Tag Archives: elementals

She’s Come Undine

I keep forgetting to write something about the novella Undine, by German author Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, which I read on Gutenberg in a translation geared toward children. I’ve become somewhat fascinated with the influence of Paracelsus‘ concept of … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Book Reviews, Catholicism, Celtic, Characters, Christianity, Fairy Tales, Final Fantasy, German, Greek Mythology, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Mana/Seiken Densetsu, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Relationships, Religion, They Might Be Giants, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bringing the Magic Back

The Spellcasters of Oz, by Philip John Lewin – Following up on Lewin’s earlier Master Crafters, this book shows the Ozites dealing with most of the magic that sustains their country disappearing, making beings like the Scarecrow inanimate and animals … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Characters, Christianity, Eric Shanower, Feminism, Greek Mythology, History, J.R.R. Tolkien, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Prejudice, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fair Value

Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire – The third book in the Wayward Children series follows up on the first. A girl named Rini arrives at Eleanor West’s home, looking for her mother Onishi Sumi, who had been murdered. … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Christianity, Conspiracy Theories, Economics, Fairy Tales, Families, Food, History, incryptid, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, seanan mcguire, Wayward Children | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Elemental Boogaloo

Frozen 2 – We watched this one last night, and it was a bit of a palate cleanser after hearing about fascists storming the Capitol all day. I’ve said before that I thought the original Frozen was a solid film, … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Authors, Cartoons, Fairy Tales, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Relationships, Revisiting Disney, Star Wars, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ariel View

I’ve looked at quite a bit of fairy lore over the years, but one character I hadn’t really addressed is Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, largely because I hadn’t read it. I recently did so, and I also found out that … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, British, C.S. Lewis, Cartoons, Christianity, Fairy Tales, Futurama, Gender, Greek Mythology, Humor, Jasper Fforde, Judaism, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Nursery Crime, Oz, Plays, Poetry, Religion, Roman, Television, Theosophy, William Shakespeare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

War Between the States of Being

Erica Olivera’s presentation on Theosophy and its influence on L. Frank Baum at the latest OzCon included some information on the four kingdoms, those of mineral, vegetable, animal, and human. The animal-vegetable-mineral division is part of general knowledge, as well … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Animals, Biology, Characters, Christianity, Evolution, Greek Philosophy, History, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Philosophy, Prejudice, Religion, Science, Snobbery, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Cake Is a Li-Mon-Eag

I’m back from my fourth OzCon International, and the second to which I dragged Beth. She asked me why I wanted to her go when it’s not something she’s into, but I like having the company and sharing my passions. … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Cartoons, Characters, Eric Shanower, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Music, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Prejudice, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Television, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Gnomic Utterances

I recently read Ruth Berman’s Dunkiton Pamphlet on Gnome Matters, including a history of gnomes, touching on their use in the Oz books. I’ve written about this topic before, like how the name might well have originated with Paracelsus, who … Continue reading

Posted in Chris Dulabone, Eric Shanower, Fairy Tales, German, Gina Wickwar, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Melody Grandy, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Plays, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Living Waters

While I’ve written about beings in the Oz universe made of fire and ice, I don’t believe I’ve yet covered plain old water. Well, I guess it’s not that plain if it’s alive. Whether Gwyneth Paltrow has met any of … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Dick Martin, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Know Your Gnomes

I’ve been looking into the portrayal of various mythical peoples in works of fiction, and it seems to me that some are much better defined than others. I asked earlier today on Twitter and Facebook what people thought of when … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, British, C.S. Lewis, Characters, Chronicles of Narnia, Fairy Tales, Games, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Piers Anthony, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Xanth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments