#there are in fact other religions in the world

[filurig]

sekuuti and akestur, deities of the rau-kakse and crakam

LONG ASS CREATION/ORIGIN STORY OF THE RAU KAKSE AND CRAKAM HERE

the sun and moon both have important roles in northern basilisk religion, and are interpreted as two deities: sekuuti (sun) and akestur (moon).

both seen as patron deities of their respective people (rau-kakse aka basilisks and crakam aka harpies). their eggs were originally stars in the sky that fell and hatched in the world below.

at first, there was only pure spirit. something known as "tukaarti" (which is an unconscious but all powerful driver of all things) - the "natural force", arose, and began create shapes from this spirit, polarities, warmth, energy eventually the forces shaped this spirit into The World, which was barren at first, amorphous, but this shaped energy began to solidify, first into mountains, then into lakes, rivers, flora etc etc. but the water did not stay liquid long for after the formation of these things, and a brief flourishing period, the World cooled down, and fell under a great winter, as it had no sun. the sky is basically where tukaarti resides in its rawest form still, and stars are "concerntrations" of it, and the only light source. the stars began to fall eventually on occasion into the world, and that would spawn Creatures. early on when the world was still fresh after this was when the eggs of sekuuti and akestur fell, they were among the last creatures to fall onto the world. prior to them similar animals had hatched from other eggs, but they all perished trying to survive on their own.

both sekuuti and akestur were lonely and struggled on their own - persecuted by hostile ancestors of other creatures. not only was it difficult, most of all, it was lonely.

sekuuti was so lonely that she desparately wanted children, but as she was the only one of her kind she prayed to tukaarti for a way to achieve that company she desired. she was heard, and granted the ability to shapeshift to any creature that she found. this also was something tukaarti needed, as it lacked a way for spirit to go from the World back to tukaarti, and by "collecting" bodies to learn as forms, sekuuti would also return their spirit to tukaarti. with this ability, she resorted to courting different birds that she transformed into and bearing their young. and she did successfully hatch them. her children would not only inherit a lot of her features and shapeshifting ability, but they also inherited the plumage and some other traits from their other parents, and she loved them all the same. this also means that according to rauk-kaksian lore sekuuti "has no comparison" and doesnt look like an extant bird in particular, but interpretations vary. these children were the first "rau-kakse". the most important established trait of her depictions though is that it seemed that the glow from her egg ("star") never faded, and her plumage glowed strongly and brilliantly.

akestur, meanwhile, sought company with birds in a different way. he found flocks of corvids, flocks of nightjars, and found certain comfort with them. but he was frustrated with the fact that they could not communicate, he prayed for the ability to "hold a conversation" with his new contemporaries. and the tukaarti granted him his wish - the flocks that he had become familiar with were granted a blessing, but with that blessing, they also changed in morphology - they became harpies (crakam), and gained sapience. he was reminded, however, that he had gotten this wish without cost - and that the forces counted on him to do what they wished in return if they so needed it. they only cryptically let him know to "not keep his eyes off of the flame". akestur is thought to have looked like a harpy slightly, but with a different face, black as night, but with brilliant glowing white eyes.

again, the world during this time was pretty barren and harsh due to an eternal winter, as they had no sun. sekuuti, while having found comfort in her kin now, was unhappy with the state of affairs - especially as many young would die in the harsh conditions. akestur, too, hated seeing his new contemporaries suffer.

the two groups would meet one day, sekuuti and akestur leading them. the two were fascinated by one another - sekuuti brought warmth to akestur and the crakam, while akestur brought a certain darkness, that while somewhat discomforting at first, also shrouded both groups from other hostile creatures, theyd come to find out. there was safety in his darkness. sekuuti and akestur grew very close and became partners (according to most legends).

sekuuti wanted to change the state of the world and set her eyes upon the sky, wanting to become a sun and bring warmth to all and end the eternal winter. akestur was hesitant, for he did not want to lose her, and her children needed her. when seeking the guidance of tukaarti - they discouraged her from it, urged her to stay and perform her duty as a bringer of spirit from corpses of this plane back to tukaarti. but she was insistent, and one day, decided to simply go for it. she flew so fast, with such force, that she caught flame, but her will was so strong that it didnt bother her and she became one with the flames eating her as she flew up to the sky.

akestur was too late, and only realised she was gone once she had lit up the sky. betrayed, upset, but most of all - realising that he had failed tukaarti. he had let his eyes off his flame. as a punishment, tukaarti undid the blessing it had granted his people for half of them, leaving half of them as regular birds again.

sekuuti lighting up the world had done something - it had taken away the eternal winter, but the problem was - sekuuti had nothing to temper her up there. the world was beset by a devastating drought with no end in sight. akestur, trying to lead his people as well as the basilisks, then realised what he had to do.

before leaving his people, he urged them "to not take their eyes off the flames", meaning the basilisks in this case, and then, he also set off for the sky. instead of setting ablaze, his eyes seemed to burst with the pressure of the speed of his flight, engulfing him in a cold, bright light. once he joined sekuuti in the sky - the heat was finally tempered.

however, sekuuti, both overwhelmed with love but also guilt and shame over abandoning akestur, fled him. but he, loyal and also overwhelmed with love, began to follow her. and basically, the day/night cycle is their eternal chase after one another - and on occasion, they meet, during eclipses :,) perhaps they also realised that their chase is what brings the world balance. and perhaps its a bit of a punishment from tuukarti for disobeying it.

