Blog #3 Myth Reflection

 "St. Jude's Parable of Lost Boys" was a great experience. The unique aspect of creating our myth gave me a new perspective. I tried to tie my myth in with other mythologies to add credibility. This forced me to research different cultures and the myths surrounding them.
I had a lot of fun creating the myth and tying it to others. This allowed me to learn about Aztec mythology, a subject previously wholly unknown to me. I learned a lot more than I thought I would. For example, the origin of balloon animals and how they are related to human sacrifices in Aztec history. The Aztecs used to take cat intestines and clean and ‘purify’ them. Once the intestines were properly prepared, they would turn them inside out and sew them into animal shapes. The two most popular shapes were (ironically) a dog and a donkey, but I can’t help but imagine a dog and a bigger dog simply calling it a donkey. Regardless they would sew the intestines into these shapes and then leave them out in the sun to dry. If done correctly, the membrane of the intestines would seal the stitching, creating an airtight shape that would then be inflated somehow (I couldn’t find the specifics). Then the animals would be burned as a sacrifice to their gods.
However, the preparation was complex, and the cats would often die due to illness or other health complications that made the intestines unusable for a proper sacrifice. After this became more and more common, the Aztecs switched to human sacrifices as they were easier to assure quality.

The assignment was also a nice break from Greek and Roman Mythology, not that there is anything wrong with either of those topics. It is just nice to be able to explore other cultures.

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