Prompt of the week!

[wavewright62]

Request: could someone please draw an ancient Nordic techno god?

challenge ACCEPTED

Behold, the inventor of the ultra-finely knit itch-free union suit.
(I can't come up with a name.)

Are you going to tell me making thousands of knots in a piece of string until you have a whole garment isn't technology?

[Jitter]

Wave, she is gorgeous! I’m most certainly not going to say knitting weren’t technology! I’ll admit that it wasn’t among the technologies I had in mind, but that makes your response even better! And spot on for the prompt. Do you think she’s Finnish or Norse?

Also a great dialogue between your and Grey’s works on “level of technology”

Grey, your recent use of “the Three Body Problem” in … And then the murders began thread prompted me to read it. We’ve had it here for a couple of years and I finally got round to it (see, not all work!). It reminded me of how much I enjoy Science Fiction. Although I have to admit that for my taste, The Three Body Problem is a bit much on the hard side of SciFi, with the often related problems with characterization etc. Anyways, well worth a read and certainly something different from work stuff And I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler if I let you know the murders have already began - the book opens in the middle of the Cultural Revolution. Dark stuff, both the real history and the SciFi.

So, maybe I’ll try some of the Culture books I still have waiting. My husband loves Culture so we have them all. I have half a room of books TBR, so… Anyways my point is that this prompt resulted in very interesting variety of works, again!

[Jitter]

Grey, my husband liked it too I asked him to read it, without looking at the tags so suddenly meeting a Culture ship was a pleasant surprise.

BTW you may want to rate it, no rating asks for permission to proceed to potentially adults only material. I see no reason why it wouldn’t rate at G.

[thegreyarea]

So many things to talk about!

But Róisín gets to be the first (because she's Róisín )

So, Thank you Róisín! I'm vary glad that you liked it! This magic-tech connection seems, indeed, a great path to explore, and I'll look for Rohan's books. And your reference to "Ogoun of the Iron" reminded me of the Brazilian "Ogun". so I digged a little to make a small summary. I'm quite sure they are the same deity, and that Loa and Orixá also share the same meaning.

So, Ogun is a deity of African origin in African-Brazilian religions like Umbanda and Candomblé. In this mythology, the supreme god Olorum created the Orixás, and then the first Orixá, Oxalá, created the world, and humankind. Back then both inhabited a primordial land called Ilê-Ifé, living side-by-side.

Ogun is also an Orixá, Lord of Smithcraft, ruling over Iron, Steel and all tools made with them, like spears, hammers, knives or shovels. It's associated with Courage, Strength and War (It's name means War in Iorubá, an ethnic-linguistic group from western Africa).  Later it shared the knowledge on metallurgy, hunting and fighting with humankind.
Through those metal tools Ogun is also associated with work, including agricultural work.
African slaves brought their religion (and Ogun) to Brazil, but due to Catholic pressure Ogun's worship became "hidden" under Saint George's faith...

dmeck, your story is very nice! It's great to have a look over the earlier lives of our beloved characters, and you did it in quite a funny way! Well done!

Tehta, lovely little piece. I think Emil sounds just like he would in his "pre-trip state"! And Tuuri is, as always, a delight.

Wave, what a great drawing! So well done! I love the pose, the face, that lifted eyebrow that asks "Why you are disturbing me?" And of course knitting is a mix of tech and magic, one that I don't dare dwelving into! 

Jitter, I'm vary glad that you enjoyed the story and also that my reference to The Three Body Problem was useful. I didn't read it yet, but under your influence I pushed it to the top of my TBR read, and it's already open in my phone.

I hope you have many more relaxing moments, because you deserve them, and also that your upcoming dive into the Culture helps to cope with all that work.

Please give my thanks to your husband. I'm delighted that a true Culture fan liked my first attempt into it. If it's not asking too much, I'd love to know if he thinks The Grey Area sounded as it should. I didn't reread Excession before writing this, so it's personality came all by memory.
 
(and I already changed the rating. Thanks for the tip!)

[Jitter]

Grey, he says The Grey Area was spot on! When he was reading he suddenly said “oh, this is a Culture ship”, and this was before it was made evident. Now when I asked for comments, he said it’s just like a culture Mind to bend the rules like Grey did here, and that it “sounded” very much like one of them. And, he’ll be happy to read anything else on the Culture you may write. So full marks from him! And me!

[wavewright62]

Do you think she’s Finnish or Norse?

"I have no use for borders.  Your borders come and go like leaves on the beech trees.  But come, sit over here and tell me about this bamboo I've heard about..."

[Jitter]

Wave, I was thinking about the name. No other reason!

How about next week? Tuesday is the nordic Summer Solstice and juhannua, the midsummer festival is next weekend. How about something related to that?

[thegreyarea]

How about next week? Tuesday is the nordic Summer Solstice and juhannua, the midsummer festival is next weekend. How about something related to that?

Another great idea! I think the Solstice/Midsummer is a nice and appropriate prompt. There are so many traditions and stories related with the longest day of the year to inspire us...

[Róisín]

Summer solstice sounds good, I shall try to have a go. Might jar me back into writing.

Grey, I agree with you that Ogoun/Ogun are the same deity. Like our Celtic deities many of their old gods have been concealed under/conflated with Christian saints. I find it fascinating how many of the old prayers and spells remain in new forms under saints. And yeah, I think the Loas/Orixás are the same things.

