#Facts about Hindu Gods

[mplanetleaf]

గరుడ పురాణం ప్రకారం మనిషి జన్మ! జీవిత సత్యాలు | Garuda Puranam in Telugu...

[nipsyyy]

I hate how patriarchy has even ruined Hindu mythology so specifically to benefit the men.The casual jokes on family WhatsApp groups about how Mahabharat and Ramayan, the worst wars of all time, were fought because of a woman and how women bring ruin everywhere they go,as if they are the root cause of all suffering. Where in fact the women were LITERALLY the victims, one was publicly humiliated, the other kidnapped.The men have misinterpreted the stories so badly that it physically pains me, god went to war not because of women, they went to war FOR them.Because what happened to the women was WRONG,they weren’t to blame, the ones who wronged them were.

I also see a major polarisation in how a huge section of Hindus treat Sita and Draupadi, and it reminds me of the quote “a woman has to do everything right for her to be a victim and a man has to do everything wrong for him to be a culprit.”It breaks my heart at the number of times I’ve heard men say “well Draupadi shouldn’t have disrespected him,aise toh hona hi tha na fir”,first and foremost,that’s an inaccurate narrative promoted by wrong retellings who need to constantly find a reason to blame the victim,she did no such thing and you can find pretty much evidence for it everywhere.But even if she had, it does NOT make it okay for them to publicly disrobe her.This is one more example of the victim blaming culture that I see deep ingrained in the minds of so many of these dumbfuck Hindus who have absolutely no respect for their culture.So next time don’t go to ram mandirs and krishna mandirs if you can’t even truly understand and respect the relevance behind their existence.

[burningcheese-merchant]

Merchant! Please, rant to us about the mythological inspirations of the BurningCheese!

The fact that I came home and sat down and wrote out a detailed post for this ask... The fact that I did research into Hindu mythology for BurningCheese inspo in the first place... (sidenote: Hinduism is legitimately interesting, I had genuine fun learning about it even outside of cringe shipping bs)

THE FACT THAT THERE'S ACTUAL SHIT TO WORK WITH...

Buckle up, buckaroos lol (I'll put it under a cut in case it turns out really long)

Do note that I am not a religious scholar nor a follower of Hinduism, and I didn't do a suuuuuuuper deep dive. I spent a few hours reading different articles/sources and looking at some paintings and the like. Whatever I say is what I derived from my own personal understanding (and my old notes), which may well be flawed!

Let's start with the obvious.

Burning Spice is directly inspired by Shiva, Hindu god of destruction. Important note: in the actual religion, Shiva is not malevolent; the destruction he brings is considered a necessary part of life and the foundation of cosmic balance. He can be temperamental and violent, yes, but he is by and large a pretty decent guy and performs his duty in the cycle of life and death without complaint (obviously, this is where Spice deviates lol)

His hair is a fucking pitch black jungle. Matted af. Just like Burning Spice's. I just felt like saying that lmao (they both look like shit, Shiva wears animal skins and dead people's ashes and doesn't brush his damn hair. HE WENT TO HIS OWN WEDDING LOOKING LIKE THAT! (Until Parvati told him to please freshen up and he went "yes dear, anything for you <3" and manifested fancy groom attire))

Now let's poke our heads into the rabbit hole.

Parvati is Shiva's wife, whom he adores and is wholly devoted to (and vice versa).

She is revered as a life-giver. A goddess of creation, love, devotion, and... ABUNDANCE.

Parvati has many forms. Her original form is that of a beautiful woman wearing a red sari, with a GOLDEN HEADDRESS/HEADBAND and LOTS OF GOLD JEWELRY AND PRECIOUS STONES, WHICH SHE LOVES.

She's very beloved by pretty much everyone. She's elegant, vivacious, and revered as a doting wife and mother

I'm not finished.

One of Parvati's forms is that of a fierce warrior woman called Durga. She is powerful, confident, and no less beautiful than her original self

She has many arms, and a sacred weapon in each one. One of which is a GOLDEN SPEAR.

Durga is regarded as a goddess of protection, war and destruction - but not the malevolent sort. She fights and destroys the forces of evil, for the sake of others'; the destruction she brings is in the name of protecting and liberating innocents, and empowering creation

One of her epithets is Mahamoha, which means "great delusion" - and in this context, the delusion/ignorance derives from intense desire and attachment

Now, with all of that said, I'm gonna tell you guys a story.

Shiva's first wife was Sati, daughter of Daksha. Though they were madly in love, Daksha despised him and never approved of their relationship

The blood between them was so bad that Daksha declined to invite either of them to the yajna (VERY important ritual sacrifice) he was hosting. Against both social norms and Shiva's advice, Sati showed up anyway, which led to her father cruelly insulting her, her marriage and basically her whole fucking life in front of everybody

In protest of everyone's derision of her and the life she chose to live, she throws herself on the sacrificial fire and thus kills herself (extreme and unnecessary, I know lol). Shiva finds out and LOSES. HIS. SHIT. Shows up, goes on a rampage, hurts a bunch of people, beheads Daksha (whom he revives and pardons eventually)

In his grief, Shiva basically decides to retire from everything and seclude himself in the mountains, denouncing the world and everything in it and refusing to interact with anyone or anything

Sati ends up reincarnating as Parvati. She remembers exactly who she is/was, and made it her mission to return to Shiva's side and rekindle their relationship

Shiva doesn't buy that that's his beloved and rebuffs her. She doesn't give up. She tries over and over again to convince him and win his affection. She endures harsh weather without appropriate clothes, starvation, the faces of her own fears and doubts, endlessly; all while continuously performing acts of religious penance/piety. So unwavering is she in her strength and devotion that Shiva eventually, finally realizes that that really is the woman he loved and lost

They reunite and remarry quickly (and it was a big blowout event, too! Very important, there are even several sculptures depicting it!) and they live happily ever after

And a short summary of their union:

Shiva and Parvati are considered complementary forces; one without the other does not make sense and simply cannot be. Parvati is the warm, life-affirming, creative force that balances Shiva's cold, world-denying, destructive one. She's portrayed as having lured Shiva away from his lonely, ascetic lifestyle and showed him the value of life, love and marriage. They're almost always depicted together in artworks, as they're admired/adored not only for their loving partnership, but for the way they uphold cosmic order together. They are life and death. Attachment and detachment. ABUNDANCE AND DESTRUCTION.

It's commonly stated that Parvati is the outright source of Shiva's power. His shakti (not super sure how to explain what this is, it's not very simple. It's... ultimate cosmic energy, basically). She encourages and energizes him. Without her, he is incomplete

They have two kids :P two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. (I DID NOT KNOW THIS when I first made up the fankids, I just happened to guess the correct number of kids to give them lol. I thus decided to partially base Pepper Jack on Ganesha and Matar Paneer on Kartikeya, enjoy those links where I explain properly haha (and you can look through their tags to see more abt them if you want))

They also jointly represent harmony between sexes. Shiva is the male aspect, Parvati is the female

They also jointly symbolize love, devotion and sexuality and are said to have a lot of sex (and are also often depicted having sex)

Let me walk you guys through it all one more time. A god who, in his endless rage and grief, chose to forsake the world and all within it, for he believed he had nothing left to value from it...

Who is temperamental, violent, and is not above lashing out at others when he feels wronged... who can and will destroy everything in his path... (You don't need screenshot evidence of this but whatever lol)

Who will lash out at others if they dare to lay their hands on his counterpart, or otherwise keep him away from her...

... And his counterpart, a beautiful, vibrant, benevolent goddess who can take many different forms, including that of an elegant queen adorned with gold and gems, and a great, fearless warrior... (You notice how there's some red in her Soul Jam now? There's that bit of Destruction, used to defend others...)

Who's known and loved for the boundless love and warmth and charity she bestows upon one and all...

Who's known as a creator, a life-giver; who so cherishes the world and what she makes that she allows herself to descend into madness in pursuit of preserving it all... Whose desire and attachment led to ignorance and delusion...

Who, in stubborn defiance of the cruelties she faced, chose to remove herself from them and from the world itself for a time, only to eventually return with her identity and life's purpose still intact, and livelier than ever...

Who takes the form of a hero, a protector of the innocent, a warrior who battles against evil and seeks to vanquish oppression and tyranny...

And together, she and he make up the foundation of the world. The threads with which the great tapestry of the universe is woven. Life and death. Attachment and love for the world, and detachment from and contempt for it. A woman dressed in the finest garments and jewelry, and a man who embodies the unforgiving wilderness in which he sequesters himself.

Abundance and Destruction.

In conclusion: Burning Spice and Golden Cheese are literally Shiva and Parvati, they are husband and wife, they NEED each other and are meant to be together, together they create and maintain the balance of life and the universe, we must all band together and demand that Devsisters release the cutscene that shows their wedding, they are the bride and the ugly ass groom fr fr

[timetravellingkitty]

honestly what really gets me is that it's a reaction to people focusing on rafah it's not even genuine they're just islamophobic idiots they have literally nothing else going for them

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7hHA4GJ2c3/

This is wild. I genuinely do not know what to say. Dismissing the genocide, not saying a word about how indian muslims are treated, what the hell.

I saw this and it is so bloody annoying. I will never stop bitching about how sanghis prop up minority hindus for their own benefit and to make it about themselves (and not the minorities :/) anyways sanghis are so stupid always with the whataboutism

[thebisexualwreckoning]

Armand's backstory and how I, your local bengali vampire fucker and armand's 24/7 defence lawyer, am going to make him bengali and muslim while still keeping it showcannon accurate

(Note: this is not meant to be taken seriously and is very much just written because I was bored and had time on my hands and if i have gotten anything wrong please correct me)

One thing that always annoyed me about IWTV showcannon is the fact that armand pre-marius days were either left majorly unexplored or made absolutely no sense to the time period. Which, I find pretty surprising considering the care and sensitivity Louis' new backstory was handled with by the same creators and show writers.

