Show me your unicorns turned into earth ponies.

[pinkkittywinks]

On the subject of religion and unicorns. I feel somewhat qualified to comment as my degree thesis was on the subject of religious art and symbolism, specifically of the 1200-1300’s

The unicorn is a symbol of and associated with Mary. A unicorn will sometimes be shown in place of or alongside Mary in religious art through out history. This is because unicorns can usually only be seen or appear to those of pure spirit and those who have not been corrupted by earthly/material things. Mary is classed as pure because of her innocence and virginity, thus unicorns will be attracted to her

Christian art has begged, borrowed and stolen from many of what today would be classed “classical Christian iconography” from Pagan and other religions. There are many examples I can give, not just unicorns.

If we are quoting the Bible, the King James Bible is the one academics use

Love pkw xxx

[LadyMoondancer]

Yeah, the 80s and 90s did have a lot of hysteria about magic and "the occult".  Everything from He-Man to My Little Pony to Dungeons & Dragons was considered "Satanic" by certain (not all) religious groups / people.  Makes me so sad when I hear about people having to throw out or cut the horns off their unicorn toys.

[Taffeta]

On the subject of religion and unicorns. I feel somewhat qualified to comment as my degree thesis was on the subject of religious art and symbolism, specifically of the 1200-1300’s

The unicorn is a symbol of and associated with Mary. A unicorn will sometimes be shown in place of or alongside Mary in religious art through out history. This is because unicorns can usually only be seen or appear to those of pure spirit and those who have not been corrupted by earthly/material things. Mary is classed as pure because of her innocence and virginity, thus unicorns will be attracted to her

Christian art has begged, borrowed and stolen from many of what today would be classed “classical Christian iconography” from Pagan and other religions. There are many examples I can give, not just unicorns.

If we are quoting the Bible, the King James Bible is the one academics use

Love pkw xxx

Mediaeval history made it into the Corral

I was baptised, went to a church primary school and we were members of the local church till I was eleven. I even went to Sunday School, but I took ponies TO church with me and nobody ever had any issue with them being there.

I was horrified when I first heard about dehorning for religious reasons, since it has nothing to do with Christianity. But as an adult I've learned that most things people ascribe to or justify by their religion actually have no basis in the faith. They're concepts invented by human insecurities.

 If you believe in God, surely you believe he has better things to do than care if a kid's toy has a unicorn horn. And he absolutely isn't going to throw you out of heaven because you bought Powder for your kid, rather than Bow Tie.

I mean, seriously.

I'm a pretty lapsed Christian in the sense that these days people use Christianity to justify a lot of horrible things that have no relation to the Christianity I was taught as a child, and I don't believe in drawing lines and boxes around what I can believe in. Like PKW I've also got a background in mediaeval religion albeit mine was in context with mediaeval history and now I have a wider background in East Asian Buddhism and Shinto as well. You'd be surprised how often human failings masquerade as 'faith' in all of these stories. Giving in to superstition is a human weakness, not a tenet of faith. And they can definitely do better with their time and for their child than deface toys...

I also never yet heard a story of this dehorning happening in the UK, nor encountered it in my own church-connected childhood here but maybe I'm wrong...I've never seen a dehorned pony at a carboot sale either.

[pinkkittywinks]

Taffeta

I recall the myth that Brazil never made unicorn's for superstitious reasons, however that myth was dispelled as pure fiction by Brazilian collectors.

Something else I remember being mentioned in the early 00's was a scamming tread were unscrupulous folks removed/ melted the horn and sold it as a "variant". I never saw one, but I would be surprised if people did do that.

I hadn't come across de-horning for religious or superstitious reasons until I started collecting and like you Taffeta, I've not seen or found a de-horn unicorn of any kind in the UK. The only kind of horn damage I've seen is chews or sharpening (I guess the horn wasn't pointed enough so someone took their pencil sharpener to it)

Love pkw xxx

[Taffeta]

I imagine Brazil just didn't get unicorn poses to work from?

In any case, they look good how they are

My friend had a Milky Way whose horn more or less came off - but that was becuase she was using her as a weapon of defence against boys wanting to throw ponies on the roof, and Milky Way is soft plastic, she's not designed for that kind of play

I have seen chewed horns, but I don't remember a pencil sharpened one

Entertainer is a religious-orientated store here, and they didn't sell Monster High because of this, but they sell unicorns and MLP. I guess unicorns don't have any taboo religious significance in CofE...

