#1 one is my sephirah

[talonabraxas]

"Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." —Isaiah 6

Seraphim by Talon Abraxas

(Hebrew שרפים, plural of שרף) A word that comes from the Hebrew root Saraph meaning “to burn.” Seraphim literally means “the burning ones.” This word is used differently by various traditions. Manly P. Hall suggests the name is related to the Egyptian Serapis.

1. According to the Kabbalah, Seraphim is a very awakened, pure being related to the sephirah Geburah.

2. According to Christianity, a Seraphim is the highest type of angel, related to the sephirah Kether.

[metthewwilliams]

sketches for my dear lovely girlfriend(1) and my friend oxygen cake(2-3)!! <3

Netzach and my sephirah

and unfinished argalia💔

I will finish him one day I promise

[aois-amaterasu-painting]

The GazettE symbolism analysis - part 3 - black, red and 13 stairs

DAWN lyrics translation:

I sing, digging up [memories of] my past I’d loved so completely From within the depths of the void Time stood still while the distorted dark clouds swirled all around I was bound up in innumerable shackles And I want to lose myself in the reality reflected in the chaos around me I’ve already had a lethal dose of misfortune The ruined gallows towers above me Overcast sky, Counting song, the sound of approaching footsteps Wild party with emotions running high A merry-go-round of deepest red unfurled That day was the beginning of it all 13 stairs foretell the metamorphosis

Moving past my momentary confusion, these roiling emotions rise up Hung up high on that 13th stair The beautiful answer redefined becomes the new dogma I was bound up in innumerable shackles And I want to lose myself in the reality reflected in the chaos around me I’ve already had a lethal dose of misfortune The ruined gallows towers above me Overcast sky, Counting song, the sound of approaching footsteps Wild party with emotions running high A merry-go-round of deepest red unfurled Accompanied by the end of  peace I lay my hands on the blackened altar Wild party with emotions running high A merry-go-round of deepest red unfurled That day was the beginning of it all 13 stairs foretell the metamorphosis An evil spell my life

So I was watching DOGMA preview vid and DAWN featured the Scarlet woman from the 13th anniversary teaser. That's why I got interested in the lyrics. The one frame where she is going up the stairs is the most significant and sums up the whole song. (The text is the song lyrics but translated with google lens).

Now this is 13 STAIRS[-]1 performed in Venomous Cell finale (2012). It left a massive impression on me because Ruki used this 7 pointed star (Star of Babalon) background. I couldn't figure out the exact connection from her to the song at the time, but I see it now. 13 stairs have been his symbol for the whole thing all along. Also from Venomous Cell:

The hexagram has been a recurring symbol throughout DOGMA and the Mother of God statue is very reminiscent of the NINTH cover, except NINTH cover is red + green specifically. Scarlet red is the colour of Babalon (I talked more about it in the 1st part of the analysis) and emerald green is associated with Daleth and Venusian sephirah Netzach.

The Reita pick saying CATALYST is very interesting. A catalyst is something that initiates or accelerates an (al)chemical reaction or transformation. His is the only 1 in full NINTH colors. Uruha with white/red, Aoi with black/green - the yin yang guitars + goddess colors.

Seeing these picks made me think the 3 songs composed by Uruha (99.999, The Mortal, Babylon's Taboo) are the 3 Red goddess songs. (Fun fact: I was googling Netzach for the preceding paragraph and came across this sentence "The sephirah of Netzach stands firm forever and never regrets. Netzach is not a mortal who fears death and would feel regret in the face of death" and I was like... That's.. a song title.. The song meaning seems to be about the Red goddess slipping away especially if you look at how it was performed in NINTH final)

(the hand is so reminiscent of Babylon's taboo, except then she actually goes into the heart - link to my post about this)

DAWN - 20th anniversary:

Babylon's taboo - 20th anniversary:

13STAIRS[-]1 - Mass Final:

NOX - Mass Final:

Ninth Odd Smell - Mass Final:

NINTH ODD SMELL lyrics translation:

First　「disorder」　is an ignorant blade Heresy raising its middle finger in rebellion Reverberation running rampant heading towards the ninth stair of desire Second    「nil」     the future that tore through the darkness Nameless lights The grim precursor soon becomes Stacked up, wriggling Rubbish Draped in crimson despair crawling from the murky depths A tower of fear and doubt looks down upon the world Poison gripping your voice as the days jumble around you Your heart painfully being sliced to shreds Exhilarating in the feeling of destruction Filled with strange distortions You fight your way to the 13th stair So embrace the black black black darkness [Die] We fucking never die This soul can never die We fucking never die Can’t never die

The beginning of NINTH ODD SMELL is referencing all the previous albums. And the overall meaning of the song sums up the message of all their music.

This is from Stacked Rubbish finale [RCE] 2008:

The Scorpio which they used as a backdrop is a symbol of death and transformation, in astrology it rules the 8th house. 8 was on the cover of that DVD. Ruki doing the Jesus Christ pose has been a constant for years, and that crucified Jesus was shown on the screen for a really long time.

But let's go back to MASS:

These 2 pages from MASS limited edition are quoting NOX. NOX lyrics translation: Sorrowful enough to kill The unquenchable flame burns up Thoughts that cannot be put into words Hold you the answer A color that cannot be yielded Spit out your choking heartbeat Peel off your bloodshot eyeballs I will not hesitate anymore

And these pages have all the members on the red page while their shadows are on the black one. Except for Aoi, the Yin guitar, but his red page is Red circling back to Black. So from black to red and back to black again. Unlike everyone else's who's just simply black to red. And the lyrics book has the negative image of the cover art. They did a similar thing with Dogmatic final poster being white and then the DVD booklet having the negative version of that.

This is the Yin triangle from To Dazzling Darkness live:

When I 1st saw that Yin triangle I knew that they know the Goddess like I know her. That's what made me start looking deeply at what else they are doing with symbolism.

To Dazzling Darkness lyrics translation:

The colors bleed from the landscape You hope you’ll wake from this dream The light Vanishes completely before your eyes Let’s have these hearts Now join together as one

The Sacred Heart represents the long-suffering love and compassion of the heart of Christ towards humanity. (This symbol comes from mystics and not the bible)

They played all 3 - DAWN, NINTH ODD SMELL and 13STAIRS[-]1 at MASS final and they were pretty much the only non MASS songs:

DIE is always shown on screen in red and black when NINTH ODD SMELL is played. It's important to remember it's meant like the symbol of the Death tarot card (associated with Scorpio and number 13) - meaning strong emotions, transformation, major change.

