Avatar, smazatar, where doth thou goest sweet avatar?

Goeth thou to my head or in my bed

shall I line my bowls with you at my head?

And if thou prove to be less than sweet

may I ask you to hold me

and sing me to sleep?

The generation born from the early to late 1980's doesn't require a definition of avatar. I could figure out that avatar meant picture just from messing around with MySpace and face book. Then a friend of mine said she didn’t know what the word meant and that was all it took.

The research bug took over and here I am, giving that information back! What do you mean you don't need no Stinkin avatar? Ha-ha for those who are not western film fanatics that was a play on a favorite quote of my husband and mine..."badges? Badges? we don't need no stinkin badges!" from the movie "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with Humphrey Bogart. Although I admit the quote we so love is actually the misquote from "blazing Saddles" One movie I cannot fathom why I thought was so funny...oh well, youth.

What Was I Saying?

Oh yes, the meaning, the definition of the Word 'AVATAR' Ok here you are. This is why I and so many other curiouser Alice' out there love research! You go after just one little thing and all these threads appear like beautifully hidden paths in a nature walk.

Before you know it, you've collected so many pieces of threads it's as if your hands an pockets are overflowing with leaves of different colors and textures, rocks that hollered "Pick me up!" and precious feathers, left just for you from your favorite bird.

Avatar in the context we use today is how we perceive or desire ourselves to be seen over the internet. So, actually we are allowing our subconscious to develop into split personalities. Hmmm wonder what he research will show in ten years as to the rate of schizophrenia as a direct result of the application of multiple avatars in use by the generation of today?

Norman says "Sort Things Out!" There I go, off another shaded path, bird call beckoning me away...

The use of the term avatar showed up in the mid 1980's, right when my kids and many of yours out there as well I bet, were born. I don't remember them playing Ultima, but their first love was Mario Brothers after all, not the computer games. The computer game Ultima IV had as its gal for the player to become the avatar and thus, win the game. From there, it appears that avatar became a part of the computer slang, still with the meaning that it is the ego by which you wish to be recognized. Simple enough, if that were the actual origin of the word itself.

The Origin of the Word

In English it means "the embodiment of the divine" but as we all know, English is not an original language. Rather, it is made up of bits and pieces from many others. In Sanskrit avatar represents the earthly form of a heavenly God. To many people raised in only the western doctrine of religions, the eastern religions can be very complex. Actually, it is fundamentally the same as western religion. There is one God and He gave the world Himself; in ten different forms, or incarnations.

Krishna, the one that most westerners are familiar with, is the eight incarnation of Vishnu. Vishnu is considered by many people of the Hindu faith to be the Supreme Being, or Godhead. The word Dasavatar means all ten incarnations of Vishnu.

So there you have the definition of the word, Avatar. So what? What does that tell us about the use of the word avatar over the internet or in the novels we read or on our Wii games or even on esurance commercials?

AH YOU GUYS!! YOU ARE TOO FAST FOR ME!!!

That is right...that’s exactly where it took off. First on the computer games, then in cyberpunk novels, such as "Count Zero" by William Gibson or "Metaverse" by Neal Stephenson. And although Wikipedia denies it; to me, "Count Zero" is the premise for "The Matrix". It was then that cyberspace became real for me. I could "see" the internet then as a building, another world with many buildings, many rooms inside these buildings and the matrix as the (ha) thread or paths that tied them all together.

Type in the correct code or words and you could open the exact door you wanted. Change the code or word and you would be given a list of many doors to open and you have to open each room to find the one you were after in the first place. And just as most rooms (businesses or personal addresses) in buildings have signs on their doors indicating what lies within; the avatar becomes exactly that, just another way for that room to be more easily found.

As for the use of an avatar on television commercials...Ave! That's way too heavy man! I've got to wait a bit before tackling that research project!

But there you go my face book friend and coworker! The definition of avatar just for you!!  :) I love you!

Now, here are some really Cool Pictures that show the earthly renditions of some artists feeling of how the ten Dasavatar looks.

I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed tracking down the information! As my generation said in response to many a memorable moment:

"What a trip Man!"