#tie eldalieva

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Hi sweetie! I went through your tags to search for more elfkind content and serotonine, and I am curious. Why the tag "my mother's name is death?

let's see... i started using that tag in tuile of 2019. i was mourning the loss of a chosen father, the birth father of my then-husband who had reappeared in husband's 20s after being separated when he was a baby, and executing his estate. He had passed mid-narquelie the previous year.

That was the third year of my elven awakening, and of my 'new life' hard won through therapy and buddhism and just slowing down in the woods. That's the spatial context, the tapestry that led to this tag. The shortest possible answer is that i revere the cycles of decay and formation, and that decay and death are a link in the chain of infinite transformations that is life (animistically including nonanimated creation). i reflect on death as an act of love, of compassion, of continuation and creative improv on the Theme of life. Death is Life, Life is Death... we are all made for one another and made of one another. I have a fond feeling about this, as it has made my hroa and this world that i so adore, death has mothered this world and my place in it. longer answer and fiddly words below The forest, and the whole world, is fed on death. my bones once belonged to another, to trees and microbes and cats and fish and mountains. the air i breathe now has been through every manner of respiratory body imaginable, has been high with the clouds, has hung over the ocean, has oxidized metal, has been pushed through lush soil. my skin cells dry and fall off and feed creatures i cannot see, build soil, are transformed into something new. someday, my bones will belong to others again. my flesh will be gifts for beings i cannot even imagine, just as it was originally a gift to me from countless others. Death has made my body for me, and Death will make new things once i have left it. i miss living in the deep woods, but even now i look fondly on death and decay in the garden bed, in the kitchen compost, and in the clover of the yard. in the cold wet air from the river. in the faces and hands of people i love. i associate this with Namo and Vaire, of course, but also with all the Aratar. Yavanna and Aule and Manwe and Ulmo have very obvious places in this sphere--they created the flows of matter that are fed by change and death and that feed other cycles. I feel Varda, Nienna, and Orome have their own hands in death. Varda in hope and what lies beyond just one life, Nienna in metabolizing sorrow and longing and misery, and Orome in the necessity of Death for Life--someone must die for me to live, and i *want* to live just as they want to live. I want to make all the deaths that are linked to my life and death cherished and meaningful. I want my death and daily dying to give life and food and warmth to trillions of beings.

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Earenya meditation and offering

Below is a long transcript of a weekday observation for tolkien elven religion <3 Thursday is Earenya, the day of waters and the three Valar associated with water.. It is a day of the external waters of the world (Lord Ulmo), and the internal waters of our hearts (Lord Nienna) and our bodies (Este.) These three Valar are communed with, worshiped, or worked with on this day. My practice every single day is to give a potion offering to the Valar of the day and meditate on their place in my life. Sometimes the moon phase or month changes how specifically i focus on this practice.

Starting out with seven minutes of silent sitting with this drone in the background, just breathing and feeling the flame of my fëa, the light of the flame imperishable in the world around me. Slowly, the boundaries between my ideas of things and the reality of them goes fuzzy and soft.

Then, prepping my offering for today. Just clean drinking water with a little potion of powdered lion's mane, rhodiola, and orange, then tincture of mullein. Stirred while admiring the swirl of the water counterclockwise, opening the nets of my body and heart to release what it has caught over time.

I stand and sing lindë elenlotë using my finger to mark the points of the star flower: like a clock, 4-- Elenya, 8-- anarya, 2-- isilya, 7-- alduya, 12-- menelya, 5-- earenya (today! the warmth of Ulmo's joy washes over me), 10-- valanya, and back to 4-- arda.

I then face the directions and intone them one at a time: East, Rómen. (also 12 on the star: menelya, the day and direction of Varda and Manwe) Downward, Undo. (5 on the star: Earenya, day and direction of Ulmo and Nienna) North, Formen. (10 on the star: Valanya, day and direction of Tulkas and Vána (though valanya is day of all valar, not just those two.)) Within, Enda. (4 on the star: Elenya--day of Varda and all elves, but direction of Orome and Nessa) West, Númen. (8 on the star: Anarya, day of the sun and fiery valar, but direction of Namo and Vaire.) Above, Vilya. (2 on the star: Isilya, day of the moon and cool/silvery valar, but direction of Este and Irmo.) South, Hyarmen. (7 on the star: Alduya, day of the two trees and day and direction of Yavanna and Aule.) facing same direction, intoning Illúve for the illumination of Eru we all share.

Because today is Earenya, day of waters, day of Ulmo, Nienna, and Este, I crouch and set my offering down and put both palms on the floor to either side of it.

