Enchanted forest:
In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common, and occur throughout the centuries to modern works of fantasy. They represent places unknown to the characters, and situations of liminality and transformation. The forest can feature as a place of threatening danger, or one of refuge, or a chance at adventure.
Medieval romance
The figure of an enchanted forest was taken up into chivalric romances; the knight-errant would wander in a trackless forest in search of adventure. As in the fairy tales, he could easily find marvels that would be disbelieved closer to home. John Milton wrote in Paradise Regained (Bk ii. 359) of “Fairy damsels met in forest wide / By knights of Logres, or of Lyones,” and such ladies could be not only magical aid to the knight, but ladies for courtly love.
Queer Research:
The rainbow flag has become the easily-recognized colors of pride for the gay community. The multicultural symbolism of the rainbow is nothing new — Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition also embraces the rainbow as a symbol of that political movement. The rainbow also plays a part in many myths and stories related to gender and sexuality issues in Greek, Native American, African, and other cultures.
The labrys is a double-sided hatchet or axe commonly used in ancient European, African, and Asian matriarchal societies as both a weapon and a harvesting tool. Greek artwork depicts the amazon armies of Europe wielding labrys weapons. Amazons ruled with a dual-queen system in which one queen was in charge of the army and battle, and the other queen stayed behind to administer the conquered cities. Amazons were known to be ferocious and merciless in battle, but once victorious they ruled with justice. Today, the labrys is a lesbian and feminist symbol of strength and self-sufficiency.
Also, the labrys played a part in ancient mythology. Demeter, the goddess of the earth, used a labrys as her scepter. Rites associated with the worship of the Demeter, as well as Hecate (the goddess of the underworld), are believed to have involved lesbian sex.
Like many aspects of queer culture, it’s not surprising that lavender’s unique color symbolism often skirts under the radar, especially when it comes to mainstream society.
In Western culture it started life as a color of desire, thanks to the lyric genius of 7th century BC poet Sappho, whose papyrus fragments told of her erotic predilections for younger women with “violet tiaras.” Fast forward a few centuries, and in the 1920s, violets were still drawing together members of the lesbian community, who gifted the delicate flowers as an expression of sapphic interest.
Flower: Lavender
‘Lavender boy’ has been a derogatory term for gay men since the 1920s, with any man showing femme (or not-quite-hetero) characteristics described as having a ‘streak of lavender’.
The use of this flower as a symbol is thought to come from the purple colour of the plant, since this vibrant lavender is the colour you would get if you mixed pink and baby blue, both culturally positioned as ‘gendered’ colours.
Today lavender roses are sometimes shared with LGBT+ partners on Valentine’s Day or when celebrating a same sex marriage.
Flower: Gladioli
Ever since the singer Morrissey burst onto the scene with The Smiths, his sexuality has always been a matter of interest to the British press. Writing sexually-ambiguous songs with themes of love and lust, The Smiths spent a fortune on gladioli for him to hand out at gigs, wave on stage and wear in his back pocket. When asked about the meaning of the flowers, he explained that “flowers are simply innocent and beautiful and have never caused strife for anyone”.
Unicorn
It’s wise to bring up the ever-changing nature of the unicorn. Did you know that the creature started off being described as having the feet of an elephant and the body of a lion? This is seen in many Latin books that had strived to describe the mythological. Of course, the old description doesn’t have a lot to do with modern depictions of the unicorn.
But even today they appear in a crazy variety of colors and styles – from pink to black, some with lithe bodies and some with muscular physiques, and some even with wings (although those are called Alicorns). The drawings people do of all these different unicorns, gosh! I could scroll through them for hours!
This fluidity between forms resonates with a lot of the LGBT+ community who don’t conform to the gender binary. While it might have been normalized to think of gender as either male or female, this is not true for all. Like the unicorn’s changing form, there are many gender identities that fall under the LGBT+ banner.
Another version of why the unicorn resonates with the LGBT+ community is that it started out as a symbol of masculinity. The unicorn adorned royal heraldic symbols under which men rode into battles and entered glorious tournaments.
The LGBT+ Feeling as Mythical as the Unicorn
The mythical status of the unicorn is also a large part of why the LGBT community connects with them. Especially bisexual people, who receive erasure from both outside and inside the community. They take on the symbol of the unicorn almost in jest. They also feel like they sometimes don’t exist to the outside world. In fact, now that I think about it, this is also why the LGBT+ love all kinds of mermaids and selkies as well!
Most importantly, the mysterious and hidden nature of the unicorn reflects the sense of otherness LGBT+ folks feel. Facing the challenge of walking the tightrope between their identities and societal norms. The ever-changing and elusive unicorn is a perfect symbol for these inner struggles.
In my VR experience:
The rainbow is a common pattern/theme in my experience.
I have also added blue flowers to represent blue gladiolis.
The lavender color as well more colors from all the queer flags are used as color palette for the design of the VR environment and gameobjects.
The labrys is used in one interaction in the experience.
The theme of love is persistent throughout the VR experience.
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/lgbtq-lavender-symbolism-pride/index.html
https://www.rainbowdepot.com/lgbt-symbols.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchanted_forest