Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Mythlogy (for Mythology)

Mythlogy, a low probability typo for mythology, makes me wonder…just as we have patron saints for special occupations and crafts, is there a mythological figure in charge of typos?

In Christianity, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Jerome, or St. Lawrence of Rome might do—they are all patron saints of libraries and librarians. In Hindu mythology, the god Ganesha is a scribe, and in Judaism, the angel Metatron is God’s scribe, recording the good and bad deeds of Israel in his book.

The Egyptian god Anubis measured good deeds in another way, determining the soul’s worth by weighing it. If it was lighter than a feather, he would send the soul to Osiris for the afterlife; if it was heavy, Anubis would send the soul to the demon Ammit to be destroyed. With human souls hanging in the balance, I have to hope that the gods are infallibly accurate scribes.

Leanne Olson

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