#thinking here about how a lot of belief in the christian god is sustained by hate and fear rather than love

[pochapal]

belief in beatrice isn't enough. you must also have love for beatrice in order to see beatrice, hence why only maria with her absolute faith is capable of genuinely seeing her.

[kopivie]

LOTS OF PERMISSION‼️

-🦫 🫵🎤

okay hi hello i'm here. school is tearing me apart and i feel like crying every single day but i am Here.

for context: something i discovered recently is the fact that i really do have some fixation on mythology that allows me to sorta.. vent my frustrations with religion. i grew up seventh-day adventist (just another one of the millions of christian denominations) and one of the biggest things that freaked me out as a kid was the fact that i had to fear god. i was supposed to have unending love and faith that this god was going to handle things on his own time -- that didn't bother me at the time. (it does now, though.) but what bothered me -- what terrified me -- was the fact that one wrong step or even one wrong thought could potentially damn me to hell.

and like... how fucked up is that, right? god punishes you for minor intrusive thoughts, works on his own time -- like fuck you and your needs and deadlines, god will get it done when he feels like it -- and any outcome is part of his plan? are you being fr? a close family friend lost her daughter in a freak accident two years ago. that woman was so devout; every other sentence was something about praising god. and her daughter was just like her mother. but she's just... gone. and you're telling me that was part of his plan? if god were as benevolent and gracious as you say he is, why isn't he doing anything to stop, oh i don't know, literally anything bad from happening.

so... that's the basis of this world, i suppose. let me explain:

the titans (yes, this is primarily greek mythology) created the world and mankind, but couldn't directly teach these humans what they needed to know to survive because their brilliance would overwhelm a human. so each titan consulted rhea, who is the mother of most of the olympian pantheon, to create messengers (or divine proxies) to teach the humans everything they needed to know. these divine proxies were simply the titans in a watered down divine form that mortals could tolerate and communicate with. but the proxies gained independence through faith. because the humans could only trust the divine beings that they could see and request help from, they began to worship these divine proxies (rhea's creations).

i like to think of faith as a power source for the divine. the titans don't necessarily need faith to sustain themselves and retain their divinity as they're fashioned out of pure cosmic energy. their power is infinite and eternal. but these divine proxies (henceforth called the pantheon) rely on faith to maintain their hold on mortals. without faith, worship, and devotion, they will inevitably wither away and die, or, if it's a minor niche deity, be absorbed into a larger deity's power.

and this is because in the real world, can god punish you for anything if you have no faith in him? not that you disparage him necessarily, but if you legitimately don't care/have never been introduced to god, how much hold can he really have on your life? all that "the end is nigh!" shit that doomer christians spew really doesn't concern you -- climate change does. i suppose this is a very epicurean take on things, but you get what i'm trying to say.

so anyways, the titanomachy occurs because the pantheon attempts to usurp the power of their creators. the titans can't really fight back without causing destruction on a cosmic level (i.e., wiping out every mortal in existence or changing the course of the stars), so they really have no choice but to sacrifice as much power as the pantheon can feasibly handle. after all, the pantheon is strengthened by the human's belief in their abilities. plus, like i mentioned earlier, the humans have no reason to believe that the gods of the pantheon aren't their real makers -- the titans could never interact with them without harming them, remember?

but as years, millienia, eons go by, the titans' abilities have decreased just enough for them to start using mortals as their proxies. as in, they choose a mortal who has the appropriate amount of energy to either withstand direct communication from the titan themself or house the titan's consciousness for a brief period to deliver messages or complete tasks. and because these mortal proxies exist, now the mortals have reason to believe that their true creators aren't the gods of the pantheon, but these cosmic beings who virtually exist on another plane.

so the world is split into different beliefs, basically. cults that revere the titans and churches that worship the gods.

(fun fact: the avrigian empire's imperial family actually have divine blood, as the god of the sun chooses a partner once every set number of years to maintain his hold on the people's faith. the xedian queendom, on the other hand, allows for the titan goddess of the moon to speak through the sitting ruler whenever she is summoned, allowing the ruler to be a titan's proxy and have the blessing of longevity, amongst other gifts. the two nations's primary source of conflict is religious, as xedians revere the titans while the avrigians revere the sitting pantheon.)

but, regardless of who you worship, neither divine being is willing to assist with the affliction. this affliction is essentially divine rage made into a physical miasma that poisons and kills any mortal being it comes into contact with. in its final stages, it blackens the appendages and kills someone. thaumaturges are meant to cleanse this by absorbing this divine hatred into their own bodies, cleansing it internally, and releasing the excess energy back into the world. however, if the affliction has progressed to the stage of limb darkening, the afflicted patient is likely beyond the point of saving. at that point, the disease must be cleansed lest the patient be revived by this otherworldly hatred and go on a rampage.

and i may or may not have a main antagonist who weaponizes this affliction to create an undead army and conduct human experiments on his wife and children first, then form a cult based on this. to him, the gods will never be happy, and the affliction is proof of that. they will forever maintain this rage, this hatred that poisons life -- wipes out entire ecosystems -- only for mortals to be the ones who are forced to suffer in their attempts to fix it. no amount of worship will save the mortals. your gods, titans, whoever you pray to will never listen. they want you dead. the point is to cause enough non-believers (or basically just kill enough people) to wipe out a major god of the pantheon. he and his supporters destabilize religious villages and revel in the destruction and death it causes with no regard for who it affects, man or god.

this cult is drawn to negativity, as they follow the stench of hatred. they try to infiltrate communities to incite violence amongst the people, inflict them with the scourge (the aforementioned affliction) and continue on the warpath of destruction. the goal is to cause the two biggest nations who have a long history of colonization and war (the avrigian empire and the xedian queendom) to go to war once more, as that could most certainly spell out doom for the entire world.

whew. i'm ngl, some of the stuff that i mentioned wasn't actually ever written down. revisions come to mind as i type, so i'm gonna be revising my notes once i finish my assigned reading for the day. (and start drafting a paper since it's due friday...)

[exsanguinated-doves]

Hello again, Maisie. Back from the dead, I am. So sorry that I wasn't so haste to reply as I did not get any feedback on the reblog I had kindly directed you to. Whether or not I am a masochist for coming back to this post with a prybar, no one will ever know.

This is true. People with disabilities who, for example cannot digest most plants or people with restrictive eating disorders that would be triggered, should not be expected to go on a strictly plant-based diet.

Religious beliefs, I do not believe something being part of a religion makes it ethical. Something being a tradition doesn't make it ethical. Christians justify animal exploitation with "God put animals here for us to eat." I will talk to them about why that doesn't make animal exploitation okay. I think it is the same concept with other religions but it is not my place, as a white european, to go and tell a muslim in India what to do. Indian and muslim vegans can advocate in their spaces.

Congratulations for getting the first correctly, though needing minor alternations for word use. The second one however, I am mostly disappointed. You have stated you are a white European, who cannot speak for others' religions--then why bother to have the opinion of "Just because it's someone else's religion...it isn't ethical." I wonder how you are able to come to these conclusions without it being taken severely negatively, because that's careless racism at best, and racial discrimination and prejudice against other religions at worst.

Well, this depends a lot on where you live and what you have access to. If you find yourself in a position where you cannot find the items to sustain a healthy plant-based diet, it's okay, don't risk your health! But veganism being inherently pricy is surprisingly a common misconseption. This is because the famous plant-based people are usually "health vegans." They eat a lot of fresh produce, avocadoes, quinoa, spirulina powders etc. Their meals are healthy and aesthetic so they get a lot of likes. They might even shame people for not eating healthy, which is wrong. If plants are only a diet to someone, they should stop shaming others for eating differently. If veganism was a diet, like keto, vegans would have no right to push it on others.

If you wish to be redirected to news reports listing the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, or a board with relevant statistics about the market, or perhaps you simply would like to be taken to your nearest grocery store with vegetables shipped from Mexico, then I cannot help you with that, as you can access those charts in the comfort of your own home provided you have a good internet connection. Veganism, for ARAs, is a social justice movement, against the killing of animals. But remind me again what they're truly after, conversion (by forcing veganism to people who are not interested and guilt-tripping them by saying they support animal abuse if they aren't vegan) demonization, (by saying that it doesn't matter if the animal is slaughtered humanely they're still killed nonetheless) or self-assurance (to know that what you're doing is the path of saints and decreed by the divine)? Because I'm starting to see this quite subtle but harrowingly eloquent retribution from ARAs--"the animal was killed in an inhumane way!" and if the animal was, indeed, the second argument on their belt is "whatever slaughter is animal abuse!! it's bad!!" My friend, you're acting completely ouroboros.

It appears to me that the term for Vegan has quickly become like the term Orwellian--used in the manner not originally intended for, and has lost it's meaning over time, like how ARAs use the lovely term "carnist" to refer to anyone they deem morally vile for eating meat. Whether derogatory or not, I do not know, but it seems to be a popular term.

It's very nice and all to promote and advocate for veganism and eating vegetables but your actions of, speaking very loudly and voicing your opinions from zero experience of animal husbandry and zero exposure to animal cruelty except from YouTube and horrifically stupid PETA articles, as dipping your head into straw will only be very bad for you in the future. Advocating and promoting eating vegetables and consuming plant produce is very nice, I support that! It is very kind of you to also do it for ease of mind, to know that an animal was not slaughtered for your meal. But it's..not nice of you to think that everyone should follow that same mindset, and lifestyle, such as yours, no matter how achievable, because of a moral dilemma. I'm glad you took the time to get an infographic up and share your own experiences, but dear friend, unless you read the sentences in this reblog carefully, we'll go back and forth in this dance together. Whether you wish to reply to this or not, it matters not as long as you have read this. Goodbye now.

i saw a farmer claim the cows they are raising for beef will never know fear or pain. since when is being killed at a slaughterhouse painless?????

[samwisethewitch]

The Little Gods: Spirits of Place in Modern Paganism

In a previous post, we talked about gods, goddesses, and the many ways they can be worshiped in a modern pagan practice. However, the gods are not the only group of spiritual beings honored by modern pagans. While building relationships with deities makes up the bulk of practice for many people, a lot of pagans work with other groups of spirits as well, or may even work more closely with these “smaller” spirits than with the gods. One of these groups is the ancestors, the spirits of deceased humans who are part of our lineage — we’ll talk about them in a future post.

The other group of minor spirits commonly honored by modern pagans, and the topic of today’s post, are what I like to call the Spirits of Place. This is a broad category that includes land spirits, spirits of natural objects like trees and rivers, and spirits of man-made locations like a house or office building. Depending on your personal beliefs, it may also include animal guides, spirits of inanimate objects, and/or spirits honored in specific cultures like the fairies or the elves.

The idea that the world around us is spiritually alive and aware is present in some form in almost every culture and religion, and the worship of these Spirits of Place is well-documented in most historic pagan religions. For example, much of Irish folk spirituality revolves around appeasing the fairies, which we can understand as a special type of land spirit — this continued long after the conversion period, even after the worship of the Irish gods had faded into obscurity. Many Norse pagans honor the landvaettir (land spirits) and husvaettir (house spirits), which have survived in more recent Nordic folklore in the form of spirits like the Danish nisse or Swedish tomte, who are still honored at Christmas in some parts of Scandinavia. In Roman paganism, the lares, who are both land spirits and the guardians of man-made homes and are closely connected to the ancestors, are given a place of honor. Eclectic pagans may pull from one or more of these practices, or may honor their local spirits in their own unique way.

Honoring the Spirits of Place is not exclusive to pagan faiths. Practitioners of New Orleans Voodoo honor the ashe, the sacred energy, of the Mississipi River, one of their most prominent local landmarks. In Shinto, places and objects are said to have their own kami, which can be understood as gods or as spirits. Even in Christianity’s strictly monotheist system, God is often understood to be physically present in the world around us, a philosophy known as panentheism. I offer these non-pagan examples not because I think pagans should copy these other religions, but because I want to make a point about how pervasive the belief in Spirits of Place really is.

