#i researched but I ended up just pulling ideas from general swords used in europe

[dawnthefluffyduck]

I don't know how tattoos work but I was asked to make a mock-up for one by my cousin. He just wanted a sword with the word "valor" on it in Hebrew and some vines, which is kinda vague, so I did my best. I put a few blade types at the top for him to pick from and some kind of vine leaves at the bottom so that way he has more than one example of what he was asking for

He ended up not liking the vines which was a shame, but he liked the blade in the bottom middle, so I'll take the wins where I can get them :D

[stone-man-warrior]

November 24, 2020: 5:01 pm:

A brief update to the Josephine county courts terror cell Tax Assessor terror scenario:

But first, this just in:

Sorry about the delay, it’s a little late, I was preoccupied for awhile:

https://twitter.com/ReutersUK/status/1331178841918812160

This is huge!

There is talk about availability of feminine hygiene products in public places in UK, on Twitter today, and, Reuters UK used a period of punctuation in that Tweet above! This is enormous, massive detour from the norm at Reuters. not only did they use the period to close out the sentence, but they also started a brand new sentence within the boundaries of a single Tweet text box in an unprecedented display of grameric superiority on Twitter. They even capitalized that extra, bonus sentence.

Some research will show that over the past few days there has been talk of gum on Twitter... sour gum, gum shoe, sore gums, gingivitis, or some other interest in gum.

"Gum shoe" is most likely there as the basis for the gum interest.

Reuters UK demonstrates with their authoritarian prowess that they are nearly at a point where they must both walk, and, chew gum.

They did not close out the second second sentence with a period, yet. If an extra period shows up somewhere, say at a train station, or airport, that is bad news for gum shoes.

All of that is present in the Reuters UK Tweet without even delving into the depths of that thread. It's "Top Drawer" of a Bureau of drawers. Modern drawers are not built the same as the old school ones are... the old ones have Dove Tail Connections on all four corners of the drawers, plus, a drawer front over top of the box drawer frame, w/Decorative handle of choice options, and some are routered around the edge with an O.G. Router Bit.

People who show up for thanksgiving see the old school cabinet craftsmanship with that O.G. detail around the edge, and say:

"Ohhh Geee, those cabinet drawers are soo pretty there, I want some of those." Those cannot be buyded at the IKEA though. They are old school, have to make 'em yourself, or find a good carpenter that you can afford.

There are exceptions.

If the kitchen belongs to say... Martha Stewert, then, Martha is someone who has a lot of guests at her kitchen, so, Martha gets her cabinets for free, while drawing a lot of business to the carpenter craftsman who builds old school cabinets that won't break if they are pulled too far and fall on the floor because that is what Dove Tails are for, and has a lot of selections of a variety of O.G. Router bits for that "Ohh Geee!" holiday vibe. Martha is a Carpenter Cabinet Craftsman's best friend and spokesperson that way. People talk about how pretty and durable the cabinets and drawers are, and how that detail around the edge of the false drawer front really is such a knockout to look at in Martha's kitchen, over wine.

Matha's Vinyard is a DMV in your town. Direct Message Martha, at the Vinyard to learn more. (nsa, seriousely... this is real terror communication that was presented with one single period of punctuation, and one single capital A.

That is all I needed to decode the comm to the extent that I did, and I did a piss poor job of it so I could say it here on this suspended Twitter account. The decode is more than that, but there is no one watching the baby, no one will provide any help or a proper interview to learn more about "The Fleecing of America".) The comm from Reuters is "Open Ended". More to come...

To read the terror comm that is presented on Twitter, scan the news feed of the major networks to start with, find things that guide you, spark some interest, key phrases, out of place verbiage, weird shit, repeating themes, parallel stories that are different subject but same gist, and tuck those ideas away as you scan. By the end of the day, you will have a lot of small ideas in your head. Don't linger in any one single place for too long, and don't click the linked story, stay with the Tweets on Twitter to start with.

