Episode 151D – Victory or Death – Myths Your Teacher Hated

Episode 151D Show Notes

Source: Mayan Mythology

This week on MYTH, it’s finally time to play ball with Death. You’ll learn that even death gods hate mosquitoes, that macaw feathers can be used to light cigars, and that you should always be wary of bats. Then, in Gods and Monsters, a temple will be built using nothing but a lot of hot air. This is the Myths Your Teacher Hated podcast, where I tell the stories of cultures from around the world in all of their original, bloody, uncensored glory. Modern tellings of these stories have become dry and dusty, but I’ll be trying to breathe new life into them. This is Episode 151D, “Victory or Death”. As always, this episode is not safe for work.
This is the fourth part of the Mayan story of the Hero Twins. When we last left the story, twin brothers Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu (1-Hunter and 7-Hunter) had annoyed the lords of Xibalba, the gods of death with their constant ball playing. Thus, the two mortal men were invited down to the underworld for a match of Pok ta Pok, a traditional Mayan game. This turned out to be a trap and the twins were executed for their failure to recognize and defeat the tricks laid out by Hun Kame and Vucub Kame (1-Death and 7-Death). Despite being dead, they weren’t quite done with the world. The severed head of Hun Hunahpu was hung from a tree where it met Lady Blood, daughter of the Xibalban lord Gathered Blood. The withered skull spit into her hand, which was apparently enough for her to conceive children. Having been told to climb up to the mortal world above, Lady Blood instead went home to think about everything that had happened.
Her magical pregnancy was quickly discovered and her own father condemned her to death for it. Lord Gathered Blood sent the four messenger owls to execute his daughter and bring back her heart in a bowl as proof. Lady Blood bribed them into switching sides and into switching her heart for a fake one made of tree sap to bring back to the Lords of Xibalba, making her escape to the world of the living in the confusion. She had journeyed to her mother-in-law’s house, where she had to complete an impossible task to prove her claim of bearing Hun Hunahpu’s children. Which, of course, she did.
When her twins were born, it very quickly became clear that they were considered second-class citizens by the mother-in-law and by their twin half-brothers, Hun Batz and Hun Chouen. Surviving a murder attempt as infants, the younger twins got their revenge years later by tricking their older brothers into climbing an eternally tall tree and turning into monkeys. They had then tricked their grandmother into laughing at the silly, naked bodies of her transformed monkey grandkids and driving them away to live in the jungle. Having finally secured a safe place in their home, they moved in (rather than living outside as they had been their whole lives so far).
They tried their hand at farming, by which I mean they used magical tools to do all the actual hard work of farming for them, but their attempts were foiled by the local wildlife. They trapped a rat who was part of the scheme against them and forced it to talk. The terrified rodent revealed the existence of the hidden Pok Ta Pok equipment left by Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu back in Episode 151A. Using trickery and the help of their new buddy the rat, Hunahpu and Xbalanque recovered the hidden ball gear and began to play. This of course annoyed Hun Kame and Vucub Kame almost immediately, and the lords of Xibalba sent another summons to a ball game in the underworld. The twins each left an unripe maize ear planted inside the house to let their mother and grandmother know if they lived or died before beginning their own descent into the underworld like their father’s before them.
Taking their blowguns along with their inherited Pok Ta Pok equipment, Hunahpu and Xbalanque followed the road from the ballcourt into Xibalba. Following the carved stone steps down, they soon passed through a number of different river canyons until they came to Blood River and Pus River, which their fathers had crossed previously. The now-dead men had struggled with these obstacles, which the Xibalban lords had intended as traps for unwary souls, though they had eventually prevailed through sheer determination. The Hero Twins took a different approach. The brothers tossed their wooden blowguns into the blood and pus-filled rivers and simply floated across, balanced on their weapons. Honestly, that feels like a move out of Dragon Ball, but it was undeniably effective. Although it’s going to be gross the next time they put those blowguns in their mouths.
Having easily bypassed the first challenges, Hunahpu and Xbalanque came soon to the crossroads of the Black Road, the White Road, the Red Road, and the Blue Road. The twins had heard stories of the roads of Xibalba of course, since their mother had been a lady of Xibalba. The road had been the first trap that their fathers had failed to outwit. Of course, since Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu hadn’t managed to escape Xibalba, they also hadn’t brought back word of which road they had tried and failed to take. They might not know which road was the correct road, but they had come prepared to find out.
