1410 lines
78 KiB
Plaintext
1410 lines
78 KiB
Plaintext
COUSINS ISSUE #4 - March 1992
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A place for the Witches, pagans, nature spirits, fey-folk, and assorted elder
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kin of Sherwood to share ideas, challenges, dreams, and projects, and to stir
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up a little magic of our own.
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for more information about Cousins, contact Susan Gavula,
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sjgavula@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu
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This Issue's Fun Word: TRANSDIMENSIONAL
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I made this one up myself to describe anyone or anything to which time
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and space are relative rather than absolute. A transdimensional gateway
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defies Euclidean physics. A transdimensional being thinks that's just
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fine. Herne is transdimensional; the old man is not.
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I'll just keep making up words and saying whatever I want to until you
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come up with a better idea. (And probably after that, too!)
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LETTERS
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Janet VanMeter Merry Meet everyone!
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I want to say how much I enjoyed seeing more responses from men in
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Issue #3! I would really like to hear more of the male point of view
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concerning RoS.
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Anyway, down to business...I have just muddled my way through "The
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White Goddess" by Robert Graves. He mentions that the word or title of
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Tanist probably originates from the Celtic 'tinne,' or holly tree, and
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that Tanist stands for the Holly King who takes over from the Oak King
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after Midsummer. I know it's really tempting to equate Loxley and
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Huntingdon with the Holly and Oak Kings, but I personally have a
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problem with the perpetual confrontation of the Oak and the Holly. I
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feel that the 'cycle' of the year is best envisioned as a neverending
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death/rebirth ad infinitum of just one 'God,' as the 'Goddess' cycles
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through the maid/consort/crone ad infinitum. As spring becomes summer
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becomes autumn becomes winter, then all over again, there is no
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'battle' between summer and winter!
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Sort of a related topic...I agree with Lynn and everyone else that
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thinks there were other Hooded Men. My pet thory is that Adam Bell was a
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Hooded Man but for some reason turned his back on it. But I do,
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however, think that Loxley did indeed die at the end of The Greatest
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Enemy. Herne may have been a past Hooded Man, but I think that Loxley's
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"fire burned TOO bright" and he couldn't endure long enough to take on
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the mantle of Herne.
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On to the garter debate...most of the peasants wore garters in those
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days to keep their braies up! I feel it was a fortuitous coincidence
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that Loxley happened to be wearing a certain colour of garter on one of
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his legs - he did have one on the other leg too, you know! Of course,
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Robert didn't have a garter, but I'm sure people will go on about poor
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ol' Robert not having the 'right' to one!
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As to the observances of pagan customs by the time of RoS, in the show
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we did have a few references that some of these customs were remembered
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in a romanticized way. In Alan A Dale, Meg dreams of "jumping through
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the fire at midnight with flowers in their hair." It sounded like more
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of a romantic fantasy than something that regularly happens. In Lord of
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the Trees, the mummers are just entertainment, not a serious rite any
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more. An interesting book on mummers and their ilk is The Hobby Horse
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and Other Animal Masks by Violet Alford. It lists all types of things
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from the different forms of hobby horses, to stag masks, goat masks,
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and some of the traditions concerning these from all over Europe. It
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would be fun to see some folk do some of these at different gatherings!
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A whole room full of Hernes - is that a herd of Hernes? - would be fun!
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Just two quick things to end with - heraldically, a stag is a male red
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deer that has antlers that branch with pointed branches from the bottom
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to the top. A buck is a male fallow deer that has antlers that are
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broad and flat palmated horns. Herne is a stag.
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Also really quick - Mu or Lemuria was an antediluvian civilization in
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the Pacific as opposed to Atlantis that was in the Atlantic.
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Christine Haire
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Dear Cousins: I very much enjoyed reading the first 2 issues of Cousins
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and look forward to more interesting discussion.
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A little about me. I was raised in the Christian Church. Since the time
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I could read I have been fascinated by studying any and all religions,
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culures, and the universal archetypes. As a result, my own personal
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beliefs do not match any organized religion but take from each what
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connects with me spiritually. Mine is a neverending quest and I am
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still learning and absorbing things all the time. Robin of Sherwood
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fandom has led me down some interesting paths and I have met lots of
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fascinating people with diverse backgrounds and beliefs.
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I don't like the idea of putting labels on people, dividing up the
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fandom into pagans and non-pagans - us and them. The harmony among the
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diversity and the tolerance and interest in each others' beliefs is what
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makes this fandom unique. Look at what a diverse group the Merries are.
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That they live and work together for a common good is the true magic in
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the series.
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Raven: Regarding the feminine counterpart for Herne/Cernunnos - I
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believe Janet VanMeter hit it right on the head by saying it is none
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other than Sherwood Forest. Herne to me is a manifestation of the
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archetype of the Green Man - as is Robin of Sherwood, Cernunnos, Jack in
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the Green, the Green Knight, etc. He re-emerges again and again in
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various forms in myth and folklore and religious art around the world
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from ancient times to the modern day. Lord of the Trees, he is called in
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RoS. In Loxley's powerful speech in RH and the Sorcerer, he says he is
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fighting "for this" as he looks around at the beautiful forest
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surrounding and sustaining them. The Green Man is consort to Mother
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Earth.
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Janet V.: Like me, you seem to have trouble putting a label on "what you
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are." Pagan? Christian? You are right, I think it doesn't really matter
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when it all boils down to it. Though we have shared experiences and
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thoughts, everyone has their own perspective and that is what makes life
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interesting. If you are interested in archetypes, I'd like to suggest a
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book called Green Man: The Archetype of Our Oneness With the Earth by
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William Anderson. (ISBN-0-06-250075-9, $14.95) I agree that everything
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is a mixture of masculine/feminine. God or Goddess - it is all one
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source of goodness.
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Mary Ann: I'd like to suggest a book called The Elements of the Celtic
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Tradition by Caitlin Matthews which may answer a lot of your questions.
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(ISBN 1-85230-075- 2, $7.95)
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As far as historical questions go, please submit them to On Target. We
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have two extremely qualified individuals willing to help answer
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historical questions and aid in research. Laura Chevening has a PhD in
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history and teaches it in college. Cindy Fairbanks is a big history
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buff, well seasoned in doing research for her own stories. They do a
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regular column in the newsletter to aid folks with questions like
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yours. Also, your local libraries and bookstores can provide a wealth
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of information with all the great books on that period of history.
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Nansi & Nancy: I can't imagine anyone in RoS "getting all offended and
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hyper about the fact you hold Pagan beliefs!" Now if you were trying to
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convert them, perhaps. But everyone I've met in RoS fandom is extremely
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open-minded and tolerant, no matter what their personal beliefs.
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Hilda: Thanks for all the hard work you have put in on Cousins. I know
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you probably don't mean it that way, but I think the term "cowan" sounds
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a bit derogatory. Are these labels really necessary? As you can see by
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the response to Cousins, RoS fen of all different religious and cultural
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backgrounds are interested in discussing all aspects of the show whether
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they are "pagan" or not. The art, song, storytelling and old myths
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belong to everyone.
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Ariel: Brilliant article! I cheered aloud reading it! I really hope it
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makes some writers think. I think Hilda is right that new writers coming
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into the fandom all the time are re-exploring the same themes, which
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explains some of the repetition. Sometimes I wonder if fan writers have
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kept up reading other people's fan-fic but it has been some time since
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they have actually sat down and watched the show or read Carpenter's
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novelizations, hence the adopting of certain fan-fic ideas as canon. I'd
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like to see more stories featuring the characters as they were on the
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series, the complex human ones I love. Don't fan-fic writers realize
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that by deifying Loxley and giving him special powers they are making
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him much less a hero? If he can just snap his fingers and get out of a
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bind, why didn't he in the series? He's just a man. A special man, a
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chosen leader - but a man all the same. He is not perfect. But that is
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what makes him human and endearing. Many stories have Guy turning good.
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I think the reason may be that the writer may feel attracted to him in
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the show and feel a need to justify that to herself by finding the good
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in him. I like Guy as a villain! He's the darkness to Robin and his
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Men's light. [Hey, don't kick me, I'm just the typist! C'mon, Marion.
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It's just a linguistic const...OW!] He has shown himself to be a
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sadistic, cold-blooded murderer in the series - it takes an awful lot to
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overcome that. There was a fantastic Nasir story (finally!) in the last
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issue of Longbow called A Saracen's Tale by Jennifer Woodson. It centers
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on him and his background. Mary Sue is nowhere to be seen and it doesn't
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portray him as subservient to Robin! I've often wondered why there
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aren't more stories on the Merries?
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Hilda: Robin and Marion are a bit thick at times, lose their tempers
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[You're telling m...All right, all right, I take it back! -H], get sick
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and surely go to the bathroom (together wee? sorry, couldn't resist!)
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Loxley is certainly a mongrel working slob of no particular bloodline.
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As portrayed in the series, the characters are human as they can be in a
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TV series, although slightly more physically attractive than the average
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guy or gal we run into in our neck of the woods. (sigh!) In any case, I
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find the characters as written and portrayed in the series fantasy
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enough without going totally overboard and endowing them with grand
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magical powers, thus distorting the characters so completely as to be
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unrecognizable. I love the stories that bring in elements of myth and
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magic, don't get me wrong. I just don't like to see these very real
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characters turned into cartoon super-heroes. I'm not in He-Man and She-
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Ra fandom. Just my opinion (blather, blather!)
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Laura: I agree that the characters don't seem all that religious to me.
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They seem to be fighting for a common good - all for one and one for
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all, [You had to say that... -H] no matter their backgrounds.
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Regarding Gulnar/Morgwyn/Belleme. They are not meant to represent
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Wiccans or Pagans. Satanism is a perversion of Christianity. Richard
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Carpenter seemed to show two sides to every story in RoS. The powers of
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light and darkness. These three are just power hungry psychos. To dispel
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the cliches he had Herne, Robin and his Men, Jennet of Elsdon, Mad Mab,
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Isadora, Ailric, Edward and Alison, etc.
