#shamanistic wisdom

[yoga-onion]

Legends and myths about trees

World tree - the source of wisdom of the ages

The world tree is a motif present in several religions and myths around the world. It is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld. 

Many Eurasian mythologies share the motif of the "world tree", "cosmic tree", or "Eagle and Serpent Tree". More specifically, it shows up in "Haitian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Siberian and northern Asian Shamanic folklore".

The World Tree is often identified with the Tree of Life, and also fulfills the role of an axis mundi, that is, a centre or axis of the world. It is also located at the center of the world and represents order and harmony of the cosmos. Each part of the tree corresponds to one of the three spheres of the world (treetops - heavens; trunk - middle world or earth; roots - underworld) and is also associated with a classical element (top part - fire; middle part - earth, soil, ground; bottom part - water).

Its branches are said to reach the skies and its roots to connect the human or earthly world with an underworld or subterranean realm. Because of this, the tree was worshipped as a mediator between Heavens and Earth. On the treetops are located the luminaries (stars) and heavenly bodies, along with an eagle's nest; several species of birds perch among its branches; humans and animals of every kind live under its branches, and near the root is the dwelling place of snakes and every sort of reptiles.

A bird perches atop its foliage, "often .... a winged mythical creature" that represents a heavenly realm. The eagle seems to be the most frequent bird, fulfilling the role of a creator or weather deity. Its antipode is a snake or serpentine creature that crawls between the tree roots, being a "symbol of the underworld".

The imagery of the World Tree is sometimes associated with conferring immortality, either by a fruit that grows on it or by a springsource located nearby. In some descriptions this "water of life" may also flow from the roots of the tree.

The world tree was an important element in shamanistic worldview as well, and it is said that the giant bird ... hatches shamans in the branches of the World Tree.

Some species of birds (eagle, raven, crane, loon, and lark) are revered as mediators between worlds and also connected to the imagery of the world tree. Another line of scholarship points to a "recurring theme" of the owl as the mediator to the upper realm, and its counterpart, the snake, as the mediator to the lower regions of the cosmos.

Northern Eurasian and Central Asian traditions wherein the World Tree is also associated with the horse and with deer antlers which might resemble tree branches.

Some scholars have pointed out that, from the perspective of evolutionary biology, the concept of a world tree may have originated in human thought. This is because our ancestors lived in trees for about 60 million years, and for them the trees were everything in the world. This is why the collective unconscious that the world is made of giant trees has remained with us to the present day.

木にまつわる伝説・神話 

世界樹 〜 時代の叡智の源

世界樹は、世界中の宗教や神話に見られる概念、モチーフである。天を支える巨大な木として表現され、それによって天と地上世界、そしてその根を通して冥界をつないでいる。

多くのユーラシア神話が「世界樹」「宇宙樹」「鷲と蛇の樹」というモチーフを共有しているとされている。具体的には、「ハイチ、フィンランド、リトアニア、ハンガリー、インド、中国、日本、北欧、シベリア、北アジアのシャーマン伝承」に見られる。

世界樹はしばしば生命の樹と同一視され、また、世界軸、つまり世界の中心や軸の役割を果たす。また、世界の中心に位置し、宇宙の秩序と調和を表している。樹木の各部分は世界の3つの圏（梢-天、幹-中世界または地、根-地下世界）のいずれかに対応し、古典的な元素（上部-火、中部-地、土、地面、下部-水）にも関連している。

その枝は天空に届き、根は人間界や地上界と地下世界や地底界をつなぐと言われている。そのため、この木は天と地を結ぶ媒介として崇拝された。梢には星や天体があり、鷲の巣がある。枝には数種類の鳥がとまり、枝の下には人間やあらゆる動物が住み、根の近くには蛇やあらゆる爬虫類が住んでいる。

その葉の上にとまる鳥は、「しばしば......翼を持つ神話上の生き物」であり、天界を表す。鷲は最も頻繁に見られる鳥で、創造主や天候の神の役割を果たしているようだ。その対極にあるのは、木の根の間を這う蛇や蛇のような生き物で、「冥界の象徴」である。

世界樹のイメージは、そこに生る果実や近くにある泉によって不老不死をもたらすことと関連付けられることもある。この「生命の水」は木の根からも湧き出るという記述もある。

世界樹はシャーマニズムの世界観においても重要な要素であり、「巨大な鳥は......世界樹の枝でシャーマンを孵化させる」ともいわれている。

いくつかの種の鳥（ワシ、ワタリガラス、ツル、ハシビロコウ、ヒバリ）は、世界をつなぐ媒介者として崇められ、世界樹のイメージとも結びついている。また、別の研究では、フクロウは天上界への媒介者であり、それと対をなすヘビは宇宙の下界への媒介者であるという「繰り返されるテーマ」が指摘されている。北ユーラシアや中央アジアの伝統では、世界樹は馬や、木の枝に似た鹿の角とも関連づけられている。

一部の学者は、進化生物学の観点から、世界樹という概念が人類の思考の中に元から備わっている可能性を指摘している。というのも、人類の祖先は約6000万年にわたり樹上で生活しており、その時代の彼らにとっては木々こそが世界のすべてであったと考えられるからである。そのため、この世界は巨大な木で出来ているのだという集合的無意識が、現在の我々に至るまで残っているのだというものである。

[mahayanapilgrim]

The Controversy of Symbolism in Tibetan Buddhism: Misunderstandings and True Interpretations

The profound symbolism and imagery in Tibetan Buddhism have often been a source of misunderstanding and controversy, particularly in the context of the union of wisdom and bliss, symbolized by Father (compassion) and Mother (wisdom) in intimate union. This controversy has historical roots, with early Western explorers, including British ones, misinterpreting these symbols and, in some cases, branding Tibetans as primitive or even demon-worshipers. However, a more nuanced understanding of these symbols and their true meaning reveals a deeper and more profound aspect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Historical Misunderstandings:

As little as a few decades ago, Western explorers and visitors to Tibetan Buddhist temples were shocked by the imagery and symbolism they encountered. The intimate union of Father (compassion) and Mother (wisdom) was often misinterpreted as sexual or lustful, leading to hasty judgments about Tibetan culture and spirituality. These misinterpretations resulted from a lack of cultural context and a superficial understanding of Tibetan Buddhism.

Western Perceptions:

Early Western perceptions of Tibetan Buddhism were influenced by these misinterpretations. Tibetans were often seen as primitive or shamanistic, which created a skewed image of their spirituality. It wasn't until the 1970s that a growing group of Western students and practitioners began to delve deeper into Tibetan Buddhism, seeking a more authentic understanding of its teachings and symbolism.

Attachment to Labels and Symbolism:

The controversy surrounding the symbolism in Tibetan Buddhism underscores the importance of understanding the concept of attachment to labels. The heart of Buddha's teachings on the Eightfold Path revolves around transcending attachments and delusions. Tibetan Buddhist teachers recognized the limitations of words in conveying profound truths and instead used visual symbols to represent these concepts.

True Interpretations:

The union of Father (compassion) and Mother (wisdom) in Tibetan Buddhism represents a deeply spiritual and symbolic concept. It symbolizes the harmonious integration of compassion and wisdom, with the male (compassion) and female (wisdom) aspects balancing and complementing each other. This union is not about physical intimacy but rather a representation of the union of essential qualities for spiritual enlightenment.

Furthermore, the symbolism of union in Tibetan Buddhism extends to skilful means (male) and insight (female) as well as relative truth (male) and ultimate truth (female). These symbols illustrate the interplay and integration of complementary qualities and aspects on the path to enlightenment.

