#mythological parallels I love you <33< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[sagegreenfrogs]

ok i know i already made a "see you on the other side" post but i rewatched 5x09 and immediately had a thought about...

the "I swallowed her" line. it reminded me of something ever since I heard it... but I just realized what it is. in greek mythology, Zeus literally eats and swallows Metis, Athena's mother. but, this isn't the first time a god does that. Kronos, Zeus's father, and king of the titans, ate and swallowed his children.

when Zeus swallowed Metis, she was pregnant, and her child (Athena) was sworn (by Gaia, the EARTH HERSELF,) to bring about an end to Zeus's reign, just as Zeus brought an end to Kronos's.

something something mythological parallels something something it all comes back to the cycle of violence something something father and child relationship something something

[gingermintpepper]

I don't want to bother you while you're in your art challenge, take your time to answer! I just loved your analysis and opinion of Branchus, and i saw in the post you said we could ask you for others Apollo's lovers... I want to know (they're not lovers, they're grandfather and grandmother lol, but i would like to see your thoughts) of Koios and Phoebe 👀 Not in relationship with Apollo, just your opinion of them...

We don't know so much about Koios, we know a bit more about Phoebe because of her tie to Delphi and the Oracle.

Oh, how sweet! Thank you so much for the consideration and hey, no worries at all on asking about his grandparents rather than a lover, I'm always ready to ramble about Apollo's genealogical line since I find it extremely interesting!

Since information on a lot of the older Titans in terms of how they were worshipped and seen is scarce (Phoebe does have mentions in her mantic right but very little is mentioned in reference to Koios or her daughters apart from establishing genealogy and Koios himself seems to have been more of an abstract establishment, the way a lot of Hesiod's old gods were) I won't go out of my way to quote or base my opinions here in any literature that I've been exposed to, so just keep in mind that what I'm going to say is very much my own opinions mixed with things I understand and very influenced by my own love of familial and romantic parallels in god-pairs being symbolic of various natural and abstract relationships!

I see Koios and Phoebe, like a lot of the older Titan pairs, as abstractions of the original pair of Gaia and Uranus. Power often originates with and is exerted by women in these older pairs while glory is what is passed on, and consequently fought over, by the men - in Gaia and Uranus' case, it is Gaia who is older and it is from Gaia that Uranus is born. Uranus is her match but is also her subservient and so when Uranus is unable to love his children and seeks their destruction, it's Gaia who bestows the power and means by which to silence him. This 'equal but subservient' dynamic is definitely alive and well with Koios and Phoebe and I even think they mirror their parents from a symbolic standpoint as well.

Koios and Phoebe are the knowledge duo. They represent the two sources of knowledge/wisdom in the old world - that of heavenly (male) knowledge which pertains to the nature of the physical world and its realities and earthly (female) knowledge which pertains to the nature of intangible and unobservable reality such as time and space. I like having them mirror each other; what with them both being associated with their respective world axes (Koios as the heavenly axis if you syncretise him with the Roman Polos, Phoebe as the earthly axis if you take Delphi as the centerpoint of the world), having serpent symbolism (Koios with the hundred-headed star-serpent Drakon who guards the Hesperides which is sometimes said to be located in the land of the Hyperboreans and Phoebe with Python who guards the fount of knowledge at Delphi) and splitting their essence equally across their descendants (Their children and grandchildren perfectly embody one half of their partnership - Asteria with her heavenly magic and night-prophecies and Leto with her earthly power and wisdom and their grandchildren following likewise; Hecate who works beneath her grandfather's skies and has her grandmother's wisdom but who has chosen to reside neither in the sky nor on the earth, Artemis who could not be more of a daughter of the soil and Apollo who has his place among the brightest of stars).

It all leads back to that really fun dichotomy of equal but subservient honestly! Knowledge (and wisdom/intelligence) in general in Greek myths are female in nature so already that kind of puts Koios in an interesting position as a direct male descendent of Gaia and Uranus who didn't represent some physical, tangible element (in contrast his brothers all had some level of physicality to them - Oceanus the oceans, Cronus the harvest, Crius the winds, Hyperion the light, so on and so forth) but there's also that element of Koios' glory also being female! After all, his only male descendent is two generations removed and what should be his seat of power - Hyperborea - became Leto's the moment she was born there.

In this way, I admittedly find that a lot of comfort in Koios and Phoebe's partnership. There's a lot of respect both ways between them with Koios' respect and regard of Phoebe reminding me a lot of Uranus' original adoration of Gaia (and his return to said quiet, constant adoration after his castration) while Phoebe's overseeing of her mantle being very reminiscent of Gaia's own kingmaking both for Cronus and later for Zeus. For me, theirs is a pair without ego. A lot of the friction and instability in the younger generation of gods comes from the battle between intelligence and power - toes are constantly stepped on, glory is constantly being sought and the efforts made to counteract these moves results in conflict. Koios and Phoebe seem to have it all figured out by comparison. They've both handily passed their mantles down to their children, they've both overseen and instructed them and can rest easy knowing that they will not misuse said mantles and they've both just kind of retired now, content to spend their time in the evergreen Hyperborea, wrapped up in each other's arms like their father and mother before them and like, honestly? Good for them.

[them-awesome-rarepairs]

OK ari, here's the thing, in the following months I'm entering a new phase of my scholarship, a specialization in ancient literature. which means, I'll be the nose deep into those things constantly, WHICH MEANS, that, technically, working on this rarepairs week could work as school work 😏😏 I would just need you to add the parallel mythology/literature prompt to the list and, maybe a time travel one ? That could be fun!(or angsty as I like😂)

Thanks for organizing this whole thing again (if you end up doing it, no pressure🖤). Be sure I'll be part of it!

👀 okay i am taking notes

hwfjgshjdhhsh okay fr though i might not include the mythology history prompt bc i did it last year and the last thing i want to do is make the event boring or repetitive 😭 that being said i love that prompt a lot so i will think about it

your other ideas are noted though thank you <33 i appreciate your support so so so much <3

[brehaaorgana]

So @susanontherocks, as someone who nearly dedicated my life to studying the history of porcelain, I love this question!

I'd argue that ceramics are so important for humanity that they're often connected directly to creator gods more generally. Even when there aren't Kiln-Gods specifically in some mythologies/cultures, that gap is often filled less directly by having Gods-as-Potters (in place of, or in addition to Kiln Gods).

actually for an example I'm familiar with as a Jew, this is definitely a running theme in the Hebrew bible! It's one of those things that I think a lot of people haven't thought about, or don't realize when they read in translation but it's sort of everywhere and enough that I would say YHWH is - if not specifically a god of pottery, then definitely a God frequently titled as a potter!

The earliest positioning of YHWH as a creator-potter is Genesis 2:7, where YHWH forms the first human from the "dust (clay) of the earth." The verb used is וַיִּיצֶר֩ which...literally is the word for forming/molding something out of clay as a potter! And that is hammered home by the first human being 'adam (the word for ruddy red, like clay) made from ha-adamah (the soil). In psalms, the first time the word "golem" is used is as "golmi" ("my golem,") which is referring to the unfinished human before god's eyes as like, raw material (which is what golem means and why Golems are made of clay!).

Then this continues:

But now, O ETERNAL One, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You are the Potter, We are all the work of Your hands.

Isaiah 64:7

Plus in Jeremiah 18:6 "just like clay in the hands of the potter..." And again in Isaiah 45:9 which compares YHWH to a potter and humans to a potsherd of earth.

Job 10:9 refers to YHWH fashioning him from clay, echoed again in Job 30:19. And in Job 33:6, Job makes an argument for the basic equality of humanity, again comparing God to a ceramicist: "You and I are the same before God; I too was nipped from clay."

Isaiah 41:25 implies that the kinds of power that YHWH can grant those who invoke their name can "trample rulers like mud, like a potter treading clay."

This parallels with your example of Khnum, even with the implication that unborn humans are first formed in clay by the deity before they end up like...in the womb).

Other creator deities as potters would be like:

Enki making humans of blood and clay. Also sumerian mythology is the mother goddess Ninhursag making humans from clay.

Some Prometheus myths involve him making humans from water/earth (or making a statue of Athena from clay that is then given life from a stolen sunbeam)

The mother goddess Nüwa forming humans out of the mud of the Yellow River

Zoroastrian creator deity Ahura Mazda forms the primordial human from clay

The Yoruba Orisha Obatala makes humans from clay and is the god of the earth.

There's a billion more - I think loads of creator gods are potter-Gods, but maybe aren't necessarily the same as Kiln-Gods although arguably a potter might have historically valued a potter-God all the same, since ceramics and pottery are often directly tied to the mythology of the most fundamental creation of humanity. These also sometimes overlap in the domain of fire or lightning gods. The Italian Renaissance artist Picolpasso does describe christian ceramicists praying specifically before lighting the fires of a kiln.

Also related: there ARE demons of pottery in Greek myth! The Daimones Keramikoi: Suntribos (the Shatterer), Smaragos (the Smasher), Asbetos (Charrer), Sabaktes (Destroyer) and Omodamos (Crudebake).

Someone wrote a dissertation on the influence of Chinese Kiln-Gods on American ceramicist rituals: Pathways of Transmission: Investigating the Influence of Chinese Kiln God Worship and Mythology on Kiln God Concepts and Rituals as Observed by American Ceramists by Dr. Martie Geiger-Ho, but I'm not familiar with them or their work, tbh.

I have read William Fairchild's writing before though, and he has an article from the 60's which argues that Japanese myths replaced clay with metal in relation to deities of fire and lightning, which could be related/interesting.

And in Chinese, a pottery/kiln God is called 窑神 (Yaoshen, literally Kiln God). I'm having trouble verifying specifics with simple online searches and it would take me a looonggg time to go through all my book-PDFs but I suspect there's a fair amount of overlap there with Chinese folk religion, and especially daoism since there's a concept of the internal furnace, and alchemical concepts often overlap with ceramics in various ways.

I’m taking pottery lessons right now… and my teacher said “the kiln gods are being kind to me right now.” And that made me stop and think. Is there a god of pottery? I tried to look it up but it’s hazy.

In Ancient Greece, Athena was apparently the goddess of crafts, which is a bit vague. Hephaestus was the god of sculpting, but that’s not right either.

In Ancient Egypt, I found Khnum who made the other gods and humankind on his potter’s wheel.

I found two gods of pottery in Southeast Asian cultures, Lianaotabi and Panthoibi.

But I wasn’t able to find anyone else. Pottery being such an important part of daily life all around the world, it seems like there would be more. Does anyone know of any other gods of pottery?

[shrunkupthejams]

It was water slipping through his fingers; it was a ripe apricot hanging just out of reach.

so fucking proud of this tantalus reference i wrote about chad's homesickness

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Do you know of any fics wherein there's a courtroom scene in it? thank you very much.

Hey Lovely!

Ahhh, these are the ones that immediately come to mind.... I know I’ve missed some, so please add some if you have any, gang! <3 Please note, anything in the MFL section of this list was added because it showed up with keywords I searched for in the doc, and I don’t know if they all have court scenes, LOL. SORRY in advance if they don’t! <3

COURTROOM SCENES

The Trial of Sherlock Holmes by jenna221b (G, 3,015 w. across 3 works || TAB!lock, Metafic / TJLC, Victorian AU / 1895, Christmas, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Oscar Wilde) – Scripts based on speculation that Sherlock will be put on trial in The Abominable Bride to parallel the Oscar Wilde Trials of 1895.

five times sherlock holmes lied to john watson (and one time he finally told the truth) by miss_frankenstein (G, 5,948 w., 1 Ch. || TAB Compliant || Homophobia, Pining Sherlock, Oscar Wilde Trials, Happy Ending) – Set in "The Abominable Bride" universe, this piece adopts a familiar format to chronicle Sherlock's quiet suffering in the wake of the 1895 Oscar Wilde trials and the particular way they affect his relationship with (and feelings for) John.

The Thin Line by Odamaki (M, 10,809 w., 1 Ch. || Virgin Sherlock, Awkwardness, Confessions, First Times, Anal, Idiots in Love, Hand Jobs, Gentle Kissing) – John swallows. Keeps his eyes on Sherlock. Begs him not to ruin him.Sherlock leans forward over the witness box ever-so slightly, "I was distracted," he informs the court, "by my partner, John Watson.”

