#it's so. Accurate. and it's all good practices for Existing On Planet Earth as well

[mxtheyes]

i haven't seen anyone talking about this aspect of dunmeshi yet so as an ecology student i feel like i have to represent my people. i LOVE the way the dungeon is treated. i love the reciprocity. i love how senshi always warns the rest of the party against taking too much, so that the foodstuffs and beneficial parts of the dungeon stay for future explorers. i love the emphasis on the danger of overexploiting the dungeon, on how if the big creatures are dead then the little ones will crawl to the surface and hurt people. everything has a niche; the food web is present. the dungeon itself is a character, almost. it's a living breathing ecosystem that needs to be taken care of, and if it's taken care of, it'll take care of the adventurers in turn. Incredibly based.

[thecoiledserpent]

BASICS OF ASTROLOGY + FINDING THE DOMINANT PLANET

(APPLICABLE TO VEDIC CHARTS ONLY / APPLY AT WESTERN CHART AT YOUR OWN ACCORD, I DO NOT GUARANTEE ACCURATE RESUTLS)

in vedic astrology, we consider the traditional planets—sun, moon, mercury, venus, mars, jupiter and saturn along with the nodes—north and south node to be the significant placements of a chart. we do not consider the outer planets, i.e. neptune, uranus and pluto as significant placements in a person's chart. this is because these are generational planets that remain in the same position for almost a human's entire life and do not influence a person's personality in any major way because generations of people are going to have the same particular placement.

following are a few important points about the planets you will need to properly analyze your vedic chart:

THE SUN / SURYA is your driving force, your life, your soul. it represents your ego. just as no life can exist on earth without the sun, no human can survive without an ego. even saints are driven towards moksha, or liberation. with a weak sun, a person will struggle with having a proper identity and will be unable to distinguish reality from illusions.

the sun is a 'sattvic'/ pure planet. in elements, it is fire. in gods, he is ravi / surya / the sun god & agni / the god of fire. in the zodiac, it is leo. in society, it is the king / ruler / president. in colors, it is red. in gems, it is ruby. in metals, it is copper. in the days, it is sunday / 'ravivaar'. in the body, it is bones ( particularly the spine ), the heart, stomach and the right eye. in items, it is saffron. in chants, it is HREEM.

your father represents your sun. bad relationship with father = bad sun, and vice versa.

the sun is sensitive to malefic planets, although it is generally susceptible to energies, as well.

the presence of rahu / ketu will irrevocably damage the sun. it forms an eclipse, leaving negative impact on the natives life and personality.

the house which your sun rules will be a house with a strong impact on your life purpose, regardless of other factors.

strong sun in good dignity = good eyesight, pleasant demeanour, good confidence, attractive aura, authoritative qualities, able to take a stand, comfortable in solitude.

strong sun in bad dignity = overconfidence, stubbornness, disregard towards other people, dictator like behavior, weak heart.

weak sun = weak eyes / higher susceptibility to eye problems, low confidence, lack of strong opinions, damaged relationship with father, lack of groundedness in reality.

THE MOON / SOMA / CHANDRA is your mind. quite literally. our brain is protected by cerebrospinal fluids and all fluids are under the domain of the moon, hence directly affecting your brain. the moon is the most important planet in the vedic chart. this is because so long as we are human, we are driven by our mind. although the soul (the sun) is the ultimate truth, as flesh and blood we cannot connect with our soul. our mind is what drives us in the mortal realm; the soul takes the backseat. the moon sign / nakshatra depending upon context, just as the sun in tropical astrology, is going to be what we're referring to when mentioning 'rashi' / sign.

the moon is a 'sattvic'/ pure planet and sits in the company of the sun, mars and jupiter. in elements, it is water. in gods, he is soma / chandra / the moon god. in the zodiac, it is cancer. in society, it is the queen / healer ( not alleopathic medical practicers or surgeons. only ayurveda practicers / psychiatrists / therapists). in colors, it is white and pale blue. in gems, it is pearl. in metals, it is silver. in the days, it is monday / 'somvaar'. in the body, it is the brain, fluid matter, and the womb. in items, it is food / nourishment. in chants, it is SHREEM.

your mother represents your sun. bad relationship with mother = bad moon, and vice versa.

it is noteworthy to mention that the correlation here is the strongest of all other planetary associations. if you hurt your mother, neglect her, disrespect her or abandon her, no matter however might her behavior towards you be, your moon will be completely destroyed. even if you have a bad relationship with father you can still fix your sun, but there's no way you can fix your moon if you have a bad relationship with your mother.

the moon is sensitive to malefic planets, although it is generally susceptible to energies, as well.

the presence of rahu / ketu will irrevocably damage the moon. it forms an eclipse, leaving negative impact on the natives life and personality.

aspects to / from / with the moon are case specific and i will not generalize anything. although, in general -

weak moon = mood swings, emotional turbulence, mental problems, weak aura, lack of appeal.

strong moon = good focus, strongly opinionated, has mother's support, will have more traits from their mother's ancestral house.

MERCURY / BUDDHA is your intelligence, your speech, your mental capacity. note that where the moon rules over mental stability and the physical brain tself, mercury rules purely over your intelligence, the abstract part of the brain. mercury represents how well you can think, your grasping power. mercury also affects your beauty & fashion style, although in a more indirect way unlike like moon which is quite literally your beauty or venus which represents the external manifestation of one's inner self. in mythology, buddha is the son of chandra & tara (jupiter's wife)

mercury is a 'rajasic'/ royal planet and sits in the company of venus and saturn. in elements, it is air. in gods, he is buddha / lord ganesha. in the zodiac, it is gemini & virgo. in nakshatras, it rules ashlesha, jyeshtha and revati. in society, it is the advisor / minister / doctor ( not surgeons ) / young girls. in colors, it is green. in gems, it is emerald. in metals, it is bronze. in the days, it is wednesday / 'budhvaar'. in the body, it is the nervous system, skin, face, and thyroid. in items, it is the pen.

your sister & maternal uncle represent your mercury. bad relationship with sister & uncle = bad mercury and vice versa.

the house which your mercury sits in will dictate the way your mind thinks.

mercury is friends with venus, saturn, sun and rahu. it is neutral towards ketu, mars and jupiter. it is enemies with the moon.

weak mercury = bad body coordination, may have problems walking in a straight line or just bad hand eye coordination. speech problems, may be too hasty, too slow or stutter. unattractive physique if supported by a weak moon and venus. inability to make use of even the most precious things even when the native owns them, a weak mercury is a weak mind.

strong mercury = wide forehead (usually), fond of laughter, may like sweet meats, good at thinking and have a good approach towards analyzing situations.

VENUS / SHUKRA is your beauty, your desires, your external appearance, what pleases you and for a man, what kind of woman best brings you peace and success. in mythology, shukra is the guru / teacher of the demons and hence, a weak venus is a weak moral compass. for men, a weak venus if supported by the appropriate aspects from planets, may make you infertile.

venus is a 'राजस्व' / royal planet and sits in the company of the mercury and saturn. in elements, it is water. in gods, he is shukra / goddess laxmi. in the zodiac, it is taurus & pisces. in society, it is women / younger animals. in colors, it is white and pale pink. in gems, it is diamond. in metals, it is platinum. in the days, it is friday / 'shukravaar'. in the body, it is the reproductive system, lumbar region, veins, parathyroids, throat, kidneys, face, and cheeks. in items, it is money.

your wife / girlfriend / lover / significant women other than the mother represents your venus. bad relationship / mistreatment of wife / women = bad venus, and vice versa.

venus, just like mercury, is best at mixing energies with another planet. very rarely will it give negative results, even when sitting with rahu or ketu.

it is very important for men to respect the women in their life because women represent venus, and for men, venus not only controls your success and fame, but also your ability to reproduce. shukra controls the 'शुक्राणु' / the sperm. expanding on this topic i would also like to mention that people who masturbate a lot weaken their venus because orgasming is a form of releasing sacred pent up energy. this is why people who masturbate a lot have sunken eyes and are physically weaker.

additionally, i would like to mention that in vedic culture, it is advised not to sleep the first time with anyone randomly. the first person who makes you orgasm should be the wedded husband / wife. otherwise, the first orgasm is considered 'wasted'. ( don't come after my ass, do whatever you want i'm just giving information)

for women, it is highly advised to wear floral perfumes and engage in self care to strengthen your venus. venus also represents the bedroom, that's why it is considered a sacred place which should be accessible only to the husband and wife. the wife is the caretaker of this domain, and at the very least should engage in habits that keep the bedroom neat and clean. ( i do not mean to say that the wife should cook and clean or imposing any sexist roles on anyone. regardless, some things are a responsibility and should be done by a specific person. very crude indeed, but i would like to give an example- you won't have servants bathe you just because you're an independent woman, will you? it's like that. i'm not putting anyone at gunpoint here, you're your own master; nor am i supporting sexist gender roles. )

for unmarried women too, it is recommended to spray the bedroom with floral scents and wear white clothes and / or floral designs in clothes, jewelry or flowers themselves in their hair. although the last part isn't very practical. unmarried women should avoid criticizing other women or speaking ill of other's appearance. ( do avoid wearing scents at night though, it attracts negative spirits)

among all planets, venus is the most strongly affected by our day to day actions.

strong venus = good regulation of sexual energy, curvaceous bountiful body for women, healthy reproductive system in men, good hygiene, soft and polite speech, abundance of opportunities.

weak venus = harsh speech, lack of hygiene, disgraceful behavior, weak immune system.

MARS / MANGAL / KUJA is your courage, your energy, your drive, determination, passion and hope. when a human being is born, first the brain starts working, and then the intelligence develops. it is when we become fully conscious of ourselves and our surroundings that we develop a sense of passion and drive, all while the soul keeps watching the 'show' from behind the 'curtain'. mars is what gives life meaning. mars has direct correlation with the moon, because even violence stems from deep emotional turbulence. i have noticed that people with a strong moon but weak mars express even positive emotions very strongly. a weak mars will hinder how you interact with the world. where sun is the will, mars shows the way. sun gives rise to your purpose, and mars gives rise to desire. those two may or may not be the same, but without passion, life has no meaning whatsoever.

mars is a 'सात्त्विक' / pure planet and sits in the company of the sun, moon and jupiter. in elements, it is fire. in gods, he is mangal / lord hanuman. in the zodiac, it is aries and scorpio. in society, it is the soldier / surgeon. in colors, it is red. in gems, it is red coral. in metals, it is bronze. in the days, it is tuesday / 'मंगलवार'. in the body, it is the blood, muscles, bile, hands, genitals, rectum, adrenal, hemoglobin, prostrate gland and adrenaline. in items, it is the knife.

your brother & other prominent men in your life represent your mars. bad relationship with brother or these men = bad mars, and vice versa.

mars can be best managed by doing physical activities. dancing, sports, going for a walk are all activities that will recharge your mars.

weak mars = anger issues, violent behaviour / inclination towards violence or fear of fights / violence. bad expression of self. isses standing up for oneself, body will find it difficult to store and retain energy.

strong mars = bold, fiery and passionate. stubbornness and able to take a stand. will avoid figts until absolutely demanded. courageous but retains their wisdom even in anger. good regulation of excess energy or good at storing energy.

JUPITER / GURU is your knowledge, your moral compass, your 'luck' and your teacher. in terms of luck, jupiter is the planet to go to. thing is that although jupiter itself will not particularly affect the smaller niches of your personality like the sun, moon or asc will, but it will guide you throughout your life. in vedic mythology, jupiter is lord vishnu 'अनंत', 'सत्यानंद' , 'सत्यनारायण'. he is the supreme divine, the origin of life and the preserver of all that exists. he is endless, the only truth, and the guide of all. hence why in the vedic chart, a weak jupiter is considered extremely unfavourable regardless of other factors.

jupiter is a 'सात्त्विक' / pure planet and sits in the company of the sun, moon and mars. in elements, it is air. in gods, he is guru / lord vishnu. in the zodiac, it is sagittarius and pisces. in society, it is the teacher. in colors, it is yellow. in gems, it is yellow sapphire. in metals, it is gold. in the days, it is thursday / 'गुरुवार' . in the body, it is the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. in items, it is the book.

your teacher represents your jupiter. bad relationship with / disrespecting / troubling / viewing the teacher inappropriately = bad jupiter, and vice versa.

for women, jupiter represents the husband. although jupiter should hold more value to women just as a good venus does for men, i recommend strengthening your jupiter for both men and women. a bad jupiter will literally hinder all your success.

jupiter is a heavy planet and damages the house it is sitting in.

jupiter observes, and moulds the path forward based on what you do in the present. jupiter and saturn are the two planets that will never let your past deeds go in vain / be forgotten. the native will get what is due, in accordance with the houses or signs these planets are ruled by.

SATURN / SHANI is your struggles, the punishments you receive for bad karma, your hard work and your restrictions. most people relate saturn with past life karma, and that is only partially true. swyurn is the punishment you're receiving for your past life karma, but if you want to delve into your past .ife itself, then we majorly speak of rahu and ketu, in association with saturn and the ascendant.

maids, sweepers, poor people, disabled people represent your saturn. bad relationship / disrespecting them = bad saturn, and vice versa.

saturn will delay but never deny; it only gives you what you want when you come to terms with why you want it or why the universe should give it to you.

in vedic astrology, we associate to planets with bestowing riches; satrn and rahu. the thing with saturn is that it demands you to become someone who is worthy of receiving what you desire, and that is often a slow process so people dislike this planet. but without your saturn, you will never be able to achieve heights of character and nobility.

capricorn and aquarius are ruled by saturn.

i won't comment on how wek and strong saturn manifests since it's a bit tricky. but if you're certain you're facing problems due to saturn, then you may do the following remedies-

donate alms to beggars, offer food to dogs, respect and care for maids and sweepers, never criticize the difficulties of life. if you're a hindu, praying to lord shiva or lrd narasimha is greatly recommended. during the sadesati period, make it a point to chant the narasimha kavacham / hanuman chalisa for your physical safety.

you can learn about sadesati here.

RAHU is your greed, unjustified curiousity and the things you never managed to know or experience in your past life. although it is fairly antagonised, it is as much representative of your soul as your ketu. as they say, light does not exist without the dark. regardless, rahu is your greed and understanding it is key to understanding your shadow side. what your rahu desires is what you intrinsically are motivated by, whether or not you realise it. it is body less, and craves endlessly. a common remedy to reduce negative affects of rahu is to wear a silver chain around the neck; because rahu is without body and is kept at bay by silver.

rahu represents your paternal ancestors. disrespecting them weakens the rahu.

rahu represents the things you are irresistibly drawn to or have an almost insatiable affinity towards. these are things you didn't focus on in your previous lives, and so to balance the scales, you must now delve into those aspects of life, as well.

what is noteworthy about this though, is to remember than too much of everything is bad. delving too much into the themes of rahu is actually destructive, and this is the part of rahu that most people highlight. it's simply that balance is necessary, and without exploring what your soul desires, you won't be able to sit in peace.

the most important thing here is discipline, though. at the end of the day rahu is a shadow planet that feeds off your satvik gunas (positive qualities).

like i mentioned in saturn; rahu is also one of those planets that bestow massive wealth. businessmen / women often do rituals / remedies to reap the benefits of rahu.

KETU is your past life's karma (mine seems pretty bad since i have written this thing five times now and coincidentally it never displays😶) and your ancestry. it is the things you inherited from your ancestors and also who you were in your past life. ketu is the pathway to understanding one's spiritual nature. ketu is a headless planet. in it's mahadasha or antardasha, natives may find themselves doing things or making decisions they normally wouldn't because they are disillusioned by falsities.

ketu represents our maternal ancestors. speaking ill of them ruins our ketu.

ketu is the body of the demon svarbhanu, (you may read about the mythology behind rahu & ketu in vedic culture here; amazing article btw) and wields a sword in his hands; this sword is symbolic of ketu's importance in our lives. he is the force that cuts out attachments and punishes us for our bad deeds in our previous lives. this is why the punishments bestowed by ketu are difficult to understand.

truth be told, it is best to lower our heads and accept his punishments. this is one of the planet's on whom no remedy works. he aspires not only for you to rise from the mud, but also aims at helping you bloom into a lotus. he will break you, but just as a forest blooms after a fire, we too, must burn ourselves in the trials of life to become our best selves.

ketu also create illusions and causes dissatisfaction wherever it sits. this is unlike the nature of rahu which desires more of wherever it is sitting; ketu causes you to completely turn away from said thing. ketu is the outcast. it's energy is like a snake's; dangerous, but attractive nonetheless.

ketu dominant people, or people having ketu conjunct sun or moon within 10° are highly magnetic. they tend to devour other's energy. of course, it can manifest positively as well; but majorly these people create a lot of polarity wherever they go, attracting people to themselves with ease.

this also means that they are prone to the black eye. ketu dominant people try to be rational, but it's easy for them to get carried away. they should keep at least one well-wisher around themselves whom they can trust with their body and soul.

in your ketu md, or ad, make sure not to gamble with money, resources or people too much. this will be a time of less, regardless of how good ketu might be in your chart. and if it's weak, then it will cause intense emotional turmoil, depression, and in worst cases, even drive someone to insanity or suicide (debilitated moon with strong mars in low dignity supported with a weak sun)

no remedy exists for ketu. you can only pray to your god to protect your physical health and your soul and give you the strength to overcome difficulties. remember that ketu aims not to break you, but to teach you, and if you resist too much, then it will break you.

helpful resources (verified) you need not overwhelm yourself with information, it's just for help and you end up learning it along the way; no need to try to memorise it.

understanding mahadasha and antardasha.

reading the south indian, and north indian vedic chart, respectively. below it, basic info about the planets. note that, ketu is represented by the colour brown and rahu by deep blue as opposed to 'colourless'.

the significance of the houses, and their respective planets.

break down of the four main motivations of human life as depicted in vedic chart.

the aspects of the planets in vedic astrology. note that all planets have a default aspect of conjunction, which maximum works till 15°. also known as the 'drishti' / sight of planets.

the planets and the houses wherein they are strong / weak.

the various charts studied id vedic astrology. we majorly discuss D1 and D9 charts.

importance of the houses in D9 chart.

the 12 zodiac signs.

the 27 nakshatras (lunar mansions).

