My Other Signs

With the wealth of other information I found while researching my Chinese Zodiac, I wanted to go ahead and look into my other astrological signs and see maybe what they had in common. It all started with a desperate search to figure out whether my birth year was a yin or yang year (see my Epic Water Chicken post for that adventure).*

To sum up several hours of searching, I finally landed on a website that gave me ALL my astrological information, not just my Chinese information. Since I like comparing and contrasting cultural developments, here is a look at me from four major astrological perspectives: Western, Chinese, Celtic, and Gemology/B-Day Divination.

Please note that I did go ahead and pay the $3.99 for my full report from My Spiritual Profile just to save myself time on research.
Also note that I did research anyway because I didn't really like what it had to say.

Western Astrology:

Western astrology is derived from star signs combined with planet

Aries, The Ram: Individualistic and Independent

We tend to have a fiery personality that is passionate and impulsive and sometime violent. Sitting still is not an option- we are always on the go.

Freedom-loving, assertive, individualistic, independent, intellectual, pioneering, leader, action-oriented, fiery, straightforward, passionate, powerful. Can be extreme, arrogant, intemperate, violent, headstrong, impulsive

Fire: Desire

We tend to be energetic, assertive, and passionate. Fire signs don't often sympathize with or comfort others. We don't have the patience for emotionalism or heaviness. We tend to take credit for others.

Fiery, bright, ardent, enthusiastic, leaders, confident, proud, spontaneous, self-sufficient, romantic, arrogant, self-centered, bossy, forceful, hungers for attention 

Mars: Ardent

Those born under Mars are often associated with confidences and self assertion, aggression, sexuality, energy, strength, ambition, and impulsiveness. Mars governs sports, competitions, and almost all physical activities.

Urge for action, personal energy and drive, assertiveness and aggression, sexuality and passions, sport, physical activity and competition

Chinese Astrology

Rooster: 

We are the first to rise in the morning, often having powers of divination. We are warm, generous, diligent, sociable, and very capable speakers. We also like to think and have plans, but are capable of creative problem solving. 

Key Words: acute, neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. 

Water: Shui

Water is a feminine character often divided into flowing or still waters. I represent flowing in my aggressiveness and energy. It often represents intelligence, wisdom, flexibility, softness, and pliancy. But an overabundance of water can cause difficulty with followthrough. Water can be fluid and weak, but it can also wield great power when it floods and overwhelms the land. Water is a Primal Spirit represented by the Black Tortoise. 

Key Words: Secretive, self-destructive, charming, intuitive, deceptive, passive-egressive, compassionate, sensitive, creative, flexible, addictive, manipulative, compliant, eloquence, intellectual, betrayal.

Yin: The Shady Place

Yin is the dark area. It is characterized as slow, soft, insubstantial, diffuse, cold, wet, and tranquil. It is generally associated with the feminine, birth and generation, and with the night.

Key Words: Slow, soft, insubstantial, diffuse, wet, cold, tranquil

Celtic, Colorology, and Numerology

Rowan Tree: The Sensitive

I actually had to look this tree up; it sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite place it. A brief description for those of us not familiar with it: They are relatives of the rose family. Native to temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, they are particularly common in the mountains of Western China and the Himalayas. Though they look similar, they are NOT related to the ash tree. Rowan trees produce an edible fruit. 

People represented by rowan trees have a fragile appearance, but they are very strong and capable of hard labor. While they look joyful on the outside, underneath hides a great turmoil of thoughts and conflicting feelings. We have a great sense of what to wear.

Full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive

Four: The Manager

We are born managers. We know how to lead a group and instinctively know the right place for everyone in it. Fours are determined and logical and like working hard. We are good at bringing people together and focusing on a common goal.

Strong sense of order and values, struggle against limits, steady growth, highly practical, scientific mind, attention to detail, foundation for achievement, a genius for organization, fine management skills, lack of imagination, caught up in detail, stubborn and fixed opinions, argumentative, slow to act, too serious, confused

Navy: The Passionate

Navy people like to have fun! When we decide what we want, we go after it with all our heart. We don't often forgive well. We are incredibly passionate and want to be the center of love and attention.