In conclusion, the controversy surrounding the symbolism in Tibetan Buddhism highlights the challenges of cross-cultural interpretation and the importance of looking beyond surface appearances. The true view of these symbols emphasizes their spiritual and philosophical significance, rather than superficial, misinformed judgments. The union of Father and Mother in Tibetan Buddhism is a symbol of the profound balance between compassion and wisdom, and it serves as a reminder that understanding cultural and spiritual symbols requires a deep and open-minded approach.

[shamandrummer]

Ritual Use of the Shamanic Drum

The shamanic drum, namely the single-headed frame drum, originated in Siberia, together with shamanism itself thousands of years ago. Shamanic drumming is considered one of the oldest methods for healing and accessing inner wisdom. Practiced cross-culturally, this technique is strikingly similar the world over. Shamanic drumming uses a repetitive rhythm that begins slowly and then gradually builds in intensity to a tempo of three to seven beats per second. The ascending tempo will induce light to deep trance states. Shamans use intention and discipline to control the nature, depth and qualities of their trance experiences. They may progress through a range of ecstatic trance states until they reach the level that is necessary for healing to occur.

The act of entering an ecstatic trance state is called the soul flight or shamanic journey. During shamanic flight, the sound of the drum serves as a guidance system, indicating where the shaman is at any moment or where they might need to go. The drumbeat also serves as an anchor, or lifeline, that the shaman follows to return to his or her body and/or exit the trance state when the trance work is complete. When ready to exit the trance state, the practitioner simply slows the tempo of drumming, drawing consciousness back to normal.

The sound of the shamanic drum is very important. A shamanic ritual often begins with heating the drum head over a fire to bring it up to the desired pitch. It is the subtle variations in timbre and ever-changing overtones of the drum that allow the shaman to communicate with the spiritual realm. Part of the shaman's training involves learning to hear and interpret a larger range of frequencies than the normal person can. The shaman listens and finds the right tone, the right sound to which the spirits will respond. Through the many tones, pitches, and harmonics of the drum, the shaman communes with the subtle and normally unseen energies of the spirit world.

Tuvan shamans believe that the spirits of nature create their own sound world, and it is possible for humans to communicate with them through the sound of the drum. According to Tuvan ethnographer and former shaman Mongush Kenin-Lopsan, "We understand the spirits answers mostly from the tangible results of the communication, in terms of benefit or harm. But some people actually hear the spirits singing." Tuvan shamans use the drum to convey to the spirits of a place their greetings, any requests, and thanks. It is a spiritual practice designed to help human beings relate to all of nature. Tuva (southern Siberia) is one of the few places in the world where the shamanic heritage has remained unbroken.

Drumming opens the shaman's inner, spiritual ears and eyes and also calls the helping spirits. As Tuvan musicologist Valentina Suzukei explains, "By changing and listening to the frequencies and overtones of the drum, the shaman is able to send messages to, and receive them from, both the spirit world and the patient. For example, the shaman might use the overtones to send signals to the sky, where they provoke a voice from the cosmos; in turn, the cosmic signals are caught on the drum and reflected to the shaman through the creation of subsequent overtones."

The shamanic drum is a time-tested vehicle for healing and self-expression. A shaman may use the drum to address any number of health issues including trauma, addiction, depression, and chronic pain. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of extraction, soul retrieval, and journeying, can all be performed with the drum. According to Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman, authors of Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture, "The drum is used in a variety of ways in shamanist rituals; it may serve as (1) a rhythm instrument, (2) a divination table, (3) a "speaker" for communicating with the spirits, (4) a spirit-catcher, (5) a spirit boat, (6) a purifying device, (7) the shaman's mount."

[seeinginthedark]

Shaman/magic person blog entry #2

Shamans/magic people in the family

You might recognise someone in your family, maybe yourself that’s a little bit different to everybody else in your family. They’re a bit more in tune with everyone’s needs. They are usually very attached and close with the older generations of the family from a young age. They might be the artist, the creative type in the family. They might be the addict of the family. They might have a sixth sense or intuition when it comes to problems going on with the family, if given the opportunity to be given that role. They might be the one that stayed in an imaginative childlike state well into the adult lives. You might have a situation where your own parents, mum and dad had shamanistic traits, as this runs in families. It’s not all happy roses and calm, peaceful magical times, no. It’s often very difficult having a shaman in the family. It’s difficult being a shaman. It’s difficult, knowing a shaman and difficult having family members or parents are a shaman.  (I use the word shaman because it relates back to indigenous wisdom which is my ultimate framework of philosophy, which I always fall back on the things get a bit down the Rabbit hole. I go back to my cultural roots and indigenous wisdom and not every indigenous culture has some version of a shaman, might not always be called that word or label. . But I’m using it here, in the context of a magic person. Similar to a witch.)

Children who could have these traits of otherworldliness ,could be magic, or have a  connection to the other realm. Or display deep wisdom that comes not from experience, but a deep knowing that they’re born with. How to deal with us? Well, that depends on your family and your own style of doing things and your cultural style of doing things. My culture is from New Zealand. And the indigenous culture of New Zealand is the Māori culture. And basically our elders can detect in a young child/ infant /baby /toddler if that child is the next “shaman” in the family. Of course we don’t call then a “shaman.” There’s another word for it called tohunga. The elders are able to detect in this child, special child, whose job it will be to be the “shaman” of that family or tribe. They take the child away for a little while , the elders and they sing and whisper to that baby or toddler when they’re asleep. So that when the child is sleeping , their body listens to the songs or vibrations of the words of the elders and absorbs it. They don’t go on an apprenticeship, shaman journey. They get given the messages and the wisdom they need to hear other ways from the ancestors, because that’s how our tradition does it. And every family and culture has their own way of doing this. I feel a lot of families these days in the modern matrix culture don’t understand how to deal with a child that is like this or know the methods of how best to support this child. I think that a lot of children who are growing up having bipolar ADHD or mental illness, depression, anxiety, and self harm behaviours Im saying I think these are possible traits of shamanism. Our approach to supporting these children is getting better over time, but this “fitting them into a box” and labelling of them trying to get them to obey, trying to get them to change who they are and not acknowledging them for who they are can just be dysfunctional and harmful for them. All cultures have this archetype not just indigenous cultures too btw. We’ve got a lot of children in the world and teenagers growing up, confused about who they are and even what gender they are. And they might think:

“well I’m different. I don’t feel comfortable in my situation or in my body and it’s because I was meant to be born a different gender.” Well Maybe in some cases they were just a little bit shamanistic and they didn’t get proper nurturance. That’s just a side theory of mine about shaman‘s in families. 

[theblackbookofarkera]

Lauzhel

Lauzhel, the primal ape god of the Black Ambrians, is a deity that embodies the untamed might of nature and the indomitable spirit of warriors. This ancient god is said to roam the misty taiga of Tiel, a silent guardian that moves with the grace and power of the wild itself. His form is that of a colossal ape, covered in a pelt as white as the snow that blankets the land he protects. His eyes, deep and knowing, hold the wisdom of ages and the fierceness of the elements.

As a god of nature's raw force, Lauzhel commands the respect of all living creatures within his domain. The trees of the forest bow to his presence, and the animals of the taiga heed his silent call. He is the whisper in the wind, the strength in the stone, and the lifeblood of the rivers that carve through the frozen landscape.

For the Black Ambrians, Lauzhel is more than a god; he is the epitome of what it means to be a warrior. His teachings are not of words but of actions—of survival against the odds, of fighting with honor, and of living with the courage that comes from knowing one's own strength. To invoke Lauzhel is to tap into the primal energy that fuels the heart of battle and the quiet moments of reflection that follow.

The worship of Lauzhel is deeply ingrained in the culture of the Black Ambrians. His image is etched into their weapons, his essence infused in their war cries, and his blessings sought in their shamanistic rituals. In the presence of Lauzhel, the Black Ambrians find the fortitude to face their enemies and the wisdom to live in harmony with the world around them.

