#premorte

[pier-carlo-universe]

Un'altra vita di Antonia Calabrese: quando l'amore trionfa sulla morte.

Un viaggio transpersonale e spirituale nel profondo dell'animo umano.

Un viaggio transpersonale e spirituale nel profondo dell’animo umano. Antonia Calabrese, autrice prolifica e appassionata, ci regala con Un’altra vita un romanzo di formazione che attraversa i temi della spiritualità, della religiosità e delle scelte morali, toccando corde profonde dell’anima. Pubblicato il 25 luglio 2021, questo romanzo si pone come una riflessione sulla vita e sulla morte,…

[valentina-lauricella]

Complementarità

[...] la coscienza nel mondo materiale, che può essere paragonata alla luce sotto forma di corpuscolo, deriva dall’aspetto d’onda della coscienza completa e infinita creata dal collasso della funzione d’onda in uno spazio non-locale.

(Pim van Lommel)

[trberman]

Responding to Michelle Grim and Life After Ministry's Post "LDS: Jesus Prophesied of Joseph Smith"

ABSTRACT: In a recent post on Life After Ministry, Michelle Grim critiques Joseph Smith’s prophetic role and foreordination in the Restoration of the Gospel, referencing biblical passages such as 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 and Matthew 24:24. Grim questions the validity of Joseph Smith’s prophetic claims, suggesting that Jesus’ warnings about false prophets apply to him. She challenges readers to…

[burnt-kloverfield]

It's so surreal to me to think about how so many people will say things like "I didn't choose to be born, to be here, to exist." When one of the core beliefs I have as a mormon is that we all existed(as energy, as a soul, as an entity, what have you) before we were born into a physical body. And that we had explicit agency to choose to be born and to have a body. There was a whole pre-mortal war about agency and having our own opportunities to make choices, and the whole fact that we are on earth today in a physical body is because we all made a choice to do this whole life thing.

[mindfulldsliving]

Satan's Punishment: A Thoughtful Latter-day Saint Response to Michelle Grim of Life After Ministries

Understanding Satan’s Punishment: A Latter-day Saint Perspective on Michelle Grim’s Insights When we think about Satan’s punishment, it’s crucial to understand its significance in Latter-day Saint theology. Critics often misunderstand this topic, especially those like Michelle Grim from Life After Ministries, who question the relationship between Jesus and Satan. In Latter-day Saint belief, both…

[brothermouse]

If gender is eternal, like the family proc says, than it exists beyond the scope of physical reproduction. Otherwise it would be useless in the times in our lives when we are not able to reproduce. Gender would be irrelevant for the young, the old, the singles, the infertile, those who intend to marry and are currently keeping the law of chastity, etc.

If gender is eternal then we had it in the pre-existance and it is a part of our spirit, not our body. Our bodies don't always match our spirits, as any bald man will likely agree. Gender cannot be determined merely by physical metrics.

If gender is eternal, then it is like other eternal things. We know it's not eternally bad like eternal misery, eternal damnation, eternal stagnation. Eternally bad things are static and unchanging. Gender is eternally good, like eternal growth, eternal happiness, eternal progress. All eternally good things are in a state of growth, change, and expansion.

Therefore our current understandings of gender are most likely inaccurate in the long term and based on temporary mortal circumstances that will soon pass.

Unlike those who are, ironically, most likely to quote the Family Proclamation, I choose to actually take it seriously when it says "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

[knight-a3]

Heavenbound AU

Masterpost

Angels, and Halos, and Lore! Oh, my!

This is getting into the realm of theology just a little bit, but I want to have a clearly defined structure and progression system in this portrayal of heaven. One that wasn't overly simple, but also not overly complex. I've thought more about this than I should bother with.

The halos represent the kind of angel they are, essentially. Yes, the generic person is based on a human version of Charlie. Don't think too hard about it, because it really doesn't mean anything. I just needed a stand in to show the different types of halos.

More under the cut:

There are two basic types of souls: Heavenborn/Celestials(who manifest with silver halos) and Immortals(consists of three stages: premortal, mortal, and postmortal. They manifest with yellow gold halos)

Then there are four classes of angels(because I find the classic hierarchy with thrones, principalities, dominions, etc. to be too complicated, and not even theologically consistent). Bottom up, the classes are:

Cherubim (consisting of immature souls, animal life, and fantasy species)

Saints (consisting of Citizens and Archangels)

Seraphim(Consisting of Radiants, and the Seven Heavenly Virtues(counterpart to the 7 Deadly Sins))

Creators. (High Father, High Mother, and the Beloved)This class is pretty mysterious to everyone. They created the earth and all life within it, then left to rest and are presumably still resting. They've gone MIA. The Virtues have taken over management in their absence.