[simpforsolas]

So I've seen a some discussion of people both criticizing and defending the DATV companions for being nice to each other. And I think the arguments from both sides are being a little bit misconstrued, which is honestly understandable. I think that often when something bothers us in fiction, it's hard to put into words exactly what it is. So as we try our best to express ourselves, it may not end up getting to the point of what the issue actually is (this is also why it can be tough for writers to properly address criticism - the readers providing the criticism might not be accurately diagnosing the root of the problem, so their attempts to fix it are shallow and don't actually address the issue).

Now I obviously don't speak for everyone, but I do think that a good amount of the people saying they want the DATV crew to be meaner don't actually mean they literally just want people to be rude and insulting each other for no reason. I think it boils down to three things that the new crew was missing:

Inability to really feel how the companion's backstories form their unique worldview

Lack of conflict between companions

Limited relationship dynamics between Rook and the companions

Inability to feel how companion's backstories form their worldview

In previous Dragon Age games, the characters frequently discussed and argued topics of philosophy, faith, politics, and beliefs. They came from all different backgrounds. You had Morrigan, a hedge mage raised to believe in self-preservation, teaming up with an Andrastian circle mage and former templar. Their beliefs and worldviews are, at their core, at odds with each other. The game doesn't necessarily try to make you believe one way or another, it simply drops you into the world and allows you to interact with these character, see their interactions with each other, and draw your own conclusions. In Dragon Age Inquistion, you have Cole, a spirit of compassion, teaming up with Vivienne, who believes the circle teachings that spirits are demons and want to possess people, and Sera, who represents the perspective of the common people that are afraid of all things magical or fade-related. You have Solas, a staunch individualist who believes in freedom for all, Cassandra, a faithful Andrastian who follows her own inner compass even when at odds with the institution of the Chantry, and Iron Bull, a Ben-Hassrath agent who believes in the Qun not because he's a philosopher and has decided that's what works best, but because that's how he was raised and so far, the Qun has worked for him. So in previous Dragon Age titles, you have people whose worldviews and beliefs are fundamentally at odds with each other, and whose actions and dialogues are a direct result of those beliefs. Veilguard really downplayed the importance of religion in Thedas, which isn't necessarily a problem in and of itself. In DA2, the only companion with strong religious beliefs is Sebastian. However, you had Anders who believed strongly in mage liberation, Fenris, who believed strongly in the dangers of magic, and Isabela, whose lack of belief and lack of respect for religion/beliefs led to one of the game's biggest conflicts. Discussion of religion and philosophy was always a huge part of the Dragon Age games, so when they almost entirely removed that element and didn't replace it with other types of belief that could lead to meaningful differences of opinion, we were just left with nothing of substance to really talk about. This isn't saying that the companions don't have things they believe in, but it's just not the same as characters from previous games. In general, their backgrounds don't form a unique worldview that results in differences of opinions and interesting conflict. Which brings my to my next point:

Lack of conflict between companions

There's a huge spectrum between "everyone is friends and always gets along" and "everyone hates each other and is happy when their ally is sold into slavery." In fact, fans often get really into fictional relationships that have quite a bit of conflict. Speaking for myself, I love relationships where two people may fight or disagree, but they truly care for one another and would willingly put themselves in harm's way to protect one another. So I think when a lot of people say the companions get along too well, they don't necessarily mean that they want them to all hate each other (maybe some do). They mean that they just want there to be interesting interpersonal conflicts. (I personally would love for a companion pair to argue a lot, but when it comes down to it, they actually really care about each other) Why do we want this? Well first, conflict just makes things more interesting. But I think that it also ties into point 1. In this game, the companions simply don't seem passionate enough about what they believe to argue for it, or, if they are, there's not anyone who challenges their beliefs and forces them to defend their position. I would say that Emmrich is very passionate about his love for spirits and necromancy, two things which are seen as weird and dangerous by most people in Thedas. However, there's almost no chance for him to passionately argue for his worldview because no one challenges it. There is that one scene with Taash finding his passion for working with the dead creepy, but as soon as the issue comes up, it's resolved. Compare that to Solas, where a big part of his characterization is love for spirits and frustration with fear and ignorance leading people to discriminate against what they don't understand. Having to face opposition to his beliefs, both in the world and within the inquisitor's inner circle (and sometimes the inquisitor themself), gives the writers the opportunities to emphasize core parts of his characterization.

On a final note for this section, it's just more interesting when different pairs of companions have unique relationships with each other. Solas and Cole's wholesome, mostly conflict-free friendship is made sweeter because you can compare it to Solas and Sera's relationship. It makes the relationships more meaningful when you can contrast it to how those same people click or don't click with other companions.

Limited relationship dynamics with Rook

The final issue I want to talk about is how all this ties into Rook. In previous games, you could learn a lot about a character's beliefs by seeing what they approved and didn't approve of. Anders approves of supporting mages, Fenris doesn't. Leliana approves of compassion for strangers, Morrigan doesn't because why should she help people who can't help themselves, and also it's a waste of time. Cole greatly approves of helping people, Solas slightly approves of you asking questions, Cassandra approves of expressing belief in the Maker, and so forth and so on. Then depending on the choices you make, your approval actually makes a difference in how these companions view you as their leader. But in Veilguard... well either the companions don't have strong feelings about things, or Rook isn't allowed to make decisions that oppose the beliefs they do have. Because of this, there's basically no conflict between Rook and the team. From my understanding, worst relationship you can get with the team is "distant boss whose employees don't invite them to their work parties," but that's not the same as Cassandra hating you so much she gets drunk or getting specific rival scenes like in DA2 where companions react entirely differently because Hawke consistently acted in opposition to their beliefs.

Final thoughts

So when people criticize the companions not getting along, I think it's less to do with the fact that people want them to hate each other, and more to do with the fact that we want companions who have a strong worldview shaped by their backstory, and for that worldview being challenged to lead to interesting conflict. Whether that challenge comes from other companions, the world, or Rook themself, I don't care - I just want interesting and meaningful conflict that is arises because the companions are strong characters who believe in something.

