newsletter of the Mythopoeic SIG
"In the beginning God created..." (Genesis 1:1)
Ringmania
There is still a promotion commotion of Lord of the Rings materials.
There's the new "The Fellowship of the Rings" out on DVD with "an exclusive sneak peek at the next release in the trilogy, 'The Two Towers', due out in theaters in December." The ad for the discs has some glowing things to say about the film, but also about the original books too, "J. R. R. Tolkien's epic adventure of good against evil", "one of the most celebrated fiction epics of the 20th century and the foundation of the fantasy genre as we know it". It's not entirely true for those of us who know a bit more than the moviegoer about fantasy fiction B. T. (Before Tolkien).
The new documentary, "J. R. R. Tolkien: The Origin of the Rings: An Unauthorized Tribute", is even more fantastic -- "never before seen material dedicated to your favorite heroes, wizards and goblins -- and the never-ending battle between good and evil. It's unlike anything you've ever seen on Earth." We wonder about the audience that has favorite goblins or those who don't know that the battle ends [see The Final Battle by C. S. Lewis] and that GOOD WINS!
What's billed as "J. R. R. Tolkien's complete trilogy on DVD" (the animated version) doesn't seem to include "The Two Towers", but including "The Hobbit" as part of the trilogy! There's certainly plenty of work for us in informing and undisinforming the neofen (that's fandom jargon for "new fans").
Star Wars
We had to make some comment on the temporarily again popular mythos, Star Wars. (NOTE: The title above is "Star Wars" in its Aurabesh font.) Philip Boatwright, www.moviereporter.com, makes some good points in his review of "Star Wars: Episode 2: The Clone War", connecting it with concerns not so far, far away.
His advice to parents is "If you are allowing your younger children to attend, you should view this film with them. Make sure they understand the difference between the film's 'Force' and the real Force, Jesus Christ."
"I don't think 'Star Wars' is going to lead a great many people into following Eastern religions." he says. "But it does subtly cultivate such philosophies. My suggestion ... is that if parents know the teachings of God's Word, they can help their children spot and resist misleading beliefs in films. 'Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it," as Proverbs 22:6 puts it.'"
"The mysticism is played down, as the filmmakers put emphasis on battle action; we see Anakin giving in to the darker side when, out of vengeance, he kills an entire village he considers responsible for his mother's death; and the death of a mother may trouble little ones."
As the fall of the democratic Republic begins with rebel attacks, Anakin, rebellious disciple of Obiwan Kenobi, accepts a mission as Jedi bodyguard to princess-turned-senator Amidala.
"True, we are discovering how Anakin became the dastardly Darth Vader, but it was unnerving having this guy as the film's hero. It's difficult to like the main character, knowing he will become an evil being. It's like feeling sympathy for the devil."
This is especially difficult when the Jedi leadership explicitly states in the film that their goal is to balance the two sides of the Force, rather like Lucifer wanting to balance out the "too good" heavenly host.
Marcia Montenegro, ex-astrologer, however puts it even stronger: "Anakin, the future Darth Vader, is accepted as a Jedi apprentice in order to 'balance the force.' In recalling the [previous] movie where Luke Skywalker discovers his father is Darth Vader, the message is that Darth Vader has gone over to 'the dark side,' not that he is evil. As Luke faces his father, together they represent the polarity of dark and light.
Marcia Montenegro explains on her website, cana.userworld.com, where CANA stands for Christian Answers for the New Age. "In occult philosophies, evil is usually expressed in one or more of the following ways, which may overlap: (1) the dark side is just another aspect of the good; (2) both good and evil are needed for the balancing of energy and life (polarity); (3) good and evil are part of the whole, and therefore, are ultimately the same thing; and, finally, (4) good and evil are transcended and combined in the One.
All of these, of course, contradict the apparently not so obvious truth that good is good and evil is evil, that light is light and dark is dark.
In Deepak Chopra's recent best-selling book, How To Know God, she goes on, Chopra claims that in the sixth of seven stages of knowing god, good and evil to the visionary "are two sides of the same force. God created both because both are needed; god is in the evil as much as in the good." This is certainly not the all-good God Jews and Christians, children of the Light, believe in.
