[ELEMENT] OPPOSITE of Water is NOT Fire/Earth, it is OIL. Yes, Oil.

[OIL, BLOOD, Water]

Ice is a distinct element in ASOIF to Water. In other words, Ice does NOT = Water in the ASOIF universe. 

The scene in episode 5 at Hardhome supports this - notice none of the White Walkers/wights follow Jon & Co. into the water. What happens when a being of Ice falls into water? I suspect something similar as when they are stabbed with Obsidian/Valyarian-Steel -> They melt. 

When you drop an ice cube into water, the water melts the ice. The ice does not transform the liquid water into ice.

 

So if Fire is not the opposite of Water, what is? 

Oil.

Yes, Oil. That greasy thing you use to cook. The the untrained eye, certain color-less/transparent oils look almost identical to water and flow much the same way. 

That most ancient of substance that flows like liquid water, but is not water. That most arcane of substances that has been used in almost every religious ritual in our world and Planetos, but is often forgotten about. First, some basic biology. 

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1. Oil flows through your veins in the form of Free-Fatty Acids. The human skin is built from 2 things: Fat (Free-Fatty Acids/Essential Fatty Acids) and Protein. Your bones are primarily calcium and bone marrow (essential fatty acids.) so even your bone is made of fat. 

Did you know that you do not need to eat a single Carbohydrate (Sugar) to survive, but if you do not consume ANY fat, you will die? Your body is built of fat and protein, but it does not use carbohydrates as a structural material. It uses carbs as a temporary source of energy in the form of glucose, but there is no part of your body that is made of glucose. Only fat and protein. 

-1 gram of Fat = 9 calories (2.25x as much energy as sugar or protein)
-1 gram of Carb = 4 calories

But before you die, your hair will fall out and your skin will become scaly, kind of like Doreah in the desert. 
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/nutritional-disorders/undernutrition/essential-fatty-acid-deficiency

In some societies, humans consume the brains of other animals. In India, chilled monkey brain is considered a delicacy. The taste of brain is considered "fishy" because the brain is almost all Omega-3 fatty acids (the same kind as when you go to the store and buy "Omega-3 fish oil." 

2. Oil floats on top of water, and water+Oil do not mix. They are Polar-Opposites, like Sun and Moon

This is mostly common knowledge, but if you pour some oil into a glass of water, the oil will rise to the top (Conquer) and rest there. 

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3. What is Blood, then?

Blood is a mixture of Water + Oil(Free-Fatty Acids) and Red-Blood Cells.

Blood is something IN-BETWEEN Oil and Water.  --> A{OIL}A{BLOOD}B{WATER}B

Cholesterol (also called Lipo-protein = Fat-containing Proteins) packages fat in a special protein that allows it to travel through the watery-medium of the veins to where it needs to go. If each duality is to have a fulcrum/balancing point in the center, the duality of Oil-Water would have blood in the center. A form that has used both Water and Oil to stabilize itself. 

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4. Anointing Oils

The most popular figure in our world that has been blessed by oil is of course,  Yeshua Hamaschiach Adonai (or Jesus Christ).
"Christos" means The Anointed One. The oil that Jesus was anointed with was most likely Olive Oil, but may also have been Hemp Oil. The oil was poured over his head and hair. The symbolism of oil-use in the Old and New Testaments is clear, but not the focus of this post. 

Just be aware that all ancient cultures valued oil greatly. Oil can be used as a disinfectant, or to cook with or as a salve for injuries. In a world without bandaids, soap, mouthwash or dentists, you may be lucky to have some naturally antimicrobial peppermint oil on hand when you get a toothache. 
If you've ever had your wisdom teeth come in, you may ALREADY be aware of the miracle that is Clove Oil. (I wish when my first wisdom tooth came in I knew about clove oil, so I wouldn't have been in bed for a whole day crying my fucking brains out at the intense searing pain. Wisdom tooth my ass, they should be called Wildfire-Teeth because I imagine that's what wildfire feels like on the skin.)
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5. Ritual Oils on Planetos.

Now, on to the real stuff with textual evidence. Oils on Planetos are used for 3 reasons: 
-RELIGION
-COMBAT
-SEX

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Catelyn had been anointed with the seven oils and named in the rainbow of light that filled the sept of Riverrun.

Ned said. He had a swatch of oiled leather in one hand. He ran it lightly up the greatsword as he spoke, polishing the metal to a dark glow. “I was glad for Bran’s sake. You would have been proud of Bran.” “I am always proud of Bran,” Catelyn replied, watching the sword as he stroked it. She could see the rippling deep within the steel, where the metal had been folded back on itself a hundred times in the forging. Catelyn had no love for swords, but she could not deny that Ice had its own beauty. It had been forged in Valyria, before the Doom had come to the old Freehold, when the ironsmiths had worked their metal with spells as well as hammers. Four hundred years old it was, and as sharp as the day it was forged. The name it bore was older still, a legacy from the age of heroes, when the Starks were Kings in the North. 

Catelyn 1, AGOT

I wonder what these 7 oils are. If I had to guess, based on what common anointing oils we use in the real-world:

1. Olive
2. Hemp/Cannabis
3. Frankincense
4. Myrrh
5. Palm
6. Cedar
7. Pine 
Rose and Mint are other possibilities, but Rose oil is extremely, extremely costly to produce. 1 million rose petals = 1 drop of rose oil. In addition, I suspect the "Red Sap" that seeps from the Weirwood trees is also an essential oil. Palm oil is also naturally red.

When men have sex, they often use lubricant. The Penis/Sword references in ASOIF are endless and it makes sense that Ned would be "oiling his sword" and Catelyn watches "the sword as he stroked it." being a sexual allegory. Before KY Jelly and lube was invented, people would use oils as lubricant during sex.

