What is Neko?
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Lexxi Gynoid
#'s 86000, 97800
Join date: 6 Aug 2007
Posts: 3,732
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01-28-2009 12:25
From: Chaffro Schoonmaker I'm a three foot high bunny rabbit. I know exactly what you mean.
It's bare-faced prejudice. That's essentially what it boils down to - you make a judgement about someone based on their appearance. Odd considering, if I met a 6-foot 6 woman in RL with feline ears and a tail, I wouldn't really know what to make of her. There was someone that came to work wearing cat ears and tail. They are around 5 foot 6 instead of 6feet 6 inches. And it was halloween. heh. Only two people showed up in costume.
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Her Royal Highness Buttercup Meow the XXI
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Stella Luminos
Unregistered User
Join date: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 68
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01-28-2009 12:32
Uh huh, yep, okay, alright, yeah... zzzzzz... |
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Kyllie Wylie
J-Rocker
Join date: 7 Mar 2008
Posts: 489
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01-28-2009 13:47
From: Jig Chippewa Because it is anothe lifestyle and that can anger a person. It's strange but people do have thisodd "anger" emotion when they see someone who is non-conforming. That was a common reaction when I went into malls and dance clubs as a Neko. Often I was told to leave.
Or they make comments that try to "burst teh balloon" of the other person. The deflating aside is often followed by a following group of people who immediately sense an outsider. Try it even in sl a few times and you will see what I mean. Funnist one I had was one time I was in a club and asked to leave because I was a furry neko ... some of my friends were there and I was enjoying the music so I put on my human skin and form and asked the host "Is this better?" .. After a few seconds hesitation I get an IM "Right! you cant fool me! I saw you as a furry just a minute ago. get outta here!" ...... Like he really thought I really was a furry neko and now I was "pretending" to be a human?  |
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Cael Merryman
Brain in Neutral
Join date: 5 Dec 2007
Posts: 380
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01-28-2009 13:47
From: Jig Chippewa ...
So Nekos have a deeper cultural heritage than may first appear. ... Heritages don't cross cultures in general and similarities don't mean that something is a continuum with another culture. Man and animals shared the world in all cultures, so it is natural that the concept of shapeshifting in its various forms would as well. Just as the totem animal concept has occurred either weakly or strongly in many cultures, with many fantasy novels seeming to share the word 'lir' for the strongest form of this (does anyone know if some early fantasy writer used this term that made it a moderate standard?).
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Slip, Sliding Away
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Jig Chippewa
Fine Young Cannibal
Join date: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 5,150
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01-28-2009 14:39
From: Cael Merryman Heritages don't cross cultures in general and similarities don't mean that something is a continuum with another culture. Man and animals shared the world in all cultures, so it is natural that the concept of shapeshifting in its various forms would as well. Just as the totem animal concept has occurred either weakly or strongly in many cultures, with many fantasy novels seeming to share the word 'lir' for the strongest form of this (does anyone know if some early fantasy writer used this term that made it a moderate standard?). Interesting but tend to disagree on this one. Northern hemisphere peoples have remarkable similarites - medicine wheels in America and stne circles in Europe. Also the spiral as feminine symbol. Not suggesting "Heyerdah type" contacts but much more ancient migratory route contacts. Also arctic circle shamans ver very similar - Russia, Kamchatka, Alaska, Northern Canada, Groenland, Finland, Scandianvia where First Nations all live. That is a group of similar peoples and hence similar heritage.
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Fine Young Cannibal
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eku Zhong
Apocalips = low prims
Join date: 27 May 2008
Posts: 752
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01-28-2009 14:44
From: Kyllie Wylie Don't worry, Eku there isnt a "word" for it. mostly in english it's just called a "cooking tripod" or "campfire tripod".