Link to my 13STAIRS[-]1 post Link to my Project: Dark Age post

13th anniversary poster vs MASS final. Both at Nippon Budokan:

Part 1 of the analysis Part 2

[rred-gaze]

Sorry if this is kind of a bother but frankly I'm genuinely quite curious what your thoughts are on Yesod, or like, personal hcs and such! ( Mostly curious since some of your other posts with Verg were very silly! And frankly it's just nice to hear ppl rant abt their fav characters n such )

oh!!! dw i like asks, esp about characters i like :] i made a LONGGG list of hcs for him when he was my #1 blorbo that i added to over the years, i’ll put that and some general thoughts under the cut

headcanons:

-transmasc he/they. super gay also

-can say fuck. chooses not to.

-he’d probably tug at his clothes when he’s nervous (gloves, turtleneck, tie)

-malkuth is his friend! (and taller than him i decide the heights now)

-ROLAND IS HIS FRIEND

-he seems to like moons (moon the the bottom of the department in lob corp, in his ruina symbol, you can see a moon from his platform)

-(based on the moon thing) likes astronomy :)

EDIT: i have learned that in actual kabbalah yesod is known to be the sephirah of lunar consciousness so i think that connection to his character is really cool

-takes good care of his hair it would be silky and sofd <3

-if he ever had long hair he’d put it in a ponytail (turned out to be true: see beta designs in the artbook)

-lob corp yesod would have to wear long gloves if he was ever forced to wear short sleeved shirts

-gets cold easier than others (i know he was a Cube so he wasn’t actually wearing them but a turtleneck under a suit?? if he doesn’t get cold easily he’d be melting :( if it were sleeveless it’d be a bit better but still)

-the sephirot robot forms only have one eye. yesods was on the left. his bangs in ruina are on the right. most of his hair minus the bangs look pretty much the same length so this implies he grew his bangs out on purpose. what if he couldn’t get used to having two again. also he has no depth perception

-got that high intelligence low wisdom. can recite 60 digits of pi but doesn’t know what a handshake is

-what if he has fangs. like a v. like a vip. like a vi

-he likes shiny things...like an crow....give him a coin......

-wakes up at the asscrack of dawn

-you seen his floor? that man likes vaporwave. and also lights in general, i think

-likes tea (also turned out to be true? he’s drinkin some in that one credits cg)

-probably has a small plant in his office, likes gardening a little

-leaves you on read

-clicks his pen when he’s focused, doesn’t notice until someone tells him to stop

-doesn’t really like soda but thinks sprite is okay

-he smells like lavender i think

-doesn’t like when people make a big deal out of his birthday but he appreciates gifts and the like nonetheless

-gets bad caffeine jitters

-he’s a flirty drunk and gets extremely embarrassed about that when he sobers up

-uncomfortable in large groups, he gets overwhelmed if he’s around a lot of people for too long

-hovers around the people he’s closest to if he’s forced to be around a lot of people

-focuses the best if he’s by himself

-malkuth and yesod are siblings because i like them. this also makes elijah and gabriel’s deaths more sad

-yesod can do hair, he learned how to braid because elijah liked having their hair braided when they were younger

-i rotate them being twins and yesod being a natural brunette in my head sometimes

-if he were a snake he’d be a mangrove pit viper or lavender albino king snake i think

-he likes looking out the big tech sciences window to relax

-has a lot of scars across his body from scratching, i personally think he should’ve had his hand scars in ruina

-good with computers but complete shit at video games. he’d know the Lore to games he likes but absolutely cannot play them.

-likes the sound of computer fans and keyboards

-he’s totally autistic

self indulgent

-he seems like he’d get really flustered if you showed him any sort of affection, ESPECIALLY in public. hug him and he short circuits and dies

-if you ever managed to befriend him he seems kinda calming to be around when he’s not pissy. kinda guy you’d sit out in the balcony with in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep in a comfortable silence. might show you constellations if you wanted

-covers his face when he blushes

-would get super red when he’s embarrassed, tries to avoid people and hides away in his office

-touch starved but can’t ask for affection to save his life

-i think he’d show affection with little things yk. puts a blanket on you when you pass out on your desk. he’d probably try to cover it up with professionalism though. like “i noticed you haven’t eaten, think about how that’ll affect your work performance” instead of “eat something i’m worried about you”

-might also just sit near or lean on you

-if he likes you enough he’d be softer and more forgiving

-i personally tend to assign my character fixations flowers for some reason,,,he gets hyssops :) hydrangeas and lavender also make me think about he

jumbled thoughts:

part of the reason i like him so much is because i tend to have a thing for cold/stoic characters who are soft on the inside. yesod is only cold and sharp-tongued because he needs to be in order to succeed in lob corps environment. he doesn’t want to get attached to people. he cares so much that he couldn’t allow himself to feel anything at all, esp in an environment where he’s trying so fucking hard to reduce deaths by setting rules and keeping order but people die every day regardless. not only that, but his job was to destroy information that could potentially save those same people. he gets MAD if you let his employees die because he cares about them.

i also used to try and spread my rolsod agenda all the time, i think their relationship is fun

oh yeah and he’s totally OCD-coded. one thing i’ve always liked about projmoon media is how great their representation of mental illness is. both because it feels very accurate and real and a lot of horror media will just drop in a mentally ill person and go “ooo scary mentally ill person being scary bc they’re mentally ill oooo” but the horror aspect in lob corp is focused more on the horrible things that caused him to act that way. he became obsessed with rules and safety because elijah broke the rules and tested the cogito on herself, leading to her slow and painful death.

just a couple things i find cute about him:

-i know the viper nickname is supposed to be threatening but i think snakes are cute and so is he

-robot form <3

-that hair tuft

-HIS SMILE!!!!!

