#i grew up with a medium and was in a spiritual church

[swagging-back-to]

i think im finna get spa day next time the sims packs go on sale

[ancha-aus]

Some thoughts about Priest Cross in the Ghosts & Medium AU.

Warning: Religious trauma and slight homophobia (All because of XGaster)

My friendo @mikimakiboo already wrote a bit about it before but I figured I should write a more expanded version of this :D

Cross used to be an orphan but both him and his, future, brother were adopted by XGaster.

XGaster was a man of religion and a priest in a church himself. The church he worked at and resided did not interact a lot with the spiritual and supernatural nature of the spirits and wandering souls. Ironically this group was more focused on bringing peace to the living to enable them to move on immediantly instead of helping the wandering spirits find peace.

XGaster believed that the spirits who wandered didn't deserve to find rest. He believed it was a punishment for them for things they did in their life.

As you can imagine. People did not enjoy this and XGaster's public image was not the best. But as head of the church he needed to havve a good image. So. XGaster decided to adopt two different orphans.

Two because he wanted the children to raise each other instead of XGaster having to focus on them.

Cross however craved approvement and acceptance. He tried everything to be liked by his new father. He helped with the church stuff. Talked with people. Second all of XGaster's opinions. Anything to get him to like him.

It didn't help that Cross from a young age knew he prefered boys over girls. He just found them more fun. cute. and everything.

It didn't help that XGaster would sniff as he saw gay couples and mutter wbout how they would just become more lost and wandering spirits for their sins. (XGaster only spend time with likeminded and clsoeminded people.)

Cross made a show of only dating a few girls when he was younger. Thenwhy he hit puberty he went to the church with XGaster and made an oath to swear off all those sinful thoughts and ideas.

It worked. Xgaster would pay attention to him and include him more. While Cross's brother became more independed Cross grew more and more depended on Xgaster because he just wanted his approval and parental love. Cross never trully got either.

All that XGaster cared about was his image and Cross helped improve it.

Ironically. Cross's perfect little world came crashing down when he was forced to confront his own interests in the form of Dust.

Dust and Cross met when they were teens. Dust being 15 adn Cross 17.

Dust was pretty much a mess. He had been living on his own on the strees for 5 years at this point. But he also had this cheap van that he could already drive.

Cross was so interested and intrigued by Dust and just kept gravitating towards him.

The two over tiem got a bit of a casual relationship and friendship. Dust wouldn't call them friends friends but Cross, who hadn't ever had friends, did call them friends.

They would hang out. Cross would show him things of the church and Dust would show him rituals. how to talk with ghosts. how to help ghosts move on.

Dsut even once pulled Cross along on a trip to show him how to help spirits and how to calm them down.

Dust pretty mcuh pulled Cross out of the religious cult he had grown up in and showed him the other side of the wandering spirits. Showed Cross that they were worth so much more than just dismissal. (the only reason Cross was even willing to listen was because of his crush lmao)

But XGaster foudn out about them hanging out. and XGaster made it clear that Dust was a waste of space and that Cross won't interact with him anymore.

Cross... was confused... wasn't the church meant to help those who needed help? shouldn't they help Dust?

XGaster just called him a lost cause and left.

That was another crack in the facade of it all. Because Cross didnt believe dust to be a lost cause. Dust had a mission and did many things to help others. How is that a lost cause?

eventually dust left the city again, as he does. XGaster made a snide remark that Dust wanders already, much like those useless wandering spirits.

Cross worked at that same church for two more years before he just couldn't lie to himself anymore. he was miserable. He hated parts of himself thanks to xgaster. and he was so lonely.

Cross ended up running away.

and after a month he ended up in a different city where there was another church. Cross, who didn't know waht to do ended up going there. ashame of running away. ashamed of becoming a mess he is.

But... the priests there were understanding. They took him in and made sure he ate and rested.

Cross had found a new church were they did help the wandering spirits as well. They helped everyone who needed help, because no one deserves to be hurt.

Cross remained with them. took up with teachings and learnings and started over.

Later on he met dust again and realsied that dust would return to this city as well.

Cross saw it as a sign and remained right there. slowly healing under the much more gentle guidance from the people around him and the priests there.

And then later... he messed up the ritual and got stuck as ghost while killer took his body for a joyride.

[niuniente]

I was unsure of how to word things and ended up saying nothing. I realize I was too vague. I'll try to explain better. Here on my country we have a number of beliefs and religions that has mediumship as part of practice. Most of these religions are of african origin. Mind, that most of what I know is second hand knowledge and/or because of how it is somewhat integrated in our culture in certain ways. They have the Orixas that are divine beings and entities that are mundane spirits (we as people would come back as such spirits to help guide and protect the living), during practice the person lends their body to those spirits so they interact and pass guidance to those around and it's usually those spirits that do readings, healing, purification and even spiritual interference on the outcome of things you want. Those religions recognize the vastness of the world and other beliefs and other gods and spirits, The Orixas and entities, when you work to develop your relationship with them are also there to protect you from outside influences especially ill intended ones, but it's not unheard of them being possessive and keeping away other spiritual beings even when might have good intentions. Not everyone can incorporate, but as someone that's is part of those religions you do have them with you and usually messages from them come either from deep instinctive feelings or someone who does incorporate them will pass those message on to you. The older the spirit and the more people they helped the stronger they are. These spirits have, (i'm missing the exact word here) like archetypes(?) that often talk about who they were in life and the type of power and influences they have. (imagine something like a zodiac where each person have their astrology chart, each person has a spirit that has stronger influence on you and usually head the others influences over you, and the others that may affect or protect you in different ways in life.) It's also not unheard of if you established contact and a relationship with them and you come neglect this that they will complain and interfere more negatively in your life. What i meant about interaction between religions and beliefs was if you even felt some sort of interference in your readings that perhaps may have come from the fact that the person might be of a different religion or belief practice. About my colleague she was from one of those religions, she herself wasn't a medium but was somewhat sensitive herself. More than one person we met together that was also sensitive and or practiced the same religion said to have noticed this little girl spirit following her around. The way she talked about it was like, she was aware of the girl, she never did or tried anything bad to her, the girl was not a part of her "zodiac" but grew attached to her, and when other mediums tried to either give her a reading or try to interact with her more spiritually this little girl would run interference. perhaps it's not exactly blocking but everyone that had tried to do something similar wasn't able to get something clear. Oh, man, that's a lot of text. I've been to some houses after cleansing and guidance before, since many are open to outside visitors, but I'm not a practitioner. But I also have close friends that do, or grew up in families that do. My relationship with religion is rather broad but I confess that I'm much more comfortable there than in a church usually. I hope i was able to make sense of it this time 😂

Okay so it was a different religious environment as I was originally thinking. When it comes to religions itself, I live in a country that is considered atheistic or agnostic. Yes, we have churches, the main religion here is Lutheran (Evangelic-Christian and Evangelic-Lutheran also apply), we have our own Bible Belt of Pentecostals on the west coast but otherwise religion has no place here. If you belief in God or any sorts of religious beliefs you're considered having a few screws lose from your head because no sane person believes in anything else but science and hard facts. This, by the way, includes believing in the original Finnish faith system with its pantheon. I, as a spiritual person, am also considered delusional by the main view. Churches generally struggle with finding audience as it's nothing unusual that there are 1-5 people in a sermon each week.

So, there's no discord the way you described here and no belief system of any spirits here. I was once asked if Finland has any places where people are told not to go because it's cursed or known otherwise to have bad energy or bad entities. The answer is no. This nation does not believe in those things. The main consensus here is that spirits, curses, mediums, spirit world etc. do not exist.

When it comes to me as a reader and my client's belief systems, it doesn't matter. The source which gives the answers to me knows this client and is able to deliver a message to them. Sometimes a certain deity might appear in the reading but this has typically meant that the client in question has already felt their presence and the deity comes to give them a message of "Yes, you felt right, it's me".

What can cause discord is that if the client has a very strict belief system they might not be able to accept my message or hear it without a bias (and we all have our own biases) but that is not my problem and will not affect the reading.

Maybe the best example would be this; a client with a belief system that French food is the best out there and the cooking has to be done in a certain way comes to me and ask for a dinner from my menu. Does it affect my ability to cook? No. Might the person with a certain taste have problems with the final dish they get from me? Possibly.

In short, there is never any outside source influence which would hinder me from doing a reading, as I'm only a messenger. I don't control the spirits or fall into a trance inviting them into my body. I only ask a question from the source of love and light and deliver the answer to the client. I don't ask from any messages from any certain being, unless client wishes so or I want to consult myself a certain entity like a spirit guide, my belated grandmother, an ascended master, a deity or a saint.

I think that in your ex-colleague's case her belief system and those around her gave this girl spirit a permission to intervene. Subconsciously they believed that it is the case and that can happen, so the spirit got thus a permission that it can do so. Then there's a possibility that your ex-colleague was not allowed to have the answers she was looking for - or was not that interested in hearing them the first place - so the girl spirit acted as a spirit guide, stopping people.

Of course, I don't know how the spirits are expected to behave in that said belief system to their fullest but our expectations and experiences mold our interactions a lot. I expect to get answers without giving a spirit a permission to take over me for a channeled message, so it happens. Someone living in a culture where the best way to get a message is to go to a medium who gets into a trance and delivers the message expects this to happen, and so it is then.

Valuing one's own spiritual practices and views is very important, as long as it is remembered that your views and ways are yours only. Other people might and will have different ways.

TL:DR; My client's belief system will not affect my readings or my work. In my case it can only affect the client in a way that they can't accept the given message or parts of it, and in those cases I always encourage them to indeed ditch the message.

[thestarpletsystem]

I mean, why does it matter what your personal ideas about religion are? Plenty of people find religion later in life and are completely fine in that. Sure, the typical Christian model of religion is typically one of shutting out any amount of science or knowledge, but thats not the case for every religion or even every church in Christianity. I found Judaism later in my life, and it’s been nothing but great to me. My fiance grew up both Jewish and Christian but is also into demonology and voodoo (yes she’s actually apart of that practice and has done it the right way), and she found it later in her life too. We even have friends who are into spirituality stuff like runes or magic or tarot cards. Which is fine and great for them! My own mother was raised Catholic but left the faith and spent a lot of time being Wiccan. My aunt who was also raised Catholic became Jewish a bit before marrying my uncle, and my cousins have been raised Jewish, and where they’ll go with their faith is up to them. It’s not inherently bad to grow up in religion or to be religious. It’s a lot of context and nuance between different sects or branches of a religion. It’s not fun to see people bash religion for reasons outside of the religion they’re criticizing. This isn’t to say that there aren’t a lot of ways every religion can improve, but it’s to say that not all of them are how I see people portray online. Sure, there are some that are predatory and do those things, not all do. It’s not fair to over generalize that way.

I also have to add that it’s not fair for you to be forcing your trauma onto others. I get it, what happened to y’all isn’t right and it was probably really really bad. We can’t really speak to religious trauma like that. But we can say that we do have some religious trauma. That’s why the majority of my system is non-humans and demons. Think more second hand religious trauma. But I wouldn’t dare use my experiences to deny others their religion or personal choices. That still doesn’t mean that it’s okay to use that as a basis to justify saying all religion and all spirituality is bad. It’s just not your path, and that’s fine, just don’t try to force others to follow it when it’s not for them. That’s your own trauma, not other’s. But realistically, I have to ask, how are you any better than the overbearing Christians who want you to be saved when you’re saying these things? Being an Atheist doesn’t make forcing beliefs or bashing other peoples religions right or okay.

I know you said in replies that you’re not going to deny anyone their plurality if they say it is spiritual, but that’s also not exactly true. When you say things like this, it’s often only working to exclude people, even if you don’t mean it to. So either way, by making these claims, you’re managing to exclude people. Theres also the idea of peoples plurality coming from ghosts, possession, being a medium, and other supernatural/spiritual phenomena. It’s different than being a religious or spiritual system in how I understand you’re meaning. I can’t say I’m an expert or even understand it, but it’s not fair to claim that you won’t even entertain them. Which is tantamount to saying that you won’t respect their origins. It reminds me of the anti-LGBTQ people who say “Well, it’s fine if they do it, but don’t do it in front of me.” Which is fine, I guess, but that’s also incredibly rude and shows their prejudice. If thats where they say their system came from, why does it have to be pushed or forced any further for understanding?

