Showing posts with label feather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feather. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Baby You're a Firework

Patriot is from Middle French patriot, from Late Latin patriota, from Greek patriotes "fellow countryman [i.e., people residing within the same *father*land], from patrios "of one's fathers, patris "fatherland", from pater (genitive patros) "father".

People often show their patriotism by flying brightly colorful flags.

    Various Flying Flags, unites-states-flag.com

The flags or standards represent families, tribes and peoples. They may indicate a person's fatherland. In ancient Egypt the hieroglyph which was a flag on a pole was ntrneternetjernetter, meaning "divine", and the netjer were the gods, the divine ones (who stand tall, are bright, free, and finely woven together like flags). They were the ones who resided in the land of the dead, the  Duat/Tuat, i.e., the "afterworld," or netherworld (neterworld).

    ntr hieroglyph

parrot is a brightly colored flyer as well. The word parrot is thought to perhaps come from Middle French perrot, a variant of Pierre "Peter". The name Peter means "a rock, stone", which has connotations of being a secure foundation.
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalms 18:2
We call God our Father. But what is a father? A father is a begetter of his children. Our Father in this sense is our creator. Father is from Old English faeder, from Proto-Germanic *fader (Old Saxon fadarDutch vader [Darth Vader was Luke's father, but this is pronounced more like "father"], Old High German fater, German vater)from PIE *pǝter- (Sandskrit pitar, Greek pater, Latin pater, Old Persian pita). 

So this would remind us of ancient Egyptian god, Ptah ptḥ (Pee-tah), one of the netjeru (divine ones). Ptah was a creator (begetter) god of ancient Egypt. Here Ptah is shown finely arrayed in a feathered tunic, or we might say, phainopepla φαϊνοπέπλα "shinning robe" in Greek, like a parrot or Phainopepla ("shining robe," a passerine bird, i.e., from the order Passeriformes, from Latin passer "sparrow"). Feather is from PIE *pet-ra-, from root *pet- (also *petǝ-) "to rush, fly." Ptah is a pet-ra(feather) god, or perhaps we could say pet "flying/rushing" + ra "mouth/word; spell"[ancient Egyptian], he who conceived of creation in his heart and spoke it from his mouth. 

Ptah is a father god who is associated with the winged god of the dawning sun, i.e., Khepra and also the primordial mound (i.e., the rock [petra in Greek, keph in Aramaic]), as Ptah-Tatenen (ta meaning "land / earth" in Egyptian) who came out of Nun; the primordial waters.

   Feathered Ptah with Earth / Dome Looking Cap(Keph), from Tomb of Tutankhamun, Gilded wood, faience and glass., 1321-1343 BC, 18th Dynasty, Valley of the Kings

Ptah is also similar in concept to the god Khnum/Chnum who was also associated with Tatanen, and were both thought to be aspects of Ra, the sun god. Khnum is thought to be from root khnum ḫnm "to join, unite" and "build." Khnum was the divine potter (pater?) who was commonly depicted as a ram or a man with a ram's head. So Khnum also had a hard rocklike head (kephalé in Greek) like Ptah (Pee-tah, Peter = rock). Khnum was also associated with the "ba of Ra/Re". The ba was a part of the soul often depicted as a human headed bird near a mummy (not unlike a parrot), and ba was also the word for "ram". Khnum was the ram (ba) of Ra who helped him travel through the underworld each night on his Solar Bark. 

    The Sun God Ra as Khnum-Ra traveling on the Solar Bark[with paddles], from the House of Eternity of King Seti I, KV17, West Uaset, Diospolis Megale-Thebes 

Jacob, a.k.a. Israel, the patriarch, gave his favorite son, Joseph, a kethoneth (coat, garment, tunic) passim (literally the flat of the hand[palm] or foot[sole]), which can be translated in many ways, but in any case was some sort of long-sleeved (it reaches to the palm) ornate tunic of fine quality (maybe even befitting of a god, or like the shining bird robe, i.e., passer "sparrow" phainapepla "shining robe" of Ptah). When the father gave his son this "coat of many colors" it made Joseph's half bothers extremely jealous.

