#to mean an entirely separate race and indeed an entirely separate made up realm

[ms-elias-will-see-you-now]

This post may have inspired me to start a blog about answering only the background questions in panels from manga.

Because I love these questions and they’re cool as fuck.

In the tags

God ykno that panel of marcille saying yeah it was highly illegal magic so don't tell anyone about this and chilchuck makes a fucking expression and then is like sure whatever and starts drinking from the bottle. That's how I feel reading some people's posts

[youremymiracleelliot]

Castlevania S3 — some thoughts

I really liked the 3rd season a lot and think it was at least as good as season 2. I was hit right in the feels, the plot never bored me but I believe there was more potential to the Infinite Corridor story line. Let’s take a look at the three separate subjects.

1) I’ll start with Trevor and Sypha who, during their travels, arrived in a village called Lindenfeld. They soon are introduced to odd happenings surrounding the priory and so, they stay to resolve the matter.

Anyway, we learn they’ve become a couple and are obviously in love (in their unique ways). It hurt me to listen to one of their conversations:

I mean, I might be Alucard-centered here but I am still pretty salty that they left him behind, all on his own. At least they didn’t entirely forget him (yet) and I’m aware there was good and logical reason for him to stay behind. That doesn’t change, though, that it’s a very inhumane decision. Alucard’s story line in season 3 really hurt a lot and to be honest, we all know Trevor and Sypha are responsible for the happenings as well, at least in one or another way.

Back to the actual plot that happened in Lindenfeld, we witnessed what a powerful fighting couple Trevor and Sypha are. I was pretty surprised and impressed how easily they defeated those two angel-like creatures. The only real opponent was the night creature which was forged by Isaac

(I WAS SO SHOCKED ABOUT THIS! I had some hope left for him to reconsider his actions but I only saw his soul darken. I understand, he’s disappointed by the human race. Still, the captain on the ship was right too. It’s so difficult and complicated — one of the reasons why I enjoy this show so much.)

and which had fed on the souls of the villagers. Thanks to St. Germain they won and thanks to him, we got that plot about the Infinite Corridor. I’ll be honest here, I found this idea so rich and expected very much. Especially more than a few creatures leaking through. Okay, they didn’t already have to travel to different realms but when the door to hell was opened and we even saw Dracula and his wife, I expected things to happen. Them returning, or anything the like. To be blown away. But no, nothing. This disappointed me, though I had already started to hope for family reunion when they encounter their son. Sadly, I didn’t get that.

2) Now I’ll focus on Alucard’s story line (as I’m already writing about him). And as I’ve already written how wonderful a family reuinion would have been, I have to add, Alucard would have needed it. My heart was broken in episode 1, seeing him all alone and abandoned. I knew he’d be alone but still seeing this hurt a lot.

And it was highly unexpected. At least to me. Because of his unbearable loneliness I was so relieved when Sumi and Taka showed up. At first they seemed kind and good. But during episode 7, when Alucard showed them the Belmont archives, I started to realize something feels off. I couldn’t quite name it but I didn’t think the siblings trustworthy anymore. From that scene on, it become more and more obvious, something is the matter. I still would have never expected them to use such a method ...

They obviously exploited Alucard’s loneliness and vulnerability. The worst part about it, some part of me understands why they couldn’t trust him though he never lied to them. Sumi and Taka had been Cho’s captives for so many years, since they were children. So they never learnt to trust anyone but each other. Another part of me wonders from where they got those chain-bracelets they put on him to chain him up. For a moment I feared he’d have to be rescued by his dear parents (during that moment the door to hell was open, so the chance was given) but he could help himself which only serves to underline he’s used to looking after himself and being on his own. Seeing him all devastated and desperate hurt so much, I almost cried as well.

3) As we’re already crying, let’s look at the other character who made me hurt so much during season 3 and also at the queens who rocked this season. Firstly, I need to state I don’t side with the vampires or approve of their actions and how they treat humans. But woah, did you see those vampire queens? In season 2, I was very impressed by Carmilla’s (evil) performance but I’d never thought there are more of her kind!

Carmilla, Morana, Striga and Lenore! They’re gorgeous geniuses! It’s not the fact that they’re the bad women of this plot who turn against humankind but they also have such a strong bond and, it seems, centuries of shared past. It was so lovely to watch them and Striga and Morana being a couple in love is a nice bonus.

Now let’s focus on Lenore and Hector. I enjoyed their story line a lot. For a decent amount of time, I couldn’t tell for sure how loyal she is to her other “sisters”. Maybe she indeed is a kind of good girl, I thought.

I even began to ship them, though deep in my gut I felt this isn’t right. Maybe she is up to help him, in her way. I had hopes because during the first scenes I just felt hurt about the way Hector was treated and tortured. It really got to me. I already was hurt by his story line in season 2 and knew things surely won’t start better in this new season but I hoped, things for him would improve throughout the season. But no. Lenore’s scheme was unexpected and truly blew me away. This was so cruel and the similarity to how Sumi and Taka deceived Alucard was breath-taking. Using Hector’s loneliness and hopelessness was a masterplan and I can’t help but marvel at Lenore’s brilliance to magically bind him to her and also her vampire sisters (once more I’m amazed by the relation between those four), so they can exploit his skills as forgemaster. Plus, Lenore plans to use him for her own entertainment and that’s something that gave me even more goosebumps.

I’m still shocked how much more downhill things got for Hector and the only hope I currently have left for his rescue / freedom is Isaac and his night creatures attacking the castle but as we’ve learnt, he as well seeks revenge, so my hope is extremely fragile.

To end this, let’s take a look at the outcome of season 3. It felt as if everything is darkening. The situation itself with those four strong vampires but even more the mood of the protagonists. They seem to have lost hope. Alucard, all alone and abandoned, has given up on humankind and shut everything off. Hector is no longer a captive but now even a slave who has no way of freeing himself. Trevor and Sypha, though killing the night creatures in Lindenfeld, couldn’t save the villagers and even those persons whom they thought trustworthy and good turned out to be evil to the core. It’s like there’s no good in the world anymore. It’s clearly depicted in their expressions.

Considering this end of season 3, I’m curious to see how season 4 will continue the story. How will our three heroes be motivated to go and annihilate the four vampire queens? Which path will Isaac choose?

Sadly, I think we’ll have to wait another few years for the continuation...

[jamesherondale-cordeliacarstairs]

Then the next day he went to train with Lucie and Cordelia. Cordelia had brought with her the Carstairs’ famous sword, Cortana, which James had long wanted to admire up close. He didn’t get a chance, though, because ten minutes into their first exercise, he collapsed in a sudden spasm of unbearable pain.

The girls cried out and ran to him. He had crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut, and only the years of training he’d already put in kept him from accidentally falling onto his own blade. By the time he realized where he was and what had happened, he was on the floor.

The look on Lucie’s face as she touched his forehead did not reassure him.

“By the Angel,” she exclaimed, “you’re burning up.”

Cordelia was already racing toward the door, calling, “Mâmân!” in alarm. Her image wavered and faded as James closed his eyes.

Scalding fever, Sona and Elias declared. They’d seen it before. It was a disease unique to Shadowhunters. Most got it as infants, when it was very mild. Once it passed, you could never catch it again. Before James was even up from the floor of the training room, Sona was barking orders, her heavy skirts gripped in both hands. James was carried to his bedroom, Lucie dragged away to her own quarters, and messages dispatched to Will and Tessa, and the Silent Brothers.

Feverish, James lay in his bed and watched the light fade outside. As the night came on, he began to shiver. He wrapped himself in all the blankets available but shook like a leaf. He waited for the Silent Brothers to come—until they had checked him, nobody else could be in the room.

It was Brother Enoch who came, not Uncle Jem, to James’s disappointment. Yes, it is almost certainly scalding fever,he said. Everyone who has not had it before will need to depart the house. I will go to tell them.

Lucie had not had it before. James didn’t know about anyone else. He waited a long time for Enoch to come back, but he must have fallen asleep, because all of a sudden there was morning light casting silvery stripes on the wall, and the sound of a door, and footsteps, and then Cordelia was there.

James rarely saw Cordelia without Lucie. This was not how he would have chosen to present himself for one of their rare moments alone. He was half under his covers, shifting around restlessly, unable to get comfortable. His face was flushed with fever and his nightshirt clung to him, wet with sweat.

He took a breath to speak and broke into a pained cough. “Water?”

Cordelia hurried to pour him a glass from the carafe on the nightstand. She tried to press it into his hand, but he couldn’t grip it. She slid her hand behind his neck, warm against his skin, supporting him as she held the glass to his lips.

He flopped back on the pillows, his eyes closed. “Please tell me you’ve had scalding fever before.”

“Yes. My mother has too,” she said. “And the mundane servants are immune. Everyone else has gone. You should have some more water.”

“Is that the treatment?”

“No,” said Cordelia, “the treatment is a grayish concoction made by Brother Enoch, and I suggest you hold your nose when you try to get it down. It will help with the fever, but apparently there’s nothing else for it but time. I brought books,” she added. “They’re over on top of the chest of drawers. I… I could read to you.”

James flinched at the light but forced himself to look at Cordelia. Tendrils of her deep red hair curled against her cheekbones. They reminded him of the curlicues cut into the surface of his Uncle Jem’s beautiful violin.

He flicked his eyes over to the chest of drawers where, indeed, a surprisingly tall pile of books rested that had not been there before. She gave an apologetic smile. “I wasn’t sure what you might like, so I just took things from all over the house. There’s a copy of A Tale of Two Cities with the second half missing, so maybe it’s only a tale of one city. And a collection of poetry by Byron, but it’s a bit nibbled around the edges, I think by mice, so it might be theirs. Otherwise it’s Persian literature. There aren’t even Shadowhunter books around. Oh, except one copy of a book on demons. I think it’s called Demons, Demons, Demons.”

James let his eyes close again but allowed himself a smile. “I’ve read that one,” he said. “My father is a great admirer of it. You probably don’t even have the newest version, which adds a fourth ‘Demons.’ ”

“As ever, the London Institute’s library puts ours to shame,” said Cordelia, and then Sona came in and stopped short, surprised to see her.

“Cordelia,” she said with what James hoped was mock surprise. “Really? Alone in a boy’s bedroom?”

“Mâmân, he can barely sit up, and I am a trained warrior who wields a mythical sword.”

“Mmm,” said Sona, and waved her out. She descended on James with, she explained, her own remedies from home: pastes and poultices of frankincense, of marigold and haoma.

“I’d like it,” James said, “if Cordelia would come back and read to me later. If she wants to.”

“Mmm,” said Sona again, dabbing his brow with a compress.

Cordelia did come back, and she did read to James. And then she returned again and read again, and again. He was too fevered to track the passage of time. Sometimes it was dark outside and sometimes light. When he was awake, he ate what he could, and drank a little water, and forced down some of Enoch’s loathsome potion. Sometimes his fever would break for a time, and then he would grow overwarm and sweat through his clothes; sometimes it was as though a bitter cold wind tore through his body and no number of blankets or logs in the fireplace would help. Through it all was Cordelia, quietly reading, occasionally reaching out to wipe his brow or refill his water glass.

She read him the poems of Nizami, and especially the story of Layla and Majnun, one she clearly loved and had known since she was very small. Her cheeks grew unexpectedly red at the more romantic parts: the poor boy falling in love with the beautiful Layla on first sight, wandering mad in the desert when they were separated.

“ ‘  That heart’s delight, one single glance his nerves to frenzy wrought, one single glance bewildered every thought. He gazed upon her, and as he gazed, love conquered both. They never dreamed to part.’  ”

She glanced at James and then quickly glanced away. James started. Had he been staring? He was not entirely aware of his own behavior.

“ ‘  The killing witchery that lies, in her black, delicious eyes. And when her cheek the moon revealed, a thousand hearts were won: no pride, no shield, could check her power. Layla, she was called.’  ”

“Layla,” he murmured to himself, but he didn’t think Cordelia had heard. He closed his eyes.

Only once—that he knew of—did he tumble into the shadow realm. He was awake, shaking with fever, his hair matted to his head with cold sweat, agitated. He saw Cordelia’s eyes widen in alarm as the change came over him. She leaped to her feet and he thought, She means to go for help; she is frightened, frightened of me.

He reached for her, and the shadow that was his hand caught hers, darkness against flesh. He wondered how his touch felt to her. His whole body was tensed, like a horse shying from thunder. The room smelled of lightning.

“James, you must hold on. You must. Don’t go anywhere,” Cordelia said. “Stay with me.”

“So cold,” he managed to add, shaking. “Can’t get warm. Can’t ever get warm.”

In his body, he would have squinted his eyes shut, trying to still his trembling. As a shadow, it was as though his eyes were open wide and he could do nothing to close them. He saw Cordelia cast about the room for something, anything to help. It was no use, he knew; the fire was already roaring, he was already wrapped in blankets, there was a hot-water bottle at his feet. Nevertheless, a bitter, raw wind tore through him.

Cordelia made a noise of frustration, then furrowed her brow in determination. The thought drifted through James’s mind, far behind the endless howling wind, that she looked beautiful. It was not the thought he might have chosen, and he did not have time to think about it now.

