Personification

[Faemon]

So, one explanation that I've heard for a lot of spiritual practices was a common human tendency to project our humanity onto things that were mysterious, such as the workings of nature. If an eclipse happened, that would be the sun goddess hiding in her cave from her rainstorm-brother's tantrums or something.

 

It wouldn't necessarily be that anthropomorphized a personification, either. A storm could have a human emotion such as "anger" attributed to it (which would be personification), without also having a gender or family drama (which would be anthropic.)

 

I'm also thinking of something in-between, like this German legend of a mermaid named Lorelei who was very personified and became a romantic interest, but is also a personified piece of rock on an island or something. (I'll get back to this personification/landscape thing in a bit.)

 

In a more modern use, Dan Olsen over at the Foldable Human show on Blip suggested that one way to examine the unspoken worldview of a piece of creative work would be to think of that work as a personality, so that viewers don't transfer the blame for this or that "message to society" on the creators who probably didn't mean to put it in there because it's an unspoken worldview that the creators weren't even thinking about.

 

I've also recently read of a therapy technique for anxiety whereby the feeling of anxiety (or depression, or obsessive-compulsion, what have you) can be personified as a way of de-centering the sufferer from the symptoms; like, the symptoms of these thought patterns or emotional disorders would be easier to treat if the patient's whole identity isn't tied to it...which it can get to be, because suffering from these disorders can start off very deeply-rooted and then become overwhelming.

 

Elizabeth Gilbert gave a TEDtalk about "

" or externalizing, personifying the creative process as being healthier for creative people.

 

Neil Gaiman even wrote an essay about the personification of cities.

 

 

 

That last one got me wondering, actually, for those who have Wonderlands and/or Tulpas: If your Wonderland were a Tulpa, what would they be like? If your Tulpa were a Wonderland, what would that be like?

 

(If it's difficult to imagine or answer the former, then maybe personification isn't too inevitable a habit after all.)

 

Or, if you have a Wonderland, do you think your Wonderland is automatically a landification of yourself or your person?

[sushi]

This is a neat idea. I've actually seen that TED Talk and read that essay before reading this thread. Neil Gaiman also wrote in Sandman about a place that became a person and wandered away. I also remember reading a writing prompt that was something like "Imagine that your favorite book was a person. What would it be like?"

 

At present, I don't really have a wonderland, so I don't think I can answer these questions, but I'm interested to see other people's responses.

[Faemon]

Neil Gaiman also wrote in Sandman about a place that became a person and wandered away.

 

I also remember reading a writing prompt that was something like "Imagine that your favorite book was a person. What would it be like?"

 

Fiddler's Green became Gilbert! (Hinted to be Gilbert K. Chesterton!) I remember that :) because these lines cracked me up: "What a beautiful place!" "Yeah, it was a friend of mine."

 

I think my first (accidental) tulpa was actually a personification of my Shadowscapes tarot deck. Even people who don't read tarot cards would, I think, appreciate the absolutely beautiful watercolor art of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. The thing is, a far more temporary tulpa was inspired by one of the court cards in the tarot deck, like how playing cards have the Jack, Queen, King, tarot cards have Page, Knight, Queen, and King cards that are in a tarot reading supposed to represent other people (how other people's actions influence events)...but my imaginative/subconscious mind didn't seem to have a problem with how Whole Deck Personification Tulpa related--or didn't--to Court Card From Same Deck Tulpa.

 

In my narration, my tarot deck personification was "from" this city made out of amethyst spires on a floating chunk of land, but I don't know if that would be the same as what she would be if she were an actual plot of Wonderland.

 

 

 

I want to say that Pirate King Lusmore is the wild high seas of my Wonderland (why I do suddenly feel like I'm writing the lyrics to some overblown romantic pop ballad) but he's actually more like a small and quiet shoreside town beside a calm lagoon.

 

 

This is actually difficult. I guess I overthink it with, like, "Wait, would this season be the one which this tulpa is or would it merely be this tulpa's favorite season?" Just because they like camping doesn't mean they are rural Wonderland; their personality could be better symbolized by an urban setting.

 

I guess it depends on how individual feelings connect it all.

[Yakumo]

People have anthropomorphized / allegorized pretty much everything throughout the history of mankind, beginning with forces of nature and celestial bodies. Most ancient religions likely worked like that. I'd even go as far as stating that most artistic works contain some form of allegory. We tend to notice the bare facts we see in ancient texts and images but the allegoric world behind them that actually contained the true meaning is largely lost to us.

 

However the sheer mass of allegories we encounter throughout history indicates that they've always served an important function. I'd say personifying abstract thoughts just makes it a lot easier to emotionally attach to them which in turn helps to reflect on them and communicate them to others. Especially as most people were illiterate until quite recently - so allegoric imagery was pretty much the only way to present stories to a larger public without the need of a narrator.

 

Some of my favorite personifications:

all greek deities- they are probably the best example, here in a neat summary, note the section 'personified concepts'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_gods

 

Martianus Capella's encyclopedia 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' - an allegoric teaching book

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martianus_Capella

 

all of Hieronymus Bosch's works

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch

 

Thomas Hobbes 'Leviathan' - the state as person with the sovereign as head and its citizens as body

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_%28book%29

 

Bavaria - statue in Munich

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria_statue

 

Danuvius - personification of the river Danube on Trajan's column

 

Some contemporary examples:

Polandball

Hetalia: Axis Powers

Ebola-chan

 

We've sure come a loong way...

 

 

About my wonderland and tulpa, it's hard but I'd say my wonderland would be a Buddhist monk as it represents a temple site, kinda like Burma's Bagan. Is it a landification of myself? Maybe of a small part but certainly not an accurate representation if I'd create an allegory of myself.

 

Turning my tulpa into a wonderland is a bit harder.

I thought maybe a region of space filled with stars and colorful nebulae but when I asked her, she said something related, yet very different. She said 'the sun'.

Not sure what that would look like, I guess very bright but without any detail. Thinking about it, it's actually strikingly accurate, she still doesn't have a definite form and I fail to visualize details of her body so I guess it was a not-so-subtle hint to put more effort into forcing her appearance.

[Faemon]

Some contemporary examples:

Polandball

Hetalia: Axis Powers

Ebola-chan

 

We've sure come a loong way...

 

And let's not forget OS-tan. ;)

 

Thanks for flipping the tulpa-wonderland too, it was really interesting!

[Dreadwing93]

If my wonderland were a tulpa, she would be tall and dignified, with long flowing light blue hair. She would be stoic, but also very kind.

 

If my tulpa were a wonderland, she would be a large white room, similar to the white room in Wixoss. There would be many windows and mirrors, just a lot of glass in general. Perhaps some crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

[Faemon]

If my wonderland were a tulpa, she would be tall and dignified, with long flowing light blue hair. She would be stoic, but also very kind.

 

If my tulpa were a wonderland, she would be a large white room, similar to the white room in Wixoss. There would be many windows and mirrors, just a lot of glass in general. Perhaps some crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

 

Pretty cool. I mean that with all associations of the word. Is that your tulpa in your avatar? She sort of reminds me of Weiss Schnee from RWBY, in case you didn't intend this and it might help with visualizations: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt9vl8iAN5Q