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Loxley makes a lot of mistakes in the show - he is not perfect. See
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Richard the Lionheart and The Enchantment for some prime examples. I
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find him particularly attractive because he is not perfect.
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Tina: I don't think Herne himself, as represented in the show, is
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supposed to be a God. "When the Horned One possesses me, I am Herne the
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Hunter." So the man with the horns is a type of priest or medium for the
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Green Man. "You see your God become man before your eyes," he says when
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he is hurt and bleeding in Lord of the Trees. Robin then takes his
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place. Perhaps this is the natural progression? What do you all think?
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Lynn: I don't know if Kip necessarily used Craft belief in The Greatest
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Enemy. I disagree with the idea of the Sacrificial King business. What
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purpose did his death serve except to write out an actor and give him
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"an unforgettable exit from the show" - according to Kip?
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Janet: Let me preface my response to you by saying I love your poetry
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and many of your RoS stories that I've read. I've even been lucky enough
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to illo some of them. But, I disagree totally with what you said on the
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fan-fic characters. I'd like to read stories with good copies of
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Carpenter's characters put into situations previously unexplored. That
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is fan fiction. If you are going to do something that is a complete
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departure from the series, I don't feel you should try to pass it off as
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Robin of Sherwood. Go out and write something completely original in
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that case. Oh, certainly writers can and should put something of
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themselves into their fan-fic - the part that drew them to the series
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itself in the first place. Not something that doesn't belong there.
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Aargh! Obviously, Marion is not Robert's main reason for being an outlaw
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- she was merely a catalyst. She leaves him after her rescue and yet he
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remains in the forest after The Time of the Wolf. He saw injustice in
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the world. He saw his father forced to be the King's puppet. He was
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called by Herne and chose to do something about it. Boy, for someone who
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is supposedly a "Loxley fan," I spend an inordinate amount of time going
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around defending Robert! (Who I truly love just as much as Loxley.)
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Well, now that I have typed this epistle, Issue 3 of Cousins just
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arrived in the mail! I'll hold off before answering that. Julianne did
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contact me about the planned get-togethers at Weekend in Sherwood. We
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think it is a great idea for you all to hold room partie(s). Also on the
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schedule for the convention is a panel on the subject of "Paganism in
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RoS" which we hope you will all attend. Thank you so much Hilda for
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your kind words and understanding of what we go through running the
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club. It is support like yours that keeps us going.
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Mark Ryan
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Dear Hilda and Cousins,
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Many thanks for sending me Cousins and keeping the spirit of R.o.S.
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alive and kicking in an open discussion format that is fun and
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informative.
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I have gasped and giggled at items in the newsletter, ranging from the
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"I didn't know that!" Type of gasp to the "that's taking the piss!" Type
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of giggle. And I feel honored to have a new breed of deity named after
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me - "Marketypes." Who's responsible for that one? Seriously, I love it,
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keep up the good work.
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Anyway, I just thought you might like to know Mike Grell and I are still
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trying to get a contract from D.C. for "The Hooded Man," although they
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have given the go ahead for the project and Mike and I have made real
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progress on "The Wildwood Tarot," a greenwood tarot system based on,
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guess what? Wildwood archetypes and the wheel of the year. It's well on
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its way to being a "go" project with a major London book packager. Let's
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hope they move faster than D.C.
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As for interesting reading, "yours truly" is featured in Andrew Collins'
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book The Seventh Sword published by Century Books, 20 Vauxhall Bridge
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Rd., London S.W.1V 2SA. (No! I'm not on commission.) It's an interesting
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"true life" search for seven real swords over a period of ten years by a
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group of psychics in England. Life imitating art? Anyone not read
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"Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco yet? It's a pretty good read as
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well!
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I hope to see lots of old friends and some new faces at "Weekend in
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Sherwood" in August and we can "shoot the pagan breeze." Until then -
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How do you know?
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But, that every bird that cuts the airy way,
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Is an immense world of delight, Closed by your senses five.
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Blake.
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Love and best wishes.
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Tina Evans
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Julianne: All I know about the Matthews' upcoming book on Robin Hood is
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that the publisher is Gothic Image Books in Glastonbury. I don't have a
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publication date. If you want to communicate with the Matthews write to
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this address: BCM Hallowquest, London, WC1N, 3XX, UK. Send 8 IRC and
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you will receive their newsletter. Send extra IRC if you want a reply.
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(They can't guarantee a reply because of the heavy volume of mail they
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receive.) The most recent newsletter announced an event being held on
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December 11-13, at Hawkwood College. The event is called Robin Hood:
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Green Man of the Wildwood. It will include a ritual masquing and archery
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from Mark Ryan. (What is a ritual masquing?) If there is any further
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mention of the Robin Hood book in upcoming newsletters I will let you
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know.
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I found the reference to female horned figures in Pagan Celtic Britain
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by Anne Ross. There is a chapter devoted to the Horned God, and she
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mentions some specimens of female horned figures found in Gaul.
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Unfortunately, she never elaborates on this point.
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Janet R.: The reason I connect Herne more with Odin/Woden than Cernunnos
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is because in the context of RoS the people, such as Loxley, are Saxon
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in origin. It seemed logical that the god of Loxley's ancestors could
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have evolved into Herne.
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I don't view Herne, as depicted in RoS, as a deity. I see him as a
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shaman. He seems to undergo some of the characteristic experiences of a
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shaman such as entering a trance state, encountering his god during that
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trance, receiving information during the trance, etc. However, I know
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very little on the subject of shamanism. Perhaps someone else could
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elaborate on this subject? I may be way off base on this point.
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Laura: I thought I was seeing things when I first opened the Hanson-
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Roberts tarot deck and saw Nasir's face on the King of Pentacles card! I
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am glad to know I wasn't imagining things. I went back and looked at the
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cards you mentioned, and I can see the similarities to the RoS
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characters. It is a very nice tarot deck.
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Ariel
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Comments on Second Issue of Cousins:
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Laura Woodswalker Todd: Hello! Your letter to Issue #2 was very
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interesting. Unfortunately, there are no "good" covens depicted in RoS;
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however, there are quite a few good individual pagans (like Robin, Mad
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Mab, and the old hermit who helps Robin in Swords of Wayland.) I'll
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agree with Hilda that Kip probably used evil "sorcery" as a plot device
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to get people hooked. I find characters like Belleme and Morgwyn, who
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are so single-minded and ruthless in their quest for power, compelling
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to watch. Why is everyone so down on Gulnar? Personally, I was scared
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witless the first time I watched "Cromm Cruac." However, I found "Time
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of the Wolf" a bit like an amusement park haunted house: a little creepy
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at first, but then just ridiculous!
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For Robert to show vulnerability is one thing, but I have read too many
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stories that just denigrate his character, and those are the ones that
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make me angry. I agree with you utterly that there must have been some
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motivation behind Robert's eventually becoming an outlaw besides his
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attraction to Marion. Perhaps Marion's being kidnapped by Clun was the
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catalyst that forced him to ultimately make the decision to leave
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Huntingdon. I think he must have had exposure to the Old Religion at
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least through myths and storytelling. Otherwise, as you pointed out, he
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might not have accepted Herne's guidance so readily.
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I do have a couple of quibbles about the pieces of fanfic you cited in
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your letter - just that I think they were taken a bit out of context.
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Will's accusation of Marion in "The Hollow Hills" (Albion 4) only comes
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after Marion refuses to help rescue Robert (who has been kidnapped and
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enchanted by the Sidhe) because she fears being drawn back into the
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forest. Will doesn't just call her a bitch out of the blue, he's worried
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about Robert and frustrated by Marion's refusal to help.
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I don't think Robert was accusing Marion of being a "god groupie" in The
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Hooded Man. I think he was trying to find out if she really loved him
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personally, or just the aspect of him that tied him to Loxley (i.e.,
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being Herne's Son).
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I think people like Marion, it's just that they don't like the way Time
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of the Wolf ended. Without taking the behind-the-scenes circumstances
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into consideration, it makes Marion look a little heartless. Her peace
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is gained at the cost of Robert's misery.
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Janet V.: Your view of the Goddess as Sherwood or even England herself
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is more on target (pun intended!) than you realize. An interesting book
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I read called "The Warriors of Arthur" (I can't remember the author's
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name, will try to find it for a future issue) mentioned the belief in
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the land as the Mother or divine feminine, and the king as her consort
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and protector. There was a nice line to the effect of "...the king and
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the land were tied by a bond so powerful that nothing could stand
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against them."
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Lynn: You raise a lot of valid points. Your views on Marion are so
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interesting! I've had thoughts along those lines myself - perhaps she
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"converted" to Paganism upon her marriage to Robin without ever really
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adopting the beliefs herself. A lot of people today convert to the faith
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of their loved one. I'm probably sticking my sword in and stirring
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things up here (as Hilda would say), but I don't think Marion was a
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priestess. I think she went to the forest simply because she loved Robin
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and wanted to be with him. At the same time, however, she could also
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help the poor and right some of the injustices she had probably observed
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all her life (like Robert), but had no power to do anything about. On
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the same note, I don't think Robin "chose" Marion because he saw the
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Goddess in her. I think he saw a woman who was not only beautiful, but
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courageous, compassionate, and intelligent. Maybe to us they serve as
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archetypes, but they probably weren't to each other!
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Janet R.: On your and Lynn's observations of the "Mary cult": there was
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an interesting cover story on Mary in Time about last Christmas (1991).