To Mend Icarus by AlessNox (T, 28,347 w., 14 Ch. || Post-TRF / Pre-S3 Divergence, BAMF John, Anger, Fighting, Sex, Bed Sharing, Stalking, Case Fic, John’s Past, Introspection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Crime, Mythology, Darkness) – After a case lands John Watson in court, he tells Sherlock that he is leaving. Not understanding why, Sherlock decides that the only way to learn the truth is to investigate his flatmate, Dr. John Watson. Sherlock finds that coming back is not enough to fix all of the damage that he caused by leaving. A post Reichenbach, post reunion re-discovery fic.

Set in Stone by SilentAuror (E, 39,309 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Wedding, Therapy, Fluff and Angst) – Sherlock and John are back from Ravine Valley and planning their wedding. However, as they move past the trial of the human traffickers, Sherlock can't help but wonder if he's imagining that John is becoming a little distant. Surely he isn't getting cold feet about the wedding... Part 2 of The Ravine Valley series

Sentenced by SarahKnight (T, 44,777 w., 30 Ch. || Dev. Rel., Alternate S4 Canon, Drama, Angst, Pining, Feelings are Hard) – Virtual series 4 opener. Sherlock's in prison being targeted by a murderer, John's married to a pregnant assassin and Moriarty's back.

MARKED FOR LATER

Do You Get the Gist of the Song Now? by Riffir (E, 3,642 w., 1 Ch. || Dom / Sub AU || Masturbation, Caning, Riding Crop, Mouth Soaping) – Inspired by the courtroom scene in Season 2 Episode 3 (as was obviously some of the dialogue that I blatantly ripped off), SubSherlock refuses to play nice in the courtroom and is sentenced to judicial caning. As well as John's censure later on.

It Yet Remains to See by 4getwhatisaid (T, 11,000 w., 4 Ch. || High School / Teenlock AU || Rape/Non-Con, Angst, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicidal Thoughts, Brief Mentions of Self-Starvation, Past Sexual Abuse, Caring John, Naked Cuddling, Happy Ending) – Teenage Sherlock and John deal with the aftermath of their encounter with Moriarty, but more troubles arise when Sherlock becomes involved in the villain's court case. Part 2 of the All We Need of Hell series

Dehumanise Me by deuxexmycroft (E, 26,898 w., 6 Ch. || Prison AU || Rape / Non-Con, Graphic Violence, Abuse, Dom/Sub Elements) – John is sent down for life after accidentally murdering someone, and gets snatched up to play prison wife for a strange man named Sherlock Holmes.

Orange is the new sexy by Sardonicpineapple (E, 42,217 w., 31 Ch. || Prison AU || Top John, Correctional Officer John, Prisoner Sherlock, Sub Sherlock, Dom John, Crying During Sex, Oral / Anal, Fingering, Age Gap, Power Play, Angst & Fluff, Power Dynamics) – 19 year old Sherlock Holmes is sentenced to 13 months in prison. Bullied, bored and lonely, Sherlock can’t believe his luck when a young, sexy, former soldier comes to work as a correctional officer.

Homo homini by Madoshi & Serinah (M, 43,826 w., 4 Ch. || Slavery AU || Domestic Violence Mentions, Depictions of Violeence, Psychological Trauma, Mentions of Torture and Brainwashing, Stockholm Syndrome, Enslavement, Interrogating Under Influence and With Prejudice) – In a world where people are divided into masters and slaves, Sherlock Holmes is sentenced to slavery. For life. He is then purchased for personal use by his best friend John Watson. Now, they have to live with it. And solve crimes. Including the one that landed Sherlock before the court of justice.

Do No Harm by Calais_Reno (T, 79,203 w., 16 Ch. || 1920′s AU || Murder Mystery, Flappers, Drugs, Developing Relationship, Period-Typical Homophobia, POV Sherlock, Trials, Prison) – In 1923, Dr John Watson is on trial for the murder of his lover, Mary Morstan, a writer of popular mysteries. If convicted, he will hang. Sherlock Holmes sets out to prove his innocence, but finds himself more and more infatuated with the handsome doctor, and deeper and deeper inside the bohemian world of London's painters, playwrights, and poets. Will he uncover the evidence needed to acquit him in time?

An Innocent Man by Fangs_Fawn (T, 183,970 w., 42 Ch. || S3 Fix It, PTSD, Angst, Mystery, Drama, Violence, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Redemption, Forgiveness, Prison, No Slash) – "And what about John Watson?" Sherlock had asked. He had expected a rather dull answer...after all, he had been away. He had not expected to hear that John had spent the past two years in prison.

All the Best and Brightest Creatures by wordstrings (E, 188,426 w., 33 Ch. || Case Fic, Action/Adventure, POV First Person, Alternate Canon, Romance, Hurt / Comfort, Love at First Sight, Asexuality, Kidnapping, Torture, Drug Use/Addiction) – Sherlock sent Jim Moriarty to prison for killing Carl Powers at age ten. This is the story of the consequences.

[balticapocalypse]

THE SNAKE IN BALTIC RELIGION

"Chronicles, travelogues, ecclesiastical correspondence and other historical records written by foreigners often made mention of snake worship among the Old Prussians, Samogitians, Lithuanians, and Latvians. The snakes were frequently referred to as žalčiai (cognate with Žalias 'green') which has been identified as the non-poisonous Tropodonotus natrix. Sometimes the chronicles also referred to them as gyvatės, a word which is clearly associated with Lith. gyvata 'vitality' and gyvas 'living'. The following historical records should more than suffice to demonstrate that snakes were worshipped widely among the Balts.

In the eleventh century, Adam of Bremen wrote that the Lithuanians worshipped dragons and flying serpents to whom they even offered human sacrifices (Balys 1948:66).

Aeneas Silvius recorded in 1390 an account given him by the missionary Jerome of Prague who worked among the Lithuanians in the final decade of the fourteenth century. Jerome related that:

'The first Lithuanians whom I visited were snake worshippers. Every male head of the family kept a snake in the corner of the house to which they would offer food and when it was lying on the hay, they would pray by it'.

Jerome issued a decree that all such snakes should be killed and burnt in the public market place. Among the snakes there was one which was much larger that all the others and despite repeated efforts, they were unable to put an end to its life (Balys 1948:66; Korsakas, et al 1963:33).

Dlugosz at the end of the fifteenth century wrote that among the eastern Lithuanians there were special deities in the forms of snakes and it was believed that these snakes were penates Dii (God's messengers). He also recorded that the western Lithuanians worshipped both the gyvatės and žalčiai (Gimbutas 1958:35).

Erasmus Stella in his Antiquitates Borussicae (1518) wrote about the first Old Prussian king, Vidvutas Alanas. Erasmus related that the king was greatly concerned with religion and invited priests from the Sūduviai (another Baltic tribe), who, greatly influenced by their beliefs, taught the Prussians how to worship snakes: for they are loved by the gods and are their messengers. They (the Prussians) fed them in their homes and made offerings to them as household deities (Balys 1948: II 67).

Simon Grunau in 1521 wrote that in honor of the god Patrimpas, a snake was kept in a large vessel covered with a sheaf of hay and that girls would feed it milk (Welsford 1958:421).

Maletius observed ca. 1550 that:

'The Lithuanians and Samogitians kept snakes under their beds or in the corner of their houses where the table usually stood. They worship the snakes as if they were divine beings. At certain times they would invite the snakes to come to the table. The snakes would crawl up on the linen-covered table, taste some food, and then crawl back to their holes. When the snakes crawled away, the people with great joy would first eat from the dish which the snakes had first tasted, believing that the next year would be fortunate. On the other hand, if the snakes did not come to the table when invited or if they did not taste the food, this meant that great misfortune would befall them in the coming year' (Balys 1948:67).

In 1557 Zigismund Herberstein wrote about his journey through northwestern Lithuania (Moscovica 1557, Vienna):

'Even today one can find many pagan beliefs held by these people, some of whom worship fire, others — trees, and others the sun and the moon. Still others keep their gods at home and these are serpents about three feet long... They have a special time when they feed their gods. In the middle of the house they place some milk and then kneel down on benches. Then the serpents crawl out and hiss at the people engaged geese and the people pray to them with great respect. If some mishap befalls them, they blame themselves for not properly feeding their gods' (Balys 1948: II 67).

Strykovsky in his 1582 chronicle on the Old Prussians related:

'They have erected to the god Patrimpas a statue and they honor him by taking care of a live snake to whom they feed milk so that it would remain content' (Korsakas et. al 1963:23).

A Jesuit missionary's report of 1583 reported:

'...when we felled their sacred oaks and killed their holy snakes with which the parents and the children had lived together since the cradle, then the pagans would cry that we are defaming their deities, that their gods of the trees, caves, fields, and orchards are destroyed' (Balys 1948: 11,68).

In 1604 another Jesuit missionary remarked:

'The people have reached such a stage of madness that they believe that deity exists in reptiles. Therefore, they carefully safeguard them, lest someone injure the serpents kept inside their homes. Superstitiously they believe that harm would come to them should anyone show disrespect to these serpents. It sometimes happens that snakes are encountered sucking milk from cows. Some of us occasionally have tried to pull one off, but invariably the farmer would plead in vain to dissuade us... When pleading failed, the man would seize the reptile with his hands and run away to hide it' (Gimbutas 1958:33).

In his De Dies Samagitarum of 1615, Johan Lasicci wrote:

'Also, just like some household deities, they feed black-colored reptiles which they call gioutos. When these snakes crawl out from the corners of the house and slither up to the food, everyone observes them with fear and respect. If some mishap befalls anyone who worship such reptiles, they explain that they did not treat them properly' (Lasickis 1969:25).

Andrius Cellarius in his Descripto Regni Polonicae (1659) observed:

'although the Samogitians were christianized in 1386, to this very day they are not free from their paganism, for even now they keep tamed snakes in their houses and show great respect for them, calling them Givoites' (Balys 1948: II 70).

T. Arnkiel wrote that ca. 1675 while traveling in Latvia he saw an enormous number of snakes.

'die night allein auf dem Felde und im Walde, sondern auch in den Häusern, ja gar in den Betten sich eingefunden, so ich mannigmahl mit Schrecken angesehen. Diese Schlangen thun selten Schaden, wie denn auch niemand unter den Bauern ihren Schaden zufügen wird. Scheint, dass bey denselben die alte Abgötterey noch nicht gäntzlich verloschen' (Biezais 1955: 33).

The Balts' positive attitude towards the snake has been recorded also in the late nineteenth century in the Deliciae Prussicae (1871) of Matthaus Pratorius who observed: 'Die Begegnung einer Schlange ist den Zamatien und preussischen Littauern noch jetziger Zeit ein gutes Omen' (Elisonas 1931:8.3).

Aside from the widespread attestation of snake-worship among the Balts and its persistence into Christian times, these historical records also suggest an intriguing relationship between Baltic mythology and our folk tale. Both Simon Grunau (1521) and Strykovsky (1582) mention the worship of the snake in close reference to the god Patrimpas. This deity is commonly identified as the "God of Waters" and his name is cognate with Old Prussian trumpa 'river'. The close association between the snake and the "God of Waters" has prompted E. Welsford to suggest a slight possibility that the water deity Patrimpas was at one time worshipped in the form of a snake (Welsford 1958:421). A serpent divinity associated with the water finds numerous parallels among Indo-European peoples, eg. the Indie Vrtra who withholds the waters and his benevolent counterpart, the Ahibudhnya 'the serpent of the deep'; the Midgard serpent of Norse mythology; Poseidon's serpents who are sent out of the sea to slay Lacoon, etc. A detailed comparison of the IE water-snake figure would far exceed the limits of this paper, nevertheless, it is curious to note that except for the quite minor Ahibudhnya, most IE mythologies present the water-serpent as malevolent creature — an attitude quite at variance with that of the ancient Balts.