--Cherubim/Cherubs-- (Cherubs is technically not the correct way to plural cherub, but I'll probably use cherubs and cherubim interchangeably. Same with seraph)

All souls begin as an immature "baby" cherub, which could grow up to be any type of angel. Possible stages of growth differ. Immortals must go throw a mortal stage in order to continue their growth; it gives them a wide range of potential. While Celestials don't. Immature souls look like floating orbs to start, sometimes they grow little fairy wings.

Immature->Premature->human mortal->saint or sinner

Immature->mortal animal->postmortal mature cherub

Immature->low cherub

Immature->high cherub

Immature->seraph

Human immortals are the only ones that go through two immature stages. Premature souls are like children. Then they move on to mortality

Animal immortals go from Immature straight to Mortality. Then they come back as mature cherubs. When your beloved dogs died, they become cherubs It's doggie heaven!

High/low cherubs are only differentiated by their level of sapience. High cherubs are the fantasy creatures with more human-like intelligence. Low cherubs are the fantasy creatures with more animal-like intelligence.

Cherubs are often tasked with guarding holy objects or places, like the Ark of the Covenant or the Tree of Life(although Saints often do this too).

--Saints--

Redeemed- Sinners that were redeemed and become saints were unheard of for millennia. They end up with rose gold halos, and hopefully it doesn't become a source of discrimination...

Citizens-- the majority of saints, just minding their own business and living their heavenly lives. In canon, they're the typical "winners"

Heralds-- Messengers, guardians, witnesses, etc. They're saints that have a specific assignment on earth. It's temporary. Once complete, they are no longer a herald, unless they get another assignment.

Archangels-- Saints with longstanding assignments and responsibilities.

Exorcist- the soldiers in the army of heaven. They're tasked with protecting earth and heaven from threats. Their most common assignment is exorcising any demons that have slipped into earth. Whether that is by returning them to hell or exterminating them is supposed to depend on the threat level. In canon, the exorcists are implied to be created and named by Adam, but I'm making them immortal saints instead. So Vaggie was human. Consequently, they're not exclusively female.

Prophet- These are often notable righteous historical figures. They oversee local management, administration, leadership, and other civic duties. Like how St Peter watches the gate and greets the new arrivals. They don't have to be religious figures, notable people like, say, Mother Teresa, can count.

Chief- The Chief Saint is the leader of the saints. So far, it's always been Adam.

--Seraphim/Seraphs--

Seraphim are angels that represent a concept. Whether it be something physical, emotional, a force of nature, etc. Emily is a seraph of Joy. Helel(Lucifer) was a seraph of morning light.

There are two types of Seraphs

Radiant Seraphim- Represent a variety of concepts. Average seraph.

Elder Seraphim/The Seven Heavenly Virtues- the counterparts to the seven deadly sins. They've taken over managing earth and heaven in the absence of the Creators. They're a little stressed about it. I'm considering making Sera the Virtue of Diligence, but idk for sure. She might just be the leader of the Radiant seraphim. IDK. Humility/Respect - Pride Forgiveness/Patience - Wrath Temperance/Abstinence - Gluttony Charity - Greed Chastity/Self control - Lust Kindness - Envy Diligence - Sloth

Heavenbound AU Lore

[nerdygaymormon]

A Brief History of the LDS Church's Transgender Teachings and Policies

Gender identity and gender roles are important in LDS theology and practices. For most of the 1800s, church presidents Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had men, women, and children sit separately for all Sunday meetings. Nowadays, some of the Sundays church meetings are still divided by biological sex. Temple worship is also similarly divided.

For decades, the LDS Church believed that in the premortal life, when intelligences were organized into spirits that they may have chosen whether to live as male or female during mortality, and that poor choices during their time on earth could demote them back to a genderless condition. Joseph Fielding Smith, who was made an apostle in 1910 and became president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1970, was well known for teaching that those who do not reach the Celestial Kingdom will be neither man nor woman, merely immortal beings.

As a teenager in the 1980's, I remember being in Sunday School class and the teacher saying that when we're resurrected we can look down, and if we don't see a penis or vagina then we know we're not making it to the Celestial Kingdom.

Along with this, for many years the LDS Church seems to have viewed all queerness as a form of gender confusion, whether it was a man thinking he's a woman or a man who is attracted to other men.

As the fight over gay marriage ramped up, the teaching about genderless spiritual beings was replaced with the idea that gender is forever and this was incorporated into the 1995 Family Proclamation which states that "gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

The idea is that each of us are a son or daughter of heterosexual & cisgender heavenly parents, and we are meant to become like them. There is a strict binary of spiritual gender identities and gender roles. Ideally, our bodies should be formed in a way that reflects our spiritual body, including our spiritual gender, but the reality of the physical world is that things often don't work as we'd expect them to, but that doesn't change our spiritual gender.

Let me take this moment to point out that the notion of gender being eternal does not exist in scripture, this is a fairly recent evolution.

And while the idea is that gender is an innate and unchangeable part of our souls, the Church has also felt that gender needs to be nurtured, protected, and defended. There have been many rules about what women may wear to BYU and to Sunday services. For many years the advice to leaders on how to counsel with young men experiencing same sex attraction was to have them spend time around manly men and participate in masculine activities, and to not wear androgynous or feminine styles.

For a long time, LDS Church leaders were more aware of homosexuality and focused on this, and their mentions of trans people remained pretty infrequent.

In 1980, Spencer W. Kimball was president of the LDS Church and was outspoken opponent of homosexuality, however he authorized the sealing of a trans woman to her husband in the Washington, D.C. temple. Perhaps in response to this, later that year LDS authorities updated the official General Handbook of Instructions to officially prohibit “transsexual operations.” The handbook stated that “members who have undergone transsexual operations must be excommunicated” and that “after excommunication such a person is not eligible for baptism.”

I first got access to Handbook 1 in 2016, and excommunication was still the standard, although it said "elective transsexual operations" (not sure when the word "elective" was added). Surgery was the boundary line which if crossed would result in excommunication. However, the phrase "elective transsexual operations" recognized there are some circumstances where such operations are required or aren't the choice of the individual. For example, a man whose genitals were injured and couldn't be kept, or an intersex person who had surgery performed on them as an infant or child.

Any individual who was considering "elective transsexual surgery" was not allowed to be baptized, but for an individual who had undergone "transsexual surgery" and now wanted to be baptized, it had to be approved by the First Presidency. If they were allowed to be baptized, they would not be allowed to receive the priesthood or participate in gender-separated temple rites (which limited them to doing baptisms).

There was some wiggle room on whether top surgery is considered "transsexual surgery" and depended on the local leader's interpretation. There was no policy on transitioning in ways that didn't involve surgery, such as hormone therapies, “cross dressing,” or other means of living out one’s gender.

In January 2015, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "I think we need to acknowledge that while we have been acquainted with lesbians and homosexuals for some time, being acquainted with the unique problems of a transgender situation is something we have not had so much experience with, and we have some unfinished business in teaching on that." This reflects the growing awareness of trans individuals and showed some humility on his part. Elder Oaks had often spoken out on homosexuality and gay marriage, but this statement was thoughtful and many took it as cautiously optimistic.

Some transgender Mormons in explaining that their bodies do not reflect their gender identity would point to the Family Proclamation which says "gender" is eternal but not necessarily their sex. In response, in 2019 Elder Oaks said that “the intended meaning of gender in the family proclamation and as used in Church statements and publications since that time is biological sex at birth.”

In 2020, a major revision of the Church's general Handbooks were made. Handbook 1 (which was only available to bishoprics, stake presidencies, and General Authorities) was combined with Handbook 2 and put on the Church's website for all to see. This revision included major changes for transgender members.

The term "elective transsexual surgery" was gone, and now any social, medical or surgical transitioning would bring restrictions. Many saw this as more restrictive, it took away the space to transition in ways other than surgery while remaining in good standing as a member. Some saw it as a step at being more accommodating as excommunication was not the de facto punishment for transitioning. A church member could decide if transitioning was important enough to them that they'd be willing to be without a temple recommend.