But then Cordelia carefully laid herself down on the bed next to him. He was under mountains of blankets and she was atop them, of course. But her presence began to force back the cold. Instead of feeling the agony of being whipped raw by ice, his awareness turned to the length of her body, warm and solid, all along his own. Through the many layers between them he could still feel her pressed against his side: her leg shifting into a comfortable position, her hip against his. He was looking up at the ceiling and she was on her side, but her face was very close. Her hair smelled like jasmine and woodsmoke. She put her arm over his chest and pulled herself as close as she could.

It took a strenuous effort, but he turned his head to the side, to look at her. He found her eyes open, luminous and deep, gazing at him. Her breathing was very steady.

“ ‘ I sought not fire, yet is my heart all flame. Layla, this love is not of earth.’   ”

He shuddered and felt himself come back to this world fully, felt his body return to the space he occupied. Cordelia didn’t take her eyes off him, but she released her lower lip from between her teeth, her body slackening in relief.

James was still cold, but not nearly as cold as he had been. Cordelia reached up and pushed a lock of his hair out of his eyes. He shuddered again, but not because of cold, and let his eyes close, and when he awoke again it was morning, and she was gone.

It was only another day or so before James’s fever broke for good. And only another day after that, Brother Enoch deemed him no longer contagious and his parents arrived with Lucie. And then he was well enough to get up, and then he was leaving Cirenworth for Idris and the familiar comforts of Herondale Manor. The weather there, his father reported, was fine.

Once he was out of bed, James and Cordelia returned to their ordinary, cordial way. Neither of them mentioned the time they had shared during James’s illness. No doubt, James thought, Cordelia had simply cared for him with the kindness and generosity she showed to everyone she liked. They did not embrace when they said goodbye. (Lucie clung to Cordelia like a limpet, despite Cordelia’s reassurances that she and her family would be at Herondale Manor themselves later that same summer.) As he stepped into the Portal, James waved to Cordelia, and she, amicably, waved back.

In the night, for a long time to come, James thought of jasmine and woodsmoke, the press of her arm, fathomless dark eyes gazing into his.

“ ‘ The secret path he eager chose, where Layla’s distant mansion rose; he kissed the door. A thousand wings increased his pace, whence, his fond devotions paid, a thousand thorns his course delayed. No rest he found by day or night—Layla, forever, in his sight.’  ”

❌SPOILER ALERT❌

DAYS PAST:CIRENWORTH HALL,1900

That F*CKING BRACLET HAS DONE SOME THING TO MAKE JAMES HERONDALE FORGET THIS😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[mundusarchitect]

--// While I greatly enjoy entertaining the small theory a few fans came up with, claiming Mehrunes is actually a corruption of a weaker offshoot of Magnus, some things they consider evidence can be easily attributed to something else, albeit still related to the Magna Ge. 

Now, we'll have to start at the beginning, including not officially canon lore written by the devil MK. You see, according to Skaal legend, Mehrunes Dagon did not, in fact, start out as Mehrunes Dagon at all. Dagon, old elven for destruction, was a name thrusted upon him by Alduin when he cursed him to collect the parts of the world he stole in an attempt to end the cycles he was always the last to survive. You know, like the dragonborn tries to do, only more successful because of the use of elder scrolls and time magic. The leaper demon king, as Mehrunes Dagon was referred to before his curse, was a kindly demon whose only ability was to "leap" or "jump". No detail is given as to what that means. He could very well have been of a race of interplanar giants. That, or he was a great high jumper. We'll never know. Anyway, he had no time magic. He only had apparently spatial magic enough to hide parts of the world from the world eater himself, with the help of the Greedy Man. Do we know who the greedy man is? An aspect of the Adversary in Skaal myth, the antithesis of the All-Maker. Some assume it was Lorkhan, due to Aevar Stone Singer, The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga, and Heart of the World. That, and the Adversary takes delight in tormenting and testing the Skaal people. 

The Adversary and All-Maker thing is said to resemble Padomay and Anu in their conflicting natures. Lorkhan is of the void, of Padomay, so him being the Greedy Man checks out well enough. Furthermore, removing the limitation of Mundus' cycle by exploiting the limitations of the end of time(Alduin), which ends poorly for the people he's convinced, is very much befitting Lorkhan as well. Furthermore, only Mehrunes is left over from the race, leaper demons, meaning he somehow escaped the limitation of death. 

Now, of course, some might think this parallels Magnus being tricked by Lorkhan and the leaping parallels Magnus and the Magna Ge fleeing Mundus before their eventual deaths could befall them, making them and their magic limitless according to the Altmer. If Lorkhan is seen as a trickster by many, however, all of his aspects would trick others with similar links to his sphere. The leaping? Well, I got nothing on that. 

Anyway, Alduin cursed the leaper demon king to be Dagon, destruction, and collect all of the world he hid from him to break the curse. Obviously, that was impossible. The Greedy Man would continue to collect and hide parts of the world, and Dagon knew that. He had an ambitious task ahead of him. However, this does not fall in line with Magnus being an observer. A creator, maybe, since Dagon wanted to craft a longer and more perfect world before becoming his own antithesis. Still, it's not entirely convincing.  

In the second fight in the seven fights of the Aldudagga, Mehrunes convinced the elves to attack Saarthal, where the Eye of Magnus so happens to be. Granted, he also needed the bloodshed to be able to enter Mundus without issue, and the Eye of Magnus is an incredibly powerful relic regardless of who you are. As such, I will dismiss this. We will next be discussing another hard to trust narrator, Mankar Camoran.

It is said that Mehrunes Dagon’s "mistress is the blazing sun." It's in reverse, in the 16 acceptable blasphemies section of the Pocket Guide to Empire, 1st Edition/Invocation.

In the Mythic Dawn commentaries, Mehrunes is said to reference a type of Magna Ge. Mnemoli, which is the untime that appears at a dragon break and are called keepers of the Elder Scrolls. Their spectrum makes them appear as a blue sun. They write the Elder Scrolls based on the songs produced by the music of Nirn. They shape them into various realities and place them into the Elder Scrolls. Though, this is a point of contention, as the Pension of the Ancestor Moth states the Elder Scrolls as exceeding both Aedra and Daedra, but in the previously noted theory these Magna Ge took part in creation, Making them Aedra, and thus unable to write the Elder Scrolls. 

Anyway, Mehrunes supposedly says that those who are the gone-forlorn are to be "eaten" or bled dry to gain that small will that led them to walk the path of Godhead at first. Assumed to mean those who partake in something grand but then back out, like creation? Now, he says spit out or burn to the side that which made them delay and to know them as Mnemoli. A type of Magna-Ge who read the songs of Nirn to foretell events before they've occured. Could it be in reference to concerns one may have upon starting a grand endeavor? However, the Mythic Dawn don’t feel negatively towards the Magna Ge, so it may be that Mehrunes considers the Mnemoli as separate from other Magna Ge or he’s referencing Aedra and Mnemoli are, in fact, Aedra. That, or Mankar fucked up Mehrunes’ words again. 

Mankar calls himself... Mankar of the stars... And makes reference to tower traitors who will hang. (The Aedra? Who knows?) Now, Mundus is in possession of towers holding reality in place. It says the Mnemoli "run blue, through noise, and shine only when the earth trembles with the eruption of the newly mantled." 

Anyway, Mankar continues to speak of the Ada Mantia(towers), CHIM, Paradise, and that faltering will make you one with the wayside orphans that feed him. He says, "Starlight is you mantle, brother." Another reference to the sun and stars, the Magna Ge. 

Now, the name Mythic Dawn may be a reference to wanting to restore Mehrunes back to Mundus as when he still walked the lands in the mythic era, or merethic era, predating time as mortals know it and the existence of Malacath. This fits into Mehrunes being cursed and all that jazz, because he wants to walk his home, Mundus, again. 

"You did not expect to see me again, did you? You have no grasp of the power that my father has at his command. You think you can stop us? Mehrunes Dagon will walk upon Tamriel for the first time since the Mythic Age, and our victory will be complete. Come, my father is waiting to welcome you to Carac Agaialor." - Ruma Camoran.

They also see the divines as traitors who killed Lorkhan and Nirn as Lorkhan's realm, which I suppose it could be seen as. Camoran makes so many mistakes when discussing other people’s realms, so… What does he know? It is true that the aedra betrayed Lorkhan, however, and Nirn was made to satisfy him. It was his plan to make the realm, and the Aedra turned on him. The Mythic Dawn also revere the Magna Ge who created "Mehrunes the Razor" in the bowls of Lyg. The Magna Ge are diverse but all serve to create hope, something they imbued a hopeless Dagon with.  

Then we get to the sun emblem Mehrunes/house Dagon and his follows sport. Why a sun? Seeing as both Magnus and Auri-El are associated with the sun, the “blazing sun” could be either, no? It's pocket guide to the Empire, so one could be inclined to assume it is Akatosh, since Magnus isn't popular among humans. They have Julianos/Jhunal, for magic. They don't need Magnus. In fact, Magnus isn't even mentioned by name in the pocket guide to the Empire. But why link Akatosh to Mehrunes? Maybe, it's because he's cursed by Alduin, making him effectively a puppet of Akatosh by extension? 

Nay, the sun is his emblem in reference to the Magna Ge who sharpened him into a weapon that would strike down the dreugh king, or the Ruddy Man, so hard that he split the face of Lyg itself. 

Besides, Akatosh is not commonly associated with the sun, as far as I have seen. Auri-El, the soul of Anui-El, is. They are and are not one and the same. They shine in similar wavelengths, but Auri-El is the elven and original aspect, who showed the elves how to escape the Mundus when he ascended to Aetherius or Heaven.

Now, the fans also noted that the Ayleid revered the sun, choosing not to use fire for lighting and instead shards of Aetherius, deeming fire as a weaker form of light. Mehrunes is associated with fire, Magnus is associated with light. Magnus is the elder god of magic. Magic is energy. Mehrunes has energy in his sphere of influence. Mehrunes also has revolution as sphere, and Magnus did sort of start a type of revolution and leave, unlike the other Aedra. Mehrunes is often seen as a betrayer, and Nords see Magnus as a betrayer. That being said, there are many other daedra and non-daedra associated with fire and revolution/rebellion, and Meridia hasn’t said anything hinting at Mehrunes being related to a Magna Ge chief. Granted, she fled to the Void rather than Aetherius and wouldn’t know what the Aetherial Magna Ge get up to in her absence.

Do I have a conclusion? Maybe. Is Mehrunes actually a lesser aspect of Magnus? I do not think he is. Yes, it is likely that Magnus left parts of himself behind in Mundus, like he left behind his artefacts and reflections/mirrors/echoes of his past presence, but Kynareth was on the warpath against these mirrors in Shor Son of Shor until Shor told her they were indeed but remnants of Magnus, or Jarl Magnar, whom the Nords to not name because he is unworthy of having his name on their lips, being used against them by the other chieftains. Then again… if she stopped killing his remnants after that first one, several others could have lived on and become one being when time solidified. 

The real answer could be anything, and most claims of proof are a reach. It would be very amusing if I was wrong and I welcome it with open arms. Anyway, Dagon was moulded into Mehrunes the Razor by Magna Ge after he was cast into the void by Alduin, and that’s all we’ve got. I think…

Heck, we can’t even trust the Imperial Library. Maybe he wasn’t cursed by Alduin at all, and he was just a creation of the Magna Ge to free Lyg of the Ruddy Man’s influence. Also, if the LDK thing is indeed canon, it could be that the Skaal are one of the parts of previous cycles the LDK preserved. I will always enjoy playing with the Magnus is linked to Mehrunes Dagon theory, and may make reference to it, but I won’t take it as full canon unlike some people. There is just too little to go on.

Someone else tried to argue with anagrams, but… uh... By that logic, Jyggalag is Jaal. Well, if we only go by Jaal’s first name.

Anyway, this is long and makes no sense. Bye.

Also, whoever wrote the commentaries (Mankar himself) is into Dagon's feet, evidently. He’s calls Dagon’s feet golden. That is the only solid canon to be gotten from this. Mankar camoran is a monster foot fetishist.  ))

[douxreviews]

True Detective - ‘The Hour and the Day’ Review

“I wanna know the whole story.”

The fourth True Detective episode usually features a big action scene that solidifies the halfway point in the story. The harrowing one-shot sequence in season one. The relentless shooting spree in season two. This is more of a prelude to this season's intense powder-keg separating the first half of the story from the second. It's another way that this new story toys with paying lip service to what came before while contenting itself with being its own thing.

What this does instead is take its sweet time in fleshing out what exactly is going on in each of the three timelines and the states of the characters as they exist within each of those eras. It sets the stage for what comes next in the season, while also being character and dialogue heavy. It also takes more time to explore the themes of the season, which I especially enjoyed.

Racial Divide

The issue of race is finally examined, which I feel the show has been dancing around until now.

I felt it was always in the background, noticeable in the lingering, guarded or just suspicious looks that are directed at Wayne Hays, the black detective in rural Arkansas. I've noticed it from the very first episode. Some people don't realize that prejudice is not always overt. In fact, I'd say a majority of it goes understated or unspoken, in that Travis Bickle sort of way.

