#spiritual importance

[mypanditastrologer]

[serpentface]

Faiza performing the Kagnoma Odo (pretty literally 'lion dance'), a weapons dance and one of the more important ritual duties of Odonii priestesses. A relatively new addition to this traditional dance involves the musket as the primary weapon, which is fired mid-twirl into the ground at the climax of the dance. Faiza is experiencing an 'oh fuck' moment because her shot is more than ideally diagonal, but she’s being so cool with it.

This is a wholly ceremonial performance at the onset of the pilgrimage, performed in full regalia and lion skin (of the small, semi-domesticated strain) but no armor. It’s also distinctly a display of political allegiance between the powerful and beloved Odonii priesthood (and its loyal military) with the increasingly reviled and destabilized imperial family, with Faiza prominently wearing a bracelet of the royal serpent, which was gifted (along with the musket) by the usoma Stavis Amanti himself (Usoma is the Wardi word for king, which has been retained in the context of emperors).

The Kagnoma Odo is the ultimate demonstration of the Odonii as an embodiment of the Lion Face of God and living vessel of military might and sovereignty, demonstrating her fitness and proficiency with weapons and as a spiritual unifier for soldiers. It is accompanied by drumming and occurs in stages, running through the three keymost weapons used in war- the spear, the sword, and the musket. The musket is of the most significance, given the weapon has developed a particular esteem as the ultimate embodiment of might and superiority. Assistants (almost always other priestesses, occasionally high ranking soldiers) load and prime the musket to be fired at the climax of the dance, where it is shot into the ground as the priestess leaps out of range of the shot. The firing signals the end of the dance and the rite itself.

While not the utmost exemplar of trigger discipline, only fully inducted and senior (and therefore very thoroughly trained) Odonii are permitted to perform the dance, and injuries during actual performances are quite rare (though are known to occur during training, more than a few Odonii have burns and wounds on their feet).

The most important renditions of this dance are performed upon declarations of war and before battles (in this case, generally done in full armor along with the lion pelt). It is also done during some trainings (while a dance, it is carefully choreographed to include naturalistic maneuvers of the weapons involved and helps soldiers limber up and learn to move their weapons). It is regarded as an impressive and motivating sight and a morale booster, and, seen at a distance, potentially intimidating to enemies.

A special variant of this dance is performed as means of fully incarnating the Odomache, which is done in full nudity with the body covered in the blood of the freshly sacrificed lion and cloaked in its raw pelt (the lion has become the corpse of Odomache in the moment of death, as part of its recreation of God's sacrifice). Her public, full nude appearance once (and only once) in this act is what allows the Lion Face of God to incarnate within her. Those in attendance see the spiritually vulnerable, naked human body obscured with the sanctified and deified blood and cloaked in the sanctified and deified skin. It is a merger of the contradictions of mortality and divinity, the boundaries between the two indistinct in flickering firelight and the flash of musketfire. She is witnessed by her people, dangling in between humanity and divinity and leading them in dance, and and is thus transformed.

[roomba-mangga]

Curry pt. i // Curry pt. ii

yeah alright okay. fine. cool. alright. yeah

[swamplamp]

This feels good. What? What does? This — whatever this is.

SWALLOWED (2022) // THE PASSENGER (2023) dir. Carter Smith

[hajihiko]

“oh no people tell me I have no sense of personal space and I'm a man and her unofficial coach what if I've been making her uncomfortable- and Akane is like nah. You're not gonna do anything to me I can feel it. Like hes the only person who can overpower her but he just uses that strength to be there for her” og my god. i need a minute after that ome. god i had a whole long winded analysis of this and i was gonna put it all here but i seriously have no words. this is so real in every possible way and a lil too relatable lmfao

ITMEANS A LOT TO ME OKAY. I too could rsnt but idk where it would go

[mrspotatoheads]

SIMPLY BECOME!

Right now I want you to become what you desire and continue to be. Think as the person who has everything they desire. That’s all. Don’t worry about the 3D, just fulfil yourself in your imagination. If you have a doubt I want you to ask yourself “if I had what I wanted would I be thinking this?” If the answer is no then start to think as if you have it.

Imagine having your desire right in front of you and think of how you would be feeling and what thoughts you would be having. It all starts within you, not outside of you. Forget about even manifesting, just start being who you want to be and have fun with it! Be as creative as possible, think and imagine whatever makes you feel good; this is all about you. Stop worrying about things outside of you because it’s only a reflection of what is within. So work on yourself, the thoughts you have day to day, and especially the thoughts you have when it comes to your desires!

[khaotunq]

One Year of Only Friends: Episode Twelve Original air date October 28th, 2023

[kbsd]

this is so miserable that i'm actually annoyed about it. 'some other 8th thing' how about a single positive option.....enjoyment? ambition? curiosity? creative fulfillment? family and loved ones? simple joie de vivre?