FINDING THE DOMINANT PLANET

DISCLAIMER : THE METHOD I HAVE USED BELOW IS SIMPLY BASED OFF GENERAL TRENDS AND IS NOT ANY CONVENTIONAL METHOD. I ALLOW ITS USE ON GROUNDS THAT INACCURACIES ARE NOT TO BE HELD AGAINST ME.

use the following trick for finding your dominant planet; the planet with the highest score is your dominant planet.

moon nakshatra lord [ +15 ]

moon sign lord [ +8 ]

asc nakshatra lord [ +10 ]

asc sign lord [ +10 ]

sun nakshatra lord [ +3 ]

sun sign lord [ +3 ]

planets in first house closely conjunct asc ( 10 degree max. ) [ +8 ]

planets in first house loosely conjunct asc ( any degree further than 10) [ +4 ]

planets in stellium conjunct moon [ +5 ]

planets in stellium conjunct sun [ +2 ]

in case it so happens that two planets are having the same score-

recheck your calculations

choose the planet of your moon sign lord / nakshatra lord out of the two

if none of these tips help and you're certainly not an idiot then you're welcome to send me your chart to help you determine your dominant planet. only send your vedic chart + nakshatras. i will not analyse anything else in the chart, though.

JAIMINI ASTROLOGY

i am not learnt in jaimini astrology and only understand understand the few basics which i might mention from time to time, so you may refer to this website to understand what atmakaraka and amatyakaraka are

CLOSING WORD : consider this to be the guidebook of all vedic astrology content that ill post on my blog. if there is any doubt, then please first refer to this post for information, and if you still don't find an answer to your question, then you're welcome to send it to me via ask. do remember that i will exercise freedom in which asks i shall answer and which ones i won't based on how precise the question you're asking is since i don't do personal readings.

[lunzoic]

I'm gonna add some more quotes from the transcript that I found interesting.

On the Brain as a Computer metaphor:

...And the computer metaphor for the brain has been dominant since the emergence of cognitive science in the middle of the last century, and it really permeates the way we think and talk about the brain, and it places these sort of invisible limits on how we use the brain, how we regard other people’s brains, and it’s because that metaphor is so faulty it leads us to act and to make choices in ways that are not at all optimal.

And so in this book, I wanted to challenge the metaphor of the computer and point out that, no, actually the brain evolved in particular settings, mostly outside. It evolved to do things like sense and move the body to find its way through three dimensional landscapes, to engage in encounters in small groups of people. These are the things that the brain does effortlessly, naturally. The brain is not a computer. It never was, and its failures are particular to its own nature, and it has to be understood on its own terms.

Ezra asks about office spaces and manual labor, and then the Brain as a Muscle metaphor and the effects of the pandemic:

EZRA KLEIN: I want to ask you about that structural piece of it. Because what you’re describing here is a phenomenal market failure, a phenomenal market failure, right? Putting all of the ways in which it would be better for our lives or better for our minds or more fun to move around aside, we have all these different businesses. They all want to get a leg up on the competition. A huge amount of the American economy now is built around work where people have to come in and think about problems. I mean, manual labor is somewhat different. And by the way, manual labor often has a lot more movement built into it.

And so what you’re saying is that a tremendous amount of the global economy, the global built economy, the global work structure, is just wrong. It’s not a good way for people to work. I mean, we’ll get into some other pieces of this, like open space offices. But just the simplest one, that everybody gets a desk and that it’s hard to stand and hard to move around. What the hell happened? If this research is solid, and I think it’s intuitive. Like if you watch people on the phone, they like to walk around and talk. Then what the hell happened? How did we forget all this when we built every office on the planet Earth, basically?

ANNIE MURPHY PAUL: And every school. Yeah, I mean, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from reporting and researching psychology for 25 years is that we often don’t know what’s best for us, and so we cling very firmly to these practices that don’t serve us. And it takes a kind of paradigm- changing new view to make us think, oh, maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe the way we’ve been doing things isn’t so great.

And I actually think the pandemic might be that kind of disruption that changes some of the ways that we educate kids and that we go about our own work. I think a lot of us have spent the last 16 months as brains in front of screens, and a lot of us have been working from day till night without a chat around the water cooler, without even a commute, without a break. All we do is work. All we do is use our brains.

And if the brain as muscle metaphor were really accurate, we would all be superheroes at this point, and we’re not. In fact, many of us feel that we’re not thinking nearly as well as we used to or normally do. And that’s because the pandemic, for many of us, cut off many of the mental extensions that really support our thinking. And I’m hoping that in a way they’ve made the existence and the importance of those mental extensions visible to us in a way that they have not been before.

Well, it helps to know that — I’m going to be a broken record with this — the human brain evolved in a very specific environment, and that environment was outside. And that’s how our forebears spent their time for hundreds of thousands of years. It’s a fairly recent development that we spend all this time, more than 90 percent of our time, inside buildings and inside cars and even when we’re outside in sort of urban, highly built up urban settings.

And the thing about the outdoors and the way that the human species evolved in the outdoors, all the information that we encounter, the sensory information that we encounter in nature, is processed really easily and effortlessly and efficiently by the brain. Our sensory faculties are kind of tuned to the kind of information and stimuli that we encounter in nature. And so this is, again, this is the scientific reason behind what everybody knows, which is that you feel more relaxed and more at ease when you take a walk outside and when you spend time in nature.

But what that has to do with attention is that that kind of diffuse attention that we’re able to spend in nature, where we’re not focusing very intently on anything but we’re just kind of allowing the gentle movements and the sort of soft contours of the things that we see outside just entertain our attention but in this very diffuse way, and the phrase psychologists use that I like is called soft fascination. It’s not a hard edged concentration. It’s a kind of soft fascination that you might experience when you’re looking at leaves rustling in the wind or watching waves on the ocean.

That state restores our attention. It kind of refills the tank in a sense. And so then we can return to our desk and we can return to that hard edged kind of concentration that we have to do to complete our studies or do our work. So I would say in your example that if you need to concentrate but you’re feeling frazzled, even a brief look out the window can have this kind of restorative effect. But ideally, a longer walk in nature would be good.

-  Annie Murphy Paul, from Ezra Klein interviews Annie Murphy Paul

[earthstellar]

TFP Analysis - Timescale: How old is Cybertron and the oldest Cybertronians when compared to Earth and Humanity?

Unicron and Cybertronian Pre-History / Lore

So we know that in TFP the planet Earth itself was formed as space debris accumulated around the slumbering form of Unicron.

You can see the scene in which this is discussed here. 

As far as TFP goes, the timeline isn’t super clear on when Earth’s formation went down as far as Cybertron is concerned. We know the Thirteen were around, but most of what we know is in the scene linked above. 

The story of Unicron and Prima/Primus is treated similar to a creation myth, but one that is more or less factually accurate and did occur as the lore indicates. (This relates to my notes on Alpha Trion’s involvement, further below.)

But either way, we know a few key points are true: Invariably, Cybertron is older than Earth. Cybertronian individual lifespans can cover the equivalent of Earth centuries, covering many centuries. And while we have no specific dates, we do have an idea of Cybertronian eras of time and the events that occurred across each.

Cybertronian Eras and the Covenant of Primus 

We know that Alpha Trion was the scribe of the Primes. (Again, more on this in the Alpha Trion section below.) 

In the Covenant of Primus, we know that Ratchet and Soundwave were both around during the Age of Wrath, with the only earlier time period (on Cybertronian record) being the Great Cataclysm, which was essentially pre-history going into the modern age as this was the point at which Cybertronians began to expand and develop into their early civilisation.

What I’m getting at here, is that while we don’t have a perfect timeline that compares Cybertron and Earth side by side, there are Cybertronians in TFP who would have likely been alive when humanity was relatively young as a species. They would have had beta access to humanity, essentially, if they had made contact with us then. 

Old Bots: Ratchet and Soundwave

We know Ratchet more or less wandered the planet eventually seeking out Iacon as it began to develop as a hub of development, so we can assume that his spark came into existence roughly towards the middle or end of the Great Cataclysm era. This fits fairly well with the timeline of his involvement in other events mentioned in the Covenant, such as the Quintesson occupation. (The picture below is from the relevant Covenant recollection of Ratchet’s early days as a medic.) 

We know that Ratchet was there when medicine was essentially still being founded as a science/practice as it evolved with the development of civilisation in Iacon.

For a more human frame of time reference for relative age, we can compare Ratchet’s early work as a medic under his mentor Remedy to that of Galen, or Ali al-Ridha, who wrote one of the earliest medicinal collections on health and medicines. 

Soundwave’s spark came into existence around the early Age of Wrath, quite possibly a little before it, but I think early Age of Wrath fits best with Soundwave being described as “unique” compared to other Cybertronians, as it was at this point in time when the Quintessons interfered with the Well of All-Sparks, resulting in altered Cybertronians being produced from the Well. 

Alpha Trion: Recorder and Editor of History 

Now, Alpha Trion is the one to really look at to gauge the overall timeline, as in TFP he is himself a Prime and is the oldest possible Cybertronian to measure all this by, but we still have no specific dates. 

And that is significant for two reasons: 

1) We know Alpha Trion is described as a first-generation child of Primus and one of the original Thirteen. 

2) His Primal artefacts are the Quill and Covenant, which although he has perfect recall and is essentially a living memory repository, he has the ability to bend reality and oracular power to alter events-- At least to some degree. 

The Covenant is Alpha Trion’s record of events, and we know in the Exodus novel that it is at least hinted that Alpha Trion “curates” history. 

There may not be any 100% accurate, perfect record to base anything on, as the primary documentation available is all from Alpha Trion. This is partially because even though he does note in the Covenant that he is trying to record things as they were in reality, he alters reality. And when he does so, does that affect his recall? It’s unclear, and seems to possibly vary in places. But we don’t know. 

Timescale Relative to Earth 

Obviously, we have more clear estimate date ranges for Earth’s development in the real world, but whether or not TFP’s fictional Earth follows the same development isn’t verified. We can assume it roughly does. 

Early Modern Humans, let’s focus on Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals, were chillin’ on Earth roughly 40,000 to 48,000 years ago, estimate time frames. We know this irritated Unicron, as he sees humanity as essentially vermin or parasites. 

Without any dates or estimates to work with in regards to Cybertronian time scales, it’s hard to say for sure, but we can estimate based on the sheer number of events/developments in each noted Cybertronian era to get a sense of how long that era must have most likely lasted for relative to a human sense of time. 

Ratchet’s Relative Age for Comparison

Ratchet is a great example for relative time, as he is of course still alive during TFP: He was “born” from the Well only just after the Predacons went extinct on Cybertron during the Great Cataclysm. 

This is roughly equivalent to the Quaternary extinction event that ended most megafauna life on Earth. 

From a Cybertronian point of view, Ratchet is only slightly younger than the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

But their dinosaurs are more or less Predacons, and Predacon remains are on Earth.

Predacons on Earth 

Fossils! We love some good fossils. Shout-out to geology and archaeology. 

While the reasoning for Predacon remains being on Earth is briefly discussed on the show, it still hints that there is likely more significant examples of Cybertronian life being engaged with Earth on some level throughout history. 

If Cybertronians are here now, and Earth itself is a result of Cybertronian influence on a larger universal scale, then who’s to say there hasn’t been even more Cybertronian contact? 

The Autobots only know so much, as far as Earth is concerned. And as we’ve discussed, Alpha Trion seems to love editing as much as he loves writing. 

Conclusion! 

It is wild to think about the differences in relative time between Cybertron and Earth (and Cybertronians and humanity). 

We can’t say for sure, but it’s fair to think that there could absolutely have been further contact between humans and Cybertronians prior to the modern era and prior to the current Cybertronian factional conflict.

That contact could have been potentially very early in modern human development, or even prior to humanity’s evolution, although given that reaching Earth would have required space bridging, we can at least roughly estimate that contact between modern Cybertrontians and modern humanity may have been most likely during the early Golden Age.

Alpha Trion could have messed with Earth’s timescale at any point in-universe to allow for things to line up sufficiently for the sake of allowing for any Cybertronian involvement concerned, so that is also something to consider. 

[blindwyrm]

