how myths can start

Firstly let me say I am a 100% believer in paranormal phenomena, having said that,the subject can sometimes be prone to missiterpretation,take the following story,of which I was the cause. I was shopping at my local shop one day,when I decided to purchase a four pack of beer,the shelf stackers had packed the packs so closely together that I had difficulty in getting one out without the rest falling on the floor. I finally managed to extract one,leaving some others precariously balanced.I proceeded to the checkout,and about 2 minuites later,the cashout girl, suddenly screamed,and pointed to the drinks section,she exclaimed to startled workmates and customers,that a pack of drink cans had for no apparent reason, suddenly flew off the shelves,and landed,leaking on the floor,naturally i did,nt say it was probably my fault,I did,nt want to be charged for them.The conclusion to this is ,that ,according to my partner,who was recently chatting to a worker there,the opinion of the staff there,is that a poltergiest is active .This has brought it home to me how easily,entirely normal events can be given a paranormal explanation

Interesting and a little bit funny imagining the reaction of the girl and the other workers.

Did you feel a bit awkwardly guilty afterwards?

[psychoslice]

Yes i think myths started by simple ignorance, many years ago such things as weather, volcano's, shooting stars, just about anything that we didn't understand became a frightening story, like how the gods must be so upset that they cause lightening and floods, or earthquakes, as we grew older as the human species we made our stories more complicated, and now we have all the religions because of some people setting around a camp fire making up stories.

Your partner could, w/o disclosing your name, tell the store staff that a friend inadvertently caused the spill when a 4-pack was removed shortly before the spill. Or you could send them (store manager) an anonymous note to all who are concerned, explaining that it was an inadvertent accident, not poltergeist activity. You need not ID your partner as the source of the information in the note. It’s likely this supposed poltergeist incident has been widely discussed w/ many so it’s unlikely the partner would be easily IDed.

This being presumptive also works in reverse when we are too quick to dismiss things that most don’t understand, can’t easily explain w/ our chosen belief system, are fearful to look at the unknown or unfamiliar, or take a skeptic’s position, requiring absolute ~~~proof~~~ that fulfills rigorous & often N/A standards.

For instance, many people have had all types of energetic/spiritual experiences. A certain percentage of these experiences can be discounted as being delusional, fakes, or by those desperately wanting to have these experiences, thus convincing their self that they did. However, after discounting these entirely predictable groups, there still remains a huge amount of people whose accounts are well worth considering.

About dismissing real myths, it was considered that the legend of Pompeii’s high standard of living was the mere fantasy of the ancients UNTIL it was actually discovered & excavated in 1749. The excavations showed a fairly well developed civilization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii

It is very likely that we will find out that allot of what modern civilization has dismissed as the fantasy of ancients will prove to have real basis.

[norseman]

The myths of Northern Europe in general, and the British Isles is particular, can be placed at a particular point in time - end of the last Ice Age. At that time, Britain was part of mainland Europe, there was no North or Irish Sea ! Instead there were broad, flat tundra with herds of grazing animals and hunter-gatherer tribes who had a decent living [comparatively] - time period about 10k to 6k BC. We know the tribes were there because of all the artifacts dredged from the sea bottom in recent years, including votive objects. When the ice sheet began to melt, these tundra began to flood in a relatively short time and the tribes were forced to move east and west to higher ground. Remember these tribes were used to open, flat country.
The tribes moving west into what was now the British Isles [about 6k BC] found a dark, forbidding land of endless forest, home to wolf, bear, wild boar, etc. This was the origin of the "Green Spirits" in the forests, beings who had to be placated by the shaman otherwise dire things would happen. The shaman found "places of power" in the forest where offerings could be made.
From this, much of British myth originates - wood woses, faery wildfolk, green men, wild men, and the longest lasting pagan god of all - the Green Man [the spirit of the Wild Wood, the raw untamed primal force of nature].
The green-clad wildmen passed into legend as the fae, the elf, often called Hob or Robin or Robin Goodfellow - this is the origin of the legend of Robin Hood. The Green Man also appears in Arthurian legend as the Green Knight.
Another powerful myth originates at the same time - the Horned God - Kernunnos - and the whole parcel of hunting myths [the wild hunt, the annual sacrifice of the "king", etc]
By the way, Arthur originates in Arturios, Dux Bellorum, Romano-British Warlord after the legions withdrew.
These myths all come from the same place and are deeply embedded in the British psyche !