Revenge Of The Goddess: Athena Strikes

I only thought hurricanes got "people" names but The Weather Channel has apparently decided to name the current one smashing against my city "Athena" -- against the express wishes of the National Weather Service --

Giant Athena statue in Nashville (source)

As an added sync, the above photo was taken from a site called Trip Advisor, whose logo is an owl -- one of Athena's symbols:

Of course, Athena is a pretty prominent goddess, patroness of (quoting Wikipedia here) "wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill". She's also linked to a ton of other goddesses -- like the Libyan/Egyptian Neith (goddess of both war and the more domestic activity of weaving), who has been controversially (at least, in academic circles) been referred-to as "The Black Athena."

Neith

Neith, from "Wonder Woman"

Another goddess was invoked today, in relation to both the rather violent weather and the Election -- Mother Nature. A Twitter topic as I write this, she was apparently referred-to by the erudite documentary maker Michael Moore, who blogged the following:

"And you, Mother Nature, with all your horrific damage, death and destruction you caused last week, you became, ironically, the undoing of a Party that didn't believe in you or your climate changing powers. Perhaps they'll believe now."

Probably not the most sensitively put thing I've read at the moment, considering so many are still suffering from our previous storm. But it syncs perfectly with the idea of Athena as a storm. The revenge of the Goddess.

Yes, this is an actual comic book

Moore makes the "triumph" of women during the recent re-election of President Obama a focal point of his post, including thanking Sandra Fluke, who started the trend (by being a target) of GOP leaders and conservative pundits saying absolutely crazy-ass things about women and rape -- what was to be "branded" by the media as "The War On Women":

"Thank you Sandra Fluke for enduring the insults hurled at you and then becoming an important grassroots leader against the war on women. Thank you Todd Akin for...well, for just being you."

The real Sandra Fluke Vs. depiction by Far-Right

"The War On Sandra Fluke" Sets Off "The War On Women"

Another sync, another angry storm "goddess" -- Sandra and "Sandy."

Todd Akin, one of the out-of-touch GOPs who I believe hurt Romney in a huge way, was actually referred to as being "raped" by his female opponent: quoteth Jon Stewart: "Well it looks tonight like, in Missouri, Claire McCaskill has legitimately raped Todd Akin. Electorally speaking, obviously."

("Rape" never seems like a cool word to use in a joke, regardless of the context -- but that's just me)

Indeed, with last night's voting, more women are in the senate more than ever before, 20. Most of these women would share attributes with Athena, who is highly intelligent and a strategic "warrior."

Again: the unbelievably crass remarks by the GOP regarding females pretty much killed Romney's campaign. Suppressed Goddess energy has literally overflowed, burst out:

"When you open a flood gate, how can you undo it?...There is no undoing; it must run it's course."
-- from "The Craft," 1996 

Or maybe that wasn't the reason Obama won at all. Maybe it was, as some people wrote, "Flag Head Lady":

"Flag Head Lady"

Neith

I'm not a huge traditional feminist, but I don't want to be forced to carry my rapist's baby either (neither did Athena, after Hephaestus attempted to rape her; she "foiled" the rape and his semen fell on Gaia/"Mother Nature" instead, who got pregnant by default. Those wacky Greeks!).

Women in my field, and especially in the field of gaming, were horrifically targeted with abusive language and threats of rape and murder this year, far worse than I observed in any other year since the Internet was a "thing." As I watched this mass exodus of women from blogging -- citing feeling unsafe and unprotected in the midst of what was default stalking that made its way offline -- I wondered what set this off? Why this year? And this doesn't even count the women overseas who are getting shot in the face and acid thrown on them for daring to get an education or talk about "rights."

I go back to my post on the comic book "goddesses" Phoenix and Pandora.

These female deities "ruled" the mainstream comic book world this year -- this, in a field dominated by male characters. Phoenix in particular is interesting, as she is, in a sense, a "bird-goddess" -- as is Athena and a whole "class" of goddesses:

This whole business has a lot of personal meaning to me as well -- the violent climate change inspiring me to do everything from questioning living in NYC anymore, to questioning what my purpose is in life, to a greater realization that there is a bigger community out there that needs help (and that, in the face of this and worse situations, the city's infrastructure might not be able to withstand).

But I, also, have an energy -- mostly creative and intellectual -- that needs to burst through:

And so I'll continue analyzing and writing. I feel I shall have no lack of topics in the weeks ahead.

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Jim Carrey: Pop-Culture Shaman

And two more updates to this story that just seems to keep adding to itself:
1) Jim Carrey playing an "actual" magician, in the upcoming movie "Burt Wonderstone":

2) Carrey joins New Age guru Eckhart Tolle to create the provocatively-named GATE (The Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment). The goal of this organization is pretty much what I've been talking about this entire post -- creating and concretizing the nexus between entertainment and spirituality. GATE, and Carrey's involvement in it, deserves a special post on this blog all by itself.

