 Fantasy: November 10, 2021 Issue [#11062] |
This week: The Lure of Unicorns Edited by: eyestar~*  
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  Hiya fellow writers! I am happy to be a guest editor this week as we ponder on fantastical illusive unicorn. 
Be a unicorn in a field of horses!
“I thought unicorns were more… fluffy”
— Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies".
A wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.”
– Tibetan proverb
“The unicorns were the most recognizable magic the fairies possessed, and they sent them to those worlds where belief in the magic was in danger of falling altogether. After all, there has to be some belief in magic — however small — for any world to survive.”
— Terry Brooks, The Black Unicorn
“The unicorn was a marvelous beast, shining with honor, wisdom and strength. Just to see him strengthened the soul.”
— Megan Lindholm, The Unicorn in the Maze.
“As long as we can dream, there will be unicorns.”
“Now I will believe that there are unicorns…”
— William Shakespeare, The Tempest
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What is it about unicorns that has fascinated us since ancient times? Why is it a popular symbol that keeps changing in meaning and significance? What does Unicorn mean to you?
 Shel Silverstein wrote:
You'll see green alligators and long necked geese
humpty back camels and chimpanzees
cats and rats and elephants as sure as you're born
you're never going to see a unicorn!
 Really? We see them all the time on t-shirts, bags, jewellery, stickers, mugs, in movies, stories, and songs. Even in the mists of imagination we see the illusive unicorn. April 9 is designated as National Unicorn Day! Who knew?
Even here at WDC we have many unicorn enthusiasts. Even if reluctant to write about fluffy pink creatures, "The Pink Fluffy Unicorn Contest" lured writers in to its yearly fun. Who doesn't like magic?
The word itself means "One Horn" and the image has represented purity, goodness, happiness, peace, harmony, innocence, beauty, originality, healing sickness and wounds. In Medieval lore it also had a connotation of femininity, virginity, sexuality. Only a virgin could tame one.
 It is interesting how many diverse cultures have their versions of this illusive creature.
There were images of such creatures on bronze age arts that looked more like cows but had this one horn.
2400 years ago the Greek physician Ctesias told about an animal in India with a white body, dark blue eyes and a horn on its head. This is the image that stuck since medieval times. It is interesting that the unicorn did not show up in Greek myth but in writers of Natural history of the time. Ctesias witnessed them in Persia.
The horns, made of alicorn were thought to have medicinal qualities from the 1630's and it was found that Narwhal horns were even sold as these unicorn horns!
Zoroasterian version had a creature with one horn, six eyes, 3 feet. Another image had the head of a stag, elephant feet and a large black horn. Greek travelers told stories of all kinds of weird creatures like rhinos, which turned out to be real. I wonder why not unicorns?
 Literature, as you know, fantasy writers and readers, from early tales to Shakespeare to Harry Potter and beyond, refer to this illusive creature, keeping the hope alive.
 Lewis Carrol had a chapter called the Lion and the Unicorn in "Through the Looking Glass".
“Well, now that we have seen each other,” said the unicorn, “if you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you.”
In C.S. Lewis Narnia series, the unicorn was proud to defend Aslan's realm.
In the " Sorcerer's Stone" Harry Potter learns that silver unicorn blood can heal and bring immortality.
Peter Beagle wrote "The Last Unicorn" about a unicorn seeking a companion, using the character to illustrate universal themes like death, fate, when to fight and when not to fight and to bravely do what needs to be done even when one does not want to.
Piers Anthony in his "Apprentice Adept" used unicorn lore.
Even Cartoons like My Little Pony (had three unicorns} and SHE-RA had a unicorn.
And games like the Indie game "Them's Fighting Herds" has unicorns as main characters. A little twist as one unicorn tries to show you can use dark magic for good. 
Popular with children, many are the tales involving the colourful, kind rainbow riding unicorns. My sister's grand daughter is soooooo into unicorns. ..
"Not quite A Narwhal" by Jessie Sima illustrates the theme of finding who you are and where you belong.
I found this cool illustrated book for kids: "The Very Short Entirely True History of Unicorns"  by Sarah Laskow who also loves narwhals as they can have 30 foot horns. If it can exist, why not unicorns?
"You Don't Want to Ride A unicorn" by Ame Dyckman is a humoruous yet cautionary tale about pets and the ups and downs of owning a unicorn.
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My sources speak on why they think unicorns are popular:
My sister's grandaughter Alaurah likes them as they slide on rainbows, are magical and shiny and full of love.  Her sister likes the ones who fly!
Princess Megan Snow Rose  a WDC unicorn enthusiast says "They remind us of our childhood and unicorns make us happy and believe in magic. A rainbow is beautiful and as a child, you think you will find a unicorn and the world will be perfect. Unicorns are a fantasy and a way to escape reality. You think you can ride a unicorn and go to a perfect world where everyone is happy . No one will ever hurt you and unicorns make the world full of love and a wonderful place to live."
Lornda  says "When I think of them I envision something magical. They bring peace and are perfect. I think that's why they're popular because of the happiness they bring." 
Nixie🦊  likes them for their purity and mystiique!
Diamond, who created a utube channel on wisdom for kids uses the imagery to help discuss feelings, build self esteem etc. She says:
"For me, they represent freedom to be fully uniquely you. To be magic, playful curiosity and freedom from the 'normal'!
My friend Susan says " we are praying for some magic to show up and humanity seriously needs some." 
My friend Leslies says " they are shining more now as we are remembering when they were real.  Maybe they are in another dimension like the fairies! and in our dreams. Unicorns bring good luck!"
They often were popular in times of political uncertainty. Well, we are having these changing times when things are in flux and we seek hope. They are often now affiliated with rainbows and colours. What better symbol for that?
I saw a movie recently where a young girl was into unicorns and did lots of art. She believed in their friendship. Working at a ad agency she was stifled and magically was invited to own a unicorn. After she complete certain life tasks she could have a real one. When the time came she realized she could let the real unicorn go as she owned her own unique and wacky artistic ability, found love for herself and to me, became the unicorn she had been looking for and did not need to heed the opinions of others who did not see her gifts.
So maybe the unicorn invites one to own their uniqueness and to realize being different is ok. It has an Aquarian vibe! It is a hopeful symbol for dreams coming true and maybe even for coming out from hiding our specialness. Certainly in the lore, unicorns were sought as prizes as they were thought rare and valuable. Yet ever illusive. Today, they make quite a splash as folks pick up the vibes and create wonderful unicorn magics.
I wonder why centaurs were never so popular. But that is another tale.
Thanks for reading!
 Your turn, why do you think Unicorns are so popular and alluring?
eyestar
Some cool sources!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn
https://www.gosketch.co.uk/why-do-we-love-unicorns/#:~:text=Unicorns%20hold%20a%...
https://www.irish-expressions.com/unicorn-song-lyrics.html
https://parade.com/1189187/michelleparkerton/unicorn-quotes/
https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0TMvNyDVPKc8yYPTiLc3LTM4vylMozs9...
Here is a list of some Unicorn Themed Creations!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unicorns
and yep! I have a unicorn sig! 
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WDC abounds with Unicorns and maybe unicorns writing about unicorns.
Our unicorn enthusiasts
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