[queer-geordie-nerd]

I'm struggling to understand why the war in Gaza is a 'genocide' when the government of Gaza together with civilians invaded and attacked Israel and have stated that they want to wipe Israel off the map. About 45,000 Gazans have been killed since Hamas's October 7th 2023 attack.

But the war in Ukraine in which Russia invaded and attacked Ukraine, and in which more than a million people have since been killed.. is 'just a war'. More people have been killed in Ukraine than in Gaza. So why is what Russia doing not a 'genocide'? Why is nobody parading in the streets calling for Russia to be wiped off the map? Where else do Ukrainians live besides Ukraine? Russia is trying to make Ukraine not exist, the identity of Ukrainian not exist, the Ukrainian language not exist. Russia has used a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile against Ukraine. No country has EVER done that.

But what Israel is doing is somehow worse? Because they are defending themselves and their land against the people who want to evict and/or exterminate them? Israel who send aid to civilians in Gaza? Israel who send evacuation warnings to civilians in Gaza before they drop bombs? Israel whose people (Jews) originated in the land (Israel) thousands of years before Islam even existed? Thousands of years before Arabs invaded and conquered it? Thousands of years before the word 'Palestine' was even invented (by the Romans!)

WHY? Besides ignorance of history and a generalised hatred of Jews, why? Why is the war in Gaza a "genocide" and the war in Ukraine not?

I see people who want to exterminate a group of people and take their land for themselves. Russia wants to delete Ukraine and Ukrainians and Hamas wants to delete Israel and Israelis. Ukrainians and Israelis are trying to stop that from happening.

Russia already has more land than any other country on earth. From Europe all the way to the far east of China. 'Palestinians' (Arabs) already have Jordan and Egypt and Lebanon and Syria and Saudi Arabia most of the rest of the Middle East and North Africa. Their language and religion dominates.

What I see is too former empires, the Russian Empire/Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire/Muslim caliphate conquerers, who cannot accept that they will not be allowed to conquer the world any more. That minorities fight back and have support. That this is not the 19th century anymore.

And they have managed to twist and abuse the language of social justice to manipulate people into thinking they are the righteous ones when they are in fact the violent aggressors and the hateful fundamentalists.

Hamas and its supporters are the Westboro Baptist Church of Islam. They are sick, hateful, religious fundamentalists who wish death on anyone and everyone who is not like them.

There would be peace if Russia left Ukraine alone. There would be peace if Arabs who hate Israel simply moved 50 miles to Jordan or Egypt or went back to Arabia where their language and religion and culture came from. Their language would be safe, their religion would be safe, their culture would be dominant and entirely their own. If Israel or Ukraine were to give up fighting (defending themselves) their cultures and languages and history would all be destroyed. They would be homeless, stateless. Many if not most would be imprisoned or murdered.

It's antisemitism, that's really what it all boils down to. It's completely disingenuous of anyone to see the absolute double standards the only Jewish state in the world is held to and deny that, IMHO.

[lorynna]

Don't you realize that male and female are social constructs? They're ideas. Scientists don't even believe biological sex is a thing anymore, we're all just people. Gender is almost like religion, it can change, some people are really sure on theirs and others aren't, forcing someone into one is always wrong. Do you know why you're cis? Do you ever think about the possibility that you're not, about what it would be like to be something other then what you were born as. Would you still feel like a woman if you didn't have a womb, if you didn't have breasts or genitals or estrogen? It was a combination of contemplating these things, and mystical experiences with the goddess Hel that got me to realize I was agender. I thought I would lose certain things when becoming nonbinary and genderless, but I didn't. I don't know about you, but know you can be happy as an enby or a boy, you can be loved, and cherished and comforted as an enby or as a boy. I don't know if you're nonbinary like I am. You might find you really do identify with womanhood, but if you do really want to be a woman, then know that that's the same feeling amab women have. I know what it's like to think the way you do, I used to think that way, and I've had bad experiences with men and with the expectations society has for people with bodies like mine. But you don't have to take your pain and call it womanhood.

"Female" and "male" are two distinct sexes with distinct differences, set by science and based in reality - you saying scientists don't support the importance of sex is firstly wrong (i can see you've never read any papers written by anyone outside of your bubble) and secondly, very worrisome.

Nothing about sex is a "social construct" because the fact of being either female or male as itself is first of all: a completely neutral, innate and unchangeable fact.

woman = adult human female

man: adult human male

What society does when they attach sexist stereotypes, sex-based expectations etc. to a certain sex, like "a woman must be nurturing by character", "women can wear dresses and skirts, men don't", "it is not manly to show your feelings, you must be strong" etc. that is GENDER. I am a woman, so acording to the logic of gender ideology I must identify with society's image of what a woman has to be, has to do, act like and all of that to also label myself openly as a woman because that is what "identifying myself as a woman" means, right?

But guess what, wearing clothes from "the men's section", cutting my hair, playing football, defying all of those stereotypes does not make me male. Nothing could every make me male because I am born female (first and foremost) but the point is that being a woman or a man for that matter is just something you either are or are not. You don't have to identify with anything or be a certain way personality wise to "earn" any titles and you can also not be "stripped" of them.

Having a hysterectomy does not make you less of a woman / having to remove your testicles due to testicular cancer does not make you less of a man just like loosing a leg or an arm does not make you less of either.

Doctors need to know your sex to be able to accurately dose your prescription or to treat you with other things. Men and women can have different sex specific diseases, like ovarian cancer won't affect a man. If you walk into the doctor's office, both a man and a woman and tell him that one of you is pregnant, who is he going to do the ultrasound on? I wonder how he knows.