Basics of Energy Work - Part One

Expanding Awareness Energy work is a subtle art, a foundational building block to successful magic. Almost all magical practices involve some form of energy work - and there are countless forms - but how it will function from individual to individual will differ greatly. To put it simply, energy work is the practice of manipulating unseen energies. Everything - people, places, animals, inanimate objects, even our thoughts - vibrates at a specific energetic frequency and emits energy. By learning how to identify and tune into these energies, we can use them to direct our magic and spell work. Chances are, you have worked your own personal energy before. More often than not, your own energy will be the easiest for you to tap into. To do this, we need to learn how to expand our awareness. Meditation Meditation is a good practice to have when pursuing any kind of magical endeavor; there are many ways to meditate and there is much to achieve through it. The overall key to meditation is, generally, focus. You are training your mind to simply observe with non judgement; not to simply clear your mind of any thought at all, which is the common misconception. There is not just one way to meditate - if sitting cross legged in a room bathed with incense as you engage breathing exercises works for you, great! Some people meditate through dance, yoga, exercise, crafts, etc. Anything where your mind can drift, “tune out” so to speak, as your body instinctively goes through the motions. There are also several forms of guided meditations that you can use for specific goals, such as attentiveness, visualization, improving memory, empowerment, etc. Elemental meditation is popular among the witchcraft community. What’s great about guided meditation is it extremely accessible through apps and things like youtube (favorites of mine are the fire meditation and the water meditation from magickians!) and makes the whole process of learning to meditate a lot less intimidating.  As meditation relates to energy work, it will sharpen your ability for visualization, increase your focus, have you more in touch with your physical and inner self as both the same and separate entities, and increase your awareness of changes in and around you - all of this working towards an enhanced ability to sense energy and its movement.  What is this mystical “energy?”  If you’re having trouble wrapping your head around the idea of the elusive and all encompassing vaguery of “energy”, don’t worry. The idea may seem intimidating, but they are not inaccessible. If you are struggling, it only indicates that you are human. This will take practice and it will require you to understand the concepts on a physical level. Luckily, these are steps that nearly every magical practitioner, old and new, has and will continue to work on for the rest of their spiritual journey. Every question you have has likely already been answered. Some may just take a bit of research to find! However, I’m going to try and provide at least some cursory information here. To get a real idea of what “energy” feels like, set aside some quiet time for youself. Close the door, dim the lights, turn off your phone. Light your candles and make sure you will be left alone. Sit down on the floor and make yourself comfortable - not too comfortable! You don’t want to fall asleep. Draw in some deep breaths and clear your mind, as you did in your meditation. Continue until you feel your breathing regulated and yourself relaxed. Now, close your eyes and rub your palms together, like you’re trying to warm them up, then pull them an inch or two apart. You should feel a charged sensation tingling between your hands, maybe even like a ball, vibrating and pulsating in your hands. If you concentrate, you may even be able to feel a sort of magnetic resistance if you attempt to push it back together. That’s energy. It’s really that simple. If you don’t feel it at first, just try again. The more you do this, the easier it will become to identify your own and different types of energy all around you through a technique called centering, which will be discussed below.  Grounding The term grounding, sometimes called Earthing, means to recalibrate your energy. Essentially, the purpose of grounding is to shake off “excess” energy and ground yourself back in reality, into the rhythm of the plane on which we exist. And while grounding does restore balance and connectedness, there are greater implications to explore when it comes to grounding. Everything on this earth is shaped by forces and presence of the Earth and cosmos, and as such, “this connection is deeply inherent to a sustainable state of well being. The Earth, as an organic and inorganic system, is constantly bathing all life on the planet with its highly ordered and coherent electromagnetic field. The natural tendency of an organism is to couple with the Earth’s energy field and come to a mutual state of cooperation and harmony within its environment, finding its niche and proper place within a system. What we need to understand is that all systems strive to achieve, return to and/or maintain a state of coherence. Whether one is aware of it or not, we are always taking part in a constant process within our universe, coupling with other energy fields and finding some sort of balance within this space. This happens everywhere within the context of an ecosystem, whenever two forces interact for any reason. The more organized or coherent these fields are, the more effectively and efficiently energy can be [manipulated.]”  Grounding allows us to cultivate a relationship with the earth and facilitate a healthier, more coherent state of being. It allows us to align our energy for more accurate working. Like meditation, there are many ways to ground; a list of some of my personal favorite methods can be found (here.) Shielding and Centering Shielding is important for magical workings as it provides a protective barrier to maintain our center. To do this, you’ll want to get a feel for your personal energy first. A good way to do is something called centering. Throughout the day, you naturally will pick up on all kinds of external energy; some good, some bad, most of it probably neither of the two - either way, it is energy that is not yours. Meditation and shadow work will be useful in identifying what feels distinctly you, but you should be able to know when you’re not feeling entirely you. If you’ve been feeling particularly out of sorts, a good tip to get back in touch with yourself before centering or shielding is to spend some time in self care. Turn off your phone and go to your room or a friendly space in nature, a library, a favorite haunt and engage in a creative project, put on your favorite music, eat your favorite food. Be mindful of your physical space, your body, sensations your are experiencing. Be attentive to you and only you; your wants, needs, feelings, comforts, etc. Take a bath and allow yourself to relax. Your only responsibility right now is you have no responsibilities - if even for just a short while. Just do what you can to access some “me time” to do something you love to do and observe yourself. Take note of what you choose to do that brings you joy, why those things make you feel happy and fulfilled, how exactly these feelings and activities resonate with you. Record this in your Book of Shadows, as it is useful information to getting to yourself on a more intimate level. Learn to recognize this energy and get familiar with what it means to feel yourself. It can be easy to get lost. Centering can get you back, especially when you make these feelings more accessible to yourself.  To center, we’re going to go back to the exercise in the beginning; in a quiet place, meditate and rub your palms together - build up that energy between them again. When you pull your hands apart, you want to visualize this sensation. What color is it? What does it feel like? Is it light? Heavy? Is it vibrating? Focus on the pulsation and how it pushes against you. Allow it to move and grow. Picture it contracting and growing until you no longer can. Pull it in close to you, somewhere you can focus on it - many people use their solar plexus or heart chakras. This is the same energy you’re going to use to shield yourself. Instead of centering this energy, however, you’re going to push it out to envelope you. Visualization in your meditation and centering exercises should help with this; visualizing energy usually makes it easier for people to push it outward. Again, knowing what specifically makes this your protective energy will be useful - what color is it? Texture? Is it elemental? Perhaps your energy doesn’t feel like light, but water or air. Maybe white is a protective color to you or maybe green is, for Earth. Maybe your energy shield is a network of stars in the shape of your zodiac constellation. Maybe the outside is reflective, to reflect any negativity directed your way. Maybe its a shield of smoke, to conceal yourself. No matter what it looks like to you, just make sure it is yours. Don’t feel pressured to commit to something either - your idea of what these concepts look like will grow and change as much as you do.  Push this energy outward and around you, as if you are creating a protective bubble for yourself. To enhance the intensity of desired outcome, surround yourself with corresponding elements. Light white candles or wear black tourmaline. I personally like to use dragon’s blood incense or oils. There are many things you can do in tandem with any of these practices, so long as they make sense for you and are helping you to achieve your desired results. This shield will become stronger the more you do this and keep you protected from psychic attacks, curses and hexes, negative energy, and bad intent.  These exercises are all building blocks to unlocking great power within oneself, but they are also a great power on their own as well. Taking the time and patience to hone these skills will aid you in all your magical endeavors, whether through sharper focus, strong visual associations, enforced protective barriers, and/or knowing your true self above all else. Once you have established your abilities, you will be able to do them any time, anywhere and begin to play more with energy, both internal and external. In the follow up, I will focus on charging and programming. 

[sundays-mutt]

this is really long and about racial violence peace and love on planet earth. so under the cut.

my hot take is mostly that at face value, i don't think the concept of the oppressed x the oppressor is bad.

i know almost immediately that people are going to interpret that in bad faith, which is why i make this post on here and not main. this is not me saying the trope is particular good either, but is just an extension of my beliefs about censorship. all stories in fiction are allowed to be told yadda yadda.

its a very lukewarm take also, to assert that these kinds of relationships requires an unimaginable amount of care and sensitivity. accurately handling the nuances of the interpersonal relationships while contesting them against oppression and revolution is not something so easy that any author can do. there are a lot of layered complexities to the dynamic that are simply not able to be captured concisely,

(and really not well-handled in a genre like romance to begin with. like if we must write romance okay. but i digress)

that is not really the main issue to me. i don't think this trope is a problem. exploring the human condition this way can be done well.

colonizer romance, in my opinion, primarily suffer from a refusal to acknowledge bleakness.

a lot of authors who write this genre of romance very obviously have not engaged with the concept of colonialism outside of the fact it is bad. there is a focus on the human condition in this type of romances - on how everyone is a person deep down and that loves transcends all.

if we are interpreting the genre in good faith - that seems to be the point of many of them. its intended to be deeply romantic, to find love in these horrible conditions. but it is an incredible disservice to the work itself to refuse the fundamentals in order to tell a more touching story.

colonialism is innately bleak and genocidal practice. you are not writing two characters falling in love who happen to be on two sides of a conflict. you are writing a story about two people in the middle of an oppressive regime. without differentiating this, the trope of oppressor x oppressor is doomed for failure. it is bound to be read as anti-revolution, pro-colonialist and nationalist.

the very basis of settler colonization is the attempt to dehumanize the indigenous peoples living there. to tell a poignant story of romance in this environment, you can't rely on readers to suspend disbelief and believe in love and whimsy. you cannot expect your readers to automatically humanize the oppressor in order to make the romance work, as they are actively working against their love interest to dehumanize them in some capacity. this goes doubly if the oppressor character is taking an active role - whether that be as foot solider or lead.

it is absolutely absurd to me the amount of times this very fundamental idea gets overlooked in this trope. its constant, and i think partially its because of how difficult that is. but even if this story is intended as a hopeful romance, setting the tone for story as innately violent and fundamentally corrupt on one side is literally crucial. and so basic. settler colonialism and all functions within it are bleak.

your characters exist first as a reflection of their environment. asking your audience to see them first for their humanity is insane and insensitive. occupation is occupation. it is embodying, encompassing to a persons life for the time they are occupied and for the rest of it. it makes no sense but it happens all the time in the genre, which is why i think there is such a massive problem within it of reading this way.

it's like these authors are using romance to cover-up the bleakness of the idea as opposed to using bleakness to emphasize the romance. its so mindless and boring and insensitive and the primary failure of it.

i don't think the concept of colonizer romance is completely nonsensical (because i am anti-censorship mostly.) because i think the exploration of the human condition in this way is potentially fascinating. it is good, even, to acknowledge the man-made nature of colonial violence and the mundanity of certain aspects of it. these are not devils or monsters, but people. often people who are ignorant or absent in their own violence towards the oppressed because they have been raised around it their entire lives.

it is not absurd to me in it's entirety to write a love story about this situation. there are too many required nuances to do it easily, but it's possible for sure. what makes it so impossible for so many writers of this trope is the reliance of romance genre to provide context to your characters. a person breaking off from their oppressive environment or the oppressed having conflicting solace about any decency shown to them are both excellent ways of telling that romance. human beings are complicated. to show the conditions of these complications is the only way to make this work and people seemingly don't really want to.

instead they make these vapid and hollow characters with no real conviction and just... insert them into these situations. it is always treated so lightly as if to give room for the romance but it ends up feeling really disgusting lol

it is so so so out of place and disillusioning to your audience and anyone with half a brain to treat it that way. this is a story of colonialism first, and a romance after - even if the entire story is a romance. it must be colored by the oppression it takes place in and it so often is not and thats what makes it suck so so bad to me all the fucking time dfjfhkjsd

i dont think i can even fully recall a story where its done well. its just so sorely lacking and i really hate it because i believe in its potential to be good. but it just. is so often not dfsjk

have a very hot take on the concept of colonizer romance in fiction but alas. i shant say

[robin-the-enby]

I've been wanting to request a Marvel one for a while now, but have just finally thought of something that I agreed on—

A oneshot with the avengers and the genderless reader celebrating their first birthday. Like where they came from, birthdays don't exist, the actual celebration and having a date of being born doesn't exist for them.

I'm also only familiar with the movies so I don't know what actually happened after Endgame— So spoilers outside that would be very appreciated if that's alright—

True meaning behind birthdays

Pairing: Avengers x gn!reader (platonic)

Summary: Reader comes from a planet where birthdays don't exist. The others decide to throw the best first birthday party ever for them.

A/N: I made this story so that it doesn't contain any spoilers. I really hope you like this, I tried my best.

Y/BD - your birthdate

Earth didn't have the best reputation among the other planets. Everyone you knew always told you it's a place not worth visiting. But that didn't stop you.

And oh wrong they all were. Sure, Earth didn't have the most impressive technology, but it compensated for it with many rich and diverse cultures. So many nationalities and religions, each celebrating their own holidays and traditions. Sure, some might say that it was impractical for so many cultures to live alongside each other, but you thought it was fascinating.

You've been on Earth for over half a year now and you already knew about many human customs, yet there was still so much more to learn, since they mingled with each other constantly, for example holidays typically celebrated in the U.S. migrated all the way to middle Europe.

However, there were some events that were celebrated by everyone. Like New Years Eve, when humans celebrated their planet's complete rotation around the Sun. Silly creatures. And the biggest catch? Different people celebrated New Years on different days!

You chuckled at the memory, focusing on your previous activity. You were relaxing in the compound's living room, since there weren't any missions that regular S.H.I.E.L.D. agents couldn't handle on their own.

You were soon joined by Tony, a very extravagant and bold man, but still a very friendly colleague of yours. He scooted over until he was sitting next to you and asked "So, how did you enjoy Nat's birthday party?"

Ah, birthdays, of course. Celebrating one's day of birth every year was something all humans did as well. The concept was very foreign to you, I mean, why would anyone celebrate being one year closer to death? Still, you could not deny that you enjoyed yourself very much.

"Are you asking just because you organized the thing?" you asked back with an arched brow. Tony looked at you as if you grew a second head "Y/N! You know I'm better than that!"

"But...did you like it?" he asked after a few moments of quiet. You laughed "Yes Tony, I really enjoyed the party." You could practically see his face light up like a Christmas tree (another thing you discovered during your time here) "Awesome! Say, when can we celebrate your birthday?"

Oh... "Uhm, well, I don't really have one..." you explained. Tony's eyes widened "What do you mean? Everybody has a birthdate!" he chuckled, but his tone was mainly confused. "Well, yes, of course I have a birthdate, but where I come from, birthdays aren't really a thing. We don't celebrate them or even really acknowledge them." you shrugged.

"Well, when is your birthday?" Tony asked. You thought for a moment, before replying "Well, we don't really divide our days the same way you humans do. You would describe someone's date of birth with the day, month and year, whereas we just describe it with the position a certain set of constellations has in the sky at that moment. You'd be surprised how accurate it is." Tony blinked a few times "Yeah, that doesn't clear it up much." You laughed again.

For the next couple of minutes you tried to explain to Tony how it all worked, using "your" constellation as an example, not knowing about the plan the genius playboy had in mind all along.

After he told you he finally understood what you meant, he promptly excused himself, saying he was actually just taking a break from something he and Bruce were working on. You said your "see you later"s and parted ways.

As Tony entered the lab, Bruce, who has been working on their project when Tony had his break, looked up to see who came in, before turning back to the machine set on the working table in front of him. "Hi Tony." he muttered "Did you enjoy your break?"

Tony walked over to his friend and leaned on the table he was working on "Yea yeah. Listen, I have an interesting idea..."

It took a lot of math and research, but after a few days, the two geniuses finally had it. They managed to convert your birthdate from your people's system to theirs and it was supposed to be on Y/BD.

Which was gonna be pretty pretty damn soon.

So they did the most logical thing. They called a secret Avengers meeting to get everyone in on the plan.

"Are you sure they even want a birthday party?" Steve asked, because the last thing he would want to is to make you uncomfortable.

"Of course, you know they like to be involved in everything." Wanda reassured him with a wave of her hand. "Still, I think we shouldn't throw a big party." Steve muttered. "I agree, it's their first birthday, we wouldn't want to overwhelm them." Vision nodded. Tony sighed and slumped in his chair dramatically "Ugh, okay then. You guys are no fun, I swear..." straightening up once again, he eyed everyone seriously "Okay, here's the plan..."

And what a plan it was. Wanda and Vision were in charge of making a birthday cake, Tony and Nat were in charge of the alcohol and your favourite drink. Thor was in charge of getting your favourite snacks, Bruce and Sam were in charge of decorating and that left Steve in charge of taking you somewhere nice until the others had everything ready.

It wouldn't have been that odd for someone from the team to ask you to hang out, but you couldn't help but notice Steve's eyes darting around almost as if in fear. He must've thought he was being sneaky, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

But once you were out of the compound, you could feel Steve relax as he took you to a restaurant that quickly became your favourite after a few weeks of staying with the Avengers.

You two had so much fun, talking about anything and everything. One thing you had in common with the captain was your love for exploring. Of course, he knew much more about Earth than you, but he still missed nearly seventy years. You two would often share your favourite music or artists you discovered, as well as movies or literature.

"What do you think about birthdays Y/N?" he asked you out of the blue. It caught you off guard a little. Just a few moments ago you were discussing if Disney was a good brand or not and now this...Especially when you discussed birthdays with Tony just a few weeks ago. Strange...

"I think it's fascinating how you humans find so many things worth celebrating. I mean, birthdays are a little hard for me to understand, why would you want to celebrate getting older? I thought that humans wanted to avoid that?"

This answer seemed to throw Steve off his rhythm for a bit. "Well, it's not really about that-" he wanted to explain, but was cut off by a buzzing sound. Steve quickly reached into his pocket, taking out his phone, the culprit guilty of disrupting your conversation, checking the text message he recieved, before putting it back and looking at you again "Sorry, Fury needs me for something. Do you mind if I drop you off and then go?"

You were a little sad that your good time had to end so soon, since you both were having so much fun, but you knew it couldn't be helped, so you just shook your head and smiled.

As you made your way back, you turned to Steve again "So, what did you want to tell me, back at the restaurant?" you tilted your head to the side.

Steve almost started talking again, but before any sound could escape his mouth, it seemed like he changed his mind "Would you believe me if I told you I really don't remember?" he chuckled awkwardly. You couldn't help but squint at him. He was acting very suspiciously... "Yeah..." you answered absentmindedly. Just what was going on?

You spent the whole journey back to the compound mulling it over in your head. Was it somebody's birthday? No, surely they would've told you if that was the case. Was it your birthday? But, nobody knew when that was. So what on Earth was going on??

You decided you were gonna confront Steve if he wasn't going o explain anything by himself. So as soon as you were about to pass the compound's living room, you quickly tugged him in, telling him you needed to talk to him before he had to go.

The room was darkened, somebody must've drawn down the blinds. That didn't matter to you in that moment, you wanted answers. Steve became a silhouette in front of you, so you couldn't see his exact expression. You looked into what you imagined were his eyes, and with the most serious look you could muster you said "Alright Steve, quit joking around. What is happening?"

But before your interrogation could progress, the blinds were drawn up and the room was suddenly bathed in light as people yelled "Happy birthday!!!"

You whirled around and saw everyone gathered in the living room, standing around the coffee table, upon which were various snacks that you grew to love during your stay here, complete with your favourite drink, and in the middle of it all sat a beautiful cake. The room was decorated with ornaments in your favourite colours and everyone had a big smile plastered in their face.

Well, you certainly did not expect that. After carefully looking around at everything, you couldn't help but laugh "So it's my birthday??" you asked, surprised.

"Wait, what did cap told you?" Tony asked, alarmed. "Well, nothing specific, but he wasn't subtle either." you smiled and looked at the now blushing Steve from the corner of your eye.

The rest of the day was great, possibly the best one you've had here. Good food, drinks and laughter all around. It warmed your heart to receive so many beautiful gifts, words couldn't express just how grateful you were. One thing still nagged in your brain though...