Note: this is an updated version of a post I originally wrote in 2009. Given Jim Carrey's recent behavior via Twitter, You Tube, and in general -- behavior described by the mainstream media as bizarre and possibly signs of a mental breakdown -- I thought it was appropriate to dust this one off, update it slightly, and give it another go. It is my opinion that while Carrey's recent acts seem somewhat erratic and might denote some mental strain, they are also "side-effects" of being quite literally the pop-culture shaman of our generation, a role he plays over and over to the point of typecasting in his movie career. Since I last wrote about him in 2009, the actor/comedian has seemed to more concretely embraced this fact of his personal being, as seen in recent paintings of his:


Jim Carrey on WhoSay

Subject: Jim Carrey
Portrays mostly:

• Innocents/Idiots/Fools
• The Insane, especially those with Split-Personalities and Alter-Egos (Unstable Sense of Identity)
• The Displaced (Unstable Sense of Reality)
• Chosen Ones (Communication with/Manipulation by/Powers Received from Higher Forces)

As we will see, Jim Carrey has portrayed an inordinate amount of characters fitting one or more of the aforementioned categories. These categories also relate to each other, and are the characteristics of the Shaman (or, if you prefer: Magician, Artist, Holy Man, etc).


Jim Carrey, a Partial Filmography:

Ace Ventura Pet Detective (1994): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Power of communication with animals. Like the Fool of the Rider-Waite Tarot, is accompanied by dog.


The Mask (1994): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Split-Personality and Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity), Manipulated by and receives Power from Higher Force. Like the Fool of the Rider-Waite Tarot, is accompanied by dog. Alter-Ego is Insane.

Dumb & Dumber (1994): Innocent/Idiot/Fool. Rides in vehicle in the form of a dog.

Batman Forever (1995): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Split-Personality and Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity), Manipulated by and Receives Power from Higher Force. Alter-Ego is Insane. Holds wand like Tarot's Magician. Assumes Criminal Alter Ego.

The Cable Guy (1996): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Split-Personality and Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity). Alter-Ego is Insane. Assumes Criminal Alter Ego. Like Tarot's Magician, wields wand/conductor of energy (cable/electricity).


Liar Liar (1997): Innocent/Idiot/Fool Manipulated by Higher Force.

The Truman Show (1998): Innocent/Idiot/Fool Manipulated by Higher Force and Displaced (Unstable Sense of Reality).

Man on the Moon (1999): Innocent/Idiot/Fool (Latka character) Manipulated by Higher Force (genius). "Insane," with Split-Personality/Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity) Tony Clifton. Manipulator of Reality. See: Tarot card The Moon (indicating split personality of dog/Fool/Latka and Wolf/Tony Clifton.


Me, Myself & Irene (2000): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Split-Personality and Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity). Alter-Ego is Insane. Assumes Criminal Alter Ego.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000): Assumes Alter-Ego (Santa Claus). Assumes Criminal Alter Ego (robs Whos). Like the Fool of the Rider-Waite Tarot, is accompanied by dog.

The Majestic (2001): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Split-Personality and Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity). Displaced (Unstable Sense of Reality).

Bruce Almighty (2003): Innocent/Idiot/Fool Manipulated by and Receives Power from Higher Force.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004): Innocent/Idiot/Fool who is Displaced (Unstable Sense of Reality).


Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2004): Actor who assumes Alter-Egos.

Fun With Dick And Jane (2005): Displaced, assumes Criminal Alter Ego.

The Number 23 (2007): Innocent/Idiot/Fool in Communication with Higher Force and is Displaced (Unstable Sense of Reality). Alter-Ego is Insane. Assumes/Resumes Criminal Alter Ego.

Horton Hears A Who (2008): Innocent/Idiot/Fool in Communication with "Higher Force" (the invisible Whos).

Yes Man (2008): Innocent/Idiot/Fool Manipulated by Higher Force.


I Love You Philip Morris (2009): Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Split-Personality and Alter-Ego (Unstable Sense of Identity). Assumes Criminal Alter Ego.

A Christmas Carol (2009): Displaced, in Communication with & Manipulated by Higher Forces.

Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) : Innocent/Idiot/Fool with Power of communication with animals.

Jim Carrey has played similar, interrelated characters for most of his career. On one hand, he is far from pigeon-holed as an actor. Take his performances in the wacky comedy Ace Ventura and the thoughtful drama Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of his roles concern unstable identities, unstable realities, and contact with Higher Forces (whether it be the Judeo-Christian God, Loki, microscopic Whos, or a self-help guru).

Perhaps every actor and actress is, in essence, a shaman, temporarily taking on another identity and leading the audience into a mass catharsis/exorcism through his or her performance. But never was this so literal and striking as in the case of Jim Carrey, who seems to play nothing but people with Shaman characteristics.

The Shaman...

...communicates with animal spirits:

...is initially thought insane by his/her tribe for talking to invisible beings:


...can access other worlds/dimensions:


...is often initially thought of as the village idiot:


...is often initially thought to be mentally ill:


...is often the village outcast:


...talks to spirit-guides:

...talks to "God":


...can be "possessed" during ritual:


...can wear a mask during ritual:


...can have special abilities:


...can be compelled to say out-of-place words by the gods:


...has his/her life turned upside-down by contact with the gods:


...can bring catharsis/exorcism to the village:


...returns from vision quest and brings the village valuable new information on the true nature of reality:


Carrey also resonates with the archetypal figure known as the Green Man:


As well as a figure related to the Green Man & Shamans, The Trickster:

Carrey's Riddler in "Batman Forever"......is very reminiscent Mark Hamill's
Trickster in the Flash TV series...

...but they all come from the same mythic place.

You have to wonder what effect playing characters with the same "energy" over and over and over again has on Mr. Carrey. Is he fully aware that he serves as the Shaman/Fool/Green Man/Trickster for our pop-culture? – our pop-culture serving as the current era's mythic generator/repository.

The most difficult character in comedy is that of the fool, and he must be no simpleton that plays that part.

--Miguel de Cervantes

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