Connecting with the Spirits of Place can help us to engage more mindfully and in more meaningful ways with the world around us. When we accept that every plant, animal, rock, and building has its own spirit or soul, we interact with those objects in a more intentional way. We learn to think about our home not just as a place where we live, but as a spiritual entity that we have an active relationship with. We learn to think of our gardens not as a plot of dirt filled with plants, but as a community of land spirits and plant spirits all working together to provide us with nourishment. We learn to think of our cities not as concrete jungles, but as huge collections of spirits as diverse and fascinating as their human inhabitants. When we open our eyes to the spiritual world that exists alongside our own, we begin to see how the spiritual permeates every aspect of human life.

Connecting with Spirits of Place also offers a way for us to personalize and localize our practice. The Spirits of Place in Los Angeles will be very different from those of Brooklyn, Berlin, or Mexico City. Your local Spirits of Place are closely related to your local biome, as well as to the cultural groups that have influenced your community.

Because of this, the best way to connect with your own Spirits of Place is to learn about where you live. Research your local flora, fauna, and weather patterns — how is your ecosystem unique? Learn about local history and about the cultures who have influenced your area. All of these influences will give you some ideas for how to honor the spirits in your practice.

For example, I live in a temperate climate with four true seasons, clay-based soil, and lots of rain and humidity. Some of the local plant spirits that I feel closest to are the black locust tree, the magnolia tree, poke weed, and the birch tree. Some of the local animal spirits I feel closest to are the crow, the red-tailed hawk, the coyote, and the white-tailed deer. My local land spirits are as steadfast and strong as the nearby Appalachian mountains.

I live in the South, so our local spirits are also shaped by a history of racial oppression and persecution. They have witnessed the displacement of the Cherokee people, whose stolen land I live on today. They have witnessed the transatlantic slave trade and the continued oppression of Black people with Jim Crow and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. They have witnessed devastating poverty in rural communities, including those of my ancestors. These scars run deep, creating a reverberations that I and other Southern folks still feel today. However, with the trauma of the South comes a rich diversity of influences, creating a unique culture unlike any other in the world. My Irish and Scottish ancestors brought their culture with them when they came to these mountains, where it mingled with the cultural influences of our Black and Latino neighbors, the Cherokee influences of our land, a deeply held Protestant Christian faith, and a special brand of magic that is unique to the South. All of this influences my local Spirits of Place, and I try to keep all of it in mind when interacting with them.

I honor my Spirits of Place by learning to identify local plants, respectfully and ethically foraging from those plants, and using them in my spiritual practice. I honor them by feeding the crows, and by greeting the deer when I encounter them on walks. I honor them by remembering the original inhabitants of this land, by supporting Native rights activists, and by donating to nonprofits that support the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, who originally lived in my area. I honor them by actively working to address the issue of racism in the South, up to and including attending Black Lives Matter protests and campaigning for an end to racialized police violence. I honor them by listening to my Cherokee, Black, and Latino neighbors and following their lead on Cherokee, Black, and Latino issues. I also honor them by practicing sustainable gardening techniques, working to lower my environmental impact, and by giving back to the land whenever I can.

If you don’t live in the same geographic area as me, the way you honor your Spirits of Place may look totally different. Don’t be afraid to make this practice your own — once you connect with your local spirits, they will be your guides.

Types of Spirits of Place

There are many, many types of spirits that fall into this category, and the list in this post is not meant to be exhaustive. My goal here is to give you an idea of some of the forms these spirits can take, so that you can begin to recognize the Spirits of Place that surround you in your own life.

Land spirits: These are spirits of specific geographical locations or features of the land. They may be as big as the Mississippi River or as small as the rosebush in your backyard. As you might imagine, these spirits don’t move around much, as they usually don’t venture far from the location they are tied to. In my experience, land spirits have a very stable, steady, and earthy presence.

Our relationship with the land spirits is a direct reflection of our relationship with the land itself. If we live our lives in a way that hurts the land by polluting it or stripping it of resources, it will be much harder to build a healthy relationship with the spirits of that land. The best way to live in right relationship with the land spirits is to treat the land you are living on with honor and respect.

In my personal practice, I call on the land spirits for help in my garden. I make offerings of food that is safe for local wildlife if they decide to help themselves, such as unsalted peanuts, birdseed, bread, or fresh fruit. When I make offerings, I make sure to thank the land spirits for sharing their home with me and for providing me with abundance. You might honor your local land spirits in a similar way, or you may find that another approach works better for you.

House spirits: It is not only natural places that have spirits — man-made buildings also have a spirit of their own. If you’ve ever stayed in a very old house, you probably felt its unique character while you were there. Every building has its own soul of sorts, which embodies the place, the way it is used, and the different people who have lived there. In my experience, these spirits tend to take on the energy of the people who live in or frequently use their building — the spirits of a happy home may have a kind, friendly presence, while the spirits of a dysfunctional business where employees are mistreated may have a mean streak.

Many of us overlook the spiritual importance of our homes. Our home is where we can be most vulnerable, and in most cases it’s probably where most of our daily spiritual practices take place. Our home is the base of operations we come back to at the end of each day. A home that feels safe, comfortable, and welcoming is important to our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. To maintain a healthy home, we need to maintain good relationships with the other people living there — but we can take this even further by striving to have a good relationship with our home itself.

Spirits of objects: Objects also have their on spirits. This applies not only to naturally occurring objects, but to man-made things as well.

Most people with even a passing interest in witchcraft or New Age spirituality are aware that crystals have unique energies and personalities and can act as spiritual allies. What many people don’t realize is that this is not something that is unique to crystals — all objects have a unique spiritual presence, and all of them can be powerful spiritual allies if you take the time to connect with them. A rock from your backyard can be just a powerful as an expensive crystal. So can a favorite sweater, your grandmother’s antique dishes, and even your cell phone.

The best way to connect with the spirits of objects is to talk to them. Tell them that you appreciate the role they serve in your life, and verbally thank them for their help. I find that these spirits don’t typically require offerings in the traditional sense — instead, you can practice reciprocity by keeping their homes in good condition. For example, if you want to connect with the spirit of a favorite stuffed animal, make sure the toy itself stays clean and in good repair.

Plant and animal spirits: Plant and animal spirits are different from spirits of objects because they are physically alive. Plants and animals live and breathe just as we do, which can make them a little easier to befriend and understand than the spirits of inanimate objects. If you’re not quite ready to start talking to your hairbrush, plant and animal spirits can be a good place to start.

Animal spirits are the easiest by far to connect with. Any pet owner will tell you that animals have souls that often seem just as complex as those of humans. Dogs and cats, for example, clearly feel love, joy, sadness, and pain just as humans do. Pets are an excellent way to begin connecting with animal spirits, because you already have a relationship with them in the physical world.

Next time you have a few minutes alone with your pet, try meditating on their spiritual presence. Can you feel their energy? Can you sense the wisdom they carry in their soul?

If you had a pet that died, you might try reaching out to them to see if they want to be involved in your spiritual practice. Dogs especially are very loyal to their owners, and can be called on for protection even after death. If you have ashes or bones from your pet, or if you have items like a collar or a favorite toy, you can include them on an altar or some other special place and make regular offerings of treats or pet food in exchange for their protection.

Some pagans, especially Wiccans and other neopagans, choose to work with familiars, which are a special kind of animal ally. There is a common misconception that a familiar is any animal you feel especially close to, but that isn’t quite how it works. A familiar is an animal that serves as a spiritual ally — traditionally, by helping witches with their magic. The familiar can be a living animal, but it is more often a purely spiritual being.

These animal spirit allies exist in other forms in other pagan religions. In Norse paganism, the fylgja is a spiritual guide that often appears in the form of an animal. The animal form the fylgja takes is closely related to the personality of the person it is attached to, and they are often tied to that person’s fate. In Irish folklore, the fetch is a spiritual double of a human that often appears as an animal. In Kemetic polytheism, one of the parts of the soul is the ba, which often appears as a bird with a human head and which represents a person’s personality. In all of these cases, the animal guide can be understood as an extension of the practitioner, rather than as a separate being like the familiar.

Plant spirits are a little bit different. In my experience, these spirits are quieter and more reserved than most animal spirits, and they tend to work in more subtle ways. Plant spirits are still, steadfast allies that tend to work behind the scenes, so you may not have as many face-to-face interactions with them as you do with animals or land spirits.

The best way to begin connecting with plant spirits is to start keeping a houseplant. As you care for your plant, talk to it! Tell it how much you appreciate it, and thank it for its contribution to keeping your space beautiful and safe. Appropriate offerings for plant spirits are exactly what you would expect: water, fertilizer, and plant food.

Cryptids and folkloric creatures: In the modern era, folklore has given way to urban legends and created a new kind of mythology. Like traditional folklore, urban legends are spread by word of mouth and change organically as they are told and retold. Many urban legends are tied to specific locations, and many of them feature strange and mysterious creatures who can be understood as modern land spirits.

For example, the Loch Ness Monster can be seen as the spirit of Loch Ness. The Jersey Devil is tied to the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. Mothman is tied to Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Although these are some of the most famous modern cryptids, most towns have their own urban legends — if you ask around, you’ll likely find stories of some kind of spectral guardian tied to your area. My college campus has a handful of its own urban legends, including one of a female spirit who appears to warn students of coming disasters. Find out who your local cryptids are, and look for ways to incorporate them into your practice.

These different types of spirits are sometimes filtered through different cultural lenses, which changes the way they interact with humans. For example, an Irish fairy is very different from a Japanese kami, even though both technically fall into the larger category of land spirits. If you feel drawn to a specific tradition’s approach to working with the Spirits of Place, I advise you to do your own research into that tradition — including making sure that it isn’t part of a closed cultural practice which you are not party to. Look for sources written by members of the living culture of that tradition, rather than books written by outsiders.

Connecting with the Spirits of Place

Here are some activities you can do to strengthen your connection with the Spirits of Place:

Make offerings. As I mentioned above, you can honor the spirits with offerings. Just make sure that, if you leave offerings outside, you only offer things that are biodegradable and are safe for local wildlife. If you don’t want to leave physical offerings, you can offer acts of service like picking up litter, watering plants, or volunteering at an animal shelter.

Create an altar. Altars are an excellent way to create space in your life for the spirits. My herb garden doubles as an altar to the land spirits, with a small Green Man statue to represent the spirits and a place where I can leave offerings. I also have a table indoors where I keep most of my houseplants, which is also a sacred space of sorts. The type of altar you create and its location will depend on the spirits you want to connect with — the possibilities are limitless.

Start a compost pile. Compost piles make excellent offerings to land spirits and plant spirits. While compost isn’t quite as simple as “just throw all your leftover food in a pile,” it’s not difficult if you know what you are doing. When composting, it’s important to maintain a balance between carbon-rich “brown” material (leaves, undyed paper, cardboard, etc.) and nitrogen-rich “greens” (fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc.) — you want about four times as much brown as green in your compost. There are some things you shouldn’t add to your compost, like meat, dairy products, and greasy foods. Start your compost with a layer of brown material — preferably twigs or straw to allow good airflow. Alternate layers of green and brown materials as you add to the pile. Every time you add to your compost, verbally express your gratitude to the land spirits. Your compost should be moist, but not soggy — you’ll know it’s ready when it’s dark and crumbly and smells like soil. Use it on your garden and in your houseplant pots, or donate it to a local community garden.