The thing is most of the people who regard Hays in this way probably aren't even malicious about it, or would even consider themselves racist; I know people like this. You've got ones like state prosecutor turned Attorney General Daryl Kent who clearly looks down on Hays with this smug, dismissive superiority. Then you've got people like Mrs. Faber who will maintain politeness but always see him as an other, holding that look of thinly veiled fear and suspicion. Then there's guys like Tom Purcell, who'll drop racial slurs in moments of anger or frustration and then quickly feel ashamed; that reaction exists somewhere in their upbringing, but they know it's wrong.

No matter the shade in which it presents itself, there's no doubt it sticks in the craw of men as dignified as Hays.

Or men who aren't, as displayed when Hays and West pay a visit to Sam Whitehead, a possible lead on the one-eyed black man who bought the ominous dolls. Was his immediate rabble-rousing and accusations of racial profiling and witch-hunts just a natural reaction from an old black man who has experienced decades of injustice from white cops, or was it an easy way of avoiding direct answers to the questions he was asked? It's not entirely clear.

The hectic encounter with Whitehead and the other residents of that local ghetto did highlight the nuanced dynamic between Hays and West, which I've enjoyed throughout this season. While clearly a bit of a good ole' boy, West does not seem prejudiced. He even seems rather progressive for a man of his era, region and occupation, given his deep respect for his partner and stony admonition of Tom for his aforementioned drunken insult toward Hays. And Hays, while constantly on his toes about the racial divide between them, seems to recognize West's empathic quality, even enjoys it when West jokingly needles him about this sensitivity. It's another reason I dig this partnership, that understanding between two no-nonsense individuals.

Another character who appears not to be clouded by the resident race elephant is the priest at the Catholic church attended by the Purcells. Although West distrusts him on account of being a priest -- which would make even more sense today than in 1980 -- the man is very helpful in organizing his congregation to aid the detectives. He seems sincere in his assessment of Will and Julie and he hopes Hays, a former altar boy, would be open to confession. Nice guy, but there were certain things about his scenes that made me wonder if he might be involved in what happened to the kids.

Couples Counseling

More personal than societal, but equally important are the various relationships we are faced with in this story. It's heavily suggested that they have quite a bit of bearing on what's going on.

The big one is Wayne and Amelia's relationship. The contrast between their blossoming romance in 1980 and their rocky marriage in 1990 is very striking. We first see that the later stage is marred by feelings of resentment from Wayne and accusations of inadequacy from Amelia, despite the love they still share. After ten years, they've become worn down by the flaws and neurotic tendencies they seemed so excited about discovering at the start of their romance.

The first dinner date between Hays and Amelia was certainly the best scene in the episode. It was very cute, even sexy in a surprisingly subtle way. And their dialogue back and forth was just wonderful. Despite being so different in terms of background, occupation, politics and temperament, there was an instant chemistry that both recognized. Almost like these two people who each claim to have never wanted marriage or kids saw in each other the possibility of a future together in this first foray into intimacy.

Initially, though, there's Tom and Lucy Purcell. A couple whose furiously tumultuous marriage bred an unhappy family life, which may have played a factor in their children's secretive meetings with mysterious strangers and their eventual abduction.

Amelia gains an insight into this as she tries to comfort the distraught Lucy, and ends up getting the feeling that Lucy might be hiding something and ends up getting cursed out by the latter thanks addressing it. Not a very good first attempt at junior detective work, but she may have just unearthed a clue without realizing it. Lucy claimed that "Children should laugh", the same phrase included in the cryptic letter sent by Julie's abductor. Either Lucy was just wistfully acknowledging the logic of that message or it could be that she had something to do with what befell her children. It's still ambiguous.

As for Tom, we get to see the beginning of his and West's odd friendship as West gives the heartbroken Tom a place to stay away from his sad home. It's another indication that West is a naturally empathetic person, despite occasionally coming off as a hardass. Though it might be that his empathy has dampened somewhat in the years since.

It's a shame that the 1980 dynamic between Hays and West doesn't return when Hays is brought on board the task force of the second Purcell case ten years later. A shame, but realistic. No way the dynamic is the same after Hays got the shaft and West became the successful, award-winning career lawman who shook hands with young, pre-controversy Bill Clinton. And the fact that Hays, lead detective on the original case, is now expected to follow West's lead doesn't help. No-nonsense or not, old friends or not, pride asserts itself. To put it bluntly, dicks will inevitably be measured and pissing contested.

Haunted Houses

Now let's get more cerebral. The first season's tagline was "Touch darkness, and darkness touches you back", vey Nietzsche-like. That seems to be a constant theme throughout this series. The ways in which human horror and trauma can have dramatic effects on a person's sense of self and their reality. How they might serve as some explanation of what we see as the spiritual, supernatural and even paranormal.

It's introduced well-enough. Tom and Lucy Purcell feel trapped in their house, the place where the kids, the only thing that united them, were raised. Tom can't stay there, broken by their absence. And Lucy seems to stay in it as self-imposed prison for her failings as a mother. A disturbing situation where the place that is meant to be home feels more like hell.

The Hays household experiences a similar phenomena later, which Old Hays admits. He came to believe his unending obsession with the case infected Amelia and their children, sullying their chances at a stable, happy family. That he ended up cursing them with his own restless demons.

This takes on what could be a more literal meaning as Old Hays finds himself reminiscing on the past at the same time he struggles to beat back the ghosts in his mind. It's an incredibly haunting scene, watching him struggle to grasp the memories of his life as men he killed in Vietnam (and one caucasian man in a suit) close in and hover over him like phantoms, whispering, accusing. And the show has played so fast and loose with the line between psychologically unhinged experiences and what might be darker forces that exist on the fringes of existence. Rustin Cohle had his drug-induced visions which at times appeared to grant him insights into hidden otherworldly realms. Ray Velcoro's near death experience offered a bizarre yet prophetic glimpse into a possible afterlife. Now Wayne Hays' years of multi-faceted PTSD compounded by dementia conjure menacing ghosts from the past.

"Purple" Hays, indeed.

Escalating Confusion

But themes aside, the more concrete plot points are there as well.

In 2015, a dogged Old Hays enlists his son -- revealed to be an Arkansas State Police detective like his father once was -- in finding West to help him remember the details of the two Purcell cases. To my surprise, he tells Elisa Montgomery in their private meeting that the 1990 case haunts him most of all. Elisa informs him that she and her team of investigators discovered that the skeletal remains of Dan O'Brian, Lucy Purcell's cousin and suspect in both cases, were recently found in a drained quarry after he went missing around the time of the second case.

Which is interesting, because Dan O'Brian was already missing prior to 1990.

But Hays makes a possibly huge development in the second case when he spots a mysterious young woman who could very well be a grown up Julie Purcell on the security footage of the store where her prints were found.

Meanwhile, in 1980, Hays and West end up traumatizing Freddy Burns when his prints are discovered on Will's abandoned bike; I'd totally forgotten him drunkenly riding it at Devil's Den in the first episode.

The detectives and feds are drawn away from this obvious red herring when they catch wind of the redneck lynch mob advancing on Brett Woodard's home, who has prepared for this event with a military arsenal that's sure to deliver on the action spectacle we've all been waiting for.

Bits and Pieces:

* “The Hour and the Day” was co-written by David Milch, creator of Deadwood. This explains why the characters, dialogue and themes felt even richer than usual in this episode. Milch is almost as acerbic and literary as Nic Pizzolato, if not more.

* There's a framed picture of a brunette woman on West's desk in 1990. I'm betting that's Lori, the girl he was putting the moves on at the church.

* Hays sarcastically raising his hand during a briefing was another fun little callback to the first season.

* Not sure if it was explicitly stated before, but Kent, the state prosecutor in 1980, appears to have blatantly used the Purcell case to snag himself the Attorney General office. What a guy.

* Black Sabbath has been around since the late ‘60s. Seems kind of strange that a bunch of men in their 30s act as if it’s some strange new thing in the early '80s. Perhaps its mainstream recognition in my generation is simply coloring my perspective.

* During his ghostly encounter, Old Hays makes note of a dark sedan that is staking out his house.

Quotes:

Amelia (1990): Let go of me, Wayne. Hays (1990): Stop talking shit about me! Amelia (1990): Or what? Hays (1990): … Or I’m gonna start crying. Wasn’t expecting that.

Sam Whitehead: And you. How’re you gonna wear that badge? Hays: It’s got a little clip on it. Ha!

Hays: Can we say this was anonymous vandals? West: We’re not going with irate negroes?

Hays (1990): We ain’t doing any of that shit they just said, right? West (1990): Wasn’t planning on it.

Priest: Would you like to confess now? Hays: I reckon I’ll let it pile up a little more.

Hays: Thing of it is, Father, we’re about ninety percent sure that whoever took Julie or Will are one of yours. Priest: I find it difficult to believe that anyone here could something like that. Hays: They don’t exactly wear a signboard says “psycho killer.”

Four out of five Claymore mines.

Logan Cox

[dfroza]

how do people deal with their impending death?

do they seek the hope of rebirth in the True illumination of the Son?

do you know that we as children of Light have become Heaven’s poetry?

A line from Today’s reading of the ancient Scriptures from the 2nd chapter of the Letter of Ephesians:

“For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago.”

(verse 10 in The Voice)

with the whole chapter here in The Passion Translation:

[God’s Power Raised Us from the Dead]

And his fullness fills you, even though you were once like corpses, dead in your sins and offenses. It wasn’t that long ago that you lived in the religion, customs, and values of this world, obeying the dark ruler of the earthly realm who fills the atmosphere with his authority, and works diligently in the hearts of those who are disobedient to the truth of God. The corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life. We lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, living as rebellious children subject to God’s wrath like everyone else.

But God still loved us with such great love. He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace! He raised us up with Christ the exalted One, and we ascended with him into the glorious perfection and authority of the heavenly realm, for we are now co-seated as one with Christ!

Throughout the coming ages we will be the visible display of the infinite riches of his grace and kindness, which was showered upon us in Jesus Christ. For by grace you have been saved by faith. Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving.

We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!

[A New Humanity]

So don’t forget that you were not born as Jews and were uncircumcised (circumcision itself is just a work of man’s hands); you had none of the Jewish covenants and laws; you were foreigners to Israel’s incredible heritage; you were without the covenants and prophetic promises of the Messiah, the promised hope, and without God.

Yet look at you now! Everything is new! Although you were once distant and far away from God, now you have been brought delightfully close to him through the sacred blood of Jesus—you have actually been united to Christ!

Our reconciling “Peace” is Jesus! He has made Jew and non-Jew one in Christ. By dying as our sacrifice, he has broken down every wall of prejudice that separated us and has now made us equal through our union with Christ. Ethnic hatred has been dissolved by the crucifixion of his precious body on the cross. The legal code that stood condemning every one of us has now been repealed by his command. His triune essence has made peace between us by starting over—forming one new race of humanity, Jews and non-Jews fused together in himself!

Two have now become one, and we live restored to God and reconciled in the body of Christ. Through his crucifixion, hatred died. For the Messiah has come to preach this sweet message of peace to you, the ones who were distant, and to those who are near. And now, because we are united to Christ, we both have equal and direct access in the realm of the Holy Spirit to come before the Father!

So, you are not foreigners or guests, but rather you are the children of the city of the holy ones, with all the rights as family members of the household of God. You are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple; and your lives have been built up together upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and best of all, you are connected to the Head Cornerstone of the building, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ himself!

This entire building is under construction and is continually growing under his supervision until it rises up completed as the holy temple of the Lord himself. This means that God is transforming each one of you into the Holy of Holies, his dwelling place, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you!

The Letter of Ephesians, Chapter 2 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 6th chapter of the book of Jeremiah that gives warning due to injustice and lies:

Eternal One (to His people): Run away, people of Benjamin,

and take refuge anywhere but Jerusalem.

You’re not safe inside those walls.

From the village of Tekoa, blow the trumpet, sound the alarm.

Light the warning fires above Beth-haccerem across the land.

For evil peers down; a dark army of destruction is gathering in the north.

I will destroy Jerusalem,

beautiful and delicate daughter of Zion.

As shepherds come and surround her with flocks of hungry sheep,

so their enemies will gather their troops around you, set up camp,

And feed off your land as they see fit.

“Get ready for the battle,” they cry.

��Come on, let’s attack. It’s already noon!

But look, the day is half over—

the shadows are growing longer.

So arise, let us launch our attack at night.

The palaces will fall in the darkness!”

This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, decrees.

Eternal One: Cut down her trees—make battering rams and siege ramps—

for Jerusalem will soon be under attack.

Swarm over those walls, you invading hoards,

and punish My Jerusalem, the city of oppression.

Like fresh water from a well,

fresh wickedness flows from deep inside of her.

Sounds of cruelty and destruction rumble through this city;

her wounds are always before Me.

Take Me seriously, O Jerusalem; this warning is for you!

Listen to My words and turn away from evil

Or I will turn away from you in disgust.

I will turn you into a land so barren that no one would dare to live there.

This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, decrees:

Eternal One: The enemy will pass over the remnant of Israel again and glean what is left,

like the worker who checks the vine again for any missed grapes.

To whom should I speak and give this warning?

Who will listen to what I say?

Their ears are closed; they cannot hear. They’re deaf to anything about God.

The Eternal’s word is offensive to them. They take no delight in it.

But I am welling up with His anger.

I’m too tired to try to hold it in any longer.

