THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

3.1 Shoes and Mirrors: Images of Doubling The Avatar in Panamaare reversed. This fact is exploited by many prophecies and adageswhich differentiate between sides by labelling them left and right. Therationale for this was that the left side was synonymous with evil andthe evidence was overwhelming. 7 It was always the side at which thedevil would place himself; the majority of the population was righthandedand thus the left side characterised weakness; the word thatmeant left in Latin became the word sinister in English; the left foot wasknown as the hostile foot as it was used to assault the enemy and touse it first when entering a person’s home (to literally have a foot in thedoor), would provoke aggression and incite belligerent behaviour;having two left feet equalled clumsiness; the left foot encouragedpeople to venture into the devil’s territory, and finally, by dressing theleft foot first, one would surely be delivered to the devil for the day. 8That shoes themselves had magical qualities which played a role insuperstition and customs was testament to the suspicion with whichthey were met. In the minds of certain cultural groups, that which wasinvisible was of little importance while tangible objects were bestowedwith something resembling a soul replete with its own qualities. Manycultures believed that the shoe transported the spirit of its owner orprevious owners and therefore it was thought that worn shoes retainedtheir spirit and character. This premise became the basis for many folkand fairy tales.Big Shoes to Fill: Selfhood and StatusA gamut of conceptions is represented by the shoe includingthat of personal identity, the right of ownership, social status andpsychosexual image. Its value as a global symbol is apparent by themetaphors and proverbs which use the foot, shoe or boot to reflectthose concepts in common parlance and in a variety of languagesuniversally. 9 Metaphors referring to the shoe may vary considerablywhich can perhaps be attributed to the differences between the law ofthe Old and New Testaments. In the former, the shoe held a moreabstract and divine symbolism as a means of protection from the unholyand impure. In the latter however, shoes were connected with the7 This justification recalls Hoffmann’s discovery of the ‘night-side’ of mind in that thedark side of human nature (the night, or left side), is equivalent to the left side. Seereference to Hoffmann’s night-side 20.8 R. Brasch, There’s a Reason for Everything (Sydney: Collins, 1982) 31-32.9 "Andar calzado es tomar posesión de la tierra…recuerda un pasaje de la Biblia:antiguamente era costumbre en Israel, en caso de rescate o compra, que pararatificar todo negocio, una de las partes se sacara la sandalia y la entregara a laotra…poner el pie sobre un campo y arrojar sobre él la sandalia es tomar posesión deél…De la misma manera en tierra de Islam, el extranjero debe atravesar descalzo elumbral de su huésped, mostrando con este gesto que no tiene ningún pensamientode reivindicación, ningún derecho de propiedad a hacer valer.” Jean Chevalier andAlain Gheerbrandt, Diccionario de los Símbolos (Barcelona: Herder, 1986) 1084-5.144