Thread by @RobertBohan

Thread: The Alt-Shite claim the Irish Government is turning kids Trans by exposing them to unicorns.

Unicorns, they claim, are symbolic of Trans! My Trans friends are as befuddled as I am, as to what these Gobshites are on about?! So let’s look at Unicorns...

Unicorns are mythical beings that are said to be impossible to catch without trickery & have magical powers. They appear in art, architecture, literature & popular culture throughout history. Here’s a handsome 1791 unicorn from Dublin’s Custom House

In Western Europe in the medieval period they were a bit of a thing. However before that they were part of Indian tradition & millennia before that, Chinese. In China they (Qilin) symbolise benevolence, wisdom & long life & are only seen when the virtuous rule the land.

Our first ‘record’ in the West comes from Ctesias (400BC) who claimed to see them in Persia! The Greek Bible translated the Hebrew ‘re-em’ into unicorn. Experts now believe the correct translation is ‘auroch’. This auroch was symbolic of spiritual power & divine destruction.

Here’s a sketch of what an auroch looked like. They are an extinct species of large wild cattle. The last one died in Poland in 1627.

Whether auroch or unicorn in its original meaning, the Christian Bible for centuries translated it as unicorn. In Christian tradition the unicorn was interpreted in his (always his) fiery, penetrating (that horn) spiritual nature with a loving benevolence as a metaphor for Christ

The unicorn is often depicted in the arms of a virgin or in a fenced flowery garden. In both cases he is there by choice. Legendarily he was attracted to virgins & suckled at their breasts. This was interpreted as the spirit’s willingness to be incarnated thru the Virgin Mary

Incarnation is a person who embodies in the flesh a deity, spirit or quality. In the context of the unicorn it is the body of Christ.

The medieval symbolism combined an enclosed garden (symbolic of a virgin), the Virgin Mary & the Unicorn in a complex metaphor for incarnation. Here you can see the Unicorn Chase, the Garden, the Virgin & the Incarnation of Christ.

By the time of the Renaissance unicorns were incorporated into the chivalrous code. They were symbols of chaste love & faithful marriage. It’s in this sense that Petrarch & Della Francesca depict them.

The Renaissance was about understanding the world & one of its chief artists, Leonardo, was fascinated with the mythical beast. He recounted how they were said to be trapped by having a virgin entice it to her lap & fall asleep. Here’s his drawing.

Unicorns also appear in heraldry. Whether this was due to animal passion or the incarnation is not clear. The most famous use of the unicorn is as symbol of Scotland. This was because the beast would rather die than be captured.

Other beliefs attached to the unicorn was that he had magical powers to detect poisons, to purify contaminated water (pic) & to heal wounds & illness. In modern symbolism he is said to be symbolic of creativity, focus & healing.

So unicorns & Trans? Apart from being associated with rainbows by the Victorians & as a result appearing on gay t-shirts they have come to mean all sorts of things (Brexit, Start-Up Companies, Cartoons, Impossible Asks etc). Here’s an overview:
amp.theguardian.com/society/2017/o…

So what has the Alt-Right in a tizzy? Turns out that on one guide for teachers regarding Trans a unicorn was used. This was jumped on by American far-shite groups & rapidly became a global Alt-Shite trope for transphobia - here’s an excellent overview: au.org/blogs/wall-of-…

So the Alt-Shite, which likes to think of itself as ‘Christian’, is now applying a mythological symbol of Christ for the Trans community. They might want to invest in a dictionary...