ie they don't say there's only one god, but that there's only one god worth worshipping. I kind of like the idea that there are still traces of older myths in there...
20 years ago I read a book that had been written decades earlier,that claimed that the Hebrews calender was based on moon phases, not the sun, and did the math to interpret how old the supposedly 1000+ year old Methusulah etc are would have actually been. (Somewhere in his 80's, as it happens.) But also that there was archaeological evidence that the Hebrews esp women had also kept figures of goddess, Mother gods and fertility figures, "household gods" by the hearth and so forth during that time.
It's a fascinating subject, but I think it takes a certain distance and self-awareness to write convincingly.
I'd say that's true of almost any subject.
To which Captain America replies "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm sure He doesn't dress like that." While Thor is calling down actual thunder...
*lol* that could have worked in the Buffyverse. Even with Riley; Buffy isn't a "god" but she actually seems a little insulted that he's never heard of the Slayer. That's part of her superiority complex right there. (Granted, she gets zero recognition or perks so I cut her a lot of slack.)
it's hard to be a monotheist once you've actually shoved your fingers into a peroxide blonde god's brain and bossed the Egyptian god of death around.
Indeed.
At the same time, of course, Jewishness is more than just a religious belief.
ONe of my mentors in college called herself "ethnically jewish but religiously atheist" which at the time I couldn't get a grasp of, but now I understand it better. (She gave her son a bar mitzvah anyway, but I assume she gave him the choice.) But it's something that I keep forgetting because I'm not Jewish obviously.
I keep wanting to write post-series Willow fic that deals with all of that, but I'd have to read up a lot on Judaism and I'd still feel like I was appropriating something.
Aren't we appropriating every time we write about characters who aren't like ourselves? Some of my favorite fics in this fandom focusing on the female characters (including your own) are written by guys. Technically I could call that "appropriation." What matters to me is that the writer has a genuine feel for the characters. Gender of the author shouldn't matter. (Isn't the author of 50 Shades of Grey a woman?) OTOH it IS trickier when you're talking about race, ethnicity, etc as we are. I can say "I am a mixture of male and female characteristics" ; I can't say "I'm a mixture of black and white characteristics" (whatever the hell that means) or even "I understand what it means to be black in America." But we can do our best to educate ourselves as much as possible, right? That will show up in the work.
Which is long way of saying I'd love to see what you come up with and I think you can pull it off. Besides, nobody else is doing it.
Still, I can't help but feel that there should be fic in which Willow meets up with the golem of Prague...
Mmm, that would have made a nifty episode in the Buffy comics. Or, better versions of them.
no subject
20 years ago I read a book that had been written decades earlier,that claimed that the Hebrews calender was based on moon phases, not the sun, and did the math to interpret how old the supposedly 1000+ year old Methusulah etc are would have actually been. (Somewhere in his 80's, as it happens.) But also that there was archaeological evidence that the Hebrews esp women had also kept figures of goddess, Mother gods and fertility figures, "household gods" by the hearth and so forth during that time.
It's a fascinating subject, but I think it takes a certain distance and self-awareness to write convincingly.
I'd say that's true of almost any subject.
To which Captain America replies "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm sure He doesn't dress like that." While Thor is calling down actual thunder...
*lol* that could have worked in the Buffyverse. Even with Riley; Buffy isn't a "god" but she actually seems a little insulted that he's never heard of the Slayer. That's part of her superiority complex right there. (Granted, she gets zero recognition or perks so I cut her a lot of slack.)
it's hard to be a monotheist once you've actually shoved your fingers into a peroxide blonde god's brain and bossed the Egyptian god of death around.
Indeed.
At the same time, of course, Jewishness is more than just a religious belief.
ONe of my mentors in college called herself "ethnically jewish but religiously atheist" which at the time I couldn't get a grasp of, but now I understand it better. (She gave her son a bar mitzvah anyway, but I assume she gave him the choice.) But it's something that I keep forgetting because I'm not Jewish obviously.
I keep wanting to write post-series Willow fic that deals with all of that, but I'd have to read up a lot on Judaism and I'd still feel like I was appropriating something.
Aren't we appropriating every time we write about characters who aren't like ourselves? Some of my favorite fics in this fandom focusing on the female characters (including your own) are written by guys. Technically I could call that "appropriation." What matters to me is that the writer has a genuine feel for the characters. Gender of the author shouldn't matter. (Isn't the author of 50 Shades of Grey a woman?) OTOH it IS trickier when you're talking about race, ethnicity, etc as we are. I can say "I am a mixture of male and female characteristics" ; I can't say "I'm a mixture of black and white characteristics" (whatever the hell that means) or even "I understand what it means to be black in America." But we can do our best to educate ourselves as much as possible, right? That will show up in the work.
Which is long way of saying I'd love to see what you come up with and I think you can pull it off. Besides, nobody else is doing it.
Still, I can't help but feel that there should be fic in which Willow meets up with the golem of Prague...
Mmm, that would have made a nifty episode in the Buffy comics. Or, better versions of them.