The quintessential illustration of this philosophy, in her opinion, is the yin-yang symbol. One side is black with a white dot in it, and the other side is white with a black dot in it. The dark and light sides are polarities that need to be balanced. Each has a dot of the other color in it because though they appear to be opposites, in actuality they are constantly changing and merging with
each other, thus becoming each other. The dark becomes light and light becomes dark. The symbol therefore means there is no absolute dark or absolute light.
The Kabbalah, a Gnostic spin-off, teaches that good and evil each 'has the spark of the other,' according to Rabbi David Cooper. The basis for polarity is not good against evil, and good cannot exist without evil or as they are called gevurot (restrictive powers) and chasidim (expansive powers)," and these "forces of the universe are constantly tugging and pushing."
That is very different than the Bible's absolute "Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
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This character is not from the Jedi galaxy, he is Lemcia, a major contributor to
The Xoo Book: A Guide to Exotic Zoology.
aardshark: [aardvark + shark] large, voracious, hairy amphibian with large ears, long tubular snout and powerful digging claws
Afghant hound: [Afghan + ant] large, slender, 6-legged caninoid with long, thick hair, pointed muzzle, drooping ears, compound eyes and antennae
alligoator: [alligator + goat] scaly omnivorous ruminant with short legs, long tail and backward curve
alpacat: [alpaca + cat] wooly, long-necked felinoid
antaconda: [ant + anaconda] long, 6-legged dracoid with antennae
antgora: [angora + ant] 6-legged insectoid with long, silky hair
appamoosa: [appaloosa + moose] equinoid with moose-like antlers and spotted rump and horns
assp: [ass + asp] venomous equinoid with large ears, serpentine neck and head
aukoala: [auk + koala] amphibian with razor-bill, short wings, webbed feet, large ears, sharp claws, pouch
Bampire vat: [vampire bat spponerism] large bloodthirsty flytrap-like creature from Bampire Empire
batfish: [bat + fish] baseball bat-shaped flying ichthoid with bat-like wings
beardale: [bear + airedale] ursinoid with wiry tan hair with black markings
beavermine: [tiger + ermine] slender black-and-yellow striped aquatic rodentoid with short legs and flat, broad tail
beebra: [bee + zebra] black-and-white striped bee-like insectoid
blidow: [black widow spoonerism] deadly arachnoid from Wack
boarca: [boar + orca] killer amphibian with short legs, bristly hair and cartilaginous snout
boarse: [boar + horse] equinoid with short legs, bristly hair and cartilaginous snout
boax: [boa + ox] bovinoid carnivore with large constricting tongue
bobblack: [white:black::bobwhite:?] small, brown ornithoid with black markings
bolognat: [bologna + gnat] small biting insectoid with curved cylindrical body
bow-wowl: [bow-wow + owl] nocturnal caninoid with feathery hair, large head
buffahigh: [low:high::buffalo:?] shaggy, long-horned, long-necked, long-legged bovinoid
bugh: [bug + ugh] repulsively ugly insectoid
bummingherd: [hummingbird spoonerism] moth-like insectoid gestalt that pesters victim until he or she removes clothes
calicobra: [calico + cobra] venomous hooded serpentinoid with black, white and red markings
caniel: [Cocker spaniel spoonerism] caninoid with drooping ears, short legs and silky hair from Spocker
can't-eat-her: [can't + anteater] large toothless man-but-not-woman-eating carnivore with elongated snout, long, sticky tongue and shaggy tail
chickmunk: [chicken + chipmunk] small striped domestic ornithoid
chickpanzee: [chimpanzee + chicken] chimp-like egg-laying anthropoid with beak
chimpanzebra: [chimpanzee + zebra] centauroid with chimp head, arms and upper body on zebra's
cob bat: [bobcat spoonerism] corncob-eating chiropteran
cobrahma: [cobra + Brahma] bovinoid with hooded head, pendulous dewlap, long neck and shoulder hump
cowl: [cow + owl] nocturnal 4-legged milk-producing ornithoid with hooked talons, short beak, and large forward-set eyes protected by hood-like facial skin
cowse: [cow + mouse] bovinoid with large, round ears
