Various Cardinal Symbol Systems

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Cardinal Symbols

I mentioned that there have been plenty of uses of the cardinal directions to create fantasy and mythological systems.  Sometimes, you even have a 5th direction of ‘center’, which is important when we get to Wu Xing.  I wanted to give a list of various cardinal systems that have been created in mythologies.  Many authors use these for inspiration even though only stick to the one that is from their own culture.

Four Classical Elements

This is very common in Western fiction because it is what we are used to.  Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire are the elements that we focus on.  They’ve been connected to many fictional stories such as ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’.  Now, authors may mess around with the connections here, but the traditional version is:

  • Earth is North
  • Air is East
  • Fire is South
  • Water is West

Authors will occasionally switch things around to make Fire vs Water and Earth vs Air oppositions.  This is because the compass is used as compatibility tool.

Wu Xing (Five Elements)

Similar to the four classical elements, Wu Xing comes from China with 5 elements.  They also use a 4 element system that ditches Earth, but this is typically done when the beasts are involved.  I’ll get to them next.  Before you ask, ‘Air’ is not one of the elements for a variety of cultural reasons.  This Five Element/Direction system looks like the following:

  • Wood is East (One theory is that air is part of life and falls under wood)
  • Fire is South
  • Metal is West
  • Water is North
  • Earth is Central

It’s interesting how fire is in the same spot as the previous system.  Earth being central makes sense if you think of it more as the planet than dirt.  Don’t really know about the others off the top of my head.

Wu Xing Four/Five Auspicious Beasts

These guys get used in anime a lot. I can think of three series right off the bat that used them as either villains, monsters, or plot points.  Each of the beasts is a god-like guardian of each direction.  They are connected to a direction, color, season, emotion, and many other things.  Authors may use them as a simplified Zodiac sign determined by birth season or person’s natural temperament.  Either way, a direction tends to be associated with each one.

  • Azure Dragon of the East
  • Vermillion Bird/Phoenix of the South
  • White Tiger of the West
  • Black Tortoise of the North
  • Yellow Dragon or Qilin in the Center

Japan uses a 4 beast system off this with names too.

  • Seiryu the Azure Dragon of the East
  • Suzaku the Vermillion Bird of the South
  • Byakko the White Tiger of the West
  • Genbu the Black Tortoise of the North

Greek Skies and Winds

Greeks actually had two cardinal direction systems.  Not sure if Rome copied the one that was about astral phenomenon, so I’m going to leave them out.  Does look like they made a 12 cardinal direction system. Anyway, the Greeks had one cardinal system to work off of sky events and another with where winds came from.  It was originally only North and South winds, but East and West were added.  These systems can be useful if you’re working with a large sailing culture who would be focused a lot on stars and wind.

  • Arctos (Ursa Major) and Boreas the North Winds
  • Anatole (Dawn) and Eurus the East Winds
  • Mesembria (Noon) and Zephyrus the West Winds
  • Dysis (Sunset) and Notus the South Winds

This is a simplified version of this.  From what I’ve read, more complicated systems were created over time.  Homer may have implied that there were 8 wind directions.  Aristotle made a 10-12 wind/direction system, which the Romans seem to have copied.  This just means authors have a lot to work with if they use Greek mythology and history for inspiration.

Native American

This one is difficult to look into because every tribe had their own symbols.  At least from what I can tell.  So, take this with a grain of salt because I’m trying to find connecting information.  Basically, the four cardinal directions can be connected to the four seasons AND the four stages of life.  This can be depicted on what are called medicine wheels in some cultures.  Each one has a season, stage, and an animal connected to it.  For example:

  • North is Winter, Elderly/Death, and the Bear
  • East is Spring, Birth/Childhood, and the Eagle
  • South is Summer, Youth, and the Wolf
  • West is Autumn, Adulthood, and the Buffalo

Now, this can be very problematic if you take it as this across the board.  First, not every area in the Americas has the same weather during each season.  Summer in Florida is WAY different than summer in Alaska.  So, the life stages might differ if you don’t have harsh winters and the summers are the most brutal season.  Second, those animals are not found in every region.  This is an important note for fantasy worlds too.  If an animal does not live within the territory of a culture, why would it be a symbol?  It shouldn’t even be known unless talked about by foreigners, which wouldn’t put it on the same spiritual level as the local fauna.