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I think the intense devotion to Mary serves as a badly needed outlet for
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a female deity. Sadly, much of Mary's vitality has been drained away by
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male theologians who paint her as the perfect submissive, obedient
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woman. Interestingly, the three artistic depictions of Mary chosen for
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the article showed her in the aspects of Maid, Mother, and Crone, and
|
||
she was wearing white, red, and black correspondingly!
|
||
|
||
I enjoyed all your historical commentary and wish I had the time to read
|
||
and really absorb all this information!
|
||
|
||
One problem with the third series, I think, is that Kip did not write
|
||
all the stories. So, perhaps there is a bit of a continuity problem
|
||
(like the writers not being 100% familiar with the Praed stories). The
|
||
same thing happened, to a much worse extent, with Dr. Who, where events
|
||
in one story very often flatly contradict events in a previous story.
|
||
|
||
Hilda - your comments are funny as heck, like Mary being "promoted" to
|
||
Queen of Heaven to get the "matristic hayseeds into the church." And
|
||
"rent-a-monsters?" Tell that one to Gulnar, the "Jimmy Swaggart of
|
||
Paganism!" For an utterly hysterical look at Mary Sues of all universes,
|
||
check out "The Most Awful Post Awful" by Rache in Apocryphal Albion 3.
|
||
|
||
Typo: The Black Mass I referred to in my letter was allegedly performed
|
||
by Louis XIV of France. There ain't no such number as VIX! Sorry!
|
||
|
||
Comments on Third Issue of Cousins:
|
||
|
||
Kitty: Hi! I think you might have misunderstood my article - I don't
|
||
feel Robin is "too magical," I just think he's portrayed in fanfic too
|
||
often as having magical abilities far beyond that of which he's capable
|
||
on TV. On the other extreme, there's Robert, who is often portrayed as
|
||
completely ignorant of the Old Religion and doesn't "understand" magic.
|
||
The story divisions may be logical, but that doesn't mean they should be
|
||
cast in stone. Skipping ahead a little, this brings me to your comments
|
||
to Laura W.: "These characters were created by Kip and should remain in
|
||
the bounds he created...Unless you keep the characters true to the show,
|
||
then you are creating your own characters and panning them off as RoS."
|
||
Well- said! While it's fun to explore aspects of the characters we don't
|
||
get to see on TV, I think there should be reasonable limits on how far
|
||
we go with our imaginations.
|
||
|
||
While I agree with your argument on originality, it irritates me to see
|
||
the same themes and ideas popping up over and over again (e.g., Robin as
|
||
sacred king, Marion as Maiden, Robert mopes over Marion, Guy turns good,
|
||
etc.), as I mentioned in my article.
|
||
|
||
Your comments on Herne's calling Robert are also well-put. The situation
|
||
with Marion in "Herne's Son" finally forces Robert to confront his true
|
||
desire to help the oppressed. Speaking of "Herne's Son," your thoughts
|
||
on Marion's initial reaction to being kidnapped by Clun make a lot of
|
||
sense. The poor woman probably hadn't even recovered from Robin's death,
|
||
now she has to confront a future as the "wife" of a barbarian with
|
||
nobody to come to her aid! Is it any wonder she went to pieces?
|
||
|
||
I enjoyed your pointing out that England at this time would have been a
|
||
mixture of different types of people. Correspondingly, wouldn't their
|
||
religious beliefs have mingled somewhat? I'm irritated when people
|
||
become particular about "traditional" craft beliefs - what's
|
||
traditional, anyway? It's like arguing over what the "right" form of
|
||
Christianity is. [Look, John! A can of worms! Wanna go fishing? -H]
|
||
|
||
On to your points about black magic. You say that "Only Gulnar appears
|
||
to be a fanatic about his god..." And Morgwyn ISN'T?? She's about as
|
||
fanatical as they come, but in a more cold, ruthless way.
|
||
|
||
Thanks for your references on the Sidhe - maybe some day I'll have time
|
||
to actually look at all these! Right now I'm afraid they'd just join the
|
||
pile of material accumulating on my floor!
|
||
|
||
Morgana: Thanks for the enlightening definition of "Earth Magic!"
|
||
|
||
Laura W.: I recently stumbled across a copy of Barbara Walker's
|
||
excellent Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets and was amazed. She
|
||
must have put so much work into that book! In addition to some
|
||
interesting Pagan references, she goes on at length about how Jesus
|
||
might never have actually existed, and how so much of his life story
|
||
might have been "borrowed" from other Gods and heroes. She also mentions
|
||
that much of the Bible was apparently written many years after Christ's
|
||
death, by men who never actually knew him firsthand! I'm not much of
|
||
religious scholar - has anybody read anything else along this line?
|
||
|
||
You refer to some of the earliest Robin Hood tales - I believe that
|
||
Robin Hood didn't start "giving to the poor" until either the
|
||
Elizabethan period or even later, perhaps with the publication of
|
||
Ivanhoe. But I'm not 100% sure here, so don't take my word for gospel -
|
||
does anybody know more about this than me? Love to get your input!
|
||
|
||
[Hilda - if Gerald Gardner swiped his "ancient rituals" from Doreen
|
||
Valiente, where did SHE get them? Just curious!]
|
||
|
||
No, Robin of Sherwood is not "politically correct" in the strictest
|
||
feminist sense. Although Marion is the only regular female member of the
|
||
RoS cast, there are a number of excellent female characters in the guest
|
||
cast, running the gamut from Mildred to Morgwyn. They're definitely not
|
||
all "damsels in distress!" Also, I think the show is to be commended for
|
||
showing both the positive and negative aspects of several faiths. There
|
||
are even some political allegories that can be drawn between the
|
||
12th/13th centuries and the 20th. ["Do you want to be slaves to the
|
||
Welsh?" Oy, there's a tired rerun! -H] You might come up a little empty-
|
||
handed if you go looking for Goddess symbolism, but the program is rich
|
||
in many other respects. [Is that why we feel compelled to rob it? -H]
|
||
|
||
As for Gulnar doing "something simpler" to avenge himself on Robert -
|
||
first, I don't think Gulnar is avenging anything. He just dislikes
|
||
Robert (does someone like Gulnar really need a reason to do anything
|
||
nasty?) After all, it was Gulnar who goaded Owen to his death in
|
||
"Herne's Son," and later uses this as a lame excuse for vengeance in
|
||
"Cromm Cruac." True, he could have gone for a more conventional method
|
||
of revenge, but Gulnar's scrawny build rather rules out direct combat,
|
||
and besides, that's not the type of revenge you can fill up 50 minutes
|
||
with.
|
||
|
||
As for other random magical occurrences: they're probably plot devices.
|
||
As I pointed out in my article, Marion seems genuinely surprised to
|
||
learn that Albion will not kill Herne's Son. The idea was probably
|
||
thought up for this story. Although it's hard to imagine Loxley not
|
||
being aware of the sword's power, it's equally hard to imagine Marion
|
||
being ignorant of this fact if Robin wasn't. The Round Table seems to be
|
||
some sort of link between Arthur and his knights (in Avalon, presumably)
|
||
and the "real" world. This is strictly guesswork, although it's an
|
||
interesting point you raise. Anything I've read about Arthur does not go
|
||
into great lengths about the power of his table! Does anybody better
|
||
versed in Arthurian lore than I am want to take a stab at this one?
|
||
|
||
A RoS Tarot deck! Neato! I've seen kits that you can use to design your
|
||
own deck, but it would require more artistic talent than I possess!
|
||
Another problem is that you'd run out of characters pretty quickly. Here
|
||
are some ideas I had: Alan and Mildred as the Two of Cups, Gisburne as
|
||
the Knight of Wands, Marion as the mourning woman in the Nine of Swords,
|
||
Loxley as the Knight of Swords, Margaret of Gisburne or Queen Hadwisa
|
||
as the Queen of Swords, the Sheriff or Hugo as the Four of Pentacles
|
||
[Yes!!! Hugo's got my vote! -H], Edward as the Seven of Pentacles.
|
||
Personally, I see Robert as the Fool, the eternal adventurer. I can see
|
||
Alison of Wickham as the Empress and King Richard as the Emperor.
|
||
Someone has actually done a Robin and Marion illustration of the Lovers
|
||
(I think it was in Legend 3). We could put the Earl of Huntingdon in the
|
||
Chariot, and perhaps use Isadora in Strength. [The lion is a symbol of
|
||
England, yes? -H] Herne is definitely the Hermit card. I'd love to do
|
||
Gulnar as the Devil, with Marion and Robert chained to the block. It
|
||
would be cute to put Matthew on the back of the horse in the Sun. Gee,
|
||
this is fun! Anybody have other ideas on this?
|
||
|
||
In nearly every story where Robin and Robert meet, it's always Robin who
|
||
ends up in the mentor role, while Robert is the one getting all the
|
||
advice. This is another trend in fanfic that I find personally
|
||
irritating. Robin made a fair number of mistakes as the Hooded Man - why
|
||
does he so often become this font of knowledge in fan stories? I like
|
||
Robin, but I dislike seeing his character made into a paragon of wisdom
|
||
at Robert's expense.
|
||
|
||
Todd: Hello! Nice to hear from you! It's good to see a representative of
|
||
yet another religious background. Your discussion of Mormonism was
|
||
fascinating! I had no idea that Mormons had their "mystics," too.
|
||
|
||
The incident of the noblewoman's garter is nicely described by Margaret
|
||
Murray. Apparently, when Edward III was dancing with either the Fair
|
||
Maid of Kent or the Countess of Salisbury, she dropped her garter,
|
||
whereupon the King gallantly picked it up and said "Honi soit qui mal y
|
||
pense" - "Shame to him who thinks ill of it," and tied the garter around
|
||
his own leg. According to Doreen Valiente, the King founded the Order of
|
||
the Garter - 26 knights, including the King and his son, the Black
|
||
Prince - two covens! The King's cloak was decorated with the figures of
|
||
168 garters, which added to the one on his leg, made 169 or 13 times 13
|
||
garters! Valiente suggests that by acting as he did, Edward not only
|
||
defended the woman's honor, he defended the Old Religion as well.
