of a god, and living like a god ain’t so bad.  

Babylonian Creation Story

In the beginning the universe was unformed, the earth and sky unnamed
Two primary gods emerge, Apsu (sweet primeval waters) and Tiamat (salt primeval waters)
The waters mix to create Lahma and Lahama (mud and silt),
Mud and Silt form two more gods Ansar, god of the whole sky and Kishar, god of the whole earth
which of whom in turn form the god Anu (Sky), father of Ea known as the trickster god.

The elder gods Apsu and  Tiamat are furious with the young gods as they play with their brothers,
Apsu convinces Tiamat to do away with the rambunctious younger gods because they keep him from rest,
Young Ea hears of this plot and meets in a council with his fellow gods none of which are strong enough to stop the mighty Tiamat.

Ea froms Marduk, the son of suns, the god of gods
The council asks of him one favor, to stop the Tiamat from her quest of distruction,
Marduk agrees under one condition, if he succeeds he is to be made the unspoken leader of all gods
the gods agree to his demands.

Marduk builds weapons of all sorts, arrows, tornado winds,  and the mightiest of all the rain flood
Marduk mounts his chariot, with his mace in hand he travels into the ocean,
the rebel gods stunned by the sight of Marduk stand aside as he challenges Tiamat to single combat,
Marduk defeats Tiamat with ease, tearing her body in two, one half he places to roof the sky,
the second hold the rivers and ocean so the water could not escape
Marduk uses her body to form the universe, shape mountains and create rain.

Marduk still unsatisfied, he wishes to create bone in the form of the savage
he question Ea to who incited Tiamat to plot against his brothers
the god replies Kingu, who is then slayed, using his blood mankind is created to do the work of the gods,
Marduk finally divides the heavens assigning each god a place in heaven or on earth creating Babylon the link between mankind and the heavens.

Tree Huggin'