Mnemosyne & a Journey Through Memory With the Nine Muses

[starborn]

Continuing the discussion from Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Catch-Up! [Challenge #200]:

Curiously, when I embarked on this challenge, I found myself drawn to Mnemosyne, the Titaness. She is thought to be the daughter of Uranus and Gaia and became the mother of the nine Muses, who were fathered by her nephew, Zeus. (Ancient mythology can be creepy af.)

• Calliope
• Clio
• Polyhymnia
• Euterpe
• Terpsichore
• Erato
• Melpomene
• Thalia
• Urania

Through her, I’ll go on a journey of my memories, using each of her children as inspiration for a different memory. I’ll probably split it up into a couple of posts to make it easier for myself, as well. But anyway, without further ado, here we go.

Καλλιόπη (Calliope)

Calliope means “beautiful-voiced,” and she presides over eloquence and epic poetry. She is often shown with a writing tablet, roll of paper, or a book, so, for her, I shall reminisce back to when I was a ten-year-old child who wrote a poem about time that won a state award.

I wrote this poem when I had recently picked up my obsession with William Blake and was still going strong in my love for Ancient Egypt. Hence, the resulting content was about the passage of time and the ending of all things. While the poem is still buried somewhere in my grandmother’s old things, here’s a new poem in its spirit.

In the shifting sands of time’s relentless grip,
Where mortal threads in cosmic looms do slip,
The ancient pyramids, proud pharaohs of yore,
And gleaming towers that modern dreamers adore,
All these shall fade, their splendour turned to dust,
As time devours, and iron turns to rust.

Our transient marks upon this earthly stage,
Will fade like whispers on an ageless page,
For entropy, with silent, ceaseless breath,
Consigns all forms to stillness and to death.
Back to the void, the chaos dark and deep,
From whence all life does stir and briefly leap.

Yet here we dwell in fleeting mortal guise,
With hearts that dream and seek the boundless skies,
Our births and deaths, but sparks in night’s embrace,
Mere grains of sand within the void’s vast space.

Κλειώ (Clio)

Clio is cited as the muse of history or lyre-playing, and she is often depicted with an open parchment scroll, a book, or a set of tablets. Her name is derived from a root word which points to recounting, making famous, and/or celebrating. So, for her, I will travel back to a moment of fame because I found it quite humbling.

Once upon a time, I used to make website layouts and various graphics that I would then distribute for free on a website that I made. Being a bit of a stereotypical early 2000s website, it had a visitor counter and a guestbook, so there was a way to leave comments and talk to me a little bit. After talking to one of the people who used to visit my site via this guestbook over the course of a few weeks (or months), I added her on MSN Messenger. Our very first conversation is the incredibly humbling moment of “fame” that I sometimes think of because she initially had this hurdle to get over—disbelief that she was actually talking to me.

It was at that moment that I realised the responsibility of my position. And I suppose one could safely say that solidified my attitude towards my desired online presence always to be one of assistance. However, it’s only in recent times that I’ve been able to begin accepting monetary compensation for this. The journey continues…

Τερψιχόρη (Terpsichore)

Terpsichore, whose name means “delight in dancing”, is one of the muses of dance and chorus. She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, and accompanying the dancers’ choirs with her music. For her, I’ll amusingly recall that time my friends and I had to dance for a Health/PE class assessment in school.

We chose Ciara’s 1, 2 Step and, for whatever reason, didn’t really come up with any choreography other than to say that we would pair up and dance, then swap partners every so often. So here’s the music:

Ciara - 1, 2 Step (Official Video) ft. Missy Elliott

Well, since Honey, starring Jessica Alba, was one of my favourite movies at the time, and I was really missing Aaliyah… You can maybe imagine what kind of style I went with. I tried to find examples, but got really distracted watching old music videos instead, so… So much for that! Have this amazing video instead:

Aaliyah - Are You That Somebody (Original Video)

Μελπομένη (Melpomene)

Melpomene is the muse of tragedy, and her name means “to sing” or “the one that is melodious”, alluding to how she would sing songs of mourning for people of note after they die, particularly for poets. So, for her, I have a song that has been passed down in the area my family originally moved to in Sydney.

I am new down from the country,
I have only just arrived,
I jumped into a tram-car
Where I would like to have a ride,
The guard came round and asked me
Where would I like to go?
Put me down at Fairyland,
The world’s greatest show.
He put me off at Hordern’s
Where I quickly walked inside,
I went up and down and round about,
And to my great surprise,
They showed me down in Fairyland
Among these fairy toys.
The shop-walker he asked me
What would I like to buy?