The 2024 Handbook update seems like they felt some local church leaders had taken things further than had been anticipated, and so they had to plug in the gaps from the 2020 Handbook that leaders had used to be inclusive and accommodating of their trans members. Now members who transitioned in any way were not allowed to be baptized, restricted from holding almost all callings, specified which meetings & activities they may attend, forbids trans youth and young single adults from overnight activities, and even has specific rules about under how a trans person may use the restroom.

[thoughtfulfoxllama]

Names of Gods

In the Temple Liturgy, we see the Creation of the Earth by Three Deities: Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael. The Temple Endowment is one of the most sacred, symbolic experiences in the spiritual life of Latter-day Saints, but it is ill understood by many (because of its highly symbolic nature)

One of the issues of debate however, is the identities of the beings discussed in the Temple Liturgy. Usage of the names has been hotly debated since the introduction of the Nauvoo Endowment (the Endowment Proper, to separate from the Kirkland Endowment, known as the Initiatory in the Modern Church)

In this essay, I will explain the various views held throughout Church History. Although the Culterite Branche also practices the Nauvoo Endowment, we have no information on their ritual, so we will focus solely on the Brighamite Branches

Points of View discussed

MC- Modern Church. This holds that Elohim in God the Father (or our Heavenly Parents), Jehovah is the Premortal Christ, and Michael is Adam

BY- Brigham is infamous for his "Adam-God Doctrine," where Adam is God the Father, Jehovah is his God, and Elohim is Jehovah's God. He did also advance other views however (such as Elohim being the Father, Jehovah being the Premortal Christ, and Michael being the Holy Ghost)

Sym- Symbolic Interpretation. This was developed by Max Skousen in his infamous "Temple Book," and was further added on by later individuals. It holds that Elohim is our Divine Intelligence (which is a part of God), Jehovah is our Self, and Michael is our Physical Body. He believed that the Endowment was teaching us that we need to have everything in it's proper place. The Self listens to the Divine, and the Self has control over the Body. The Body don't control the Self, and the Self doesn't control the Divine

HS- I call this the "Holy Spirit Theory." It is based off of some interesting wording in the 5th Lecture on Faith. It says that the Holy Spirit is the shared mind of God the Father & Christ. However, in D&C 130, it says the "Holy Ghost [...] is a personage of Spirit. This believes that all gods have a shared mind, known as the Holy Spirit (BH Roberts also connects this shared mind to the Light of Christ). Elohim is the Light of Christ, Jehovah is the entire Godhead, and Michael is all of humanity

T- Title Theory. This is the theory that the Names of God are not names at all, but merely titles. For example, if God has "names" like, "Endless," "Eternal" (Meos in Adamic), and "Man of Holiness" ("Ahman" in Adamic), how can we trust any of his names. While often used to try to justify Adam-God, it is it's own separate thing

CRT- "Creator, Redeemed, Testator." Joseph Smith said that before Creation, Covenant was made between 3 Archetypical Beings, the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Testator. The idea is that each of the beings in the Temple is one of these beings

Elohim

In his Sermon in the Grove (Joseph's last sermon), he stated that Elohim was always plural. He then went on to give a radical retranslation of Genesis 1:1. Instead of "In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth," he said that it meant roughly "The Head organized the Gods, and all things" (my own translation, but faithful to Joseph's words). While the King Follet Discourse revealed man's potential, the Sermon in the Grove populated the Eternities with, in the words of Paul "gods many and lords many."

MC- The belief that Elohim is God the Father is unsustainable, given Joseph's statement that Elohim is always plural. This doesn't mean the Modern Church is wrong though, but rather that we don't look at Elohim with a full understanding of Godhood. Godhood is Couplehood (or Throuplehood, or Quadruplehood, and so on). So, Elohim may refer specifically, not to Heavenly Father, but Heavenly Parents. After all, Modern Prophets have stated that Heavenly Mother(s) are deeply involved in our lives. Why wouldn't HM be there, alongside HF. He wouldn't be God without her, so Elohim still fits

BY- Admittedly, Adam-God is a huge cluster-screw. We know nothing from Brigham about the identity of Elohim from his own words. We have Joseph F Smith quoting an earlier source saying the Creation Trinity were "Grandfather, Father, and Son." He did state Jehovah was Michael's father, so maybe this is where that came from. But this is only 1 of the many inconstancies with Adam-God. For his views on it being "Father, Son, Spirit," see the MC explaination