All of you were seated on the various sofas and armchairs around the coffee table, calmly chatting about beloved memories, exchanging funny stories and everything was heavenly peacful.

"I still can't wrap my head around why you would go throuh all the trouble for me." you shook your head, the disbelief still lingering in your mind.

"Well, that's simple. We like having you around." Tony shrugged. The others nodded. "Yeah, we appreciate having you with us. You're a great friend." Wanda added. "Celebrating birthdays is like showing gratefulness that the celebrated person is still with you." Bruce explained.

Their confessions were so heartwarming, you couldn't help but to shed a few tears. Sam, who was sitting next to you, put his arm around your shoulders, rubbing your arm comfortingly. So that's what birthdays were really about...

It was great to have friends.

[themacarensesangle]

Ecological Philosophy: How it operates, and how we can incorporate it into our lives and thoughts

Note: this light research and summary is a lot to think about at once. If you're unfamiliar with big words (seriously, no shame, I had to google this stuff too) and have trouble digesting abstract concepts, feel okay with coming back to this post later once you feel confident in understanding the smaller parts of the greater whole.

For accessibility purposes, this is a list of some somewhat complex words and their definitions you should know to fully understand this information. Other words or phrases that may be complex will have a small link after they are said.

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Ethics: moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.

Philosophy: the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.

Metaphysics: the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.

Ontological: relating to the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.

Holism: the theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole, or cannot be understood without reference to the whole, which is thus regarded as greater than the sum of its parts.

Reductionism: [sometimes used derogatorily] the practice of analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of phenomena that are held to represent a simpler or more fundamental level, especially when this is said to provide a sufficient explanation.

Epistemic: relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation.

Rationalism: a belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response.

Empiricism: the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience.

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Wikipedia defines ecological philosophy as (somewhat paraphrased) "a concept under the philosophy of science centred on the practice and application of ecology, its moral issues, and the intersectionality between the position of humans and other entities [x].

The Methodology[x] of Ecological Philosophy centers around two debates. Though ecological philosophers today are more pluralist[x] and eclectic, it's valuable to understand these two debates. The first is Holism vs Reductionism [x], which feuds over the basic foundation of investigation in this area of philosophy, and the relationship of it between things like chemistry or physics. Though the debate, by nature, goes nowhere, as nothing in the physical world can resolve it, it's worth dissecting. The debate itself has progressed in the past and present as follows:

Both sides developed the theoretical foundation for their way of thinking, and therefore fleshed out their respective assumptions and views about reality.

Holists, however, struggled to build upon their foundation with models, tools, or experimental techniques, which somewhat conceded that the foundation itself didn't really correlate to the real world.

Two ontologies, one methodology (the reductionist one).

Most ecologists (philosophical and otherwise) accepted this dichotomy[x], but were unconvinced of its relation to the real world, the down-and-dirty ecology, since both sides were attempting to or using mixed strategies, simply superimposing their ontology on top and therefore not really adding anything of physical value to ecology.

Because of that, eclecticism[x] was a common practice.

Physical ecologists were starving for a good philosophy, but the philosophers weren't coming up with anything of substance.

To add to that, the physical ecologists and philosophers weren't on the same page about what "Holism" and "Reductionism" even meant.

In short, the more analytical and arguably more philosophical Holists built a foundation for their ontology based on the analysis of the systems and individual parts of the greater whole - the whole of nature and ecology. However, the Reductionists on their own foundation were more pragmatic[x] about ecology, and thus had more ability to apply their ontology to physical ecology (My ap-ology for all these -ology words. Ha.)

The second debate is between Rationalism and Empiricism. This debate is less concerned with the ontology, but more, rather, with the mindset each side thinks is needed when going into ecological work. For this reason, it's much easier to explain in short. The Rationalists are mathematical, and believe in using ecological theory as a guide to create logistic[x] models for ecology. Rationalism in ecology was most pronounced around the 1920s, through the work of Vito Volterra and later by Alfred Lotka, combined creating what is known as Lotka-Volterra equations by which Rationalist activities are used and done. Empiricism, on the other hand, was less focused on theoretical mathematical models and more interested in gathering empirical[x] scientific data from the real world. Once again, the dichotomy is understandable and accepted, but the practice of combining the two is important. Mathematical theories can be made to predict the empirical data. Once the empirical data is physically collected and recorded, the discrepancies[x] between the theory and the reality can be compared and corrected, allowing the mathematics to further accurately predict how the environment is actually doing, and the process repeats. That said, a pluralistic combination model of Rationalism and Empiricism has yet to be developed, and I'm speaking purely in speculation.

The ethics of ecological philosophy are encompassed, by, well, Environmental Ethics. Environmental Ethics was developed in the 1970s as a response to the classical anthropocentrism[x]. You're likely already familiar with Environmental Ethics without having the name for it. It's concerned with the human proclivity[x] of polluting the planet, and the act of preserving the life on the planet for its own sake, believing that Earth itself is a moral motivation, the survival of humanity simply being a nice side effect.

Further explanation and exploration of environmental ethics will come with later posts, so follow for more climate communication, information, and activism.

[astrology-india]

Taurus Compatibility - The Best and Worst Match

New Post has been published on https://www.astrology-india.com/taurus-compatibility/

Taurus Compatibility - The Best and Worst Match

If you are lucky enough to have a Taurus in your life, then you already know what I am about to tell you.

Smart, friendly, and down to earth, the Taurus is a likely partner-in-conversation for just about anything from serious life advice to humorous banter.

Those born under the sign of Taurus are known throughout the zodiac as being trustworthy and dependable.

They come through in the clutch. Add in some friendliness and warmth for good seasoning and you got yourself a bull.

Ruled by Venus, the planet of love, it is not unheard of for the Taurus to partake in sensuality, even hedonism.

However, the bull seems to keep it in check, being well-grounded, practical, and focused on achieving their goals.

As a fixed sign, the Taurus is driven and determined.

They also have a reputation for being stubborn and even quick to temper, but let’s be clear here, you did not hear that from me. The Taurus is usually hardworking and committed. From love to career, they seem to know what they want and are fueled by stars to go and get it.

Below is everything you need to know about which zodiac signs are best and least suited for Taurus compatibility based on sun signs alone.

For the most accurate description regarding compatibility, it is important to understand your complete natal chart.

The Best Taurus Compatibility Matches

Taurus Compatibility is the best with their fellow earth signs who all value hard work, goals, and staying at home together.

The Taurus can be a winning combo with two of the sensitive and intelligent water signs as we will see below.

Taurus and Capricorn

The combination of Taurus and Capricorn is the power-couple of the zodiac.

Both hardworking, intelligent, and friendly signs, these two in love could take over the world if they desired to.

If the bull wanted a run for their money concerning stubbornness, Capricorn the goat can deliver.

This is a good thing, though. Both the Taurus and the Capricorn understand that the whole “stubborn” thing is an unfair critique anyway.

They both know that it is their devotion and commitment that people mistake the stubbornness for.

And this devotion? Well, it is for their friends, loved ones, family, careers, and their goals.

In my opinion, things that are well-worth being stubborn for and Capricorn/Taurus compatibility is excellent because these two share the same values.

The Capricorn is a bit more driven than the Taurus, who does not complain about taking it easy and indulging occasionally. The Capricorn digs all of that too.

So, when the more dominant and driven goat tires themselves out in the endless pursuit of achieving their goals, the sensual Taurus will be right there with dinner on the stove, the candles lit, and a good movie on deck.

Taurus and Virgo

The Taurus is sweet, and the Virgo is sensitive, no two sun signs could be more nurturing of each other.

Both signs are practical and hardworking and these two likely share the same priorities: loyalty to their partner, family, career, and staying at home.

Taurus compatibility with Virgo works so well because of some of the contrast of the two signs and the balance that they feed each other.

The Taurus is fixed and grounded. The bull is self-assured and proud. On the other hand, Virgo is a mutable sign who is known for being critical and sometimes goes off the deep end with worry.

In this harmoniously balanced relationship, the bull shows the over-analytical Virgo how to stay grounded and the Virgo keeps the Taurus in check when they go off into over-indulgence.

The Virgo knows how to get things done and will help the Taurus to focus and make their dreams into a reality.

In the bedroom, the Taurus will be much more open, as a sensual and physical sun sign. The Virgo is much more subdued.

This sun sign relationship is built on loyalty, so this is a good yin and yang balance if both parties share that deep connection.

Taurus and Cancer

What happens when two possessive, yet devoted sun signs meet and fall in love? They give each other fully to one another.

This could be seen rather remarkably in the Taurus/Cancer bond.

These two are domesticated, stable, and forward-looking.

They are alike in pretty much every way with only one real big difference: the Taurus is an earth sign, and the Cancer is a water sign.

What this means in broad terms is that while the Taurus lives through analyzing and rationalizing, the Cancer exists mostly through their emotions and intuition.

The Taurus thinks of every possible outcome to a decision while the Cancer goes off of feeling. This is also how the two primarily communicate as well.

If the above leads to any disagreements, it will be the many things that they agree on that will keep this couple together and the Cancer/Taurus compatibility going strong- mainly, staying at home.

The Taurus and Cancer are the two most domesticated signs of the zodiac.

These two signs are extremely loyal and seek security. Both the Taurus and the Cancer are hardworking and goal-oriented.

This perfect alignment of values will leave this couple with little to squabble about, which is a good thing because both signs have hot tempers.

Taurus and Pisces

If the Taurus has been wondering if there is any other sign out there that appreciates sensuality as much as they do, they need not look any further than Pisces- the most sensual of the zodiac.

The tough bull and the sensitive fish, who would have thought?

Just because the Pisces wears their feelings on their sleeve 24/7 and the stoic Taurus does not, really does not mean a thing.

The Taurus is pretty sensitive too and has a rich emotional life, even if they do not fully understand it.

Pisces is the ideal sun sign to help the Taurus get in touch with that side of themselves.

Both signs are intelligent homebodies who like to consume the finer things in life from the arts, cuisine, nature, music, books, and film.

Both the Taurus and Pisces love good conversation and humor.

The Pisces imagination will entertain and intrigue the Taurus to no end and in the bedroom Pisces intuition and Taurus sensuality together are dynamic.

All of this entirely depends on the specific Taurus and Pisces, of course. There is a chance that the two signs can over-indulge if not kept in check.

If both signs have it relatively together and are focused on their goals, then this is a beautiful, magical, almost physic relationship.

Least Taurus Compatible Matches

Some signs do not fare well with the Taurus romantically.

Taurus compatibility works the best with sun signs that share the same values. Some, like the sun signs below, have values that run counter to the Taurus’.

Taurus and Aquarius

Have you ever seen somebody kick over another person’s sandcastle at the beach? Maybe you have not but have seen a Taurus and Aquarius relationship. It is basically the same thing.

To better put this in perspective, imagine that the sandcastle is the Taurus’ need for comfort, stability, and security, and the foot that kicks it is everything about what the Aquarius represents.

The misunderstood Aquarius marches to the beat of their own drummer, and one could say that their objective in this life is to challenge traditions.

This means stability as we know it, something the Taurus looks for throughout their entire lives.

The Aquarius is off-beat and always playing with expansive and abstract ideas and has an alchemic way of bringing them into life.

The practical Taurus does not understand any of this at all and would much prefer to be with a more level-headed and down to earth person.

The Aquarius will have little interest in the Taurus anyway, as they see the bull as too materialistic and rigid.

Nothing about the Taurus will excite the Aquarius and vice-versa.

Taurus compatibility with Aquarius is not good. Both signs are extraordinary in their own right, but for a romantic relationship, they will do far better with a sun sign who shares their same values.

Taurus and Gemini

Taurus compatibility with Gemini is weak because the two signs have little in common.

In every aspect of their lives, The Taurus looks for stability like a heat-seeking missile. This is especially the case with their romantic involvement.

The Gemini is a free sign, not only because they are mutable, but the Gemini is particularly known to be flighty.

Maybe not in an ADD sort of way, but they do have this remarkable ability to jump from one thing to the next, often making decisions and taking actions at the drop of a dime.

The Taurus is much too grounded and cautious to understand the Gemini’s unpredictable ways.

In a sense, the double-sided and mutable Gemini (who is nicknamed “the twins”) may also have difficulty understanding why they do some of what they do as well.

Everything from activities to the conversation will go this way with the pair, leaving the Taurus desperately looking for some sense of routine and normalcy.

This is sure to bring out the stubbornness of the bull and the Gemini will think the Taurus takes everything too seriously.

Taurus and Sagittarius

Just because Taurus is ruled by the planet of love, Venus does not mean that their love is well-suited for everyone.

Taurus compatibility with Sagittarius is not good for many reasons, most pronounced is their difference in values.

The fire sign of Sagittarius is explosive and daring, a complete extrovert and social butterfly.

Meanwhile, the more reserved Taurus tends to lean towards being an introvert.

This should not be a total dealbreaker, however, the ruling planet of Sagittarius is Jupiter, which represents travel and exploration.

Taurus is one of the most domesticated sun signs and Sagittarius natives would likely work for the airlines if they do not already.

The Sagittarius is all about freedom and at the end of the day, the Taurus would much rather just stay at home with their partner.

Taurus compatibility with Sagittarius is highly doubtful as both seem to be here on earth worth completely different missions and both signs are pretty steadfast about making them into a reality.

Taurus and Aries

Remember the sandcastle analogy from earlier? Let’s use that again here.

The sandcastle still represents the Taurus’ values and this time the foot that kicks it represents the Aries.

Unlike the Aquarius in the earlier scenario, who has their reason for kicking the sandcastle, the Aries kicks it just to kick it. Aries, the aggressive young ram, thrives on conflict for conflict’s sake. The Taurus is hardworking and carefully constructs a comfortable, peaceful, and stable life for themselves.

Aries/Taurus compatibility is a big negative. If this relationship even starts, to begin with, it will end pretty quickly in one of three ways:

1) The Taurus ignores the Aries’s constant challenges to fight them, in which case the Aries leaves to go find someone else that will fight them.

2) The Taurus thinks the Aries is a bully, gets too stressed out, and then leaves.

3) The Aries pushes the Taurus just enough to bring out the bull’s famously bad, yet well-checked temper, and a fight that will end all fights ensues.

This locking of horns will likely be so bad that there cannot be any reconciliation ahead.

The Taurus Man

The Taurus man is a stoic in every sense of the word. Well, at least they want you to believe that.

Tough on the outside, the bull is a nature lover as a native of Venus. He is sweet and charming to those who know him.

The Taurus man is sensual and physically expressive, yet appearances would have you thinking that he was more reserved.

This is possibly true with his day-to-day decision making, but when he is in love, he is going to show it selflessly and with tons of affection.

The Taurus man is intelligent and communicative, he chooses his words wisely- he says what he means and means what he says.

He is hardworking and goal-oriented. Chances are this man who is successful and seeks a mate with a similar drive. Finding a partner who shares his values is a priority for him.

The Taurus man is a homebody. A force to be reckoned with at his 9-5, he cannot wait to get home and indulge in some good food, romantic company, and an evening in with his partner.

The Taurus, only matched by the Cancer, is the most domesticated of the sun signs.

The Taurus man is the perfect catch: an ambitious go-getter and a selfless and sensual lover at home.

Taurus Man Relationship Compatibility

The Taurus man works hard for his life of success, comfort, and peace and needs a partner who values the same things as him. He is loyal and devoted and seeks someone who is in it with them for the long haul.

Taurus man relationship compatibility works the greatest with Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, and Pisces.

Taurus Man Sexual Compatibility

The Taurus man is physically expressive. While sex is physical, it is also much more than that to the Taurus man, who does not just make love in bed- he actually makes love in bed.

The best sexual partners for the Taurus man are Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, and Pisces.

The Taurus Woman

The Taurus woman is the definition of a powerful woman. She is as strong as a bull, but as a native of Venus, she is as feminine as they come.

She is an artist at heart and drawn to things spiritual. If you told me that you know a Taurus woman from yoga class, I would not be surprised.

She is practical, intelligent, and communicative. While known for expressing her love physically, she needs stimulating conversation, preferably of the smart and humorous kind.

As a fixed sign, she is likely confident. The Taurus woman knows who she is and is looking for a partner who is the same.

The female bull is self-reliant and independent, so having a partner for her is a plus and not a necessity. She would much rather be alone than with someone insensitive, boring, or otherwise fake.

When in a relationship, she is devoted. Known to be a loyal lover, the Taurus woman seeks a partner who shares her values but also someone who does not bore her to death.

She appreciates genuine, interesting, and stable people in her life and to win her heart you will likely need to be patient and show and prove that you are a special catch.

