Nudity is Only Skin-Deep

I'm going to Costa Rica next month, and I have eleventy-jillion tabs open on my phone. I've been using them for research purposes for my novel. Not sure if you are interested in them, but you are welcome to plunder the booty of my research (which sounds awfully naughty).

I'll leave it to you to surmise what exactly my novel is about based on this material.

Goatfish: In this article, I would like to talk about goatfish, the sacred (mythical) animal of Enki/Ea, the Mesopotamian god of fresh water...Mythical animal



Enki: Enki is the Mesopotamian Primeval god of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, sea, lakes, fertility, semen, magic and mischief.

Earth's Freshwater Future: Extremes of Flood and Drought: NASA satellites are a prominent tool for accounting for water, as it constantly cycles from water vapor to rain and snow falling onto soils, and across and beneath the landscape. As Earth’s atmosphere warms due to greenhouse gases and the satellite data record continues to get longer and more detailed, scientists are studying how climate change is affecting the distribution of water.

Sea Goat: The sea goat is a legendary aquatic animal described as a creature that is half goat and half fish.

The Epic of Anzu, II.1-69 : The epic of Anzu revolves around a fierce bird-monster named Anzu. In the first tablet, he steals the Tablet of Destinies from the rulers of the gods, and none of the gods can defeat him. Our excerpt begins with a new hero entering the fray.

1 Enoch 1–36: The Book of Watchers: A Review of Recent Research: Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there has been an increasing interest by scholars in 1 Enoch 1–36, the Book of Watchers. This is due primarily to the publication of the 4QEn fragments by J.T. Milik in 1976. Milik presents a major edition that contains the Aramaic fragments of 1 Enoch from Qumran Cave 4.

Odin/Enki - Water: Four gods, Thor, Baldr, Viðarr and Váli, are explicitly identified as sons of Odin in the Eddic poems, in the skaldic poems, in Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum, and in the Gylfaginning section of Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. But silence on the matter does not indicate that other gods whose parentage is not mentioned in these works might not also be sons of Odin.

The Standard Babylonian Epic of Anzu

Titles of Enoch-Metatron in 2 Enoch: "Whoever is dealing with the Account of Creation and the Account of the Chariot must inevitably fail. It is therefore written, “Let this heap of ruins be under your hand” (Isa. 3.6). This refers to things that a person can not understand, unless he fails in them. "
(The Book of Bahir, 150)


The Atrahasis Epic: The Great Flood & the Meaning of Suffering: The Atrahasis is the Akkadian/Babylonian epic of the Great Flood sent by the gods to destroy human life. Only the good man, Atrahasis (his name translates as `exceedingly wise') was warned of the impending deluge by the god Enki (also known as Ea) who instructed him to build an ark to save himself. Atrahasis heeded the words of the god, loaded two of every kind of animal into the ark, and so preserved life on earth.

Similarity of Flood Account of Manu with Noah's Ark and Other Civilizations: In the year 1872, an amateur Assyriologist made a path breaking discovery... HeHis translation of the Chaldean account of the great flood ... presented before the Society of Biblical Archaeology.


Plants, Heavy Metals, and the Lingering Scars of World War I: A closer look at the hardy residents of some of our most damaged landscapes.

Enki: Mischievous god of wisdom, magic and incantations who resides in the ocean under the earth. The god Ea (whose Sumerian equivalent was Enki) is one of the three most powerful gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon, along with Anu and Enlil. He resides in the ocean underneath the earth called the abzu (Akkadian apsû), which was an important place in Mesopotamian cosmic geography. For example, the city of Babylon was said to have been built on top of the abzu.

Was Dust Their Food and Clay Their Bread? Grave Goods, the Mesopotamian Afterlife, and the Liminal Role of Inana/Ishtar: Many literary texts portray the Mesopotamian netherworld as unrelievedly bleak, yet the archaeological evidence of grave goods suggests that there may also have existed an alternative way of thinking about the afterlife. An analysis of the types of objects found in burials indicates that many people may have anticipated a less harsh form of existence.

Moses and Magic: Notes on the Books of Exodus: The scholarly world has known for some time that the book of Exodus demonstrates a first-hand knowledge of Egyptian customs and beliefs, even if somewhat tendentiously related. This is especially apparent in the account of the ten plagues, which some see as representing an attack against the Egyptian pantheon, and in the account of Moses' first appearance before Pharaoh's magicians (Exod. 7:8-12).

A Balbale to Ningishzida: Hero, lord of field and meadow, lion of the distant mountains! Ninjiczida, who brings together giant snakes and dragons! Great wild bull who, in the murderous battle, is a flood that ......! Beloved by his mother, he to whom Ninjirida gave birth from her luxurious body, who drank the good milk at her holy breast, who sucked in lion's spittle, who grew up in the abzu!

