Yeah, I just about went skyhigh when watching 00 and the suit/system's name was given. WAHH OMG NAVAJO REFERENCE SOMEONE IS PAYING ATTENTION -- and I meant that in the sense of "actually using the term in an appropriate manner to reveal more/imply more about the original" rather than "we thought it sounded cool". (I am so, so sick and tired of "generic old indian shaman" like the sort seen in, say, Cowboy Bebop.)
The whole genderbendy thing is all over the world! It's always intrigued me. Like when I was researching Norse folklore/myths for a story, and came across how Odin got some of the superspeshul secrets... he did so by learning women's magics and to do that, he had to 'become' a woman. Running parallel to that, in the Norse mindset, a man who practiced shamanism/magic was therefore fundamentally not-all-man, but not-all-woman, either. (Though it says something about the Norse gender roles that women in turn did not become man/woman as a result of the magic, not specifically that is, though they did in a metaphorical sense given that shaman/magic practice often lent them a stature/right in the community denied to ordinary women.)
(Plus, you get total bonus points for knowing the proper name of the Dine.)
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Date: 3 Dec 2008 06:48 pm (UTC)Yeah, I just about went skyhigh when watching 00 and the suit/system's name was given. WAHH OMG NAVAJO REFERENCE SOMEONE IS PAYING ATTENTION -- and I meant that in the sense of "actually using the term in an appropriate manner to reveal more/imply more about the original" rather than "we thought it sounded cool". (I am so, so sick and tired of "generic old indian shaman" like the sort seen in, say, Cowboy Bebop.)
The whole genderbendy thing is all over the world! It's always intrigued me. Like when I was researching Norse folklore/myths for a story, and came across how Odin got some of the superspeshul secrets... he did so by learning women's magics and to do that, he had to 'become' a woman. Running parallel to that, in the Norse mindset, a man who practiced shamanism/magic was therefore fundamentally not-all-man, but not-all-woman, either. (Though it says something about the Norse gender roles that women in turn did not become man/woman as a result of the magic, not specifically that is, though they did in a metaphorical sense given that shaman/magic practice often lent them a stature/right in the community denied to ordinary women.)
(Plus, you get total bonus points for knowing the proper name of the Dine.)