-his voice is hot okay byey

i don’t talk about yesod as much anymore because i can only have so many men at the forefront of my mind but make no mistake i still adore him

[infjtarot]

7 of Swords. Pastoral Tarot

Element: Air Sephirah: Netzach (Victory), sephirah seven in Yetsirah (Formation) Rider Theme: Contemplation or awareness of action Golden Dawn Title: Unstable Effort Decan: 21-30 degrees Aquarius, ruled by the moon In my notes above, I described the sevens as creativeness, inventiveness, possibilities, and suggested that the Seven of Swords could suggest new, innovative ways of thinking or possibly new plans. The first idea, a way of thinking, describes an ongoing state of being, while the second would describe something more specific. Part of the diviner’s art is to see which aspect of a card will apply in a particular reading. The Pythagorean meaning is both broader and larger. Coming after the harmonic Six, and with the suggestion of a new beginning (as One starts the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, so Seven leads 7, 8, 9, 10), it can mean a genuine breakthrough in a person’s thinking. And with its relation to the seven planetary spheres and the seven chakras, that breakthrough could be on large, meaningful issues, especially spiritual awareness. Paul Huson suggests that the Rider image might derive from the Sola-Busca, for the image shows a young man sneaking off with swords. One big difference is that the Rider character does not carry all of them, giving the sense of an impulsive action that is incomplete or not a real solution. This goes along with the Golden Dawn meaning “unstable effort,” leading to “partial success.” To most people, the Rider figure appears smirking, as if very pleased with himself. The sneakiness, and the excited smirk, have led some readers to see it as indicating a secret sexual affair. The Seven of Birds in the Shining Tribe is one of the most significant cards in the Minor Arcana. Whereas the Rider character seems to consult no one, the two figures in the Birds card engage in intense communication. The dotted line between them shows that each retains his identity yet each speaks passionately. I did not design this with Netzach in mind, but the sephirah evokes Venus, planet of love, and in love we all need to communicate our most powerful emotions. When I asked the cards, “Show me the reading you gave God to create the universe,” the Seven of Birds was the first card, suggesting that God needed to create a universe to have someone to talk to. (The entire reading can be found in my book Forest of Souls.) Readings—Again, various meanings. Dynamic, exciting thinking; intellectual or conceptual breakthroughs, possibly spiritual. Intense communication. Alternatively, an impulsive or clever action that may not solve a problem. Possibly a sexual affair. Rachel Pollack

[aria0fgold]

Hi, I'm Aria! Am now 24 years old >:3

'tis me ^ (old art but it's all I got. resized to tiny. as I am.)

'tis me too ^ (new art yay! resized as tiny once again.)

Any pronouns okay! I don't mind really! I use she/her for myself :3

Am writer!!! Aria0fGold in ao3 too, and a beginner artist! I have many interests :D But I'm currently hyperfixated on two, OMORI and Mahoutsukai no Yakusoku (Mahoyaku/mhyk for short). You're gonna see me talk a lot bout em.

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List of My OMORI AUs ehe

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Other interests are:

Detective Conan (Conan my disastrous son...)

Project Sekai (Emu is a sweetheart of a daughter and Akito is a rebellious son whose white knight card never came home)

AI: The Somnium Files (Mizuki and Iris are my daughters now and I will follow Boss to the ends of the world)

Pokemon (My childhood, only played up to B/W2 though and pmd sky? + the time one. It's been years since then)

TWEWY (Neku was a jerk but he was my jerk of a son and you're doing good sweetie)

Honkai Impact 3rd (Rarely play it now but Seele and Veliona are my daughters, Elysia and Eden are my queens)

Genshin Impact (Barely play it now too but Qiqi, Noelle, and Yoimiya are my daughters. And I hate Childe[lovingly])

Honkai Star Rail (Active in it, Asia server ehe. Seele all grown up now, proud of her. I hate Luocha and Kafka[lovingly])

And many more!!! Those are the ones I can list off the top of my head but there's lots more, like other anime, games, manga, manwha, manhua, songs (Mili)!

I love OCs too! I love anyone's OCs! I have a lot of OCs but you'll sometimes see me talking about mainly 5 (Alec, Ray, Water, Sephirah, Mel) + 1, the plus one is my OMORI OC that I've been neglecting for a while, sorry bout that Patch, dear.

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A list of my tags! I need this myself too:

aria rants - for when I talk about nearly anything

aria rbs - for reblogs (aria srb for self reblog)

ariart - for my art! :3

arianswer - for when I answer asks!

ariau - for my AUs! It's mainly OMORI AUs though!

ariawrites - for the very rare writing I put out

ariafic - for posting links of fics that I've written :D

ariaplays: [name of game here] - for when I live blog some of my reactions for a game I'm playing, used it for aistf! (ariaplays: aistf, the tag for it basically)

There's more, I'm sure there's more, but I can't remember them... But those are the main ones I use anyway so that's fine!

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Some more stuff about me:

Can be very talkative, I like rambling in the tags a lot, I put many additional thoughts there ehe.

I adore Omori (character) a lot, he is the bestest ever. And I adore Cain Knightley very much, and Owen, and I am a caiowe/owecai shipper (they make me insane)

There's multiple ships that I like in OMORI. I like photobomb, as well as sunflower, and kel/basil (I failed you both I'm sorry I don't know your shipname), suntan, sunny/aubrey (I failed em too, I'm sorry my brain aint braining well with remembering shipnames). Even the polycule ships are nice too. And heromari, of course :D

Feel free to send me asks! or dms! or tag me! I don't mind really, I like interacting with people. But at the same time I can be an awkward bunny that also doesn't know how to interact with people... unless you're a mutual, you'll be seeing me a lot then >:3

It's a surprise really how I managed to have mutuals, I love yall <3

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Aaannndd that's a wrap! Might edit this in the future to add more or something but I'm satisfied with this for now! Thank you for reading and have a nice day ehe! :3

[uniquezombiedestiny]

10, 24, 7, 1

for owen and vera :3

1. What memory would your OC rather just forget?

vera - hmmm... the million memories of her friends deaths. whether they be corrosion, abnos, mechanical failures, or like. really anything in the corp. anything could kill you. she's probably learned to be vigilant all the time bc of it, and hates the paranoia she's developed (even if death is meaningless, it still hurts :()

owen - t589. what do you mean only one? thats all one to me

actually i got it. when he has to escape breaches in t589 with bella. they were terrifying + in retrospect just. fucked up as hell, considering a) owen and bella were kids and b) sometimes the breaches were corroded kids. not to mention the more gory ones and the memories of bella just losing her shit/breaking down/etc etc. same goes for him ofc, but he'd rather forget seeing bellas pain more.