Hold a territory acknowledgement. A territory acknowledgement is a way to insert awareness of indigenous people whose lands were stolen from them. You can acknowledge indigenous territory at the beginning of public religious events, or at the beginning of your private rituals. This practice will help you develop a deeper understanding of the history of your land, which can help deepen your connection to it as well as honoring its original inhabitants. A territory acknowledgement can be as simple as: “I acknowledge and honor this land, which is called [indigenous name of your area] and is home to the people of [indigenous nation].” Make sure you take the time to learn the correct pronunciation for these indigenous words. You can find out who originally lived in your area and what they called it by visiting native-land.ca.

Donate to conservation efforts. Instead of making physical offerings, make a donation to an environmentalist cause and dedicate it to your Spirits of Place. Look for groups that work in your local area, such as nonprofits dedicated to fighting deforestation and climate change, groups that protect rare and endangered native plants, or wildlife rehabilitation centers. Even volunteering at an animal shelter can be an appropriate offering to animal spirits.

Start a garden with native plants. Do some research into your local ecosystem — what plants are native to your area? Which of them are edible? Which of them have spiritual uses? Buy or forage seeds from these plants and start a 100% native garden. Growing and eating food that is native to your area can help deepen your connection to the land, the local plant spirits, and the cycle of the seasons.

Replace mainstream cleansing herbs with native plants. White sage, palo santo, frankincense, and sandalwood, some of the most popular cleansing herbs among modern pagans, are all endangered due to over-harvesting. Instead of buying endangered plants from far off lands, try to find a native plant you can use instead. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where rosemary or lavender is native, you’re in luck! If not, try researching some of the plants in your backyard — you might be surprised what you find. Most plants in the Salvia (sage) family can be burned as incense to cleanse and consecrate a space. This family includes over 1,000 species spread out over Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Many trees also have cleansing properties, especially coniferous trees like pine, cedar, and juniper. Find out what is abundant in your area and find ways to incorporate it into your rituals.

Go for a hike. While bringing the Spirits of Place into our homes can be deeply meaningful, it’s also important to get out there and meet them on their own terms. Try to make time to get out in nature, and be open to connecting with the spirits you find on these trips. You don’t have to go far — even hanging out in a backyard or city park can allow you to connect with the land.

Feed the birds. And the squirrels, and the deer, or whatever other critters you have. Now, I am not recommending approaching wild animals and trying to befriend them. I am also not recommending feeding animals people food. Nature often rests in a delicate balance, and directly feeding wild animals can make them dependent on humans, which could be dangerous for them. While feeding local animals can be an excellent offering, it’s important to do it in a way that is safe and non-instrusive. It’s best to leave food in a place you know is frequented by animals, then let them find it after you’ve gone. Bird feeders and squirrel feeders are a great way to do this.

Clean your house. One of the best ways to honor house spirits? Keep their living space clean! Try to keep your house tidy and be a good roommate to its spirits. Try not to let clutter pile up, and take time to sweep, mop, and dust every once in a while. You can even ask your house spirits to help you keep the house clean — just make sure you’re also doing your fair share of housework, or they may get upset about the unfair arrangement.

These “little gods” of places and objects are often forgotten, but they are an important part of daily pagan practice. While the gods rule over grand concepts and forces of nature, and the ancestors are tied to our family and community, the Spirits of Place make up the ground we stand on, the air we breathe, and the places we call home. Perhaps more than any other group of spirits, they are truly the gods of the everyday.

Resources:

Water Magic by Lilith Dorsey

Southern Cunning by Aaron Oberon

Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith

A Practical Heathen’s Guide to Asatru by Patricia M. Lafayllve

Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

Temple of the Cosmos by Jeremy Naydler

[downtofragglerock]

I’m actually really interested in the topic of fading and how it applies to gods in the riordanverse right now.

Because obviously this is setting where gods are supported and sustained by belief and remembering, it’s pretty much outright said at certain points.

But how that applies to the gods is where it gets interesting, because unlike other “gods are sustained by belief” settings, the gods in the riordanverse clearly don’t need to be worshipped to stay alive, otherwise the olympians wouldn’t be around, doing things more or less the same way they were doing them back in ancient greek times. After all, wide scale worship of the olympian gods was stamped out in the 300s and 400s AD when the emperors of Rome forcefully converted the entire Mediterranean, and that was a full millennium and a half before the modern day. But the olympian gods are still around. How?

Because the memory of them survived, even after their worship died out. The stories and texts of greco-roman mythology where still being archived and copied up until the renaissance, when classical styled works, many of which featuring the olympians, brought them back to prominence in the western world and the entire mythology got sort of tethered to the idea of the western world, which now that I think about it, might be the reason why they “move with the prominence of western civilization” currently.

But here’s a couple other thoughts:

The greek god’s stories were remembered, and with them still being remembered as old gods, but what happens when the gods of a mythology are still remembered, but not as gods. A lot of Irish and other Celtic deities got remembered and their stories passed down post christianization, but with the context of them being gods taken out, instead being remembered as heroes or sorcerers and things like that. So one question I have about the riordanverse is that, if some of these deities are still around in present time and haven’t faded,

What did that recontextualisation do to them?

And one last thing, here’s a little thought experiment:

Let’s say that a god, any god, fades completely, they weren’t being believed in or remembered and now they are gone.

Now some time passes, and some random mortal one day decides on a whim, “hey, I'm gonna start worshipping that god” (obviously they don’t know that god has faded). 

They start worshipping this god, and they end up attracting followers, who also start worshipping this god, and this worship continues and grows and expands, and soon enough, this faded god now has a large following of worshippers.

What happens then? If this was a non-faded god, then they would probably feel stronger, powerful, or more prominent or something like that, a god that was fading would no fade no longer, regaining their strength and health and power.

But this god had completely faded before this mass-scale worship had started.

So does nothing happen? Does the god somehow come back from oblivion? Does the god’s essence reincarnate somehow into a new form? Does a new deity in the image of the faded god pop into existence, almost like a descendant of the faded god?

Who knows? This is just a bunch of rambling.

[mostly-mundane-atla]

Quick rundown of aspects of Inupiaq religion you may not be familiar with:

I've mentioned naming as reincarnation before so I'll condense it here. Names are attached to souls and both are genderless. You remember things from previous lives such as skills, experiences, and even preferences. This is so ingrained in the culture, you would typically ask "who is your atiq [namesake]?" rather than "what is your name?" Even now, there are different questions for "what is your English name?" and "what is your Eskimo name?"

Siļam Iñua is the closest we have to a god in the sense most people understand. This force is not gendered but speaks with a gentle feminine voice that you will know not to fear. It is the spirit of Siļa, that is everything between the earth and the stars, you could describe it as the atmosphere.

This is more an insight to how things are perceived through language, but iñua (inhabitor, spirit) is the only word that doesn't get a possessive pronoun suffix like "-ga". Iñua is something that can be possessed while also being the possessor. Even words for family members and people based on their relationships to each other (like boss or teacher or friend) are not an exception the way iñua is.

There is no separate spirit world. All that exists exists in our same space or at the very least, in what we know is there (such as the ocean). Spirits can choose to manifest in a way we can see, or they can choose not to.

A shaman has special connections to these spirits and can call upon them for help. The spirits themselves are entirely neutral and their power can be used for the benefit or destruction of others.

Animals can take on a human appearance and use it to trick or help people. Humans can turn into animals but that requires a kind of spiritual growth beyond what the average person goes through. A human becoming an animal is an act of incredible humility. It involves knowing you can end up being hunted by your own family and accepting that. For a human to become an animal they must admit to themself without a hint of irony or dishonesty "I am not superior for the body I was born with, I still have so much to learn" and actively seek out that learning. Of course, Inupiaq culture is not that direct, this is merely the meaning of the act/ability. It's not something just anyone can do and is sometimes intended as a sacrifice.

Raven created the world and people, and shows up in other stories as a trickster helping the human race

The only difference between humans and animals is in the body. The only difference between killing a person and killing an animal is that a dead animal provides you food, clothing, and materials to make art and tools. To not honor the sacrifice made to sustain you feels not only morally wrong, but also dirty and gross. You do not leave an animal to rot just as you do not leave a human to rot. To make something from an animal, be it food or clothing or anything else, is to remember it lived and to thank it for keeping you from starving, from freezing, for the beauty and use it brings you and your family. A feast is a celebration of gratitude.

The two most important observances are Nalukataq and Kivgiq.

Nalukataq is a homecoming celebration for the whalers and our gratitude to the whale for keeping us fed. It is named for the blanket toss, which allowed hunters to see far away but in this instance was used for the Umialik and his wife to toss gifts to whoever was lucky enough to catch them (think like breaking open a piñata; it's even done with candy these days). Partaking in the blanket toss itself, even if you had no gifts to give, was also part of the celebration people looked forward to. Men have always liked to show off by doing flips mid-air. Drumming, song, and dance are also popular. It is at this festival that whale is distributed to the people of the tribe.

Kivgiq, or Messenger Feast, is an indoor festival in midwinter that celebrates our survival and having plenty and also invites the sun back. The Wolf Dance, sometimes called the Eagle Wolf Dance, is an important part of this and even gets its own special drum. Around the 1890s, an unknown Inupiaq artist drew illustrations of the events and dances of Kivgiq, so if you'd like to know what it looked like before being wiped out in the early 20th century (thanks Christian missionaries) and revived in the late 1980s, I'd google them.

Perceptions of us can be influenced by things even just inspired by us. That's not always bad, but it can be misleading for those who don't have prior exposure to the culture. NOTE: I can only vouch for these being Inupiaq beliefs, not necessarily Inuit beliefs. We didn't have a whole lot of contact with the Canadian Inuit, especially those of us from the Seward Peninsula or farther south. We developed seperately and so what is true for us CANNOT be considered automatically true for them, even if some core beliefs are shared.

Feel free to use this as inspo or refer to it if you're worried about cultural insensitivity sneaking into your work. If you have any questions, send me an ask or message. You can even use anon if you're embarrassed for any reason

[missbaphomet]

Hey! I saw your post about antitheism and I just want to give another perspective. I believe antitheism targets marginalized groups, and is not a good outlook. My specific example is Judaism and antisemitism, since Jewish culture is very much tied to religion. I’ve noticed a lot of antitheists were raised evangelical Christian in Christian societies, and in response they treat all religions like they’re just a different form of Christianity, which is ignorant at best, harmful at worse. Especially when they assume all forms of religious trauma they experienced are analogous to all religions.

A wonderful perspective to bring up, thank you. Unfortunately I can only really speak for myself and how I interpret antitheism, but what it means to someone else may be totally different. Let’s start with the definition as a baseline.

This is the definition I and most of my peers subscribe to, and I would be willing to bet it is the most popular one seeing as this is how it is defined. On the surface, that’s all it is— being against the belief in a god or gods.

In order as to not mince words, I will quote you directly.

I believe antitheism targets marginalized groups… [Especially] Judaism, [because] Jewish culture is very much tied to religion.

Before I really dig into this, a couple of things need to be established just as context into who I am as a person and my knowledge on the subject

I am not Jewish and know regrettably very little about Judaism, though I would love to learn more.

I was raised and baptized as a Catholic, but denounced my faith officially at around 16, though I had considered myself faithless since around 12.

My expertise on the topic of religion largely revolves around cults (eg Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown— here you will notice a large overlap in my interest in true crime) and, I suppose fortunately, I am unaware of any cults based in Judaism. I say this to reiterate that I am by no means an expert on religion, much less Judaism.

Back on topic: I would say that antitheism as a movement targets no religion any more harshly than any other theistic religion— I am just as opposed to the Christian god as I am to the Muslim god, the Hindu gods, the Nordic, the Greek, the Celtic, etc. The VAST majority of people who identify as antitheist are against a god or gods as a collective. To put it in my own words to describe my own viewpoint, I don’t believe in a god, and I honestly don’t believe anyone should.

Tangentially, there is a difference between god and religion. I can absolutely respect the traditions and history involved in a particular religion (even if I don’t necessarily agree) and still be antitheistic, the only prerequisite is that I am opposed to the belief in god(s).

