Happy Tyrsday!

Mythology is such a fascinating topic to study. As a kid, I would read the stories of various mythologies during whatever spare time I had. If it had anything to do with Kronos' offspring, Odin's throne, Set's trickeries, or the fate of Prometheus, I was all over it.

As with any story-telling device, mythology is replete with archetypes that help us connect with the hero's motives and the villain's downfall. A few that always stick out to me are those of the explorer, the lover, and the creator. I relate best with the explorer. I good example of what an explorer archetype is is Frodo Baggins. He was so ready to leave the dull Shire and see the things he had only read and heard about from Bilbo. His weakness was getting rebellious with his duty to watch the ring and cast it into Mount Doom. The lover reminds me most of my wife in some ways. Aphrodite is your typical lover, being the Goddess of love and beauty. She seeks to be loved by all, but especially by her soulmate and spouse. She would give anything to have his attention, and that may sometimes be too much. The final one i like the most is the creator. This always has such deity-like connotations attached to it that I can't help but think of Illuvitar from Tolkien's universe. He literally orchestrated the music that drew the world into existence and holds all of the power to create, though he delegates it to his children so they can help make the music.

You might already be able to tell what my favorite myth is. I really love the creation of Middle-earth. One of the big things I like about it is that it reminds me a lot about what I believe about our purpose here on earth as a Latter Day Saint. As i mentioned in the previous paragraph, Illuvitar is the supreme being that planned and coordinated the creation of that world. He assigned other gods, his children, to take over the creation of individual spheres within that world. One of them rebelled, was stripped of the ability to create, and was cast out and began to corrupt the creations of the other gods. Meanwhile, elves, dwarves and men came into existence and began their separate reigns on the land. One particular story that struck me as fascinating was that of the dwarves. They were not originally part of the plan to be created, but when they gained life, Illuvitar blessed them with sentience of their own and the ability to be agents unto themselves. We too took part of the creation of our earth under the direction of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Lucifer is that evil one that was cast out for rebellion and lives to corrupt and destroy. Unlike the dwarves, the whole reason for this earth to be created was to give space for us to learn, grow, and progress to become like God and live with him again. Like the dwarves, that can only happen if we can choose for ourselves our path. We can choose everlasting life with God, or eternal suffering and death with the devil.