 
      The Coat of Many Colors, For Madox Brown, 1867

The flats(flaps?) of the hands and feet are extremities of the body like wingsKanoph is "edge, extremity, wing" in Hebrew, but can also describe a corner or loose flowing end of a garment. It was also used to describe the appearance of the "wings" of cherubim and seraphim. So perhaps special garments such as the kethoneth passim (coat of many colors) were meant to emulate the beautiful otherworldly appearance of heavenly beings such as angels and the netjer "divine".

    The Palm or Flat(Flap, Wing) of the Hand, by Julie O. /chthonickore, the palm tells the whole truth/story of the body.
For upon his long robe the whole world was depicted… Wisdom of Solomon 18:24
Patriarch is from Greek patriarkhes "chief or head of family," from patria "family, clan," from pater "father" + arkhien "to rule"(arkhon "ruler," Latin archon), from PIE *arkhein- "to begin, rule, command." The patriarch is the strong protector and guide of the family, maybe a patrician, from Latin patricius "nobleman," the origin of the name Patrick

A nickname for Patrick is Paddy. Paddy is a lot like "paddle" and paddles/oars are used for power, direction, and protection of a boat (or bark, as above with Chnum[canoe?]) 

    Carlisle Paddle, Scout Canoe Paddle, North Shore Water Sports 

The bark (boat) is made curved like an arch in a bow/arc shape (and rocks back and forth like a rocking chair / rocker with have arc shaped bases) Arc is from Latin arcus "bow, arch", from PIE *arku- "bowed, curved" (same root as Old English earh, Old Norse or) So maybe like the primordial mound; the curved vault of the sky "air"[father sky] and the curved surface of the land/earth [mother earth]which is our (b)ark or ark (Old English earc) though space. The bark is primarily a place of refuge upon the waters. In Latin arca is "large box, chest", and that which is within the arca is arcanus "secret hidden, private, concealed," from arcere "close up, enclose, contain, from PIE *ark- " to hold, contain, guard"(cognate Greek arkos "defense," arkein "to ward off"). 

We might also say patriarch is "father (formost, first, primary) + ark." Arkhe is "rule, beginning" in Greek, and arch-  in English is "chief, principle"(as in archangel, archbishop, archenemy), a Latinized from the Greek prefix arkh-, arkhi, "first, chief, primeval." So a patriarch would be the first first, like Tatenen, the primordial earth, in this sense.

Staves are held by rulers and patriarchs as sign of their power.

Fireworks pack a lot of punch. They are the oldest form of rockets. Rockets look like a type of staff or javelin. Rockets are missiles, from Latin missilis "that may be thrown or hurled", from missus "a throwing, hurling." Late Latin missa, mass, "dismissal". 

   Coloring page, ActivityVillage.co.uk 

Rocket is from Itallian rocchetto "a rocket", literally a "bobbin", diminutive of rocca "distaff(Old High German rocko "distaf," old Norse rokkr, Proto-Germanic *rukkon-, from PIE *rug- "fabric, spun yarn".

    Lace bobbin Dutch c. 17th century(reproductions), from ilaria.veltri.tripod.com

racket or raquet is a "handled paddle," from Middle French rachette, requette "racket for hitting; palm of the hand." Rackets have a woven patterned hitting surface.


    Badminton Rackets(which look like paddles or even insect wings), c.1900, from the strong.org

Ratchet is from French rochet "bobbin, spindle." Wooden ratchets actually look like the netjer(divine, god) hieroglyph, or a flag. They make quite a racket as noise makers.


    Rosewood Ratchet, called from larkinam.com

A distaff, also called a rock, is a tool used in spinning, it is from Old English distaef (Middle Low Getman dise, Low German disse "a bunch of flax" [so it is a flaxstaff]) Disstaff is also used to describe the female side of the family, female authority in a family, and the female sex. So here again(as with mother earth our rock and rocker in space), rock is used to describe the feminine rather than the masculine.