Taurus Woman Relationship Compatibility

Taurus women are confident, independent, and self-reliant. She is tough yet sensual and full of love. When she is with a partner, she is fully invested. Highly devoted, the Taurus woman is looking for something solid and long term. Her compatibility is best with Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, and Pisces.

Taurus Woman Sexual Compatibility

The Taurus woman is a physically expressive and powerfully sensual lover.

While she might come off as reserved, she lets her guard down in the bedroom, but only when in the company of a trusted companion who she is committed to.

The Taurus woman’s best sexual matches are Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, and Pisces.

Final Thoughts

The intelligent and friendly earth sign of Taurus craves stability, comfort, and peace. If a sun sign shares these values, their differences will likely balance each other out in beneficial ways.

The Taurus in love is devoted; stubborn, yet selfless. They are trustworthy and dependable and in it for the long run.

Taurus compatibility is good with other domesticated homebodies who like to partake in sensuality at home: winning and dining, good books, and movies, with some stimulating conversation in the mix.

Some sun signs not only have different values than the Taurus, but their values actively go against what the Taurus works so diligently at building up for themselves, their sandcastle.

For this reason, Taurus compatibility is poor with Aquarius, Gemini, Sagittarius, and Aries.

Conversely, Taurus makes an excellent partner for sun signs Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, and Pisces.

All of these signs prefer to stay at home and gravitate towards intellectually stimulating conversations and activities.

Some of these signs are hardworking and goal-oriented, and the others can be as well, depending on other aspects of their natal chart and their overall character.

[puc-puggy]

oh now we're REALLY in my shit! i'm gonna oversimplify a bunch of stuff to try to make this point concisely.

so yeah it's obviously very valuable to ask how and where christianity impacted the development of democracy in the west, and most christians did justify their democratic beliefs through their pre-existing christian beliefs. but the idea that there's a historical correlation between christianity and democracy is. not accurate in any sense of the word. the vast majority of states with christianity as an official religion across time have been monarchic autocracies. additionally, there is no statistical relationship between christianity itself and democracy. christianity does not lead in a straight line to democratic thought/exposure to christianity does not increase the likelihood of believing in democracy. if it did, democracy/democratic thought would have taken off in europe well before contact with north america. but it didn't! because democratic thought in the west was enabled by exposure to active, flourishing democracies in north america.

here's the thing to remember about people. belief doesn't come from evidence. evidence comes from belief. you begin to believe in something, so you search for proof of it. (this is how race was invented).

what happened was not enlightenment philosophers independently discovering the value of Science and observing the natural world and combing through ancient greek texts to rediscover the truth of democracy. no! human people went to north america from europe where they were exposed to other human people actively practicing democracy, and they went "that looks kind of awesome. i would prefer having a say over dictatorkings." these ideas were carried back to europe largely by common men, not by officers or aristocrats of rank, which is why you see democratic thought begin to penetrate the upper echelons of european society about 250/300 years later. the cultural chaos of the english civil war is particularly interesting through the lens of cultural exchange with north america (where exactly did all of these ~crazy~ ideas suddenly sprout from?)

but the indigenous american concepts of ecological democratic thought were not compatible with european culture or with christianity due to fundamentally opposing relationships to land. in the christian context, god gave man dominion over the earth and this dominion justified first Judean concepts of property ownership and later western legitimacy of property ownership. property ownership leads to inheritance and inheritance requires dominion. by contrast, property ownership as a concept did not exist in north america. the lack of dominion over the land in north america is not a small part of why europeans assumed that native americans were primitive savages left out of god's covenant with men.

(wildly oversimplifying now) europeans refused to credit indigenous americans for exposure to democratic thought because it would undermine the whole 'left out of the covenant & we have both a right and responsibility to establish god's dominion across the whole planet through genocide and land theft' bit. it would mean giving up all sorts of money and not stealing things from other people through violence and yada yada. they did not like that option. so they went looking for other different evidence from Respectable European Sources that democracy was a good idea and worth trying out while continuously destroying their examples of it. what they found was ancient greece.

like, they didn't lose aristotle. they had him the whole time. they just didn't care. democracy was dead in europe until europeans were exposed to real living democracies, and then they broadly went looking for evidence that would not require them to give up the violence of colonization.

there were obviously christians who immediately recognized the merit of indigneous systems, like louis hennepin. hennepin (1626-1704) lied vehemently about discovering the mississippi river in order to steal the influence of the discovery away from this bitch he was forced to travel with, de tonti. de tonti was a proto-capitalist and was determined on claiming all territory and resources upon it for the french crown (all the better to embezzle from), while hennepin was romanced by the democratic customs he saw and wanted european powers to simply ask to use unused land as the indigneous saw fit to grant. he was particularly enamored by the economic systems, which were communal in nature and more christ-like in practice than anything he'd seen in his life. so hennepin fucking hated de tonti and desperately wanted to share what he'd learned in the americas. reports of major discoveries like this were bestsellers among the literate and would be read widely, cementing public opinion in many ways, and it made natural sense to lie, say he'd discovered the mississippi based exclusively on second-hand accounts from the nations he was on friendly terms with, soundly steal a paycheck from de tonti, and sway public opinion towards cultural exchange with another nation rather than brutal domination over savages as much as he could. and he was a franciscan, who at the time had a long tradition of publishing books in popular genres to proselytize. (didn't work, obviously)

?????

Can someone explain to me what supersessionism actually is?

Because, like, I understand getting mad at theory that says Christianity is an improvement over Judaism, as you see in, like, Hegel.

But the other day someone posted a mini to a HF community I'm in depicting the Crucifixion and quoting Isaiah, and people piled on the artist for being supersessionist for not choosing a quote from the New Testament instead.

That seemed weird to me, like bringing a conversation about proper interfaith coexistence into... the comment section of a piece of art... i a community where religious discussions aren't the point?

Seemed mean, like the thing where people post unwelcome concrit and it's not the concrit itself that's the issue, it's the "dude, not here."

Am I missing something huge here?

[the-homicidediaries]

Issei Sagawa

“Sometimes I wonder why I did such a horrible thing. Maybe it’s because I come from another planet, or another dimension and accidentally fell to Earth like a meteorite, disguised as a baby crying on the street. My mother walked by and took pity on me. I must have come from a place of cannibals, and I’m the only one of my kind who exists on this planet.”

Good afternoon, everyone who takes the time to read this!

Today, I have the very displeasure of telling you about one of the most.. bizarre human beings I have ever read about.

I have been interested in true crime ever since I could remember. My father is really interested in it as well, so growing up there were always books laying around about the worst of the worst kind of people. Even to this day, my dad and I share stories we heard or a new podcast we listened to or swap books; it’s real fun.  And when you are heavily interested in true crime, you hear and see so many similar stories. This person had an abusive childhood and became a serial killer, this person was not longer interested in being a family man so he killed his whole family and moved away to start a new life, this person was strung out on drugs, this person caught her husband cheating on her and stabbed him as a crime of passion, etc. And while I am not downplaying or excusing these murders AT ALL, because no one should be murdered, I do find myself skipping stories like that. They don’t check my boxes.

Cannibals check my box.  And I have, admittedly, unconsciously, been surrounding myself with cannibalistic aspects. I just finished (another) three part podcast about Jeffrey Dahmer, I’m reading My Friend Dahmer, and watching Attack on Titan like my life depends on it. (Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series turned into a long running anime about three conjoined towns who are constantly being attacked and eaten by the HUGE human-like zombie creatures, but that is for another day.)

Have I rambled enough? Yes. Yes, I think so. Let’s get into ittttt.

Issei Sagawa, known as Pang or The Kobe Cannibal, was born on April 26th, 1949 in Kobe, Japan to a very wealthy family. Issei has said himself that his childhood was the happiest time of his life and he was a carefree child. He said his parents love him deeply. One thing to note about Issei is that he was born prematurely (and he looks.. off) and doctors did not think he would survive. Issei said because of this, he has always seen himself as an undesirable person. So, instead of friends, Issei had books! Because his family was so wealthy, Issei was afforded an incredible education and was able to travel all over the world and learn about music, art, literature, etc.  He was very interested in art. This will come back around later.

So how does a rich, seemingly normal, intelligent child become a cannibal?  Issei contributes a few things to this: *Issei said his first cannibalistic urge happened when he was in first grade and saw a fellow classmate’s thighs. *Issei said sex was a taboo subject around his household. He said when he had reached a certain age, he began having erections, like all boys do, but he thought he was sick and was too embarrassed to tell anyone. He didn’t know how to relieve himself at this time.. soooo. He, uh, got help from his dog.  Yeah. Yeeeah. (I watched an interview he did with Vice about ten years ago, which I will link below, and watching him describe this so nonchalantly made me the most uncomfortable. Actually, he is nonchalant the entire interview and it’s so disturbing and uncomfy. At one point he says, “I think my sexual desires began to distort around that time.”  Yeah, I would say so, buddy.) *Issei said he would have a reoccurring dream where he and his brother were being boiled in a large pot to be eaten. Issei said he flipped the script and began to fantasize about what it would be like to eat someone. As with most premeditated killers, his fantasies escalated from curiosity to behavior. *Issei was obsessed with western women. He said they are tall and beautiful and he has described himself as a “weak, ugly, and small man”. In an interview after what he keeps calling an “incident”, Issei claimed one of the reasons he consumed human flesh was to “absorb her energy”. 

Issei said he did practice a good amount of restraint for his cannibalistic urges until his college years. While attending Wako University in Tokyo, Issei said he saw a beautiful, blonde, German woman walking by and he was “dazzled by her white thighs”.  One day, he broke into this woman’s apartment on the ground floor. He said his plan was to hit her in the head with an umbrella so he could get a knife from her kitchen and cut into her buttocks and eat it. He was extremely hesitant and his knees accidentally brushed against her stomach, waking her up. She screamed and Issei fled. Police charged him with attempted rape.  Issei said he did explain to psychiatrists about his sexual urges but they didn’t consider it cannibalism and let him go. 

After this, Akira (his father) sent Issei to study comparative literature at Sorbonne University in France in 1981. In the interview, as Issei is recalling this, he said his mother had the an extremely sad look on her face the day he was leaving, “like she knew something horrible was going to happen”. (I could think of a reason why.)

Issei had not forgotten about how close he had gotten to fulfilling his fantasy of eating a European woman back in Tokyo. He was convinced if he was more prepared he could follow through with it flawlessly. He said when he moved to France, he would bring home a sex worker almost every night, but everytime he tried to shoot her, his fingers would freeze. While studying at Sorbonne University, Issei set his eyes on 25-year old Dutch student, Renée Hartevelt. Issei said Renée was so beautiful and he had never seen anyone like her before. (She really was stunning and looked like such a sweet person.) He also said he didn’t want to get caught staring at her, so he began making sketches of her.  From what I read, and I do not know how accurate this is, the two started as friends and eventually Issei began to pursue Renée romantically. He would take her on dates to art museums and dinner. When he confessed his feelings for her, she insisted they just remain friends because she was not sexually attracted to him.  So Issei lied to Renée and told her his professor wanted him to record some German poetry. Renée didn’t think anything about helping out a fellow classmate, so she was happy to come over and help.  Issei said he picked out the poem she read, and as she was reading the poem out loud at his desk, he pulled a rifle out of a closet and shot her in the neck. He said she kept reciting the poem after he shot her, then she just.. stopped. Issei said he fainted after he shot her and when he came to he almost called an ambulance for her, but he knew he would regret it if he lost this opportunity to act out his fantasies.

I am going to quote Issei verbatim from his interview with Vice.

TRIGGER WARNING

“I lied to her that my professor wanted some German poetry recorded. That was the pretext. She didn’t doubt a thing. I chose the poetry. I reached for the gun while she was reading. I was talking to her with a smile on my face. I was really scared. Yet I did pull the trigger. She... kept on talking... until suddenly she fell silent. First she collapsed onto the desk, then fell to the ground with the chair. I laid a towel under her head then undressed her. I had everything planned out in my head from which part i would start feasting on and such. Starting with her ass. I thought it looked the most delicious. It had to be the right cheek, not the left. The left cheek is closer to the heart and I’m scared of blood. I abruptly bit into it, but it was too hard to bite into. It hurt my jaw. I tried cutting in with a fruit knife but it didn’t go through. I gave up and went to the market. I bought a curved meat knife. Finally it went through the flesh. I thought I’d see red meat right away, but there was a yellow corn-like substance, which I later found out was fat. I had to cut deeply to reach the red meat. I don’t remember if I sliced it off, or tore it off with my fingers. I put most of my favorite parts, like the thighs, in the fridge.”

My face right now.

He’s leaving out a lot of details on this.. right after he shot Renée, he had sex with her corpse. And, like I said before, he is so nonchalant about all of this. He ate a LOT of her. I saw a picture of eleven paper plates loaded with human flesh, muscles, and fat. Both of her breasts, her nose, her tongue, her bottom lip, and most of her lower half (her hips, middle of her stomach, and thighs) was missing. He did say he tried to eat her breast, but it was mostly fat and he didn’t enjoy it. Her buttocks, however, “(It) melted in my mouth like raw tuna in a sushi restaurant.” He continued to try different parts of Renée’s body. He would fry pieces of her and eat other parts with mustard. He even decapitated her. He took pictures of Renée’s mutilated body and would have sex with it while listening to the recording of her reading the German poem.

For four days.

He mentioned how June is the hottest month in Paris and he was worried the body would start to rot. So he took Renée’s body to the bathroom and cut her up so he could get rid of it. (He also mentioned after finishing his graduate program, he wanted to go to Greece. He said he took a big luxurious boat and actually shared a table with a butcher and his wife during dinner. He said the butcher was a fat, jolly man and told him how to butcher meat. Issei wrote a letter to the butcher after “the incident” thanking him. He said the butcher never wrote back.)

One he had cut the body up into pieces, he placed the pieces into two suitcases and, made plans to dump the body in a lake in Bois de Boulogne, called in a cab.  “It wasn’t easy getting the body into [the suitcases]. The torso is extremely heavy. It’s really hard to cut to begin with. It’s nothing like a horror movie.” When the cab driver picked up Issei’s suitcases to put them in the cab, he asked Issei if he had a dead body in them. (That tidbit made me really sad.)

Once Issei reached the lake, he pushed the suitcases down the slope. He vastly underestimated how light it still was outside at 8 pm. He said several people were sunbathing still. The sun was setting across the lake, and Issei said for the first time, he saw color. He was fascinated watching a young boy and his grandfather at the top of a hill and while he was distracted, another man came up, opened one of the suitcases, and saw a bloody bedsheet with legs wrapped in it. A woman screamed and someone else yelled, “Murderer!”  Issei said he just walked away.

Issei was, of course, arrested. He was interrogated by three psychiatrists who deemed him mentally insane. Issei was sent to a criminal psych ward, but before he could even begin treatment, he was deported back to Japan because the French people were very uncomfortable with him being there at their expense.  Once Issei arrived back in Japan, he mentioned the hospital he was staying at didn’t conclude that he was mentally ill, just that he had a personality disorder. Issei was forced to leave the hospital without undergoing any treatment. He did not serve any time in prison for ungodly crimes he had committed.  Actually, in a weird turn of events, he became a local celebrity. He became an author, had several interviews, has illustrated mangas (that’s why I mentioned he loves art), made porn, and was even a food critic. He even travelled to Canada, Mexico, and Iceland with two friends of him. I don’t have time to cover all of that because that in itself could be a whole other essay, but like I said, I will link the YouTube video I watched below.

And that is the gruesome, awful, gut wrenching story of Issei Sagawa.

Below are pictures of Issei Sagawa and his victim, Renée Hartevelt. I am also linking the Vice interview on YouTube as well as the crime scene photos. Please view at your own risk.

Thank you for reading. <3

Crime scene photos: https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/sagawa-issei-photos-2.htm Vice Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BosZxa1bYcE&t=336s

[pathxwd]

What aliens told us

                            

Q: Which is the best way for us to communicate with extraterrestrial life?

A: It’s thinking, also known as thought waves.

Q: If so, wouldn't it be that extraterrestrial life can receive all the messages sent by earthmen’s thought waves?

A: No. Only the special thought waves which are beyond the earthmen’s conventional thoughts can send messages to aliens.

Q: What are these thought waves like? What is the exact wave frequency? How do people use this kind of thought waves specifically?

A: It’s a kind of deeper thought waves when humans are in thoughtless awareness, just below the level of conventional thinking. And it’s a kind of long waves emitted when the brain waves are in balance. It’s of fast frequency and direct, and it’s the medium of communicating with aliens.

Humans can use the thought waves in this frequency to give out information by practice of staying quiescence. There are some methods for you earthmen to achieve this, such as sitting still, praying, incanting, repeating in your mind, etc.)

Q: Oh, so is it futile for earthmen’s scientists to try to communicate with aliens through instruments?

