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Well, Ocean city was fun. :) (No, I'm not just getting home now, merely just getting around to updating my journal.) Duo and I hung out on the boardwalk a lot, and earlier today we went with his family to see a nearby zoo. Much coolness. :) He asked me to let everyone know that he's doing fine.
August 6th, 2003
Everyone has them, for one reason or another. It's the thing that makes you act differently online than you do offline, or different in front of strangers than you do in front of friends, or different at work than you do at home. It's a kind of adopted persona... though generally it is also an aspect of your real personality in some way. Some people, myself included, choose to work actively with them to produce intended changes in both oneself and the reactions of others.
In taking stock of my various masks, I've realized that one of them no longer suits my needs. For lack of a true name, let's call it my "professional human" mask. It's the mask that I normally adopt when in a situation where I am called upon to do business with humans, or socialize with them at some formal or semi-formal function. It's also the mask I adopt when having to deal with officials such as police or lawyers.
As masks go, it functions well enough... but increasingly I'm feeling that it doesn't fit. It's far too restrictive. And, while still appropriate for some of its functions, in the main it may be time to retire it in favor of something more suitable and indeed more versatile as well.
I intend to begin creating an "elven professional" mask to take over the main functions and some of the ancillary functions of the human professional mask. Among other things it would allow me more freedom to express myself, and also allow me to integrate my inner nature more fully into this aspect of my present life, eliminating an unecessary artifical dichotomy. Precisely what it will entail I am not yet sure, but I am feeling inspired to take at least some of its substance from the archetype of the elven or fae lords who have become a staple image of fantasy fiction. I believe the archetype itself is older than that, and grounded in actual otherworldly encounters, but I have no real mythological sources which can corroborate that opinion. I've even read a small handful of books which had elven lords of that sort fulfilling the functions of businessmen in the human world, which is my primary inspiration for the creation of this particular mask. I'll post updates here as it begins to come together.
In taking stock of my various masks, I've realized that one of them no longer suits my needs. For lack of a true name, let's call it my "professional human" mask. It's the mask that I normally adopt when in a situation where I am called upon to do business with humans, or socialize with them at some formal or semi-formal function. It's also the mask I adopt when having to deal with officials such as police or lawyers.
As masks go, it functions well enough... but increasingly I'm feeling that it doesn't fit. It's far too restrictive. And, while still appropriate for some of its functions, in the main it may be time to retire it in favor of something more suitable and indeed more versatile as well.
I intend to begin creating an "elven professional" mask to take over the main functions and some of the ancillary functions of the human professional mask. Among other things it would allow me more freedom to express myself, and also allow me to integrate my inner nature more fully into this aspect of my present life, eliminating an unecessary artifical dichotomy. Precisely what it will entail I am not yet sure, but I am feeling inspired to take at least some of its substance from the archetype of the elven or fae lords who have become a staple image of fantasy fiction. I believe the archetype itself is older than that, and grounded in actual otherworldly encounters, but I have no real mythological sources which can corroborate that opinion. I've even read a small handful of books which had elven lords of that sort fulfilling the functions of businessmen in the human world, which is my primary inspiration for the creation of this particular mask. I'll post updates here as it begins to come together.
I haven't really made much progress with designing my new mask yet... instead I'm being drawn to further explore the nature of masks and the ways in which I and others work with them. I would like to begin a dialogue with others on that subject.
I do not believe that I am unique in the way in which I work with masks... indeed, I have taken it for granted for quite some time that others use many of the same methods for working with masks that I do. This premise has seemed to be supported by finding examples of what I would view as maskwork in other magickal and mundane traditions. From the Jungian concept of the persona, to the passion plays of egyptian high magic, to the drawing down of the moon in wicca... all of these are things that I would view as one form or another of maskwork. As do the NLP concept of modeling and the magickal technique of associating one's magickal name with a somewhat older magickal persona that you desire to grow into. (I am unsure what tradition that technique comes from, it is one that I encountered as I was first becoming involved with magick and I no longer recall the source.)