Attractive, fun-loving, passionate, unforgiving, enthusiastic

Birthday Divination

Diamond: Detoxifier

She who from April dates her years,

Diamonds shall wear,

Lest bitter tears

For vain repentance flow.

Enhancing relationships, increasing inner strength, balance, clarity, abundance, detoxing

Thursday

Monday's child is fair of face.

Tuesday's child is full of grace.

Wednesday's child is full of woe.

Thursday's child has far to go.

Friday's child is loving and giving.

Saturday's child works hard for a living.

But the child who is born on Sunday

Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

Spring: New Beginning

People born in the spring love to start new things and explore new territory. Sometimes spring people switch to new things too quickly.

Persistant, fickle, inventive, forgiving, likes to win, green, sprouting

* www.myspiritualprofile.com

What Was Old Is New Again: Slenderman

Presentation Powerpoint

What Was Old Is New Again

One of America’s most revered authors, Mark Twain, once stated, “There is no such thing as a new idea… They are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” While he was likely speaking of writing at the time, this general thought can be seen across the globe in almost every field: science, music, visual arts- right down to the core of societies: myths. Even within one of the most modern American myths, that of Slenderman, comparisons can be drawn from some of the oldest religions and plays on humanity’s oldest fear.

Myths have been around since the beginning of human awareness in order to explain the unexplainable phenomena surrounding them in a complex world. Psychologists like Doctor Alex Lickerman have devoted their lives to the study of why humans must know why. In his book, The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self, he calls humans “meaning-seeking creatures” on multiple occasions and justifies that title by explaining that people, in general, are more likely to accept change if they can understand the reason for the change (Lickerman). It is this coping mechanism that has stemmed a multitude of myths. 

Merriam-Webster defines a myth as a story that “serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon” (Myth). But when science then defines what was once an enigma, the previous interpretation is disregarded as an outdated reasoning. As such, many ‘explanations’ have been relegated to the realm of myth and fiction. However, mythology is not a stagnant field of research. Science has explained how the planet Earth came into existence, why creatures on the planet experience day and night, how bolts of light split the sky during a storm, and so much more. But new questions constantly arise and there is the ageless fear of the unknown.

Xenophobia, a psychological diagnosis of an incomprehensible fear of foreigners, is derived from the Greek word xenos, with a direct translation meaning “stranger.” The base term, however, can be used to convey divergent concepts such as “enemy” and “unknown” as well as “guest-friend” (as seen in Sophocles’ tragedy Philoctetes). Therefore, xenophobia is actually the clinical term for a fear of the general unknown (Xenophobia). Researchers believe this to be among the six fears with which humans are hardwired and lead to our over-arching purpose: to explain everything. Slenderman is the personification of mankind’s innate xenophobia. 

Birthed in 2009 on a forum dedicated to altering photos, Slenderman is the brainchild of Eric Knudsen (known by the username of “Victor Surge”). Knudsen posted two photographs that he had manipulated to display the previous subjects of the picture being loomed over by a tall, think, faceless man in a dark business suit. While the visage of such a creature gives rise to curiosity and suspicion, it was the cryptic captions Knudsen wrote to accompany his creations that began the rockfall of horror. This first picture he posted was of a large group of teenagers walking toward the camera within a forest with a cabin in the background and a man easily twice their height following behind with arms out as if to herd them away from the cabin. The accompanying caption read:

“we didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time…”

-1983, photographer unknown, presumed dead.

The second photo Knudsen altered for his first post showed younger child on a playground surrounded by large trees and a tall figure with multiple arms in the shade with several children sitting around him. Beneath this, he wrote another vague explanation:

One of two recovered photographs from the Stirling City Library blaze. Notable for being taken the day which fourteen children vanished and for what is referred to at “The Slender Man”. Deformities cited as film defects by officials. Fire at library occurred one week later. Actual photograph confiscated as evidence.

-1986, photographer: Mary Thomas, missing since June 13th, 1986.

