Be careful what you name yourself.
As you take on a name, a title, a role - assuming that you achieve basic competence at living up to that name, of course, as opposed to blowing it off entirely and treating it as a triviality - you grow to become that name, to embody it, to bring it into being.
When I changed my name socially, I picked one that I wanted to grow into.
But here is another thing: you will find yourself with responsibilities that grow into the whole name, not just the bit you find shiny. Not just what draws you at the beginning, but what sustains you through the end.
Names are a complicated and powerful magic. The name of the thing is what it becomes, its manifestation, its strength; some are secret and some are not. Things have many names, and thus is the complexity of the world layered.
But when you choose a name, you choose the whole name.
And that will have consequences for a long time.
06 July, 2012
N is for Names
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"Dw3t-Hthr" (Duat-Hether) is a title of various female temple officials in ancient Egypt. It means "Worshipper of Hathor" or "Adorer of Hathor".
2 comments:
(Ugh, I am coming in so late to the party.)
I would love to hear more of your thoughts about this. Especially paragraph #4.
(Honestly, this post makes me want to write fiction, which is a neat trick given that I've been going 'argy blargy words' for the last million months or so. Can I bottle that? ;))
Guh. I am not sure I have more thoughts that go into words. The whole thing is ...
... you know, if you name yourself after an oak because you are cultivating strength and endurance, don't be surprised if you also draw lightning and wind up full of squirrels.
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