We know 3 things about Armand and who he is as a character in regards to his ethnicity:

His birth is Arun

He is Muslim

And that he was taken from Delhi somewhere around the early 15th century

For the purposes of this essay, we are going to assume all of this is true and not something Armand made up to get sympathy from both Louis and the audience.

Armand's birth name being Arun, while incredibly lazy, does make his identity as a bengali man much easier to confirm. My own full blooded formerly bangladeshi grandfather has the name Arun and Arun continues to be an incredibly popular bengali name for boys to this day. The problem arises when it comes to his religion.

The thing about the name Arun is that it's an incredibly *Hindu* first name, given that it is quite literally one of the names for the Hindu god of the sun (Source: I'm Hindu and confirmed with my mom who is sitting beside me scrolling on facebook). While muslim people can have the name Arun, given that Bengal was still an independent kingdom around the time which Armand would have been born in, his parents being hindu would have been likely.

However, around a similar time, the Mughals were setting up shop in, you guessed it, delhi and the surrounding region. Now, my proposal is as such: During the same time period, many parents sold their children to zamindars (land owners) for money or food or land. Young Arun's parents did the same thing. Now, this zamindar either sells armand to someone else immediately after who takes him delhi or takes young arun to delhi himself where he either sets up shop with him or once again sells arun to someone else.

Seperated from his parents and newly immigrated indenture (because yes, mughal era punjab and bengal were different kingdoms and as such this would count as immigration) to a kingdom which had just gone through a major political upheaval and had a new ruler forcibly converting people to islam, arun, who has no ties to hinduism given that a. he is a child and b. his hindu parents very much just sold him into slavery, converts to islam as well as a safety tactic.

Thus child arun grows into teen arun and he has never known anything of his life before delhi but those first few years that he spent in bengal and has definitely had no contact with hinduism and has been a devout muslim for the vast majority of his life. Here is where things get a bit iffy. There are two ways how the rest of this can now go.

Route no. 1, armand's indenture is sold to the portuguese, the portuguese take him to europe, marius buys him, everything proceeds as it must.

Route no. 2, the overly complicated, book and show canon accurate version which requires some significant suspension of disbelief and handwaving to accomplish but i like it so i'm still writing down this crack theory. Also we're doing this in dot points now because i'm getting tired:

We know armand speaks crimean because daniel mentions it after he catches fake rashid praying

crimea was part of the ottoman empire during this time period.

the ottoman empire had relatively friendly relations with the mughals because they were afraid of babur.

crimean ottoman merchants buy armand's indenture

armand ends up in crimea

crimea and kievan rus, book armand's original homeland's complex relation means armand ends up in kievan rus.

Things proceed as they did in the books for how armand goes from kievan rus to under marius's hold

and that's all i have, this has been your local crack theorist on tonight's armand show. see you next time.

[knowledge-from-the-abyss]

Godspousal and Spirit Family

Introduction and the History of Godspousal

First off, I would like to highly recommend the book Spirit Marriage by Megan Rose; this book is a fantastic resource on godspousal that shows both historical and interviewed accounts of godspousal. Another term for godspousal is spirit marriage; this term is a broader term that covers more than just ‘gods’ in spousal. Another word that is commonly used to describe this is spiritspousal (generally used to describe a spousal relationship with non-deity entities). For this post, I am going to use the term spirit marriage or spousal, since these terms describe this more broadly. (I do generally use the term godspousal as a catch all term, however for this post, I want to use spirit marriage or just generally ‘spousal’ to avoid confusion). 

As this book describes, spirit marriage is not a new-age phenomenon, it can actually be found pretty much as far back as written history exists; there may be other instances where oral records had evidence of spirit marriage as well, but seeing as oral tradition may or may not be recorded, there isn’t much evidence of this. 

Different Types of Spirit Marriage

There are a few different types of spirit marriage, which I will describe here. 

Devotional- this type of spirit marriage usually involves the person devoting themselves almost fully to one or more deities. A lot of their craft may revolve around these deities, and there may be special things they do for and with these deities they are devotionally married to. 

Platonic- this generally involves a closer relationship with the deity, it can also go alongside devotional spousal. This is a relationship where the deity and the person may do things such as cuddle, hug, or even kiss. This relationship often involves the person relying on the deity/deities for emotional support or comfort when they are needing it. 

Romantic- this type of spousal is the most common type of spirit marriage, and the one that most generally is referred to when someone is talking about godspousal. Being romantically spoused to a deity/deities often involves a long process that can take years. Generally, romantic spousal includes a courting phase that can last months or even years. During this time period, the practitioner and deity/deities are getting to know each other. Some of the ways that spouses may get to know their deity/deities is by going on dates with them, getting to know them via meditation, and communicating with them through divination, clairsenses, and channeling. 

Familial/parental- this type of spousal is similar (and again can also involve) platonic and devotional spousal. The deity/deities will often take on a more parental or familial role within the person's life. The practitioner may lean on the deity for emotional support and comfort. The deity takes on a very parental, sibling or possibly uncle/aunt type role, depending on what the practitioner is needing. The practitioner may go to the deity for advice or otherwise treat them as a family member. The deity, in turn, will view the practitioner as one of their own family. 

How old do I have to be to be a godspouse? 

Some of the information I’m including in this section is going to be a bit controversial, however there are historical facts that I am going to go through here that I feel are important (and interesting). 

It is my belief that for romantic spirit marriage, a person should wait until they are at least 18 before even considering it. However, historically, there are records of romantic spirit spousal happening to people (specifically girls) as young as 12. This is mostly seen in Hindu culture (and is covered in the Spirit Marriage book mentioned above). Instead of forcing these young girls to be in an arranged marriage, these girls would be spiritually spoused to Shiva, or sometimes Shiva’s son, until they were older. 

The main reason, in my belief, that someone should not consider spirit marriage until they are older is not due to their age; deities do not hold the same human standards and morality as we do, they do not follow our laws and rules. Instead, this has more to do with maturity. Spirit marriage is a lifelong commitment and a very deep bond that you share. It is not something that someone does on a whim. Just like a human marriage, it takes years to get to know the entities involved, to bond with them, and to decide if ultimately you want them to be around you the rest of your life. Spirit marriage involves making vows, just like a human marriage, that you must uphold and keep. Sometimes, depending on the culture, the deity may even require the practitioner to be an open channel for them; allowing the deity to channel through them whenever the deity wishes, and even possibly allowing the deity to live permanently in the person's body so that they may do this. All of this requires someone to have the maturity to understand the depth and meaningfulness of this type of relationship; something that most teenagers (and even some people who are in their early 20s) will not truly understand. While divorce is sometimes possible, it would be similar to a human divorce, with many years of fighting and debating to decide if that is truly the best course of action for both parties. Divorce when it comes to spirit marriage is incredibly rare (the Spirit Marriage book actually does mention this as well). 

Can I be spoused to multiple deities? 

This question has already been alluded to, but yes, you can have multiple deities as spouses. In the book Spirit Marriage, there is a person who has about 7+ spouses that are listed. I personally am also spoused to multiple deities; some of the deities I am spoused to have been spousing me for many many lifetimes as well, and our spousals have continued into this lifetime. 

How do spouses interact with their deities/entities? 

As with some of the other posts I made, there are multiple ways to communicate with deities/entities. Divination is a very common way to do this, as well as using the clairsenses. Channeling is another very common way that a lot of spouses end up communicating. Interactions such as going on dates can often happen in the astral realm, the realm where non-corporeal entities reside. Some people will also go out on dates in the physical world, going to a restaurant or other places they enjoy and allowing their deity/entity spouses to accompany them. 

How do I know if a deity/entity wants spousal? 

Generally there will be very clear signs when a deity/entity is wanting spousal. You may even be able to feel it in the energy they give off; they may give off a flirtatious vibe (although there are some deities/entities that have a very flirtatious energy in general, so please make sure you are using discernment and doing divination to confirm that they genuinely do want spousal). Other ways they may show you are by being around you constantly; they may outright tell you they want spousal (if you’re able to hear them). Some deities will send practitioners dreams about marriage or otherwise romantically-inclined dreams to signal they are wanting spousal. Some deities may mention it while the practitioner is doing divination with them. 

Is sex involved with romantic spirit marriage? 

Yes, sex can be (but is not always) a part of romantic spirit marriage. Again, similar to the above question about interacting with spouses, this often happens in the astral realm. This can also happen through self-pleasure. Spiritual pregnancies and spiritual children can also be a result of this; energy from the deities/entities as well as the practitioner's energies can go into making a spiritual child (or children). Multiple deities can also be involved in the creation of these children. With me and my wife, since we are spoused to some of the same deities, sometimes both our energies go into our spiritual children as well. In these situations, either the deity or the practitioner can become spiritually pregnant, and there may even be physical symptoms of pregnancy involved as well if it is the practitioner who gets pregnant. Even masculine deities can get pregnant (deities are very genderfluid in nature). 

How do you balance spirit marriage with physical relationships? 

This is going to be individual to each practitioner and their spouse(s). Some deities/entities will allow someone to have a human partner or human relationships, while others will forbid a human relationship. This is also something that needs to be discussed with your spirit spouses, as some people will be ok with never having a physical relationship, while with others it is something they will require in their human lifetime. 

For me personally, I got incredibly lucky in that my wife is also spoused to many of the same deities I am, so our relationship and spousals often coincide with each other very well. 

What is a spirit family? 

Spirit family can describe several things which I will go through here. Spirit family can refer to the human people who your soul tends to reincarnate with and who your soul was made alongside. This can include people such as soulmates, twin flames, etc. 

Spirit family can also refer to the actual deities/entities that helped create your soul (this can also be referred to as soul family); many people have several deities/entities that would consider themselves to be parental figures (for me, I have several soul moms and dads). The person may also have deities/entities that are brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Many times these deities/entities will have influence over the person’s personality and behavior (from what I’ve seen, a lot of times the soul parents will have the most influence. For me, Loki is one of my soul dads and he has influenced my personality greatly this lifetime. I'm incredibly chaotic, but also incredibly empathetic just like him). 

Spirit family can also refer to deities/entities that have adopted you as one of their own in past lives (or even in this current one). One of my spirit mothers, Yemoja, adopted me from a past life and still considers me to be her family (she takes on a motherly role for me). 

Can I be spoused to someone who is also part of my spirit family? 

Again this is another controversial question, but again I would like to point out that deities and other entities do NOT follow human laws and standards. They do not see things the same way we do. So the answer to this question, from my perspective, is a resounding YES. Loki is one of my soul fathers, and he is also the main deity I am spoused to. While in this lifetime he did start out as a father figure to me, and I grew up feeling that he was more of a dad than any other father-figures in my life, our relationship evolved and grew. As I started to get older (around when I was 18-19) I no longer needed him to act as a father figure to me. Our relationship evolved, and we eventually became platonically spoused when I was around 20. After that, our relationship continued to evolve, and at around 22 I accepted that he wanted to change our spousal once again to a romantic spousal. 

As for human relationships, I do want to go into more detail about soulmates, twin flames and other such terms. There are a lot of huge misconceptions about these concepts due to the media we have (social media, tv shows, movies etc). I want to go through the terms soulmates and twin flames, and cover the misconceptions many people have about these relationships. 

Soulmates

Soulmates are often a term that, in media, describe your ‘one true love’ that you are destined to be with. In reality, soulmates are people who were created alongside you and who often go through similar life experiences; you may be able to relate to them very deeply about similar experiences you have shared during your life. Most people have multiple soulmates, and not everyone will always be in a romantic relationship with their soulmates. I have encountered instances where someones pet, their mom, their dad, their siblings or even their best friends are their soulmates. I see many sibling relationships where this is the case in fact, where two siblings will be incredibly close, best friends, and will always be loyal to each other no matter what. These ‘ride or die’ sibling relationships can sometimes indicate that these two people are in fact soul mates. While some soulmate relationships are definitely meant to be romantic, that’s definitely not always the case. 

Twin Flames

Twin flame is another term that is often misunderstood or misused; some people use soulmates and twinflames interchangeably, however from my experience, they are two different categories of soul bonds. From my experience, a twin flame is someone who shares a part of another persons soul; twin flames often mirror each other in many ways, although unlike how soulmates may mirror each other in experiences, this tends to be more mirrored interests as well. As with soulmate relationships, I believe someone can have multiple twin flames, and that not all twin flame relationships are purely romantic. 

Karmic

The last soul bond relationship I want to cover is karmic relationships. These relationships can form over time from any type of soul connection someone may have with another person. These relationships are toxic and unhealthy; a lot of times the two people in the relationship will feed off each others negativity or bounce the negativity back and forth. Again, as with other soul connections, these relationships are not just romantic. These karmic relationships also often require cord cuttings in order to sever the bond between the two people so that they can grow and learn apart from each other. 

As usual, I would like to thank @astralscraft for helping me with this post! I'm sure that this is not all the information I can give about godspousal; feel free to inbox or message me if you have questions!

[dcdreamblog]

I saw a program on the history channel saying the Justice League is haunted by the ghost of some circus acrobat.

Now, I know the sort of thing the History Channel says only has a grain of truth at best these days (they still talk about ancient aliens building the pyramids when everybody who's cracked open an Egyptology textbook in the last several decades knows Egypt only had contact with Thanagarians in the vaguest sense of the word, and it happened in the early New Kingdom, over a millennium after Egypt's pyramid craze), but is there any truth to the Haunted By A Circus Guy thing?

I assume the whole "he's part of a curse placed on the League by The Joker" thing they theorized isn't true, but I'm curious what the real story is.

Ok, so, this is going to be a really weird conversation. It's going to require people be cool about a very often misunderstood religious sect from a very isolated part of the world. And people are going to have to be ok with that. Ok? Ok. Nanda Parbat, Nepal (I said we are leaving our conspiracy theories at the door, thank you) is host to a temple that is home to a very misunderstood Hindu-Buddhist Sect based around the philosophies and teachings of the ancient figure Rama Kushna. Most theological scholars believe her to be an VERY old syncretism between the Hindu god Rama and the female bodhisattva Tara. No one knows specifically when the temple was founded because records of it stretch back to at LEAST the 6th century AD. In that time it has become more and more mythologized to the point that you can now find woo-woo peddlers in California preaching the "Rama Kushna Philosophy" or some faff, the same kind of orientalist nonsense that they turn all of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy into without putting in any of the work. Now, that said, at least one American has been entered fully into their ranks. And it was a weird one.

(An image of famous circus acrobat Boston Brand moments before his violent death) Boston Brand was a well known circus acrobat, famous under his moniker of "The Deadman" due to his death defying stunts performed at lethal height without a net. He was considered well in the league of the Flying Graysons, even performing alongside them for the Haley Circus company. A short time after the Grayson's violent death Boston Brand too was killed during his act, this time even more violently by a bullet to the chest at the apex of his most dangerous trick. He almost instantly became the subject of endless sensationalized true crime but the interesting part is that images of The Deadman, in costume with his name attached began to be produced by the monks of Nanda Parbat, claiming Brand as one of their own. Save for the fact that Brand had never in his life been to Nepal, nor was he either a practicing Hindu nor a Buddhist, certainly not of such an esoteric sect. The explanation given by the monks is that Brand was chosen by Rama Kushna in the afterlife to become "He Who Intervenes", a spirit avatar empowered to act upon the mortal world to defend the innocent and serve as a silent guardian against all manner of dark spirits and occult nastiness. Now of course this was ludicrous...for a while, until the general occult community (the real parts of it) began to not deny it. Including the League's own magicians and magically aligned members. While nothing can be confirmed one way or the other given the nature of the information, the broadest benefit of the doubt seems to be that the monks are correct and Boston Brand acts as a wandering spirit among the mortal plane, using the identity of "The Deadman" to silently influence the course of events toward justice in some sort of cosmic sense. I certainly don't know how I feel about that information and I would not presume to tell you what to do with it either.

[velvetvexations]

While I entirely understand Indians who have been traumatized by Hinduism and would never deny them those feelings, asserting that it is a uniquely oppressive faith just isn't true. All religions, like any social technology, have the capacity to empower or oppress based on an infinite number of factors. I'm white, so my positionality here is far different from that of a Desi person and I'll therefor never know what it's like to be a queer Indian or someone of a lower caste, there has certainly been a lot of harm done to those groups in the name of faith, but the same is true the world over.

I don't practice, but I study Hinduism at a university level and have seen its flaws and the ways it can be surprisingly empowering (Arjuna when he's in exile in Virata and Shikandi -both a part of the Mahabharata- are two of my favourite examples of stories that you can read as queer and more specifically trans).

Likewise, my academic sister and someone who has more or less adopted me is a middle aged Indian woman who is an extremely devout follower of Krishna. She has nevertheless welcomed me into her home as a trans man and spoken about how she loves the acceptance of Canadian society, she also talks about how she abhors the caste system and the harm is causes.

Like I said at the top, I will never argue against people who have been hurt by the faith, but the generalizations of hatred hurt my heart.

(P.S. i'm too scared to go off anon here, but if you wanna talk about Hinduism Velvet just say so and i'll DM you lmao)

and btw an Indian woman having trauma doesn't make her racist for not liking her own culture's dominant religion but it is

absolutely

racist that a lot of White people are cheering on her epic dunk on a religion of more than a billion people because they would recognize that please-get-therapy response would be bugfuck if she directed that hostility towards a trans Christian but it being something outside of their own cultural context means everyone is totally thrilled to go along with "it inspired the Nazis! you can't be Hindu without being transphobic!"

like literally that is the entirety of her complaint

I pointed out the OP was not about her and she IMMEDIATELY pivoted away from that issue to me being "obsessed" with her because I briefly discussed her book one month ago and apply the term she uses for her ideology to others who share it with the framing that I'm doing an Operation Freakout because she's apparently gone on rants about Hinduism before

so regardless of her meltdown being triggered by something she now is undeniably aware was not about her she still gets her W from the cheering crowds because she ripped the mask off her bubbling trauma making her lose her shit at anyone who practices or is working towards practicing Hinduism which everyone loves because to them it's just some backwards foreign cult akin to a browner version of Scientology

God, can you imagine how they feel about Jews if they're this angry about Hindu atrocities? No fucking wonder they can't go five seconds without accusing anyone they dislike of being a Zionist the second they find out they're Jewish. It's unimaginably racist. Not of Talia, she just needs time off the internet, but of every White person who will uncritically share it in spite of the fact that no they truly would not say some dumb shit like this about the major religions that fit into their cultural context. This is exactly how TERFs are with Muslims, but it's not praxis right now for TRFs to hate Muslims unless China is the one putting them in concentration camps.

"transfeminized people are at the bottom of the caste system" ohhhhh my God and Christians have murdered queer people FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS but to act like a trans person being Hindu is a unique act of betrayal or short-sightedness you have to conveniently ignore that because it would be so obviously wrong to say that queer people can't be Christian

[lotusarchon]

I had to make a whole google doc to sort my thoughts on this, that's how mad I am tbh. My friends have made explanations which you can find here, and here. And while I told myself that after that post I was done, seeing my friend receive a comment like this was the final pushing point I needed.

I'm both going to ramble about Nezha here again, and I'm going to try and explain this in a way that'll get people to understand, as someone who once followed an Eastern religion too + I'm going to be stating my basic thoughts here so maybe some things won't make sense.

Mild info about me: I'm from Trinidad. My family is described with East Indian descent but clearly, I'm not from India itself. My knowledge of Hinduism is rather basic because I quit religion thanks to traumatic experiences related to it, however not lacking fully. From my father's side, specifically his mother, they practice Hinduism and can even be considered devout Hindus (if I'm to believe all the statues and pictures of about almost every single Hindu god). Though my knowledge is basic, understand that I'm not Hindu nor Indian, so of course these are my opinions and my experiences with Hinduism, and I do not advise you taking my word fully to heart. I'm only trying to explain something to the LMK fandom in the best way I know how too, by referencing another Eastern religion that isn't half as popular as Daoism/Buddhism.

There's only one show I know where Hinduism is portrayed, and it's an anime/manga series called Record Of Ragnarok (Shuumatsu No Valkyrie), and from what I know it's not well liked by others (and even banned I think?) because of the fact Shiva is weaker than Zeus and the supposed sexualization of Parvati, Kali and Durga? It's been a while so I could be wrong on this though.

Why am I bringing this topic up to a rant about a lego character though?

#1) Fiction vs Religion and Reality

While one half expresses discontent and discomfort, I've seen others who clearly don't mind because Shiva is still badass and cool. I myself had some qualms about his appearance in the beginning because while I did quit religion, this was a god I used to worship, and seeing him in an anime/manga and be sexualized and simped for was…uncanny, to say the least. Overtime I grew numb to it though because it was genuinely funny and even I, an ex Hindu, found him attractive, and had not much hesitation writing smut about him in past fics. 

Similarly, I can imagine this is how Daoists and Chinese had originally felt about Nezha in Lego Monkie Kid [Only referencing LMK with Chinese deities. I'm aware there could be other media where they're in.] A bit weird at first but then overall got used to it because there's genuinely no harm done, as it's not meant to be an educational retelling of a god, but a fictional portrayal of him.

Returning to the point I mentioned with Shiva. When I first came across this series in 2021 (?), I did not feel too happy and comfortable with the image of a deity I've grown up worshipping as a child. I quit religion when I turned 13, so it's been nearly five years since I've had nothing to do with the main religion of my household; Hinduism. Still, I practically grew up worshipping this god I was taught to fear, and seeing a potrayal of him (which honestly in my opinion) didn't seem like a good thing at the time. 

Why did I eventually stop being bothered? Because this wasn't supposed to be retelling of Shiva. This was just a character with similarities to the god I worshipped, but wasn't the god. The series I watched wasn't even intending to teach audiences about any of the religions and real life figures they portrayed, they simply used them as inspiration to tell a story. They weren't accurate representations, but that was the point. It's a story about gods vs humans from history; of course it wasn't going to be accurate nor stay true to the figure they took inspiration from.

You can imagine then for a cartoon series meant to sell Legos. Lego Monkie Kid contains several characters that are known in Chinese myths and legends/religions. Of the most popular mentioned, there is Sun Wukong, one of the main characters in the series, Tang Sanzang otherwise known as Tripitaka and the Great Monk, Lady Guanyin mentioned in season 1, the one the fandom argues about, Nezha, the Jade Emperor in season 4, and most recently, Nuwa, and Heavenly Pagoda King, Li Jing. There may be others but these are the ones that are most known within the fandom. 

Mind you some of these figures are still very much worshipped now, but, point remains: the series was never intended to be a retelling of these characters stories, nor were they intended to be educational for audiences. They took inspiration directly, gave their own twists, and hence you have the story of LMK, meant to originally promote Legos and then eventually gave way to the series that this fandom belongs too.

These characters are not their source material, nor the origins of which they came from as religious figures. Sun Wukong is a Buddha within JTTW’s ends and if I'm right is still worshipped as such sometimes (?). He didn't hide away into a mountain at the end of his journey. His companions didn't die, nor were they reincarnated, but instead also acquired titles and became Buddhas as well. (Or gods? I frankly don't remember). Tang Sanzang as we've in season 4 was not some sort of brave, astute man in the book but rather a crybaby coward. Need I even point out that Nezha wouldn't have a giant mech to fight people, nor would he have such close deposition with the Jade Emperor? Or the fact that the Jade Emperor would be bested by someone like Azure Lion?

Not even counting Journey To The West and the Fengshen Yanyi, the real Tang Sanzang that Wu Cheng’en took inspiration of most certainly did not have a monkey, a pig, a water demon and a dragon turned horse with him on his journey. 

Why speak of all this?

To make my first point; religion and fiction are two very different things. Religion has existed for who knows how long, and fiction has recently decided to include fictional potrayals of these gods into stories and cartoons. From a writer's perspective, it's really interesting taking something that is a part of religion and writing it into your own works, with your own take on it.

And of course, brings me to the topic of Nezha.

Lego Monkie Kid Nezha is, according to an official writer within the show's team, an adult. Although many fans have their objections about this, supposedly because Nezha in other sources is a child god, and think that the writer only abruptly pointed out Nezha's an adult to save her own skin.

Taking all my points in consideration; let me humour the Nezha is a child god idea. What, exactly, does this have to do with Nezha in Monkie Kid? 

If Nezha, the god within Daoism and Buddhism, is supposedly a child deity, what law says that any other potryal of Nezha has to abide by this? 

By this logic. Shiva in the anime I mentioned above shouldn't be weaker than Zeus. He also shouldn't even be agreeing to fight mortals, as he's a deity far above such petty behavior. Zeus shouldn't be portrayed in books like PJO as a lecherous cheater, because in reality, Ancient Greece consisted of multiple kingdoms and thereby different interpretations of Zeus were merged together which is what consists of the myths we know of him today which is highly disrespectful, and Sun Wukong shouldn't be a mentor to MK, because he's supposed to be a Buddhist, and thereby wouldn't be entertaining fighting nuances.

Fiction doesn't not adhere to reality. The fact I need to say this astounds me because should this not be obvious? Lego Monkie Kid is a cartoon set in some sci-fi futuristic world with lego people walking around, where gods somehow need mechs to go around fighting, and there are animal-like demons/yaoguai walking around here and there. There is literally an arcade in the show with zero gravity. Do you possibly believe for a miniscule second that anything that goes down in a fictional setting will adhere to our reality??

And, even then, humouring the Nezha being a child deity concept > what law says that he has to be portrayed as a child in other pieces of fiction?? Especially when the fictional setting is not meant to be a retelling or for educational purposes, but rather to carry a plot. 

There is nothing, no law, no rules that insists that a religious figure must be portrayed as they are in a legend/myth for a fictional world.

Lego Monkie Kid Nezha is not the deity Nezha. He is a completely different character, which many of you should have realized from the exact moment he was brought into the show. They are not the same person. Never was. 

“Oh, it's disrespectful―” From a writer's perspective, I personally don't think so. If I wanted to make a story that involved a god, I wouldn't keep everything that makes that god who they are. There are some key points I would keep to make the story, but I would ultimately create an OC that shares some attributes to this religious figure, but it wouldn't be him. The show Record of Ragnarok does a good job with this in my opinion, because while many characters share some attributes to the real figures they're inspired by, the writers changed several things to create a proper story, and thereby making these characters OCs and not the actual gods themselves, and of course that logic applies to Lego Monkie Kid.

In the instance, again, Nezha the god from Daoism, is in fact a child deity, Nezha in LMK isn't. Nezha in LMK is someone who's entirely different from the god himself. 

So, the logic this fandom uses confuses me a lot. Do you not understand how to seperate fiction from religion?? Do many of you not understand media literacy, and what a writing process is like?

Sigh. Moving to another point―

#2) Character Designs

Sometimes, when it comes to character designs, anyone could just throw them into anything and think, “Yeah that's good.” Not much thought is given to a character's appearances depending, which I don't really blame as someone who's 1) done literature as a hobby and has seen my fair share of character designs, 2) creates characters myself. It's too hard thinking of a character's appearance, and even then when making them there normally wouldn't be any significance.

Nezha's design in LMK seems to be a huge source of debate when arguing about his age. It was actually brought up in my previous post, specifically that his hairstyle was often used by children at the time. 

I have a bone to pick with this point.

This is Nezha from Lego Monkie Kid:

However, this is Mei from the same show:

Before anyone starts, allow me to point out as a history geek that likes religion and pointless facts over politics: I am aware that there are different hairstyles to show certain things, including one's age and status and sometimes even personality. Do not bring up any points about the differences in these characters hairstyles with an excuse, “Oh, but you should know―”, because I know how hairstyles could be treated within history. 

However. Look at Nezha's hairstyle, and then Mei's. I've never seen the LMK fandom complain about Mei's age, because it was generally believed that MK and Mei are both at least 18 if not older, as the legal age for a driver's license in China is 18. 

Both Nezha and Mei are wearing a ‘bun’ type hairstyle. Mei's is arguably more of twin ponytails (?), but I'm not a hairstylist, so I don't know what they're called. To me they look similar, that's all I'm trying to say. And even if they weren't though―through a modern lense, a hairstyle isn't reserved for just any specific age. Anyone can wear a hairstyle they want. Keep in mind that the creators of LMK are also Western(?), and they chose a hairstyle for these two characters based on personality and appearances. 

A hairstyle is not reserved for any age. Grown women including my aunts have worn hairstyles similar to these just for fun.

That's point one.

Point two; Nezha is a very popular deity, much like Sun Wukong. In terms of recognition, Sun Wukong is very easy to recognize because of his staff and his overall cocky personality. 