From humble origins, the Slenderman myth then caught the attention of other creative minds and spurred an entire mythos including Slenderman, his brothers and cousin, and a realm of creatures that hide in the dark places in every room. He began a narrative on the internet where the vague believability was reinforced by the blurred lines of reality and fiction generated fragmented evidence relating to the Slenderman myth having been uncovered rather than created. His powers evolved from obscurity to the uncontrollable: those who see Slenderman become his targets of his attentions. He will stalk his victims and bad things start happening to both the watched and those surrounding them. The prey will often have blackouts that often coincide with the perpetration of violent crimes in the areas. Their friends and family will often become ill, mentally unstable, or simply disappear.

The documentation of Slenderman has become an obsession for some and has even caused misguided attempted murders on multiple occasions. The most infamous crime purportedly inspired by the manipulations of Slenderman occurred in 2014 when two twelve-year-old girls lured a third girl into the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin and stabbed her nineteen times. The victim, Payton Leutner, survived and the two assailants were charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Experts who testified at the hearings stated that one attacker had schizophrenia and an oppositional defiant disorder that would require long-term mental health treatment. The second girl was then diagnoses with a delusional disorder and schizotypy, leading to a belief in Slenderman. According to authorities involved in the case, the two girls intended to sacrifice Payton in an attempt to summon Slenderman and hoped to live with him. This, however, was not an isolated instance. Slenderman alone has been linked to twenty-three cases worldwide since his first appearance on the forums of Something Awful.

A large part of the allure involved with tracing Slenderman is his ability to draw on both primordial fears and postmodern anxieties concurrently. The faceless visage and dark appearance both play into fears hardwired within humanity as they are the subject of myths as old as civilization. But his draw of horror is not limited to the realm of history; his emergence on the internet coincided with an accelerated growth of the internet and new technologies causing a resurgence of surveillance paranoia throughout the country. His dress is often that of a dark business suit implying the modern distrust of those with wealth or power, a fear which has led to multiple massive protests since the governmental capitalism shift that began in 2000 with the election of George W. Bush to the presidency. Xenophobia also began to take on a more modern definition as terror groups sparked wars and killed millions, a battle still waging today.

But other than his unique play on modern terrors, Slenderman is actually a conglomeration of ancient myths. His title as the face of death is one traditionally given to the Grim Reaper. Death itself was dubbed the Grim Reaper late in the fourteenth century during the bubonic plague that claimed at least twenty-five million lives (Harris). Artists began portraying the angel of death as a tall, slender figure wrapped in a dark cloak with the either the face hidden or a featureless skull. This countenance is even older than the plague-era, however. 

Ghost stories are part of the essential religions of Japan, particularly in Shintoism, but also draws elements from Buddhism and Taoism. Most Japanese people believe that once a person dies, their spirit is angry and violent. To help pacify the spirit, there are a number of specific rituals performed as part of the funeral rites, mostly taken from Buddhist traditions. But the Japanese people, even today, believe they are surrounded by spirits day and night, each of which has a gentle soul, the nigi-mi-tama, and a violent soul, or the ara-mi-tama. This comes straight from the Shinto religion, stemming from the spiritualism of Japan itself, which boasts more than eight million spiritual entities inhabit the earth and the heavens (Rubin). These spirits are divided into several major classes, but it is from the yōkai that Slenderman likely derives a majority of his attributes. 

Shintoism is one of the oldest organized religions still practiced in the modern world. This polytheistic religion can be traced back to the sixth century B.C.E. and has more than a thousand types of spirits (Religion). The one most resembling Slenderman is a type of yokai called a noppera-bō. These spirits often blend in seamlessly with human society, inhabiting roads, inns, and even shops. The only visible difference between an average person and a noppera-bō is that the spirit has no face, simply a featureless blank slate. Often they will entertain themselves by spooking humans and reveling in their terror. Almost every culture, however, has a Slenderman-like figure to haunt them: the Germans have Der Grossman, most Western Europeans have faeries that steal children and force them to commit evil acts, the Chinese have a demon named a hundun considered to be the source of all chaos; the list goes on.

Despite all the assumptions made by fans of the Slenderman mythos, Knudsen has refused to weigh in on his personal inspiration. He filed for a copyright and has since given his personal blessing to a vast number of Slenderman-based projects like movies, video games, and books. This copyright is not for the sake of the money, he argues, but for artistic integrity. In 2016, Knudsen sold the copyright to Mythology Entertainment (Rogers).