There will come a time when a key is presented to you, and to everyone who knows how to do this. Today, a key that leads to Joe Biden's cabinet choices was presented with a period and a capital letter A from Reuters UK. Those two tiny details were put there to glue together the stuff that was scanned as I explained, over about a three day time period. It took more than one year to know that Reuters UK does not use a period, so, when one shows up, it's really fucking big round dot. The new sentence, is the same way... Reuters never says more than one small line of text, so, when they start a new sentence, it really is a big fucking push to start that Big fucking Round DOT to begin rolling, for gain of momentum as soon as possible. Meanwhile as I explain this stuff, I am under physical attack at my home. I still have to deal with the Josephine County Courts Tax Assessor terror event that has been under way since 11-10-2020, leading to a climactic end very soon at my house.

When the county courts, sheriff, state police, tax assessor, voter registration, DMV license renewal, DL renewal, or any other county or state generated correspondence happens at my house, there is very little chance of survival as a result of what those people are able to do to citizens.

I have survived many of those attacks, but my survival cost the lives of many terror soldiers. When the level of state and

county terror cells takes aim, it is often followed by celebrities, famous people, high level government officials who come into my home with keys that were made by the county sheriff. They come with swords, poison gas, euthanasia, and guns.

Very little chance to survive those. I have to deal with the Tax Assessor's lies that were used as a means to gain access to my home, with information they conjured up on a whim to say that a home I was building years ago but could not complete, has been completed they say, and there is absolutely no basis for the increase in tax or value they created from the blue sky, conjured it all up.

"It's just been so long since you started building the house, we just thought it should have been done by now, so, we went ahead and increased your tax based on completion of that home you started to build back in 2004."

If I survive the mandatory assessment, they will find a way to increase the tax in some other way, with some other value they will claim is present.

I am placed into a situation where I am forced to have a new assessment done in order to put the tax and value back to the way it was before they "Just thought it should have been done by now". The new amount is already applied. The new tax is already due just one month and 5 days after they "just thought it should have been done by now".

It's the "You can pay me now, or pay me later, but your are going to pay no matter what happens" terror scenario.

There will be no protection for the only man who has the answers to the questions that no one is asking about real terrorism. And that is why I am being treated the way I am treated in my county I live in. Because I have the information that would stop all of the terror, globally. 90% of the worlds terror would end forever if the information I have would be applied to global security efforts. The murderous assassins come to kill me from Europe some times. Who will be there to help me when Sheriff John shows up with Fryer Tuck at the tax assessment?

One important and easily overlooked feature of the Sheriff's key making facility at KeyMan at the Big Lots parking lot at the corner of GP Parkway and Agness, is that the Sheriff's key making is cover, for other key making.

If you stop the Sheriff's perpetual key machine and then think you have done a fantastic job of crime fighting and then celebrate with awards and outstanding achievement in the line of duty ceremony, that means you are a moron and took the bait the was given to you at the sheriff's key machine.

There are way more ways the keys are made.

Go try to purchase a lockset for a residential house while undercover, and totally stealth.

You will have great difficulty doing that, unless you told local LE that you are here doing under cover work, if you did that, you are extra moron, are a danger to yourself and those around you.

So totally stealth, go buy a lockset. If you survive the store, your purchase will include a number of ways they get the key. Some of the available locksets at the GP stores are sold in clear plastic package, key is visible in the package to the lockset. The grocery scanner scans the key there or photographs it with iPhone, some one takes that to KeyMan, or to Fran Taylor at 600 Jackpine where there is as key making machine.

Some of the packages are cardboard, can be opened, the cashier will remove the key while distracting you with a hot chick and a puppy, then make a clay impression real quick, and put the key back into teh cardboard. Someone takes that impression to Fran Taylor at 600 Jackpine for a fresh key. Those don't always work the first time, so, it's trial and error, they just see if the one they made works, if not, they now how to tri it to work.

Sometimes the key in the new package can be taken out part way through a hole in the package that is put there so the key can be looked at, for some stupid reason that escapes common sense. There are other way too. But the stores only stock locksets that are packaged in ways that allow a key to be made.