Sym- Skousen has some interesting ideas. The idea that Elohim is in essence the root of being is an intriguing idea, and it allows Elohim to be plural. If one wanted to go further, the Lecture also says the Father is a Personage of Spirit, while the Son is a personage of Tabernacle. This has been connected by the Fundamentalists as the Liquid in their Veins (Blood or... It's never explained, but Spirit is the best word they can come up with). However, the idea that God the Father is this Divine Intelligence doesn't line up with D&C 130 (which states the Father was a body of Flesh & Bone), or with the First Vision. Unless, Elohim is what we are all called when we're Exalted (which connects to the Degrees of Glory. Celestial listen to the Intelligence, Terrestrial listen to Themselves, Telestial listen to their Senses)

HS- The Light of Christ makes an odd amount of sense here actually. In the Liturgy, Elohim commands the Creation, while Jehovah & Michael are the primary actors. The Light of Christ gives us (among other things) our Conscience. When were about to do something bad, we can get this feeling that we shouldn't. Maybe the Light of Christ also inspires that feeling in the gods. As this light is "in all things," it knows the proper timing, the proper order, everything like that. It also makes sense in the order as a whole, because the Earth was created spiritually, then physically. Jehovah (the gods) tells Michael (the Spirits), what needs to happen, then Michael reports when it's done. Maybe Michael needed to do their part, so Jehovah could do theirs

T- In the Title Theory, Elohim (more accurately, El) is the "Reshit," the Head of the Gods, speaking for the entire Divine Council. El (with his authority as essentially an EQ President) commands Jehovah & Michael to create the Earth, and commands Michael to people it.

CRT- Elohim (El) is the Great Organizer. He organized the Gods, and Organized the Creation (although he didn't actually participate, he did organize the work that needed to be done)

Jehovah

The name with the most debate, even before we get the Restoration. Jehovah (originally YHVH, but I'll just use Jehovah) was originally seen as a Storm God & a War God. Even by the time we get to Lehi's Departure, Jehovah was not a sole divinity. He was connected most notably with Asherah (Goddess of War, the Seas, Trees, and Motherhood) & El (the Head of the Gods)

By the Second Temple Period, Jehovah was stripped of equals. It also became prohibited to speak his name in public. This means, with the fall of the Jerusalem Temple (one of, if not the only place the Name could be spoken), the pronunciation was lost

In the Restoration, the use of Jehovah became... Chaotic to say the least. Joseph Smith used Jehovah to mean the Father in D&C 109, while in 110, Christ speaks with "the sound of rushing great waters, even the voice of Jehovah" (D&C 110:3). Brigham used Divine Names interchangeably, even saying "Elohim-Jehovah" as one name on more than one occasion. This naturally causes so much debate that Wilford Woodruff has to tell people to stop fighting about it. But, it went on. Jesus & Jehovah continued to be separated individuals in the Endowment, Joseph F Smith said Jehovah was Heavenly Father, and eventually, James Talmage wrote that Christ was Jehovah (an idea first officially pushed in the 1916 talk "The Father & the Son," and reiterated in "The Living Christ," on January 1st, 2000)

MC- Jehovah is Jesus Christ. "Before Abraham was, I am." This is the phrase Talmage used to prove his point. He also pointed out that Christ said in the Book of Mormon it was him who gave the Law on Sinai, and Jehovah was the Lawgiver

BY- Jehovah is God's God. He was well aquatinted with Adam's Children (possibly even being the god they worshipped, instead of Adam. This connects to the teachings of Fred Collier, who believed that Adam had 72 Sons, who were the gods of the 72 Nations). That's all Brigham had to say, aside from throwing out names like "Elohim-Jehovah" when referring to Michael (which makes no sense Brigham! No wonder people struggled to believe Adam-God, because it makes no sense, and you constantly contradict yourself!!!)