The point is, a man oiling his sword is an ancient ritual that has parallels in both the bedroom and in combat. 

Barbery Dustin to Theon, describing losing her virginity to Brandon Stark:

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He would have served up my maidenhead to any Stark who happened by, but there was no need. Brandon was never shy about taking what he wanted. I am old now, a dried-up thing, too long a widow, but I still remember the look of my maiden’s blood on his cock the night he claimed me. I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing, yes. 

Barbery Dustin, ADWD

 

 

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They filled her bath with hot water brought up from the kitchen and scented it with fragrant oils.

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Gemstones glittered on every finger, and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold. “May the Lord of Light shower you with blessings on this most fortunate day, Princess Daenerys,” the magister said as he took her hand. He bowed his head, showing a thin glimpse of crooked yellow teeth through the gold of his beard. “She is a vision, Your Grace, a vision,” he told her brother. “Drogo will be enraptured.”

Daenerys 1, AGOT

Daenerys is Jesus Chris here, being symbolically ANOINTED with oils. She is being prepared for her betrayal, her brother (Judas/Viserys) is offering her as a sacrifice or offering to Khal Drogo (Pilate). 

The bathwater is being balanced by the use of sweet-smelling oils and it is Dany who is in the middle - Dany is the symbolic Blood between Water and Oil. 

Illyrio oiling his beard is quite arrogant in this context, he seems to think himself some sort of anointed being, and the Forked-Beard brings up images of Satan or the devil and his forked horns. 

"Like Real Gold" reminds me of the famous line from Lord of the Rings "All that glitters is not gold." Implying that Illyrio's visage is a mummer's farce. He is a con artist who drapes himself in gold and oils, so that his divinity is obvious to those who would be fooled by such costumes. 

Drogo being "Enraptured" implies a Rapture (Summoning a Deity to Punish the Wicked, and only the worthy being taken up into the Heavens.) I wonder if Illyrio believes himself to be some sort of Priest, who will bring on the Rapture quickly, using Daenery's blood. The giving away of the bride (Bedding ceremony) has parallels in Westeros and some sort of ritual is occurring here, hidden in plain sight, hence the oil and hot bath. Why should a Dothraki horselord, covered in dust and horse dung, care about how clean his wife is? I'm skeptical that Drogo took a bath before coming to meet Dany. 

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The streets of Pentos were pitch-dark (Pitch is a type of oily black tar used in shipbuilding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(resin)) when they set out in Illyrio’s elaborately carved palanquin. Two servants went ahead to light their way, carrying ornate oil lanterns with panes of pale blue glass, while a dozen strong men hoisted the poles to their shoulders. It was warm and close inside behind the curtains. Dany could smell the stench of Illyrio’s pallid flesh through his heavy perfumes.

There is a LOT of color symbolism in the ritual that Illyrio is forcing Dany and Viserys to go through. Illyrio seems to be aware of all the Elemental Forces on Planetos and is paying respect to them by giving away Dany, the Moon, to Khal Drogo, the Sun. 

-Pale Blue Glass = Winter Roses/Ice
-Lanterns = Fire = Red/Targaryen Red

-Pitch-Dark = Black (House of Black & White)
-Pallid Flesh = White (House of Black & White

-Pitch/Tar = Oil
-Lanterns = Oil
-Perfumes = Oil
(Musk/Essential-Oils (Most perfumes were made of plant extracts also called "essential oils." )

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The man behind him is Ser Jorah Mormont.” The last name caught Daenerys. “A knight?” “No less.” Illyrio smiled through his beard. “Anointed with the seven oils by the High Septon himself.”

Dany 1 AGOT

Illyrio fancies himself a God-On-Earth. Like the God-On-Earth from Yi Ti legends. Like the God-on-Earth, he travels in a palanquin and his Pearl/White-colored skin reminds us of the Moon traveling across the Pitch-Dark, black sky. Illyrio is re-enacting some sort of cosmic cinema here, except Dany is the Moon or the Maiden-Made-of-Light (Starlight/Moonlight?) and she is travelling the dark streets of Pentos (the Night Sky) and is instead being carried by several Eunuch-Slaves.

Illyrio is a ****ing megalomaniac, he literally believes himself to be some sort of deity that is controlling events, both divine and natural. Euron is not the most evil character in ASOIF, Illyrio is. 

The only thing that gives me pause is the "hundred queens, his wives line." We know Illyrio lost his beloved once, but he does have a small army of eunuchs (Emasculated Men = Women for many. Even in our world, there are many who consider homosexual men the equivalent of women. Cersei compares herself to eunuch Varys several times, because they both lack a cock. Eunuchs = Queens?)

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The God-on-Earth was the legendary first ruler of the mythic Great Empire of the Dawn. According to the tales told by the priestly scribes of Yin, he was the only begotten son of the Maiden-Made-of-Light and the Lion of Night, and traveled about his domains in a palanquin carved from a single pearl and carried by a hundred queens, his wives. He ruled for ten thousand years, until at last he ascended to the stars to join his forebears. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the Pearl Emperor.^[1]

 

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The Oil-Water connection is INCOMPLETE. This topic is a work in progress. More will be added as I skim through the chapters.

 

[hiemal]

I think you are definitely on to something with the significance of oils and chrisms and I salute you for thinking outside the box.

I'm not sure how I feel it as an element on its own and not a state of an element (like water and ice) or a hybrid (like magma as a hybrid between fire and earth).

I'll be pondering it.

[SerLinginBerry]

I drink your milkshake. SLUUUUUUUURRRRRRP!!! I drink it up!