[toa-greatmind-nothingislittle]

@ponyoisms // Supernatural 4x18 - "The Monster at the End of This Book" // quote by Julian K. Jarboe // Pomegranate Jews, by Esther Rosen // "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls // poem by Yehuda Amichai (taken from the "Mishkan T'filah for Travelers: A Reform Siddur") // "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet // "Cleopatra and Frankenstein" by Coco Mellors // "The Naval Treaty" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle // photo of La Piccola Gerusalemme, taken by my parents // "JEWISH LESBIANS" Gay Freedom Day Parade, San Francisco, California c. 1978 // "The Two Towers" directed by Peter Jackson // YEHUDIT, by Pinchas EL Segal // Mi Chamochah (taken from the "Mishkan T'filah for Travelers: A Reform Siddur") // Supernatural 8x16 - "Remember the Titans" // Supernatural 5x14 - "My Bloody Valentine" // Fantasy High 1x17 - "Prompocalypse Pt. 2" // "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" by Carlo Rovelli // "K.-4-1976," by Peter Krasnow // "The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought" by Marilynne Robinson // Pirkei Avot, quote by Rabbi Tarfon // Jacob Wrestling With The Angel, by Ephraim Moses Lilien // photo of Judaica from La Piccola Gerusalemme, taken by my parents // "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkein // Supernatural 6x15 - "Live Free or Twihard" // Kneading Dough, by Katherine Hartel // Neverafter 1x17 - "The Last Wish" // Mirjam, by Ephraim Moses Lilien // "Rosh Hashanah Postcards." Hidden Treasures: Celebrating Jewish Archives in Britain

[psalmlover]

i am so happy you’re here <3

[menlove]

atheists? generally pretty cool and decent people. some can be annoying but you can say that about any group ever. not believing in any god or religion is incredibly valid & understandable. ANTI-theists? most aggravating, up their own shit group of people on earth. somehow the most obnoxiously culturally christian group of people also while also smugly claiming to be above religion like. motherfucker you just redressed catholicism & are just as ignorant to history & human diversity as the most devout conservative of any religion. touch grass and smoke some weed or something. fuck.

[angeltreasure]

Saw this on one of the facebook pages I follow. I think all of us can relate to this experience, perhaps even more so these past couple years.

[meirimerens]

the pathologic Kin is largely fictionalized with a created language that takes from multiple sources to be its own, a cosmogony & spirituality that does not correlate to the faiths (mostly Tengrist & Buddhist) practiced by the peoples it takes inspirations from, has customs, mores and roles invented for the purposes of the game, and even just a style of dress that does not resemble any of these peoples', but it is fascinating looking into specifically to me the sigils and see where they come from... watch this:

P2 Layers glyphs take from the mongolian script:

while the in-game words for Blood, Bones and Nerves are mongolian directly, it is interesting to note that their glyphs do not have a phonetic affiliation to the words (ex. the "Yas" layer of Bones having for glyph the equivalent of the letter F, the "Medrel" layer of Nerves having a glyph the equivalent of the letter È,...)

the leatherworks on the Kayura models', with their uses of angles and extending lines, remind me of the Phags Pa Script (used for Tibetan, Mongolian, Chineses, Uyghur language, and others)

some of the sigils also look either in part or fully inspired by Phags Pa script letters...

some look closer to the mongolian or vagindra (buryat) script

looking at the Herb Brides & their concept art, we can see bodypainting that looks like vertical buryat or mongolian script (oh hi (crossed out: Mark) Phags Pa script):

shaped and reshaped...

[vaguely-concerned]

I'm guarding my heart against expecting adoribull crumbs in veilguard because I really don't believe it's going to happen. I think that might be one of the sweet slender branches on the possibility tree that they'll gently and quietly prune away from relevancy, especially since it doesn't involve a player character. dorian will almost certainly be back (hey hiii bestie how have you been? stressed out of your mind I imagine), but I can't imagine they'll let you get too granular with setting up your world state, especially since after ten years they will be expecting to have a lot of players who are new to the series. like AT MOST I can imagine a little background detail implying an amicable bittersweet breakup rather than dragging out the long distance and danger of it all as tevinter politics heat up, if you're allowed to set them both as being still alive.

all that being said I still want it so fucking badly tho fhdskjfhas

[gh0st-patr0l]

Feel like pure shit just want them back...

[completeoveranalysis]

[2]

OH IS IT EGG TIME?

IS IT EGG DAY?

Something something never skip egg day.

But all plot promises aside I love the thought process Doumeki is showing here. 

He understands an “egg” as “something that new things are born from”, and so he can’t imagine what other use it might have if that option is off the table. 

And there are so many different layers to that concept alone. Doumeki is, after all, a regular person who was presumably born one of the regular ways. For him, Egg -> New Birth is the ordinary and perhaps exclusive way of things, from his point of view. 

But what about eggs that aren’t laid at all, but still exist? What about eggs that are glitched into being - like Watanuki was? If Watanuki is an egg he is technically the same egg as the egg that originally existed, but he wasn’t the one that was actually raised by his parents. Does an egg like that still have some use in this world? (which is a very affirmative yes)

What about eggs that are separated from their world of origin, do they still have some use? Tampopo says yes! Like Watanuki, even if it’s just human connection and making someone else happy, then it existing at all is always a good thing, even if it wasn’t supposed to be here originally. 

And what about eggs that never hatch? Do they have some use in this world? 

Yuuko said it will. Doumeki doesn’t understand how, but he’s still only thinking about it from one angle. 

If he were thinking about it like a chef, for example, then yes there are many, many uses for an egg that will never hatch. As long as it didn't go off.

So clearly he should spend even more time with Watanuki. :)