A Core Person

One of my readers of Gaia’s Majesty-Mission Called referred to Brigid as the “flaming haired assassin-for-good”. I have to confess I’m not entirely sure where she came from. Each of the Andromeda women seemed to show up unbidden. Of course, as a psychologist I understand they don’t materialize in the author’s mind our of the ether.

My initial concept of Andromeda was not that these women were ruled by men. That is not exactly how the world of the Tethyans is. What fell into place was that the warrior women had to have some form of autonomy although clearly there would be some form of organization. It was all curious because they had a mission but it was not like they came from a corporation or an established government. So Brigid was chosen as the early leader and she had relationships with other leaders among the people.

The Tethys, or cities in the sea, were reasonably autonomous, certainly from each other but there was some form of general independence among other parts of the Tethyan people. I have to admit I’m not sure how this all came about.

Brigid as a Symbol

Certainly Brigid was needed as a warrior. There would inevitably be considerable conflict and leaders had to exist or emerge. As the story developed it was clear that Gaia had to be giving some guidance and where Brigid was placed suggested that she was part of that guidance. In the story she is indicative of women who are strong and independent and it was apparent to me that she probably had to have a troubled history to push her into this position. So she was a symbol of the strength of women and their dedication.

Curious Origins

I’m still trying to figure out where a lot of this came from and specifically what the origin of Brigid is. It was only later that I found Adrienne Mayor’s book The Amazons. As I’ve said elsewhere, I thought Amazons were mythological. And I came to find out that they were real.

In the ancient world the women of Greece were subjugated but just outside of that region were the Steppes of Asia. And on that plane were nomadic and semi nomadic tribes. The warrior Amazon women rode with their men into battle. They were skilled archers and excellent horsewomen. Women seem to have an edge in horse management as we see today.

And before I knew about the real Amazons I chose her to be a flaming redhead. Such hair color speaks to origins in Scotland and Ireland but what I learned was that the Amazon women were often redheads.

Something Else

And then later I learned about my own genetic heritage. My most prominent group is made up of people who were celtic,viking and saxon followed by a generic far northern European people. It included 5% neanderthal. That’s right, we now know their genetic code and are finding they are among us. When I looked farther back I could see that these people from whom I was descended came out of near Asia as the last ice age ended. In short they were part of the tribes made up of Amazons.

What I had done was create a character who was clearly from my own background when I didn’t even know about my background. It becomes kind of creepy.

Knowing that I wanted this woman to do battle with the Overlords I wrote (in my head) a background in the estate of a brutal Overlord who abused her mother. Finally her mother committed suicide which devastated Brigid. She was cast out of the estate and was taken in by the Tethyans.

Another Book

As you can see the story kept growing. It is clear to me that I may well be writing books about each of the lead women of the Andromeda. A similar process occurred for each of them and their stories continue to unfold in my head.

Have you had similar things emerge from inside of you?

 

Gaia’s Majesty-Mission Called: Women in Power by Roger B. Burt

Roger B. Burt’s Amazon home page

Creating Characters and Plots by Roger B. Burt

Stepfamilies: Professionals and Stepcouples in Partnership

Whatever Happened to Community Mental Health by Roger B. Burt