#letters live and nt live | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

justforbooks · 16 days ago

Text

Dame Joan Plowright

Stage and screen star who was part of a radical generation of actors responsible for establishing the National Theatre

Joan Plowright, who has died aged 95, played a central role in the historic overhaul of British theatre at the Royal Court in the late 1950s. A founder member of George Devine’s English Stage Company in 1956, she made her name as Beatie Bryant, the working-class heroine in Arnold Wesker’s Roots in 1959, and married Laurence Olivier in 1961. The union of Plowright and Olivier was symbolic of the new theatre order embracing the old glamour, as the greatest actor of the day threw in his lot with the younger generation.

Olivier had scored one of his biggest successes as Archie Rice, the dying music hall star, in John Osborne’s The Entertainer at the Court in 1957. When the play transferred to the West End and Broadway, Plowright took over from Dorothy Tutin as Jean Rice, Archie’s daughter, and their friendship ripened into an unshakeable intimacy, and marriage, that lasted until Olivier’s death in 1989.

Plowright embodied the qualities of common sense, honesty and a sort of earthy vitality that characterised her acting. She had deep brown, currant-bun eyes in a face of plump beauty and openness. Olivier always admired the self-deprecating quality in her performances, and encouraged her to develop this as a comic weapon in her armoury. As she revealed in an affecting autobiography, And That’s Not All (2001), she worried about being employed at the National Theatre as the wife of the boss when Olivier launched that institution first at Chichester in 1962 and then at the Old Vic. But her early performances, as Sonya in what many believe to be the greatest Uncle Vanya ever seen on the British stage (Michael Redgrave in the title role, Olivier as Astrov, Sybil Thorndike as the old nurse), and as George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, put paid to suspicions of nepotism.

She had an intense and fiery quality, and a wonderfully melodious speaking voice that was a constant, grounded musical counterpoint to the brilliant skitterings of the NT’s star turns, Maggie Smith and Geraldine McEwan. In later years, she acquired a comforting matronliness in her film performances, though a quality of rare decency always shone through, as in her supporting role as a suspected witch in Roland Joffé’s version of The Scarlet Letter (1995) or as a trusted confidante in Franco Zeffirelli’s Callas Forever (2002).

Plowright’s father, William, was a journalist and newspaper editor from Worksop in Nottinghamshire, and her mother, Daisy (nee Burton), an enthusiastic actor from Kent. Joan, born in Brigg, Lincolnshire, was the middle of three children; her younger brother, David Plowright, became a senior executive at Granada Television and was closely involved in much of Olivier’s later television work, including Brideshead Revisited and his final King Lear.

From 1931 the family lived in Scunthorpe, where Joan attended the grammar school before joining the Laban Art of Movement Studio in Manchester and the Old Vic Theatre School in London. At the latter (from 1949) she studied with Glen Byam Shaw, Michel Saint-Denis and Devine, and this period was crucial to her development as a prominent artist in the postwar theatre, as new British writing and the European theatre of Brecht, Ionesco and Beckett fuelled an upsurge of brilliant acting among a new generation, many of them from the provinces. This crew articulated the changing face of modern society, and Plowright was in the vanguard, alongside Albert Finney, Alan Bates, Eileen Atkins, Billie Whitelaw and Robert Stephens.

Before joining Devine at the Royal Court, she appeared in Orson Welles’s bare stage, kaleidoscopic production of Moby Dick at the Duke of York’s in 1955, a show described by Kenneth Tynan as “a sustained assault on the senses which dwarfs anything London has seen since, perhaps, the Great Fire”. As Pip the cabin boy, she was the only girl in a cast that included Patrick McGoohan, Kenneth Williams, Gordon Jackson and Welles himself as Captain Ahab.

The impact of Roots at the Court, in John Dexter’s famously incisive, unsentimental production, was nearly as great as Osborne’s Look Back in Anger had been three years earlier. Beatie was in some ways a feminine, rustic counterpart (the play was set in Norfolk) to Osborne’s metropolitan antihero, Jimmy Porter, but she was also a young woman finding her voice. At the end of a blazing tirade lambasting her own family for their ignorance and conservatism, Plowright’s Beatie cried out, said Tynan, with the wonder that is cognate with one’s first sense of identity – “I’m beginning. I’m beginning!”

You could argue that no subsequent performance was ever so stirring, or ever so influential. But at the National she made a great impact even when she shared a role, Hilde Wangel, with Smith, in The Master Builder, and then as Masha in Three Sisters and Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Her finest NT performances following the opening season were as Portia in Jonathan Miller’s brilliant 19th-century production in 1970 of The Merchant of Venice and, in the following year, opposite a candescent Anthony Hopkins, in John Dexter’s stark and scrupulous revival of Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed With Kindness. In the first, she gave full rein to her capacity for wit, irony and a scathing sense of justice; in the second, she boiled with fallibility and indignation as the unfaithful Anne Frankford.

When Olivier gave way to Peter Hall at the National, she sidestepped with some dignity all rumours that she might have wanted to succeed her husband, and her memoirs give a lucid account of the jostling that took place between the factions. She worked with her “beloved” Zeffirelli for the first time on the smash hit Saturday Sunday Monday by Eduardo de Filippo at the Old Vic in 1974 (transferring to the Queen’s theatre) and repeated her success with the same author’s equally popular Filumena at the Lyric in 1977.

In between those hits, in 1974, she joined Lindsay Anderson’s newly formed West End company to play Arkadina in The Seagull and the sexually awakened Alma in Ben Travers’s jaunty but tiresomely scatological The Bed Before Yesterday. There followed modest successes as Nurse Edith Cavell at Chichester in 1982 and an imposing Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard at the Haymarket in 1983, with an all-star cast but, alas, an unfinished set on a disastrous opening night. Plowright recalled how the abandoned old retainer Firs (played by Bernard Miles) wailed disconsolately that everyone had left and locked him in while rattling the handle of a door that swung invitingly open and rendered the last moments of the play quite meaningless.

By now she was happily reconciled to the older roles, joyfully seizing on Lady Wishfort, “the old peeled wall”, in The Way of the World (Chichester, 1984), with Smith as a definitive Millamant, directed by William Gaskill. In Núria Espert’s glorious 1986 production of Lorca’s House of Bernarda Alba at the Lyric Hammersmith, as a sleeve-rolling old maid, Plowright suggested “a lifetime of drudgery in the folding of linen”, said Michael Billington. Both shows sailed triumphantly into the West End.

After Olivier’s death, she gathered her family around her in a sombre revival of JB Priestley’s Time and the Conways at the Old Vic in 1990. Both daughters, Tamsin and Julie-Kate, were in the cast, as well as her son-in-law, Simon Dutton, and her son, Richard, directed. Her last notable West End appearance was a great one as the fraught mother-in-law, Signora Frola, in Zeffirelli’s sleek 2003 revival of Pirandello’s Absolutely! (Perhaps) at Wyndhams, with a new text by Martin Sherman.

She worked mostly in films, however, from 1990, gracing two charming Italian idylls: Mike Newell’s Enchanted April (1991) and Zeffirelli’s Tea With Mussolini (1999). The latter was based on the director’s own memories of wartime, scripted by John Mortimer, and co-starred her old friends Smith and Judi Dench as well as Cher and Lily Tomlin – a regular galère of delightfully entertaining eccentrics.

Before she announced her retirement from acting in 2014, due to her failing eyesight from macular degeneration, she made several more films including Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), in which she embarks on an unlikely friendship with a young writer played by Rupert Friend, the animated movie Curious George (2006) and Anthony Hickox’s spooky horror thriller Knife Edge (2009).

She celebrated her retirement in a series of onstage anecdotal conversations in 2014 with the director Richard Digby Day – “Acting is an outlet for comedy and grief, and all the characters inside you,” she said; and, now almost totally blind, invited three fellow dames, and good friends – Dench, Smith and Atkins – to join her in an overlapping, chatty reminiscence filmed by Roger Michell for the BBC in the garden of the West Sussex home she had shared with Olivier and her young family. Feisty and funny, Nothing Like a Dame (2018) was a surprise delight.

She was made CBE in 1970 and a dame in 2004 and was particularly pleased to receive an honorary degree from Hull University, conferred in a ceremony in Lincoln Cathedral, which she had often visited as a girl.

Her first marriage, in 1953, to the actor Roger Gage, ended in divorce. She is survived by her children from her second marriage, Richard, Tamsin and Julie-Kate, four grandchildren, Troy, Wilf, Ali and Kaya, and a great-grandchild, Sophia.

🔔 Joan Ann Plowright, actor, born 28 October 1929; died 16 January 2025

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #Joan Plowright #in memoriam

17 notes · View notes

queerprayers · 9 months ago

Note

heya! can u tell me more about liturgy? i want to participate im a nondenominational catholic but i want to be more active in my faith! is it too late to start?

Welcome, beloved!

"Liturgy" comes from Greek and means "public service," and Christians use it generally to mean the order of events/ritual in communal worship, although it can sometimes refer to personal worship, like the liturgy of the hours.. Different denominations range in their formality and structure, but there is a pretty standard order in at least Western churches with traditional liturgies and from what I can tell, Eastern rites have very similar ideas/sections. Encyclopedia Britannica has a pretty good basic history of Christian liturgy, and the Wikipedia page has some good sections/links.

There are liturgies for different times of day and events, but the most common/important Christian one is the service of Holy Communion, practiced every Sunday. This comes from two places I can think of. First, Judaism has the practice of keeping the Sabbath, and the first Christians, being from Jewish communities, already had the ritual of weekly worship, but, partially to differentiate themselves from Jewish law but also as an acknowledgement of the most important event in the Christian faith, the Resurrection, began to meet on Sundays. Second, Jesus at the Last Supper commanded us to "do this in remembrance of me," and Paul tells us that "whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." We eat and drink as Jesus taught us, and can see that even in the first generation of Christianity, the holy meal was central.

