#religion studyblr

[em-istry]

✨em-istry intro post✨

Welcome to my little corner of studyblr!

I’m definitely not new here, but i can never seem to keep my blog on track. 4th time is the charm!

✨about me✨

My name is Em (she/they)

I’m a Religious Studies major, and a Medieval + Early Modern Studies minor

I’ve cycled through about 8 different majors, ranging from Musical Theatre, Political Science, Chemistry, and Biology to name a few

In the future, I would love to work in a library or in an archival setting. I love books and old things, that would be my dream job

My favourite band is Fleetwood Mac, and I worship at the altar of Stevie Nicks

I’m also a huge fan of Florence + The Machine, Ghost, Taylor Swift, David Bowie, AC/DC, and BTS

My favourite movies are The Da Vinci Code trilogy (Robert Langdon is my idol) and the MCU movies (emphasis on the Iron Man and Spider-Man trilogies)

i’d love to make more studyblr mutuals, so feel free to reach out any time!! i also love getting asks in my inbox, so please make my day sometime and say hello or ask me anything!

[crazycatsiren]

One thing I can't help but wonder.

Artemis is not the only virgin goddess in the Hellenic pantheon. And yet it appears, among modern pagans, virginity is the first (often times only) thing to come to mind whenever Artemis is mentioned. So much is focused around her being a virgin, it's gotten to a point where who she actually is, how she was worshipped in ancient Greece, and her presence in the lives of the ancient Greeks are completely lost among misinformations and misconceptions stemming from only one aspect of her.

For Athena and Hestia, it's always their various roles and domains that people will immediately think about. But for Artemis, it's always her body and marital status, for some reason. It's utterly ridiculous.

Because to the ancient Greeks, Artemis was a perpetually unwed maiden goddess, yes, but she was not the goddess of virginity. According to Stephanie Budin and colleagues, Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and wilderness, and she was responsible for helping women in childbirth, turning children into adults, bringing light, freeing slaves, marking boundaries between territories and periods, bringing and curing plague. Her epithets emphasized her "wild" qualities, expressed her proclivity for the hunt, as well as described her as a "kourotrophos" (child nurturer and protector of the young) and a lunar deity.

It's like, why is it never a problem for everybody to accept that Athena and Hestia had worshippers of all ages, sexes, gender roles, and social statuses throughout ancient times, but it's so hard to wrap minds around this about Artemis.

Artemis, Athena, Hestia, all three goddesses preserve their virginity for important reasons pertaining to their roles in Greek ideology. Artemis's virginity established her position in the divine hierarchy. As the goddess of the wilds and wild animals, she herself could not be tamed (damazo) by sex, as other females in the Greek literature, and especially brides, were said to be (paraphrasing Stephanie Budin, Artemis, 2016).

In a nutshell, these goddesses are virgins and never married because of, as a result of, and due to their personas, functions, their parts in the pantheon and the areas they preside over. They chose the path of virginity because of who they are and what their "jobs" are. It doesn't mean they are rulers of maidenhood and virgins.

[the---hermit]

24|10|2024

New day, same book and same struggle to focus. I need this thing to be done, it's so stressing and tiring to try to keep my focus on this. It's written so fucking badly I can't take it anymore. And after sending a few passages to a friend I can confirm I am not the problem, the book is. It's so tiring on my brain that I am also less motivated to read in my free time, which is fine, but it shows how badly it's influencing me. My free time, when I am alone, these days mainly consists of listening to music, doing sudoku puzzles and continuing my Lost rewatch. I am now at the end of season 3 and I am not joking when I say I don't remember shit. I mean I do have a few memories of things that will happen, but there has been so many plot points amd twists I had completly forgotten.

productivity list:

read first thing in the morning

finished reading and underlining the first half of the last section of the book (now I only have to work on the second half and the epilogue which should be less than 50 pages)

started writing down notes for what I have read yesterday and today

started outlining a few thoughts on what my 2025 reading goals are going to be (I feel like this year I really learned a lot on what I want my reading to be, I will be writing a post on that around the end of the year)

duolingo

[achillesreborn]

antidepressants worked too good, i've converted to Catholicism

[httpsoftbunni]

Prayer Closets & Walls

This is a huge thing in the Deep Bible Belt. Are you familiar with them? Personally, I don't have one, but I have been having some strong convictions lately about having a quiet, peaceful place to pray and meditate on whatever is in front of me at the moment.

[academiccryptyd]

week 4 - 03.07.2025 🧿

This week has been interesting to say the least. Started Monday off strong with world religion work & my seated race and ethnicity class. Spent some time in the library browsing history and art books! I also started painting a table that was gifted to us.

My Tuesday was spent in the hospital :// but we push through.

Back to productivity on Wednesday. I also studied Saints for Ash Wednesday!

Studying religious pieces for my art class led to writing about La Sagrada Familia, in Spain. I’ve never seen such a beautiful church in my life. I spent a lot of personal time researching into it, i’d love to see it in person one day :,)

[youaremydearestpunishment]

God, grades and my girls are my priorities this sem 🏹

[crusera]

The Sultan, they said, was a good man. Soft, quickly moved to tears. Out of compassion, he bought the freedom of a Christian woman's stolen daughter. Even Walther von der Vogelweide, the minnesinger in distant Germany, praised the "mildness" of the powerful ruler in the Orient, whose name has a good reputation in the West: Saladin, a righteous man.