Nezha however is an entirely different case. Most media potrayals of him always has the two-bun hairstyle of him, which is what makes Nezha recognizable. If you remove that specific hairstyle of his, you won't recognize him. It's iconic, and pointed out in this scene (The Legend of Hei) where Nezha makes an appearance as well.

[Characters sitting together. White haired boy (Hei + MC) looks at the older, dark haired boy (Nezha). Nezha looks back.]

Nezha: What? You want an autograph?

Hei: You're a boy?

Nezha: Yeah?

Hei: Your hairstyle is cute.

[Nezha looks in front with an annoyed expression.]

Nezha: If it weren't for the recognizability, I'd have changed it long ago.

Hei: Recognizability?

[Nezha removes the buns(? some form of them?) from his head. Three older figures glance at him.]

???: Who are you?

[Scene returns]

Nezha: See?

Aka, point being made: those buns are what makes Nezha recognizable. If he doesn't have that hairstyle, unless it's specifically pointed out, I'm certain majority would not recognize him. 

Some hairstyles are meant to be done for some form of meaning. But sometimes, as is the case with designs, they're just there just because no one wanted to make the characters bald. Using the excuse about Nezha's hairstyle to justify his age as a child is by far the lamest and dumbest excuse I've ever heard of, because the creators did not give him that hairstyle for the sake of some meaning anymore than MK was given his current hairstyle either. It's his logo at this point, ignoring his color scheme aside.

Even then, if the creators of Lego Monkie Kid intended for Nezha to be a child within the show, he would not appear as he is. Lego Monkie Kid has made children models, which we can see here (used from s3 and up in case someone tries to excuse the differences in seasons): 

And of course, Nezha's model;

Despite the perspective and low quality though, he's at least the same height as Red Son here:

If Lego Monkie Kid truly intended for Nezha to be a child, his appearance and model would be similar to the children's in the show. Perspective is difficult to find but you can clearly see he's about the same height as the other adult characters if not taller, and is not small like the child figures we see.

Pink isn't a children's color, and nothing about Nezha's clothing indicates a child. He very much looks like an adult and doesn't exhibit childish behavior as we see Red Son, Mei and MK do.

I've seen fans use his voice to point out he's an adult, but I'm not sure that's a valid point. I say this as someone who has a 13 year old brother and was recently a minor myself. 

Allow me to clarify: a voice isn't a clear proof of age. My father is a 45 year old man but sounds very much like a woman/teenage girl. My brother is 13 and sounds more of an adult than his father. My classmate in highschool was one year older than me and his voice was very high-pitched. 

The voice actors in LMK are directed to speak a certain way for a reason…in English. I'm not sure about Mandarin. In my opinion, Wukong's voice sounds like Son Goku's because it's a reference to the fact Wukong is what inspired Goku. Nezha's probably sounds deep and brooding not because he's a child but because it almost represents his own personality, and probably is a reference from another shonen protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki. MK's voice in the beginning sounds really childish to me but slowly as the events of s3, 4 and 5 happen it gets more deeper almost as a reference to show how his ‘innocence’ is slowly fading. 

Or, I might be looking to into it. Regardless, tdlr, don't use Nezha's voice in your argument. I've seen grown ass men have high pitched voices. 

Returning to my original point however; if you have an ounce of media literacy and understanding, you should be aware that some character designs are chosen for a reason. Nezha's icon is those two bun hairstyle, and the writers purposely chose it so old fans/readers of JTTW and FSYY and maybe other Chinese/Daoists would be able to recognize him and go, “Hey, that's Nezha from―”

Before I got into LMK, I read JTTW and also saw The Legend of Hei and the Nezha 2019 movie, so I knew him because of the hairstyle. And my first instinct of course was to point out, “That's the dude from TLOH!!” when I saw him. So, the hairstyle was chosen for the recognizability, and I highly doubt as a sign of age.

Even then, LMK Nezha aside, moving on to a different point.

#3) Sources Of Inspiration

The 21st century isn't really the first era where people are taking inspiration from other cultures. As a matter of fact, it's been happening for decades, and it's very prominent in religion, which someone of you would know if you both a) actually did proper research, b) gave a shit about what you're researching and c) studied history.

Hilariously, I have done all three of the above. 

I'm going to use a popular example here with Sun Wukong and Hanuman. Hinduism is supposedly largely considered one of the oldest religions in the world. If you truly think about it, certain Daoist deities are loosely inspired or are versions of Hindu gods, which I'm going to use here with a popular example (and provide a link too).

― Sun Wukong and Hanuman. The earliest Vedic records mention one of the supposed known monkey gods, and their similarities make scholars suggest Hanuman inspired Sun Wukong. Specifically his figure in JTTW, where it's speculated that the author must've had a copy of Vedic (?) hymns. While Sun Wukong does predate JTTW, Hanuman definitely has had some influence on him.

Much, much similarly, the deity known as Nezha, is also loosely inspired/based off the figure known as Nalakuvara, who appears in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, and often appears as a sexual trickster figure in Hindu and Buddhist literature.

Historically speaking, when it comes to religion and myths, something many people fail to understand is that before there was the idea of writing to tell a story, there was the process known as sharing from mouth to ear. Not in a literal sense, but rather that people often preferred to tell stories via word of mouth back then, and as things always go in history, there will be changes. The proof is literally right there. Nezha was originally known as Nalakuvara, yet when transmitted through Buddhist texts, he became known as Nazha, then Nezha. And as such, the Lotus Prince and Chinese god known as Nezha was created. A combination of Nalakuvara and the child god Krishna.

A lot of people will want to jump on that specific point that mentions Krishna being a child god, so allow me to immediately put you down right there.

Ex Hindu here; I did not even know there was a portrayal of Krishna as a child. Up until I stopped practicing Hinduism, I used to worship Krishna as an adult figure. In the paintings and statues my aunts had for Diwali as a child, he was always showcased as an adult.

Ironically, doesn't this apply for the actual god Nezha too? 

When it comes to religion and myths, many of you forget something very important; there is no such thing as a canon iteration. These aren't shows, these are stories from the past told through different people, and passed through many hands. There is no such thing as a canon version because almost everyone had their own version of a myth or story. Terms you may typically apply to fandoms don't apply to fucking religions and myths, and some of you are so chronically online that you forget it.

#4) The LMK Fandom's Chronically Online Attitude

I'm an ex Hindu who still faintly remembers some bits and pieces from my childhood while practicing this religion, especially during the Diwali period, where little me managed to get new information from library books about the gods my family worshipped. I personally didn't like sitting during the priest's (forgot what he was called) chanting though but the funny white thingy we used to have to wear was fun. 

There are some Hindu gods I'm familiar with, like Lakshmi, Kali, Durga and the other versions of her (I still can't recover from the one statue with her in a fish..) Parvati, Shiva, Vishnu, Hanuman (yaah), Rama and Sita, Ganesh (also yah) and of course, Krishna.  I also have watched my fair share of childhood movies and cartoons where the gods were mentioned or present―Karan & Arjun specifically struck the fear in me with Kali 😭😭 holy fuck that movie scared me with the creepy edits jeez T-T. There was also that one cartoon about Rama and Sita”s story specifically Hanuman, and this Indian TV series where this little girl was a loyal devotee to Ganesha (I had no idea rats were one of his uh signature animals holy shit).

I'm rambling here a bit because the childhood memories were fun, but the point I'm going for is though….

I am familiar with these gods I grew up with. And I know about them, maybe not enough but certainly enough to know how to properly respect them from back then. 

And, using Krishna as a prime example; if someone came up to me, or I came across anyone, who argues that the god I know is an immortal child, even though I have worshipped and adult version of him, I'd be so fucking pissed. Krishna is seen as an adult, I worshipped him as an adult, but there are cases where he's a child god, and that's fine! But to have someone tell you that you're wrong about the god you know about because they got some basic information off the internet, undoubtedly, I'm going to be pissed. Especially when it's from a Western fan who has no fucking brain.

So, of course, imagine how devotees of Nezha and Chinese people must be feeling every single time this fandom fucks about with Nezha's age. I saw it myself; people told my friend that a) she was lying and b) her statement is irrelevant just because “I did my proper research, and even if you're Chinese you can still be a proshipper, Nezha's a child deity.”

It's genuinely so fucked up to me how the LMK fandom act towards Nezha's age. You guys will ignore the people who are willing to provide accurate information for the sake of being in the right and accusing people for being a proshipper over a deity they have more experience with than you, a Western fan who has no knowledge of Eastern religion.

It's insane. There are actual Daoist and Chinese who are pointing out the fact Nezha isn't an immortal fucking child. 

You're not only disrespectful, you insane, childish and most importantly chronically online. Nezha the god isn't a fictional character, there's nothing ‘canon’ about him. He's a god who's lived for decades longer than you, and his existence predates yours. People have long sinced worshipped Nezha, and the fact that you can so boldly tell someone they're wrong about the god they've worshipped is so disrespectful.

Do you not realize, as Nezha is worshipped as a child, he's worshipped as an adult? Do you not take into account how absolutely disgusting and horrible you are telling Daoists and Chinese who have stated time and time again the information of Nezha being an immortal child is factually incorrect that they're wrong and know nothing??

I'm repeating my statement; I'm an ex Hindu, but if anyone told me that Krishna's an immortal child too and then point out I'm wrong and my point doesn't matter, I would be seething. And I don't blame my friend who's losing their temper about Nezha's age. 

What amazes me though, somehow, is the fact that. If anyone who was Chinese + Daoist agreed with your claims, as Cole from Twitter once did, none of you would've spoken that way to my friend. But of course, once she points out she's Chinese/ex Daoist and disagrees with you, majority of the opinions switched because, she wasn't agreeing with your headcanon, right? So even though she's Chinese, she's bad because she disagreed with you.

You're all disgusting and fucking weird.