Is it not also true that in many..or at least some... of the old stories the BakeNeko were good and helpful creatures as well. not all were evil creatures. yes we have good Neko... most popular the Maneki Neko 招き猫 You often see him in shops with his one paw up... known as the beckoning cat in english (i think) Very very lucky Neko this one.. brings fortune, happiness, clientel... left paw up is more for sakaya or places for drinking... but for the most part.. maybe because the cat was the only animal who didnt weep when Buddha died.. cats are the bad guy... They say cats can reincarnate (revive?) a freshly dead corpse by jumping over it. Even today when funeral preparations are being done, cats are locked away. Only the corpse becomes alive, sort of like a zombie...(Often funerals are done at home, so the undertakers come to the house and together with the family bathe, dress and prepare the loved one for burial. The dead person is laid in a futon for some time to be with the family before they are placed in the coffin on a small burial altar) Temple cats are often called a witch cat.. they live in the temple and lure young girls inside and eat them up  Cats are also associated with vampires in Japanese folklore. Most famous is the vampire cat of Nebashima  Cats with 2 tails are demon cats. Not good news lol. This is why most japanese indigenous cats are bobtailed. (bred that way not chopped off) Me i love cats.. hehe.. and so do many many japanese.. but when you scratch around in traditional stories.. it was usually other animals who came to help ppl. storks, swans, dogs .... kitune and tanuki were mischievious but cats generally had a pretty bad reputation.  |
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Cael Merryman
Brain in Neutral
Join date: 5 Dec 2007
Posts: 380
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01-28-2009 14:57
From: Jig Chippewa Interesting but tend to disagree on this one. Northern hemisphere peoples have remarkable similarites - medicine wheels in America and stne circles in Europe. Also the spiral as feminine symbol. Not suggesting "Heyerdah type" contacts but much more ancient migratory route contacts. Also arctic circle shamans ver very similar - Russia, Kamchatka, Alaska, Northern Canada, Groenland, Finland, Scandianvia where First Nations all live. That is a group of similar peoples and hence similar heritage. Your use of First Nations gets more expansive. In any event, I have been reading Native American and Celtic mythology for 40 years now (Have a lot of Gaelic Celt heritage and a bit of Kaw/Kansa and Cherokee) and the two are NOT that similar, different in altogether too many places, if for no other reason than Gaelic mythology has a focus on the waves of settlement in Erin, while none of the folk tales of the tribes I have read, from the Canadian First Nations to the plains, have a focus on waves of history. The dissimilarities far outweigh the similarities in my opinion. And the stone circle people are rather historically dim and not a proven predecessor to any mythic group or continuing heritage, unless there has been recent change in that position. The spiral as a feminine sign has been explained by too many people to rehash it, but it doesn't really track to a communicated symbol. So I have to respectfully disagree...
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Slip, Sliding Away
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Cael Merryman
Brain in Neutral
Join date: 5 Dec 2007
Posts: 380
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01-28-2009 15:09
From: Jig Chippewa ...Also arctic circle shamans ver very similar - Russia, Kamchatka, Alaska, Northern Canada, Groenland, Finland, Scandianvia where First Nations all live. That is a group of similar peoples and hence similar heritage. And I really have to disagree here. The place of a shaman - really a culturally distinct term until recently - in the various cultures and their relationship to the other members of the tribe or people varies drastically - to the point that many of the Native Americans that I speak to and communicate with simply do not like the term applied to the tribes of North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico. This isn't universal, but it is a pretty common feeling and its because many feel that the original use of the word goes beyond what and how it is practiced in those areas of North America (where it is often more advisory with everyone actually able to participate, with no mediation and an emphasis on interpretation of what the other experiences). And I think that is one of the problems. When a phrase or word has certain connotations and it is used too widely, it blurs differences which are very important in practice.
