The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

I was once told the term "splitting headache" originated
in ancient Greece. In those times the gods ruled over
the world. The leader of the gods was Zeus. One day he
was complaining of a severe headache, so he called
in the blacksmith god Hephastus to split his skull
and relieve the intense pressure. Hephastus did as he
was told, splitting Zeus's skull. Once this occurred
a full grown woman came out. She was dressed in full
armor and had a large shield and spear. This woman
was the goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom and combat.
This how we got the term splitting headache.
When I was told this story it was told to me in a humorous
way rather than a this-is-how-it-happened tone.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Alba

Date learned: 00001976 CA

View just this record

Once when I was visiting a friend up north a full
moon was out. I was quite young, 6 years old, when
I was up there. I think I was in the questioning
stage of development, and I asked why the moon has
got those dark spots from. My friend said that those
are called craters and they got there a long time
ago. . . A woman was trying to put her baby to sleep
one night but he couldn't fall asleep because it
was too bright outside. So she went outside to see
why it was so bright. She discovered that the moon
had fallen from the sky and was now only a few feet
from her backyard. So what was the woman to do?
Her baby needed sleep! An idea finally hit her. She
went inside and grabbed her broom. She walked up
to the moon and began to poke and jab at it with the
broom handle causing it to go back towards the sky.
All night long she did this until it was back where
it came from. Upon looking up she saw all the darker
spots where she had hit the moon with her broom handle
causing little dimples. That's how craters got
on the moon.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Alba

Date learned: 00001976 CA

View just this record