Eternal One: Pour it out on children playing in the streets,

on young men meeting together.

Husbands and wives, old and even the very old—

let each of them know they will be taken.

Their homes will be seized and lived in by others;

so, too, will their fields and wives be taken from them and given to others when I reach out against the people of this land.

Greed has corrupted this culture, from the least to the greatest:

all are tainted with this lust for what they don’t deserve.

The prophets and priests are no better.

Their lives reek with deceit.

To heal the brokenness of My people,

they offer superficial words.

They say, “Peace, peace,” as if all is well.

But there is no peace.

Do they feel any shame for their disgraceful deeds?

Absolutely not. My very own have forgotten how to blush.

And so it is that they will fall among the fallen and be defeated;

when the time comes, they will stumble beneath the weight of My punishment;

They will know soon enough what they have done.

This is what the Eternal decrees:

Eternal One (to the people): Stand at the crossing, and consider the ancient path,

for it is good and it leads to Me.

Walk on this path, and you will find rest for your souls.

But they have said, “We will not walk upon this road.”

Even then I sent watchmen to warn you of what is to come.

“Listen for the blaring of the trumpet,” I warned.

But the people did not listen.

They said, “We will not pay attention.”

Now listen to Me, nations of the earth.

Learn, O congregation, what is about to happen to My people.

Listen, O Earth, for I am bringing this disaster upon Judah.

This is the fruit of their own scheming.

For My people would not listen to My instructions;

They have rejected My guidance—My law—to go their own way.

Eternal One: What use do I have of your expensive incense from Sheba

or the fragrant reeds you offer Me from a faraway land?

I will not accept your burnt offerings;

the aroma of these empty sacrifices does not please Me.

And so I, the Eternal One, will place stumbling blocks on your path of rebellion.

You will stumble indeed, fathers and sons alike.

Neighbors and friends will be wiped out.

Look in the distance, and you will see an army

marching toward you out of the north.

A nation whose size and might you can’t imagine

is now awakening and coming from the remote parts of the earth.

They are armed with bows and spears.

Their hearts are cruel and will show you no mercy.

The sound of their massive army,

riding in on their horses, is like the sound of an angry sea;

They are ready for battle, marching in formation,

coming to destroy you, O Jerusalem, daughter of Zion.

We heard the news, and our strength vanished—anguish and fear grip us.

We twist in pain like a woman giving birth.

Do not go into the field alone.

Do not walk the streets, for our enemy is armed and approaching fast.

Terror is everywhere we turn.

You who are my people, weep with me for it is time.

Put on sackcloth and roll in ashes.

Cry as you would for the loss of an only child.

The time for bitter tears has come.

The destroyer is descending upon us quickly,

and the days of sadness will soon begin.

Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Put My people to the test.

Examine their ways as a refiner tests the ore’s purity.

They are all stubborn rebels,

lying to each other and to Me.

They are nothing more than bronze and iron—

lesser metals, corrupt and common.

The refining fire has blazed fiercely, My prophet;

the lead is burned away in the fire.

But it’s no use. Though the refining fire burns hot,

their wickedness cannot be removed.

Now I, the Eternal, reject them as impure—

“rejected silver” is what they will be called.

The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 6 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, August 19 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about examining ourselves as we are refined like gold is refined:

The Apostle Paul said we were to both “test ourselves” with regard to the intellectual content of our faith and also to “prove ourselves” with regard to the veracity of our spiritual life: "Put yourselves to the test (ἑαυτοὺς πειράζετε) to see if you are in the faith; prove yourselves (ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε) to see whether Yeshua the Messiah lives within you - lest you fail the test and be disapproved (ἀδόκιμος)" (1 Cor. 13:5). Notice that the verb "to prove" (i.e., dokimadzo: δοκιμάζω) means to test something by fire (like a precious metal) to discover its quality and purity. The analogy here is straightforward. The quality of our faith will be revealed during times of testing and hard circumstance. Do we walk in love, joy, and peace - despite the testing of this life? If our faith regularly fails in the crucible of testing, we may need to reexamine its authenticity (Prov. 24:10).

A proven faith is one that evidences the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, though other characteristics include an abhorrence for personal sin and the desire to obtain God’s forgiveness; a hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness to be manifest; a sincere willingness to obey the LORD and keep His commandments, and a heartfelt love for God and others. These characteristics mark genuine teshuvah (“repentance”), that is, a turning away from inner darkness to the light of the Divine Presence. Teshuvah is a miracle that transforms the person so that the inner life is restructured and made into a new creation by means of God’s grace (2 Cor. 5:17). Spiritual rebirth implies a new heart with a new set of affections: “I am crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

The Jewish view of truth is inherently existential - how you live reveals what you believe, and vice-versa. The truth must be lived in order to be real. We are to be "doers" of the Word, and not hearers only, since faith without works is dead and leads to self-deception (lit., "reasoning around" the truth, i.e., παραλογίζομαι, from παρά, "around, beside" and λογίζομαι, "to reason"). Only those who follow through and live out their faith will be blessed in their actions (James 1:22, 25). This mirrors Yeshua's statement, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:17).

Reb Lev said, ‘A tzaddik is one who lives Torah, not one who preaches it. Your actions, not your words! You have to be Torah: your habits, your motions, even your silences - are what count...”

There remains the frightening possibility that the soul - even the soul that professes faith in the Messiah - may fail the test of genuine faith and be rejected (i.e., adokimos: ἀδόκιμος, "tested and found useless"). A person who merely professes love for God with his lips but whose heart is far from Him will eventually hear the verdict of truth, which ratifies the inner life of the soul: “Depart from Me, I never knew you...” This is the like-for-like principle of faith, the reciprocity of the inner life of the soul. Our faith in Messiah must be unalloyed - pure, without compromise in its composition and character. May God help each of us...

Should we live in fear of ourselves? After all, “the heart is deceptive above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9), and it is woefully easy to fool ourselves regarding our sins (1 Cor. 8:2; Gal. 6:3; James 1:26). Well on the one hand we should indeed be afraid of our own sinful tendencies and abhor the sin in our lives, but on the other we must practice hope in God and trust in his healing and deliverance. Moreover, we can experience freedom from dread by receiving the joy that comes from the assurance that we are accepted in the Beloved. God has not given us a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear; and there is no fear in His love (Rom. 8:15; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:18). Of course we all will fail the test apart from the grace and love of God, and no one can be approved by means of the unaided will. We all need a miracle from God to love Him in the truth and to pass the test -- but God is the One who performs miracles for us. The LORD is Adonai Nissi (יהוה נִסִּי), the God of my miracle...

There is a price to be paid for the miracle of God being manifest in our lives. The message of the cross means confessing the truth about who we are and how we have failed the test of faith. Yeshua does not appeal to the self-righteous ones to come for healing, but rather to the sin-sick and weary (Mark 2:17). The LORD wants us to be honest with ourselves, as it says: “"Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart" (Psalm 51:6).

The Tenth Commandment says, "do not covet" anything that belongs to your neighbor (Deut. 5:21), though the Hebrew does not simply say "do not desire" (i.e., לא תְאַוֶּה) but rather "do not bring yourself into a state of desire" (i.e., לא תִתְאַוֶּה), the verb in this case (אָוַה) being "hitpael" (reflexive), that is, expressing the relationship within yourself to the truth of God. As Soren Kierkegaard once said, the "self" expresses a relation with itself, and the "how" of that relation determines what sort of self we are... God does not command us like someone might train a dog; he instructs us to awaken to what we are doing, to take responsibility for our lives, and not to yield our hearts to envy, despair, and sorrow.

The unexamined life -- especially as a follower of Yeshua -- is not worth living, and the practice of suppressing the truth about our sinful condition can lead to self-deception and even death (1 Cor. 11:30). "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7-8). “Therefore, confess (ἐξομολογέω, lit. 'confess out') your sins to one another and pray (εὔχομαι) for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person (tzaddik) works great power” (James 5:16). [Hebrew for Christians]

8.18.21 • Facebook

and another about returning the heart to Love:

Part of the meaning of teshuvah (i.e., “repentance”), at least for some of us, is learning to trust and believe in love.... If you were abandoned as a child, for instance, you were deprived of the security, nurture, and basic human connection you needed to partake in love. Instead of acquiring a sense of belonging and acceptance your soul desperately needed, you inherited a sense of shame that taught that you were inherently unlovable and unworthy. Consequently, as you grew up, you may have found it difficult to trust or ask others for help; you might have turned inward, relying only on yourself, protecting yourself from further pain. You may have became lonely, filled with sadness, anger, and fear. Ironically and tragically, as you protected yourself from abandonment you made your heart hard and numb, and that led to the abandonment of yourself....

There are providential miracles... Healing can come when we turn again to ourselves - unconditionally accepting ourselves despite the pain of our past - and open our hearts to be loved. It was when he "came to himself" that the prodigal made the decision to go back to his father (Luke 15:17). Therefore the Spirit of God calls out to the bereft: "Return to your heart and know" (Deut. 4:29). This is possible only if we are willing to turn to God for the grace we need to be made whole. It is by turning to God (i.e., teshuvah) that we find ourselves to be beloved and made whole. Believing in God's love for us enables us to truly love ourselves, and from that connection, we can move out to love others as well.

O friend of forsaken hope, savor the phrase, "Know therefore today and return to your heart..." It the heart that is the place of connection with God... As Yeshua said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). Today may you find courage to "return to your heart" and receive again God's love for your soul... Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]

followed by a post about making amends with others:

In our Torah reading for this week, parashat Ki Teitzei, we read: “Do not ignore the loss of your brother... you shall restore it to him” (Deut. 22:1-3). This indicates that we have a moral duty to return lost items to others, and on a spiritual level that includes restoring honor and dignity to those who have lost sight of their value in the eyes of God... For even greater reason we must make restitution to those whom we have harmed. Making amends is part of the teshuvah process, after all. We hurt ourselves when we hurt others, and we hurt others when we hurt ourselves. The way out of *that* circle is through making amends. As Yeshua taught: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:22-23). “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person works great power” (James 5:16). Ultimately, confession of the truth is not optional for anyone.

Indeed, regarding the duty to restore what is lost to our brother mentioned above, the Torah adds, “and you are not to ignore it,” which literally reads, “you are unable to hide it” (לא תוּכַל לְהִתְעַלֵּם). Rabbi Abraham Twerski notes that the Torah is not giving us a command as much as stating a fact: You are unable to hide from a wrongful act. In other words, the problem with “getting away with it” is that you get away with it, that is, you take it with you. Such self-deception sears your conscience, makes you numb inside, and deadens the heart. Making amends to others is life-giving, helping you let go of what you’ve done wrong to restore inner peace. We must be vigilant not to let our hearts die because of either shame or rationalization. May the LORD help us walk in the Spirit of Truth. [Hebrew for Christians]

8.19.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

August 19, 2021

Jeremiah and Inspiration

“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

Contained within the books of the Old Testament are nearly three thousand claims to its precise trustworthiness. Over and over again, the various authors claim to be communicating the very words of God.

A number of such claims were recorded by Jeremiah in his book. As we see in our text, Jeremiah was somewhat discouraged with the lack of response to his ministry. But, just as he decided to refrain from passing on God’s Word to the people, he felt an inner burning, recognizing that these words were much too important to ignore. These words had come from God Himself!

On other occasions, he heard the words of God directly and was commanded to pass them on with precision. “Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not [literally ‘to shave,’ or ‘to lessen in effect’] a word” (Jeremiah 26:2). This straightforward teaching of verbal inspiration is applied to the written accounts, as well: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book” (Jeremiah 30:1-2).

This book, which throughout contains such strong condemnation of falsehood, and which was written over a period of more than two thousand years by numerous authors, yet without any contradiction between these writers, surely is the Word of the eternal, holy God. It is the information our Creator knows we need. JDM

A tweet by illumiNations about sacred work:

@IlluminationsBT: A clear, accurate, natural rendering of the New Testament takes about 7 years -- a full Bible, about 16 years.