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Imnotgoing Sideways
Can't outlaw cute! =^-^=
Join date: 17 Nov 2007
Posts: 4,694
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01-28-2009 15:47
From: Kyllie Wylie ...Like he really thought I really was a furry neko and now I was "pretending" to be a human? I bet he was wondering how many non-furry avatars you slaughtered to make that skin suit to hide in. (^_^)y |
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Crazod Zehetbauer
Registered User
Join date: 12 Sep 2007
Posts: 47
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01-28-2009 16:09
I want a cat like that !! |
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Jig Chippewa
Fine Young Cannibal
Join date: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 5,150
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01-28-2009 23:08
From: Cael Merryman And I really have to disagree here. The place of a shaman - really a culturally distinct term until recently - in the various cultures and their relationship to the other members of the tribe or people varies drastically - to the point that many of the Native Americans that I speak to and communicate with simply do not like the term applied to the tribes of North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico. This isn't universal, but it is a pretty common feeling and its because many feel that the original use of the word goes beyond what and how it is practiced in those areas of North America (where it is often more advisory with everyone actually able to participate, with no mediation and an emphasis on interpretation of what the other experiences).
And I think that is one of the problems. When a phrase or word has certain connotations and it is used too widely, it blurs differences which are very important in practice. Tansi. I have to respectfully disagree with you on this. I dont know why shaman would be repugnant a term to any first nations group - I LIVE in a first nations group actually for part of teh year and have never been brough to task over that word. In fact it is preferred to the eurocentric terms often used. (Mind you, to some extent I am focussing upon areas of my knowledge so I am NOT referring to southern Ontario or Mexico but northern arctic rim communities. "Cultural distinction"? Shamanism and its positive attributes certainly doesnt have teh same labelling as "medicine man or woman" or even "healer". NOT everyone is expected to participate in a ritual within teh group. In fact the rituals are more often exclusionary. However, I have a feeling that no one else is reading this thread so its time to close it down, shaman or no shaman. It was nice exchanging ideas.
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Fine Young Cannibal
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Jig Chippewa
Fine Young Cannibal
Join date: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 5,150
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01-28-2009 23:12
From: Cael Merryman Your use of First Nations gets more expansive. In any event, I have been reading Native American and Celtic mythology for 40 years now (Have a lot of Gaelic Celt heritage and a bit of Kaw/Kansa and Cherokee) and the two are NOT that similar, different in altogether too many places, if for no other reason than Gaelic mythology has a focus on the waves of settlement in Erin, while none of the folk tales of the tribes I have read, from the Canadian First Nations to the plains, have a focus on waves of history. The dissimilarities far outweigh the similarities in my opinion. And the stone circle people are rather historically dim and not a proven predecessor to any mythic group or continuing heritage, unless there has been recent change in that position. The spiral as a feminine sign has been explained by too many people to rehash it, but it doesn't really track to a communicated symbol. So I have to respectfully disagree... First Nations are all around teh Arctic Rim. Not expansionary at all. Refer to Univesrity of teh Arctic for example. If it comes to that, there are a large group of Inuit living in Denmark. I didnt say they were exactly the same. Puck isnt Gaelic anyway. He is Midlands, Warwickshire. Anyway, as I noted above, I think we should stop here coz no one else cares  An interesting chat. Never really thought about getting academic about it. Not being academic, taht is.
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Fine Young Cannibal
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Tod69 Talamasca
The Human Tripod ;)
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 4,107
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01-29-2009 12:52
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really pissy & mean right now and NOT happy with Life.
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Dakota Tebaldi
Voodoo Child
Join date: 6 Feb 2008
Posts: 1,873
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01-29-2009 13:54
From: Kyllie Wylie Funnist one I had was one time I was in a club and asked to leave because I was a furry neko ... some of my friends were there and I was enjoying the music so I put on my human skin and form and asked the host "Is this better?" .. After a few seconds hesitation I get an IM "Right! you cant fool me! I saw you as a furry just a minute ago. get outta here!" ...... Like he really thought I really was a furry neko and now I was "pretending" to be a human? That has to be the funniest thing I've ever heard in SL thus far!
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"...Dakota will grow up to be very scary... but in a HOT and desireable kind of way." - 3Ring Binder "I really do think it's a pity he didnt "age" himself to 18." - Jig Chippewa 
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