We worship together because religion is interpersonal, and Jesus did not come simply for us personally, but for us all communally. My response to the missionary's question of "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?" would be "No, I have an interpersonal one." (Unlikely my father, who said, "Yes, I eat him.") Obviously there is great diversity of situation/location, and joining a church is not in the cards for every person. But, nonetheless, we must live out our faith with others, whether that's church, family/friend gatherings, interfaith worship, or any kind of community gathering/serving. And I'll say it more later, but no, it's not too late to begin this or move in a new way.

Here is, very generally, the order/content of the liturgy of Holy Communion I know, which I think is almost identical to the Roman Rite:

Confession/absolution: We a general confession of sin, ask God to help us, and the pastor announces God's forgiveness. Private confession is not the norm in Protestant churches, so this where we bring our confessions to mind before God.

Procession/hymn: In my church, the pastor does the confession from the back of the room, and processes, with the assisting minister, acolyte(s), and crucifer, to the altar, while we sing an entrance song.

Kyrie/litany/hymn of praise: We sing petition and praise—the songs/chants change depending on the season.

Prayer of the day/collect: This prayer changes every week and gives the context for our gathering. It references whatever season we're celebrating and sometimes the Bible readings we'll hear.

Scripture readings/lessons: This is generally one reading from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament non-gospel books (Acts/letters/Revelation). The cycle of readings throughout the year follows the seasons and tells overarching stories/themes.

Psalm: The one book we read (or, sing) from every single week is the book of Psalms. In our church, we perform a call and response chant for that week's psalm in between the OT/NT readings.

Gospel verse/acclamation: As the Bible is being brought to the pastor, we usually sing "Alleluia, Lord, to whom shall we go?" including John 6:68-69, but during Lent we sing "Return to the Lord your God" from Joel 2:13.

Gospel: A reading from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John relating to the season/other readings.

Sermon/homily: The pastor preaches on the readings or season, usually providing further information about them and giving us a lesson to take with us for the week.

Hymn of the day: We sing our second hymn here. This is usually the one most thematically relevant.

Creed: Either the Apostles' or Nicene Creed is recited. This is a weekly affirmation of our shared beliefs, uniting us with every Christian across time and denomination who has said these words.

Prayers of the church: Multiple intercessory prayers are read relating to the season, current events, members of the church, etc. These conclude with a remembrance of the dead, naming those who have recently died and making space for people to call out their own loved ones.

The Peace: Historically, this ritual greeting was the "kiss of peace," but all churches that I've been to have gone for handshakes or hugs instead. I think Catholics do the Peace after Communion, which honestly makes more sense, but this is where it is for us. I have appreciated it recently, as I'm often crying after the remembrance of the dead.

The Offering: The offering plate is passed around while singing, and people are welcome to make donations. These funds go toward paying the pastor and organist, worship supplies, upkeep of the church building/grounds, members in need of support, and donations to charity. After collection, we pray that we will use the money in service of God and our neighbor.

Preface/Eucharistic prayer/Great Thanksgiving: The pastor begins holy communion with a recitation of Jesus's words at the Last Supper, and calls the Spirit to be present in our meal.

The Lord's Prayer: The prayer Jesus himself gave us to pray! Everything we need to say, right there. Maybe we should save time and just do this?

The Communion/Eucharist: We all come forward and receive communion. Churches have varying levels of real bread and wine—we get real wine but little wafers, some places go for grape juice. This is the central act of gathering—we can read the Bible on our own, we can pray on our own, but we cannot share a meal by ourselves. Breaking bread together is the fundamental Christian ritual, however that materially/theologically shows up in our communities.

Songs of thanksgiving/prayers: We give thanks for the meal, and pray that it will sustain us.

Closing hymn: Catholics don't stay for all the verses of this, it seems. I've been the last one singing before—as a visitor. This is my main (loving) critique of y'all's liturgy.

Benediction: (See, we're not allowed to leave because we have to wait for the blessing, however many verses of the hymn there are.) The pastor recites the priestly blessing from Numbers: "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace." The assisting minister then sends us with these words: "Go in peace, serve the Lord. Thanks be to God."

I find liturgy really valuable for lots of reasons. Just on a base level, I crave rhythm and ritual. I've said the words my whole life, which means I don't have to know what to say or do, I don't have to get anything right or perform. I meet every week with a group of people who want to say the same words while coming from so many different kinds of lives. We want to tell stories and sing songs together, the same as Christians have since the very beginning, the same as humans have since creation. Every week, I am reminded of what this is all for. It's a kind of reset, and I keep needing it.

It's also a foundation for our community--the church is our gathering space, where we share meals, where we mourn our dead, where we organize, where our children play. The liturgy grounds us in common stories/music, and we take this with us to everything else. Many people who have left the church have said that there's not really an societal equivalent, and I mourn the fact that the church has not been a space for everyone, and that there aren't similar secular spaces. Especially in the sharing of money and time, I've learned really valuable lessons about community from the church.

It is never too late to need this, to join in, to attend a church, to start praying, to get baptized—these things are not age-dependent, and they come to us all differently. The disciples were old and young, the saints have come to God at all different times, and our lives do not all follow the same pattern. There's that joke about how Jesus didn't start his ministry till age 30—but even if you're way past 30, you only need a day in which to live seeking God, and God willing you have many days ahead of you.

Maybe this has been on your mind for a while, and it feels like you've missed your chance—you haven't. Each day we recommit ourselves to life, which means each day we have the opportunity to change it. I have never been to a church that would look down on someone beginning their church participation at any age—even the most annoying conservative churches I can think of love when people start coming.

I don't know what the church options are where you live, but I'd encourage you to visit some! Attending is not a promise to join or keep attending, just a participation in a liturgy. There may be restrictions for taking communion depending on your baptism/membership, but there are no restrictions on coming and listening and singing. And even if just once, you'll have participated in the unfolding story of Christian communal worship, and made it better by being yourself and coming with love.

There are churches who have completely different liturgies/practices—Quaker meetings are a great example. As I mentioned, there are personal liturgies that, while not a replacement for community, can introduce ritual into our homes and keep us faithful us as we seek community (I'm currently practicing Phyllis Trible's Divine Hours). Tradition sustains us, and is continuously being created. Wherever you find your home, whatever songs you sing, may God go with you, and may you never feel it is too late to start absolutely anything.

<3 Johanna

#asks

36 notes · View notes

am-i-the-asshole-official · 1 year ago

Note

AITA for not wanting to writing a positive review of my brothers moral character?

(🖌️ to find later)

TW for drug use and misogyny

My (24X) older brother (26M) recently ended up getting arrested and charged with some very serious charges due to his distribution of fentanyl. I’m not going to get too into the legal stuff for obvious reasons but he could end up in prison for up to 30 years. I’m not any type of fan of the legal system (US, for clarification) and am not a fan of the situation but can definitely see some silver linings to him being in there. I wish there was an actually system of help he could get but with the rate he has taking drugs and the way his circle of friends was dropping (4 funerals in 6 months) my mom and I were fairly certain he was going to over does soon and he showed no signs of wanting to seek help. So ya know, at least he’ll be alive.

But that’s not fully the issue. My mom and I talked and she said his public defender wanted letters from people to prove his good moral character to read in court and, as his little sibling, figured of course I would provide one. But I truly have nothing good to say about the man’s ‘moral character’ the last time we had a conversation was before I moved out over two years ago. When I moved out my roommates I was moving in with said they didn’t want him to know our address as they would be living there too and didn’t want him bringing his violence into their lives. He blew up called me a bunch of homophobic slurs and that was pretty much it.

Before that he was my biggest reason for wanting to move out. He regularly calls my mom a bitch and a c*nt. He never cleaned up after himself because ‘there was two women in the house and we were f*cking (r-slurs) if we thought he should have to do anything.’ Lovely things like that. He punches holes in the walls, says slurs like they’re the only descriptive words he knows, steals anything not locked up (and smashes through doors and windows even then to get to it), and hounds my mom for money non-stop, usually until she gives in. In short I have nothing positive to say about his moral character.

Now my mom is a very loving mom. Far more than I could be at this point and is in denial about the man her son is. She would say she’s spent the last decade living with the personification of meth and heroin and she will get her son back some day if he could only get clean. But none of that has actually been him. I just can’t have that kind of optimism or denial towards the situation. She’s going to be very upset if I don’t submit something because she (fairly, again fuck the prison system) doesn’t think he should be locked up for upwards of 30 years.

I’m a good writer. I could come up with something. None of it really true but it can sound nice. Make my mom feel better (gods know she needs a break) but just thinking about it makes me feel gross. I don’t even know if it will matter much in court, but I don’t know how awful of me it would be to abstain.

There’s obviously more nitty gritty to the situation but this is long as it is. I just hope I didn’t make my mom sound bad because I do want to say she’s a loving woman in an abusive situation and I hope it’s not to much to ask that no one be too cruel to her in the notes, thanks.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

77 notes · View notes

mindwhor3 · 1 year ago

Text

In ruins

A/N: I don´t know if someone will read this but feel free to send me a feedback. My first published story.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language.

WC: 547

I never intended it to go this way. We had all the time in the world but the ending was so suddenly it left me speachless.

At the near end of my collage years i met her. We saw each other in passing but never got the chance to talk, until my history professor assigned us in group project. She studied art, i majored in education. My dream was to be a teacher, to inspire the generation of the future, her dream was to be a dancer, like her mother was before her. While the project lasted we talked, got to know each other. I asked for her number after a late study session on a rainy Wednesday, i first kissed her on a cold Saturday several months later. No label was ever called between us but i fell hard and fast.

A few times a week we would meet up away from praying eyes and the loudless whispers of our peers. Maybe it was the sneeking around what made this exiting but maybe i liked her too much to share. This arrengement lastet nearly one year. Right before finals she called it quits. And in the empty park on a chilly Monday i called her my everything.

But she left.

I concentrated on my studies and after my last exam i ran to her dorm. It could not end this way. I was ready to beg for a chance, a real one this time. Everyone should be able to see that i was proud to call her mine. But i never got the chance. Her roommate gave me a letter, everything that was left of her. I had´nt had the courage to open it until a drunken night a week leter.