crabbit: [ crab + rabbit] decapod with broad, flattened carapace, short antennae, 2 large pinchers, long ears and short tail
crat: [cat + rat] cat-like rodentoid
crattler: [crat + rattler] cat-like rodentoid with tail rattle
deerwig: [deer + earwig] hooved and antlered ruminant with pair of rear pincers and antennae
dhog: [dog + hog] caninoid with short snout, curly tail
dinscher: [Doberman pinscher spoonerism] short-haired caninoid with small ears and tail from Poberma
dobermantis: [Doberman + manta] pale green centauroid with powerful grasping forelimbs, antennae
dogator: [dog + alligator] canine-like ambibious sauroid
dollphin: [doll + dolphin] short-snouted mermaid-like cetacean with humanoid face markings
donkiwi: [donkey + kiwi bird] equinoid with long ears, long slender bill and vestigial wings
Dound hog: [hound dog spoonerism] burrowing porcoid from Dound
drork: [drok + rork] monstrous stegasauroid
eelephant: [eel + elephant] elephant-like quadruped with serpentine "trunk"
eelk: [eel + elk] large grayish-brown ruminant with long branching antlers and serpentine tongue
elephent: [elephant + ent] see nicor
emoose: [emu + moose] shaggy quadruped with moose-like body and antlers and emu-like neck and head
etter: [Irish setter spoonerism] silky-haired reddish-brown caninoid from Sirish
flion: [fly + lion] griffinoid with insect-like wings and antennae and cat-like body
froodle: [French poodle spoonerism] caninoid with thick curly hair from Pench
gatortoise: [alligator + tortoise] amphibious sauroid with high, rounded carapace, powerful jaws
gecobra: [gecko + cobra] small venomous sauroid with padded suction-cup feet and flattened hood
gerbull: [gerbil + bull] small, long-tailed rodentoid with horns
Gilly boat: [billy goat spoonerism] boat-like creature from Gilly
girbil: [giraffe + gerbil] small long-legged, long-necked, long-tailed rodentoid
giriffin: [giraffe + griffin] quadruped with long neck and legs, tan with orange-brown blotches, short horns, eagle-like head, lion-like body
gnant: [gnat + ant] small, biting, 2-winged social insectoid Chamalians
gnewt: [gnu + newt] small, slender, brightly colored amphibious quadruped with drooping mane and beard, long tuffed tail, curved horns
Goober peacock: [goober pea + peacock] blightly-colored ornithoid with peanut-shaped body from Goob
goraffe: [gorilla + giraffe] tan centauroid with orange-brown blotches, ape-like upper body and 4 long hindlegs
grear: [grizzly bear spoonerism] bristly ursinoid
grizzleel: [grizzly bear + eel] ursinoid with snake-like tongue
guppeacock: [guppy + peacock] small, iridescent blue-green ichthoid
hamsteer: [hamster + steer] small rodentoid with large cheek pouches, horns and short tail
hipporcupine: [hippopotamus + porcupine] hippoid with long, sharp, erectile quills
hippopotamoose: [hippopotamus + moose] hippoid with moose-like antlers
hippopotamouse: [hippopotamus + mouse] river-dwelling hippo-sized rodentoid
horswine: [horse + swine] long-legged horse-like porcoid
iguanat: [iguana + gnat] small, 6-legged sauroid
Iller quail: [killer whale spoonerism] small ornithoid with mottled plumage and short tail from Iller
jraf: [giraffe contraction] short-necked, short-legged giraffe-like ruminant
kangamoo: [kangaroo + moo (cow)] macropoid milk producer
kangarooster: [kangaroo + rooster] large macropoid flightless ornithoid
lambprey: [lamb + lamprey] small, wooly quadruped with jawless sucking mouth with rasping teeth
lampray: [lamprey + ray] ichthoid with horizontally flattened body, narrow tail, and jawless sucking mouth with rasping teeth
lat: [lab rat spoonerism] rodentoid from Rab
leopardvark: [leopard + aardvark] large spotted anteater
llamba: [llama + lamb] small long-necked wooly rumninat
llion: [llama + lion] tawny long-necked, wooly-haired felinoid with mane and tufted tail
lobsteer: [lobster + steer] horned crustacean with stalked eyes, long antennae, 8 legs and 2 pinchers
manateel: [manatee + eel] long, thin aquatic mammaloid with broad, flattened tail and paddle-like flippers
meraffe: [mer- + giraffe] giraffe-like sea monster with long neck, short horns and tan with orange-brown blotches
mrouse: [mouse + grouse] small, plump rodentoid with mottled brown or grayish coloring, beak
