By Elizabeth Wayland Barber
When They Severed Earth from Sky had me completely hooked—I found it nearly impossible to put down. The way the Barbers uncover real events hidden in myths is mesmerizing. Volcanoes, earthquakes, even cosmic shifts—ancient stories turn out to be more than just fiction.
This is a fascinating and irritating book that explores the etiology—or rather, the historiography of the etiology—of folklore. The authors argue that myths contain kernels of real information about past events, which can be uncovered through a meticulous examination of their components. They also show how myth serves as an external engramic counterweight, allowing pre-literate cultures to remember events beyond normal human mental capacity.
Having read Dr. Barber’s The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance, I was already drawn to her ability to weave together history, movement, and myth. This book expands that fascination, showing how deeply human memory is intertwined with storytelling.
As an artist fascinated by mythology, this book made me see myths in a new way—not just as stories, but as echoes of the past, layered over time like a palimpsest. Now, I need to find a book about the people who wrote in doubt and on purpose—those who shaped history with their words.
Highlight:
*Writing was invented a mere 5,200 years ago, but we have been speaking and presumably mythmaking for 100,000 or more. That’s a lot of history lost.
*MEMORY CRUNCH When all accumulated wisdom must be stored in the brain and transmitted
orally (as in a nonliterate society), people reserve the formal oral tradition for transmitting the
information they consider most important, often for survival.
orally (as in a nonliterate society), people reserve the formal oral tradition for transmitting the
information they consider most important, often for survival.
*Note the analogies on every level: two mountains that are getting higher are like two people
stretching to see better.
stretching to see better.
* Sun and Moon as brother and sister, although which gender belongs to which depends
on the culture. In the GrecoRoman tradition, the moon goddess Artemis/Diana was twin sister to
the sun god Apollo, but for the Norse the sun was a goddess and the moon her brother. Likewise
for the Japanese: the creator’s daughter Amaterasu received sovereignty over the sun and her
brother Tsukiyomi over the moon.
on the culture. In the GrecoRoman tradition, the moon goddess Artemis/Diana was twin sister to
the sun god Apollo, but for the Norse the sun was a goddess and the moon her brother. Likewise
for the Japanese: the creator’s daughter Amaterasu received sovereignty over the sun and her
brother Tsukiyomi over the moon.
*On the other hand, the resemblance among English stood and Latin status, Greek statós,
Sanskrit stitáh, Russian stal (all meaning “stood”) results from historical relationship: all five
languages are changed later forms of a common ancestorlanguage we call proto-Indo-European.
Sanskrit stitáh, Russian stal (all meaning “stood”) results from historical relationship: all five
languages are changed later forms of a common ancestorlanguage we call proto-Indo-European.
*HEDGING YOUR BETS If someone else is worshipping a different (Willful) aspect than you, add or
graft it onto your pantheon to be safe.
graft it onto your pantheon to be safe.
*Syncretism, a form of “doubling”, happens all the time, all over the world. The ancient Slavs
clearly took over deities like Simargl (figure 8a-b) from the Iranians, bolstering their own panoply
of fertility spirits [Rybakov 1968], while the early Norse tribes apparently doubled their pantheon
by adding the somewhat hazy Vanir (fertility gods, perhaps of earlier farmers in the area?) to the
sharply defined Aesir—a second race of gods that included Thor, Odin, and other Indo-European
types. According to the myths, the Aesir vanquished and absorbed the Vanir after much fighting.
Hilda Davidson, in her careful summary of Norse mythology.
clearly took over deities like Simargl (figure 8a-b) from the Iranians, bolstering their own panoply
of fertility spirits [Rybakov 1968], while the early Norse tribes apparently doubled their pantheon
by adding the somewhat hazy Vanir (fertility gods, perhaps of earlier farmers in the area?) to the
sharply defined Aesir—a second race of gods that included Thor, Odin, and other Indo-European
types. According to the myths, the Aesir vanquished and absorbed the Vanir after much fighting.