Imaginative minds have spent centuries developing shambling monsters that mingle folklore with the godlike powers science could develop. Birthed by the internet, spread by social media, and manifested by the physiologically unstable, Slenderman is the modern Frankenstein, playing the manifestation of humanity’s most primeval fears with postmodern stressors. He is an omniteunous presence and a predator.

And he is watching you.

Works Cited

Davisson, Zack. “What Does Yokai Mean in English?” 百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, 24 Nov. 2014, hyakumonogatari.com/2012/10/26/what-does-yokai-mean-in-english/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

Harris, William. “How the Grim Reaper Works.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 26 Jan. 2009, science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/grim-reaper.htm. Accessed 23 Apr. 2017.

Lambert, Frank. “The Second Law of Thermodynamics.” A Students Approach to the Second Law and Entropy, Feb. 2006, entropysite.oxy.edu/students_approach.html. Accessed 23 Apr. 2017.

Lickerman, Alex. “Why We Need To Know Why.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 Nov. 2010, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201011/why-we-need-know-why. Accessed 22 Apr. 2017.

Madison, Associated Press in. “Slender Man stabbing: Wisconsin girls to be tried as adults, appeals court rules.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 July 2016, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/27/slender-man-stabbing-wisconsin-girls-tried-as-adults-appeals-court. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

“Mark Twain quotations - Ideas.” Mark Twain quotations - Ideas, www.twainquotes.com/Ideas.html. Accessed 22 Apr. 2017.

Myer, Matthew. “Nopperabō.” Yokai.com, Wordpress, 25 Feb. 2016, yokai.com/nopperabou/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

“Myth.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

“Religion Library: Shinto.” Patheos Library, www.patheos.com/Library/Shinto. Accessed 23 Apr. 2017.

Rogers, Katie. “'Slender Man,' a Horror Meme, Gets Ready to Step Out of the Shadows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 May 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/movies/slender-man-a-horror-meme-gets-ready-to-step-out-of-the-shadows.html?_r=1. Accessed 23 Apr. 2017.

Rubin, Norman A. “Ghosts, Demons and Spirits in Japanese Lore.” Norman A. Rubin: Ghosts, Demons and Spirits in Japanese Lore, Asian Art, 26 June 2000, www.asianart.com/articles/rubin/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2017.

Surge, Victor. "Create Paranormal Images." The Something Awful Forums. N.p., 10 June 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2017. <https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591>.

“Xenophobia.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenophobia. Accessed 22 Apr. 2017.

Death: The Final Frontier

Death. Our greatest fear. Our imminent end. But why is it so terrifying? Nothing is definitively understood about what happens to the ‘eternal soul’ when the body dies. Since humans first came into existence, we have tried to explain phenomena around us. These include everything from weather to childbirth and even from the birth of everything to the death of everything. Religion is a culmination and collection of these explanations often tied together with a story of supreme beings.

But is death really final? Just like humans have struggled to comprehend the world around us, we have also struggled with the concept of permanency. Even our modern permanent markers- there are tips to get out even sharpie ink. So why should death be more permanent than our markers? So stems our belief in the afterlife. We spend our whole lives culminating a personality, a unique intelligence with knowledge. We cannot seem to comprehend that it is all for nothing; that it all just ends when the body finally gives out. Be it an afterlife in another world like Christianity, Islam, and even many pagan beliefs, or reincarnation like Buddhism and Hinduism, humans insist on death not being the end. 

Most mainstream religions believe in some version of the afterlife, often times divided by how 'good' you were while on Earth. And, often times, it is our actions while alive that determine where we spend our eternal life. Even the norse had a division of afterlives between the honorable warriors going to Valhalla and the common people going to Hel. What most of us are likely more familiar with is the Christian concept of heaven and hell. You do good deeds while alive as a Christian and you go to heaven. You do bad things, Christian or not, and you go to hell. If you do good but aren't a Christian... That is a point Christians argue over constantly. Regardless, it is that hope of eternal bliss that drives some people, and sometimes entire cultures, to do better: for fear of what hell might be like. 