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 769: Lungfish Pass & Stow

If I were to introduce Lungfish to an uninitiated party, I'm not entirely sure which record I would recommend to them. Maybe this person would gravitate more towards the Revolution Summer vibes of Talking Songs For Walking and Rainbows From Atoms, maybe they'd like the more deconstructed and sparse approach of mid-era albums like Indivisible and Artificial Horizon, or maybe they'd like the austere shamanistic rock of Love Is Love and Feral Hymns? There would be a lot of good potential entry points, but I wouldn't pick Pass & Stow.

This isn't because Pass & Stow isn't a great record. I love Pass & Stow. But it belongs in that first era of Lungfish with John Chriest on bass where they still sound like kins of Fugazi. And while I love their particular spin on post-hardcore on these early records, Pass & Stow is nearly an hour long, and you get a more streamlined approach on the two preceding records.

Yes, it's tough to pick a favorite Lungfish album. But picking a favorite Lungfish song? That's easy.

Nestled at the back of side 2 of Pass & Stow is "The Evidence." In some ways, "The Evidence" feels like the point where Lungfish found their new guiding principle. Featuring little more than a repeating four-note melody on guitar, Daniel Higgs' strange ramblings, and the faint roar of feedback in the background, it barely feels like a complete song and was likely relegated to the backend of the album so as to not lose the overall momentum of the record. But for me, "The Evidence" is the most compelling song in the band's canon. There is power in the repetition and depth in the melodic simplicity, and Higgs' lyrics encapsulate everything I love about Higgs---they're vague and riddle-like, but they also convey a kind of all-encompassing cosmic wisdom where you feel like if you just keep cycling through the lines you'll eventually hit some point of grand enlightenment.

It feels like a bit of an experiment for the band, but it also feels like it opened the door to an even more reductive approach for Lungfish as they moved forward.

Pass & Stow is full of great songs, but "The Evidence" overshadows all of them.

[angelwickyspace]

Temple and village at Ollantayambo Peru.

During my travels around the world I’m connecting to sacred and acient places, their wisdom and energy. I’m working on them, on Earth chakras and energy lines. Cleaning, activating or resetting them. I’m also connecting energies and unlocking more of my knowledge, past lives, powers and healing techniques. From this world and others.

#healing #energyhealer #kundaliniactivation #psychic #shaman #shamanism #psychicpowers #spiritualawakening #kundaliniawakening #shaman #shamanist #healer #energyhealer #peru #perutravel #peruadventure #perudestinations #ollantaytambo #cusco #cuscoperu #macchupicchu

[brendanelliswilliams]

A Reflection on Vocation (from My Personal and Gaelic Cultural Perspective) and a Little ‘PSA’ from Sabbatical Land

Those who know me well know that I have never been one to apologize for my somewhat complex (and, to many, alien) nature and vocation, or for the consequences thereof relating to social dynamics, relationships, and other ‘worldly’ or ordinary concerns, both mundane and otherwise. Notwithstanding, one of the things I’ve realized on the front end of my present writing sabbatical is that in the recent past I have given a bit too much ground in this regard to people who do not understand or appreciate the full scope and nature of what I’m here to do, and therefore do not fully value it or respect the boundaries that it necessarily places on the ways I am able to show up in the world. 

The reality is that there is a fairly limited set of possible ways I can navigate the world and still actually accomplish the work I am here to accomplish. Mary Oliver expressed this vocational conundrum beautifully when she wrote: ‘I am absentminded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely….My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive. If I have a meeting with you at three o’clock, rejoice if I am late. Rejoice even more if I do not arrive at all. There is no other way work of artistic worth can be done. And the occasional success, to the striver, is worth everything.’

Anyone who knows me well likewise knows that I want nothing more than for all beings to walk toward beauty and genuine wisdom, and to each fulfill their highest vocations (whatever those happen to be), more and more fully and to the greatest good and optimal freedom of all living creatures. And I have dedicated a large part of my life to assisting and equipping others toward those very ends, to the best of my humble ability. But in order to continue to do that work and feel like I am also fulfilling the other dimensions of my deepest vocation—what in native Gaelic thought we call dán, which means roughly ‘destiny’ (also, ‘vocational gift’, ‘skill’, ‘poetic art’), or, as I interpret it, the most deep-rooted, highest, and uniquely shaped telos of a given soul over an indefinite number of lifetimes—I also have to respect the necessary limits of my involvement with ordinary concerns; and that unfortunately sometimes means ignoring the mundane or (to my feeling) comparatively trivial concerns of other people, or the expectations they have projected onto me.

I have said it many times in different ways and in different contexts over the years, but I’ll say again here that it is neither accidental nor incidental that the shamanic functionary (the seer, oracle, healer, magician, lore-keeper) in a large number of ancient cultures was also a ‘wildman’ or ‘wildwoman’ figure who lived at the edge of the village and did not generally participate in the ordinary affairs of daily life in the society they served, at least not in the same way or to the same degree that others did. And in my culture (anciently) at least one group of the sacral functionaries of this general type were also poets and scholars. Poetic trance and utterance, divining, wisdom-keeping, storytelling, the offering of spiritual counsel, scholarship, and an additional host of ‘priestly’ and shamanistic functions were, in this vocational type, all deeply and inseparably intertwined.

We in the West today obviously no longer live in a world in which such things are understood, sanctioned, or supported, and yet there are at least a few of us around today who, for whatever reason, have been born here and now with a deep and abiding calling that fits this archaic vocational shape, and we have no choice but to do our best to live it out under these highly unfavorable circumstances. Believe me when I say it isn’t easy. To enter the necessary state of mind and spirit to really execute on this complex of work, and to do it to the highest possible standards (nothing less than which would be acceptable to me) requires a massive amount of time, space, energy, and intentionality—‘blood, sweat, and tears’ is not really an exaggeration. To remain in such a state in a sustained way, in order to produce real fruit from it, for the service of others as well as for the sake of the work itself (and to honor the ancestors and other spiritual realities from which it has descended), and to do so in a socio-cultural environment that is essentially hostile to it and negates it at every turn, is a herculean effort, and, to double up my Greek metaphors, can often also feel like a sisyphean task. But to do it or not to do it really isn’t a choice for those who are truly called to it—as is the case for those called to any creative or spiritual vocation that is understood and embraced and lived out to its fullest depth and potential.

Apropos of my most recent reflections on all this, a proverbial line I am feeling I need to re-draw in the sand with deeper dint as of this sabbatical time is around making any sort of apology for the reality of this mantle that fate (or providence, or the ancestors, or however you, dear reader, might wish to attribute such things) has placed on my shoulders, or giving in to a feeling—or an external pressure—which suggests that I should offer some kind of explanation to others regarding my need to eschew the kinds of ordinary concerns previously alluded to. In essence, either folks get it or they don’t, either they value and accept it or they don’t, and, to be perfectly frank, I ultimately can’t afford to care about which one it is; my work, to the extent that I honor and embody it, simply precludes such concerns.

Of course, none of this means at all that I don’t care deeply for people in general, or for their feelings; it simply means that the core of my work and calling in this life is—metaphorically, at very least—akin to a form of spirit-possession: it is totalizing and cannot be ignored or shuffled down in some sort of trivial list-making exercise (whether literal or figurative) as a priority of lesser or greater degree. It is absolute, and nothing comes before it—not even my own personal welfare (though I have made a concerted effort not to be overly reckless in this regard, as I was in my younger years).

While I will not be peeking my head up to say much publicly during this time (especially online), this felt like a reflection worth sharing in a public forum, to some extent for the benefit of my own processing, but, more than that, for the knowledge (and hopefully benefit) of those who have only come into my sphere of relationality in recent years, and may not really be acquainted with the deeper strata of my vocation and how I resultantly move in the world. ‘Clear is kind’, as the saying goes. And perhaps there are also others of a similar nature who might happen to encounter this little reflection and find some comfort or reassurance in knowing they are not alone.

