A friend of mine defended his doctoral thesis yesterday. As he is a fan of My Little Ponies, I decided to give him a very special present for this occasion: a MLP wearing the Finnish doctoral hat and sword. The idea appealed to me the second I got it, mainly because a certain My Little Pony was an important toy at a certain time in my childhood, and also because I've always been interested in creating miniature items.
As a child my pony enthusiasm was based on the appearance only (combined with the concept of horses, which symbol freedom for me and perhaps did already back then). I never read the My Little Ponies comic or watched the cartoon (neither were available for me at that time), so I didn't know the "real" name and background story of The Most Beautiful Thing in the World. With the current project, I learned that the pony in question was Trickles, an Earth Pony with the background story of having a magic watering can which produced tulips when water was sprayed from it. The pony came with a comb and a brush and I remember spending hours (at least it felt like it) just brushing and arranging its mane and tail. Here the pony is at my hands on my 6th birthday:
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| The Perfect Gift. |
My pony was one of the generation one ponies, and currently were running at generation four, says Wikipedia. The series now has nine main characters, and choosing the pony for this project at the supermarket I landed with Rarity, with the decision based purely on its colors, which I though would go nicely with the hat and sword. The box also informed me that "Rarity gives fashion advice." Adding scientific advice to this seemed like a good second career option for Rarity, so I decided to go with her. ;)
As mentioned earlier, the PhD symbols in Finland are a doctoral hat and a doctoral sword. The doctoral hat is a black top hat, although the color can vary according to the discipline of the carrier. So can the golden symbol, with most wearing the golden lyre surrounded by a laurel-garland, which is the symbol of the Student Union of University of Helsinki and also found in most Finnish high school graduation hats or student caps. The reason for this is historical: until 1917 the matriculation exam of Finnish high schools was also the entrance exam to The Imperial Alexander University of Finland, currently known as University of Helsinki (and previously known as the Royal Academy of Åbo and the Imperial Academy of Turku - the university was transferred from Turku to Helsinki in 1828). The hat itself is a symbol of freedom and its round shape reminds the doctor that (s)he shoud give clear and natural answers to questions, avoiding unnecessary detail.
The doctoral sword is a civil sword designed by the Finnish classical artist Akseli Gallén-Kallela, and it symbolizes truth. With the hat of freedom and the sword of truth the new doctor will then proceed to defend the ethos of knowledge, as an equal member of the scientific community. The right to carry these items does not come with the degree only: one must attend the conferment ceremony, which lasts for three days and includes ceremonies as well as dinners and dancing. The ceremony is held by each university or faculty every three or four years, so one might have to wait a few years after graduation to be able to attend. The ceremony is also available for graduated Masters, and I am planning to attend one in May 2014.
After all these fine and grand ideas it is now time to get back to the original topic: the present of future Dr E.P., PhD. I am happy to say both the hat (made by me) and the sword (made by my boyfriend) turned out great.
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| Dr Rarity, PhD. Gives scientific and fashion advice! |