muskfox: [muskox + fox] caninoid with broad, flat curved horns, upright ears, pointed snout, long shaggy, musky hair and long bushy tail
muskrattler: [muskrat + rattler] large brown-furred aquatic rodentoid with musk glands and rattle on tail
narwalrus: [narwhal + walrus] 4-flippered amphibian with long spirally twisted tusk, tough, wrinkled skin and bushy, drooping mustache
noot owl: [newt + hoot owl] nocturnal, large-headed, large-eyed, slender, brightly-colored amphibian with hooked claws and beak
octopuss: [octopus + puss] 8-felinoid gestalt
orcat: [orca + cat] large black and white amphibious predatory felinoid
oysteer: [oyster + steer] amphibian with oyster-like shell and retractable hooved legs and horned head
packrabbit: [pack rat + jackrabbit] rabbit-like burrowing, borrowing creature
packrattler: [pack rat + rattler] snake-like borrowing burrower with rattle on tail
pamingo: [pink flamingo spoonerism] ornithoid from Flink
parrotter: [parrot + otter] aquatic ornithoid with hooked bill, webbed feet, dense, dark brown fur-like feathers and secreting a decay accelerant
peacockatoo: [peacock + cockatoo] blue-green iridescent ornithoid with long erectile crest and fan-like tail
peacockroach: [peacock + cockroach] blue-green iridescent insectoid with long erectile crest and fan-like tail
pigator: [pig + alligator] aquatic carnivorous sauroid with cloven hooves and cartilaginous snout
pigoose: [pig + goose] griffinoid with longish neck, short, pointed beak and cloven hooves
piranhats: [piranha + gnat] tiny, swarming carnivorous insectoids
porpuss: [porpoise + puss] small cetacean with catfish whisker-like barbels
prantiss: [praying mantiss spoonerism] insectoid from Maying
horns, noted for loud, horrible call from Bardakia
pussum: [puss + ‘possum] felinoid marsupial
qwhale: [quail + whale] huge penguin-like aquatic ornithoid with mottled brown makings and
rhen: [wren + hen] small brownish singing parthenogenic ornithoid with rounded wings, slender bill short tail
robinsect: [robin + insect] large beaked, red-breasted insectoid
roofhound: [wolf hound spoonerism] roof-dwelling caninoid from Wussia
roosteer: [rooster + steer] griffinoid with four hooved feet, beak, comb, horns and feathered head and neck
seagle: [sea gull + eagle] coastal orinthoid with long wings, webbed feet, hooked beak and sharp eyesight
shony: [Shetland pony spoonerism] small equinoid from Petland
shrewe: [shrew + ewe] small, wooly-haired rodentoid
slugoat: [slug + goat] coastal bimorph with four legs and omnivorous appetite as adult and slow-moving and mollusc-like as larva
slugull: [slug + gull] coastal bimorph with long wings and slightly curved beak as adult and slow-moving and mollusc-like as larva
Snattle rake: [rattle snake spoonerism] antlered serpentinoid from Snattle
spanieel: [spaniel + eel] caninoid with droopy ears, silky hair,short legs and. long serpentinoid tongue
sparrowl: [sparrow + owl] nocturnal brownish-gray ornithoid with large head and eyes
tabbee: [tabby + bee] insectoid with tabby-like markings
tigerilla: [tiger + gorilla] centaur-like creature with head and arms of gorilla and stripes, legs and tail from tiger
tigermine: [tiger + ermine] slender black-and-yellow striped carnivore with short legs and long, black-tipped tail
toucanary: [toucan + canary] small ornithoid with brightly grren or yellow-colored plumage, very large beak
long-armed biped with sharp clawed paws, thick fur, 2 spiral horns from Jedi galaxy
troth: [tree sloth spoonerism] slow-moving arboreal creature from Slee
vipermine: [viper + ermine] thin predator with black-tipped tail, brown fur, venomous fangs
vulturchin: [vulture + urchin] carrion-eating ornithoid with hooked beak, clacareous shell coveredin long spikes
vulturmine: [vulture + ermine] weazel-like carrion-eater with black-tipped tail, powerful beak and brown fur except on neck and head
wermine: [worm + ermine] hairy worm-like creature
wolferine: [wolf + wolverine] burrowing caninoid with gray furand bushy tail
wowlf: [wolf + owl] norturnal bird-dog with large head and eyes
zebrhino: [zebra + rhinoceras] rhinoceras-like equinoid with nose horn and zebra stripes
zeelbra: [zebra + eel] black-and-white striped equinoid with long, serpentine tongue3