Repost of In Defense of Eros and Psyche (Copy)

Brief History: Originally written down in the 2nd Century CE (Common Era) by a Roman philosopher, this myth is the tale of how Aphrodite’s jealousy caused her to gain a daughter-in-law. The Goddess of Love ordered her son Eros (also known as Cupid, before he was drawn as a Cherub with a diaper) to make certain a young beauty named Psyche married the most hideous man Eros could find. Instead, Eros was careless (meaning he did it on purpose) and scratched himself with an arrow, resulting in his own love and marriage of Psyche. However, being a stuck-up god, Eros believed that a marriage between himself and a mortal could never work with 100% honesty. So, he only met with Psyche in the dark, informing her that if she ever looked upon him in the light he would leave. As always happens in this story, she is manipulated into holding a candle over Eros. Seeing that her husband was hella hot, Psyche got careless and dripped wax on him. Eros left her and in order to win him back she had to perform a series of tasks. The last task, a trap set by Aphrodite, resulted in Psyche’s death. Eros, having seen how sorry, brave, and determined his wife had been, appealed to Zeus to grant her immortality. And so Psyche was reborn as a goddess.

Analysis:  So Eros is the embodiment of love (real love, not the mind games his mom played on men) and Psyche is the embodiment of the soul. The story is literally the marriage of heart and soul. It’s not just a jazz song the middle school kids learn at piano lessons.

Blame It on the Victorians: Victorians loves literature where women are punished for being curious or independent. Have I mentioned this before? I feel like I’ve mentioned this before. Although really it was the poets of the 19th century who felt the need to retell the story over and over again. Instead of the Victorians, it’s actually medieval monks who got their (I’m sure) grubby hands on this story and tried to turn it into a tale about punishment for (gasp) physical love. Psyche being seduced by her husband is the loss of soul in women instead of redemption of the original myth. 

Last  thoughts: This might have been a bit of a ploy to advertise an upcoming FSF project… just saying.

In Defense of Ring Around a Roses

Brief History: First, let’s get one thing straight - this isn’t about the bubonic plague. I know the whole of the internet wants to fight me on this and I even let people think it is because I’ve been told I sound like an insistent snob when I argue about it. For the sake of this blog, I’ll be stating the facts as I know them. But also, just to be honest I thought this Mother Goose rhyme was about the Black Plague for a long time. First of all, the Black Death was most prominent in the 14th Century and then popped up around Europe in large patches every 20 to 40 years until the 1600s. The earliest versions of “Ring Around the Roses” can only be traced to the late 1700s and that’s German version which seems very different in meaning. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t about a disease, but most historians think cholera or scarlet fever would be more likely. Other theories include it being about fairy rings, old pagan well-wishes (although this falls into that timing problem again), and simply being a children’s game full of superstitious phrases meant to bring good luck.

Analysis: In keeping with the disease them, people really didn’t start that theory until after WWI. But it makes sense with modern versions, but again, still can’t be the Black Plague. “Ring around a roses” was rumored to be what patterns the Black Death left on the body. The Bubonic plague didn’t cause rashes like people think, it causes horrible, puss filled growths in key areas of the body. This would be more logical with other diseases, specifically scarlet fever. By the Nineteenth Century, doctors still believed good smells could ward off sickness, hence the posies, and “all fall down” you know. However, earliest versions had nothing to do with the dark sounds of ashes and falling. They were about rose trees and squatting and being the first to win the game.
Blame it on the Spanish Flu: After Wold War I the world changed, not just from weapons and economic depression, but from the widespread and misnamed Spanish Flu. You can look up the Flu for yourself . It’s been in the media a lot lately. I suggest BioGraphics youtube channel’s take on it, which includes medical research as well as how it spread and effected society. By World War II, soldiers were mostly like haunted by the diseases of their predecessors and had sickness on the brain. What else did the they have on the brain? Anything they could think of which included old Mother Goose recitations. You have to keep your mind active in the down time and what better way than to speculate how the most common child rhyme could be a link the most famous disease in history?
Final Thoughts: Where’s the Covid 19 Nursery Rhyme, huh?

In Defense of Ladybird Ladybird

Brief History: No, sadly this isn’t about the Greta Gerwig film (which is fantastic, by the way). It’s about a Ladybug who is told to hurry home because her children died in a home fire, save for one named Ann. It’s hard to say just how old this one is, but it was first published in the 1700s and earlier version were just about a link between bugs and fairies. Sometimes it’s associated with a game of saying the rhyme when I ladybug lands on a child then the kid makes a wish when the insect flies away. Ladybugs are good luck in many cultures as symbols of the Virgin Mary, Norse goddess Freya, Greek god Zeus, and Egyptian sacred scarabs.