    Russian Distaffs, Ferapontov Monestary, Wikimedia, 2009

Bedizen means "to dress, finely adorn" originally dizen "to dress (a distaff) for spinning", but maybe also finely adorn the distaff (as above) before it is dressed in its flax(linen). Linen is "cloth woven from flax". 

Flask is a "container, bottle", Germanic base *fleh-, corresponding to PIE *plek- "weave, plait." Latin plicare "to fold," which is the same root as flax. A flask actually looks like the shape of the Russian distaffs or a paddle.

   Whiskey Flask, Kentucky Historical Society, c.1865

Other distaffs have more of a staff, traditional scepter, or javelin shape to them, rather than paddle/oar shape.

  The Virgin And Child with a Cross-shapped Disstaff [and spindle], Luis de Morales, St.Petersberg 

   Tip of a Freestanding Hasndcarved Disstaff(like a traditional scepter), knitspot.com

    La Rochelle, Spinner with spindle and (bedizen) distaf, William-Adolfe Bougeuereou, 1825-1905

It just goes to show that women are equally arch creators(begetters) and protectors of their families. Think of Callisto the mama bear / bear-mother of the Archadians and her son Arcus, who now reside in the night sky as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Women are generally the ones who do the work of spinning and weaving throughout history. Don't mess with the ladies. Ladies rock!


    Women, non bedizen, jousting with bedizen distaffs, Bibliotheque Arsenal, Li queste del S. Graal, French manuscript, 1381

In the Egyptian and Greek mythologies goddesses associated with weaving were also war goddesses, namely Neith (Nit) and Athena. It is not surprising then that many instruments of war are modeled and named after spinning and weaving instruments.


    Wooden kherep scepter(with broken staff), Petrie Museum

This is an ancient Egyptian kherep / rp-scepter. It looks like a type of distaff. The hieroglyph with the same shape was used for three different types of scepters that were similar in appearance, the kherep / rp-scepter, aba-scepter and the sekhem / sm-scepter. According to some the kherep-scepter was "the controller," the aba-scepter "the commander," and the sekhem-scepter "the powerful." As a hieroglyph it expressed "power." Perhaps these types of Egyptian scepters were also based off of weaving instruments like distaffs, paddles, and bows. 


    Sekhem Scepter is like a shinny Oar. Or/Ore/Owr in Hebrew is "shine, light, enlighten, become light, dawn", as in, "Let there be light(or)". In English ore is "a metal-bering mineral or rock".

The shape of the rp might be representative of the bow shape of a vibrating harp string that produces a tone that has "control" over people's emotions. The aba scepter maybe like the powerful palm / hand / wing of an abba "father" who "commands," and the sekhem may be like the powerful energy produced from a vibrating plate made out of metal (ore). That kind of vibration can be a very penetrating energy and feel almost electric.

Osiris was called "The Great Sekhem." He had the power of regeneration and was Lord over death and resurrection. What would it feel like to come in contact with that kind of energy?

A woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and had spent all her living on upon physicians and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased. And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master the multitudes surround you and press upon you!" But Jesus said, "Some one touched me; for I perceive that the power (dynamin) has gone forth from me." Luke 8:43-46
Dynomite! 

    Sekhmet in hieroglyphics-  S(sekhem scepter) + kh / ḫ (round sieve; placenta + (bread loaf, feminine gender indication)+ Seated Goddess

Sekhmet/Sekhmet/Sakhmet/Sekhet/Sakhet (like a power socket?) was the lion headed warrior goddess of Upper Egypt closely associated with the Eye of Ra (Wadjet, the royal cobra [like the seraphim]). One of her symbols was red (desher in Egyptian, the color associated with the desert) linen, and she was sometimes called nesert "the flame," "Lady of flame."