Like they did last episode when they wanted to stall Grandmother, the twins summoned their old pal Mosquito. We find out later that they accomplish this by plucking a hair from Hunahpu’s knee, so this isn’t actually a real mosquito but an aspect of the young man. The tiny insect buzzed along the Black Road that all knew led to the palace of Xibalba with instructions to listen to anyone he encountered. “And if no one is talking, then you bite everyone, one after the other, until you run out of people to bite. Do that for us, and you will be free to suck the blood of travelers on the roads forevermore.” Mosquito, who it appears might be the first mosquito, had liked that deal and had been more than happy to agree.
Flying above the Black Road, he soon came to the courtyard filled with the cleverly carved effigies of the Lords of Xibalba that had fooled their fathers. Mosquito wasn’t here to greet anyone politely though. He floated over and bit the first person he saw (who, as we already know, isn’t a person at all but an intricately made statue of Hun Kame). There was no response from the figure and no blood to be had, so Mosquito moved on to the second with the same result. The third figure however was the true Hun Kame and despite being a death god, he was no more immune to the bite of a mosquito than any mere mortal. “Ouch!” he yelled, slapping at the spot where Mosquito had been (but he had already buzzed out of range).
“What’s happening, Hun Kame?” asked the assembled Xibalban lords. “Something bit me!” “Don’t be such a… yeowch! What was that? Now I’m getting bitten!” In the original version, the mosquito goes through each of the lords in turn with the same pattern, but we’ll fast forward to a list of who was there and move on. First bitten was Hun Kame, followed by Vucub Kame (naturally). After them was Flying Scab, Gathered Blood (Lady Blood’s father), Pus Demon, Bone Staff, Jaundice Demon, Skull Staff, Packstrap, Wing, Bloody Teeth, and Bloody Claws – a total of fourteen figures including the two fake lords. Each revealed the names of those around them as they were bit, and so Mosquito now knew which two were fake and who all of the real lords were. The order in which they sat also revealed the hierarchy, so Mosquito also knew exactly who was where in the pecking order.
Armed with this knowledge, the twins headed down the Black Road. This exposed the twins to the perils of Xibalba exactly as it had their fathers, but they were better prepared for the traps and snares laid for them by the denizens of this place. As they neared the courtyard, a voice called out “Hail these lords who are seated here, awaiting you.” This was, of course, a trap and the voice was the bait. The twins were forewarned and forearmed. They scoffed. “These are not lords – these are just crudely carved chunks of wood. We will not greet these, only the true lords seated here.” And so they went down the ranks, greeting each of the twelve assembled lords by name and in the correct order. All twelve had their faces revealed as they were named. The twins had won this round, but the Xibalban lords were not done.
“Very perceptive of you, young mortals. Come, have a seat.” They were pointed over towards the scalding hot bench that had burned their fathers, but the twins were not fooled. They could see the waves of heat rising up from it. “We prefer to stand, thank you, especially when you offer not a true seat but a heated stone.”The Lords of Death grumbled a little at being defeated twice, but their hand was not yet played out. “As you wish, young sirs. Perhaps you would prefer to retire instead to the house that you will be staying in while you are our guests.” And so Hunahpu and Xbalanque went into the House of Darkness where Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu had stayed on their last night alive.
As had happened the previous time, a messenger of Hun Kame came to the two mortals in the House of Darkness with a burning torch and a lit cigar for each of the young men. “Thus sayeth my lords: Here are their torches. They must be given back at dawn along with the cigars. The mortal men must return them.” Hunahpu and Xbalanque shared a look in the flickering firelight then shrugged in unison. “Okey dokey.” As soon as the messenger left, the twins snubbed out the torches and cigars. In place of the flame for the torches, they placed the bright red feather of a macaw parrot so that, from a distance, anyone watching them would think the items were lit as required. For the cigars, they used fireflies at the tips. These glowed brightly and then dimly all night, looking as though they were being puffed on in the darkness. The night watchmen were indeed spying on the men and carried word to the lords of Xibalba that the young men had fallen for the trick. “We have defeated them!”
Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In the morning, Hun Kame and Vucub Kame were shocked when Hunahpu and Xbalanque returned the pair of torches and cigars exactly as they had been when they had been delivered. The fire had been merely an illusion, but it had been a good enough one that the lords of death were at an utter loss to explain what had gone wrong. “Who the fuck are these two kids? Where did they come from? Who is their father, who begat them? Who is their mother, who birthed them? They are unique in their appearance and their nature. None has ever defeated all of our trials before.”