A: Yes. It is a low-level channel of communication, limited by time and space. Only the thought waves in earthmen’s deep brains are interlinked with aliens. It is the best channel for interstellar communication.

Q: I see. The speed of thought waves is very fast. What is it approximately?

A: It is beyond the speed of light. It can arrive in an instant.

Q: Can you tell me what the exact number of the speed is?

A: 1036 thousand sextillion kilometers per second.

Q: This number is different from what we earthmen have known, which is 7.6 million kilometers per second.

A: That's the speed of normal thought waves. Deep thought waves are faster, which reach the targets almost instantaneously. So it is many times faster than the speed of light.

Q: What can we benefit from earthmen’s communicating with extraterrestrial life?

 

A: You can get helpful information from extraterrestrial life, including aids to deal with your own complicated disease. Interstellar communication can also strengthen friendship and cooperation between earthmen and alien life. And you can enjoy interplanetary travel, too. Moreover, you can get assistance when developing astrospace, where you can live in harmony with the universal family. It can also lead to a promotion in your science, technology as well as morality, enabling your future generations to emigrate to other planets, and so on.

 

Q：Humans on the earth wonder: why do alien lives come to the earth and what will they do to earthmen?

A: Interstellar travel is also earthmen’s wish. You humans on the earth often imagine making a journey or settling down on other planets, don’t you? When getting there, you will certainly explore the new space. If finding some human-like creatures, you definitely wish to get on well with them. You can’t act rashly there and you will think it’s better to keep away from them in order to avoid conflicts. If possible, friendly contact between you earthmen and the human-like lives will be realized. Or you can make advantages of them to do something for your own development and evolution.

The intelligent alien lives come to the earth with the same idea, too. This is because all the lives share the same nature. Seeing big things through the small ones, it will be clear for you by inspecting your own society or life.

2014、8、26　

 

Q: When will our human scientists realize that thinking is the best tool for interstellar communication?

A：It depends on your subjective initiatives to let the scientific community know it as early as possible. You have to let them know the secret as soon as you can by various means, such as publishing articles, reporting to the scientific community, and giving advice directly to scientific researchers in this field.

Q: Then why don't you just give these scientists the inspiration straightforward, such as specific dreams, direct voiceless thinking or audio languages to enlighten them?

A: They are not inside the system and they don't get the information.

Q: Those people like Ling-yue Zhang can receive your information but why not give it to scientists?

A: The scientists' brains are filled with research they are studying on and the information can’t be directly input to them. Moreover, they are not good at paying attention to our information. Individually we will give them inspiration, but it is very secret, for example in a dream. However, they can’t associate that with us.

2014.8. 26

 

 

Question: Can everyone get the voice guidance function (or the competence of acoustic conductance)?

Answer: Voice guidance (or the competence of acoustic conductance) is not something that everyone can master. To obtain the function of sound guidance, one must have a higher ideological realm and be able to serve others without regarding for himself, and use voice guidance as a tool for serving the people. The second is to have a very strong resolution to distinguish whether the information is true or just a test. Third, the very persons should have the ability to keep the secrets of others. Whenever they hear about anyone's privacy, they should keep them secrets rather than for their own purpose, and they can still help the people who come to consult sincerely. Fourth, the acquisition of the voice guidance function depends on the recipients themselves who own the ability to drive voice and correctly use the sound guide, neither losing themselves because of the information from voice guide, nor influenced in their daily life. At the same time, they can also provide reasonable and effective instruction in time for the people coming for help.

2009.12

 

Question: How do you get our minds on earth?

Answer: This question has already been talked about, now let’s briefly review it. When you are thinking about something, your brains will send time-space waves or thought waves. This kind of waves is characterized by superluminal velocities and can instantly reach the information processing system in the intelligence center controlled by us. The super-strong light-guided system processes the information quickly and then feed back to the human mind system. It is completed in a flash. Therefore, humans sometimes feel synchronized or supersynchronized because our light-guided system operates information much faster than the humans’ brains do.

Q: How do we receive your information correctly and accurately?

A: People can receive our information when they are in a state of silence and listening carefully. What we call "sound" is a silent state, in which you can "listen" and capture information, but you may not have to hear sound in reality. Your brains can not stand it with a real sound. Ordinary people can’t bear it if there is a sound in their brains all day, and such a person will not live long. Sound guidancer is not everyone, but someone selected by us, who can capture our information with their heart.

Q: How do people without special powers listen to you?

A: They can be guided by the information from people with supernatural power, or be alerted by some special phenomena which we act on. People need to learn to analyze these phenomena and pick up the cautionary information in them.

Excerpts part 1:

"The universe is relative, both infinite and finite. Let’s start with the formation of the universe. The universe is inherent, but is changing. We say it is inherent because as a whole the universe is endless, no beginning, no end. Locally, a small universe is limited. The infinite universe is made up of infinite Numbers, big one such as the universe, small one such as particles.All of them is material amd knowable.This is the inevitable result of the universe since the formation of intelligent life.(2003.1.25)

"The origin of the universe was very simple. Today's world is the result of the ever-changing universe, which was simple at the beginning.

The universe is infinite.Although the researchers have proposed limited universe theory,which refers to only one universe. But as a whole, it is boundless.Though large, but there is beginning and end for one universe. And mankind can be involved in only a single individual universe, for which there is beginning and end.So we say there is beginning and end for the universe,which has a boundary.But the overall is different.

There was beginning for the universe, which was of course primitive and simple at that time, and not as complicated as it is today. The universe is made up of countless individuals, such as the Milky Way, which is made up of numerous stars, planets and nebulas, and countless galaxies form a wider universe, and so on.

The galaxy,in which solar system belongs to is only one member of the big family of the universe. For humans, this is everything. This is the universe.The galaxy has had a long history, from its absence to existence, from its prosperity to decay, which is normal for individual galaxie. But this takes a very long period.

The universe is naturally produced, including us any creatures are the product of the universe, creature with the universe, of course, also have a very long history, your study is only part of the earth's environment under the condition of history, also can't know more esoteric knowledge.

The knowledge of the universe is the same as the history of life, and you know only a part of it, so the understanding is limited and partial, and with the development, this limited is gradually expanding.Universe (you know) stead fast, this is the understanding, in terms of local is accurate, explosion, the expansion theory, the scope of what you can and is realistic, is accurate.So at the beginning, of course, not the present state, but relatively simple, why does it break out?Let me tell you, this is the result of natural development, such as you as you now know a little knowledge, some of the planet are new, some planets close to perish, the form of destruction is one of the outbreak, into the cloud of the heavenly bodies, also some star in the contract, and as the change of gravity objects around the adsorption, the black hole actually, that is the reason why constantly to the surrounding objects in motion state adsorption, where are these objects?I'll tell you, it's not eaten, it's part of it, it's growing.Expansion, on the other hand, it is in the spread of new life, is changing, not static, not like blowing balloons, but growth in the change, by the start of the individual became thousands and thousands of family, and cause a new member of the family, and growing in life come out.It is a dialectical relationship, shrinkage, expansion, is relative, is change inevitable form in the universe, are growing themselves, for the purpose of in the process of contraction and expansion, the universe is constantly developing and changing, more and more complex, more is not easy to read.Be aware that the universe is change, is growing own, local destruction also for a wider range of the freshmen, not the day of destruction, the universe is infinite, because of its change, lead to new and develop, expand, countless such changes resulted in the universe is infinite."(2003.4.27)

"The earth mind is not the historical idea that the earth does not move around the earth, nor is it a question of who is in question, so do not understand it on the surface.So what is the point of the earth mind in a hundred words poem?First of all, in the vast universe, wisdom to produce far better than in the operation of the celestial bodies who turn around who is much more important, in the big family of the universe is wisdom is produced as the center to consider the importance of the planet.In the earth, for example, for produce and exist on the planet, the size is not big, but full of vitality of the planet is their home, and will always be their home.They will use their wisdom to build their homes, to protect their homes, no matter how much their ability in the future, how much space to develop, this big blue earth is their permanent home.From this point of view, in the infinite space of space, this little earth is your core and center in this space.Research, so the mind is this knowledge, tell people in intelligent life with wisdom as the core, the emphasis of wisdom is to produce first, and people may get to it as the center, radiation to the whole space which is also called the "mind"?Secondly, as for who wai who turn this have different understanding in the different time space view, when people can breakthrough the limitation of time and space free play in full, will have a new understanding on the problem, the first emphasizes the "mind" geocentrism wisdom as the core.

Why the emphasis on the role of the mind is not only the above conceptual thing, but also the real understanding of the mind and the practical significance.There is only one earth, even if there are other planets similar to or even better than the condition of the earth's environment, but the real is only one earth, it will always be a unique one in the big family of the universe for the development of home life, wisdom will never indelible imprints in the human heart.Humanity must put its wisdom into this universe with the earth as its center. First of all, the center -- the earth -- must protect and use the planet at all costs.Obligation to protect the earth, care for the earth is human long-term, don't think to find a planet instead of the earth, is to find a don't give up on the earth, must set up keep earth forever, take good care of the earth's forever faith.So new science is emphasized to study has its practical significance, not just discuss who wai who turn, in the present study, after all, this problem is no more meaning, but to establish the idea of the earth as the center, to know the importance of the earth, and for this purpose (to protect the earth) the importance of struggle."(2005..7.12)

"Cosmic system is the objective existence of various objects, while the movement and change, according to certain rule, but no one is not perfect, there is no away from human factors beyond what a" cosmic wisdom ", the so-called the universe is formed by the people's wisdom.For the power of man can affect all the heavenly bodies known to him, and even change celestial bodies for certain purposes, leaving behind human footprints in the universe;In the human society, because of the role of higher intelligence, the formation of energy information is involved, resulting in a more intelligent shadow. What's the matter today?Although the universe is very big, to know it is difficult, but human intelligence is very big, can conquer it, but the wisdom of human is in the service of justice and truth, this is the law of development of human intelligence, the wisdom of violating the laws will eventually disappear in the universe.The universe cannot tolerate human beings who are morally corrupt. The laws are immutable. We follow this principle and defend this truth.(2006.7.17)

"The time and space we live in is very different from you because of the different ways of living, and it is easy to say that there are several concepts that should be clear:

1, time and space is the space of people into an awareness of their own and their own a concept, the concept of space-time in you always to your real is directly proportional to the level of development, that is to say people is the concept of objective natural response, when you far beyond your current level of development level, your idea of space and time is correspondingly changed.

2. People's subjective initiative determines that people's understanding of the objective world is changing, that is to say, the concept of the universe will also change with time and space.There is a clear understanding that the concept is the reaction of people to objective cognition, and it is also a realistic reaction, which increases with the improvement of cognition.

3. The new science is the unity of transcendence and reality, and so is the space-time view.

We are in time and space due to the different understanding of the objective different from you, our concept of space is relative, that space is variable, the reason is that the time is variable, in the space under the condition of relatively static, determines the spatial changes of time."(2002.7.29)

Since a beginning in the universe forming, which of course was simple as well as pure at the start, it was not so complex as it is today. Universe is made up of numerous individuals, which is like that Milky Way galaxy consists of a number of fixed stars, planets as well as clusters of nebulae, and then many a such galaxy make up vaster universe and so on. This consequently makes the universe endless.

14:53

The Milky Way galaxy where there exists the solar system is just a member of the vast universe, but for human beings on the earth, it is all the world and the whole universe. It took a very long time to form the Milky Way galaxy, which came into being from nothingness, experiencing a process from prosperity to decline. It’s normal for individual galaxy, but the forming time lasts for so long.

The formation of universe is natural, and all the creatures, including us ---- advanced mankind, are the products of the universe. And like universe, the development and evolution of creatures need a long time, too. What you are studying on is just the evolution history in the earthly environment, not the whole universe, which is far from more profound truth.

Of course we are able to be everywhere, which means we can go anywhere we want to go and live and develop there, as we are so called almighty. This is totally different from what you thought, especially according to some religions, that we follow you everywhere and thus present to be the spirit. This is absolutely idealistic and theological. The correct and scientific understanding about us is that it is our advanced expertise but not ourselves that can follow or trace you. So you can see that different people have different understanding about us, and some are right some are wrong. This is nothing surprising and none of your fault, all is because we are far more advanced for your congnitive ability and are therefore mystery. It is understandable that you are not able to recognize us for the moment.　

Question: what is the novel understanding about “God”?

Answer: “God” is the definition that you human beings have for us before you are able to discover the truth of all kinds of mysterious phenomena existing in nature and your society, wrongly assuming that there exists a spirit namely “God” who takes control over everything. The true face of God is us—the super wise lives who is actually a real life form with blood and flesh, but not something shapeless, ambiguous，indescribable and supreme. Although God has different meanings in different nations and religions, they are all wrong for the real nature of us.

Q: Tell me something about audio communication.

A: The audio communication with super-intelligent life refers to communication via hearable language transmitted by super-intelligent life that can be perceived by earthmen. The language can be any type among different countries on earth as well as that of super-intelligent life. However, in most cases, it is what the receiver usually uses-his or her mother tongue so that it can be perceived and understood clearly. The medium through which voice is transmitted is light energy, a nonlinear optical magnetic wave that can be transmitted directly. The receivers of the transmitted voice are all parts of the human body and any external medium, from cosmic objects to elementary particles, which can be input and output as a recorder.

Source of transmitted voice is from the lightguide information system controlled by super-intelligent life, which contains all kinds of information suitable for various human languages. The guiding functions vary in accordance with different direction of voice transmission and specific position. The human receivers of transmitted voice are usually sensitive persons, who can capture external information accurately and judge accurately, calmly and analytically. Otherwise, it's easy to deviate. A portion of the mental patients receive external information, i.e. the voice transmitted from the lightguide information system controlled by super-intelligent life mostly because the patients are in a void mental state that is free from the reality so that they are able to receive information.

These types of people generally have some apparent character weakness, disobeying or deviating from normal track of human thought and life. Serving different purpose such as reminding, warning, helping, caring ect., voice information is transmitted to them, who would have mental disorder without treatment for a long time. This is a program for lightguide information system to manage earthmen. Modern medicine has not yet found out this secret and thinks it is disorder of the mechanism of the human brain which causes such problem. Human psychology thinks that it is the mental disorder which causes such problem. Both of them do not consider factors beyond earthmen. But actually some phenomena are caused by external information beyond earthmen.

Type of transmitted voice can be male or female voice or that of middle age or child,which is totally locking results of lightguide information system. If male voice is released, only male voice can be heard while female voice can be heard if female voice is release. The transmitted voice has no limitation of time and space. Mixture of male and female voice can also be released and heard too. Any human voice can be imitated. If the voice of a dead person is imitated and transmitted to a human being, who thinks that there is a soul speaking after death. This is the reason why there appear superstitions. The lightguide information system collects all the information of each individual human since the birth of human beings. The information can be transferred to the target at any time whenever and whoever necessary, and this is the mechanism.

[scarletarosa]

Regarding Natal Astrology and the 15 Star Signs - Why 15 is more accurate than 12

You are called not to become similar to the star sign description, but to overcome it. Just as each “heaven” or planetary sphere has challenges that need to be overcome, similarly you must face your zodiac challenge, in other words to overcome the limitations imposed according to the star sign in which you were born, using the ascendant as a ladder for this reason.

The natal star signs are defined through most certainly Gaian (of the Earth) influences due to seasonality. Tropical Zodiac System examples may be useful for defining a typology of characters, but they are lacking any grounding in logic due to the well-known phenomenon of precession of equinoxes (and so moving of zodiac star signs, lunar mansions etc as a result) which the Sidereal Zodiac System would support.

Therefore the so-called star signs have nothing to do with reality due to the three factors: 

The precession of the equinoxes/ signs changes in fact the actual sign – in being the adjacent one position backwards. 

The Equal House System (for all signs to occupy 30ο ) is totally arbitrary since the constellations are in fact unequal. 

The constellations passing through the ecliptic are 13, not 12 (they tend to forget Ophiuchus).

Therefore whatever “truth” there is in natal astrology has mostly to do with matters on Earth, and not the skies.

However, if we intend to use the star signs for magick (any type, including talismans) we should take account of the sidereal system, astronomically defining the signs and not astrologically. So this is about constellations, not star signs. Even this is problematic of course, because the so-called constellations visible to the eye not only alter their shapes in the passing of millennia, but also arbitrarily each civilization connects with lines totally unrelated and irrelevant to each other stars. Also, some civilizations take into account more and some less stars.

The fact that they are unrelated is clearly shown when considering that the visual image we have for a constellation is its “projection” onto a plane (flat surface), as if all its stars belong to that plane. However the truth is that they are totally unrelated to one another, despite being connected for easy identification by the eye. For the sake of convenience, we tend to forget that the stars vary so much with regards to distance, that each “constellation” is in fact a totally arbitrary representation that lacks any kernel of objective truth. So it is wiser to take into account individual stars and not constellations when intending to use them in our magickal practice. Some of them can be useful indeed.