Sym- Jehovah is who we are, our Ego. It is meant as a go-between for the Divine Intelligence, and the Physical Body. This is similar to Christ, who came to mediate between Human & Divine

HS- This is based on the letters of the Name. According to David Ferriman (founder of the Fellowship of Christ, which is a Non-denominational Mormon Church), the Yod & the First Hei are our Heavenly Parents, while the Vav & the Second Hei are Christ & the Holy Ghost. While Ferriman (most likely, based on his other writings) doesn't believe in the Holy Spirit Theory, this interpretation of the name Jehovah is common for people who do

T- Jehovah is the God of a World. Before the Resurrection, Heavenly Father was Jehovah. When Christ said he gave the Law on Sinai, he did, and he was speaking on behalf of his Father. However, after the Resurrection, Christ became Jehovah, the God over this World

CRT- Jehovah is Christ. I've already said that above

Michael

In the Endowment Liturgy, Michael is Adam. There are literally millennia of people associating Adam with all of Mankind. This is especially meaningful when we are told to associate ourselves with Adam in the Temple

MC- There's not much to say. Adam is the First Man (possibly the Physical Son of Heavenly Parents, born Immortal, and needing to eat the fruit to become Mortal). He was the Archangel Michael (the only Archangel?), forgot that when he was created, and became an Archangel after death. He may have visited Christ during the Suffering in Gethsemane. Maybe he's resurrected, maybe not

BY- This one, more than any others, provides a huge discrepancy between the two views extended by Brigham (in the same flipping sermon!!!). Either Michael is "Our Father & Our God" or he his the Holy Ghost

There is a possibility he is both, as he is the Father of Humanity, our God (the Holy Ghost is a God), and "the Only God with whom we have to do" (because how many of us have seen Christ or the Father. Seriously, saying that part is even more confusing, considering we have 3 gods already!). This is not what Brigham had in mind however

If Michael is God, he is the Father of our Spirits (through Sexual Union), and then was sent to Earth by the Council, given Amnesia, tricked by Lucifer (who may also have a body, based on some interpretations of the Theory I've heard), and became the Father of Humanity. Eve is therefore Heavenly Mother (it appears we all share 1 Heavenly Mother. Each Wife gets a Planet, like they'd get their own house in Mortality)

Sym- Adam is the "Natural Man." Our physical desires, our fears and anger, all those things we associate as bad. However, we are not told to kill our passions, but to bridle them. No emotion is bad, but it needs to be under control (for example, libedo connects spouses, produces children, and gives pleasure. But, we are told to express it within strict bounds (marriage))

HS- Adam means "Man" (as in Mankind). We are told to associate ourselves with Adam in the Temple

T- Michael is the title of one who is called to begin life on a world. Likewise, Chavah (Eve) is the Name-Title of his help-meet (as Chavah means "Breath Giver," breath being representative of Life & the Spirit)

CRT- Michael is the Testator. However, we need to remember that we are told to associate ourselves with Adam in the Temple. Our first covenant (Baptism) include "standing as a witness of God." We are all Testators, we are all Michael

What do I think?

I think I need a break. The Hot Takes take a lot out of me, emotionally. Not just because I'm composing basically a full length essay, then vastly cutting it down (only keeping in about 1/50th of the Adam-God rants) in a couple hours, but because I'm worried about going too far

So, next week, it'll be something way more chill. Specifically, the Sabbath

[panlight]

Just out of curiosity, in case the line about blackest night seems familiar to anyone, it's because it's a famous line by Anne McCaffrey, one of the very famous and influential classic fantasy and scifi writers, the author of Dragonriders of Pern. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/345356-the-blackest-night-must-end-in-dawn-the-light-dispel

Incidentally, also one of the inspirations for imprinting!

Imprinting was inspired by two different sources: ducklings and dragons. Imprinting actually exists in nature, but usually between parents and their offspring. I saw a nature documentary about ducklings imprinting on their moms and it always stuck with me. The other inspiration is Anne McCaffrey’s dragon books (which, if you haven’t read them, do so now! Start with Dragonflight). In her mythology, humans and dragons bond so tightly that if one of them dies, the other either suicides or goes mad. They love each other with an absolute and unreasoning love that never falters or changes. I was always captivated by this concept, and I wanted to explore that kind of life-changing and compulsory relationship. (source)

I did read some of the Dragonriders of Pern books ages ago so I don't remember them all that well, but yes, they're classics.