That being said, there are absolutely going to be assholes who demand that people give up their religion because “there is no god”, but that’s just an asshole who more than likely would consider themselves anti-religion (note the difference in terminology— “I am opposed to the belief in a god” vs. “there is no god”) and yeah, those people are just fucking assholes. Tell them to shove it where the sun don’t shine and move on.

Moving on to the final bit, again, I was raised Catholic in the Bible Belt— I know more flavors of Christianity than I know what to do with. I am not qualified to discuss trauma sustained from any other religion that is not notably Christian. I don’t really have an answer or rebuttal here, and I’m not ashamed to say that. I absolutely could learn more about this, but as it stands, I just don’t.

I guess to tie it all together in a pretty little bow, I don’t think antitheism has any tendency to target anyone over another, it is simply a statement of one’s personal stance: I am against the concept of a god.

Sorry if this is really disorganized, it’s late af and I’ve been gaming all day. Feel free to leave another ask or message me directly, anon.

[startledstars]

what I wish Christians would do

(thoughts from someone who used to think this was the dumbest religion ever)

there’s another post coming soon about my experiences with “Christians” as an immigrant living in the deep south

but basically, the sentence “Jesus Christ died for your sins” made my eyes roll back into my head to watch my own brain cells commit suicide

because it’s like... who’s he, what “sins” and I don’t remember asking him to do that, so thanks but no thanks

and when they said things like “Jesus is the son of God” and “the Bible is the word of God” all could hear were some dangerously arrogant, unverifiable statements. How could a book written by men be accredited to God? How could God, an incorporeal, asexual, disembodied force, have a child? (And where did they get off calling God “he”? Seems like some bs invented by misogynists who fail to see that women have created, sustained, and nurtured life for millennia.)

“Faith” was their explanation, but it was actually a mixture of fear and willful ignorance, because they thought they’d go to hell if they asked too many questions. They knew their beliefs couldn’t stand rigorous testing. Many, if not most professing Christians are guilty of not being able to defend their faith. If they read their bibles, they’d know that their own God commands them to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect [...]”

another thing that irked me to no end was the cross itself. It’s a torture device, yet Christians seemed to venerate it. Those graven images of Jesus in nothing but a loincloth, each rib clearly visible (though there’s no mention of him starving before his crucifixion) made my stomach turn. Is this a religion that celebrates pain? Do they look at this image of a weak, miserable, emancipated man- a man barely looked human in his final hours, yet declared that he was God- and see their God? (Not to mention the commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image.” Seriously. Have y’all ever cracked open your own books? If I sincerely believed there was a book written by God -the actually creator of the universe- I’d read that thing cover to cover multiple times.)

basically, I wish Christians lived out their faith. I wish that they’d embody kindness, peace, and forgiveness so consistently, the people around them would wonder how it was possible. “Where does their joy, hope, and love come from? Why do they seem so untouchable? How can I get what they have?” These are the questions the world should be asking about believers.

If the Christians I knew ten years ago educated themselves and gave real answers to my questions, my life might’ve changed a lot sooner. I sincerely wish I became a believer at the age of 15 instead of 24. I wish Christians tested their own faith more rigorously than anyone else would. I wish they’d ask themselves, and God, the most difficult questions imaginable. If God is who He says He is, He knows your questions before you ask, and had the answers ready before He created the universe. (Though the answers we receive in this life will not be perfect or complete, He gives enough for people to make a choice.)

So, here’s a little q&a that might help you understand the Jesus thing better.

Q: Pain. Suffering. Disappointment. Loneliness. Evil. Why God do this? >:-(

A: God (and only God) uses bad things to bring about a greater good. It’s easy to see when you’re older, how that boy who didn’t love you back would’ve been a terrible influence if you’d gotten together. How not getting into the school you wanted to was better for your future career. How suffering abuse made you a stronger, more empathetic person, able to withstand pressures that would destroy those who didn’t survive the same experiences. For evils where we can’t comprehend how anything good can come, God will find a way.

Q: Well that’s easy to say. God “uses” pain but He never had to suffer like the real victims do. Calling a God like that “loving” is either dumb or evil.

A: (though that wasn’t really a question lol) that’s where Jesus comes in. He suffered loneliness, betrayal, fear, disappointment, public humiliation, and every type of physical pain imaginable in his last hours. On top of that, while on the cross, he drank the cup of God’s wrath. (This is a little hard to wrap your head around) but basically, all the punishment that should justifiably go to the rapists, murders, liars, thieves, and every other sinner for every sin committed from the beginning to the end of time— Jesus experienced every last bit of it, alone, on the cross.

God is not far removed from pain, and God does not ask anyone to suffer anything He didn’t willingly suffer himself.

The Christian worldview answers the questions of pain and evil better than Buddhism (I tried to detach from suffering and desire and only ended up feeling dead inside. Human beings are meant to feel, want, suffer, and grow stronger) Islam (I compared Mohammed, who lived a wealthy, comfortable life and took many wives, the youngest of which was only nine years old when he consummated the marriage, to Jesus. I mean no disrespect to Muslims; this was simply part of my own process for testing my faith) Hinduism (the religion I was born into, with its myriad of stone and metal Gods who made me walk in endless circles with my hands palms pressed together but never answered a single prayer. The doctrine of Karma meant the beggars I saw as a child, some with their limbs cut off, were being punished for crimes committed in a past life they couldn’t remember.) Atheism (which believes in order arising from chaos, life from non-life, consciousness from ‘emergent properties,’ no objective right or wrong so why does anything matter, including pain?)

[veryvincible]

Hey! 👋🏼 I was looking at Tonys panel with Carol and his AA panels. It got me thinking how can a person like Tony .. who is an atheist, a believer of science and a confident engineer rely on AA which has a religious foundation (the 12 steps) and place so power on God. I know secular AA have different takes on it and encourage a personal definition of God as any higher power the person may choose. But doesn’t that defeat Tonys belief? Because I don’t think he believes in a higher power regardless if it’s a deity or not.

This is a wonderful question. There’s a lot of nuance to the answer, in my opinion, because I think there are some things called into question here that Tony (very realistically) treats with a lot of complexity.

Firstly, Tony’s atheism is kind of... I don’t want to say it’s up in the air, because at this point, I think it’s kind of made its place in canon and fanon both. But, most likely as a result of the times in which he was created, he has been shown in canon (at least in the early stages of his life) to follow some sort of organized religion. This is from Iron Man Vol. 1 #164, and it’s... not strong evidence for him being a spiritual man, as most people who call themselves “not that religious” tend to be religious by way of traditions, but. You know. It is what it is.

Of course, we could dismiss this as yet another thing that early canon imposed on a character who wouldn’t be like that at this point in time, but I think it brings up interesting beats in the way Tony’s character has progressed over the years.

Considering him as someone who may have been raised as traditionally religious makes sense in the context of defining events, as well, given that we watch him pray the Lord’s prayer in #14 of Iron Man Vol. 4, one of his Civil War tie-ins.

Given the proximity to the alcohol (and the point he’s at in the timeline, here), one could also easily assume that even if he had no religious background, the very presence of the Lord’s prayer in AA meetings could have formed a connection in his head between this “worship” and sobriety-- at the very least, enough of one that the prayer strengthens the effectiveness of his willpower. It seems the little push he needs to pour a drink down the drain is borderline Pavlovian.

There’s actually a lot of religious imagery in Tony comics in general. He’s a man with a suit facing conundrums of cosmic proportions. It’s difficult for him to keep rationale exclusively within the range of earthly probabilities.

Point is, his atheism doesn’t come from his disbelief in a higher power. It’s quite the contrary, actually. His atheism comes from a belief that there’s no single entity that could claim the title of God, that any being willing to try has, just by being, already forfeited the title.

Which is a fair assessment to make, given that he’s fought many people claiming to be Gods, and they’ve all bled. He’s also watched people worship Gods that turned out to not... really be Gods, whether they were otherworldly beings, his buddy Thor, or, uh, himself. The idea of him, at least. In space.

Because of course that happened.

But Tony actually does have a higher power to give himself up to in these meetings. In Civil War II #1, he very explicitly states it:

“I respect the future. I believe in the future. I worship at its feet.”

“The Future” to him is something he can affect, certainly, but he’s aware of just how massive it is, just how massive all of time is compared to the few decades he’ll spend on earth. This is his higher power, his cosmic deity of choice.

It can’t bleed. It can’t falter. It’s inevitable.

And this mindset is... pretty in line with everything else he’s done. He’s referred to himself as a “necessary monster.” He’s implied many times over that he thinks he’s rotten and potentially dangerous, but he’s also intelligent and capable and he wants to do the right thing, even if he doesn’t always know what that is. 

If you’ve ever been in a religious environment, you’ll probably recognize his mindset going into any problem: there’s always a solution, always information he’s missing, always a “right choice” he’s looking for with a domino effect that’ll be as favorable as possible for future generations. He trusts in the future the way people trust in God, with an awareness that he’ll never have all the pieces to make sense of everything, but he can have enough information to act. And he must act, or else his worth, his right to be alive, even, is at stake.

So, needless to say, he’s not praying to a mainstream God. But religious imagery isn’t and has never been off-putting to him, and though he certainly could seek out unreligious (is that a word?) alternatives to AA, I find it hard to believe that he would, given just how influential his higher power of choice is as it guides him through life. He puts everything at stake for it, going so far as to make choices that will destroy not only himself, but also his relationships with his loved ones if it means he’s doing what he perceives to be the right thing.

Secondly, even if he were a man who had no belief in any form of higher power, not even a stand-in for it, AA still might not be something he’d discard in favor of an alternative.

Religion serves as a guide. Most often, it has “do”s and “do not”s, certain beliefs it supports, and a kind of... basic explanation of what human life is and how it should be treated. One of the more common threads among most religions that I’m aware of (I am not an expert in religious studies; please don’t @ me) is the idea that human life is generally sacred, and as such, people should treat each other with respect. Yes, some texts can contradict this, but the general rule is “be nice to each other!” when you really look at the basics of what people are trying to teach. At its core, religion is linked to what we as humans already tend to for the sake of survival: compassion.

As such, though we might not always identify with religion as a concept, it’s not difficult to identify with some religious morals and teachings. Some people take to certain teachings better than others-- it’s super case-by-case-- but if you’re stuck in a religious environment listening to some preaching or anything, there’s probably going to be something you can relate to, and some way you can morph and adopt the message. This isn’t, like, all-encompassing, by the way. Of course there are some things that atheists and religious folk will never be able to relate to within each other, but.

You get what I mean.

I’m an atheist myself. I spent a chunk of my schooling at a religious institution. At best, there were messages that affected me deeply (as they were hard-hitting even when I stripped them of the God-worshipping aspects). At worst, I had to grit my teeth through some assignments, though I felt mostly indifferent (if slightly resentful at times, more out of frustration with the closed-mindedness of the administration than with the concept of religion itself). My experience isn’t universal, of course-- some people in my shoes were more frustrated and angry than I was, and I can see why. But my point is, being an atheist in and of itself (even one as strict as Tony) doesn’t render religious imagery useless.

For example, if you happen to pass by a pastor preaching about struggles with guilt, you might not identify with the sentiment of “Give your worries to God and know He’ll take care of you.” However, you could identify with the sentiment of, “Those little things, those side effects of decisions you’ve made? They’re here. Those decisions have been made. You’re allowed to swallow past the reality of what it is that’s passed and move on. You’re allowed to let go of it, so long as you’re better today than you were yesterday.”

It’s especially easy to do this if you’re listening to or being exposed to content from a religion you’re already familiar with; in Tony’s case, if we assume he was a Christian at one point or was raised with Christian ideals (not unbelievable in the slightest, given his circumstances and upbringing), then he wouldn’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting in order to get to “core messages” of certain Christian teachings that he could still identify with. Couple that with the higher power mentioned before, and... it’s not hard to see what might be appealing to him about AA, and it’s not hard to see why it was so effective at sticking in his mind all the way through his darkest periods in life.

