Masks, Magic, Personality and Transformation

[sweetnpetite]

As humans we ground our identities in our bodies, and of all the parts of the body, the face is most closely associated with the individual "self." Age and sex are obvious self -identifications, as are other natural, biological features such as "taking after Dad." But social identity and status (married/single, sacred/secular, chief/commoner) are symbolic and require alteration of the face or body in order to communicate or change identity. A new social identity is usually accomplished by either taking something away from the body (teeth, hair, etc.), or, more commonly, adding something – clothing, adornment, and masks.

A mask is any device that wholly or partially conceals the face. It is significant to note the word "person" derives from a Greek word meaning mask or, more accurately, the role played by an actor in a dramatic performance. Thus our faces reveal our social selves: who we are in relation to other members of our society by virtue of the roles we play in it. Persona, "the mask," is related to personality, the self or ego we reveal to the world. Masks have the ability to conceal, change, or transform the "person" behind the image into something or someone else other than who we are.

As a case in point, have you ever watched children on Halloween? When a child puts on a vampire costume, you can bet that sometime, somewhere, someone's going to get bitten. For a brief period of time a five-year old has taken on the power and persona of a legendary Transylvanian Count. Masks transform adults in a similar way. I have seen fully grown women cackle all night behind a witch's image, and mature men in red tights behave "devilishly" while suitably horned, tailed, and goateed. In "play" these children and adults are able to become something they are not; something that cannot be. How much more powerful, then, must a mask be when the transformation is considered "real?"

the entire article

 

[Lord DragonsWing]

Excellent article!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen the same with people who wear mask. I'd say the net is a mask for alot of people and they act differently here than in real. Great article sweet.

 

[sweetnpetite]

I printed this article out to read the other day. The first part (above) reminded me of recent threads such as Me, Myself and I as well as older ones about Personality and Human Nature.

 

[sweetnpetite]

Excellent article!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen the same with people who wear mask. I'd say the net is a mask for alot of people and they act differently here than in real. Great article sweet.

Thank you Lord DragonsWing. Here is a bit more.

Masking has been around for perhaps 20,000 years. Images painted on cave walls in southern France depict human bodies with animal heads. This evidence leads some scholars to conclude that the association of these “masked” figures with drawings of animals point to rituals or shamanistic rites. Certainly, masking is closely associated with shamanistic performance in Asia, North America, and Africa, but archaeologists and art historians can only speculate about the purpose and meaning of these masked representations. More convincing evidence of masking traditions is found in images from the Tassili area the Sahara Desert dating to as early as 8,000 B.C.E.

Masks were made and used in the great civilizations of the Old and New Worlds. Death masks accompanied the Egyptian mummy to the tomb, and allowed the soul of the deceased to recognize its body after it returned to the tomb in the evening. The Aztecs and Maya of Middle America, and the Inca and other civilizations of the Andes used masks. The Chinese, Indians, and Japanese used masks from ancient times in a variety of different ways including theater, as did the Greeks and Romans. Finally, many tribal and folk societies continue to use masks today.

The early Christian Church took a dim view of masking and suppressed it whenever possible. This was partly due to its association with pagan rites, and partly because of the immoral behavior that was often released through the anonymity afforded by the mask. However, the Church's efforts at suppression were not entirely successful. In rural Europe, masking customs survived as Carnival and Mardi Gras. With the rise of Commedia del'Arte during the Renaissance, and the subsequent emergence of secular theater, masking was once again firmly established in European tradition.

 

[Lord DragonsWing]

It always come back on us pagans. lol They're about to open a Mardi Gras museum here and I'm told the walls are covered with mask. A buddy of mine is in one of the parades this Tuesday. It's a big deal to buy a mask for that. His wife went crazy trying to get the one that fit him. Even then, she got something crazy so he could act out. lol

 

[sweetnpetite]

I find it intersting to note that there is a stong movemnet in many fundamentalist chuches against halloween- our one holiday that let's us wear masks. However, the original objection "This was partly due to its association with pagan rites, and partly because of the immoral behavior that was often released through the anonymity afforded by the mask." has mainly been shortened to only the first part. Little objection is given any more to the mask, or costume itself. Alternative costumes are usually suggested, such as bible characters. Perhaps they have decided to recognize and harness the power of masking in there own way?- Once again, embracing elements of paganism even while denouncing it's influence?