8.19.21 • 12:00pm • Twitter

[evolutionsvoid]

Ter'Mora is one of the elemental Furies that was birthed when the Gods mated with one another. These massive creatures embody the disasters that devastate the mortal realm, and they use their powers to rain destruction on the many worlds. It was their conception that caused Ka'Ran'Koth to ban all Gods from ever breeding with immortals and mortals. Unfortunately the ban did nothing for the monstrosities already birthed, and the Gods could not destroy those that were purely made from their flesh. The Gods could only restrain the Furies, using their powers to delay the disasters that they bring. But every once in a while, one of the daughters will break free and unleash their wrath. Once their energy is spent, they will be ensnared once again, biding their time until they regain their strength. Ter'Mora is the creator of earthquakes, her power capable of shaking nations and crumbling cities. To stop her from using her power to devastate the mortal realm, Ter'Mora was taken by her father and imprisoned in a labyrinth of tunnels deep below the earth. Down here, her powers would only bury her in a sea of stone and trap her. These same tunnels are the ones her father travels so that the planets may rotate as they drift through space. The entire network is riddled with twists, turns and dead-ends, making navigation almost impossible. Ter'Mora can only wander these earthen tubes, seeking an exit to such an impossible space. Though maze-like, the underground labyrinth does indeed have a few exits, ones used by both gods or mortals. Eventually she will find her way to one of these exits, and climb up to the mortal realm high above. There she can use her powers to bring destruction to the world. The massive arm emerging from between her heads is capable of slamming down with enormous strength, shaking the very plates beneath her. This pounding creates powerful earthquakes that can bring buildings down in an avalanche of debris, and can even crack the earth itself. The size and power of these quakes all depend on how fast her father can discover that she has escaped, and how quickly he can spirit her away, back down to the labyrinthine depths. Even when caught, though, the quakes don't quite stop. For some time, aftershocks can be felt throughout the area, as Ter'Mora lashes out at her father as he drags her down below.   Though a being of destruction, Ter'Mora appears to have some affinity for her fellow Fury, Tsundra. It is believed that Ter'Mora and Tsundra were born in the realm of the Gods on the same day. The two had a chance to meet and find solace in each other before their parents whisked them away to the mortal realm, forever separating them. With Ter'Mora locked within the depths of the earth and Tsundra hiding in the depths of the sea, the two can never be with each other. The only opportunity they have is when Ter'Mora escapes the labyrinth down below and travels to the surface world. In some cases, she will emerge far from the ocean and resort to her usual destruction. If she happens to come out near the coast of the sea, she will hurry to the waters, eager to find her friend. Standing at the shore, she will unleash her powerful quakes, hoping the tremors reach Tsundra as she hides down below. Unknowing of her friend's location, Ter'Mora can only wait and hope that she hears her call. In most cases, Ter'Mora's father takes notice first and drags her back down before she can even catch a sign of Tsundra. Pulled back into the dark labyrinth before she can see her beloved friend again. But there have been a few times, only a few, when she has caught a glimpse of Tsundra racing across the ocean surface. A quick look before her father snares her in his grip and takes her away. What such a sight means to her, the stories do not agree. Some say that this mere glimpse emboldens the destructive monster, making her even more eager to escape her prison and reach the surface world. Others say that this fleeting sight brings more pain then comfort, a reminder of things one can never have.  

[jillianmariebrowning]

Why Hair Matters

This is a presentation I gave at the Comics and Popular Arts Conference at DragonCon 2017 during the Race, Gender, and Culture in Comics panel titled “Why Hair Matters: Negotiating the Politics of Black Hair in Pop Culture” Transcript is below

In this presentation, I interrogate the representation of black hair within the realm of superheroes in comic books, film, and television series. Taking into consideration the time period and political climate which they were created I analyze black characters like Misty Knight, Storm, Black Lighting, and others. In particular, I analyze illustrative changes to their hair and hypothesize how this impacts the character with regard to the way he or she is perceived.

I am focusing on the visual elements that have proven to be common in the design of African American superheroes in the DC and Marvel universes and how those elements function as signs with larger symbolic meanings and cultural significance. Since readers can differ when it comes to gender, age, cultural background, etc images and symbols can have different meanings. A symbol can stand for something different depending on who interprets it. Because of this, certain signs can become complex sites of meaning, when the writer doesn’t poses the cultural knowledge of the subject.

The superhero Black Lightning was DC’s first African American character to get his own solo title. This did not happen until 1977 and like most minority characters in media his existence was quite political. Black Lightning’s civilian identity is an Olympic decathlete turned school principle named Jefferson Pierce.  

The original artist for Black Lightning was Trevor Von Eeden, a young black illustrator who was brought in to offer some insight into this new black character. He designed the look of Black Lightning, including his outfit, except for one very important detail.

Black Lightning’s most distinctive characteristic is that he wears a white mask to shield his identity. That mask is also somehow attached to an afro wig. Now, Jefferson Pierce himself has short hair but when he dons the identity of Black Lightning the act of augmenting his already existing hair to make it longer can be read as a radical act. In an interview Von Eden said “I did NOT design the afromask! I say this because in the 70s, when he was created, the afro was a black man’s symbol of pride, and self-respect, his singular identity. For a black superhero to remove his hair (or… put ON his hair) as part of his identity was certainly… odd. For a black man to do so was, shall we say, tellingly symbolic. And definitely NOT my idea.”

Within the black community, hair has always been at odds with societal conventions. In a society that values westernized beauty standards, closely cropped, “neat”, and straight styles are often considered more professional and safe. Thus, choosing to wear black hair the way it naturally grows out of one’s head can be considered a political statement. During the 1960s afros were worn by black political figures of the Civil Rights Movement and became not only a fashion statement but more importantly a signifier of political expression and pride. Pierce’s, professional job as a school principle would never have allowed him to have a large afro in civilian life so his use of this afro-wig as part of his superhero costume serves as a perfect disguise to make him completely unrecognizable.

Scholars have claimed that this costume serves a purpose of making an ethnic minority character “more ethnic” as if adding bigger hair will get the point across that Black Lightning is indeed black or proud of his blackness. He is often shown in many individual panels putting on and removing the afro-mask or holding it under one arm like some odd trophy.  The comics make sure to show the reader that his mask is indeed a mask. Pierce’s ability to add and remove his afro at will shows a contradicting acceptance and rejection of his afros meaning. During the Civil Right Movement the afro became a signifier of strength and perseverance, striving to be a symbol of justice and power and rightness in his neighborhood it’s often disappointing to see his disembodied afro-mask sitting silently on a shelf while Jefferson Peirce teaches the children of his neighborhood during the day.

Around that same time, Marvel introduced its first black female superhero. Our first introduction to Ororo Munroe is in the 1975 issue of Giant Sized X-Men #1 where she is introduced not as a mutant but as a self-proclaimed goddess in Kenya. She is using her powers of weather control to aid a local village suffering from a drought.

She is shown standing in front of a large stone altar as villagers cry “Ororo, great goddess of the storm come ease us of our burden!” She is only wearing a skirt and headdress, everything else covered by long flowing white hair. Each panel after uses her hair to illustrate movement but also as a demonstration of her power. We know that she is manipulating wind and weather because of the different sweeps of her hair in each panel. It also conveniently covers her chest no matter which way her body is contorted.

The comics also use her hair as a physical reminder of her goddess like powers. Having this unreal long, straight, stark white hair visually separates her from the villagers and indicates a person who doesn’t have the concerns a regular woman would about having hair. She doesn’t have to keep it a manageable length or styled, she’s a goddess! It can also be argued that the length and texture of Storm’s hair reflects an idea that she is better than other people. She refers to herself as a goddess, her first introduction into the comic we see her on a pedestal, long hair flowing around her. Historically a women’s worth was often defined by the length and quality of her hair, so illustrating Storm in this manner could function as a signifier of her status.

In Uncanny X-Men #173 which was published in 1983 and the year we get Mohawk Storm. We see an entirely new Storm here. She reveals this new look at Wolverine’s wedding, honestly for the drama of it all, her long flowing strands cut into a Mohawk while also wearing an entirely new outfit made of leather. Her new look is so shocking Kitty Pride cries and runs away. Storm’s response to Scott asking her why she changed her look is, “I had my reasons, Scott. Am I not allowed?!” In many cultures the act of cutting off a woman’s hair can be used as a punishment or humiliation or even to show a change in status, again, as an act of taking away a woman’s worth or beauty. But Storm, especially being labeled a goddess cutting off her own hair is an act of demonstrating her own body autonomy. She no longer feels the need to keep the hair of her old self. Or her X-Men costume for that matter.

We see a contemporary version of this Storm as actress Alexandra Shipp portrays the young orphan in X-Men Apocalypse.

Possibly the most famous iterations of Storm are when she is played by actress Halle Berry in the X-Men movies. Over the course of 14 years and four movies this version of Storm has had four different hair styles and colors, none of which are canon to any of her comic book styles. In contrast to the comic book illustrations, these shorter, stiff, stick straight synthetic wigs do nothing to indicate her powerful wind-controlling abilities, nor do they function in the same way to symbolize her status as a goddess.

Like Storm, Misty Knight’s hair has gone through a few journeys since her introduction. Her questionable hair choices have been a prominent discussion among fans for years.

Misty first appeared in 1975 in Marvel Premiere issue #21. Misty has a smaller tapered afro fairly common of the female fashions of this time frame. She continues with this hair style through the 1980s until she was reimaged in 2006 in Heroes for Hire.

In this book she seems to change hair styles throughout panels, something I have noticed is a common treatment for Misty. In issue 1 alone she goes from having braided hair in the front to having it gelled down straight. She also has a stylized dent in top of her hair giving her something reminiscent of what I like to call “wolverine points”.

During the 2011 run of Heroes for Hire we are introduced to Misty Knights infamous and confusing straight bangs which she continues to have during the 2013 Fearless Defenders run. The bangs are an issue for multiple reasons. As a woman of color who has at least a minor understanding of my own natural hair the process in which Misty would have to go through to straighten her bangs while still wearing the rest of hair natural is a laborious task. She is either flat ironing them every day (multiple times a day?) but if she used that process whenever her hair got wet it would curl back up again, something simple like working up a sweat while fighting would return her bangs to their natural texture.

In this panel, we see her swimming in the ocean and after she comes up her bangs are still straight. Her afro is also the same round shape while she is submerged in the water and when she surfaces. This signifies the creators of this comic don’t understand basic hair physics, regardless of hair texture. Her other option would be using a chemical relaxer. A chemical relaxer is the process of using a strong and damaging chemical paste to straighten curly or afro textured hair. This process is not reversible. Relaxers are a huge discussion within the natural hair community. A lot of us are coming up from a lifestyle of relaxing our hair and removing that damage involves cutting off the relaxed hair and letting the natural hair grow out. Therefore, I find it hard to believe that Misty would relax the front of her hair no matter how fashion forward. Having natural hair and bangs isn’t impossible but the way Misty’s are drawn are not achievable unless she is doing something to alter the texture of them, which they never show us.

In issue 4 of the 2011 run of Heroes for Hire shows my biggest grievance with Misty’s hair. It shows that the illustrator does not understand the basic science of natural black hair AT ALL. Misty’s hair is drawn reminiscent of a large pom pom with a static electricity issue. The ends of her hair are straight, almost as if the hair that grows out of her head is actually straight and just stands up on end to make her afro.

In this hospital scene, Misty is dealing with the aftermath of her phantom pregnancy by Danny Rand which made her very sick, she is laying in a hospital bed with her neck completely off the pillow here as if her afro is solid and propping her head up.

In 2014 we start seeing some versions of Misty where she has a more realistic and contemporary take on her hair. In the Daredevil Dark Night series we see her still with her red headband but we also see her afro in a more curl defined modern shape. It isn’t really fashionable for black women to wear their natural hair completely picked out and round. We normally go for a more curl defined look which also causes the hair to lay a little flatter than picking it out would. She still has her bangs here but they have a curlier texture.

In 2015 we get Secret Love which is part of the Secret Wars anthology. It’s a book of one shot love stories from a different universe including platonic as well as romantic love. For Misty, we get a glimpse of what her relationship with Danny would be like if they were married and had a child, possibly the one from her phantom pregnancy. Her hair here is the same type of contemporary style, more defined curls, even a rounder shape but still not the picked out cotton ball of her pervious hair.

The most important part of this comic for me is the last panel. Here we see Misty and Danny sharing a very intimate moment. Misty has her prosthetic arm off, in relaxed clothes and asking Danny to do her hair. Hair within the black community is ritual. Misty trusting Danny enough for him to be doing her batu knots or even the fact that he knows how to do them is almost unheard of. I don’t know any women, with a black husband or not, that would trust them enough to do their hair. To have Misty sharing this moment of intimacy and culture with Danny is extremely powerful.

Like previous writers of Misty, Jeremy Whitley is also a white man, but he wrote the comic as a reflection of his life. Jeremy’s wife is African American and he made sure to consult her throughout the story. In an interview he did with BlackGirlNerds.com he said “I originally had written microbraids into the last page.  However, my wife read the story and her first questions was “How long is this last scene?”  I said, based on the length of the two movies they watch that it was between 4-6 hours.  I was informed that not only was this an unlikely amount of time for this, but that it was unrealistic.  Having waited most of a day while my wife got microbraids in the past, I realized she was correct and decided to go with bantu knots instead.” Misty’s bantu knots are also a look into what goes into the texture of her hair in this comic. Bantu knots are often used as a form of “twist out” or protective style that also helps define the curls in natural hair. Misty may wear these knots as a hair style for a day or two and then take them out, or just sleep in them and undo them in the morning. The result will be larger defined curls and volume.

A real life example of that is Simone Missick’s hair in the Netflix Luke Cage series. Much to my excitement they also went with a more contemporary take on Misty’s hair for this iteration. I know I personally was so excited to see her hair represented this was and I wasn’t the only one.

Essence magazine wrote an entire article about what products Simone uses on her hair to achieve her Misty Knight curls.

She even gets asked on twitter by fans.

Representation is important and Simone knows that. Simone was asked in an interview what she thought the most important thing playing Misty for her was. She said “To be able to have my natural hair on TV, that will encourage so many more women who wear their hair natural who are told it’s not professional enough. I think it’s encouraging to all women to be who you are.” This is a powerful and relevant statement in our current political climate. So many women are not allowed to wear their natural hair to work for fear of being fired or not taken seriously. Girls are getting kicked out of school for having braids or are being told their afro is “too distracting”. The hair of black women has become a subject of political discussion but having positive, powerful role models in media is assuring.

