Cyrus, Katerina, Campbell
First impressions after re-reading DGM Some theories and observations Notes on Link, part 1 & part 2
Have a nice week-end!!
Again I'm sorry for the awkward english!!!!
(SPOILERS UP TO CH247!!!!)
▶ « Cyrus » and Cross
After focusing on Skulls and Link’s names, I wondered if there was something for Cross and Katerina, two enigmatic characters!
In volume 24, サイラス (‘Sairasu’), which is localized as Cyrus in the English translation, Mana and Neah’s ‘uncle’, is mentioned. This could add to the ‘Cross = Cyrus’ theory:
Cross’s name in Japanese is クロス, which is pronounced ‘Kurosu’. The ancient greek form of Cyrus is Κῦρος, pronounced ‘kuros’ (like how you would pronounce ‘hybris’).
Is Cross the name Cyrus adopted after whatever happened at the Campbell mansion (and also, a symbol of the heavy cross he has to bear for Mana, Neah and Katerina)? Though it’s interesting to note Neah calls him Cross in ch215.
Now in the French translation, his name is localized as ‘Silas’, and the Japanese prononciation could lead to both localizations so I don’t really know if this holds any meaning!
▶ « Katerina »
Katerina is a variant of the name Catherine.
The name became attached to the ancient greek adjective καθαρός, ‘pure’. Also, « Marian Cross » might be a reference to a kind of religious cross:
A SAINT, you say....................
A side note: on the miraculous medal, there were twelve stars, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel and the apostles. There are two hearts on the medal. One heart bears a crown of thorns — the Christ’s Sacred Heart —, the other is stabbed by a knife — the Immaculate Heart of Mary —. Joined together, the two of them represent the Christ and Mary’s love of the world.
I don’t know if it’s relevant or not, but in ch121, Lavi managed to get out of Road’s dream by stabbing Allen’s illusion in the heart, which ends up piercing through Road’s own heart. And volume 13’s cover features a colorful focus on Lavi and the knife spilling blood in the foreground, which contrast with Cross, two crosses and the coffins coloring the background.
Not to mention:
1) Grave of Maria accompanying Cross: her dress is adorned with roses which are associated to Mary, sometimes represented with a rose crown (the rosary also originates from them). The ‘saint’ from Luberrier’s family is drawn wearing a (presumably) white rose, symbol of purity, innocence and devotion. The black ribbon that covers Maria's head ends up in a butterfly-shaped bow. In christianity, butterflies symbolize rebirth after death like the Christ’s spirit. Though rare, Mary has been represented with butterflies (I also saw that butterfly in spanish is 'mariposa' and its etymology was sometimes supposedly linked to Mary, I wish I could read in spanish ;;).
2) The association of Maria to what looks like a memory of Katerina:
3) In volume 13, Allen says Maria is the corpse of a parasite-type accommodator that is now controlled by Cross’s magic. Though it’s a forbidden spell, he was granted an extraordinary permission from the Order.
On the other hand, Cross suggested that Allen searches for Katerina in the mansion. This leads to the belief that she's pretty much alive, so perhaps Maria and Katerina are unrelated and Cross just remembered Katerina because the two are similar in personality. Their association is really tempting, though.
Especially since her whole face is concealed by her ribbon and we were recently given this page linking the two together!
Or who knows, maybe her soul got separated from her corpse or some other magic happened? We know so little so anything could happen!
It's a great stretch in all this, but Katerina’s name origin has also been linked to Hekate, a goddess of, among other things, liminality between spaces/worlds (entrances, exits, city walls, doors, gates, boundaries and crossroads, the living and dead realms ; one of her epithets was Enodia, ‘she of the road’), the underworld (she was considered the guardian of Hades’s keys, served as a guide), witchcraft (eg. in greek tragedies) and the night. Throughout history, she was also sometimes confounded with other divinities eg. Demeter, Artemis, Persephone. The dog was one of her sacred animals (represented accompanying her and also her sacrifice).
She wasn’t originally associated to the moon, but it became one of her main attributes with witchcraft later, as well as ghosts. In wicca, she is related to the Triple Goddess, which is associated to the archetypes of life (birth, death, rebirth), the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone or the moons (waxing, full and waning).
She was also later said to have a great knowledge of plants, especially to make poison.
The story uses these symbols a lot. The symbol of liminality especially reminds me of Road. (Of course I don’t believe there must be a correlation, references can just be references for the sake of it and highlight meanings, but the research was very fun!)
▶ « Campbell »
A CROOKED mouth…...... ? It’s THE telltale characteristic of the Noah’s memory, while Noah’s physical appearance features golden pupils and stigmata!
Now I don’t know where the story is headed with the Campbells, but I’m really curious to learn more, especially their link to Mana, Neah and the Noah!