My dearest, Yn,

i´m sorry i could´nt stay long enough to explain everythig to you like you deserved. I had the one chance to fulfill my dream and i took it. When you are reading this i´m already in Russia. I´m dancing like i promised my mother before her passing. I know you whould´ve understood but i knew that i whould´nt have been able to leave if i explained it in person. You were quickly becoming my biggest weakness and even if i don´t mind being weak with you i could´nt pass up that chance.

When we were in that park and you said that you loved me, i got the call a few houres before. So i left without saying it back even if i really wanted nothing more.

I hope you can look at our time together and don´t be dissapointed. Maybe we see each other again. I promise i won´t let you get away that time if you will have me that is.

Don´t give up on your dream, you will be an amazing teacher.

I can´t promise it but i do hope to see you again.

All my love,

Natasha

Tears runnig down my cheek i read it a few more times. And my heart broke a little bit more each time. I called an texted but the number was deactivated. Within a single moment my whole world fell apart and in the middle oft he ruins i learned to live with it. What other choice did i have?

#natasha romanoff x reader #angst #first post

17 notes · View notes

38gayrats · 6 months ago

Text

HOMESTUCK OCSSSS!!!!!111! Prt: 1

(I'm not very good at drawing so I'm writing this all down for later lol)

Rattie Tanjay (troll) she/her

Rattie is an indigo (blue) blood and as such is very physically fit. Think of a blacksmiths build: a little on the shorter side but VERY compact and muscular. And not like bodybuilder muscle, but strongman muscle, with a bit of belly.

Her losus is a musclebeast, per usual with blue bloods. She calls her muscle beast Moohamed, after a legendary musclebeast who was said to be the largest to ever live. Moohamed is only about as tall as Rattie, but hey, an alien troll girl and her mustache wearing milk producing muscle cow mom can dream. Moohamed is prototyped with a 'battle bot' programmed by Friefa (and built by Rattie) for sparing with, giving Moohamed amazing combat abilities. (Rattie finally has a suitable sparing partner!!)

Her captchalogue deck is a 'forge deck' which allows item to be directly alchemized in her inventory as long as she has made it before.

She use the strive specibus of 'knucklekind,' wielding at first her trusted 'Iron knuckles' later upgrading them.

She is a prospit dreamer and a 'Knight of Light.' Light being the aspect of creation and knowledge, and Knight being the class that 'exploits their aspect as a weapon or tool.' Rattie forges weapons (creation), and hones her sparring skills feverishly (knowledge)

Id say the forging has to do with knowledge as well, Rattie is ridiculously skilled with her hands. Metal is her go to, but she's a skilled crafter as well. Knitting, sewing, glass blowing, clay sculpting. She can't program for shit (that skill belongs to her matesprite Friefa) but she can build the bodies of machines with ease.

Shes also similar to Rose Lalond in the sense that she's incredibly stubborn, and will go to great length to do things her own way. Light players tend to be like this (Vriska is a light player as well after all) and Rattie is no different. I'd say the biggest difference is Rattie commitment to using her knowledge to protect her allies. (Not that the other two didn't protect their friends, Rattie is just a bit more honest about it haha)

She loooves combat. More than a little bit of a masochist.

She enjoys sparring, forging weapons, extremely loud music, and did I mention sparring? She plays the drums, and is okay (not very good) at using a synthesizer as well.

Her handle is 'DuelingForger' (or something I dunno yet)

Her typing quirk is as follows: 'TH!S !S an example sentence'

She tends to shout out the first few words in her sentences, as well as words with the letter i in them because "!T REM!NDS ME of an EXCL!MAT!ON PO!NT"

Relationships:

Pale ♦ Ganari

Flushed ♥ Friefa

Grey ♠ none rn

Black ♣ none rn

Normal friends 👥 all the others

She occasionally mediates Gerkeb and Friefa's grey relationship, but not as an auspistice. She just like when her partners get along.

#Rattie Tanjay #Homestuck #Homestuck oc #Oc

3 notes · View notes

noanunoparty · 2 years ago

Text

15/02/23 ~ NTS Radio - Yukihiro Takahashi Special

Presenting to you, the music of the late Yukihiro Takahashi - a leading figure in Japan’s music scene for nearly 50 years and a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra.

As a drummer and a vocalist who embraced music technology, he had a wide artistic range - from city pop and arty new wave to acoustic folk-rock, in addition to producing material for several pop acts and composing film and video game soundtracks.

Born in 1952 in Tokyo, he began his music career early, playing drums with college bands while still in junior high school and starting as a session musician at 16. He studied design at an Art University in Tokyo, without graduating. Like many of his peers, his artistic output had no limits - he developed his own clothing line in the 70s (Bricks), often designing the outfits worn by Yellow Magic Orchestra. He also took the role of actor in several films - mostly comedic roles (he seemed to have a good sense of humour!) & some of which, he produced soundtracks for.

Takahashi loved to collaborate, forming bands on the fly and bringing in friends to play on individual tracks.

So - I hope you enjoy this chronological deep dive into Yukihiro Takahashi’s musical catalogue as I pay tribute to his iconic and influential life. I’ve listened most of his 43 albums and have done my best to condense them into 2 hours! Let’s go!

1992 - Expected Ocean Umi Sora Sango no Iitsutae Soundtrack

Movie soundtrack by Takahashi acting as a bed for the show’s intro.

youtube

2. 1975 - Sadistic Mika Band - Time To Noodle - Hot! Music

Sadistic Mika Band were formed in 1972 - the founding member, Kazuhiko Katō moved to Kensington in 72 and was impressed by the upcoming glam rock scene led by T.Rex and David Bowie - so he formed the band in Japan, including his wife Mika and Takahashi on drums. The name is a parody of the 60s band, Plastic Ono Band.

The band were popular in the UK, touring with Roxy Music in ‘75 - the first ever UK tour by a Japanese band. During this period, they performed on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test. When they appeared, the name of the programme (usually shown hung from the back wall) was spelt as The Old Gley Whistle Test as a nod to the Japanese pronunciation of the letters L and R.

Sadistic Mika Band’s albums were released on Doughnut Records - Japan’s first private label that was founded by Katō.

Around the time of Hot Music’s release, members of Yellow Magic Orchestra started working together on solo projects and as a part of each others bands.

3. 1978 - Sadistics - Nao - We Are Just Taking Off

Katō and Mika divorced and left the band. The remaining members, Takahashi, Takanaka, Imai, and Gotō continued for several years as The Sadistics. They released two albums and two live albums before the band eventually petered out in ’79 as the members became busy with their solo careers & other projects.

4. 1978 - Present - Sarravah!

This was Takahashi’s first solo album, created whilst on tenure from The Sadistics. It was produced by Sakamoto - he also features on keys. Plus Hosono on bass, with Tatsuro Yamashita, Minako Yoshida & Rajie on backing vocals.

Named after Pierre Barouh’s record label of the same name, Takahasi based the album on French pop music - this influence would later show up in early YMO material.

Sarravah! Was released the same year that YMO fully formed, recorded & released first album.

5. 1980 - Numbers From A Calculated Conversation - Murdered by the Music

Second studio album & his first release whilst he was a member of YMO. Murdered by the Music did pretty well in the Japanese charts, reaching #12.

Features contributions from Sakamoto, Hosono & Sandii.

6. 1981 - Extra Ordinary - Neuromantic

This is my favourite album from Takahashi’s collection - synth-pop goodness and his vocals are perfection!

Neuromantic was self-produced, again with contributions from Sakamoto and Hosono + Tony Mansfield and members of Roxy Music.

The name, Neuromantic, is a pun on the early 1980s British fashion movement, the New Romantics.

youtube

7. 1981 - Drip Dry Eyes - Neuromantic

Another classic from Neuromantic. My favourite song of his, probably yours too. Was also covered by Sandii. & the video! Ah!

8. 1981 - The Beatniks- No Way Out - Exitentialism

Formed by Takahashi & Keiichi Suzuki in 1981. More of an Alt-rock tinge. They released several albums, including soundtracks for Yohji Yamamoto’s catwalk shows.

Their first album in 7 years was released in 2018. That same year, they performed live in several concerts, despite Takahashi’s recent eye surgery.

9. 1982 - Flashback - What Me, Worry?

Fourth solo album. More features from Sakamoto & Hososno + Zaine Griff, Tony Mansfield, and Bill Nelson.

Takahashi’s first release on YEN Records - An imprint of Alfa Records that ran from 1982 to 1985 fronted by Hosono and Takahashi, releasing music from Sandii, Hajime Tachibana, Miharu Koshi & more. They also produced most of the albums.

10. 1983 - Kagero (Live Version from Time & Place) - Tomorrow’s Just Another Day

This album reached 11 in the music charts - the highest ranking for Takahashi’s solo work! Tomorrow’s Just Another Day really emphasises Takahashi as a singer.

This version, taken from Time & Place was recorded live at Shibuya Kokaido in Tokyo, Aug. 1983.

+ peep the cute cover!

11. 1983 - And I Believe In You - Are You Receiving Me?

Had to include this one as it’s another favourite. Released as the B Side to the single, Are you Receiving Me? This is classic Takahashi synth-pop goodness <3

12. 1984 - Walking to the Beat - Wild and Moody

Sixth and last solo album on his YEN label.

Wild and Moody is quite mellow. He sings mostly in English, hoping to pursue more of a global audience. The lyrics for Track 2 were written by Steve Jansen who was a close collaborator of Takahashi and Jansen considered him as a mentor.

youtube

13. 1985 - Instrumental - Poisson d'Avril

Soundtrack from the comedy film "Poisson D'avril" (April's Fool in French), released in 1986. Takahashi plays the lead role!

14. 1985 - I Saw The Light - Once A Fool

Another fav and it’s a Todd Rundgren cover. It’s just perfect pop.

Once A Fool was the first album from the T.E.N.T. label that was started by Takahashi and Keiichi Suzuki (of the Beatniks). With Sakamoto on keys and synths, Hosono on bass & synths & Hiroshi Sato on the organ. + backing vocals from Miharu Koshi!

15. 1986 - Moonlight Feels Right - Only When I Laugh

Second release on T.E.N.T. Only When I Laugh feels quite fresh with more of an acoustic tinge to it.