A rocking-horse for Walter,
And a doll for Isabel,
A four-wheeled perambulator
That I bought for little Nell.
A bicycle for Willie,
And some tarts and sweets as well,
And they’ll all be glad to see their Uncle Joseph.

They tied them up in boxes
And I put them on my back,
And when outside the people cried,
And said that I was mad.
The police came in upon the scene
It gave me such a shock,
He said you man, “You must understand
I’ll have to lock you up.”
I looked around for sympathy,
And to my great surprise,
Whitehead’s van was near at hand
And I engaged it straight away.
“Drive me off to Leichhardt
As fast as you can go”,
And as I passed by I heard them cry
“It’s good old uncle Joe.”

At a glance, it seems this “Joseph” might be the one I’m related to. But I have no idea who these kids referred to in the song are, so I have to assume it’s not. Either way, the original was written on paper and dated back to the first half of the 1900s, I think, so I typed it up for safekeeping about a decade ago and, fortunately, could dig it up out of my sent emails to share here.

[Satans_Helper]

Nice entry. Thanks for sharing

[starborn]

Thanks, @Satans_Helper.

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Now for the rest of the muses!

Πολυύμνια (Polyhymnia)

Polyhymnia is the muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime. As you can probably guess from her name, “poly” refers to “many”, and “hymnia” comes from “hymnos” or “praise.” She is also sometimes credited as being the Muse of geometry and meditation. So, for her, I shall recall the very first time that I used writing fiction as a means of working through my own personal troubles.

I went to vampire fiction, using the hunger to represent the emotional void I felt within myself as a result of things that happened during my life. I didn’t realise I was doing this at the time, but it became obvious years later when I was explaining my writing to my partner. Here are the first three paragraphs of the first such thing I wrote, about when I was fifteen or so.

Content warning: vampire thoughts about blood.

The life of an undead seemed like a much simpler one at first – centuries of walking the earth, feeding off the living did something to a being. It took away the burden of human emotions that swarmed in the dark places within and allowed one’s knowledge to grow over the many years. Of course, no skill gained or lesson learned ever faded into the depths of the mind where it would be lost forever. How could such a thing happen when one’s mind did not decay over time? Neither did one’s strength or dexterity diminish with time. No, it only grew stronger as the lives of the mortals sacrificed to the undead body gave it strength.

However, despite the many gains, there was something evidently missing, a burden carried only by the undead. There was a hole inside that lead down into a pit of infinite darkness. Perhaps it should not have been there, and then again, perhaps it should have. Either way, it was there – hollow, empty, and hungry. Hungry to devour the precious thick liquid that coursed through the veins of the living. Their sweet blood, their life force, was all that it accepted and all that it yearned for. And how delectable it was.

Its desires were constant, and its cries never-ending. Even as the red liquid poured down into it, as it flowed down the walls of the bottomless well, the hunger was never satiated. That seemingly was the curse of the undead – to never know that feeling of fulfilment, to never satisfy one’s desires, to forever feel as though something was missing. Perhaps it was “life” that was missing, perhaps stealing the blood was the closest one could get to stealing life itself. Then again, maybe not.

Εὐτέρπη (Euterpe)

Euterpe, meaning “rejoicing well” or “delight,” is one of the muses of music and lyric poetry. She is thought to have inspired the development of liberal and fine arts, inspiring poets, dramatists, and authors such as Homer. Fitting it is then that for her, I shall reminisce back to when I was first allowed to dedicate a lot of time to writing.

It was year 6 in primary school, and I had begun writing a story in my own time. When my teacher read the story, they encouraged me to continue and gave me time during class to write my story. However, it was very difficult for me to focus in a room with other people and during daylight hours, so I couldn’t manage to get the story as far as I’d hoped. But still, I really appreciate my teacher believing in me and actually thinking it may have been possible for me to write a decent book at some point. Especially when those at home had no such belief.

Ἐρατώ (Erato)

Erato is deeply connected with literature, science, and the arts, particularly lyric. So, while she does focus on erotic poetry, I’ll skip that and go back to a time when I was trying to combine all three fields by designing my very first game.

Again, this story is set during my primary school. I’d been playing a lot of simulation-style games, and this is when I first gained a great desire to generate a world and its people and simulate their lives. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV one time I was away at my great-grandparent’s house. Sitting there, I was drawing out the UIs, writing down the data I needed to track, and so on, in a large notebook. This was a pivotal moment because this dream is so deeply ingrained in me that it is still something I hope to work towards.

Θάλεια (Thalia)

Thalia presides over comedy and idyllic poetry, fitting her name, which means “the joyous” or “the flourishing.” She is often depicted crowned with ivy, wearing boots, holding a comic mask in her hand, and sometimes holding a bugle, a trumpet, or occasionally a shepherd’s staff. For her, I will recall a time when I learned to be more open, express joy, and act like a weirdo for fun.