    I've Got the Power, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

What is this that Lego Cleopatra is holding? It is an iPhone charger or power chord, however it looks a lot like the sekhem-scepter "the powerful." Power can  be frightening when it is being used against you, but it is comforting when it is used for good, or working for you. Most of the power on earth comes from the sun (Ra / Re). The rays of the sun are taken in by plants and converted(spun into) to energy. Sekhmet was also a goddess of healing, medicine(made from plants) and menstruation, and was wife of the creator god Ptah, the rock, and that would make her rock-et, wouldn't it? So maybe that would make their baby a firework. 

Nefertem ("beautiful"+ tem) was the offspring of Sekhment and Ptah, he represented the blue lotus at the creation of the world, which we might call the Big Bang. Charge!

    Nefertem with Egyptian Lotus/Lilly Crown(flowers are clothed with petals[paddles, wings])
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29
Fireworks usually make beautiful flowerlike shapes when they go off in the sky and they are a popular way of celebrating patriotism on Independence Day, the 4th of July, as well as flying flags.

    4th of July Fireworks, by Tom Schopper- flickr.com

Fireworks explode in the sky (pt in ancient Egyptian) when the wick is put to a flame (nesert). The h in Ptah/pth is the wick hieroglyph. Wicks are made out of twisted, woven, or braided fibers such as flax

Ptah- p(stool[i.e., a raised mat] or mat[woven]) + t(loaf of bread)+ h(wick)+ seated god

Here again the baby of Ptah (sky + wick) and Sekhert (flame) would be the firework. Fireworks shimmer and fade like standards of the night sky. Fireworks stand out during the night like waving billowing flags do during the day. A flag is also made out of woven cloth like a mat (p hieroglyph). So maybe that square shaped mat of Ptah is like a flag "square piece cut from turf or sod", i.e., a (woven material, fabric, woven flax, linen) + ta "land, earth", or a flag rock, flagstone "a flat square piece of rock," and flying flags are symbols for the fatherland (Ptah), a flag (turf) is a piece of the fatherland, and is the place of one's lineage (the line is made from the flax that is woven into linen). One's lineage can be shown through the types of material and clothes they wear.

    Linen Cloth

It is interesting that nes is "banner, standard, ensign, signal, flag, pole" in biblical Hebrew and nsr / neser  is "flame" in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, by Paul Dickson [n + s + r brazier hieroglyph determinative]

A waving banner has the look of a flickering flame on a candle(wick). The flag / banner hieroglyph means "divine," and God told Moses to put a seraph on a nes Numbers 21:8 to cure the sickness of the Israelites when they were bit by "fiery serpents" in the desert. Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a nes "pole" and the people were cured when they looked upon it. This would seem to undoubtedly be some sort of Sekhmet, who was called "Lady of Flame" nbt nsrt and "Eye of Ra" irt ra / Wadjet(the divine fiery serpent) ritual. Kind of strange to think; coming from a patriarch. God told Moses to make the fiery serpent on the pole(Goddess Sekhmet/Wadjet) to heal the people, but he had gotten supper pissed off when Aaron made a golden calf(the Goddess Hathor) for them to worship when they asked him to because they were worried that Moses was delayed on the mountain Exodus 32. When Moses came down he burned it up, grounded it into power, put it on the water and made the people drink it. One has to feel a little bit of sympathy for the poor idolatrous Israelites. 

    Adoration of the Golden Calf, by Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1665

Idolatry is not necessarily as clear cut as it may seem. It is more a state of mind than a certain action, as are many sins. The bronze serpent ended up having to be destroyed as well, because the people were worshiping it too 2 Kings 18:4  Idolatry is a sneaky subtle(like a snake) trap. However, people want to point the finger and say, "There! That is an idol(clear cut) and therefore those people who 'worship' it are idolaters." But really an idol is simply a God who is idle(not vital), and an idolater is someone who is happy to worship an idle(lifeless) God. In other words, you have no real relationship with that God. It is a fiction / imagination and is one sided between you and your worthless god who is really no god(power). That God does not preform or do anything, not like the God of Elijah who set Elijah's sacrifice ablaze notwithstanding the three measures of water poured over it. Elijah's God was not an idol. He proved that, but it took great  faith on the part of Elijah. Elijah trusted that his God would prove himself not idle(not an idol).