|
||
|
||
I was under the impression that "Wiccan" and "Pagan" were the same
|
||
thing. Perhaps I shouldn't use the words interchangeably. Hilda? Help!
|
||
|
||
Phil K.: You mention that Robin "hand picked" people who could fight
|
||
with him. I have to disagree here - from the action in "The Sorcerer,"
|
||
I'd say that the outlaws pretty much fell together by accident or fate.
|
||
Robin certainly did not choose them by design.
|
||
|
||
Julianne: Speaking of garters, I find it hard to believe that the red
|
||
rag on Robin's pants is there strictly to hold the stuffing in. What
|
||
about the camera angle? It's too suspicious for my devious mind!
|
||
|
||
I'm going to have to disagree with you again on paganism in Robin's
|
||
time. The earliest human religious impulse may have been toward a
|
||
mother-figure, but as for the medieval Anglo- Saxon/Norman England, I
|
||
can't quite see it as matrifocal, or even balanced (not in the way we
|
||
would think of "balance.") Even if the peasants acknowledged a female
|
||
Deity or Deities, I'd be more inclined to believe their belief system
|
||
leaned toward the patriarchal.
|
||
|
||
Janet R.: I would love to loan you a copy of Margaret Murray's God of
|
||
the Witches, but it was a library copy. Have you checked with any
|
||
college/university libraries in your area, or perhaps even contacted a
|
||
history or anthropology professor? Are there occult bookshops around
|
||
where you live? There are also bookstores (particularly around colleges)
|
||
that will special order books for people.
|
||
|
||
You describe William Rufus' death exactly as Murray does. She also
|
||
points to the unusual circumstances surrounding the deaths of Thomas a
|
||
Becket and Joan of Arc, as well as pointing to "Robin Hood" as perhaps
|
||
the title of a witch or shaman. Interesting!
|
||
|
||
Hilda: You may find Cunningham too vague, but he's good for beginners,
|
||
and his book on solitary practice is just about the only book I've seen
|
||
on Wicca that doesn't assume the reader is working with a group.
|
||
|
||
Your closing thoughts on Marion are as perceptive as ever. While it's
|
||
true she does have to swing a lot of the feminine archetypical stuff on
|
||
her own, don't forget the contributions made by the wonderful guest
|
||
characters (as I mentioned above) who take the burden of perfection off
|
||
Marion's shoulders. In this light, perhaps we shouldn't come down so
|
||
harshly on original female characters in fanfic. It's hard to come up
|
||
with a good female character when you're afraid she's only going to be
|
||
stuck with the Mary Sue label!
|
||
|
||
Well, this is starting to be epic-length, so I'll sign off now!
|
||
|
||
Blessed be.
|
||
|
||
Carol Burrell Hello, everyone, and thank you, Hilda, for slipping
|
||
Cousins into my bag. I zipped through the issues on the train from
|
||
Massachusetts to New York, and now that the topics have circulated and
|
||
percolated in my head, I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts.
|
||
|
||
On Owen and his thoroughly confused band: I think his men are wearing
|
||
Roman soldiers' accoutrements, hanging from their beltsQthose flaps or
|
||
strips with disks or coins on them. At least, they look exactly like
|
||
part of a Roman uniform. Does anyone know if they have another
|
||
significance? This may show yet another influence on the screwball
|
||
behaviour going on at Clun.
|
||
|
||
As a defender/apologist for the Mediterranean world, I must say I get
|
||
the impression folks concur the main thing those nasty Romans spread was
|
||
Christianity. Non-Judaeo- Christian religions persisted throughout the
|
||
Empire right up to its collapseQthe old religions, Mithraism, the Isis
|
||
cult, etc.Qand there are a lot of parallels in the practise of these
|
||
religions with the Celtic faiths. And which is how a sixth century
|
||
Christian emperor could end up marrying a thoroughly pagan woman.
|
||
|
||
Which brings me to spouting off trivia, since someone brought the topic
|
||
up, and hopefully folks will find this interesting. I think it's nice to
|
||
know that the Mary cult wasn't just a bunch of men trying to convert
|
||
"hayseeds," or someone longing for the Mother goddess (although that
|
||
could be there subconsciously)Qbut that the cult also got an early boost
|
||
from a feisty fourteen-year-old girl trying to participate in the church
|
||
and break up the hierarchy. Aelia Pulcheria, sister of the boy emperor
|
||
Theodosius, wanted control over both the empire and herself, and was a
|
||
prime impetus for the acceptance of the elevation of the Mother. And,
|
||
while she was at it, she raised the status of virgin and saved herself
|
||
from marriage to any power seeker. Pulcheria initiated her little
|
||
sisters into this cult, brought women in to worship alongside men
|
||
(gasp!) and did a good job of ruling in her baby brother's stead. Then,
|
||
her brother married a pagan woman. So what do we make of this? The
|
||
Mother goddess will out? Purely politics? And what in the world does it
|
||
have to do with RoS? Beats me. Keep fanning the fires, and I'm looking
|
||
forward to the next issue.
|
||
|
||
Laura Woodswalker Todd Dear Cousins, Greetings! Love you all and miss
|
||
you and I have only the slightest hopes of going to Weekend in Sherwood
|
||
(unless any of you Pennsylvania fans are into sharing a very long
|
||
drive.) Anyway, Hilda published my suggestion about a "Favorite RoS
|
||
quote" survey. My absolute favorite is from Time of the Wolf: "What do
|
||
you think you're wearing, Gisburne, you look absurd!"
|
||
|
||
Janet asks why Marion doesn't get a fair shake in the fanfic. To my
|
||
mind, the emphasis in RoS is definitely on the Guys. Let's face it,
|
||
Jason and Michael upstage anyone else who happens to be on the screen.
|
||
Even the writer's mental screen. If the two Robins had been more
|
||
ordinary, there probably would be more attention given to this wonderful
|
||
tough woman who shoots a longbow, lives in the forest, and generally
|
||
does/is everything we wish we could be. Perhaps there's an element of
|
||
jealousy here! Perhaps she is too perfect to write about! I do tell
|
||
myself that when I'm tired of writing about Our Guys, I should
|
||
definitely write some stuff about Marion.
|
||
|
||
Then again...there are times when she comes across an ice princess. Such
|
||
as at the end of Herne's Son when she asks Robert "do you think they'll
|
||
accept you as their leader?" in a rather cool tone and then rides off
|
||
without another word. When the poor guy has just risked his life to save
|
||
her!
|
||
|
||
But Marion was okay with me until the very end when she dumped Robert. I
|
||
though that was incredibly foolish and out of character. (If they wanted
|
||
to write her out of the series, why not just say she had to stay in
|
||
Halstead for health reasons?) By the way, what do you folks think -
|
||
would Marion have stayed at Halstead? I personally don't think she'd
|
||
have lasted longer than a week. Corollary question: was she really in
|
||
love with Robert? Some of the fan writers seem to think not. But since
|
||
we saw her onscreen looking ecstatically happy and promising to marry
|
||
him, I believe her feelings were genuine. We can speculate to some
|
||
extent, but to me, if we see it onscreen, it is canon.
|
||
|
||
Which leads me to the subject of the RoS canon in TV and fanfic. I think
|
||
the show left an awful lot of blank spaces to fill. In my last letter I
|
||
wondered why TV shows in general rarely delved into character and were
|
||
very shallow on continuity, etc. A friend of mine answered this by
|
||
telling me that many different writers do the episodes, so each writer
|
||
must leave the characters pretty much as he found them. That explains a
|
||
lot!
|
||
|
||
To me the show is merely the tip of the iceberg. It only gives the
|
||
barest of clues; it's the fans who have expanded on them and created a
|
||
lot of the things that are accepted as "canon." For example, the
|
||
labeling of Loxley as "magical" and Robert as "rational." I've never
|
||
seen Loxley actually do magic on the show; most of it is things that
|
||
happen to him or are given to him by Herne. Of his psychic ability,
|
||
there is merely the impression given by his dark piercing eyes and the
|
||
way he stops every now and then with that intense listening expression.
|
||
As for Robert, why is he "rational?" Because of his clear, precise
|
||
diction and the assumption that he has had more formal education? (His
|
||
behavior in Herne's Son is anything but rational!)
|
||
|
||
There are lots of other conclusions we could draw from the bare bones
|
||
the show gives us. For instance - I think Robert's strongest
|
||
characteristic must be not rationality but empathy in relating to
|
||
people. How else could he have won over Loxley's band and the local
|
||
peasants, given their antipathy to the nobility and suspicion of anyone
|
||
who'd claim Loxley's place? As for Loxley, is he so "perfect," or might
|
||
he have a bit of a "bad ass attitude" and want revenge, considering that
|
||
he's seen his family massacred?
|
||
|
||
Sorry if I'm getting off the subject. Since I've run out of my meager
|
||
store of Pagan Lore, I have to fall back on another favorite subject,
|
||
character analysis. Hope you don't mind!
|
||
|
||
Julianne - Is Michael really so skinny that he needs to stuff his
|
||
pants?? [...censorship is bad, censorship is bad, censorship is BAD...
|
||
-H] Maybe that's why he never did any (semi-) nude scenes. [AAAARGH! You
|
||
stink! What a stupid thing to say! You better be glad I even printed
|
||
that, because it's a serious compromise of my editorial standards!
|
||
Grunt! Gasp! Urrgh! ALE!!!]
|
||
|
||
[The editorial staff of Cousins wishes to blame the preceding outburst
|
||
on the approach of Spring. We now return you to your regularly scheduled
|
||
letter.]
|
||
|
||
As to writing and art being Magical Practice: It's true - writing and
|
||
drawing are ways of "invoking" characters and making them come alive.
|
||
Yes, I've written several stories about what makes Robert tick...but
|
||
it'll take a long time for them to all appear in the zines.
|
||
|
||
I love your use of RoS characters for the 4 quarters. I never thought
|
||
of that! I was thinking more along the lines of using them for Tarot
|
||
cards. Tuck as the Hermit, Herne as High Priest (or is that the other
|
||
way round?) Much as the Fool, Belleme as the Devil. Marion as Empress,
|
||
or would Isadora fit better for that? Wheel of Fortune = Rhiannon's
|
||
Wheel? [Brilliant! -H] As to invoking the RoS characters...yes, I do
|
||
invoke them, consciously or not, when their particular type of power is
|
||
needed. I think I invoke Robin every time I do archery! I find I have
|
||
also used Robert as an example/source of strength when dealing with co-
|
||
workers. Because, as I said, his skill is in diplomacy and dealing with
|
||
people. Now if I ever realize my dream of being an Eco- defender and
|
||
joining Earth First! Will Scarlet will probably be the archetype I want
|
||
in my corner.
|
||
|
||
As to this "sacrificial King" stuff: Wonder why all these sacrificial
|
||
kings had to die in such agonizing ways (castration, dismemberment,
|
||
crucifixion.) OUCH! Originally the idea may have sprung from hunting
|
||
magic, but all this torture doesn't have much to do with hunting. Maybe
|
||
humans were just sadists from Day One? Does this have anything to do
|
||
with the way we writers do nasty things to our Guys? (I'm one of the
|
||
guiltiest parties, I'll admit.) Notice that nobody every tortures the
|
||
baddies?
|
||
|
||
Herne Protect!
|
||
|
||
Kathy Allard
|
||
|
||
Greetings, fellow Cousins! I'm so thrilled with this project and Hilda's
|
||
dedication to making it happen. I'm an old RoS fan, having been hooked
|
||
since the original Showtime run in '84, but I've fallen far behind on
|
||
fanfic reading, and I'm a novice pagan - so Cousins is a learning
|
||
experience for me on many levels.
|
||
|
||
First off, to Mike and anyone else who's been attracted here because of
|
||
the Wiccan slant but hasn't seen RoS yet - I for one am willing and able
|
||
to copy the series, so feel free to contact me.
|
||
|
||
I'm glad to see so much emphasis in these pages on magick, folklore,
|
||
traditions, etc. Herne's Stepchildren is the place for general RoS
|
||
discussion, and I hope Cousins will stay focused on our particular
|
||
interests. I also like the idea of this newsletter as a clearinghouse
|
||
for information, where people can ask questions and others recommend
|
||
helpful reading. Thanks to all who've recommended some great books!
|
||
|
||
I'm curious about what pagan magazines people here read. Hilda mentioned
|
||
Moonrise. I've found Green Egg to be a good source of information on
|
||
everything from current politics to Celtic history and practical crafts
|
||
(um, of the "arts +" variety). Their proofreaders should be roasted on a
|
||
spit, though (sorry, bit of personal prejudice there).
|
||
|
||
Is John Matthews touring America? In my area he's doing a weekend on
|
||
"The Celtic Shaman" in March, and I'm going to be in Florida. Sob! If
|
||
anyone sees him I'd love to hear about it.
|
||
|
||
There have been several questions and comments about pagan rituals
|
||
surviving into modern times. Another good source of information on this
|
||
is Frazer's The Golden Bough, an awesome piece of research on, as he
|
||
calls it, magic and religion. Lord of the Trees fans will want to read
|
||
"The Worship of Trees" and "Relics of Tree-Worship in Modern Europe."
|
||
|
||
I found the entire long section on death and revival of vegetation
|
||
fascinating, from his retelling the myths of the gods/goddesses of
|
||
vegetation to the modern analogies among farmers in Europe. Frazer was
|
||
researching this book around the turn of the century, so rituals
|
||
surrounding crops may be drastically changed now that machinery does so
|
||
much of the work. Between the ancient and modern examples, we can get a
|
||
pretty good idea of what went on in Robin Hood's time.
|
||
|
||
The almost endless examples Frazer gives of magical workings and customs
|
||
all over the world and throughout prehistory and history reinforce for
|
||
me the feeling that, on many levels, all the traditions truly are one.
|
||
If only the people who've gone to war over god could see it that way!
|
||
|
||
Janet R.: I'm wondering what your source material is for the modern
|
||
rituals you described in issue #2. I'd like to read more about what goes
|
||
on today.
|
||
|
||
Woodswalker: I've read some of the original Robin Hood ballads and found
|
||
them to be fairly boring - as you said, they were mainly adventure tales
|
||
aimed at the masses and detailing fights and contests. They struck me as
|
||
almost barbaric, and Robin not an admirable figure at all.
|
||
|
||
The tradition transformed with the times - I know Marion was a medieval
|
||
addition, considering that period's obsession with romantic love. I'm
|
||
sure there are Cousins more knowledgeable on the evolution of the
|
||
tradition than I, so to get to the point - considering how little the
|
||
original source material gives us, how do we know if Robin was a pagan?
|
||
Perhaps we are making an assumption that he would be because he lived in
|
||
Sherwood Forest at that time in history. I personally think that Richard
|
||
Carpenter's interpretation of Robin has more to do with the spirit of
|
||
our times, when old myths and legends are being reinterpreted in light
|
||
of the pagan side of the story ( la Mists of Avalon).
|
||
|
||
Maybe I'm taking your question of "was Robin a Wiccan" too literally,
|
||
but it seems similar to trying to identify an historical person with
|
||
Robin Hood: we'll never know. Like all the great legends, Robin Hood has
|
||
come alive for people over the centuries because he's open to so many
|
||
interpretations. This one seems right to us, so let's go with it.
|
||
|
||
Phil: I love your view of RoS and, even more, your world view. I've
|
||
gotten strongly anti- Christian vibes from some pagan material I've
|
||
read, and it makes me uncomfortable - not to mention how so many
|
||
Christians feel about Wiccans, namely that we're to be equated with
|
||
Satanists, as Todd was taught. You're so right about living in
|
||
productive harmony - let's extend that to include the entire universe.
|
||
|
||
Looking forward to reading and learning more from all of you.
|
||
|
||
Blessed Be!
|
||
|
||
Tara O'Shea (re: Issue 2)
|
||
|
||
Amber: I am curious as to the role of Marion as far as the triad is
|
||
concerned. I say this because I have never seen it myself. I saw her
|
||
first as a human being, and never even thought of superimposing one of
|
||
Her Faces over her. Not until I started reading all the RoS fanfic, and
|
||
saw how common this was. And I began to think about it, and still can't
|
||
really see Mari as an aspect of the Goddess.
|
||
|
||
I too am a generic pagan, like Laura, and express some doubts concerning
|
||
the rituals. However, if they help some people express their faith, and
|
||
they need them, then I have no problem with this. Again, I never read as
|
||
much into the Celtic aspect of Robin of Sherwood until I started reading
|
||
all the fanfic. I began writing after seeing three of the episodes on
|
||
tape, borrowed the novelizations, and didn't purchase a fanzine until
|
||
almost a year later. Then I got the courage up and started submitting,
|
||
and so far most of what I read has been tribbers copies of zines I have
|
||
writing or art in, or zines I've ordered through the mail or picked up
|
||
at cons. I don't know a great deal about all the symbolism, though now
|
||
I'm building up a healthy collection of books, and look up everything.
|
||
|
||
One of the things I've always been confused about is the notion of Gods.
|
||
For example, I have seen Ceridwen named the mother, yet all I know of
|
||
her regards Gwion Bach and his metamorphosis into Taliesin. Ditto
|
||
Arianrhod, who is called Earth Goddess by Gulnar in The Hooded Man, yet
|
||
all I seem to remember is that she was raped by Math, and cursed her son
|
||
by laying three geise on him. As for the Tuatha De Danann, who are
|
||
considered the Irish pantheon, they were not exactly gods per se. They
|
||
were not human, true, but they were the Children of Nemed, descended
|
||
from the Greeks, as were the Fir Bolg, and were the fourth of five races
|
||
to conquer Ireland. They did not create man, or the world, or do any
|
||
particular godlike things as I can recall. I may be wrong. So far I
|
||
have read two of Jim Fitzpatrick's retellings, skimmed Lady Gregory's
|
||
Gods and Fighting Men (it had a J. Fitzpatrick cover, as did Fairy Faith
|
||
in Celtic Countries, and so I snatched them both up. They have been very
|
||
helpful) and I have about ten or fifteen other books lying about my
|
||
writing desk. The most useful I have found is the Dictionary of Irish
|
||
Mythology by Peter Bransford Ellis, which doesn't cover the Welsh or
|
||
Arthurian, but only the Irish, which it covers very well.
|
||
|
||
I never saw Robin of Loxley as perfect. I am constantly going back and
|
||
re-watching episodes because I will read a story and remember something
|
||
different, or will have missed something the first time, and this is
|
||
very helpful in getting me back on track. I watched The King's Fool and
|
||
The Children of Israel, and these seem to illustrate that Loxley is far
|
||
from perfect. He really lit into Will in that one, and while Scarlet
|
||
deserved it, they both overreacted. And while I did dislike Robert for a
|
||
while, it was mostly a reaction to Loxley, as they were so very
|
||
different. But different doesn't mean better or worse, and I have grown
|
||
very fond of Robert in the last year, mainly because I've written more
|
||
about him, and feel closer right now.
|
||
|
||
And I do try to be good to Marion. In fact, three of the first six
|
||
stories I wrote were from her point of view, on or near about the major
|
||
changes in her life. The first one, Cold Stone Walls, took place shortly
|
||
after her father died, the second (Home) detailed her decision to go
|
||
back to Leaford after Robin's death, and the last one (A Night at the
|
||
Inn) in the time between Herne's Son and The Power of Albion, because I
|
||
was curious to see what she might think about her position in her
|
||
father's world, and with the outlaws. I am very curious about Marion's
|
||
point of view, and try to be completely fair. And as for why she left
|
||
Robert, since I know it was because Judi didn't want to do a lot of work
|
||
in the 4th series, that explains Mari's motivation. No matter what the
|
||
writers said, she never really had a choice, and so whatever people
|
||
hypothesize might well be perfectly correct. Had the actors never been
|
||
part of the storymaking process, then she most likely would have stayed
|
||
on the hill and died with her husband. For that matter, Loxley would
|
||
never have been martyred.
