Fall of Morningstar from Paradise

Ok, so I was planning on commenting on others blogs this week, but could not really concentrate enough to read each blog and then think of a creative comment to post. But then I realized that we have recently been discussing one of my favorite myths ever (or at least a small segment of it), which is the fall of Morningstar and his army from Grace and Paradise. There are many different versions, but the one that interests me is the one that I came across when I was reading the Blue Bloods series (and yes, this is a real myth). The myth tells the story of how some of the most famous of all mythic creatures came to earth- Vampires.
As we all know (or should know), Zeus and Lucifer are brothers. Lucifer is also known as Morningstar. He recieved this name because in Paradise, he was the brightest, most beautiful angel, the dawn of the new day. Morningstar was deeply jealous of his brother though, who was always the favorite, and slightly more powerful. Morningstar eventually became jealous enough to build up an army, which faced Zeus's army. Morningstar and his army lost, and as a result were banished from Paradise. The Archangels Gabriel and Allegra followed the fallen army to Earth, maintaining their titles as the 'Innocent', as they were the only angels to willingly fall.
Azrael and Abbadon were two of the most devout to Lucifer and genrals in his army. However when they reached earth, they, as well as nearly all of the other angels who were banished, chose to leave the Morningstar, and follow Gabriel and Allegra, in hopes of one day being allowed to return to paradise. Abbadon is better known as the Angel of Destruction, whereas his sister, Azrael, is known as the Angel of Death.
The fallen army became Vampyres, immortal souls, trapped in mortal bodies. In the Blue Bloods novels (one of my favorite series, and much more interesting than Twilight, although I did like that series too) the author elaborates on this myth and turns it into her own, all without making it trashy or overly cliche. Think Gossip Girl combined with Twilight and Paradise Lost. Sound interesting? Oh, indeed it is. :)

The Fresh Prince of the Zodiac

Now, this is a story all about how
Some stars got flipped-turned upside down
And I would like to take a minute
Just sit right there

I'll tell you how they became the princes of a town called Zodiac

In west outer space born and raised

On the playground was where they spent most of their days

Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool

And all shootin some comets outside of the sun

When a couple of meteors

Who were up to no good

Startin making trouble in their neighborhood

They got in one little fight and their universe got scared

She said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in the Zodiac’

They begged and pleaded with her day after day

But she packed their suite cases and sent them on their way

She gave them a kiss and then she gave them their tickets.
They put their walkmans on and said, 'We might as well kick it'.

First class, yo this is bad

Drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass. Is this what the people of the Zodiac Living like?Hmmmmm this might be alright.

But wait I hear there're prissy, wine all that

Is Zodiac the type of place they send these cool constellations?

They didn't think so

They will see when they get thereMan, I hope they're prepared for the princes of the Zodiac

Well, the black hole landed, and when they came out

There was an astroid who looked like a comet standing there with my name out

They ain't trying to get arrested

They just got here

But then they sprang with the quickness like lightening, disappeared

They whistled for a time loop and when it came near

The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror

If anything I can say this cab is rare

But they thought 'Now forget it' - 'Yo homes to the Zodiac'

They pulled up to the house about 7 or 8And yelled to the cabbie 'Yo homes smell ya later'

They looked at their kingdom

They was finally there

To sit on their constellations as the Princes of the Zodiac

I really love the Fresh Prince of Bel Air in case you can't tell. And next week it will be Saved By the Bell, I promise. Anyways, that is not what I wanted to talk bout for this blog post. I wanted to talk about the Zodiac. Astrology is something I have always been interested in, and I think that it does have some validity. So far, this has been my incentive to read Grendel. I though that for this blog, I might look into the basic symbolism of each of the first three signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, andGemini.

Aries, The Ram (March 20- April 19)
The sign of Aries is asscociated with fresh, new beginnings and is the first sign of the Zodiac. While those that fall under the sign of Aries are said to be adventerous, passionate, and humorous, they are also said to be intolerant, impatient, and boastful.


Taurus, The Bull (April 19- May 20)
Taurus, the sign of the Bull, is often associated with material pleasure. The Bull is often associated with calmness, patience, and loyalty. Don't let that fool you though- the saying "When you mess with the bull, you get the horns" can be absolutotly true when it comes to the Taurus.

Gemini, The Twins (May 20- June 21)

The Gemini Twins are often associated with youth and versitility, and are known for their fun-loving, lively, yet restless and lazy personalities.

When you compare these little tidbits to the first three chapters of Grendel, you can see the comparison. The first chapter is the turning of a new leaf for Grendel, it "begins the twelfth year of my [Grendel's] idiotic war!" (Gardner 5), which is brought in with the "grim stirrings of springtime," (Gardner 8) by the ram. In chapter 2, which is associated with the tempermental bull, the Zodiac influence can be seen in the bull's calm persistance in hitting the tree and in Grendel's calm whilest being attacked by the bull. I can see the Gemini personality in Grendel throughout the noveld as his character develops, especially the restless potion.

Sittin' Here Singin' the No Computer Blues

As you may have gathered from the title of my blog for the week, I currently have no computer. My precious little notebook has to be sent back to Dell land because my Operating System (Vista...EWWWWW) is corrupted. I told my mom I should have gotten a Mac. I would even be willing to bet its because I was on SparkNotes for some background information on a book I'm currently reading. Actually I think it was from a Facebook application, but I figured I might as well play along with my teachers' notions that SparkNotes is bad. My best friends dad thinks it was a worm that killed my OS which got me thinking about Grendel (not really but I needed a lead in and that worked pretty well).
In the book, the monster Grendel lives like a worm, is treated like a worm, and acts slightly like a worm. The author even mentions some snakes (I think... what are Firesnakes?!?!?!) (PS- Snakes are CREEPY) which are kinda like worms. But anyways, I feel bad for Grendel. What did he ever do to anyone? Especially that bull. He is a poor, helpless, scary looking baby who doesn't really know anything about the world, and therefore doesn't know why he is the way he is or why he receives the scorn and treatment that he does. Why does Hrothgar treat him so cruelly when he is trapped in the tree? Hrothgar mercilessly throws a hatchet at him when Grendel tried to say "Pig". Did Hrothgar seriously expect something that is "part of a tree" to speak English (or whatever language they spoke)? What kind of story would that have made? "Hi, my name is Grendel, and yes, I would greatly enjoy a pig right now. And if you could release me from this trees binding grasp while you're at it, I might remember that when I try to kill you in a few years