From the historical records it is difficult to determine to what extent the ancient Balts might actually have possessed an organized snake-cult. Erasmus Stella's account of 1518 concerning the Sudovian Priest's introduction of snake-worship into Prussia might suggest such an established cult. In any event, that the snake was worshipped widely on a domestic level cannot be denied. In general it was deemed fortunate to come across a žaltys, and encountering a snake prophesied either marriage or birth. The žaltys was always said to bring happiness and prosperity, ensuring the fertility of the soil and the increase of the family. Up until the twentieth century, in many parts of Lithuania, farm women would leave milk in shallow pans in their yards for the žalčiai. This, they explained, helped to ensure the well-being of the family.

In 1924 H. Bertuleit wrote that the Samogitian peasants "even at the present time, staunchly maintain that the žaltys/gyvatė is a health and strength giving being" (Balys 1948: II 73). To this day in Lithuania, the gabled roofs are occasionally topped with serpent-shaped carvings in order to protect the household from evil powers.

The best proof of the still persistent respect, if no longer veneration, of the snake (or žaltys in specific) is provided by various folk sayings and beliefs which were recorded during this century. Some of them clearly reflect the association of the snake with good luck, while others depict the evil consequences which will befall one if he does not respect the snake. The following are some examples:

Good luck

1. If a snake crosses over your path you will have good luck.

2. If a snake runs across your path, there will be good fortune.

3. Žaltys is a good guardian of the home, he protects the home from thunder, sickness and murder.

4. If a žaltys appears in the living room, someone in that house will soon get married.

Bad consequences

5. In some houses there live domestic snakes; one must never kill this house-snake, for if you do, misfortunes and bad luck will fall on you and will last for seven years.

6. If you burn a snake in a fire and look at it when it is burning, you will become blind.

7. If you find a snake and throw it on an ant hill, it will stick out its little legs which will cause you to go blind.

8. If s snake bites someone and the person then kills the snake, he will never get well.

9. If a snake bites a man and another person kills it, the man will never recover.

10. If you kill the snake that bit you, you will never recover.

11. If a žaltys comes when one is eating, one must give it food, otherwise one will choke.

12. When children are eating and a žaltys crawls up to them, he must be fed; otherwise the children will choke.

13. If you kill a žaltys, your own animals will never obey you.

14. If someone kills a snake, it will not die until the sun has set.

15. If you kill a snake, the sun cries.

16. If you kill a snake and leave it unburied, the sun grows sick.

17. When a snake or a žaltys is killed, the sun cries while the Devil laughs.

18. If you kill a snake and leave it in the forest, then the sun grows dim for two or three days.

19. If you kill a snake and leave it unburied, then the sun will cry when it sees such a horrible thing.

20. If you kill a snake, you must bury it, otherwise the sun will cry when it sees the dead snake.

The snake's name.

21. If one finds a snake in the forest and wants to show it to others, he must say: "Come, here I found a paukštyte (little bird)!", otherwise, if you call it a gyvate, the snake will understand its name and run away.

22. If you see a snake, call it a little bird; then it will not attack humans.

23. While eating, never talk about a snake or you will meet it when going through the forest.

24. Snakes never bite those who do not mention their name in vain, especially while eating and on the days of the Blessed Mary (Wednesdays and Sundays).

25. On seeing a snake you should say: "Pretty little swallow." It likes this name and does not get angry nor bite.

26. If someone guesses the names of a snake's children, the snake and its children will die.

27. If you do not want a snake to bite you when you are walking though the forest, then don't mention its name.

28. A snake does not run away from -those who know its name.

29. Whoever knows the name of the king of the snakes will never be bitten by them.

30. One must never directly address a snake as gyvatė (snake); instead, one should use ilgoji (the long one) or margoji (the dappled one).

Snakes and cows.

31. Every cow has her own žaltys and when the žaltys becomes lost, she gives less milk. When buying a cow, a žaltys should also be bought together.

32. If you kill a žaltys, things will go bad because other žalčiai will suck all the milk from the cows.

Life-index and affinity to man

33. Some people keep a žaltys in the corner of their house and say: if I didn't have that žaltys, I would die.

34. If a person takes a žaltys out of the house — that person will also have to leave home.

35. If a žaltys leaves the house, someone in that household will die.

Enticement.

36. When you see a snake crawl into a tree trunk, cross two branches and carry them around the tree stump. Then place the crossed branches on the hole through which the snake crawled in. When the sun rises, you will find the snake lying on these branches.

37. When you see a snake and it crawls into a tree-stump, take a stick and draw a circle around the stump. Then, break the stick and place it in the shape of a cross and the snake will crawl out and lie down on the cross.

Miscellaneous.

38. If a snake bites you, pick it up in your hands and rub its head against the wound. Then you will get well.

39. When one is bitten by a snake, say: "Iron one! Cold-tailed one! Forgive (name of person bitten)," while blowing in the direction of the sick person.

40. If you throw a dead snake into water, it will come back to life.

41. A snake attacks a man only when it sees his shadow.

42. They say that when a snake is killed, it comes back to life on the ninth day.

43. If a snake bites an ash tree, the tree bursts into leaf.8

44. If someone understands the language of the snakes, whey will obey him and he can command them to go from one place to another.

45. If there are too many snakes and you want them to leave, light a holy fire at the edge of your field and in the center; all the snakes will then crawl in groups through the fire and go away, but you must not touch them.

Some folk-beliefs show an obvious Christian influence and are possibly the products of frustrated Jesuit anti-snake propagandists:

45. When you meet a snake you must certainly have to kill it for if you fail to do so, then you will have committed a great sin.

46. If you kill a snake, you will win many indulgences.

47. If you kill seven snakes, all your sins will be forgiven.

48. If you kill seven snakes, you will win the Kingdom of Heaven

Such examples as these, however, are quite rare in comparison to the folk-beliefs which are sympathetic to the snake.

Considering the evidence amassed from both historical records and folk-belief that the Balts possessed a positive and reverent attitude towards the snake, it is little wonder that the snake husband's death is viewed as tragedy. If, as the proverbs suggest, a snake's death can affect the sun, then what consequences might the death of the very King of the Snakes have among mortals? This tragic outcome, as Swahn has indicated, gives the tale a character which is foreign to the true folk-tale (Swahn 1955:341). This tale could not terminate on the usual euphoric note typical of the Märchen (although the tale does contain numerous Märchen motifs) because the main event of the story relates to a "reality" which the people who tell the story still hold to be true. The tale is thus well-nourished in a setting where such folk-beliefs about the snake persist. On the other hand, the tale itself may have played a part in affecting the longevity of the beliefs. Whichever case may be true, it is obvious that both are closely related.

A specific element of folk-belief that survived as an ideological support to the tale is that of the snake's name-taboo. The tragic killing of the snake king is implemented only because the name formula is revealed. Thus, the general snake-taboo proverbs (No. 21-30; receive a specific denouement in the snake-father ordering that his name and summoning formula not be revealed to others. There appear to be two important aspects that surround this name-taboo. First of all, it reflects the primitive concept of one being able to manipulate another when his name is known. A second aspect is that the name-taboo may rest on the reverence and fear of a more powerful supernatural being that requires mortals never to mention the deity's real name. For example, Perkūnas, the all-powerful Thunder God of the Baits, has many substitutes for his real name which are usually onomatopoeic with the sound of thunder, eg. Dudulis, Dundulis, Tarškulis, Trenktinis. In our tale the general reason for the name-taboo may be partially related to this second explanation especially since there are a number of variants for the name of the snake-king, eg. Žilvine, which have no etymological support but bear a suspicious resemblance to the word žaltys 'snake'. This might then indicate a deliberate attempt to destroy the name žaltys in such a way as to avoid breaking the name-taboo but still retain some of the underlying semantic force. On the other hand, it must be admitted that many of the summoning formulas include a direct reference to the husband as žaltys. In these cases, since the brothers know his name, they can extend their power over him. It is likely that both these aspects should be considered when explaining the name-taboo of the story. The clear distinction between the obviously Christian folk-sayings (No. 45-48) and the underlying pro-snake proverbs carries considerable significance when one views the substitution of the Devil for the snake in many of the Latvian variants. This substitution occurred in all probability with the increasing influence of Christianity and its usual association of the serpent with the Devil as in the Garden of Eden story. It is interesting to reflect that in some cases the entire story proceeds with the same tragic development despite this substitution (Lat. 2, 7, 9, 15). Even in the Lithuanian variant (Lith. 4) where an old woman tells the heroine that her snake-husband is actually the Devil, this does little to alter the tragic tone of the tale's ending. Thus, it would seem that the Devil is a relatively late introduction, sometimes amounting to little more than a Christian gloss of the snake's real identity. On this basis, one might well conelude that the tale must have been composed in pagan times and is thereby, at the very least, four or five centuries old if not far older.

The effect of the diabolization of the snake among the Latvian variants seems to have led to a disintegration of the tale's actual structure. In some of the Latvian redactions (Lat. 4, 8, 15) where the Devil is the abductor, the story simply ends with the killing of the supernatural husband and the heroine's rescue. In variants of the tale which progress with such a rescue-motif development, it is important to observe that many of the other elements are consequently dropped. There is no name-taboo or magic formula, sometimes no children, and, of course, no magical transformation. Thus the tale is stripped of all these other embellishments and appears rather bare. It simply relates an abduction of the heroine and her rescue, usually accomplished by some members of her family or a priest and thunder storm (Latv. 15). In any event, the abductor is one whom she quite definitely cannot marry and therefore, there can be no Märchen marriage-feast. When the tale has been altered, the rescue motif can then be correlated to the other Märchen tale-types where the heroine is abducted (rather than married) and is eventually rescued by an eligible marriage partner. One might even speculate that this will be the eventual fate of those particular Latvian variants which no longer specify that the snake, a sacred and positive being, is the supernatural husband. We then have an intimate relationship between folk-belief and folk-tale which ultimately may be mirrored in the very structure of the story.

The place of the snake in Baltic folk-belief and its relation to our tale now having been well established, the obvious next question is whether similar beliefs exist in the neighboring non-Baltic countries and, if not, might we propose this as a possible explanation why the story as a Baltic oicotype has not spread to these other cultures. A complete analysis of the role of the snake in Germanic and Slavic folk-belief would far exceed the time allotted for the composition of this study, nevertheless, some of the evidence arrived at by way of a cursory review should be brought forth.

Of sole interest in our investigation of snake beliefs among the Germans and Slavs is the extent to which these cultures parallel the Balts with respect to the latter's quite sympathetic attitude toward the snake. Bolte and Polivka, Hoffmann - Krayer and J. Grimm all mention that among the Germans there are some beliefs which view the snake in a positive light. A few specific entries in Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens are similar to some folk-beliefs already cited among the Baits (Hoffmann - Krayer 1935-36: VII 1139-1141). Bolte and Polivka in listing parallels to Grimm's Märchen von der Unke cite several instances of snakes bringing great fortune to those who treat them well and disaster to those who disrespect or abuse them (Bolte and Polivka 1915: II 459-465) .9 Both Hoffmann-Krayer and Grimm, after listing various "remnants" of what they maintain might be evidence for an ancient snake-cult in Germany, state that under the influence of Christianity the snake is usually diabolized and its image as a malignant and deceitful creature predominates. Only in some very "old" stories are there traces of the original heathen positive attitude towards the snake (Grimm 1966: II 684); Hoffmann - Krayer 1935-36: VII Sp. 1139).

Welsford, in writings about the snake-cult among the ancient Slavs, states that it was probably quite similar to the one which persisted among the Balts, but that the latter seems to have retained it much longer. In the Slavic countries the snake was usually regarded as a creature in which dead souls were embodied and through time came to be viewed mostly as a dangerous animal. It is this aspect of the snake which appears most often in Slavic stories. The snake seems to be similar or even identical with other evil antagonists such as Baba Yaga (Welsford 1958: 422). There are also many stories involving a hero or heroine who has been transformed into a snake by evil enchantment. These stories primarily relate how this "curse" is ultimately overcome.