The interesting turning point in all of this is actually the typical flood myth. Like creation, almost all religions have a flood myth. Often times before the flood, humans are long lived and sometimes even abused by their creators. But after the world is washed away, the lifespans become dramatically shorter, humans are left more to their own devices without divine intervention, and belief is 'restored' because only the faithful are saved. Christianity explains this sudden reduction in lifespan as an intended consequence of the flood. 

Regardless of what happens when our body dies, it is inevitably going to happen. I think rather than focusing on what comes next, we ought to focus more on what we have left behind and how we come to terms when the Reaper pays us a visit.

Myth of Moana

Moana is Disney’s newest hit movie. Memorable music, relatable characters, and another non-conformist ‘princess’ take the stage in the typically theatrical take on a traditional Polynesian myth. 

According to Doug Herman of the Smithsonian Magazine, the movie appears to take place in Samoa, though most American’s will interpret it as Hawaii. And, of course, the creators of the movie drew from many cultures to create a touching storyline. So, while not accurate of one specific culture, it does a credible job of representing the group of tribes of the Polynesian Islands.

But the story focuses on a hole in Polynesian history. Archeologists refer to a dead-zone of traveling as “The Long Pause,” a time when voyaging to and from the islands halted without any discernible reason. And, for an equally inexplicable reason, they begin sailing again after almost 2,000 years. Archeological records point to an explosion of colonization after they returned to their seafaring nature.

Regardless of their creative license, Disney managed to create a lovable myth of their own, however. Moana, the main character of the movie, goes on a hero’s journey. These journeys, primarily a Westerner construct, often focuses on a young man of often privileged birth embarking on a journey for an altruistic purpose and collects mighty deeds and fame before returning home to a hero’s welcome and leads his people to prosperity. Perhaps the oldest written hero’s journey is that of Gilgamesh. We are likely all familiar with the ancient epic poem from our grade school days.

Moana is the more modernly ‘politically correct’ hero’s journey. As the daughter of the chieftain, she is chosen by the ocean itself to save her people. While she is aided by a brawny man (with no romantic affinity), Moana accomplishes her goal of saving her people and receives the gratitude of a goddess before returning home and encouraging her people to cross the reef again, presumably to begin the second era of Polynesian voyaging.

The Budweiser Clydesdales

Clydesdales, big Scottish draft horses, have long been a symbol of one of America's favorite beers. First appearing in 1933, Budweiser calls the "living embodiment of America's great industrial spirit." But the history behind the emblem is an incredible one.

Originally bred as one of the smallest draft horse breeds in Scotland, they were farm animals mostly relegated to pulling plows through often rocky soil. Selective breeding has led the Clydesdale to become one of the largest alive. Their fancy appearance- shiny bay coats and long feathers (lower leg hairs)- belies their true hardiness: they can pull a 1 ton load at an average of 5 mph.

The Clydesdales were first seen as a symbol of Budweiser, and Anheuser-Busch overall, on April 7th, 1933 as August A. Busch and Adolphus Busch presented their father with two six-horse hitches of of gorgeous Clydesdales in celebration of the repeal of Prohibition. All present were moved to tears.

Since their debut, the Budweiser Clydesdales have become an American emblem. Most of their major event-related commercials have hosted a number of their proud team. One of their most popular aired in the Super Bowl of 1996.

What is more American than beer, football, and Budweiser Clydesdales?

The Types of Archetypes (Week 7)

Archetypes. It is a word thrown around by academics a lot, but what does it actually mean? According to Merriam- Webster, it is defined as "the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies." Makes a lot of sense, right? Yeah, doesn't to me, either. But basically it means the original that all others come from. The original story, the original print, the original god.
There are a lot of types of archetypes, but for now I will only inundate you with a few pertaining to mythology: hero, Great Mother, and what usually brings them together.

We will start off easy: the hero. We, being of European descent, often picture heroes as dashing young white men who come from a noble background and fight the odds to do great deeds. More realistically/modernly, our heroes come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Shrek is a big, ugly, green ogre. But he is the hero of his own tale and wins the damsel with the aid of a frustrating sidekick. He is hated by most, has no notable origins, and befriends the dragon instead of killing it. The hero is often the protagonist of the myth, be it Shrek or Prometheus.