Hilda Davidson, in her careful summary of Norse mythology.
*Rural farmers in such places as Bulgaria and Ukraine who considered themselves Christians
continued to carry out flatly pagan fertility rituals, such as the winter, spring, and summer Rusalii,
adjusted slightly to fit the calendar of the church [Barber 1997]. As recently as 1993, in the newly
reopened cathedral in Kiev, we saw ritual towels embroidered with symbols of fertility and
protection—symbols traceable directly back to the Neolithic—freshly tied to the brass rails
around.
continued to carry out flatly pagan fertility rituals, such as the winter, spring, and summer Rusalii,
adjusted slightly to fit the calendar of the church [Barber 1997]. As recently as 1993, in the newly
reopened cathedral in Kiev, we saw ritual towels embroidered with symbols of fertility and
protection—symbols traceable directly back to the Neolithic—freshly tied to the brass rails
around.
*For centuries such non-Christian towels decorated the Christian icons in the
icon-corner of the farmhouse; and at a wedding, the groom and his bride sat, appropriately,
under the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God—for protection and, yes, fertility: a case of
Guerrilla Syncretism with archaic pagan images of male and female [see, e.g., Ivashneva and
Razumovskaja 1981, 36-37]. The faces and names changed, but the purposes lived on.
icon-corner of the farmhouse; and at a wedding, the groom and his bride sat, appropriately,
under the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God—for protection and, yes, fertility: a case of
Guerrilla Syncretism with archaic pagan images of male and female [see, e.g., Ivashneva and
Razumovskaja 1981, 36-37]. The faces and names changed, but the purposes lived on.
*We continually ask for and transmit information via metaphors, similes, and comparisons,
especially when the information is so new that no ready-made vocabulary exists yet to describe
it. The atom with its electrons is structured like the sun with its planets whizzing around it.
especially when the information is so new that no ready-made vocabulary exists yet to describe
it. The atom with its electrons is structured like the sun with its planets whizzing around it.
*Myths, folktales, and rituals often bundle an entire class of possible individuals into a single
persona who represents the class as a king or queen represents, acts, and speaks for his or her
people. Thus, for example, the Eastern Orthodox wedding ritual portrays the bride and groom as
a Princess and Prince who come to the church to be crowned.
persona who represents the class as a king or queen represents, acts, and speaks for his or her
people. Thus, for example, the Eastern Orthodox wedding ritual portrays the bride and groom as
a Princess and Prince who come to the church to be crowned.
*(Milman Parry, and more recently Albert Lord, showed how Homeric and also twentieth-century
South Slavic poetry was composed largely from old formulaic chunks that fit the meter and
helped fill out the metrical lines.)
South Slavic poetry was composed largely from old formulaic chunks that fit the meter and
helped fill out the metrical lines.)
*So far we have tried to demonstrate two things: First, myths, as they are passed down through
the ages, are inevitably distorted by peculiarities of our cognition until finally, if there is nothing
nearby to remind people of the original story—a volcano, or stars, for example—they typically
become unintelligible.
the ages, are inevitably distorted by peculiarities of our cognition until finally, if there is nothing
nearby to remind people of the original story—a volcano, or stars, for example—they typically
become unintelligible.
*Spirits are attracted to anything in their shape. Water can temporarily pull your spirit out of you—
that is, you see your reflection in water9—but the spirit leaps back into anything that looks like it.
that is, you see your reflection in water9—but the spirit leaps back into anything that looks like it.
*Once you can recognize the constellations of the Zodiac, it becomes apparent that they too form
a circular belt that keeps coming around from under the earth, just as the sun, moon, and planets
do. This is often expressed as the flowing of a gigantic river that circles the farthest edges of
earth—not a bad analogy.
a circular belt that keeps coming around from under the earth, just as the sun, moon, and planets
do. This is often expressed as the flowing of a gigantic river that circles the farthest edges of
earth—not a bad analogy.