These remarks indicate that the respect for the snake and its association with good fortune was also known to both Germans and Slavs. The heathen past, however, is farther removed from these peoples than form the Latvians and Lithuanians. If similar snake-cults existed in Germany and in Slavic lands, they were not practiced on the same scale within recorded history as they were by the Baits. The cited fourteenth to eighteenth century reports on the Baits were written by Slavs and Germans and already then the surprise and disgust with which they viewed Baltic snake-veneration gives us a good indication of the place of the snake within their own cultures.

Cursory perusal of present-day Germanic and Slavic beliefs about the snake seems to verify the fact that, indeed, the snake is usually considered deceitful and malevolent. The majority of folk-beliefs, expressions, and proverbs reflect this general negative attitude. There are only a few examples of a positive regard for the snake, usually associating it with powers of healing. One may speculate that the folk medicine beliefs which prescribe the use of a snake as an effective cure may be partially explained by the notion that evil conquers evil (ie. an extension of similia similibus curantor). This, however, is mere speculation for it is also likely that the snake's obvious vitality may be responsible for its specification in various folk cures. This latter case seems to be well supported in the Baltic beliefs (cf. folk-belief 38, 39) since the name for snake, gyvatė, and its association with gyvata 'life' helps one to consciously sense the logical correlation.

Stories which mention the affinity between snakes and children are probably known throughout the world because they describe an unexpected occurrence. W. Hand has suggested that the credibility of such stories rests on the notion that the child's innocence and helplessness can not be breached even by a snake (Hand 1968). Note that this kind of logic presupposes that the snake is evil.

Hence, although a more thorough investigation is definitely required, one may still suggest that the Balts have sustained through their history a more sympathetic regard for the snake than either the Germans or Slavs. Assuming that this hypothesis may be true, let us now see how it might be related to the discussion of our tale.

When one assumes no comparable folkloric basis among the Germans and Slavs with regard to the snake, then the Baltic tale would make very little 'cultural sense' to these people and even if it penetrated into their cultural spheres, it would probably by altered by the same process which seems to be occurring with the Latvian tales. Secondly, even if we posit the existence of a similar positive attitude toward the snake in these cultures at a pre-Christian time, these beliefs would now seem to have almost entirely died out. In any case, even though there may be some survivals, there has been no comparative retention of respect and reverence for the snake among the Germans and Slavs as one finds with the Baits. The narrative motif of this tale clearly rests on a folk-belief which serves as an ideological backbone to the story. Conversely, people unfamiliar with the underlying folk-belief or possessing quite antithetical beliefs would find this tale lacking in cultural meaning and, therefore, 'untransferable,' at least in its original form".

By Elena Bradunas, 'If you killed a snake the sun will cry' in Lituanus: Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Science (21).

Illustration by Aleksandra Czudzak.

[afangirlsguidetofazza]

Someone asked about Islam and Astrology. So without copying his entire Twitter account I just picked Ali A Olomi’s (@/Aaolomi) thread on Scorpio. Enjoy!

In the writings of medieval Muslim astrologers, Scorpio takes on contradictory meanings as a sign of prophecy and sorcery. One of the more complex zodiac signs, it offers us interesting insight.

A thread on Scorpio in astrology from the Islamic World.

Those born under Scorpio or al Aqrab are said to be fair of form of and voice. They have a mind for religion and occult sciences and deep conversations.

They are said to have alluring eyes.

Al Biruni says they are bold and impulsive but conceal a deep anxiety. He says they have a mind for vengeance and plots and dwell on evil thoughts.

(“Evil thoughts” traditionally meant they tend to have a hard time forgiving, thought cruelly of enemies, or sexual thoughts).

Restlessness at night, tossing and turning during sleep, and strange dreams or nightmares are also common.

Reputedly many have a mark on their foot or deep lines on the soles of their feet, or a mark on their back.

Scorpio is described as feminine, nocturnal, cold, watery, moist, and phlegmatic. Its season is autumn.

Despite being a water sign, it’s link to Mars connects it to a cold, icy, or blue fire.

Red and black are good colors for them to wear and they find much of their fortune on Tuesday but Friday will be difficult for them.

They have many children.

They make good sorcerers and doctors and musicians and specialists (usually indicates a niche expertise or hobby)

Scorpio is said to be the home of Mars. The Greek myth of Scorpio and Orion is re-imagined in an Islamic context showing its Lord Mars holding it by the tail and the planet being assigned to the angel Samsasail.

You can see a depiction from the 14th C Kitab al Bulhan above.

It is said Aquarius obeys Scorpio while Pisces and Scorpio hold each other in esteem. Leo and Scorpio are friendly but butt heads and Cancer and Scorpio enjoy love if they can navigate boundaries well.

Taurus and Scorpio are said to have a unique relationship. They are opposites, but for some reason are singled out, likely as they are nocturnal Venus and Mars respectively.

Both are “lusty” signs which traditionally indicate high-sex drives and marks of good lovers.

Their “lustiness” differs. Taurus is described as lusty in acceptable ways within the confines of commitment

Scorpio is described as “lecherous” usually indicating illicit or dark sexuality. This doesn't mean Scorpios are all having affairs but is used in consultation charts

This is a good reminder that Medieval people had quite complicated and nuanced understandings of love.

In the Islamic world in particular love wasn’t chaste, but linked to pleasure, sex, and passion. They also understood love as having different definitions

Sex was viewed mostly positively but within approved contexts; outside of it, it could become unhealthy

The link between Scorpio and a type of infectious desire is reflected in Muslim poetry where various body-parts of a lover are compared to the sting of a scorpion.

Many Scorpios are said to suffer from a fall at an earlier age, suffer at 33, and at 45 face a cruel enemy.

The human body was divided up by the zodiac with Scorpio associated with the genitals.

Muslim astrologers also designated parts of the world as governed by the Zodiac with Scorpio corresponding to Arabia, vineyards, and places where bugs gather

Scorpio is described in contradictory ways and as a sign illustrate how the Zodiac was more than personality and carried different meanings in different contexts.

In consultation charts, Scorpio, especially if Mars or the Moon was in it, would mean deceit and evil was afoot

Abu Ma’shar relates a story of a miracle worker who came to the caliphal court and showed his wonders.

The caliph’s astrologer was able to reveal him for a fraud by noting Mercury was in Scorpio.

Moon in Scorpio would also be used to identify illicit affairs

Similarly, in ikhtiyārāt or election charts, Muslim rulers would avoid going to war when the Moon was in Scorpio.

Famously, during the Abbasid Civil War when brother turned on brother, the Caliph Al Amin failed to note the Moon in Scorpio while his Virgo brother, Al Ma’mun heeded his astrologers.

Al Amin lost and Al Ma’mun was victorious

On the other hand, when Mars was rising in Scorpio, Muslim leaders would promote military commanders that they may be victorious in battle.

Here Scorpio was a fortunate sign.

Magical works would invoke Scorpio for sex spells, but most famously for dealing with bugs.

One of the older methods of magic involve like influencing like, hence in spells of lust, figurines of the individuals would be fashioned to influence the targets.

Scorpio’s form would therefore give it power over scorpions and insects.

When Scorpio was on the ascendant, talismans of tin and clay would be used as a form of premodern bug repellent

Similarly, talismans made with Scorpio could be washed into water and used to treat stings

Some famous Scorpios from Islamic history include the 10th century Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir who ascended the throne at 13 making him the youngest Abbasid ruler.

He was accused of spending most of his days in his harem and with his concubines.

His mother Shaghab ran the empire, creating a vast parallel bureaucracy.

The 16th century, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was also a Scorpio. Overseeing the largest territorial extent of the Ottoman empire and the height of its great building projects, he scandalized his advisers by marrying his concubine, the brilliant Hurrem Sultan

Scorpio, like Libra, would come to have a special meaning for Islam. Again reminding us of the different meanings in different contexts.

In world astrology, Scorpio would be the sign of Islam’s birth.

Mashallah ibn Athari would note the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Scorpio with Libra in the Ascendant and the Moon in Cancer in 571 CE, signaling the birth of Muhammad.

The three signs would come to symbolize Islam. Cancer would represent Islamic lands, Libra the just rule, and Scorpio conjunctions the beginning and end of Islam’s dominance.

Thus when the malefic Mars and Saturn were found in Scorpio astrologers would predict civil war, while the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn would portend the end.

Indeed, the Jupiter Saturn conjunction of 690 CE was linked to Ali ibn Abi Talib’s death.

However, since many strains of Islamic thought hold Muhammad to be the last prophet, future conjunctions could not mean future prophets.

So astrologers like Abu Ma’shar would instead interpret Jupiter Saturn conjunctions in Scorpio to mean either the appearance of religious rebels or portending something about Islam the religion.

Interestingly, later European astrologers would link Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio to Martin Luther.

Both Al Kindi and Abu Ma’shar would use the cycles of Jupiter and Saturn and its placement in Scorpio to predict the end of the dominance of Islam.

They predicted 610 to 693 years from the initial conjunction putting the end somewhere in the 13th century.

Baghdad and the Abbasid caliphate would be destroyed in 1258 CE

Ibn Khaldun notes the Greek astrologer Theophilus gives a different date, predicting the dominance of Islam for roughly 960 years and thus predicting the end or decline at the end of the 16th century.

Scorpio offers us a great deal as historians. It shows us the way in which pre-Islamic myths and calendars were Islamized.

The Greek mythology of Scorpio is re-imagined in Islam by linking it with esoteric angels.

The Sassanian approach to world history is similarly Islamized with Scorpio becoming both the beginning and end of Islam. Using the ancient calendar to inscribe an Islamic history.

[technobladetimestamps]

Nov 18 Stream Timestamps

Timestamps from Technoblade’s “the fallout (dream SMP)”

Link to my youtube comment with all of the timestamps x

Timestamps with hyperlinks below

01:30  Techno realizes something / “The universe does not like me”

04:41  “That’s how problems work, you just ignore them” / wanted to name the stream the aftermath but he already did that

05:29  “Ever since the revolution the people of this server have decided my base is public property” / his biggest pet peeve / gets so mad at the twitch chat encouraging them / “We’re fugitives. The government will not accept my existence”

08:16  “I’m not furious right now” / won’t know what’s missing till he needs it

09:48  “Do you like girls?” / couldn’t think of anything funny so he didn’t respond

11:44  “I wonder if Dream disable =d the weather cycle because he was mad at people flying with riptide” / cows are gone / zombies are annoying

13:40  sad cow roleplay / “Stop spamming me to vc I’m trying to monologue”

16:26  vc with Phil / “Phil shut up...I’m doing content” / “Please Phil just let him live” / “I watched Fundy do it on stream but I can’t say that because it would be breaking the 4th wall” 

19:46  “I was trying to be a cool loner oppressed by the world and you being here...is kinda harshing my mellow”

21:45  realized at the beginning of the stream that he had an appointment / looking for a new base at a moderate distance

26:14  “I’ve achieved peak livestreamer” / “There’s no way that’s pronounced Khorne”

28:09  “Tommy called you a furry in disguise” “Well I can hardly kill Tommy at a rate higher than I already am” / Puffy trying to tell Techno about Carl / gonna copy a build for his new base

31:44  vc with Puffy / “I have a gift for you” “Is it clout?” / “You can just mail those to me”

33:17  “I’m not moving. I’m in the same place I always am” / killed Puffy mid robbery / tuxedo rental shop / dolphin jumped onto Techno’s boat

37:53  dono’s friend is a Tommy simp / “You need new friends. It’s one thing to be a Tommy viewer”

41:41  vc with Schlatt, Conner, Tommy and Puffy / saying canonically a lot / escaping with Carl

45:22  “I would send you my energy, but it is incredibly weak. Take my money instead” / blood for the blood god trended cause of the 100k duel / he has a cousin into warhammer / clearing out base

53:18  anarchistic activities / “Use creative mode” “Why didn’t I think of that one?”