There are matters in this world where sex is always going to be important no matter how progressive we would become with discarding gender stereotypes. The gender paygap is sex-based. Do you think they ask you if identify as a woman before they decide to pay you less than your male peers? Female oppression is sex based. Do you think they ask the women in Afghanistan if they identify as a woman before they force them to cover up fully and never speak in public? When you walk into a clothing store, why would a woman head into the women's section? Same reason as to why she would not walk into the kid's section, the clothes there are made for women's bodies rather than that of a man. They have more waist space and are not as large. Could you buy unisex? Yes, but it will never feel as comfortable or look as flattering depending on where you want to go and want to look nice. Why all those differences? Because in this world it matters wether you are female or male. Just because you pretend that sex doesn't matter and that you can't differentiate a woman from a man does not mean the world can't. Ask a male predator why he knew exactly that his target was a woman and why her gender identity didn't matter to him.

Just like the women in Afghanistan, you think them saying they don't feel like women would save them? You cannot identify out of things like these.

I am going to reply to your question. Yes, of course I have thought about what it would be like to be a man in the face of knowing how female socilisation works. I mean, how would my life have turned out? Would I still feel like a woman if I didn't have a womb, breasts, estrogen and genitalia? Answer: Being a woman is not a feeling. Again, it is a biologic fact. No woman in this world goes around "feeling like a woman". That universal feeling you are asking about does not exist. You just are or you aren't. This is not a sensical question. Assuming you meant to ask that if I was suddenly turned into a man if I would still "feel like a woman" is just something no one on this world can answer to. If you were suddenly turned into a tree, would you still feel human?

Womanhood does not mean pain and pain doesn't mean womanhood. Unfortunately female oppression exists under the wings of patriarchy but trying to identify out of it does not help you nor anyone else. There are better ways of combating this.

[hop-drop-and-scop]

I'll say this as someone who was raised muslim and was surrounded solely by other muslim people my entire life.

I know multiple women who don't wear the hijab but are devout muslims, and I know plenty of women who do wear the hijab but don't actually give a toss about adhering to religious doctrine in their daily lives. They don't do their daily prayers, they don't read the Quran often if at all, they don't concern themselves with studying Islamic teachings, let alone following them, etc. I wore a hijab all throughout middle school - high school, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone less muslim.

In my experience, most of these women still choose to wear the hijab because they're just used to it. They grew up wearing it and don't want to take it off. For some, it's lost its religious connotations and becomes everyday wear or a fashion statement. Is that offensive? I don't think so. Some might argue that it is, but that doesn't erase the fact that there are people in the world who are like this.

Muslim people aren't a monolith. They aren't all by-the-book religious. Muslims who contradict their own religious doctrine because they don't know, or don't care, are more common than you think. I keep hearing people, either pointing to the fact that Basira drinks alcohol and was a cop when they try to argue that Basira can't possibly be muslim.

I myself don't even headcanon her as a "religious muslim." I always headcanon her as being raised muslim and following the traditions expected of her, but she herself doesn't follow religious teachings nor partakes in religious activities outside of the ones that have become a habit to her. She's effectively a "cultural muslim." I always imagined that she still wears the hijab and celebrates eid because that's just how she grew up.

I feel iffy whenever I hear people who aren't muslim nor were they raised muslim try to argue that headcanoning Basira as muslim is "offensive" because she isn't the picture-perfect example of a muslim person.

I don't understand why fictional depictions of other religions like Christianity or Judaism get to have more leeway with how they portray a character who is Christian or Jewish. A Christian character gets to be as devout or as irreverent as they like. There's more diversity in how a Christian or Jewish character's relationship to their religion is depicted. I get that nowadays, in the west, they're trying to undo depictions of harmful muslim stereotypes that were especially prevalent in 2000s - 2010s media, but it's come to the point where it lowkey feels like over-compensating. Heaven forbid a piece of media or fanwork depicts muslim characters as anything but goodie-two-shoes, doctrine-abiding individuals, and islam as anything but a completely un-problematic religion. For one, it's just not true? Neither of them are, and I'm tired of people becoming defensive when a muslim character is depicted as being irreverent towards Islamic beliefs or genuine (and I want to stress *genuine*) depictions of muslim characters leaving the religion because it has caused them harm.

I feel that to not depict different people's religious expression as well as their individual relationship to their faith is a failure in representation. Let "bad Muslims" exist for christ's sake. Muslims who are born into a religion they don't actually care for exist. Muslims who don't embody their religious doctrine because they were never taught it exist. Muslims who pick and choose what parts of their religion they practice while leaving the rest exist! Muslim people who don't fit into the perception of what a Muslim ought to be aren't any less Muslim.

Honestly, it reminds me of how queer representation in popular media nowadays is very sanitized. I get that it's in order to combat harmful stereotypes said about queer people in the past. And I definitely think there is a place for this type of representation (for both queer rep and muslim rep), but it shouldn't be the only type representation deemed acceptable.

TL;DR: There's people irl who wear hijabs but aren't religious, and that's ok. Wearing a hijab does not a muslim character make. Muslim characters who contradict their religious doctrine are not inherently harmful because people irl are like that sometimes, cut them some slack, and it is harmful to imply that their (people irl) religious expression is bad actually.

Hijabi basira really makes no sense to me, it feels like the fandom just wanted to force representation onto the characters. Basira actively does things all the time that contradict islamic beliefs and it low-key feels a bit disrespectful, the hijab isn't just cultural wear, it's a religious symbol/garment.