So don't start celebrating just because you found the sheriffs key making scheme.

If you are able to refrain from being a moron, you can also refrain from being dead from attack by local authorities. I am helping you by pissing you off

===========================================

4:47 pm: Chapman courthouse terror cell is deploying a special mixture of airborne gas that makes a victim need to use a restroom right away. Those who are exposed experience a sudden and powerful laxative symptom and are made instantly vulnerable to Ms. Chapman as she is wearing make up and blonde wig to appear more attractive, drawing interest, and wearing bright red to reach a greater range of visual onlookers. ======================================

And now that Courthouse Terror Cell Tax Assessors Update: I am instructed to make appointment with the chief assessor at Josephine County Tax Assessors Office, Jeffrey Marks, or, Jeffrey Marx.

The appointment is not really necessary, is for show, the Assessors Office has Easement and Access rights to all property in the county they serve;

The idea is to make it appear as though I am choosing to have the assessment done, the woman who made the decision to increase the property value and the increase in tax I spoke with said that she would skip the formality of filling out a formal request on paper for assessment so that it also can look as though no assessment appointment time was made, and to look as though there never was a assessment change. They will come, make the kill, finish out what needs to be done on the structure with construction associated with the likes of Cliff Woodruff Construction, a full service terror associate of the county courts terror cell. The new assessment will be based on that conjured up amount ahead of time, in effort to cover some other bullshit associated with either Clyde Baum and property at 315 Jackpine, or, Weseley Crowel and property at 549 Jackpine. One or the other bullshit stories can serve this terror Tax Assessor Courthouse Murder Set-Up that is playing out today, and yesterday physically, and has been underway building up to a climatically orchestrated crescendo of terror.

The whole thing has been done before, I already have survived this identical terror scenario at least once before this, where the Assessor simply conjures up new tax and new value with out any basis.

The basis, is there is a bullshit story that includes Clyde Baum, and property at 315 Jackpine. Possibly at 549 Jackpine with Weseley Crowel as the subject.

So far today, there are courthouse terror members at Monroe’s, and at Chapman’s where the attack is derived, concocted, planned and executed from in league with Christopher Mecca of the Grants Pass Community Church on Russell Road, where he lives in the pastors house, is a prominent attorney in Josephine County, with a office at the Sears shopping center near La Burrita Restaurant.

Mr. Marx of the Assessors Office called at 4:50 pm, I returned the call at 4:55, there was no answer, I left a message.

The most important part of this update, is that I recognize clearly Jeffrey Marx voice as the voice that belonged to a Josephine County Sheriff Deputy who came to my home with two other Deputies this past year at some point, it’s documented here on this account, a time when three deputies brought paper to serve me with, The paper that was used to arrest me on June 15 2020 and was crafted up by Christopher Mecca.

The Deputy that day, who is also Mr. Marx from the assessors office is a white male, about 40 years old, about 5′8″ tall, about 175 pounds, has a short dark beard, and short dark hair, is impostor Sheriff Deputy who serves paper from Christopher Mecca for the Josephine County Courts Terror Cell.

Stay Tuned, this is ongoing and is complicated, mixed in with seemingly unrelated events at my home, and other events that took place last night at the Fred Meyer Gas Station that I did not report with my Dystopia update for reasons that are too complicated to explain.

Events last night included at least two swordsmen, one at the Fred Meyer who was killed in defense there and another at my home who was also killed in defense.

There was also a “Runaway Tractor” terror event at the gas station, is associated with Lance of A-1 Paralegal Services on 6th & D Streets, and also is associated with A-1 Auctioneers, and A-1 Extermination Services of Grants Pass on 7th Street, Jeff Monroe works for A-1 Exterminators at least some of the time and a A-1 Exterminators black nissan van is usually parked at the Monroe’s in the evenings and on weekends, but has not been seen there lately, nor has Jeff Monroe.

