tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748832844228334272.post3246798607825958574..comments2024-02-16T01:19:34.964-05:00Comments on The Walk of Words: ExplorationRebekkah Nileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684711663696588263noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748832844228334272.post-66009691825807073642016-10-14T22:24:08.506-04:002016-10-14T22:24:08.506-04:00I never thought of that interpretation of the star...I never thought of that interpretation of the starter islands as threshold guardians, but you're completely correct! Lightbulb moment! <br /><br />I've actually read a few dimension-hopper books lately, such as The Long Earth (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter). Not many, but a few. Not many that offer a psychedelic look at dimensional travel, though. That would be interesting. I'd read a Lovecraftian horror that can only be reached through a certain state of mind... Rebekkah Nileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06684711663696588263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748832844228334272.post-28622754689178994592016-10-14T19:50:26.546-04:002016-10-14T19:50:26.546-04:00Exactly right. Those islands, in the way you descr...Exactly right. Those islands, in the way you describe them as protected places to learn the basics, might loosely be called "Threshold Guardians" from the mythological Hero-cycle described by Joseph Campbell.<br /><br />When George Lucas grabbed onto the idea in the first Star Wars movie, the planet of Tattooine was a Threshold Guardian for Luke -- keeping him safe and letting him learn the basics before flying off into the galaxy itself. In the same way the family of his uncle were also Threshold Guardians, and so were the Imperial stormtroopers at the local trading posts who kept a modicum of law and order. Luke would have to step up to and then get past each guardian in its own way before he was ready to enter the galaxy at large.<br /><br />I like the idea that humanity might "Stranger Things" the experience though -- learn to go inward instead of outward, and find there are other sentiences (or sapiences) that are approachable during the inward journey. There's a bit of a mix of H.P. Lovecraft there swirled up in a psychedelic shamanism of Tim Leary or Robert Anton Wilson.Garthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01596363804080793912noreply@blogger.com