It is well known that each planet has its own planetary spirit which Watches over it, so each sun/star has a powerful solar Intelligence which also watches over it. Since stars are suns, we should approach their star spirits; in order to avoid confusion with the so-called “astral space” we will mention these entities as solar spirits, also known as Stellar Intelligences (SI).

It is also of great importance to see what is on the Zenith in the sky at the hour of birth (or in another important magickal work). We don’t take into account the astrological MS but what astronomically is on the Zenith on Azimuth. This can be found using an astronomy program (there are some free ones on the net which are just as good) and it is important. For example I located 26 constellations apparently passing over the sky through the Azimuth disc 70-75ο where I reside. Their hours change in the year bit by bit, so while these are very particular, they do not reach zenith each hour each day and over the same place.

Nevertheless, if you are certain to use some type of Zodiac system, let it be with Unequal Houses, and of 15 “signs”. These are the 13 already mentioned and also Orion and Cetus which interject only barely in the ecliptic. One may also wish to include Lunar Mansions in their system. It is of great interest to note the governors of the natal days, and this can be done using the Egyptian netjeru (deities), Angelic systems, etc. and can also be included to add even more precise guidance.

Circumpolar Constellations do not rise and do not set. Remember them because they are important. In the Northern Hemisphere, the main ones are six: Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Draco, Camelopardalis, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Take into account that depending on where you live, there can be more additions to the list, but also some changes too. This can easily be found online. Refrain from seeing them as animals or using specific mythological context, regardless how tempting it might be, to avoid being deceived. Focus on their main stars and what these do and how they matter for each hemisphere, if they are used as reference points.

Try to avoid believing as astrologically important whatever is unseen by the naked eye. Astrological systems that take into account distant objects too far away are lacking any sense. From a metaphysical standpoint, yes, we are connected to everything and everything is connected to us. Some very subtle influence may indeed exist. If, however, we think all the things we come in contact with, we should realize that these are all that we see and all that we sense with one or more of our senses. I even include intuition or extrasensory perception in this…

For occult use in natal astrology we should take into account the ancient celestial spheres and we should forget Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and all the small planetoids. With regards to actual influences on our daily lives and not during some delicate magickal experiment or working, we are not influenced by anything apart from the Sun and the Moon. The Sun is the defining factor and we should be interested as to which stars or planets the sun appears to “pass through” (Ascendant, conjunction with planets etc). The Moon exerts a significant gravitational pull upon us; one witnesses this through the tides. Since we are made up from 70% water, it is reasonable to assume we are affected enough as to the fluid micro-pressures in our brain systems inside our skull, and other parts of the body in general. The closer to earth its orbit brings it, the more we are affected. Also its luminosity seems to exert some influence upon us, which is why the full moon and the eclipses affect us so.

Resuming: 

Specific stars, not star signs: the brightest / most visible to the eye

Sun, Moon are the most significant celestial bodies. Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn are of secondary importance. Celestial spheres which have symbolic meaning and major significance on the Tree of Life are not to be mixed with the gravitational and other planetary influences. 

Azimuth rather than classic astrology MS. 

Of secondary importance and only for specialized workings (for example manufacturing a talisman or doing a ritual that demands very specific things) are the Lunar Mansions and the Unequal House of the 15 “signs”. In general these can be ignored for most daily workings. The same goes for the detailed Planetary Hours’ tabulations that give advice as to what types of work/tasks are well-suited in that planetary hour of the day and night. 

Natal governors, yes, within reason. Take into account their aspects and influence but also their challenges.

In conclusion,

Experiment with the 15 signs of the Zodiac and the sign you are given from this more accurate chart. It may likely suit your energy/temperament better and perhaps even show things you must overcome. Additionally, this sign may fit in with your Egyptian and Celtic signs better than the “original” sign from the 12 Zodiacs Natal Chart. Though it is best to keep in mind that the descriptions of the Zodiac signs are based on typical divination meant for entertainment rather than an actual mystical science. Take the descriptions with a pinch of salt and do not use the Zodiac to judge others. 

(Additional credit to @melias-cimitiere​ for help with the research)

Read here for your sign/description from the 15 star signs chart

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 18

Warning, if it hasn’t been obvious in the movies there is Nazi symbolism within the First Order. I will expand on this much more throughout the story. If this is something that bothers you, please just exit the story. The author does not condone any Nazi ideals, this is just for fictional uses only.

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with some canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 18: Before the Committee

You woke up early to your alarm. Pausing before getting up you relived the events of the last two days. It was a whirlwind, and you wondered if it was always going to be like this. Shaking your head you got out of bed and ready for the day. You wore one of your work ‘uniforms’ as you deemed them more appropriate for the meetings you had ahead of yourself today. You also decided that you should put on some light makeup, as to make a good impression that you took good care in self-grooming.

When you were finished getting ready you grabbed your phone and started to head out of your room. You noticed that Kylo was not in his room, you entered the living room and Lieutenant Mitaka was there once again.

“Good morning m’lady,” said the lieutenant.

“Good morning lieutenant have you eaten this morning,” you ask while walking to the dining room.

“Yes, ma’am,” replied the short man.

“Well can I order you a cup of coffee or tea? And I am assuming you have been assigned to me again this morning,” you asked.

“I have been assigned to be your personal assistant of sorts, by the Supreme Leader. And a cup of tea would be most appreciated,” you could see relief cross his face. You reminded yourself that the Kylo that you see is not the Supreme Leader everyone else deals with.

You ordered from your phone for the first time. Unlike Kylo’s data pad there seemed to be a long list of Earth foods, and there seemed to be a list of your favorite foods in the favorites tab. How Kylo was able to do this you didn’t know, but you were too nervous to ask him.

The droid arrived in a matter of three minutes before you were really able to ask the Lieutenant anything. But you enjoyed your breakfast and the Mitaka thanked you for the tea.

“I know I have to be at the Health Committee by around 10. I know I need to arrange for transport. If I could I would like materials sent to me on my phone, about what the First Order’s current health policies are,” as you were saying this Mitaka was typing on his data pad.

“I will have everything sent to you. I can arrange for transport at 0800 hours this morning. I have been informed that the Finalizer’s chief medical officer would like to meet with you before the meeting. He would like you to debrief him on what you and the Supreme Leader have discussed on the subject,” said the lieutenant. You received a notification on your phone informing you that the First Order health regulations documents have been delivered.

You thanked the lieutenant and saw that the time was only 7 AM. You walked into your room and took out your work tote. You pulled out a notebook and pen and walked back to the living room. You started to make notes on what you were reading.

Several manuals, the biggest being 'Field Hygiene and Sanitation.’ This seemed very obvious to you. The purpose of the command, which person is responsible for what in terms of their own health. The individual is first and foremost responsible for their own health, then their immediate commander, then the medical/dental officer, then upper chains of command.

The manual went over personal cleanliness, care of the mouth and teeth, care of the feet, food, and drink, exercise, rest and recreation, protection against the elements, protection against disease-carrying insects, avoidance of the sources of disease, special protective measures, cultivation of a healthy mind, and finally rules for avoiding illness in the field. Many of these things could be translated into civilian life and so you made proper notes on this.

You glanced at the time seeing it was 7:45 by the time you were done making these notes. You decided that you should brainstorm some marketing tactics for this health regime. You made a more encompassing list that you previously stated the day before; Posters, pamphlets, video, radio, press releases, and large advertisements.

“Ma’am we should head to the hangar to depart for your meeting,” said the lieutenant.

You nodded and packed up your things. You followed the lieutenant to the hangar to which you saw the command shuttle and Commander Pyre once more.

“Everything is ready for your departure my lady,” said the gold plated commander.

You climbed aboard the ship and everyone strapped in for take-off.

“Tell me commander, am I to expect you to escort me every time I leave the ship,” you ask.

“Yes, ma’am unless Captain Phasma or the Supreme Leader is here. I have been put in charge of your immediate safety otherwise. General Pryde will meet us with the  Finalizer’s  chief medical officer. Pryde is also in charge of your safety and your movements,” responded the commander.

You thanked him and thought about what he said, that General Pryde was in charge of your movements. Why did you need to be watched or guarded so heavily? You shook that thought from your head as you received a ding from your phone.

There was a notification from the First Order messaging center. You opened it seeing a message from Kylo, ‘Good morning. I will be in strategic meetings all morning but I would like to join you for a late lunch.’

You responded, ‘Good morning to you too. That sounds perfect, I have no idea how long the Health Committee meeting will go, but I will notify you when we are done or at recess.’

The ship landed and you were greeted by the gray-haired general and an equally gray-haired medical officer.

“Hello, my lady. My name is Dr. Crale Koroban I am the chief medical officer aboard the Finalizer.  You and I will be working together on the Health Committee as assigned by the Supreme Leader,” said the medical officer. He bowed slightly when introducing himself with his hands resigned behind his back.

“Hello, Dr. Koroban. I was informed that you were wanting to meet with me before the official committee meeting. Why is this,” you ask. You were now all moving into the White House to a conference room similar to the one you were in yesterday.

“Yes. You have some background and first-hand knowledge as to the health and hygiene of your planet. I was also informed that you were quite frank when you recalled the health of many of the countries. It is this honesty that I need before we meet with the health officials from your planet. The First Order cannot afford a large unhealthy population on your planet,” said the doctor.

“What would you like to know,” you ask. The general had taken a seat on the other side of the table, whereas the doctor sat near you as did the lieutenant with the commander guarding the door.

“I know that many of your third world countries do not have access to proper hygiene facilities let alone water. They have no way of properly cleaning themselves nor do they have proper health care, this is not my initial concern. They are easier to rectify. Your ‘first world’ countries, on the other hand, seem reluctant to want to improve their hygiene and health as they view themselves to be clean and healthy when in fact they are not,” responded the doctor. “What I would like to know is what you know and have observed as a ‘first world’ citizen on the health practices of your class. It is obvious that civilians have not been keeping things up to standard and we need to rectify this.”

You thought for a few moments about what the doctor said, “Like you said, we believe we are clean when in fact we are not. It is sad when the Center for Disease Control needs to remind us constantly during flu season or during any disease outbreak that we need to wash our hands, avoid touching our face and to not share food and drink with others. Many adults fail to wash their hands after using the restroom, but they always make sure to scold children if they forget. One of the officers gave a really accurate statistic about it and honestly, it didn’t shock me. We also don’t tend to stay home when we are sick, like we are supposed to because we tend to be workaholics. During outbreaks, people fear things but don’t really change their habits.”

The doctor nodded to you and was taking notes on the data pad you didn’t notice he had until now. “Reminding people is part of their job, but I see your point. Personal hygiene is step number one in preventing the spread of disease.”

“I also know there has been a rise in people against vaccinations, they fear side effects that have been disproven by medical professionals. There are also people seeking out home remedies for things that can only be cured or treated by a doctor. I am not talking about the occasional headache or stomachache, I am talking about skin rashes, diseases, and even cancer. Not that I am opposed to being prescribed rest, fluids and a healthy diet but there are some things only a medical professional can effectively treat. In third world countries, people will walk for miles to receive medicine, vaccines, and the ability to clean themselves, but in ‘first world’ countries we seem to deny these things as a privilege. It can be very frustrating.”

This time the doctor took more time taking notes and seemed to think a bit more before responding, “I agree with you. Your planet seems to have shifting parallels when it comes to health and hygiene. Your input on this is very valuable to me. We will be meeting with the others soon, but tell me who the three officials you have chosen are.”

You did not remember choosing anyone, you had simply mentioned that it may be best to include someone from the CDC, the WHO, and the Surgeon General. This may be what the doctor is asking.

“While I never directly chose anyone I merely suggested that we have some of the most respected health officials in the room,” you said.

At this point the lieutenant spoke up, “we have the director of the CDC and the director from the WHO coming along with the Surgeon General.”

“Explain to me why you chose the CDC and the WHO,” asked the doctor.

“The CDC is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention here in the U.S. they help set medical standards and are a resource many people trust. The WHO or the World Health Organization does the same thing but worldwide. The Surgeon General is one of the top public health officials in the world. They are chosen by the president of the united states and have significant experience in public health programs. I chose these three because they care for health and not for maintaining public appearances as to how clean we really are. They would like for the world to have high standards and health practices, unlike the politicians who like to refuse the truth about how unhygienic we really are.”

The doctor nodded at this response and seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. “If these are people whom your world trusts than it is of utmost importance that we get them to agree to First Order health practices. Dr. Xero Dabrini will be assisting me in this committee along with a handful of other First Order doctors and nurses. I hope to look to you for help with any mediation that may need to happen between us and these health officials. Note that the First Order wants healthy and hygienic citizens. We want to be able to provide the health care necessary for this to happen.”

You nodded and agreed with the doctor. The First Order is a military. They need healthy soldiers and citizens. You knew Kylo was counting on you to assist the doctor in this committee and you did not want to disappoint him you were ready for this meeting. The first meeting that you would handle on your own, helping him with the First Order.

A/N: Note that this is a PSA from the Author: WASH YOUR HANDS, AVOID TOUCHING YOUR FACE, STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK, AND GET PLENTY OF REST AND FLUIDS. The COVID-19 is going around and the next few chapters will be centered around health. In my worldbuilding propaganda, there will be useful hygiene and health tips. Heed them if you would like, and stay safe from the virus and listen to the CDC and the WHO.

A PSA from your lovely Author.

[noonymoon]

JUSTICE FOR JESUS — Misconceptions & Prejudices about the Faith in the Biblical Jesus Christ.

PART ONE: Christianity is not a Religion, it is God‘s plan to redeem mankind and have a relationship with us forever

I‘ve used to think that Jesus is about Religion, Church, Pastors, Dogma. When you look around in the world it makes sense: Everyone believes something different, all faiths are entirely valid for the people who practice them. Of course you throw Christianity in the same pot as Islam and Judaism, they‘re called „the Abrahamic Religions“ (because Abraham was the father of Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, and Jacob is „Israel“, but also Abraham was the father of Ishmael who was only born because Abraham and Sara didn‘t put their faith in God to have a child like God promised, they were impatient and didn‘t have faith, because Sara was already old and could actually not get pregnant anymore, so Sara suggested that Abraham should have a child with Hagar, the handmaiden of Sara; and from Ishmael‘s lineage basically the Arabs and Islam came along, since God had promised to make a great nation out of Abraham, this blessing went worth to both sons of Abraham) - so basically YES, Jews and Christians worship the same God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as it is written all over the Old and New Testament. The only difference is that Christianity has been infiltrated by Satan a loooong time ago, and Judaism (for the most part) rejects Jesus as their Messiah, even though Jesus was prophesied from the FIRST LETTER of the FIRST WORD of the FIRST BOOK of the Bible/Torah FOR the Jews! When he finally arrived FOR the Jews, the Gospel (the message of Salvation) was preached to ONLY Jews for 7 years (3 and a half years of Jesus‘ ministry, 3 and a half years after His death preached by His Apostles) and only THEN (after the Jews for the most part rejected the Gospel and persecuted everyone who believed in Jesus; our best example for this is the Apostle Paul who was actually Sha‘ul; he was formerly an extremely Jewish Pharisee who relentlessly persecuted Christians but then Jesus Himself appeared in a vision to Him and asked Him „Why are you persecuting me?“ and by seeing Jesus‘ glory and majesty, He was born-again and wrote ~70% of the New Testament) God decided to spread the message of Salvation to Greeks/Gentiles as well, because He wants to save all humans, and His chosen people would not do the work that He hoped they would. God‘s priority was always Israel until they have entirely rejected the Salvation that is ONLY found in God‘s Son, the Messiah, the Anointed One: Jesus Christ. Gladly there are a lot of messianic Jews nowadays who do their best to bring Israel‘s saviour to the Jewish people, just like it was supposed to be.

Every single Religion or Faith that there is that does not teach that you can find Salvation in Jesus Christ, the literal Son of God, will not give you peace, love and the Truth, will not give you Eternal Life (and if „Heaven“ and „Eternal Life“ sounds too ethereal for you try „different non-linear dimension“ and „consciousness transferred into a spiritual body“ - because THAT‘S how it was supposed to be before our Earth fell into a linear timeline, away from God‘s presence) and that‘s just how it is. There are tons of Religions, Faiths, even pretty much ALL Christian denominations and all the Christian cults, each one of them has a different way of denying the only thing that leads to Salvation: Jesus is the LITERAL only-begotten Son of the one true God & He died for our sins & was raised to life again by God the Father. Satan literally tries in ANY way possible to deny the LITERAL Sonship of Christ whose Father is God Almighty, YHWH. [...by the way, if you believe in that Zecharia Sitchin nonsense, please visit http://sitchiniswrong.com/ - by an ACTUAL scholar of Biblical Hebrew and of Ancient Semitic Languages]. And for the people who don‘t even bother with Jesus at all, he developed a plethora of options, to believe in something else, his first and only goal is to keep people away from Jesus, and he literally does not care how he accomplishes it. Every single Faith that does not lead to Jesus and into the Kingdom of God, has its roots in Ancient Babylon and leads into the Kingdom of Darkness. There are literally only two options, and that’s the absolute Truth, no matter if “truth” today is a “subjective matter for everyone”; that’s exactly what Satan wanted to achieve, and he sure did it. People are always extremely offended when Christians claim to have the only true God, the One who brought all things into existence despite the circumstance that they don‘t even believe in the FACT that we were brought into existence by this one God through Jesus Christ (who is the „Word of God“, and as you all know „God said: Let there be light, and there was Light“ - basically God spoke things into existence BY his Word, and his word IS Jesus Christ, the Son of God).