|
||
|
||
By the way, from what I know of Cernunnos, he was the Latin name for any
|
||
horned figure, and in Irish much he was Carnun, the horned god who held
|
||
the torc of leadership in one hand, and either crushed the serpent Cromm
|
||
Cruach in the other hand (this is apparently in The Book of the Taking
|
||
of Ireland, or at least Jim Fitzpatrick's retelling in The Silver Hand)
|
||
or holding his sigil, the horned serpent. The serpent symbolizes evil in
|
||
Christian myth, and Marion Zimmer Bradley said that the serpent's egg
|
||
was the symbol of the Druids, and the story of St. Patrick driving the
|
||
snakes from the island is a metaphor for driving out the Old Faith, for
|
||
we know there were no snakes in Ireland by that time.
|
||
|
||
Ariel: I know about Samhain, Imbolg, Beltaine, and Lughnasad, but I had
|
||
always wondered about Lammas and Mabon, as they are mentioned so often.
|
||
I knew about the summer and winter solstice, but didn't know the names
|
||
proper. My birthday is Mabon, although I was three months premature, and
|
||
was due on or about the winter solstice. Weird. Perhaps not. I don't
|
||
know. Thank you for pointing this out. Also, the only times I ever saw
|
||
Robin using magic were to call on Herne when Mari was shot, and when he
|
||
fairy-led Guy in Lord of the Trees. That, and resisting Belleme's
|
||
glamour. That reminds me, I usually don't equate the Sight with Magic,
|
||
because I've always thought of magic as being learned or studied,
|
||
whereas the Sight is something you are born into. However, precognition
|
||
and telepathy sound a great deal like magic, so this gets a bit
|
||
confusing. I don't know. I'm going to shut up now about that sort of
|
||
thing. It gets too complicated.
|
||
|
||
As for the six foot tall fay, this would come from the Danaans I think,
|
||
as the Welsh didn't really get that tall, and I have no idea bout
|
||
Manannan Mac Lir, because he was old when the Fir Bolg arrived. I think
|
||
he's really the only one I've ever known who has always been referred to
|
||
as a god.
|
||
|
||
Janet R.: Don't you ever call your brain little. It boggles the mind,
|
||
mine at least, every time I read one of your letters. So far, you have
|
||
kept me sane (or some close approximation, as I have never been known to
|
||
claim sanity. I collect comic books) here in the Peninsula. I love you.
|
||
I just had to mention that. One of these days, we really have to meet
|
||
one another. Or talk on the phone. I just read your bit on Carnun (I am
|
||
writing this letter as I read, so you see, you beat me to the punch
|
||
already, as I have already written a whole paragraph on Carnun, and now
|
||
am contemplating going back and deleting it.) I never knew Rhiannon
|
||
translated as the same as Morrighan. She's my favourite Danaan. I never
|
||
liked Cuchulainn either.
|
||
|
||
And you know what I think about Robert joining the outlaws. I sent you
|
||
the story. I firmly believe that Marion was the catalyst that sent him
|
||
back to Sherwood. The reason was that he needed to sever ties with his
|
||
family and their way of life, sort of like the straw that broke the
|
||
camel's back. And he did love her. First love too, and that had to have
|
||
been hard. After all, Mari had already loved and lost, but the poor
|
||
laddie had never had his heart broken before. At least now they're on
|
||
equal ground, though I don't believe he was suicidal. Deeply depressed
|
||
for a while, after all this was his first love, but I can't see him
|
||
killing himself. Marion didn't; however, what took place during the
|
||
series and what we all suppose happened after the series are two
|
||
different things, mainly because we didn't have the actors to keep in
|
||
mind.
|
||
|
||
As for the Marchers, from what I know they weren't Welsh or English
|
||
exactly. At least, they claimed whichever side they wished when it
|
||
appealed to them, or whichever set of laws favoured them most. I suppose
|
||
Clun could have been a mix of a lot of things. As for the names, don't
|
||
look at me. My poor friend Megan was born Siobhan, but no one could say
|
||
or spell it, and so she changed it. Who knows what Grendel's mother was
|
||
thinking.
|
||
|
||
One last thing: I thought those rags tied round Robin's legs were to
|
||
hide the fact that his thighs were padded for the series. I may be
|
||
wrong. I often am, and I can't quite remember where I heard this.
|
||
|
||
Judi Kincaid
|
||
|
||
Hello Cousins! What a great idea this letterzine is! Hilda, thanks again
|
||
for the first three issues so promptly, I really enjoyed them! Janet and
|
||
Lynn, thanks also!
|
||
|
||
Like Janet, I was raised as a Methodist, but have drifted away from
|
||
'organised' religion for several years now. It is very encouraging to
|
||
discover that there are other people with similar views and interests.
|
||
RoS struck a definite chord within me and I began to find my interest in
|
||
medievalism taking rapidly different paths to new areas of study. I
|
||
didn't realize what I felt and believed in had a name till then! Through
|
||
my solitary studies, RoS, and friends within the fandom, I have gained
|
||
insight and had my beliefs bolstered, not to mention the feeling of
|
||
'coming home.'
|
||
|
||
Being fairly new to the fandom (although I was hooked on RoS in the
|
||
first five minutes of Herne's Son when it first aired), as well as
|
||
living overseas, I am not up on all of the fanfic and zines (yet!) So,
|
||
thanks for the definition of a Mary Sue! However, I do have some
|
||
thoughts to share...
|
||
|
||
Issue 1: Ariel - What a great article! I also agree with your reasons
|
||
for Marion staying at Halstead. I feel she never did nor would
|
||
completely let Robin's memory go - she even admitted at the Ring of the
|
||
Nine Maidens, 'It was never meant to be.'
|
||
|
||
As for the debate on Robert and his apparent lack of magical talent...
|
||
It has already been acknowledged how various cast changes, such as Praed
|
||
leaving and Judi only wanting to be in a few episodes, have called for
|
||
some brilliant screenwriting maneuvers and plot changes. In the third
|
||
series, the script writing and directing was very eclectic. Kip
|
||
Carpenter admits he wasn't as closely involved in the third series as he
|
||
was in the previous two. Is it possible that Robert isn't 'up to par'
|
||
magically since his character was developed by several writers? A
|
||
diversity of script writers may also help to explain why Robert's real
|
||
reason for returning to Sherwood has been vague at best and largely left
|
||
for fanfic fodder. I felt that there was a definite change in the feel
|
||
of the series. Like Janet R. wrote, Herne and the magic seemed more
|
||
distant.
|
||
|
||
Now I realise that this is a very mundane explanation, but I thought I'd
|
||
toss it out anyway.
|
||
|
||
Issue 3: Laura - My Tarot set is the Robin Wood deck. It spoke very
|
||
loudly to me when I first saw it! Very medieval in character, with
|
||
glowing, vibrant colours. The imagery isn't overly graphic as with some
|
||
decks. Personally, I find some of the cards close to RoS characters and
|
||
spirit, but it still falls short. Maybe we should all get together at a
|
||
con and come up with our own design??
|
||
|
||
Hilda - Oh goody, a chance to digress into another favourite topic
|
||
(besides RoS): Where are Mu and Lemuria? Of course they have nothing to
|
||
do with RoS, but since you asked...
|
||
|
||
Mu-Lemuria were legendary landmasses far older than the fabled and
|
||
mystical Atlantis. Your buddy Murry Hope feels they may have been joined
|
||
by a land bridge at one time, hence the two names together.
|
||
|
||
Like Atlantis, they incurred the wrath of their gods for the human folly
|
||
that had brought them to the brink of destruction. (Does this sound
|
||
hauntingly familiar?) Enraged, the gods destroyed the civilisation of
|
||
Mu- Lemuria in a terrifying and cataclysmic event which resulted in this
|
||
land sinking beneath the sea. Hope pinpoints this geological nightmare
|
||
at around 800,000 years ago. Due to no eyewitnesses and sloppy record
|
||
keeping this remains a rough figure.
|
||
|
||
Supposedly, during the last days of Mu- Lemuria the creme de la creme of
|
||
the priesthood of this advanced society were charged to go forth and
|
||
ensure that the great knowledge of their land was not lost forever. The
|
||
knowledge was indeed passed on to the heirs of Lemuria - Atlantis.
|
||
Obviously the Atlanteans weren't too impressed with this knowledge
|
||
because they managed to make the same mistakes all over again. Legends
|
||
tell of the destruction of Atlantis - a pyrotechnic display of Mother
|
||
Earth's extreme displeasure with her children such as the world had
|
||
never seen. (Current inhabitants take note.) In a day and a night
|
||
Atlantis disappeared beneath the waves. Some say the Knowledge of the
|
||
Great Temple at Atlantis was brought forth to the shores of ancient
|
||
Britain by the selected priestesses and priests as Atlantis was consumed
|
||
in fire.
|
||
|
||
Hope and others believe all three lands lay submerged in the vast
|
||
Atlantic Ocean. Strange that no- one can find them, of course it is
|
||
pretty deep. Actually the search has been conducted from Antarctica to
|
||
the Aegean Sea. Despite Hope's one- track mind of the advanced culture
|
||
of Lemuria some 800,000 years ago, no real evidence points to their
|
||
existence. All legends have a grain of truth to them, and strong
|
||
archaeological and geologic evidence lead to the remnants of a tiny
|
||
island in the Aegean Sea, Thera, as the basis of the Atlantean legend.
|
||
Thera was a large island with a thriving community of Minoan
|
||
civilisation when it was torn apart by a volcanic eruption in approx.