Now comes the less healthy part.

There’s also an aspect of self-flagellation to it that I feel Tony might identify with on a deeper level. We’ve seen him hate himself openly, and we know how he regards himself. Even if he managed to find himself in a courthouse-like environment where the religious undertones were more about judgment than recovery, I don’t know that that would necessarily... push him away? He’s already told himself there’s something rotting and evil at his core many times over. He’s already committed himself to a lifestyle of atonement and progress, punishing himself when he fails to accomplish things no human reasonably could and barely praising himself when he doesn’t fail. Do I think these kinds of meetings would be totally sustainable for him, given that he clearly needs to feel pride or relief on some level for conquering his demons? No, not really, but. I don’t think he’d abandon them straight away.

Besides, every healing environment he’s been shown in has been more on the welcoming, open side, even if we only get to see a bare bones interpretation of AA (with deeper exploration happening more with Tony’s response to it, or his and Carol’s responses to each other) in canon. He’s in a good place with it, and it’s very nice to see.

Tl;dr: Again, great question. At the end of the day, I think the combination of self-loathing, his desire for progress, and his conceptualization of “the future” as his higher power makes AA a good fit for him despite his lack of a belief in "God” as an entity.

[firstumcschenectady]

“Every. Single. Time.” based on Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

As far as I can tell, the stories of the wandering in the desert are stories of the people learning dependence on God. Many of the stories of Exodus repeat the narrative “(1) Something was wrong, the people were worried. (2) The people complained. (3) God provided.” Since deserts aren't super hospitable to life, they make sense as places people can learn their dependence. The writer of Deuteronomy ends up worrying that once the people enter the “land of milk and honey” they'll forget that they are dependent on God. In the early centuries of Christianity the “Desert Fathers and Mothers” returned to the desert to seek connection with the Divine, and learn again the lessons of dependence.

Historically, there are some reasons to question the overarching narrative of the 40 year wandering in the desert. It may be MORE true that some of the proto-Israelites were desert nomads for a prolonged time in their history, and some of the proto-Israelites were slaves who had escaped from Egypt, and some of the proto-Israelites were Canaanites who decide to follow YHWH when the nomads and former slaves told their stories about YHWH. I rather like this idea, because it is pretty easy to see how nomadic hunter-gatherers in a harsh desert climate would definitely experience the gift of life as a gift from God. And, that their descendants who lived a more settled and fertile existence could relatively quickly change their minds about how lucky they are to be simply alive.

I rather like how these stories begin. The people are frightened for their lives. There is a lack of FOOD or WATER, and those are seriously dangerous lacks. The stories present frightened people as appropriately and realistically negative. They grumble. They mumble. They complain. They romanticize their former lives. In this case, they say, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." And, I'll admit, I feel for Moses and Aaron. That ISN'T FAIR. It isn't even TRUE. But, I also feel for the people, because when humans are frightened for their lives, they really can't be held accountable for being “unfair” much less have reasonable perspective.

In these Exodus stories, every single time, God intervenes and provides. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Sometimes Moses and Aaron get annoyed, sometimes God gets annoyed, sometimes as a reader it gets annoying that they don't learn how to trust faster, but God provides EVERY SINGLE TIME.

And I have some feelings about that, because in our world today there is both an abundance of food and an abundance of hunger. Based on both the stories of our faith and the miraculous food producing capacity of the earth, I'm pretty sure that the story is STILL that God provides. But... human beings get in the way. We hoard (the US government is one of the worst), we promote “competition” for who gets to eat, we blame the hungry for being hungry, and we permit wealth to rise to the top no matter the cost to the bottom.

God provides.

Humans intercept.

The challenge is not scarcity – there is enough. There is MORE than enough. The problem is distribution . That is, the problem is acting out the belief that all people are worthy of surviving and thriving, as beloveds of God.

Around here, we try to do our part to change that story. We promote the humanity and belovedness of all people. We have a free breakfast, and we give people extra food to help them make it through the week. We advocate for policies to alleviate hunger everywhere in the world. We donate to SICM and help with summer lunches. We educate ourselves about food distribution, and work with “Bread for the World.” Our tithes and offerings promote justice and compassion programs around the world, and our extra gifts to UMCOR just add on to it.

But, it is a big problem and there is lot of work to be done to BOTH feed all of God's people AND change policies so we don't allow anyone to be hungry.

Some of the reason I said all that is because it is true. Another reason is because I'm about to take this story metaphorically, and I could not do so in good faith until I also took the literal meaning of hungry people seriously as well. Especially now when A LOT more people are hungry world wide then were before the pandemic.

When I first considered this passage, my attention was drawn to that complaining and yearning for Egypt. It seemed worth talking about our yearning for what used to be, and how the yearning can erase the realities of the past – things like slavery for example. Much of what I hear, and a good portion of what I experience these days is a yearning for pre-pandemic times. Recently, after I'd shared a bit about how odd it was to give birth during a pandemic and how unexpected parenting a baby during a pandemic has been, a perspective person said, “Well, and you got pregnant before the pandemic, you didn't sign up for any of this.”

I sighed with relief, like you do when someone really understands. Also, I think that applies to all of us a little bit. The things we were thinking about, planning, and even worrying about 2 years ago all changed on us in early 2020. And we didn't sign up for this! The stressors and conflicts we live now we wouldn't have been able to dream 2 years ago. And we didn't sign up for this.

2 years ago wasn't great. It really wasn't. There were serious injustices happening, and the things we were worried about were real. Comparatively though, I see why we want to go back. I can even see why the people grumbling in the desert would have wanted to go back. With death looming, anything else looks better. But Egypt wasn't their future, it was their past. And we aren't going back to pre-pandemic times either.

The wandering in the desert, as the story says, was important for forming the people, forming their faith, teaching them their dependence on God. It got them ready for the Promised Land, but it was so hard and so terrifying, there were a lot of times they thought going back was worth it. Without knowing what the Promised Land would be like, or when they would get there, the only things they knew were the terrifying lack of resources of the desert and the utter oppression of slavery.

For most of us, our pre-pandemic times weren't THAT bad, but I hear people saying now, “Having had a break from it all, I don't want to live like that anymore.” We're different. We've been formed by this time in the desert. We're still being formed by this time in the desert. I'm not sure when the Promised Land is coming.

As much as the desire to go back to Egypt caught my initial attention, I couldn't help but notice that it is only the beginning of this story. This isn't the story of landing in the Promised Land. This is a story of having God provide. This is a story of there being BREAD on the ground in the desert that would sustain the people AND quails flying overhead for protein, and both of them being gifts of life from the God of life. (In the desert, where other people didn't interfere with God's gifts.)

This is the story where God says, “'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'" And then when it happened, and the bread showed up, the people said, “What is it??????”

And this is where I think God is leading me today.

We're in the desert, dear ones. Whatever our roles and circumstances were in Egypt, it is far behind. Whatever our roles and circumstances will be in the Promised Land, we aren't there yet. We are DEEP in the desert, learning our dependence on God. And that means that God is giving us gifts that we desperately need to survive.

And most likely we're responding along the lines of “Huh?” or “What is THAT?” Or “I'm not sure I want that.” Maybe more than anything we're thinking, “I'd rather have bread from Pereccas, or Gershons, or Friehofers.” These gift that God is giving, we might not even recognize them. We might not want them. We might be a little horrified.

Today's story ends with Moses telling the confused and hungry people, “It is the bread that YHWH has given to you to eat.”

What is the bread that God is giving to you to eat right now? How are you feeling about it?

Holy One, help us see what you are giving us, and help us receive nourishment from what you offer. We are tired, weary, weak, and frightened people. Your nourishment is what we need to go on, and we know that this desert wandering is not your final plan for us. Amen

August 1, 2021

Rev. Sara E. Baron 

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady 

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305 

Pronouns: she/her/hers 

http://fumcschenectady.org/ 

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

[the-horned-paladin]

On Worshipping Cthonic Deities

This post is made in partnership with @asklepiad-apollon discussing our own experience in working primarily with Ouranic or Cthonic Greek Gods. I’m honored to work with such an experienced and reputable Hellenic polytheist on a topic so dear to my heart, and I’m even more blessed to be able to call him my friend.

As a disclaimer, most if not all of this post is completely UPG. This is practically all opinion and experience in my devotion and practice. Do not take any of this as fact. If it helps you, wonderful, if it doesn't sound right to you, that's perfectly fine.

 My experience working with the divine has always centered heavily around why I am here. I have always believed I exist for some purpose, whether it is bestowed to me by a divine force or is a result of the innate abilities of my soul. This has been a belief that has sustained me and driven me to learn and grow throughout my life. I was born into Methodism, which is a branch of Christianity. From there I started to explore Wicca but quickly found it did not fit me. I then turned to popular pagan gods, specifically Norse, Roman, and Greek gods. More time passed and I found that no matter who I attempted to worship or do work with, the one deity I always came back to was Hades.

 My focus as a divinator and as a magical practitioner has primarily focused on life lessons, dealing with trauma, spirit work, and accepting the passage of time and death. I firmly believe that death is what gives life meaning. The power of the spirit is beyond measure, our soul is what contains all the lessons we have learned over our life/lives. Learning is what I believe to be everyone's basic life purpose, without delving into innate talents or soul passions. Hades has always been a deity I have been interested in. I have come to associate him not only with the judgement of souls, but with family, balance, morality, and learning from trauma.

 Although I work with Ouranic deities, my practice primarily focuses on working with the earth. Working with spirits. Working with the dead and dying, with spirits from other dimensions, and with the parts of me that live and die throughout each cycle in my life. There are many reasons I think my relationship with Hades is the strongest of any deity I've worked with. I think a lot of it comes down to how I perceive the Cthonic gods, as I also work with Persephone and their son Zagreus.

 When I look at the Cthonic gods versus the Ouranic gods, I see one major difference. I see a difference in their experience with and comprehension of the weight of mortality. The Ouranic deities live in Olympus, where there is no death. It is not to say that they do not experience grief or loss. But in much of the lore where the Ouranic deities experience grief over death, those deaths occur on Earth. It is foreign to them, and they try to evade it, but they cannot, and it is of great pain to them. The weight of time in the world of humans is not normal for Ouranic deities.

 With Cthonic gods it is much different. Their work is of the earth or below it. Everything they do has something to do with the cycle of time, be it with creating new life in the spring, reigning over the harvest, judging the souls of the departed, working with spirits, and even experiencing death themselves. Everything regarding the earth has a level of mortality to it. Fruits, Flowers, People, all finite. The Cthonic gods regularly work with people and things that do not last, that rot and die, they have a very real comprehension about how their work is infinite and yet strangely temporary. Working so closely with the human experience almost requires an understanding of how imperative the usage of time is to human experience. How material items are so valuable because they alter the human experience in such a limited span of time.

 Concepts such as balance, morality, death, afterlife, prosperity, life, emotions, all these things are very important when I consider Cthonic deities. Because they are such important concepts to humans. When I make offerings to Hades, I find that when I offer acts that require time, or when I spend time with him, those are the acts he seems to appreciate most. I gander it is because he understands that regardless of whether I get to reincarnate, that is time I have permanently lost. I no longer have that time. I am moving ever closer to my last day on earth.

 I have spent time saving a baby vulture. I have spent time tending gardens in the name of Hades, Persephone, and his children. I have spent time asking him for guidance through divination. Spending mealtime quietly speaking with him. Writing prayers and poems for him. Learning about death magic. Researching him. Researching philosophy and trying to better myself in his name. Making a more balanced and fair life that I feel he might be proud of. He knows that this is time I can never get back, and I often feel most satisfied after doing things for him that require even a small amount of time. I feel it is because he understands what it truly means to sacrifice your time to someone else because you adore them.