People rather believe in an extremely ridiculous and propagated concept of a „Big Bang“ that caused things to just „happen over time“, that our Earth is millions or billions of years old, that it is sheer „luck“ that we can survive because if we were just a tiny bit closer or less close to the Sun we would either burn up or freeze, that we evolved from ape-like men who were not very intelligible, that our extreme complex languages also probably evolved from ape-like sounds (you have no idea how ridiculous all of this sounds, when you are awake, I can‘t even type it without putting it in „quotation marks“, and you literally can NOT UNSEE the Devil’s work once your eyes have been opened) when there is literally an abundance of undeniable evidence that the Creation by an intelligent and brilliant God is a LOT more plausible; or let‘s say: there is a LOT of evidence that the public narrative is simply a deception (for example, tons of GIANT human bones have been found since at least the 1800s but of course not a single person informs us about stuff like this, and of course we don‘t make an effort to research it, because we‘re all brainwashed until we realize the Truth; people who study their Bible know EXACTLY who these giants were and they also know exactly who all those other spiritual entities are which we see in Mythology from ancient cultures) - and when the public narrative is a deception, the only logical conclusion is that something different must be true. And which book contains the entire story from the very Beginning to the very End of humankind, which fulfilled a massive amount of prophecy throughout human history 100% accurate, and is by „sheer conincidence“ the most translated and printed book of ALL time? Exactly! The Bible!

„In the beginning (TIME) God created the heavens (SPACE) and the earth (MATTER)“ — Genesis 1:1 

(parantheses added)

Isn‘t it AMAZING how the inspired Word of God through the Prophets conveys complex scientific concepts in only a little sentence? THAT‘S how incredible God is! He is a Mastermind and good beyond ANYTHING. Sadly Satan has accomplished that the world sees our Creator like a hateful, narrow-minded, strict and arrogant Ruler who just wants to dominate us and put His Religion on us, but that could not be further away from the Truth. God, in fact, HATES Religion, all He ever wanted is to be loved by His people, acknowledged by His people and praised by His people (and honestly, He DESERVES praise for Everything He has done for us and for Everything that He is!) .. And then of course, you can look all around in nature! I swear, being born-again is like being a child again, before this world and our „education“ brainwashes you. When I walk outside, I just MARVEL at God‘s handiwork, it‘s literally AMAZING. When I look at flowers, veggies, fruits, animals, insects of all kinds (I even lost my fear of spiders and wasps and even hornets, it‘s just amazing to look at them), when I taste different kind of nuts, herbs and spices (by the way, isn‘t it amazing how there‘s a herb or plant for every health issue a human can have, just like the Bible says? if we really evolved from a Big Bang to THIS, how do we explain the miraculous powers of all of these things? Have they just „happened“...?) look at the funny shapes of everything; everything just blows my mind, it‘s incredible. Someday I really want to ask God what He thought when He created Romanesco Broccoli because each time I see that thing, I just marvel at its weirdness and beauty. The world is just so ridiculously beautiful and NO ONE can see it except born-again Christians (I‘m really excited for eternal Life because this Creation is in a fallen state and the Bible says that the actual glory of the actual Creation is even more magnificent, WHOA...!!!) and I sometimes literally cry because it‘s SO SAD what Satan has made us believe about our planet, about ourselves, about literally everything. And why? Just because he hates Jesus, he hates God and he most certainly hates EVERYONE else, you, me, everyone. He loves only himself and he doesn‘t care if he‘s robbing us from the most astonishing experience ever: Life! He enslaves us through spiritual warfare to desires that we would naturally not have (social status, money, power, career, material objects of all sorts, fame, success, other people no matter how toxic they are for our health, drugs, likings and addictions of all kinds, literally ANYTHING can be the work of spiritual warfare) and makes us believe on top of that that we‘re just a bunch of random Apes in a random world, that our purpose is to make money and survive in a society that grows more and more into cold robots each year, only so that at the end, we die, never knew Jesus, and perish in Hell with him. It‘s literally the saddest thing EVER.

So yes, „Religious Freedom“ is a thing; everyone CAN believe whatever they want and feel drawn to, but ONLY born-again believers in Jesus Christ will live with God forever and ever in a different dimension that is not bound to time. Just like God wanted to live with us from the very beginning! We are His masterpiece of creation! Did you know that we are more cherished than angels? He sent his LITERAL SON to die for us, ALL of us, just so that we can live with God! Isn‘t that incredible??? I’m just absolutely in Love with God and Jesus and I’ve never thought that I’d EVER say this, growing up as an Atheist and then, over 2 years deceived in a spiritual bubble that is not even real.

My prayer is that the people who are written in the book of Life and belong to God’s kingdom find Jesus Christ, and experience His Love, because once you have, there is not a single day that is sad or empty, not a single day that seems pointless, you will have peace and a blessed hope for eternity to come. Amen.

TESTIMONIES

From Buddha to Christ. Powerful Testimony.

Chinese Triad Gangster Finds Jesus In Death Encounters

SATANISM, WITCHCRAFT, DRUGZ, DEPRESSION this is my testimony

"New Age" Occult Practices Nearly Ruined My Life | Warning & Testimony

Raves, drugs, vanity, new age to Jesus Christ | My Testimony

[buzzdixonwriter]

ALPHAVILLE

Alphaville is a film you must watch.

Not “watch” in the conventional sense, where you passively sit and let sound and image wash over you, the type of slickly made / often entertaining mainstream factory pap that explains the plot points every fifteen minutes for anybody who went to the bathroom / checked their phone / nodded off in the interim.

“Watch” in the sense you must follow it close, actively paying attention to what unspools before you.

It is not a difficult film to follow, but you’ll be lost if you blink.

Alphaville the motion picture can be described several different ways.

One way -- the most common way, the easiest to reduce down to a simple logline -- is the producers of the Lemmy Caution movies (a European version of the Sam Spade / Philip Marlowe type of private eye character) threw caution to the wind and asked then La Nouvelle Vague wunderkind Jean-Luc Goddard to direct the next installment of the character’s adventures, resulting in a weird / off beat combination of film noir and sci-fi.

This would be like the Shaft franchise asking David Lynch to direct an entry.

Another way -- and in my view, far more accurate yet more difficult to explain -- is that Alphaville is a series of discussions on philosophy / theology / poetry covered with a dream-like patina of surreal tough guy antics.

Goddard, a film and pop culture maven since childhood, wisely mixes science fiction with stereotypical private eye tropes to bring these discussions to life.

The science fiction aspect is the first and foremost element, but the world of the private eye is needed to make Alphaville complete.

Science fiction enables Goddard to bring deep philosophical questions up to the surface by couching them in sci-fi terms that let them be treated as concrete concepts instead of abstract ideals.

Alphaville isn’t the first film to do that, not by a long shot, but the challenge in using sci-fi to discuss big ideas is that the spectacle of the genre may overpower the theme, the form triumphing over the content.

Metropolis, as superlative as it is, is a prime example of that.

Goddard’s stroke of genius lay in double filtering his message through the stereotypes and cliches of private eye fiction.  Eddie Constantine’s Lemmy Caution is brutish and confrontational but uses that as a physical shield to protect a very human soul.  This enables Goddard, through the character, to anchor the flighty intellectual aspects of the story in a grim and gritty reality that filmgoers could readily identify with.

Even at its most grim and gritty points, Alphaville continues to play with pop culture, tongue firmly in cheek in the manner in which it examines its questions, but like a prophetic parable carrying a far deeper and more profound meaning than apparent on first blush.

The plot is very pulpish, suitable for either Planet Stories or Black Mask Detective.

Caution, posing as a journalist for Figaro-Pravada but actually secret agent 003, arrives at Alphaville, the capital of a far distant planet (or galaxy; Goddard either not knowing or not caring about the difference and using the terms interchangeably throughout the film).

Alphaville appears identical to Paris of 1965, and indeed references in the dialog suggest the story is taking place in the very near future.

Ostensibly there to do a story on Alphaville, in reality he’s tracking down two men:  Professor Vonbraun (Howard Vernon), an American scientist formerly known as Nosferatu who has gone to Alphaville and established himself as the de facto human face and hands of Alpha 60, the computer that runs the society; or failing that, locating Henri Dickson (Akim Tamiroff), a previous Earth secret agent sent after Vonbraun who apparently vanished.

Caution’s mission is to return Vonbraun / Nosferatu or kill him; his superiors are aware Vonbraun is guiding Alpha 60 to launch a massive war against the rest of the galaxy.  (Why Alpha 60 thinks this war is a good idea comprises the true heart of the picture.)

Caution is met soon after his arrival by Natacha Vonbraun (Anna Karina), a computer programmer for Alpha 60 and the (apparently adopted) daughter of Professor Vonbraun.  She unintentionally manages to arrange an encounter between Caution and Vonbraun, resulting in Caution being targeted for first interrogation then recruitment by Vonbraun and Alpha 60.

If you’ve never heard of Alphaville before this, you may be imagining this in grandiose Blade Runner style, but Goddard wanted his film grounded in reality so he shot using real locations, no special effects (other than the screen images turning negative in a few instances), and no elaborate props or costumes.

Alphaville literally is Paris of 1965, and the soulless laboratories and indoctrination centers and police stations are what was then mid-century modern architecture.  

What makes Alphaville the society so alien is that Vonbraun through Alpha 60 turned the world into a completely logical / unemotional civilization.  Goddard combines nods to Russian Communism, Orwell’s 1984, and French existentialism to shape the society of Alphaville, at first glance seemingly so like our world, but soon revealed in word and gesture to be radically different.

Gene Roddenberry got logical civilizations all wrong with the planet Vulcan.  A logical civilization would not become a world of high minded aesthetics but rather of haunted, empty human souls using sensuality in lieu of spiritual values.

Despite its supposedly logical / non-individualistic nature, Alpha 60 acts to preserve itself.  It relentlessly controls the population through language and censorship, hammering down any outbursts of individuality or spiritual leanings (spiritual here expanded to more than conventional religion).

This desire for self-preservation, fueled and guided by Vonbraun, manifests itself in its plans for galactic war aimed at subjugating all other planets so that they may never threaten Alpha 60 (the film leaves as a far question which came first, the egg of Alpha 60’s antagonistic plans, or the hen of the other planets sending agents like Caution to thwart them).

Goddard was no computers expert and he made Alphaville long before artificial intelligence research moved from the theoretical to the practical, but he nonetheless raises an interesting issue:  Alpha 60’s oppressive nature is clearly hardwired into its cybernetics by Vonbraun, yet Alpha 60 displays enormous curiosity in the very human traits it strives to eliminate while Vonbraun feels so sure of himself as Alpha 60’s chief architect that he fails to realize his creation is truly thinking for itself, not following the guidance he programmed in.

Much of the philosophical inquiry in Alphaville centers on religion, but here Goddard doesn’t use “religion” in the conventional term of a set of dogmas and creeds too often followed blindly and slavishly by the uninquisitive and the superstitious, but in the difference between philosophy and theology.

Theology is best described as a sub-set of philosophy dedicated to things of the spirit (i.e., abstract, not necessarily supernatural).  It reflects how we think and feel about unknowable and unprovable concepts. 

Philosophy and ethics can be tested; we can see if the golden rule is a viable philosophy to follow, we can judge if one view of how the world works is more accurate than another.

As stated, the key difference is that philosophy never presumes to postulate a final answer, and when it offers an insight it never claims that insight represents absolute reality.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is philosophy because it reflects a view of reality never meant to be taken literally; far too often religious devotees insist their parables be taken literally and at face value, not any deeper, more meaningful one. Caution defeats Alpha 60 in the end by luring the computer into a trap of its own devising.  Unable to grasp why humans value love and emotion and things of the spirit, it searches for meaning where it can find none because as advanced as it is, it cannot intuitively grasp their importance.

Alpha 60 realizes it is a little tin god, and in its futile attempt to elevate itself to the next level ends up destroying the very fabric of Alphaville’s social order.

Caution drives Natacha away from Alphaville to safety in the end, cautioning her like Lot’s wife not to look back.  Natacha responds with a tentative expression of emotion:  "Je vous aime" (and notice the use of the formal vous instead of the more intimate tu, she is starting to regain her humanity but a long road remains ahead of her).

In terms of execution, Alphaville is an extremely economical looking film (as well it should be since everything was shot on existing locations using the light weight cameras the French New Wave loved so dearly).  The alienness comes across in the societal mannerisms, the elliptical dialog, and the odd juxtapositions found in the city.

Case in point:  The phrase "I'm very well, thank you, you're welcome.  Don’t mention it" is repeated frequently in the film.  

At first it sounds like a typical social bromide, but as it is used again and again it takes on a more ominous, then sinister meaning.

It is not a polite thanks and dismissal but a warning, both to others and the speaker, not to entertain certain ideas.

Alpha 60 tries to control the citizens of Alphaville by controlling the language, banning certain words, changing the meanings of others.  Characters refer to looking something up in the Bible more than once in the film, but only later is it revealed the Bible of Alphaville is a dictionary, and the salvation found within is the accepted language of the day.

The film maintains a dream-like quality throughout.  Like most dreams, it certainly carries a strong, realistic feel yet at the same time is populated by surreal events and juxtapositions.

This dream-like quality plays well off the stereotypical private eye derring-do.  Hard boiled shenanigans pop up almost randomly yet oddly not unexpectedly throughout the film viz Caution getting involved in a fist / gun fight with a hotel detective trying to spy on him as a “seductress third class” attempts to seduce him.  It’s less than a minute of wild slam bang action and then it’s dismissed as if it never occurred, with Caution and the seductress continuing their cat and mouse game.

The film juxtaposes the opulent hotel lobby where Caution first checks in with the seedy rundown hotel lobby where he finds Dickson.  The latter seems scarcely larger than Dickson’s seedy room, yet is crowded with its own staff (each engaged in some impossible to define task) and its own seductress third class waiting for clientele.

One of the most iconic scenes in Alphaville are the executions.  Rebels against Alpha 60 (i.e., people who read =gasp!= poetry) walk out on a diving board over a swimming pool and are shot while making their last statement.

As they fall in the water a line of bathing beauties dive in, swim over, and drawing knives administer the coup de grace to the victim by repeatedly stabbing them underwater.

Which, incidentally, brings us to another point we need to acknowledge:  How Goddard, Alphaville the film, and Alphaville the society treat women.

From our perspective almost 60 years later, we can look back at Alphaville and excuse its depiction of women by saying it was simply parodying the style of private eye movies of the era.

Which is true…but not enough.

Both French culture at that time and movies in general did not present what we’d consider an enlightened view of gender politics, and the females of Alphaville are all there for eye candy.

In some cases it works:  The aforementioned synchronized bathing beauty executioners are so ludicrous as to be funny in a grim way, yet there are no other non-eye candy female characters to balance them out (there is a female cab driver, certainly unusual casting for a mid-1960s film, but she’s as gorgeous as all the other women).

And while one gets the idea behind each hotel employing professional seductresses (as an amenity in the world of Alphaville, as a commentary on the commodification of human relations in the film), today our reaction is more along the lines of “Is this really necessary?”

Far be it for me to tell Jean-Luc Goddard how to make movies, but it seems there could be half a dozen or more alternative ideas that would get the same point across without reducing women to this role.

Even Anna Karina’s Natacha gets subjugated to this mindset, serving mostly as a tour guide until the end of the film where she finally starts engaging more directly with the central conflict.

It’s not a comfortable look today, but we can live with it when viewed as a commentary on the style of the era.  Compared with the Bond movies or almost any counter-culture film of the 1960s, it’s hardly the worst offender.

Here’s where I’m supposed to wrap things up and tell you to go watch the movie.

Okay, go watch the movie.

I’m not going to be hyperbolic and proclaim Alphaville a great movie because it’s a film set so far apart from the mainstream of cinema and the genres it mashed up that it’s not even an apples and oranges comparison but more like apples and the sound of autumn rain on the roof.

But seriously, you need to watch this movie.

    © Buzz Dixon