Posted by Jeanne Rose, playing hostess on Friday, 12 June 1998, at 2:01 p.m.

Hey Mimi! Throw on those steaks, the coals are ready! I'll take mine medium rare, please. Wow, the smell is making my stomach growl already!

MacKinney, did you bring that salad and the CD's? Bright Girl, I think I've got enough strawberries to make a pie, and the Danish dessert is ready - did you bring
the pecans and the whipped cream and the cream cheese?

Anybody else want to join? Come on over, and bring something scrumptious (and here, you don't have to be a good cook, you just have to be able to describe your offering in mouth-watering terms :). Then we'll have a look at my latest little thought on the HL universe, and you can tell me what you think.

OK, Everybody got a full plate? The sunset is gorgeous, and the lilacs are blooming nicely, adding a lovely fragrance to the air. The fire is crackling in the
background, the stream is gurgling to itself, and the crickets are starting to chirp. My, the weather has been lovely, hasn't it? The perfect summer evening. Everybody comfortable? OK, here goes:

I wish I could start by showing you four pictures. Since I can't, picture them in your mind instead.

First, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod in all his Scottish glory - in his kilt, with his father's sword, prepared for battle against whatever evil may threaten
those he loves, wearing an expression of dignity and honor that makes us proud to call him Our Noble Hero.

Second, Duncan MacLeod in black martial arts pants, no shirt, katana in hand, doing kata in the dojo, skin glistening, his face intense with the inner strength that
comes from the disciplines he holds himself to.

Third, Duncan MacLeod in native American costume - leather, with fringes, that blue-beaded pendant around his neck, hair in braids, his face at peace, still from
within.

Fourth, Duncan MacLeod in stunning black formal wear, hair back in a ponytail, head tilted a little as he listens appreciatively to the beginning of an opera.

No, that was not just a verbal fru-fest. What do these four images have in common? They represent four basic cultural roots of Duncan's character.

It has been said that one of the defining features of Duncan's life has been his constant travels. Many immortals seem to stay in one place, in one culture, but Duncan
has moved around a lot in four hundred years. However, there have been a few places were he has "gone native" so to speak - made the culture part of himself,
internalized the value systems he found there.

These cultures serve as the source of much of what Duncan is, what he feels deeply about, how he makes decisions, and where he turns in a crisis.

First of all, Scotland. Duncan's deepest roots are entrenched in rocky Highland soil. On his father's deathbed his mother gave him back his name, and with it the
central core of his identity. Sean Burnes pointed out that he was raised to lead and protect a clan, and still views the world that way. His instinctive need to destroy
evil in order to protect others from it is one of Duncan's chief motivating forces. Some of his hardest lessons were learned in the Scottish wars, lessons about killing
and death, honor and courage, hatred and revenge. And when Methos wants to get through to the true Duncan overpowered by Coltec's quickening, he brings him
his father's sword, and with it (and the help of the holy spring) he is able to master the evil of a dark quickening. Scotland will always be his home.

Secondly, the far east, specifically Japan and Mongolia. Duncan actually didn't spend that much time in that part of the world, but it seems to have been at a critical
point in his development. He had reached immortal adolescence, in a sense, and when Hideo Koto and then May-Ling Shen taught him the way of the eastern
warrior, their teachings sunk deep into his soul. The fact that Hideo sacrificed his life to teach Duncan these things caused him to hold them in even greater respect.
There is a Chinese saying that when an egg, which originally contains white and yellow - symbolic of European and Asian cultures - is mixed together, only the yellow remains. In other words, when a European comes in contact with an Asian culture and makes it a part of him, he's never quite European again.

As an immortal, Duncan must of necessity live by the sword, but his martial arts training clearly means more to him than a way to keep his head. Much of his
spirituality comes from it - kata is not only sword practice but also a discipline, a sense of balance, an inner strength. Duncan followed a lot of his eastern training
when teaching Richie, from details like shoes at the edge of the mat to deciding when it is time for a pupil to leave his teacher. And when Duncan was tricked into
taking Richie's head, where did he flee but to a Buddhist monastery. And he found the peace he needed to defeat Ahriman through kata.

Thirdly, the Lakota Indians and the American frontier in general. When Duncan left Europe, he told Darius that he hoped to leave behind the deeply rooted hatreds
of Europe. When he joined Little Deer's tribe he told her he was at peace for the first time in his life. The native American way of life - living in harmony with the
land, respecting the - must have appealed to him greatly.

His peace was shattered when his village was destroyed, but rather than return to Europe, he withdrew to a cabin on holy ground, protected by the Old Ones, which he still maintains as a refuge from the game and the world. Immortal Carl taught him the ways of the land, how to track and hunt, and when Tessa was kidnaped he
had no trouble pealing off the layers of civilization and going back to the frontiersman. Duncan stayed in frontier America for quite a few years, and seemed very
much at home there. His first words after killing Richie were a Lakota chant, and native American tradition played a part in his mourning rituals.

Fourth, France. Looking at the timeline, it seems that Duncan has spent a considerable amount of time in France. And in contrast to his time in the Americas, in
Europe he tends to mingle with the upper classes of society. It was Kristen who first taught Duncan about fine clothing, wine, art, and music, and despite her ulterior
motives, he has made good use of her teachings. He deals in antiques. He attends and listens to opera. He is at home in Tessa's world of art galleries and
photography exhibitions. He cooks gourmet food on the barge. And he looks simply stunning in a tux. (Sorry, I had to add that.)

Now, as a contrast, consider Duncan's time in India. It's tempting to say he "went native" there - he adopted native dress, and didn't view the culture with the eyes of moral superiority that the British did. But he didn't give the native girl up to ritual immolation - his Scottish "protect the innocent" values came through and he rescued
her and fell in love with her. Through the experience he came to understand and appreciate the culture, but he didn't internalize it, didn't make it part of himself.

And so, like Joe, we know who Duncan is, where he comes from, what he stands for. We know many of the experiences that have shaped his character, how the
cultures that he has come in contact with have become a part of him. We can make reasonable judgments about how he will respond in a given situation, and know
some of the things he can fall back on when he's in trouble.

Now, what got me started on this whole thing was that we haven't hardly got a clue of what cultures have shaped Methos. Perhaps he has been a part of so many
they have simply blended together until no one is recognizable. Perhaps he's been hiding so long and is such a good chameleon that even he doesn't know where the
mask ends and he begins. All we know are tidbits - Rome, his time with Byron, and in New Orleans. The only thing we can even guess much at is his time with the
Horsemen, and how it still affects him. All we know of him is what we have actually seen him do in the last three years. But there are always more layers, always
surprises. Maybe that's why I want to see those Methos Chronicles!

So, well. There you have it. Any thoughts?

(The Forum just got purged, I see, so hopefully this will last a while!)