Analysis: The house burning aspect of the most popular versions are theorized to be about the persecution of witches or Catholics in Europe. There’s also the idea of it being about the superstitions that create ties between insects and disease or insects and harvest. For it being so dark initially, Ladybird Ladybird actually doesn’t have a super dark analysis to it. Oh wait. Unless you count all of those Catholics and witches burned at stakes.
Blame it on the Victorians: Other than an outbreak of ladybugs ruins the world’s citrus crop in the 1800s, I got nothing here except the usual morbidity in children’s lit the Victorians loved. But the citrus thing happened in California and Florida so can I actually write about it in this section? Too late, already did.
Final Thoughts: I want to know more about Ann, the surviving ladybug child. How much will bug therapy cost after such trauma? Why isn’t there a verse about that?

In Defense of Oranges and Lemons

Brief History: This nursery rhyme starts off with a list of church bells in London and ends with the lines, “Here comes a candle to light you to bed, And here comes a chopper to chop off your head! Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead”. This includes a game just like London Bridges where the last person under the folded hands of two other people gets their head “chopped off”. The reason for the “Oranges and Lemons” is because several of the neighborhoods within the poem were places where fruit was either imported or sold. Earliest versions weren’t quite this dark, mostly just giving aspects of London near each church bell, but some believe this is related to the movement of the plague through the city one of the many times it held the people hostage. There are also theories that the earlier versions were a metaphor for marriage and the “chopper” was a reference to the awkward wedding night. One final theory involves the tour of neighborhoods trying to warn of things needing avoidance like crime and drugs.

Analysis: First time I ever heard this rhyme was probably in the 1951 film Scrooge, but I never really noticed it. Places where I did notice it were the book 1984 by George Orwell, the original Wicker Man Film, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, and the episode of Doctor Who entitled the God Complex. All of these aspects of media do no bode well for uses of this song. Need another example? How about a 1940s thriller/horror film called 7th Victim? It’s about a young woman who moves to the city after her successful and beautiful older sister goes missing. The main character is signing the final lines to a group of smiling elementary children. Oh yeah and it the first movie to try taking a serious look at Satanist cults. . . just saying. Do I really need to analyze this.

Blame It on the Victorians: Sooooo the addition of the bit about chopping off heads was first recorded during the Victorian era. What was wrong with them?

Final Thoughts: That’s right! I’m torturing all of us with a song about a tour of London. Someday we will be able to leave our houses again. Someday.

Upcoming Blogs - In Defense of

Just to announce and prepare: the next few blogs on this page will be In Defense of Mother Goose. However, since we all have staying healthy and at home on the brain, the selection will be based on Nursery Rhymes related to the importance of being kept inside or to major catastrophic events. There’s surprisingly quite a few, however the history behind them is sparse. So we’ll see how long this will be the theme before the lack of accessible research drives me mad.

In Defense of Gremlins as a Christmas movie

Brief History: The year - 1984. The place - that same Universal backlot where they filmed Back to the Future and Gilmore Girls. The thing - a heartwarming tale of a young man and his cuddly pet during the holiday season. The result - the Mandalorian (no seriously, think about it). I’m not going to give away this beloved cult classic, but know that both horror and hilarity ensue in this adventure film from the time when kids movies were fantastically dark. And yes, it’s a Christmas movie.

Analysis: Yes, Virginia. It is a Christmas movie. It is about the magic of giving (which includes feeding creatures after midnight) and the joy of helping others. And Snow White. Disney and Christmas can check off a lot of the same boxes. It even has a message for those alone in a bar on Christmas Day and how they can drive away the loneliness with puppets. There is a lesson about understanding of what is best for those you love . . . and what is not so great for your small town’s electrical appliances. And of course, the eternal message - don’t buy your kids pets unless they are ready. A Mogwai is forever not just for Christmas

Blame it on the 80s: Okay, so I only have one blame - what was up with Phoebe Cates’s Santa Claus story. But. . . still Christmasy so . . . at least it backs up my argument. Man. 80s kids movies were intense. I miss them.

Final Thoughts: Gizmo - Mogwai - BRIGHT LIGHTS - Neat! Also, if you mention Gremlins 2 in my presence, you will coal shoved up your . . . stocking.

Images are property of Warner Bros (please don’t sue me)

Repost of In Defense of Eros and Psyche

Brief History: Originally written down in the 2nd Century CE (Common Era) by a Roman philosopher, this myth is the tale of how Aphrodite’s jealousy caused her to gain a daughter-in-law. The Goddess of Love ordered her son Eros (also known as Cupid, before he was drawn as a Cherub with a diaper) to make certain a young beauty named Psyche married the most hideous man Eros could find. Instead, Eros was careless (meaning he did it on purpose) and scratched himself with an arrow, resulting in his own love and marriage of Psyche. However, being a stuck-up god, Eros believed that a marriage between himself and a mortal could never work with 100% honesty. So, he only met with Psyche in the dark, informing her that if she ever looked upon him in the light he would leave. As always happens in this story, she is manipulated into holding a candle over Eros. Seeing that her husband was hella hot, Psyche got careless and dripped wax on him. Eros left her and in order to win him back she had to perform a series of tasks. The last task, a trap set by Aphrodite, resulted in Psyche’s death. Eros, having seen how sorry, brave, and determined his wife had been, appealed to Zeus to grant her immortality. And so Psyche was reborn as a goddess.

