Not the best photo ever, but it's what I was able to get. It's a white crash helmet decorated with a version of the Rider-Waite Wheel of Fortune Tarot card, modified to replace the three creatures around the wheel with unicorns and some of the symbols on the wheel itself with the word UNICORN. For reference, here's the Waite card:
The person wearing this helmet was on a scooter whose plate had three numerals followed by the letters PXY. The artist who drew the Rider-Waite Tarot cards was Pamela Colman Smith, whose nickname was Pixie. Searching for photos of this woman just now led me to an essay called "Pamela Colman Smith and The Erasure of Black Women in Metaphysics," which opens with a random unicorn reference:
I have no idea how a unicornified version of one of Pixie's Tarot cards ended up on a crash helmet in Taiwan, but it seemed like a sync directed at me personally. My first name, William, is etymologically related to helmet; and my last name, Tychonievich, ultimately derives from Tyche, the Greek goddess whose symbol is the Wheel of Fortune. As for the unicorns themselves, I have no idea so far how they fit in.
10 comments:
When I saw the title, I thought you were going to be talking about the game show called Wheel of Fortune. That may have been on my mind because Vanna White from that show came up for me the other day, though I didn't pay much immediate attention to it. After seeing the title to this post, though, it seemed more relevant. I also just saw you published another post with another White as well, E.B. White of Charlotte's Web fame.
Which brings me to another spider reference. Here you mention unicorns, and step through the etymology of your name and connection to "Fortune". You mentioned this connection once before over on my Coat of Skins blog in a comment on my post "Predators, Manticores, Dwarf-Lions, the Mary Celeste, Sirens, and Illusions."
https://coatofskins.blogspot.com/2024/01/predators-manticores-dwarf-lions-mary.html
In that post, I bring up Mommy Fortuna from the movie (and book) The Last Unicorn. It was the Fortuna reference in that post that you tied to your name, as you did here. So that is one potential Unicorn tie-in.
Mommy Fortuna I analogized to Ungoliant, and in the scene I included from the movie, the Unicorn states that Mommy Fortuna specializes in "illusions, deceptions, mirages".
I looked up Pixie, as I was curious about the word. A pixie is a fairy that originally was said to cause individuals to become "bewildered, lost". Apparently its first printed reference was a word that meant "path on which one is led astray by pixies".
In looking up 'bewilder', we get definitions that also might be interpreted as pointing back to Ungoliant / Mommy Fortuna: "confuse as to direction or situation" and "perplex, puzzle, confuse".
I’d forgotten about Mommy Fortuna in The Last Unicorn. From the clip you posted, I guess she has captured the unicorn? The unicorns on the helmet, who are going around the Wheel of Fortune, are also symbolically prisoners of Fortuna.
William,
First and foremost, the woman in that photo was not Black, she
was Biracial. Most people do not understand the difference,
especially White people, however there is one.
Back in the day, especially in the Black community,
a person of light skin was known as High Yellow. ( see link)
Recall my many comments about the color yellow and my
personal connection to that color.
What is Yellow? The color of the Sun and Gold.
It's the sun that helps fuel the illusion on this duality planet.
During daylight we 'see' with our physical eyes which means
we only see the illusion that has been spun for us.
During our REM sleep and with our eyes closed, we see
truth through our pineal gland/third eye/ soul which
as I've commented before I believe our soul is connected
to God.
We go through the dark to get to the light.
I believe that it's our soul which transcends the illusion
which is why our soul is our opponents final frontier.
It's our opponents who spun the illusion of the Industrial
Age and they are presently rearranging the furniture
so as to create another illusion they call the Silicon age.
Do we ( we collectively ) really think Politics is not an illusion?
Bread and Circuses comes to mind. If politics
and its masters the politicians, don't confuse,
perplex, puzzle and confuse, bother
and bewilder us, then I don't know what does.
IMHO, Everything is about politics in this duality dimension
and that includes traditional religion.
Pixie is the perfect example and I think makes my point.
You believe Pixie to be Black, because those who hold
power especially in America, told you she was.
Recall I commented on this blog about the politics of
sex, power and money and especially race. Ever hear
of One Drop?
William
Part2
After Chattel slavery , Share, Cropping, Black Codes,
Jim Crow, One Drop and Nixon's War on Drugs were
enacted for one reason only which was to maintain
a cheap labor source i.e. a peonage system.
High Yella gal and those like her ( and there were many)
served as a physical stark reminder to all those who refuse to see
the hypocrisy of not only the system of Chattel slavery
but of the people who helped
groomed, maintained and continued it, and that includes Christians
truth be told. And that illusion still continues to this very day.
Another illusion in America is the American Dream
especially concerning homeownership and property.
Don't pay your property taxes, and you'll be forced
to see through the illusion Real quick.
Pixie , a unicorn among the 'horses ( the horses being those
who held power) begs the question: if Black people are beasts
of burden and saddled with the curse of Cain and Ham,
then why so much miscegenation, which Pixie
( and the many of those like her) are reminders of.
