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Author Topic: Tech: Birds in Your Avatar/Username  (Read 5429 times)

Altair

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Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« on: October 19, 2015, 02:48:45 pm »
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!
« Last Edit: May 07, 2019, 05:46:58 pm by RandallS »
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Altair

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2015, 02:56:58 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181204
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!

 
Guilty on both the username and avatar counts!

The star Altair gets its name from Arabic, and it means "the flyer," meaning a bird. The name is shortened from a full phrase that translates as "the flying eagle," Altair being the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle.

Hence the avatar.

And since I've been a birder since about the age of 10, and since appreciating and studying birds is one of the principal ways I've come to understand my paganism, bird references were bound to be incorporated into my username and avatar for the Cauldron.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

HarpingHawke

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2015, 03:27:54 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181205
Guilty on both the username and avatar counts!

 
Same here!

My username came about a long time ago, out of a combination of family and friends telling me I could harp on a topic forever (and also my aspirations to learn the harp since I first saw one) and the red-tailed hawks that haunt a place very special to me. It also reminds me I am never prey, and for a lot of personal reasons, that's important.

The birds in my avatar remind me I'm free. Also the photo makes me feel incredibly happy for some reason. Ever since I was teeny tiny (er, tinier), I've always wanted to fly. I remember in grade school I tried to build a pair of manpowered flapping wings (i know) and while I learned a bunch about aerodynamics it never um, got off the ground, so to speak.

Flying is symbolically important to me for a lot of reasons, which would take up a mountain of space, and also I have no idea where to start even outlining, and, as I mentioned, birds of prey resonate with me greatly.

Every so often I find myself wanting to change my username, but I've found that it's settled nicely somewhere deep. So. I suppose that's a start on why I picked birds. :)
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

Altair

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2015, 03:42:34 pm »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;181207

The birds in my avatar remind me I'm free. Also the photo makes me feel incredibly happy for some reason.


I've always noticed the bird avatars and names in the Cauldron and wondered about various Cauldronites' reasons for them...but it was specifically seeing your avatar today, HarpingHawke, and thinking how nice it was, that prompted me to finally start a thread about it.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Oíche

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2015, 04:57:54 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181204
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!

 
I have a jackdaw in my avatar and my username is the Irish word for jackdaw :)
It sort of has a spiritual significance to me, the jackdaw is a member of the crow family and is a nod to the Morrígan. I went with it over a more traditional raven or crow because I've always liked jackdaws (despite one doing a shite on my head as a kid!) and they're a fairly common bird in Ireland.
I also wear a lot of black and have a pale face so it fits! :p
'You're my friend, and I love you- but you really look like a witch!!'

Allaya

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2015, 05:53:23 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181204
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!

 
The reason for my avatar is fairly straightforward: I identify with magpies.

They're very in-between creatures. They're not a white bird, not a black bird, and even their blackness is (as the late Terry Pratchett worded it) all the colors of black. They occupy the areas of my town between the hooded crows and the gem-eyed jackdaws. Somehow the peace is kept.

They are intelligent and playful. Their nests are often marvels of engineering. Their penchant for shiny things is legendary. They are bold as new brass and shy as the moon behind clouds.

They were the first bird to greet me when I moved to Norway as a new bride.
Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.  — Shirley Chisholm
No doubt the truth can be unpleasant, but I am not sure that unpleasantness is the same as the truth.  — Roger Ebert
It is difficult to get a person to understand something when their livelihood depends upon them not understanding it. — Upton Sinclair (adapted)
People cannot be reasoned out of an opinion that they have not reasoned themselves into. — Fisher Ames (adapted)

HarpingHawke

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2015, 11:50:02 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181208
I've always noticed the bird avatars and names in the Cauldron and wondered about various Cauldronites' reasons for them...but it was specifically seeing your avatar today, HarpingHawke, and thinking how nice it was, that prompted me to finally start a thread about it.

 
Aww, now don't make me blush, Altair.
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

RandallS

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2015, 07:47:07 am »
Quote from: Altair;181204
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!

Mine is a coin, but there's an owl on it. Owls are a symbol of Athena, my "patron" goddess. I also happen to like owls and always have.
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

Darkhawk

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2015, 04:57:52 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181204
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!

 
Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk's flight in the empty sky.

― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea
as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars    - Covenant, "Bullet"

Altair

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2015, 08:28:03 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181204

tell us why!

 
I'm loving all these explanations! I know there are folks we haven't heard from yet; keep 'em coming!
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Night Owl

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #10 on: December 03, 2015, 03:03:18 am »
Quote from: Altair;181356
I'm loving all these explanations! I know there are folks we haven't heard from yet; keep 'em coming!

 
When I was signing up, I had read some page or another that said that a lot of pagans went by the name of an animal, and I liked the idea of 'Owl' because firstly, they were considered wise, and secondly because I was thinking about the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books. They're also nocturnal, which I would be all the time if I could.

I wish I had a cooler explanation, but it is what it is.

Altair

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2015, 07:41:48 pm »
Quote from: Night Owl;183134
When I was signing up, I had read some page or another that said that a lot of pagans went by the name of an animal, and I liked the idea of 'Owl' because firstly, they were considered wise, and secondly because I was thinking about the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books. They're also nocturnal, which I would be all the time if I could.

I wish I had a cooler explanation, but it is what it is.


I dunno, I think "cool" explanations can be overrated. I like explanations that are genuine--whether cool or uncool. Yours is genuine, tapping into pop culture and Western cultural associations, and simply what you find appealing, about owls. Isn't that pretty much how we all end up choosing our icons?

And speaking of owls, I just saw one on my lunch break today: a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), one of the biggest in North America. I'd heard through the grapevine that she'd been hanging around more or less the same spot in Central Park for about 3 weeks now, so I finally got out to search for it, and success!

I know they're no big deal in some parts of North America, but for us here in the middle of Manhattan, a GHO is a BFD!
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Voren

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Re: Birds in Your Avatar/Username
« Reply #12 on: December 03, 2015, 08:03:22 pm »
Quote from: Altair;181204
You know who you are: those of us who can't help but incorporate bird imagery or a bird reference into our avatar and/or username here at the Cauldron. Maybe you just liked the picture, or maybe there's some spiritual significance, but whatever the reason, tell us why!

 
I usually have a bird in my avatar thinger...and I guess the plague doctor mask looks like a bird. It's spiritual significance for me.
-Voren
(aka Sou\'r-Ghi\'den)

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