To all those who are in my life, whether in a personal or professional capacity: I humbly invite you to discern, curate, and manage your expectations of this mad poet-seer in accord with the aforewritten. And, as always, I send my love and blessings—now from both the literal and figurative desert wilds. May you have peace, and may you always walk in wisdom and beauty.

[chechekatawan-blog]

Filling our Bowl

It’s important to refill ourselves. Everyone is a healer, we wake up day after day and march out into the world and put our hearts on the line because something in us tells us it’s what’s needed. But we cannot gift our smiles, over and over and over, and gift our kind words, and our wisdoms, if we are tired. Every good shaman, doctor, nurse, and person, knows they are most effective, and the best they can be, when they love, and care for themselves first.

Life is a bowl, and holds all within it. What you need, is already here.

Take a walk, Draw, Listen to music that sparks your heart, Sing in the shower, Read a book, Dance, Meditate, Be at Peace...

Photography by myself, CheCheKataWan; message me here or at chechekatawan@gmail.com for more information about my healing process, tools, or sacred work and how you can be a part of it.

[niuniente]

Hi there, I love your blog! I found here years ago because of Free!, but stayed for spiritual content and great insight. As the times are dark and there's war, many sources are telling "to send love" for everyone involved. But how does this actually happen? The longer we watch this genocide rolling, I feel more anger towards the agressor and wanting to take action. If this is not your expertise, it's alright to ignore my question! I know it might be a bit strange from an anon.

Hello, a very, very long time follower! Your question will have only a quite short answer, as dwelling into deeper would require a deeper knowledge based explanation of spiritual laws etc. which is equal to speaking about religions, world-views, faith etc. I can't and won't ask anyone anything like that, not to live like I do, not to the same world-view as I do.

But, long story short, how do you send out love. There are many ways:

Spell casting, for example with candles and oils. You can find many different spells out there and also create your own spells. I would do a following spell; a red candle and attraction oil for love, a black candle and banishing or uncrossing oil (or both), and a white candle with peace, harmony or van van oil. Place the black candle lower than love and peace candle. Burn and uncross the negative energy from the way of love and light. You can do a way simpler spell too; just light a white candle for light or red for love. Use oils if you wish. Let the candle(s) burn in one go. Tealights work wonderfully!

Shamanism and animal guides When the war started, one guild of shamans said they had gathered together to send light and love to help the war to end quicker. Shamanistic work isn't something I personally do that much, even when it's a practice of my ancestors (and in MANY MANY MANY cultures globally, before someone comes to scream me about a white entitled woman stealing stuff from Native Americans). What I would do is to have a shamanic journey in meditation, go either to speak with ancestors or animal guide(s) for wisdom, or/and go to the areas where love is needed in a meditation to share it there.

Prayer, Chanting You can pray in any way you wish. Pray to your Deity, your God, your Goddess, The Universe, A Saint, a Spiritual past Teacher like Buddha or Jesus or Mohamed. Pray angels, ancestors, loving spirits, your guides, animals. Pray alone, pray in nature, pray with others, pray in churches, temples, mosques, holy places. Anywhere is good, even in your own bed. Prayer and chanting send love and the energy to where they need to go. I have encountered many near-death experiences where people saw prayers rising up to the spirit realm as lights that came together and formed a strong force.

Meditation The easiest way of sending Love and Light is in a short meditation. This doesn't need to take longer than 2 minutes and it can be done as often as you like - or as long as you like. 1) Sit or lay comfortably. Imagine how a light comes down to you and goes through your head. 2) The light travels through your whole body, filling your whole body. 3) The light exists through your tail bone and continues towards the center of the Earth. 4) The light spreads out to many, many small lines which spread across the whole world. See how the whole world's grit gets enlightened with this light.

Another version is to imagine how the area of negativity or whole Earth gets engulfed by Light.

There are many meditations for peace out there which you can find. The Honest Guys is my favorite meditation channel.

---

But what's most important is that you don't have to do this. You don't. If you can't find any ounce of love or light to be given, then don't. The trick that is often misunderstood in spiritual practices is that you MUST allow all your emotions to exist. ALL OF THEM. Including anger, hate, rage, disbelief etc. If you are not in a state of sending anything positive, then don't. It's fine. You can direct your attention to other ways of helping (including taking care of yourself as your suffering will not help those who suffer).

If you try to send love from a state of resistance like "I know I should but I don't want to/feel like it", it won't really do any good, so don't. Help in other ways if you can. And, anger is healthy. Anger is good. It tells where our boundaries are and what's acceptable and what's not. Anger is your friend in the front of atrocities, and disbelief in the middle of horrors tells you're a normal, emphatetic person.

War makes you upset? War crimes and dictators make you angry? Congratulations, you're a normal person! No need to fix that.

You can take this and channel your anger to aggressive love sending. Like "I won't accept this! I'm going to send so much fucking LOVE and LIGHT and COMPASSION there that I'll explode!!"

Aggression and Love do co-exist and at times, need to co-exist.

[baeddel]

uzumaki spoilers [again, read Uzumaki first]

i think we are licensed to say that Ito was influenced by Lovecraft when making Uzumaki. he has described Lovecraft as an influence himself, and he makes a comedic reference to the Mountains of Madness in one of the self-insert skits. the infohazard theme that was important in Lovecraft is an important theme in Uzumaki. but it’s interesting to see how they differ. Lovecraft was worried about humanity; the limits of human rationality, the development of the human species, and the fragility of human civilization. for Lovecraft only white men have access to rationality, so only white men can understand the horrors that lesser men bring into existence; this is alluded to in Pickman’s Model (“I’ve got a place that I don’t believe three living Nordic men besides myself have ever seen...”), and is implicit in stories like the Mound. Lovecraft’s protagonists are white American academics, scientists and artists who use their superior reason to uncover the horrible truths of the universe which humanity had until now been too primitive to witness. when they do reach beyond the veil they go mad, catatonic, chittering, or else kill themselves. lesser men mistake what they see for gods and make cults to them with obscene practices, or else degenerate into subhumans.

when Ligotti takes up the same things he uses similar characters and similar devices but with new coordinates. his refernces are not racial scientism and theosophy but structural anthropology and German idealism. the horrible wisdom of the world was not out of reach of Ligotti’s humanity but inescapably evident to it; all of our discourses and social institutions are ruses and devices through which we can hide from it. his protagonists uncover the truth because they are curious, knowledge-hungry fools. impulsively following the intellectual riddles that preoccupy them they disturb things that were better left alone. if they leave with their lives then they find their own way to avert their gaze and put the truth away.

in Uzumaki i think the relevant comparison is shūyō, self-cultivation. virtually every strain of East Asian discourse (religious, philosophical, etc.) has some version of this. what it means to cultivate yourself varies according to tradition but you should have the idea from the name. it’s about developing one’s learning, one’s habits and morals, or one’s te, inner power. everything from Buddhist meditation to martial arts to alchemy to keeping a rock garden is built on a theory of self-cultivation. while self-cultivation isn’t uncommon, there is an expectation that a very cultivated person will be strange (especially outside of Confucianism). sages are different from ordinary people; people can’t understand them, they have a different sense of right and wrong from other people, etc.

the first character in Uzumaki who has any idea about the spiral horror is Suichi’s father. he has renounced everything and devoted himself to the spiral; he spends all of his money on spiral merchandise and sits in his room staring at them. he learns, just by looking at the spirals, how to work miracles; he can move his eyes independently, extend his tongue unnaturally and curl it up, and finally extends and twists up his whole body into a spiral. he achieves a sort of twisted immortality in the spiral. you can easily read this as a dark paroday of self-cultivation; he is a middle-aged man who gets taken by fanciful ideas and spends a lot of money on it. it could as easily be green tea or anything else. his contortions are like a sort of evil tai chi.

