#but it's not real to me irl. it's... tropes and imagery that itches something in my brain the way conlangs do

[anghraine]

Sometimes it's interesting to be a firm agnostic but also to feel a strong attraction to the concept of the sacred and/or mystical. I'm not sure attraction is even the right word—but art that leans into a sense of sanctity or mysticism is intensely appealing to me in a very fundamental way, especially when coupled with a sense of grandeur or glory. And ritual, I love a good religious ritual.

My family's religious background is Mormon, Catholic, and Greek Orthodox, so it's not really surprising. But it's like, despite the standard religious damage, and despite being deeply skeptical of anything smacking of the supernatural, I love entering the headspace of characters with a strong religious sensibility, I love visual art caught up in the sacred, I love fiction that can give you a sense of the mystical in ritual, I love when I'm expected to believe there's something sanctified in a building or relic or rock (real or not), I love visual or narrative art that can truly evoke a sense of the divine.

At the same time, I don't believe it. Nor do I wholly disbelieve it, I'm just like ... eh, idk, this is not in the realm of knowable information. But damn do I feel the appeal of religious conviction.

(This whole train of thought got started because I was thinking about how much I love playing clerics, lol. Anyway)