Basic Outline for my Final Paper: FERN GULLY & THE GODDESS

Fern Gully -- Traces of the goddess:
Fern Gully Trailer!!

Stages of the goddess:

·         Maiden – Waxing

·         Mother – Full

·         Crone – Waning

o  Queen Fairy: Magi “Lune”

Gaia Hypothesis: Earth is a whole system within itself attempting to return to a stasis/balance

Matrifocal & Matriarchal society

·         Magi passes on her place & powers to Krysta

·         Seek to protect Mother Earth – of which all things have been created into being

·         HUGE Matrifocal elements (less matriarchal)

Elements of femininity:

·         The Womb

o   Reside in trees

o   Krysta emerges from a womb like flower => new life

o   Fern Gully Tree twists together in a spiral motion, creating a safe haven within itself

§  Fairies initiate its formation by flying in spiral-like circles

·         Water

o   The lake = unconsciousness, falling away from reality

·         Intuition & emotion

o   Connection with nature; feel the pains of nature

Axis Mundi:

·         Trees

o   Enchanted tree Hexxus (Spirit of Destruction) escapes from

o   Center/Home of Fern Gully

o   Final tree which entraps Hexxus finally

·         Mountain

o   Mount Warning – where supernatural meets mortal realm: Krysta discovers Zak

Edda Material

As we are nearing our next and final quiz, I thought it might be a good idea to heed Charity's warning about the Edda material that will show up on the test next week.  So here is a documentation of what has been deemed "good to know" in class thus far:

Ymir - giant; first man generated from random energy/creation (p14)
Niflheim - "dark world" (p12)
Muspellsheim - "Southern region"; end of days (p12)
Yggdrasil - World Tree (xxvii)

Odin - Fatherish, Ravens (Thought & Memory), Wolves, One-eyed, Wife is Frigg

Thor - Hammer & Iron Glove, Thunder, Strength (belt), Goats

Baldr - Wisdom, Whiteness

Njord - Sea/Fire, North, Wind

Frey - Rain, Sunlight, Peace, Brother of Freyja

Freyja - Love/Beauty, Cats, Warrior deaths, Sister of Frey

Try - War (lost his hand to a Wolf p41)

Bragi - Poetry ("brag" - eloquence)

Heimdall - watchman/guardian over rainbow/bridge, Possesses a Horn for warning

Loki - Evil Children (Fenris, Hel, Midgard Serpent), Trickster

Valkyries - Decide winners and losers (dead), Valhalla - goat => mead, eat boar, fight (for entertainment)

Norse Mythology has a distinct beginning (birth of each god) and distinct ending (death of each god)

Competitions:

Loki VS Logi - Eating Competition

     - Trickster vs Fire; need to control appetite

Thjalfi VS Hugi - Running Competition

     - Warrior "intern" vs Thought; Mind over Body

Thor VS Horn - Drinking Competition

     - Etiological myth: Thor drinks the ocean, but it fills up again ~ Tides

     - Horn = Ocean (water = unconscious)

     - Cannot escape the unconscious (attempt to drink your sorrows away, but they're still there in the morning)

Thor VS Kitty - Strength Competition

     - Kitty = Midgard Serpent (huge symbol of goddess)

     - Cannot escape the goddess / constant battle against the "goddess" aspects of life

Thor VS Little Old Lady (lol) - Wrestling Competition

     - Cannot escape death / old age, not even the gods

Side Notes:

--Mjolnir = Thor's Hammer

--Baldr's weakness & ultimate fate: mistle toe (food for thought: why is mistle toe popular at Christmastime?)

Poor ~ Pathetic ~ Proserpina

Personally, I have always been intrigued by Proserpina's (better known as Persephone) sad story.  Essentially she is kidnapped and forced to live in this world devoid of light, life, and laughter.  The barbarity of Dis' actions is further amplified in the representation of Proserpina as the essence of childish innocence.


"The terrified goddess cried out/for her mother, her playmates - but for her mother most often,/since she had torn the uppoermost seam of her garment,/and the gathered flowers rained down from her negligent tunic;/because of her tender years and her childish simplicity,/even this loss could move her to maidenly sorrow." (Ovid V. 563-68)

Some different images/interpretations of Proserpina

Most of what I found in researching Proserpina are very overly-sexualized representations of what the Ovid text illustrates as a very innocent and childlike girl.  I find this especially interesting when realizing Cupid's role in it all.  He makes Pluto "fall in love" with Proserpina, so for all I know she could look like Shrek and he wouldn't care...


Cupid himself is fun to talk about, what with Valentine's day on the rise and all.  So here's a funny pic of him - I seriously hope this isn't really what he's supposed to look like.