So, those are a handful of cardinal direction systems.  There are plenty more out there and much more details for each of these.

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Questions 3 and Looking Back at ‘Prodigy of Rainbow Tower’

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower is the book that really fleshed out the world of Windemere.  Luke Callindor and friends had to travel across the kingdom of Ralian, so I had to design the terrain.  Cities, towns, rivers, and the like had to be included to make Windemere feel like a real world.  Things didn’t simply appear when the heroes were there and vanish when they left.  I needed more meat on the skeleton I created in the first volume and a ‘road trip quest’ helped with this.

I really liked this book even though it was more episodic than the rest of the series.  That might make it stand out a bit.  Not to mention it was more an adventure than the localized quest in Beginning of a Hero.  I had to shift the group due to players leaving and entering the game too.  A cross-kingdom mission really helped with this because it gave a reason for Nyx to join and for other characters to leave.  Major events and dangers helped to shake things up as well as allow Luke and Nyx to suffer some character developing tragedies.  This episode style really helped me do this too.

Speaking of tragedies, Prodigy of Rainbow Tower is probably where I really stepped into the concept of punishing my heroes.  I began to think about how I didn’t want it to be too easy.  Luke and Nyx were out to save the world.  Why should they get through it barely scathed?  So, I made sure to give each one a major ‘failure’ in this adventure.  Nyx definitely recovered more than Luke, but there was still a lasting effect that made her be more cautious with her magic.  I realized how much more a character can learn and evolve from a loss than a victory.  Makes sense in retrospect, but it was like a lightbulb moment back then.

I should probably talk about Nyx too.  For those who don’t remember or know, this was the character my ex-wife played.  Game version and book version are very different in power and personality though.  People have asked if I would abandon the character or go back to rewrite the series without her.  Seems a common thought is to simply erase characters based off people who end up hurting us.  The thing is that the series was already done and published by the time of my divorce.  Rewriting 15 books out of what sounds like spite doesn’t make sense.  Future cameos of Nyx might not be what I originally planned and her brother/sister relationship with Luke is always going to be a challenge to write if it comes up again.  This is where separating the character from the inspiration can come in handy.  Nyx is not my ex-wife and I shouldn’t treat her as such.  Wouldn’t be fair to her since I put so much effort into making her a fun character.

Almost forgot the biggest world-building piece to come out of Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.  With Nyx’s introduction, I had to reveal my magic system.  This might sound simply to people.  Caster points finger, says words, and things happen.  Unfortunately, making something that simple causes a lot of magical abuse and questions of why it isn’t used to solve every problem.  Systems create limits and rules, which is what I needed even if Nyx was breaking them.  I had already tinkered with the aura concept, which was inspired by the idea of using life energy/ki/chi/whatever.  Giving everything on Windemere an aura meant that I had a high magic world too, which opened the door for a lot of my other ideas.  This has always been a fun juggling act between showing off the magic and having restraint.  Since finishing this book, I’ve found that it’s better to have a flexible system instead of a solid one that can’t be altered for situations.  That means, Windemere’s magic system is still evolving and probably will continue to grow until I finish writing all of my books.

Questions 3:

  1. What would you do with magic?
  2. What is one of the most important factors in a friendship?
  3. Where have you gone on a road trip or would like to go?
Posted in Legends of Windemere, Prodigy of Rainbow Tower, Questions 3 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Road to Surrender

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

by Evan Thomas “Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II” by Evan Thomas is a complex read that offers a fresh …

Road to Surrender
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Cardinal Symbols in Fiction

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Cardinal Directions

Come to think of it, do people still care about the cardinal directions?  I remember being taught by my dad how to find north, south, east, and west.  It never stuck since I was supposed to use the sun.  I ended up figuring it out by remembering where the local parkways go in conjunction with my location.  As long as I can picture the nearest highway, I can figure it out.  Don’t think they have this advantage in fantasy worlds and I’ve probably undermined the original intent of this post.