He was a man who always kept his word, even to his enemies.

He let his subjects drag him to court, because God's laws applied equally to everyone. Also for him, the ruler who managed to do what no one had ever managed before: to unite the Islamic world of the Middle East after centuries of discord and to wrest Jerusalem, the holy city of the Muslims, from the Christians in 1187.

His name translates as "righteousness of faith", and Saladin is indeed a devout Muslim. Nevertheless, after his conquest of the Holy Land, he allowed the Christians and Jews there to continue praying to their God. This is another reason why, more than half a millennium later, Western Enlightenment thinkers would make him the epitome of the tolerant ruler.

But this al-Malik an-Nasir Salah ad-Din Abu'l-Muzaffer Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi, known as Saladin for short, also had other sides.

He could be treacherous, vile and mean. He did not shy away from murder. Nevertheless, this man fascinated his contemporaries. He became one of the most revered rulers of the Islamic world and the most important opponent of the Crusaders.

Saladin was born in 1138 in Tikrit (in present-day Iraq), the son of a Kurdish officer. During his political career, Saladin was the first to bring Egypt's army under his control.

Saladin, a Sunni, now founds two universities where theology is taught according to Sunni theology - a signal that he is on the side of the population. He also abolished a number of taxes that contradicted the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet.

Saladin's subsequent conquests shock the Christian world. By 1174, his power extended from North Africa to the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. In 1186, he ruled from the Nile to the Tigris.

At the height of his power, the Sultan even dreamed of taking the Holy War to Europe, conquering Rome - and putting the Pope in chains.

The Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099 and held it until Saladin besieged it in 1187 and handed it over to the Ayyubid dynasty, a Muslim sultanate that ruled the Middle East at the beginning of the 12th century.

Saladin wanted to recapture the city, which had previously been ruled by Muslims.

For Muslims, Jerusalem is a place where important events in the life of Jesus and other important personalities took place. It is also the place where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven according to the traditional interpretation of the Koran and other texts.

In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina. Muslims believe that Muhammad was brought to Jerusalem during his night journey (Isra and Mi'raj).

The name Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times in the Holy Qur'an, often in the form 'Isa ibn Maryam, which means "Jesus, son of Mary". In the Quran, he is given the unique title "Messiah" (al-masih in Arabic), which means "anointed one". He is considered one of many prophets from the lineage of the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham (peace be upon him). Many Muslim traditions regard it as an ideal example of spirituality. Unlike Christians, who generally believe in a triune God, Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet who was to lead mankind on the straight path of monotheism and obedience to God (Allah).

When Jerusalem also fell, two kings and an emperor set off for the Holy Land with their armies from 1189 onwards. One of the monarchs is King Richard I of England. Even before the armed pilgrimage, he had already earned himself an honourable name: "Lionheart."

Saladin lies in wait for the Christians in the forests of Arsuf near the Mediterranean coast. But King Richard of England had anticipated the attack; on 7 September 1191, his troops won a clear victory. Nevertheless, the Muslim army is still strong enough to block the road to Jerusalem.

Saladin's reconquest of Jerusalem in 1187 prompted Pope Gregory VIII to organize the Third Crusade. From 1189 to 1192, Saladin lost Acre and Jaffa and was defeated in the field at Arsūf. The Crusaders retreated to Europe without seizing Jerusalem, but Saladin's military reputation had been damaged. He died in 1193.

[yorksnapshots]

An Ecclesiastical Study.

In the side room of a church I was exploring.

[unfayth]

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

[crazycatsiren]

I personally do not agree with absolutely everything historians say about the deities. They have their knowledges and opinions but their words are not gospels to be followed. Historians are also not 100% correct about everything every time. After all, they were not there.

Does studying history help me understand the deities and their worship better, as well as form my own conclusions, interpretations, and ideas? Absolutely so. There are my personal thoughts, and there are the historical facts. They are not always one and the same, but they complement each other.

[i-want-to-be-a-poet]

Why must I repent for my doubt?

[magpiecollectingknowledge]

for some reason I plan my assignments so much better by hand…I wonder if it’s because it takes more time to write it down, and I can’t just brain vomit without considering what I want to include. I did an unnecessarily large amount of research for this essay but I loved the topic so I don’t regret it.

have a good rest of your week everyone!

[httpsoftbunni]

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Loving Father, I come before You with a heart full of gratitude and compassion, lifting up the people I care about into Your hands. Lord, You know their struggles, their fears, and the weight they carry. I ask that You help them trust You with everything—every worry, every doubt, and every step of their journey. Please show them that they don’t need to lean on their own understanding, but can rest in Your perfect wisdom and love.

In moments when the path ahead seems uncertain, remind them that You are there, faithfully guiding their steps. Help them to see You in all their decisions and circumstances, to surrender their plans, and to find peace in knowing that You have a beautiful purpose for their lives. May they feel Your presence close, calming their hearts and lighting the way forward.

Lord, please give them the courage to follow Your leading, even when it's hard, and the strength to trust in Your timing. Surround them with Your grace and fill them with hope, knowing that You will make their paths straight. Let them feel Your love in every corner of their lives.

I lay this prayer humbly at your feet. In Christ's name, Amen.

[academiccryptyd]

A glimpse at the first 3 weeks of school 🧿🪻

Some late night world religion mind-mapping, a Henri Matisse painting for my visual analysis, & progress towards a personal art piece :)

[ashs-nerd-den]

✨Motivation ✨