This brings us to the two newest black female superheroes, Riri Williams and Lunella Lafyette aka Iron Heart and Moon Girl. I was ecstatic when these two girls were introduced because not only were they young and smart and black but they also wore their hair naturally curly. It would have been very easy for Marvel to just draw these girls with straight hair. Nothing about the character inherently warrants them to have natural hair but they still do and that is important especially in a world where natural hair is becoming more common, especially in the younger generation. I’ve met teenaged girls who have never had their hair relaxed before, which was unheard of when I was growing up. The choice to give these two new young characters natural hair affects not only society’s expectation and value of women with natural hair but also how the representation of that hair affects young women of color and their relationship with their hair. But even me, a 28-year-old professional woman, saw these little girls and I got excited. I myself have only been natural for a little over a decade. That representation is important for everyone.

In issue number 15 of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur we see a crossover with Riri Williams. We get a great interaction with these characters and even a moment where Riri stops herself from thinking she can tell Lunella what to do and makes the connection that Lunella is a smart and capable girl that can make decisions for herself.  However, a big problem I had in this issue is a scene between Lunella and her mother.

We get visuals here, Lunella sitting between her mother’s legs while she braids her hair. Lunella looks mad, like most little girls are when they are getting their hair done but the dialogue here has some issues. Lunella doesn’t think having her hair done is necessary right now. She say “Its ok if I need to mess up my hair when saving the world.” And her mother responds to that with “You need to look respectable, Lunella.” “Respectable” is in bold type. The writers of this comic did not see an issue with this wording and have said they didn’t mean anything by it but using the word “respectable” in regards to black hair is not something to take lightly.

When writer Brandon Montclare, was asked about this on Twitter his response was “And certainly not saying you have to like it or cant find it problematic! But that criticism extends beyond the writer.” This implies the reader is to blame for being offended by this panel instead of the writer understanding that his words, especially words said by a black character being written by a white male, may have a stronger implication than intended. They are implying that Lunella, or by extension little curly haired girls everywhere, need to have combed, styled, or neat hair to be seen as “respectable”. A sentiment black people have been fighting against since the Civil Rights Movement. To have this mentioned in this comic, marketed towards children, and have it not be a source of commentary but stated as nonchalant fact is alarming. This book and these characters can be used celebrate black culture and black girl genius, not teaching girls to police their hair and conform to white western standards of beauty to be taken seriously.

In conclusion, there is an obvious connection between good representation of black hair drawn by artists who have a personal understanding of the cultural significance. In analyzing the newly introduced black female characters, I am both hopeful and apprehensive, since white artists still dominate the genre and contribute to harmful stereotypes about black hair whether they intend to or not. Hopefully future comic adaptations will continue in the vein of the current Misty Knight and continue to improve hers and other character’s representation. And obviously involving black artists who have first hand knowledge of the cultural attitudes toward hair would be a huge improvement.

[enddaysengine]

Fey (Planescape)

Apparently, the RPG world has fairies on the brain. Paizo just released a book on the First World. Keith Baker has been Q&Aing about Eberron's fey. I've been building Feywild a place in Planescape. Let's keep that going by discussing what the fey creature type means on the planes.

What do they represent? Fey represent an idealized and magical aspect of nature. It is important to note, though,  that since fey are mortal creatures, their representation of nature is closer to the way that a dwarf represents tradition than the way an archon represents the lawful good alignment. Fairies are born from nature and magic, but they are not incarnations of it. They are capable of growth and change just as much as any other mortal race. They just happen to have a greater physiological and mystical tie to what they represent than most humanoids do.

Where do they fit in the Great Wheel Cosmology?

There are three primary locations for the fey in my version of Planescape. They originate from the First World/Feywild, which is a parallel part of the Prime Material Plane. Within this plane, a multitude of domains can be found, each populated by a wide variety of fey creatures.

On the Outer Planes, there are two additional courts. The Seelie Court wanders between the Beastlands, Arborea, and Ysgard. Goodly fey can found in the Seelie Court, as can other good aligned nature creatures such as unicorns and trents, but don't expect the Court to be kind. The Seelie Court only admit those individuals who meet their exacting ideals of beauty. Good luck to any humanoids who want so much as a glimpse of Queen Titania. Don't eat any food or accept any gifts while you are here, or you may find yourself under an unexpected geas.

The Unseelie Court is the Seelie's darker foil. It is still difficult for non-fey to access the Unseelie Court, not the least because they reside permanently on Pandemonium's third layer of Phlegethon, but anyone with even a drop of fey blood is welcome. The inspiration for this particular interpretation comes from the Fey Feature series of articles that ran way back in the day on the WotC website, but I think it has much more potential and is far more dynamic, the canon Planescape Seelie Court presented in Planes of Chaos. Instantly lethal locals that everyone in their right mind should avoid do note make for great adventure sites. Ambiguous and dangerous location that you should know to avoid but may tempt you in anyhow are plot hook machines.

How are they different from other mortals?

Fey are separated from the other creatures of the Prime planes through their version of immortally. Fey do not age, ever, and if they die in the Feywild, the Seelie Court, or the Unseelie Court, they are eventually reborn with most of their personality and memories intact. I'd also say that a fey who has indeed set down roots in one of the Outer or Inner Planes can also be reborn, similar to an outsider, with two caveats.

1. While the time to rebirth is still random, it is on average slower. 2. The fey will be changed by the resurrection, taking on more and more of the characteristics of the plane with each rebirth.

This means that a dryad who has lived her entire life on the Beastlands is effectively immortal while she remains on the Beastlands. Over time, she may quire more and more animalistic features.  Likewise, if a hellfire ignus claims a patch of land just outside of a town on the Plane of Mineral as its own, if it lives there permanently, and if it's life essence bonds with the land, it is going to be very difficult to evict. Over time, it will likely appear to become molten crystals, and may even pick up a template or unique powers.

How are they different from similar outsiders?

So fey are immortal and have the potential to resurrect, which means they can keep popping up, again and again, bearing a grudge. On top of that, fey represent various themes relating to nature. All of that sounds a lot like an outsider, especially a guardinal or eladrin. How are they fey different?

For one, fey are almost the metaphysical inverse of outsiders. The material body of an outsider is simultaneously its soul, destroy one and you destroy the other. Fey have material forms, but no soul. Spirit, mind, history, and passions, are all things they posess, but these cannot be passed on to an afterlife in the form of a soul. There is no divine judgment for fairies. There is no afterlife, nor reward for the fey. There is either rebirth or cessation of existence upon death. I've honestly never thought of fey joining the Athar or the Bleak Cabal until I wrote that sentence, but both factions are likely to be interested in this aspect of fey life.

More importantly from a plot perspective is that the fey are mercurial and unpredictable. Note that this doesn't mean chaotic, fey absolutely can be lawful, and Pathfinder is doing a good job of showing a full range of fey alignments. Think of all of the classics fables of people winding up in trouble with the Fair Folk because they weren't careful about what they said or a promise they made. Unpredictability means that there are many ways a single fey could react. A lawful fey may make good on their promise, they may go above and beyond what was required,  they may work to get off on a technicality, or they may follow the letter of the agreement so strictly that Asmodeus would be proud. Or they may try to do all four at once. This isn't random, although it may seem like it. Fey are creatures of whims. A dryad may represent the beauty of nature in the meta-narrative of GM and that may be the general theme that their race represent in fey society, but it is just a theme. A dryad cannot be the embodiment of nature's beauty the same way a Firre Eladrin embodies the beauty of a flame. Fey are still mortals, and extraordinarily impulsive ones at that. They do what other mortals do when they get too much time on their hands. They try to stave off boredom.

Further Reading

Fey Feature Archive (WotC)

The First World, Realm of the Fey (Paizo)

Heroes of the Feywild (WotC)

Manual of the Planes [4e] (WotC)

Planes of Chaos (TSR)

[davidjamesarmstrong]

Defibrillating The Mind

14 May 2018

Humans are creatures of emotion. We need unity to healthily survive, but unity has been long ago reinterpreted as separatist factions, united against one another: a multiplicity of closed systems competing for power through influence and brute force. We have myriad systems, societies within societies, divided unification, which inevitably oppose each other because we recognize each as “other,” instead of as Self, which we are. Humans are a biological system within themselves, so we have fundamental commonality, living within larger cosmic systems: Universe—> Earth—> Environment—> Human, and then communities within those environments. But that is not to confuse our communities as separate from others: Humans and their communities within whatever environments they inhabit are how humans function as a single organism, just as Earth is a single organism but is divided into wildly diverse, seemingly separate ecosystems. We must live with nature, with ourselves.

Power is not dead; it’s been withheld. We’ve been made to believe it’s dead. Choice seems like fable now because we innocently succumb to irresponsible self-serving authorities whom we trust but remain invisible and detached. Power is deliberately hoarded by the few whom profit the most, overlords with gilded degrees of authority to manipulate our decisions according to their agendas though discourse and are reenforced by our own innate selfishness and primal paranoia (technology and civility have blinded us from our true animalistic nature. Which is why we recognize nature as other and thus trample it). Just like anything else in life, once we admit we are wrong (wrong to succumb to our own greed, our own insecurities and our own paranoia/distrust/hate), then we can move forward and work towards a solution. Ultimately, we enslave ourselves, but the power is and always has been right at our fingertips. Although idealistic, I propose a new system: a synthesized system made up from our current hegemonic system, capitalistic democracy, with an autopoietic system composed of moral leaders who use authoritative power to encourage inclusiveness, compassion and alternative learning through the lens of human and cosmic commonality.

Life for humans is paradoxical. Death is a part of life, but one cannot be alive if dead. We know this. With how much we know, we aren’t much different from our ancient ancestors. But so far, no one has been able to create Total Order without suppressing or eliminating others. Even our languages are flawed—they’re constantly morphing alongside the development of technology, words can be and mean anything. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a word is worth a thousand pictures. Human law and language are an attempt for order as well, but are fundamentally imaginary and therefore exploited by anyone creative enough to do so. Our systems are flawed unfair and corrupt. Like the paradox of life, we know this; but we cannot seem to do anything about it. That may explain why many people express themselves through art. Artists put a spotlight on social issues by transforming them into an incandescent image that represents how they feel in relation to their time period, knowledge, and state of being.

Numerous geniuses have proposed actual solutions for social issues through their art, but it was not enough to produce substantial results. Contemporary Joshua Cohen writes in (or for) the digital age, and through his fiction novel Book of Numbers, addresses issues such as consumerism, effects of mass media in a capitalist oligarchic pseudo-democracy, and defining the Self. The through line of his book is largely paradox; and he explicitly mentions a specific type of paradox: “During breaks my hut’s screen oscillated a koan. It was a clock, but with just a single hand, and the clock face had no divisions into minutes or hours. It had no divisions at all. Was it a timer? and if so what time did it tell?” (88). A koan is a paradoxical riddle in Zen Buddhism intended to prove the inadequacy of logic and reason with hopes of provoking enlightenment. Cohen’s work is like any other—it is reflective of the current worldly condition as a whole. However, Cohen is no genius. He uses current-day problems as an opportunity to flex his cynical wit as a supplement for solutions for those problems, ironically profiting by doing so. Clearly, artists aren’t doing as well as they could be in changing the world for the better—but it isn’t exactly their fault. They, like everyone else living on Earth, are a product of environment and sociological condition. There are larger, human-made forces at work that outweigh opposing influence. Perhaps artists don’t need to propose solutions through their art, maybe they need to implement their art into these larger systems.

But Cohen does make some good points. There are issues with consumerism, flawed discourse, and identity, that, unsolved and unrecognized do serve as the root causes for malicious, amoral manipulation and greedy leaders who perpetuate violence and paranoia as a way to control the world. It is so deeply webbed, however, that it is not exactly an evil avant-garde who pulls these strings: this ancient, mutated system is designed to indoctrinate as many people as possible, especially its own. The most effective way to control people is to set up a game where a select, all powerful few make the rules to fit their own desires, and then make others believe that they can do the same thing—everybody works for somebody, and we all feel as though oneself is the only authority that matters—eventually, entire populations suppress one another. Niklas Luhmann’s “Globalization or World Society? How to Conceive of Modern Society” very well explains how large systems operate, especially in relation to human beings and their relationship with technology, and how identity gets absorbed by it (capitalism, imperialism, colonization, ie methods of domination thus control).

Preliminarily, Luhmann quickly states how globalized the world is; a tourist from Egypt may eat Americanized Italian food while watching BBC in a kimono made in Mexico; the cultures of the world’s nations are irreversibly intertwined; yet most nations still uphold borders and do not recognize themselves as anyone else other than their own race and or ethnicity. Many people identify with their local communities, and are slowly beginning to re-identify themselves, their origins, based on a more recent history. While this is indeed a step towards world-unity in my opinion, a greater issue is still prevalent: humans are not recognizing themselves as a part of nature on a hegemonic scale. Instead, we are multiplying the already-knotted yarn ball of confusion and exclusion. I similarly argue that here lies the root of all evil—there is a problem with the relationship between social systems of the world and its human environment.