16. 1987 - Parfum De L'Aube - La Pensee

Music for Yohji Yamamoto’s S/S ‘87 + A/W ‘87 - ‘88 collection, shown in Paris.

Takahashi & Yamamoto often collaborated, and YMO often wore Yamamoto’s designs on tour. In 1991 Takahashi & Hosono walked the runway for Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons legendary collection “6.1 the men”

17. 1987 - Main Theme - Ginga No Sannin OST

Takahashi composed a lot of music for video games, and his work in YMO had a major influence on early video game music.

18. 1988 - Sea Change - Ego

Features some of his bolder synth arrangements and arena-ready tracks, with contributions from Sakamoto.

19. 1992 - mis - Life Time Happy Time

Another classic pop album from Takahashi - this one flew under the radar a bit and doesn’t stand out from his collection as much as others.

20. 1995 - Fate of Gold - Fate of Gold

Takahashi wanted to collaborate with a wide variety of artists of all different ages, “with the attitude of: "I'll let you mature when you're mature” “ Featuring Skapara, KYON, Rei Ohara, ICE's MAYUMI and Takenaka Naoto.

21. 1997 - Pulse - The Choice - Pulse

In September 1997 Steve Jansen and Takahashi formed UK based, Pulse and completed a 6 track album in Tokyo and London under the same name. Released on Yukihiro's own label, Consipio Records.

A very experimental, more “contemporary” album! The Choice features vocals from Indian classical singer Sonia Mehta.

22. 1999 - For Men - The Dearest Fool

Takahashi returns to the 80s techno-pop sound! + another collaboration with Steve Jansen.

23. 2002 - Sketch Show - Gokigen Ikaga 1 2 3 - Audio Sponge

After YMO decided to “spread out” (they didn’t want to say “split-up”), Takahashi and Hosono formed Sketch Show. Sketch Show had ore of an electronica output as opposed to pop.

Sakamoto often joined Sketch Show performances and recording sessions. He later proposed they rename the group Human Audio Sponge (or HAS) when he participates.

Sketch Show played live shows at Japanese raves and a headline slot at the 2003 edition of SONAR in Barcelona.

24. 2008 - Pupa - Jargon - What’s Pupa - Floating Pupa

Takhashi put together Pupa in 2007 - formed of Tomoyo Harada, Hiroshi Takada, Ren Takada, Hirohisa Horie, and Tomohiko Gondo. The band name Pupa is a term from fly-fishing, a sport that Takahashi loves.

25. 2013 - Shadow - Life Anew

Aged 61 - Takahashi goes back to basics yet you can tell he’s feeling musically inspired with Life Anew, which sounds more like a rock band than anything else he’s put out before.

Features contributions from former Smashing Pumpkins member, James Iha.

26. 2014 - Yukihiro Takahashi & Metafive - Drip Dry Eyes (Live) - Techno Recital

Takahashi originally assembled Keigo Oyamada, Yoshinori Sunahara, Towa Tei, Tomohiko Gondo, and Leo Imai to serve as the backing band (billed as Yukihiro Takahashi & Metafive) on his 2014 tour - this version of Drip Dry Eyes was taken from the Roppongi Theatre show, for which they were billed as Yukihiro Takahashi & Metafive. In 2015, the band changed their name to Metafive.

They disbanded after the release of their last album, METAATEM in 2021, after the release was originally cancelled due to controversy from Oyamama’s past history of bullying.

The line-up of Imai, Sunahara, Nagai and Shirane changed their name to TESTSET and released their debut EP in 2022.

youtube

27. 1998 - Stay Close (Live) - Once A Fool

We end on another favourite - a joyous live version from 1998 of Stay Close. - another collaboration with Steve Jansen.

Thank you Yuki-san for everything you’ve given the world - your legacy will live on forever <3

#NTS Radio #Yukihiro Takahashi

35 notes · View notes

sirensea14 · 9 months ago

Note

Does siren get caught in the labyrinth arc? If so what happens? And where would she be if she didn't?

Funny that i actually drafted smth here that explains her little insertion in the story. But most of it was about the labyrinth arc so lemme explain it.

Yes, she did got caught in the Labyrinth. A bit reckless in my opinion on how she got there.

Book 10

So it starts off with her, alice and holly waiting back at the hotel while the boys were out in fairmont. They got dragged in. And that left Siren uneasy. That night, she grabbed her coat, pocket watch (made by holly, the engraving on her watch was a letter S with fish tail on its end), and a bag full of food, and the first aid kit. She left without a word of the others and snuck out without anyone noticing. She walked to Fairmont town undetected. She has nightvision (i forgot to mention this in the prev ask) and her eyes glowed purple. Like the Questers, she heard lots of voices whispering and taunting at her. She entered the hotel and went in the rooms one by one, calling out the boys' names. She got teleported to some library and the more steps she took, the crazier the room was than the last one. The labyrinth reminded her of the haunted figures that she took their lives from in the past. She encountered one of the questers at some point and tried to stick with them, but she eventually ran away from them due to fear and the voices around her (she got insane). Also she encountered a lot of illusions and she doesnt know which one is real. She fought a lot of the shadow hands, various monsters nothing she has seen in her life, and overwhelmed with guilt and terror.

By the time bendy, alice, felix, cuphead, mugman, michael and sarah out (this was when leticia shot sarah), she wasnt seen in the scene. If sarah erased all their memories regarding boris and replaced them with her, then siren was also removed too. They encountered each other at one point and she immediately got scared of her due to her growing insanity and insatiable lust for soul. Tho sarah was an anomaly, thus siren cannot steal her soul away. This was also the time when sarah hesitated in ordering the NT to attack her. But they excaped from her anyway. She was so angry at her that she dared erase their memories of her.

Then it comes, book 11.

In book 11, Mickey, Oswald, donald and Leticia asked where Siren and Boris were but the questers didnt know. And then sarah and boris attacked talent town. Siren was still trapped in the labyrinth. Then the questers got dragged into the madness again and Holly (along with cannikin) is in a quest to rescue them from their dreams.

Bendy: Wait. Arent we forgetting someone?

Holly: ...

Alice: who-?

Cuphead: its Siren, feathers.

Bendy: *grumbles, annoyed at cup*

Thats where Siren's past was revealed to the questers as she was the last one they rescued. (Only the important points of her past were revealed: her birth and the time when she took the lives of her parents. Travelling thru the seas and snatching souls once again. Terrible illness struck her. Stealing in a town and got in trouble, eventually stole all the townsfolks' lives. Arrival to toon town.) Tho they unwillingly fought her after they got to the last bit of her memory, they did it physically and emotionally (words). The fight and words continued on until she broke down crying at them, repeatedly saying shes a horrible person and she should die. Bendy slapped her and comforted her (tho they kinda scolded him for doing so), they had a group hug afterwards.

Plot twist, that version of Siren disappeared into dust and they were all shocked. Holly clicked the button on her watch and they were back somewhere at the labyrinth.

Boris, sarah, the night terror, mayhem, bigby and siren were all in a room together. What happened all along was that siren tried to fight back against the nightmares and the labyrinth created an illusion-double which was the insane one (doubles occur in the labyrinth which works like a cycle of some sort, as seen in holly' pov. InsanitySiren kind of works like Not-cup and she was just an illusion of the labyrinth. Sarah also treats siren like an anomaly but she was 50/50 in sending the NT to hunt her, she's like mayhem but with no attachments to an ink machine part).

And from there, Siren was fighting sarah, the night terror, boris, bigby and mayhem all by herself. She almost used her Soul Grab on Sarah again, which terrified the bird, the wolves and the NT but she intrigued the witch.

Eventually they all met together and Boris finally surrendered to the questers and went in on a group hug. But sarah was on high alert, she attacked them. Then Boris got into the room of the Instrument, took it and play it, making the Labyrinth crumble apart.

After that they got into what would happen in the next chapters.

(but lemme add smth related lol)

Remember when Alice and bendy visited leticia and michael in their tent and then leticia made the angel and the demon kiss? Lets just say... Siren was just outside and saw it. She just smiled at them silently and backed away. Siren felt a sharp pain in her chest and tried to go somewhere else but an angel stopped her. So she went back into a tent, alone. In that tent she coughed and vomited a lot, choking on her tears.

And then the story goes on.

My mind's a lil buggy and i dunno if i got the labyrinth arc right lol

Imdyingtotelly'allhersecretandidkifyougotthesignalyet T-T Welp, there goes me yapping about Siren in the labyrinth arc XD tho i dont wanna do some inserts of siren more especially in the latest events of the story T-T i feel like she wont fit in there anymore so im gonna stop her story insertion here. But i still have the draft of a short summary of siren in books 1-9, you can go ask if u want...

3 notes · View notes

anumberofhobbies · 1 year ago

Video

youtube

THE RAPTURE--ACCORDING TO JESUS

Feb 2, 2024 Jesus taught such a comforting, hope-filled message of His return to rescue His Church before the Tribulation, that His disciples went everywhere teaching this same truth.

When Paul had only a month in a pagan city where he planted a church, the Rapture was central to their doctrine.

The Rapture was First Taught by Jesus

The Rapture is a doctrine started and taught by Jesus, continued and spread by His disciples, and believed and passionately lived out by His Church.

The early church heard and understood this doctrine of Christ’s any-moment return, and radiantly lived, looking for ways to please Him when He came to rescue them.

James in the first NT letter said that Christ was standing at the door (5:7).

The second NT book was I Thessalonians and every chapter shines with Rapture-induced hope-filled expectancy (1:9-10; 2:19-20; 3:13; 4:13-18; 5:23).

Paul’s epistles start to finish, are seasoned with the flavor of a focused life awaiting Christ as in Philippians 3:20 where we as citizens of Heaven await Jesus eagerly, as Paul confesses in his last words of II Timothy 4 where he talks about His crown “at that day” when Jesus comes.

Peter says the same, going so far as asking what kind of lives should we live because we know the future (II Peter 3:11 ).

John’s Epistles are the same, in I John 3:2-3 he says that this “hope” causes us to purify our daily life looking for Christ’s coming.