|
||
1560 BCE.
|
||
|
||
Oops, that got a little more involved than I planned. My apology!!
|
||
|
||
I have a question hopefully someone can answer. What is the origin and
|
||
significance (if any) of the necklet Marion wears in the first two
|
||
series? It disappeared in the third. Did it have something to do with
|
||
Loxley? Any ideas where it came from? and where it went?
|
||
|
||
Herne protect.
|
||
|
||
Hilda
|
||
|
||
Janet V. - I once heard an interesting song that portrayed the Oak and
|
||
Holly Kings as not combatants but lovers! (Written and sung by
|
||
Christopher from New York, but I don't know his last name.) Alas, that
|
||
sort of plowshare would send many folks scurrying back to the sword in
|
||
the blink of an eye. I thought it was sweet, and far better suited to
|
||
the natural progression of the seasons that you describe; at least in a
|
||
fleeting, Ladyhawke-ish way. It just goes to show how real and alive
|
||
these archetypes still are for us today, that someone would draw them so
|
||
naturally into living culture in a way that would seem blasphemous with
|
||
a more hidebound being!
|
||
|
||
Thanks for the tip on Mu - I thought it was some obscure hamlet in
|
||
Vermont. "Excuse me, Ma'am, where am I..."
|
||
|
||
Chris - I agree completely that the Merries' friendship and cooperation
|
||
is not only the true magic of the series, it's a constant miracle of RoS
|
||
fandom as well. I've never met another group of people so tolerant,
|
||
intellectually curious, and willing to allow one another our
|
||
differences - and this includes my religious community! But discretion
|
||
is a big part of mutual respect, and until I'm convinced that there's
|
||
nobody in the fandom who considers it their duty to God and humanity to
|
||
get "all offended and hyper," I'll want to provide a place for
|
||
discussions like this, where they won't bother people who aren't
|
||
interested. One technical point: since Pagans and Witches consider every
|
||
human a manifestation of the Divine, insulting an individual's personal
|
||
will by trying to "convert" them is considered foolish at best and
|
||
extremely unethical at worst. Of course, every rule has its $#@*&
|
||
exceptions. But those particular exceptions are probably currently being
|
||
energetically pursued by representatives of the Unification Church...
|
||
|
||
"Cowan" simply means "somebody who isn't a Pagan," with the same lack of
|
||
value judgment as one might indicate somebody who isn't a cab driver,
|
||
coffee drinker, or resident of Nevada. It's just shorthand, like
|
||
"commuter" (someone who doesn't live in the same town as the one in
|
||
which they work) or "teetotaler" (someone who doesn't drink alcohol). In
|
||
fact, a very popular recent book on Witchcraft was written by Laurie
|
||
Cabot and Tom Cowan! If the word had any nasty connotations, I should
|
||
think that his family would have changed it generations ago. I've never
|
||
heard it used as an insult.
|
||
|
||
One sort of magical plot that I'd like to see more often involves the
|
||
Merries as ordinary humans doing magical things that ordinary humans can
|
||
do, with their only advantages the fact that their culture has only
|
||
partially brainwashed the people out of recognizing their own abilities
|
||
and their own rejection of that brainwashing. Hmm...That makes Will
|
||
Scarlet a prime suspect, doesn't it? "No Norman's tellin' me I can't put
|
||
out no fire!"
|
||
|
||
If one believes that there ever were Sacrificial Kings, it's hard to
|
||
think of such a practice serving a "purpose" per se, except for the
|
||
reuniting of the God's fleshly representative with the Eternal Goddess.
|
||
Any secondary purposes (stronger crops/livestock, the return of
|
||
sovereignty to the indigenous people) would have been equally remote in
|
||
RoS, if it were indeed Kip's intention to tap into this particular myth
|
||
- moreso, in fact, since he certainly wouldn't want anyone thinking that
|
||
it might be a good idea!
|
||
|
||
Mark - Glad you're enjoying our blatant self- indulgence! We'd love to
|
||
know the name and address of the (prospective) publisher of the
|
||
Wildwood Tarot. You probably know what a rush it is to "be the first kid
|
||
on your block..." Besides, it'll be fun to bombard them with inquiries.
|
||
|
||
Tina and Judi - Thanks for letting me know that Murry Hope is a woman!
|
||
|
||
Any Cousin planning on attending the event at Hawkwood College in
|
||
December, bring a pen and paper! Anything you can get permission to tell
|
||
us would be music to our hungry ears.
|
||
|
||
Is Loxley Celt or Saxon? I always sort of figured him for a Celt, but
|
||
for no clear reason. Perhaps because I "look and feel" like a Saxon, and
|
||
Loxley is my physical opposite. He does seem to fit the basic Celtic
|
||
body and facial type. But I feel much closer to Herne than to
|
||
Odin/Woden - perhaps I'm using Loxley as an interpreter! Or even a
|
||
(gasp) Harry Stu...
|
||
|
||
My perception of Herne in RoS was of a god who spoke through the old
|
||
man, and of the man himself as someone who chose not to reveal his own
|
||
name. Perhaps that name no longer had meaning for him since he had
|
||
chosen (and been chosen) to speak for Herne, the spirit or god. I do
|
||
view the old man as a shaman. I think we basically agree, except in
|
||
terms of exactly who is named "Herne."
|
||
|
||
Ariel - Gulnar gave me the creeps, too. It might conceivably have been
|
||
possible to exploit Belleme's paranoia or to insult Morgwyn enough to
|
||
make her act anry and careless, but Gulnar is so insane that you
|
||
couldn't outmaneuver him. There's no guessing what might tempt,
|
||
frighten, or distract him.
|
||
|
||
Why might Robert be willing to listen to an Elder God? Well, among other
|
||
things, he's a Scot, a member of a notoriously stubborn and rebellious
|
||
breed. He might well have been raised to mistrust the Official version
|
||
of anything!
|
||
|
||
I thought that Marion was out of character at the end of Time of the
|
||
Wolf, but she wasn't acting so much heartless as utterly neurotic, and
|
||
displaying serious denial. Bereaved people can go into shock and
|
||
withdraw emotionally, but physical withdrawal behind stone walls and
|
||
fabrication of an empty hope for "peace" is a more complex strategy
|
||
than most folk could put together under that kind of stress. But then,
|
||
Marion is an unusually clever woman, and perhaps a convent would have
|
||
been the only physically safe place to live out the debilitating and
|
||
judgment-warping phases of a world-class mourn.
|
||
|
||
Yes! I agree that Marion wasn't consciously adopting the role of
|
||
Priestess. But as Julianne mentioned in Issue 3, the common people's
|
||
religion was a natural thing, like fetching water and slaughtering
|
||
chickens, and Marion could have been a Priestess without worrying about
|
||
her "station" too much. Her love and strength and unassuming, heart-born
|
||
wisdom could be seen as a lovely expression of the spirit of England.
|
||
That's one big advantage that the brand of Paganism portrayed in RoS has
|
||
over Neopaganism - a disregard or even blatant distrust for rank and
|
||
title! We try, Mother knows we try, but nobody is without a cultural
|
||
context... (I originally "mistyped" that last word as "contest." Let
|
||
your fingers do the talking!)
|
||
|
||
You know what I think? An archetype who knows they're an archetype only
|
||
works for some kinds of archetypes. Archetypes like Much, who if you
|
||
called them "archetypes" would say "What?" or "Nah!" or "Do you really
|
||
think so?" are powerful nonetheless, perhaps partially because they
|
||
don't know it. But Herne would be utterly useless if he didn't know that
|
||
he was here to be a mover of events. Between those two poles, I
|
||
personally like to give myself lots of leeway.
|
||
|
||
I read The Most Awful Post Awful three times, laughing myself blue in
|
||
the face all the way! Mother preserve us, but that woman's a genius! But
|
||
lest Rache's comedy be appreciated at the expense of her other work, I
|
||
want to let you all know that I liked Loss even more. (My files are a
|
||
disaster - where was that published?)
|
||
|
||
My own view of Barbara Walker's explanation of Sacred King Jesus of
|
||
Nazareth is: does Gwyn ap Nudd mind that some of his stories smack of
|
||
Norse tales of Odin? Does any Celtic deity worry about coming off like
|
||
an embellished and adapted version of a proto-Hindi archetype?
|
||
Christianity certainly isn't unique in its culturally composite lead
|
||
character.
|
||
|
||
I have no idea of where Doreen Valiente got her rituals and other Craft
|
||
material. As I hear it (fifth-hand at least, and foggily recollected)
|
||
she referred to the Witch's #1 source - her heart - and never
|
||
represented her source as being anything else, but this is so remote as
|
||
to be legend. Would that I had the opportunity to ask her! She's a wise
|
||
and clever woman, with a solid sense of perspective and a lovely sense
|
||
of humor. For a fascinating interview with her, send $4.00 to FireHeart,
|
||
P.O. Box 365, Medford, MA 02155. I think it was Issue 5 of FireHeart,
|
||
but just ask for the issue with the Doreen Valiente interview. FireHeart
|
||
is slick, slick enough be termed ostentatious, but this interview alone
|
||
is worth the price of the issue. Trust me.
|
||
|
||
I found the random magical occurrences in RoS to be important to more
|
||
than plot construction. They helped to give the show its tone of
|
||
unpredictability. I've never seen another show before or since that
|
||
could so successfully promise "lots of surprises" without giving any of
|
||
them away! For modern people who can't really get a handle on what a
|
||
tenuous thing life was in medieval times, the constant possibility of
|
||
magical intervention is useful in reconstructing the knife-edge feeling
|
||
of 12th and 13th century life.