*The Zodiac originally named a band of twelve constellations occurring along the
apparent path of sun, moon, and planets (ecliptic), “marking” the band. The Milky Way crosses
the Zodiac from Sagittarius/Scorpio to Gemini/Taurus. (For convenience, the Zodiac was later
redivided into twelve equal sections of 30°, called signs, with the same names: Reinterpretation.)
The sun now rises in Pisces and Virgo at the spring and fall equinoxes, and in Gemini and
Sagittarius at the summer and winter solstices, respectively. But an earlier stage was frozen in
the nomenclature even as the stars moved on: the Tropic (“turn”) circles should now be named
Gemini and Sagittarius, but the solstices (sun-turns) were occurring in Cancer and Capricorn (see
figure 32) when those geographical markers were named.
apparent path of sun, moon, and planets (ecliptic), “marking” the band. The Milky Way crosses
the Zodiac from Sagittarius/Scorpio to Gemini/Taurus. (For convenience, the Zodiac was later
redivided into twelve equal sections of 30°, called signs, with the same names: Reinterpretation.)
The sun now rises in Pisces and Virgo at the spring and fall equinoxes, and in Gemini and
Sagittarius at the summer and winter solstices, respectively. But an earlier stage was frozen in
the nomenclature even as the stars moved on: the Tropic (“turn”) circles should now be named
Gemini and Sagittarius, but the solstices (sun-turns) were occurring in Cancer and Capricorn (see
figure 32) when those geographical markers were named.
*So sun, moon, planets, and stars appear to circle the earth at various speeds, rising or being
born in the east and setting or dying in the west each day or night, and being completely invisible
for varying periods of time.
born in the east and setting or dying in the west each day or night, and being completely invisible
for varying periods of time.
*In Hindu and Buddhist mythology, gods and demons churn the Ocean of Milk with a celestial
dasher formed by the Sacred Mount (at the center of the world, resting on a tortoise), which they
turn back and forth like a fire-drill by pulling on the ends of the serpent Vasuki, wrapped around
the middle of the V-shaped mountain. The story is first recorded in mid-first millennium B.C.
epics, the and.
dasher formed by the Sacred Mount (at the center of the world, resting on a tortoise), which they
turn back and forth like a fire-drill by pulling on the ends of the serpent Vasuki, wrapped around
the middle of the V-shaped mountain. The story is first recorded in mid-first millennium B.C.
epics, the and.
*Several scholars suggest that some myth-tellers not only knew of the precession but even had a
close idea of its cycle.
close idea of its cycle.
*We tend to assume the word “dragon” always refers to the same thing. But not all dragons are
the same. Chinese dragons were beneficent rain-bringers, playfully swallowing up and spitting
out their celestial moon-pearl as they cavorted in the sky [Newman 1979.
the same. Chinese dragons were beneficent rain-bringers, playfully swallowing up and spitting
out their celestial moon-pearl as they cavorted in the sky [Newman 1979.
*Saint George’s dragon makes the point well. The original George lived in the eastern
Mediterranean, apparently tortured and beheaded by the Romans around A.D. 300, but his
dragon “does not make its first definite appearance until the twelfth century” [Coulson 1958, 196].
Mediterranean, apparently tortured and beheaded by the Romans around A.D. 300, but his
dragon “does not make its first definite appearance until the twelfth century” [Coulson 1958, 196].
*Throughout this book, we have argued that “myths” were not intended as fiction in our sense, but
as carriers of important information about real events and observations. We have also given
much evidence that, contrary to prevailing belief today, this information can sometimes survive
intact for thousands of years. But, bombarded as myth is by Silence, Compression,
Restructuring, and so on, the conditions must be right for survival.
as carriers of important information about real events and observations. We have also given
much evidence that, contrary to prevailing belief today, this information can sometimes survive
intact for thousands of years. But, bombarded as myth is by Silence, Compression,
Restructuring, and so on, the conditions must be right for survival.
*