56:54  people getting mad at Techno calling Theseus a hero / “I don’t care that he was a douchebag, he was still a Greek hero” / Theseus and Tommy parallels / “Theseus’ whole plotline is just ditched a woman, feeling good”

1:00:29  Perseus / reading a wikipedia page and pretending he already knew it all / “Oh Zeus!...He’s the guy from Percy Jackson!” “I will punch you in the face”

1:03:31  “Fun fact: Technoblade is 25% Greek” / “I could be a Greek semi-demi-god”

1:06:53  perfect naturally generated snow trap / “Imagine Dream was 50 minutes in to the most epic manhunt of his life and then...he falls into some dumb snow trap” / making a 51st crafting table

1:09:16  Perseus summary / “Andromeda’s the god of speedbridging right?” / English teacher who talked more about Diana Ross than english

1:11:51  “Would Oedipus be considered a Greek hero” / “You do not need to tell me about what Oedipus did I already know” / “I was an English major...and took psychology classes”

1:13:25  “I don’t suffer from hubris because hubris is a flaw and I am perfect”

1:20:43  demi-god fractions / “They probably thought he was 150% Zeus” / best type of fan can’t watch but donates anyway / “Percy Jackson is great and all but the fact that it’s the only reason that people know Greak mythology...ruins me”

1:25:47  “Wanna hear about Jason?” / “Medea...chopped her brother into a million tiny pieces and cast them into the ocean” / Jason decided to cheat on her

1:29:04  pronouncing “gist” wrong / English majors can’t pronounce him / “Cannot imagine why they banned fireworks”

1:35:54  Techno telling us about his fav guy from Greek myths / left him and the magic bow behind bc his foot smelled

1:50:00  “Dream has 12 million subscribers, I only have a humble 3 million”

1:56:01  “You want me to do two things??” / “I kinda like Bernie honestly”

1:57:51  “You’re telling me there’s people going around dating people because they know me but not dating me??”

2:02:09  “Techno would you like to go on a date with me” “Uh no. It’s quarantine you have to understand”

2:05:18  debately canonical / achilles

2:09:13  “Techno I would love to quarantine date you” “Alright thank you for the donation” / “Why would you bully the government man, they’re just the government” / insulting animes is a bad career move

[hoidn]

i made the first version of these gifs back in january, but could never quite work out how to visually capture the symbolism of vic's positioning the way i wanted to. i still want to talk about it, though, hence this word dump.

A NOTE: when you study literature, it's an occupational hazard to find patterns of meaning everywhere. one of the things i love about longmire is that it explicitly deals with visual and narrative metaphors and parallels, which makes it a rich source for more abstract interrogation via symbolism and mythology (cf mythopoesis). if you have difficulty with contemporary systems of religion being regarded as mythology and used as lenses through which to interpret a text then you're probably gonna hate this, so maybe don't read any farther.

And who are the Officers? We learned that there are three. Strength (Gevurah) is the Officer of all the Holy Forms to the left of the Blessed Holy One. He is Gabriel.

               — The Bahir

on gabriel:

Gabriel is fire

Gabriel is gold (the color of fire)

Gabriel is the messenger of God, who executes God's will on earth

Gabriel frequently acts as God's instrument

               — source

and:

In the Midrash, Michael is called the “prince of kindness (chessed) and water” and Gabriel “the prince of severity (gevurah) and fire.” Thus, Angel Michael is dispatched on missions that are expressions of G‑d's kindness, and Gabriel on those that are expressions of G‑d's severity and judgment.

               — source

on gevurah:

Literally, and in its biblical usage, the word gevurah refers to that which makes the hero (gibbor) a hero.

In some cases, gevurah is also associated with the angel of salvation (Isa 63:9) or with the time or figure of messianic redemption (Isa 33:13, Isa 28:5-6, Isa. 11:2).

               — source

and:

Gevurah is "the essence of judgment (DIN) and limitation", and corresponds to awe and the element of fire.

Gevurah is understood as God's mode of punishing the wicked and judging humanity in general. It is the foundation of stringency, absolute adherence to the letter of the law, and strict meting out of justice.

               — source

so, i mean, i could write a damn good paper discussing the parallel elements and functions of gabriel ⟺ god / vic ⟺ walt (/ valkyrie ⟺ odin), but i could not figure out how to communicate it within the confines of these images. very frustratung.

(slightly tangential, but there's also an interesting section in chapter 7 of Mirror of His Beauty: Feminine Images of God from the Bible to the Early Kabbalah by Peter Schäfer that talks about how the principles of love/mercy (michael) and judgement/justice (gabriel) fight with each other and have to be mediated by truth (uriel). additionally, gabriel, fire, and evil are all identified with the left side of god, indicating that evil itself originates in god from the same source as judgement/justice/strength. if you extend the metaphor out, you can see walt's descent into vengeful fury (evil) flowing from the pathways of his more honourable principles (justice/strength), which then swings us back around to vic (gabriel) and salvation/redemption. fuck yeah this is my jam.)

[canaryrecords]

According to George Katsaros’s WWII draft registration, he was born April 3, 1898 in Trikala in western Thessaly, Greece. He arrived through Ellis Island alone on October 20, 1913, and his declared age at the time was 17, which would have meant he was born in 1896-7. His brother Harry (whose also WWII card as well as a 1930 border crossing document also give Thessaly as his place of birth) had preceded him and settled in the Detroit area. Their parents’ names were Kristos (Gustos) and Zoe.

Much of the information about Katsaros’ life that has circulated for decades, drawn from stories he told in the 1980s and 90s when he was an old man, including that he was born ten years earlier on the island of Amorgos with the surname Theologitis appears to be false. For reasons we haven’t ascertained, Katsaros was by then an untrustworthy narrator of his own life. Two serious studies of his biography and music have been undertaken - one in Greek by Panagiotis Kounadis (which, unfortunately, I have not been able to read because of the language barrier) and another in English by Steve Frangos. The interviews conducted by Frangos in 1985 (available through the site of the State Library and Archives of Florida) and that articles Frangos subsequently wrote based on on those interviews are an invaluable resource on Katsaros’s self-mythology and some of what follows in drawn from them.

Katsaros’s memories of his life were often highly detailed and therefore more or less verifiable. There are some vast craters in his narrative and some apparent fantastic invention. It seems reasonable to suppose that he is telling the truth that he was playing at a cafe called the Zapeion in New York around early 1917 when he had an opportunity to go to San Francisco to play at the Minerva and Acropolis Cafes, both on Folsom Street. The Minerva at the time widely promoted its family-friendly French dinners and 30 cent vegetarian lunches while, around the same time, being under close scrutiny by the police for underworld activity, resulting in the 1919 withdrawal of its liquor license after a fire and a drugging-and-theft incident there made the news in quick succession. Police found the cafe in violation of the wartime prohibition act.

Katsaros named no less than 16 towns in California where he played during the period 1917-18 and another dozen in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Montana, and Nevada in 1918-19. Performing a wide array of traditional Greek (and some Armenian) folk songs for audiences of agricultural workers, port workers, and miners, he spoke in generalities of this period, but the fact that he names specific venues (the Parthenon and the Aphrodite in Salt Lake City, for instance) and some bandmates, including cymbalom players Frank Gazis, who later recorded with violinist Demetrios Poggis, and Spiros Stamos, who later recorded for the Greek Record Company in Chicago, gives credence to his story. He bragged of earning $50 ($750 now) a night, often playing almost continuously from 7PM to 2AM. By 1920, he says, he was back east, playing at the Kentron Restaurant at 1018 Locust Street in Philadelphia. His claim of having been called to sign a 5 year contract with Victor Records in 1919 seems to be fabricated or at least unverifiable, as were his descriptions of a tours to Mumbai, India (via Australia, Burma, Singapore, and other locations) or his assertion of a 1924 trip to Algeria, Tunis, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa. "My records, they went all over the world," he said. "From every place in the United States and South America and Europe [...] they pay me and I take a boat and I go. Playing for the big concerrts. I play for the churches, for the rich people." But he hadn't actually made any records yet.

We can be sure of two significant events in the Summer of 1927. On June 6 and 16, he made his first recordings for Victor across the bridge from Philadelphia in Camden, New Jersey, resulting in his first issued disc, a 12” with the zeibekiko “Elleniki Apolausis (Greek Pleasure)” on one side and “A Kakoorga Eli (Cruel Hearted Elli)” on the flip. And then, at 29 years old, he married a 20 year old woman named Ouranea (b. Dec. 25 1907; d. April 28, 1984). Years later, she told a newspaper that she was the niece of Theodoros Pangelos who had become President of Greece in April 1925 in the aftermath of a coup, only to be deposed August 1926 in a counter-coup.

By June 24, 1928, George and Oura were in Michigan, where George’s brother Harry lived, for the birth of their first daughter Arete (Rita). During the onset and and deepening of the Great Depression four more children arrived there near Detroit - Steve (Jan. 13, 1930), Cleopatria (ca. 1933), James (ca. 1934), and Paul (April 23, 1936.) Parallel to the growth of their family, George made approximately annual trips to New Jersey, New York City, and Chicago to record. His memory in 1985 of the number of sides he made during that period is pretty close to the facts: 18 for Columbia and 36 for Victor, he said. In fact, he released 8 on Columbia and 33 for Victor as well as an additional 20 or so for Victor that were rejected and unissued. At present, we have evidence of one concert during that period, a fundraiser for the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform under the auspices of a Greek organization in Detroit on December 1, 1931 along with a Greek soprano and pianist. A photo given by Katsaros to the researcher Pangiotis Kounadis in 1987 apparently depicts him with a friend in the early 1930s in Birmingham, England.

His reputation as a seminal force in the development of rebetika, the music of the Greek underworld, based on certain of his 1920s and 30s discs is only part of the story of what he did. The vast majority of what he recorded were his own compositions and many of them spoke plainly of the nightlife, of an empathic eye for modern women, a wicked confidence as a gambler, a powerful appetite for hashish, rough companions, and the hustling all of it entails. He also recorded songs that were comedic or deeply pathetic, as often in tango rhythms or with similarities to American songsters like Jimmie Rogers or Mexican conjunto as they were to the zeibekiko rhythms and quasi-Turkish tonalities of the rebetika demimonde that grew in Athens at the same time. Playing a spruce-topped Martin parlor guitar made in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, his songs were straight-shooting, deeply honest, and totally syncretic of his experience as a Greek-American. There is nothing Hellenistically “purist” about Katsaros’s records, but they are adamantly pure in their relationship to his own sense of himself. That is what made him so unique and, perhaps, what made him one of the very, very few Greek performers to have been able to continue to record at all during the 1930s in the U.S. The 1929 stock market crash had simply ended the recording careers of most the Greek-American performers on records, including for instance Marika Papagika, (with whom Katsaros said he worked in the 30s on the road and characterized as a "very very lovely singer and a very very good person") or made their performances feel like remnants of the “old world." It was Katsaros’ singular approach to his instrument and his plain-talking songwriting, as in his exhortation of Herbert Hoover at the end of his Depression ballad “With Pockets Empty” or his lament for the sick “Mother, I Have Tuberculosis [Consumption]” that gave his records such legs that they were regularly repressed, year after year into the 1940s.

Katsaros claimed to have recorded another 24 sides for Decca in the 1930s-40s, but we have no evidence of those having been released. We know that he made about 10 sides for the Gary, Indiana independent label Grecophone and then in the 1940s about six sides for the New York Metropolitan label (related to Adjin Asllan’s Balkan label) and four or more for Standard (run by Tetos Demetriades, who had previously been the head of the Foreign division of Victor in the 1930s and had championed Katsaros then).

In 1940 his family of seven was living in Wayne, Michigan in a heavily Polish neighborhood along with a 51 year old boarder, who, like George, was making $1,900 ($35,000 today) a year working six days a week as a switchman for the Grand Trunk Railroad between Six Mile and Nine Mile of Detroit. The census that year also counted them at another house in Tarpon Springs, Florida where a "John Katsaros" is listed as the head of the household was working as a driver. Katsaros spent the Summer of 1943 playing hotels in the Catskills - the Monte Carlo, the Olympia, and the Sunset. Performing was lucrative enough that he and Oura got their picture in the Detroit Free Press that November for having bought a total of $842 in War Bonds (about $12,500 today), and his occupation was mentioned as “nightclub performer.” But on February 7, 1945, they divorced. He was 46; she was 37. A few years earlier the German occupying forces in Athens had killed his mother for having hidden two American servicemen. Her house was burned. George’s sister Sophia survived and later emigrated to the U.S.