The “Runaway Tractor” is a car that leaves the fuel pump at Fred Meyer gas station, and goes slowly over the curb, through and over some shrubberies, then over another curb, then through and across the traffic that is at the Fred Meyer Department store main entrance, and then over some more curbs and out of sight into the adjoining Fred Meyer Parking area.

So, that happened. They do it on purpose. It’s called “Runaway Tractor Terror Play at the Fred Meyer”. Specifically is associated with the Auction parts of the Courthouse terror cell.

“All this for one money” terror at the auction featuring Yodeling by Lance of A-1 Auctioneers.

End courthouse terror update: 5:57 pm.

[aion-rsa]

Top New Fantasy Books in August 2020

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

It’s summer. Lots of people are staying home. It might be a good time for a book. Here are some of the upcoming books we’re anticipating:

Join the Den of Geek Book Club!

Top New Fantasy Books August 2020

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Release date: Aug. 11 

Den of Geek says: The Baru Cormorant series features as its hero a mentally ill accountant with the fate of an empire at its fingers. The third book in the series promises more dark, twisty introspection and grim, creative world-building. 

Publisher’s summary: The hunt is over. After fifteen years of lies and sacrifice, Baru Cormorant has the power to destroy the Imperial Republic of Falcrest that she pretends to serve. The secret society called the Cancrioth is real, and Baru is among them.

But the Cancrioth’s weapon cannot distinguish the guilty from the innocent. If it escapes quarantine, the ancient hemorrhagic plague called the Kettling will kill hundreds of millions…not just in Falcrest, but all across the world. History will end in a black bloodstain.

Is that justice? Is this really what Tain Hu hoped for when she sacrificed herself?

Baru’s enemies close in from all sides. Baru’s own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path―a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world’s riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize. 

If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

Buy The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. 

Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley

Type: Epic Poem  Publisher: MCD x FSG Originals Release date: Aug. 25 

Den of Geek says: Headley got an intimate look at Beowulf in the modern interpretation The Mere Wife. She turns the intellect behind that inventive, scathing novel about complex and furious women to a translation of the poem featuring new research. 

Publisher’s summary: Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf―and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world―there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live among us. 

A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history―Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation of Beowulf, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation. Buy Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley.  

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

Type: Novel (Reprint)  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: Aug. 11 

Den of Geek says: Gene Wolfe is a modern master of fantasy. This reprint of a 2004 duology provides both original stories in one paperback package. 

Publisher’s summary: A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm consisting of seven levels of reality. Transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Sir Able of the High Heart and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, the blade that will help him fulfill his ambition to become a true hero―a true knight. 

Inside, however, Sir Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive what lies ahead…

Buy The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe. 

Top New Fantasy Books July 2020 

The Book of Dragons: An Anthology by Jonathan Strahan

Type: Anthology  Publisher: Harper Voyager  Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: I’m always looking for a good book about dragons, and this incredible list of authors promises adventurous and unique stories. Anne Leckie, Zen Cho, Seanan Maguire, J.Y. Yang, Patricia A McKillip, Brooke Bolander … it’s an astounding, literary-flavored list of people qualified to write cool creatures.

Publisher’s summary: Here there be dragons . . . 

From China to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons have long captured our imagination in myth and legend. Whether they are rampaging beasts awaiting a brave hero to slay or benevolent sages who have much to teach humanity, dragons are intrinsically connected to stories of creation, adventure, and struggle beloved for generations. 

Bringing together nearly thirty stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today— Garth Nix, Scott Lynch, R.F. Kuang, Ann Leckie & Rachel Swirsky, Daniel Abraham, Peter S. Beagle, Beth Cato, Zen Cho, C. S. E Cooney, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Kate Elliott, Theodora Goss, Ellen Klages, Ken Liu, Seanan Maguire, Patricia A McKillip, K. J. Parker, Kelly Robson, Michael Swanwick, Jo Walton, Elle Katharine White, Jane Yolen, Kelly Barnhill, Brooke Bolander, Sarah Gailey, and J. Y. Yang—and illustrated by award-nominated artist Rovina Cai with black-and-white line drawings specific to each entry throughout, this extraordinary collection vividly breathes fire and life into one of our most captivating and feared magical creatures as never before and is sure to become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.