But the Great Mother is a lot more complex. The Great Rounds, created by Erich Neumann, hosts 6 mythological mothers that represent broad types of the Great Mother figure. This round includes Isis the good mother (fruit, birth, rebirth, immortality), Mary (spiritual transformation), Sophia the positive anima (wisdom, vision, inspiration, ecstasy), Kali the terrible mother (sickness, dismemberment, death, extinction), the Witches, and Lilith the negative anima (ecstasy, madness, impotence, stupor). For more information on this incredible analysis, look at Neumann's book, "The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype." But overall this gives most people a good view of what the Great Mother can do: she is the embodiment of both creation and destruction.

The relationship between the hero and the Great Mother is often circumstantial, however. In many myths, she attempts to help the hero save mankind. But sometimes she is also depicted as a jealous and vengeful creature who is the main antagonist. Mostly this relationship depends on the values of the originating culture. For instance, Sedna of the Inuit mythos is a creator and mother goddess because she defied her father (the supreme god) and provides enough sea life for her people to survive. She was birthed from a culture where gender roles do not exist. Contrast that with the wife figure of Hera in the Greek pantheon, who hates all of Zeus' bastards vehemently. Greece had rather strict gender roles up until recently and even now their culture is viewed as sexist by some.

Everyday Apocalypse

It doesn't matter what side of the political fence you stand on, it is undeniable that our world is a mess right now. But take a look at these facts:

In the 18th century, the US was involved in four major wars and two major rebellions. Around the American slave trade claimed an estimated 10,000,000 lives. The Seven Years War likely claimed another 1,300,000 lives, though estimates range greatly.

In the 19th century, wars involving the US claimed over a million lives. The Battle of Antietam is known as the bloodiest single-day battle in American history and claimed 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing. That was just one day.

In the 20th century, a site I have been pulling information from (corroborated with other more notable sources), prefaced with the following:

"Elsewhere, I defined the Hemoclysm as that string of interconnected barbarities which made the Twentieth Century so fascinating for historians and so miserable for real people. Here, I have listed the sources for determing the body count for the biggest of these, the events that probably killed more than 5 million apiece."

And those were just the major events...

History classes around the world now make a point of teaching us the past in order to hopefully avoid a repetition in the future. So it is no wonder that our modern imaginations are fascinated by constructs of the apocalypse, natural and man-made.

Now we have a fascination with the end of days. Scientists believe we have sped up the natural process of global climate change more than 170x normal. BBC's Nicholas Barber wrote an article published in 2014 about why the enigma of zombies just won't die! Hollywood has continued to play on our fears by dramatizing and visualizing the worst that may yet to be: AIs taking over and destroying their creators, aliens deciding we are too destructive to exist, our own screw-ups leading to our demise, or even just the universe giving up on us.

It is no wonder that we have so many shows now that are post-apocalyptic.

But if you look at our current social climate, it is also no wonder we are so focused on the end of days being a fantasy instead of reality. We hold in our hands, and have for several decades, a means to destroy not just our enemy but also ourselves. During the Cold War, a nuclear winter was a very real possibility.

Now it is a psychological need to disassociate our end with our current status. Our political structure is decaying, our infrastructure has not been brought up-to-date and is showing age, our culture has become so web-based that we have forgotten how to communicate face-to-face...

Have you ever considered that maybe this is the apocalypse in slow motion?

I Am an Epic Water Chicken!

When given the choice between blog topics for the week, flood or zodiac, going over my astrological-ness sounds like a lot more fun.

So Jan 26th began the fifteen day celebration of the Chinese New Year. Welcome to the year of the Fire Rooster. Babies born in this year will likely grow up to be resourceful and creative people.

The year of my birth, 1993, was also a rooster year, as was 2005. But recently I learned that are another two whole layers that make up the zodiac calendar that I had never heard of: element and yin/yang. '93 falls into the water element. That was easy enough to find. But finding out the yin or yang of your year (the final piece that creates a 60 YEAR CYCLE) is really hard to find! 