 Have you encountered the Sufi concept of ‘The Ten Intelligences’? Their idea was that God was too much a pure mind, spirit and essence to deal directly with matter, so created a subform that was a little closer to the material world, which in turn created a form still closer to matter, until finally the tenth one down could manipulate matter.

Our own concept in Druidic custom is that when God sang the first word it divided into three rays of light, from which proceeded all of the material creation. Hence the symbol known as the Prince of Wales’ Feather, or the Awen symbol which you will probably recognise in the pattern of the tattoo on my wrist if we ever meet in the flesh, said tattoo being intended to show where I fit.

If you look back to the early years of the Fan Forum you will find several threads about magic and folklore which discuss this stuff.

Wavewright, your drawing of the knitting Lady is beautiful. Maybe a more positive counterpart to the Classical Fate Clotho?

[tehta]

Wave, your 'ancient Goddess' is lovely. And, in a way, she made me think of Athena/Minerva. Sure, she's the goddess of defensive war, but she is also the goddess of technology and crafts (other than smithing and wine-making, anyway) and is definitely singled out as the goddess of weaving.

I will read the other stories this week. (I have been limiting my off-work computer time quite severely, for sanity reasons. If I do anything this week it will probably be a painting. Unless I get very very inspired.)

[thegreyarea]

"I have no use for borders.  Your borders come and go like leaves on the beech trees.  But come, sit over here and tell me about this bamboo I've heard about..."

Oh yes, bamboo, that magical material!

Grey, he says The Grey Area was spot on! When he was reading he suddenly said “oh, this is a Culture ship”, and this was before it was made evident. Now when I asked for comments, he said it’s just like a culture Mind to bend the rules like Grey did here, and that it “sounded” very much like one of them. And, he’ll be happy to read anything else on the Culture you may write. So full marks from him! And me!

Do you hear that bouncing sound? That's me kicking from wall to wall in excitment! I'm very happy that he thinks that way. I hope to have, sooner than later, a bit more of Culture to share.
BTW, what's his opinion about the best book to start?

Summer solstice sounds good, I shall try to have a go. Might jar me back into writing.

Yes! We would love to have a new story from you!

Have you encountered the Sufi concept of ‘The Ten Intelligences’? Their idea was that God was too much a pure mind, spirit and essence to deal directly with matter, so created a subform that was a little closer to the material world, which in turn created a form still closer to matter, until finally the tenth one down could manipulate matter.

No, I haven't. But the concept is intriguing and begging to be part of a story... Just give me some time to summon my inner Neil Gaiman...

Our own concept in Druidic custom is that when God sang the first word it divided into three rays of light, from which proceeded all of the material creation. Hence the symbol known as the Prince of Wales’ Feather, or the Awen symbol which you will probably recognise in the pattern of the tattoo on my wrist if we ever meet in the flesh, said tattoo being intended to show where I fit.
If you look back to the early years of the Fan Forum you will find several threads about magic and folklore which discuss this stuff.

This one?

And according to wikipedia: "Various modern Druidic groups and individuals have their own interpretation of the awen. The three lines relate to earth, sea and air; body, mind and spirit; or love, wisdom and truth.", so, you fit in one of those three branches, or in the whole?
I've been planning to dive into the macic threads for a while, but, you know, time...
And speaking of time:

Wavewright, your drawing of the knitting Lady is beautiful. Maybe a more positive counterpart to the Classical Fate Clotho?

I love the idea of the old lady knitting the happy moments of people's lives.

[Buteo]

Hmm...
Lives are not made up only of happy moments, though. If she's going to knit a life, she must knit the unhappy and difficult moments also, or the fabric won't hold together. A whole piece can be a garment, a shopping bag, or a table runner or wall hanging; bits that aren't connected may be lovely in themselves, but what they're usually used for is cleanup rags...

[thegreyarea]

Hmm...
Lives are not made up only of happy moments, though. If she's going to knit a life, she must knit the unhappy and difficult moments also, or the fabric won't hold together. A whole piece can be a garment, a shopping bag, or a table runner or wall hanging; bits that aren't connected may be lovely in themselves, but what they're usually used for is cleanup rags...

Yes, you're right. Each life could be, perhaps, one long scarf, with happy, luminous colours that get contrast and definition from the somber ones. (so that darker moments make we value more the bright ones). Hopefully she would prefer the lighter tones for her work...

One could create a whole mythos here...
Maybe she doesn't like to choose the colours, rather taking them at random and improvising a composition. Maybe some other deity likes to mix the lines (creating knots?), or to throw black ink over them (Loki, what are you doing with that can of black ink?).
And what if the old lady has a bad vision (or is blind!) and that makes her work unpredictable, representing the role of chance/luck on humans lives...

[dmeck7755]

Wave,
I like the picture.  In some way she reminds me on Ensi. 

[Róisín]

Yes, that symbol. My rather stuffy and oldfashioned branch of druidry takes the symbol to signify the three rays of light that started from when god sang the first word and which further divided into the material creation (which, yes, encompasses the five elements and all the various energies, but it is a symbol that means a lot of different things to different people and traditions. Who knows. Maybe everyone is right, or nobody? As always, I have way more questions than answers.