|
||
|
||
Fantastic Tarot correspondences! Robert often reminds me of the Two of
|
||
Wands. He can do enormous amounts of good once he makes up his mind
|
||
about the context in which he wants to do it. He's frustrated that
|
||
allegiance to one stronghold precludes working through another, but he
|
||
has the integrity and determination to accept the choice and make the
|
||
decision on his own terms. (Although I must admit, in Herne's Son he
|
||
seemed more like the Two of Pentacles! Poor guy, always getting split
|
||
like that...) Don't throw things, but I'd like to do Herne as the Devil
|
||
- frustrated that Robin is "too big for his boots," Robert refuses his
|
||
destiny, Marion is crippled by sorrow, and the people don't take their
|
||
own part; but determined that they must break their own chains. You
|
||
could use Gulnar as the Five of Swords, dividing and conquering and then
|
||
making off with the spoils. Belleme could be the Ten of Wands, trying to
|
||
have it all by denying his human limits and ending up in an eternal
|
||
feedback loop. To me, Loxley isn't the Ten of Swords as so many people
|
||
have suggested, but the Nine of Wands, having played his part with honor
|
||
and now able to act from a broader viewpoint. Yeeow! I could go on all
|
||
day! Anybody want to do a RoS Tarot Art Brainstorming panel at Weekend
|
||
in Sherwood? I'd offer to help, but about all I could offer by way of
|
||
art would be the Thumbprint, the Scribble, and the Indeterminate Stick
|
||
Figure.
|
||
|
||
I would guess that Robin ends up giving Robert advice in the fanfic
|
||
simply because, chronologically, he's been there before. Besides, he's
|
||
dead. To paraphrase Zaphod Beeblebrox IV, "It gives one a wonderful
|
||
sense of perspective."
|
||
|
||
My own idea of the difference between Witches and Pagans is in the top
|
||
right corner of Issue 3, Page 11.
|
||
|
||
Carol - What does Aelia Pulcheria have to do with RoS? Well, she was
|
||
certainly concerned with balance, and would have gotten along well with
|
||
Marion! Perhaps our writer-Cousins can make use of her ideals in
|
||
describing a hitherto undocumented order of nuns, or conjure a
|
||
descendant of hers... Any plot idea is welcome! And I think there are
|
||
plenty of Goddess-worshipping Cousins who will welcome both this tidbit
|
||
and your general expertise in things Mediterranean. Me, for instance.
|
||
|
||
Woodswalker - I think Marion would stay in Halstead exactly as long as
|
||
it took for her to recover her faculties and face her fears - maybe more
|
||
than a week, but certainly not forever! True, Marion was too young and
|
||
inexperienced to survive the death of two husbands - but she was too
|
||
young and inexperienced to do any of the things she did! This is legend,
|
||
and the rules are different here. And, in my not-so-humble opinion, YES!
|
||
She definitely loved Robert.
|
||
|
||
I never really thought of Loxley as wanting revenge. He seemed to enjoy
|
||
humiliating the nobility, but he mostly wanted them out of his forest
|
||
and away from his people. He'd never hurt anyone except by way of
|
||
stopping them from harming someone innocent, and did his best to deal a
|
||
clean death when he killed. Instead of wanting a Scarlet vengeance that
|
||
could never truly satisfy, he wanted - and got - the solid and enduring
|
||
vengeance of knowing that no matter what they did, they could not make
|
||
him become one of them. (Who else here liked Orwell's 1984? Vonnegut's
|
||
Mother Night?)
|
||
|
||
Yo, Laura - this is a RoS newsletter, ya know! I'm as voracious a reader
|
||
as the next person, and if I can run a plot mill with your help, I'm
|
||
Much obliged! Analyze those characters!
|
||
|
||
I think that in a culture like ours, there will always be people who
|
||
want to read stories about torture. How they work that into what used to
|
||
be hunting magic is their own business, but if you're going to identify
|
||
with a hero, that hero sometimes lives out the abuse that you've been
|
||
promised for sticking to your principles. Whatever any of us has been
|
||
threatened with in retaliation for our insistence on justice or truth or
|
||
kindness or just common sense, we feel much better when Robert (chained
|
||
to a wall shirtless and bleeding) or Robin (writhing in incoherent
|
||
fevered agony) lives it out for us and emerges with self intact. May
|
||
none of us ever be put to that test. May we all trust that we would pass
|
||
with flying colors!
|
||
|
||
At any rate, I agree that the hunter/hunted Sacred King belonged to a
|
||
much older and more direct culture than ours. Still, if He died to spare
|
||
our forebears starvation, perhaps today He suffers to spare us the loss
|
||
of our integrity.
|
||
|
||
There's proof right there that He's accomplished something! Nobody
|
||
tortures the baddies because it's the goodies who are mad at them, and
|
||
goodies don't torture! Actually, I recall a couple of disgruntled
|
||
Fenrisoids doing dreadful things to Gisburne in one zine story. Must
|
||
have been a good story - I was mad at them!
|
||
|
||
Kathy - I hope that our Cousins' searchings and offerings aren't limited
|
||
to scholarly works, but also include related fiction, other tellings of
|
||
the Robin Hood story, and interesting films. Has anybody here seen The
|
||
Wicker Man? I'm not sure of how I feel about it as far as defamation
|
||
goes, but it's a fascinating story.
|
||
|
||
Say - if Richard Carpenter took piles of old hack-and-slash hero tales
|
||
and a bottomless well of Renaissance romantic mush and managed to
|
||
conjure a story appealing to a 20th century audience, was he
|
||
bastardizing a venerable tradition, or offering a bit of his heart to
|
||
revive a strong and living thing made pale and distant by neglect?
|
||
|
||
Todd - What the heck is Kineseology?
|
||
|
||
Tara - I think that the Tuatha de Danann aren't so much a pantheon of
|
||
gods as an acknowledged non-human race, like the hatsin known by the
|
||
Apache people or the Germanic kobolds. They didn't make us, and only
|
||
have dealings with us when they so choose. I might guess that the Celts
|
||
didn't have a rigid a god/human, divine/mundane division as we do, and
|
||
their archetypes served as deities or as humans as best suited the
|
||
instructional or cultural intent of the tale.
|
||
|
||
The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries is an absorbing book, even in a
|
||
warped and water-spotted plain blue cover, and is unusual in Professor
|
||
Evans-Wentz' emphasis on Faerie as a place where dead people go, and on
|
||
Faeries as the spirits of the dead. He also spends a respectable amount
|
||
of time on the Breton inhabitants of the parallel universe, a colorful
|
||
and unique lot seldom mentioned in most Celtica.
|
||
|
||
The difference between psychic abilities (precognition, telepathy,
|
||
healing, etc.) and magic is...blurry. You can magically enhance
|
||
existing abilities or gain the temporary use of one, but an inborn
|
||
talent doesn't necessarily make a good magician. Regularly working magic
|
||
makes it easier to tap into and direct one's innate strengths, but magic
|
||
doesn't necessarily require any given talent. Even a "psychic spud" can
|
||
turn events to her benefit by singing a simple children's song or tying
|
||
a few knots. But if you've got healing hands, this shoulder...
|
||
|
||
If I hear one more comment about how Michael's legs didn't suit the
|
||
current lowest-common- denominator's shallow, homogenized conception of
|
||
male pulchritude, I'm going to tie a nice red garter around somebody's
|
||
neck. So there.
|
||
|
||
Editor's Notes
|
||
|
||
Favorite RoS Quotes:
|
||
|
||
Laura Woodswalker Todd: "What do you think you're wearing, Gisburne,
|
||
you look absurd!"
|
||
|
||
Kitty Laust-Gamarra: "I live in hope."
|
||
|
||
Hilda: "You don't look like a nun!" Anybody who didn't catch Clive
|
||
Mantle's interview in On Target 6 will want to renew their Spirit of
|
||
Sherwood membership right away, and be sure to ask for the back issue.
|
||
Clive's not just a sweet, clever hunk - he's quite the British folklore
|
||
buff. Jean West's journey through Robin Hood's England is also
|
||
fascinating, and made me feel quite homesick (despite the fact that I
|
||
haven't been to England yet, at least this time around.) And Cindy and
|
||
Laura's search for a certain earl's son turns up all kinds of strange
|
||
things!
|
||
|
||
If you want information about Weekend in Sherwood (August 7-9, 1992,
|
||
Novi, MI) be sure to contact Chris Haire and Denise Hamlin at Spirit of
|
||
Sherwood, 1276 W. Marshall, Ferndale, MI 48220. Although we can't very
|
||
well use scheduled program time or convention space for what's
|
||
essentially a religious celebration, an (extremely) unofficial circle is
|
||
in the planning stages, and you can be sure that there'll be a Cousins
|
||
party!
|
||
|
||
Anybody interested in subscribing to Moonrise, the source of Alexei
|
||
Kondratiev's article on Celtic ritual, can reach them at P.O. Box 606,
|
||
Hadley, MA 01035. They're cheap, feisty, and dedicated to keeping the
|
||
Neopagan community honest. Expect more lightning than white light.
|
||
|
||
Ponderous Reprints Department: If anyone would like to borrow a copy
|
||
(literally, a photocopy) of Robin Hood: A Collection of Poems, Songs,
|
||
and Ballads Relative to that Celebrated English Outlaw, edited by Joseph
|
||
Ritson, let me know. I must have it on your honor that you'll send it
|
||
back - it's not every day that I photocopy a 444-page book - but my only
|
||
quarrel with it is that Gordon Browne's lovely illustrations simply
|
||
didn't copy well. If you like stuff like "Now schall y wet and thow be
|
||
god, And polle het op to thy ner, So god me helpe, seyde the prowd
|
||
pottr, Thys ys bot rygzt weke ger," this one is for you. Yes, I said
|
||
"rygzt" - I didn't try to pronounce it. By the way, Mr. Ritson seems
|
||
quite convinced that Robin Hood was indeed Earl Robert Fitzooth of
|
||
Huntingdon.
|
||
|
||
Happy Spring to all! "My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart: behold,
|
||
he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing
|
||
himself through the lattice." May your hart be Merrie, and may you
|
||
rejoice in the love of those deer to you. Blessed be!
|
||
|