After an exorbitant number of google searches trying to get my full reading, I landed on a wonderful site that you plug in your name and birth date and it gives you all three of your Chinese Zodiac and your Western Astrology sign information, Druidic info, and birth year information, too! *

Turns out I am as follows:

 (things in italic parentheses are my opinions)

Rooster:

It is the first to rise in the morning (yup), often believed to have the power of divination. According to Greek mythology, the rooster can 'feel the future.' Because of this, we roosters are considered the gods' ambassadors. We like to think more and like to have a plan. But we are also creative problem solvers.

"The people under the Rooster sign are warm, generous, diligent, sociable and very capable speakers (yup, yup, yup, yup, and double yup!). They have quick wit and think fast. So sometimes they are impatient. When talking, they may stammer as their mouth couldn’t catch up with the brain. To change this, they need to think slowly. The men born in the year of the rooster usually pay great attention on his appearance. They dress well no matter in casual clothes or suit. The women also are beautifully dressed with a variety of colors. As they attach great importance to the attire, they look upon with disapproval to those who dress casually (not really…) and don’t like to communicate with them. Therefore, they usually leave an impression of coldness to others.” **

Water:

 We tend to be very gentle, smart, and competent as well as frank and have good memory (no, I don’t).

Turns out there are two types of water: flowing and still. I fall much more into the flowing attribute with an active personality, an aggressive habit, restless and impatient and always busy. (That fits me to a T!) We are “tender, inactive, uncompetitive, alturistic, and always win others by virtue.” **

Yin:

Yin is the black area and means ‘overcast’ or ‘negative.’ It represents dark, cold, negativity, empty, even number, female, etc. (Even in my darkest moments, I don’t think this fits. There must be more info somewhere else.)

It is important to remember that each side has a seed of the other in it. One is not itself without the other.

Cool Facts:

• The Rooster is the only bird in the Chinese Zodiac.
• The Tibetan Zodiac replaces the rooster with a more generic term- bird- but still use the image of a rooster. 

* www.myspiritualprofile.com

** http://www.yourchineseastrology.com/zodiac/

Comparisons

Questions to Ponder: Comparisons

We have examined the universal elements. Now consider the differences.

Native Americans versus East Asians

The best way to find differences is to look at the opposite ends, right? So let us look at two virtually opposite cultures. Native Americans (mostly North America) and the Eastern Asians (China, Japan, and South Korea) are almost culturally polar opposites. They are as far apart in their beliefs as they are physically on a map. Both have gender-typical roles and both believe in the sanctity of all the Earth, but East Asian cultures are patriarchal rather than the gender-equivalency found in most of the remaining Native American cultures.

It is rather common knowledge that cultural norms are built from common belief systems. These can be seen in society today in a number of ways, like the political climates- that affects your day-to-day life, right? I am sure politics was around as early as there was organization. It is just human nature. But I digress; belief systems can be religious, too. Many early cultures were very heavy into their religion. Not being involved might anger the god(s) and therefore bring their wrath upon you or your village. These beliefs built the basis of divergent cultures.

Eastern Asians, particularly the Japanese, have always been a very traditionalistic society. Many still hold to some of the oldest religions where honoring your ancestors is as vital as eating and drinking. But their overall society is based on men having more power than women: the definition of a patriarchy. This goes all the way back to one of their creation myths where, before the world could be populated, the male entity decided they needed to walk around the world. When they met and the female entity speaks first, the male is angry and demands they walk around the world again so that he can speak first! In their earlier cultures, East Asian women were subservient to men. Chance or cause-and-effect?

In comparison, you have the Native Americans. Each tribe has an individual mythos, but very few specify gender. Instead, their creators are often gender-neutral great spirits that created humans to protect the Earth. Culturally, men and women are close to equal. Men would still hunt, yes, because they are physically built different than women, and women would also bear children and farm. They remained a hunter-gatherer civilization far longer than most others. Each gender had its strengths, but also weaknesses that the other made up for. Power could reside in the most capable, not just those born into power. 