(I'm not muslim for reference)

🗣️

yeahh i've never understood hijabi basira either . - deceit

[veliseraptor]

@starrynightinblue replied to your post “Don’t get me wrong, I’m agnostic, my viewpoint on...”:

If you don‘t think that religion is regressive and silly, you need to watch more youtube videos with US Republicans in them. Just listen to their politicians talk about policies. You, too, can be cured of your misconception. 

​my friend, it might behoove you to remember that religion is, in fact, a very broad category that is not solely defined by fundamentalist christianity and/or christofascism as espoused by a party of politicians in the united states

[bananonbinary]

god i hate smug athiests so so much

if you go around saying shit like "lol religion is stupid and only idiots have faith" you are just as much of an obnoxious asshole as christian proselytizers sorry

if you wanna have a real discussion on the merits of faith you need to start from a good faith perspective where you DON'T assume everyone who disagrees with you is a moron who can be disregarded. consider for two seconds that you arent the super genius you think you are, and something that is present in literally every human culture throughout history might, in fact, be slightly more load-bearing than you think.

[kateis-cakeis]

Thinking about the structure of the Old Religion.

From what we know there's the Nine which refers to the High Priestesses of the Triple Goddess - powerful sorcerers who obtained immortality (unless killed by some form of magic), and performed important rituals of the Old Religion.

It is unknown if there was a High Priest equivalent, but Gaius in S1Ep13 does tell Merlin that "the High Priests have the power to mirror life and death". This suggests that perhaps there were High Priests of the Triple Goddess, and that they also had a Nine.

There's the Bendrui, women who failed to become part of the Nine. Just like those who eventually became High Priestesses of the Triple Goddess, they were chosen at birth for the priesthood - taken from their families and raised as initiates of the Old Religion. Despite their failure, Bendrui are practiced in potent magic, and appear to have above average gifts.

There's the Bloodguard, warrior priests who swore to protect the High Priestesses. They, like the High Priestesses, were the only people to ever set eyes upon the staff carved from the Rowan tree that grows at the very heart of the Isle of the Blessed.

It could be suggested that like the Bendrui, the Bloodguard could have been failed High Priests, but there is no evidence (other than the existence of the Bendrui, and the mention of High Priests) to truly suggest this.

It is also unknown if the Bloodguard served the Triple Goddess. It is possible that the priests served various different gods of the Old Religion, but due to their relation to the Nine specifically, it is likely these warrior priests served the Triple Goddess.

There's the Catha, which contains priests. (Alator is referred to being "of the Catha, warrior and priest", he also says "I'm a Catha priest").

It is unknown if they served the Triple Goddess, or a different god of the Old Religion (and we know they are priests of the Old Religion because Morgana says, "He's a Catha...priest of the Old Religion.").

They have their own language, however, suggesting that they are a unique culture, and perhaps even an ethnic group. (This is further supported by Alator saying Catha are trained from birth to master all physical pain, it is also said that they guard their ancient knowledge - which leans towards them being a people rather than just initiates of the Old Religion)

There's the Disir, the highest court of the Old Religion, made up of three women chosen at birth to be trained as seers and soothsayers. They are the mouthpiece of the Triple Goddess, and interpret her word. As Gaius says, "When they sat in judgement, their word was final". They pass on the runemark, which is both judgement and fate - it contains a person's guilt, as well as the path the gods have chosen for them.

There's the Druids, a peaceful people who worship the Old Religion and often possess magic. It's a part of their beliefs to help people in need of care, and therefore, those who weren't born a Druid can find a home amongst them (Morgana is one such example).

Moreover, the Druids look for children with the gift of telepathy to serve as apprentices (perhaps to keep them safe? perhaps to encourage their magic in childhood?). The Druids also have a tattoo of a triskelion somewhere on their body, perhaps as a part of a ritual (to indicate someone has become a Druid?).

While the Druids have an intimate knowledge of prophecy and destiny, especially regarding Emrys and the Once and Future King, they do not appear to be priests or priestesses in any form. Just like the Catha, they have their own language (called the Druid tongue and Druidic Runes by Gaius), therefore, it is possible that they too are a unique culture and/or an ethnic group.

There's the Isle of the Blessed, a sacred location of the Old Religion, said to be the centre of it, and the focus of its power - it is also where the power of the ancients can still be felt after the Great Purge. Artifacts such as the Rowan staff, the Cup of Life, and the Horn of Cathbhadh were kept there under the care of the High Priestesses. Furthermore, Morgana's healing bracelet was forged on Isle - suggesting that its power allowed for the creation of powerful artifacts (this is further supported by the Rowan staff which was carved from the tree that grows there).

In a deleted scene for S4Ep1, Morgause says when she was first brought to the Isle, the hallways were teeming with women - High Priestesses. Although it is said often within the fandom, canon never establishes if the initiates were trained on the Isle. This deleted scene, however, heavily suggests it.

There's the Caerlanrigh, a sacred spring within the Grove of Brineved. There, the Disir reside within a cave, where the spring feeds into an ancient pool - in which the Disir divine from. The old ways are at their strongest there, and it's at the very centre of their powers (whether Gaius meant the old ways or the Disir here is unclear).

There's the Cauldron of Arianrhod, a sacred site of the Old Religion. The lake contains the power of the White Goddess, who can be summoned to heal those affected by the Teine Diaga ritual. However, if such a person is tricked into entering the cauldron, their soul would be lost forever.

There's the Crystal Cave, said to be the birthplace of magic. It is filled to the brim with scrying crystals that show the past, present, and future. Taliesin used the cave as the source of his prophecies for the kings of old. And as much as the crystals can be controlled, they can force visions upon powerful sorcerers too.

The cave can also hold spirits within it, seen with both Balinor and Taliesin.

While this may have been the case for Merlin alone, the cave can restore a person's magic.

There are celebrations important to the Old Religion too, such as:

Samhain, a time of year where the people feel closest to the spirits of their ancestors, in which they celebrate their passing.

During Samhain it was traditional for the High Priestesses to gather on the Isle of the Blessed and perform a blood sacrifice to release the Dorocha. This was done on the stroke of midnight, when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest.

Since the Dorocha do not roam free in the world throughout the series, it is suggested that a second blood sacrifice was done by the High Priestesses - perhaps before the night was through - to close the veil once more.

In Camelot, a feast is held as part of the celebrations. (This suggests that while the Old Religion and its practices were abandoned during and after the Purge, the heart of the religion and its holidays were never replaced).

Beltane, a time of year where the High Priestesses would gather at the Great Stones of Nemeton and summon the spirits of their ancestors with the Horn of Cathbhadh. It opens the door to the Spirit World and allows the person who blew the horn to see and speak with their ancestor of choice.

In Camelot a feast is held as part of the celebrations (which much like Samhain seems indicate that the Old Religion has been around for so long that it cannot be removed from society entirely - that the people clung onto some traditions, including the royal family).

There's the Gods of the Old Religion, the Triple Goddess, the White Goddess, and Nemaine. It could be implied that the White Goddess, and the Earth Mother Nemaine are part of the Triple Goddess, but it is just as likely for them to be separate gods.

If so, the Triple Goddess is heavily associated with the Nine, destiny and fate, and the immortality of certain sorcerers. Perhaps she is also associated with the balance of the world, due to the power over life and death being tied to the High Priestesses and supposed High Priests.

The White Goddess, however, appears to be associated with one's soul and healing. It was only her power that could heal and retain Gwen's soul after Teine Diaga ritual.

The Earth Mother Nemaine is related to Gean Canach, as it is said her tears forged the creature. The book Gaius reads from has more information, and from what can be deciphered, it says that Nemaine first wept at the slaughter of war, resulting in the Gean Canach crawling out of the Earth's belly (there is more written on the page, but it is impossible to tell what it says). This suggests that Nemaine lives within the Earth's core, and that she is indeed associated with nature and living beings as her name implies.

Furthermore, since she wept at the slaughter of war, she is perhaps the god of life itself, but not of the entire cycle. And due to the Gean Canach's abilities, to devour and drain a sorcerer of their magic, it is likely that this war's slaughter was brought about by magic.

It is possible that The Earth Mother Nemaine could be related to the Pool of Nemhain. Despite having different spellings in the show (the subtitles), they have extremely similar pronunciations (even if it is a bit different). Perhaps they are unrelated, but if they are one and the same, it could be suggested that the Earth Mother is connected to death as well as life, due to the pool being the last of the Five Gateways to the Spirit World. (This contradicts what is analysed in the above paragraph, but this post is meant to speculate multiple possibilities.)

Honourable mentions:

It could be suggested that the Quest Ritual was once part of the Old Religion. It includes the heir to the throne of Camelot transcending their body in order to receive a vision of a quest. This quest is meant to prove their worth to the people, and their worthiness of the throne. The heir prepares themself by cleansing their body and dressing in white robes. They spend an entire night kneeling on the floor, barefoot, with their eyes closed.

Due to how Arthur reacts in the morning when Uther pulls him out of it, and how sacred the entire process appears to be, it is as if the heir is actually gifted with a vision of a quest. This is supported by his reaction, as he looks dazed when relays what he has seen. Therefore, it seems as if the ritual includes some form of magic due to the preparation, and if so, then it's likely it was a practice of the Old Religion (specifically for the heirs of Camelot? Due to Camelot's association with the very heart of magic?)

It has been around for hundreds of years, so it is not outside the realm of possibility that the Quest Ritual is so old that the general consensus has forgotten its ties to the Old Religion, or much like Samhain and Beltane, it is perhaps so baked into society that it couldn't be abandoned.

--

In S1Ep13, Merlin says that the "Old Religion died out centuries ago". Even in Series 1 this is far from true, but later seasons make this remark seem entirely ignorant. If anything, this sentiment comes from a post-Purge society, where the structures of the Old Religion no longer exist. Perhaps it is even propaganda that Uther pushed forward as people became more fearful over the years, turning away from the old ways despite once practicing such beliefs (and for the people of Camelot, still practicing some of those beliefs).

It is possible this was a retcon but if so then it's directly retconned in S1Ep13 when it's revealed that Nimueh is a High Priestess.

Anyhow, in response to Merlin's ignorance, Kilgharrah says, "The Old Religion is the magic of the Earth itself. It is the essence which binds all things together. It will last long beyond the time of men".

This shows that the Old Religion doesn't just refer to the religion and the gods, but rather it is the very magic that makes up the fabric of the world, and as Balinor says in S2Ep13 it's either a part of you or it isn't. This suggests that it is indeed not just a religion, but the very world, the Earth, magic.

He also goes on to say that Merlin must "find those who still serve it", which shows that Uther very much didn't succeed in eradicating the structure of the Old Religion entirely, at least at that point in the show. And perhaps that anyone could serve it, even after the very structure collapsed.

All this is to say that the Old Religion is extremely pagan. The structure itself is vague perhaps because Old Religion is personal, it is vague. The differences between the High Priestesses, the Catha, and the Druids make this clear. Following the Old Religion's beliefs, traditions, and holidays is personal and spiritual because it varies, because there is no wrong way. Because there are no set rules or a real structure at all. The High Priestesses had power, yes, but this seems to come directly from the Triple Goddess herself, rather than a societal standing.

Nimueh was at court, and she was Uther's friend, but she was also very quickly thrown from the court after Ygraine died. And yes, the High Priestesses went to war with the Ancient Kings, but that appears to be a difference in factions, rather than let's say the Christian church and its power over the centuries.