You also mention that endogenic systems have made endogenic super entwined with the idea of spirituality, but that’s also not true. Sure, there are endogenics who are spiritual, but there’s also just as many, if not more, that aren’t. There are those who are religious but that has nothing to do with their plurality, but there’s also those who aren’t at all. I think that a majority of endogenic experiences can be explained by psychology and how the brain works, I even have my own theories that I’ve yet to share. But like I said, why are we trying to force them into a neat box when they just don’t fit like that?

It’s a similar issue to what I’ve seen in the DID community, where there are a lot of systems who are trying to force everyone into neat little boxes. Particularly the Theory of Structural Dissociation. I don’t fit neatly into the ANP category, but I’m also the host and function in the day to day, so I can’t really be classified as an EP. Not all of us in the system fit nicely like that, either. Does that make us any less worthy of being called a DID system? I don’t think so.

I think you were well meaning in your approach and even posting it, but it definitely screams that you’re stuck in your trauma. I don’t say any of this to be a dick, but the arguments you make fall prey to a lot of the same pitfalls of other anti/religious arguments and is just stigmatizing the community further. I guess my arguments all boil down to, just live and let live on the topic of religion. It’s not that pressing in 90% of the cases, and can often be a good thing that gives a better sense of community. Like I said, I don’t understand it too much, but thats not for me to judge. I don’t think it’s for you to, either

I might say something that might be potentially explosively controversial but

we really don't like the spirituality part of plurality. we don't like it how especially some endos have made it that spirituality is entwined with plurality.

Plurality is a psychological phenomenon. Endogenic and Traumagenic are two sides of the coin. But as an atheist, it kind of hurts to see people weave this association we used to have with it that's been used against us to abuse us. Religion is a tool of control. It keeps people in the dark. It explains things that are perfectly explainable things otherwise, making them fantastical.

Now this isnt to say that culture cannot influence it. On the contrary, it often DOES influence plurality and systems at large. And I'm certainly am not going to deny these people their plural existence just because they're religious or spiritual. But as it is, we cannot believe that a "super natural explanation" is one that's true. If you just want to be plural, fine. Have it. But don't expect us to believe that.

There is still so much research needed for plurality as a whole. And we do wish to further understand TOSD and other scientific methods for plurality.

We feel particularly sick to our stomach about linking spirituality with plurality. But that's in the perspective of a white american body raised around Christians, having a "rebellious age" in the host's teenager years of ""wicca"" and ""witchcraft"" and other delusional (ACTUALLY DELUSIONAL) beliefs that teenagers are NOT supposed to be groomed into. We've seen takes from other people's perspectives and noticed that the greyness between spiritual beliefs and science is a way heavier gradient than in the west. So there just may be a catch here we're not getting.

- 🎶, 🔥 & 🐑

[caddwen]

Image ID: USA Christian propaganda decrying so-called doorways to demonic possession, naming among a whole list of things: yoga, astrology, wicca, lycanthropy, vampirism, Kabbalah, Lord of the Rings, marijuana, video games, heavy metal, rock music, and many more. The usual. Dungeons and Dragons is circled in red by whoever I stole the image from, but that doesn't matter for my purposes. The bottom of the pamphlet mentions two bible passages, one from Deuteronomy (18 verses 9 to 12) and one from Ephesians (6 verse 12). End of content ID. --- Wahey, a first original post by me, your friendly Tumblrhood Caddwen!

For the record, I grew up in a pretty fanatically atheist family, in a Church of England village and primary school, two things that were very much at odds. Now, much later in life, I'm older and have gained an Actual Opinion of my Own™ regarding spirituality, which mostly boils down to "don't be a dick", disliking religion but admiring faith (for the nuance on that, you'll have to check back another time).

So a friend of mine posted this image on the funnies channel of our Discord server, and while I laughed at the eclectic nature of the list, I naturally looked up the biblical references. I expected to find pretty unrelated stuff, as is often the case with the intolerant fanatical kind of christian, passages that can be vaguely and arbitrarily linked to the subject at hand.

However! What I found was not what I expected. First off, the Deuteronomy passage (18:9-12).

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.

To be honest, that really fits with the message. Actual honest usage of the source text, I have nothing to add, solid Bible-bashing going on here. However, the Ephesians passage (6:12).

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

... did the bible just do an anarchy? No, really. "our struggle is [...] against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

I can't read that in any way other than as a fight against authority, including that of Heaven itself. Not only does it not say anything about the message they were intending, but it actively declares anarchist ideology. Could it just be that the New International Version is leading us astray? Let's try King James.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Same thing! WTF is this? I came here to get some diatribe about the wickedness of my ways, not to have a good time!

If this First Actual Original Post™ gets any traction, I might do some more awkward analysis of Bible passages that can be taken in a really cool way.

[woodedsilence]

Can a person survive without religion?

Have you ever had something stop you dead in your tracks and make you take a serious look at how much you simply allow your spiritual side to take a back seat to the drama other people you will never meet create? This morning I got pulled into a subject I normally do not care about. I am a strong believer in letting others be who they are as long as it’s harming no one else. But, this last week, I think, the line between freedom of self, crossed over a line of immoral behavior meant to influence those who are not fully protected. I refuse to get into the specifics as I find it better to give no more attention to it than it has already received. But, it did bring up a very deep question in my heart that has led me back where I always end up, to this blog on this account, reevaluating why I keep getting pulled astray.   So can we? Can I? Can a person survive without religion? The easy answer is, of course, yes. Yes we can, we did it for thousands of years before it was introduced into our various tribes and/or societies. But, as we evolved we needed to find reasoning within our worlds to calm our constantly growing worried mind. Humans needed structure so they created it. Sadly that structure got manipulated and grew as a way to control instead of guide humanity. I believe that was it’s own downfall.

Now, I think at this point it is important to reveal that I myself was raised up in Religion. Although my parents never practiced it in any form I saw. My siblings and I did attended church twice a week and went to Christian Summer camps. So, although I no longer practice Christianity or attend a Christian church, there are many aspects of the religion in which I did hold on to and intertwine into my Spiritual path that I currently walk and it’s because of this foundation that, although I fully respect everyone’s path, I do believe a person can go “too dark” Even as a witch, I still denounce evil and Satanic ways. Evil or darkness is not a path I personally choose to walk on for anyone & I have expressed this in past posts. My desire to stay towards the light & how dark witches have had negative impacts on me. I did use to wonder if I would have felt this way if I had never had the upbringing that I did. But, when I break it down I can say with strong conviction, that I, despite not believing that Angels exist, do believe in demons. Which brings us back to the main reason I have been thrusted into a post about what happened to me recently. Over the last decade or so I have watched as the darker side of religion has slowly become popular among young people. I was never one for watching or liking themes that dived into the healthy side of worshiping something evil, not because I don’t believe people shouldn’t. But, because it takes me places that are unhealthy. But, even I have found myself very intrigued and pulled into shows like the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Despite having an initial gut reaction to steer clear of it. I had to at least check it due to being a Sabrina the Teenage Witch fan. I continued to watch and am to this day a fan because I appreciate the balance of Sabrina being baptized in both good and evil. It felt like a happy medium, the good in her was able to resist even Satan himself. But, even with that, I could see how this was glorifying a darker lifestyle & because it was aimed at teenagers made me personally weary of it being so popular. Young kids taking evil for nothing more than a trend & thinking it was okay to act in the various ways it was portraying as “normal”. I do fully believe Parents need to watch, take care of and maintain a proper relationship with their kids if they don’t want their kids led onto strange paths. But, it’s also no secret whatsoever that there are way too many kids with minimal parental guidance and are instead being raised by the internet & we all know how easy it is to convince a young person of what is and is not “normal” So, what about kids being exposed to darker things? What are they being taught? What are they being told is healthy or normal? I mean, if you have to look back on your childhood, wouldn’t you rather laugh and think about being silly over small crush you had or cry because you thought at 12, lap dances & sex were a normal part of becoming a teenager?

Everyone will have their own answers for that and again, like always, I believe everyone has the right to believe and practice what they want. What I do not agree with, is that everything an adult wants or believes in should leak over into the lives of a child. I’m in no way saying that our children need to grow up in sterilized environments. Everything in moderation & teach our children and even renew these teachings within ourselves once in awhile what exactly is and isn’t okay. So what is moderation? Who gets to determine what is too much or too little? Where the normal answer is, the parents. We have grown into a society that has begun to allow our schools, electronic devices and the latest trending celebrity to rule over our households. Sadly, some households have no proper parenting at all and so there isn’t even a moment of clarity for a child to receive amongst the various images and influences they are seeing on a daily basis. It’s all just thrown out on the table for them to pick and choose what they want while looking towards other misguided children for the answers. Some may have a higher moral compass naturally while others may have none at all. This is where I was handed a new thought process. If man kind could survive without religion, can it survive with too much? Most people do not look at religion as evil unless they are speaking of the harm it’s done. But, even then, they only see the harm being down by people who claim they are doing Gods true work, not those who praise Lucifer. In contrast, Satan is being portrayed as the welcomer of those who believe they are not welcomed by God. It is within this thought process, I see artist these days not caring if they are influencing our youth in overly negative ways.  Whether their thought process is intentional or not, whether they care or don’t. There is a new way to believe life can be lived without inhibition and it’s being sold to the youngest bidder. So what happens if there is a shift? What happens if there is a new movement of children believing it’s okay to be bad? That, that’s what is normal and it’s not normal to care about other people you are affecting? What happens if the concept of Karma and good deeds begins to get lost on our younger generations? I still very much remember being made to feel like I was evil for deciding that God could not be found inside of a Church, after my baptism, I was awakened to the hypocritical, double standard ways of the church. They openly mocked and made fun of other religions at bible study groups, & the person I was being mentored by, would lash out at me if I asked too many questions and I would be told to basically “just believe” and be quiet. But, as where I could go back to my innocent uninfluenced by trendy topics thought process and remember being 13 & researching what the oldest style of worship was and finding a proper path to take from there, which would lead me to Sunday drives where I listened to sermons on the radio instead of listening to a Preacher who wanted me to donate hundreds of dollars I didn’t have to causes that didn’t seem to be in honest need. It led me to the path of finding who I truly am as a human being. But, what about the kids today?  In a world were the darker side of religion is being held at a higher standard, do they have an honest chance at surviving? Will they be able to look back on their youth with fondness or regret? Will the regret create new overly obsessed batch of negative Christians? Here is a better question to ponder over though. Where does the natural spiritual pathways come into the mix? What can we, who may or may not have walked away from a more structured and accepted religion, add to this conversation?   With our personal creed being “An ye harm none, do what ye will” Exactly when do we step up and say, “You’re beginning to do harm” or Do we not stand at all but instead simply allow the river to flow in hopes we find the remains still in tact at a river bend? What exactly is the Witches responsibility knowing we as women are the intended protectors and guiders of our young?

[lambposting]

Some Thoughts on Religion and Personality

I've been doing a lot of thinking about religious faith, and it truly is an odd and interesting thing. I was raised in a small church community, went to private religious schools from kindergarten through college, and have many religious family members (including a grandfather who spent many years as a minister and teacher), yet I have never been able to feel any experience that I would describe as "spiritual" or "religious" in nature. I've also tried over the course of 2 separate periods (in highschool and college) to study theology with an open mind, and I have even lived my life as a religious person for several years in total. I've made many religious friends, professed religious belief (technically a lie but with good intentions; fake it till you make it, as they say), behaved as if God were real, prayed, went to church, spent dozens of even hundred if hours pouring over apologetics and responses to them, spoken privately with ministers about my questions and interpretations of scripture, etc. Basically, I've tried just about everything out of an earnest belief that I should be fair and open-minded, and that the testimony of many friends and family was valuable. But, at the end of the day, I've only become more and more confident that whatever other people profess to experience and believe just doesn't work for me. That seems like a deviation from the norm—both considering that many people intuitively find religion plausible, and that many current atheists who grew up in similar circumstances were believers at one point, but later changed their mind—which makes me curious.

I suppose that there are two basic solutions: either I'm very lucky and just rolled the right personality type and intuition to never get misled into faith, or I'm very unlucky and my inborn personality and intuition make it almost impossible for me to be "saved" or "enlightened". Obviously I'd sooner believe the former than the latter, but I will never be able to experience another person's mind so I'll never know for sure. That being said, it is interesting to try to draw correlations between my personality and my beliefs.

Disclaimer

This next part is largely conjecture based off of my limited understanding of psychology and UsefulCharts' 3 part series describing his PhD research on the personality types of atheists (here's part 2 of a 3 part series on it: https://youtu.be/xejfuTNov7Y), so PLEASE take this only as a layman's understanding, even if I'm borrowing some ideas from a PhD holder (I'm writing about my personal experience and insights, not what is most popular in a group, so don't expect 1:1 relevance claims between me and UsefulCharts).

