Mother of the Gods (with a Castration Cult)

Arkane Curiosities

Everyone needs a mother, even the gods. In central Anatolia (now modern Turkey) the Phrygian people held Cybele as their principal goddess. She also happened to be the mother of the gods.

Zeus Has Two Mothers

Cybele was believed to have given birth to a number of gods and goddesses who ruled over various aspects of the natural world, such as: Dionysus, Hecate and Zeus.

Yet in traditional Greek lore, Rhea was the mother of Zeus and helped the young god slay his father to rule over Olympus.  So how can Zeus have two mothers? Well, Rhea and Cybele come from different cultures, so Rhea was his Greek Mommy and Cybele was the Phrygian Mum.

In some versions of the mythology, there are even stories of the two goddesses being merged into a single deity, with Rhea being identified as a Greek version of Cybele.

She Slept with Her Own Son

Cybele also mothered the god Attis. He was sometimes associated with the god Adonis, who was a similar figure in Greek mythology. Both were associated with vegetation and rebirth, and both were believed to have died and been reborn each year as part of the cycle of the seasons.

Cybele took a fancy to her young son. She fell in love with him and made him her consort, but Attis later betrayed her by falling in love with a mortal woman. Cybele was so enraged by Attis’ betrayal that she drove him mad, causing him to castrate himself and die. In other versions, Attis died in battle or through self-mutilation. Either way, Attis cut off his dangly bits. 

Cult of Castration

Followers of Cybele celebrated the mother of the gods through ecstatic rituals and frenzied dancing, often accompanied by the music of drums and cymbals. Her followers. They were known as the Corbants and their origins can be traced back to the ancient city of Phrygia, which is now modern-day Turkey.

The Corybants were often depicted as wearing armor and carrying shields and swords. They performed frenzied dances and drumming as part of the worship of Cybele. The cult of Cybele was centered around the idea of a divine mother figure who was associated with fertility, nature, and wild animals.

The male priests, called Galli, wore long robes, headdresses, and jewelry, and would often dye their hair and wear makeup. Their religious practices were highly ritualistic and often involved self-mutilation.

During certain religious ceremonies, the Galli would castrate themselves as a way of dedicating themselves fully to the worship of Cybele. This act was seen as a way of emulating the mythical figure of Attis, who was said to have castrated himself in a fit of religious ecstasy.

The Roman version of the cult was known as the Magna Mater, or the Great Mother, and it was often associated with the worship of the god Attis. The cult eventually declined as Christianity began to spread throughout the Roman Empire. 

Tim Kane

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The Last of Us: How Well Can Fungus Think?

Arkane Curiosities

In “The Last of Us,” the fungal disease that turns people into “infected” creatures is based on a real-life fungus called Cordyceps that infects insects and controls their behavior. Science fiction? Hell yes. But it’s based on real science. Turns out mushrooms might have a consciousness despite having no nervous system. So the question is: how well can fungus think?

Underground Internet

Some experts argue that fungi may have a form of consciousness that rivals that of animals or humans. It all boils down to the mycelia. Mycelia are thread-like structures that make up the vegetative part of fungi. They range in size from just a few cells to several acres.

Mycelium in fungi collects intelligence and transmits it to anything they’re connected to — information about how to survive and fight disease, warnings of nearby dangers, and also ways to raise a host plant’s defenses. 

In “The Last of Us,” merely, stepping on an active filament from the fungus can trigger the fungal zombies from much further away to activate and attack them. 

Different Levels of Consciousness

Most of us are so hardwired to think of humans with brains as the only things that have a consciousness. Yet if we consider consciousness a continuum, then this opens up the possibility for less complex organisms to have self-awareness. 

I’m not suggesting that mushrooms lead rich, emotional lives. Yet fungal mycelia resemble neural pathways and can span vast distances, creating a web of communication and cooperation that shapes entire ecosystems.

Fungi does support a rudimentary level of consciousness. Mycelia show decision-making capabilities, such as spatial recognition, learning, and short-term memory.

Cordyceps, the culprit for the apocalyptic situation in “The Last of Us,” exhibits complex and highly adaptive behaviors that allows it to manipulate its host and ensure its own survival.

Cordyceps is based on a real world fungus that infects insects. One species of Cordyceps causes infected ants to climb to the top of a plant and attach themselves to a leaf, where they eventually die and release spores that can infect other ants.

In “The Last of Us,” the fungus is portrayed as having a sort of hive mind, with infected individuals acting as part of a larger organism, seeking to spread the infection to new hosts.

Perhaps we have already been infected by such a fungus, and they continue to keep us alive and breathing to propagate their own species. 

Tim Kane

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