In Revelation 3:7, Jesus Christ identifies Himself to the Church at Philadelphia as the One who is True, Holy, and has the unstoppable Messianic Key of David. When Jesus speaks He tells the Truth. When we listen to Him and hear what He says we can have confident assurance that He knows what He is talking about.

Jesus Christ taught repeatedly (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) that His 2nd Coming is to Judge the ungodly.

That was the content of every sermon on the future that He ever preached.

Each sermon was taught in the context of Israel, was focused upon the Jews, and involved the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.

The Rapture is Not The 2nd Coming

But, when Jesus spoke to believers His emphasis was different.

Jesus taught His own born-again children of the faith, three bedrock truths about the Rapture or His coming for His Church.

These truths are that: the Rapture will be a source of comfort; the Rapture will be similar to the Ascension; and that the Rapture will be an intentional rescue.

Those truths, taught by Jesus Christ Himself, constitute the Biblical, doctrinal basis for all that the early church was later taught by the Apostles and which extends to us throughout all the centuries since Christ’s ministry.

#youtube

2 notes · View notes

abyssalpriest · 2 years ago

Text

Notes: "Eldritch" Energy = Va'alaṣre 5/7/23

I asked Leviathan for a word in an off-plane language for the type of energy I've been calling Eldritch, detailed below (under "What is this energy:"), because I've been sick of the word Eldritch. He gave me some sounds and syllables but was insistent that however I interpret it is right - I asked him through a friend afterwards and he told me to make one up (though I was given a clue in the letters "al"), I also asked him over here again after that to give me letters from the NT we use for divination and he gave me the same sort of word bit-by-bit only off by three letters, which I think is closer to whatever word he had in mind, but he has insisted I only use my original version. More so he insisted that what matters is that I both make it my own and take what he gave. Detailed below is my notes on what each syllable mean, as well as identifying this energy, etc. "L: (italicised text)"= Denotes the text following it is from Leviathan "D:" = Me

L: 20230703

It genuinely does not matter what the original word is. I discussed Black Ink with you for a reason. I input something through my side of the veil and it has to gestate inside your head before being birthed... More so I'm asking you to do that. I'm asking you to let it blend with you, asking you to do that sort of uniting with my impulse and recreate it in whatever form the two of us create.

It's important because... Well, it just is.

A lot of what you'll need to know about this will come to you in time. This is one of your beloved Obsidian Mirrors, isn't it. You're gazing into a black pool and your reflection is there, partial, clarity affected by each ripple of your breath. Eventually you'll fall in, maybe you'll drown, maybe you won't (you won't), but eventually you'll learn to breathe - oh, what am I saying, you're a little egg that has been incubating in this energy for centuries. Anyways. This introduction is incomplete, isn't it? Teasingly so? Shame. You'll get over it.

20230704

D: Insert Leviathan insisting I go get those moon-shaped sickles in ESO, the quest headed by the NPC called Vastarie whose name I never remember, getting her mixed up with Valaste.

---

20230623 - 20230705

Take 1

Va'alaṣre (noun) ("the Eldritch" = "va'alasre") Va'alaṣric (adjective) ("The Eldritch energy, god, etc"= "the va'alaṣric energy, god, etc") VAhl-AHZH-re AH = as in father L = inwards, back of the throat, tongue curled upwards (not found in English) ZH = as in mirage, back of the throat Re = Rolled R, e is a mix between eh like feather and ah like father. Like a mix between the Japanese re and ra

What is this energy:

D: Endless, enscoping, formulaic, primordial, verdant, deep and dark, time-bound., Blackness but also every colour, quiet. The Day Sky as an opaque dreaming body, slow moving water almost ice, eyes, tendrils and tentacles, watching and churning and spiralling or more so orbiting.

L: The black. A specific type of energy tied to the Void, yes, but in the way the dawn is tied to the night. It's a sky-based energy, swathes of unblinking blue, indifference, waking consciousness, awareness. Thousands of eyes in the night sky. Hypnagogia, un-logic, unravelling... But all perfectly logical. It is the unsettling and the uncanny but always real. Really, it's the reality of the unnerving. It's the outermost layer of reality before the Void, the living extremophiles, it is alien by nature. Be careful though in understanding that it is not these things I am addressing, I am addressing the Va'alaṣric with these terms. Everything I have said can be assigned to everything else. Va'alaṣre is tied in-between my words, hung on to a Spider's web.

---

Va'al-:

Pronunciation: VIII of Wands R

Starts stronger, more like VA-al than VAL (hence the ' )

Meaning: IX of Swords

L: That which is. The space of dreaming, the space where reality descends so far and deep that it becomes indistinguishable from dreaming. This is a spectrum as all things, but covers the tiring to the drowsy to the hypnagogic to the stages of sleep... Remember, however, that these are states it invokes in consciousness. You say that it feels like people don't generally acknowledge this energy unless they're a part of it? (Song: A Darker Rebirth, by Flowers for Bodysnatchers) Likely because most people don't hover around these places. Isn't it rather busy on this plane, centre of all things, as if everyone were magnetically fleeing the outermost extremities of reality... V of Pentacles (as drawn for 're'), it is like a cathedral grand and enticing, but only to the Catholics. Va'alasre enticing to the Va'alaṣric. A house of God in the dark of night self-lit by inwards sources, alluring light shows of stained glass and rich brown pews. In the background: XX Judgement. Every place in existence is a translation of the same thing every other place is, the luring singing of God however... I find it calming, I find it alluring, I find it... Peaceful and significant to be in these places as the hum of something greater works within my brain and these places to merge into an experience similar to the devout Catholic in their cathedral. Hard and cold shell, succulent molusc within. To consume God's word as your own as it emanates in chaotic, slow-moving spiralling forms. Or, well, it's rather dark down here in the abyss. Am I eating God's words or am I eating those dreaming forms that fall into the greater depths as their consciousnesses give way and they become pattering expressers of God's impulses? To eat stars is to watch them undo themselves, to reverse their name and let them fall like meat off the bone of a lamb shank.

The cup should want to pour out but it clings on. It wants to stay housed within the self as this energy should come to rest yet it stays. The cohesive body of water in its position. The Page - you - shall learn over time to weild it, become king - (...)

D: Is this something about consciousness?

L: I think you're seeing consciousness too loosely. What's the difference between consciousness and matter when talking about energy? Not as much of a difference as you'd think.

D: I still really struggle with that, honestly

L: Of course you do. This plane is so dry. You know, where I'm from, the walls and you aren't very separate. Energy is like water where Mind is ice and Matter is steam.

D: Wait, wouldn't it be the opposite?

L: No. You'll get it eventually. You see Matter as too stable. I'm sorry, I don't think even on your plane that atoms whirring around as moving fluctuations on a field of Is is very stable. They can't even contain themselves. Consciousness on the other hand, oh dear, the Librarian. Don't touch his books or he'll have your hands.

---

-Aṣ-:

IX of Cups:

L: Source.

The brimming cups, absolutely. But it isn't just about having access to spring water, you need to know what you're doing with it. Va'alaṣre is a gateway and offering open to you now. You are tapped into it, it spills forth for you, into you, around you, wherever you need it. This is partly why I made you make your own name based on what I said: It's a key for you

D: So I'm presuming this is a Lemniscate thing. It's less that Consciousness and Energy are separate - less that Va'al and Aṣ are separate - and more so they're different sides of the spectrum?

L: Why would they even need to be separate?

D: Well, just because you laid them out as separate things, I think

L: Same word, though.

D: Why separate the meanings then?

L: Left and right eye. Not different visions.

D: So, like the Lemniscate?

L: No. Keep in mind what I've told you about Lemniscates and Eyes is based on contrasting the Lemnsicate and the Linga, to be puiblished I supposed. There's... Look. You can't decide what energy is once energy is expelled, energy has aready been impacted by Consciousness. You don't get to will it with programming, you can only direct it. There's making more energy and transmuting it, yes, so what I said isn't accurate but I need you to feel this is what I mean. We can't sit here talking about how to direct a water flow when you've never interacted with water before - fluid dynamics are a bitch of a thing - I may as well just show you. Stop trying to create what is already created and work with it.

---

-Re:

The Empress (R)

L: Knowledge of the swallowing, where this ends back up. Because it ends back up in the Void as all things do, but especially this. When you play with magnetic energies it returns there. I ask you to keep this in mind when you play with it. It's yours to play with but it will always tie back to the Void.

In a way we are boats on its waters, barely held afloat, magnetised to its mass.

The final key, the gateway back to the one who holds the keys.

Re: Key headed for the lock.

---

Three cards:

II of Swords

Left sword leads to: II of Pentacles

Right sword leads to: The Hanged Man

L: You have a choice to make. Aptly you also noticed that this is follows the Vaal-As-Re syllable formula. This is the active forces, and a mirror of yourself involved within it. Not as it, this is actionable.

Vaal: Balancing assertion and succumbing. This is a very heavy place like the bottom of the ocean is, in order to swim within the abyss you need to exert enough pressure on your surroundings to stay whole... But you don't want to stay whole. You want to be as Ahi is in the depths, swimming both literally and as a whole and also blurring at the edges, a hagfish in the water, an octopus and its slippery coating which allows it to glide unharmed. There's so much pressure in the depths of Creation and so the body must adapt. How will you adapt? When you recognise poles, the best thing to do is to recognise and remember that life is a funhouse of mirrors. When there are opposites, there is a mirror at play. Choose how you interact with it

Aṣ:

L: Waiting for you, energy at its source, waiting for you... Direct it. It is not conscious, you are. And the only things that brim within it as an Obsidian Mirror are your reflections. It will dance with you. Remember what Hermes said to you about the Mental Realm: Do not assign features to it? Assign features to this like a dancer assigns waves to the air.

Aṣ, reminds you of the word Mirage. There's a reason for that.

Re:

L: The personhood. The self as the boat's captain.

The Hanged Man you associate with your relationship to your Sky Spirit self, your existence as him dipping his little claws into this reality to see as humans see. That which is taken shall be returned, but oh, why not have fun with it in the meantime? Dance with the Black Mother. Go hunt for her and return what you find home.

