God in Ruins
Man is a god in ruins. Emerson
10. The Greek Gods were fallible. They lived forever and had immense powers, which made them very capable of making mistakes.
Her feet moved swiftly around the house, but her hands moved faster, picking up strewn articles of clothing so quickly that they seemed to disappear. They reappeared on her body, delicate fabric covering her naked form.
He followed her as she made her journey to recover all of her clothing. He never actually entered the rooms, just leaned against the doorways and watched her with impassive eyes. Finally, they reached the front door. She turned to look at him. He didn't move.
"Goodbye," she said.
He raised his eyebrows.
"Goodbye goodbye?"
She nodded. The door opened and closed and he stood gazing at the empty spot.
It wasn't the first time, and he knew it wouldn't be the last.
9. The Norse Gods were not immortal. Ragnarok, the apocalypse, would come and destroy the earth in a very specific manner. It must have been frightening and boring, to know the end at the beginning.
Her room was small, smaller than she was used too. She kept almost slipping off the bed and catching herself only just in time, finding empty air where she anticipated more room, a warm body.
Her kitchen was small too, but that didn't matter. He was always the cook anyway. She ate to survive; he took pleasure in creating each dish. She didn't actually have enough furniture and possessions and general stuff to fill the apartment. All of the things she had taken for granted were his. She never bought things for herself, really, had never transported all of her old items and furniture from her parent's house. Spooning cold, runny eggs into her mouth for breakfast, she wondered if she had been prepared for this from the beginning.
8. The Egyptian Goddess, Isis, lived a life without her husband. After he was murdered and she recovered all the pieces and resurrected him, their time together was brief, almost nothing. To them it was enough.
There was a short time between the ultimatum and the moving out, a time of awkward glances and stifled silences. She slept on the couch at night and looked for a new place in the day. He tried to schedule his life around hers to avoid their quiet, tense meetings.
He came home to find her loading her bags into a friend's car. He helped carried her things out, lifted the heavy boxes, hugged her stiffly with arms that ached from manual labor.
When she returned, late that evening, and they spent the last night together, he knew she would be gone before he even woke up.
7. The Celtic Goddess, Rhiannon, rode her horse in front of the Prince of Powys, enchanting him with her beauty. The more he rode, the faster he rode, the farther away she seemed to get. Finally he called out to her to stop. She did, and when he caught up, angry, humiliated, demanding to know why she played with him like that, she answered simply, "All you had to do was ask."
She lost herself sometimes, he thought. It wasn't only when she was writing. During conversations, during meals, even during sex, if someone said the right thing her eyes would grow distant and her gaze would turn inward.
He stopped quoting poetry and creating elaborate phrases to shower her with. Beauty pulled her away from him so he tried to force it out of his life.
6. Zeus, King of the Greek Gods, had a first wife, Metis, the wisest goddess. They lived and loved until it was prophesized that their son would overthrow Zeus. The god tricked his bride into turning into a fly and swallowed her. She remained in his head, giving him advice, whispering, always whispering. No one wondered if she had any resentment towards the man who tricked her.
The doctor's office was stale and sterile and cold. They wanted to go home, they wanted to cuddle, to sleep, to be young while they were young and avoid this topic. The test said it would be virtually impossible for them to conceive.
She just said, "Oh," and thanked the doctor.
He shook the doctor's hand and followed her out.
The car ride home took forever.
5. The Romans and the Celts and the Egyptians and the Chinese buried people of importance with many things to carry with them to the other world. A book of the dead, gold and pots, jewelry, servants, all to help them into their next journey.
The presents were unwrapped and laid out on the table. Smiling together, they began to count. Four blenders. Two coffee makers. Three anonymous gifts of the Karma Sutra. One silverware set they didn't need, eight plates they would never use, and two beer steins that they didn't want.
His parents helped them buy a house. Hers paid for the wedding. Their friends swarmed over them constantly, drowning them in a sea of advice.
4. In Celtic legend there is the magic island of Tir na nOg. It is to this mystical land that many try to escape, because it is said that there is no sorrow. But what many do not understand is that because there is no sorrow, there is no joy.
Perfect couple, everyone said when they announced the engagement. They never fight. They live in harmony. Amicable friends as well as lovers.
In the early weeks, he would say things he shouldn't just to see her eyes flash. She would tease him mercilessly to see him blush. They both hated evenings spent quietly on the couch, but they suffered through them because that's what they thought the other one wanted.
3. In Greece, they say that winter started because Demeter turned her back on her daughter for one brief moment. That moment was enough for Hades, lord of the underworld, to seize the girl and make her his queen. She spent half the year with him, half with her mother, the logic of which was supported by a piece of fruit.
Her parents never approved. That is to say, her father smiled indulgently in secret while her mother ranted and raved. When she moved out of the house, her mother wouldn't speak to her for a month. Her daughter was never supposed to be strong and independent.
She later told her mother that she was getting married, and it was like watching the sun come out.
2. Siren song would drive you onto the rocks, would make you leap off your ship and drown. As men sailed past, if they were wise they put wax in their ears. Odysseus ordered himself tied to a mast and his ears left unclogged. His crew argued but he knew that he had to hear the siren music, just once.
She was dating his closest friend. He was in a two year relationship. They were not supposed to be together. She saw him and didn't care. He told her he wasn't interested, he was with someone else.
That took him a lot to say, and somehow she sensed it, because she looked up at him with those eyes and then he was kissing her and they were in the bedroom and all of a sudden he didn't care either.
1. All mythology begins the same way. First there is nothing. Then there is earth. Be it Gaia, God's creation, the back of a turtle, it is all the same. Then there are rocks and trees and water and animals. Finally, there is a man and a woman. One man and one woman who are fated to be together and create the world.
All myths have the same beginning.