Analysis:  So Eros is the embodiment of love (real love, not the mind games his mom played on men) and Psyche is the embodiment of the soul. The story is literally the marriage of heart and soul. It’s not just a jazz song the middle school kids learn at piano lessons.

Blame It on the Victorians: Victorians loves literature where women are punished for being curious or independent. Have I mentioned this before? I feel like I’ve mentioned this before. Although really it was the poets of the 19th century who felt the need to retell the story over and over again. Instead of the Victorians, it’s actually medieval monks who got their (I’m sure) grubby hands on this story and tried to turn it into a tale about punishment for (gasp) physical love. Psyche being seduced by her husband is the loss of soul in women instead of redemption of the original myth. 

Last  thoughts: This might have been a bit of a ploy to advertise an upcoming FSF project… just saying.

In Defense of the Tale of the Hotel San Carlos

Brief History: The San Carlos was the luxury hotel to the stars in downtown Phoenix, including Clark Gable and Marylin Monroe. Built on the former sight of the city’s first schoolhouse (which had closed some time after a Spanish Flu epidemic), employees say they hear a little girl crying. Besides children, the hotel has experienced several deaths as recent as 2004. The most famous of their spooks is that of Leone Jensen. In 1928, the 22 year old Jensen leapt from the roof and was found dead near the corner below. The legend is that she was heartbroken over (or possibly even murdered by) a boyfriend who worked at the rival hotel The Westward Ho. She left a cryptic, messy suicide note and some of her despair behind. Evidence of her has been seen in the room she’d occupied and the stairway leading to the roof.

Analysis: The stories behind the hotel are true, however embellished by local legend. There was indeed a schoolhouse on the sight and the school’s well is still in the basement, covered and locked up. The man who jumped from the pool deck to his death in 2004 really did happen, although his story can only be speculated since he wasn’t a guest at the hotel. I’m not saying it’s easy to just walk upstairs at the San Carlos but it is an old building without a ton of security. And the popular bar on the first floor (recently renamed the Ghost Bar) must make it hard to the staff to know who is a guest or not. As for Leone Jensen, she did exist. However, according to the hotel, her story is not quite the romantic tragedy local kids spread around. Tuberculous patients were told to come to Arizona for decades, thinking the dry air could slow the deterioration of their lungs. Ms. Jensen was sick and living at the hotel. Yes, there are still rumors that she dated someone while in Phoenix, but chances are that was not the reason for her suicide. The reason why her note was illegible was not the pain of love gone wrong, but most likely the disease finally claiming her. She would have been in pain at the end and losing strength. Many historians think she jumped to make her death quicker.

Blame it on the Flappers: The 1920s was a time of liberation, rebellion, and a sort of “free love” for young women. The story of a young woman on her own in a hotel made for a better cautionary tale than her simply dying of consumption. Remember ladies. If you rouse your knees and stay out all night at a speakeasy, your boyfriend will eventually cause (whether directly or not) your death.

Final Thoughts: Below are photos from the San Carlos Ghost Tour held in Phoenix each year.

In Defense of the Ghost of the Birdcage Theatre

Brief History: This is one of the last truly historic building in Tombstone, Arizona a.k.a. “The Town Too Tough to Die”. This was once a saloon, brothel (where a lady was chosen from a theater box aka cage), and (once a week) legitimate theater where all from sideshow attractions to the great Sarah Bernhardt performed. Doc Holiday supposedly partook in a historically long game of poker within the Establishment’s walls. Photos of Wyatt Earp’s common-law wife Josephine grace the walls (although I don’t think she really has much of a connection to the place). Bullet holes decorate the walls and an old hearse is kept in the backstage area of this now museum. Naturally, with a bawdy and violent history comes ghosts. It’s hard to say one specific spook haunts the place, but many have claimed for decades that music plays, unseen figures laugh, and sometimes objects move on their own. The most unsettling are the ghostly touches and the full apparitions. Could the beautiful glimpse of a woman be Margarita, the prostitute allegedly murdered by her rival, Gold Dollar, at a theatre table? Is the man in black who paces on the stage one of the regular patrons? Of the over 20 people reported tp have died there, who never left?