Therefore, I propose that the Old Religion as a religion was loose in its structure, that it never died out like Merlin said (which does seem to be a post-Purge sentiment), but instead simply changed and evolved, and continued to exist even after the Purge, with its holidays in Camelot, and with the Druids and their practices/beliefs.

-----

Overall, the information we have on the structure of the Old Religion is vague and patchy. This was perhaps intentional so the writers could work around existing canon to introduce new concepts without being constricted by their past worldbuilding. But that's getting into the Intentional Fallacy, so I'll leave that there.

It appears that the High Priestesses had the most power in society, due to their past wars with the Ancient Kings, and their sheer power and knowledge. Not to mention their artifacts and control over creatures like the Fomorroh.

But there are different beliefs and structures to the Old Religion, like with the Catha and the Druids, suggesting that there are multiple ways to worship and follow the Old Religion.

The many sacred sites show that there are different powers and sources to the Old Religion that have different purposes. Like how the path to the Cauldron of Arianrhod was lined with banners for pilgrims, not to necessarily summon the White Goddess, but to visit the site. Or how the Isle of the Blessed is a powerful religious site, while the Crystal Cave is a fairly legendary and unknown place that few ever get to see.

In conclusion, the Old Religion is vast and has many facets to it. There is some structure, but it doesn't seem entirely necessary in order to follow the Old Religion. And in reality, it is inherent to the Earth, it is magic itself.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

.

[wutheringmights]

Do you have any random ctb lore that you couldn’t fit into the story for any of the characters/plotlines?

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a short one-shot about Icarius and Nephus's backstory in the style of STP, just to explore their fucked-up dynamic. Neither of them are really main characters, so I can't really derail the whole story to go into more detail than I have already provided.

Here's a few scattered ideas involving them:

Icarius is probably 2-3 years older than Nephus, which meant that Icarius was Nephus's caretaker and much more the one in charge of Nephus than he should have been

Nephus's friends and family refer to him as Vas (I think this is in the story somewhere, actually)

Nephus is the youngest son in a huge family, which basically meant that he had a lot of money growing up but no responsibility to go along with it-- because all of his siblings were so much older than him, he really clung to Icarius as a peer

Nephus's fascination with Hyrule began when he read a book of myths about the various Heroes of Hyrule

Everything Icarius learned was so that Nephus would have a partner/assistant for all of his activities, which includes education (like learning Hylian) and sports (Icarius ended up being much better at boxing and wrestling than Nephus)

That being said, Icarius has always had a smart mouth that has gotten him in trouble. Nephus always had to bail him out

They both have always been a little possessive of the other. Icarius was jealous of Nephus's friends and flings while Nephus was suspicious that anyone who was nice to Icarius would try to take him away

Icarius was very isolated from the rest of the thralls; like Nephus, any other thrall of his station would have been much older than him and those who were his age saw him as narc

Icarius did have a family though: mom, dad, grandparents, and siblings

Nephus's mentor in school was his father's political enemy. That relationship ended up saving him. When a house is sentenced, it's traditional to leave a member alive so that it doesn't die out completely. This mentor advocated for Nephus to be spared both because he was perceived as harmless and because he could be controlled.

Icarius was almost executed with his family-- he was yanked out of the execution line at the last minute because he was deemed Nephus's property

After he was spared, Nephus and Icarius made a bloodpact to exact revenge and rehaul Faovaria in their image-- this of course meant Nephus got his shit together and grew the fuck up

(dialogue that should have happened:

warriors: fuck faovaira! foavaria sucks!

nephus & icarius: we know that and we want to destroy it too)

Nephus's power nowadays comes from that mentor who spared him

Because Faovaria is a military state, Nephus and Icarius joined the military in order to gain more social power

Nephus's campaign in Hyrule is literally just a stepping stone for gathering enough power in Faovaria-- conquer the unconquerable Hyrule and bring back a weapon that no one has seen yet

Oh, remember when Ganondorf said that Nephus had sent a woman to ask if he could look at the library? That was Icarius in drag

Nephus and Icarius saw a lot of places in Hyrule on their travels, including Castle Town, the Zora's Domain, and the town surrounding the Knight's Citadel. They were smart enough to not ping Lincoln's attention, but they definitely attended a sermon at the same temple Warriors went to that one time

Icarius did not tell Nephus who Link was until they were hundreds of miles away from Kakariko, and only because he knew it would piss Nephus off

(Nephus, trying to flirt: aren't you glad you didn't run away with that Hylian loser?

Icarius, who has been a little pissed off all day: oh, you mean the Hero of Hyrule?

Nephus: the

Nephus: the WHAT?????)

Nephus's worsening treatment towards Icarius was a gradual change; like boiling water, Icarius didn't really realize that things were getting dangerous for him until it was too late

The day Icarius realized that Nephus wasn't different from any other Faovarian, that Nephus's feelings for him weren't anything as dynamic or complicated as his own-- that Nephus didn't see him as anything other than an object to possess... it genuinely destroyed his whole world

Philo was literally this orphan Faovarian kid they found on the streets; Icarius was the one who insisted they take him home. It took a while for Nephus to warm up to him.

Icarius could tell his relationship with Nephus was falling apart, and taking in Philo was a way for him to fix things. Like getting pregnant to fix a broken marriage.

That was a terrible analogy. Basically, if Nephus wouldn't value him then Icarius wanted someone who will

As you can probably guess, their dynamic greatly resembled the Brothers' at first. Icarius cared and doted on Philo, and Philo relied on him for love while seeking Nephus's approval. Meanwhile, Nephus was just annoyed that there's this brat ruining his life. Things changed when he realized Philo was a dark magic prodigy. Icarius didn't want Philo to get involved in the fighting while Philo wanted to be useful, and add that Nephus's treatment towards Icarius was always worsening...

