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I was having a conversation with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
druidevo in which I was pointing out that I am easily the only pagan on the planet who doesn't have a totem animal. Oh, sure, I like birds and dogs and foxes and things, and if pressed, I can probably give you at least one way in which I am like any animal you care to name, but I don't have any special relationship with any of them. I can probably also give you at least one reason that I'm like any given car, or breakfast cereal, too. That doesn't really mean anything.
Now,druidevo was not buying this story. He says, "You do too have a totem. Hello, monster." And I thought, "Hrm. Is monster a totem? Monster's sort of, well, unnatural for a guiding nature spirit, isn't it? But hell, maybe that works. I don't know."
So I'm thinking about the whole business. The totem thing is rooted in identification, which is to say that the person who has the totem thinks of themselves as being like the totem in some significant ways, but also about guidance, which is to say that the person who has the totem feels that they are being taught important things by observation of the totem. I am certainly like a monster. That part's easy. But what, if anything does monster teach?
1. Not everything fits neatly into one of any given set of pigeonholes. Some things are built haphazardly from a motley collection of organs and systems. And really, isn't that more interesting and impressive?
2. Think long term and practice patience. When you can sleep beneath the vasty deeps for aeons uncounted, or survive for hundreds of years in remote arctic research facilities, before emerging again into the daylight of human consciousness, you understand that not everything has to happen right at this very moment.
3. Sometimes, you have to rampage in order to get what you need. Had Frankenstein's monster stayed quietly in the castle minding his own business, the doctor would never have needed to build him a Bride to placate him.
4. Looks can be deceiving. Gamera, despite his fearsome appearance, is a friend to children everywhere.
5. Never accept limitations. There's always something out there that you can use to rebuild, enhance, or mutate yourself into a more capable form.
6. Be adaptable. Really, where would The Blob have been if it could only engulf and eat a limited range of Earth substances?
And of course:
7. History shows again and again how Nature points up the folly of men. Godzilla!
So there you are, seven valuable lessons from monster. Now, you might also say that monster runs rampant all over everything, indiscriminately killing everything it encounters, and doing vast amounts of damage to perfectly innocent superstructures. You would, of course, be correct, but hey. Crows steal shiny things, wolves terrify the populace, and bears shit in the woods, but you don't hear anybody bringing that stuff up in totem discussions, do you?
druidevo in which I was pointing out that I am easily the only pagan on the planet who doesn't have a totem animal. Oh, sure, I like birds and dogs and foxes and things, and if pressed, I can probably give you at least one way in which I am like any animal you care to name, but I don't have any special relationship with any of them. I can probably also give you at least one reason that I'm like any given car, or breakfast cereal, too. That doesn't really mean anything. Now,
druidevo was not buying this story. He says, "You do too have a totem. Hello, monster." And I thought, "Hrm. Is monster a totem? Monster's sort of, well, unnatural for a guiding nature spirit, isn't it? But hell, maybe that works. I don't know." So I'm thinking about the whole business. The totem thing is rooted in identification, which is to say that the person who has the totem thinks of themselves as being like the totem in some significant ways, but also about guidance, which is to say that the person who has the totem feels that they are being taught important things by observation of the totem. I am certainly like a monster. That part's easy. But what, if anything does monster teach?
1. Not everything fits neatly into one of any given set of pigeonholes. Some things are built haphazardly from a motley collection of organs and systems. And really, isn't that more interesting and impressive?
2. Think long term and practice patience. When you can sleep beneath the vasty deeps for aeons uncounted, or survive for hundreds of years in remote arctic research facilities, before emerging again into the daylight of human consciousness, you understand that not everything has to happen right at this very moment.
3. Sometimes, you have to rampage in order to get what you need. Had Frankenstein's monster stayed quietly in the castle minding his own business, the doctor would never have needed to build him a Bride to placate him.
4. Looks can be deceiving. Gamera, despite his fearsome appearance, is a friend to children everywhere.
5. Never accept limitations. There's always something out there that you can use to rebuild, enhance, or mutate yourself into a more capable form.
6. Be adaptable. Really, where would The Blob have been if it could only engulf and eat a limited range of Earth substances?
And of course:
7. History shows again and again how Nature points up the folly of men. Godzilla!
So there you are, seven valuable lessons from monster. Now, you might also say that monster runs rampant all over everything, indiscriminately killing everything it encounters, and doing vast amounts of damage to perfectly innocent superstructures. You would, of course, be correct, but hey. Crows steal shiny things, wolves terrify the populace, and bears shit in the woods, but you don't hear anybody bringing that stuff up in totem discussions, do you?