"Hail Ulmo, lord of all waters in the world, whose waves carry the sound of the original song of creation and stretch over all the width and depths of the world. You touch my life at every possible layer and support me in ways i cannot fully know. Thank you, for your joy in the creation, for staying with my people in all forms of exile, for your warnings and protections. Enjoy the fruits of my cup, which are your fruits--this clean water is your gift to me. My joys are your joys, and my sorrows are your sorrows.

"Hail Nienna, Fui, whose heart stretches across all darkness and all time, to every wound and uncertainty. Thank you for the cleansing process of grief, the waxing and waning of suffering that lets wisdom grow. Thank you for your constancy in my life and the depths of compassion you enable in my heart. Take the fruits of my cup, the waters of my tears and my labors. My joys are your joys, my sorrows are your sorrows."

I then stood with the cup and lifted it upward, Vilya, the direction of Este and Irmo.

"Hail Este, who teaches me my trade and has designed so many wondrous plants in communion with other Valar. Thank you for your kind attention to our bodies and their capacity to heal, and for the wide interwoven web of plants and other life that can heal and feed one another. The fruits of my cup are absolutely yours, the fruit of my learning herbalism, which could not be without your constant inspiration and remonstrations. My joys are your joys, and my sorrows are your sorrows."

I then faced south and held my cup outward.

"Hail Lord Yavanna, giver of all fruits and maker of life: this is your month, Yavannie, the month of final harvest. This time is rich with food and light, though soon it will wane and fade. Thank you for the cycle of life and death that feeds and makes food of all. My cup is your cup, my joys are your joys, and my sorrows are your sorrows.

I sat a while with the cup to my chest, breathing in joy in the light of our flaming souls, and then drank the offering after the Valar had their time to enjoy it.

This was crossposted a couple of places including cohost.

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Hello aaah I've been following you for a while and I think you're really cool and I have so many questions!! -- What does your daily practice look like? Did you come up with those texts you recite (like what you quoted in that Earenya post you had a couple weeks ago) yourself (they're very pretty!)? How do you feel about which language you use (since I'm sure using English vs, say, Quenya will feel differently)? How does Buddhism intersect with your practice? -- Feel free to answer all or some -

- or none of these questions, whichever you prefer :) I'm so very very curious because I'm also an elf (not of the Tolkien variety, though I love his works very dearly too) with both a personal and scholarly interest in Buddhism (I love Shingon the most!) so I'd love to hear more about your practice :) I hope me asking so many questions isn't too weird!! Thank you very much and have a beautiful day ♥" part one and two of this ask put together for readability: Hi and thank you for sending these asks!! i love talkin elf stuff and am very glad to do so with all kinds of elves, not just tolkien folks. i parked this in my drafts for a while so i could ponder the answering! the majority of it will be below this cut here. I am also going to re-order the questions and answers. tumblr keeps destroying this in my drafts so i am just going to post it as is and follow upwith additional posts.

Question 1: Did I write the recitations for calling the valar in this post ? Yes! What I say wiggles around a little bit day to day, but the basic parts of these evocations are standard for me. A hello, this is your day or month, you are the power of (sphere of influence) and i will tell you how i am engaging with your sphere today/this month. Enjoy this gift. Question 2: How do i feel about language used (quenya vs english) ? I am a native english speaker, and have been fiddling with quenya for a few years using two resources: the elfdict dictionary and the atanquesta grammar. I do most things in english just for ease's sake, but do enjoy practicing translation and writing. My usual writing form is quenya-mode sarati <3 i leave the tengwar to the younger elves lol. i will especially use quenya for written spells or charms, as it is less immediate than spoken spells and gives me more time to fiddle and make it pretty and double check grammar. there are one or two 'mantras' or small spoken spells i regularly utilize in quenya, but when i say small i do mean that 'aiya earendil elenion ancalima' is one of the longest ones. Question 3: How does buddhism intersect with my practice? Buddhism is a philosophical backbone for my life, and i am influenced by a few traditions moreso than others: There are Tibetan monks who travel through my region, and they are some of the most dear presenters I have ever met. They are magnificent to sit with. I am also influenced by Soto zen via authors of that tradition, and Thien zen primarily through Thich Nhat Hanh. One of the most formative books i read early on in my introduction to buddhism was Thich Nhat Hanh's "Old Path White Clouds", which is a telling of the life of buddha. I also visit a zendo regularly, and my teacher there is a mix of contemplative christian practices and Soto zen. he's very open to my own unique path, and engages me in serious and respectful conversations about my relationship the legendarium and how the deep still places in my heart connect me to the One. It's been since about 2017 that i took on a modified version of the oldest buddhist precepts for laypeople. To reduce harm, to not steal, to not lie, to avoid unhelpful behaviors (my version of avoiding intoxication), and to avoid unhealthy relationships/to change course if they become so. These 'rules' still make up the meat of my axiology and inform my behavior. They work pretty well with elven philosophy ime and there's a lot of overlap. So, the practical aspects are that 'just sitting' zen style, and doing mantras and compassionate meditation tibetan style are parts of my weekly activity. I do a meditation group via zoom with my zendo teacher and companions every anarya (sunday), and when i am well i generally hold well to daily meditation. when i am unwell, it is harder for me to keep to a schedule and i don't treat myself rough about it. i kind of view re-reading Old Path White Clouds as an occasional pilgrimage. Suffering is inherent to life--this is true for all kindreds including eldar. I can act wisely to reduce un-necessary suffering, and i can extend compassion and patience and wisdom to all my fellow sufferers. quiet observation reveals the nature of this extra suffering and how it has occurred, and how it might abate. Question 4: What does my daily practice look like? I might write a longer post about this sometime, but the basics are that i incorporate small repeated rituals daily or weekly, and do bigger spellworks for my constellation of eldar at the full and dark moon. my minimum daily rituals are: -cleaning my body. this is just the basic brushing teeth and washing face. my adherence kind of fluctuates depending on how busy i am. -anointing seven points in the shape of the septaquetra, usually while intoning the weekdays (so starting right wrist=elenya, and following the progression i use