 Worshiping the Gods of Olympus is to shout and revel in the land of the immortals. It is to bask in the glory of infinite light and divinity, to paint our spirits in gold and cry their holy names, never to be forgotten.

 Worshiping the Gods of Earth is to hear their whispers in a land we are afraid of being taken from and buried in. It is to cry to them for answers to questions maybe no other god can answer. And they reassure us that even if we can find no light at all, they will always walk with us through the dark.

[lascivo-derrame]

why do you consider yourself an atheist? do you really believe human consciousness is something that arose naturally? you don't believe a single thing on earth is too good or too bad or too strange to not be of divine origin? you think we're made out of cells which are made from molecules which are made from atoms? you think there are millions of planets and stars out there, infinitely? how could have simple chemicals have aligned so perfectly to create this very moment? how can something as great and vast as the universe exist without divine interference? what is it that makes you say "god does not exist" rather than "we can never know for sure whether god exists or not"?

1. Why would you assume I'm an atheist? Do you even know what does being an atheist means? It seems to me as crystal clear that you people should read some Wittgenstein, Saussure or Derrida idk just citing out of my head. In doing so you would understand that concepts are not individual entities whose meaning arise out and by themselves. Words are signs of meaning. And the meaning of a sign (a word or a concept wtv) is achieved by putting it him into relation with other signs by which he gains his meaning and offer possibilities of meaning to the signs he was once put into consideration. Language is a game of social and historical references. Language is a complex tree of signifiers and signifies and its imprudent to call someone an atheist just because I ve manifested my opposition to the influence religions had, have and aim to achieve in society. THAT SAID, NO I DON'T CONSIDER MYSELF AN ATHEIST. An atheist is someone who REFUSES THE EXISTENCE OR POSSIBILITY OF EXISTENCE OF DEITES. I DON'T. I DO NOT DISCARD THE POSSIBILITY OF THEIR EXISTENCE!!!! I can't say they exist as well as I can't say they do not. But what I can say is given the fact that we are unable to answer that, people can't impose their unsustained belief in world matters. Simple. Ffs. Let's follow.

2. Once again we fail to understand that knowledge is limited by our own biology and that's Allright. It does not mean that there s some superior creature out there that input it into you. Why would he do so? Why would he then feel the need to write to us (conscious beings made by himself) to lectures on what we are doing wrong or what we should be doing like wtf?! He would give us a conscious only aware of him and his truth. Why then do we even question his existence? The fact that you can't provide an answer to the origin of consciousness is more of a problem that arises from within you and precisely by that can't be solved. The mechanisms you use to comprehend things lie inside the thing you re trying to explain. Makes sense or not? You don't even know what conscious is. What does conscious means? We are unable to formulate the problem because we re trying to explain something which is paradoxically within you (the experiment of it) and beyond you (the way to correctly express it). No clear answer to that but a lot of appealing improvements on the question. See Penrose or Bennet about it.

3. This one I'm not even answering lol. If it s too bad it can't certainly be of divine origin ahahah like what the fuck you saying? There are marvelous things and enigmatic yes I conceed that and that's all. Nothing to do with the divine.

4,5,6. Ok now it's getting easier to answer. I don't think lol. WE ALL KNOW OR SHOULD KNOW THAT WE ARE MADE OUT OF CELLS and so on. Cmon bruh! They were even discovered by a Christian monk ffs. It is the basic structure of life and all the experiments realized proved it an indisputable truth. Yes atoms and molecules too. Idk if you type this questions on a smartphone or laptop or wtv but i can assure you that they are the combinations of units of matter present in Medvedev s periodic table. DAMN! you learn this shit in school and I should not even be extending myself about this. It was all scientifically proved. Millions of planets in our galaxy no. But there are other galaxies already discovered such as Andromeda which make pretty reasonable the existence other planets yes. As for the stars they already exist in that number in our own solar system.

7,8. Not losing time with these ones. The first has been answered before and you just have to educate yourself a little (a basic Google research) to understand how quantum physics works. The second is just a product of your biased, blind belief. If you want to belive it is a work of divine intervention fine just don't expect the community of Reason to allign with such a lunatic view of reality. And above all don't try to impose those supra natural hallucinations in a evidence governed society.

9. I ve answered in the first point. We will never know of his existence. Both views reject themselves as none of them can prove a direct link to his manifestation. What matters here is to live in accordance to what we know, pursue subjects of interest and promote a critical spirit to attain "new" truths. One thing is for certain, believing in a God does not give anyone the legitimacy to kill people, conquest territories or disturb the actual state of affairs sustained by the principles of scientific knowledge. As Wittgenstein would put it, religion is of course a very important and curious matter but as it cannot be disputed or even logically talked about its meaningless. By other words it must not interfere in worldly affairs.

Done! don't bother me again with questions like this. I think I ve made my point pretty clear.

[secret--psalms--saturn]

How can I reconcile my faith with science? I'm doing a degree in Biomedical Science and I don't know what to believe in anymore

Hello!

A little background might help:

I'm also a stem major working towards my bachelors/ masters (almost there!)

I've been interested in science since the 2nd grade and figured what specific subject by the end of middle school. Although I'm not positive on what I'll be doing exactly, I'm getting there!

I've been a Christian for around 10 years now, almost 11 I think? And let me tell you that studying science has only given me a perspective on how truly grand our God is.

Also, semi-relavant, I've loved art for years. Got serious about it end of high school (been writing since elementary/middle).

How do I reconcile 3 completely different subjects that take up my interests? People like to put things in boxes. It doesnt have to be that way. Also friend, you are not the only person to ask this question to me! I'm sore other bloggers might be able to give you more technical and more scripture, but this will kinda run as a testimony/scripture based.

So basically short answer: God created everything. God MADE science. He set everything in its place and in its turn. He set up the whole universe. The whole earth and all its systems, plants, animals nature to work the way they do. Only a perfect God can create a sustainable world where the atmosphere is just right, where we are far but close enough from the sun, where we are able to grow and live. Studying science has made me realize that none of this, down to our very cells couldnt be on accident. Our bodies and brains are advanced and complex. We were formed by God.

In science classes you do have a lot of clashing beliefs. Other students will not believe, understand, oppose, and ridicule your beliefs especially in a science heavy field. You're gonna have to take classes where they believe the earth is billions of years old and we are evolved beings coming from star dust. It's difficult! It's hard being a witness, scared to be open (I had bad experiences in middle school so I have a hard time trusting my peers).

But remember the Word of God is trustworthy, and written by one ultimate author: God Himself. Hes a large, omniscient, omnipotent, grand God who is perfect, just, and can do the "impossible" 7 days may sound ridiculous to thos who have deaf ears but because God is outside of time it's possible for Him.

Stay encouraged! Are you connected to a church? Does your campus have a bible based club? I'd reccomend connecting with other believers.

I am also not sure if you have heard about it, but theres a subject called Apologetics! Theres many teachers out there that gives proof of faith/the bible using facts about history, the bible, manuscripts etc. I really love the subject and theres one theologian I cant think of his name but he has a sermon series on it. You might be interested in learning more about it! Louie Giglio has a fantastic video though called "How great is our God" something like that

Although I do want to reiterate salvation doesnt come from "proof" it comes from God. Repent of your sins and trust in Him. Ask Him to strengthen your faith. Be in the Word and in prayer daily! Please don't be afraid to reach out to me in an ask or DMs! I'm here to help! Heres some verses to encourage you:

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat."

Psalms 19:1‭-‬6 NLT

"Praise the Lord ! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord , for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked. Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord . For his name is very great; his glory towers over the earth and heaven! He has made his people strong, honoring his faithful ones— the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord ! "

Psalms 148:1‭-‬14 NLT

"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”"

John 14:6‭-‬7 NLT

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”"

John 16:33 NLT

"Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused."

Romans 1:21 NLT

"This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen. "

1 Timothy 1:15‭-‬17 NLT

"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."

John 1:1‭-‬5 NLT

I'd definitely recommend reading the creation story at the beginning of Genesis (to when they get kicked out of the garden I believe its Genesis 1-3) and then go through John!

Remember anon, the world is going to think they have the answers. They are going to be rebellious to the God who made them. But the universe around us says otherwise.

Also if any of my other followers have something to add, feel free!

Thanks anon!

[feelingbluepolitics]

How is it possible that the climate crisis doesn't bring people together to address this existential threat? What possibly explains this? A multitude of common problem solving obstacles have been identified, but those are being whittled away, and yet there is still no measurable reduction of the threat of this crisis.

There has been climate change denial, encouraged by those profiting from crisis causation activities. Denialism is earning the scorn it deserves.

There has been skeptism and doubt regarding such a momentous issue of planetary scope. There has been a reluctance to face reality, and our part, and our need to correct mistakes. But the science is unrelenting and is wearing down the skepticism, and is showing the cost of hesitation.

There has been confusion about whose fight this is, but "planetary" and "life" means it's everyone's. Common sense and survival are beginning to prevail.

There has been inertia and uncertainty, and some reluctance, about undertaking changes when we don't yet know what those will be, or how difficult what will be asked of us may be. Necessity answers.

Greta's power stems from her realization that, whatever those issues preventing action may be, the problems come down to one simple one: our leaders are failing us.

trump has actively proved that.

But even as many of these preliminary or initial obstacles are fading, resistance to tackling the climate crisis remains. It's nearly certain there are country by country obstructions. Not only are leaders failing us, but leading countries are failing the world.

In the U.S., we have a shortcut, in a sense. We can look at trump and who he represents. That identifies our resistant groups, which overlap to some extent: conservatives, Evangelicals, and the super-rich. Examining what motivates them to persist in endangering the planet could offer ideas for how to address these people.

Many overlap, of course, but not all Christians and not all conservatives and not all the 1% resist taking action. There are distinctive themes of commonality among those who do, however.

For example, there is a rejection of facts and science, and rejection of news that doesn't conform to the beliefs they already hold. (Among the 1%, there is more of an actual alternate reality than there is a construct of "alternative facts.")

It's more powerful than that type of dismissiveness though. Doubt could creep in more easily through mere dismissiveness. Whatever it is, it is more than just resistance, which means there are factors which are deeply internalized. A good prospect to examine is righteousness.

A strange and arrogant form of righteousness, co-contaminated with beliefs in superiority, explains a lot about Evangelical Christianity, conservative politics, the wealthy, and the shared refusal to take steps to minimize the crisis.

With the religious, they see themselves as the chosen who will be rewarded for existing superiorly. The world as hell is a necessary step before God decides it's time for them to ascend. It's God's decision, but they lobby incessantly with money and meetings and constant talk, to enhance a guarantee that they'll get picked.

There may come a break-down, like toddlers in a store, if Evangelicals begin to understand they may not get what they want through unending supplication.

Such a break-down doesn't and wouldn't happen widely all at once, but rather would explain why Evangelical numbers are plummeting even as the grip on the remaining money cows gets more insistent.

Evangelicals believe trump delivers power, but it's often the sign of a fading venue to need the draw of big-name performers, like trump.

Money used to go hand-in-hand with religion to afford good works, but Evangelicals aren't so keen on those. And meanwhile, there is massive loss of financial revenue pending if Evangelicals figure out an omnipotent God doesn't need a church magnifying sound in order to hear. Inevitably, the climate crisis means churches too will burn and flood, or air quality will become too poor or heat too extreme some days to allow attendance, at the same time prayers may become more deeply heartfelt.

The bulk of conservatives not primarily religious also evince this communal "righteousness" built on notions of superiority. These are the ones who are "righteously" angry because their superiority has become more and more challenged as it fails tests of credibility more and more ludicrously.

Again, trump is the determinative reveal. Reverence for trump is met with mockery, disdain, shock, and disgust.