[LadyMoondancer]

In the 80s there were also urban legends about daycares brainwashing kids with Satanic messages and junk like that.  People just believed the most ridiculous, out-there ideas with no basis in reality . . . and they didn't even have the excuse of "the internet said it so it must be true" because it was all pre-internet!

TV preachers were a prime source of anti-magic / anti-toy / anti-everything hysteria.  The "Songify the News" guys auto-tuned one of them who preached the evils of Pokemon back in the day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oits7sq4nX0

I feel so sorry for that guy's kid.  Can you imagine if your dad told you, with a straight face, that "you can't go to heaven when you play Pokemon"?  Just . . . ????  (There were also books essentially saying the same thing, that MLP, Rainbow Brite, etc, were from the devil.  Turmoil in the Toybox was one such.)

I wonder if guys coming up with this stuff actually believed what they were saying, or were they feeding people a line to make money?  In a way I'd actually prefer it if they were just cynical scam artists, but part of me thinks they were genuinely scared of every little thing in this life, thinking "the devil" was behind anything imaginative or fun.  What a sad way to live.

Edit:  One of the reviews for "Turmoil in the Toybox" quoted a bit about MLP:

"My Little Pony . . . Unicorns and winged horses, also known as a Pegasus, are derived from Greek and Roman mythology. . . . Because these toys are based on mythological creatures, they are occult. Mythology is in contradiction to God's Word. . . . The unicorn is a symbol of the anti-Christ, which the prophet Daniel described in his vision as the little horn which rises in the midst of the ten horns."

Hoo boy.

[Gator]

Is that an Oakley custom?  Its awesome mlp4me!

[lockette]

this thread went a bit off-topic so I skimmed it lol

not that it isn't interesting... BUT I just wanted to share that I officially am now IN LOVE with baby glory pose without a horn.  it's easily my fav baby pose and I might look into custom babies with this in mind 🤔

[reddsetgogirl]

A lot of the time it takes only a few people to find a connection between something they don't like and religion. Then they mention it to someone else and suddenly you have a whole bunch of people who automatically disapprove of something without understanding why or questioning it.

Case and point, my dad decided Harry Potter was banned in our house because he saw a piece on the news about Catholics calling for a ban on it. He felt that if all these Catholics thought it was bad than it must be. No research whatsoever, not looking into why they felt it was bad. They said it was bad so it must be.

[mlp4me]

Is that an Oakley custom?  Its awesome mlp4me!

It is an Oakley custom. Good eye. Thank you darlin'! :o)

Post Merge: May 11, 2018, 05:56:03 AM

this thread went a bit off-topic so I skimmed it lol

not that it isn't interesting... BUT I just wanted to share that I officially am now IN LOVE with baby glory pose without a horn.  it's easily my fav baby pose and I might look into custom babies with this in mind 🤔

Hasrro definitely took it to the top with babies, so many different poses. If I had to do her over again, I wouldn't have cut in as far, but that was my first victim of horn removal...

[Carrehz]

ohhh that Oakley custom is gorgeous, mlp4me!!

[Ponyfan]

This is actually the opposite of what was asked by one of my Twilight customs by Jennifer2004 is an earth pony turned in to a unicorn.


Ponyfan

[starstrider]

Cripes.  I had no idea that hating on unicorns was actually a pastime for some religious folk.  More than ever I am grateful to have been raised in a relaxed secular household.  I'm so sad that there are kids who are exposed to such hateful propaganda. 

[tailrustedtealeaf]

This is an interesting read, thank you to everyone sharing your knowledge and stories! So sorry for everyone who had to cut off their horns, maybe you can give them wonderful new ones?
Haven't come across de-horned ones over here.

[Nonnavlis]

You actually can sand the horn off some ponies. I have a G1 Sparkler whose horn was bitten off by a child so I sanded it down just about flat (I stopped because I didn't want to start scratching her face). The vinyl was pretty thin at that point, but by no means a hole. You can still kinda tell it was a horn at one point, though. I feel like I probably could sand it flat and still have a little bit of vinyl left if I didn't mind the sandpaper on her face. I was thinking of puncturing a hole and adding a plastic gem like the Princess Brush & Grow ponies anyway, though.

I have a religious grandmother who saw fit to tell my unicorn-obsessed six or seven year old self that unicorns worked for the devil, but thankfully my toys were unscathed since my mother was less than pleased with this.