Using the cardinal signs for more than directions has been a big thing in fiction.  I believe this stems from mythologies doing the same thing.  For example, Greeks and Romans had a god for each of the four winds.  Ancient Egypt had the four sons of Horus and positioning of bodies.  The list can keep going, but it seems using at least the four major directions has always been important.  Kind of funny considering this appeared in cultures across the world without contact.  Not that they called the directions the same thing, but it was similar on some level.  Makes me think that part of human nature is knowing where we physically are in relation to the rest of the world.

You might be wondering why I’m bringing this up on a fantasy writing blog.  Well, the cardinal directions are very popular in fantasy themes.  They’re an easy-to-use group of four that can be utilized for monsters, kingdoms, oceans, and whatever else you want to create.  Need to make a variety of elves?  Have each one come from a different direction and associate specific weather patterns/environments with them.  That’s just one example of what you can do with cardinal directions.  You can branch it out to 8 as well if you include the diagonals.  There are the other ones too, but I never understood the 3 letter ones very well.

Early on, I used a compass for my fantasy world, which was called Mylrix.  There was a continent in ‘each direction’ and a central collection of islands.  This became Windemere prior to the Great Cataclysm, which I still need to figure out.  The problem with doing this with landmasses is that you’re working with a globe.  As a teenager, I didn’t think about this when I made my map and still haven’t figure out how to make this work.  Right now, it’s looking like I’ll jettison the whole concept and have the continents located in approximately the same area.  Really makes one realize how much ocean is on a planet, but I don’t think Windemere is as big as Earth.

My favorite thing with cardinal directions is when they’re used for symbolic creatures and systems.  I’ll get more into these on Tuesday, but the general idea is that each direction has an associated ‘thing’.  It’s so simplistic in its creation, so it works when you want the audience to catch on quickly.  There’s so much you can do with this and everyone will understand it on some level.  Even if the words are different, most places have the cardinal directions.  There is something equivalent to north, south, east, and west as long as you’re on a planet.  Outer space and similar regions might be the exception, but then you kind of get up, down, left, right, forward, and back.  Not sure if that’s an equivalent, but it can be worked with.  Like I said, there is a great amount of versatility in the cardinal directions’ simplicity.

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The Homefront by David Wickenden

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

**This is my favourite book of the year so far. David Wickenden’s “The Home Front” is a novel that skillfully intertwines the poignancy of historical…

The Homefront by David Wickenden
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Outlining Finesse, Part 1

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

By Stephen Geez My last post introduced the basics of outlining a story, offering ideas for how each author can explore different methods to develop …

Outlining Finesse, Part 1
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The blackout Murders by Neil R. Storey

Posted on February 18, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

“The Blackout Murders: Homicide in WWII” by Neil R. Storey provides a unique perspective on a lesser-known aspect of the Second World War — the surge…

The blackout Murders by Neil R. Storey
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World Whale Day: The Cachalot

Posted on February 18, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Today is ‘World Whale Day’.  Now, there are 90 species of whale, which means I can’t list them all here.  I decided to choose one species to focus on.  Hard choice since there are so many iconic species.  Decided to go with one that is considered ‘Vulnerable’ due to whaling from 1800-1987 that nearly wiped them out.  They are a recovering species with nearly 300,000 individuals out there.  These whales are toothed whales, which means they have teeth instead of baleen.  I put a nickname for it in the title to try and maintain a little suspense.  Let’s look at some facts about the:

