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The urban fantasy market seems awfully stagnant
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<blockquote data-quote="VelvetViolet" data-source="post: 7629576" data-attributes="member: 6686357"><p>To continue where I left off discussing werewolves...<strong><u></u></strong></p><p><strong><u></u></strong></p><p><strong><u>Werewolf mythology</u></strong></p><p>The reason why werewolves are the most popular shapeshifters, within Western (i.e. European descended) popular culture, is simple. Wolves, along with bears, are among the few predatory European megafauna that weren’t wiped out by humans ten thousand years ago. Wolves were the most likely to encounter humans, typically by attacking livestock, so more stories were told about them. As these encounters were unpleasant, the stories about wolves were likewise typically unpleasant and especially when it came to shapeshifting wolves.</p><p></p><p>Since bears are omnivorous and less likely to come into conflict with humans, the stories of bear shape shifters are generally far more positive. A recurring motif in European, Asian and Native American folktales is the “bear’s son cycle,” in which a hero has a shapeshifting bear as one of his ancestors and inherits its strength to help his people. <em>Beowulf </em>is a famous example.</p><p></p><p>When you delve into the stories of African, Asian and Native American cultures, where wolves are far less dominant in the landscape, the stories of shapeshifters are more diverse. Whatever the local predatory megafauna is, the stories of shapeshifters will draw from it. For example, Africa has stories about shapeshifting lions and hyenas, the Americas have stories about shapeshifting jaguars and pumas, and Asia has stories of shapeshifting tigers.</p><p></p><p>The moon and silver commonly feature in modern werewolf fiction as a result of Hollywood influence. In folklore, the moon was rarely associated with werewolves except for a few means of becoming a werewolf such as being conceived under a new moon or sleeping under a certain full moon. Silver has been associated with the moon since ancient times in multiple cultures including the Incas, Greeks, Mesopotamians and alchemists. The concept of silver bullets predates Hollywood by centuries. The association, though novel, has a logical progression.</p><p></p><p>There’s a ton of symbolism related to wolves in European mythology too. The portentous black dogs of the British Isles, the underworld guardians like Cerberus and Garmr, and hunters like the Cŵn Annwn and Laelaps.</p><p></p><p>If lycanthropes existed, then I imagine they would have their own creation myths. European werewolves worshiping a moon god makes a fair amount of sense.</p><p></p><p>The Greek goddess Artemis and her twin Apollo seem tailor-made for worship by werewolves. Their mother Leto was linked with wolves and named the land of Lycia in honor of wolves that befriended her. One of Apollo’s children was named Lycomedes. Both names derive from <em>lykos</em> meaning “wolf.”</p><p></p><p>Greece has an old tradition of ghostly vampiric werewolf-like creatures called <em>vrykolakas</em>. Among other descriptions, they would roam battlefields in the form of hyenas to prey on dying soldiers. Normal people could become malevolent ghosts, but those arisen from werewolves were apparently even worse.</p><p></p><p>The mythical founders of Rome (famous for openly copying Greek culture), Romulus and Remus, were supposedly raised by wolves. The festival of Lupercalia takes its name from wolves in relation to this.</p><p></p><p>The backstory writes itself as far as Greco-Roman werewolves are concerned.</p><p></p><p>(The <em>Chronicles of Darkness</em> books <em>Blasphemies</em> and <em>Spirit Slayers</em> cover similar ground, but still married to the premise of werewolves policing an inherently malevolent spirit world.)</p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong><u>Animism</u></strong></p><p>Animism is a simple concept: everything has a soul. It is believed to be the first religion and provides the underpinnings of all subsequent religion. It is extremely opaque to people who grew up under the Christian tradition and as such it tends to be wildly misinterpreted in Western media.</p><p></p><p>For example, the concept of a “spirit world” as depicted in <em>World of Darkness</em> does not exist in real animistic belief systems. Another example, the use of the word “spirit” to describe animistic beliefs can give inaccurate connotations of intangibility. As plenty of so-called spirits are quite physical in nature, I prefer less nebulous terms like “god” and “demon.”</p><p></p><p>The foundation of animism is “magical thinking,” or the belief that your thoughts can alter reality. For example, you wish someone had bad luck and then they do so you believe you caused it; this is a universal concept often called the “evil eye.” Spoiler alert: this is the titular secret in that self-help book <em>The Secret</em>. Since inanimate objects and natural phenomena can think under animism, it follows that they too alter reality in that way. Magical thinking, as the name implies, is the basis of magic.</p><p></p><p>An example of an animistic belief system that might be more familiar to Western readers would be Greek mythology. It had a plethora of gods that presided over natural phenomena like the satyrs and nymphs. When Europe was Christianized, the gods of the prior animistic religions became the fairies of fairytales when they weren’t demonized.</p><p></p><p>Modern paganism is another example of animism. As is the psychological tendency for humans to anthropomorphize inanimate objects and natural phenomena, which probably led to animistic religions in the first place. When you are talking to your car and gendering it, that is animism. When you believe that inanimate objects have power over reality, like lucky charms, that is animism.</p><p></p><p>The eclectic religion of modern Shinto is another example, as it may be found readily in Japanese media like anime and manga that is often exported to the West. <em>Princess Mononoke</em> and <em>Spirited Away</em> are good examples. Another example that hits closer to home: when Japanese authors write fantasy fiction based on <em>Dungeons & Dragons</em> or its derivatives, metaphysical concepts are typically reinterpreted through a Shinto lens. For example, the concept of <em>ki</em> or the applied manipulation of one's own life force may be employed to explain how various supernatural phenomena occur. The closest Western equivalent are the occult concepts of vitalism, mesmerism, orgones and so forth.