Buy The Book of Dragons by Jonathan Strahan on Amazon

Or What You Will by Joe Walton 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: Jo Walton is a writer’s writer, highly praised but still generally skating under the radar. I found her 2014 My Real Children to not nearly live up to its very high concept, but she’s one of those authors with technical prowess who is at least worth checking out for context for women’s science fiction. The metafiction plot sounds fun. 

Publisher’s summary: He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god. 

But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. He has played a part in most of those novels, and in the recesses of her mind, Sylvia has conversed with him for years. 

But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.

Now Sylvia is starting a new novel, a fantasy for adult readers, set in Thalia, the Florence-resembling imaginary city that was the setting for a successful YA trilogy she published decades before. Of course he’s got a part in it. But he also has a notion. He thinks he knows how he and Sylvia can step off the wheel of mortality altogether. All he has to do is convince her.

Buy Or What You Will by Jo Walton on Amazon 

The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal

Type: Graphic Novel  Publisher: First Second  Release date: July 14 

Den of Geek says: The Adventure Zone is a wildly popular humorous fantasy podcast. It’s part of the big 2010s wave of Dungeons & Dragons coming back into the geek space. Especially for someone who might not want to listen to hundreds of episodes of a podcast, the illustrated version does a good job of smoothing out the story into a graphic novel format without removing the goofy chaos of the original podcast. 

Publisher’s summary: START YOUR ENGINES, friends, Clint McElroy and sons Griffin, Justin, and Travis hit the road again with Taako, Magnus and Merle, the beloved agents of chaos from the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novels illustrated by Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins and The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited.

Our boys have gone full-time at the Bureau of Balance, and their next assignment is a real thorny one: apprehending The Raven, a master thief who’s tapped into the power of a Grand Relic to ransack the city of Goldcliff. Local life-saver Lieutenant Hurley pulls them out of the woods, only to throw them headlong into the world of battle wagon racing, Goldcliff’s favorite high-stakes low-legality sport and The Raven’s chosen battlefield. Will the boys and Hurley be able to reclaim the Relic and pull The Raven back from the brink, or will they get lost in the weeds?

Based on the beloved blockbuster podcast where three brothers and their dad play a tabletop RPG in real time, The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal has it all: blossoming new friendships, pining for outlaw lovers, and a rollicking race you can root for!

Buy The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal 

The post Top New Fantasy Books in August 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/30f7KEw

[sjrresearch]

Historical Accuracy vs. Diversity: The Greatest War in Gaming

Diversity is a hot button issue across all mediums, the video game industry included. Developers are starting to ask themselves whether they're being diverse enough in their content, and consumers are responding in both troubling and supportive ways. It's an issue that primarily arises when developers tackle a game rooted in real, verifiable history. We know who was predominant in specific periods and locations and who should have the lion's share of representation, but only recently have creators started to even consider how diverse in gender, race, and sexual orientation their games have been. With representation an important topic of the 21st century, there has been a push to ensure all have a share of the spotlight, regardless of sex, color, or sexuality. 

The more video games start to favor representation, the more they create a sort of tug of war between the depiction of races or genders and the accuracy of real-world events. As the two can often counter one another, we're left asking if it's worth sacrificing historical accuracy in favor of diversity. To many, it's not an issue. So long as the core historical elements of a game are intact - i.e. a samurai warrior's use of a samurai sword or a Viking's preference for an ax - characters can have customization options that don't line up with their known history without taking away from the experience. As so many have responded with, it is just a video game after all, right?

Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way. To see the negative responses to this idea of pushing diversity over historical accuracy, you just have to check the Steam discussion forum for For Honor, Ubisoft's 2017 online historical fighting game. There was some push back over being able to make the skin color of a Viking, samurai, and knight to black. While there is debate among historians that the notion of a black Viking isn't far fetched, there is only one known case of a black samurai warrior, and Yasuke is not representative of perceived samurai culture. In response to what may be considered "forced diversity," one user writes, "Am I the only one that finds it annoying and a bit too far of a leap for there to be black [V]ikings and black samurai, and [sic] black knights in this game?"

What can't be forgotten about video games is that they're intended to be immersive experiences. Very infrequently are they educational pieces. Pieter van den Heede, a lecturer at the History Department of Erasmus University Rotterdam, may have said it best when he described video games as "generally inadequate" to "teach social and cultural history." In a piece for EuroClio.edu, van den Heede explained that "players are interested in heroic roles and adventures, they prefer to play characters whose decisional power can significantly influence the game's outcomes." Ultimately, the average doesn't care who they're playing as, so long as they're a significant figure, regardless of that figure's role in the real history unfolding throughout the game. 

The Call of Duty series is a primary example of what van den Heede was touching on. None of the protagonists were real, but the setpieces they battled through were pulled right from our textbooks. Early entries of the series were also a hotbed for discussions on diversity and historical accuracy as they depicted nothing but all-white American battalions fighting the German forces. Call of Duty: WWII attempts to tackle inclusion while remaining historically sound, but chooses the most unusual way to do so. 

Overlooking the fact that all-black units like the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion were present for the Omaha Beach landings, developer Sledgehammer Games opted to include only one black character. His purpose was solely to highlight the presence of racism and bigotry among American soldiers. It may introduce a genuine issue present during the Second World War, but it fails to provide a fair representation of black soldiers, who were more than poster children for the oppressed. Men like Doris "Dorie" Miller embodied the bravado of black men, and while their service was laden with racism, that's not why we remember them. We know them for their heroism, and it would have been a better touch for Sledgehammer's writers to take that approach. Especially if the plan was to introduce one, lone black person in a war full of diversity.

Unlike the war fought across Europe, the battle between historical accuracy and representation doesn't have a clear, defined end in sight. Players will argue with developers who will either bend to the consumer's will or stick to their guns. DICE and Electronic Arts opted for the latter when lambasted over the inclusion of women soldiers in Battlefield V. The 2018 shooter didn't hide the fact that it favored inclusion over perceived realism. EA chief creative officer Patrick Soderlund put it bluntly in an interview with Gamasutra, stating, "[Gamers] don't understand that this is a plausible scenario, and listen: this is a game." Even as the development team tried to point out that women held roles on the battlefield, they were met with the "#NotMyBattlefield" hashtag - a clear indication that, regardless of a potential connection to history, diversity simply isn't welcomed by some.

As developers continue to navigate this minefield, they'll have to be prepared for the inevitable losses, the loud and persistent vitriol, and the notion that not all of their fans will appreciate the push for representation, regardless of how it works within the game's historical setting. As simple of a concept as it may appear to be on the surface, so long as there is a very vocal voice against it, diversity in gaming will continue to be a complex issue, especially when it pertains to games rooted in history. 

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

[brightestandbest]

I Went to School in the Cult of Michael

I have been needing to start this series of posts for awhile. Every single one of them will be convoluted and hard to write. Please be patient with me, I feel the need to reveal this part of my story and spiritual background. This first post will be long, but still only a crude overview. 

So: I went to school in a cult.

Now, there are cults and there are cults. This wasn’t a terribly abusive one. It was a damn expensive one, and it was also very immersive and consuming. My feelings about it aren’t completely negative. I have some positive memories and I took some good things from the experience. I look back on my education with a complex mixture of fondness, disgust, exasperation, amusement, contempt, and gratitude. 

Perhaps you’ve heard of Waldorf Schools. From the outside-- and even from the inside, much of the time-- they appear quaint and eccentric but basically innocent. The children aren’t allowed to watch TV or use computers. They do a silly looking form of interpretive dance called Eurythmy. When they are younger they play with little felt gnomes and draw with expensive beeswax crayons. When they get older, they participate in ancient Greek sports such as discus and javelin throwing. In sixth grade, everyone learns to ride a unicycle, for some reason. The classrooms are painted in soft, lovely colors, and each features a “nature table,” a sort of seasonal nature altar. Children don’t learn to read until they are in second grade. 