My use of masks also seems strongly connected with the fact that I am quite aspected. I often find it easier to access memories or abilities that I have had in other lives by visualizing my body shifting into the body I had then, mentally clothing myself in the garments I wore then. My swordwork becomes smoother and more graceful when I visualize myself in my elven body in that manner. In a less kin-specific example, I also find it easier to speak in front of groups if I adopt my "human professional" mask. The mental mask helps to evoke certain traits from within me, allowing me to access them at need.
The problem is that masks such as the ones I use can also become restrictive. It is a kind of shapeshifting as much as it is anything else, and certain masks tend to limit the skills I will easily be able to access in a given situation. My human professional mask, for instance, leaves very little room for me to think of such things as magick, Flows, and even empathy. That is why I have decided to make a new one.
The new mask, the "elven professional" mask, is a sort of nested mask in a way... the concept being more or less that of an elf who uses his experience in intrigue and politics combined with subtle illusion and suggestion to pass himself off as a human and become successful in the mundane businessworld. It would also be easily adaptable for circumstances where the formal professional attitude is appropriate but there is no need for a human seeming. The mask is something of a mixture of invocation and evocation... evoking those experiences and traits that are already present within me which would be most useful for me to have access to in such a situation, while invoking those I wish to possess but have not yet achieved. It is based in part off of my own inner nature, and in part on archetypal figures who serve as fitting models for appropriate action in such circumstances.
Does anyone else work with masks in this way, or a similar way? Whether you do or not, I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts and reactions relating to all such forms of maskwork. Whether they are favorable ones or otherwise. :)
I do not believe that I am unique in the way in which I work with masks... indeed, I have taken it for granted for quite some time that others use many of the same methods for working with masks that I do. This premise has seemed to be supported by finding examples of what I would view as maskwork in other magickal and mundane traditions. From the Jungian concept of the persona, to the passion plays of egyptian high magic, to the drawing down of the moon in wicca... all of these are things that I would view as one form or another of maskwork. As do the NLP concept of modeling and the magickal technique of associating one's magickal name with a somewhat older magickal persona that you desire to grow into. (I am unsure what tradition that technique comes from, it is one that I encountered as I was first becoming involved with magick and I no longer recall the source.)
My use of masks also seems strongly connected with the fact that I am quite aspected. I often find it easier to access memories or abilities that I have had in other lives by visualizing my body shifting into the body I had then, mentally clothing myself in the garments I wore then. My swordwork becomes smoother and more graceful when I visualize myself in my elven body in that manner. In a less kin-specific example, I also find it easier to speak in front of groups if I adopt my "human professional" mask. The mental mask helps to evoke certain traits from within me, allowing me to access them at need.
The problem is that masks such as the ones I use can also become restrictive. It is a kind of shapeshifting as much as it is anything else, and certain masks tend to limit the skills I will easily be able to access in a given situation. My human professional mask, for instance, leaves very little room for me to think of such things as magick, Flows, and even empathy. That is why I have decided to make a new one.
The new mask, the "elven professional" mask, is a sort of nested mask in a way... the concept being more or less that of an elf who uses his experience in intrigue and politics combined with subtle illusion and suggestion to pass himself off as a human and become successful in the mundane businessworld. It would also be easily adaptable for circumstances where the formal professional attitude is appropriate but there is no need for a human seeming. The mask is something of a mixture of invocation and evocation... evoking those experiences and traits that are already present within me which would be most useful for me to have access to in such a situation, while invoking those I wish to possess but have not yet achieved. It is based in part off of my own inner nature, and in part on archetypal figures who serve as fitting models for appropriate action in such circumstances.
Does anyone else work with masks in this way, or a similar way? Whether you do or not, I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts and reactions relating to all such forms of maskwork. Whether they are favorable ones or otherwise. :)