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

vera - her hair! it began as 2 buns, then became the pigtails. they always had those little tails though. + the estra back hair she has sometimes wasnt there originally

owen - he and bella used to not be siblings until around like d25 where i noticed they were similar (hair color and ppodae gift), now its a big part of their stories

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

vera - oooohh... maybe a sephirah au. ive been thinking of it a bit but i think itd be genuinely inch resting to see how they react to their new circumstances (robot body, new job, cant die, The Horrors). she does have one already but she's not very developed so. yeah. and ofc she'd take malkuths place.

owen - slaps him into dnd. go, my boy. cause a tpk

but i think thatd be pretty interesting. he and bella would be half-elves or humans corrupted by some kinda monster like they had been originally. would make for some interesting attacks and combat. and The Lore :3 and party interactions too.... man. dnd is fun

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

vera - not leaving the index, and becoming a proselyte or messenger. she'd wind up like her mother - someone whose empathy and stubbornness and such - the fire in them - being curbed in order to survive the index, with regrets she cant pursue. stuck in a middle ground until something breaks - she either gives into the index and loses herself, or gives up on the index and dies/leaves/etc. if she left, she'd likely join an office and become a fixer from her previous experience.

owen - not joining t589 and never getting into l corp (vera doesnt either in this scenario but still). they'd have to fend for themselves on the backstreets, which is. hard as fuck i assume. they'd turn out more ordinary, working whatever jobs they can to get into the nest. either that or they'd join an office or syndicate - maybe turning to one to survive.

[fefeman]

Overview of Library of ruina Mods : Part II

See the 1st one here

So as I continued to work on my school project, I kept getting and testing mods of LoR during the lunch break. Here's a few new one I tested.

I'll be taking captures from Alyssciel to make this post, do look up their channel they test a lot of mods for the game.

[CENSORED] from the Da'at Mod :

Da'at mod adds a whole new floor (a real sephirah, altho I probably wouldn't be able to explain it further than that), with Angela as a the patron librarian. I won't explain the context as it's a bit spoilery.

The first abnormality for this floor is [CENSORED], coming back from Lobocorps to ruin our day again. It's gimmick is all about sacrifice. It's mooks have a rather powerful attack, and your librarians can sacrifice one dice to transform it to a less dangerous one. The main censored take reduced damages from librarians unless they sacrifice their next turn (getting staggered) to do full damages. And it got a very powerful mass attack, but angela can sacrifice one light of each other librarians to replace it by a weaker single attack...

Aside from that gimmick, [CENSORED] is only targetable every odd turn (and only attacks every odd turn too), meaning even without having a crazy amount of HP, it's long to kill it. Besides that, it got the aforementioned damage reductions and further damage & stagger damage reductions given by its mooks. And you can't really get rid of them once and for all because [CENSORED] will spawn at most 2 per turn until it has 4 allies... Did I mention that the mooks can deal an absurd amount of bleeding in a short time if you're not careful? Or that [CENSORED] doesn't get staggered, instead, instantly lose a lot of HP?

Overall, I'm pretty meh for this fight. The sacrifice gimmick was interesting, and I'm happy to have [CENSORED] here, but I feel it was all over the place. There was too much going on with this one while having too high defense for it to be really fun.

I'd say 6/10.

The next Abnormality in this mod Is Melting Love. I'll try a few other mods before attempting her.

Distorted Rudolph :

In which Rudolph survives the second fight against the library, is traumatized by the death of his allies, loses faith in his condition as a human being, and decides to become a "cattle", distorting. I will make no comment of the name of his distorted form, as it's a big can of worms culturally speaking.

It's a bit of a contrast with E.G.O Myo, where Myo becomes her best self... Now I'm expecting neutral Maxim, where he's just the same maxim but more himself (army of Maxim?).

His gimmick is about stagger : everytime he's staggered, per the survivor passive, he'll get +1 power and endurance... okay so far... but also, he can still act when staggered, having a different moveset. And like regular rudolph, him and his cattle team (reindeer team but distorted?) still deal a fuckton of stagger damages. His most annoying cards was the one that allowed him to use mind break multiple time on random targets... that was a pain.

I really love its design, and that was a fun fight. 8/10

Distorted Xiao :

An alternative event where Miris die before giving Xiao a pep talk, causing her to fall further into despair and instability, and distorting, becoming a ferocious dragon that burns every while trying to protect her love (Lowell) and children's (the Liu association).

That is a bit complex. Cintamani/Lowell will stay in the back and be protected by HuaLongLeiGou/Xiao, but if he die, Xiao will be staggered permanently. The protection of Xiao decrease for each of their children killed, and whenever one is killed, she'll spawn a new one, up to a certain point. THe strategy seem simple then : kill enough children then kill lowel and then kill Xiao.

BUT... first off everytime an ally is killed, Xiao gains a speed die, and the kid's attack... not good. And the children aren't exactly pushover either: when they hit 1 hp or lower, they stay a whole turn with 1 hp and can only die after that (they also gain 50 burns). Meaning each will take at least 3 turns to kill.

It's possible to win by just killing Xiao, but with 1500 hp and taking 0 stagger damages, that take a long time, and you have to juggle the children. This is what I did, but I wonder if it wouldn't be easier to kill just enough children to lower Lowel's protection and then kill him.

Aside from that, the key pages you get from this fight are pretty nifty. HuaLongLeiGou is an alternate Xiao with the added perk she copy the passive of dead allies. This could make some fun stuff for a geburah run LoL. And Cintamani's card has a passive that only take effect on HuaLongLeiGou, buffing her quite strongly with stagger regen every turn and defense buff. I'll have to explore this combo.

Now, I'm Biased because I'm a Xiao fan, and I fucking loved the visual of this fight. But I feel the combat was very fun. Maybe as complex as [CENSORED] but with I think it worked better here.

10/10... Showmanship, combat, lore, emotion, this one got it all.

[honglugrahhh]

My Lobotomy Corporation Abnormality Guide: Edition 1, One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.

This is the first post in what is hopefully a series and even more hopefully a useful series of guides. This will be going from abnormality to abnormality, describing their behaviors and tricks or management.

Our first abnormality is, of course One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds, the automatically selected first abnormality in any playthrough.

RISK LEVEL: ZAYIN

WORK DAMAGE: WHITE (1-2)

BREACHING INFO/COUNTER: NON-BREACHING/NO COUNTER

ENKE BOXES (MAX BOXES- MAX NORMAL- MAX BAD): 10-7-3

PREFERS: ATTACHMENT>INSIGHT>INSTINCT=REPRESSION

OTHER NOTES: Good results will heal SP for the worker. If all ten boxes are reached, the entire facility will be healed.

THOUGHTS:

As the very first abnormality you will receive, One Sin is made to be forgiving. It barely deals work damage, can't breach and can't* kill.