 

[sweetnpetite]

It always come back on us pagans. lol They're about to open a Mardi Gras museum here and I'm told the walls are covered with mask. A buddy of mine is in one of the parades this Tuesday. It's a big deal to buy a mask for that. His wife went crazy trying to get the one that fit him. Even then, she got something crazy so he could act out. lol

Odd- how you keep postiing my thoughts before I do! LOL.

 

[amicus]

Interesting article. The last paragraph:


"...Masks encourage us to transform ourselves, and empower us to do so. They permit us to replace one reality with another. They can ultimately provide us with a better understanding of who we really are behind the masks we put on every morning to face the world, and take off every night in our dreams...."


I am working on a novel, about a thousand pages into it, rediscovering, through research and thought, how it 'might' have been way back when.

I had not considered the information contained in this article, but I can see it might be useful.

My approach to understand the past is an attempt to discover where reason and emotion began to divide people in terms of how they view the cosmological existence.

Thank you for an interesting read...

amicus...

 

[sweetnpetite]

In tribal societies masks are agents for curing illness, combating witchcraft and sorcery. The False Face masks of the Iroquois people have this function, as do certain kinds of masks used in West Africa. Shamans, already mentioned as likely candidates as the first masked performers, wear masks when they journey to the Spirit World. Masks often represent the shaman's spirit guide who protects him or her during the mystical journey, and aids in locating the cause of affliction.

In other cultures, masks represent the forces of nature and life. Often these forces or energies are recorded in myths and are given human or animal form, as on the Northwest Coast of North America, and in some parts of Africa. Rituals performed for the continuance of life, so called "fertility rites," also often involved masked performance, and usually correspond to seasonal changes or planting and harvesting ceremonies. The Pueblo peoples of the Southwestern United States perform dances to promote fertility and rainfall, as do Africans living in the drier regions of the Western Sudan.

Dramatic performances and entertainment are important functions that masks perform, especially in more complex cultures. It is interesting to note that the Greek word for drama and the word for ritual, dromenon, have a common root meaning "a thing done." Historically, Greek drama, which was and is a masked performance, began as a masked ritual. Over time the religious aspects of masked drama gave way to a more secular function of entertainment. In Indonesia, India, China, Japan and Europe, masked theater continues to be performed, either with religious or semi-religious overtones, while masked festivals are found throughout Europe, Central and South America and often coordinate with significant Church holidays.

 

[Lord DragonsWing]

We went through the ritual of trying to do without halloween here also. It was considered a pagan ritual. One co-worker refused to let her kid go out. Out of all the tricksters I saw not one bible character was there. They'll keep trying though. Christianity has enveloped most of paganism into their rites to gather the old tribes in support. Why should they stop now? In 5 years Moses, Abraham or Adam and Eve will be the most popular costumes and Halloween will be linked with All Saints day.

 

[sweetnpetite]

Interesting article. The last paragraph:


"...Masks encourage us to transform ourselves, and empower us to do so. They permit us to replace one reality with another. They can ultimately provide us with a better understanding of who we really are behind the masks we put on every morning to face the world, and take off every night in our dreams...."


I am working on a novel, about a thousand pages into it, rediscovering, through research and thought, how it 'might' have been way back when.

I had not considered the information contained in this article, but I can see it might be useful.

My approach to understand the past is an attempt to discover where reason and emotion began to divide people in terms of how they view the cosmological existence.