---

Three doors:

Va'al = IX of Wands

Aṣ = V of Cups (R)

Re = The Hermit (R)

IX of Wands:

L: Paranoia, looming insanity. Unfortunately when you interact with the Obsidian Mirror and Va'alaṣre you will need to keep a foothold in existence no matter how tired you get.

V of Cups (R):

L: Use it, for God's sake use it. Stop staring at what might be and look into the damn mirror

The Hermit (R):

L: Your worst fear, interacting with people, driven to its extreme of working for someone. Sorry, but you are always working for the Void as Polarity does obsessively.

#channellings //#va'alasre //

6 notes · View notes

nokingsonlyfooles · 11 months ago

Text

I still have the first HP book, in paperback, because I bought it to read on the train when I took a trip to meet my then-internet-friend, and now-spouse for the first time. We met in a public place to go to a movie - it was a weird time, we were all very worried about internet murderers in the aughties. We saw Chicken Run. I wanted something from the concessions stand (I think it was an Icee) and he went and got it for me and let me keep reading, when a more NT person would've snubbed me for being rude with my nose in a book.

I should've married his ass in the theatre right after the movie!

But he'd already read it, and he knew it was good, and he kept asking where I was, and what plot twist I was up to, and he did not spoil anything. By the time #4 came out, we were living together and buying the new books as soon as they hit the US market.

We were old, though, is what I'm saying. It seems pretty damn young now, but we never expected a Hogwarts letter. And, reading this, I suddenly realize how many weird kids must've broken down in tears because they just weren't weird enough to get rescued from their situations like Harry. Sorry, kiddo. No one's coming to tell your bullies and abusers to fuck off, and you won't get to go to a better place where all your weird traits are actually normal and fine and awesome. And that's because of traits you weren't born with that you can't ever change.

Jesus, that's terrible! Later, she even tried to mitigate it by coming out with the WOMBATs, and the idea that you can live in magical society if you're not the right magic race, but you will be disabled and marginalized. (She can't go back and change how squibs and muggles and even muggle-borns are treated, if you've read the books you know how you'd be treated by the Wizarding World.) But, fundamentally, this is a lesson in bioessentialism and knowing your place. The actual story was so engaging that we didn't see all of this stuff until she started saying it unfiltered, with no fictional universe to hide behind.

Thank god we're post-Potter, and there are new magical places where if you weren't born to it, you can still do it anyway. I'm thinking of The Owl House in particular, they were stellar, with a cast full of people with different levels of ability. My fellow freaks and queers, how much did you need to hear as a kid, "OK, because of how you are, your experiences are going to be different. You might need to slow down for me, or I might need to slow down for you. You might go through some shit because you do things differently or need accommodations, and some people will try to say you don't belong here, but you do. You belong here and the good guys are gonna make sure you get to stay." And that holds true for Earth and the Boiling Isles.

(I also made magic all-access in my magical world, which I really should plug more. It's not very popular. And due to upheavals in WordPress, the site's pretty broken now.)

Fuck the letters. Don't ask permission. You're here and you deserve to be here. It's on the rest of us help make sure you can stay, so fuck Fate too. Do it because it needs doing. And if GOD HIMSELF tells you to knock it off, spit in his holy Eye.

I wrote a 12 page epilogue to my 2019 comic "Harry Potter and The Problematic Author" because I found, in 2023, that I had more to say. You can also find this comic on my website, and I have PDF copies available on etsy. I may sell print copies at some point in the future.

instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

Full transcript below the cut.

PAGE 1

Part one: Ruddy Owls!

I was in fourth grade when the first Harry Potter Book was released in the US.

Panel 1: Sometimes our teacher would read it aloud in class. “Mr and Mrs Dursley of number 4 Privat Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much…”

Panel 2: I was 11 years old when Harry Potter finally broke through my dyslexia and turned me into a reader.

Panel 3: Every night in the summer before sixth grade I waited for the owl carrying my Hogwarts Letter. I cried when it didn’t come. “I have to go to Muggle school!”

PAGE 2

Part Two: Hats

I dedicated myself to being a fan.

Panel 1: I began collecting Harry Potter News article.

Panel 2: I asked my relatives to mail me ones from their local papers. I filled a thick binder with clippings.

Panel 3: I wrote my own trivia quiz

Panel 4: and participated in the one held annually at the county fair. “Next contestant!”

Panel 5: I usually got into one of. the top five spots. I won boxes of candy, posters, stationary, and once a baseball cap. (Hat reads: I survived the battle of Hogwarts).

Panel 6: In high school I sewed a black velvet cape and knitted many stripped scarves.

PAGE 3

Part Three: Double Trouble

Watching the last film in 2011 felt like the final note of my childhood.

Panel 1: I remember driving home from the midnight showing thinking about the end of 13 years of waiting; wondering what would define the next chapter of my life.

Panel 2: That same month I heard of something called Pottermore. “Okay, so there’s a sorting quiz… I already know my house! Patronus assignment? Mine’s a barn owl. Duh!"

Panel 3: You can read the books again but with GIFs? Why?

Panel 4: I lived in a place with very slow and limited internet at the time. Pottermore sounded inaccessible, but also boring. I never joined.

Panel 5: "I’ll just read the actual books again, thanks."

PAGE 4

Part Four: Sweets

In 2016, a series of short stories titled "History of Magic in North America” were released on Pottermore to pave the way for the first Fantastic Beasts Film. These stories display an extreme ignorance of American history, culture, and geography, but the worst parts are the casual misuse of indigenous beliefs and stories. Fans and critics immediately spoke up against this appropriation. Some of the most quoted voices included Nambe Pueblo scholar Dr. Debbie Reese who runs the site “American Indians In Children’s Literature”; Navajo writer Brian Young; Johnnie Jae (Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw), founder of A Tribe Called Geek; Dr Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), a Professor at Brown University who runs the blog “Native Appropriations”, and writers N.K. Jemison and Paula Young Lee.

PAGE 5

Rowling is famous for responding to fans directly on twitter, yet she did not respond to anyone calling out the damaging aspects of “Magic in North America.” Her representatives refused to comment for March 9 2016 article in the Guardian. She has never apologized. All of this, plus the casting of Johnny Depp and the specific declarations of support by JKR, Warner Brothers, and director David Yates left a sour taste in my mouth.

For further thoughts on the new films read The Crimes of Grindelwald is a Mess by Alanna Bennett for Buzzfeed News, November 16, 2018.

PAGE 6

Excerpt from Colonialism in Wizarding American: JK Rowling’s History of Magic in North America Through an Indigenous Lens by Allison Mills, MFA, MAS/MLIS (Cree and Settler French Canadian)

Although Rowling is certainly not the first white author to misstep in her treatment of Indigenous cultures, she has an unprecedented level of visibility and fame, […] One of the most glaring problems with Rowling’s story is her treatment of the many Indigenous nations in North America as one monolithic group. […It] flattens out the diversity of languages, belief systems, and cultures that exist in Indigenous communities, allowing stereotyping to persist. […] It continues a long history of colonial texts which ignore that Indigenous peoples still exist. […] In the Wizarding world, as in the real world, Indigenous histories have been over-written and our cultures erased.

from The Looking Glass: New Perspectives in Children’s Literature Volumn 19, Issue 1

PAGE 7

Part 5: Music

Panel 1: Also in 2016 I discovered two podcasts which radically altered my experience of being an HP fan. The first was Witch Please created by two Canadian feminist literary scholars Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman.

Panel 2: “If it’s not in the text it doesn’t count!” “Close reading ONLY!”

Panel 3: They talk about Harry Potter at the level you’d expect in a college class with particular focus on gender, race, class, and the troubling fatphobia, fear of othered and queer coded bodies, violence against women, white feminism, gaslighting and failed pedagogy in the books. They bring up these issues not because they hate the series, but because they LOVE it.

PAGE 8

These passionate, joyful conversations went off like fireworks in my mind. I had never taken a feminist class before. I gained a whole new vocabulary to talk about the books- and the world.

PAGE 9

Panel 1: The second podcast I started that year was Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, created by two graduates of the Harvard Divinity School, Vanessa Zoltan and Casper Ter Kuile.

Panel 2: They read one chapter per episode through a theme such as love, control, curiosity, shame, responsibility, hospitality, destruction, or mystery. Like Witch Please, they are interested only in the information on the page, not thoughts from the author. The delights and failures of the text are examined in the context of the present day, and new meanings constantly arise.

PAGE 10

What does it mean to treat a text as sacred?

Trusting that the more time we give to it, the more blessings it has to give us.

Reading the text repeatedly with concentrated attention. Our effort is part of what makes it sacred. The text is not in and of itself sacred, but is made so by rigorously engaging in the ritual of reading.

Experiencing it in community.

“To me, the goal of treating the text as sacred is that we learn to treat each other as sacred.” -Vanessa Zoltan

PAGE 11

Part 6: Tooth and Claw

In October 2017, Rowling liked a tweet linking to an article arguing that trans women should be kept out of women’s bathrooms because of cisgender women’s fears. In March 2018, she liked a tweet about the problem of misogyny in the UK Labour Party which included the line “Men in dresses get brosocialist solidarity I never had.” The author of the tweet had previously posted many blatantly anti-trans statements.

Rowlings publicist claimed she had liked the posted by accident in a “clumsy and middle-aged moment.” Yet, in September 2018 she liked a link posted by Janice Turner to her column in the Times UK titled “Trans Rapists Are A Danger In Women’s Jails.”

Screencaps of these tweets can be found in the article “The Mysterious Case of JK Rowling and her Transphobic Twitter History”, January 10 2019 by Gwendolyn Smith (a trans journalist), LGBTQNation.com

PAGE 12

Excerpt from: Is JK Rowling Transphobic? A Trans Woman Investigates by Katelyn Burns

Ultimately, the answer is yes, she is transphobic […] I think it’s fair that she receives criticism from trans people, especially given her advocacy on behalf of queer people in general, but also because she has a huge platform. Many people look up to her for creating a singular piece of popular culture that holds deep meaning for fans from different walks of life, and she has a responsibility to handle that platform wisely. (Published on them.us March 28, 2018)

PAGE 13

Part 7: Home

At age 30, I’m still not over Harry Potter.