By 1950, he was living in Brighton, Massachusetts at 100 Washington Street. On his way home just before 5 in the morning in November, 1952 Katsaros was robbed at gunpoint. The two muggers grabbed $150 in small bills from his inner jacket pocket but, he said, neglected to check his pants, where he had another $2,000 in cash.

Meanwhile, back home, George and Oura’s eldest child was in the papers. Having been drafted in 1949 to the Korean war, he’d been called back for another year of service as an enlisted infantryman in 1950. On February 12, 1951 he was captured and held as a prisoner of war until August 1953. He was 23 years old when he was reunited with his mother and siblings, living at 2961 Hanley St in Hamtramck, Michigan, including his younger brother James who had also served in Korea. Every member of the family is mentioned in the press notices of his joyful return except for his father.

Katsaros worked in the late 50s in Chicago in Boston at the Club Zara at 475 Tremont St. According to researcher Amy E. Smith, the Club Zara might have had mob ties. On May 6, 1960, 25 days of police surveillance a resulted in the dispersal of a crowd of 300 people at midnight and the arrest of seven women (five of them dancers in their 20s) and five men (including the maitre d, the manager, and an Armenian singer) under charges of “participating in or contributing to an immoral show.” Whether Katsaros was present that night or was even still working there at the time, we don't know. He said in 1985 that he’d been one of its cofounders and took credit for hiring the club’s first bellydancer “Morocco.” The trial that resulted from the raid was a media circus, and all but one of those arrested was fined between $200 and $1500. Four of the dancers were given 3 to 6 months in prison. One dancer lost custody of her eight year old daughter. The club lost its liquor license. The District Attorney told the press “This is filth, real filth. It’s about time we get rid of that show.” If they’d been looking for evidence of underaged employees or other illegal activities, the catalyst for the raid was when one dancer’s bra straps snapped.

Whether or not Katsaros was still in Boston when the raid happened, by about 1962 he’d moved to Holiday, Florida near Tarpon Springs, a town founded in the 16th century as a Greek sponge fishing village. Through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, he performed sporadically at Greek community events and restaurants, often with the accordion player John Gianaros whom he’d known since the 40s back in New York. Katsaros was getting old with several lifetimes’ worth of experiences and songs in the head, still covered in a thick pile of of kinky hair that he kept vainly under a net at home.

When a new generation of Greeks got hip to the 1920s-30s material of the old dope-smoking hipsters, they found him there in Florida. At 80-something years old, he wanted to know where the money was. In 1985, he asked Steve Frangos about how to collect royalties on his recordings from 50 years earlier or how to get a new record deal. In 1988, he traveled to Greece to perform and gave interviews. His old music was reissued. In March 1995, he was flown again to Greece to be honored by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs at a widely-broadcast concert and spoke and played for his countrymen (now available on YouTube).

When he died at home in Holiday, having outlived practically everyone who could have remembered him, on June 22, 1997 at the age of 99, newspapers around the world told an incredible story about 109 year old badass, a walking antique, who had been everywhere and done everything. Among them, the researcher Aydin Chaloupka noticed a mention in the Pappas Press that Katsaros had a birth certificate from Amorgos for one Yiorgos Theologitis born in 1888 that he'd had authenticated and showed visitors, letting them make copies of it. The story he told that his last name Katsaros was a stage name referring to his his hair ("katsaros" means "kinky" or "curly" in Greek) might hold true if his brother, a grocer in Detroit, didn't share the same name.

Why would Katsaros lie about his date and place of birth and go the trouble of obtaining someone else's birth certificate? We can only speculate, but it is not out of the question that there was something in his life that he did not want to catch up with him even as he attained some notoriety in the late 1980s. Perhaps is was the family he left behind in Detroit in the mid-40s. Perhaps it was the authorities for something he'd done (or felt he'd done) wrong. Perhaps it was some of the underworld characters he'd crossed paths with in the course of his career. Maybe the birth certificate was an insurance policy so that, if someone knocked on his door, he could say "you've got the wrong guy. I'm not George Katsaros, born 1897 in Thessaly. I'm Yiorgos Theologitis, born 1888 on Amorgos." Plausible deniability.

Something is true. But George Katsaros was probably not the person who would have told you.

[thejapanesemapletree]

A l l O f T h e m. 31: Seiya/Shiryu 42: Ikki

Okay, wig

1: How long have you been in the fandom? Like uhhhh a month or two, from around the mid of November.

2: Favorite character? Aiolos because I adore He.

3: Favorite Bronze Saint? JABU. I love him because he is so fucking stupid. Himbo Rights.

4: Favorite Silver Saint? Marin!

5: Favorite Gold Saint? Aiolos! I also like Mu because he is a good dad.

6: OTP? (Me/Aiolos) Hyoga/Shun is the only one I have read fics for, so probably that lmao.

7: Other ships? I think Camus/Milo is funny because they seem like that couple that has constant explosive breakups and then get back together the next day.

8: Favorite Saga? (Sanctuary - Asgard - Poseidon- Hades) I luv the classic Twelve Temples Arc and meeting all the Gold Saints.

9: Favorite Female Saint? MARIN MY GIRL

10: Favorite God/Goddess? (Hades - Athena - Poseidon- Odin-ETC) I vibe with Apollo and the armor crop top he has going on.

11: Favorite Movie? If the Hades OVAs count... yes.

12: Headcanons you have? All the female saints are bisexual and you cannot change my mind.

13: How did you join the fandom? I was researching anime/cartoons that are popular in Latin America for a school project, and lo and behold... Saint Seiya.

14: When did you join the fandom? When I was doing the research in November or so.

15: Why did you join the fandom? I decided to watch a few episodes of the anime on Netflix to Get Woke about it in order to discuss it, and then I was sucked in never to return.

16: You have a crush on a character? Which one? HHHHHH I love Aiolos;;; 

17: Saddest character death? AIOLOS!!! He did not deserve his fate :(

18: Saddest backstory? If you don’t say Ikki here then you’re wrong.

19: Saddest/Most tragic Love Story? Miho and Seiya because Miho treated Seiya better than Saori usually does lmao. There are not a whole lot of canon love stories so IDK what else.

20: Opinion on Athena/Saori? I like how her coming into herself as a goddess also parallels her becoming a better and more caring person, especially towards the people risking her lives for her.

21: Manga or Anime? Anime. All-The-Bronze-Saints-Being-Related? I don’t know her.

22: Do you want to cosplay as anyone? I’m planning on making an armor Shun cosplay and a Kiki cosplay for a con in August uwu

23: Moment that made you cry? Not cry really, but Aiolos’ death and the kiddies finding his last writing in his temple were both OOF

24: Moment that made you laugh? When Misty ripped his clothes off for his vain, dramatic scene, and Seiya just rose out of the ocean and basically said, “You put your clothes back on and let’s finish this.”

25: Moment that made you Facepalm? ALL THAT REVERSE BLOODFLOW ACUPUNCTURE BULLSHIT. LEARN BASIC MEDICINE PLEASE. 

26: Favourite pair of brothers? Shun and Ikki!

27: Favourite pair of twins? Saga and Kanon are the only ones I really know lmao

28: Thoughts on the “Galactic Tournament”? YOU’RE MAKING 13 YEAR OLDS FIGHT TO DEATH ON TELEVISION EXCUSE ME??? MA’AM???

29: Least favorite character? Let Deathmask and Shura know,,, I just wanna talk.

30: If I could make two characters interact more, who would they be? I wish Poseidon and Hades had some interaction just so I can see Ancient God Brother shenanigans lmao 

31: Opinion on [ship name] [Seiya/Shiryu]? TBH when I first watched the series and Seiya and Shiryu were acting all goofy and nice with each other I was like damn... they should kiss. But then Shunrei appeared lmao

32: If you could kill a character, who would it be? I would kill Shura again just because I’m that spiteful. But also, Tatsumi should get a fucking prison sentence for how he treated the Bronze Saints as kids lmao

33: Saga or Kanon? Kanon

34: If you could bring a character back to life, who would it be? Me, leaning into the mic: Aiolos. (But also his bro, Aiolia)

35: Marin or Shaina? Why would you pit them against each other they’re GFs :(

36: Favorite character backstory? Hyoga’s backstory with his mom is so OOF, but also so good

37: Least favorite character backstory? RIP to Shion turning his back to Saga for one second and getting obliterated but I’m different (I also think the plot point of a character having TWO PERSONALITIES AND ONE IS EVIL UWU is so overrated smh)

38: Do you have any merch? I just ordered some pins >:)

39: Favorite chapter? Seeing the backstory with Aiolos training Aiolia... chefs kiss

40: Character you wish hadn’t died? Aiolos  Cassios did not deserve his his fate either :( And Esmerelda!!! Damn!

41: Character you would give more Screen Time? MY LASS, MIHO (And also Jabu)

42: Opinion on *insert name* [Ikki]? The Watchful Twunk over a pack of feral teen Twinks... he is a dearly needed part of the team

43: Favourite Teacher/Sensei? At the risk of saying Marin again, I also like Dohko because he LOVES HIS KIDS

44: Most wasted character? All the other Bronze Saints besides the main ones tbh

45: NOTP? If you ship Saori with people TWICE HER AGE, or people MYTHOLOGICALLY RELATED TO HER, you will die by my hand

46: Favorite AU? AU where Aiolos lives I think an AU where Aiolos actually becomes the Pope and raises Saori/Athena as his own bean would be cool

47: Favorite character from the Hades Saga? Pandora is Goth GF material

48: Most attractive character? Aiolos Shaka, despite being the world’s largest prick, is also very beautiful. Shaina is also an attractive young lady.

49: Favourite Song? PEGASUS FANTASY (the Latin American Spanish version is lit)

50: After Saga’s death… who would you nominate to be the New Pope? Mu, following in the footsteps of his master, is a Gold Saint with his shit together, as seen by his parenting of Kiki, and he therefore would make a good Pope.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

is cú chulainn an incarnation of lug mac ethlenn? probably not.

okay so i said i’d talk a bit more about how the cú chulainn-is-an-incarnation-of-lug theory is totally whack and based on a scribal error, so here goes. there’s an article that talks about this called the textual tradition of compert con culainn, which is in celtica 21 for anyone who has academic library access, but i’m assuming the majority of you don’t and/or can’t be bothered to go look something up which is valid

anyway for those who aren’t familiar with cu chulainn’s birth story, it’s a little bit weird, because he’s kind of conceived multiple times. there’s a boy whom his mother adopts, but who later dies; while she’s mourning said child she drinks and a small ‘creature’ goes into her mouth, at which point lug comes to her in a dream and says she’ll be giving birth to his son sétanta (and by the way the boy who died was his son too); she’s due to marry súaltaim but she’s already pregnant with this unknown child so she induces a miscarriage, marries súaltaim, and gets pregnant again… and this third child is cú chulainn (well, sétanta, he gets his other name later)

so that’s how he was conceived; the circumstances concerning his birth are also a little complicated and vary according to different stories, as well as being contradicted in places by little references to his childhood in other stories. for example, the táin says that he was raised by his mother and father and then left for emain macha at the age of about five, whereas versions of his birth story have him being immediately fostered by the ulaid, and yet another story has it that he’s nursed by láeg’s parents (láeg being his charioteer) so that they’re raised together from infancy (which is ADORABLE and I LOVE IT)

what does any of this have to do with whether or not he’s an incarnation of lug mac ethlenn? well basically the scribe messed up and confused two lines – one line featuring lug identifying himself to dechtire, and one in which he identifies his son, saying that he’ll be called sétanta, and from this concluded that lug-cú chulainn was an incarnation situation, and wrote a verse accordingly which has confused people ever since

now it’s always dodgy to ‘correct’ medieval texts according to what they think they ‘should’ say, but in this case we can be fairly sure this is what happened because there’s more than one manuscript of the story, so can compare them to see why they’re different, and come up with a working hypothesis about how that came to be

so the problematic version is the one from the book of leinster (LL), whereas we also have the slightly older version from lebor na huidre (LU). a verse in LU therefore says “and he [lug] himself was lug mac ethlenn” and then “and the child would be called sétanta”, or something, which the author of the LL version clearly muddled up and thought it said “and he [the child] himself was lug mac ethlenn”, so inserts a verse after that saying “and lug mac ethlenn was in the form of the child […] he was cú chulainn”

because this idea isn’t in the other versions of the story, we can see that something weird’s going on with LL, and if you’ve ever seen a medieval manuscript you can imagine how easy it would be to confuse two lines while reading and draw the wrong conclusions (hell, i’ve done that with tumblr posts, and those aren’t written in insular miniscule)

essentially, this whole confusion appears to come from what we call ‘scribal eye-skip’, i.e. a scribe was tired while reading the story, got muddled, tried to explain the text based on how they’d read it, and resulted in several hundred years of people trying to argue that cú chulainn is an incarnation of lug

