I’ve come to the conclusion that mythology is really a form of archaeological psychology. Mythology gives you a sense of what a people believes, what they fear.
I wasn’t satisfied with my first attempts at writing a young adult fantasy novel, so I decided that my main character, Alex Scire, would travel to places I’ve explored. Or, more correctly said, I would go to places Alex went to. I also decided to base the backstory for my books on historical figures and Mesopotamian culture and mythology – except for the magical objects.
My original idea for the magical object of book 2 was the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull, or as some called it, The Skull of Doom (cool name). But the more I worked on my series (I wrote the entire series twice before I published the first book), the more unanswered questions about the story I had. That eventually led me to create an extensive backstory so that everything would tie together.
One of the outcomes was that the Druids in my book (they preceded the real-life Druids in my story) originated in Mesopotamia and spread around much of the world to fulfill their mission. That choice forced me to think the same way about magical objects. Instead of the usual ones that you find a lot in fiction, the Holy Grail, the Sword in the Stone, the Ark of the Covenant, etc., I searched through mythological objects across all cultures for unique ones. Book 1, The Palantir, comes from The Lord of the Rings. Just a side note, oddly enough, most people I’ve asked don’t recognize that linkage. Book 2, The Pair Dadeni, comes from Welsh mythology.
Even after I got rid of the crystal skull as the main magical object for book 2, I liked the story of the Mitchell-Hedges skull so much that I had to include it somehow. So, I invented a second set of magical objects (the first set are the Maqlû that Alex is searching for). The second set of objects, including the crystal skull, are made by humans and are far less powerful than the Maqlû.
Since these are fantasy books, I also wanted to add different mythology stories from around the world. In book 1, it was Mayan Mythology. In book 2, it’s Caribbean Folklore. The more I’ve read on the subject, the more fascinated I’ve become because it’s so different from the Greek and Roman mythology I grew up with. Its roots are in West Africa and then evolved in the Caribbean, with influences from many other cultures. My favorites are the stories about Duppies, especially the Rolling Calf.
The picture below is of the Mitchell-Hedges skull.
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