Panel 1: I’ve recently found a local bar that does HP trivia nights. “Poppy or Pomona?” “Poppy!”

Panel 2: I currently own an annual pass to Universal Studios so I can visit Hogsmeade.

Panel 3: I love talking to kids who are reading the books for the first time. “Who’s your favorite character?” “Ginny!”

Panel 4: And I’m planning a relisten to the audio books to next year to help me get through the election cycle. “Jim Dale, I’m going to need you more than ever…”

Spoiler from 2023: I did not do this. By mid-2020 JKR had posted her transphobic essay; we were in covid; I never visited Universal Studios again.

PAGE 14

But I do want to learn from her mistakes. I never want to repeat “Magic in North America.” As I write, I will do my research. I will consult experts and compensate them. If a reader from a different culture/background than me speaks up about my work, I will listen and apologize. I KNOW I WILL MAKE MISTAKES. But I will own up to them and I will do better.

PAGE 15

Excerpt from Diversity Is Not Enough: Race, Power and Publishing by Daniel José Older

We can love a thing and still critique it. In fact, that’s the only way to really love a thing. Let’s be critical lovers and loving critics and open ourselves to the truth about where we are and where we’ve been. Instead of holding tight to the same old, failed patriarchies, let’s walk a new road, speak new languages. Today, let’s imagine a literature, a literary world, that carries this struggle for equity in its very essence, so that tomorrow it can cease to be necessary, and disappear. (Buzzfeed, April 14, 2017)

PAGE 16

Harry Potter is flawed, & JK Rowling is problematic. But the books helped me learn a lot:

*One of the greatest dangers facing the modern world is the rise of fascism

*The government cannot be trusted

*Read and think critically

*Question the news: who paid the journalist? Who owns the paper?

*Trust and support your friends through good times and bad

*Organize for resistance

*Educate and share resources with peers

*The revolution must be diverse and intersectional

* We are only as strong as we are united

*The weapon we have is love

MK 2019

PAGE 17

PART 8: EPILOGUE

In 2021 I removed a Harry Potter patch I sewed to my book bag over a decade ago. I took 15 pieces of Harry Potter fanart off my walls. I got rid of my paperback book set, 2 board games, and 8 t-shirt. [images: a Hogwarts a patch with loose threads, a pair of scissors and a seam ripper]

Panel 1: Maia holding up a shirt with the Deathly Hallows logo on it. Maia thinks: “Damn, this really used to be my entire personality.”

Panel 2: The t-shirt gets thrown into the Goodwill box.

PAGE 18

I wrote my zine wrestling with JKR’s legacy in 2019, after her dismissive and racist reaction to indigenous fans and critics of “Magic in North America” and after she had liked a couple transphobic tweets. Since then, she has gotten so much worse.

A Brief Timeline (mostly from this Vox article)

June 2020- JKR posts a 3600 word essay making her anti-trans position clear

August 2020- The Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Org issues a statement about her transphobia, JKR doubles down on her position and returns an award they gave her

December 2020- JKR claims 90% of HP fans secretly agree with her anti-trans views

December 2021- JKR mocks Scottish Police for recognizing transgender identities

March 2022- JKR criticizes gender-inclusive language and legislation

December 2022- JKR retweets trans youtuber Jessie Earl’s critical review of Hogwarts Legacy, starting an onslaught of transphobic harassment towards Earl

December 2022- JKR removes her support from an Edinburgh center for survivors of sexual violence with a trans-inclusive policy and funds her own center which explicitly excludes trans sexual assault survivors

January 2023- JKR tweets “Deeply amused by those telling me I’ve lost their admiration due to disrespect I show violent, duplicitous rapists.” It got nearly 300K likes

March 2023- One the podcast “The Witch Trials of JK Rowling”, hosted by a former Westboro Baptist Church Member, JKR compares the trans rights movement to Death Eaters.

PAGE 19

What are The Witch Trials of JK Rowling?

Panel 1: Maia speaking. “It’s a 7 episode documentary style podcast hosted by Megan Phelps-Roper. Nearly every episode contains interviews with JKR as well as critics, journalists, historians, protestors and fans.

Panel 2: Maia speaking. “In episode 1, JKR speaks more candidly than she has previously about being in an abusive marriage. Her ex-husband hit her, stalked her, broke into her house overlapping with the time she was writing the first three HP books.”

Panel 3: Maia speaking. “What she went through genuinely sounds horrific. I have a lot of sympathy for the kind of life-long traumas those experiences leave.”

PAGE 20

HOWEVER.

It is clear from reading the June 2020 essay on her blog and listening to the podcast, that JKR still to this day feels unsafe. Despite her wealth and privilege she moves through the world with the mindset of a victim. And the group of people she finds most threatening are trans women.

Or rather, she is afraid that allowing trans women in women’s spaces invites the possibility of male predators entering those spaces.

Here’s a direct quote: The problem is male violence. All a predator wants is access and to open the doors of changing rooms, rape centers, domestic violence centers [...] to any male who says “I’m a woman and I have a right to be here” will constitute a risk to women and girls. - from The Witch Trials episode 4 as transcribed by therowlinglibrary.com, March 2023

Image: A stem of Belladonna with flowers and berries.

PAGE 21

Let me introduce here the term: TRANSMISOGYNY. The intersection of transphobia and misogyny, this term was coined by Julia Serano in 2007. Scout Tran, on tiktok as Queersneverdie said: “Transmisogyny occurs in people who have been previously hurt by traditional misogyny. Who have been driven to hate men or at the very least to be scared of men. They will sometimes take out that rage on trans women. (March 2023)

JKR claims to care for trans women and understand they are extremely vulnerable to assault and violence. In her 2020 Essay she wrote: “I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe.”

So she cares about trans women… just less than cis women, and she’s willing to throw all trans women under the bus because of her unfounded, prejudice fears.

PAGE 22

Panel 1: Maia speaking. “JKR claims to have seen data that proves trans women have presented physical threats to other women in intimate spaces, but never cites sources. She also uses “producer of the large gametes” as a definition of “woman”.

What about transmen and nonbinary folks?

Panel 2: Maia leaning on a stack of all seven HP books, the first four Cormorant Strike books and The Casual Vacancy, gesturing to a series of quotes with a tired and disgusted expression.

I’m concerned about the huge explosion of young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning. * [...] If I’d been born 30 years later, I too might have tried to transition. The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge. -June 10 2020 essay

I don’t believe a 14 year old can truly understand what the loss of their fertility is.

-Witch Trials episode 4

I haven’t yet found a study that hasn’t found that the majority of young people experiencing gender dysphoria grow out of it*. -Witch Trials episode 7

*No sources cited

PAGE 23

It’s hard to over emphasize how fixated JKR has become on these topics. As of the date I’m writing this, 14 out of her 20 most recent tweets (70%) are in some way anti-trans. She tweets against Mermaids (a UK based trans youth charity), against trans athletes, against gender neutral bathrooms, and in support of LBG Alliance- a UK org that denies trans rights while upholding gay rights. Here are some gems from her archive:

“People who menstruate.” I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud? -June 2020

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman. - December 2021

And in response to someone asking “How do you sleep at night knowing you lost a whole audience?”

I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly. -October 2022

PAGE 24

Hashtag Ruthless Productions a queer nerd podcast company created a great guide on ethical engagement with HP. Image: the two hosts of Hashtag Ruthless productions, Jessie (They/she) and Lark (he/him).

Stop buying all official HP Products: books, movies, games, toys, etc, Universal Studios tickets, food, merch.* Boycott any new TV series or movies. Instead: buy the books and DVDs used. If you still want to wear HP merch, buy fan-made. Engage only with fan content: fic, podcasts, fanart, wizard rock, etc. Show transphobia is bad for business. None of this will change JKR’s mind. But the Fantastic Beast series was canceled and after record Pottermore sales in 2020, they fell in 2022 by 40%.

*She gets a portion of ALL tickets. In 2019, this was her largest income source. Read the full guide: hashtagruthless.com/resourceguide

PAGE 25

As late as 2019, I was still reading JKR’s murder mystery series. But by the fourth book my experience began to sour.

Panel 1: Maia holding a copy of Lethal White. “The only gay character in this book is a government official who gropes his staff?”

Panel 2: “The only genderqueer character is misgendered and portrayed as a whiny faker?”

Panel 3: “The only Muslim character is disowned by his family over gay rumors?”

Panel 4: “Even the women aren’t portrayed very well…”

Panel 5: “Why is the main female character defined by the rape in her past?”

Panel 6: “Wait, what happens in the rest of this series…?” Maia scrolls on eir phone.

Panel 7: “Is the series heading towards an employee/boss relationship?”

Panel 8: “And has a man wearing women’s clothes to commit assault?”

Panel 9: “Yeah, I’m done. I’m never reading a new JKR book ever again.”

PAGE 26

And as for JKR herself?

As tempting as it might be to tweet your frustrations at her, I don’t recommend it. In 2021, she tweeted, “Hundreds of trans activists have threatened to beat, rape, assassinate and bomb me.” Getting hate online feeds her sense of victimhood and she waves it as proof of her moral high ground. Instead I suggest you block her on twitter, then delete twitter, go to the library and try to find a new book that feels magical.

Stack of books: In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Gifts by Ursula K Le Guin, Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir.

PAGE 27

In “Emergent Strategy” adrienne maree brown writes: You do not have the right to traumatize abusive people, to attack them, personally or publicly, or to sabotage anyone else’s health. The behaviors of abuse are also survival-based, learned behaviors rooted in pain. If you can look through the lens of compassion, you will find hurt and trauma there. If you are the abused party, healing that hurt is not your responsibility and exacerbating that pain is not your justified right.

PAGE 28

Seeing anyone over age 12 wearing HP merch now makes me uncomfortable. Are they ignorant or actively a TERF? I hate wondering how much money JKR has probably poured into anti-trans legislation… This zine is a culmination of my slow breakup with a story that once brought me joy. Now it just makes me angry, tired and sad.