And the fact y'all in this fandom will habitually prove yourselves as hypocrites by attacking people, and then ignoring the ones who are capable of proving you're wrong to cling to a false idea is insane. You guys need some actual help, holy fucking shit. 

Nezha isn't an immortal child. That's a god. If he was intended to be a child in LMK, there would've been statements about it. 

Seperate fiction from religion, and seperate your headcanon from canon and the actual god. If you think this biased headcanon is okay and attacking people that point you out for being wrong is somehow okay, I sincerely ask that you take a break from the internet, and read a book.

No, don't just read a book. Read a history book. Pick up some knowledge, understand how religion and history works. 

Furthermore. The research some of you guys are doing is actually shit, by the way. You guys aren't researching properly if you can pull up with Nezha is 12, thing. If you actually cared about his age, you'd put more effort and actually stop being disrespectful to the people who are giving you the proper information. You only research surface level so you can attack people.

And additionally, stop playing the Devil's advocate. Most of you are just Western fans who think you know everything from reading one book or watching one show. You read JTTW or watch OSP’s videos and suddenly, you know more than an actual Chinese person or Daoist. You look up Wikipedia and think, “Oh yeah, I'll go with this!” And that's it. Most of you at best can provide only three websites at most, and I can bet my ass that these websites with information about Nezha's age was written by a fan who got their information from a shit source.

I love History, and most specifically, I love religion. Not so much the divine aspects as it is about the myths that surround it. Whenever I get into a fandom, I need to find out more about their religion and history. Getting into JTTW, and eventually, LMK, pushed me into a rabbit hole of Chinese myths that I really enjoy learning. But dealing with idiots who think they know more?? It's sickening as shit.

I'd like to think I'm good at literature things because once it's a religion or myth I want to learn everything about it. But I know I don't know everything, and I know especially I have more to learn. I'd never tell someone who is a part or worships the religion/culture I'm learning that they're factually incorrect about it just because I have an opinion and I learnt my info from a random source.

You guys in the LMK fandom are incredibly entitled. The Nezha is 12 controversy is a headcanon, which became worst by that asshat Cole on Twitter. And because so many of you don't want to learn the truth, whenever someone tries to point out and help you, you ignore them or attack them, and deny their heritage.

And honestly?? You guys suck. 

And this is coming from me!! Some of y'all are grown ass adults too!! And yet I'm childish and immature!?!

Brother I literally turned 18 a few months ago, yet I'm 100% certain I'm not throwing a blasted hissy fit over a fucking god the way some of you all who are most definitely adults are doing.

And finally, the one thing that actually does make me laugh is because I'm pretty sure most of you didn't do History classes. One of the most important things my history teacher taught me is; don't use Wikipedia as a source of viable information. Thousands of people are capable of accessing Wikipedia and changing information as they want, and so it's much better to find book solid resources from libraries. I did in fact use Wikipedia too (hypocritical of me yeah) so of course I wouldn't advise using the screenshots I provided from Wikipedia as evidence to the argument, because anything on Wikipedia can be changed. If I'm feeling extra petty I could change something myself to be in the right.

Furthermore, if you dare to bring up only JTTW and FSSY as a plausible argument about Nezha's age, I'm genuinely going to throw hands and fuck your mother. I think my friend also mentioned it in their posts but I'll mention it here too; JTTW does NOT state Nezha's age. I've read JTTW, and aside from Wukong vs Nezha there's nothing else that states Nezha's age. For all we're aware of, Wukong called Nezha a kid just out of spite, and I do it too when I'm arguing with someone. FSSY is the Investiture of the Gods and the ORIGINS!! Do you THINK a book about the ORIGINS of the gods would focus on other aspects about them!!? No!!

I expect some of the arguments I might get are;

"Oh, Nezha [appearances] could be wearing a glamor!" That is a headcanon, as we see nothing in LMK to refute that. Macaque's scar is canon because it's shown within the show. Nezha's appearance has NOT fluctuated since he was introduced. The idea of him using a glamor or illusion is a HEADCANON unless proven by the show. And headcanons are NOT vital.

"But you use Wikipedia too :(" Which I pointed out and made aware of, which is I also doubt that source myself. If any of you did History, your teachers are supposed to INFORM you that using a website is NOT a good idea for backing up information, and it's much better to use books or other trusted sources. In the case of Nezha, I'm trusting actual Daoists/Chinese who knows more about him than I do. It's because I did PROPER research that I even came across a good source of information, aka @ruibaozha, who I'm sure can share more light on this than me! The fact that some of you guys won't even acknowledge them is almost proof that...you're clinging to a headcanon. Jackass.

"But Nezha in JTTW/FSSY are 7/12 and that's where LMK takes it's inspiration from so obviously―" We've seen for a fact LMK does NOT follow JTTW to the letter. Jade Emperor beating Wukong?? Lady Bone Demon being a powerful foe and being trapped in a bunker? Azure even being able to kill the Emperor? Majority of the LMK fandom likes to point out that LMK Macaque and JTTW Macaque are two different people, especially when you claim that Macaque is a bad character because he cannibalized the monkeys. So then, with this logic, JTTW Nezha, FSSY Nezha, and LMK Nezha are also three seperate figures. I swear someone made a post about the differences JTTW and FSSY Nezha have too, but I can't find it so meh. The point still remains though. LMK Nezha are two different people, you're not making any sense to me about that argument. Even then, LMK isn't taking direct inspiration and putting their own twist. Who says anything needs to be accurate??

"The writer only said Nezha's an adult to ship lotuspeach!" Are you faintly aware people, actual Chinese people, have shipped these characters together? Proshippers can come from anywhere but I genuinely doubt every single person is a proshipper because of course, they're aware their god isn't an eternal child. On top of that, in a situation like this another writer would point out that Nezha ISN'T an adult. No one has argued against this claim, so why persist? Where's your logic coming from if not entitlement?

I want this to be the last time I have to talk about Nezha, because I made my blog to write porn and me smooching my favorite LMK characters. I kinda don't really like making discussions like this because that's not the point of my blog.

However...I do like rambling. A lot :)))

Anyways, point blank. LMK fandom needs to grow out of this entitled mindset and stop ignoring the facts from experts. You guys are just being annoying at this point.

My argument isn't really valid tbh, just pointless rambling because I only know basic information. I think you guys should find proper information from accounts online.

Also, if you're gonna argue: don't bring be albeist, racist etc etc. I'm capable of cussing you out without bringing up your mental health, race or identity :)))

[nefertitiacai]

Astrology observations: LONG DRIVE EDITION 🛣️

LET'S GOOOOOOO!!! 🏁 🚘

🚋 This post is dedicated to my prominent mercury and third house placement folks who love their long drives, cars, and road trips.

🚋 Uranus/Aquarius in 3rd house ppl may own a car which may have a unique aspect to it, like the model of the car has been stopped being sold by the company, not many people may buy it, it may be electrical, etc.

🚋 With Uranus in 3rd house, you may also go on sudden, spontaneous trips.

🚋 Okay but my condolences to the Sagittarius folks who love traveling but also have Virgo placements (especially if they are squaring), y'all how are your motion sickness and stomach problems while traveling 🫣, mine ain't better.

🚋 Growing up, folks with Sagittarius moon/ Jupiter conj Moon/ Jupiter in the 4th house may have traveled to a lot of spiritual and pilgrimage places with their parents.

🚋 Capricorn/Cancer/Taurus placements for what I've observed is that they want to travel slowly, like if going on a long drive they are the ones who make sure the ride is comfortable by stopping by food stations/ scenery checkpoints etc, they ain't hurrying that's why they are my fav travel buddies.

🚋 Pisces/ 12th house placements/Neptune in the 3rd house 🤝 taking a good ass nap while sitting on the backseat. Ik ppl who have this placement who'll legit not sleep throughout the night just so they could sleep while traveling XD.

🚋 Gemini placements are a great source of entertainment while traveling XD. They've got everything. They'll make jokes and be funny all the time but also if you're curious about the place they'll have the facts up their sleeves.

🚋 Leo, Taurus and Libra placements 🤝 shopping, especially the cutesy souvenirs.

🚋About pilgrimage and spiritual sanctuaries, I've noticed that Capricorn placements also love to visit them, especially when they get older.

🚋 Libra, Scorpio, Cancer, and Pisces placements 🤝 daydreaming/reminiscing while listening to music and looking outside the window.

🚋 If you wanna dine the right place, I think it is quite well known by now to take Virgo, Taurus or Sagittarius folk with ya. They know and have it well researched.

🚋 Aries/prominent Mars placements (especially in the 3rd house)🤝 loving that adrenaline rush from driving on rocky terrains and fast driving on the highways.

BONUS: Some asteroids associated with gods of travel and my take on em 🛣️

Ganesa (2415) - Hindu God of wealth and wisdom. Also known to be the "remover of obstacles" that's why he is prayed for before embarking on a new journey be it literally or metaphorically. Having it prominent in your chart may indicate where you'll be successful in your ventures, where you may have a lot of luck and wisdom by your side, and where you may gain wealth.Where new beginnings will be auspicious for you.

Hermes (69230) - Many consider this Greek god as the "Jack-of-all-trades" as he is considered to be the patron god of travel, art, invention, trade, literature, and also of thieves. Planet Mercury is associated with this deity hence having it prominent in your chart may indicate that you may also be a jack-of-all-trades, clever, cunning, and intelligent. Having it prominent in your chart may also indicate you may get away from the troubles and consequences of your actions by using your wit easily.

Vibilia (144) - Roman goddess of the journey, "the right way", short and long trips as well as roads. Having it prominent in your chart may indicate what inspires you to travel, your spiritual/symbolic or literal journey. Being prominent in solar return may be an indication of travel that year.