Analysis: Ghost Hunters did an episode at the Bird Cage and allegedly filmed some interesting phenomenon such as a cord being lifted up from a wall fixture and dropping it on the floor. I say allegedly because I am highly skeptical of such shows which mostly involve “experienced” paranormal investigators send interns into cold spots or shout angry words of the dead. Still I confess I watched it (and if it drums up tourism for the small town then I vindicate Ghosthunters fully). Parts of the building do have an eerie atmosphere, even when full of tourists.

Blame It on Hollywood: The two groups of men, one in black hats and one in white, meet on the streets of Tombstone. One of the men in black hats fires first and the quartet of white hats fire back in defense. The shootout goes on as the men duck behind barrels and roll under wagons. After nearly ten minutes, the dust clears and the white hats are victorious! That’s what movies like you to believe. In truth, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred in an alley, lasted less than a minute, and I agree with historians that say Doc Holiday (usually a “good guy” in films) probably shot first (like Han - that’s right! I said it!). Hollywood movies dressed up this one event in tombstone and such a way that the town became a tourist attraction long after the miners and saloon girls had departed. So the town was built up once again attracting people from all over the world to see the place where Wyatt Earp reigned as lawman. The Birdcage was filled with treasures from the past for the viewing. Maybe it’s only natural that a few ghosts settled there as well.

Final Thoughts: Visit Tombstone! The people are nice (despite having to deal with customers and tourists)! The history is gruesome, violent, and amazing! and the Tombstone movie from the 90s is usually playing 24/7 in any shop or restaurant. I’m your Huckleberry.
check out the tombstone website for information about ghost tours and their special nightly events.

In Defense of the Hodag

Brief History: In the mysterious and freezing cold of northern Wisconsin, a creature known as the Hodag terrorizes the people of Rhinelander. This monster made up of an ox head (sometimes a frog), an elephant’s face (minus the trunk), a spiny dinosaur back complete with sharp tail, and four squat legs complete with fearsome claws. In 1893 Eugene Shepard and a group of friends captured a small a small Hodag, an event which was published in the papers. The beast had been placed on display at the county fair where hundreds of people claimed to see it move and hear it growl before they ran from the sight in terror. That is, until the Smithsonian Institute sent zoologists to study the Hodag.

Analysis: Several websites claim that the Hodag first appeared in Paul Bunyan tall tales as some sort of monster he used to pull his giant wagon. . . but I have never found one of theses stories (seriously, if you know one, send it in the comments below). Either way, the part of the tale which is true is Eugene Shepard’s photograph of him and his posse with the captured creature and that creature being on display at the county fair. Shepard liked to play tricked and, with a little help from his friends, built his own Hodag out of wood and leather. Wires and parlor tricks made paying customers think the Hodag was alive. . . that is until the Smithsonian Institute showed up to catalog the monster. Oops. Myth busted. People had wanted so much to believe there were undiscovered monsters in the depths of the Wisconsin woods, they allowed it to be the next Fiji Mermaid. Still, the town of Rhinelander loves their Hodag and what town wouldn’t capitalize on its own personal cuddly creature of the night? The Hodag is a sports mascot, statue, children’s book, country music festival symbol, and has even appeared on Scooby Doo. That’s right, Rhinelander! You’ve got the Mystery Machine looking for that shit - monetize the hell out of it while you can!

Blame it on the Victorians: Supernatural hoaxes were all of the rage from the mid 1800s to the 1910s. Most of you know about spiritualists who prayed upon the grieving and were even proven fake by Houdini in their own time. Still, the morbid and suppressed of western culture wanted to believe something more was out there. Photography was a new toy and it added to ways to make money off of the curious. Ghost photography, where an image was placed over another so it burned into the frame like a shadow in the background, was a popular ruse. There is also the famous case of the little girls who used pictures from a book to fool all of Great Britain that fairies lived in the glen in their home. Why wouldn’t Americans get in on this with a few made-up monsters?

Final Thoughts: By the way, this fantastic beast is in an updated version of J.K. Rowling’s imaginary textbook. Good job, Wisconsin!

In Defense of the Bell Witch

Brief History: In 1817, a Tennessee family started to report poltergeist activity on their farm. The idea of the disturbances being witchcraft came from the father’s initial theory that their neighbor, Kate Batts, was the cause. The Batts and the Bells were in the midst of a land dispute when the strange occurrences began and when asked, the ghost said its name was “Kate”. Besides the usual poltergeist activity (no television wasn’t invented yet, Carol Ann), ghostly dogs and hares were seen on the property. However, the worst part of the tale is how the “witch” treated the Bell’s teenage daughter, Betsy. She would be beaten in her sleep, pinched and thrown across the room. The entity forbade Betsy from marrying her boyfriend, Joshua Gardner, for unknown reasons. The “witch” was kind to Mrs. Bell, but hated John Bell so much that upon the night he died, she laughed and sang jauntily. The claim by the community was that the ghost herself poisoned John Bell and some officials agreed. After that, the ghost supposedly returned seven years later, but Betsy was married (to her school teacher - gross) and, as the ghost had no stomach for tutoring the rest of the family, didn’t stay long.