Philo witnessed Icarius getting his tongue chopped out. Philo did not take it well, and he tries to rationalize it as being something Icarius deserved

The thing is that nothing special triggered it. Icarius was being his usual smartass self when Nephus just snapped

Philo clings to Nephus as much as he does because if he doesn't make Nephus happy, then Nephus might do the same to him

Meanwhile, Philo has picked up on how Nephus and others treat Icarius; so while Philo had previously regarded Icarius like a brother, he often treats Icarius like he is below him now

And poor Icarius is more isolated than ever: he can't talk, he's all alone, he can't trust Nephus, and Philo won't listen to him

Nephus waffles between knowing he's irrevocably fucked up and believing he was 100% right-- either way, he bulldozes through Icarius's feelings to continue acting like everything is normal and it's still them against the rest of Faovaria, and they only need each other

He does not know he is exactly the thing he hates

It's all a big mess

[caliburn-the-sword]

other than the entire adultery plotline, the only thing i would retcon in the entire season 1 of ouat is the fairies are cursed to become nuns in storybrooke. WHAT EVEN WAS THAT??? so many characters became their exact opposites, so why was blue the exact same stuffy woman both as a fairy and in storybrooke? in my mind, the fairies became a giant lesbian commune (so essentially what they already were in the enchanted forest) living on the outskirts of town. and because storybrooke shouldn't have any contact with the outside world, the fairies collectively own a farm that sources most of the food for all of storybrooke. when the curse broke they were like hey actually this is pretty good. and kept being a giant lesbian commune.

[vanweezer]

very very personal, just insight into where im at w my family and things that bother me/have encouraged me to move out

"i know youre moving out so im just gonna say no ones kicking you out and if you feel like this is something you have to do then ok"

thanks! i know im not being kicked out! but yknow i kinda yet a weird vibe when your out of touch husband takes me to a cemetery to yell at me, tell me im just like my father/dont give my father "the time of day", and that im "mean to people who care about me" in front of his dead mother's grave in a poor attempt at guilting me out of speaking my mind. but no yeah thanks for stating the fucking obvious that im leaving on my own terms

[jewishicequeen]

Hey. Look at me. Look at me. You can do this. I believe in you.

You can write that fantasy religion without making it into Catholiscism.

[nite-puff]

Ooo, fascinating! Two outta three sibling pairs,, now I’ve GOTTA hear about the third 👀

Oh, that’s Fangs and Ivy! Surely, I didn’t make it too obvious…

I don’t know how the other sibling pairs are gonna work in terms of ages. The Jupiter/Wind Chime and Hurricane/Aviator pairs were a year apart originally, but then how could they be in the same grade level if being held back/skipping a grade didn’t occur? I’m trying to figure that out. But Fangs and Ivy are twins! They were always twins. I love them being twins.

They were estranged twins for a while. Actually, the killing game was sort of their reunion after half a decade of not seeing each other.

Without getting too deep into it, they were born in a sort of secluded community. A religious community, I guess you could say. Their mother is out of the picture and their father is the sort of patriarch of their town. They don’t communicate with outsiders often and most of their education and labor revolves around their religion…

It’s a cult. They were born into a cult.

I don’t really want to get too caught up in that aspect of it, but that plays a big factor into their character’s and backstories, especially Ivy.

But the reason they’re estranged is because Fangs managed to escape and live in the real world for a while. It took some getting used to, but she now feels like a full-fledged member of society. And her one goal since then was to get her brother out of that situation as well. So she got to investigating and researching her old home. And she may have solved some other related cases along the way, which got her a whole lot of attention. That’s why she got scouted. She’s in that sort of Ultimate Detective field. And she’d be lying if she said she welcomed the attention. In reality, it just takes time away from what she’s trying to do.

Ivy, on the other hand, is like the mandatory “heir” ultimate of the cast. He’s (reluctantly) working to be his father’s successor and take leadership of the community when he’s of age. He’s already idolized by the population there because of his blindness. (If I didn’t mention it or make it clear, he’s blind). They think that his blindness gives him some sort of heightened supernatural abilities from their god (like he was chosen or something), and believe that their god would reward him for serving them by granting him his sight when he becomes leader.

But that’s very far from the truth. He’s actually just disabled and is having a lot of trouble trying to communicate that. Growing up with these people has lead him to having a sort of fucked up soft spot for them. But it can only go so far because of what he’s endured.

But maybe things can change when they reunite in the killing game.

[biohazard-inevitable]

I feel like my relationship to my religion is a lot like my relationship to gender in the sense its ever shifting the more I learn.

Its gotten to the point that while yes I know I’ve had some experience with some gods, theres this more absent feeling like thats not all there is. Sure, paying respects to them is still a part of my practice, but i dont seek them out anymore, instead I feel I am more drawn to other things.

Death for example, is the most devout thing i feel a connection to.

I press a skull to my forehead and in that quiet moment I can feel something but I dont know what. It feels right to be holding it, energizing and leaving me breathless as if I just witnessed the birth of the universe itself without witnessing anything.

I touch the pelt of a corpse and want to sink into the softness, that same energy washing over me, and it feels right, it feels like I’m meant to do this, to touch it.

I feel like I am an incarnation of death itself

[death-rebirth-senshi]

I love just abandoning Elden Ring playthroughs I'm just like "okay that's enough" and start a new game...I've been playing Elden Ring almost nonstop (with a little mass effect break) since I got it in November and it's now June. And I'm still like...hm I think I'm done with this strength/int endeavor I want to try blasphemous paladin again