These are just a few of the harmless-seeming eccentricities of Waldorf schools. The media occasionally freaks out a little and runs sensationalist pieces accusing Waldorf, with its nature-altars and spiritualistic flavor, of “paganism.” Which is hilarious. Waldorf is many things, but it’s definitely not pagan. 

Surprisingly media-saavy Waldorf representatives are always at the ready to deftly counter such accusations. But if the writers of those critical pieces did just a teensy weensy little bit of research, they would encounter the real esoteric philosophy underpining all of Waldorf education-- Anthroposophy. 

History time!

Setting: Europe, near the turn of the 20th century. Spiritualism and Theosophy are the big crazes. Holding seances in your parlor is a chic way to have a good time. 

Our “hero” is an Austrian dude called Rudolph Steiner. He’s involved with Theosophy for a little bit, but then decides to spin off and make his own occult religion. He calls it Anthroposophy. (”Theosophy” is “knowledge of God, “Anthroposophy” is “knowledge of man.” I am tempted to be a brat and start calling my shit “Diavolosophy” just for a tacky joke.) 

As far as I can tell, the basis of Steiner’s Anthroposophy is a heretical read of Christianity, ideas from Theosophy, random concepts like karma and reincarnation yanked from Hinduism, a big heaping helping of racism... and his own “clairvoyance.” 

(It’s actually really complex and esoteric. I went to Waldorf from kindergarten through 10th grade, so I have a pretty good foundation in the “surface” ideas of Anthroposophy and its core values, but they don’t tell us much about the actual occult concepts underneath. And I am resisting reading Steiner’s actual books, so much of my information so far comes from checking my experience against the site Waldorf Watch, which is heavy on the Steiner quotes and elaborately cited.)

To Steiner, Christ and the Archangel Michael (fun fact: we all had to pronounce it with three syllables, My-KYE-el) are the same entity, who is a “sun spirit.” Also reincarnation exists, and if you are really good, you end up reincarnating as a white, Aryan person. (There’s that big ol’ heaping of racism I promised! Way to appropriate a concept from Eastern culture and then use it to shit all over anyone who isn’t white.) 

Future reincarnations can be helped somehow by ritually waving your arms around, hence that weirdo dance called Eurythmy. 

DEMONS

Ahriman, a demon that Steiner associates with technology for some reason (actually a God from Zoroastrianism), is supposedly trying to force humans to abandon spirituality and exist on a physical plane. Hence the not watching TV or using computers thing. 

Oh yeah, also? In opposition to Ahriman, and yet somehow also working with him, is another demon. He’s trying to pull humans in the opposite direction-- out of embodiment and into pure, overly theoretical intellectual and spiritual concepts. You might recognize that demon’s name. Just some fallen angel called Lucifer. (And he lives on the moon, or something, according to Steiner.)

To mediate between these demons, we need Michael/Christ, who according to Steiner cast down Lucifer in the form of the serpent of Eden, and does battle with Ahriman in the form of the Dragon. Waldorf students repeatedly watch little pageant plays about these two stories-- The Paradise Play about the Fall from Eden, and the Michaelmas Play about Saint George and Michael defeating the Dragon. 

SO MUCH MICHAEL

Michael is a big fucking deal in Waldorf. Being conflated with Jesus helps, of course-- but a lot of the focus is on the Michael aspect. 

We sang a shit-ton of little hymns and receited a bunch of “verses” (actually prayers, Steiner literally told his teachers to call the prayers “verses” so no one would realize his schools were religious) about Michael. Here are a few I remember.