There are two main assessments that I've used: the widely supported "big five" model, and the much more controversial Meyers-Briggs model (although, as UsefulCharts explains, these two are somewhat interlinked and analogous). I'll use both to demonstrate my current ideas about the potential relationship between my personality and my lack of religious belief.

Oh, and one more disclaimer: I'm going to try and condense my ideas as much as possible, so if it ever feels like I'm just indulging in self-flattery then please just imagine the long ramble that I would normally give about how I don't think I'm particularly special or great in any way. I'm not trying to be cool or impressive; I'm trying to summarize my perceived traits.

Big Five

For this model, I generally score as follows: Very high neuroticism, very low extraversion, medium-high openness to experience, high agreeableness, and medium-low conscientiousness. I think at least some of these traits could correlate with my inability to be convinced of religious claims, so I'll go through them now.

Neuroticism: For me the role of neuroticism is relevant in the form of the constant fear of being deluded because of the potential consequences. As such, I probably spend more time than average attempting to study philosophy as a means of easing my anxiety. However, this could be a weakness if fear blinds me from admitting when I actually am wrong. I'm unsure as to how relevant this trait is.

Extraversion: I hate most social activities, and therefore don't gain many of the communal benefits that come from religious practice. I don't feel like I belong, and therefore don't have as much to lose by rejecting religious social groups. I think this trait is of middling relevance.

Openness: I don't like many new physical or social experiences because of the aforementioned neuroticism and introversion, but I love new ideas and methods of analyzing and understanding the world. I think that this contributes highly to a willingness to carefully consider propositions that many people intuitively accept or reject. I suspect that this trait is highly relevant.

Agreeableness: This is the trait where I split from many atheists and contrarians: I'm actually quite agreeable in that I strongly desire peace and cooperation, and don't like fighting with people or making them upset. I'd expect this trait to lead me towards religious belief, not away from it, as I'm incentivised by my personality to not break off from the flock. However, I think there is a big difference between not wanting to cause trouble in a social interaction and believing the same things as the person you're interacting with. Therefore, I rate this as of low relevance to me, even though for some it might be the most relevant trait.

Conscientiousness: I don't really see any relevance in this trait. I score near enough to the middle, and even if I did have a particularly high or low score, I'm not sure how it would affect my religious beliefs.

Meyers-Briggs

I score as an INTP most of the time that I take MBTI tests, with the next closest score being INTJ. This section will be brief as there is less to discuss.

[I]ntroverted: I've covered this already. Middling relevance.

I[N]tuitive: See: openness. Some might argue that someone who is more pragmatic and down-to-earth (an Ob[s]ervant type according to the MBTI) might be more likely to ditch religion than us conceptual and creative types, but for me personally it is my desire for new and interesting philosophical knowledge that most strongly turned me away from religion. High relevance.

[T]hinking: I think that there's an obvious connection between a preference for thinking over [F]eeling and a disbelief in many religious claims. This is not to say that religious people are overly emotional or that atheists are hyper-rational lords of logic, but I strongly suspect that many religious people are emotionally driven in their beliefs (most theists are hardly world-class apologists, for example). That's fine, but as someone who is more driven my neurotic self-examination and overthinking I am just not right for that avenue of belief. Very high relevance.

[P]rospecting: See: conscientiousness. I score near the middle between prospecting and [J]udging, and I think that neither is particularly relevant to my beliefs. Maybe you could spin this in towards me being somewhat more relaxed and nonconformist about my beliefs? Low relevance.

Conclusion

This post could have been a lot longer and still not contain all of the information that might be useful or interesting, so I'm leaving it as the (relatively) brief explanation that it is at the moment. I will probably end up posting more about philosophy, theology, and apologetics in the future, so I hope that my audience of mostly porn bots finds this type of post interesting. Maybe in the future I'll do some actual research and interview a few people.

Anyways, I hope you all find peace and happiness, regardless of your faith 😈🥂.

-lamb

[eternal-echoes]

From this post, it seems that initially reading Evola for his traditional takes, becomes a slippery slope to reading his occult writings.

I feel like for those people who grew up in a secular household, the materialistic lifestyle as a result of scientific revolution had left people starving for spirituality. But because atheism and science have divorced spirituality from the truth, people turn to occultism, witchcraft, paganism, Buddhism, and other indigenous rituals while disregarding the falsity of these religions.

(And note: the point of avoiding of an echo chamber is to strengthen one’s original belief (i.e. Christians refuting atheism to strengthen their belief in God), not to have the foreign belief shaping their worldview).

I believe that the most sinister effect of the scientific revolution is dismissing the power of the devil, thinking that playing with occultism, witchcraft, and tarot cards (or just reading them out of curiosity) are only make-believe so it doesn’t cause any spiritual harm. People are not protecting themselves with the sacraments of the Church against the powers of the devil.

–

Denouncing the Occult                        

Heavenly Father, in the name of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, I denounce Satan and all his works, all forms of witchcraft, the use of divination, the practice of sorcery, dealing with mediums, channeling with spirit guides, the Ouija board, astrology, Reiki, hypnosis, automatic writing, horoscopes, numerology, all types of fortune telling, palm readings, levitation, and anything else associated with the occult or Satan. I denounce and forsake my involvement in all of them in the name of Jesus Christ who came in the flesh, and by the power of his cross, his blood and his resurrection, I break their hold over my life.

I confess all these sins before you and ask you to cleanse and forgive me. I ask you Lord Jesus to enter my heart and create in me the kind of person you have intended me to be. I ask you to send forth the gifts of your Holy Spirit to baptize me, just as you baptized your disciples on the day of Pentecost.

I thank you heavenly Father for strengthening my inner spirit with the power of your Holy Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in my heart. Through faith, rooted and grounded in love, may I be able to comprehend with all the saints, the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ’s love which surpasses all understanding. Amen.

[leftovercuriosity]

A little something on Demons: an(extremely) informal essay of sorts. Which is mainly going to be my opinions/beliefs.

Hey! You're probably wondering who I am, and why I've decided to sit down and write about my own, personal, beliefs on this subject. So, let me introduce myself:

My name is Alexandria, please feel free to call me Alex! I'm a 17 year old lesbian, who doesn't know what label to put on myself in terms of spirituality. Or, if I even want to label that!

Am I an expert in this topic? No.

Am I a psychic medium? Well... if you count having the ability of Anthroposomancy; then yes. I am.

Am I a professional/have I fully, 100%, developed my skills of Anthroposomancy? Absolutely, positively, not!

But! I see a whole heck of a lot of misinformation being spread on the topic of Demons! And, I would like to hopefully help beginners, or even some advanced peeps out with giving out some true information, rather than garbage.

Let's get started!

“A 1997 newspaper poll in Great Britain showed more than 90 percent of adults admitted to believing in the paranormal. But because this phenomenon is elusive, preferring to lurk on the fringes of real life and almost never turning up for appointments in laboratories, the paranormal has been denied for decades.”[1] This is a quote by Uri Geller, I'll be linking sources at the end of my post for further reading(if you feel so inclined).

These same paranormal forces have basically been the pioneers of religion and society possibly long before anceint history was a thing! But, they do not officially exist in the minds of those who wish to control other people; be it for money, power, or simply by fearing if others don't believe as they do, their own stability will be lost. Sound familiar?

Before we go any further, I just want to point out that I am an ex-catholic; and I am by no means trying to steer people away from any branch of Christianity. All I'm doing is pointing out what happened in the church I went to, and comparing it to how I thought about these topics in the past, and what my own research has lead me to believe.

So, whether you want to believe it or not; Christianity is a fear-based religion.

But Allie! Christ literally said: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). So, how can this religion be based around fear?

"Sometimes, however, Christians have an inordinate fear of losing the things of this world. This is a fear that comes from unbelief. ..."[2] There is, in fact, more to that quote; but I will start by explaining this part in particular. I have a BIG problem with the people who cherry pick out their "O so sacred book," if it was their father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, then why did he flood the world?

Moving on to my original topic so I don't get heated in this post; what I'm trying to say is that all these religions that try to hide knowledge, or only give you a select few bits and pieces of knowledge... They are possibly the root of all "evil," in a spiritual sense.

Why?

Let me give you an example of the demon who is the first duke of the power of the east; his name is Agares.

And no, I'm not saying we should all worship/summon demons; I'm well aware of the mayhem that would cause. But! Where do we find demons? In the dark. Why are most of us afriad of the dark? You can't see anything/it represents the unknown. What if I told you that "the dark" has more knowledge than the word of a preacher? What if I told you that this is the very same darkness that the world was subjected to before God theirself blinded the inhabitants with his "holy light"?

So, why did I bring up Agares? He is what is known as a fallen angel and the second of the 72 Spirits of Solomon. Prior to his fall, Agares was a member of the angelic order of Virtues.

What is a biblical Virtue? "Virtue has been defined as “conformity of life and conduct with the principles of morality.” The virtues are thus the practical attitudes and habits adopted in obedience to those principles. ... To these four, Christianity added the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love."[3]

But, if we are talking about demons, darkness, and knowledge... Why would a demon want to share knowledge? Why is darkness scary? Why is knowledge in the dark?

Why would an all loving and all knowing God kick out the angles that THEY CREATED, for not obeying his every word and command? Or better yet, for questioning him? Why would this all loving God not want to show their face(s)? We don't have a clear picture of what they even look like! Heck; we think Jesus is a white dude! He grew up in the MIDDLE EAST!

But, demons on the other hand!! They have knowledge. And they are willing to share it. If we are talking specifically about Agares you can...

"Seek Agares for wisdom in friendship and to make your garden grow. He also gives advice on financial matters with regard to projects.”-From the Daemonolatry Goetia ( 2010 ) – Written by S. Connolly

But! I think I've babbled on for far too long. let me know if you peeps have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer!!

LINKS:

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller

2: https://founders.org/2017/11/16/fear-and-the-christian/#:~:text=Christians%20can%20feel%20faithful%20fear%2C%20or%20anxiety%2C%20about,his%20child%20runs%20out%20into%20a%20busy%20road.

3: https://www.britannica.com/topic/virtue-in-Christianity

[blackwoolncrown]

Hm this is a long shot but do u have any readings on the topic of spirituality in organizing? Or spirituality by another name, but the behavior u are getting at ig. Growing up the closest religion I had at hand was Catholicism thru my grandma, and my mother was ‘spiritual’ but used it to confirm her own biases in a weird way. These made me wary of religion (well like a type of christianity and white co-option of spiritual practice, but I didn’t realize that growing up) but I definitely think in “religious” ways like u described, however because I haven’t considered myself a spiritual person, I’ve left it unexamined which I’m sure is leading to problems. Got into organizing last year with a prisoner support group and it would be nice to develop a way to critique/understand our approach to the work in these terms but wouldn’t know where to start.Thank you and if this isn’t something that can rlly be learned thru reading like I kinda expect, no worries and no need to answer this ask! Have a good day!

Hmm.. Nothing wrong with a long shot. I'm a believer in high aim.

So the thing with this is yeah, you're right, you can't really learn this through reading. Largely bc what you need is to unlearn something and partially because it's very difficult to unlearn something in the same medium or framework you learned it.

FIrst off though let me say congrats on actually, like, following that thread of self-reflection. It's incredibly important to have that level of self-awareness and perspective especially when your aim is compassion and social work- if we are not aware of ourselves we continue to do harm to others even when we intend otherwise.

You're definitely not alone in your position. Two main points:

1. This is actually sort of the first step in the Ancestral work I mentioned, something largely left out of mainstream western culture because aside from patron saints and black church traditions, ancestor veneration is largely absent from this culture specifically due to the practice having been persecuted by xtianity in other cultures and also because the traumas of war and colonization lead to people not wanting to go back and learn their histories or not knowing, or only knwing hugely inaccurate sensationalized versions of who their ancestors were. Asking yourself "What beliefs and behaviors did I inherit from my parents?....and where did they get theirs from?...And where did my grandparents get theirs? (and on all accounts how did the lives they lived affect this, and how does that relate to me today..?)" is the very beginning Ancestral Work. This is how you find out about deeper layers of yourself in order to decide what to do with them. But I don't wanna say more on this bc it's a whole huge thing.

2. And here is my second biggest gripe with xtianity: Aside from the whole persecuting and killing people thing, and the upholding a separation between self and spirit (so fucking dangerous), the fact that xtianity caused so much damage and trauma has been sufficient to cause a significant number of people to become avoidant of not just religion, not just spirituality, but even belief in general.