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Signing off again...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="VelvetViolet, post: 7629576, member: 6686357"] To continue where I left off discussing werewolves...[B][U] Werewolf mythology[/U][/B] The reason why werewolves are the most popular shapeshifters, within Western (i.e. European descended) popular culture, is simple. Wolves, along with bears, are among the few predatory European megafauna that weren’t wiped out by humans ten thousand years ago. Wolves were the most likely to encounter humans, typically by attacking livestock, so more stories were told about them. As these encounters were unpleasant, the stories about wolves were likewise typically unpleasant and especially when it came to shapeshifting wolves. Since bears are omnivorous and less likely to come into conflict with humans, the stories of bear shape shifters are generally far more positive. A recurring motif in European, Asian and Native American folktales is the “bear’s son cycle,” in which a hero has a shapeshifting bear as one of his ancestors and inherits its strength to help his people. [I]Beowulf [/I]is a famous example. When you delve into the stories of African, Asian and Native American cultures, where wolves are far less dominant in the landscape, the stories of shapeshifters are more diverse. Whatever the local predatory megafauna is, the stories of shapeshifters will draw from it. For example, Africa has stories about shapeshifting lions and hyenas, the Americas have stories about shapeshifting jaguars and pumas, and Asia has stories of shapeshifting tigers. The moon and silver commonly feature in modern werewolf fiction as a result of Hollywood influence. In folklore, the moon was rarely associated with werewolves except for a few means of becoming a werewolf such as being conceived under a new moon or sleeping under a certain full moon. Silver has been associated with the moon since ancient times in multiple cultures including the Incas, Greeks, Mesopotamians and alchemists. The concept of silver bullets predates Hollywood by centuries. The association, though novel, has a logical progression. There’s a ton of symbolism related to wolves in European mythology too. The portentous black dogs of the British Isles, the underworld guardians like Cerberus and Garmr, and hunters like the Cŵn Annwn and Laelaps. If lycanthropes existed, then I imagine they would have their own creation myths. European werewolves worshiping a moon god makes a fair amount of sense. The Greek goddess Artemis and her twin Apollo seem tailor-made for worship by werewolves. Their mother Leto was linked with wolves and named the land of Lycia in honor of wolves that befriended her. One of Apollo’s children was named Lycomedes. Both names derive from [I]lykos[/I] meaning “wolf.” Greece has an old tradition of ghostly vampiric werewolf-like creatures called [I]vrykolakas[/I]. Among other descriptions, they would roam battlefields in the form of hyenas to prey on dying soldiers. Normal people could become malevolent ghosts, but those arisen from werewolves were apparently even worse. The mythical founders of Rome (famous for openly copying Greek culture), Romulus and Remus, were supposedly raised by wolves. The festival of Lupercalia takes its name from wolves in relation to this. The backstory writes itself as far as Greco-Roman werewolves are concerned. (The [I]Chronicles of Darkness[/I] books [I]Blasphemies[/I] and [I]Spirit Slayers[/I] cover similar ground, but still married to the premise of werewolves policing an inherently malevolent spirit world.) [B][U]Animism[/U][/B] Animism is a simple concept: everything has a soul. It is believed to be the first religion and provides the underpinnings of all subsequent religion. It is extremely opaque to people who grew up under the Christian tradition and as such it tends to be wildly misinterpreted in Western media. For example, the concept of a “spirit world” as depicted in [I]World of Darkness[/I] does not exist in real animistic belief systems. Another example, the use of the word “spirit” to describe animistic beliefs can give inaccurate connotations of intangibility. As plenty of so-called spirits are quite physical in nature, I prefer less nebulous terms like “god” and “demon.” The foundation of animism is “magical thinking,” or the belief that your thoughts can alter reality. For example, you wish someone had bad luck and then they do so you believe you caused it; this is a universal concept often called the “evil eye.” Spoiler alert: this is the titular secret in that self-help book [I]The Secret[/I]. Since inanimate objects and natural phenomena can think under animism, it follows that they too alter reality in that way. Magical thinking, as the name implies, is the basis of magic. An example of an animistic belief system that might be more familiar to Western readers would be Greek mythology. It had a plethora of gods that presided over natural phenomena like the satyrs and nymphs. When Europe was Christianized, the gods of the prior animistic religions became the fairies of fairytales when they weren’t demonized. Modern paganism is another example of animism. As is the psychological tendency for humans to anthropomorphize inanimate objects and natural phenomena, which probably led to animistic religions in the first place. When you are talking to your car and gendering it, that is animism. When you believe that inanimate objects have power over reality, like lucky charms, that is animism. The eclectic religion of modern Shinto is another example, as it may be found readily in Japanese media like anime and manga that is often exported to the West. [I]Princess Mononoke[/I] and [I]Spirited Away[/I] are good examples. Another example that hits closer to home: when Japanese authors write fantasy fiction based on [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] or its derivatives, metaphysical concepts are typically reinterpreted through a Shinto lens. For example, the concept of [I]ki[/I] or the applied manipulation of one's own life force may be employed to explain how various supernatural phenomena occur. The closest Western equivalent are the occult concepts of vitalism, mesmerism, orgones and so forth. Signing off again... [/QUOTE]
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