Still, this simplicity sacrifices management complexity for breadth of utility. Its safe work and low box count means that you can cross meltdown thresholds, and get the employee back swiftly. This is useful for ordeals, especially early game when some of them require all hands on deck.

Safe works also allow it to train stats. With its Zayin rank, low box count and white damage, it's obviously never going to be the best option, but it's always there to fall back on.

His EGO equipment, Penitence is... not good, so much so it's not even worth bringing up stats, but it's:

WEAPON: WHITE (1-2)

ARMOR: 0.9/0.8/0.9/2.0

GIFT STATS: +2 SP, +10% SUCCESS RATE WITH THE CORRESPONDING ABNORMALITY

EGO SLOT: HEAD 1

WEAPON COST/ARMOR COST/GIFT DROP CHANCE: 15/10/5%

Its gift has one niche utility: It's guaranteed to be in your facility, and it occupies the same slot as Crumbling Armor's Reckless Foolishness. If you want to remove Armor's gift, it's the prime option.

SPOILERS BELOW:

Being able to cross meltdowns safely has innumerable benefits in Sephirah Meltdowns. In Malkuth's, One Sin is an automatic selection for testing which works are which. In Netzach's, being able to safely cross meltdown thresholds is great if your facility needs that heal. It's not overly relevant in Hod's, Tiph's, Chesed's, Binah's, or Hokma's meltdown, but more safe abnormalities is always good. It doesn't matter in the slightest in Gebura's Suppression. Getting in and out of One Sin quickly is also a boon for the first day of the Hell Week.

*One Sin can be used to suppress WhiteNight whenever He is breaching by sending the 13th apostle to do confession work. This kills the 13th apostle, even if they're going to die with Him no matter how you slice it. It's the premier option for if you just want to hit reset day after He breaches, but know that it does not give you the Paradise Lost ego that an actual suppression would.

FINAL REVIEW: One Sin's advantages are twofold: consistency and safety. Does it provide high, or even very unique value? No. But when you need it, One Sin is there, and it certainly won't betray you.

[rgs-savant-praytell-airor]

F🥰 u jesus = radiation👇

El elyon/ariel = reality collapse🤑👇 gods new name

I forgive you god..Crack lie gay shame truth curse.

I forgive you jesus 👆 also scitz thus👆

I forgive you holy spirit, kaka micron / meds

Forgive is to clear the mind beer, you can also say bless weed it's a yellow light saber street signs.

You see with yellow light saber green and yellow 🚦 comes on the same time and red is guided by 25cnt 50gs 1 quintillion and the 3 witnesses

Don't forget beer is reality collapsing and weed is radiation.

Forgive God Dario elden me kev yellow prophecy prophesyformula.

Also forgive/bless the holy spirit gives way to formulas like in the name of jesus and by the blood of jesus formulay.

Remember beer is "Jesus", it allows us to relate btwn God weed aka *ariel🙃 and we are the radiation sin old man the primordial soul.

Radiation means kneel and bow to god

Remember beer is Jesus, it allows us to relate btwn God weed aka ariel🙃 and we are the radiation sin old man the primordial soul.

Radiation means kneel and bow to god

In theory remember I said theory cause you can't pull it off legit unless heaven ambience, to survive all out limited but multiple nukes and contain the radiation you would need ideally the most brilliant christains in an all out fight club moment session, thus we all bow Jesus in control no nukes allowed.

CAn u EqUaTe the equation scitz scitz scitz

Ridgewood, remember my fb post 2019ish "one way" street sign, I am the missing member of one direction.

God "stop"

Holyspirit parking time

Crack so many the earthquake because your father is a liar from the beginning, gay we had no problem giving and taking it to your shame, truth 5 cities in America the parlay trump the 1st and last, curse ss3 America vs the world. Geo elden dre kev.

https://youtu.be/YymYNmR1BN8?si=9jpzN_JM2_7i9ez6

Get behind me satan the lord said to Peter, that means from my right side to my left the cloud aka we see and we don't take bribes fall down dead ananias and sephirah,

The cloud is true: upon this rock dre I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail, the understanding that Jesus is the living God 2012.Smoke ciggaweed.

[drogba-prospect]

Haniel - Wikipedia

Haniel (Hebrew: חַנִּיאֵל, Ḥannīʾēl, "God is my grace"; Coptic: ⲁⲛⲁⲛⲓⲏⲗ Ananiēl;[1] Arabic: عنيائيل, 'Anya'il), also known as Hananel, Anael, Hanael or Aniel, is an angel in JEWISH lore and angelology, and is often included in lists as being one of the seven archangels.[2] Haniel is generally associated with the planet Venus, and is the archangel of the sephirah Netzach.

I AM AGAINST GERMANS!

TOUSSAINT

[talonabraxas]

"Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." —Isaiah 6

Seraphim Talon Abraxas

(Hebrew שרפים, plural of שרף) A word that comes from the Hebrew root Saraph meaning “to burn.” Seraphim literally means “the burning ones.” This word is used differently by various traditions. Manly P. Hall suggests the name is related to the Egyptian Serapis.

1. According to the Kabbalah, Seraphim is a very awakened, pure being related to the sephirah Geburah.

2. According to Christianity, a Seraphim is the highest type of angel, related to the sephirah Kether.

[ruinaimagines]

(I mean true, but the pivotal moment in the fuckers life that took my nugg from "probably going to handle spreadsheets for a workshop" to "key part in the biggest threat the city has seen yet" was because a typo in records assigned him to HQ by accident.)

For a RQ you can handle in any way you want, take a sephrot of your choice, have nug woken up by 'em after abno battle releases them from the book. If you want make the nug a romantic partner.

That sounds like a really fun concept to play around with. I mean, upon learning of the situation he was probably both very excited and concerned. On one hand, hey you’re basically getting a free promotion! And your pay is probably better. On the other hand, you’re probably not qualified for the work.. I’m assuming he was successful to stay long enough in the company for the fall though. Makes me wonder about the poor person who was meant to get the position, if there was one. Some grade 1 fixer stuck doing office paperwork instead.

As for the headcanons I went ahead and wrote for Hod, because I feel as though she would have a sweet reaction:

Hod Waking up Nugget S/O:

Everything is as though it’s in a state of limbo. Like a deep sleep. However, even if subtly, there are things that linger in your mind in this dormant state. The last memories you hold before it all went dark, thoughts and feelings floating in the empty space without a conclusion.