This has robbed humanity of so much and caused so much violence.. ugh but that's another rant. Anyway it's the source of this really ironic but common thread of people who consider themselves Atheist or anti-religion when they're really anti-xtian, but in doing so cut themselves off from meaning-making and deeply human forms of connection and self empowerment. And this has wrecked culture and mental health and so on and so on.

So anyway to come back around, I would, as ever, point you to the work being done around decolonization. In my experience, which began from an agnostic scientific-philosophical lens, moved through buddhist practice and philosophy for years and grew all the way into reclaimed indigenous animist practices of my lineages, I find that decolonization is the most efficient and accurate key path, because knowing what, specifically, was imposed upon and persecuted out of various cultures and why will tell you precisely where, culturally, you got your preconceived notions from and- very importantly- what other meaningful notions or worldviews preceded them.

It's one thing to say "well I don't wanna be religious like my family" it's another thing entirely to actually replace that empty space with informed, personally aligned meaning. Nature abhors a vaccum and that space DOES get filled with shit if you don't organize it yourself.

Happy life journey.

[kathyprior4200]

Alastor Ascension Arc

Alastor Ascension Arc

 Part 1: 1896-1933 Human Life in New Orleans

Part 2: 1933 Arrival in Hell

Part 3: 1933-1940s Meeting Rosie and Mimzy

Part 4: 1950-1952 Making a Deal with Niffty

Part 5: 1953-1966 Alastor vs Vox

Part 6: 1970-1975: Making a Deal with Husk

Part 7: Alastor Prequel Comic

 Part 8: Alastor in the Pilot: That’s (Alastor’s) Entertainment!

Part 9: Alastor on Hazbinstagram

 Part 10: Alastor’s Parents

Part 11: Three Vs Attack Pt 1

Part 12: Manipulating Charlie and the Magnes

Part 13: Evil Charlie Unleashed

Part 14: Alastor Temporarily Takes Over Hell

Part 15: Rosie’s Deception

Part 16: Eldritch Family Rise

Part 17: Three Vs Attack Pt 2

Part 18: Adina influences Alastor

Part 19: Heaven and Hell War, Alastor joins Hell’s rebellion

Part 20: Alastor’s Redemption – Mother Reunite and Heaven

Part 1: 1896-1933 Human Life in New Orleans

“Murder On The Air”

Art by Ashley Nicholas

“You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile”

  Chapter One: “Down in New Orleans”

  Alastor Roscoe Moreau (A.M.) is born January 24th 1896 (VA born Jan 24th 1986) to his parents in New Orleans, Louisiana. Alastor has medium olive brown skin, short brown hair and brown eyes with glasses. He is lanky and thin but appears stronger than he looks. He often wears nice shirts with bow ties and dark pants and shoes. He wears overalls, boots and the occasional straw hat whenever he hunts or explores the woods and swamps outside. During his rise to fame, he wears fancy suits and top hats, complete with a microphone cane with golden antlers.

 Armand Louis Moreau is Alastor’s French Canadian white father. He is a tall strong man with white skin, dark brown hair and a beard. His hobbies include going to church, hunting, taxidermy and drinking with his friends. Armand meets his wife and they soon fell in love. But Armand’s parents, Eugene and Manette disapprove of his interracial marriage. He becomes distant with them, only allowed to be back in the family when he divorces his wife.

 Antoinette Loretta Moreau (formerly Duvalier) is Alastor’s French Creole mother. She has short curly black hair and dark brown skin, often wears cotton dresses and round ladies’ hats in bold red. She is part African American and part Native American and can speak Haitian Creole. In secret, away from her Christian husband, she asks her ancestors for guidance and reveres the Loa and saints, sitting at an altar she made. Antoinette’s white mother, Odette is a Voodoo Queen who reveres Yemaya and the saints. Odette’s husband, Mathis, is an African American musician, who later helps Alastor start a music career. Armand’s parents wanted Antoinette to abort her child as Alastor was perceived as a “troubled mixed child of sin,” but she refused. Manette offers to put Alastor in an insane asylum “for his own good”, but Antoinette fights back to keep him. Mathis was also wary of Alastor, but later grew to like him, while Alastor’s paternal grandparents always treated their grandson like he was stupid and dirty.

  Antoinette is the one who taught Alastor all his favorite hobbies: cooking, sewing, Voodoo rituals, French and playing instruments. From her, Alastor learned how to play the piano, sing and dance while listening to the gramophone in their living room. At school, Alastor loved theater and leaned to play the trumpet, violin, saxophone, and piano. He also improves on his dancing and singing. Alastor is bullied for being mixed, doing women’s work and not liking girls.

 New Orleans culture is introduced, along with popular festivals, 1900s language and Haitian Creole. Armand and Antoinette briefly talk in French as well.

  Chapter Two: “Runnin’ Wild”

 Early 1900’s Alastor’s youth

 In his early innocent days, Alastor goes with his family to theater shows and Mardi Gras festivals. He eats king cake and watches jazz bands play. As a kid, Alastor is marveled by the colors, sights and sounds of the parades, costumes and delicious Creole food. Young Alastor is oblivious to the fact that others look down on the Moreau family for their interracial marriage. The insults affect Armand, reminding him of his chiding parents, but Antoinette insists that they must keep raising their son to be strong and kind. Alastor meets his uncle and aunt and cousins, celebrating St. John’s Day, Christmas and Fet Gede (All Soul’s Day). Alastor could often be found playing in the woods and the swamp. He even makes friends with the alligators while keeping a safe distance from them.

  Chapter Three: “What a Wonderful World”

 Early 1900’s more Alastor childhood and learning

 Alastor’s mother teaches him how to make jambalaya and the dish becomes his favorite food. It nearly killed her when a drunken Antoinette put gunpowder in the pan and it blew up in her face. Antoinette would always tell Alastor, “You’re never fully dressed without a smile,” and Alastor smiled ever since. Alastor likes black coffee, hard liquor, deer meat and elegant meals. Alastor does not like tea, Oreos, strawberries, canned foods or anything sweet.

 Alastor also learns Native American myths from his mother, including one about the Wendigo. (Alastor’s shadow and full demon form would be associated with the Wendigo monster).

For the only time in his life, Alastor enjoys being around dogs without fear. Despite being perceived as “abnormal” by many, he is one of the nicest kids around. He reads a lot, and really got into cookbooks and joke books. Alastor and his mother dance together to the gramophone, singing together in pure bliss.

  Alastor starts school in 1901 at age 5. He learns Creole from his mother and some French as well.

 When Alastor goes to school, he eventually joins the band, despite him being bullied by both whites and kids of color.

 Chapter Four: “When The Saints Go Marching In”

 Early 1900s, Voodoo rituals

 Along with sewing, cooking, and dancing, Antoinette also teaches Alastor about Voodoo/Hoodoo rituals, along with his Grandmother Odette Duvalier.

 Alastor sews Voodoo dolls (but doesn’t use them to harm others), collects animal parts and herbs, later using them to curse the houses and hideouts of criminals. He learns the veves of the Loa and conducts rituals with red and black candles. He uses alligator blood for healing magic.

 Alastor learns how to consecrate objects, mediate in front of altars and how to connect with his ancestors. He learns of Antoinette’s Native American heritage. He eventually connects with the Loa, most of all to Met Kalfu, the fiery trickster Loa. He learns of his mother and grandmother being prominent Voodoo queens/figures in New Orleans. Antoinette had to curb back her involvement ever since she married Armand, but Odette still maintained her strong connection to the community. Antoinette and Alastor frequently do rituals out in nature, always showing respect to Papa Legba, the Loa of the Crossroads first. Ironically, the child-like Papa Legba and his dogs shared a spiritual connection with the young boy before Legba’s Petro aspect Kalfu took over as Alastor grew up.

 (The dogs being part of Alastor’s death could represent the consequence of Alastor abandoning his innocence and former faith in his family/ancestors. The dog is sacred to Papa Legba and Ogun, Loa of iron and warriors/hunters).

 Odette and Antoinette warn Alastor not to use magic and Voodoo for evil (which he later does anyway). His spirituality would reflect what path he goes down. Antoinette told Alastor that Voodoo magic is used for healing and guidance. Alastor formerly used Voodoo magic for good until being corrupted by the dark influences of the Goetic demons and Met Kalfu. Antoinette reveres the Rada Loa and discovers that Alastor has a spiritual connection to Met Kalfu, a Petro Loa. This explains Alastor’s affinity with fire magic.

 Odette and Antoinette’s hidden magic is a reddish blue, the colors of the Petro and Rada mixed. Alastor’s magic eventually becomes Petro red. In 1919 after making deals with Gnostic demons Abaddon, Furfur etc. (kill souls on Earth as sacrifices to gain more power in the afterlife), his magic becomes exclusively evil and powerful. As a consequence, he loses touch with his ancestors and the other Loa after the deaths of his parents. (Souls can use magic in other worlds but lays dormant on Earth).

 Alastor later gets his magic in hell with Kalfu’s influence and on Earth, he calls upon Ogun to assist him with using knives, axes and other weapons. None of the Loa accept human sacrifices but the Gnostic demons do, thus how Alastor gained more souls and eventual power.

 Antoinette notices her husband slowly growing more distant from his son as Alastor bonds with her more.

 Chapter Five: “Smile”

 1903: age 7

 At first, Armand is friendly with Alastor, watching with pride as he grows up. But as time goes on, he becomes more distant and harsh. Armand’s exposure to church made him believe that Alastor was a spawn of the Devil. He forces Alastor and his mother to memorize parts of the Bible and to pray to God every day. When they refuse, they get beaten up. Antoinette always cries in despair when she has to watch her son get beaten and whipped. She gets beaten up as well when she doesn’t clean the house or cook food to his liking. When Armand displays more “appropriate manly” behavior, he receives approval from his male friends and his parents.

 During the better moments, Armand teaches Alastor how to hunt for game, prepare deer meat and skin deer for fur and deer heads. He also taught him some French. Armand has a taxidermy collection at the family cabin, even having his own business selling the stuffed prepared animals. He also teaches Alastor self-defense and how to run and be strong like a man. Alastor didn’t play sports like his father wanted but he was skilled at hunting and doing outdoor work.

 Armand is mostly at work or with his buddies. Other than teaching Alastor skills in the woods, he doesn’t spend time with him. When he does interact, he chides his son for various things. Armand brings a hunting dog into the woods and the dog attacks Alastor, thinking he was a deer. Armand chides Alastor for not defending himself and being careless. This begins Alastor’s fear of dogs.

 Chapter Six: “You Rascal You”

 1906: age 10

 As time goes on, Armand and Alastor begin to hate each other. Armand doesn’t like the fact that Alastor cooks and sews, calling it “women’s work.” Alastor’s love of theater and musicals doesn’t please him either. Alastor gets bullied for his heritage and interests at school. Armand stamps and breaks Alastor’s ribs when he doesn’t behave. Armand gets jealous that his wife seems to spend more time with Alastor. In darker moments, Armand soon begins drinking alcohol and hooking up with other women, even in their own home. When Alastor witnesses the horrific sight one night, his father beats him, whips him and molests him, calling him a “half-breed sissy faggot who likes other boys.” His mother comes in later and comforts him.

  Alastor at a young age remembers the feeling of violation, his father’s hands on his waist and thrusting penis in his ass. This begins the cycle of trauma and Alastor’s aversion to people touching him, other than his mother. His mother soon finds out of his actions but can’t do anything about it as he is the head of household. Alastor’s mother sings “Smile” to her son as a song of comfort and lament. Alastor begins to think about killing his father.

 Then one day when Alastor was ten years old (1906), Armand announces his divorce. He says that he will take most of the family income and the cabin, leaving Antoinette alone with her son and poorer. Having been pressured by his parents and wanting to reclaim his status in society as a white Christian man, Armand announces his leave.

 Armand is about to leave one early morning to confirm the divorce when Alastor arrives. His father briefly beats him again, almost choking him to death and threatens to violate his mother as punishment. Not wanting his mother to go through more beatings and rapes, Alastor grabs the hunting rifle and shoots him square in the chest. The gunshot wakes his startled mother. Stunned at what he had done, he hides the evidence from her and promptly burns his father’s body. Though his mother has a suspicion it was him, she doesn’t say anything.

     Chapter Seven: “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen”

 1909: age 13 Alastor witnesses discrimination

 Alastor begins to play instruments and sing really well, his skills backed up by his mother’s teachings and the school band practices.