Having escaped all the traps laid for them, the boys were summoned by Hun Kame and Vucub Kame for an audience. “We are glad to see you here in Xibalba. You have come a long way, so let us do what you came here to do and play ball! But first, we have to know – where did you really come from?” Hunahpu and Xbalanque exchanged another look that twins can often use to communicate almost telepathically. “We must have come from somewhere, but we don’t really know where.” And that was all the answer the twins would give the death lords. It was a frustrating non-answer, but it wasn’t against the rules of etiquette so there was nothing the Xibalban lords could do but grit their bony teeth and accept it. “Alright, never mind then. Let’s play ball!”
They headed down to Crushing Ballcourt, and Hun Kame produced a rubber ball. “Here is the ball that we will be playing with.” That made the boys uneasy. “That’s not necessary. We brought our own ball that we would be happy to use. No sense in getting your pretty skull ball all scuffed up.” Vucub Kame grinned. “No trouble at all. We’ll use ours.” The twins shrugged. “Very well then.” “And don’t worry – it’s not actually a skull, it’s just painted to look like one. You have to commit to the theme after all.” Hunahpu and Xbalanque shared another look. “No, that’s definitely a real skull.” “I assure you it is not.” Another shrug. “Very well then.”
Now, just because they agreed to stop arguing with the Death Lords doesn’t mean they were actually convinced by that obvious line of bullshit. They had already survived too many snares and traps to take anything in Xibalba at face value. Thus they were ready when the Xibalbans threw down their skull ball in front of Hunahpu and White Dagger tore its way free in a flash of whirling blades. Remember that, the ball made entirely from razor sharp blades? It’s exactly as lethal as it sounds, so Hunahpu and Xbalanque were forced to dodge and weave carefully to avoid being sliced to bloody ribbons. White Dagger bounced and clashed all over the arena like a pinball of death before finally coming to a stop.
“What the fuck was that? You’re just trying to straight-up murder us now. You summoned us here for a game of Pok Ta Pok and we answered, but if you’re going to pull this kind of bullshit then we’ll just go.” And they began to take off their gear, packing up to leave. Hun Kame and Vucub Kame had really hoped that the twins would be dead by now, and the bladed ball had been a last desperate gambit to end this quickly. That ploy had failed, as had all their other attempts on the boys’ lives. Thus it was not the mortals who had been defeated in this contest, but the gods of death.
“Wait, don’t go! You’re right, that was very unsporting of us. You came all this way to play, so let’s play Pok Ta Pok with your ball. No tricks, just skill.” Hunahpu and Xbalanque shared another one of those silent looks that was practically a full conversation. “Alright, fine. Let’s play.” Restrapping their gear on, they tossed their own rubber ball onto the court. The Xibalbans strapped on their own gear. “And what stakes are we playing for, mortals? What will we get if we win?” “Surely it should be your choice. What do you want?” The two lords of Xibalba considered. “If we win, you bring us four bowls of flowers.” “That sounds simple enough. What kinds of flowers?” “One bowl of red petals, one bowl of white petals, one bowl of yellow petals, and one bowl of large petals.” As an aside, the reason they are asking for flower petals (aside from the pun between the words ch’ako’n meaning prize and ch’akom meaning flower cuttings) is because flower petals were often given as offerings to the gods.
The boys agreed to these stakes (no mention is made of what, if anything, the mortals were to get if they won) and play began. It was a tight game with both sides being equally matched, but the lords of Xibalba endured and carried the day. Hunahpu and Xbalanque were forced to concede defeat to the rejoicing of the assembled lords and demons. “Victory is ours!” crowed the Xibalban lords. “That’s one to nothing, us. You can give us the flowers you owe us as our prize in the morning.” Internally, the Xibalbans were celebrating even harder than they were outside. Xibalba was not a place known to be covered in flowers, so they doubted that the brothers would be able to make good on their prize, which would be a second victory.
The boys accepted defeat with dignity, simply nodding their acquiescence. “It shall be done. We’ll see you tomorrow morning for our next game.” And the two boys retired to their quarters to plan. Having already stayed in the House of Darkness, they were now sent to the House of Blades. You remember that from Episode 151A? The one that’s basically a maniacal trap that Jigsaw might have cooked up filled with whirling blades? The boys were supposed to fall victim to this deathtrap but they were prepared. As they entered, Hunahpu and Xbalanque spoke to the blades. “You are meant for the flesh of animals, not for us. Leave us be and you shall tear into all the animal flesh you could ever want forever after.” As one, the many knives lowered their points and accepted this offer, allowing the twins to sleep in peace.
