x(Note from Ronda:  Cat Muldoon’s vivid fantasy suspense novel Rue the Day: The Undercover Heir Book 1, blends magic, mysticism, healing arts, evolving characters and a plot as twisty as the Celtic knotwork that inspired it.  I asked Cat to write an article about the power of legends and stories for the modern human being.  This is what she shared with me and now, we give it to you. 

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Legends and Folk Tales: Dead or Alive? 

 by Cat Muldoon

What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear the word “legend”?  How about “myth”? or “folklore”?  If you are like most people, you think that legends and folklore and myths are stories that are untrue.  You may even believe that these stories are irrelevant in our modern, high-tech world.

but wait a moment…You are surrounded in legends, folklore and other stories all the time.  You simply do not recognize that you are surrounded by them all the time.

If you do not believe me, consider songs, movies and books.

Many songs tell a story, and the tale is at the same time modern and ancient.  “Don’t Blink”by Kenny Chesney  is about a person who watches a man being interviewed on his 102nd birthday.  The old man tells him that life is shorter than you think and should be savored.  Has a grandparent ever told you something similar?  “Don’t Blink” is about the younger man learning from the elder.  Let me give you an example of this from Native American traditions.  Spider Grandmother weaves the stories of the People to keep them alive.  She is an elder teaching us impetuous young people to have respect.

Now let us take the same theme and apply it to movies.  Star Wars has one noteworthy example of an elder, Obi Wan Kenobi, passing along the Jedi teachings to the young and at the time whiny Luke Skywalker.  Another ancient, Yoda, later becomes his teacher.

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling is also loaded with mythic themes, but taking this one tiny example, Professor Dumbledore, who was not tye typical wise man in the cave, but someone who often bucked the system.  He calls to mind  the antankerous Nasreddin.

Nasreddin — Everyman’s Philosopher* 

“Nasreddin is a clever old rascal, known  throughout the Arabic speaking world. In Turkey they call him Hoja (priest). The  tales attaching to Nasreddin are endless,  reaching back into the mists of village time. Nowadays he is just as likely to have a mobile phone. For Nasreddin is everyman’s philosopher. He the agent of  village good sense and sharp wit who puts the powerful, the pompous and the sententious firmly in their place.“

Do you know anyone like this in your own life?  One example from film is Mr. Miagi in The Karate Kid.  Coyote is just as spunky as Nasreddin   He seems to be nothing but trouble, yet there is method to his madness, as the saying goes.

You can see the parallels between our own modern experience and that of the ancients.  Sure, we have cell phones and computers, but our songs still tell stories, we still play out the same dramas that our ancestors did, and stories are just as much a part of our life today as they were back when our predecessors lived in caves.

Cat Muldoon sharpens her claws and her wit daily.  She writes short stories and novels.  Her short works appear in Storyteller Magazine, Echoes of the Ozarks Volume II, and WomanScapes Anthology.  Her first novel Rue the Day: The Undercover Heir, Book 1 was a semi-finalist in Archebooks First Novel competition.  Register at http://CatMuldoon.com to receive excerpts of her novel AND you could win a set of Celtic CDs or other prizes to be announced.  Visit her MySpace blog for the latest news.

Cat is taking a virtual book tour this month with Pump Up Your Online Book Promotions.  When you comment on one of her stops along the way, you are eligible to win a copy of her fantasy novel Rue the Day: The Undercover Heir, Book 1.  She is also giving away a set of Celtic music CDs and another prize she has yet to announce when you register on her site to receive excerpts of her novel and other stories.

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