Thank you for an interesting read...

amicus...

hey! you gave away the ending! lol. Yes, interesting how something can come to your attention right when it seems that you could really use it, although you never really knew that you were missing it. At least that happens to me, very often. food for thought, you folks that only believe in the world you can see and prove with science

That last sentance made no sence to me. I'm sure I could understand it if I really tried, but it's late so I won't. Plus, I'd be bound to disagree, and we're having such a friendly converstion.

Glad you found it interesting. I plan to post it in peices to I can comment on it separatly, and because people often don't like to read a huge block of text online. Plus, its easier for others to post to segments as well. This article seems to have so much to say...

 

[sweetnpetite]

One thing that strikes me is the need for unity of purpose and understanding required in order for these rituals to be meaningful. And at the same time, the rituals reinforce that unity.

We rarely have that kind of unity in modern life. at least not in our 'real world' neighborhoods. We have to find/create our own communities. But the flip side of that is that we *get* to find and create our own communities.

I wonder, if we all had r/l communities like this, if the internet could possibly flourish the way it does? would yahoo have made some guys millionairs?

Makes me think about- what are our rituals here? (and masks) We choose names- we 'earn' avatars and personalized tag lines. We create signlines- long, short or nonexistant with links to our stories, or quotes or quizes. Do these count, in a certain way as rituals? They do give us a common language and common experiences despite our distance and r/l cultural differences.

Probably nothing new here... but still worth pondering, I think.

 

[sweetnpetite]

One of the most important things that masks do is transform the identity of the wearer, and changing identity is not the same thing as transforming it. In New Guinea, West and Central Africa, and North America masks are used in "rites of passage." These rituals mark important transitions in the life cycle of individuals, or classes of individuals, in a society. Initiation into adulthood or a secret society, marriage, movement to a higher social rank, and funeral ceremonies are events that are often marked by masked performance. Death and rebirth are common themes in rites of passage, and are frequently given visual form in the mask. In a rite of passage, an earlier identity ceases to exist, and is symbolically replaced with a new and entirely different identity.

Our word "larva" can further illustrate the difference between change and transformation. English speakers recognize the term larva as referring to an immature stage in the developmental cycle of an animal, usually an insect. A caterpillar, for example, is the larval stage of a moth or butterfly. In Latin "larva" originally meant either a "mask," or a spirit or ghost. Thus, the caterpillar is a "mask" that the butterfly wears until it is transformed into a moth. The caterpillar does not simply change; it becomes something else, a totally different entity.

Zooba masks, worn by a master dancer of the Sandé society of the Vai of Liberia, use the image of the chrysalis as a visible metaphor for the transformation of a girl into a woman through initiation. In this wonderful analogy, the larva/girl becomes a butterfly/woman through the transformative process of the chrysalis/initiation rite. After their rites of passage, the newly formed women publicly dance in their masks to announce that a transformation has indeed taken place, and that the girls that used to be no longer exist. Henceforth, they are expected to behave as women, and are treated as such.

Certain masks made by the First Peoples of British Columbia provide an equally graphic example of this process. These "transformation" masks show the double nature of mythical beings -- both an animal and "something-other-than animal." The mask represents an animal spirit that stands in a special relationship to the mask owner or his family. Recognition of this link between the human world and the spirit/animal world establishes intimate connection between all forms of life. It presents in tangible form, the belief of these societies that animals and spirits are really wearing “people masks" and that humankind is directly and personally engaged in maintaining Cosmic Order through dance and ceremony. Humans accept this responsibility by transforming themselves into animals or spirits through the agency of the mask, and by performing the dances and rituals belonging to the mask spirit. Performances feed the spirits as the spirits feed humankind, and the mask becomes an icon for the interdependence of the forces that collectively comprise the Cosmos.