Analysis: It is certain that the Bell family existed. No one denies that. However, the existence and reasoning behind the witch is debated. Setting aside the idea that the whole tale is simply homespun folklore, the reasoning behind the haunting range from John Bell’s original Kate Batts cursed them theory to the whole thing was a fake phenomena set up by the local school teacher (you know, the one who later married Betsy - cause gross). Other books wondering if Betsy was the cause, through trickery of a young woman seeking attention or through an attraction of a supernatural entity for a young woman. Either way, it’s become one of the most popular ghost stories in the U.S. (besides any story that begins with teenagers making out in the vicinity of hook-handed killer). There’s even a heavy metal song about the Bell Witch.

Blame it on the Victorians: The Bell Witch stories were mostly word-of-mouth local legend until the mid-to late 1800s when America craved “true” ghost stories. We wanted to live up to the tales we’d left behind in the old world. Therefore, books and newspapers started to dredge up the tale of Betsy, John and the witch. The remains of their farm became a tourist attraction which you can still visit to this day.

Blame it on Andrew Jackson: He actually has no blame in this story. I just hate President Andrew Jackson. Supposedly he once was messed with by the Bell Witch. Good job, Bell Witch! Couldn’t she have stopped him from passing the Indian Removal Act?

Final Thoughts: Don’t watch an American Haunting. It’s a gross theory that I really hope is nowhere near the truth.

In Defense of the Wolf Girl of Texas

Brief History: Okay, 90s children - name that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark title. A woman named Mollie Dent gave birth in the scrubs of Texas and soon died (as did her husband, because what’s a good urban legend without an orphan). As a neighbor went to help the already doomed family ,he discovered the baby had vanished. As this was 1835, he assumed the baby had been eaten by wolves and went back to his life. Ten years go by and, you guessed, a pack of wolves have been spotted with a naked girl running among them. Locals decide to cry catching “Mollie’s girl” for her own good, but this goes creepily awry. The feral girl was locked in a ranch room where she began to howl. The wolf pack attacks the corral of the ranch and Mollie’s girl escapes with them. The last time she was spotted alive she would have been seventeen. Still, stories of human-wolf hybrids roaming the river valley began to surface. In the twentieth century people claimed to see her ghost running on all fours and hear the eerie howls of a girl.

Analysis: There’ s little evidence to support if this story is true or based on truth as there was no newspaper established in this area of Texas yet. Still, I find it interesting that it has more details than the normal local folktale. The parents have backstories, dad being a former fur trapper who killed his partner and mom being the Georgian peach who fell for him. There are specific years of each major event: Lobo Girl is born in May 1835 in Del Rio, 1845 when the locals attempted to capture her at risk of their own safety, and 1852 when she’s last seen alive with a pair of wolf cubs. Still, human-wolf hybrids. . . gross. Also the idea of capturing her and not being prepared to handle her biting, scratching, or howling seems strange to me. I feel like if you are going to go after a feral kid, be prepared. All those thoughts aside, feral children is not unheard of. There have been well-documented and even recent cases of children raised by dogs, wolves, monkeys, and even sheep. Is anyone else singing the Lambert the Sheepish Lion song now?

Blame It on the Victorians: The 1850s up through the early 1900s loved tales of feral children. Everyone knows about Mowgli and Tarzan and those were bestselling books. Therefore, why wouldn’t a story of a girl being raised by wolves in the prairies of Texas not stick around for another century and a half? This probably had something to do with the restricting rules of the time versus the freedoms living like an animal. Or maybe people just liked telling stories of kids covered in hair. Who knows?

Last Thoughts: Children of the 90s, are you envisioning that drawing where the Lobo girl looks like her hair is more of a tangled shrub and she’s she staring out at you with one tired eye? Of course you are. You. Are. Welcome.

In Defense of Resurrection Mary

Brief History: Chicago urban legend declares that in the late 1930s a man was driving down a dark road. He picks up a young woman, a pretty hitchhiker in a white dress, and as soon as they near Resurrection Cemetery, she disappears. The story has been slightly altered over the decades. Sometimes she’s found at a dance hall since the story is that she was leaving such an establishment when she was kill by a hit-and-run driver. Sometimes she is walking outside of the cemetery gates until a driver, worried that they nearly struck her, stops. Then, she vanishes again. Three theories have come to light of who this poor ghost girl may be: Mary Bregovy who died in a car crash in 1934 or Ona Anna "Marija" Norkus killed in a different car crash in 1927 OR Mary Miskowski who was hit while crossing a road in 1930.