SPERM WHALE

  • An albino sperm whale that attacked whaling ships in 1839 was the inspiration for ‘Moby Dick’.
  • They are found in all deep oceans across the globe.
  • They are named after ‘spermaceti’, which is a waxy substance found in their heads.  It helps the whales focus sound, but was mistaken for semen when first discovered.
  • Cachalot is supposedly an archaic French word for ‘tooth’.
  • Males can weigh up to 50 tons and be 52 feet long.  Females can get to 15 tons and 40 feet long.
  • A sperm whale’s head is about 1/3 the length of its body.
  • They can dive more than 10,000 feet deep and hold their breath for about 90 minutes.  Upon returning to the surface, they require several minutes of rest.
  • They feed on sharks, giant squid, and fish.
  • Sperm whale pods are matriarchal with 15-20 females in a group.  Males tend to be independent or move among multiple groups.
  • They have the largest brain of any animal on the planet at 9.2 pounds.
  • The sonar of a sperm whale can reach a level of 230 decibels.  Fireworks and gunshots are around 140 decibels.  A rocket launch is 180 decibels, which makes sperm whales the loudest animals on Earth.
  • Sperm whales have the longest digestive system in the world at 300 meters.  It has four stomachs with the first being covered by a thick lining to protect against the thrashing of still living prey.
  • Sperm whales produce ambergris, which is created by squid beaks and pens that cannot be digested.  When these parts aren’t vomited out, they get into the intestines and become ambergris.  This material is used for perfume since it comes out smelling foul, but gains a ‘musky’ scent once it has dried.
  • While their population is recovering, there are still threats such as boat collisions, fishing net entanglements, and pollution.
  • Orcas will hunt sperm whales, but only the calves and females.  Pilot whales and false killer whales will hunt them too, but Orcas are the only major predator.

So, let’s enjoy a few pictures and videos of these whales.

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Goal Post: February Break Begins!

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

(First song played on car CD player when going into work on Friday.)

The title says it all and this break couldn’t come fast enough.  This week didn’t work out as well as I had planned.  All I really accomplished was spending time with my son.  The rest of the week was a slog through the swamp of horrors that has become my life.  In other words, I didn’t get anywhere near Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.

Last weekend was going to obviously be a challenge with editing since I had my son and it was Super Bowl.  We did a bunch of Pokémon Go, watched some shows, and relaxed since we knew the week would be crazy.  There was some homework involved too, but nobody wants to hear about that.  Think I managed to write one blog post for April during that weekend.  Not sure, but I do see one scheduled.  Small victories.  Not like I wanted to get anything else done since I knew I wouldn’t be seeing much of my son until the middle of next week.  That’s what happens in joint custody, especially if you end up having appointments on your time.  Oh well.

There was one bonus day since we had a snowstorm on Tuesday.  That meant my son and I had a snow day.  A day of video games, cartoons, and hanging around in pajamas until things settled enough for an evening Pokémon Go outing.  Well, that was my son’s day since I was the one doing the shoveling.  I got to enjoy some of the time with him when I wasn’t outside or lying down to give my back a rest.  Guess I should be happy with the bonus day since it probably gave him a good boost of energy and delayed a few things until after the break.

Work was exhausting.  Students typically get antsy and harder to focus as they get closer to a break.  The ones I’m with now are no exceptions.  Thrown off by a snow day, we all were having trouble keeping on track.  So, I ended every day feeling like I’d gone a few rounds with Rocky Balboa.  This is why I didn’t do any editing at night or during my breaks since I needed recovery time.  My body is definitely having trouble adapting to the new level of activity and needing to be ready to move at any moment.  I’m eating healthier with chopped salads and rice bowls with tofu and edamame, but I’m still fat and really out of shape.  I’m hoping that biking a lot over the break can help even though I won’t be out of the house much until I’m with my son.

My hope is that I can finish editing Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.  I have 5 chapters to go, so I might get it done by the end of Monday.  That gives me Tuesday and Wednesday to type everything in.  I’m including other things I’m doing, but all of my friends are kind of busy or too far away.  Going to have dinner with one and maybe chill with another for a bit another day.  It’ll be nice if I can finish this book and dive into Darwin & the Halfling Hunt.  At the very least, I want to get that book printed out and I can start in on that on various weekends.

I don’t really have a lot of exciting things planned, but the Winter Break never really is because the weather is gross.  Usually, my son and I pull off a zoo trip if it isn’t too cold or snowing.  Big Pokémon Go event next week and weekend as well as a local place having an old-school arcade set up.  I really only get 4 days with my son before he’s back at school and I’m back at work.  So, I don’t get a lot of time.  Going to have a visit from my niece at some point too.  For the most part, I think my son and I will just be relaxing and doing small outings after the zoo.  Maybe we’ll watch some movies since we do have a decent-sized list.  Sometimes, you just need a break where you don’t have much of a plan, especially since the next big one has a plan.