Unconquered hero of the skies

Saint Michael

Against the foe with us arise 

Thine aid we pray

The foe to slay

Saint Michael 

The heavenly banner dost thou bear

Saint Michael

The angels do thine armor wear

Thine aid we pray

The foe to slay

Saint Michael 

Also: 

Michael with sword of light

Blaze in the darkness of earth’s long night

Archangel Michael with radiant glory shines above

Hero Michael will defeat the foe

(The first two lines of that one were sung as a counter melody against the second two lines. It was really pretty actually.)

Wind in the trees blows loud

For summer’s last song

Thrashing the branches

Pelting the leaves along 

Sleepers awake

Hark to the word of the wind

Breaking on summer’s dull drowsy spell

Show us the way

Point with thy spear before

Forge us the future

O Michael

That one was pretty as fuck, too. It was my favorite. I still catch myself singing it sometimes. 

There were more that I don’t remember in their entirety. There was a sort of crappy one that I think was an original composition by my teacher. I only remember the second verse:

From a little freshet something streams

Freshly new-mown hay and moonlit dreams

Float with water fairies down the streams

O Michael

O Michael

The dragon fell

The dragon fell 

Honestly, if you are a devotee of Michael and want the melodies of these songs for your use, I will fucking record them and send them to you. No hate. At least, not for actual Michael or his devotees. 

MICHAEL AND ARYANISM IN ANTHROPOSOPHY 

Unfortunately, though, hate is kind of part and parcel in Waldorf. According to Steiner we are now in the age of Michael, which supposedly started in November 1879. (Gabriel was in charge before.) Michael is here to guide us into our next stage of evolution. Sounds nice, right?

Well, for Steiner, evolution means Aryanism. In fact, according to Steiner, there should only be one race existing at any given period of time, and the continued existence of non-white races is the fault of Lucifer and Ahriman. (So, THANKS LUCIFER AND AHRIMAN! I have no fucking idea why Steiner thinks you’re the baddies, probably because he’s fucking racist.) By the way, reading the links about Steiner’s Aryanism can be really upsetting and triggering, if that wasn’t obvious. 

(If any of this sounds familiar, it might be because certain Aryan “Satanist” groups have really similar ideas about time spirits and entering an Aryan eon.)

Now, generally, they do not openly teach these ideas in Waldorf schools. The racism is more covert, but still not terribly subtle. Waldorf curricula are rightly under fire for being too “Eurocentric,” aka white supremacist. To which Waldorf apologists will point to the fact that students learn about Hinduism and Buddhism, for example!

Yes, it’s true that we learned a (probably bastardized Anthroposophical view) on Hinduism and Buddhism. We also learned the Torah, again through a similarly wack-ass pseudo-Christian lens. But what’s really telling is when we learned those things. 

You see, Waldorf children are taught about certain cultures in certain grades for a reason: because Steiner thought that children of a certain age were at the same level of sophistication as those civilizations. 

So for example, there was a lot of stuff about Native Americans when we were in fucking kindergarten. 

The Torah was for third grade. 

Hinduism and Buddhism came in fifth grade, the same year we were also learning Greek mythology. 

So yeah, for Steiner kindergarteners are the equivalent of all adult Native Americans. Third graders are at the level of the Hebrews. Etc. We never learned any African history or mythology at all-- probably because racist asshole Steiner would have considered that to be at a pre-kindergarten level! 

When I was in school I had no idea why we were learning certain things at certain times. It’s only my adult reading that has revealed this part of the philosophy, and I am furious. 

The schools I went to were pretty damn white in terms of student body and also faculty. There was some diversity, but I realize now that a lot of gate-keeping was happening. The Eurocentric and Christian-flavored curriculum was generally a turn-off for Jews, Muslims and PoC, and the incredibly high tuition was of course an additional layer of racist/classist gate-keeping. 

I think I need to stop this overview post here. Next time, I’ll write more about what it’s like to be a clueless child inside of Waldorf-- what Anthroposophy looks like on the ground, as it were. The picture I have painted here is obviously revolting, but it’s not the picture we were shown. In my next article, you’ll learn why Waldorf is so seductive-- but also how it might be effecting small children.