 

[sweetnpetite]

I'm sure I had something to say about all of this transformation, but I'm getting tired now. I do find it quite fascinating and amazing. I'm sure I'll have comments later to add. I'd love to hear from a few more of our thoughtful litizens

 

[sweetnpetite]

The Northwest Coast cultures, like many other peoples, hold that supernatural power resides in the mask itself. This power is released when a human puts on the mask and it is the spirit of the mask that performs, and not the "man-that-was." He has become something beyond the human, and through this metamorphosis the audience, too, is transformed. It is elevated from the routine duties of daily life, and transported into a different plane of reality where contradiction, conflict and ambiguity are resolved into a fundamental unity. In this "altered state," shared by both the masker and the audience, basic truths and values are rediscovered as personal desires are set aside in favor of a common good. The "self," the society and the Universe are once again set in order through the powerful symbolism of the masked ritual dance. This feeling of "wholeness" is not limited to the experience of tribal people. We have all experienced it after viewing a powerful dramatic performance or motion picture. It is as though the "as if" quality, the pretense of the play, was somehow more "real" than the reality we take for granted. Our modern performers usually do not wear masks, but they are "persona" nonetheless.

 

[sweetnpetite]

The Milwaukee Public Museum has more than 300 masks on exhibit, and at least twice that number in its stored collections. Every continent except Australia is represented, as well as every medium from leather to clay. These masks come in all sizes, all shapes, and occur at all levels of social and economic complexity from the Eskimo to the Japanese. They also "do" a great many different things, and this "doing," or function, is further complicated by the fact that the same mask can do several different things at different times and in different performance contexts.

 

[sweetnpetite]

you know, oddly enough (or maybe not so oddly) this article really calls to mind the Jim Carey movie 'the mask' Now I almost wonder if they didn't do quite a bit of research in creating that seamingly pure silly movie.

 

[sweetnpetite]

as amicus said...

Masks encourage us to transform ourselves, and empower us to do so. They permit us to replace one reality with another. They can ultimately provide us with a better understanding of who we really are behind the masks we put on every morning to face the world, and take off every night in our dreams.


Yes, this describes very well what we do here. But it does put a pretty good light on it doesn't it? Rather than insinuating that we are *hiding behind a mask* this article points out that the mask (internet) empowers us to find out better who we really are, and to take off the masks we wear in everyday life. Which also reminds me of the Earl's 'long distance relationships' thread.

Well, we all pretty much are in a long distance relationship aren't we? A relationship were we exchange one mask for another, one that doesn't hide us, but reveals and empowers us. No wonder Joe, in his thread about real life finding him here mentioned feeling naked. He's been seen without his r/l mask, but with another mask that reveals what lies within.

This article just seemed to tie in so well with *so many* of the topics we've been discussing here. No wonder, I just *had* to post it and share it with my AH community.

 

[Weird Harold]

you know, oddly enough (or maybe not so oddly) this article really calls to mind the Jim Carey movie 'the mask' Now I almost wonder if they didn't do quite a bit of research in creating that seamingly pure silly movie.

I don't know that they did a lot of research, because I don't think all that much research was required.

Our culture is riddled with aphorisms and adages about, "The Clothes make the man," people putting on their 'game face,' "keepig up appearances," and many other obscure references to "masking."

In addition to the Jim Carey Movie, I was also reminded of a couple of Warner Brothers' cartoons that play on the principle -- the Bugs Bunny version involving a truckload of hats changing Bigs and Elmer Fudd's personalities randomly is probably the best known version.

There are also several movies from the forties and fifties that play with the idea of a person gaining the confidence they start out faking -- several Danny Kaye movies rely heavily on this premise.

It's interesting to see a scholarly treatise on where all of the cliches came from and how they developed, but, for me at least, it's simply a scholarly confirmation of something I figured out as a child by watching cartoons and movies or reading fairy tales -- It's what you appear to be that matters rather than what you actually are.

On a side note, this sounds very much like a writers' challenge -- Write a story based on the premise of a mask allowing (or forcing) you to be someone different than your everyday personality.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

SnP, you really should go and read some Joseph Campbell. The Hero With A Thousand Faces or The Masks Of God would be a good place to start, because this kind of stuff has been known and studied in depth for about a hundred years now.


---dr.M.