At what point does it ever seem like a good idea to have a naked baby fly around, stab people with arrows, that forever change them into beings other than themselves ~ take Pluto, for instance, who becomes Creeper No.1

Song for the End of Time

You ask me to pick a song depicting the end of time as I envision it. Well here it is:  --Love Never Fails-- by Brandon Heath

"Love Never Fails"

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most

Love does not run

Love does not hide

Love does not keep

Locked inside 

Love is the river that flows through

Love never fails you

Love will sustain

Love will provide

Love will not cease

At the end of time 

Love will protect

Love always hopes

Love still believes

When you don’t 

Love is the arms that are holding you

Love never fails you

When my heart won’t make a sound

When I can’t turn back around

When the sky is falling down

Nothing is greater than this 

Greater than this

Love is right here

Love is alive

Love is the way

The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through

Love is the arms that are holding you

Love is the place you will fly to

Love never fails you

Greek West Wind ~ like magic

In class on 1/26 it was brought to question the Greek and Roman names of the mysterious West Wind that impregnated Sky Woman mysteriously when she bent over in the apparent wrong direction.
From my research, this magic master of immaculate conception is known to the Greeks as Zephyr (Roman name: Favonius):

His brother winds are as follows:

East Wind (Greek: Eurus, Roman: Vulturnus):

North Wind (Greek: Boreas, Roman: Aquilo):

South Wind (Greek: Notus, Roman: Auster):

Commonalities Among Mythologies

I am enjoying reading various mythologies from different cultures and times.  I think the commonalities running between them are most interesting as they shed light upon who we are as people of the world rather than as individual nations or cultures.  From the readings we have made this far into the semester a few basic elements of all mythological tales have presented themselves, being, for example, beginning/creation, explanation for the purpose of the world and all its parts, moralistic principles on which we build our lives, a structured format for the roles/expectations we must fill as humans, etc.  Through these stories we may discover what is important to us ~ such as the purpose/meaning of life and existence.

I found the Mayan story of "The Creation" (595-99) very interesting, especially as we read it alongside the first several chapters of Genesis.  I saw several similarities between these two tales, or perhaps I should say I observed how the Mayans' story adopts certain elements of the Genesis story.  

At several points "The Creation" it is written that "the Creators were satisfied" with their creations; "What we have created is perfect!"  Just as it is written throughout Genesis 1, "And God saw that it was good."  

Also, when the Creators made man they declared, "These new creatures will be superior to you [animals] and will rule you" (596) ~ A parallelism of God's creation of man in which he said "God blessed them [humans] and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'" (Gen1:28)


There is an obvious strong connection between the Mayan and Hebrew tales in the form of the "great flood" (597, Gen 6).


I did, however, find it interesting that these great and mighty Creators are only sub par.  "Let us try again to create creatures who will praise us and love us" (597).  Unlike the God of scripture, they do not desire a relationship with their creation, they do not allow for self-decision and free will in mankind, expecting only one thing from these "perfect" creatures; thus they more easily see faults and feel a sense of dissatisfaction in their great work.

Dipping my toe in the ocean of mythology...

Thus far, my first dabbles in mythology have been fun ~ and far more...intellectually insightful, shall we say, than I had originally anticipated.  The Enuma Elish (6-11) was a treasure trove of metaphors, themes, and sneak-peeks into the internal makeup of the worlds' cultures both today and yesterday that we will be investigating throughout the semester.  

I pinpointed The Enuma Elish as a Primal Unity Creation Story ~ as there only first existed "water and the mist that hovered above" from which there is separation, division, and the ultimate creation of further gods and humans.  


I am most fascinated with the inevitable moral struggle that ensues throughout the several mythologies we have read this week.  Twice in the Elish story an overwhelming sense of evil encroaches on the peace of creation.  Tiamat expresses her shock that her husband would wrong his own children (6) who then "design evil within their hearts" (7) - a sort of snowball effect of sin.  Perhaps the overlying cause of this story's (and indeed many different mythologies') struggle is that the primary gods have no one to answer to but themselves; there exists no higher judgement; they make their own rules in the game and thus suffer the consequences.


I also felt that the beginning of The Enuma Elish is incredibly reminiscent of The Fall of man, later resulting in the murder of Abel by his brother Cain - the first murder of mankind.  Through further readings and study I, of course, came to realize that this is a common theme amongst creation myths.  First there is peace and happiness, then someone at some point gets a big head and game over.


I most enjoyed the character of Marduk for his comparably incredible wisdom.  Unlike his brothers, it is his wisdom over courage that wins him ultimate victory.  He not only plans offensively but also defensively (considering useful weapons as well as protection against Tiamta's strengths - 9.  Maintaining a level head and acknowledging your enemies' strengths is vital in the world of battle).  Furthermore, his actions illustrate punishment instead of revenge; while his siblings march out hopped up on rage, it is Marduk who uses his wisdom to gain power.  


I found the ending interesting as the tale shifts into that of a Dismemberment Creation Story with Tiamat's gruesome fate (10).  But I also appreciated the cosmogony (beginning of order/cosmos) incorporated there in the last several paragraphs: "he had created order in the universe" (10).  The provision of purpose on the final page: "the purpose of their [humans'] lives was to serve the gods" (11) further lighted my eyes to the story.  I can't help but feel that a random story about random and, let's face it, unrealistic events and characters with no sense of purpose is just a tad waste of my time...then again, my soul purpose being to serve every wish and command of "the gods" doesn't seem that fulfilling either...