I was having dinner with my boyfriend at the time (now an ex). His sister was eight years younger than us, and we hadn’t gotten very close yet. But towards the end of the dinner, somehow, we got onto the topic of videos on YouTube that we liked. We found commonality there, and she started acting out some of the bits. For whatever reason, for the first time since I was a child, I felt comfortable enough to join her.

From that day on, we started talking a lot more and sharing a lot more of our life experiences. She was incredibly mature-minded for her age, and I remember talking to her one night and telling her this. I mean, she was much more mature and level-headed than her brother, whom I was dating at the time, and she was like 12.

She was great to talk to and became like my little sister, too. She really helped me open up again and let my weird self out by being able to share jokes and skits with her. All those years of growing up watching Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, and so on, and my brain was full of zaniness, ready to let out, but years of crap from others had really made it a struggle.

I’ll end this one by saying that one year, we went into the city all dressed up like anime vampires. When we boarded the train, I pointed around us and said, “Look! There are humans everywhere!” or something like that. A week later, I found my own quote in the free newspaper they handed out on public transport in the “weird and overheard” section. It was in that moment, in my pride of my weirdness being worthy of sharing with others, that I realised how much she had been helping me come out of my shell.

Οὐρανία (Urania)

Urania is the muse of astronomy and stars, with close ties to the globe and compass, and a name that means “heavenly” or “of heaven”. I had a few contenders for this memory, but the one I’ve ultimately picked is one where I found my current username. This is an old memory, much like the others, and is from around ten years ago or a bit more.

My partner got me into playing Pathfinder (1e at the time), and the Sorcerer quickly became my favourite class for their innate ability to wield magic. Despite doing well in school, I’d never studied, so I wasn’t comfortable with playing prepared casters, such as the Wizard. I felt studying and planning the night before was a real struggle for me in real life, likely due to having ADHD (although I wasn’t diagnosed yet), and so the idea of my character having to do similar in the game was kind of offputting. Hence why I ended up starting with the Sorcerer and then moved onto playing Witches. Anyway, I digress… Here’s the description for the Starsoul bloodline that I instantly fell in love with:

You come from a line of stargazers and explorers who delved deeply into the darkness beyond the stars. In touching the void, the void touched them, and your mind, spirit, and body yearn to span the gulf between worlds.

My username itself comes from the skill this bloodline gets at max level:

Starborn (Ex): At 20th level, you gain immunity to cold and blindness, and you can see perfectly in natural or magical darkness. In addition, you gain fast healing 1 when you are outdoors at night.

More details, for my fellow nerds.

Class Skill: Knowledge (nature).

Bonus Spells: unseen servant (3rd), glitterdust (5th), blink (7th), call lightning storm (9th; dealing fire damage, damage increased outdoors at night), overland flight (11th), repulsion (13th), reverse gravity (15th), greater prying eyes (17th), meteor swarm (19th).

Bonus Feats: Blind-Fight, Craft Rod, Dodge, Endurance, Improved Counterspell, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Quicken Spell, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness.

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast an evocation spell, targets that fail their saves are dazzled by tiny sparkling starlights for 1 round per level of the spell.

Bloodline Powers: Your skyward gaze and communion with the heavens focus and enhance your magical talents.

Minute Meteors (Sp): At 1st level, you can summon a rain of tiny meteorites as a standard action to fall in a 5-foot column, 30 feet high, with a range of 30 feet. The meteors inflict 1d4 points of fire damage + 1 per 2 sorcerer levels. A Reflex save negates this damage. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Voidwalker (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain low-light vision and resist cold and fire 5. At 9th level, you no longer need to breathe, as if wearing a necklace of adaptation.

Aurora Borealis (Sp): At 9th level, you can create a sheet of cascading colors. This power acts as a wall of fire, but it inflicts cold damage and does not radiate heat. However, one side of the aurora designated by you fascinates creatures within 10 feet, up to a maximum of 2 HD of creatures per sorcerer level. A Will save negates this fascinate effect. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. You may use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to your sorcerer level. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

Breaching the Gulf (Sp): At 15th level, your caster level is increased by 3 when casting spells of the teleportation subschool. In addition, once per day you can teleport a single creature within 30 feet into the void of space if it fails a Will save. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. The target can attempt a new saving throw as a full-round action each round to return. While trapped in the airless void, the target suffers 6d6 points of cold damage per round and must hold its breath or begin to suffocate.

Starborn (Ex): At 20th level, you gain immunity to cold and blindness, and you can see perfectly in natural or magical darkness. In addition, you gain fast healing 1 when you are outdoors at night.

