#The mysterious primordial language

[eyeoftheheart]

~ Language of the Birds: Our Angelic Connection by William Henry

[ghostreblogging]

Dp x dc scenarios I forgot

Danny had just moved into the Wayne manor. The whole situation was messed up. Danny had been regularly targeted by mysterious beings and Danny being the second removed cousin of the Waynes was placed with Bruce. It did not help that he had black hair and blue eyes.

When Danny finally came from the airport he immediately requested to go to his room. And they were very understanding of his situation and didn't push much further. And left him alone.

Until Dick came over to check on him. And found him putting square papers in the corners and windows. All of them having been written in unknown language. That was faintly glowing green.

That was deeply. . . . Concerning. So Dick softly made himself known and slowly asked

"Um, whacha doing?" The teen turned to Dick, quickly like a spring being unloaded. Quick and precise. His eyes seemed so unmoving, like he was judging his very existence.

"Sorry. . . I am just putting up wards. Keeps the voices quiet, and the dead quieter."

Dick softly inhaled and mumbled " not dealing with that , alone. And decided to bring some reinforcements. Quickly

----

Danny was more than annoyed. His parents managed to mess up big time to awaken old curses on the Fenton family bloodline. And now it was targeting him. As the currently strongest Fenton descendant .

I mean they were weak but they had sacrificed themselves and only have mind on their vengeance and In return became blood hounds that were annoying and loud.

And unmoving in their resolve.

He was losing a lot of sleep over this. Finally his parents decided to do something and in the mean time sent him off to a distant relative. Hoping that changing of custody can change his last name and forgive him from the curse.

Spoiler alert it didn't.

When he finally arrived at the manor he was already ready to pass out from exhaustion. And walked directly to his room and started preparing wards. It should help. In the middle of the preparation the oldest came and literally told him what he was doing. It didn't help that he was still cranky and that made him much weirder than usual. The man made a weird face and quickly excused himself.

Great another person who thinks he is a weirdo.

"Just what language is this" ughh another voice. He was not in the mood to play exposition. Nor in the mindset.

"The language of the unborn. " He just started quickly not done with the wards. It still needed protection against tampering.

"Uh huh"

"What does it do?" Another asked

"Keeps the voices away, the sources in the primordial soup and the forgotten whisperers as just a trace" he is aware he is being like clockwork but who cares. He is too tired to care.

[lameow-l]

called it!!!

childe is getting another weekly boss??? KINGGGGGGGG

[eatmangoesnekkid]

I may be a small-ish, petite, curvy person but I have devoted my body (and life) to embodying big tiddie, phat pussy, amplified curvy energy, what I call "the MA frequency." I may be smedium in matter on the 3D material realm, but you can't tell me I don't have well-endowed, quantum legs like tree trunks and a phat pussy the size of the whole earth. I don't just write things like "legs like tree trunks" in prose as fantasy. I actually sense my legs as tree trunks when I press heavy weight at the gym, frolick in the forest, or jog backwards in the water at the beach. The ordinary lay mind conditioned by Greco-Roman principles will be turned off by my words. They should be. But I'm actually not being vulgar though. I'm being deeply loving--speaking a grounded, primordial, metaphysical language and boldly standing on business of what is required, pretty sweet face with a hidden sword sheathed nearby. It doesn't matter what your size is, even if you are a smallish curvy like me, even if you have no ass at all, you need big wide fat energy to FLOW (which is not the same as “heavy” stagnated big wide fat energy). A woman beautifully large, thick, or phat(voluptuous or voluminous) in physical stature can actually have shrunken energy that misaligns her ability to alchemise the shame, insecurity, embarrassment, and all the other hidden stuff in her unconscious-her nervous system, gut, and even low back and hips to actually meet her dreams in the 3D. Sometimes the extra belly fat is unalchemised unconscious energy or an overabundance of cortisol that trigger your shoulders to tighten up when you walk. No matter your size, you need a birthing frequency so that you can expand your capacity, quantum leap in real ways, and stop being held down in parasitic oppressive cycles in similar stories our Grandmothers went through. Embodying a larger frequency allows you to mystically bypass external world systems put into place to keep you dehydrated, controlled, in grievance, or stuck right where you are year after year. You can make these systems irrelevant and obsolete in your energy field, similar to how the moon pull's on the ocean in a specific precise way. When you have a larger wattage, you can create a new miraculous narrative beyond the medical diagnosis. Big rooted energy is necessary to flow liberatory energy up your spine. Now your heart opens and new body and life narratives soar. Feminine mysteries leak and pour. Then you get to dominate this physical reality, not like a colonizer would, but like a loving woman flowing in her divine-given power. --India Ame'ye, Author

[sonicjustbecause]

Shadow's talent, his many weak spots and his defensive tactics (Sonic Adventure 2)...

I want to analyze how Shadow deals with people in the early videogames, where he is a more well rounded, balanced characters. I think he is interesting because behind all his bravado he seems to me quite afraid of people, he is always tense around them (he gets more relaxed if you catch his curiosity). That's not the first post about this, hopefully.

With Eggman. Shadow does mindgames. Although he has the upper hand, he tends to avoid to look at him.

Shadow is an amateur manipulator. He is talented (In fact he succeeds all the time with Eggman. Notably, Eggman is a psychopath and gets fooled by a kid that is not) but he is rough.

Fast glance at Amy, less than one second. Avoids to look at her despite being honest and despite Amy being harmless. Stressed.

Sonic Heroes, stressed again even though nobody wants ho harm him.

Fast glance at Rouge then, is like he is trying to hide away as much as he can... stressed, sad.

Now this is interesting - Rouge is more confident than Shadow and does mind games on him:

Shadow all confident and menacing but Rouge is unscratched.

Unlike Shadow, she doesn't try to hide when under pressure

Shadow resorts on childish insults... this show the difference of a well trained, class A manipulator (Rouge) VS an amateur like Shadow. He can fool Eggman into making him doing what he wants. he can turn Sonic's grumpiness against him but he can't play mindgames with Rouge so he attacks the way a kid he actually is does...

And then? His trademark 'now leave me alone!' attitude (This is one of the things I loved about the early Shadow, that mix of insecurity and just not truly being into fight until needed. Unlike nowadays, if he could, he preferred to avoid to fight. Mindgames were his true territory and as they say, there always is somebody who is better than you in your field).

Rouge got him. Shadow was also characterized as curious. She got his attention and then the upper hand. I think right now she understand what Shadow is like and how to deal with him. Shadow on the other hand...

He freezes and stops to talk. maybe he does this when he can't protect himself by turning away.

Eggman's call saved him at this point (though not on purpose).

Out from Rouge's speel, resorting on treathing words.

She still has the upper hand, he can't escape. Shadow is ready in his defensive position.

'No doubt' - 180°, total defensive stance.

Shadow never glances to Rouge once despite sharing his purpose. This is also tle last time he talks to her before the incident.

When comfortable he is (used to be) different... steady glance, genuine confidence, even friendly and open when confortable enough, it was just hard to get him there.

And Sonic could do that. he was himself all the time, grumpy, mysterious, but always sincere. I love the spontaneity of this gesture. This was Shadow too.

I want to show you one thing before going to other (early games). Look at Shadow posture tensing up when he shuts himself

That glare is actually defensive. Shadow stares at Rouge but his position is disadvantaged. Is like when a scared cat puffs his fur and hiss to look more menacing (Shadow is using primordial human language here. The hedgehog language would be... uhhh... hilarious?)

[blankd]

The Common Language(TM)

Saw a post trying to explain how Common (a... common language) exists in fantasy settings and (I assume) DnD. I personally disagreed with OP's interpretations as they funneled explanations into two camps:

-Humans are so imperialist they made everyone else speak it (a travesty to act like humans are the center of the universe again)

-All languages form Common out of trade necessity, BUT the words contributed retreat into fantasy stereotypes (orcs are warriors, elves are artisan waifs, etc.). Which, IDK guys, at best it comes across as over-explaining US English with extra steps and baggage.

Now personally, I treat languages in my own campaign as mostly geological*- because I'm running a campaign, not writing a book/wiki/conlang.

*A few languages are bound to their speakers simply because they don't have humanoid mouths, eg: Primordial is spoken by Elementals, AKA sentient elements, etc.

Naturally, this led to wondering how the existence of Common could be a larger feature that could be interacted with. While conlangs can be fun, they are often treated as fossils when players probably prefer to walk among dinosaurs.

Note: This is written through the lens of DnD/a fantasy TTRPG, but it could probably function elsewhere with mindful tweaks., build according to your preferences.

In this scenario, all cultural languages exist, but a reverse tower of babel situation occurred. So now the world has a large magical tower that gifts all sentient humanoids (PCs/NPCs) with Common.

For World Flavor:

The immediate obvious possibility is that several nations/peoples agreed to collaborate on this, it's up to you if any individuals are named. But since it was so long ago, that might be lost to time. Or maybe it was recently completed! Regardless, is the tower a Wonder that is communally protected or does this responsibility fall on a certain group?

Or is the Tower Divine? A gift from a god of language, a god of peace or something else entirely (a god of venom who wanted to afford all mortals the ability to hurt each other with words, etc.)? If it is divine, what is the story that explains it? Is there a faith that worships the Tower (and its god)? How do people who may dislike this god reconcile the benefits of the Tower with their distaste for the deity?

Or is it an (inter)national archaeological mystery that is currently being studied? What has been hindering progress? Is it people (who has right over this) or something more otherworldly (supernatural defenses)?

Or maybe it really is just a funny little quirk of the world- a team of wizards bestowed the world with a lingua franca for an easier conference since they don't have time to learn other languages, back to other stuff!

For Conflicts/Hooks:

Is it housed in the current world's seat of power (or was a superpower built around it)? Is this fact used as a Divine Right to be an Authority over others?

Are new words added? Does this affect magic with Verbal Components? Is this how the world's spells are created? Are expeditions sent into the Tower to attempt to add more spells? Have magical words (spells) been lost (or removed)? Does this mean the Tower is ALSO the world's seat of magic?

Can Mundane words be lost? Does this somehow erase *all* instances of this written word? Or does it remove their inherent meaning and Essence (eg: if the word Sweet was lost, would all things cease to be sweet or would sweetness slowly bleed out of the world as sweet and its synonyms are eroded? How would the remaining languages try to preserve this concept in reaction to the Tower?

Was this word loss an accident or intentional?

Is this aspect abused? Is/has it been used as a political weapon/threat? How does exterior damage to the tower, if it can suffer any, affect the language it actively imbues in people? Or does it merely impact how effective its power is?

Or is the Tower decaying and there is a lingual epidemic where communication is collapsing in places that have become overly reliant on the Common provided by the Tower? What do attempts to fix the Tower look like? If the Tower is Divine in origin, how do the pious interpret this development (a test, malice from another god, etc)?

Is a lack of Common in a person used as a pretense to do harm to them? Is it used as 'evidence' to strip them of rights/dignit? Or is speaking Common a litmus for adulthood (eg: babies babble, adults converse, etc.)? How does this belief affect Mute or Deaf people?

Are there people that believe in the superiority of a Cultural Language (since they equate effort to value and Common requires 'no effort')? Are there people that consider Common to be a mark of a lack of intelligence?

Is there an effective range to the Tower? Is there a material or other phenomena that interferes with the Tower's effect on people? How would the PCs react to suddenly being unable to speak Common within their own party for a scenario?

How would anyone react if mundane livestock suddenly spoke? What if fields of plants started screaming?

Would anyone seek a way to sever the tower's influence from themselves (or others)? If the Tower can magically/divinely influence people with the ability to use Common, what else can it do? Would someone ever seek to alter this aspect of the Tower? Could they use it to continuously, universally emit healing? What about silence? (Is the Tower simply automatically converting all words to Common, effectively robbing all the intricacies of natural cultural languages?)

Would there be a reason to destroy this tower? Who would benefit from it (culturally/politically/etc.)? How would the world be changed if it was suddenly destroyed? Who would attempt to fix it? Could it even be fixed?

For Mechanics:

Some challenge uses have already been suggested above with Common Language and/or Verbal Magic dead zones.

But more cut and dry mechanics could tie to how Silence, Comprehend Languages and other linguistically-tied spells tap into/invoke the Tower and even require a nonstandard component.

Additionally, maybe this is where the Power Words (Kill, Heal, Stun, etc.) originated from and can only be found there- and what if there are more?

If you wanted to get cheeky you could probably attribute other word/language spells (Healing Word, etc.) to the Tower, but every table is different.

Hopefully this inspires some fun at the table. Or if you're already running a campaign, you can downsize this effect to a dungeon/wizard's tower/town.

This idea is of course free for use, and if you do use it, please share your story of how it played out! Have fun o/

[bigfan-fanfic]

Sunken primordial bf talking to the stars when they come out on the balcony. (I sent you a more detailed ask and forgot to include anyone) oops.

Clark

Bucky

Geralt

Peter

Percy

(I just love the idea of a ‘sunken’ primordial who descends from their higher plane to live a few mortal lives. They wield strange and mysterious abilities and can speak the language of the earth and stars themselves.

On that note. They come out onto the balcony one night to find some incomprehensible and wondrous music streaming from your mouth as you look at the stars. After watching for a while they finally ask what you are doing and you respond simply with, “talking to the stars” before resuming your conversation with Alpha Centuari.)

Clark listens for a while, not realizing that the Kryptonian language evolved from this beautiful, wondrous music. He feels the strangest sensation of deep cold and extreme warmth.

Bucky gives a little scoff, not of scorn or disbelief but rather of confused acceptance. "Sure, sure. Give 'em my love."

Geralt tilts his head. "You're calling. Bringing something over, or... just homesick?"

Peter looks at you in awe, hearing you put to song the sound of cosmic microwave background radiation, beautiful and uncanny, and he is spellbound by the music.

Percy thinks he's still sleeping and puts his head on your shoulder, falling back asleep to the sound of the starsong.

[pessimisticshapewithablog]

The Mystic Seller…

I'm looking into lovecraftian lore and I noticed a character that sounded familiar.

"Nyarlathotep, the "Crawling Chaos", is the avatar of the Outer Gods, existing as the incarnation of space and functions as an intermediary between the deities of the pantheon and their cults."

"The only Outer God to have a true personality, Nyarlathotep, possesses a malign intellect and reveals a mocking contempt for his master's degree."

"Nyarlathotep enacts the will of the Outer Gods, and is their messenger, heart and soul."

"Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults serving them; Nyarlathotep seems to serve these cults and take care of the deities' affairs in their absence"

"Most of the gods use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages "

This sounds alot like the Mystic Seller. Mysterious, alien, and unknowable. Also if the Mystic Seller is indeed an homage to Nyarlathotep then it is a messenger and middle management for the outer gods. It out ranks the mortal gods by being an Outer god. These were powerful titan like entities that existed off world, in far reaches of space. The minor, mortal-born gods may have been followers of these outer gods' cults and might explain the celestial motif within the Old faith. It was The Mystic Sellers job to deal with them.

A Messenger sent...

The thing is Nyarlathotep is a malevolent entity and takes pleasure in causing madness and chaos. The Mystic Seller is seemingly neutral and helpful even if only for it's own benefit. Then again if it was serving all the old gods simultaneously, then his interference could have facilitated conflict amongst them leading to their extinction.

The Mystic seller doesn't really seem to care about the gods though. Only what it gets from them. It does make observations but those feel more like someone annotating the behavior of a specimen in an experiment rather than geninue interest. This habit got me to thinking. The mystic seller only seems to care about Gods tears which are implied to be from the old ones. Primordial being of great power and sorrow. The mystic seller gives the gods resources but, this seemed to do little to prevent their extinction, at the hands of themselves or time. And it didn't seem to care about that fact much. Alot like the gods with their followers.

Maybe the mystic seller was interacting with mortal made gods exclusively to get god tears. The moment it stopped getting them, because the gods went extinct and the bishops seemingly stopped making deals with them, it dipped until the lamb came along. I wouldn't be surprised if freeing the Bishops from purgatory wasn't really the goal. But instead getting God Tears.

A Resource found...

"I feel the presence of a God Tear. Strength, longevity, and a mourning that stretches eternally. Found in the bellies of the foulest of beasts and villains. But seen only by those ascended to godhood."

It's possible that the Mystic Seller was using the 'mortal' gods the way they themselves used their followers. As tools to extract resources. Manipulating mortal-made gods to generate god tears! Upon closer inspection, gods tears look alot like drops of devotion. But they are in fact tears of condensed sorrows.

"I am not inclined to emotion, the way your kind are.

Feelings and emotions have power in COTL. And we know pieces of gods can still contain latent power. Maybe where we find them are the remains of a god gone feral? Maybe that's how God tears are formed. Not just from the old gods but from any god with the capacity to feel pain and sorrow. Like the bosses in purgatory. All that's left of them is their bestial form and the remnants of the sorrows that lead them to their fate. The Mystic Seller's dialogue implies it is incapable felling strong emotion. Which means it would not be able to generate this power. We don't know what it does with them. Collecting gods tears could be it's way of experiencing emotion at all.

This isn't the only way to get get tears however. Once the lamb has unlocked all buildings requiring Divine inspiration, they recieve a God tear instead. While this is very likely a game mechanic, it can also be assumed that Devotion and God tears are the same energy just in different forms.

It is also possible to collect tear fragments from doing daily purgatory runs. It is interesting that god tear can even be fragmented and recombined without any issue or needing to find the exact pieces of a single tear.

The exploit...?

The best example of what I think the dynamic between the Mystic seller and the mortal-gods is like is the one between the magical girls and Kyubey in Madoka Magica. Kyubey creates Magical girls for the express purpose of collecting the energy they generate when they ultimately become witches. The Mystic Seller seeds divine crowns in the mortal realm to be found, letting the bearers amass power and run rampant in their little play ground. Playing as gods.

After millenia of doing their assigned duties, the mind of 'mortal' gods begins to fracture. Having extended far past what their limited mortal consciousness is capable of processing. Or the weight of their eternal godhood responsibilities truly dawns on them. They succumb to fear, grief, or baser urges. Becoming little more than the beasts they originate from. Their transformation or death releasing massive amounts of energy or generating god tears.

The Bishop transformations could be the catalyst. The similarity between a magical girl becoming a witch and the bishops becoming bestial monsters. Their mental state. The reason they transform. A final act of desperation to resist fate and take back some semblance of control over it. The crowns and TOWW's powers caused their negative emotions to manifest in volatile ways. Powerful ways. But this habit seemingly was not sustainable as the mortals gods all but wiped themselves out as a species. Whatever caused so many to exist at once no longer being possible.

After some amount of time, the Bishops, and probably the other gods too, do stop bartering with the Mystic Seller which it seems to accept without much issue. This makes me think the MS is simply taking advantage of an untapped resource. It's not a need but an easily aquired want. It's not like we have any use for God tears once we get everything we want from the Mystic Seller. After enough time, the Lamb too will stop bartering with them.

Shamura's interactions, or lack thereof, with the Mystic Seller seems to imply it serves another purpose. The Mystic Seller 'helps' infant gods to grow and reach their full potential. Shamura didn't need their support as much and it seemed to commend that fact about then. It seems to prefer when it's not needed. I wonder what would have happened if the Lamb had ignored the Mystic Seller's task, would they have remained uninvested, or would they have become more belligerent and demanding?

Conclusion

The Mystic Seller could ultimately be using the crown bearers for it's own means or for what it thinks is beneficial for the continued existence of the universe. A cosmic grounds-keeper Or they are just a beleaguered middle manager tasked with dealing with the god equivalent of toddlers who won't stop disrupting the fabric of reality with their emotions and/or killing each other in the process. Some measure of self-sufficiency is expected by the Mystic Seller and it had no qualms with said enfants gods dying from their own incompetence. Godhood was only for those who could maintain it.

[shamandrummer]

Wisdom of the Thunder Beings

The Thunder Beings are a related family of divine beings who bring about weather changes such as thunder, lightning, wind and rain. Through their power abiding in the atmosphere, they sustain the Earth and protect the people. Through lightning, they directly purify the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the earth we cultivate. They create a world-wide lightning display that produces and maintains the "heartbeat frequency" (Schumann resonance) of the Earth's electromagnetic grid. Their holy medicine includes creativity, fertility, protection, peace, harmony, balance, compassion, wisdom, enlightenment, death and rebirth. Through the Thunder Beings, all life has been created, is sustained and will be destroyed. They sustain balance and destroy imbalance, the cause of suffering.

From time immemorial, people have worshiped the Thunder Beings. They are the source of all ideological, religious and spiritual transmission. The early cultures attribute their belief systems to the teachings of rain gods and goddesses. Their myths tell of how rain deities created the world, humans and all life. They came down to Earth in the distant past and gave humanity language, law, the arts, spiritual sciences, wisdom and knowledge. The Thunder Beings were instrumental in teaching their mortal cousins how to properly honor and commune with the spirits to gain their blessings.

The core beliefs and principles of all spiritual cultural traditions come from the Thunder Beings. The Native American spiritual traditions originated from the rain deities known as Wakinyan, Animiki and Kachinas. The Mongolian shamanic traditions originated from the sky deity known as Tengri. The Maya shamanic traditions originated from the lightning deities known as Chaac, K'awiil and Yaluk. The Chinese Taoist traditions originated from a thunder god known as Lei Kung. The Australian Aboriginal shamanic traditions originated from the cloud and rain spirits known as Wandjina. They are the roots of all integral shamanic and wisdom traditions.

Among the Yoruba people of West Africa, the orisha (god) of thunder is known as Shango. Shango is renowned for his oshe, a double-headed battle-ax, as well as the double-headed bata drum he uses to summon rain storms. The orishas are the powerful divine spirits of the Yoruba religion. They are the creator and sustainer of all things. They are the manifestations of primordial energies, both creative and destructive. They are the conduits by which life and all cultural wisdom entered the world. Like all of the Yoruba gods, Shango is both a deified historical ancestor and a divine natural spiritual force. Orishas enter the mortal world, complete epic feats, live, die and then are reincarnated into the world to complete even more amazing tasks. They are immortal energies that represent a core part of Yoruba philosophy and belief.

Every spring, the Lakota people gather at Black Elk Peak in the sacred Paha Sapa (Black Hills) for the "Welcome Back the Thunders" ceremony. The Lakota ceremonial season begins with the return of the Wakinyan or Thunder Beings. According to legend, the Wakinyan are huge winged beings that humans cannot see because they are shielded by thick clouds. Thunder is made by the sound of their voices, and lightning is created when they open and close their eyes. The Wakinyan created wild rice and gave the Lakota the spear, the tomahawk and pigments to make them impervious to weapons. The annual vernal equinox ceremony ends with Lakota teens carrying a sacred pipe and food offerings to the top of Black Elk Peak. As the highest point in the Paha Sapa, the Lakota consider it to be the most appropriate spot to bring prayers to Wakan Tanka (Great Mystery).

Among the Pueblo people of the American Southwest, the deities known as kachinas bring the rain for their three main crops: corn, beans and squash. Puebloans believe that kachinas are divine spirits present in features of the natural world such as clouds, winds, thunder and rain. They are also ancestral spirits that help connect humans with the spirit world. They come to the human realm to collect the people's prayers and take them back to the spirit realm. The kachinas dwell in sacred mountains and other holy places, but spend half of each year living near Pueblo villages. During this time, the men of kachina societies perform traditional ceremonies linked with the presence of the spirits. They wear costumes and elaborate masks and perform songs and dances associated with specific kachinas. The Puebloans say that during these rituals each dancer is transformed into the spirit being represented.

In the Asian traditions, the Thunder Beings are responsible for expressing the higher truth of spiritual reality, safeguarding it and disseminating it for the benefit of all beings. The essence of the Asian spiritual traditions is the direct experience of enlightenment--of perfect tranquility and unconditional bliss. This experience is fully attained through the Thunder Beings by virtue of their mystical thunder and lightning blessings. In Tantric Buddhism, their names and images are used in visualization-based meditations to awaken the mind. Through the proper use of these images and sacred sound in meditation, we can liberate our minds from suffering.

The Thunder Beings are invisible, yet out of compassion they reveal themselves through thunder, lightning, wind and rain. Their visible manifestation or mystical visitation is universally one of storm-display. Even though there is great destructive rage in storms, in truth this is merely a means of ushering in peace, of clearing great obstructions. Everything that the Thunder Beings do has the effect of bringing about peace and harmony.

Thunder Beings are perfect and beyond suffering. Nature is their manifestation; it is quite beautiful and harmonious. Where there is calamity, the cause is poor human activity, such as war, pollution and environmental devastation. There is little peace on Earth because there is little peace in our hearts. In order to establish it, we must diligently work for it through meditation and through compassionate activity. Meditation--whether it's silent or drumming up a storm--increases our wisdom and insight, our capacity to be of true help to others. Wisdom is the light of the Thunder Beings shining through our heart. It is the lightning within us striking its way out.

[tawakkull]

SPIRITUALITY IN ISLAM: PART 44: JADHB AND INJIDHAB (ATTRACTION AND THE FEELING OF BEING ATTRACTED TOWARD GOD) 

In the language of Sufism, jadhba (attraction) means that a servant is attracted toward God by God Himself, purified thereby of human imperfection in spiritual elevation, and equipped with Divine Attributes or exalted morals as specified in the Qur'an.

It also means feeling and observing clearly the manifestations of Divine Majesty and Unity. A purified soul capable of receiving such manifestations abandons itself to the tides originating from the realms beyond and, like a competent swimmer, swims in ecstasy, in deep submission to God and without fear and anxiety.

If attraction means that one is drawn by a sacred power linked with his or her essence toward the purpose of his or her creation and to the point indicated by his or her true, primordial nature, injidhab means the willing acceptance of this invitation sent to one’s spirit.

Attraction is so great a Divine favor that it cannot be obtained through ordinary means or causes. It is God Himself Who grants to His pure-hearted servant both the attraction and the ability to receive it:

That is the grace of God: He bestows it on whom He wills (57:21).

This bestowal includes in a single, passing moment many portions of time filled with events; gives a single step toward Him the potential to reach the gardens of Paradise; and equips a glance with the capacity to turn a piece of coal into a diamond. Great distances that seem impossible for one’s own will and power to cover are covered in a moment by God’s attracting, and high summits are reached by His uplifting, as stated in:

A single instance of the All-Merciful’s attracting equals to the nearness to God acquired through the good actions of both humanity and jinn.

Those whose spirits feel the mysteries of faith, who practice Islam and perfect goodness and devotion through God’s attracting, are called “those who follow the way of Uways,” for they are taught directly by God or the Prophet. In other words, they do not need a human teacher or guide. Since they feel continuously attracted toward God by God Himself, they live in incessant ecstasy and amazement at what they observe of Divine truths and manifestations.

At times, there is a virtuous circle between attraction and regular worship and austerity. A traveler on the way to God is favored with attraction in proportion to the degree of his or her worship and austerity, and is devoted to worship and austerity to the extent of the attraction felt toward God. So long as such people act in accordance with the Shari'a, this virtuous circle continues. If they break away from the light of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, displays of free and easy behavior in their relationship with God begin to appear, and religious obligations might begin to be neglected.

Attraction is, first of all, a capability and a Divine gift given in advance. Without this gift, a traveler on the way cannot feel attracted through austerity, worship, and self-purification; nor can he or she discern the waves of attraction and being attracted on the face of the universe caused by the light coming from the Divine Name the All-Loving. Such an undiscerning person has no knowledge of true spirituality:

Why should my guide be concerned with me

Unless I have the attraction of love?

Why should he be concerned with me

Unless I receive inspiration from God?

It sometimes happens that a believer attracted in this way is overwhelmed by the gifts coming from God, so that whatever is other than His manifestations disappears, and all cares with the world or the Hereafter are forgotten. In a mood expressed by the following couplet:

I am, by nature, so attracted to the roaring rise of the sea

That I feel as if engulfed in the bounteous gifts of God,

One’s self and all other parts of creation are seen as being intoxicated with the attraction of the Holy, Attractive Being:

Everything is intoxicated with the wine of love of God and the attraction of this love. Celestial objects and angels are intoxicated; the heavens and Earth are intoxicated; elements and plants are intoxicated; and animals, human beings, and all other beings (are intoxicated).

There are two kinds of attraction. One is felt inwardly and is not manifested outwardly by its possessor. Such a person loves God, feels great contentment with and pleasure in fulfilling His commandments, and feels incessantly attracted to the source of a deeper delight. The second kind of attraction is that which is manifested. One who feels such attraction cannot help but manifest it as ecstasy. Feeling attracted by God with a continuously increasing force, he or she lives as an ecstatic, in excessive joy and with great happiness.

Those who are unaware of such degrees of spiritual elevation think the person is crazy. To express this degree of ecstasy, the following couplet of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Majdi Effendi is quite meaningful:

There is a kind of madness called attraction, which is a true triumph.

By means of it madness reaches mysteries lofty and great.

Attraction may look like madness in some respects; in reality, it is quite different. For example, an ecstatic who revolves in waves of attraction may lose some perception and show signs of madness by behaving in ways incompatible with sound reasoning and the Shari'a. In most cases, an ecstatic exceeds normal human standards in all senses or powers of perception to the extent that, in the light of Sunna, he or she travels in realms that cannot be reached by the reason, other faculties, and senses of ordinary people. Therefore, those who see such a person think that he or she is crazy.

However, traveling (in spiritual realms) beyond the reach and power of normal standards of intellect or reason, by using that power and other senses along with the help of God, is completely different from the type of madness resulting from mental illness, which is characterized by less-than-normal standards of intellect or reason.

[toskarin]

So, the definition of "Divine Flesh/Azoth/Ayin" is incredibly vague on your site. Can you elaborate on what it is?

admittedly, explaining azoth would be betraying a bit of the mystery of what exactly it is. you can think of it as referring to "the paracausal force that makes things weird" and "things that this paracausal force has affected, all of which behave differently in ways that don't align with what you'd conclude from a traditional scientific examination"

as far as things most people in-setting agree on, that's it. it's intentionally very vague. it's "enchantment" and "enchanted thing"

as far as things I'll clarify here, I think of it as being beholden to a science that simply exists on a dimension too high for humans to ever grasp it. it's a 4D concept, but to 3D minds, the solid contours look like an inscrutable writhing mass

see below the break for rambling, which will probably only make things even less clear

-

to provide a slightly more in-depth explanation, we need to get into the subjectivity of language around these terms. this is a problem that Meilin kind of hints at in Diesem Fernen Traum during a rant about necrotechnology. the field is fragmented and nobody really agrees on what the fuck they're doing, besides that it seems conscious — almost sapient — in how strongly it evades understanding

the terms used to refer to it tell you less about what it is than they do about the people who use them. to the Divine Solis and their fleshcrafters, it represents the meat carved off of the divine, tangible chunks of heaven that can be used to mould holy things. everything that touches the divine for long enough becomes divine in their eyes, and so to partake of divine flesh is to become divine flesh

fleshcrafters elsewhere tend to disagree with that opinion, since they have a less worshipful opinion of it. the schools of thought around exactly what it is (and how to deal with it) are further differentiated by how the speaker refers to it

calling it azoth betrays that the speaker believes it to be the ultimate substance. it doesn't necessarily imply a religious view of it, but to those who see this substance as azoth, it's the beginning and the end. it's the primordial essence of life from which all things sprung, but also the ultimate expression of creation, that which can never be understood yet must be pursued[1]

calling it ayin, on the other hand, implies the least.

if a speaker says ayin, all they're implying is that it is a primordial essence of nothingness, which doesn't conflict with anything the other two schools of thought believe, but might strike certain types as overly sanitised. this is the "politically correct" term for it, for lack of any better description

this is the term most often used in the KHU, and arguably, it's the closest thing to a "proper" term available (hence why the dictionary uses it)

the curious thing is, all of these can technically be considered different articles. it is demonstrably the same force, but it seems to react to the understanding of those who manipulate it. everyone seems to be correct, in spite of the fact that some people's understandings contradict others'

[1]: before anyone mentions it, this is an intentional reference to crowley's bullshitting about the term azoth. I'm not under the impression that this is the actual definition. all of these terms play on the way that occultists and alchemists over the years have muddied the waters in trying to find understanding

[poetrythreesixfive]

The Sacred and Profane

When Christianity surged across Europe in those early

centuries, conquering tribe and village, converting the

pagan and wildfolk, they demonized their multitude of

gods, large and small, tree spirits and earth spirits, sky

gods and sea gods, all manner of mystical and eternal

entities born of the natural elemental forces that spoke

to mankind in the language of subsistence and mystery

The Church was Catholicism, the only option in town,

and it stamped itself upon the holidays and festivals of

the Old Ways, the cold winter celebrations of Yule and

Saturnalia melting into Christmas; the harvest festival

of Samhain supplanted with All Hallow’s Eve; and the

spring revelries of Ostara brightly resurrected as Easter;

God the Father was the sky, and Mother Mary the earth

And for centuries it was such, and ghosts of the ancient

ways endured, blood comingling, old blending with the

new, and when, a thousand years later, the Reformation

swept across the land, again there was a great cleansing,

cathedrals burned, abbeys were abandoned, the Catholic

trinity banished to the same hidden glens and hideaways

where once those demonized pagans had secreted beliefs

But those old ways remained, for the Protestants did not

account for the ageless; in demonizing those primordial

beliefs, Catholicism had encompassed the ancient, kept

them alive, instilling a faded glow of the magical within

the mass, and so believers, poor farmers and village folk,

continued to make their offerings to the Virgin Mary, to

holy springs in the woods, to their local saints for safety

So as the Catholics accused the pagans of witchcraft and

idolatry, the Protestants accused the Catholics of magical

thinking and iconoclasm, of superstition and ritual, but in

that spiritual stew of heathen-tradition-meets-Christianity,

there was breadth and depth, the old and new, speaking to

both natural instinct and higher calling, nature and grace,

the sacred and profane, and for this will eternally remain.

-GeorgeFilip

[ptgigi]

🍞🧬🥥

Week 2 of designing a character from random emojis for May.

Design inspos: stretched coconut to coconut crab, the glowing insides were coconut inspired. Various holy breads for texture/design (matza, prosphora, communion bread). DNA was some shape language and vibe.

I imagine this nameless being is a primordial entity that was revered, but not worshiped, in ancient times. It has aspects of both life and void, not death but simply absence of anything. Past civilizations that knew of it disappeared mysteriously. As modern archaeologists began researching those civilizations, they would stumble onto mentions of this being. Eventually, they’d find a text suggesting it can alter societies knowledge of itself and prefers to remain unknown. So it becoming more known in the present day signals its return…but for what purpose?

[indigosfindings]

every day i learn incredible new concepts, & words. for example, today i learned about an untranslateable american word called "yenndo", which means, "a mysterious animalistic machine, a primordial yet unfathomably complex facsimile of mother nature's sublime gift." and, maybe it's just me, but i think that it just goes to shwo, that language is a beautiful & disgusting & terrifying thing, sort of like cosmic horror, or angels (int he bible) (biblically accurate)

[incarnelia]

an instance of daoist transgender sorcery

there's this old paper by isabelle robinet i reread like half a year ago which around the middle of p. 46 mentions an early medieval daoist text yuanshi wulao chishu yupian zhenwen tianshu jing which contains instructions for talismans which transform your gender. obviously that's pretty cool so here's my go at a translation. (i figured i might as well share it) i will admit i'm only a private student of classical chinese but the language is Relatively easy to follow and i'm reasonably confident in the majority of my translation (nonetheless i beg indulgence for any errors...). not to mention the ctext edition (this is the original with the talismans proper, this is the punctuated version that's the base for my translation) is extremely accessible . so here, i hope you enjoy maybe someone vaguely in my internet circle will get something out of this .

(something of a sequel to that citation on gender transformation as an ill omen in han times)

九天太素陽生符，元始付太上丈人，其文在赤書後劫，見日宮之陽。

The talisman of yang generation of the Great Simplicity in the Nine Heavens was handed down by the Primordial Commencement to the Old Man of the Most High; its text resided in the Red Writings. After an eon, it manifested the yang of the Sun Palace.

玄都紫微宮舊格，丹書白素，方五寸，清齋百日，入室思日精，含而吞之，與日同壽，天地俱存，思靈念真，形自能飛。存濁炁於口，符既出而死也。一名生真券，一名八威龍書。女吞此符後，生為男身。

According to the old rules of the Palace of Purple Tenuity in the Mysterious Capital, it is written in vermilion on white silk, five inches square. After pure fasting of a hundred days, enter the chamber and meditate on solar essence. Encompass and swallow it. One will share the same longevity with the sun, persisting together with Heaven and Earth — meditate on numinosity and think on perfection, and one's form will be able to fly of itself. If turbid qi is visualized in the mouth, then the talisman will leave and one will die. Another name is the certificate of generating perfection; another name is the dragon-writing of the Eight Majesties. After a woman swallows this talisman, they will generate a male body.

三天太玄陰生符，元始以付太上大道君，其文在赤書後二劫，見月之上館。

The talisman of yin generation of the Great Mystery in the Three Heavens was handed down by the Primordial Commencement to the Most High Great Lord of the Way; its text resided in the Red Writings. After two eons, it manifested the High Office of the Moon.

玄都紫微宮舊格，黑書黃繒，方五寸，清齋百日，入室思月精；含而吞之，與月同壽。道士欲尸解者，黑書木刀劍，抱而臥，即為代人形而死矣。行此宜精，他念穢濁于口，符即出，身即死。此符一名化形券，一名九陰靈書，男人吞此符後，化為女子。

According to the old rules of the Palace of Purple Tenuity in the Mysterious Capital, it is written in black on yellow silk, five inches square. After pure fasting for a hundred days, enter the chamber and meditate on lunar essence. Encompass and swallow it — one will share the same longevity with the moon. Daoists who desire liberation from the corpse should write it in black on a wooden sword, embrace it, and go to sleep; it will take on your human form and die. When practicing this proper essence, if one has other thoughts of filth or turbidity in the mouth, the talisman will leave, and the body will die. Another name for this talisman is the certificate of transforming forms; another name is the numinous writing of the Nine Yin. After men swallow this talisman, they will transform into women.

此二符，陰陽二氣，日月之精，自不精身苦志，慎輕服御，惟清齋合式，即能無窮。

With these two talismans—the Two Qi of yin and yang and the essences of the sun and moon—even if one does not refine one's own body or discipline the will, cautiously making light of clothing and deportment, and only engages in the ceremony of the pure fast, they will be able to be boundless.

[33-108]

SYMBOLISM--THE LANGUAGE OF THE MYSTERIES

“The learned may penetrate into the significance of all oriental mysteries, but the vulgar can only see the exterior symbol. It is allowed by all who have any knowledge of the scriptures that everything is conveyed enigmatically, i.e. esoterically.”

-- Origen of Alexandria (185—254 C.E.)

"When the human race learns to read the language of symbolism, a great veil will fall from the eyes of men. They shall then know truth and, more than that, they shall realize that from the beginning truth has been in the world unrecognized, save by a small but gradually increasing number appointed by the Lords of the Dawn as ministers to the needs of human creatures struggling to regain their consciousness of divinity."

-- Manly P. Hall, Melchizedek and the Mystery of Fire

"In all esoteric traditions, the most important inner instructions are always transmitted in symbolic language, thus veiling the sacred from the eyes of the profane. At the same time, the unveiling of the instructions offers a method for training the disciple's understanding." -- Raul Branco, The Pistis Sophia, An Introduction

"It is absurd to suppose that men of intellect adored a monstrous idol called Baphomet, or recognized Mahomet as an inspired prophet. Their symbolism, invented ages before, to conceal what it was dangerous to avow, was of course misunderstood by those who were not adepts, and to their enemies seemed to be pantheistic. The calf of gold, made by Aaron for the Israelites, was but one of the oxen under the laver of bronze, and the Karobim on the Propitiatory, misunderstood. The symbols of the wise always become the idols of the ignorant multitude. What the Chiefs of the Order really believed and taught, is indicated to the Adepts by the hints contained in the high Degrees of Free-Masonry, and by the symbols which only the Adepts understand" -- Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1872, p. 866

“There is a thinking in primordial images, in symbols which are older than the historical man, which are inborn in him from the earliest times, eternally living, outlasting all generations, still make up the groundwork of the human psyche. It is only possible to live the fullest life when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them.” -- Carl Jung

“Symbolism is the language of the Mysteries; in fact it is the language not only of mysticism and philosophy but of all Nature, for every law and power active in universal procedure is manifested to the limited sense perceptions of man through the medium of symbol. Every form existing in the diversified sphere of being is symbolic of the divine activity by which it is produced. By symbols men have ever sought to communicate to each other those thoughts which transcend the limitations of language. Rejecting man-conceived dialects as inadequate and unworthy to perpetuate divine ideas, the Mysteries thus chose symbolism as a more ingenious and ideal method of preserving their transcendental knowledge. In a single figure a symbol may both reveal and conceal, for to the wise the subject of the symbol is obvious, while to the ignorant the figure remains inscrutable. Hence, he who seeks to unveil the secret doctrine of antiquity must search for that doctrine not upon the open pages of books which might fall into the hands of the unworthy but in the place where it was originally concealed.” -- Manly P. Hall