Adeona (145) - The Roman goddess of safe return, she is also considered the protector of children who travel to come back home (isn't that wholesome?), and also the goddess of homecoming. Having it wherever in your chart may indicate aspects of your life that you return to for comfort and safety. What aspects of your life are where you return and settle in after completing all your endeavors.

[sluggsbugg]

ੈ✩‧₊˚ PANTHEISM ☽｡⋆

and how it it has impacted my shifting journey, and could possibly impact yours…

there are many definitions of pantheism, and many ways to look at it, but today i’m going to explain it to you (or try to lol) as i see it and try to show you how a pantheistic mindset can aid you in your shifting journey.

pantheism is described as the philosophical and spiritual belief that reality, the universe and nature are identical to or are a supreme deity. like many pantheists, i like to refer to this supreme deity, or the universe, as “the one”.

another definition of pantheism is the worship of all gods and every religion, though this could more accurately be called omnism (which also a very interesting philosophy but that’s for another time).

most pantheism beliefs do not recognize a distinct single god or deity, but instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationship between reality and divinity.

pantheism and pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years… in fact, early forms of taoism are considered to adhere to this belief. there was even a school of hindu philosophy that is thought to be similar. cheondoism, which arose during the korean joseon dynasty, and won buddhism are also considered to be pantheistic.

but how does this apply to shifting?

well, let me tell you how.

if, by pantheistic standards, the universe, reality and nature are all one single entity, then that means that we are apart of it. we are apart of “the one”, in fact we are it.

we are the universe experiencing itself.

there is no need to sit in your room or on the bus or at work thinking about “how you hope the universe will let you shift”… because YOU are the universe.

i know people in the shifting community say it a lot. over and over again you hear the advice that you are the only thing getting in your way, that you just need to see that it’s all in your hands, but it’s true. it can be annoying to hear it constantly, but i promise it’s the best bit of advice you’ll ever get.

when your doing your methods or your meditations, say to yourself, “i am the universe and i am letting myself shift”. or say something like “i am the universe and the universe is me”. really, any variation of these statements will work.

it even works for manifestation and the law of attraction.

i have gotten the best results during shifting attempts when i remind myself of these things, and the first time i started using these affirmations i even minishifted.

and don’t worry, even if you’re a christian or pagan or whatever shifter you can still adhere to these beliefs. within pantheism, these other deities exist as extensions of the universe just like you or i. they exist because we believe in them, just like we believe that the sky is blue and the ocean is salty (if that makes sense).

we make our reality and our truths, we do it everyday. easy as pie.

anyways… just a little thing i had on my mind that i thought might help somebody out there. please feel free to research pantheism more on your own, or to ask me questions in dms, comments or asks, im happy to answer.

happy shifting, and have good day/night!!

[bones4thecats]

A/N: Enjoy part 2 with Indra and Shiva!

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

⛈ He and you were fairly close, as the God of Lightning and Rain Storms respectively, you and him spent a lot of time managing the storms that plagued the Earth

⛈ Indra had major respect for you, and he even fought against Rudra and Shiva when they challenged you both, not wanting you to get hurt, he took your place

⛈ You were fairly close with many Hindu Gods, including Varuna, who, by many accounts, could be fairly teasing

⛈ And Indra saw that as a form of flirting (which is technically is, but you get the point)

⛈ He had come home from a nice walk and smoke through Svarga when he heard the familiar laugh coming from Varuna and you in another room

⛈ Indra looked inside your room and saw how Varuna was touching you, tickling your sides, causing a small rainstorm to accumulate outside, so, to make sure Shiva wouldn't yell at you for going ahead of schedule, he picked the God of Water up and laid him away from you

⛈ This made the sun come back out from behind the clouds

“ Varuna, you know what Shiva would say if the rain interrupted his training and was ahead of schedule. “

⛈ Varuna sighed and stood up, patting his fellow God’s shoulder and whispering in his ear, saying how he knew and was praying for it to happen

⛈ You were oblivious to it all, trying to tell the servants what happened and why it leaked rain, and hopefully you’d stay oblivious until he was ready to tell you

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

🪩 Okay, so, this guy is at a neutral level here

🪩 Everyone knew that Shiva has good choice in his relationships, I mean, have you seen his wives?

🪩 Shiva has a habit of teasing people a lot, which had led multiple Goddesses to believe he was flirting with them, when if fact, he was not

🪩 He was always the one who initiated flirting with you, and you still remain oblivious to his advances, to which his current wives, Druga, Kali, and Parvati just chuckle at

🪩 Since his wives were busy one day, he decided to visit you, his best friend alongside Rudra

🪩 He knew that you and Apollo were fairly close, as representations of the Sun and Light, but seeing how he rested a hand on your waist and holding you right hand towards the sun to help it move got him aggravated

🪩 Apollo and him weren’t the closest people around, and anyone could tell, but he can tolerate many people that others couldn't

🪩 But this was too far

🪩 He grabbed you and threw you over his shoulder and ended up glaring at the God of the Sun before walking away with you lightly punching his shoulder

“ What was that about, Shiva? “ “ Marry me. “ “ … huh?! “

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Thoughts on religion in the wizarding world? I'm guessing there would be sects of existing religions as well as their own. Maybe they think their magic is divinely given and muggles are heathens? Or they're supposed to 'enlighten' or 'watch over' the muggles like some angel complex?

there was definitely people worshipping harry potter. And/or voldy like there's already religious overtones why not make it in universe?

Hi 👋,

Kinda mentioned what I think about religion in the wizarding world here and here. since the Statute of Secrecy was introduced so late (1692) it means most wizarding communities would be practicing some magical variant of the local muggle religion. In the case of Britain — that would be Christianity.

The fact wizards are buried in Christian muggle graveyards, that Bill and Fleur's wedding is a Christian wedding with a little magical flare, that they celebrate Christmas, and that they have godparents — are all facts that indicate the UK wizarding world is predominantly Christian.

As for more personal fanatical worship we see with Harry and Voldemort, that's something that could just happen in any community, regardless of whether they are religious or not. Ideologies can become fanatical religious worship of the ideology and its leader even without any religion or gods present, so I don't think it has much to do with it. Completely atheist groups and organizations have become fanatical to the point of religious faith in the past, I don't see why wizards would then be different and need religion/god/gods to worship someone/something.

I think there could be some wizards who believe they are better than muggles due to religious reasons, but we don't really see evidence of that in the UK. The beliefs most Death Eaters spew don't seem to have a religious basis but be more similar to eugenics, considering how much they talk about blood and purity (like the Nazis, who were very anti-religion, btw. Like, I don't know how aware you are, but the Nazi party prosecuted Christians in Germany, they believed the state and its leader should be the religion and not god). It's about blood more than about religion in my opinion.

What I do think is interesting is how certain ancient wizards (like Merlin and the founders) are treated somewhat like religious figures, like saints ("Merlin's beard" and such). So, it kinda makes me want to headcanon Merlin and the founders are considered saints in the Magical Church or whatever it's called. That they have a whole additional set of legends and saints built atop the muggle Christian faith (or any other religion wherever those wizards are).

I wonder if there are wizards in the Vatican? If there really is a strain of Christianity that's like "The Church of Magic" or whatever. I mean, Harry describes there is a wizard priest who presides over Dumbledore's funeral and Bill and Fleur's wedding. He needed to get this priesthood somewhere.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said a slightly singsong voice, and with a slight shock, Harry saw the same small, tufty-haired wizard who had presided at Dumbledore’s funeral, now standing in front of bill and Fleur.

(DH, 127)

The above "small, tufty-haired wizard" is a wizard priest.

It also means there are wizards of any other muggle religion based on their location with some magical flares added (Jewish wizards, Muslim wizards, Hindu wizards, you name it). Probably different wizarding communities (different countries or areas) have slightly different variations of said religious practices, just like we see with irl semi-secluded cultures. Like, the magical church of France is likely a little different from the magical church of England (I wonder if the magical church of England is Anglican or if it's an older institute and therefore catholic and remained so through Herny VIII's reforms, which happened before the Statute of Secrecy. I assume some wizards are catholic and some are protestant in the UK regardless, again depending on where they are from).

[queerprayers]

Is it okay for a Christian to practice yoga? I feel extremely conflicted because my faith in God is so important to me, and I’ve read so many opinions all disapproving. It feels blasphemous to say, but I feel so close to and loved by God when I practice it, it feels like a prayer to the God who has always known me. It makes me more patient and loving to others and to the body He gave me. Do you have any thoughts on this? Is it a betrayal?

Hi, beloved!

I do not consider myself an expert by any means (and am a white US-American who has never trained in genuine yoga), but as someone who's practiced yoga for years, while I don't particularly see it as part of my religious practice, it inevitably has spiritual connotations because it involves caring for myself, balancing my emotions, and reconnecting with the world around me.

There are so many kinds and traditions of yoga, and of course many (like worship of Hindu deities) are incompatible with Christianity. Aspects like Buddhist meditation do not come from or embody Christianity, but are not completely alien and can be (in my opinion) learned about/incorporated. There is no one yoga, and so to practice it (in the more general sense that most non-Buddhist/Hindus/etc. do) is not devoting yourself to all its tenets.

Honestly, I think it's a good thing that you're aware of its non-Christianity, because if you were to just take the practice without thinking and rebrand it as Christian, that would be deceptive and appropriative. There's not a clear line between what's appropriation and what's not, and yoga has been so secularized already, but I think it's good to live in the tension of understanding that what you (and I) are calling yoga is very different from classical yoga, and that it is from (if you're not Indian--I don't know your background) a different culture and framework. Be curious about the origins of yoga, the ways "Western" culture has secularized and commercialized it, and the ways you connect with it.