Analysis: Some of the versions of sightings make “Mary” a flirt. She dances and kisses the man who will escort her home. I, personally, find this part of the story less believable than simply driving a ghost home. This feels to me like some kind of pseudo-romaticism machismo where it’s not enough to have seen a ghost, but they had to make out with her as well. Another interesting piece of analysis is when her story has been used in cheesy horror movies. Instead of simply being the girl looking for a ride to her resting place, she’ s vengeful spirit. The story is already a sad one without making her embittered.

Blame it on the Great Depression: Hitchhiker ghosts have been a common staple of industrialized countries since the 1920s, ever since cars went fast enough to cause deaths. The story of dancing all night to forget the sorrows of the bank failures and lack of jobs was another common theme of the time. Dance halls were cheap entertainment for the young who were still trying to hold onto the last of the flapper days. Ghost stories are another cheap entertainment. Could this have been another story starting because the people needed a distraction? Or was the depression of the era enough to keep a woman’s spirit pinned to her last night out?

Last Thoughts: Stop picking up hitchhikers, people! Alive or not, that’s just not smart.

In Defense of Ghost Stories

September is here which means we need whatever ounce of fall and Halloween we can get. Get ready for a series of “In Defense of” blogs of famous ghost stories and urban legends.

In Defense of Lady Godiva

Brief History: The legend says that Lady Godiva of Coventry rode upon her horse through the streets with only her hair to cover her naked form. The deal was that her husband would lower the taxes upon the people. The common folk respected her so that they agreed not to look, expect peeping Tom. The truth is that this story came about several hundred years after Lady Godiva died in 1066. No one knows if her husband was a harsh tax collector or if she ever rode naked through the streets. What is known is that both her and her husband gave a crap-ton to local monasteries and churches. 

Analysis:  Some see this as a legend of rebirth and fertility. Some see it as an act of purity and a form of religious right of passage. I prefer the socio-economic analysis. Godiva is creating a bridge between the rich and the poor. She represents the compassion the impoverished wanted and her husband represented the oppressive upper class. And Peeping Tom represented that creepy guy we all know who is watching you in the bar...

Blame it on the Victorians: After Tennyson wrote a version of the legend as a poem, the 1800s became full of paintings and statues depicting the lady with her hair covering key parts of her body. Her head is hanging with some kind of mix of shame and determination on her face. I could say these artists were attempting to show a version of the world where they believed some medieval landowners were kind, but honestly, I think they just wanted to paint and sculpt naked women.

Final Thoughts:  I like the versions where Peeping Tom is blinded for his disrespect. 

In Defense of Morguase and Morgan le Fay

Brief History and Analysis (putting these together since this isn’t really a story): Arthurian legend can be hard as it’s essentially a form of mythology all of its own. The stories change based upon the region, the century, and whether the person telling the story was more supportive old British religions or Christianity. Still, I’ll try to make this explanation of this character as brief as possible. To begin with, she had different names early on like Anna and Belisent, but over time the stories gave her names closer to that of her sister, Morgan le Fay. Wait? What (those of you who didn’t watch Merlin or read Mists of Avalon are probably saying). Yep, King Arthur had two half-sisters and over time their stories were combined and re-written to try and make the legends less confusing. Morgan was usually the sorceress, the one who followed Merlin’s teachings and was constantly capturing the knights she had crushes on. She was really about destroying Camelot or her half-brother. She was just a powerful and selfish woman. Morguase was the power hungry, revenge seeking, mother of Mordred. She also learned from Merlin in some stories, but she is always the manipulative one and Morgan is the naive one. Mordred isn’t always Arthur’s son. In some stories he’s simply Morguage’s son that she raised to try for the thrown. Morgan le Fay practices black magic in many stories, but it’s this is about her personal gain and having the medieval equivalent of “sorry not sorry”.

Blame it on the Victorians:  Victorian and 19th Century Arthurian stories and novels were the start of writing out Morguase and focusing on Morgan le Fay. The trouble was that no one could decide whether she should be evil or good. Tennyson made her helpful. Twain made her wicked. She was simplified over centuries into a side character or the villain of all villains.

Final Thoughts: Okay, I have a confession. I never finished watching Merlin. I just knew Morguase was a character on the show. 

In Defense of Maid Marion

 Brief History: Maid Marion (or Marian) of Robin Hood legend was a character added later in the stories (about 200 years later someone decided the story needed both a female and religious character so she and Friar Tuck were added). Even in the earliest oral tales of the merry men, Marion got a few of her own stories as all of the characters did. Originally, she was a commoner, usually a shepherdess, but as the ballads became more about fooling the aristocracy, Marion also became a noblewoman. My personal favorite early story of her is one where she dresses as a page boy in order to run away. Her mission is to warn Robin of some latest plot to kill him (or in some versions she’s escaping marriage to Sir Guy of Gisborne). When trying to pass through Sherwood Forest, a man she doesn’t recognize attempts to rob her. Maid Marion beats his ass and the man is so impressed he takes off his disguise. Turns out it’s Robin and he wants this mysterious page boy to join his band. Marion takes off her own disguise, apologizes for cutting his face, and joins the Merry Men anyway. This version of events was written down by... honestly, I’m not sure. That’s the hard part of English ballads. They were told, retold, and written down all around the same time. Most people who did the writing and collecting didn’t get credit. Marion first started appearing around the 15th century, but she got really popular during the 16th and 17th centuries as more people turned Robin Hood into plays and puppet shows.