Suichi is the second character who knows about the spiral horror. he knows, perhaps, more than his father; he knows how terrible it is. he withdraws from the world, sits alone in his home and does not eat. he rejects whoever comes to him except his lover-disciple; he teaches her how to avoid the spiral, though she cannot learn from him. he is one who has “drowned in the midst of dry land.”

Suichi’s father introduces Yasuo, Kirie’s father, to the spiral horror. he calls pottery “the art of the spiral,” a phrase Kirie’s father repeats for the rest of the manga. he turns his pottery into a form of spiral-cultivation. yet unlike Suichi’s father he doesn’t kill himself doing so. he listens when his family express their troubles and he goes on working on it quietly; he functions well even in the finale when everyone else is losing their minds.

when we get to the bottom of Dragonfly Pond we collect the fruit of cultivation. correct me if i’m wrong but i don’t think we see Suichi’s father in the underground structure at all. he remains in Kurôzu-cho, in the mud, the trees and smoke. Yasuo joins the tangle of bodies and is petrified next to his wife. Suichi basks in the light of the spiral without being petrified; he embraces Kirie and they become a spiral together in a happy infinity.

Uzumaki contains something of a self-cultivation manual. it shows us three sages, but also three lovers, and their different routes to immortality and also love. Suichi’s father cultivates himself excessively; he achieves a restless immortality within a few days but he never learns the truth of the spiral. as a lover he neglects his partner, and then calls to her from hell. he drives her insane and then condemns her to share his fate, all the while she begs him to stop. i don’t know about a Japanese parallel but in the Daoist system you would say that he shattered his shen and lost his vitality. Yasuo cultivated himself slowly, doing a little bit every so often by gathering the clay and firing it. he listened to his wife’s concerns and moderated his practices. he and his lover were petrified by the light of the spiral below Dragonfly Pond. as he lived a normal life, he met the same fate as the townsfolk. now Suichi: where common people are mesmerized by the spiral, and the other sages sought to harness it, Suichi rejected it. he withdrew from society into a reticent life of skeptical contemplation. he advised and mentored his lover so he could protect her from the spiral horror. thus he united with his lover and became immortal with her. it was because he rejected the spiral that he found a peaceful immortality in it.

interestingly we already find a lot of what we like about Bloodborne’s use of Lovecraft in Uzumaki. whereas in Bloodborne the Cthulu cult and its horrors are carried out not by primitives but by the Church, the hospital, and the repressive organs of the state, in Uzumaki it’s done by fathers, teachers, doctors and so on. whereas in Bloodborne it takes the form not of shamanistic religion but revealed faith and academic science, in Uzumaki it takes the form of self-cultivation. and in Bloodborne we also find a sort of practical-philosophical manual which stands along with the best tetsugaku, with its own failed sages (Micolash’s delerium, Rom’s ignorance) and ultimate successes (the Hunter in the third ending).

[ivy-kissobryos]

In the Norse poem The Havamal, or “Words of the High God,” Odin reveals a less warrior-like aspect, telling how he was pierced by a spear and hanged willingly on a tree in a sacrificial rite leading to wisdom. This high god thus reveals shamanistic qualities, and indeed, Odin’s thirst for secret knowledge was such that his behavior borders on the demonic; these aspects of his character will be detailed in our discussion of trickster gods. Spears, hanging, and fire often were associated with Odin, especially in Scandinavia. Apparently the burning of those heroic dead who were destined for Valhalla was important to worshipers of Odin, as, according to some reports, were ritual stabbings and the sacrifice by hanging of both humans and animals. Odin was sometimes called the God of the Hanged.

Gods, Heroes & Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain by Christopher Fee and David Leeming

[kronim195]

With Dread adding new lore, I've had to readjust my personal Metroid Timeline, so here it is. Keep in mind its my personal timeline because I disregard official canon such as Other M, Federation Force and the Manga, and fill in the blanks with my own headcanons and speculation.

Year XXXX: The Chozo become a space faring species and explore the galaxy. Over time they choose to abandon their war-like and prideful culture, preferring to value peace, scientific advancement, shamanistic wisdom and respect for nature. While the majority of Chozo become peaceful scientists belonging to the Thoha tribe – others refuse to abandon their old ways of war and instead break off into their own tribe known as the Mawkin. While the two tribes have opposite views – they were still allies and helped each other when needed.

Year XXXX: The Thoha Chozo meet many other advanced species, including the Luminoth and Bryyonians. Technology, art and culture are shared, and an era of peace begins across the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Mawkin tribe make their home on Planet ZDR.

Year XXXX: The Thoha Chozo build a colony on planet Elysia dedicated to studying the universe. They create a synthetic race called Elysians to help with maintenance of the colony.

Year XXXX: A probe from Elysia confirms the existence of the living planet Phaaze, this terrifies the Chozo of Elysia, who dedicate their time to searching for the planet’s location.

Year XXXX: The Chozo abandon Elysia, leaving it in the hands of the Elysians and instructing them to continue their search for Phaaze.

Year XXXX: The bulk of Thoha Chozo make Tallon IV their new home world, hoping to get away from advanced technology and live simpler lives among nature.

Year XXXX: The Elysians shut down to preserve power.

Year 2303 Earth calendar: Many of the Galaxy’s younger and now more prominent species come together to establish the primary sovereign government: The Galactic Federation.

Year 2310: The Galactic Federation comes into contact with the Space Pirates, who are immediately hostile. The Pirates become infamous for raiding caravans, invading colonies, and taking slaves. They are considered a great threat to Galactic peace.

Year 2320: The Chozo of Tallon IV begin to possess the ability to see visions of the future. How they attained this ability is unknown, but these Chozo prophets predict a galaxy in chaos: Wars fought over the possession of living weapons, a great poison spreading across the galaxy, tales of ‘the worm’ who will corrupt their holy planet from the inside.

Year 2335: A Leviathan from Phaaze strikes Tallon IV, spreading Phazon across the planet. The surviving Chozo do everything they can to contain the Leviathan. While they manage to greatly slow the spread of Phazon, they fail to stop it completely. The Chozo prophets see a glimpse into the future, visions of a hero who will free Tallon IV of phazon. The hero will end a galactic scale war and destroy the source of phazon, saving the universe. This hero was no Chozo, but they were wearing Chozo armor. They would come to be known as The Entrusted One. The few remaining Chozo leave behind weapons for the prophesied entrusted one, then depart Tallon IV. They colonize Zebes, and live quiet lives on the small planet, studying the mysteries of the cosmos and searching for the threats that the prophets continue to experience visions of.

Year 2337: Another Leviathan hits the Luminoth home world Aether, splitting it into two dimensions. A war between the Luminoth and the dark creatures known as the Ing breaks out.

Year 2345: The Galactic Federation discovers Zebes and meet with the last of the Thoha Chozo. The Chozo are happy to share their technology and wisdom with the younger species, including how to create organic super computers. Shortly thereafter, plans to create Aurora Units are devised.

Year 2350: Samus Aran is born on the Federation mining colony K2L.

Year 2353: Pirates raid K2L, and Samus is orphaned by the feared Pirate General - Ridley. Samus is discovered by two Chozo of tribe Thoha - Old Bird and Grey Voice, who take her back to Zebes. While debating on whether she would be permitted to stay, the Chozo prophets have a vision, and see that this child might be their prophesised entrusted one. The decision to adopt and train her was unanimous.