(i mean that may also be down to the whole ‘cut-price jesus’ idea, which is… a whole thing i’m not gonna get into right now, but basically, if you’re trying to find more parallels between cú chulainn and jesus other than the fact that he died aged 33 and also one time slept for three days – possibly in a tomb – to be healed by his divine father, then the idea that he is an incarnation of that divine father is going to help considerably with doing that)

now obviously this is an ‘error’ that’s made in the book of leinster, which was compiled some time in the twelfth century, probably by around 1160, and is our major source for various texts, including one of the two main recensions of the táin. it’s not a new, recent thing; it’s older than some of the other material we’ve got. because of this, we need to ask ourselves whether we can really make a value judgment on how valid this interpretation is. i mean, if everything we know about medieval irish texts comes from these manuscripts and it says this in one of those manuscripts, then even if we can see where they might have got that idea from and think it’s probably a mistake, is it not just as valid as anything else in that manuscript? we wouldn’t argue that something from r2 of the táin is an error just because LL differs there from LU; we just say that it’s a different recension and treat it as such

it’s difficult because it involves lug and whenever anything involves gods it starts becoming A Thing, and since people are intent on extricating pre-christian mythology from medieval texts, they want to know whether or not you can consider cú chulainn an incarnation of lug. and then that in turn has a bearing on how you read lug and, indeed, whether you consider cú chulainn himself to be a god of any variety, so that’s when it starts mattering whether or not the scribe got it ‘right’ … like if you want to take that approach, then you’d probably say that no, this idea doesn’t belong to any pre-christian mythology (NOT THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY RECONSTRUCT THAT), it’s just LL getting confused, so we shouldn’t incorporate it into reconstructions now

(i will not here get into the question of whether or not such reconstructions are a useful way of looking at this material because that’s just. a whole can of worms, both academic and theological.)

honestly, for me as someone who isn’t super engaged with the texts on, like, a mythological and/or religious level and tends just to treat them as literature, it doesn’t really matter to me, but the fact that this whole interpretation hinges on what looks to be a very simple scribal error is part of the reason i don’t buy into it and will never write about cú chulainn as if he’s an incarnation of lug

i hope all of that made sense but if you have any questions lmk and i will attempt to clarify. in the meantime i hope you enjoyed this 1200-word post, personally i’m thinking i need to start an Actual Srs Academic blog (like a wordpress or something) to post this stuff on if i’m gonna spend this much time on it, but there we are

main source for this post if you wanna know more / check that i’m not talking complete rubbish: Ó Concheanainn, Tomás, “The textual tradition of Compert Con Culainn”, Celtica 21 (1990), pp. 441–455

[the-light-of-stars]

Stories I’d love to see on Choices

- or similar visual novel apps

- a story set in 19th century Paris, more specifically Montmartre. MC is a budding artist from the countryside, trying to get known. Of course trying to become part of the Boheme isn’t as easy as expected.

- A Western, but not a modern one like Big Sky Country, but something like ‘Once upon a Time in the West’ - you know, a small town, a gold mine, horses, bandits that rob post trains, wanted posters, the whole shebang

- a sci fi book , but like, with actual aliens that not just look like elves, and with drama. Maybe there’s a strange disease spreading across the galaxy and MC is a scientist on a ship sent to find a cure by finding out what that disease even is and where it came from all of a sudden

- or like, a sci fi book similar to ‘2001: A space odyssey’ where Mc and co are from regular earth sent to explore strange signals from space but in the end they uncover things that could change history

- a mystery set in a small seaside town , including a lighthouse, where the fog hides terrible secrets , such as a cult meddling with (and sacrificing people to) beings beyond our dimension (also set around the 19th century)

- A film noir style mystery book, where the whole art is in black and white and MC is a detective

- Something set in a cyberpunk dystopia. With a lot of neon lights, and rain, preferably. Bonus points if said dystopia is like a mix of cyberpunk and art nouveau. (Do you know the game ‘Transistor’? Like that.)

- Something in a non cyberpunk dystopia, preferably with those ultra smooth white futuristic design aesthetics (aka everything looks like it was designed by apple), (maybe its supposedly in a desert wasteland but as it turns out that earth being deserted was just a lie the authoritarian city government made up to keep the citizens in line?) Kind of like if you mix ‘Metropolis’ and ‘1984’ with ‘A brave new world’.

- More supernatural mysteries (like ILITW , basically I’m just really hyped for book 2)

- Something set in different cultures, like South American, Asian or African ones?

- if you remember that show “H2O - just add water” , something like that would be nice

- high fantasy, with elves and dwarves and dragons, and all that jazz.

- also something that reads like an adaption of a fairytale , but not something like Cinderella, I’m talking things like ‘the six swans’, ‘Prince Ironheart’, ‘the brother and sister’ , ‘the snow queen’ or heck, even ‘Beauty and the beast’

- A book about witches or dark magic, set in 17th/18th century Europe maybe? In Germany or one of the Slavic countries because imo those have the best witch myths. Do you know ‘Krabat’ (a novel and movie)? Kinda like that. Bonus points if somehow Baba Yaga is involved.

- A superhero book (no, ‘Hero’ doesn’t count)

- Something set in Ancient Greece , Rome or Egypt. Idea: MC is a time traveler and in three books travels to each of these respectively - those could be without magic/ mythology, but more about idk, political ploys OR MC has to retrieve magic artifacts or something

- But also something where MC is actually Ancient Greek and gets involved in the gods businesses, which ofc leads to problems.

- Do you know how awesome a story set in ancient Mesopotamia would be??

- Something set on post apocalyptic earth

- Also a zombie apocalypse book, maybe?

- Definitely something like ‘the da Vinci code’

- A book set in renaissance Italy , preferably Venice. Florence is also good, but Venice provides more aesthetic™ imo. Might or might not include some secret group/ cult and political intrigue.

- A book set in the 20s, PB seems to love to include random speakeasies, so here they would make sense.

- Something urban fantasy-ish. Where MC discovers the existence of supernatural beings in their city (kinda like Bloodbound but with more idk, mystery? )

- Someting set in modern times where MC moves to the countryside , gets lost in the woods and discovers that there is a whole parallel world of magical beings

- something in an ancient South American culture would be neat.

- that reminds me: Something Indiana-Jones-y

- Also a pirate book (could include mythological creatures or not)

- Something steampunk, maybe set in Asia, I haven’t seen much Asian steampunk yet, I think it would be interesting

- Something with ghosts - I loved THoBMs aesthetic and story, but it was a way too short book

- Murder Mystery novel, but not like VoS or MW (I mean yeah something like that, too), no I mean set up like a game of Clue

- But also something that reminds of classical novels, like..idk, Crime and Punishment , would be cool.

- For some reason I’d also love to see something with horses. But! Maybe with a mysterious or magical twist, like..the horse MC rescues is actually not a normal horse at all.

That’s 33 stories, I think the post is now long enough - although tbh I can think of more. Oh wait, I forgot something I definitely wanted to mention:

- A spy book , where MC gets into a moral dilemma at some point

- A book where MC is part of a group of master thieves, maybe they’ll rob a casino or some rich guys mansion. Or a museum (although museums don’t deserve to be robbed) ? An Antagonistic MC would be so cool

[pastelbatfandoms]

Get to know my character

I am using My Character From My ‘The Flash’ Fan Fic ‘Wells of Hearts’

01. What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded? It’s My middle name so no there’s no Symbolism there lol 02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness? Her powers and trying not to use them after what happened with The Rogues and later when she joins back up with Reverse Flash. Also her love for Eobard which he has been able to use more times then she can count.  03. What would be their favorite physical trait about themselves? Her long Reddish Brown hair and Dynamic Eyes.  04. What are their favorite traits about their lover? (one psychological and one physical) Harry-His Intelligence and she also likes his Moodiness,she thinks it’s hot. When it’s not directed at her of course.

 Eobard-His Intelligence and The fact that he’s a Time Traveler she can learn alot from him and he’s a surprisingly Patient teacher. 

 HR-His Writing Skills and the fact that he can make her laugh and gives good advice. 

Physically-Have you seen them?! I mean Harry and HR are Doppelgangers of each other so of course there both Handsome. 

But Harry has a more Mature look about him whereas HR’s is more Carefree and Cool. Eobard as both Harrison and himself exudes a Charm and Dark Charisma that is very Sexy. Plus that Smile and those looks!

05. Are they sexually confident or more of the shy type? Confident 06. Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying? No,I mean they have some pretty unusual quirks themselves,So I don’t think they’d notice.  07. Is there a catchphrase or sound that they tend to make a lot (likely without being aware of it)? No 08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it? I mean Her Emotions are probably one of them but she is learning to control them,with help. 09. Do they have a favorite season? What about a favorite holiday? Her favorite Holiday is Christmas and by association Winter. Since that is when HR gave her their first Kiss underneath the mistletoe. Yes She notices the ironic parallel between liking Christmas and The Reverse Flash.