  Alastor watches many old films including…

“The Great Train Robbery” (1903)

“Chased by Dogs” (1904) traumatized him/foreshadowing

“Satan Finds Mischief” (1908)

“Frankenstein” (1910) One of Alastor’s favorites as a teen, he emphasizes with the monster

“Oliver Twist”

“White Fawn’s Devotion” (1910)

“L’Inferno” (1911) another one of his favorites

“Peter Pan” (1924)

“The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) Watched it with Mimzy

“The Wizard of Oz” (1925)

“The Jazz Singer” (1927) One of his favorite musicals

“Sweeney Todd” (1928) Another silent crime film he enjoyed

“PopEye” (1929)

“King of Jazz” (1930)

“Dracula” (1931)

“Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1932)

“Smilin’ Though” (1932)

“Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1932)

“Tarzan the Ape Man” (1932)

“The Big Broadcast” (1932) Alastor relates to the radio broadcaster main character

Radio City Music Hall started showing films in 1933.

  Chapter Eight: “God Moves on the Water”

 1912: age 16

 Alastor witnesses the Titanic sinking in 1912, reading the newspaper (the same year that Baxter died). During the same year, he and his mother are forced to evacuate due to hurricanes. Alastor helps save people’s lives from drowning. They move closer to the city but their cabin in the woods remains intact. Alastor and his mother frequently pray to the Loa and saints associated with disasters.

 World War One

 World War One begins in 1914 right after Alastor graduates high school, and Alastor is drafted for it at age 18. He tearfully hugs his mother goodbye, unsure whether he’ll see her again. During his time there, he discovered the use of old radios used for communication. He was one of the soldiers who fixed and transported said radios on the front lines. Alastor watches several comrades die around him, the only thing keeping him sane is his task to operate the radios. After the war ended in 1918, Alastor returned to the city, now with more of an idea of his career. He applied to several radio stations but was rejected due to his race. But the Spanish Flu also occurred…

  Chapter Nine: “Willow Weep For Me”

 1918: age 22 Spanish Flu

 …and when Alastor gets home in early November, he finds out his mother is gravely ill. He is able to embrace her as she says her final words: “Don’t be sad for me. Remember, you’re never fully dressed without a smile.” Heartbroken, Alastor is forced to bury her at a nearby cemetery as it rains. He kills two intruders in a blind rage and feeds their remains to the alligators in the bayou. He visits her grave and leaves offerings every October and November.

 It is at this time that Alastor makes his deals with Kalfu, Furfur and Baron Samedi demons: wealth and power for the sacrifice of human souls. Only Furfur accepts human sacrifice, the Loa do not (they are not necessarily evil, they just want to help guide Alastor and teach him important lessons). Alastor is instructed to retrieve a grimoire in the afterlife that will seal the deal and grant him his powers (plus his shadow as he already had his microphone staff and basic radio powers beforehand).

 Alastor even gets a chance to meet his cousin Dr. Facilier in the future (who later becomes his snake demon slave in Hell).

 Alastor calls upon Baron Kriminel to help with getting revenge on those who tormented him and bullied him around. Alastor loses touch with his ancestors and the more beneficial Loa, opting instead to work with Furfur.  

 Chapter Ten: “Dr. Jazz”

 1919: age 23

The Radio Corporation of America is founded in 1919. In 1922, WWL, Louisiana’s first radio station started broadcasting, founded by the Catholic Loyola University to help raise funds to build six new campus buildings.

Alastor dreams of becoming a jazz musician. Louis Armstrong becomes his role model and encourages him to join a band of his own. More people start to recognize his talent.

  Axeman

 Alastor takes care to avoid the Axeman killer and is spared from his attack by playing jazz every night. At one point, Alastor hacks a couple and copies the Axeman’s actions, leading to more panic in New Orleans. The rumors spread that the Axeman had killed twice as many victims, which was entertaining for Alastor as he reported it on the radio.

 Time goes by (Roaring Twenties) and Alastor performs in an attempt to make some money. His uncle then connects with someone who works for CBS. More people flock to hear Alastor and his band perform. Alastor earns more money when he begins to fix radios for people. Alastor then applies for a radio DJ position but ends up getting stuck in a lower position, organizing files and cleaning up the studio rooms. Alastor kills off the higher ups and gets a position at NBC. He plays the top tunes but it soon gets boring. After getting fired, Alastor decides to broadcast on his own.

  Chapter Eleven: “Sitting on Top of the World”

1920s: Young adulthood, career peak

 During the Roaring Twenties, he would become the most famous radio host in Louisiana. Alastor often smokes both during work and during his free time. Alastor basks in wealth and fame.

 Chapter Twelve: “Mack The Knife” (Alastor’s killing sprees)

 1919, 1920: age 25 - 1933

During the Roaring Twenties, Alastor begins his killing spree of racist men, rapists, and criminals. He is called the Vigilante and the Louisiana Lunatic by those in New Orleans and kills his victims in various ways. Guns, knives, traps, and fire were his favorite tools to use. However, in this version, Alastor doesn’t kill women or children, he only uses them as tools.

 Alastor flirts with women and manipulates them because it’s fun to do. People who made deals with him often found their money stolen by him. Many women are charmed by Alastor but Alastor doesn’t get intimate with any of them. He enjoys dancing with women, especially Mimzy. Alastor lavishes in wealth, buying new red suits and top hats, a fancy red car and a microphone cane with golden deer antlers. He also likes black, brown, blue, and green outfits. Alastor pulls pranks on people for fun (thumbtacks, kick me signs, soap in drinks, whoopee cushions, plastic doorways), some like it, some don’t.

  Chapter Thirteen: “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile”

  Chapter Fourteen: “Pack Up All Your Troubles and Smile, Smile, Smile!”

 Alastor meets flapper woman Mimzy and the two bond over drinks, dancing, and singing. Alastor discovers that she killed her abusive husband and took his money. Mimzy finds out that Alastor kills criminals but she doesn’t say anything to anyone else.

 Chapter Fifteen: “Charleston”

 Mimzy and Alastor dance the Charleston.

 Chapter Sixteen: “Let’s Misbehave”

 Mimzy is deeply in love with Alastor, but he doesn’t love her back. He only sees her as a friend, which Mimzy doesn’t quite understand. She questions whether Alastor has a sexual disorder when Alastor tells her how he feels, which offends him. The two of them get intimate and nearly have sex but Alastor holds back, saying he’s not ready, much to her shock.

 Chapter Seventeen: “Cold, Cold Heart”

 Mimzy later dies after Alastor accidentally poisons her drink that was left for a racist man. Alasor would later sing with her and Rosie, bonding again in Hell. Alastor gets tired of people assuming he has a sexual disorder. Alastor was heartbroken at losing his only friend.

   In this version, Alastor doesn’t eat people until Rosie introduces him to cannibalism in Hell via her elite group of associates. They later sing a cannibal song in Hell. Alastor is also not an Overlord and doesn’t go after women or children.

 Chapter Eighteen: “When You’re Smiling”

 Alastor cheerfully broadcasts peoples’ deaths on the air, not being found out until the thirties. On the radio, Alastor tells dad jokes, talks about special Creole recipes and always ends with the song “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile.” Alastor also talks about the Axeman and when he says “play jazz and I’ll spare your life.” Alastor takes great care to avoid the Axeman. Alastor also talks about Clementine’s killings and voodoo practices as well.

 Hell, 1929

Esteemed Mortal of New Orleans: The Louisiana Lunatic

 They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the sound waves that surround your earth. I am not a human being, but a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians call the Louisiana Lunatic. Down here, I’m the inevitable Radio Demon.

 When I see fit, I shall appear and claim other victims as I see fit. I alone know whom they shall be. No clues will be left behind, save for what you might hear on the next broadcast.

Tell the police and the racist, elite scum of the world to beware. Let them try not to discover who I am, for it’d be better for them not to have been born than to incur the wrath of the Louisiana Lunatic. You’ll have a deer in the headlights look and won’t have any idea what hit you until after it’s too late.

Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a monster and murderer. But if I wanted to hurt anyone else here, I would have done so already. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. I could kill every one of your best and worst citizens, for I am in a close relationship with the Shadows of the Other Side.

At 6:06 pm next Friday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans and then visit those in Hell. I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:

I am very fond of jazz music, electro swing, and jambalaya. I swear by all the Loas and deities that I will spare those who can provide me with some great entertainment when I visit. Word of warning, I can read you people like a book, and see into your very souls. Anyone foolish enough to challenge me will have their corpses consumed and their screams muffled by the lovely sound of jazz bands jamming the night away.

I have been, am, and will be, the worst spirit that ever existed in fact, fantasy, or realm of Hazbins.

Smile and stay tuned!

 Chapter Nineteen: “Crazy Rhythm”

The Great Depression comes into effect as well as the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Alastor enjoys reading about the chaos in the newspaper. People frantically sell their stuff and beg for jobs and money. He also enjoys seeing the orphans suffering homeless in the streets as it reminds him of his better off status. He also finds children annoying and undisciplined, a left over trait from his father.

 But soon, things take a downward turn. Alastor begins to lose money and food, his former glory days over. Alastor hoards radios and radio furniture in his house. He grows bony thin and his eyes have bags under them. (He takes on a similar gaunt appearance arriving in Hell, remaining weak until he gains his powers and eats other demons. Magic also takes some of his energy.) Alastor grows unhealthy due to lack of food, and (almost!) resorts to cannibalism. He also fears losing his radio audience due to the prospects of TV. He meets Vox, an ABC broadcasting company CEO who taunts him for his race and career. They get into a fight but victorious Vox leaves, saying to him that his days are over.

 Alastor becomes depressed, cutting into his skin for rituals or just to taste his own blood…to feel something. His self-inflicted cuts add to the scars on his back and body from his dad and struggling criminals.

  Chapter Twenty: “Video Killed the Radio Star”

 Alastor ironically dies when a full Hunter’s Moon is present. Alastor becomes more careless with his killings, and is soon discovered by police in 1933. The police sends dogs after him, a German Shepard, a Pit Bull, and a Black Lab. As he runs, he is bitten by a rabies infected dog in an alley. Alastor races through the snowy woods, experiencing painful headaches, and hallucinations of drowning and his parents being killed as deer. The police dogs bite at his legs but he shakes him off and runs some more. A deer hunter spots him, fearful and disgusted by the madman who rushes at him head on. (The hunter is Vox’s friend and the soon to be TV Overlord smirks). Alastor’s insane eyes beg the hunter to finish him off, as he didn’t want to be arrested. The hunter almost shoots him but finds he can’t do it. Vox then shoots Alastor between the eyes and his body falls. (Video Killed the Radio Star). The dogs maul at him moments before the gunshot before the police arrive. They turn him over and see the hole in his forehead, his glazed eyes, bloodied clothing and frozen smile. Alastor’s body is promptly burned, his belongings destroyed and his radios given away to an antique shop. His death is announced on his own radio station by none other than Vox before it, too, is done for. Many of his fans are saddened but the majority of New Orleans is relieved that he is gone. Vox is hailed as a hero before he returns to his job in another state.

 (This is why Alastor hates Vox so much, not just because of their different tastes in technology!)

 “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile” (finale)

A lone old fashioned radio (the one with the smiling grin on it and Alastor’s favorite radio) lights up in an antique store. His creepy voice says “Stay tuned” as the next part begins.

  Part 2: 1933 Arrival in Hell

“Beware the Radio Demon”

Tagline: “It’s time to tune in…”

  Chapter One: “Heebie Jeebies”

  Alastor arrives in Hell in 1933. He lands in the street between a jazz club and a strip club. He arrives naked and afraid, shocked by his new deer-like appearance. He has a black and red deer tail, antlers, red and black hair, sharp yellow teeth, red eyes, scarred gray back and chest, a regular size penis and gray scarred body. He is revolted by the tan gray gnarled state of his clawed hands and feet. When he talks, his voice has a radio filter, which surprises him. He realizes that it must be how he sounded to his audience. (Mimzy catches a peek at him but doesn’t yet know who he is). He summons his microphone staff, who is stunned to see Alastor nude. The microphone briefly glows, allowing Alastor to go on the air. Alastor realizes that Hell is a lot bigger and scarier than New Orleans. Demons mock him, including perverted ones. His memories coming back to him and instincts, Alastor quickly takes out the surrounding creeps with his bare hands, stealing their overalls and clothes. Alastor first wears brown too-loose pants and a white torn v neck shirt. So far, his only powers consist of controlling radios and brief bursts of fire.