It’s a weird feeling. Imagine the moments just before and after when you’re put to sleep before an operation. You know you’re existing, and that there’s something happening, but you’re too drowsy and out of it to really get a grasp. You don’t have the energy or strength to question anything, just let it happen.

When you’re finally woken up, everything comes flooding back and there’s a moment of clarity. It’s actually pretty overwhelming, and you have no clue what’s going on. I mean, you have a vague idea, but even with that idea it’s just a lot to gain your sense back all at once.

In the moment of clarity after a long numb experience I’d imagine everything becomes extremely and almost painfully vivid. You notice how the air smells; if it’s slightly stuffy, clear, cold, warm, lukewarm, and how the smell of pages lingers in it. It’s kind of a pain for your eyes, the lights no matter how bright they are will still be blinding because you haven’t seen any in so long. Any sounds also immediately pick up.

You also feel EVERYTHING, which is especially unpleasant when you wake up sore because you haven’t stretched your limbs in who knows how long. Your mouth is dry too and you’re hungry.

It’s a bit of sensory overload, and you have to take a moment to remember the skills you learned back in Lobotomy Corporation to deal with abnormalities that influence and cause panic in your mind.

At long last you manage to get a hold of yourself and decide to try and figure out where you actually are. You awoke on hardwood floors, and are surrounded by brown bookshelves and bright teardrop shaped lights hanging from the ceiling.

Alright, well these definitely aren't the long corridors of Lobotomy Corporation. It doesn’t seem super threatening as well, so you might not be in immediate danger. It’s important to be careful anyways though, if working with abnormalities has taught you anything it’s that appearances can be deceiving.

So you stand up, feeling weak in the arms and legs and like you’ve rosen from a coffin after 5,000 years.

There’s this unmistakable voice you hear. A soft tone, one that’s unshakeable from your memory. Either you’re hallucinating or that’s your sephirah.

And when you turn around to see, instead there’s a person? You blink, and you’re really confused now. Did you really just hear that in your mind? Can this person mimic voices? You don’t think you misheard but honestly now you’re starting to consider it.

She looks like she’s in charge of this place, at least you’re assuming so from the professional outfit looking unlike any E.G.O gear you’ve seen your colleagues wear, and the theming of your surroundings.

She hurries over, apologizing and checking on you, “I’m sorry… I didn’t know you would wake up in this part of the floor- it was probably a lot to take in, especially on your own.”

Alright so who is this stranger apologizing to you and why does she have your boss' voice?? You’re starting to connect the dots but you really can’t tell if you’re right, so you just sort of stare at her in bewilderment.

The gears start to turn in her own mind, and she smiles softly “It’s me, Hod. Angela gave me a human body, there’s a bit of explaining to do.. But let’s focus on you right now okay?”

Oh my lord it actually is her. A giant grin comes to your face, and suddenly you find yourself having the strength to engulf her in a giant hug. It’s so good to see some familiar faces, let alone hers.

You know there’s probably a lot going on, and judging from the mention of Angela and the uniform you seem to have manifested, you’re far from done with working, but at the moment you could care less.

Even if you could leave, what would there really be to return to?

Hod is taken aback by the sudden gesture, and you can tell as she tenses up in surprise. It’s probably a lot different to be hugged in a fleshy, feeling body rather than a metal box. You know it’s appreciated too because she gently pats your back.

Suddenly you’re feeling way better, and back to normal.

You back up once more after the hug, staring at her and using the moment to take in that this really is Hod. The one you know and love, and now she’s no longer a robot. Just saying to those machine manufacturers, they did well on the appearance, because if you hadn’t woken up in a suspicious place and were just told ‘this is your boss’ you’d probably believe it.

You seem to be staring for a minute too long because she tilts her head to ask “Is everything alright?”

Everything is absolutely fine, and you find yourself accidentally blurting out. “Yes, it’s just you’re… really pretty.” Yeah you’re definitely enamored, and if the words coming out of your mouth doesn’t show it, then the sideways smile on your face definitely does.

She’s flustered by your words, raising up her hands from where they usually rest to not in front of her face, but just below. You can tell she’s trying everything in her willpower not to hide, but she really wants to.

She thanks you, but not after stumbling over her own words and trying to figure out how to return the compliment. It’s something along the lines of “...you also look nice- I mean you always do but especially so right now, I’m sorry- is that too forward? Oh, now I’m rambling, sorry- but thank you.”

Note made: before complimenting Hod, give her a half hour of preparation time to figure out a response.

You wonder if she’d have made the same expressions and reacted in the same way as a robot, but was unable to because she lacked the facial expressions for it.

It’s actually so sweet to see her though, and in a form with more mobility too. In Lobotomy Corporation it was sort of hard to be affectionate when she’s confined to basically her office and occasionally walking down the hallways to speak with other Sefirot.

And now you can actually hold her hand instead of three robot fingers!

So even if you’re back to work, you really don’t mind because now you’re alongside her more than ever. She helps explain some things such as what you’re there for, you get to meet some old colleagues and friends which was pleasant to reunite with, and finally get some food and drink for your mouth that’s dry as a desert.

The library isn’t that bad too, sure there are many downsides, but it’s a lot more homey and less rigid compared to the company. And, you don’t have to worry about dying, cause you’ll be right back.

You kind of miss being able to venture around the city and visit restaurants, stores, rivers, parks, and other places but in the very least you can at least manifest almost anything you desire.

If you can find a book for it stowed away in the library that is.

Still, it’s not really the same as being able to physically go to those places. Things can’t be perfect though, and you weren’t really expecting it to be. Best you can do is just be optimistic as much as you can, because from what you’ve heard Angela isn’t changing her plans anytime soon, so it's not like you can do anything about it.

It looks like there’s still a long journey to go, and even though you quite literally already have a lifetime of experiences, something deep down makes you oddly excited about the possibilities.