10. Is your character more feminine or masculine? Feminine but she can still kick ass! 11. What is something that would make your character fly into a rage? um being Influenced to do so lol Also Eobard dying on her...again. 12. Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up? Well Renee has given up her Powers before or dampened them. So I don’t think that would be one of them... 13. What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor? Sleep talker or walker? She’s a heavy sleeper unless she’s had a Nightmare,she’s more of a Cuddler unless it’s too hot.  14. Do they live alone or with family? How do they feel about their family/roommates? Joe adopted her around the same time he Adopted Barry,so they,including Iris,all grew up together. She Moved out after College on her own until She met Eobard Thawne then in the guise of Harrison Wells and moved in with him,much later she moved in with Both Harry and HR,after HR Died She Married Harry and moved to be with him on Earth 2.  15. Is there a certain person in this world that they cannot stand? The very mention of this person’s name makes them tremble with anger or fear. Sometimes Eobard. But despite everything she still loves him. Not many others though,no. Maybe Savitar. 16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like? 17. Does your character have dreams of getting married and/or having children? She is Married,as for Children. Maybe someday,she is now a Step Mom to Jessie. 18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode? Anywhere she can be happy. But preferably someplace Nice and Clean.  19. Would your character be the kind to get into fights? (physical or verbal) Would they be a good fighter or cave in rather easily? Depends on who she’s fighting with. But she’s pretty headstrong and Stubborn like Harry (which is probably why they got into so many rows when they first met.) So she tends to not back down from a fight and can hold her own,she also does not let things go easily.  20. Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures? 21. What is one of your character’s biggest fears? How would they react when dealing with this fear? That Eobard has been Manipulating her this entire time and truly doesn’t love her,despite his countless words to the contrary,maybe someday he’ll take her to the past and show her...Also losing Harry like she lost HR.  22. What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have? Her Eyes that look like an incoming storm when she’s angry and has her powers,also the white streak she gets in her hair once she’s changed into Obsidian Storm.  23. What is your character like when it comes to school? What subjects are they good/bad at? Do they get in trouble a lot or are well behaved? She’s well past School but when she was in College she took Journalism,Fashion and Graphic Design. Afterwards of which She was introduced to Harrison Well and joined Star Labs becoming there Costume Designer and Specializing in Facial Recognition.  24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like? Just go to these links to See My Headcanons for Eobard and Harry on that. I will be doing one for HR soon.  25. Is there something traumatic from your character’s past that greatly affects them even to this day? Knowing that Eobard killed Barry’s Mother while Barry and herself where in the house still upsets her besides the fact that her Father died in the fire that started in the house and Her Mother died in a Car Accident A month before. Renee was also in the car but was saved by a Mysterious Figure that she thought had been her Father but later learned it wasn’t.  26. What is their lover like sexually? How do they feel about their lover’s quirks, needs, etc? Again see the links above. 27. If your character was going to get arrested, what would be the most likely reason for it? um doing what Villains do. lol She is not innately a Villain but she given the right Push,like Joining The Rogues after Eobard died or Joining The Legion of Doom to BE with Eobard,she can be.  28. If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for? Fashion Design 29. What is one of the most courageous things your character has ever done for a loved one? Almost Dying.  30. When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like? Pop Art,Action Movies,Oldies,Anything Fun or Classy looking.  31. Would your character be the kind capable of killing? Would they enjoy killing or only use it when necessary or, perhaps, refuse to kill no matter what? If she was Obsidian Storm yes. To protect those she loved,and only if she felt she had to.  32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do? Eobard-A Fancy Restaurant all over the world. Harry-A Romantic Dinner at Home. HR-A Coffee Shop then maybe Big Belly Burger afterwards.  33. If your character wanted to be alone, where would they go? The Woods or Eobard Thawne’s Time Vault. which has become less and less of a Secret now.  34. Does your character have favorite foods? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, etc) Big Belly Burger of course! lol Coffee,Salads,Italian Food.  35. Is your character afraid of death? If they got to choose how to die, how would they want to go? Not Anymore. She would like to die with a loved one or risking her life for someone.  36. Does your character have any medical conditions? Are they serious or minor? Do they affect their day to day life? No 37. What are some of your character’s pet peeves? What are some things that annoy them or disgust them? Being Lied to. Fickleness,being Elitists,Judgmental. 38. What kind of weather does your character like? Cloudy skies, rainy days, sunshine, etc? Anything that can make a Thunderstorm. 39. When people look at your character, is there some assumption they might make about them just by appearance? Is that assumption correct? That they’re Naive or too forgiving. They might be right about the latter.  40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others? Wouldn’t want known? um no she has no secrets of her own,anymore. 41. Does your character’s family affect your character in any way? They can be a bit too brusque in there handling of certain situations or a bit too selfish at times. But Renee knows it’s only out of love and protectiveness. Especially Joe and Barry. 42. Is there anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or they wish they could change? Turning her back on Team Flash to join The Rogues. Currently,lying to them about working with Eobard again.  43. Does your character have a switch that changes aspects of their personality whether they are around friends, family, etc. Is there someone who gets to see their true self? 44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character? I think she’s already been through most of them. But of course if something ever happened to Harry,Joe or Team Flash... 45. Is your character the kind to hide their true emotions or do they wear their heart on their sleeve? heart on their sleeve.

46. What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover? She loves going behind and planting a kiss on their cheek with her arms around there neck. As Harrison, Eobard loves this unless he’s in Reverse Flash mode,cause then it’s business time. Same goes for Harry,when he’s working. HR on the other hand doesn’t mind at all! 47. Is your character outgoing? Would they be the leader of the friend group, or the quiet one that gets dragged along? A bit of both,depends on her mood. 48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious? Her Men being Flirted with or doing the flirting...EoWells.... 49. What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood? She used to have Nightmares after finding out Harrison was Reverse Flash and again after he died,turns out those weren’t dreams.  50. If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say? Thawne would Smirk and respond back in kind,he of course already knew it,you were destined he was just waiting on you. Harry would be surprised at first but give him awhile and he would warm up to it. HR would love it,he’d be giddy and respond with a kiss. 

[freechoicedreamer]

Compass 1

With the main thematic North being Captain Swan related (but not exclusively), here is a guide to thoughts, speculations, analysis, researches, complains, and dreams spread throughout the blog...

1. It’s all about choice; 2. Keeping Balance in the Full Cycle; 3. The hero of a thousand faces (in OUaT); 4. The inner world challenges; 5.Foreshadowing…?; 6. 5B (Captain Swan) Wishing List; 7.Have they, have they not - yet?; 8. The Subtle Bodies; 9. Once Upon a (Non)Linear Time; 10.Patricide in Once Upon a Time; 11. True Love; 12. Killian and Emma navigating with the stars and finding their True North; 13. Once Upon an Ugly Duckling; 14. Firebird; 15. The Romance of Piracy; 16. Unfinished Business; 17. Pre-season 5B Feelings; 18. Tortured Killian Jones in the Underworld; 19. Guessing a little; 20. An Untold Story; 21. A  Ballad for Robin Hood; 22. On Milah and Rumple; 23.Killian’s Choice and CS baby; 24. Killian Jones and Emma Swan deconstructing the high bar; 25.Expectations for CS; 26. What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle; 27. OUAT in the Underworld; 28.Sleeping Pregnant Belle; 29. It’s all about logistic (real life pregnancy, movie promotion, LGBT romance as a fan service: 5 x 18; 30. 5x18 in summary; 31. Then there is HOPE; 32. On the morality of fairy tales and Greek mythology; 33. Magic Hook; 34. Weighing of Love in the Greek Mythology; 35.Firebird; 36. Unfinished business; 37. A Heart and a Feather; 38. Firebird - Initial Thoughts; 38.Orpheus and Eurydice; 39. The Eleusyniam Mysteries; 40. Zeus and Hades; 41. The balance scale in the True Love Test; 42. Killian and Emma on Fire and the Emerald Formula; 43. I sense light magic in the air; 44. Hope; 45. Last Rites; 46.  Misguided Lord of the Underworld; 47. Thoughts on this (complementary); 48. Roland and Zelena; 49. Once upon a spoiled child; 50. Anticlimactic and frustrating finale; 51. The unfinished season; 52. Unfairness, Forgotten and Wasted Plots - Lost Opportunities; 53. Wishing; 54. Restoring the human touch; 55.On the Savior Mythology ; 56. More on the Savior Mythology - a Curse?; 57. True Love?; 58.(Commenting) the parallels with Emma and Killian;  59. More on the savior; 60. (Commenting) Redemption and end game; 61. More on Killian’s hand-hook; 62. More on Killian’s hand-hook; 63. Redemption for Regina; 64. Two Pillars (commenting); 65. Killian’s patience (commenting); 66. The Strange Case of Regina (commenting); 67. Killian and Belle (commenting); 68. On destiny and happy endings (commenting); 69. Parallels; 70.  OUAT timeline (commenting); 71. Mamma Snow (commenting); 72. More on Killian’s left hand (commenting); 73. A storm is coming; 74. Green-Green-Green: something I’d never imagine I’d like to see but now I would; 75. Atropos; 76. The 3 keys to Killian’s secret (commenting on a gif set); 77. A Secret Treasure and Killian’s Past; 78. The safest trustworthy place; 79. I wish you were here; 80. On Conscience and Spine (commenting); 81. Zelena; 82. On Regina and the Evil Queen (commenting); 83. About the “dad to be” little speculation; 84. Timeline puzzle; 85. Unanswered questions; 86. Stage Lightning of Nautilus and Underwater scenes; 87. Hamlet on “Murder Most Foul”; 88. Heartless (speculations); 89. Promises, promises; 90. Adder’s fork, the Three Witches (Macbeth) and the Three Fates; 91. The Three Weird Witches; 92. Murder Most Foul - Hamlet characters animation; 93. Murder Most Foul (comments); 94. Murder Most Foul - more comments; 95. I’ll be your mirror - speculations; 96. More reflections on Dark Waters (comments); 97. Convergence (comments); 98. Speculations on 6x10; 99. The Back Door; 100. Narrative structure (comment); 101. Forgiveness;  102. Rumple hurting Belle; 103. Self-delusion champs of the week; 104. On Emma’s visions (comment); 105. Milah; 106. In defense of the writers (comment); 107. Alternative interpretation to Emma’s vision (comment); 108. TLK Mazze; 109. Regina’s black heart; 110. What. A. Mess. - 6x10 first reaction; 111. 6x10 second reaction; 112. There is a Villain for each Savior (comment); 113. What if’s time; 114. Somethings to consider; 115. A “positive” note; 116. Another positive note; 117. It’s all about her; 118. Calmer Killian (comment); 119. Killian’s growth; 120. Case solved; 121. Writer’s reaction;  122. 6x10 Criticism (comment); 123. Plot Hole 1; 124. Plot Hole 2; 125.Lessons Learned (comment); 126. Lessons for now - the imbalance on season 6 of Ouat; 127. My testimony as part of the CS Fandom; 128. Justice; 129. Captain Swan Wedding (comment); 130. On the Black Fairy (comment); 131. On the Villain vs. Hero pairing (comment); 132. Wishes and Prices; 133. Reality of the Wish Realm (comment); 134. Speculation on the Shears of the Fate (comment); 135. Destiny of the Savior (comment); 136. An important issue not addressed yet; 137. On “official” spoilers; 138. On the condition of Regina’s heart; 139. What 6B could be; 140; New year wish (personal); 141. Naming a house (CS Home); 142. 10 (anti) parallels of Hook’s redemption / Regina’s redemption (comment); 143. On Killian facing past demons (ironic comment); 144. Greatest missing opportunities with the splitting plot in 6A ; 145. A little bit of patience; 146. The cycle is almost complete (comment); 147. Speculations about season 7; 148. Thoughts on Jennifer’s podcast; 149. Speculations on 6x15; 150. Optimism about 6B; 151. Redemption Path (comment); 152. A musical… really?; 153. Resistance - A Musical episode may be a Great gift to all of us - I choose to believe; 154. Turning point for becoming a true hero (comment); 155. More on the turning point (comment); 156. A scene lacking of a better explanation (comment); 157.  The Wish Realm, in summary; 158. OUAT going full circle (or the role of the Musical Episode (preliminary speculation); 159. Speculation on how to break the double sleepling curse (comment); 160. Forgettable World; 161. Regina’s projection of Hook; 162. Dealing with delicate issues (question); 163. On the reality of the Wish Realm (comment);164. Comments on a Killian Jones meta; 165. Speculations on the dark curse (comment); 166. Speculations on 6x18 spoilers (comment); 167. Speculations on 6x18 spoilers, part 2 (comment); 168. Storybrooke Fashion Week 2017; 169. My deadline (as a fan); 170. More ramblings on the show ending;  171. Anxiety in the fandom (comment); 172. Exercise; 173. Speculations on the end (comment); 174. Praising Bob and Colin’s acting dynamics; 175. On how A&E will deal with Evil Regina (comment). 176. Where have all the hearts gone?.

Texts that may be not directly related to OUAT and/or Captain Swan, but somehow they are correlated to the blog and its thematic.

1. Argonauts in Nature; 2. Jason and The Argonauts; 3. The Underground and The Underworld; 4.The Disease of Being Busy; 5. Allan Watts on accepting the darkness of self and others, according to Jung; 6. February, 2nd: Yemanja, Queen of the Sea ; 7. The Griffin; 8. Red Psychology; 9. Orpheus and Eurydice; 10. Ambrosia; 11. The Hero’s Journey in Storytelling; 12.The Emerald Formula; 13.All along the watchtower; 14. Morpheus, the god of Dreams; 15. Seashell oracle; 16. Quotes from Jules Verne (20000 Leagues Under the Sea); 17. The Two Pillars; 18. Names (commenting); 19. Based on Judith Harris, “Jung and Yoga: The Psyche-Body Connection” (commenting); 20. Nautilus: Sacred Geometry and Symbolism; 21. Meaning of Nemo (commenting); 22. Rex Mundi - What is behind Rumple’s book; 23. The Mysterious Island; 24. Portunes, the god of Keys (commenting); 25. A bit of reflection on a strange day (personal); 26. The dance of Shiva (personal); 27. On the “anti” on tumblr; 28. 5 things that make me happy (personal);29. On fandom nonsense;  30. On true love nonsense; 31. The Changelings Folklore explained; 32. The story of Wish You Were Here; 33. Dreams; 34. Fairies; 35. Jung and the Fairy Tales; 36. Us, poor human beings in December 2016 (personal); 37. Heartbreak - a video; 38. What is thinking? (personal); 39. Fandom stuff; 40. Bluebirds; 41. Third Bank of the River.