Manzat, the deified rainbow and her LGBT connection
: the final section of the article deals with a text mentioning Manzat, which is, as far as I can tell, the oldest documented association between the rainbow and LGBT themes.

Fish-Cloaked Apkallu: In order to protect the household, this protective figure (apkallu or sage) would be buried beneath the floor in groups of seven. This figurine represents a wise man dressed in a fish-cloak sent by the god Ea to impart knowledge to humans. For cultic purposes, priests wore such cloaks made from giant species of carp living in the River Tigris.

Ikhthyes: THE IKHTHYES (Ichthyes) were two large Syrian river fish who rescued Aphrodite and Eros when they were fleeing the monster Typhoeus. According to some the two gods instead disguised themselves as fish to escape the monster. The fish were also credited with assisting in the birth of Aphrodite from the sea foam. In all versions of the story they were set amongst the stars as the constellation Pisces.

Venus in Culture: Depictions in culure of the planet Venus.

The Benei Elohim, the Watchers, and the Origins of Evil: The story of divine beings procreating with human women (Genesis 6) is expanded upon in the book of Enoch to tell how these angels also bring sin to humanity, causing the ancient flood as well, and this sin is the source of disease in the present day.

Enki: Enki was a major deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology. He was originally the chief god of the city of Eridu. The exact meaning of Enki's name is uncertain. The common translation is "Lord of the Earth."

Enki and Ninmah: translation: In those days, in the days when heaven and earth were created; in those nights, in the nights when heaven and earth were created; in those years, in the years when the fates were determined; when the Anuna gods were born; when the goddesses were taken in marriage; when the goddesses were distributed in heaven and earth; when the goddesses ...... became pregnant and gave birth;

The Watchers of Satanail: The Fallen Angels Traditions in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch: The first part of 2 Enoch, a Jewish pseudepigraphon written in the first century C.E., deals with the heavenly ascent of the seventh antediluvian hero carried by his angelic psychopomps to the abode of the Deity.

Plant Viruses in Aqueous Environment

A Fall From Grace to ... Virulence?: In Bruegel’s painting of The Fall of the Rebel Angels we are witness to a tumbling maelstrom of falling rebel angels outcast from Heaven.

Wings in Mesopotamia: The Significance and Purpose: Wings are attested in Mesopotamian art, appearing
in every major category (human, bull, lion, etc.), except for the fish and the snake.

A Narrow Fellow in the Grass: by Emily Dickinson

Hebrew Mythology: In the myth of Enki and Ninhursag ... Ninhursag caused eight plants to grow in the garden of the gods. Enki desired to eat these plants...

Demiurge: In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe.

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Then there's this stuff, which isn't related to my book at all:

"We Fight with Dignity": The Miawpukek Mi'kmaq Quest for Aboriginal Rights in Newfoundland

Writing Getaways in Ontario

The A-Frame Residency

A True Story: long novella or short novel[1] written in the second century AD by the Syrian author Lucian of Samosata.[2] The novel is a satire of outlandish tales that had been reported in ancient sources, particularly those that presented fantastic or mythical events as if they were true. It is Lucian's best-known work.

The Unholy Trinity of Films That Gave Birth to Folk Horror

Canadian psychlogist accused of satanism by neighbors who can't read Greek: Reprint of the CBC article written about the witch hunt happening to my family and my neighbours

Lamb to the Slaughter: Short story by Roald Dahl

Miracle Maca Latte: Yummy recipe

Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism, by Elsa Sjunneson

Link to Online Writers' Workshops

Join the Critters Workshop

Easy Overnight Oats: Recipes

AI Story Generator: Generates extremely simplistic stories

On the Many Different Engines that Power a Short Story

73 Brand New Literary Magazines

How to Share Without Appropriating: Lecture with Waubgeshig Rice

Great Place to Submit Flash Fiction

Outline Your Memoir: Free online workshop offered periodically. I got a lot out of this one.

I Wrote a Novel... Now What?: A revision and editing resource guide for writers

Free Online Writing Courses: Literary Theory with Victoria Reeve

At that moment, I didn’t know who I was anymore. My father had abandoned me yet again, and now I was undergoing an underwater apotheosis. My fingers were gone, but I could feel their phantoms. They were swimming all around me in the beautiful forms of seals, whales, walruses. They glided around me without effort.

My hair was set free from its braids by the ocean currents and rose around me like a forest of kelp, reaching for the surface from which I’d been exiled. My blood still flowed from the stumps of my fingers and turned into bright red char.

I continued to sink, and my children--my flesh and my blood--gifted me with a tail to better control my descent.

Above the water, I had no power. Now, beneath the water, I have become power.

With the twitch of a phantom finger, a great humpback soared to the surface and breached, making a mighty splash upon the surface. The crack of sound travelled through water, through air, and through my breath: I AM STILL HERE.