Analysis: For being a maid, Marion was never a damsel in the early stories. She was compassionate, smart, and brave. She acted as a spy and could defend herself.  She was meant to represent Robin Hood’s equal, not a burden to be rescued. She was his partner and friend, as well as his sweetheart. This was fairly common of medieval noble women. When husbands were away on Crusades, the women defended the home. They had to know how to use and oversee the building of weapons. They needed to be aware of siege tactics and taxes and farming. They ran things. Damsels can’t do that.

Blame it on the Victorians (and Hollywood): By the late 1800/early 1900s Marion ended up kidnapped more often in stories and plays. Victorians loved the romance of a medieval damsels who needed saving by her one true love. By the time of the first long Robin Hood film in 1922 (written, produced, and staring Douglas Fairbanks) Marian retains the role of spy, but she’s more a pawn to be used against Robin than his badass girlfriend. This would be repeated in several Robin Hood movies including the Errol Flynn classic, Robin Hood Price of Thieves, and even Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Final Thoughts: No, I did not see the new Robin Hood with that Elton John kid. Don’t bother asking.

In Defense of Vasilisa the Beautiful (Part 2)

Where we left off last week was the tale of Vailisa who used her magic doll and her own savvy to trick the famed Russian witch Baba Yaga.

Blame It on the Victorians: Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev who famously recorded these tales in the mid-1800s liked to mix some social commentary in with the traditional tales. One of his books which focused on Christian-based folktales was banned for contradicting the official word of the church. He was a part of the academic circles in Russia who studied “liberalism” and philosophers who wished to keep Russian heritage seperate from ‘western” culture, while still keep rulers from being dictators. Okay, so I think I made that sound more complicated than it is. Just think of it as yay to Russian history and culture, boo to oppression of the common people. This could be why his collection included so many of these tales of clever young women like Vasilisa. Mostly, he saw stories like Vasilisa the Beautiful as metaphors for light triumphing darkness (darkness interestingly being the step-family not Baba Yaga). Still, as stated in another blog, his collections were not the best sellers that the later Grimm and Lang collections were.

Enter Edith Hodgetts. In 1890, Russian born, but English bred Hodgetts wrote her own collection of Russian folktales called Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar. Many of the stories are the same ones Afanasyev wrote down, but her claim was that nannies and servants told her these tales. This is probably true as her book was not a direct translation of his work, being much shorter. Still, her book sold. Where no one in England ever bothered to fully translate his work into English as they’d done with the Grimm Brothers, her work was already in English. So, this was the country’s introduction to Vasilisa and Baba Yaga.

Last Thoughts: Come on. Baba Yaga’s house has to be the coolest in fairy tale land. You know, I know it, the Russian people know it.

In Defense of Vasilisa the Beautiful (part 1)

This fairy tale is really long so I’m going to split the blog into 2 parts.

Brief History: Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev also collected this story, which starts off in a way similiar to so many western fairy tales. Vasilisa’s mother dies and leaves her a wooden doll which if she feeds and gives drinks to will help her. I’m not sure if the doll feeding was a like a Betsy-Wetsy situation or like a Golem or more like when a little kid holds food up to a toy’s closed mouth. Either way, the doll is clearly magic. . . creepy, creepy magic. This, of course, comes in handy when dad remarries and allows the new wife and step-daughters to treat Vasilisa terribly. In true Cinderella fashion, step-mommy dearest gives Vasilisa impossible tasks which the doll helps her with. Years pass like this and Vasilisa can’t get a date because no one wants to marry her step-sister, so she is also trapped in that life (remember, can’t leave home unless married in this time period).

One day, her step-sister breaks a rule and extinguishes all fire in the house. She sends Vasilisa out to get a light before the parents come home (they don’t have matches, I guess?) and this leads our hero to a hut on chicken feet surrounded by a fence of human bones. The door has hinges made of human hands. The locks were made of human jaw bones. This witch doesn’t waste any part of her kills. You have to give her credit for that.