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Valima sovalwaris!!!

happy tolkien elven holy day of cleansing!!!!! may your suffering be eased and what grief is necessary to your life become rich wisdom and compassion!!!!!! may all be blessed with the mercy of Nienna!!!!!!

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[ID: a painting of the valie Este from the tolkien legendarium. Here she is depicted as a light skinned elf with long dark hair in a braid pulled over her shoulder. She wears a pale grey robe with blue-patterned lining that has a red-embroidered boat neckline. She wears a silver circlet with a trailing diaphanous veil. She is seated in the midground on a very large blue-green hoop decorated with celtic knots, which is closed at the top with wood and intersects perfectly with several other circles: a golden halo, a ring of pink flowers with empty air inside, and the rest of the inside of the celtic-knot hoop is full of ivy which spills out into the midground. The far background is a sunset sky with trailing golden clouds. The foreground is a field of butterflies in gold, red, black, and white, and este holds one of the butterflies in her hands. End ID.]

Este by https://askwen.lofter.com/

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what do you think are good resources for someone who wants to get into Elf Religion?

there's quite a lot floating around out there, luckily! most of the effort comes in hunting it down and winnowing out what works best for you! there's also lots and lots of mixed or multi-source elf stuff out there, i just work primarily with tolkien sourced stuff. i can't comment much on other sources, so what i list here will be tolkien based or tolkien adjacent at the least! reading the fullness of the legendarium, not just the silm but also HoME and other texts, will also help you find what feels right.

so before we get to the long stuff, i really recommend you go through t-e/wal's website first and look at the statement of faith, valar page, and loa page. that's a pretty good summary of the most basic parts as far as belief goes. practice is something you can make unique to you! t-e/wal has a very modern-festival-paganism vibe to their rituals. i-v is doing modern western 'shamanism' (quotes bc that is a stolen name and i don't condone its use, but the alternative 'imaginal gnosis' is unwieldy and not commonly used).

if you already have your own favorite magical practices, you could find ways to adapt them to the loa and the valar! have fun with it! some of us do lots of magic, some of us mostly do worship. it can be as complicated or as simple as you want. this list comes from a collection i have been working on since 2022 and lists both orgs and individuals posting their own experiences.

T-e or wal : a shortening for Tie Eldalieva which changed its name to Way of Arda's Lore in 2024, which is a religious organization based in the usa for tolkien religionists. They (meaning a few of their loremasters with high overlap wth I-v) have worked on the loa and astronomy of the legendarium extensively. their resources are great and pretty universally used and tweaked by tolkien spiritualists of all kinds.

main website link https://elvenspirituality.com/

facebook , old name and older content https://www.facebook.com/elvenspirituality

facebook, new name and newer content https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559024296013

youtube link https://www.youtube.com/@elvenspiritualpath

they currently have years of public virtual rituals and discussions on essays or white papers written by their lore masters. their membership overlap with i-v means i-v lore masters will sometimes appear in their videos.

I-v : a shortening for Ilsalunte Valion, a gnostic group closely related to T-e but with different motivations which has done a lot of the imaginal work and loremastery to make tolkien religion a rich possibility for many people. Their approach is less public, but deeper and more personal, than T-e. they focus a lot on gnosis and meditative exploration and use different ritual techniques than t-e/wal.

ilsalunte-valion main website http://westofwest.org/

the main feature is the forum, which you will need to register as a member to see most of.

