Please Help Patron-us Me
Update: I've selected Monkey.
I’ve been reading Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys and it’s reopened some Joseph-Campbell style philosophical voodoo that the scientific side within me has never been able to kill.
I have a lot of dreams. One almost every night, and I always remember them. They’re much better than the waking world in almost every way. In order to get closer to this evasive realm, I’ve read Freud, Jung, and other dream-“experts” extensively. I’m fascinated by worldwide myths and legends and the universal symbolism they contain. It’s part of the reason I adore Joseph Campbell.
Enough rambling.
Look at the two cardinal characteristics of the symbolic spider: trickster; spins a web that connects past and future through many threads.
Spider-Man is a clever, quippy hero who outwits most of his foes to alleviate the guilt over his Uncle Ben’s death.
The bat: guardian of the night; death and rebirth on a spiritual level; REVENGE.
Sound like anyone we know? I’m almost positive the minds behind Spider-Man and Batman didn’t do extensive symbolic research before creating their flagship characters. Spider-Man was almost Fly-Man until someone told Stan Lee he’d better switch bugs. Stan just wanted an animal that could walk on walls. He had no idea which traits spiders had in legend and literature. And Batman’s choice came because most people are scared shitless of bats. “Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot.” But bats represent death and rebirth on a spiritual level? And revenge? That shit is wild.
My favorite concept in the Harry Potter books has always been the Patronus. Spidey and Bats’ patronuses wouldn’t be too hard to figure out. But what would my spiritual animal be?
I’d like to think it’d be a Patronus of the arts; creative, friendly, a party animal, but also arrogant, self-centered, and willful. Patronuses can change over time, as I’m aware, and it’s definitely a different animal from the one I had even two years ago. I need something ENFP-ish - a creative tricksterish animal. I feel a connection with bears, spiders, and monkeys.
This list may help you guys pick your own, or perhaps give me hand with picking mine. (Zac says mine would be a fox.)
As another, side, cooler note - check out Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s patronuses (a deer, a dog, and an otter, respectively.) They’re all pretty excellent symbolic choices.
I’ve been reading Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys and it’s reopened some Joseph-Campbell style philosophical voodoo that the scientific side within me has never been able to kill.
I have a lot of dreams. One almost every night, and I always remember them. They’re much better than the waking world in almost every way. In order to get closer to this evasive realm, I’ve read Freud, Jung, and other dream-“experts” extensively. I’m fascinated by worldwide myths and legends and the universal symbolism they contain. It’s part of the reason I adore Joseph Campbell.
Enough rambling.
Look at the two cardinal characteristics of the symbolic spider: trickster; spins a web that connects past and future through many threads.
Spider-Man is a clever, quippy hero who outwits most of his foes to alleviate the guilt over his Uncle Ben’s death.
The bat: guardian of the night; death and rebirth on a spiritual level; REVENGE.
Sound like anyone we know? I’m almost positive the minds behind Spider-Man and Batman didn’t do extensive symbolic research before creating their flagship characters. Spider-Man was almost Fly-Man until someone told Stan Lee he’d better switch bugs. Stan just wanted an animal that could walk on walls. He had no idea which traits spiders had in legend and literature. And Batman’s choice came because most people are scared shitless of bats. “Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot.” But bats represent death and rebirth on a spiritual level? And revenge? That shit is wild.
My favorite concept in the Harry Potter books has always been the Patronus. Spidey and Bats’ patronuses wouldn’t be too hard to figure out. But what would my spiritual animal be?
I’d like to think it’d be a Patronus of the arts; creative, friendly, a party animal, but also arrogant, self-centered, and willful. Patronuses can change over time, as I’m aware, and it’s definitely a different animal from the one I had even two years ago. I need something ENFP-ish - a creative tricksterish animal. I feel a connection with bears, spiders, and monkeys.
This list may help you guys pick your own, or perhaps give me hand with picking mine. (Zac says mine would be a fox.)
As another, side, cooler note - check out Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s patronuses (a deer, a dog, and an otter, respectively.) They’re all pretty excellent symbolic choices.