Years 2353-2369: Samus is raised by the Chozo. She is gifted with Thoha DNA, and Raven Beak, the leader of the Mawkin tribe, offers the child his DNA as well. Samus spends her childhood being trained by the Chozo to become a powerful warrior. Once she came of age, she said goodbye to her adopted family, but not before they gift her with their greatest creation: A power suit and ship designed for her, both possessing incredible power far more advanced than anything created by the Federation. The Chozo design more weapons and a second power suit for Samus to eventually find, as the prophets foresee that she will have need of them one day.

Years 2370: Samus joins the Galactic Federation military. Her battle prowess earns her great respect and she finds herself under the command of the esteemed Commander Adam Malcovich, whom she shares a close bond with.

Year 2373: The Space Pirates conduct one of their largest scale attacks against the Federation yet, and Adam’s unit is sent to repel them. Samus and Adam encounter Ridley, where Samus suffers a PTSD attack at the sight of her parent’s murderer, and becomes paralysed with fear. Adam sacrifices himself to save Samus’ life. The pirate invasion was repelled, but Adam was lost. Samus, feeling responsible for his death, leaves the Federation. She would later become a bounty hunter.

Year 2374: The Thoha discover planet SR388, learning of the X-parasites and the grave threat to galactic peace they possess. They establish a colony on SR388 and with the assistance of the Mawkin, begin developing a countermeasure for the X. They create the Metroids; a species programmed to be the X’s perfect predators. As a failsafe, the Metroids were programmed to remain docile towards those bearing Thoha DNA. They were also secretly programmed to react violently to Mawkin DNA, as the Thoha were growing weary of how extremist the Mawkin were becoming under Raven Beak’s leadership, and wanted a contingency plan if the Mawkin ever betrayed them. Unfortunately, the Metroids mutated and quickly went out of control, causing untold casualties on the SR388 colony. With the help of the Mawkin, the Thoha were able to contain the Metroids running rampant on the planet.

The Thoha proposed to destroy SR388, fearing that the Metroids themselves had become just as dangerous as the X. Raven Beak had other plans. He hoped to bring the Metroids back to ZDR and use them as a bioweapon for his megalomaniacal plan to take over the Galaxy. He slaughters most of the Thoha of SR388, taking only the scientists like Quiet Robe prisoner. They returned to ZDR, where Raven Beak planned to use the Thoha scientists’ expertise and genetic ability to control Metroids, to capture the bioweapons and create an unstoppable army. Unfortunately for the Mawkin, one of their soldiers had been infected by the X while on SR388, allowing it to copy their appearance and stow away with the rest of the tribe. It revealed itself on ZDR, causing a planet-wide outbreak that nearly obliterated the Mawkin. It would take years for Raven Beak to contain the outbreak, and by the time he did, only he and Quiet Robe were the survivors.

Year 2375: The Pirates invade Zebes, killing off the last known Chozo colony. They discover Mother Brain and reprogram her to suit their needs. A pirate base called Tourian is built on Zebes. Sometime later, a Federation research vessel discovers planet SR388 and takes Metroid specimens with them for further study. Unfortunately, the vessel is raided by Pirates who steal the Metroids and bring them back to Zebes. Seeing the promising potential Metroids have as bioweapons, the Pirates begin experimenting on them almost immediately. The Federation leads an assault on Zebes but are fought back by the Pirate fleet. Samus learns the fate of her adopted family and is struck with grief and fury, the pirates had taken everyone she had ever loved from her. She volunteers to head to Zebes and infiltrate the Pirate base alone. The Federation was hesitant to allow this, but Samus goes anyway. The events of Zero Mission take place

Year 2375(Several months after Zero Mission): Samus is now hailed as a hero by the Galactic Federation. Her ship was salvaged from the crash on Zebes and repaired. She is then hired to scout an area rumoured to have Pirate activity. The events of Metroid Prime take place

Year 2376: The events of Prime Hunters takes place

Year 2377: Samus is hired to find and assist Federation soldiers who went missing on planet Aether. The events of Metroid Prime 2 take place

Space Pirates scavenge as much Phazon as they can from Aether after Samus foiled their plans. Unfortunately for them, the remains of Dark Samus were also gathered. She manages to revive herself on board the pirate ship, corrupting the pirates and making them slaves to her will. She gains the ability to send Leviathans from Phaaze to other planets using wormholes. The G.F.S (Galactic Federation Ship) Valhalla is raided by Dark Samus’ Pirates. They steal the ship’s Aurora Unit and upload a virus into the Federation’s network. The Aurora Unit is installed on planet Phaaze. Dark Samus crashes a Leviathan onto the Pirate home world, corrupting both the planet and the pirates themselves.

Year 2378: By now, most pirates become her new disciples and prepare for all-out war with the Federation. Meanwhile, the Federation, having secured their own Phazon, uses it to create Phazon Enhancement Devices (PEDs) to boost the strength of their soldiers. Samus attends a meeting on the G.F.S Olympus to discuss a new mission. The events of Metroid Prime 3 take place

After completing her mission, Samus is followed by a mysterious ship that appears to belong to Sylux. The Events of Metroid prime 4 take place???? (TBD)

The Space Pirates were all but finished after the events of Prime 3. A small remnant army still persisted and rebuilt the Tourian base on Zebes. They rebuilt Mother Brain and hoped to revitalize their numbers through cloning technology they had stolen from Federation research.

Year 2379: The Galactic Federation decides that Metroids pose too great a threat to the Galaxy and hire Samus to exterminate all of them on SR388. The events of Samus Returns take place.

After completing her mission and delivering the Baby Metroid to the Ceres Research Station, she receives a distress call from the station. Upon arriving, she finds that the station had been attacked by Pirates. She encounters Ridley, who steals the Metroid. Samus tracks Ridley back to her former home of Zebes and learns that the last remnants of Pirates have made their base here. The events of Super Metroid take place.

Year 2380: Raven Beak finishes containing the X on ZDR and makes plans to capture Metroids. He discovers that they have already been eradicated by Samus, so he thinks of a way lure her to ZDR.

Year 2381: While acting as a bodyguard for a Federation research team on SR388, Samus is infected by a creature known as the X-Parasite, who have begun to re-emerge after Samus obliterated their former predators, the Metroids. The events of Metroid Fusion take place.

Year 2382: Raven Beak sends an anonymous video of an X out in the wild to the Galactic Federation in order to lure Samus to him. The events of Metroid Dread take place.

[theblackbookofarkera]

Black Ambrians

In the icy realm of Tiel, the Black Ambrians stand as one of the four indigenous tribes, their name derived not from any malevolent disposition but from the striking darkness of their hair and the depth of their eyes. These resilient people have mastered the art of living in harmony with the harsh environment, dwelling both above and below the frozen earth. Beneath the surface, they cultivate a bounty of mosses and fungi, which, along with their hunting and foraging skills, sustain them in the unforgiving climate.

Among the tribes of Tiel, the Black Ambrians are renowned for their martial prowess, rivaled only by the Vandrel clans. They are considered the most formidable warriors of the Wild Southlands, with young men trained from an early age in the revered and ancient art of godslaying. These warriors are adept at hunting and defeating mythical creatures once believed to be mere legends, ensuring the safety and prestige of their tribe.

The women of the Black Ambrians are equally esteemed, known across Tiel for their shamanistic abilities. They commune with the elements and possess knowledge of the arcane, delving into mysteries that remain hidden to the uninitiated. Their wisdom and spiritual guidance are integral to the tribe's survival and prosperity.

The spiritual heart of the Black Ambrians lies in their veneration of Lauzhel, the Seed of Balgorath. This deity, depicted as a white-haired ape, is said to have emerged from a frozen sun in the dawn of the world, symbolizing resilience and strength. The worship of Lauzhel is a testament to the tribe's connection to their ancient past and the enduring power of their beliefs in the face of a world that is ever-changing and often hostile.