Only other thing I’m going to do is watch a bunch of short anime while I write.  I saw a new season of ‘Goblin Slayer’ and a movie, so I’ll start with that.  Not sure where I’ll go after that.  Finding it harder and harder to find anime that I really want to watch.  Most are either another isekai (Earthling goes to a fantasy world) or something that my son wants me to save for when he’s here.  Anyway, let’s take a look at the goals:

  1. Bike nearly every day.
  2. Have dinner with a friend.
  3. Edit Darwin & the Fate Bracelet.
  4. Print Darwin & the Halfling Hunt.
  5. Do some April posts.
  6. Zoo trip with son.
  7. Haircut.
  8. Sleep at least 8 hours a day.
  9. Watch anime and work on puzzles.
  10. Heal and relax.
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Herbs Herb Hut (Owner’s Real Name Is Jerry)

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

Welcome to our herb shop where everything is grown on the property.  We have a wide assortment of herbs that you may recognize, but have been given a little boost.  Are you looking for cooking, medical, or entertainment?  Medical because that’s basically the blog theme this week.  Not sure what you mean by that, but let me bring you a partial list of our medicinal herbs.  Why is it partial?  My good person, humans have been using herbs for healing since before the dawn of civilization.  We would be here for weeks to go over the entire list.  Please let me know if nothing appeals to you and we can discuss the maladies that you are concerned about.  The way to use each one will be included with your final purchase.  Ring the bell when you are prepared for your order.

  • Kava– Anesthesia and sedative with possible liver repair.  May induce photosynthesis for an hour, which will also cause a ‘system flush’.
  • Blue Snakeweed– Can help control diabetes and ease symptoms of malaria, dysentery, and liver disorders.  Fingers will become serpentine and have minds of their owns until herb is fully processed.
  • Cotton Lavender– Expels intestinal parasites. Body sprouts a thick layer of soft hair, which can be shaved off and used like wool.
  • Veronica– Helps with sinus and ear infections.  Grants enhanced senses of hearing and smell for 24 hours.
  • Amargo– Can cure rosacea. Skin will be very shiny and slick for a period of time, which depends on severity of case.
  • Cornflower– Helps treat conjunctivitis.  Grants a variety of vision alternatives such as x-ray, heat, long distance, and foresight.  Random effect though.
  • Euphorbia hirta– Treats bronchitic asthma, laryngeal spasms, and dengue fever.  Chest can balloon up with air like that of a frog.  Release is that of normal breath, but can last longer due to amount of inhalation.
  • St. John’s Wort– Used for depression.  Attract compliments from people around you.
  • Chamomile– Used for anxiety and sleeplessness.  Grants the ability to float gently to the ground if both feet leave ground or you start to fall.
  • Elderberry– Can help with the symptoms of flu, common cold, fevers, constipation, pain, and sinus infections.  User can operate televisions, phones, and computers with their mind as long as they are lying down in bed.
  • Thyme– Helps treat bronchitis and general cough.  Turns any jokes made about ‘thyme/time’ turn into knock-knock jokes.
  • Dandelion– Helps treat liver disease, kidney disease, and spleen issues.  Sprouts dandelion buds from head for an hour.
  • Snowdrop–  Can aide in treatment for Alzheimer’s, but is not a cure.  Grants a person the ability to create illusions of their memories, which can be recorded.

(So, I actually put what each of these herbs is supposed to be used for, but they would obviously need some prep work.  There are so many more to choose from and I couldn’t really bring myself to go beyond ‘Snowdrop’.  Think I outdid myself with that one.  Anyway, I want to make sure that people don’t take this post as me saying ‘herbs are better than modern medicine’.  I’m not saying that or the opposite.  If you or a loved one is suffering, you should do what you can to help.  The most important thing is to do your own research and be careful of scams.  Hope you enjoyed the post.)

Posted in Olde Shoppe Stories | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments