#and I don't mean any particular religion btw

[best-fictional-cat]

FUCK I should have submitted god from Amphibia

God being a cat is my new favourite take /hj

But it's a nice trend in media and we should have more of it :D

ANYWAY enjoy your very pawssible Domino standoff in round one when it comes to it hehe

[vaspider]

Hi there! Hope you’re having a good day mama spider. Just dropping by to ask for some info on an addition to a post about Judaism you made. I chose to ask you and not op because i’ve sent you an ask before and know that you answer them. So real quick, why did you type out G-d rather than God or god? Does it have something to do with Judaism? Is it just for the faithful to follow and not goyim? As an atheist who was formerly Catholic i just wanna learn more and be respectful of others’ religions whenever i can. I know next to nothing about Judaism, even though they’re a good portion of my county’s population. Hope this ask isn’t insensitive in any way, and thanks for taking the time to read this <3

This isn't insensitive to ask. It's actually a great question, and I'm glad that you asked if you're curious.

Since those articles cover your asks pretty well, I'm gonna give you some free bits of info to help your quest for respectfulness, which is pretty rad, btw: we don't really use phrases like "the faithful" bc Judaism doesn't require faith in G-d. There is no conflict between Judaism and atheism & there are a lot of Jewish atheists and agnostics. Judaism is an ethnoreligion and a people in a way that a lot of religions aren't, and in fact, the symbolism for one of my favorite holidays emphasizes that we are not complete without all kinds of Jews:

The functions of the four species are defined by both their smell and taste, or lack thereof, along with some interesting imagery from the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 30:12): The etrog has both taste and smell, representing people who both perform good deeds and have Torah (knowledge). The lulav has taste but no smell, representing those who do not use their knowledge to perform good deeds. The hadass (myrtle) has smell but no taste, representing those who perform good deeds but lack the knowledge to excel at them. The aravah (willow) has no taste and no smell, representing those who lack both.

"Good deeds" here doesn't just mean "being nice to your neighbors" but refers directly to performing mitzvot/mitzvahs, the 613 commandments that observant Jews observe to varying levels of specificity and intensity.

It's not offensive to use a phrase like "the faithful," just isn't ... correct, you know? Instead, you'd just say Jews or Jewish people. If you're trying to refer specifically to Jews who are religious or believe in G-d... there isn't exactly a phrase for that, I guess you'd say "observant," because there are a lot of Jews who are observant but also atheists, since observant Jews may be observing mitzvaot for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with belief in the existence of G-d.

Anyway, there you go, with some bonus info. As always, I don't speak for everybody, 2 Jews 3 Opinions, etc.

[mass-effect-galaxy]

Baldur's Gate 3 roleplaying idea: The Eilistraee Sword Dancer

(the "evil drow" variant is here)

I am still rather new to DnD lore and therefore I am still looking at what kind of characters you would actually be seeing in BG3 and how they would react and act in the story.

I became interested in the cult of Eilistraee by chance when I turned Shadowheart into a cleric of the Dark Maiden because I didn't find the altar to Selûne in the pantheon next to the Elfsong. This made me curious to learn more about that religion (other than the obvious naked drow dancing with a sword).

I quickly realized that an Eilistraee cleric would be perfect for a Tav character. These brave men and women are used to traveling the surface, making contact with other people, and offering help and guidance wherever needed - basically what you do being the protagonist here.

Eilistraee clerics are usually, but not exclusively, drow women. This religion is open to all races and has many elf, human, and half-elf followers. For about a century now, the clergy is also open to men. So, you can be of any race and gender when playing an Eilistraee cleric. Specific orders, like the Sword Dancer, are still limited to drow, elf, or half-elf women.

Technically, you want to have the first level as a War Domain cleric of Eilistraee and multi-class the rest into School of Sword bard. The cleric uses wisdom for spell-casting and the bard uses charisma. You should focus on charisma because Eilistraeans are supposed to solve conflicts by diplomacy, whenever possible.

As a cleric of Eilistraee, you are practically the embodiment of Good. Her clerics are expected to be proficient both in swordplay and arts, most notably dancing, singing, and playing instruments. They are supposed to offer succor with their music and protection with their swords.

These clerics travel to communities of different races to provide whatever help is needed. They in particular travel to those regions where drow are not welcome, probably because of misdeeds done by Lolth-sworn drows. These kinds of pilgrimages are called "Run". Their purpose is not spreading the Eilistraean faith but the improvement of the peaceful coexistence of races, with the ultimate goal of making the surface a safe place for drow. Anti-racism is a pillar of the Eilistraean faith.

Even though we accidentally end up in the Emerald Grove while it is under attack by goblins and drow, that place would certainly be a place that would see the visit of Eilistraean clerics soon. The priestesses would provide healing, music, food for the needy, and protection from wild animals and dangerous monsters (the "High Hunt").

So, that's what you do: you talk to people and offer your help. You don't ask for anything in return, and when you get rewards you use that money to buy useful things for your companions. You do not steal or plunder, and when you loot dead enemies you only take what you need (food, coin, and gear you are actually going to use).

You try to solve conflicts without violence, as much as possible. However, this has its limits - and you don't carry around a sword because it looks good (Clerics of Eilistraee don't use bows and crossbows, BTW). You abhor slavery, and whenever you can't convince someone to let go of his slaves, you are free to strike him down. You also don't run around claiming to be a True Soul. If someone assumes that on his own, it is their business; but you won't claim it yourself - even when the outcome would be a fight. If violence is unavoidable, you should try to end it as quickly as possible with as few people as possible getting involved.

Being a "light side" cleric in a world where all gods are real would also mean that you should respect other peoples' allegiances. I don't think that it would be right to lecture Shadowheart on her Sharran faith. I would even go as far as saying that interfering with Shar ordering Shadowheart to kill a daughter of Selûne would be overstepping your boundaries as sort of an envoy of Eilistraee. This is definitely true for Gale: It is not your place to question Mystra commanding Gale to sacrifice himself. And if he is willing to do so, you would see your part in supporting him in whatever way you can on that path - what would also be the proper ending for that playthrough (don't bring him to the end of Act 2, though).

Even though Eilistraee is usually depicted as a nude dancer, this is not really a nudist cult. Rites are usually performed naked. During the High Hunt (in terms of BG3, the boss fights against the chosen three) clerics of Eilistraee are naked too and only armed with swords. In all other situations, a cleric of Eilistraee would be wearing practical clothing appropriate for the task; probably even less revealing and flashy than what is considered fashion amongst Lolth-sworn drow.

On a side note, being a drow and a bard gives you the highest amount of special dialogue the game offers in one run.

[drbased]

Your last two theory posts are absolutely fascinating and I'd love to read more on this subject from you, it really resonated with me. My father started getting radicalised online during lockdown, he's now a Q anon, a climatosceptic and a antivax amongst other things. I saw the man who taught me tolerance and acceptance become extremely racist, antisemitic, homophobic and most of all misogynistic over a few years (even tho he has two daughters, one being out as a lesbian. And his family having been subjected to horrible racism in his youth when he immigrated from Algeria) and it has utterly destroyed our relationship. We're no better than acquaintances now.

The biggest shift of all was how he went from an agnostic antitheist to a Christian during lockdown, then shifting again to a weird neutral stance I can't really explain. He says he's against all organized religion and authority (just so we're perfectly clear, I don't believe that for a second), but at the same time he has started seeing everything through the lens of Christianity (which was a big factor in how antisemitic he suddenly got). What I mean by that is that satanism in particular has become the central point of his whole philosophy. Everything is about the devil now. He told me I was supporting satanism as a horror movie fan, but also as a woman who supports femen activists. He thought the Olympics opening Ceremony was about Satan. Every single movie has a hidden message about Satan. He also notably started becoming a weird fan of psychiatry (my mum is a psychiatric nurse and an amazing one at that, she is very knowledgeable about these things) and started diagnosing random politicians and celebrities with "conditions" he made up which STRANGELY, have very demonic symptoms according to him.

[content warning ⚠️⬇️]

If I said everything I have to say about how the satanic panic got to him I would write for 4 hours. This has completely uphanded his life. Obviously like many like him, everything is about pedophilia too. The two are obviously linked. His new theory is that the president of our country (Emmanuel Macron) was raped when he was a newborn by his current wife (who is actually a man according to him) and it affected his brain which allows a secret organisation in the shadows to control him 👍 and also it's all about Satan too how could it not.

This whole thing has genuinely ruined my family, and he has been relentlessly trying to convert us and prove to us that these theories are real. This has not worked out great for him as his four children pretty much gave up on him. And the worst part is that I'm sure that our collective reaction and repulsion has only cemented his convictions. Because people like him love to feel oppressed and silenced.

I'm gonna be honest I completely forgot where I was going with this, I typed way more than what I planned. (Sorry for any mistakes English isn't my mother tongue)

I think feminists need to talk more about these conspiracy theories (at least I'd like to feel a bit less crazy, because I only hear about this from him and all that gross stuff he talks about like it's nothing is getting to me) and I was so relieved when I saw your posts! I was like omg I hear about that subject from someone who actually makes sense. If you have any recommendations of things to read, listen to or watch on this subject I'd love that and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Love your blog btw! Sorry for the long ask. Have a great day 💜

No worries about the long ask! I love reading other people's perspectives and experiences. And I wouldn't have guessed english isn't your first language; the only thing I noticed is that you wrote 'uphanded' when I think it should be 'upended'.

This is such a lovely ask to recieve! Whilst I love writing and analysing there's always a small part of me that thinks, ok, this specific thing I wrote is totally bunk, nobody's gonna wanna read this. So it's wonderful to recieve such recognition, especially not on anon (no shade to the anons though!)

'His new theory is that the president of our country (Emmanuel Macron) was raped when he was a newborn by his current wife (who is actually a man according to him) and it affected his brain which allows a secret organisation in the shadows to control him 👍 and also it's all about Satan too how could it not.' whaaaaat? Is that an existing theory or something he invented? I can see like three different patriarchal fears in that:

that 'leftist' men are a corruption of healthy masculinity

that men are corrupted by women's sexual violence (patriarchal reversal)

transphobia stemming from a conflation of homosexuality and femaleness as inherently linked; the ultimate in male emasculation and humiliation is the idea of the masculinised woman who dominates him

I grew up with conspiracy theories so I have some understanding of how they create a simplistic narrative out of the complexity and inherent unfairness of life. I always recommend Innuendo Studios' youtube series The Alt-Right Playbook as it was instrumental to me in gaining an understanding of how the right-wing mind works, but on this subject I recommend in particular the video 'You can't get snakes from chicken eggs'. The commentary that really resonated with me is relevant to phrase 'a lie is halfway around the world before truth gets its boots on': a lie can always be percieved - and communicated - much more simply than the truth, so it spreads easier and faster. And conspiracy theories are a way of both simplifying down the narrative into good vs evil, but also adding complexity to fill in all the obvious gaps - e.g., since there's no proof satan exists, but we need him to exist, there becomes an addiction-like obsession with trying to seek patterns that 'prove' he exists.

I can't remember where I read/heard it, but one of the psychological benefits of believing in conspiracies is that you get a gamification of life that generates a community - qanon with his 'q drops' has perfected this process: small bits of incoherent babble alluding to something are drip-fed to the community, who get to decode it in real time. The collective narrative-making is exhillarating, especially in a world with a fragmented culture and isolated people with diminishing 'third spaces'. And I know from personal experiences that one satisfaction from being a conspiracy theorist is that you get to 'achieve' something by doing absolutely nothing; you don't have to be any sort of activist or help people in the real world: since it's all information 'they don't want you to know', simply knowing the information is all that is needed for you to feel accomplished. I would definitely put 'conspiracy theorist' into my 'symbolic states' category because it's so transparently about placing a narrative layer over reality.

It's really sad what's happened to your dad; I imagine it would be incredibly painful seeing someone you love lose touch with reality so violently like that. And I believe you're right; that your collective response to him will only have strengthened his convictions. It reminds me of how it's been shown that door-to-door preaching is terrible at actually converting people, but instead is more useful to cement bonds between the group members as social outcasts. And conspiracy theorists basically pride themselves on being the pariahs who see the truth no one else dares to see.

[yourlifesgodisyou]

Hellooo!! I have a question, how do I convince myself that I'm god, creator of my reality?

I've been Christian for as long as I can remember and when I found out that we're gods and we control over reality, it felt wrong. I stopped practicing Christianity a while ago but I'm not sure how to make myself see that I'm my own god without feeling like I'm disrespecting Jesus/God.

Thank you! (btw I'm asking other loa blogs bc I want to get different views/advice on this!!)

Thanks for your question.

This is super normal to feel in this way when we hear about "being god" thing when we stick to a religion. Being god is not actually about like being the actual God. Being god of our lives means that only we can control and decide how our lifes are gonna be. You can believe any religion you want if you feel that's rigth with you.

The God mentioned in the essence of the idea of ​​being God is not the only God accepted in most religions.

A belief-based idea that we are all part of the universe.

We constantly undergo changes and new creations are required to continue our lives, and since we have the power to control this, we see ourselves as the only god of our life.

I don't think there is any harm in you continuing your worship as a Christian because, as I said, the God in the term of being a god is not the god in religions. You can see it as a symbol of the power of our inner self and mind.

These types of issues may be too complex to question, but please don't force yourself to believe a particular idea. Believe whatever you feel like.

🙏🏼❤️

[scalecallerpeak]

what do you think the pantheon for each akaviri races are like? Any daedric princes that might be included? And also do you think there could be a deity worshipped there but remains unknown in Tamriel? Love ur posts btw!

I haven't really thought about Daedra in Akavir yet but I imagine that daedric worship isn't as stigmatised there (ofc depending on the prince).

I definitely think there are likely gods we don't know of since ESO gave us some gods we've never heard of but could just be akaviri names for known gods.

However I think in Akavir things arn't as simple as Aedra/Daedra, as the Kamal themselves came from the Magna Ge (headcanon: That when the Magna Ge left Nirn some of the magic of the holes they made landed on the snows of Kamal creating the Kamali hence why they're called 'demons').Spiritual worship tends to be more of the main focus of Kamal. They believe in the Kamasil which if a Kamal doesn't go to rest peacefully they're going to come back as an angry snow spirit called a Kamasil. Thus a religious practice in kamal is called O-Te Kamasil which is a priest who deals with these angry spirits.

This belief is unique to the Kamal. But they do take on some Tsaesci beliefs (Tsaesci are sort of the Akavir version of imperials and by that I mean they stick their noses in everyone's business thus everyones got their religion) But the main gods in the Tsaesci religion are: Z'en, Aka, Alduin, Myn, Zisa, Nyfa and Ilni. Ironically despite being called Dragon Land, Z'en is the most profound god in the akaviri religion. And it is common to curse: 'By Z'en!' 'For Z'en's sake' etc.

In akaviri art work due to the mixed views of dragons, these gods are sometimes depicted as dragons and sometimes mortal races. In Tsaesci dragons art hunted, in Ka Po'tun Dragons are worshipped, in Kamal they generally keep away from dragons (due to their belief of spirits coming back and they don't want a spirit dragon), and Tang Mo also generally avoid them.

Tsaesci gods are also known to have demi-aedra or lesser aedra offspring such as Shinoginxhi and Xhinadorasai who are the children of Zisa + Ilni and Myn + Nyfa respectively. This can also be seen with dragons being the lesser aedra of Aka.

Other gods that are extremely important to the Tsaesci are Lorkan and Satakal. The Tsaesci believe they gained their serpentine forms as the last gift from Lorkan while he died (slain by Aka). They also believe that Satakal is the child of Lorkan and represents a side Tsaesci like to hide (the hungry serpent). This is why the vampiric strain that effects Tsaesci in particular (Note: in my headcanons Tsaesci aren't actually vampiric that's a misconception made by people from tamriel due to the importance of blood magic in their culture.) is called the Satakal strain. So along with Z'en you could say Lorkan is their most important god as they call their snake from their 'Lorkan Blessed skin'.

[queer-as-used-by-tolkien]

this got long, so TL;DR: I am asexual and in the asexual community. Nobody here thinks that's what those labels mean or imply. Everybody here loves, values, and treasures our nonsexual and nonromantic relationships and considers them equally as important as sexual and romantic relationships.

As an asexual person, please?

I also strongly object to the idea that the most standard and basic way for humans to relate to each other is sexually, or even romantically. So would every other asexual or aromantic person I know. So would all the heterosexual and homosexual people I know. (BTW the word you're looking for is "allosexual", aka you DO experience sexual attraction of some kind, regardless of orientation.)

I'll preface this with the fact that I, as stated, am asexual, yet I still consider myself straight. Among other reasons, I am heteroROMANTIC and do plan on marrying a member of the opposite sex. I can go into this more if you like.

To clarify because it's been an issue of confusion before: asexuality and demisexuality do NOT mean "I don't want to have sex until I know a person / am married." That is standards and/or boundaries, worldview and/or ideology and/or religion. Anyone can have those. If you have religious convictions, I'm sorry, that doesn't make you asexual or demi. Those labels means you experience little (in the case of demi) or no sexual ATTRACTION.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out from looking at a guy if he's "hot" or "cute" or anything else. Many times I told someone "I'm considering this guy romantically" and the first question was "ooohh, is he cute?" To which my response was, without fail: "I dont know, you tell me [show picture]". Eventually, when they all said "oohhhh he IS cute!!" I would sigh and say, "so I've been told." I can also extrapolate from information: e.g. if a guy is tall, has a lot of muscle, etc? Okay he's probably conventionally attractive. I feel nothing, emotionally or physically, from looking at such a guy. I am not irresistibly drawn to him. I do not crave his presence, approval, or favor just because he looks a certain way.

I feel zero attraction. No desire to know what they'd be like in bed or kiss them or anything else. The most I've ever cared about a guy's physical appearance has been "hmmm I wonder what his beard feels like." I have not taken the liberty of finding this out with anyone except my father. Perhaps it might be more accurate to say, "I wonder what ANY beard feels like" because my curiosity is now sated and I have no particular interest in finding out more from any other guys.

I apologize if I am miserably failing to describe sexual attraction. I've never experienced it, see. Feel free to (politely) correct any misunderstanding.

But I do NOT, in any sense, imagine that allosexual people's only important relationships are sexual. I (a "straight" cis woman) have a strong, healthy, awesome and amazing relationship with my father, with my brother, and with my other brother. I have a close and fond relationship with my other two brothers, with a male friend I met at school and with another male friend I met at school. I have a competitive, intellectually rich relationship with almost all of the above plus a male friend I met at a social gathering. I have a nerdy and awesome relationship with a male friend I met at that social gathering and with another male friend I met at that social gathering. I have a teasing/rivalrous relationship with an older man I met at church. I have made good friends with another older man I met at church and with another older man I met at church and with an older man I met at that social gathering. To say nothing of my female friendships.

None of those are sexual. Three are near enough my age and interests that I have considered them romantically (perhaps four depending on how you count) but the relationships themselves have not become romantic and I experience no sexual or any physical attraction towards them (despite some(?) of them being conventionally attractive as far as I am aware). I love my friends as friends, and value and treasure them. They are all, as far as I know, allosexual and alloromantic, and they love and value and treasure me and their other friends.

Being asexual says nothing about what the most standard way of relating/perceiving is. It's saying that, whether sexual attraction is the most standard and basic or not, we don't experience it. And no, again, sex is not the most standard and basic.

The asexual community - and the aromantic community - do the exact OPPOSITE of "othering" nonromantic and nonsexual relationships. We celebrate them. We struggle to understand and relate to sexual/romantic relationships, and consider friendships, familial bonds, and other relationships as being equally important as sexual and romantic ones. We neither condemn nor devalue romantic and sexual relationships, although we do sometimes feel abandoned by our friends who are allosexual and/or alloromantic, who suddenly get a significant other and elevate that person above longtime friendships.

Being allosexual does not and never has implied, to me or anyone else, that the ONLY important relationships an allosexual person has are sexual ones. Is a sexual/romantic relationship AMONG the most important ones for most people? Of course! They're your life partner! Asexual people can have life partners too and we understand that.

"(A-spec labels imply) the default heterosexual way of perceiving others of the same sex is apathetic ambivalence" have you. Have you SEEN how heterosexual people act around people of the same sex? Girls share all their secrets with each other, giggle and laugh about guys they consider "hot," and plan their weddings together. They're closer than peas in a pod. They're thicker than thieves. They're besties. All the heterosexual people I know are closest friends with members of the SAME sex, not opposite. Myself? An asexual? I'm very close with my female friends. Not as close as I am with immediate family members, but I have two dear female best friends. I just spent the day with them earlier this week. I've been friends with them for a long time. I have many other female friends and acquaintances that I talk to occasionally, if not regularly.

Meanwhile, it is commonly reported among heterosexuals that girls and guys CAN'T "just be friends" and there is frequently "no platonic explanation for XYZ." I think just maybe, it's not the asexuals who make sexual relationships the priority and who devalue nonsexual and nonromantic relationships.

The asexual/aromantic labels and community do not consider ANY sexual or romantic orientation or lack thereof to be the default, most basic, or standard. Most asexuals and aromantics consider themselves to be queer and emphasize that the A in LGBTQIA+ is for asexual, aromantic, aplatonic, and agender. (It is also frequently written as LGBTQIAAAA+). Depending on your definition of queer, I don't consider myself such. (Haha look at my username.) The "gift of celibacy" is right there in the Bible and Paul urges people not to get married. Since I am the daughter of an asexual woman, I have never faced a-phobia and have been raised with an understanding of asexuality, although not in those terms. Christian and/or conservative a-phobia, that many asexual and aromantic people experience regularly, appears baffling and contradictory to me. Perhaps if I had experienced the same I would relate more to the label "queer." Anyway: yeah the queer asexual community is not in the habit of treating any orientation or experience as "standard" or "basic" or "default."

If you think that "considering straight to be the default orientation" (esp in exclusion of homosexuality) makes sexuality to be the most basic and standard way of relating to people, I don't know what to tell you. Please don't worry about the a-spec labels implying this because nobody at all thinks they do.

If you're allosexual and you value your friends, regardless of gender? If you value your significant other for more than their sexual assets? Congrats, you're a human being who experiences sexual, romantic, and platonic attraction. You are, for lack of better terms, "whole" and "normal." Asexual people and aromantic people are also whole, although "normal" might be a stretch.

Footnote: I speak from the perspective primarily of a cis, asexual, heteroromantic woman. I have not delved deeply into other viewpoints because I have not experienced them.

One of the main issues with labels like asexual and demisexual and queerplatonic, in my opinion, is the "othering" of nonsexual relationships.

The labels imply that the only truly "straight" person is someone whose only important relationships are sexual; whose default way of perceiving members of the opposite sex is sexually, and whose default attitude toward people of the same sex is apathetic ambivalence.

And so what this implies, assuming "straight" is the default sexual orientation, (traditionally it is) is that the most standard and basic way for humans to relate to each other is sexually. To which I strongly object.

[femsolid]

Sometimes I think radfems and feminists in general put too much focus on the past in certain instances. One example is the "holy mother goddess" thing. That's fine to speculate about but some women aren't religious and will find it off-putting. It's fine to look into past to study and understand women's achievements and history, but "Mother Goddess" thing feels very religious and Radical feminism is about Material reality. Some radfems underestimate conservative propaganda.

I agree. I lost a few friends over this, believe it or not.

See I had a group of radical feminist friends. We were even discussing serious separatist projects together, we looked into buying land etc. Then some spiritual women joined in, one in particular, let's call her Claire, a philosopher, deep into the woowoo pseudoscience. Like most philosophers, she would ponder for hours about pointless things instead of actually doing anything. Everyone thought she sounded smart enough. Except for me who was rolling my eyes and making sarcastics comments in the background. So Claire started avoiding me and I started avoiding Claire. No problemo. Except that while I was avoiding her she was spreading the woowoo. Before I knew it, the conversations had become entirely focused on the "sacred womb", the "true nature of women", "women think through their uterus" and other crap like that. They were proud to be bioessentialists at this point. I was bewildered. This was so far removed from our initial community.

When I asked for evidence regarding any of their claims they replied that men control science therefore science is irrelevant. They promoted motherhood as the reason for women's existence. I asked if being childfree made me a failed woman and if lesbianism was unnatural. They said I was being mean to the new guru Claire. Any resistance to these spiritual ideas started to be met with utter contempt. They said I was thinking like a man and denying my true nature you see. I just wasn't as enlightened as they were, with my stupid useless radical feminism. Of course the main women promoting holy motherhood were mothers themselves. Claire would say ridiculous unscientific nonsense every day and get praised for it.

And eventually they all became anti-feminists, they said feminism was about denying women's true essence, our real uterus driven instincts. Talks of the holy mother goddess were becoming the norm. Radical feminist thinking was not welcomed anymore, especially not my proclivities for scientific inquiry and materialism. And what a waste of time... All they did was complain about feminists while doing nothing at all themselves. The ambiance was extremely toxic. So when women were coming to us in search of feminism they were receiving agressive pseudoscience and spiritual anti-feminism instead. And that's when I truly became alarmed.

My "true nature" is confrontational it seems. If I have a problem with someone, I'd rather talk it out, so we can solve it you know? So I ended up confronting them all. Especially the one woman who was becoming like a cult leader. I told Claire this was all misogynistic and spiritual nonsense, in more words than that. She said I had dicks in my brain and that I had unresolved issues with my mother that I needed to take care of that was the source of my animosity. Charming. I told them all that they had become a religion and that I was leaving. And so I did. And then three other women who had witnessed the confrontation contacted me afterwards to tell me they were leaving too, for the same reasons. And so they did.

The irony is that I'm actually very interested in women's history, female figures in mythology, women's cultural impact. I've loved learning about ancient religions and their goddesses creating the world (and humans from clay! The bible is just bad plagiarism btw). I'm interested in many things. And even in my aversion for "spirituality" I don't mind the women who are into that, because for the most part it's harmless and it's just women trying to have a common culture and feel powerful. I kinda like it actually, I like the art they make, the sisterhood they feel, good for them, as long as they stay grounded in reality. Men have erased us from history and culture, it's nice to be reminded that we have existed and mattered. I also understand the need to reclaim and celebrate our bodies. It's not the problem at all.

Just beware of the pipeline to actual cults my friends... I've experienced it. No magic crystals and sanctified menstrual blood will elevate you towards liberation... only activism will. You need to fight not to pray.

[acethena-discourse]

In what way does me having gay sex oppress ace/aros? The reason the term allo isn’t appropriate and doesn’t even make sense is cause y’all can’t even agree on the definition of what the word even means, and second, LGBT people are told that the kind of sex we have is repulsive and enough of a reason to kill us, literally where and how does NOT having sex or relationships cause y’all ANY legal/physical/actual oppression?

hi, allo does have a consistent definition. It means not ace. Cis heterosexual heteromantic people, not ace, trans bi man, not ace, trans lesbian? Not ace. Like literally is a word created to just say "you are not ace" the same way cis means not trans, or neurotypical means not neurodiverse. Or Allistic means Not autisitc, since you know, the person who created allo used the same rules to create the term that the autistic community used, a community they belonged too iiirc.

My issue is the demanding of people that aces not use langauge we created to discuss people who are and aren't ace with ease, again, look at it as trans or cis.

But seeing as you uh, can't see, I"m literally a transman, something exclus regularly ignore. I'm in a relationship with an allo bigender bisexual man. Something exclus love to paint as abusive on the regular.

The fact you hear "allo" and go "how dare the aceys say i'm not oppressed" when thats not what we're sayign, again, cis vs trans. A cis gay might not experience transphobia, but the that doesn't object to homophobia happening. Its literally "not ace." The same way cis is literally not trans. Saying you're allo just means you don't share my experience as an ace person.

Which lets go over what happened to me before I was anything other than ace.

I had people offer to "fix" me, often the implication being Rape. I had literal rocks thrown at my head, I've had boys and men put their fucking hands on me. I've had fucking ace exclus like yourself tell me this is because I was a woman, and also that the one boy who did actually grope me because I was ace, and even said "i wouldn't have to do this if you weren't ace, weren't a fucking tease," equating my aceness to being just unwilling to have premarital sex despite my vitriol for religion and overall sex positivity. Btw, rebelblaze in particular, has said to me and others that our sexual assaults happened because we were "mistaken" for gay even when once again, ouright my assailant and others said it was because we were ace.

As a matter of fact when I was 6 hours from my pc telling all of this to rebel on a fairly public forum she kept demanding study, despite me telling her I was oujt of town for the weekend, on my cellphone, and have a disability that makes using my phone to find sources, links etc, harder. Even accused me of faking disability to "Get out of having to give sources" despite assurances as soon as I got home from my doctors 6 hours away, I'd get her all the sources I have saved on my pc. She genuinely couldn't be assed and continued to say if *my personal experience had happened* i'd have *real sources* because my personal accounts of assault, and harassment aren't proof enough. (Which tells me that yall must think a trans woman who didn't file a police report is lying right? Because yall enforce ":proof" the same across the board, her saying it happened isn't enough for yall yeah? (sarcasm btw ofc yall would believe her lest yall further be proven to be transphobes)

But heres a wonderful masterpost of ace exclus acting in badfaith and outright telling aces to kill themselves being racist to black aces for being ace saying aces and their partners are all rapist etc.

a pair of parents cruelly kicked out their asexual child despite her atttempts to say "its not the same as being gay," the oppressor class, cis hets, didn't care so she turned them over to the police for illegal firearms.

heres yasmin benoit an asexual woc on twitter who regularly faces discrimination from cishets and other queer people. As a black woman are you willing to tell her she doesn't know what oppression is?

her twitter was under violent, viscious, and visceral attack on ace day, whY? because she partnered with stonewall UK to discuss and research discrimination from cishets and queer alike face by aces and aros. Yall didn't defend her from the racism in particular, many exclus on twitter said if she didn't want to be called the n word she shouldn't put herself out here go ahead and take a gander from her twitter in april and the way terfs and ace exclus teamed up to harass her. Not for her skin color, tho they didn't hesitate to use her blackness as a tool to further demean and dehumanize a beautiful, wellspoken, asexual woc. the times article here was one of many responses, the times is a rather large platform btw to post anti ace bigotry.

You read that right btw, yall demand research but when we invest money from *our* community, into it, from aces, or people who care about us, you do accuse us of stealing. Yasmin funded the ace project *soley* with money from her work for aces or private contacts, no donations were used that were intended for causes like the trevor project. Or tax money thats given to stonewall uk. Stonewall is only going to PUBLISH the research after it has been gathered.

but seeing as you elected to hide behind anon (likely because you're block evading) you likely won't care about any of this. But I sincerly hope you do. I hope you see the aces who are people of color, see their abuse BECAUSE THEY ARE ACE and how they deserve to be assaulted and are disgusted. I hope you see that a child being kicked out for being ace and are horrorified. I hope you take all of this to heart. But chances are you won't.

You'll come right back with one of two responses

"None of this really happens"

or

"it happened but not the way you're telling me." despite links being right there for you to click through. So go ahead, go click through ALL OIF THEM. Go thorugh my blog find ALL THE WAYS i've been told I''m a liar for my pain, or that I didn't remember the attacks right. Or that I'm infintalized not for my transness or attraction to men, but because I"m ace. Go on.

Go find Rittz telling me I'm not actually oppressed, and when I call them on their ableism for saying a housing ordinance will affect aces disabled, trans etc, saying its okay it'll affect disabled people because it'll hit abled ones too. Meaning its fine for a disabled person to be homeless AS LONG AS IT KILLS AN ABLED BODIED PERSON TOO RIGHT.

All because I am Ace. When I demand yall recognize your transphobia is showing everytime yall ignore that 70% of aces are "real el gee bee tees". Your biphobia shows everytime yall accuse us of not being gay enough, a popular tactic used against bi people.

Yall literally will demand we research, provide links, and then spit in our faces.

So i genuinely hope you look at this, you read it, and you fucking *vomit* when you see how aces are treated because we are ace by cishets and terfs and biphobes and ace exclus. I hope you fucking get it.

[gemsofgreece]

Hii! I'm sorry to bother, but I wanted to ask about the two modern temples that are active, you mentioned? I know of one but any information you have would be incredible. I'll be visiting Greece soon so I was considering visiting but I have my reservations, and the last thing I'd want to do is show up somewhere without any prior knowledge. Thank you so much!

Hello! I gathered up some information but I want to be clear that I am definitely not an expert on the matter.

Yes, there are two temples and they are in the same region because they are built in properties belonging to the same man, Aristotelis Kakogeorgiou, aged 84 now, I believe.

Both are in the prefecture of Thessaloniki, in Central Macedonia.

The Temple of the Hellenic Gods is built in Oreokastro, which is a suburb of Thessaloniki. This one was built in the 90s.

The Temple of Alexander and the Earth is in Mesaeo, a village nearby, close to the borders with the prefecture of Kilkis. Kakogeorgiou explained that this temple is more for the Alexandrian and the Dionysian faiths in particular, as he believes Alexander the Great achieved theosis (deification) after death.

Both temples are legalized. However, I don't know what the procedure is for going there. Do you get in touch with the man first, do you just show up? I am not sure.

However, in a Greek article it is mentioned that believers go and dedicate their offerings to the temples. Also, the temples perform a ritual of an onomatodosia (as in, baptising) after which you also get a Greek name and are officially initiated in the religion. To my understanding, the ritual is pretty simple, nothing to stress you out. If you are interested in this, I mean. Of course, all this makes me assume there should be some communication beforehand.

Now, I really hate hate hate to say this and I normally would not but you are coming all the way from a different country so I feel I am obligated to say this. If you are interested based on the cultural and historical aspects of the Hellenic Religion, please know that the temples are built with the initiative, means and hard work of a single man with a vision. They are humble structures. But if you don't care about this, and your interest is primarily a spiritual one and this is your motivation, then by all means, it might prove a very beautiful and meaningful experience :)

As a side note, and in order to speak of things I know better, a trip there could be perfectly combined with a tour of Thessaloniki city. It is the second largest city in Greece, very beautiful and with lots of very significant museums and monuments.

*BTW in Athens there is what you might see as Temple of the Ethnic Religion but it is not a temple in the traditional sense, it is a place housed in a regular block of buildings where YSEE (the Council of the Hellenic Religion) has gatherings and performs its rituals of worship.

I hope I am not mistaken in the information I gave you.

Best wishes for your upcoming trip xx

[jessicalprice]

If I'm getting this right, this might partially explain why many humanistic & atheistic people of Jewish backgrounds still identify as Jews (with the exceptions mostly Americans of Haredim upbringing) while most humanistic & atheistic people of Christian & Muslim backgrounds don't identify with those faiths, with many outright opposing those faiths.

This certainly may contribute to it, but the simpler explanation is that Jews are an ethnic group with a distinctive religion, not a religious group.

Christianity and Islam are religions not attached to a particular ethnic identity.

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people.

So you don’t stop being Jewish if you stop practicing it, any more than, as an Irish Catholic, you stop being Irish if you stop practicing Catholicism.

(This is an oversimplification, obviously—there are things you can do that get you sorta kicked out of the tribe (at least until you stop doing them), like converting to Christianity or Islam or another religion that is completely incompatible with Judaism.)

With Christianity and Islam, generally, you get in through belief and so you get out through lack of belief. With Jewishness, you get in through birth or adoption, so lack of belief doesn’t really change anything.

As far as the trees in Eden, the Hebrew just says “fruit.” It doesn’t specify a type. There’s some debate about what type of fruit it was among the rabbis, but they don’t reach a conclusion and there’s plenty of Jewish lore suggesting it was a fruit that didn’t exist outside Eden.

Their only real conclusion is that if it was a real fruit, the text obscures its identity out of compassion for that species of tree, so that humans won’t blame it.

The apple thing, as I understand it, has its origins in the use of “malum” in the Vulgate, which literally means “apple” but can also be used generically for “fruit” and was chosen because it puns on “mal” (bad/evil).

The fruit isn’t identified as an apple, AFAIK, in any Jewish sources.

(BTW, I have written a bunch about the textual weirdness of the trees: https://www.tumblr.com/jessicalprice/700786912432095232/the-two-trees)

“Judaism is not a religion of blind obedience. Indeed, astonishingly in a religion of 613 commandments, there is no Hebrew word that means “to obey”. When Hebrew was revived as a living language in the nineteenth century, and there was need for a verb meaning “to obey,” it had to be borrowed from the Aramaic: le-tsayet. Instead of a word meaning “to obey,” the Torah uses the verb shema, untranslatable into English because it means [1] to listen, [2] to hear, [3] to understand, [4] to internalise, and [5] to respond. Written into the very structure of Hebraic consciousness is the idea that our highest duty is to seek to understand the will of God, not just to obey blindly.”

— Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (via yidquotes)

[hxneydreamers]

Hi! You really look like someone who truly lives by the law and if you wanted you could literally manifest the craziest of things, even things that defy the laws of nature and physics and I'm wondering how do you personally view life and existence if you can have everything now with just an assumption? If you are so above everything in the universe? Doesn't this make you feel lonely? Don't your desires feel meaningless? I'm always moved by great stories (most of which have something tragic or sad or bittersweet) and I love being moved by such things and I ultimately want my life to be a good meaningful beautiful story and my fear is that by buying the pearl of great price I'll have to give up on all that so now I find myself almost completely uninterested in my ideal life and I can't bring myself to visualise because I wouldn't feel a thing (btw do you think this will make the manifestation easier or harder?) but I still know deep down that I couldn't accept anything from life other than that perfect ideal I have for myself even though I sorta feel like cheating like... can I call this kind of experience authentic? Share some wisdom ma'am please. Can you also share some films or books or anything that inspired your idea of perfect life if you feel like it?

Hey! You make such an interesting and excellent point! Thanks so much for having such faith in me, hahah, it's extremely flattering!

I honestly have a pretty simple answer for you! Whilst I'm well aware of the law and how things operate and that I am the god of my reality, I am still human. We all are. That's what makes life so beautiful, colourful, and emotionally rich. I believe that the process of manifestation and conscious creation for many people is actually one of the most transformative and emotionally charged human experiences anyone could have, because they face their fears, overcome them, persist and stay determined, and ultimately win the best prize of all - and the prize is not just a material thing or a specific person - the best prize of all is happiness, contentment, and self-love.

I only consciously manifest in areas of my life that I feel have unfolded negatively as a result of low self-worth. The law has taught me that these things are a reflection of the way I treat myself and talk to myself and think about myself. The law has taught me that I should not let my happiness depend on a thing or another person, my happiness should come from within myself.

Our human experiences, the good and the bad, are what shape us as people, and I think that finding the law after we've experienced the ups and downs that human existence has to offer, can be really empowering. Yes, learning about the law helps us take control over our lives and create a happy and abundant life with our specific people, money, the right career, etc, but what I think the biggest thing that the law gives us is the lesson that we need to love ourselves and empower ourselves more.

I don't view life and my desires as meaningless. Just because you are the god of your reality and you have the power to shift into a new reality doesn't mean that the people around you are operating like robots. They are real people and they have thoughts and feelings. You aren't changing anyone or anything around you when you manifest, you are changing yourself and moving into another reality where the people and things around you reflect your new state of being.

The law of assumption has taught me how to speak lovingly to myself and get out of bad habits that ultimately diminish my power and worth. It has taught me to transform myself and my overall love and appreciation for myself so that I can be the best version of myself that I can be.

I personally don't subscribe to any particular religion, but I believe that somehow we were all put on this earth to have a human experience, but we are all one - part of the 'god' source, whatever that is. We all are gods and we all have the power to create the lives we want, but we are here to have desires, to feel all the emotions that come with it, and to experience life's ups and downs, overcoming them and learning from them. I don't know why, but we are all here, and we may as well make the most of it while we are. If we can learn to love ourselves fully and treat ourselves with kindness, we can experience the most lovely parts of life and live in realities where we are surrounded by a reflection of these amazing things.

Let's be real, just because I understand the law of assumption well, doesn't mean that I'm bothered to apply it to every part of my life. Who wants to have to affirm for everything in their life? With most things, I just sit back and enjoy the ride. If there is something negative in my life, I don't let it bother me because I know who I am and I know my worth. If something REALLY bothers me, then I know it's coming from an issue that I have within myself. If anything, it makes me look within and figure out what it is that is causing this.

Even when you know how to use the law of assumption to your advantage, life is still an adventure, and events still impact you emotionally and physically. Sometimes things pop up or happen in your world that come from some deep assumption you didn't even know you had. Life with the law of assumption is a journey of constantly learning about yourself on a deeper level and evolving, and to me, that is so awesome!

When you see people that have successfully manifested their desires, the story doesn't stop there! The new chapter of their lives begins following this, where they get to experience happiness, success, and everything that comes with it! Just because we have the power to change something if we can put our mind to it, doesn't mean that the things we experience aren't extremely real. They feel real, don't they?

Just because the 3D is a reflection of our imaginations, doesn't mean that the experiences we have aren't real. If imagination is reality, and the 3D is a projection of it, then that means that if we have thought of something and it is brought to life, then it is real on some level. We just have the power to place focus on what we want to stay and ignore what we want to go if we decide to.

Even though we manifest things, doesn't mean we don't feel the full weight of their reality. That's human existence. You can still feel your skin, right? You can still feel it when someone kisses or hugs you, right? So it is real to you. If you experience something that you wish you hadn't, you simply have the power to change it, doesn't mean you didn't experience it before, otherwise, where would the desire to change it come from?

Honestly, I can't think of any movies or shows specifically that have taught me anything about the 'perfect life', because everyone's idea of that is different. However, for manifesting and creation, I would recommend Neville Goddard's books. I have his complete reader, which I recommend, as well as Dr Joe Dispenza's books 'Becoming Supernatural' and 'Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself'.

In answer to your question about whether or not that perspective makes it easier or harder to manifest, it depends on what you believe, honestly. I would say that it if anything would make it easier for you to reduce resistance towards things if you truly feel and think that way. However, I encourage you to continue to feel life and to live it fully! The law simply means that things in your life reflect your inner world, and that should be the most real thing to you ever!

Don't let the knowledge of the law taint your view on life and the validity of your emotions and experiences. I, for example, know that the law is real, but I still feel every day and I still have doubts and negative moments in my life. I feel everything so real that sometimes it's too much. The law doesn't mean I won't ever experience hiccups and regular life moments again, it is very likely that I will, because I AM human, and humans naturally develop a mixture of emotions in various aspects of life. It just means that I'm on the journey of life and continuing to overcome these things, just like any other person. You can use the law to make it easier to do this, or harder.

The law is simply a reminder to stay in the state of loving myself and staying in my power so that overall I continue to experience true happiness, because that's ultimately what we all want, right? To be happy and to live in peace.

I hope I've somewhat answered your question and not just rambled on, talking nonsense hahah!

I appreciate the question because you got me really thinking.

All my love x

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

I'm arguing with a friend about if Rihanna has or has not Disrespected Islam (I know Ideas. Don't have right neither they deserve our respect) here's a quote from a news site about the topic

"Rihanna is under fire from the Muslim community who have accused her of disrespecting the values of Islam during her recent Savage X Fenty fashion show.

During the show which premiered on Friday on Amazon Prime Video, “Doom” a song which reportedly samples vocals of a Hadith being read in Arabic was played as models dressed in lingerie strutted around."

We're still discussing it. Now she doesn't think Lingerie is inappropriate and says Islam is about Modesty. I think it's dishonest to say "you can't play it in a lingerie show" and to say "I don't think it's inappropriate to wear it" what the fuck is islamic modesty.

Btw she's also feminist Lesbian (which is not meant as an Insult rather than a description) which makes her a professional mental gymnast.

Whether or not Islam has been disrespected is a red herring. The more important question is why does that mean anything? What can’t anyone claim to be offended or disrespected about in order to get special treatment? Nobody has the right to not be offended. Why we should change our lives to tip-toe around the easily triggered sentiments of a religion which gets “offended” at the slightest thing? Like the youngest child who’s learned to manipulate the parents with crocodile tears and that tone (you know the one). And why is it that intent appears to be irrelevant?

"If someone tells me I've hurt their feelings. I say 'I'm still waiting to hear what your point is'." - Christopher Hitchens

You should ask her if she objects to Madonna’s “Justify My Love (The Beast Within)”, which is essentially a recitation of the bible’s Book of Revelation mixed with the chorus of “Justify My Love.”

”Justify My Love (The Beast Within)” single

”The Beast Within” concert performance #1

”The Beast Within” concert performance #2

Performance #1 above features what might be regarded as an erotic gay dance routine, and certainly not something the Pope would endorse.

If she doesn’t object, then she needs to consider why she thinks different rules should apply. Why is her concern for religious sensitivities conditional and inconsistent? Is it the soft bigotry of low expectations?

It’s not a racial issue, because Islam isn’t a race. It’s not a cultural or ethnic issue, because Muslims are not a homogenous collective hivemind; the country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia. It’s religious. If replacing the word “Islam” with “Christianity” causes the concern to look suddenly quite stupid and pathetic, then well done for spotting the problem.

The rules of any particular religion only apply to those who follow it. As Helen Pluckrose explains:

“I don’t believe what you believe, and I don’t have to. I defend your right to hold, express and live by your own belief system, but you have no right to impose any of it on me.“

This statement is the essence of secularism and it is absolutely central to liberal democracy. In a secular, liberal democracy, we mandate tolerance of a plurality of worldviews and we encourage a positive attitude to diversity of thought as productive of greater understanding and broader knowledge. Restrictions on what others may believe, say and do are reserved for behaviours that directly harm other people or prevent them from believing, saying and doing what they believe to be right.

The freedom Muslims in secular countries - like the US, UK, etc - enjoy to not have other religious beliefs imposed onto them, is the same freedom non-Muslims in secular countries enjoy to not have Islam imposed on them.

Believers in any religion can adhere to whatever restrictions their belief system dictates. (Although they’ll also opt out, under the cover of “it’s a metaphor” or interpretation” or “no longer applies”.) But they’ve no right to impose their religious restrictions onto others.

“Islamic modesty” is arresting women on Instagram for not wearing a hijab. You know, because “hijab is empowering”.

Iran Daily: Women Arrested for Instagram Dance Videos

Iran’s Instagram arrests: Cyber police target women for not wearing their hijab online

Father, son plead guilty to Aqsa Parvez murder (Toronto, Canada)

Muslim girl filmed ‘twerking’, in public receives horrifying death threats (Birmingham, UK)

It’s weird how eager this self-described feminist is to gate-keep women’s bodies, and what they can and can’t wear. And what a woman like Rihanna can’t or can’t say, in deference to a rather oppressive belief system. Again, put bible verses into a song and play them during a lingerie show, and see how ready she is to bow to accusations of it being obscene, un-Xtianly and sinful.

I can’t help wondering whether she regards quoting hadith in a song as being a more troubling or less troubling issue than honor killings of women, and execution of gay people, as prescribed and endorsed by Sharia. How, exactly, does she apportion her outrage? And why does it seem to stop at the borders of her first world country?

Iran rocked by three honor killings in one month

Saudi Arabia beheaded 5 men ‘proven’ to be gay under torture

These 6 Countries Execute People for Being Gay

Why is Rihanna’s struggle session regarding hurt feelings over a belief all over the internet, but there was only scant coverage of the horrific atrocities and grisly deaths of real people in the name of this same idea. Is it because we don’t expect any better from those people? Is it because we’re terrified of the bully?

(On silencing criticism of Islam with accusations of “Islamophobia”) “Yeah, it’s tiring. It is absolutely ridiculous. I feel like the double standard with speaking about Islam versus speaking about any other religion is just so nonsensical to me. And I feel like it comes from a place of people being scared of the bully.” - Yasmine Mohammed

It’s my experience that people’s principles evaporate the fastest when the topic of Islam comes up, and despite claiming to advocate for the rights of people, retreat to complaining about petty shit, quietly and tacitly throwing the people who need the most advocacy under the bus in the name of “sensitivity.”

The religion of peace need never worry about being short of apologists clamoring to bend the knee to its demands. But I’m not willing to treat it any differently than any other religion or belief, and I think it’s bigoted to do so.

[khiphop-discussions]

The tiktok trauma thing you wrote is so true! I do have actual traumas from my childhood and sometimes I see stuff like " you don't want to ask people for help? It's because early in your childhood you got let down by someone you looked up to" like no just no. Some people on there make it seem like you can just collect them.

There’s a lot of people who are actually not questioning this stuff because maybe they don’t know any better (it’s not uncommon to see “OMG I thought EVERYBODY did *insert something that literally EVERYONE does do*! comments on mental health/psych posts on ANY site they are posted to). 

For example, not liking to ask for help DOES come from some where but it doesn’t mean it’s “trauma” per se. A lot of people aren’t even trying to be “misleading” or anything. I think a lot of it is because of the design of tik tok and creators having to be mindful of that. Also, some don’t know the info they gave might not be correct (especially not for ALL situations). 

But, MANY people will KNOWINGLY lie because they want the views/interaction/money. I KNOW the mental health and related tags are BIG business and you will probably blow up so quick if you hop into that niche.

And it’s not just with mental health either. Sex work, business, investing, religion etc. All things that people are TRULY struggling with/want to get into and/or get better at and can be dangerous if you start messing around with it without someone who has your best interest at heart giving you your info.

This is a social media wide thing BTW. BUT tik tok is probably the site where info travels the quickest (probably quicker than twitter now.I have no numbers on that so I can’t say for sure but I could definitely see that being the case) which is why that site in particular can be concerning.

Anyway, that’s my little rant on that.

[butch-reidentified]

@niiwa-angel ok but like. this is proving exactly what I & others are talking about in the notes (& elsewhere)

I would strongly urge you to read thru this version of this post to understand what I mean by that

there's a massive difference between not wanting to talk to someone who's constantly bringing astrology into every interaction & making assumptions about people or about practices that you're simply not educated about.

half the notes are projecting hyperconsumerist neopagan stereotypes (as you described above) onto everybody with a non-mainstream spiritual interest or projecting an abrahamic understanding/connotation of words such as "belief," "faith," "deity," etc.

"based on fiction and not on reality at all like any other religion" tbqh shows a total lack of understanding of these sorts of spiritualities. as we've been saying repeatedly, for one thing, it's a stretch to even call this (both what i practice and see most often from women like me) "religion," at least by this definition:

because none of these 3 here are accurate. I don't believe in a literal deity [see notes (the Goddess for me n like the majority of women ik who practice similar craft is like... better explained as a metaphor than anything like the abrahamic god or most others people have heard of)]. what's the fiction in what i described in said notes?

I've never been able to like, just blindly believe in some entity in my life, even when I've tried (catholic school lol). i actually can't STAND chakra stuff, reiki, astrology (sorry gyns who are into it - it's just done me so dirty lmaooo), and most of what laypeople associate with neopaganism. but I have a particular internal relationship to the Universe that's not any specific "belief" or "faith" [and that I cannot articulate with any semblance of ease] but that I find is uniquely nurtured, kindled, tended, always-developing, and honored when I express myself through rites. and I also have the conviction that life-giving and creation is best represented by femaleness thus male creator-deities are absurd and an affront to nature.

my witchcraft is self-expression, intentionally and constantly reinforcing and growing my trust in my own intuition and selfhood, an honoring of the indescribable sense of connectedness and sisterhood that aches in my veins... and I resent having so many women on here - who have not even bothered to find out what witchcraft means to me - boil it down to dismissive (and honestly misogynistic) stereotypes about non-mainstream religion. I find astrology deeply irritating & always have (cannot relate to anything my shit says about me lmao), but I'd rather listen to a woman who finds deep joy in it than listen to anyone talk about their shitty father-god any day of the week.

and as I said here:

and as my wife @psychichologramnightmare said in the version of this post linked to at the beginning (and she & I discuss very often), it's arrogant, anti-science, and frankly very patriarchally influenced to think we can possibly know with any certainty that all forms of spirituality, religion, worship, whatever, are pure fiction. proving a negative is not a thing. many people who practice these non-mainstream forms (and even some people who follow a mainstream religion) don't fully literally and fervently believe in deities and such. my adoptive mother is a lifelong episcopalian, church every Sunday, but she'll be the first to tell you she believes all religions are ultimately perceiving/worshiping the same thing. I don't share her beliefs, but she also doesn't think there's a mystical entity male creator in any strictly literal capacity. the christian god is more representative to her than literal.

and I am gonna keep reiterating that this attitude toward non-mainstream spirituality reeks of colonialism. it's pretty damn hard to take a complete and total anti-spirituality stance and make it not at all anti-indigenous, btw. whether it's women burned as witches or the ancestors colonized by catholic missionaries who caused the extinction of countless indigenous spiritual practices many of us deeply grieve for, I find it very difficult (putting it lightly) to take these stances and not see colonialist mindset in them.

truly don't get how some radfems seem not just disinterested but outright dislike witchcraft. like, I get being atheist or agnostic - frankly, it's something I really like about witchcraft: there's plenty of ways to practice that don't require you to believe in a literal deity. you can just believe in nature & the beauty of the universe. but the existence of female-centric, & even female-exclusive, & even explicitly radfem (& lesbian co-founded with lesbian spiritual leaders etc), spiritual practice is so fucking enticing to me. the idea of gathering with other women, other radfem lesbians even!, to honor femaleness and nature together, that's everything I've always wanted. I don't get being a radfem (esp lesbian) and not just not being curious about it at all but like, actively losing respect for those of us who practice. it's saddening fr.

also me & @sappheia aka @vvitchscvm-deactivated20230666 are gonna be the creatrices of the biggest and best lesbian feminist Dianic path in modern history t b h

[whysperingwoods]

I'm interested in spirit work, but concerned about the relationship btw spirits and deities. i don't believe in god(s) in the sense of omnipotent intelligent beings but am open to fluid conceptions of "self" that would also apply to nonhuman beings. I'm esp. curious about Jinn (my understanding of them comes from Islamic folk stories). do you have any tips, suggestions, or questions to consider that would be useful to start with? also, it's really kind of you to answer these asks. thank you.

Thank you for sending in your questions! This isn't something I've talked about very much yet although I work with a variety of entities. Thanks for being so patient in waiting for a reply, I know I've had this sitting in my inbox forever but I knew it was a longish reply and wanted to be as thorough as possible.

My usual disclaimer first: everyone approaches spirit work differently and has a different concept of what spirit work even entails. It's extremely personal and how or who or what you decide to work with is up to you and only you. Additionally, anything in this post is going to be based on personal experience (unless otherwise indicated), so take it with that in mind. 

All that said, the choices you make do have an impact on who will want to work with you and in what instances. As much as Tumblr likes to spout that "intent is everything", that's absolutely not the case when it comes to working with spirits or deities. Your actions matter, who you are as a person matters, who you worship and who you don't matter. Not all gods are friendly and nice and fuzzy. Some are scary, some won't work with you unless you’re afraid of them or unless you agree to certain conditions. Changing their mind isn't going to happen. You're dealing with entities that have thousands upon thousands of years of existence in some cases. 

I've barred myself from working with a ton of deities because I refuse to participate in worship or any type of spiritual hierarchy. That's a decision that I made a long time ago, and one I'm perfectly comfortable with, but it does have consequences. There are gods I would have liked to work with and can't because of this, and that's something I've accepted. On the other hand, I've been able to work with entities that I never would have even considered or been approached by. 

Basically the idea here is be honest with yourself about your values and how they mesh with who you want to work with. Remember that respect does not equal worship. You can respect a deity, use some of their tenets, actively enjoy them even without worshiping them. Worship and dedication should be taken seriously and requires effort. (NB: "effort" doesn't mean physical expenditure of energy, it can be psychological, spiritual, emotional, etc.)

Side note here on the definitions of spirits vs deities vs gods etc. I tend to use these interchangeably. I shouldn't. I apologize if that's confusing in my posts and I'll try to develop a more specific vocabulary in the future, but just for the sake of this reply I want to make it clear that I don't interpret "gods" in the "all powerful, all knowing" sense. I use it in the sense of "an entity that is beyond time and space, that feeds on belief, and has a marked influence on certain domains".  

All this brings me to the question you had about Jinn. I'm using them as an example, but the following pretty much applies to any entity you desire to work with. 

Before I get into that, I just want to point out that I'm not Muslim. I did study Islam for a time because I was entertaining the possibility of conversion, but ultimately I am a white person raised Catholic, currently atheist, and therefore can't speak to what is and isn't cultural appropriation in this context. Islam is a partially closed religion in that it requires conversion and accepting Allah as the only god (although like with any religion there are more than plenty of people who believe this isn't necessary as well, it depends on the Imam and on your mosque). I'm answering this ask from the angle of how spirits and deities work, but I'd recommend investigating whether or not cultural appropriation applies to you before you make any decisions. I wish I knew who to tag here for more info, but I don’t know anyone who would be familiar. Tentatively tagging @spiritroots and @witches-ofcolor in case they know of anyone. 

Working with the previous statement that gods require belief, this also implies belief in the systems and faiths they're a part of. In the case of Jinn, believing in them would also imply a belief in Islam to some degree (although the particular interpretation you choose is open). In the Qur'aan, speaking and especially working with Jinn is considered haraam. This doesn't mean you can't work with them, but it does mean that working with Jinn would go against the wishes of Allah who is believed to be the bigger more powerful god. There are definitely people who practice Islam who have also worked with Jinn, or other spirits, but you need to be aware of who you are working with and the possible consequences that might lead to. Remember that Jinn are trickster spirits as well, and it's in their nature to mislead even those with good intentions. The power of controlling Jinn was given to the Prophet Suliman and he is the only one who has "permission" from Allah to do so. Here is one link about this. And one more. 

None of the above paragraph is applicable if you intend to work with pre-Abrahamic arabian gods, but then you’re still working within a belief system. I think you get the idea. Just know that no deity exists in a void. Here’s a fun list of pre-Abrahamic deities in case you’re interested in that, they’re pretty awesome.

Here is the tl;dr:- Before working with a deity or spirit, ensure your belief systems are compatible- Be prepared (do your research)- Be aware of the possible consequences and outcomes

After you've done all that and made the decision to work with spirits or entities, you'll find them much more likely to approach you on their own in some cases. Once you start doing spirit work, you will tend to naturally attract them (for better or worse). Learning warding and protection is crucial. Protect your physical, spiritual, and mental space. Know your limits, and when to take a break. I can't give you one specific surefire way to communicate because it depends on you, and it depends on who you're talking to. Look to the god’s realms of influence and interests for clues on how to communicate with them (for example, fire reading for a fire god). If you're comfortable with any forms of divination it’s also a good place to start. Tarot is incredibly helpful for communication, but you could also pick up a really big book and randomly select sentences and try that route. You'll be amazed at how in-depth a conversation you can have. 

I realize this probably leaves a lot more questions and there are things that could stand for more clarification, but this is super long already and hopefully a good enough start at least to get you headed in the right direction. If you have follow-up questions, feel free to send them and I'm happy to clarify further on any points. In any case, good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for!