There are a large number of conclusions that can be drawn from the argument of gender-equality, modern and mythological. One note that pops into my mind for further consideration is that the Native American society is, tragically, almost wiped out, but the Japanese society is strong and almost unchanged through many centuries. I wonder if that has happened in other gender-equivalent cultures; I would like to see if there is a pattern...

Creation Myths

Questions to Ponder: Creation

What in your mind is the most important theme in mythology? Why do we have a creation myth? What purpose do they serve in both the individual and society?

Themes

I find it remarkable how similar myths from around the world can be in their most generalized context. For example, both the Grecian and Japanese creation myths involve an original male and female "mating" to create other beings who then created the aspects of our world. This basic plot line is the basis of a large number of creation stories from dozens of cultures. Even more interesting is how the cultures have evolved based on their mythos; how their origin stories have affected the development of cultural rituals and habits and how their vary society is structured even in modern day.

From that stems my interest in a particular theme: the fall of man, but especially the second fall. While this pertains more to the flood than creation, it is a dominant theme in many myths. The common 'fall of man' plot seems to go something like this:

1. God(s) create the light and the dark, plants and animals
2. God(s) get ambitious and/or lazy so they design a keeper or servant: humans
3. Humans run wild and muck up the beautiful world
4. God(s) get angry and wipe out most of the humans
5. "Pure" humans are allowed to repopulate

This narrative is most familiar to a number of us via the Christian Bible: God made Adam and Eve to tend the Garden of Eden, but then Eve disobeys God's one command by eating the apple, feeds it to Adam, and they both get kicked out of the Garden. That is the first fall of man. But the second fall, when humans prove that not all of us are the scum-of-the-earth and that we are all redeemable, comes when God sends Noah on the quest to build the ark so that He might wipe out all but two of each creature.

Again, steps 1-5 are formulaically followed in the Egyptian myth of Hathor, Blood and Beer. Humans are created and all is well until the humans start conspiring against the gods. Ra is displeased with humans and sets Hathor to kill them off, but her bloodthirsty attitude drives Ra to pity men and helps them trick her, thus saving a few of mankind to repopulate the earth.

Over and over, humans are given a second chance. 

Perhaps it is because of my personal history that this theme is so forefront in my mind; this is my second chance to get things right. And I realize a third chance doesn't come often. Perhaps we are in the midst of our third chance and that has led to our current tense climate: the proverbial beginning of the end. But that is a post for later!

Creation Myths and Their Purpose

The eternal question: why am I here? Before more modern sciences, we made sense of our world and explain the observable phenomena in the only way we could: a higher power. The creation of life is still seen as a somewhat magical process, even though we understand the biology behind human conception and life. But where did it all begin? Why are we unique, only one species where there are dozens of species of dogs? Why are we the apex predator? How did we create tools and master fire? Even now, the best we can do is speculate at the progression we took from primordial soup to modern bipeds. 

On a societal scale, it was a common thread to connect people, a central belief system that defined the basic rules to follow. Creation myths made sense of why we are so different from every other creature and why we seem to be above all other creatures.

But the effects on the individual would make for a fascinating psychological study. Creation myths gave us the answer to where we came from in such a way that it created the basic rules of life, it gave early cultures a purpose and a goal: to honor/please/serve the god(s). But it also allowed us to progress further by allowing individuals to focus more on other areas like: 'what is my purpose?' or 'how can we do this?' I believe it answered the questions we couldn't even begin to truly comprehend the answers to so that we might divert our attentions to what would affect us more day-to-day: from diseases came medicine, from trading came currency, from charcoal pictures came writing.

Why the Tiger?

"The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool: these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep."

~Chanakya~

For centuries, the tiger has been a symbol of power, royalty, intelligence, strength and beauty. It has been mythologized in many cultures and was revered throughout the ages.

I wish my history was that extravagant! Instead, I was dubbed as 'Tiger' by my parents whom both happen to be Auburn alumni. When I started becoming a particularly brazen child, I earned my nickname that I still use to this day.

While I have earned and lived up to my given title a million times over, I want to live up to all the symbol implies, starting with completing my Associate in Arts. That's where this blog comes in- a class assignment to make a pseudo portfolio.

Here is to a fresh semester!

Tiger