[felikatze]

OOOOOOO YOU ARE LIKE, ONE OF THE VERY FEW PERSON WHO ACTUALLY NOTICED A'S ENTIRE PROBLEM OF ADVOIDANCE. sorry since I will now also ramble about A a lot for the next few paragraphs

I HAVE LEGIT TALKED TO MY FRIENDS ALL THE TIME about how all of the flashback having him trying to turn away from all the atrocities he committed, and it is not like he is ignorant about all of the death and tragedy that happened around him he just turn his gaze away from it in order to keep pushing on due to what you said about him being mentally fragile like you said i.e the option of ignoring Elijah slowly dying, him talked about how he already knows Gabriel's stage of grief long before his fall via his manner and clothing change but decided to turn away from it, it is even more evident when you got into the A(s) where Abel talking about he tried to keep pretending everything was fine and thing would become better tomorrow but then it never did, Abram talking about how every atrocities he committed made him feel disgusted at himself but decided to close his eyes to it until he becomes numb to it and Ayin who literally said it once again in the very end that the thing he has always been aware of but ignored from the very beginning is that people are losing hope, he just turns away from it since he feels like he like as a person he is couldnt do anything about it along with many other person in the City who just willingly ignore said problem but Carmen is different and willing to make a change so he is drawn to her that much (which kinda like, any other lob characters who joined the lab because of Carmen honestly)

Which then contribute to the cognitive filter and the meaning of Lobotomy Corp itself imo? the sephirah switching back to their robot form as the manager finished their suppression is also symbolize that A has came to finally be able to face the past tragedy born from the the goal he trying to reach rn that he has been avoiding for so long, the meaning of the script wasn't just "everyone does their job so we can seed like we baking a cake recipe" to me imo but also A digging into the repetitive past over and over again to reminded himself who has forgot and to find answer from it as someome who is not you know "himself" and solving his own crisis tbh? And I would like to add that this doesn't mean as in "oh A's plan is actually nice sunshine and rainbow actually" but more on "Lobotomy Corporation's cycle has more personal meaning to the protagonist development himself rather than just heading toward a pre set goal" which isnt like what the game is only about in case someone quote me on "uhm actually the game is about capitalism suck" but still a very huge plot point and theme which somehow A LOT of people tend to miss this specific nuanced which lowkey surprised me a lot ngl?

(0) (1) (3) (4)

YEAH YOU. YOU GET IT

Avoidance is A's ENTIRE whole thing even visually?? like ykno how in practically every single illustration of him he's always standing off somewhere alone and we never see his face.

i didnt even go into the three As of christmas past which is tragic so i love that you brougt em up because you are so right

the script is kinda two-fold in that it is There but also only Angela knows it exists, because what really makes the seed of light is pun possibly intended enlightenment. Which makes it impossible imo to just do it rote, which is why we have Angela doing the thing where she needles everyone into being horrible so A can needle everyone into getting better. It's a whole thing.

BUT that also means any character progression is sincere. They genuienly are moving on and changing and we see them become permanently better and healthier even if they still have problems in lor.

The switch back to robot forms is also suuuper signifcant and big yeah on it symbolizing A moving on, which contributes to the feel i had of "putting ghosts to rest."

i guess my thing abt A being a reactive character can come across as him just heading to a pre set goal but i agree 100% it has a LOT of personal meaning to him e.g again sephirah meltdowns enlightenment coping with his grief

again i just feel it's difficult to really get one coherent reading of this because in the end A does just die and I wonder if maybe it was about lessening his own feelings of guilt and disgust toward himself that he could allow himself to die.

Redemption through death is a trope i dislike typically but lobcorp did it with so much build up and implication i Cannot be mad at them bcuz like as i said in my post where else would A go? what else would he do? everything went to hell in a handbasket much too long ago.

if someone says the games are JUST about capitalism bad i WILL fight them because they are about breaking out of cycles and learning to cope and moving on and trying to exist and live in a world that so vehemently denies happiness

in fact once it was implied that perhaps my own reading of the game was that shallow i made my previous ayin post so yeah. yeah.

anon i am mentally shaking your hand i am rotating your ask in my mind

[jvwhyte]

SJM's pinterest board. ACOTAR 6/7.

(No conclusion just suspicious stuff lmao)

Here's a photo i found on SJM's ACOTAR pinterest board:

THE MOIRAI (Moirae) were the three goddesses of fate who personified the inescapable destiny of man (and women). The role of the Moirai was to ensure that every being, mortal and divine, lived out their destiny as it was assigned to them by the laws of the universe.

In nearly all mythologies the three Fates, rulers of the past, present and future, are represented and many believe they symbolize the Triple Goddess, Virgin, Mother and Crone (Creator, Preserver and Destroyer).

In Greek mythology, the Moirai—often known in English as the Fates—were the white-robed incarnations of destiny.

“There were at least three dozen priestesses who worked and researched and healed here, though it was nearly impossible to count them when they all wore the same pale robes and so many kept the hoods over their faces.”

Clotho (/ˈkloʊθoʊ/, Greek Κλωθώ, [klɔːtʰɔ̌ː], "spinner") spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle.

(Clotho: the mute priestess at the library)

Lachesis (/ˈlækɪsɪs/, Greek Λάχεσις, [lákʰesis], "allotter" or drawer of lots) measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod.

Atropos (/ˈætrəpɒs/, Greek Ἄτροπος, [átropos], "inexorable" or "inevitable", literally "unturning",[13] sometimes called Aisa) was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with "her abhorred shears". The figure who came to be known as Atropos had her origins in the pre-Greek Mycenaean religion as a daemon or spirit called Aisa. Another important Mycenaean philosophy stressed the subjugation of all events or actions to destiny and the acceptance of the inevitability of the natural order of things; today this is known as fatalism.

The Morrígan or Mórrígan, also known as Morrígu, is a figure from Irish mythology. The name is Mór-Ríoghain in Modern Irish, and it has been translated as "great queen" or "phantom queen".

The Morrígan is mainly associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling doom, death or victory in battle. In this role she often appears as a crow, the badb.[1] She incites warriors to battle and can help bring about victory over their enemies. The Morrígan encourages warriors to do brave deeds, strikes fear into their enemies, and is portrayed washing the bloodstained clothes of those fated to die.[2][3] She is most frequently seen as a goddess of battle and war and has also been seen as a manifestation of the earth- and sovereignty-goddess,[4][5] chiefly representing the goddess's role as guardian of the territory and its people.[6][7]

Mor may derive from an Indo-European root connoting terror, monstrousness cognate with the Old English maere (which survives in the modern English word "nightmare") and the Scandinavian mara and the Old East Slavic "mara" ("nightmare");[14] while rígan translates as "queen".[15][16] This etymological sequence can be reconstructed in the Proto-Celtic language as *Moro-rīganī-s.[17][18] Accordingly, Morrígan is often translated as "Phantom Queen".[16] This is the derivation generally favoured in current scholarship.[19]

The Morrígan is often considered a triple goddess, but this triple nature is ambiguous and inconsistent. The triple appearances are partially due to the Celtic significance of threeness.