I think there's a lot of boring opinions out there about how Christians shouldn't do anything even associated with "paganism," and anything spiritual without a picture of Jesus on it is evil. There is no Christianity without other religions, and throughout history Christianity has been heavily influenced and enriched by its connection to other traditions and its existence in diverse cultures. There is no pure Christianity, is what I'm saying. It's all mixed up in what humans are and the different ways we try to look at God. We may (and Christians do) believe that there is one Truth, but add any more information to that belief and none of us agree. And there is no practice or ritual that someone else hasn't done to a different God.

What's more interesting to me is investigating specific teachings of kinds of yoga, and how they relate to Christian philosophy. It is useless to call something pagan or heretical without understanding specifically how it contradicts the faith. There are criticisms that I think actually matter--inner knowledge/elevating yourself through spiritual practice/uniting with the divine is very gnostic, which you could totally be down with or agree with its being labeled as heresy. Christian understandings of the body differ widely--certain bodily states/experiences being equated with mysticism is not something I go for, but you can find that in some traditions. I don't find detachment (as found in Buddhist meditation) Christian at all, nor the idea of practices to escape suffering (we are in fact called to suffer).

Whatever your Christian tradition is, and whatever kinds of yoga philosophies you've encountered in your practice, hold them up to the light together. They may have no contradictions at all, be different ways of approaching the same thing, or be completely opposed to each other. Come from Christianity, be tied to it, use it as your lens--and, solid on that foundation, move. Check out Barbara Brown Taylor's Holy Envy if you find teachings that aren't your own that you kinda wish were.

Ultimately, caring for the body, nonviolence, mindfulness, cultivating discipline, creating peace and balance--these are things that should be present in every Christian's spirituality. Whatever my specific critiques of different yoga philosophies, I understand why they exist, and can see how they would fulfill. Yoga has helped me immensely with my extreme emotions and struggles with transition, as well as chronic pain. I am thankful for this ritual that gets me moving and thinking, keeping me from either being completely disconnected from the world or too stagnant and grounded.

It is not for me to say whether yoga is enriching your Christianity, but you've already said it, I think. You've named the good fruit that has grown. Don't make it your Christianity--but it sounds like it's a beautiful part of your life, and makes you more able to live out Christianity. Most of our lives have "pagan" origins. We do not betray God by living--we betray God when we are not curious, when we forget what we were made for, when our bodies become more important to us than others', when we make an idol out of "self-improvement," when we curl inwards and try to find truth there, when we pursue bodily pleasure or a lack of suffering instead of Love. Live in the tension of participating in a world where we are but pilgrims.

Do not worship the self that God gave you, but do not betray it for worldly voices--whether they're devoted to other gods, or they're devoted to Jesus in a way that costs them community. Receive your self as a gift, a creation still warm from God's fingertips. A creation that can learn how to touch your toes, if you work at it. A creation that moves on and off the yoga mat, using whatever fulfillment was found to serve the world we live in, for now.

<3 Johanna

[euph0synee]

bro oh my god it's so fucking frustrating how everyone even the many hindus themselves have forgotten the actual torture and horrors inflicted on Hindus by the islamic invaders.

like genuinely why? if people's hate towards Israel for what it's doing to Palestine and Jews hate for N*zis Justified then why is Hindu people's hate and dislike for islam gets everyone squirming in their seats?

like Israel deserves hate because they're so cruel and bad !! N*zis deserve hate for what they did to Jews because it was cruel and bad !!

and just like that Mughals deserve hate for the oppression, torture and horrors they inflicted on hindus for more than 500+ years right? RIGHT? wrong because the moment a Hindu or anyone for a matter of fact raises this issue and expresses their dislike they get absolutely teared down to shreds by others as if he has committed the biggest sin. why? why are we not allowed to hate islam and islamic invaders when they had quite literally forcefully entered India, Killed hindu men, kidnapped their wives and r*ped them making them their sex slaves not even leaving a corpse alone and it got so bad that hindu women had to start Jauhar/sati and chose to burn themselves just to be safe from these disgusting pigs, slaughtered cows in front of temples, destroyed hindu temples and idols then stepped on it, forcefully converted the hindus, fed hindus beef forcefully, killed so many you g hindu kings and princes and so much more and this horrendous torture continued till the last reigning mughal emperor.

and after all of this i still see so many muslims cursing hindu gods in the most nasty way possible and saying such disgusting things it makes me shivers and let's not forget about the hindus that are being killed in Pakistan and Kashmir and all of this why? just because hindus started doing exactly what muslims were doing to them? just because they started fighting back?

so tell me why? why is the hatred and dislike of hindus not justified but the hatred of muslims is justified? tell me why even so many hindus are protesting for palestine and standing against Israel but the moment a hindu says anything about islam these same people along with muslims and all start attacking them cancelling them but they go quiet when a muslim does the same thing?

it is a genuine question. i just want to know why do people still defend mughals while throwing the sacrifice and torture hindus had to go through under the bus?

[greco-roman-polytheism]

Problematic and Bigoted Pagan Authors (and how to avoid them)

After what was pretty much a mess in a discord server I'm in over an author posting artwork containing Nazi symbols, I decided to make a post letting everyone know about certain authors and what to look out for. I will keep updating this list as I discover things!

Big thanks to @dvudushnydiaries for letting me know ab some Slavic Polytheist authors, as well as my friend Agnes for letting me know about some Irish Polytheist Authors too! <3

If you have any suggestions to add to this list, please let me know!!!

🛑 = Avoid as much as possible

⚠️ = Be very cautious around this author

Generally, here is some red flags to look out for:

Use of symbols associated with hate groups

Claims an (open culture) is closed via ethnicity, especially if these cultures or religions historically shared with other cultures.

Claims there is a "true" or "pure" version of a certain open religion.

Use of dogwhistles.

Writes historical inaccuracies, misinformation, appropriation, making up things and presenting them as fact, etc.

Refusal to take accountability for actions.

Any form of bigotry or discrimination

The list is under the cut!

Hellenic Polytheist Authors

🛑 Timothy Jay Alexander

creator of the "Pillars of Hellenismos", which have little historical basis.

Made homophobic and ableist remarks in a blog post, essentially saying that because ancient Greece did not allow same-sex marriage, that modern Hellenic Polytheists shouldn't too. In this same post he said that marriage should be for making a family, and that since LGBTQ+ people, as well as people with "physical deformities" either can not or should not have children, they cannot marry according to him.

The same ableist remarks listed above were used as reasoning as to why a disabled person shouldn't become a priest or priestess or any higher up positions due to not being in good health. This also reminds me of eugenics.

In that same blog post, referenced a group called YSEE, which is notorious for being homophobic, xenophobic, displaying nationalism among other things better explained in this post by @hellenic-reconstructionism

Books include: A Beginner’s Guide to Hellenismos - Hellenismos Today - The Gods of Reason: An Authentic Theology for Modern Hellenismos

🛑 Galina Krasskova

Numerous things have happened with this author, some of the most notable being selling "Bacchic Lives Matter" pins on Etsy during the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement protests, as well as defending a neo-nazi and fascist group, AFA, on a blog post

Some of her Hellenic Polytheist books include: Honoring the Mothers: Novenas to the Mothers of Our Gods and Heroes - Combatting the Evil Eye - Unto Herself: A Devotional Anthology for Independent Goddesses - Out of Arcadia: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Pan - Guardian of the Road: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Hermes

See Norse Polytheist section for her books on that.

🛑 Edward P. Butler

Supports Hindutva, which is Hindu fascism, antisemitic, as well as defends and supports Galina Krasskova.

Books include: Essays on a Polytheistic Philosophy of Religion - Essays on Hellenic Theology.

🛑 H. Jeremiah Lewis / Sannion

Neo-nazi, having nazi symbols on his blog. Also transphobic, islamophobic, and everything under the sun, really.

Books include: Ecstatic: For Dionysos - End to End - Everything Dances: Strange Spirits 3 - Gods and Mortals: New Stories of Hellenic Polytheism

Norse Polytheist Authors

🛑 Galina Krasskova

See Hellenic Polytheist section for details.

Her Norse Polytheist books include: Living Runes; Theory and Practice of Norse Divination - Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner - Neolithic Shamanism; Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition

Irish Polytheist Authors

⚠️ Lora O'Brien

Has a cultish following, thier followers and even themselves bullying and publicly shaming other Irish Polytheists. Often acts negatively towards the Irish diaspora. Has taught Irish Catholic practices, which are closed.

Runs the Irish Pagan School, which has similar rhetoric.

Books include: Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch - A Practical Guide to Pagan Priesthood

Slavic Polytheist Authors

🛑 Patricia Woodruff

Has a cultish following, often writes wildly inaccurate information. In a recent book she had completely made up a deity whose name means "swastika". Rated her own books on Goodreads, and publicly responded to any reviews criticizing her books.

Books include: Woodruff's Guide to Slavic Deities - Roots of Slavic Magic Book 1: Slavic Deities & Their Worship

🛑 Madame Pamita

Recently had a (now-deleted) post with an artwork containing various Nazi symbols, and deleted any criticism and seemingly refused to take any accountability. In DM's had repeatedly alluded to if you didn't follow her you "didn't know anything about Slavic Polytheism". Said to be friends with Patricia Woodruff

Books include: The Book of Candle Magic, Baba Yaga's Book of Witchcraft

🛑 Dmitriy Kushnir

Writes about Rodnovery, which many Rodnovery groups in the US and other countries often have ethnonationalist and right-wing connotations and ideology.

Books include: Rodnover

⚠️ Natasha Helvin

Misconstrues Slavic culture to be Wiccan

Says witchcraft are the "universal laws of nature" and that subjects of karma and divine judgement are solely monotheistic.

Claims to be an initiated Haitian Vodou priestess, which is doubtful.

Kemetic Polytheist Authors

⚠️ E. A Wallis Budge

Inaccurate translations of texts

Books include: The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Translation)