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fandomhigh2012-04-11 03:28 pm
steel-not-glass.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2012-04-11 03:28 pm
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Is A Cigar Just A Cigar, Wednesday, Period 3
Students were back in the Danger Shop today, with class taking place on the edge of a tall cliff, easily miles above the valley floor and not too far from billowing clouds, white and fluffy. For all that they were very high up, the air was warm and easy to breathe; Cindy was only willing to sacrifice so much comfort for verisimilitude. There was a large blanket for the class to sit upon, and surrounding that blanket were several flocks of birds.
Probably an easy guess about what today's class was all about, yes?
"Birds are very popular in both mythology and symbolism," Cindy began as the students settled down and made themselves comfortable. "Individual bird species can each have multiple symbols that very from culture to culture. For example, bird of prey--" she held out an arm that was covered by a thick hunting glove, and a peregrine falcon appeared from the sky in a deep, stooping dive, and landed neatly on her arm, "--like this falcon here, are often used to represent fierceness, swiftness, and nobility. They are formidable hunters, dangerous to both prey and enemies alike, and, for centuries, falconry was a sport and a hobby pursued by the nobility." She sent the falcon off again and braced herself; the next bird to land on her arm was a large bald eagle, likely recognizable to the modern students in her class. "Like their smaller raptor cousins, eagles represent strength, martial prowess, and nobility, though eagles are generally assumed to represent a nobility of mind or purpose, rather than economic status. Eagles are used to represent many different countries around the world, including the United States of America, and the Great Seal has a lot of symbolism with its creation."
Off the eagle went, to replaced by a black raven, eyes keen and feathers glossy. "Because ravens are scavengers, they are often associated with death, especially death in great quantities, such as war or pestilence, because of the large flocks that would descend onto battlefields and the like to feast upon the fallen. Perhaps in an effort to escape the grisly reminder that the ravens were eating the dead, people considered them psychopomps, guides to the underworld, who would alight upon a body to guide the soul to the great beyond. In contrast to this, ravens also symbolize wisdom and thought. Odin was said to be accompanied by two ravens, Hugin and Munin, or Thought and Memory, who traveled about the world and brought him information. Many indigenous peoples saw the raven as a clever Trickster figure, one of the creators of mankind."
Cindy scratched the raven's head while she continued. "There are many other kinds of birds that have symbols associated with them: doves, robins, swans, peacocks, sparrows, and hummingbirds to name just a few. Whenever an author uses a specific type of bird in his or her work, they're deliberately drawing on the symbolism associated with that species. However, what that author simply references birds as a whole, or multiple types of birds all at once, the symbol he or she is going for is freedom." She tossed the raven into the air; it circled the class with a wark! and then flew off. "Since time immemorial, mankind has lifted its eyes to the sky and wished to soar among the birds. It is seen as the ultimate freedom; able to fly anywhere one wished, unhindered by anything still bound to the earth. The phrase 'free as a bird' had to come from somewhere, yes?"
Throughout the last few sentences, Cindy had been walking steadily backwards, heading towards the edge of the cliff. "Today," she finished, "we're going to explore that concept of freedom head-on." She took a final step, her foot hovering over the great void for a moment, and then she was gone, plummeting over the edge. A moment later, she was back in view, flying back up the other side of the cliff and over towards the blanket. "Choose one of the other species of bird that I mentioned, try to take a guess what it symbolizes and why you think that, and then you can get a chance to fly yourself."
Probably an easy guess about what today's class was all about, yes?
"Birds are very popular in both mythology and symbolism," Cindy began as the students settled down and made themselves comfortable. "Individual bird species can each have multiple symbols that very from culture to culture. For example, bird of prey--" she held out an arm that was covered by a thick hunting glove, and a peregrine falcon appeared from the sky in a deep, stooping dive, and landed neatly on her arm, "--like this falcon here, are often used to represent fierceness, swiftness, and nobility. They are formidable hunters, dangerous to both prey and enemies alike, and, for centuries, falconry was a sport and a hobby pursued by the nobility." She sent the falcon off again and braced herself; the next bird to land on her arm was a large bald eagle, likely recognizable to the modern students in her class. "Like their smaller raptor cousins, eagles represent strength, martial prowess, and nobility, though eagles are generally assumed to represent a nobility of mind or purpose, rather than economic status. Eagles are used to represent many different countries around the world, including the United States of America, and the Great Seal has a lot of symbolism with its creation."
Off the eagle went, to replaced by a black raven, eyes keen and feathers glossy. "Because ravens are scavengers, they are often associated with death, especially death in great quantities, such as war or pestilence, because of the large flocks that would descend onto battlefields and the like to feast upon the fallen. Perhaps in an effort to escape the grisly reminder that the ravens were eating the dead, people considered them psychopomps, guides to the underworld, who would alight upon a body to guide the soul to the great beyond. In contrast to this, ravens also symbolize wisdom and thought. Odin was said to be accompanied by two ravens, Hugin and Munin, or Thought and Memory, who traveled about the world and brought him information. Many indigenous peoples saw the raven as a clever Trickster figure, one of the creators of mankind."
Cindy scratched the raven's head while she continued. "There are many other kinds of birds that have symbols associated with them: doves, robins, swans, peacocks, sparrows, and hummingbirds to name just a few. Whenever an author uses a specific type of bird in his or her work, they're deliberately drawing on the symbolism associated with that species. However, what that author simply references birds as a whole, or multiple types of birds all at once, the symbol he or she is going for is freedom." She tossed the raven into the air; it circled the class with a wark! and then flew off. "Since time immemorial, mankind has lifted its eyes to the sky and wished to soar among the birds. It is seen as the ultimate freedom; able to fly anywhere one wished, unhindered by anything still bound to the earth. The phrase 'free as a bird' had to come from somewhere, yes?"
Throughout the last few sentences, Cindy had been walking steadily backwards, heading towards the edge of the cliff. "Today," she finished, "we're going to explore that concept of freedom head-on." She took a final step, her foot hovering over the great void for a moment, and then she was gone, plummeting over the edge. A moment later, she was back in view, flying back up the other side of the cliff and over towards the blanket. "Choose one of the other species of bird that I mentioned, try to take a guess what it symbolizes and why you think that, and then you can get a chance to fly yourself."