Image: Candle in a fancy holder burned down to less than an inch.

Maia Kobabe, 2023

#things harry potter tried to teach me #but they just bounced right off #and now i try to teach people the opposite #you belong here #however you got here and whatever shape you're in #the rest of us will to fix things so you can stay #eventually i hope

3K notes · View notes

ifmypeopleza01 · 6 days ago

Text

Fear of People

Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God. (John 12:42-43 ASV)

This verse struck me in my reading this morning. My morning reading is usually a quicker read. I just want to read the Bible through quickly. I do about 13 chapters from OT, Psalms and Proverbs, and NT. So I am getting an overview rather than reading devotionally.

It struck me for a few reasons.

1) Red letter Bible. Do you have one? If you are anything like me, your eyes are almost looking for the red letters as we consider them more important as they are Jesus words. But last I check ALL scripture is God breathed. Taking this into account, I wonder how often I have read these verses and not given it some thought.

2) My evening reading in Romans 10 from a few days ago is still fairly fresh, possibly because I refer to these verses often:

"because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10 ASV)

3) These rulers were close to the kingdom, but refused to confess because of fear. They were not saved.

4) I live in Cape Town. We elected a mayor that goes to church, and others that also go to some church somewhere in the metropole. Yet, these self-same alleged Christians support every evil under the sun, including LGBT+ issues (sorry I refuse to use the entire alphabet). Why do they claim to be Christian from one side of the mouth, but the other side of the mouth, they are denying Christ?

5) Seeking man's glory falls so far short of God's glory. Man's glory is a slippery slope into the abyss. Perhaps instead of electing such characters in the next election, why not listen to see if the person actually has a salvation testimony and see if he is actually following the LORD or maybe they seek man's glory? Include the voting record of the politician when we do the research.

We need actual godly leaders in our nation. Not those that will bend the knee to every false, antichrist movement so they can keep benefiting from Soros funded money. I thank God that in South Africa, we have the ACDP that does not fear man, that does not bow the knee to money. I pray that more leaders such as these be raised up, not only in my own nation, but around the world.

#godly leaders #fear people #fear god #John 12 42-43 #confess christ #ACDP

0 notes

lumpofcole · 2 months ago

Text

The older and more mature I become…the more wisdom I gain I truly see why God’s original plan and order for things…His commandments and everything in the Psalms Proverbs and Paul’s pengame in his letters in the NT are major keys to a LESSer stress leveled, minimal heartbreak, minimal disappointment just over less BS life.

But per usual we humans be whylinG! We really do need boundaries and rules for living and being in society amongst each other. Much like in schools, in the work place, “laws” and government in general although not we know US govt SUS😂 but yall get what I’m saying.

Literally would have avoided SO MUCH had I had the relationship with and reverence for God in my teenage years and early adulthood that I do now. Most importantly the UNDERSTANDING though.

But God still be knowing. He still is VERY gracious and merciful.

I’m thankful for His grace and mercy and my father’s endless prayers that broke through Heaven’s windows cuz whew!

Ain’t no tellin where I’d be.

Grateful for redemption, forgiveness and the big Homie, Jesus.

SN: I’ve been a Believer since I was 11. I didn’t step into relationship building until I was like 22/23 though. And wasn’t until last year I actually was blessed with the fear of the Lord. It’s SO MUCH to learn and gain and UNLEARN and be set free from when you really start walking with God. He’s so patient though. So intentional. So kind.

0 notes

numbersbythebook · 3 months ago

Text

Phineas, the Broken Vav, Revelation 6

written by Will Schumacher

In my last post I wrote about Phineas. He is a type of Christ. In his zeal he puts a javelin/spear through a man and a woman into their belly and makes an atonement for Israel and God gives him a “covenant of peace.”

Numbers 25:12-13 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

The Hebrew word for “peace” in the above “covenant of peace” is written with a broken vav. I have read that this is the only time in the Bible that the letter vav is written this way. Vav is the 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The letter vav means “to join”, “nail”, or “and”.

The first time a vav, the 6th letter, is found in scripture is in the first verse and it is the first letter of the 6th word, “and”, which is joining “the heavens” and “the earth”.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The heavens are the divine, spiritual realm and the earth the physical realm. Jesus is considered “the vav” because He is joining the heavens and the earth.

In the story of Phineas as a type of Christ, the broken vav is seen to represent Christ, the vav, broken for our sins when he was “vav/nailed” to the cross.

The most common gematria of Jesus is 888. Strong’s G2247 =”nails” is only used twice in the NT and is in the same verse in the book of John and both times the in-text gematria is 888.

John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

I have posted on the missing vav in the past also. Jesus is seen as the restorer of the missing vav.

In Genesis 2:4 the word for “generations” is spelled as it should. After Genesis 2:4, and therefore after the Fall, the word for “generations” is spelled defectively with a “missing vav” until we come to the line of Perez in Ruth 4:18.

Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

Ruth 4:18-22 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Ruth 4:18 and the “restored vav” lead to the birth of King David. King David, who God made the covenant of kingship with, is a type of Jesus. Jesus is called the “Son of David”. Perez means “to make a breach”. God made a breach in mankind through Jesus and restored the “vav” that joins the heavens and earth that was lost through the fall.

The running total gematria to the word “generation” in Ruth 4:18 is 888, again matching the most common gematria of Jesus.

The word “vav” means “nail” or “hook”. Both a nail and hook join one thing to another.

The first time we find the word “vav”, it is joining the curtain/veil to a wood post in the Tabernacle.

Exodus 26:32 And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

In the New Testament this curtain/veil that is joined/vav to the wood post is seen as a picture of the flesh of Christ joined/vav to the wood cross broken for the remission of sins and access to the Father.

Hebrews 10:19-20 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Jesus is the vav that joins heaven and earth. Jesus calls Himself as much when He says He is the ladder joining heaven and earth that Jacob saw.

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

John 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Jesus was the vav broken for us to give us peace. Jesus is the one who restored the vav, and thus restored our relationship to the Father.

Vav is the 6th letter and thus tied to the number 6. The number 6 is also tied to the crucifixion of Christ.

Jesus’ anointing for his death took place 6 days before His sacrifice.

John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

Jesus was presented by Pilate to the Jews at the sixth hour and this is where they yelled for Jesus to be crucified.

John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

While Jesus was being crucified darkness came over the land beginning in the sixth hour.

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

I have posted how the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet correspond with the 22 chapters of the book of Revelation. The 6th letter vav then corresponds to the 6th chapter of the book of Revelation. The 6th chapter of Revelation is about the 6 seals. The 6th seal contains 6 verses.

So many sixes. Is the 6th seal about the Vav, Jesus Christ, broken for our sins and joining heaven and earth?

The first verse of the 6th seal refers to a “great earthquake” and the sun becoming “black.”

Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

The earth quaked when Jesus died and the veil was torn. As stated earlier the veil is a type of Jesus’ flesh torn, just like the vav was broken in the story of Phineas. The sun was black/dark from the 6th hour while He was on the cross. Again, vav is tied to the number 6.

Matthew t 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

Matthew 27:51 also says the “rocks rent”. The word for rock is “petra” meaning “a heap of rocks” or “a mountain of rock”. You could say the mountain of rock was rent/divided/moved. The 6th seal also speaks of mountains moving.

Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Mountains are symbolic of kingdoms in the Bible. I believe what the Bible is saying is the kingdoms of this world were brought down and moved out of their place because the kingdom of God had been established by what Jesus did on the cross.

Daniel 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

I was interested in the verse count from Matthew 27:51 stating the veil was torn, the earth quaked and the rocks rent to Revelation 6:12, the first verse explaining the 6th seal and referencing the great earthquake. It also stated the sun became black, which I believe is the Father mourning for the Son, and the moon became blood, which I think may reference Jesus blood sacrifice since the moon reflects the light of the sun just as Jesus as fully man reflected the light of the Father.

The verse jump is 6625. Verse 6625 is interesting since it is the Song of Deborah celebrating the victory over Sisera, a type of the Beast of Revelation. Strong’s G5516 =”666” and Strong’s H5516 = Sisera.

Judges 5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

Judges 5 is chapter 216 of the Bible. 216 = 6 x 6 x 6

The woman used a nail (Vav means nail) to pierce his head.

Judges 5:26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.

Jesus was nailed to the cross at Golgotha. Golgotha means “head” or “skull”. The cross was like a nail or tent peg pierced into the head.

The 6th and final verse of the 6th seal in the 6th chapter is also interesting.

Revelation 6:17 or the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Its gematria is 4685. Verse 4685 actually refers back to the story of Phineas and the covenant of peace/broken vav.

Numbers 31:20 And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood.

Numbers 31 is a holy war against Midian for seducing the Israelites.

Numbers 31:2-3 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. 3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian.

Phineas led this holy war.

Numbers 31:6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

This war was because the Midianite women seduced the Israelites and there was a plague.

Numbers 31:16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.

The plague was the plague that Phineas stopped in Numbers 25. Cozbi, the woman killed with the spear was a Midianite. After the incident of Numbers 25, God tells Moses to kill the Midianites. The command is carried out in chapter 31.

Numbers 25:16-18 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

Numbers 31 contains elements similar to the book of Revelation. You have 5 kings of Midian killed who would seem to be a type of the beast of the sea. Balaam killed who would be a type of the beast of the land/false prophet. Phineas is leading with trumpets. 1000 men are chosen from each of the 12 tribes for 12000 total. In Revelation there is 12000 from each tribe for 144000. Only the virgins are saved just as in Revelation the spiritual virgins are saved.

So it would seem the 7 trumpets of Revelation, which is the Church age of the 144,000 sealed and led by the Holy Spirit, is like Phineas dividing out the 12000 Israelites and leading with a trumpet. We are in a spiritual battle.

The 7 bowls of wrath and the throwing the beast and false prophet into the lake of fire would be like the killing of the 5 kings and Balaam then.

#bible numbers #strong's numbers #gematria #jesus christ #revelation #bible prophecy #phineas #broken Vav #Revelation 6

0 notes