Alastor then witnesses the harsh reality of Hell, daily discrimination, turf wars, killings, rapes and stealing. He then realizes that he has no place to live. It was the survival of the fittest from here on out. Alastor witnesses Tom Trench on TV, Sir Pentious and Baxter creating inventions, Mimzy performing at the jazz club and, of course, he learned of the royal family. Helsa and Seviathan and other Hell born spit at him, complaining that “common sinner scum” don’t belong in Hell. Alastor also sees a man with a radio head called Muse on an advertisement for 66.6 FM. Alastor gets mad that he was sent to Hell with his black stag demon father Neleus while his mother Poena got to go to heaven as a beautiful red doe humanoid sorceress.

 Alastor camps out alone in the woods, deeply missing his mother and his old life. He wants to do something about all the sinners in Hell. A sense of duty came back to him…how he wanted to get rid of bad people, lost causes… an obligation to continue his work he had done on Earth. There were only a few people he could trust…and he decided to be untrustworthy and manipulative to everyone else.

Chapter Two: “All Of Me”

 Alastor is reminded of what Furfur said after he sacrificed other humans to them on Earth. His microphone told him to find a grimoire that would allow him to summon Kalfu, and Abaddon to gain his magic. He asks a blue deer overlord and he tells him to look in Stolas’ palace, knowing that it was near impossible to get out alive. Rosie witnesses the conversation and decides to follow the sinner newcomer. Alastor sneaks into the palace to retrieve the grimoire, only to be caught by an angry Stolas. Alastor retrieves the book and is rescued from Stolas by a floating Rosie Poppins with an umbrella in her hands.

 Alastor summons Kalfu, Baron Samedi and Furfur.

 Furfur grants Alastor with heightened deer senses and destructive powers.

Baron Samedi grants Alastor with darkness and shadow powers.

Kalfu grants Alastor with fire and voodoo magic.

 Alastor’s powers over radio were already his own when he arrived in Hell. This was why no mortal souls before him were seen with that much power; only powerful Hell-Born/Overlords had similar powers.

 The prices Alastor paid for his powers were the collection of souls over the years, loss of his loved ones by fate, his own brutal death, being sent to Hell for his murders and a limit on his powers. Kalfu’s demons got a part of Alastor’s powers and Alastor can get tired after using a certain amount of energy. Alastor using blood magic drains energy, and he requires food, meat and rest to recover. Alastor can also be killed by angelic weapons.

 Alastor’s powers include teleportation, shadow magic, portal creation, reality warping, conjuring fire and objects, possession, destructive magic, blood magic etc. The shadow demons get part of his power and after a painful separation, Alastor’s shadow is formed. The shadow, representative of Alastor’s darker thoughts, acts as a guide and bodyguard. Alastor creates his red tattered dress coat, black shoes with red deer tracks, his pants and his monocle. Alastor’s microphone allows him to be on the air anywhere to broadcast his massacres. The device reflects his mood as well, playing music and songs. The microphone can hypnotize demons who stare and listen to it and creates fatal radio waves that can blast brains out and destroy nearby buildings. With the help of his shadow, Alastor can travel from one shadow spot to another, through doorways and in small spaces. He can also travel through radios too.

  In addition, Alastor can also shapeshift into others and into his red deer form. In his most powerful form, he appears as a bloodthirsty wendigo.

 Alastor’s shadow is a manifestation of all his dark subconscious thoughts that are freed after he dies. The microphone staff is a manifestation of his radio host personality he had as a human. Alastor turned into a deer in Hell to remind him of his fate: “the hunter becomes the hunted.”

 Chapter Three: “I’ve Got the World on a String”

 Taking advantage, Alastor soon uses his powers to topple Overlords and take over many areas of Hell. He takes over 66.6FM, killing Muse and many Overlords (including Newspaper, Telephone, Clock, Car, Plane, Textile, Telegraph, Book and other Overlords. He makes a truce with the Overlord of Film.) Vox, Valentino and Velvet would arrive later. He forms an army of shadow demons and voodoo imps, his minions killing demons, burning stores, looting, feasting on deer and causing havoc.

 Alastor becomes friends with the blue deer Overlord, a descendant of Furfur. The Overlord tells him where he can find his father, Neleus.

 Alastor spends time with Lucifer too, drinking whisky, booze and singing. Lucifer likes polka music while Alastor prefers jazz. He treats Lilith well and watches as she performs on stage with her Resist band. (“God Spelled Backwards Is Dog”) Lucifer had been notified of Alastor’s powers and was intrigued. No mortal soul had power like the Hell Born elite before. Alastor even got a chance to dance with Lilith, him treating her like a lady and temporarily entranced by her beauty.

 Alastor learned to stay on the king’s good side but can’t help getting curious about his unique daughter, Charlie. Lucifer talks about how Charlie sees the good in every sinner and her bond with Seviathan in Inferno high school (Charlie had not met Vaggie yet and Alastor wasn’t in love with Charlie, just curious about her, like finding a new specimen.). Knowing that getting too involved would lead to trouble, Alastor shrugs it off. Lucifer allows Alastor to do his chaos, provided he leave the royal family out of it, which he agrees.

 Alastor makes deals with several demons and even temporarily gains access to Earth, gaining more souls. Alastor creates two hideouts: one a cabin with radio towers near a forest and an underground lair where the shadow spirits are (Deer’s Den).

 Chapter Four: “The Axeman’s Jazz”

Alastor terrorizes Hell and uses an ax to kill off demons who don’t play jazz on his birthday. He even writes a letter similar to the Axeman’s letter:

 Hell, 1933

 They have never caught me and they never will. I am not a human being, but a demon from the hottest hell. I am what the Orleanians called the Louisiana Lunatic. Down here, I’m the inevitable Radio Demon.

 When I see fit, I shall appear and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. No clues will be left behind, save for what you might hear on the next broadcast.

Tell the Overlords and every sinner and Hell Born of the world to beware. Let them try not to discover who I am, for it’d be better for them not to have been born than to incur the wrath of the Radio Demon. You’ll have a deer in the headlights look and won’t have any idea what hit you until after it’s too late.

Undoubtedly, you denizens think of me as a monster and murderer. But if I wanted to hurt anyone else here, I would have done so already. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. I could kill every one of your best and worst citizens, for I am in a close relationship with the Shadows of the Other Side.

At 6:06 pm next Friday night, I am going to pass over Pentagram City. I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:

I am very fond of jazz music, electro swing, and jambalaya. I swear by all the Loas and deities that I will spare those who can provide me with some great entertainment when I visit. Word of warning, I can read you people like a book, and see into your very souls. Anyone foolish enough to challenge me will have their corpses consumed and their screams muffled by the lovely sound of jazz bands jamming the night away.

I have been, am, and will be, the worst spirit that ever existed.

Smile and stay tuned!

 To make a deal with Alastor, call 666 - 024 - 1929 on your hellphone.

 (Edward’s number is 24, 666 is the Beast number and 1929 is the year of the major Stock Market Crash)

  Chapter One: “Practically Perfect In Every Way”

Hell Born Rosie Marie Poppins and Alastor properly meet shortly after he gains his powers. Rosie introduces Alastor to an elite group of cannibals, and Alastor happily accepts her invitation, thus further increasing his influence. Under the teachings of Rosie, Alastor learns how to increase his status, despite being a sinner. Due to being close to Rosie, less people insult Alastor as he walks by. He learns what it’s like to be a cannibal for the first time, and his hunger never ends since. Alastor begins to miss Kalfu and his Loa interactions (and his mother). He originally thought that he would pass through the seven gates of Guinee, the land of the dead in Loa culture. Rosie and Alastor bond over tea, coffee and murder. Rosie offers Alastor the position of Overlord but Alastor declines, as he wants to be free to wreak havoc without rules. He also shows a distaste for the greedy Overlords and authority figures. Rosie said that there are several sinners who are Overlords as well, but he still declines. Alastor would be his own Overlord!

 “I was never destined to be part of any high hat group of leaders. I’ve worked exclusively for myself in my last life and will continue to do so in this one. With enough allies and the right timing, I could take them all down one by one. Besides, their meetings sound boring anyway.” - Alastor

  Rosie used to work with her girlfriend Franklin until she died and Rosie got to own the shop for herself.

 In return for Rosie helping Alastor get the spellbook, Alastor treats her like a lady and helps promote her emporium and spqeakeasy. Rosie recalls how she treats her employees cruelly and uses their wages to live a lavish life. Rosie is a cruel CEO who pursues rich and powerful men (and like the Dolly Sisters, she dances and performs as well). They both laugh as they share stories of taking advantage of other demons. Despite being Hell Born, Rosie does not treat Alastor with contempt due to his status as a sinner. (Or if she does, she hides it). Rosie becomes a stern-mother-like figure to Alastor, chiding him for any stupid mistakes he makes.

  Rosie later gives Alastor advice such as being more open with Mimzy or to not fall for Charlie and be at the Hazbin Hotel (she finds the idea of redemption ridiculous. Despite this, Alastor still offers to help Charlie anyway due to seeking entertainment and potentially the trust of the royal family). Rosie also is a model for an All Soul’s Day/Death Day festival. Zombies, ghosts and other denizens watch as she poses on a blood red carpet in her rose garden. Like Day of the Dead, Death Day is a day to celebrate when sinners arrived in Hell and when the Hell-Born were born.

 Unbeknownst to Alastor, Rosie secretly hopes she can gain some of Alastor’s power for herself so she can create Hell into a more orderly place where people admire her and her beauty. Deep down, she believes that Hell Born are superior to sinners, and would be pleased to see the lower class be her slaves! She forms an alliance with Lucifer, Lilith and the Eldritch family who are frequent buyers of her dresses and wares. Rosie works with Lucifer and the Eldritch family to try and bring Charlie down, saying her idea will never work. From Lucifer, Rosie learned of Charlie’s plan to redeem sinners. Redeeming sinners could mess up the hierarchy system and Rosie and the higher ups don’t want that. Her demonic form consists of a vulture like creature hovering in the air with an umbrella. Being in a position of power, it’s no surprise that she wants more of it! She even attempts to hold Mimzy and Charlie hostage to try and bring Alastor down.

  Chapter Two: “Eat a Little Flesh Fantastic”

 Alastor and Rosie sing the cannibal song after Rosie introduces Alastor to the elite cannibal group of Victorian ladies. Everyone dances like in the Mary Poppins movie as Rosie calls on her group members to ”go forth and feast.”

  “Eat a Little Flesh Fantastic”

Alastor and Rosie strolled arm in arm after Rosie finished going to an Overlord meeting.

“Hey Alastor,” said Rosie turning to him. “Have you ever considered joining my exclusive club of socialites?”

“No, I haven’t…but do entertain me.”

“It’s mainly me and my group of ladies. We meet up for tea and coffee at this nice café not too far from here. We discuss the latest news, perhaps exchange jewelry or deserts.”

“Sounds lovely, my dear.”

“Oh and here’s the best part. My group and I have…exquisite tastes when it comes to meals. And I’ve heard about you and your slaughters.”

Alastor couldn’t help but puff up his chest in pride. “I was also a very skilled hunter in my other life. I’ve made many meals including jambalaya with venison in it. It is my favorite.”

A grin of sharp teeth stretched across Rosie’s pale face, her black eyes shining. “Have you ever considered eating the flesh of your victims?”

Alastor’s stomach growled at the thought. “I had a feeling that something was missing after I killed all those men as a human. I’ve hunted and ate deer and game many times. Perhaps I was too unsure about doing the same to other humans.”

Rosie laughed. “No restrictions now, though. This is Hell. Feel free to eat whatever…and whomever you’d like.”

Rosie handed him a blue arm of a nearby dead demon. Alastor maneuvered it into his mouth and sliced it to bits with several noisy bites. The sharp fangs effortlessly tore through the muscle and bone. The tangy taste of blood and juicy meat filled his mouth before he swallowed.

“That was quite tasty,” he remarked, licking his lips. Alastor then realized something extraordinary: there were countless demons roaming around in Hell. It was as if Hell had decided to provide him with an all-you-can-eat buffet. Not only would he have more meat to eat, but being a cannibal would also help with his fearsome reputation. Cannibalism was considered one of the worst taboos to do on Earth.

Why not add another sin to his list?

Alastor bowed and kissed Rosie on her hand in thanks. “Even in death, I learn something new every day. I’d be honored to join you.”