    Elijah with his altar to YHWH(the LORD), and the Four hundred and fifty devoted(notice how they cut themselves) prophets of Ba'al(the Lord), 1 Kings 18:20-40
And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of YHWH; and the God who answers by fire, he is God . . .  1 Kings 18:24
We don't see many folk with that kind of patriotism these days. But those Old Testament stories are just "idol" tales in any case, aren't they? Why should we take it to heart? We are rational! And what is rational happens to be, "my side (God/father/flag) is right (not idolatrous), and your side (God/father/flag) is wrong (idoloty)".

Wanna fight? Ready, aim, fire … um, no I don't want to fight. The battle can be with words and ideas, and it can be a friendly sport rather than a war. Let's just watch the fireworks instead. We can discuss differences over beer and hotdogs.




Wednesday, January 1, 2014

How the Mighty are Fallen

Fall of Icarus, Blondel decoration 1819, Louvre

Icarus (Latin), from Ιkaros (Ικαρος, Greek), Vicare (Etruscan) was the man who flew too close to the sun and fell from heaven (from Old English hoefan "sky, firmament," came to mean "home of God"). In Greek "sky, heaven" is ouranus ούρανός , personified as Father Sky, Ouranus or Uranus in English. Falling from the heavens is more than a fall from the sky, it is a fall from grace.

Daedalus (meaning, "cleaver worker"), made wings out of feathers and wax (keros κηρός Greek) for him and his son, Icarus, to escape from the imprisonment imposed by King Minos.

    A "Wing" or Flight Feather

In modern Greek ftero φτερό (s.) is "featherwing," and ftera φτερά (pl.) "feathers, wings," pteryx πτέρυξ "wing." From ancient Greek pteron /pterux [pteryx] "feather, wing," this seems to be in the sense of a feather or wing being a "flyer." Pteron is from the verb petomai πέτομαι "to fly" and the root *pet- "to rush, fly." So we might say, the wings Daedalus made were themselves made out of "wings", or feathers, as are the wings of birds. An airplane wing is just a single "wing" in the shape of a bird's flight feather(pinion). Or, we could say that an airplane has a right and left "feather" or flyers, or a pair of wings.

Feather in English comes from Old English feðer [fether] "a feather; a pen" in plural  feðra "wings," from the same root as the Greek, i.e., *pet- "to fly, rush." The English word wing is from, 
late 12c., wenge, "forelimb fitted for flight of a bird or bat," also the part of some insects resembling a wing in form or function, from Old Norse vængr "wing of a bird, aisle, etc[OE].
and this [wenge] replaced the Old English feðra [fethra] "wings (feathers)." 

Wenge is said to be of unknown origin, "perhaps from Proto-Germanic *we-ingjaz, suffixed form of PIE root *we- 'blow' [OE]." In that case a wing would be a thing blowing(we-ing), rather than a feðer a "flyer." The word feather, seems to come from the sense of something either shaped for flying, and/or a component, like what bird wings are made out of, whereas wing isn't from the sense of individual feathers, but rather the sense of some sort of appendage that is used for flight. It's a little confusing in English that the singular "wing" replaced the plural feðra "feathers." We don't normally describe a bird as flying with its feathers, we say it flies with its wings; wings which just happen to be made out of feathers. Whereas in certain other languages, like Greek, the connection between feathers and wings is retained. The English feðer "feather" / wenge "wing" combination seems to mirror the Old Norse(from whence we get the word "wing").  In Old Norse fjoðr is "feather," fiðri "feathers," and vængr "wing."