 

[TheEarl]

In a way it was an extreme form of role-playing therapy, stepping outside of herself to become this voraciously sexual person, confident, in control, getting what she wanted. She now fully understood what people meant by the term 'abandon.' When she was becoming Katy Koxx, she was abandoning everything about Madeleine Witherson, existing without the constraints of fear and worry for a while. And when she returned to being Madeleine Witherson, she brought a little more of Katy Koxx back with her each time.

It was like having a secret lover: she had this other life, this other self that nobody knew about, and the thought of it was a constant thrill. When she was in familiar company, she got off thinking how surprised they would be if they knew. The paradox was that the longer she was a porn actress, the more the public Madeleine changed into someone they'd be less surprised to learn that about.

Not The End Of The World
Christopher Brookmyre

I have this quote pinned up on the back of my bedrrom door, because I think it summarises perfectly my feelings about The Earl. The line I love the most from that quote is "The longer she was a porn actress, the more the public Madeleine changed into someone they'd be less surprised to learn that about."

I know for a fact that the outer me has changed due to TheEarl and using this mask has lead me to become someone more outgoing IRL, someone who people wouldn't be that surprised to discover as an erotica writer.

The Earl

 

[sweetnpetite]

SnP, you really should go and read some Joseph Campbell. The Hero With A Thousand Faces or The Masks Of God would be a good place to start, because this kind of stuff has been known and studied in depth for about a hundred years now.


---dr.M.

I keep meaning to read Campbell.

It's just that I keep meaning to read *so* many things, and there are so *many* things to read! (Oh Librairy! What sweet torture!)

 

[sweetnpetite]

I don't know that they did a lot of research, because I don't think all that much research was required.

Our culture is riddled with aphorisms and adages about, "The Clothes make the man," people putting on their 'game face,' "keepig up appearances," and many other obscure references to "masking."

In addition to the Jim Carey Movie, I was also reminded of a couple of Warner Brothers' cartoons that play on the principle -- the Bugs Bunny version involving a truckload of hats changing Bigs and Elmer Fudd's personalities randomly is probably the best known version.

There are also several movies from the forties and fifties that play with the idea of a person gaining the confidence they start out faking -- several Danny Kaye movies rely heavily on this premise.

It's interesting to see a scholarly treatise on where all of the cliches came from and how they developed, but, for me at least, it's simply a scholarly confirmation of something I figured out as a child by watching cartoons and movies or reading fairy tales -- It's what you appear to be that matters rather than what you actually are.

On a side note, this sounds very much like a writers' challenge -- Write a story based on the premise of a mask allowing (or forcing) you to be someone different than your everyday personality.

This rememinds me of another movie I like- Greese 2. As a kid- I *always* wanted to do that, have a secret identity were I could be me! (hey, and now I do! lol) and then, in the end, reveal yourself and everybody loves you for you. (yeah, right- right?) ANd to a lesser extent in the original greese, were the *masks* they wear indicate there social standing and keep them apart, and then there willingness to exchange those masks- to become someone else, and i think a discovery that they don't have to be somebody else...

sometimes 'junk entertainment' can be really deep, if you look at it right...

 

[BlackShanglan]

Yeats built whole towers of aesthetic theory around the mask, and good strong structures they are. I still think him profoundly right in saying that we grow best and become most powerful, skilled, and beautiful when we embrace that which is our opposite.

Shanglan

 

[Weird Harold]

sometimes 'junk entertainment' can be really deep, if you look at it right...

If you look deep enough, almost every "teen movie" has an element of "masking" in it. Grease and Grease 2 are just a bit less subtle about it.

I think a lot of the pop culture use of "masking" is not really intended as a commentary on the magic and mythical aspects the article talks about. It's more a function of how the concept of "Masks" is simply inherent in the English Language and in the stereotypes movie makers use liberally as a short-hand form of character development.

I wonder how much of the rock group Kiss's ourageousness can be contributed to their "masks" and how much is just an overt manifestation of the "masks" all performers wear when on stage?

(That's a pretty poorly phrased qustion, but I can't think of a better way to ask it at the moment.)