Hypocrisy, the highest form of illusion.
Check out these few lines below from the lyrics of
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
by El-la Fitzgerald.
In the song Ella is bewitched by a man.(MAN)
Ella becomes a 'child', which means she doesn't
THINK for herself. She sees what the Man
'tells her' is real.
Interestingly Ella 'can't sleep', which again,
I believe in order for us to see through the illusion
we must close our eyes and sleep to find the truth
of our existence here.
And there is even reference in the song to
the man being 'cold'.
which I think you mentioned in your Blue
Shiva post about cool and cold.
And last but not least, Ella sings and admits
she is lost, but she loves it.
Which the illusion is very addicting. If
you saw the movie The Matrix, you'll
understand my point.
And my personal favorite line in the song:
He can laugh, but I love it
Although the laugh's on me.
I haven't heard this song in decades and it was
only because of your post today that helped spark
my interpretation of the meaning.
Ella of course was
my mother's generation, but wow don't
those lyrics ring true, especially the part
where she sings : the laugh on me.
Partial lyrics to Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered :.
( link below )
"'m wild again, beguiled again
A simpering, whimpering child again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered
Am I
Couldn't sleep and wouldn't sleep
When love came and told me, I shouldn't sleep
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered
Am I
Lost my heart, but what of it?
He is cold, I agree
He can laugh, but I love it
Although the laugh's on me
Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcZiYA06Ntk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_yellow
Actually, Pixie was White, not Black or biracial. I’m not sure what the essay’s “Black women” angle is because I can’t read the whole thing without an account.
William,
As mentioned per our private conversation, I disagree with you as far
as Pixie's ethnicity. I did visit her Wiki page and saw her bio and photo
and once again, she looks Biracial or Multiracial or even perhaps
Jewish.
Her bio reads that her father was a merchant from Brooklyn
and he having ties to industry suggests, at least to me,
perhaps Jewish roots.
I don't know if you know this or not, but there is a 1959 movie
titled : Imitation of Life about a Biracial girl (Sarah Jane)
growing up in NYC.
The character Sarah Jane ( as a young girl and as an adult ) was
played by two different actresses who were Jewish.
I think Pixie's photo on wiki and the photo you posted suggests that
theory as well.
According to her bio on wiki another interesting connection
to Pixie is Jamaica which as you well know many Jamaicans
( as do a large portion of Caribbean people )
have European bloodline, so Multiracial heritage.
Kamala Harris' Jamaican father is an example of having Multiracial
lineage especially judging by his physical appearance..
Pixie, according to the 2 photos I've found of her looks like she
could have been a part of my multiracial family tree.
Imitation of Life (1959) Annie & Sarah Jane Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-aQBh1nHDs
Debbie, I was just responding to your comment, "You believe Pixie to be Black, because those who hold power especially in America, told you she was." I wanted to make it clear that I don't actually believe that.
I agree that the photos are racially ambiguous. Based on those alone, it's plausible that she could have been of mixed race. Her father was the son of Cyrus P. Smith, who served as Mayor of Brooklyn at a time (pre-Civil War) when a non-White in that position would have been essentially impossible. This is backed up by photos of Smith, which show classic, almost caricatured, European features. Her father was not Jamaican but was born in Brooklyn and moved to Jamaica for his job when Pixie was 11. Her mother's family was from Maine, where there were at the time virtually no Black people.
William,
Yes, I understand what you are saying, and I want to apologize
about my wording suggesting 'that You personally believe Pixie
to be Black.
Many times I write, you or us, meaning we collectively..
But I will stand by my perspective that many people,
especially White people do not understand about miscegenation.
I have been on ancestry for several years now and you would be surprised
how many people in my family tree who were born White
( according to the US Census forms, and years later magically 'turn' M/Mulatto or B/Black if they were living in households with people
who had "racially ambiguous" or Negro features.
My grandmother Sarah was a perfect example.
Sarah born in KY was White however years later in 1934
she magically turns Negro on my mother's birth certificate.
On all of the US census forms after Sarah and my grandfather
( who was Multiracial) fled to Ohio because of a hanging
that was planned for him, Sarah became ' Black'.
My point being William, is history including and especially
written history is from the perspective of the victor.
Research Elizabeth Keys who was Biracial, the offspring of a White
Planter and his Black slave. Elizabeth was born during
British Common Law which stated that children's social status
was determined by their fathers, who had an obligation
to support both legitimate and illegitimate children.
Elizabeth sued the Colony of Virgina for her freedom
when she became an adult ( assisted by her White British
Indentured Servant William Grinstead, who later
became her husband ) and won her case in 1656.
Johnny Depp is said to be descendent of Elizabeth
and William.
Not soon after Elizabeth won her case the Colonies enacted
Partus sequitur ventrem in 1662 which read : That
which is brough forth follows the womb.
That was done for economic reasons because of inheritance
of property.