Rosie introduced Alastor to her group of friends: a bunch of demon women dressed in fancy Victorian dresses of many colors and round ladies’ hats on their heads. Violet, Lavender, and Poppy were some of their names. For a brief moment, Alastor felt like he was back in his time period on Earth. He ate demon meat to his heart’s content. Hell-Born or sinner, raw or cooked, it didn’t matter. He used the flesh and the sinner’s hearts in his jambalaya recipes. As the sinners had previously been human like Alastor used to be, he was now a cannibal.

The thought of someday tasting actual humans in the living world made his mouth water more.

On Sunday mornings after Alastor had coffee, he would be greeted by his new admirers while he walked outside, humming a cheery tune.

“Hello ladies,” Alastor said with a tip of his red top hat.

“Hello Alastor!” they chimed, as they sat on the ground in front of a mutilated body of a demon. One woman picked up the demon’s separated arm and used it to wave at him. Alastor chuckled and strolled on.

During one moonlit night, Alastor and Rosie decided to sing a song to strengthen their bond. They were already good friends, if not that then at least compatible associates with similar tastes. She looked like a gaunt Mary Poppins entering a Day of the Dead musical.

Rosie:

“Let’s say you’re bored and want to be full,

Sure, you can go about your day, dull. Or…

You can eat a little flesh fantastic with me.”

 Alastor:

“If you live your days in wonder, but can’t focus due to hunger…

Just eat a little flesh fantastic with me.”

   Rosie:

“For if you decide to kill a person, their body will someday rot away. But if you make haste and not let it go to waste…

Then you’ll be satiated for the day!”

Alastor:

“You don’t need to be Lector Hannibal, to consider the life of a cannibal.”

Rosie: “Want to be robust?”

Alastor: “You know I must.”

Both: “Come eat a little flesh fantastic with us!”

Rosie (speaking): “My fellow epicureans, answer my call. May your gluttonous desires led the way!”

“Welcome to the club, Radio Demon.”

Rosie and Alastor:

“The life of a cannibal The feeling is so wonderful Hunt and kill, munch, munch, munch, A few screams later, you’ve got your lunch!”

“Have some style and show some class It is us among the mass When you’re feeling beat and want to eat A demon can never have too much meat!”

“Eat a little flesh fantastic with us Give in to another kind of lust A sweet treat you are, come near or far

Our food as you bite the dust!”

Rosie:

“You can refrain and boldly exclaim ‘Eating your brethren’s not right!’”

Alastor: “But we know well, to maim in Hell The blood will be shed tonight!”

Rosie:

“The life of a cannibal,”

Alastor:

“The feeling is so wonderful,”

Rosie:

“Hunt and kill, munch, munch, munch…”

Both:

“A few screams later, you’ve got your lunch!” “Eat a little flesh fantastic with us!” (oh- oh- oh- oh- oh) “Eat a little flesh fantastic with us!” (oh- oh- oh- oh- oh)

  Chapter Three: “Hello Mimzy!” (Hello Dolly! By Louis Armstrong)

 Alastor bonds with Mimzy Dolly Hannigan at the jazz club and they recall their memories together in New Orleans. Mimzy works as an employer for Rosie at her emporium and squeak-easy. Rosie, enamored with Mimzy’s performance, decided to offer her a job to increase her influence. Like Alastor, Mimzy is more protected thanks to Rosie’s overlord status. Mimzy helps sell Rosie’s custom made clothes and antiques and performs almost every night at the underground bar behind Rosie’s shop. (Behind a door, down a stair-case. The password is “Practically perfect in every way.”)

  Several times, Alastor and Mimzy dance and sing at the squeak-easy, to the joy of the crowd. At the squeak-easy, influential people and criminals gather there to discuss business, drink and have fun. Husk also goes there on occasion to serve drinks. Mimzy is popular both there and at her own jazz club: Mimzy’s Place. Rosie, herself, has performed there after her shifts. When asked if Rosie treats her cruelly, Mimzy says, “Almost never.”

 Mimzy had died in the 1920s before Alastor. They agree to sing and stay friends, along with Rosie, creating a trio of singing, dancing, drinking and murder-spree-loving friends. They also terrorize orphans as they sing “Little Sinners” (Little Girls). Alastor apologizes for accidentally killing her and being aloof. Mimzy then apologizes for being too clingy with him and claiming that he didn’t know how to love back on Earth.

 Mimzy lives a lavish lifestyle (like the Dolly Sisters, she pursues wealthy men and dances).

 Alastor later offers Mimzy an invitation to visit the Hazbin Hotel and discusses the idea of redemption. Mimzy accepts his offer and decides to stay there, so long as she can still do her performances. Mimzy eventually becomes a guest at the Hazbin Hotel along with Baxter, Tom Trench, Molly, Arackniss, Cherri Bomb and Crymini. She bonds with Alastor, Niffty and Charlie as the girls gossip about men and the group performs in musicals together. Mimzy shares her story about being in New Orleans and with Alastor’s encouragement, she also thinks about pursuing redemption…as long as she gets more fame/recognition. Like Niffty, she gets jealous when Alastor pursues Charlie more. Mimzy thinks that Alastor loves Charlie more, but Rosie suspects he has another motive.

 Alastor and Mimzy dance some more together and frequently perform at the jazz club.

  Prequel Comic:

“Let’s go for a stroll.”

  Comic by Liam (Pencils), Fautisse (Lineart), Lunetta (Colors), Magpie (Backgrounds) and Vivienne (Story).

 Alastor enjoys coffee on a Sunday morning. Alastor hums down the street, goes to a café and watches birds fight over food. He stops to smell the roses, making one wilt with his touch. Everyone flees when they see him, making him a bit lonely inside. While visiting Rosie’s cannibal colony, he tosses his hat to the four admiring well-dressed women who eat a demon body. Alastor tosses a coin to a cat jazz player and swears after seeing Vox. He hates him so much, that his gentleman demeanor was gone. Alastor then saves a sheep demon lady from a butcher boar, kills the man, then enjoys the meat. (More to come)

  Part 20: Alastor’s Redemption – Mother Reunite and Heaven

                        The villains eventually get defeated. (Assuming no one dies a second time) Eventually, Alastor gets redeemed and turns into a human/hart hybrid angel. Alastor never forgets about Charlie and how wonderful a person she was. They share a hug and kiss before Alastor leaves with his mother and Charlie stays to rule Hell. He reunites with his mother and they go to Heaven for a while. Alastor hosts shows in Heaven, and teaches the Angels how to make jambalaya and do dad jokes (He remarks their food is plain and boring). Alastor and his mother eventually depart for the seven Guinee gates with the Loa after they are accepted at last by Baron Samedi. For the only place where Alastor truly belonged was not Earth, Hell or Heaven, but with his family and culture.

 Angel Dust gets to have private fun with guys in Heaven, while he continues to work on curbing his addicting habits. Molly, Arackniss, and Angel/Anthony reunite with their white spider mother Aranea. Husk finds true love with…Angel Dust! Husk performs magic shows for everyone and plays card games without betting as he has plenty of money and comfort. Alastor reunites with his mother and spends quality time with Mimzy before going to Guinee. (But Alastor will always remember Charlie!) Autumn, the Zoophobia deer and Alastor become friendly rivals. Vaggie reunites with her family (minus Valentino, her father) and marries another woman in happiness (but of course, never forgetting Charlie and what she did to help make their new lives comfortable!). Tom Trench, now mask free and blonde, hosts Holy 333 News. Zoophobia animal characters make cameos as denizens of Heaven. Sir Pentious or Baxter creates inventions and healing potion for the greater good instead of drugs and weapons and evil aquatic creatures. Roo and Cherri are BFFs along with Angel. Niffty marries a kind man in Heaven. All the characters take their time in healing from their wounds and experiences.

  Vaggie, Angel Dust, Husk, Alastor, Baxter, Mimzy, Crymini, Roo, Villa, Tom Trench, Cherri Bomb, Arackniss and Molly all get redeemed. (Niffty may be is secretly evil). Charlie succeeds in redeeming sinners but eventually has to let her redeemed friends go.

 I.M.P. and C.H.E.R.U.B. are still in business for many years. Blitzo lives his musical theater dream and Loona is by his side, arm in arm with Crymini.

 Centuries later, Charlie marries a woman similar to Vaggie in Hell. Through a willing man, Charlie gives birth to two children who eventually take Charlie’s place as the Hotel managers when Charlie grows old. (Yes, she ages very slowly!) Her children are the next generation of do-gooders in Hell.

 The show ends with all the characters dancing and singing under rainbows while “That’s a wrap!” shows up.

[johnseedfanclub]

Farcry Oc:

Jeremiah + Isaiah Colton

The Angel Twins

(Jeremiah is to the left Isaiah to the right)

“Those two once worked for Joseph Seed. They were his ‘right handed men’, assigned as heralds too. They both had a similar gift as Joseph did, having the ability to see into the future and even communicate with spirits. A few years after Joseph had them turned into one of Rachel’s Angels. Why you ask?...I don’t know....but god, do I miss them....You know...They were our last hope into turning Eden’s Gate around for the better.”

Ages: 25 (in the 2018 farcry universe timeline)

Gender: Male

Height: (J) 6’1 (I) 6’0

Birthday: July 29, 1993

Sexuality: (J) Bisexual (I) Gay

Former Occupations: Spiritual Mediums, Heralds of Eden’s Gate

Current Occupations: angels/Faith’s “helpers”

Personality - Jeremiah: very outspoken (tends to get himself and his brother into trouble quite often), playful, arrogant, rebellious, charismatic, partygoer, loud, confident, boisterous

Personality- Isaiah: soft spoken, introverted, quiet, compliant, gentle, sweet, generous

Backstory:

Jeremiah and Isaiah were born into a spiritual family in Harlem, New York. Both grew up worshiping their saints and praying to their ancestors. As they grew older they both realized they had the gift of spiritual mediums, being able to see into the future and communicating with spirits of the past. Their parents, who were also spiritual mediums, taught them to use their gifts wisely and only to help others in need of it most. When the twins grew older, they started to travel more. As they traveled throughout the states, they made new friends. Jeremiah and Isiah would usually help friends and family members with communicating with lost loved ones or with card readings in order to help others follow a better path in life. After visiting loved ones in Utah, Jeremiah and Isaiah decided to visit a cousin in Hope County, Montana. Marcus, the twins’ cousin, was apart of a religious organization called Project at Eden’s Gate. Jeremiah and Isaiah were quite curious as to what the church was about and were both eager to learn more about it. Marcus, being one of Eden’s Gate’s Chosen soldiers, was able to introduce the twins to Jacob Seed. Jeremiah quickly grew fond of Jacob. He was often seen staying by Jacob’s side to keep him company, even offering to help him with some tasks. Isaiah on the other hand, was quite cautious and kept to himself around Jacob. Jacob and Isaiah were friendly to each other but Isaiah tried distancing himself, having a suspicion that something wasn’t right. Not long after, Jacob introduced both of the twins to Joseph Seed. Both of the twins grew to love Joseph dearly. After Joseph and the twins realized they had shared the same gift, they would often get together to share their precognitions of Eden’s Gate and of themselves. Joseph would even have Jeremiah and/or Isaiah preach and help during his sermons, and soon the two won the hearts of the Eden’s Gate followers. Many would consult them for advice on how to be a better person, to have a better future, and how to avoid bad spirits that made them stray away from “following the path”. As Joseph saw the good in Jeremiah and Isaiah, he assigned them to be the next heralds of Eden. The twins would go around Hope County, often helping Jacob and Faith/s (before/after Rachel) with organizing their work, helping with tasks or errands, and even converting others in Hope County to join Eden’s Gate. Once they were sent to Holland Valley to help John Seed with a few tasks and almost never went back to other regions. Jeremiah and Isaiah loved John like a brother, they were even closer to him compared to the rest of the Seed family. John was happy to welcome them, as well as their other friends, into his ranch. He would often host dinners and small parties in honor of them and their friends and overall enjoyed each other’s company. Months started to go by and soon the twins saw the quick change in Eden’s Gate. Once friendly faces were required to be armed to fight. Followers were to go out and kidnap others and force them and their families to join Eden’s Gate. And fights constantly broke out between Hope County’s people and Eden’s Gate. Isaiah feared this would be the future of Eden. Jeremiah, on the other hand, was furious that this is what Eden’s Gate has become. He wanted to help people, make them feel safe. He couldn’t even do that anymore. He and Isaiah consulted Joseph to warn him of what is to come. The conversation quickly turned into heated argument between Joseph and Jeremiah, it was naught but an exchange of different views and opinions, in which it ended in the twins leaving Joseph to go to John to blow off steam. A day after and the twins were invited to a dinner the Joseph hosted, not knowing the food was poisoned with Bliss. Jeremiah quickly caught on but Isaiah fell into Joseph’s trap. Jeremiah “excused himself” to try and escape but was caught by Jacob and was forced to eat the Bliss infused food. After that night, they were forced to take large doses of Bliss daily and nightly. A month after they had forgotten about Eden, let alone who they were.