The connection between wings, feathers and flying is actually visually implicit in ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing and iconography. The hieroglyph of a feathered bird wing could be used to represent both djnach "wing," and pA "fly." 


It is also interesting to note that pet, pt [pe Coptic] in ancient Egyptian had the meaning "sky, heaven." And the self created Father god who was the personified primordial mound and was named Ptah. His symbolism had to do with both things in the pet "sky," such as the things used for flying (*pet-), such as feathers and wingsas well as the primordial mound / first land, or we could say rock, petra  πέτρα "stone, rock" in Greek. Ptah was at certain time depicted wearing either a feathered or winged tunic. He was a feathered Father or Pater [Latin]. Therefore, in Ptah we retain a connection for both the word elements in English, which are taken from Greek,  ptero-, as in pteranadon, and the petri- in petrous and petrify.

    Ptah Shown with Rocklike  Head and Feathered(Wing) Tunic, Tomb of Tutankamun, Guilded wood, faience and glass., 1321-1343 BC, 18th Dynasty, Valley of the Kings

The etymology of the name Icarus is unknown. Some sources say that the name Ikaros might come from the Greek word meaning "follower".  This doesn't make a lot of sense if you consider how he did NOT follow his father or his father's instructions. However, it might make sense if you think about sunflowers,  Helianthus annus. They are followers of the sun. There is, in fact, a yellow variety of sunflower named 'Icarus'.

    Yellow Sunflower - a Vicar of the Sun

So, maybe Icarus was a follower like a flower and not a follower, as in, someone who does what he is told. The sunflower (sunfollower) seems to follow the sun out of a love for the warmth and sunlight that the sun radiates. Followers can be thought of as subservient and subordinate, or imitators without their own ideas. Or, a follower may be an adherent to certain teachings, or a way of being, and may be, even, a free spirit, like you might expect a follower of the Sun to be; someone who desires to be powerful and free, like the Sun.

We can say Ikaros fell from heaven when he followed the sun too closely and the keros (wax) melted from his wings. He fell into the sea and there he sleeps with the ikthys (ιχθύς "fish").

    Flight of Icarus, Gabriel Picart, Barcelona, Spain, Modern (2004)

Icarus got carried away by the thrill and freedom he experienced when he was able to fly with wings for the first time. He must have felt powerful and invincible, like a god . . . or a son of a god.

Phaeton actually was a son of a god. He was the son of Helios.

    Phaeton or Helios/Sol/Sun driving the chariot of the Sun, c. 435 B.C.

In this passage from Isaiah we see the fallen shining one, like Phaeton.
How you are fallen (nephal Hebrew) from heaven, O Day Star (Lucifer in Vulgate "light bringer," helel in Hebrew "shining one"), son of Dawn! How you are cut to the ground, you who laid the nations low! Isaiah 14:12
Phaeton  Φαέθων means "shining" from Ancient Greek phainó φαίνω "shine, shed light, appear." He fell from the sky when he daringly attempt to fly his father's (the Sun, Helios Ηλιος) chariot, across the sky and Zeus struck him down because he was scorching the earth.


    Dominique Lefevre 1698-1711, The Fall of Phaeton[The Fall of "Shinning One"], Victoria  and Albert Museum, London

Here Phaeton lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though he greatly failed, more greatly he dared. epitaph on Phaeton's tomb, Ovid, (Metamorphoses 2.325)

Phaeton is also the name given to a son of Dawn, the goddess Eos in Greek, Aurora Latin.

It is an interesting comparison, then, that Jesus, the Son of God, the light of the world John 8:12, who also calls himself the "bright morning star" Rev. 22:16 says, 

    Monstrance with Host and Corpus

"I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" Luke 12:49

Phaeton tried to prove that he was the son of Helios, but could not control the chariot of the sun and almost scorched the earth, and here Jesus speaks about wanting to do the very thing!  However it is a spiritual, not a literal fire. It is baptism, Greek baptizein "to immerse", immersion in the Holy Spirit. 
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I . . . he will will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Matthew 3:11

And, Jesus, like the sun at the solstice, also suffered a fall or death, but rose again after three days, proving himself to be the Son of God. So a fall or death is not always a sign of failure. Just as the grain falls to the ground and "dies," but is reborn.
"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24

There is something to be said for one who dares to do the impossible. And what is more daring and impossible than believing that you are the son of God, and that because of this you can conquer death? Absurd!