Dave, a founding member and loremaster of both t-e/wal and i-v has a collection of more recent writing that is relevant to both organizations and people curious about them. found here https://hackmd.io/@EriolElwin/rJrwhaDaR

hewal : a shortening for High Elven Wisdom and Love, which is the youtube channel of Kmberiel Eventide. Kimber-el/Kimberel/Kimberiel is a starseed and mystic, and overlaps with tolkien religion enough that she joined and assisted T-e in getting legal religious recognition before parting and going her own way again.

while hewal has been inactive for several years, some of her videos are tolkien-specific and she made and posted the vala-specific informational videos for t-e/wal when she joined them. in those videos (still on t-e/wal's youtube and i think on hers as well) she goes through each mention of the vala in the legendarium texts book by book. this can be very helpful for someone that isn't absorbing the same summaries from the tolkien gateway website.

hewal youtube tolkien specific playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbW2r96baVJy1_ItxeeuFKrfde3HdgAH8

she has tolkien relevant videos not in that playlist so make sure to snoop around.

ES : a shortening for Elven Scholar, which is the youtube channel for Earendil Spindelilus, who was once of T-e but does his own work for loremastery and runs an online school. looks like he stopped posting youtube videos about a year ago, but his facebook group and school still have some activity.

youtube channel here https://www.youtube.com/@ElvenScholarMusings

his online school http://www.elvenscholar.org/

warning: there are no state or federal agencies that license herbalism in the united states. his claims that his courses will award you the title 'certified herbalist' are vanity titles only. all those interested in herbalism should thoroughly investigate the legal licensure status of herbalism, naturopathy, and nutrition and dietetics for their nation and state. (afair naturopathy and nutrition/dietetics are licensed in the usa and cannot be practiced without legal license.) if your nation and state has no licensure process for herbalism, look for the self-regulatory bodies developed by professionals of that field and learn the base standards of education assumed for that field by that body. in the united states, this would be the american herbalists' guild and the american botanical council.

this last one is a little controversial in that alyras was formerly a founder and treasurer of t-e, and due to usa incorporation laws, was considered the only remaining board member of t-e when they ousted her, which is the reason t-e had to change their name to wal legally. i don't understand the situation but the tea is spilled lmao. i do still use and enjoy her reference book with lots of modification and ignoring what i dont care for. she also uses ai generated images for her website, which really rubs me the wrong way. i think her urls being so visually similar to t-e/wal's is on purpose.

her work is very new age and also centered in music. i do enjoy the tambour drones a lot for meditation!

her org website https://yanaeldalieva.org/about.html

there should be a link for her handbook somewhere in there, which is a gift in exchange for donation. dm me if you need help finding it, as the website has been re-arranged since i last saw it.

alyras/yana eldalieva facebook https://www.facebook.com/elvenspiritualpath

alyras youtube https://www.youtube.com/@elvenspiritualpathmusic/videos

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Thinking about isilsulime 2022

Sulime is the lunar cycle associated with Manwe that occurs at the junction of coire (stirring season) and tuile (spring season), and also coincides with mettare (last day of year March 27) and yestare (first day of year March 28). I am writing this as isil (full moon) sulime is waning, now at half phase, and four days from mettare, on march 23 2022. Morranvirisse (dark moon of youth) is on april 1st, so there is some time yet here in the company of Manwe. I really didn't expect this changing wind to be so literal and so brutal I learned in Isilnarvinye (full moon of new sun, around january 17 this year) that my living situation was changing entirely and suddenly. This involved a few contradictions and more changes through the course of nenime (moon of waters). Morransulime (march 2) and cueransulime (march 10) were fraught with conflict, and i found myself wrathful and despairing more often than optimistic--It really hurts that my old expectations will not be met, and I am frightened to make any new ones! While I know that I am not truly alone, my worries make me feel alone and I have been brooding in that sensation. A new place of understanding and conversation came up over isilsulime, and now i am feeling the 'wind beneath my wings' to follow the new path unearthed by these gales. I was really not looking forward to virisse (moon of youth, spent in the company of Tulkas) because I did not think I'd be able to join in Tulkas' light-hearted enthusiasm and optimism after such a dark and dour month. I am seeing now, cleared by the wind, that it might actually be fun after all!

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okay pick for my new epesse: Irmodur/irmodir/irmomir or Loriendur?

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Valima querannarie!

happy new moon in the month of sunny fire, where we are led by Varda and our decisions in the new year are set into motion with the stars. <3 Vardahantale.

Mother of Stars

[elluendifad]

i want elf religion content but i don't want to make elf religion content harrumph

[hazel-the-elf]

I was searching the tags for elf religion content and this is what I found! Well, *someone's* got to create the content but apparently it's not going to be us!

i want elf religion content but i don't want to make elf religion content harrumph