More complexity added to a system already doomed by its exclusion of nature only complicates the solution, and that is exactly what functional differentiation does. Luhmann:

“The industrial revolution and the coming to power of the new Bourgeoisie had replaced the old 'natural' order of social estates with a new structure of social classes, depending not upon origin but on career and therefore being visible as contingent. Solidarity was conceived as a kind of moral obligation or, at least, as a binding collective consciousness. But the background assumption remained stratification, now in the form of a class society producing wealth by division of labour and, thereby, multiplying vertical and horizontal differences. The concept of society included an injunctive component 'that the very name of society implies that it shall not be a mere race, but that its object is to provide for the common good of all.”

Failing to recognize oneself as a part of nature has led to a kaleidoscope of systems within systems et cetera, all of which recognizing nature and foreign cultures as ‘other,’ thereby seeking to destroy them. The only way for this globalized world to become a world society is to start treating all life, especially fellow humans, as Self.

Because of our fetal evolutionary state and primal reasons of survival, it was impossible for pre-civilized humans to think about a globalized planet, and unnecessary to imagine that planet united, its inhabitants recognizing themselves as a part of nature, living harmoniously. There were too many dangers. The most realistic mode of survival was solely reproduction and the elimination or exclusion of anything other than the familiar—these cultures later led to the formation of empires, corruption technology and war. There was a time when imperialism, colonialism, and industrialism were essential to some human survival and prosperity, and capitalism proved to be the most successful system to propel those agendas, but modern society does not need that anymore. Some cultures, geographically cut off from the expanding said cultures (an ancient human species interbred with the Neanderthal), and therefore did not need to worry about being exterminated by rival conquering humans, recognized themselves as a part of nature—including unseen realms such as the cosmos, mind, and death. We now live in a time that combines both modes of living, and in a globalized world, it is in our favor to work together rather than destroy one another.

Intriguingly, these were cultures (although endangered and quickly becoming extinct) that sustained for far longer than any empire, existing still today, and it’s because of complete chance—they recognized themselves as a part of nature, and one another as kin. They all had a duty to fulfill—it is human nature to create stories to explain things, to create purpose and duty—and their societies smoothly functioned as a result—and because they listened to nature instead of recognizing it as other and thereby trampling over it, didn’t need to rely on technology or overly complex languages or governments in order to survive. Due to environment, humans have evolved into biologically and culturally unique relatives—but that is not to say we are different. Each of us has something important to contribute; no one person has all of the answers, and no one person or faction ever will. We need to celebrate our minute differences instead of chastising them.

In fact as an argumentative aside, I would bet that these nature-based societies without modern technology (and language) were more intelligent and capable than those with highly sophisticated tech: indigenous persons memorized tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of things, including the entire detailed history of their people, the identification and application of medicinal plants/material, and ritual/stories. Technology gave us sliced bread at the cost of forgetting how to live on Earth. Heretofore, these conditions were a matter of natural selection and chance, but now in a globalized world it becomes a choice. “‘Origins’ are now considered self-made origins, e.g. works of art, positive laws, scientific theories or political decisions,” Luhmann wrote.

Hannes Bergthallar directly responds to Luhmann’s globalization essay, through the lens of an ecologist: “The coevolution of biological species is thus a process in which ‘everything is connected to everything else,’ as Barry Commoner’s famous ‘first law of ecology' has it (Commoner 1971: 16)—but by the same token, it is also a process which is beyond control,” (Beyond Ecological Crisis: Niklas Luhmann's Theory of Social Systems). Fundamentally, ecology answers the ontological question. Its opponent is modern society, the matryoshka doll of systems that reject nature as human-self. “The whole cannot be a part of the whole at the same time. Any attempt of this kind would merely create a difference in the system: the difference of that part which represents the totality of the system within the system vis-a-vis all the other parts,” (Luhmann 1989: 121). Here, it is clear that for an autopoietic system to exist, the system must become one, or (as it is virtually impossible to revert to our ancient, simpler selves before empires and technology) tear a hole in every splintered system to create a bridge of commonality, thereby synthesizing the legion of anti-natured systems into one system with ecology at its core. One problem: that would create a difference in the system, which Voltaire would then say required a supplement. Right now, the United States’ supplement is capitalism, but that political system generates profit while generating populist turmoil done by the elite, the few who benefit the most from capitalism and bend it to their will. However, serving the machine only makes you part of the machine—capitalism is of inhuman qualities, designed to exploit malleable human qualities of desire and emotion.

Unfortunately, larger societal forces dictate the behavior of functionally differentiated systems, and would never choose the ecological ontology over its own survival. Today, this is because of competitive, profit orientated ideologies who use mass media as a means of control, manipulating humans into doing and or believing whatever necessary in order to sustain the machine called capitalism. Individuals perceive themselves to be autonomous, which technically they are, but by living with the machine they become consumers, creating a self-illusion of autonomy—they serve the machine. What needs to be done would not be a replacement of capitalism, because revolutions are only more of the same and never sustain, but an adaptation according to the new globalized world and the people in it.

Humans can be extremely resilient to change or opposition, but at the same time, can be easily manipulated by forces that extensively understand human malleability to profit from them. If the human species is to become an autopoietic world society that recognizes itself as brethren and a part of nature in order to sustain proper nourishment and mutual prosperity, we must acknowledge the commonality of our nature—the origin of our malleability. How do corporations control us? talk us into buying whatever they want us to buy and see whatever they want us to see? Why do we happily elect obviously unqualified leaders and believe their blatant lies? Is there a fundamental difference between the President of the United States, Facebook, and God? Why is it that even if you don’t contribute to any atrocities done by your nation or kin, you're involuntarily included in their tsunami of consequence? To build to my main argument of a new system that will solve all problems of greed hate and destruction, I here argue that while the cause is of a larger system out of the control of a single individual, the cause is also within an individual, specifically with human discourse.

As Joseph McElroy and many others have agreed upon, whatever affects the “inside” must also affect the “outside”. That is the quality of an open system. All organisms and all things that make up organisms, material and raw energy included, function within a system. They function seemingly independently, but are a part of larger systems and their survival depends on willingly working with them, thus obscuring exactly what “independence” or “individuality” truly means. Waterfalls and rivers are two different, independently run systems that coexist to be part of a larger system, and so on. If Waterfalls somehow became cognizant, assumed too much of their individuality, losing touch with their true nature as being part of a greater whole of nature, then felt the need to destroy (due to primal instincts of survival imprinted onto its genetic code over many cycles of evolution), leave the river, or tried to control the river to harness its power, the waterfall would be foolishly or innocently killing itself and the river. Obviously this comparison requires imagination and patience, but the analogy’s message is evident. Systems that host life are normally open systems, and exchange energy and matter with its surroundings as a way to sustain and mutually flourish. Humans, Earth, and the multitude of systems that make up each are open systems. Some are called closed systems, which do not exchange energy with its surroundings. The supplements we call communism, capitalism, monarchy et cetera are closed systems.

Failing to recognize ourselves as a part of nature and adopting said supplements in our societies makes hegemonic human society as a whole a closed system. Failing to recognize our nature as an innately functioning open system, and instead behaving as a closed system, is self-destructive and will result in the demise of not only our species as we know it, but also everything that we have afflicted. Our problems, and solutions, are within us all, and hence with nature—we simply allow oligarchical forces to make us believe we have no other choice but to live as a closed system that will inevitably implode. In the words of Viktor Frankl, “I wish to stress that the true meaning if life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche, as though it were a closed system. I have termed this ‘The Self-Transcendence of Human Existence.’”

The Machine, and those who serve it, will do anything in order to survive—it cannot survive in an open system. So in order to survive, it must keep the populations it affects under a veil of misinformation, making people believe that there are no alternatives, indoctrinating them into unsuspecting loyal drones to further the Machine’s agenda, all the while believing they are acting by their own agency. Arch Loyalists of the Machine are those who command the >.01% of the world’s wealth— thus possessing virtually infinite resources and influence (specifically in a capitalistic system but in any closed system)— use the misperceptive condition of human discourse as a means and attempt to control thought in order to preserve itself. By “misperspective,” that is to say that technology, hence language, is flawed; more so, our relationship with language and instinctual conformity combined with evolving technology is leading us towards an age that begs to be ecologically and technologically advanced. In the epoch of the cyborg, as Donna Haraway termed to describe humans in the digital age—the Organic being forever affected and intertwined with technology—we are the very tools that which shape us, just as Marshall McLuhan rightly wrote.

Haraway believes the cyborgs are doomed because of their technological counterparts: the human qualities: hyper-masculinity, greed, and fear; sharing the machine’s dehumanizing goals. This would account for the increase of anomie and poverty class, but it’s too late to go back now. Trying to devolve into a simpler state is futile, arguably even with genocide, because humans are already affected by the present. Optimistically, Haraway does believe there is a chance for the human species to achieve stability and end this vicious cycle (of human imperialism colonialism racism domination greed extreme nationalism sexism grudge and hyper-individualization et cetera), because “illegitimate children [humans/cyborgs] are often disloyal to their Fatherly origins.” We’re still human, we can still make a choice to change ourselves. But in order to do that we need to do something very radical: we need to start believing in magic.

To make sense of what I mean by believing in magic, quickly I need to highlight the flaw of discourse (in turn explaining how people use the flaws to control thought) because they go hand in hand. In Joseph McElroy’s “Forms of Censorship; Censorship As Form,” he talks about how removing information (text, image, etc) can either emphasize the truth by eliminating false information or it can emphasize the lie by removing the truth. Creative censorship is a way to combat manipulative censorship of the machine, by omitting content (language, symbols) to accentuate the idea it tries to communicate, adding to show less, and omitting to provoke thought outside of the text that will resinate in the reader. Because in an age where images are indistinguishable from the material they represent and lies are presented as truths, we need to figure out ways to get humans to make their own choices.

However, the choice to be made in order to achieve sustainability and prosperity may not be made by all, and so it requires encouragement. If those of immense influence—government, celebrities, academics—all used their influence to promote leadership, patience, respect, and commonality with one another and nature, more people would live their lives accordingly. The government needs to be morally responsible and authoritative in order to get everyone on board without becoming corrupted, which is why it would need to be composed of the most ambitious and empathetic scientists, leaders, philosophers, and citizens, to check its power and moral standing. This would mean that education would need to be free, funded by halving military budgets, prison systems are turned into rehabilitation centers, healthcare is free, jobs and pay are determined by nothing more than factors of ability, and business needs to be profited in the name of improvement and maximum human benefit, not solely profit. Resources are used efficiently and decisions keep the far future in mind instead of just the short term.

Humans need to be guided towards peace, and that isn’t anything new. Here is what humans have in common aside from biology: we desire a common social goal, we organize things, and we dream. Like organs and waterfalls, we are organisms within organisms etc—organisms and organs are, by definition, organized. There may be differences within them or with other things, but those differences do not change the larger fact of the matter: that they are all of the same elements, and are all designed to work together. A form of organization that humans do is narrativity. We experience life, which is largely random and multi-sensory, all at once, every moment. In order to make sense of the world, we fit in the taken information into compartments that make sense for us. Through narrativity and story telling, we are able to remember things, because they leave an emotional imprint on us, us being emotional creatures. But by doing so, our view of the world narrows, because in reality, these tribulations/ideas that we face are way more complex. By rejecting that magic exists, that there is anything that we cannot define or make known, we fool ourselves. Narrative without an embracement of the abstract and unknown creates realism, which is more of a false depiction of reality than something wildly abstract. Narrativity enforced by capitalism produces separatist values in citizens, and this is exactly the problem with communities.

Alexis de Tocqueville says something very important and similar about communities in the context of capitalism: townships function politically. Equality makes people feel as though they are the only relevant authority, and act only on behalf of themselves and circles ie equality promotes conformity while also promoting entrepreneurship and social anomie. Communities are good, but just like David Foster Wallace said about television [smart phones, etc], the medium isn’t the problem within itself, it is the system that utilizes it that makes it harmful. Communities in capitalism form tightly, and do not find commonality with outside communities, even if that community is a part of a larger “same,” or nation. Community has mutated, as Miranda Joseph argues, into something less human, more machine. Like how Luhmann explained systems within in systems etc exist now, this revelation of community in the postmodern age shows how disconnected and fragile this nation and all who operate in the same manner have become.

By simply recognizing the truth, that race does not exist, that every God is the same God, that no matter how much we think we know there will always be something mysterious and unexplainable, we all have something valuable to offer, and humans are a part of nature, combined with subliminal positive enforcement, we will not only prosper, but will regain our moral authority and be in a position to influence the rest of the world into doing the same. And here, in accepting that the nature of the universe is mysterious and unexplainable, is where we need to believe in magic—accepting the mystery, the paradox, just like death, and celebrating it. Indigenous peoples did not need to know the chemical or biological makeup of their tools or environment: they understood their purpose and that was enough—they were satisfied.

We can know the functions of things, but what we cannot seem to know is the purpose of it all. But we don’t need to know. Accepting death—inevitability and the unknown— as a part of life helps one enjoy life way more. We need to consciously think less, which is paradoxical, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible: thinking less becomes thinking more. This pairs fittingly with an inversed paradox presented by McKenzie Wark from his Spectacle of Disintegration: Situationist Passages out of the Twentieth Century, given by Mustapha Khayati: “The fetishism of facts masks the essential category, the mass of details obscures the totality.” People now can only determine the truth through falsification, but that’s dangerously unreliable and misleading because as Guy Debord states, “In a world that really has been turned on its head, the true is a moment of falsehood.” We need to be weary of human language because, like in McElroy’s Plus, we learn language, then reinterpret information/thought to create new words and ideas/meaning based off of the originally introduced word—nothing is defined, life is abstract. When we put too much faith into believing things can be exactly known, we become vulnerable, fragile, naive.