And there we have it: memories with all nine muses.

[Satans_Helper]

@starborn

desires were constant, and its cries never-ending. Even as the red liquid poured down into it, as it flowed down the walls of the bottomless well, the hunger was never satiated. That seemingly was the curse of the undead – to never know that feeling of fulfilment, to never satisfy one’s desires, to forever feel as though something was missing. Perhaps it was “life” that was missing, perhaps stealing the blood was the closest one could get to stealing life itself. Then again, maybe not

Love the writing

@starborn

Thalia presides over comedy and idyllic poetry, fitting her name, which means “the joyous” or “the flourishing.” She is often depicted crowned with ivy, wearing boots, holding a comic mask in her hand, and sometimes holding a bugle, a trumpet, or occasionally a shepherd’s staff. For her, I will recall a time when I learned to be more open, express joy, and act like a weirdo for fun.

I like the sounds of her. Sounds delightful

@starborn

She was great to talk to and became like my little sister, too. She really helped me open up again and let my weird self out by being able to share jokes and skits with her. All those years of growing up watching Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, and so on, and my brain was full of zaniness, ready to let out, but years of crap from others had really made it a struggle.

Sounds like she was a great friend

@starborn

You come from a line of stargazers and explorers who delved deeply into the darkness beyond the stars. In touching the void, the void touched them, and your mind, spirit, and body yearn to span the gulf between worlds

Love this

[Artemisia]

@starborn

More details, for my fellow nerds.

Class Skill: Knowledge (nature).

Ummmm love this!!! I don’t know why I adore things in DnD/TTRPG stats. Makes me want to make up character sheets for Kermit and Turbo, or think up stats for things I use in my practice

[Artemisia]

I took more time to really read through the whole entry. Random thoughts and comments as I think of them…

@starborn

And I suppose one could safely say that solidified my attitude towards my desired online presence always to be one of assistance.

Very lovely and admirable sentiment

@starborn

original was written on paper and dated back to the first half of the 1900s,

Things like that are incredible and precious to find! It’s like a window to the past but always with a slight haze in the glass where details have been lost.

@starborn

It was in that moment, in my pride of my weirdness being worthy of sharing with others, that I realised how much she had been helping me come out of my shell.

What a cute story!

Lovely entries! I enjoyed learning about all the muses and your personal stories related to each of them. It made for a pleasant (comforting is the word that popped into my head) read

[BryWisteria]

Look at this! The muses are really fascinating when it comes to creativity and creative exploration - I was so happy when I saw you choose this topic to explore. And you more than did it justice - you went through all nine! Beautiful work here, Starborn!

@starborn

playing Pathfinder

I keep meaning to give Pathfinder a try - I hear good things about it! Although some say the rules are a bit harder to adjust to compared to D&D 5e (which, to be honest, I never truly mastered either. Math is… yeah )

It’s really neat to see the stats attached to your username inspiration! It’s a cool skill to represent a very cool person

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Thank you for this amazing exploration of your creative talents and the nine muses!

[MeganB]

@starborn

memories with all nine muses.

This was beautiful to read back. You have such a knack for reflection and tying things together with concepts you know now. Thank you for sharing these memories with us

[starborn]

Thank you, @Satans_Helper.

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@Artemisia

I don’t know why I adore things in DnD/TTRPG stats.

Same. I keep making up my own stats systems over the years. I’ve tried making myself in D&D and Pathfinder a few times, but I often end up using other systems or working on my own.

@Artemisia

It’s like a window to the past but always with a slight haze in the glass where details have been lost.

Sure does. I’m tempted to go find more of my great-grandparent’s things. My great-great-grandmother’s handwritten recipe book that my great-grandmother used to use is my latest acquisition.

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Thank you, @BryWisteria. I surprised myself when I felt drawn to picking them, but I’m glad that I did.

@BryWisteria

I hear good things about it! Although some say the rules are a bit harder to adjust to compared to D&D 5e (which, to be honest, I never truly mastered either. Math is… yeah )

It depends. I think the rules for Pathfinder are much better than D&D. But you shouldn’t be having to do any math to play! I mean, beyond like, “10+2” kind of math. Worst case scenario, there are dice rollers online that’ll take your stats and add them to a dice roll, if that helps.

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Thank you for reading and enjoying them, too, @MeganB.

[BryWisteria]

@starborn

there are dice rollers online that’ll take your stats and add them to a dice roll, if that helps.

The online dice roller/player sheet was my savior in the last online campaign I played - it did (almost) all the calculations for me. Honestly couldn’t play without it There’s so many little things to keep track of!

@starborn

I’m glad that I did.

I’m glad you did, too! Thanks again for sharing