    Jesus Superhero Street Art

In Genesis we see the Nephilim are called the offspring of the "sons (bene) of God (Elohim)", they were the "mighty men of renown." Their name, Nephillim, is sometimes translated as "giants".
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God (bene Elohim) came in to the daughters of men (ha'adam), and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men (gibbor) that were of old, the men of renown. Genesis 6:4
Some people connect the name Nephillim to the verb nephal "fall," but there is not agreement upon the etymology or its possible meaning. It is true that these so called "giants" are born, and birthing is sometimes called falling or dropping (thus the term "baby catching"), so these giants did "fall" nephal into this world, even though they are offspring of the so called "sons of God," which seems to be contrasted with the daughters of "the Adam" (i.e., mankind, the people God created out of the earth). We could say they "fall," in that they are brought down to, and even made out of, the earth/ground (adamah) by way of their mothers.

Just because someone is a "giant" or "mighty" does not make him invincible, such as we see with Goliath. Nor even, if one is a king anointed by God, or a son of that king, such as Saul and Jonathan, or any of his army, are they immune to death. In this passage, they are called "the mighty fallen" gibbor nephal.
How the mighty have fallen in the midst of battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places. 2 Samuel 1:25 

It takes more than the half-blood of a "son of God" (like the Nephillim) to make a man immortal. Maybe that is indeed the difference. A son of the adam is filled with adom "red" blood (dam Hebrew) and is mortal, but in the veins of the gods and immortals runs golden ichor

Maybe golden, like the golden color of the oil from fishichthys, that, in past times, was used to light lamps.

    Ichor colored Fish Oil

If Icarus had had ichor in his veins instead of blood, he would not have perished in the sea. Instead, he was mortal and was able to be wounded. 

However, we could say, even though he was not immortal and didn't have ichor for blood, he could have "bled ichor." Ichor is an antiquated term used to refer to the smelly, yellowy, watery discharge from a wound. Fish oil, which is the color of ichor, doesn't smell that great either. I don't know how the ichor of the gods was supposed to smell. I wouldn't think that it would have a bad smell, however, it was said to be deadly toxic to mortals.

Icarus, a.k.a., Vicare to the Etruscans, was no vicar, or substitute for a god, even though he had wings and could fly. We might say as much for many so called vicars of the churches as well. They have their vestments as signs of their spiritual authority, like Icarus donned his wings. However, it is what you do with your power and ability gained through your position that matters. If it is not used well the wings are bound to come off and you will come falling to earth. 
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon (Greek rendering of Babel)
the Great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird . . . Alas! alas! you great city, you mighty[ischuros 
 ίσχυρός] city, Babylon! In one hour your judgement has come." Revelation 18:2,10
Yes, the mighty can fall.
Icharus was not ischuros[strong, mighty] enough and he fell to his death.

However, sometimes, the fall is not the end of the story, but rather, the beginning as with Adam and Eve, or our beginning, being born into the world. To be born into the world as a mortal is a certain fall from grace. However, when we fall we have the chance to rise, with glory proportioned to the size. What happens when one finds himself/herself fallen, into a world of death? The only way out of it is to become like God. And so this is God's desire for us.
"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them in your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:20-26
So, as we step into this new year, after having just made it through a fall [autumn], as we begin to rise toward the light and the heat of the summer sun. Let us remember our mortality, and how it gives us experience as we turn upon the wheel of the year, but let us also remember we are the children of God and we will always rise after the fall. And we are truly one with God and with each other!

    Wheel of Fortune X