With that dealt with, the mortals then called out to another lonely critter that they hoped would be an ally. “Leaf-cutting ants, conquering ants, come to our call! Go out and gather flower blossoms as prizes for the lords of Xibalba.” These ants, known in Guatemala as zompopos, are very real. They agreed to help out the twins and skittered out to the garden of Hun Kame and Vucub Kame. Now as I mentioned previously, the underworld isn’t exactly swarming with flowers so the lords of death had expected that the twins might try to gather their offering from this garden. Thus had they set guardians for the flowers, instructing them to be vigilant. “Whatever you do, make sure that those two humans do not steal these flowers. Do not sleep tonight. If they can’t get these, then surely they will be unable to fetch the prize they owe us.”
These guardians, who are most likely whippoorwills (a small songbird), sat in the trees and called out to each other. They kept their eyes open and did not sleep as agreed, but they were watching for men, not ants. As such, they didn’t notice the swarm scuttling into the garden and making off with flowers cut from the tops of the trees and beside the paths. Miraculously, they apparently also didn’t notice the ants gnawing and nibbling on their wings and tails all night either. These birds must have either been very oblivious or very hyperfocused.
Four bowls worth of flowers were quickly gathered up and brought back to the House of Blades. By dawn, the well-rested twins had their four bowls of flowers ready and waiting. A servant arrived at dawn to awaken the two mortals. “Come along! My lords bid you to make haste to see them straightaway to offer up their victory prize.” With smiles, Hunahpu and Xbalanque gathered up the bowls of flowers and nodded their readiness. “Very well. Take us to the lords of death.” Hun Kame and Vucub Kame were as shocked as they were upset to see the very much still alive twins arriving with the bowls of flowers in hand. Both of their snares had failed to trip up these resourceful and clever twins. And so, even having lost the game the day before, the two mortals started out their second day as victors.
The death gods did their best to feign graciousness and keep their abject disappointment from being too obvious (but they didn’t do a terribly great job of that). As soon as the twins left their audience, the two lords summoned the garden guardians to explain themselves. “How have you failed us? These are clearly flowers from our own gardens, the very same gardens that you were set to watch over. What the fuck happened?” The birds cowered before the lords of Xibalba. “We know not, mighty lords. We stayed up all night and we can swear that the two men never entered the garden! We stayed vigilant and our tails and wings have suffered for it!” So it seems like it was hyperfocus after all. This story explains why whippoorwills have very short wings and tails for birds of their size. In addition, for their failure, Hun Kame and Vucub Kame ordered their mouths slit wide open since they had spent the night calling out in song rather than paying attention, which is why their mouths are so much larger than it seems like they should be.
Having thus meted out punishment, they headed to Crushing Ballcourt for the second round of Pok Ta Pok with Hunahpu and Xbalanque. The two pairs were again evenly matched, but neither side could manage to eke out a win this time. The day ended without a victor and so the match was declared to be a draw. “At dawn tomorrow then we shall play again.” The boys nodded. “Very well.”
Having now survived two trials, the boys were sent to the Shivering House AKA the House of Cold to spend their third night. As the name implies, the cold inside that place was unbelievable. It was the chill of a winter’s night on the arctic tundra, the air thick with hail and ice. It was enough to drive anyone to hypothermia, but especially those dressed for a tropical climate like Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Fortunately for them, they were again quite resourceful and commanding. As they entered, they ordered the cold to dissipate. No bargains this time, just sheer force of will. And it worked. At their words, the cold vanished, leaving the interior temperature pleasantly cool compared to the air outside. The twins spent a peaceful night and awoke in the morning well-rested.
At dawn, the messenger returned to bring them before the lords of XIbalba, who were again extremely disappointed to see their guests still among the living. The story doesn’t say but, given that they promised to play again today, I’m assuming that they had another match that ended in another tie. Either way, that night they were sent to stay in the House of Jaguars which was, naturally, full of jaguars. Very hungry jaguars. As before, the twins opened the door to the house and immediately commanded those inside to halt. “Do not eat us. Spare us and we will give you what is yours.” Bones still covered in blood and gristle were dumped on the floor for the jaguars, who agreed to take the deal. This was a lot more food than could be stripped off of two fairly thin young men and they wouldn’t have to fight for it either. No word on where exactly the twins got a pile of bloody bones. I mean, it is Xibalba, so maybe they’re just lying around, you know, as part of the aesthetic. The jaguars spent the night happily crunching and munching on the bones, allowing the twins to get another safe night’s rest, though I have to imagine their sleep wasn’t as deep as before.