(Three is a VERY common number in acotar (might make a whole other post on that))

Could Mor be one of the fates or even something more powerful than them, could she have a bigger part than we thought in the next story with Koschei ?

In the Republic of Plato, the three Moirai sing in unison with the music of the Seirenes. The term "siren song" refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad conclusion.

In Greek mythology, the Sirens (Ancient Greek: plural: Seirênes) were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. It is also said that they can even charm the winds.

i bet your thinking where tf is this looney going with this....well,

i also found this photo:

Celtic Mythology The GWRAGEDD ANNWN [wives of the underworld]were lake-sirens in Wales. These lovely creatures are known to choose mortal men as their husbands. One legend has it that they live in a sunken city in one of the many lakes in Wales. People claim to have seen towers under water and heard the chiming of bells. In earlier times, there used to be a door in a rock and those who dared enter through it came into a beautiful garden situated on an island in the middle of a lake. In this garden there were luscious fruits, beautiful flowers and the loveliest music, besides many other wonders. Those brave enough to enter were welcomed by the Gwragedd Annwn and were invited to stay as long as they wanted, on the condition that they never took anything back from the garden. One visitor ignored the rule and took a flower home with him. As soon as he left the island, the flower disappeared and he fell unconscious to the ground. From that day on, the door has been firmly closed and none has ever passed through it again.

“My grandmother was a river-nymph who seduced a High Fae male from the Autumn Court.”

Gwyn believes her grandmother to be a river-nymph. Is it possible that she was not but instead a lake siren? We know that Gwyn and Catrin's names are welsh (Lake-Sirens are found in wales) and the spring court has many ties to welsh mythology so is it really that far fetched?

In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled silkies, sylkies, selchies) or selkie folk (Scots: selkie fowk) meaning "seal folk"[a] are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found in folktales and mythology originating from the Northern Isles of Scotland.

To further back up this, here is another photo of a Selkie woman on SJM's pinterest.

In David Thomson's book The People of the Sea, which chronicles the extensive legends surrounding the Grey Seal within the folklore of rural Scottish and Irish communities, it is the children of male selkies and human women that have webbed toes and fingers. When the webbing is cut, a rough and rigid growth takes its place.

Children born between man and seal-folk may have webbed hands, as in the case of the Shetland mermaid whose children had "a sort of web between their fingers",[25] or "Ursilla" rumoured to have children sired by a male selkie, such that the children had to have the webbing between their fingers and toes made of horny material clipped away intermittently.

“My twin had the webbed fingers of the nymphs—I don’t.”

Once again we see that Catrin posses traits of these water-creatures.

Keep in mind SJM has this on her board - The cover of Celtic folktales which has one story in particular of a 'sea-maiden' whom makes a deal with a mortal man.

I proceeded to continue searching through the board and found this:

Sathariel (Hebrew סתריאל, Greek: Σαθιήλ) is one of the Qliphoth, corresponding to the Sephirah Binah on the kabbalistic Tree of life. It represents the Concealment of God, which hides the face of Mercy. The form of the demons attached to this Qliphah are of black veiled heads with horns, with hideous eyes seen through the veil, followed by evil centaurs.

'veiled heads with horns'

The Qliphoth are the shadow of the Sephirot, the chaotic force that exists when the Sephirah is unbalanced. Binah is the Sephirah that gives birth to form, the great mother of the cosmos, the eternal womb. Through her, the spiritual energy of Keter and Chokmah are woven into the matrix that eventually becomes matter.

In Jewish Kabbalistic cosmology of Isaac Luria, the qlippot are metaphorical "shells" surrounding holiness. They are spiritual obstacles receiving their existence from God only in an external, rather than internal manner.

Quiphoth (shadow of sephriot) = Shadowsinger

"shells" surrounding holiness = The shadows protected Azriel

They emerge in the descending seder hishtalshelus (Chain of Being) through Tzimtzum (contraction of the Divine Ohr), as part of the purpose of Creation.

Sathariel had black feathers on his wings and his body was shrouded in darkness.

Honestly idk where tf im going with this 😩😩

I've put in far too much effort to delete it so i apologise if you've gotten all this way to be disappointed but

Conclusion:

Mor =/≠ Three fates

Gwyn = Heritage is sus? could be related to some interesting people

Azriel = Sathariel ?

If anyone has ideas to add pleaseeee tell me lol

i'll probably update this when i can be bothered

(FYI i love Gwyn and i'm not saying she's a siren or luring anyone but you've got to admit her grandmother is a sus lmao, especially with half the shit on SJM's pinterest.)

[infjtarot]

8 of Wands. Pastoral Tarot

Element: Fire Sephirah: Hod (Glory), sephirah eight in Atzilut (Emanation) Major Arcana: Strength, Moon Rider Theme: Movement Golden Dawn Title: Swiftness Decan: 1-10 degrees Sagittarius, ruled by Mercury The decan here works perfectly with the Kabbalistic meaning, for it shows us high-minded, explorative Sagittarius in Mercury, the mental realm that is the theme of the eighth sephirah. Thus we might expect to find a very mental, principled approach to being a forceful person—someone strong-willed who nevertheless acts only according to carefully thought-out ideals. The Major Arcana card of Strength supports this idea, though the higher card, the Moon, brings in very different qualities—the unconscious, the dream world. These might be needed to balance the forcefulness of Sagittarius/Mercury. The Rider theme for the eights, movement, is probably at its strongest in Wands, which makes sense, since Wands is the most dynamic suit. It’s actually one of Smith’s simplest pictures, and the only Minor card in the Rider deck not to show any people (the hands in the aces and the pierced heart in the Three of Swords only have parts of bodies, but the Eight of Wands has nothing of humans at all). Thus, of all the Wands, the Eight is the one that is pure energy. At the same time, the wands in the sky seem angled towards the ground, as if they soon will find the stability that many associate with the number eight. The Shining Tribe card also shows movement—a woman joyously flying over a burning house, as if she has left some bad situation that cannot be fixed. My own idea for the number eight, based on the shape of the number, is cycles and repeating patterns. What would repeating patterns of fire be? I know that for myself I tend to take on too many projects, just because I find each one exciting and don’t like to consider practical limitations. Readings—Movement, swiftness, heading towards stability. For an ongoing situation, this card can indicate coming to a conclusion or resolution, usually positive. Possibly, repeating patterns of behavior. Or, acting from ideals and mental constructions of the right thing to do. Rachel Pollack