My Life: Becoming Esther Mitchell
I know, the title of this sounds odd, as I kick off a new blog segment on Wednesdays called “My Life.” Since I write under my own name, the logical person might say “but you became Esther Mitchell when you were born!” Yes, and no.
Yes, that’s been my name since birth. In my younger years, it was a name I had a love-hate relationship with. Mostly, I loved to hate it. Not many 4-5 year olds like it when they hear “oh, that was my grandmother’s name!” It seemed hopelessly old-fashioned to me, at the time, and I wondered why I couldn’t be a Christine or a Heather, or even a Jessica. Something that could be shortened to a nickname, maybe, or that screamed “young and energetic” instead of “geriatric.” :)
The truth wouldn’t come out for another few years. My name wasn’t a deliberate choice on my parents’ part (whom, until then, I blamed for choosing to do such a terrible thing to me) - it was a random fluke of Fate… Or was it?
Esther is an Old Testament name in the Christian Bible, a prominent figure in Jewish history, and so much more than either of those. Esther is the Hebrew form of the Babylonian Ishtar. It also equates to the Tower in the Tarot. It’s a name surrounded by mystery, power, love and chaos. Small wonder, then, that my life would find such a balance of these things.
I believe it is because of my early unhappiness with my name (which I have since learned to be appropriate and meaningful) that I discovered the art of name divinations - that is, exploring the reasons behind why people were given the names they have. I’ve also learned to appreciate the whimsical nature of the Cosmos, that names just seem to make sense for people, in most cases.
I know there’s someone out there right now who might think I’m crazy for this. The truth, however, is that despite its rather fortune-tellerish description, name divination is actually more mathematical than mysterious. Like its cousin, Numerology, name divination relies on mathematical equations in order to reach logical equations that relate to personality traits established in ancient times. It is an art has remained viable for thousands of years, and like many ancient sciences, I think it’s one that we, as a society, are too quick to pass off.