[myhauntedsalem]

The Fox Sisters

In 1848, strange ‘rappings’ were heard in the Fox family’s Hydesville, New York, home. The rappings were capable of answering questions, through the number of knocks and taps they made.

It was soon believed that the Fox sisters, Kate and Margaret, were communicating with the dead.

March 31st, 1848 is a date many Spiritualists will cite as the beginning of their movement. On this date Kate/Cathie (12) and Margaret/Margareta (15) Fox began a series of communications with spirits through ‘rappings’, and relaying messages from a spirit who was said to haunt their home.

The Fox family lived in a small house in the hamlet of Hydesville, New York – now a part of Arcadia, Wayne County (Hydesville no longer exists). The house was said to be haunted, and several previous tenants later stated they had vacated the premises due to mysterious noises.

In mid-March, the Fox family began to be disturbed by strange noises and activity in their house. At first, John Fox (the father of the girls) believed the noises to be natural, the floorboards of the house settling in the changing seasons. The children did not take to this explanation, and soon would be found in the morning, sleeping in their parent’s bed, having fled there during the night.

The Fox’s had heard strange sounds in their pantry, and footsteps on the stairs leading to the cellar.

On March 31st Kate decided to challenge the unseen creator of the sounds, by asking it to repeat the snapping of her fingers or claps of her hands, to which the noises complied. Margaret then had a try, referred to the unseen entity as “Mr Splitfoot” – a nickname for the Devil, and challenged it to other mimicking of which, once again it did.

After the sounds completed the counting out of numbers, the eldest of the Fox sisters was too afraid to venture further. However, Kate tried to explain it all away as someone trying to fool them, as April Fools Day was to take place the following morning.

Mrs Fox decided on one more challenge, asking for it to sound out the ages of her children. Once again, the request was answered with each of the children’s ages rapped out, a gap in between, but what shocked Mrs Fox was the final, seventh set of raps, numbering three, the age her youngest child had died.

More communications were made that night, and it was finally discovered that it was the spirit of a 31 year old man, who had been murdered in the house, his body buried in the cellar. He had living children, but his wife had since passed. Finally, he agreed to keep creating the raps for witnesses.

Mr Fox went to get some neighbors to witness the rappings. The first, Mrs Redfield, was expecting it to be a joke, but upon seeing the terrified family, took the events seriously. The spirit rapped out her age, her husband’s age, and soon the house was filled with many from the local community. Still the rapping continued, answering questions.

Before the night was ended, the present living were able to ascertain how the murder took place and where. The spirit was that of a peddler named Charles Rosna, and he was murdered, throat cut, for his money (about five hundred dollars) in one of the bedrooms a few years previous. He was taken down the cellar and was buried quite deep.

On April 1st the cellar was dug out, till the workers hit the waterline, at which point they gave up. No bones were found, and that day and night no rappings were heard. Perhaps it was an April Fools Day joke after all?

However, the sounds did return, and this time, on the following Saturday, over three hundred people crammed in the house, and overflowing outside. The rappings began to be heard the following day as well.

Although much of the community was mystified, there were a select few who considered the communications as witchery and trickery. The Fox family were asked to leave the church congregation, due to being seen as engaging in unholy practices.

The sisters were moved – Kate to her brothers house, and Margaret to her elder sisters house. The Rappings were heard at both locations, so it was determined that it was the girls themselves the spirit realm wanted to communicate with.

It was suggested that an alphabet be developed and used to communicate with the spirits, a kind of spiritual Morse code. With this new, more in depth way of communicating in place, the sisters received the message that they should not hide “this truth” from the world.

The Quaker community (The Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox in 1650) in Rochester, where the girls where now living with their siblings, invited the Fox sisters, and were soon convinced. It was this Quaker community that formed the inner core of what would become the spiritual movement.

By 1850 the sisters were performing public séances in New York, their elder sister Leah being the official interpreter of the raps, which became very popular and as their fame spread, so did the rise of many other people declaring they too could communicate with the spirit worlds through the ‘rapping’ medium. Many people attended the séances in the hopes of getting financial tips, love advice, seeking truth about their partners and many other quite frivolous things.

The timing was perfect; with the publication of several books looking into the notion of spirit, there was a massive boom in those flocking to see such wonders for themselves. Undoubtedly, and as can be expected, it proved to be quite lucrative, not just for the mediums, but also for the owners of the locations playing host to them. It was not all dark dingy back rooms, but also theatres would be booked out, filled to capacity.

However, as always, there were the critics who investigated these claims. Dr Charles Page from Washington DC booked himself in to a few of the Fox sister’s séances, in order to closely investigate what was happening. He finally came to the conclusion that it was the girls making the noises, the rappings seemingly coming from under their dresses. Even though he published such findings, it was not conclusive and still the sisters popularity grew.

They began to move through high society circles, and also married into them. Margaret married an Arctic Explorer, and Kate a London Barrister. Soon they engaged on ‘missionary work’, sitting for high class and high financed people in order to provide a spiritual aspect to their lives, making them more complete.

Several influential religious leaders at the time also turned from the church to embrace spiritualism, a fact that alarmed many.

However, it was soon to come to an end, at least for the Fox Sisters. In 1888 the two sisters had developed drinking problems and quarreled at large with the rest of the spiritual community. They also quarreled with their sister Leah, and began to travel for their séances without her. It was on one such occasion, October 21, 1888, while in New York City, that Margaret appeared at the New York Academy of Music and shocked all who were present, and the world.

She demonstrated how she had faked the rappings, and other phenomena throughout the years, by cracking her toe joints. She could do this at will and repeated how the ‘spirits’ would answer her questions. She also explained how it all began –

It started as a prank the sisters formulated to scare their mother, all those years ago. They used apples attached to strings and raised and released them to create the rhythmic rappings heard throughout their Hydesville home. They also soon learned they could cause further sounds, by snapping their fingers while placing their hands against a solid wooden object.

They attempted to end it by suggesting it as an April Fools Day Joke, but had messed up when they/the spirit agreed to continue with the neighbors present.

They felt if, at that point, they came clean, they would be in a lot of trouble with their mother. It was when they moved to Rochester that they confided in their sister Leah the truth of the matter, and she helped them develop their skills by teaching them to snap their toes and other joints. They got so good at it they could use either feet, swapping one from the other.

She also explained that no one was touched by spirit during the séance, but rather it was an effect of the noise. At times people could hear the noise, and that by feeling the slight vibration, they may feel it in their shoulder and exclaim to that extent. None of it was real.

The confession ran in the newspapers, much to the spiritualists dismay and the rejoice of their critics. The sisters then made statements against the spiritualist movement, denouncing the entirety of it as a falsehood. Kate Fox was especially damning claiming “I regard Spiritualism as one of the greatest curses that the world has ever known.” for the New York Herald.

However, one year later, Margaret Fox recanted her confession, saying that although she could crack her toes so can many other people, it was not a skill she developed for fraudulent purposes, but was a way of falsely explaining spiritualism as a trick. She was down in her moods, an alcoholic and when she was offered $1500 (A very large sum of money in the day) for an exclusive exposé, to appear in New York World, how could she resist?

She also wanted to hurt her sister Leah, whom she had been quarreling with. The damage had been done, and Margaret Fox died, largely from her alcoholism, on July 1st, 1892. A Mrs Mellon visited with Margaret Fox during her final days, and claimed to have heard the rappings. Margaret could not have performed them, as she was essentially paralyzed. They came from the ceiling and floor. Mrs Mellon was not a supporter of the spiritual movement.

Leah had died a few years previously, and Kate died the following year in 1893.

One final note. If you visit the Lily Dale museum, there is a large tin box on display. Inquiry will reveal it was found in the cellar of the Fox home in Hydesville. A false wall was discovered, and in the space was a ‘skeleton’ and ‘The Peddlers Box’. Unfortunately the discovery is dubious at best, many of the bones belonging to a chicken, and the space it was found in an extension of the cellar, rather than a walled in section.

[writtenbyalex-nicole]

The Art of Discipline

by Alex-Nicole Edwards

Miriam Constanza stands in front of her latest art piece; beside it is one of her preliminary sketches.

October 10, 2017

     In Miriam Costanza’s Manhattan studio there is hardly an empty space. Two walls of the small apartment are covered by piles of canvases and wooden frames, as well as the small pull- out bed that she sleeps on. There are several mismatched tables scattered about. One of them is painted a striking primary blue and is accompanied by two matching chairs. Yellowy-tan hardwood floors run through the room. Most of these things are heavily splattered with an assortment of paint. Eleven gallon-sized buckets of acrylic paints and gels are lined up against a white wall; one of the few spaces clear of unintentional splatter. On this wall are several of her finished paintings. In the middle of this little gallery is her most recent creation; a canvas spanning nearly six-and-a-half by five feet, and painted with sloping lines of yellow, black, and gray.

     Costanza is a painter who specializes in geometric abstraction, an art style “based on the use of simple geometric forms placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into nonobjective compositions,” according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work has been on display at the Abrons Arts Center, the Caelum Gallery and, most recently, at the Consulate General of Argentina in New York. Unlike other geometric painters, she doesn’t rely on straight lines but, instead, employs curves and fluidity in her pieces. Her minimalistic style of art is described as “a constant expression of her emotions in their most simplified state,” by one of her daughters, Chiara Mecozzi-Garcia.

     Her paintings are a “moment where color, canvas, shape, construction, and feeling collide in each piece to arrive to the simplest and purest form of her expression,” Mecozzi- Garcia wrote. Constanza describes her own work as “a minimalist geometry where the curved lines in constant movement flow like energy in and out of the canvas, and get lost as imaginary waves in the curvature of space.”

     Costanza grew up in the small city of Mendoza, in Argentina, and was always immersed in a creative environment. Her father sketched and built Formula Two race cars, and her mother designed and made clothes. She began experimenting with painting on different surfaces like wood and fabric at around the age of six or seven. Since she was five her father would take her to see car races, which she credits as one of the earliest inspirations for her artistic style. The curves of the track, the fluidity of the movement, and the bright and colorful design of the cars influenced her to incorporate sloped lines and bold, dual color schemes into her paintings.

     Although she had been interested in geometric art since the beginning, Costanza moved to Miami 20 years ago to focus, instead, on painting landscapes. While she notes that her style of landscape painting was also very geometric, she still felt more compelled by geometric abstraction. It wasn’t until after she moved from Miami to New York City, eight years ago, that she began to get back to her roots as a geometric painter.

     “The city changed my mind,” she said.

     For her, one of the city’s biggest inspirations was the architecture of the buildings, especially churches and cathedrals. The arches and geometric shapes helped bring back her interest in geometric art and pushed her to change fields again. The different atmosphere of New York, compared to Miami, also helped her find her way.

     “The energy of the city was totally different from where I was living before,” she said.

     In New York it was easier for her to connect with other artists and other people in the industry. While being more connected helped her, the independent environment of the city helped as well. She says that staying inside all day to work on her craft, rather than going out to have fun, is what helped her attain her current level of artistry. She attributes her satisfaction with her level as an artist to her focus and dedication to her work. To her, discipline is the most important aspect of being an artist. She works for at least eight hours a day and remains in silence for most of it, in order to get to a place – mentally and emotionally – in which she can create.

     “The silence is very important. The discipline, the [loneliness], this is very important for an artist,” she said.

     In order to come up with an idea for a piece, she first needs to see her medium. Before she even begins to sketch, she must have the canvas – which she builds for herself out of the linen fabric and wooden planks she keeps stored in the corner of her studio – in front of her. Then she hangs the canvas up on the wall and sits in front of it in silence, until an idea comes to her.

     “When I see in front of me this blank canvas without anything, I imagine all the lines,” she said.

     Because geometric artists do not have a model or reference to go off of, the ideas must come entirely from within. Although she believes that having discipline is very important to being successful, Costanza said that the process of creating art is both an emotional and a spiritual one. The concept for a piece, including the color scheme, comes to her based off of her feelings. She just has to be focused enough to receive them.

     “[With] this kind of art you don’t have any reference. All [of] this is a feeling that you feel, it’s in your soul and you have to wait [for] the moment,” she said.