In case you haven’t guess - it’s Baba Yaga in her flying mortar time! Vasilia tries to hide but Baba Yaga sniffs her out and asks if she was sent. When the young woman explains that her step-sister sent her, Baba Yaga ominously replies, “I know her and she’ll know me.” The witch keeps Vasilisa as a slave, telling her she will give her fire if she completes all o the impossible tasks. Once again, the doll helps her. Not every good decision she makes is based upon her imaginary friend. Vasilisa has her own subtle smarts to keep herself alive. She tries to escape every chance she gets, using the same spells as Baba Yaga. Another example, the witch dares her to ask questions. She chooses to ask about the red, white, and black riders she sees going by the chicken feet hut at various times of day over asking about anything personal related to Baba Yaga (like why does she have animated disembodied hands or need poppy seeds).

When day pass and the exhausted Vasilisa completes every disgusting and difficult task she’s given, a frustrated Baba Yaga asks how she’s managed to do this. In true Baba Yaga fashion, she was looking forward to killing the young woman when she failed. Vasilisa doesn’t lie, but also doesn’t say outright that she has an enchanted doll in her pocket. Her response is “with my mother’s blessing”. This answer grossed out Baba Yaga, who thinks sentiment and blessings are icky, so she cast Vasilisa from her house and gave her the fire she’d come for. This fire was placed within a skull turned lantern (admit it, sounds like a boss Halloween decoration).

Vasilisa finally goes back home where her step-mother and step-sister have been cursed with darkness (no candles could be lit and fires would instantly extinguish). Imagine their happiness when Vasilisa brings home the skull lantern. . . which then burns them both to ashes. Witch fire. What are you going to do, right? Handle with care. After burying the skull, Vasilisa runs away, becomes a weavers apprentice, and weave a cloth so beautiful she marries the Tsar.

Analysis: Vasilisa the Beautiful has also been titled the Brave and the Wise because of her calm, leveled head. In some versions, she doesn’t marry the Tsar, instead living happily with her father and looking forward to a brighter future. Get it? Brighter? Because she brought home fire? Okay fine. To start, the fire thing is a pretty big theme in Russian folklore. It’s like it’s freezing cold there or something. Being saved by the blessing of her mother is where old Slavic folklore and the contemporary Russian Christianity meet. A witch of the ancient world would not being able to stomach prayers from the monotheoist religion. This theme is pretty common in Eastern European stories.

The name Vasilisa and her titles of wise and fair and brave accompany other stories as well. One where she tricks a Tsar into believing she’s a brave soldier. One where she outsmarts a sea king. One where she enlists the help of a prince to end her curse of being turned into a frog in daylight hours (in that one Baba Yaga is helpful). The point is that name goes hand-in-hand with tales of women who are trying to save themselves or ask for help needed.

By the way, it turns out the riders are the personification of day, sunshine, and night. This is never really made important to story other than showing the measure of time and the suggestion that Baba Yaga somehow controls the day and night, but illustrators love the imagery and the riders are usually in every picture book version of the story.

To be continued next week.

In Defense of Maia

In honor of Mother’s Day, let’s look at a Greek goddess who most overlook.

Brief History: As most Greek Myths do, this one starts with Zeus being a habitual predator. Maia did not like the company of other gods, so she lived in a mountain cave, yet somehow Zeus managed to knock her up. Hermes, the result of this assault, was a difficult baby as he liked to sneak out of the cave when his mom slept and mess with Apollo. She stood up for her child, refusing to believe an infant could do such things (nevermind that gods do weird stuff as babies in all of these stories). Beyond her own son, Maia acted as surrogate mom to another of Zeus’s kids, Arcas, when his mother Callisto was turned into a bear by Hera. Arcas grew up to be a king who taught his people how to weave and bake bread, talents he probably learned in a cave from his foster mom.

Analysis: Maia is also a Greek word for midwife. The Romans celebrated the introverted nurturer at the start of the moth of May. May is also when the U.S. celebrates Mother’s Day in May. Coincidence. . . probably since most mother’s day festivals in the Roman times were to two entirely different goddesses, Rhea and Cybele.

Blame It on the Victorians (technically Edwardians and Roaring 20s): Before the American Civil War, an activist named Ann Jarvis started a club of women called the Mothers’ Day Work Club. Their goal was to improve sanitation and health care especially when it came to sick children. The clubs volunteered during the Civil War to help keep down disease in the camps. In 1908, three years after Jarvis died, her daughter Anna petitioned for a holiday honoring the sacrifices of mothers. President Woodrow Wilson (who I have other choice words about that will remain out of this particular blog) made it a national day in 1914. It didn’t take long before capitalists turned Anna Jarvis’s day into a commercial gain. As more greeting cards and flower sales began each May, Anna Jarvis hated what her own idea had become. ‘Merica strikes again.

Last Thoughts: In honor of Maia, these blogs will be on hiatus until Phoenix Fan Fusion. . . no it’s just cause prepping for con is exhausting. Blogs will return in late May/early June.

Anna Jarvis