The Black Ambrians, with their unique blend of combat skill and spiritual depth, are a people defined by their adaptability and tenacity. As the world around them evolves, they continue to uphold the traditions that have safeguarded their way of life for generations, standing as guardians of a legacy that predates the memory of Tiel's frozen expanses.

[nbadrajhiti]

Family Feud: Part One (A series of short stories)

 On the last moon of the Fifth Umbral Moon (October 31rst) a family tradition that spanned ages and calamities was about to begin. From all over Hydaelyn, those under the Shikaree sect of Hunters would return to the sacred cliff deep in the shifting sands of the Sagolii desert. It was a deep ravine unlike any other that even the very sands of the desert danced through and flickered like small gems during the moonlit night. Though few in number, the Shikaree families had gathered non the less. Not to speak with each other, no.. but to see those that rest beyond the veil. Every year the veil between the spirit realm and Hydaelyn would weaken well enough for those inclined with the knowledge to see their dead relatives. Once the hour of midnight came. An elder amongst the tribes of Shikaree would come forward holding an urn betwixt their shaking hands, dressed from head to toe in shamanistic garb. They walked to the very edge of the sacred cliff, digging a hand into the urn to sprinkle the blessed ashes into the seeming endless void. With a few words in their ancient huntspeak, a distant glow would appear in the darkness. One by one, various spectral animals, insects, and aquatic beings would rise up from the ravine and head towards their families. For each was a deceased loved one’s spirit totem’s form. Something every Shikaree has in both life and death. With the cycle complete, the Shaman takes a final step into the ravine in sacrifice. Willingly. In their beliefs, there is no greater sacrifice then one’s wisdom.. And it was an important part of the ritual itself. With their sacrifice, a glorious dragon rises from the depths of the unknown, soaring high in the sky to preside over the ceremony.

  N’badra would wait patiently, peering through the light crowds of tribals and spirits searching and searching for her own parents in all the mix. It would’nt be long before she felt the gentle familiar nudge of a snout upon her palm, bidding her to freeze in place. Smiling and about to cry,  she turned around to spot her father in their spiritual form. A tiger. Atop the tiger’s head would be her mom in the form of a beautiful white dove. Kneeling down, the Dancer would embrace them both dearly… much had happened that year and much more in the past month that has had her questioning so many things. “You both found me…” N’badra said amidst choked tears. With a low concerned growl, N’jhiti Nunh the  Tiger would respond first. “Do not worrrry, Sunlight. You should know bettterrr then to think otherrrwise.” With a flapping of wings, N’taara the dove would come rest on their daughter’s shoulder. “It is so good to see you again, Sunlight.” The dove cood. Standing, N’badra would wipe at her tears as the emotions started to literally rain down her face. Something about being amongst a loving family in hard times had always gotten to her. Their very presence was doing much to soothe it all out of her in a positive way. “Mom. Dad. I may not be a rrrreal Shikarrree like my brrotherrrs.. And I rrreally hope they forrrrgive me some day as you both have… but I have done something with my life that I hope you both can be prrroud of.” N’badra said with heavy weight upon her voice in uncertainty. Both the Tiger and the Dove look to each other a moment with a seeming smile shared between the two. “We have been watching… howeverrr.. You need not do morre then you alrrready have, Sunlight.” The Tiger said with concern dripping from his tone. The Dove would promptly smack the back of the Tiger’s head with a low growl from the overgrown cat in response. “Forrrgive yourr fatherrr and his… fatherrrly ways.” The dove swiftly corrected before addressing N’badra with full attention. “We love you no matterrr what, Sunlight. And you must always listen to what yourrrr hearrrt tells you is rrrright.” With a nod from their daughter a smile would then come to her features… fading extremely fast when she catches eye of a familiar trio approaching.

  Like a storm cloud the three brothers approached their small gathering. N’ekram the oldest took lead, stopping just short of getting into N’badra’s face while the other two lingered off to his side to later circle around the Dancer, weapons in hand. “Mom. Dad. I see you have been speaking with the trraitorrr.” Stated N’ekram to his sister, N’badra with a precise punch to his words. N’badra would scoff and roll her eyes, folding arms across her chest to take a defensive stance. Every year they had to come and ruin the moment with their very presence. “Hahaahahahaahaaa~! Oh yes, oh yes! The trraitorrr rrreturrrns!” N’barkat added onto his eldest brother’s statement with a maniacle flair. The last of the three, stared with a clenched fist as the grip of his scythe only tightened. “I should have yourr head herre and now forr yourr betrrrayal.” Said the youngest, N’asad. Squawking, The mother flies above all four siblings. “I will not have you all rrrruining this day forr us again this yearr! Have you all no rrrespect forr the dead? Let alone each otherr?! You should all be ashamed!” Prowling with a leveled stature the Tiger would make his way over to the brothers. “As much as yourr sisterrrr has done wrrrong. She was forrrrgiven. The rrrrules arre not absolute, my boys. Family, is just as imporrrtant then holding up trrradition.” N’badra crumbles to the ground between her three brothers, shaking her head violently. “Everrryone stop please, please! This is not what I need rrright now at all!” She let out in a panicked voice. N’asad would squat down next to her, whispering tauntingly into her ear. “Just like we did not need you abandoning us afterrrr fatherrr’s death. You rrran away like a cowarrd instead of facing it with the rrest of us… you have some nerrrve even coming to a cerrremony like this.” At this moment, the crowd was gradually levitating away from the feuding family for a new elder to come forward and approach them. His tone was stern as it was shaky with old ripe age. “I am going to have to ask you all to leave. This is not a place forrrr feuding. It is a place forr rrrememberrance and duty. N’jhiti.” He nods to the tiger. “N’taarra”. Then to the dove. “You underrrrstand. Rrrest now beforrrre the morrrtal chill furrtherr disrrrupts yourr eterrnal spirrrrits.” With the words of the elder, the parents start to make their way back to the ravine from whence they came, giving their children one last look. “Do you think they will everr see eye-to-eye my love?” The tiger asked of the Dove. “All we can do is hope, my Nunh. They will need each otherrr in the long rrrun. Even if they hate the thought, it will dawn eventually. Come. Let us go back to rrest, yes?” The Dove cood in response to the Tiger who then took a leap into the ravine with the Dove following soon after; both disappearing into the glowing void of spiritual energy.

  Left in tears, N’badra remains on the ground with palms covering her green eyes from the world in both shame and regret. With the departure of the spiritual parents, the Elder would make their way away from the group once the brothers started to depart. However, one remained behind to tower over her with oppressive body language and a mocking tone to match. “You will neverrr be like us. You will neverrr carry on the family’s worrrk. Yourrr parrt in this family was wrrritten out the day you rrran out of ourrr lives. If we will not make surre of it. I will make surre of it.” Threatened N’asad before his scythe came down next to her in the sand with a loud ‘shnk’ then a slow slitting sound as he plucks the blade from the sand to join the departing brothers. Left with even less then she came with having had it torn from her, she clutches the sand between her claws as she watches her brothers leave with hatred boiling away inside her. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Run after them and talk whatever sense she could into them.. But it was a futile cause. This was a family feud after all.

Thank you for reading! Part two soon!

[thanismshaman]

“Then” Indigenous Shamans

Facebook Group   Vietnam is made up of fifty-four recognized ethnic groups. The Kinh ethnic group made up of eighty-seven percent of the population. The Tày and Nùng people comprise a little over three percent of the population. Tày and Nùng population live primarily in Northern Vietnam within mountainous provinces such as Lạng Sơn. Their homes are within the valley, among the lower slopes of the mountains, and along the rivers. Because they live side by side with nature, it is no surprise that the natural landscape of their homeland has a profound effect on their spiritual life and belief.Among some of the religious practice, the Tày and Nùng people are best known for a form of shamanism known as Then. I am a member of the Tày ethnic group so this form shamanism is very personal and close to heart. 