Meanwhile, climate crisis fires, like a freakish form of vicarious arson, are more fuel for righteous anger. "If I can't be like a god on earth among the lesser, let it all burn."

Drought and floods also represent a punitive and satisfying harm to people that aren't them. The problem here, as with Evangelicals, is that the believers of their own superiorly destined lives are impacted by the effects of the climate crisis too.

Then, separately, there's that level of ruling-class conservatives. Beyond mere beliefs or faith, they have a certainty of their righteous superiority based on evidence: vast wealth. If they weren't superior, they wouldn't have such superior resources. Money makes power, and power makes right, and right makes righteousness.

The whole business of the climate crisis fits into their pre-existing mindset: "This will result in more for me, in the form of greater resources that I can use money to control, which is as it should be."

But while they have previously convinced others that they "earned" what they have by being so good at being "better," they too face increasing challenges and opposition.

People don't think the obscenely wealthy are their betters. They think they are obscenely greedy. People don't think the obscenely wealthy are righteous. They think they manipulated politics to give themselves more money, and more power, and then more money, ad infinitum, with nothing righteous about the process.

Public opinion has shifted from awe, and voyeuristic peeks at that lifestyle, and vague hopes of some level of emulation. Now the majority of Americans want corrective measure applied to wealth. The money that the ultra-wealthy manipulated their way into accruing, a large majority wants correctively taxed with estate and capital and income and wealth taxes.

The wealthy are fighting back. Here again, trump is the mascot. Sooner or later they will lose. They are the very few; a conclusive destruction of American democracy is probably going to take too long for their one-way continued benefit.

Hoarded wealth can become available to address the climate crisis in ways deemed too expensive for a wealth-drained public to undertake.

The longer it takes to begin, the higher the costs, financial and otherwise. Some of the wealthiest are beginning to see some advantages in investing in the sustainability of humans and other life on the planet.

Among each of these three subsets, various themes of constructed righteousness and superiority are entangled with resistance to moderating the climate crisis. All are using trump as a figurehead and as an empowering agent, which goes also for the hostile petro-state, Russia.

Greta's focus on leaders who are failures puts trump and Republicons at the top of the to-do list. Piercing these themes of righteousness and supremacy may help with ideas to move the factions endangering all of us out of the way.

When we talk about taxing the super-rich individuals and corporations, for example, we should also be talking about taxing the vast and hoarded wealth of religion-based organizations, particularly those which have crossed over into politics.

Protecting the rule of law, and using strongly enforced and extended civil rights laws to counter any power derived from false supremacy and wrong righteousness, must include a strengthened federal government to counter red state-level threats to the world.

Ultimately, everything is politics, and that includes responding to the climate crisis to reduce and avert harm and suffering. America can lead on this if we put the leaders in place. Strongly progressive leadership, not conservative, and not "moderate," represents our best and most powerfully effective resources, and the best hope for the entire world of the living.

[cyanpeacock]

Time for a little reductionism.

There are three paths in life.

1. It is fundamentally negative.

2. It is fundamentally neutral.

3. It is fundamentally good.

You're likely to walk all these paths, at some point or another. Think hell/purgatory/heaven, or Hekate at the triple crossroads, or the Maiden, Mother, and Crone... whichever triumverate fits your belief system.

Feelings can be physical, as in, bodily sensations, or cognitive, as in, shaped by your thoughts.

Thoughts can evolve and change. There are logical arguments for every catastrophic thought you might have, and logical arguments against.

The goal of meditation, DBT skills, therapy, counselling, even the scientific method, and so on, is to give you the ability to make these arguments yourself. You can cognitively regulate all that arises in the body or mind (allelic dysfunction omitted, because that's where psychiatry and pharmaceuticals come into it).

Say you have chronic pain, and it hurts like hell. This might lead you to believe life is fundamentally bad, and that you want an end sooner rather than later.

Pain can be managed through dissociation. Dissociation can be generated through cognition (or the controlled absence of it). Numbness of feeling leads to relaxation, which leads to the relief of pain, or at least relief from the perception of it.

Relief changes your perception of life. Sustained relief can change it profoundly.

Humans have a cycle to relief. It's a little different for everyone - we call it the circadian (approximately-24-hours) rhythm.

So, feeling the goodness in life requires identifying your cycle.

When do you wake best?

When do you work best?

On what do you work? Does it give you interest and attention?

At what times do you eat, and what do you do with your post-prandial dip (after-eating sleepiness)?

When do you sleep best?

Where do you do all these things?

How much movement do you do in a day?

Are you getting the right balance of macronutrients and micronutrients?

Are you spiritually nourished with a philosphical system(s), as well as physically nourished?

Life can be very difficult when you're young, if you aren't naturally inclined to favour attention to your bodily sensations (e.g. because of traumatic experiences, a neurodivergence, or painful genetic condition like osteoporosis or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). Instinctively, you'd rather escape your body through cognition. Maybe you stayed up all night reading as a kid, because to try and settle down quietly was uncomfortable or painful, despite an awareness your body needs to sleep.

As kids, we don't have enough information to make the logical arguments to cognitively regulate discomfort and pain, and it's easy to either dwell on them, or dissociate from bodily sensations to a degree where your thoughts are in a spin and your mind can't calm down enough to let the body rest. Obsession vs. distraction.

As adults, we've gathered more information, and the rate of growth and hormonal change has stabilised and become familiar. We also become familiarised with our brains, and the circuits that tend to habitually fire. We get to know ourselves, and recognise our habitual patterns, shaped by the environments we have been given and sought.

Habitual patterns can be changed, once they are noticed. The thought "life is bad" can be countered with "life is good" (and yes, the precursor of "what is bad/good?" is another argument, but let's take it to be Maslow's hierarchy - it is good to self-actualize, and bad to have needs unmet or insufficiently met).

This leads you to a place of cognitive neutrality. It doesn't feel great, but it doesn't feel horrible, either. It's just a question that can be proven or disproven - a null hypothesis.

We don't like being neutral for long. We want proof or disproof of the neutral perspective. Living things want to feel good, as in, have their needs met, giving them the freedom to wander, wonder, and appreciate the beauty in their surroundings.

Over time, once the counterpoint is constructed, a mind makes the argument for life being bad less and less, until a need is unmet. One can get used to needs being unmet and maintain the "right" philosophical standpoint for survival in dire conditions, although it might not feel "good" - this might be described as ascetism. However, one probably shouldn't and won't, where needs can be met - because you have come to know "better," as in, what makes your body specifically feel better.

So, in this manner, health can be managed. OCD can be countered, BPD can be regulated, the worst of some forms of bipolar can be mitigated, anxiety can be relieved, depression can be lifted.

Growing your own neuronal networks and firing the impulses you want to (as well as getting comfortable with the ones you don't) takes time. Plenty of people will try to change you to fit their normal. Part of the process is learning that individual bodies' normals (including memories!) do not always agree, so you should find and talk to the ones who support and add to yours, rather than subtracting from it, and to hold your own when you must speak with a challenge.

That said, it may be the more effective means of coping over pharmaceutical drugs. A highly sensitive body responds better to its endogenous ligand (natural molecule) than a replacement, exogenous ligand from outside. On a physical level, the kinetics of dissociation and association of the endogenous ligand are the body's "normal." We just have to make the impulses work for our wellbeing.

If the "normal" is truly unattainable (significant allelic variation), or temporarily unattainable (environmental hardship, changes in epigenetic expression), an exogenous ligand can be applied. It won't have the same effect, because of differing chemical structures, and this is why we get side effects. The receptors get hit slightly wrong, and the pathways fire a bit funny, which has implications for the rest of your body as well as your mind.

Side effects may be bearable. They may be unbearable. You will form a perception and a judgement of the effect of application of an endogenous ligand, and pick the path that is right for your homeostasis, your maintenance of your understanding of "normal," or to fashion a path that returns you to your "normal" (your best epigenetic expression and physical patterns).

We've got a lot of language for attaining the normal, "right" perspective. There's "feeling right." There's "nirvana." There's possessing the "Sight." There's "recovery." It's all about directing energy flow to your will, and knowing the functional bounds of mind and body (which may not be the actual bounds, say, if you have a connective tissue disorder, or a predisposition to emotional intensity).

So, find the structures you have. Do you know about Wiccan practice? The Christian God? Science? Maths? Literature?

Know your language. All that you know can be related using a series of logical connectives and grammatical structures. Assume there is no mutual exclusivity here, because all of this exists, even if it hasn't been fully explained by science. Even a psychotic or psychedelic experience has basis in the physical reality of matter and energy. Your subjective, internal reality is real, because it is here.

This is hard in English, because it's often structured illogically and still understood, but remember irrationality too is part of an equation. Remember 2πr, from geometry in school? Pi is an irrational number. It's okay, and important, to be irrational sometimes! You'll find the integers, or points, that you require a return to.

You are part of the process. Numerically, you are supposed to be here. The cost-benefit analysis for your body favours you.

Hello, world.

[questionsonislam]

What was the central myth by which Our Prophet (PBUH) lived?

The religion which has long been existed since the beginning of human race and surrounded the whole societies cannot be considered merely as a simplified concept of social life. It’s present in all the societies and human souls the need of being exalted and inclination turning the face towards the Divine Realm. This case is an indication of the truth that religion is a natural necessity. Besides this, the religion has long been said as being very crucial tool for social control and uniting the society and consolidating its harmony. Because of its relation with both social organizations, institutions and religious schools and communions which are self oriented, the religion has persisted its importance in order to take under control the societies in all eras and societies.

In this aspect, the religion has been very important in forming the social cases as a result of reflection of the moral values that constitute its essence to the public. More familiarity and illumination with many institutions and cases is also possible by understanding the impact of religion. Considering that behind the many practices and traditions of the societies in the age of ignorance lies the perception that they inherited from their ancestors, the place of religion in that age will be worked out better. It is possible to find out more data concerning the practices of religion in this age both in their poems, sayings, sects and eyyamu’l-arab2 telling their battles amongst themselves and in the commentaries of Quran, hadiths, Prophet's biographies and in the works belonging to Mecca and Medina.

In Islamic technical term the word religion was employed in the age of ignorance as well. It was found out in the inscriptions from the tribe of Thamud that the religion was used in the same sense.

The Arabic People in the age of ignorance had the belief of one, glorious and all-powerful divine being. This notion was stated by the word “Allah” having neither plural nor feminine form. This conception was observed in the pagans as well. They regarded the tin gods as just intercessor. After all, we can understand from the verses by Quran that they used to have the belief in a divine being named Allah.

It seems that the thoughts and habits left by the previous divine religions was still present in the societies, despite their being little, and continued some of its beauties. The belief in one God was one of them.

Also, it is known that amongst the Arabic people, there used to be belief of Compassionate and they used this name to mean Allah. Some of the expressions that “we submitted to you; you are all compassionate”, “for the consent of the compassionate… we make pilgrimage” and that unlike the names of Sustainer and God, the name Compassionate had no plural form proves that this name was intended to use for Allah who is One God.

The Arabic people in the age of ignorance are observed to have used the articulations “Oh My God” and “Allahumme” particularly in their prayers. We see plenty of examples that they knew the God and even the non-believers attributed more superior names to Him than to their gods, and they took oath in His name. According to Quran they knew that it is Allah that sends down rain from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth after its death, (Qur’an (29: 61-63; 31: 25; 39: 38; 43: 9) they pray to Allah when a stormy wind and the waves come to them from all sides, (10: 22; 25: 13; 25: 65) they swear their strongest oaths by Allah. (5: 53; 6: 109; 16: 38; 24: 53) Furthermore, that unlike the rest of the gods, they saved some of their commodities for the sake of Him, considered the angels as being His daughters and attributed Him some sons and daughters all indicate their knowing Him even if they were mistaken with His attributes.