Can't have the Black inmates running the asylum, no?
IMO Everything in this duality dimension is about
Sex, Power and Money
and that especially includes race.
My point I was trying to make about miscegenation is
that it was hidden, especially back in the day.
Many Biracial people passed for White for economical reasons
as the 1959 movie Imitation of Life boldly addressed .
Do look at the youtube movie clip Imitation of Life I linked
in my previous comment.
And of course there were many wealthy Planters who were
compassionate regarding their Biracial offspring
(Elizabeth's father was one)
and sent them up north of the Mason Dixion Line.
Research Wilberforce Ohio ( link below )
Recall I shared my personal connection to the infamous Kentucky
Slave Trader, Lewis Robards. Robards specialized in Fancy
Girls who were mulattos which were sold for a hefty price
to Wealthy Planters as concubines. Robards' overflow of Fancy
Girls were sent down river to New Orleans to work in the brothels.
Your statement where you wrote about PIxie:
"Her mother's family was from Maine,
where there were at the time virtually no Black people"
is not quite accurate and an assumption at best,
which leads me right back to where I started
regarding the power of the 'illusion'.
Maine played a pivotal role in the Underground Railroad. ( see link)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partus_sequitur_ventrem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Key_Grinstead
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/black-history-month-maines-pivotal-role-in-the-underground-railroad/97-524312649
https://www.thoughtco.com/elizabeth-key-history-of-american-slavery-3530408
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilberforce,_Ohio
No worries, Debbie. I suppose I implied Pixie was Black by linking to that article. It's certainly conceivable that Pixie was mixed-race and passed as White. I just don't consider it at all probable, given what we know about her family and the demographics of the Northeastern US at that time.
I do understand that miscegenation was often kept secret, even from family members. As I'm sure you know, the Mormon Church used to exclude from the priesthood anyone with even "one drop" of Negro blood. During that era, there were several cases where a man who looked totally White and had always thought of himself as White would be ordained to the priesthood only to discover later that he had a Black great-great-grandparent or something. In the end, the anti-Black policy had to be abandoned, not only because of pressure from the Civil Rights movement but also because it was becoming increasingly obvious (especially with the expansion of the church into heavily mixed areas like Brazil) that its racial absolutism just didn't correspond to reality.
Basically, any attempt to draw a bright line between one race and another is futile. All racial categories are blurry around the edges. This also goes for your distinction between Black and biracial. In fact, almost all African Americans have a significant amount of European ancestry (24% on average) and could thus be considered biracial. But the legacy of the "one drop rule" lives on. Calling someone like Obama "Black" is unremarkable, while calling him "White" will have people looking at you like you're crazy -- but objectively, the one label is no more or less accurate than the other.
William,
Thank you for responding and for thank you for sharing
your knowledgeable perspective especially regarding
the Mormon Church.
I appreciate it.
And I agree with your comment about race .
One Drop was imperative ( from the Conquerors perspective,
not mine ) so as to continue and maintain a cheap labor source.
Can't build an empire without a cheap labor source.
Before Partus and One Drop, miscegenation meant that the
slave pool was being diluted visually
and ' the percentage of how many drops' were becoming harder
and harder to determine especially in Nawlins ( New Orleans)
Research Plaçage
European Indentured Servants were used for that same
economic purpose however not in perpetually of course.
The mere fact that none of us in the US ( who aren't bloodline)
can own property here begs the question: Are we
really Free? Property ownership was a major
'sell' of the American Dream.
In the US, we rent land. It's called property taxes.
Anything we rent, we don't own.
Some may argue that a person can own a car when paid
off and I would agree, but we rent permission(every year)
to drive our paid off car, on city streets.
It's called a driver's license and license plates.
So again I'm led back to my original comment which was:
Isn't a Lie ( whomever its directed to or for )... an illusion?
P.S.
As far as your comment about "calling Obama Black is
unremarkable", I would respond : depending on the situation
and location. If you are suggesting that if we believe Obama is
Black because of his skin color, then isn't it true that there are many
people in this world with darker skin than Obama's?
We don't think of the dark skin people of India as Black People.
If we were told that Obama was Puerto Rician, or Cuban
or Dominion, would that be unremarkable? Obama would fit
in quite well in the islands as the island people are multiracial
as well.
We're told that Meghan Markle is Black, when in essence she
really is Multiracial and she would fit in very well in the islands too.
I personally believe that Biracial and Multiracial
people in America should have their own 'tag/category' box
to check when determining race. They are not 'either/or.
Recall my comments about the 1960 girl group the Ronettes.
The Ronettes were multiracial but 'sold' to the public
as " Puerto Ricans (courtesy of Phil Spector)
as the Ronettes music was being promoted across
racial barriers.( see link below)
IMO Pixie looks as if she could have been in the Ronettes' Family
Tree and in mine.
S ex , Power and Money.
Plaçage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pla%C3%A7age
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Robards
The Ronettes - Be My Baby (Music Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dr1PZZMds
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