Outside, the night watchmen cackled with glee at the sound of cracking bones. “They finally fucked up and died! Oh hoh, the lords are going to be pleased about this! Those big cats have eaten their hearts and are now feasting on their bones, sucking out the marrow.” But of course, when morning came, Hunahpu and Xbalanque were as alive and healthy as ever, very much not devoured by jaguars. The Xibalbans were now passing beyond being angry into being confused and more than a little concerned. “Just who are these two mortals? Where did they come from?” No mortal soul had ever defeated so many of the trials of Xibalba and lived to tell the tale before.
Again the story skips over the presumably tied Pok Ta Pok game and jumps straight into the next night. This time, the twins were sent to the House of Fire for the evening. You would expect, based on past experience, for them to open the door and command the fires to go out or something but no. Hunahpu and Xbalanque simply waltzed into the blazing inferno and went to sleep. No explanation for how they weren’t roasted to a lump of fucking charcoal. No magic performed. No precautions taken. They just apparently sat in the fiery room and said ‘this is fine’ and, unlike the dog in the meme, they really meant it. They were fine. Somehow. The Xibalbans were every bit as perplexed as I am about this one. They had thought that surely the House of Fire would be the one to bring the twins low, but in the morning, they were once again well-rested and ready to play.
Another day of a presumed tie in Pok Ta Pok and another promise to play again in the morning. That night, the twins were sent to the House of Bats which, as we previously mentioned (and as the name heavily implies), was filled with nothing but bats. This being the underworld, the realm of death, these were of course not ordinary fruit bats nor even the very real vampire bats – these were the camazotz, which means death bats. They were enormous beasts with snouts like razor blades that they used to tear intruders to bloody shreds. We met this figure back in Episode 58, but this is the story the death bat comes from.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque were unable to tame the death bats, whose bloodlust was unquenchable. Instead, they used their powers to crawl inside of their own blowguns and hide. I don’t know if they made themselves small, the blowguns large, or did something out of Doctor Who to make them bigger on the inside; the story isn’t clear. These weapons provided enough shelter for the twins to hunker down and sleep without being murdered and eaten in the House of Bats, which was good enough. Unfortunately, the bats weren’t on board with this plan and weren’t done fucking with these intruders. One of the death bats, the one often referred to as Camazotz, a bat spirit associated with night, death, and sacrifice, swooped down from the ceiling and buzzed the blowgun shelters to announce its presence.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque tried to sleep, but the constant rustle of wings and high pitched shrieking of the death bats kept them awake for a long time. Eventually, Camazotz stopped dive bombing their shelter and the other bats settled into stillness. This night had felt like an eternity but it seemed that dawn must finally be at hand. The twins knew that, like their mortal cousins on earth, these death bats were nocturnal creatures. If they had finally settled down and gone to sleep, it must be morning outside the House of Bats. Xbalanque looked toward where he knew his brother hid in his own blowgun but unable to see him. From inside their wooden shelters, it was impossible to tell if the sun had well and truly risen. “Brother, do you see the sunrise? Is it dawn?” Hunahpu peered out towards the end of his blowgun. “I’m not sure. I’ll go take a quick peek and make sure the morning is really here before we leave our shelter.”
Crawling to the opening of the weapon, Hunahpu peered out into the quiet stillness. All was dark and silent with no sign of the morning light. He didn’t hear or see a thing as Camazotz swooped down on silent wings and ripped his head from his body in one swift, violent motion, leaving his decapitated body lying dead in the shelter. The ancient Maya saw fruit bats cutting down fruit from their trees while in flight and thus imagined their larger death cousins as doing the same to mortal men. They became the embodiment of sacrifice by decapitation and were often painted as underworld denizens decorated with crossed bones and eyeballs dangling from their optic nerves. Which, come on, that’s pretty fucking metal.
So silent was the death of Hunahpu that his brother didn’t realize it had happened. “Brother, what do you see? Has the light dawned outside?” Hunahpu didn’t respond to Xbalanque because, you know, he’d been decapitated by Camazotz. “What is going on? Hunahpu wouldn’t ignore me and he wouldn’t have abandoned me either. Something terrible must have happened.” Nothing moved but, in the darkness above, he once again heard the rustling of leathery wings. “Fuck me, I think we’ve already lost.”
Camazotz wasn’t there to gloat though. He had carried his grisly prize out of the House of Bats and carried it to his lords Hun Kame and Vucub Kame. Thrilled that someone had finally done their damned job, the death gods ordered the severed head to be placed atop Crushing Ballcourt as a symbol of their bloody victory. Seeing the dead mortal, all of the denizens of Xibalba rejoiced and celebrated around the decapitated head of Hunahpu. The sounds of this merriment reached Xbalanque, still sheltering inside his blowgun. He knew now that his brother was dead and, given the death bats overhead, he could pretty well guess how he had died. He was alone now in Xibalba and would be targeted next for sacrifice.
Things look pretty grim for poor Xbalanque and dead Hunahpu, but the story isn’t over yet. The surviving twin isn’t about to roll over and die without putting up a fight, but we’ll have to wait until next time to see what tricks he has up his sleeve because it’s time for Gods and Monsters. This is a segment where I get into a little more detail about the personalities and history of one of the gods or monsters from this week’s pantheon that was not discussed in the main story. This week’s strange power is the magic of whistling.
There has always been a kind of magic in music and in mythology, that magic is often literal. So it was with the ancient Maya. Legend says that this powerful empire built their towering temples and breathtaking pyramids not with simple tools and good old fashioned muscle power, but with whistles. And not just purse your lips and blow whistles (although that might have played a part too) but with complex clay instruments. In many cases, the whistles are cunningly shaped to resemble an animal and also to make the sound that animal makes. For instance, a number of these whistles recovered at the site of Yaxchilan in Chiapas, Mexico between 1989 and 1991 are shaped to look like frogs and, when blown, sound like croaking frogs.
Similar clay whistles have been found in many Mayan cities and burial sites in all kinds of shapes, including animals, people, and mythological figures. It is unknown what all of these whistles were used for (though they clearly had some significance beyond that of a toy given their presence in multiple burial sites), though speculation abounds. One theory says that they were used in funerary rites, possibly to help the souls of the dead on their journey through Xibalba. Others speculate that they may have been used in sacrificial rituals with the music altering the consciousness of the victims, sending them into a dream state. Still others suggest that perhaps they were used at festivals and celebrations to the gods.
And of course, there’s the legend that claims they were used to move timber and stone with nothing more than the power of breath. Possibly, the whistles would somehow summon the wind to carry the building materials where they needed to go and fit everything together. Construction sites would have been places of peace and song – no banging hammers, no ringing chisels, just melodic whistling and enormous stones gliding gently into place on the breeze. Alas one day, the power was lost. New modern tools were introduced to the society and the power to whistle the wind was lost, the magic desecrated. Never again would stone and timber answer to the echoing whistles of the Maya.
As an interesting footnote to this, new research led by archaeologist Fransisca Zalaquett from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico says that the buildings and temples of Mayan cities may have functioned as integrated sound systems. Acoustical analysis has shown that the building layouts and their stucco coatings helped to amplify the specific frequencies used by Mayan instruments, helping to deliver the sound over large distances. Some of the rooms may have even functioned to amplify the voice of a singer or speaker inside it to allow the music and the message to travel to a much larger audience than would otherwise have been possible. So maybe the power of the wind wasn’t entirely lost. It could no longer move mountains, but it could still move a crowd’s emotions.
That’s it for this episode of Myths Your Teacher Hated. Keep up with new episodes on our Facebook page, on iTunes, on TuneIn, on Vurbl, and on Spotify, or you can follow us on Instagram as MythsYourTeacherHatedPod, on Tumblr as MythsYourTeacherHated, on Bluesky as MythsPodcast, and on Mastodon as MythsYourTeacherHated. You can also find news and episodes on our website at myths your teacher hated dot com. If you have any questions, any gods or monsters you’d want to learn about, or any ideas for future stories that you’d like to hear, feel free to drop me a line. I’m trying to pull as much material from as many different cultures as possible, but there are all sorts of stories I’ve never heard, so suggestions are appreciated. The theme music is by Tiny Cheese Puff.
Next time, Xbalanque is going to find himself in something of a tight spot. You’ll see that it’s hard to beat death with half your team dead, that you can make a very convincing head with just a coati and a squash, and that possums have power over light and darkness. Then, in Gods and Monsters, a man will make a monkey’s paw deal with death and discover his only weakness is his ass. That’s all for now. Thanks for listening.