Mevdudi stated that at the very beginning, the Arabic people had true belief but later they went astray by attributing some partners to Him. Some Arabs giving up deep contemplation and research thought they could only get close to Him by some means and therefore they made use of some gods as means such as “esnam, evsan, ensab” and objects like steles and sculptures.

As a natural outcome of paganism, the number of chapels in the form of idol houses increased. As stated by Ebnu’l-Kelbi there used to be plenty of idols in many houses. If a pagan cannot afford to an idol, he would put a stone he liked in front of an idol and turn around it. Worship for the idol had been so common among the community that some tribes were associated with some idols.

Though the Arabs gave more importance to Kaabe, preferred it to other sacred places, they knew that it was the home of Hadrath Abraham, they had more than one hundred chapels in various districts of the Hejaz. Some of the main chapels were Zu’l-Hulasa, Uzza, Lat, Menat, Fels, Riam, Ruda, Zu’l-Kabat.

It is understood that the main feature marking the pre-Islamic ignorance age is the idea of paganism. This notion can be said to have affected more or less the other principles of belief and worships and resulting in emergence of lots of wrong doings.

The Arabic people attributed the spiritual beings such as angels, jinn, Satan to God and they many times worshiped for them. Assuming the jinn as being capable of performing positive and evil actions and hiding themselves inside the trees and idols, they prayed and did seek help out of them.

We think the commentaries by some of the researches that the Arabic people performed the pilgrimage, fast and circumcises under the influence of the Christians and Jewish as a mistaken expression. Considering the customs of them, it was so common to keep fast and circumcise the boys. Having the big ablution, and washing and enshrouding the death persons was also practiced by them. For this reason, it is more reasonable to think of internal impact rather than exterior one.

Quran defines the prayers by the people in the age of ignorance as asking for help from the cinns and being certain of their wrath and outrage.

Sacrificing animals for God was also present in their customs. Like the other prayers, sacrificing an animal for god lost its true essence since it was practiced in the name of the idols so as to make them intercessors to them to reach Allah.

Pilgrimage, one of the most important worships, visiting the Kaaba, and going around it were both religious obligation and means of making money on the grounds that they started in the forbidden months just following the fairs. In addition to this, they used to go around the other chapels that contained the idols. These visits were just like festivals.

Including the women, they went around the Kaaba naked in order to symbolize they had been cleared from the sins.

Some Arabs did not perform pilgrimage and going around the Kaaba since they considered themselves as elevated and superior to others. The Quran blamed them and ordered to those people to move with the other people and perform the pilgrimage and turning around the Kaaba together with them.

Despite of the fact that the people in the age of ignorance were so bigoted and attached to their traditions, it is possible to observe some samples of tolerance. Members of the same family could have different religions. It was permitted to put the various idols belonging to different tribes around the Kaaba, also it was possible to draw the portraits of Abraham, Ishmael, Jesus and The Virgin on the inside walls of Kaaba.

The reason why this tolerance was not showed to Islam can be explained by the fact that Islam enclosed all religious and social areas that the others did not, and besides this, Islam is such that it could shudder the bases of the ignorance age community.

As can be worked out from these explanations, the paganism became so widespread as a religion in the ignorance age public and had impact in every aspect of life. This wrong belief affected the other principles of belief and made life unbearable for some. Moral, courage, generosity and honor all became a means for showing off, and brutal force. Alcohol, gambles and adultery prevailed the whole community. Paganism dominating the domain of religion also had tremendous effect in forming the religious ceremonies and prayers.

2.1.3. The Religion of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) in the Era of Ignorance.

Though the people of ignorance age were mostly pagan, they continued many of the beauties regarding belief and practices that Islam also approved. During the birth of Islam, there were plenty of people displaying these positive lifestyles. This issue will be important in making explanations to the questions how did our prophet himself, his mother and father perform their worships; did they have any faith and prayer?

There are many diverse opinions about the origin of the word HANEF. It is seen that there are many different ideas that it derived from Arabic, Hebraic, Syriac and Ethiopian language.

Mesudi asserted it as Arabic-Hebraic word and Sabiis were meant through it, as for Yakubi, he stated that the word was employed in order to mean Palestinians with which Psalmist combated and they worshipped to the stars. Although there is no data about the origin of this word in Arabic dictionaries, it can be understood that the word HANEF stems from the word HANEFE “ showing inclination”. The tribe of Abraham was called as HANIF since they didn’t show any tendency towards paganism but turned their faces to Islam the true religion of Allah. Regarding Abu Amr, he accounted for the word as inclination from positive to evil or from evil to positive and yet in the dictionary meaning and Islamic literature, it is not an absolute inclination but returning to true path from wrong way and coming back to true religion from other religions. Here the conception HANEF described the true way and became the name of tribe of Abraham and was used for muwahhid refraining from wrong religions and following the principles of true religion of Allah.

In the age of ignorance the person visiting the Kaaba after he is circumcised is called as HANIF (Upright and true to faith in the Unity of Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala. Worshipping Allah Ta’ala alone, without associating anything or anyone with Him). And this is one of the good deeds left behind the Hadrath Abraham. In Quran, the word HANIF is mentioned within 10 separate places and its plural form HUNEFA is discussed at two different points. Nine out of twelve places, it is stressed out that HANIF RELIGION is different from being idolator and it is just opposite to idolatory, at the same time at eight points it is pointed out the faith of Abraham Prophet, one out of these eight places the word nation meaning religion is employed and at one point Hadrath Abraham is himself described as HANIF.

The word HANIF is, on one hand, used to emphasize the faith of Abraham and his being contrary to idolators and on the other hand it is brought into play to highlight the fact that he was neither Christian nor a Jewish person but the People of the Scripture were ordered as being HANIFS to comply with the rules of God.

It is no use looking for the HANIF RELIGION in Christianity or Judaism since they are all the religions of one God. Some deterioration happened as the time passed. Islam cleaned up all relapses and maintained all beauties, corrected the all wrong doings. Otherwise it would be a great mistake to think of HANIF RELIGION as the continuation of Judaism or Christianity. Thus, the Quran with certainty gives voice to the fact that HANIF RELIGION was before the Judaism and Christianity and appoints the position of Hadrath Abraham by the verses that,

65. Ye People of the Book! Why dispute ye about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel Were not revealed till after him? Have ye no understanding?

66. Ah! Ye are those who fell to disputing (even) in matters of which ye had some knowledge! But why dispute ye in matters of which ye have no knowledge? It is Allah Who knows, and ye who know not!

67. Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (which is Islám), and he joined not gods with Allah. (Qur’an 3: 65-67)

We can easily say that being true in faith that is synonym of the Islam and continual religion refers to a community who is not worshipping to idols but having faith in and being servitude to one God. These are known as HUNEFA or AHNEF. They themselves express they are neither Christian nor Jew but they follow the footsteps of religion of Abraham and they don’t attribute partners to God.

We observe that the phrase being true in faith is discussed in the hadiths of our prophet with the same meaning in the Quran. When questioned which religion is more acceptable in the throne of God, our Prophet replied “simplified HANIF RELIGION”. According to another narration related by Bukhari: Zeyd b. Amr b. Nufayl set off for Damascus in order to seek the true religion, asked the religions of the Jewish and Christian scholars whom he came across. When he was not satisfied with the answers he expected, he requested them what religion they could advise to him. And they recommended him the true in faith (HANIF RELIGION). They also indicated that being true in faith was the religion of Abraham who was not Christian nor Jew but one only following the rules of God.

When taken together into consideration the hadith “God decreed: I created my servants upon the religion of Being True in Faith and the other hadith I was sent neither upon the religion of Christianity nor Judaism but upon the simplified HANIF RELIGION, we can get into conclusion that all the common principles that each prophet used to convey the messages of Allah are embedded in HANIF RELIGION, and Islam is a religion that keeps on these tenets and Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) conveyed the same religion with Hadrath Abraham.

As a result, even if different opinions have been put forward regarding the HANIF RELIGION so far, under the light of the narrations and expressions stated above, it is understood that this is a general word employed for the people striving to live some of the beauties left behind Prophet Abraham not for those muwahhid, Christians or Jewish who lived in the age of ignorance.

We find the faith principles of HANIF RELIGION mostly in religious sources. In the eyes of the Arabic people in ignorance age, whomever is circumcised and goes around the Kaaba is HANIF. However, Taberi holds the opinion that these two features were not sufficient since some idolators practiced them also. And yet, Quran shows HANIF RELIGION as contrary to idolators. Then, it says that first condition of HANIF RELIGION is to believe in one God. Some other sources add to these requirements staying away from the idols and having big ablution.

HANEFS are said not to have eaten the meats of animals sacrificed for idols, in other and more general terms, the animals sacrificed for anything apart from God. Generally, the main characters of being HANEF are making pilgrimage, obeying the truth, and the rules brought by Abraham (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) and being servitude merely to God.

One of basic features of HANEFS in this age is not to show any inclination towards Judaism or Christianity, turn their faces from the idols, to worship only to Allah, the creator of Hadrath Abraham. Some people like Zeyd b. Amr b. Nufeyl headed to look for the true religion of Abraham, and some of them tried to keep the people away from idols, and some retired into seclusion for deep contemplation. According to historians, some of these people were literate, could speak more than two languages and were considered cultured as they traveled a lot.

In that age, there are many people who are said to be HANIF. Some of them are Kus b. Saide el-Eyadi, Zeyd b. Amr b. Nufayl, Umayya b. Ebi’s-Salt, Erbab b. Riab, Suvayd b. Amr el-Mustalaki, Abu Karb Es’ad el-Himyeri, Vaki’ b. Seleme el-Eyadi, Umayr b. Cundeb el-Cuhani, Adi b. Zayd el Ebadi, Abu Kays Sirme b. Abu Enes, Sayf b. Zuyazan, Varaka b. Navfal el-Kureshi, Amir b. Zarb el-Udvani, Abduttabiha b. Sa’leb, Elaf b. Shihab et-Temimi, Mutelemmis b. Umayya el-Kenani, Zuhayr b. Abu Sulma, Khalid b. Sinan el-Absi, Abdullah el-Kudai, Abid b. Ebras el-Esedi, Ka’b b. Luey.

And the most remarkable HANIFS in the ignorance age were Varaka b. Navfal, Osman b. Huvayris, Ubaydullah b. Jahsh. They are important for illustrating the circumstances of those times.

Varaka b. Navfal was a scholar person who used to read old books. When our prophet was directed a question about his situation, he is reported to have said “I saw him wandering in the paradise in the silk clothes” informing us the good outcome of his good deeds.

Suvayd b. Amir is understood to be muwahhid thanks to his poems and he showed tendency to the religion of Abraham (peace and blessing be upon him), regarding Abu Kerb b. Es’ad el-Himyeri, he foretold about the coming of our Prophet many years ago and he told he had faith in God. Veki’ b. Seleme is known as faithful. As for Umeyr b. Cundeb who had died many years ago before Islam was declared was one of those having faith in one God. Also, Adi b. Zeyd el-Ebad avoided idols and was among those worshipped to one God. He later converted into Islam in Medina. Seyf b. Zuyezen told the good news that is the upcoming of our Prophet just like Varaka b. Navfal and announced he would immigrate to Medina with Him.

We can summarize the common qualities of this age’s people as follows:

Rejecting all types of polytheisms and idols, challenging all misconducts and beliefs of their tribes, struggling to clear away ignorance, returning to seclusion so that they can be certain of their pressures, and thinking of the Creator. Historians report that some HANIFS read holy books, pages and Psalm, many lived upon the religion of Hadrath Abraham, and some investigated His words and had to put up with many challenges for this sake. They traveled and asked some bishops and rabbis he encountered and because of not being satisfied with their answers, they didn’t accept their religions, and passed away upon the religion of Abraham (pbuh).