To define Then is difficult for a multitude of reasons. As with most forms of shamanism or animistic religion, there is no concrete dogma. It is worth noting that there is also no official religious text – though there are indeed commentary writings in recent history.  "Then" is practiced by several minority ethnic groups who live across northern and northeastern provinces of Vietnam. Thus, it is no surprise that there would also be a slight difference in beliefs from one group to another which brought about some discrepancies. These indigenous communities also experienced influenced by the three major eastern religions –Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism– which further added layers of confusion. Prior to 1945, there appears to be no academic study of Then among the scholars. Of the studies conducted after 1945, most were general and placed primary focus on music and art of Then rather than the beliefs and practice. In addition, Then is still very much a mystery to the majority of the Vietnamese population even at to this day.

The difficulty in defining and understanding Then from an academic point of view or as outsiders is not to say that it lacks substance or a comprehensive system of belief. Then is a rich and profound spiritual practice that is not at all completely apart from the daily lives of these indigenous minority groups. One can say that Then is culturally significant to these populations due to the fact that it goes beyond just religion. Then has a place in almost all aspects of a person’s life from birth until death and is deeply interwoven with the culture, folklore traditions, and the very land of the Tày and Nùng people. A common saying is “If there is no Then, then the mountains and the forests seem to lack their spirit”. 

The most essential of Then ritual is a form of trance-like singing, often in praise of gods and spirits, of mountains and rivers, of daily activities and farming, and of the aesthetic beauty of the world. In this way, perhaps we could imagine that Then is not really viewed as a separate matter from the daily lives of the Tày and Nùng people, and therefore the need to define it in a religious context as a comparative religion to other religions is simply not a thing until recent history. However, for the sake of understanding Then, it is necessary to break it down and attempt to make sense of it in ways that we could generally agree upon is the overall beliefs and practice.

1. Origin of Then

The word Then is believed to be related to the word Thiên which is Tiān(天) in Chinese, meaning heaven. Thus, Then is a shamanistic multifaceted practice relating to heaven. This is evident in the Tày and Nùng legend of how Then came to be, or to be more exact, how the shamans of Then came to be.The legend told of ancient times in which the people of these ethnic groups suffered hardship from the lack of necessities. The land didn’t provide fruitful harvests and the people were plagued with diseases. Seeing this, there were three brothers who decided that they would travel to see the king of heaven. As they traveled, they reached a river and rested for the night. Earlier the next morning, the eldest brother left before dawn to see the king of heaven and explained the situation. The king of heaven bestowed him with robe and hat, stallions, and a great number of religious texts to take home in order to help the people. The eldest brother thus became a priest (Thầy Tào). Therefore the priests of Tày and Nùng people would adorn formal religious garments during ceremonies or religious rituals and chant from scriptures. Priests are also generally knowledgeable on history and literature thus they are seen as the highest among the three. The middle brother woke up at dawn to see the king of heaven and was bestowed what left of the texts and a pair of cymbals instruments. He became a witch doctor (Thầy Mò). Once it was bright out, the youngest of the three brothers finally woke up and went to see the king of heaven. At this point, there was not much left to be given so the king of heaven gathered all he could and gave it to the youngest brother. He was given a bamboo broom, a wooden dipper, and a bundle of dried fruits. The youngest brother was exceptionally skilled and made a fan from the bamboo broom, a Đàn Tính (gourde lute with two strings) from the dipper, and the bundle made into a bundle of bells to mimic the sound of a running warhorse. Thus, the youngest brother became a Then shaman (Thầy Then). To this day, all Then shaman utilize Đàn Tính, a fan, and the bundle of bells while performing rituals.

It is probably safe to say the story is a a recent construct in order to explain the various religious practices among the Tày and Nùng people of the present day. The first hint was that the king of heaven in which the brothers went to see was no other than the Jade Emperor of the ritual Daoist pantheon, thus it is no surprise that the priests adorn robes quite similar to ritual Daoist priests and read from Daoist texts in Nho writings (Chinese). In addition, they are also considered the most superior of the three which seems to indicate some bias from the author(s). The story itself doesn’t provide an actual origin of Then but what it does provide is a glimpse into the role of Then shamans in these communities. From the story, the Then shaman was given items that are commonly used on a daily basis of the people such as a broom and a water dipper. The Then shaman then turned these mundane items into items with spiritual significance. The story is symbolic in drawing the connection of Then shaman and their intimate relationship to the everyday life of the people. The shaman was also the only of the three brothers who did not receive any religious text and therefore Then shamans do not chant from texts during rituals. Instead, Then shamans sing songs which were orally passed down from ancient time. Passing down knowledge orally is perhaps considered to be the most primitive form of knowledge exchange. From this, we can conduce that while the Then shaman was seen as the inferior of the three, at least in this story, it is most likely that Then is the earlier religion which is native to these indigenous groups.

The origin of Then is unknown though it is generally believed to have developed over thousands of years along with the indigenous ethnic groups it belongs to. Present-day province of Lạng Sơn,Cao Bàng and surrounding area are among some of the regions with the earliest settlement by people of Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Tày and Nùng people live primarily in these provinces. Over the millennia, the people occupying these regions developed a rich culture lasting to this day. These groups resisted cultural assimilation during ancient Chinese domination and many of the Vietnamese dynasties to preserve a cultural identity that is distinctly different from the rest of the country. While there is no written record, the history of these indigenous ethnic groups is remembered through the songs sung by Then shamans passed down through generations. Another vital aspect of Then shamanism is its connection to the natural world and the belief that spirits are found in the landscape itself. Mountains, rivers, and forests all have their own spirits. The people in these regions depended on the natural resources of the land and sea of where they live so it is no surprise that Then places importance on nature and its significance. Then is an ancient religion and developed simultaneously along with the cultural formation of these communities.

2. Cosmology of Then

There are three different realms of existence in Then – Celestial realm earthly realm, and water realm which includes the underworld. A Then shaman is someone believed to be capable of traveling between the realms with ease through a trance. This journey in spirit body across the realms allow the shaman to do what needed to be done by either seeking the aide from the gods, receiving guidance from ancestral spirit, exorcising earthly spirits, or eradicating demons from the world below.The celestial realm is made of multiple planes. The highest of these planes resided the various gods. Among the gods are Then Luông who is the king of the gods, Then Ló the god of blacksmithing, and Then Cả the god of wisdom and beauty. These gods are powerful and have full control over the fate of humanity. They can also create rain and clouds, storms and flood, lightning and thunders. They have full control over all natural phenomena including plagues. Another plane of the celestial realm is called the “Suspending Plane”. Here reside the spirits of all the ancestors. In addition, the Thái ethnic minority believes there is a realm higher and beyond the celestial realm called Nọ Pha. In this realm lives a great serpent along with a plant like that of a banana sprout. They believe those who lived a virtuous life would ascend onto this realm and either drinks a droplet of dew from the banana sprout of a drop of sweat of the serpent and would instantly become immortal.

In the earthly realm lives human along with plants and animals. Along with physical life forms, there are also earthly deities such as the tutelary deity of the land, guardian deity of a village/town, and other nature deities. There are also various kinds of spirits. Some spirits are benevolent while some are malevolent.

The realm of water is divided among twelve palaces. The chief of the twelve palaces belongs to Long Vương or dragon king. The other palaces are controlled by various water deities. The highest among the deities and second to Long Vương is the god Hà Bá. He governs all of the monsters and demons found within all bodies of water. This realm also functions as a form of the underworld where spirits of those who lived an evil life would be captured and taken to.