What's strange to me about her inspirations is that neither of these are in any way romantic; she's the one who takes it to the romantic level. I do wonder if that's from the Mormon literature idea of pre-mortal romance. Again, this is literature (fiction) not scripture:

The werewolves of the Twilight books never know when (or if) they will imprint on someone. Once they become a werewolf during adolescence, they may imprint at any time, and when they do, any prior relationship becomes unsustainable because an imprinted werewolf can never turn away from his or her imprintee. Sudden recognition that then lasts eternally? The Premortal Romance. (source)

There was a more in-depth version of this article online years ago, but this summary one gives you the gist. The tl;dr is that we all exist in the pre-mortal realm before we are born, and can form attachments there. Then when we are born on earth, we can find that other soul and instantly and eternally connect. I know I bring it up like once a year, and that it's entirely possible SM didn't read these (much older!) works of Mormon fiction at all, but man, it explains SO MUCH about imprinting to me. I still don't like it personally, and choosing to use this device with toddlers and babies is . . . uh . . . not great IMO, but if she did read these works I can see what she was going for.

[stayjustone-morenight]

Frothing at the mouth at the blatant absence of Heavenly Mother while talking about the premortal life.

[valentina-lauricella]

Il nulla, l'infinito, la possibilità e l'attuazione (essere e non-essere in-uno)

Lo spazio non-locale rappresenta una realtà nascosta che, a livello quantistico, esercita una continua influenza sul nostro mondo fisico, che è il “complemento” dello spazio non-locale.

Un altro possibile nome che si può assegnare allo spazio non-locale potrebbe essere l’assoluto, il vuoto vero; esso non è fornito di struttura ed è uno spazio senza tempo oltre che vuoto, dove i quarks (particelle elementari costituenti fondamentali della materia), gli elettroni, l’accelerazione di gravità e i fenomeni elettrici sono divenuti tutt’uno e in tal modo non esistono più.

Questo spazio costituisce la base per un numero infinito di possibilità, e, alla temperatura di zero assoluto, il vuoto possiede una quantità infinita di energia.

(Pim van Lommel, La scienza delle esperienze di premorte)

[xmo-rmon]

There were so many questions that I was afraid to ask, or even admit to myself that I had. I think my writer brain was just looking at the whole christian/mormon story and going, “these plot points make no sense”

Why did Jesus have to die for our sins? How did that even work? How did one man dying affect billions of people going forward? And what did it actually do? We still go to hell for sinning, as I’m sure we did before Jesus. What actually changed? Why are we responsible for god killing his only son (and aren’t we all god’s children)? Did he not make that decision himself? Based on a plan for mankind that he devised? Couldn’t he have just decided not to do that, and produced whatever alleged effect that killing Jesus had without doing it? Is he not all-powerful? How could an all-powerful being’s hand be forced in a way they did not want it to be?

Why did god need to send us to earth to get a body and be “tested”? He is all-powerful; could he not have just given us bodies in the premortal life? Why was Satan wrong to suggest that everyone should go to heaven? Why did we have to be tested at all? God loves all of his creations, right? So why did he send us to Earth if not to force us to prove how obedient we would be to him? Did our all-loving, all-powerful heavenly father really go “my children will only get to live with me in paradise if they show that they will be unflinchingly loyal and subservient to me no matter how much suffering I choose to put them through”? Is that what we think love is?

Toward the end of our attendance, my sister just kept asking “Why” in sunday school and I tell you, I’ve never seen mormons look so uncomfortable

[faztasy]

Types of Higher Beings:

Premortals - Truely Immortal Parents of Kaliokami and Embodiments

Kaliokami - Origin of Spirits

Embodiments - Origin of Elementists

Gods - Children of Embodiments

[brothermouse]

I have a confession . . . I do not know the ways of the vocaloid. To me Hatsune Miku is the chick on Thomas Jefferson's binder. Why is she a candidate for the handshake test

Ok, so vocaloid is a music program from Japan that lets you use these preprogrammed voices right? It has a some different voices available, each one has an anime style character that is "singing". Hatsune Miku is, like, the Main Character of the vocaloids.

People love Miku, and the company that makes the program wants to show off what they can do. So they hold these real world concerts where Hatsune Miku "performs". But how do you get an anime character to perform in real life?

Holograms!

Technically, I think it's some kinda Pepper's Ghost effect, but whatever, the fact is that she does NOT possess a physical body and (assuming she has a spirit) theologically there are only three possibilities, 1: she's a premortal spirit, 2: she's a post mortal spirit who hasn't been resurrected yet, or 3: She's a DEMON!👿!!!

It might be ridiculous, but this is the molehill I choose to die on.