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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 8h

🌙 Regardless of how accurate to Egyptian mythology it is, Moon Knight is an awesome hero who has battled gods, monsters, mercenaries, vampires for some reason, and his own mind.

➡️ For more on Khonsu see here: ancientegyptonline.co.uk/khonsu/

Khonsu | Ancient Egypt Online

ancientegyptonline.co.uk

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 8h

🌙 Marvel got a few things wrong. First, his name is usually spelled “Khonsu”. His personality is also different. His early myths depict him as evil, but over time he became a kinder deity. Marvel’s Khonshu has the opposite arc. At first he was nice, then later writers made him more antagonistic.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 8h

🌙 Created as a villain for “Werewolf by Night,” Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector’s, origin is told in his 1980 solo series. Marc was a mercenary who was left for dead after trying to protect civilians. Marc was resurrected by the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, and became his champion.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 8h

🌙 He is the fist of Khonshu, the knight of vengeance, the protector of the night’s travelers. He is Moon Knight.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 1d

👻 Spirits can serve as a haunting reminder that our time on this planet is short. And the word spirit’s etymological origins come from something just as fleeting and just as intangible.

➡️ For more on the word spirit, see here: csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004... & www.etymonline.com/word/spirit

spirit

csmt.uchicago.edu

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 1d

👻 Spirit comes from the Latin word “spiritus”, meaning breath. Which makes sense, considering every breath taken is as incorporeal as a ghost. Alternatively, the definition of “spiritus” has also been compared to the “breath of life”, a Biblical concept used to describe humanity's personhood.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 2d

👻Sometimes ghouls are demons, sometimes djinn, sometimes undead, and apparently sometimes college students. One thing all depictions of ghouls have in common is that they love eating flesh.

➡️ For more on Ghouls, see here: www.ebsco.com/research-sta...

Ghoul (mythical creature) | Research Starters | EBSCO Research

<p>A ghoul is a mythical creature rooted in Arabic folklore, traditionally depicted as a malevolent being that dwells near graveyards and desolate places, consuming the flesh of both the living and th...

www.ebsco.com

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 2d

👻 This creature traveled to Europe with the first French translation of “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights”, though this translation made ghouls more interested in feeding on corpses than live creatures. The European version went on to inspire “Night of the Living Dead”.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 2d

👻 Though Tokyo Ghoul does not dive into the origins of these flesh-eating creatures, they are part of an ancient Mesopotamian mythology. Once called “gallu”, the story migrated out of Mesopotamia, and these creatures eventually got a new name: “ghul”, which means “to seize” in Arabic.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 2d

👻 Monsters hide among us. But where do they really come from? Tokyo Ghoul follows Ken Kaneki, a college student who becomes part ghoul after being attacked by one and receiving some of her organs in a surgery. Kaneki has to balance his human life with his new desire to eat flesh.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 3d

Image © The Trustees of the British Museum
➡️ For more on Roman Epitaphs, see here: www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... & loeb-art-center.vassarspaces.net/exhibitions/...

epitaph plaque | British Museum

Marble epitaph plaque with a verse inscription for a dog called Margarita ('Pearl'), written from the perspective of the deceased dog.

www.britishmuseum.org

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 3d

💀 These grave inscriptions are also a reminder of how many of our customs are similar to those of the ancient world. There’s great importance in honoring and respecting the dead, including little blurbs on tombstones. A lot of what we know about the ancient world pertains to the dead and death.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 3d

💀 This one is particularly interesting because it was written from the perspective of a dog, Margarita! Epitaphs are fascinating because they give us a glimpse into the living world of a now deceased person (or pet!), especially when they are written in the first person like this!

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 3d

💀 This is an epitaph, or grave inscription, from Ancient Rome! Many epitaphs were short and objective, giving details about a person’s life, such as their role in their family or what job they worked. However, many were also written in poetic prose or from the first-person perspective!

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 6d

➡️ For more on the Dullahan, see here: philarchive.org/archive/FALH...

philarchive.org

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 6d

🏇 Sometimes the Dullahan is said to ride alone on his horse. Other times, he drives a black carriage pulled by several headless horses. No matter how he looks, seeing the Dullahan is a sure sign that death is coming for you. And there’s no outrunning the dark coachman.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 6d

🏇 It’s debated how the Dullahan lost his head. A popular interpretation is that he was a decapitated soldier who insisted on finding more people to die before him. For a more ancient origin, some legends claim that he’s actually the ancient Celtic god Crom Dubh, on the hunt for human sacrifices.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 6d

🏇 The Dullahan, or Dubhlachan, which translates to “dark one” in Gaelic, is a mysterious creature in Irish folklore. Is he a demon? A ghost? Death itself? Every version is different, but one thing’s for sure. The Dullahan does not have a head, at least not on his shoulders.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 7d

Pazuzu | Mesopotamia, Demon, & Description | Britannica

Pazuzu, in Mesopotamian religion, the king of wind demons, son of Hanpa and brother of Humbaba (Huwawa). Adherents believed Pazuzu helped humans ward off other demons, and, thus, representations of hi...

www.britannica.com

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 7d

🌪️ Pazuzu is a complex figure. Many demons and aspects of folklore took new forms during the rise of Christianity, and Pazuzu’s is among them, courtesy of popular media. Despite his protective aspects, the Babylonians still understood that this was not a demon to be trifled with…

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 7d

🌪️ Despite this reputation, amulets of Pazuzu have been found with texts warding off Lamashtu. Lamashtu was a demon associated with abducting newborns, and many women would wear Pazuzu’s likeness to stop him. The archaeological record shows mass production of said totems, indicating mass reverence.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 7d

🌪️ The Babylonians believed in chaos vs order, rather than good vs evil. Demons were seen as agents of chaos, but not strictly evil. Pazuzu was a powerful wind demon, responsible for corralling more malevolent lesser demons, but also seen as a plague-bringer, known as the ‘agony of mankind.’

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 7d

🌪️ Pazuzu. Evil hell-sent entity or a misrepresented wind demon? It’s complicated, but Pazuzu’s contradictory nature is often overlooked. Made notorious through ‘The Exorcist’ film and book, the story presents Pazuzu as truly insidious. But to the Babylonians, he possesses a deeper meaning.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 8d

🌙 Although this calendar was later changed, adding two new months at the beginning of the year, October has retained its name.

➡️ For more on the etymology of the month October, see here: www.timeanddate.com/calendar/rom...

The Roman Calendar

This is the predecessor to our modern calendar. Some of its features are still in use today.

www.timeanddate.com

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 8d

🌙 The calendar, which was heavily inspired by the Ancient Greek calendar, had only ten months. The eighth month was named after its place on the calendar, ‘octo’ (eight), resulting in the name October.

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