The machine is not conscious—it operates and evolves much how any virus would: it latches onto a living host, depletes all of its resources, seeks to spread itself, and adapts to the host’s adaption. The machine does not need to explain or define anything—it already knows it’s nature, questioning or even being capable of questioning it would only impede its abilities. Humans should learn from this. Our true nature operates in the same way: we do not need to know why things work, we just need to know that they do—so as conscious creatures, we need to consciously remind ourselves of that fact by working within the unchangeable parameters of our current state of being, making change through the very systems that inhibit us by merely acknowledging these knowns and integrating them into our lives on every scale, thereby creating a new synthesized system.

At the heart of it all: all humans must acknowledge that they are emotional, malleable, imaginative people of Earth—organisms needing to work together towards growth and prosperity against all odds, achieve selfless love and camaraderie for one another, all in order to begin the system’s process. The vehicle to do so would be a mutated form of the preexisting capitalism, combined with an authoritative government, elected every X amount of years as governed by states and local governments etc, who would uphold the moral authority of the United States of America by using the same capitalistic methods of control and influence via discourse thus mass media, but for unitive, loving purposes. It starts with people of influence, and despite what you’ve been taught—you’re quiet impressionable, so that includes every single human being on this planet—, and elected officials of government: our officials need to be learned, open-minded and responsible for the wellbeing of and for the people, and will be extensively tested to be so as done by per the most learned experienced reasonable citizens of the United States of America. The ones to lead this new system should be (responsible) scientists, (tempered) humanitarians, philosophers (of peace and optimism, but that is not to exclude pessimism), and Champion Citizens, simply ordinary citizens of incredible reason, skill, and vision.

Ultimately, the world may always be in some sort of controversy or chaos, human derived or not, so the destruction of humanity certainly shouldn’t be a suicide—using all of this information, it is clear we need to repurpose technology to create a positive, universally designed/accessible, inclusive system of mass media with the active genuine participation of all authoritative powers, including federally, locally, and big business. Everyone with any kind of influence and or power needs to promote kindness and the wellbeing of others, no matter what. We need to open stigmatized discussions and talk freely about our emotions. In that situation, the only “other” or “enemy” would be paranoia and discrimination, and everything else will be our ally.

[heartoflovelight]

Words of strengthening filled with truth, love, and joy....... I pray we find consolation in God Himself and in focusing our spiritual and natural eyes to Heaven.

God is wonderful, deeply passionate, and loves with no bounds....... all praise and affection to Him. He has prepared an eternity of loving relationships, perfect health with glorified bodies, in which we shall all be at peace in loving and being loved forever.

Our hearts were created to desire an everlasting union of love with the heart of God and one another in an eternally perfect, beautiful Heaven.

Grateful for our glorious and beautiful God, as He is always great, generous, and good.

The Love of God

The everlasting love which has been pouring its golden light upon us, the love of the Eternal Word which has been beaming on us in varied rays ever since we entered into the glorious Paradise of God, is indeed the highest, the crowning excellence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

However it is so, only in so far as we regard the Sacred Heart in its relations with ourselves. There can be nothing more beautiful, sublime, precious or divinely magnificent than that everlasting love, lavished as it has been on such as we were foreseen to be. And therefore, we might rest here and say that our task is accomplished. We might fix our abode in this centre of the Paradise, as though we had explored all its delightful confines, tasted its every fruit, and viewed with glad wonder its every flower. However we should not know the Sacred Heart as we may know it in our present state, we should not see all its beauties even as it is given us to see them now, if we did not go one step farther to view its Love for God.

This is truly the last and best excellence of the Sacred Heart. This is the deep channel that pours into its human merits the divine fullness of grace. Love for God is the true solution of all the mysteries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Love for God is the history of its life, the essence of its being. Love for God is the golden link which unites that human heart to the Divinity of the Eternal Word.

We see the same great central sun, with all its dazzling splendors and all its fiery heat, converging not now on us but heavenward upon God. The beams are the same which shone upon us, in the many colored lights of the virtues which the Sacred Heart practised for love of us. The heat is the same which encompassed us from all eternity, however now both light and heat tend towards God, and reveal to us the entire secret of all the virtues, the excellence, the very essence of the Heart of Jesus.

In other words, it loved us in God and for God. It loved us that it might win our hearts for God. It loved us and it was meek, humble, patient, forgiving, obedient, and prudent, because it was necessary for us to be like it, that we might be worthy to love God eternally. It loved us and therefore it poured out its blood as our ransom, because only by such a redemption could our hearts become the conquest of God's love. Then all its love is love for God, all its virtues were created by its love for God, all its history is told in one word, love for God.

Its love went forth from God like the sun, to run its bright career. It gilded the angelic nature with its early magnificence, and shone upon the race of men with its softer, gentler, sadder rays. When its course is run and its treasures have been poured out, in heaven and on earth to the remotest limit of creation, it returns to its source and reposes in God. Its love like a conqueror, sallied forth from the battlements of heaven, to subject the world to the dominion of its Sovereign and to bring all creatures in humble adoration to His throne. It heeds not the hardships of the campaign, the wounds of the battles. Death has no terrors for its devotion to the glory of God. It fights, it dies, but it conquers in its death. And then it returns to the city of God, bearing its trophies and leading its captives in triumph, a happy throng of the redeemed, and lays its laurels and its crowns at the foot of that throne for whose honor alone it labored, bled, and conquered in death.

Nothing can make us understand more clearly, that the love of God and the love of His creatures for His sake is one and the same principle, than this view of the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They spring from one another so necessarily, they mingle together so intimately, they touch each other, intersect each other in so wonderful a manner, that we cannot separate them or make of them two distinct loves.

Charity is a bright band which unites heaven with earth, God with His creatures. In so far as it touches the earth and embraces the creature, it is brotherly love, but as it unites them to heaven and to God, it is nothing but love for God. It is the golden ladder which reaches from earth to heaven, and on the summit of which God rests and looks down, with fatherly yearning on His children. It is charity for our brethren where it touches the earth, but as it ascends towards heaven and leads us to our Father's bosom, it is again only love for God.

Such was the charity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It had seen God in all the loveliness of His beauty, in all the magnificence of His glory. It had kindled a sacred flame at the burning furnace of the infinite love which glows upon His throne.

Love is not love unless it acts, and love is not great or ardent love unless it does great things for its beloved. What limit then shall we expect to find to the action of an infinite, divine love? The Sacred Heart, therefore burning with an infinite, divine love, must prove its love by a boundless zeal, an everconsuming ardor for Him whom it loves. It must burn with a divinely restless activity for the glory of God, and be ever eagerly looking for means to promote and increase it.

Hence we have seen it with the eye of our faith, ages before creation had sprung into being, placing itself like a Lamb upon the altar of divine Justice, as the victim for the sins of an unborn race. Hence we heard the clear, sweet music of its voice, when there was as yet no created voice in all the wide domain of heaven, as it spoke those words to the Majesty it would propitiate, "Sacrifice and oblation You wouldst not, behold I come to do Your will, and Your law is in the midst of my Heart." Hence, even when countless myriads of zealous angels were sounding aloud the praises of their Maker, even when Mary's sweeter than angelic song ravished the ear of God with its melody, that clearer, sweeter voice still rang out above all other notes of praise, thanksgiving, or resistless intercession, whilst the Heart of Jesus was pleading for our hearts and making them like itself, that they might do worthy homage to the God whom it loved.

The Sacred Heart was loving God with an unconquerable love. It must triumph though at the cost of its very life, at the price of its very last drop of saving and sanctifying blood.

Our hearts were the prizes for which it fought, the spoils which it won. It loved us, it saved us, it washed us from our iniquities. However it loved us for God, it gained us for the glory of God, it cleansed us that we might stand before God and praise Him, for the love which loved Him and made us happy for love of Him.

It was the same ever active love of the Sacred Heart for God, which would not be satisfied with driving Satan from the throne he had usurped, with reconquering the earth for its lawful Lord and restoring His authority and His kingdom in the hearts of men. It would hold its conquests, garrison the citadels it had won and forever exclude the usurper. A wonder of love for God, which surpasses all other wonders, a device of divinely ingenious zeal for the glory of God, which will forever be an unfathomable mystery to angels and men. That heart itself has become the guardian of its conquests. It is itself the sentinel that watches night and day, on the battlements of its fortresses. Its own impenetrable armor shields the walls of the city which it has made the City of God.

The earth must be God's and the fullness thereof, it must be a glorious temple dedicated to the honor of its Maker and echoing His praises at all times, sending up to heaven, from morning till night and from night till morning, a ceaseless canticle of joyous adoration, of thanksgiving worthy of His most royal munificence. How could human voices raise such a song? The Sacred Heart itself then remains in the temple which it has erected, and now from ten thousand altars its music rises and penetrates the skies till it rings along the vaults of heaven, a worthy homage to the Eternal God from the realms of His redeemed creation.

The life of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is a life of love. It is one never ending act of love, love for God and love for us in God and for God. It burns on our altars, like the watchfires on the mountaintops, that our hearts may have a signal and fly to their refuge and be secure against every danger.

It dwells in its lowly tabernacles, that it may avert all evil from us by its ever acceptable intercession. It comes forth at our call, to shed its blessings upon us and to enrich us from the boundless stores of its heavenly treasures. It bleeds as our victim every day, "from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same," to atone for our sins and give back our lost inheritance among the sons of God. It comes even into our bosoms with all its fiery fervor and all its infinite graces, to transform us into its image, to enkindle its flames in our hearts, and to teach us here in our pilgrimage on earth, the love which will be our reward and our bliss in our home beyond the skies.

However all this, though it is immense and inconceivable love for us, is at the same time and essentially love for God, since it all tends to increase His glory by our greater love, by our more abundant redemption. It is love for God which keeps that wonderful Heart a prisoner on earth.

We have then reached the last solution of all the wonders of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the formal and final cause of its whole life, of its very being, and of its eternal subsistence in the glorious immortality of the Sacred Humanity united to the Word of God.

"God is love," says the Apostle of love, who had leaned upon the bosom of Jesus and had drawn his inspiration from His loving heart.

God is love and the Sacred Heart is the love of God, the fire which is kindled to consume whatever is not love for God and to transform it into love, and bring all things back to their origin, that God may be in all and all His creatures in Him, all made one in Him and with Him through the glowing intensity of His love, through whom this blessed oneness was effected.

Heaven will reveal to us what these words mean. For heaven is understanding their meaning, and heaven will be heaven eternally only because we shall be eternally understanding them better. For God is love and God is our heaven, and to love God, to revel forever in His love is our only bliss, the sole essential beatitude of the elect. And now perhaps we can understand better than before, that charity is the queen of virtues, the highest excellence, the one virtue which survives all others, which begins on earth but accompanies us to heaven and is there crowned with immortality. We can understand how charity is the nuptial garment, without which we cannot sit at the banquet of the great King, how all else, even the tongue of an angel, the knowledge of all mysteries, the sacrifice of all possessions and life itself, must have charity inform and pour into them the golden substance of its merit.

"You shall love the Lord your God, this is the greatest and the first commandment," this is the end and the perfection of the law and of the gospel.

This is the great lesson which the Sacred Heart teaches us, the one lesson in which all its other lessons are summed up, and to which they all tend. If we would be truly the disciples of the Sacred Heart, and reward it for its labors in our instruction by learning what it teaches, we must aim at this queenly virtue in all that we do. We must be humble for love of God, meek and obedient, prudent, zealous for God's sake, because we love Him and desire to love Him more, and thus merit to love Him forever.

The Sacred Heart reveals itself to us glowing with love, surrounded by flames of fire which signify its love for God. It gathers us around itself, that it may light these flames in our hearts and make them glow like itself with love for God.

We behold its deep wound, but flames of love pour out from that open mouth, as though it would preach to us the love of our God. The thorny crown which encircles it and the cross which rises above it, are enveloped in the same holy fires but are not consumed, to tell us more plainly than words could tell, that all the virtues which are typified by the cross and the thorns  —  the humility which bears the ignominy of Christ, the obedience which dies with Him, the patience which prays for its enemies and its persecutors, in a word our whole imitation of our crucified model  —  must be reddened by the divine glow of charity and ascend to heaven gilded with its light and borne upon its ardor.

The Paradise of God, The Virtues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 1874

The Eternity of Heaven’s Happiness

Having endeavored in the foregoing pages, to form to ourselves some idea of the glorious happiness reserved for us in heaven, there still remains to say something of its crowning glory  —  the eternity of its duration. This is not only its crowning glory, but it is an essential constituent of that unspeakable joy which now inebriates the souls of the blessed. A moment's reflection will make this evident.

Not only is God immutable and therefore unable to change in our regard, but all the companions of our bliss have also become immutable in their love for us. All those defects which now make us so unamiable will be totally removed by our union with God, and no one will ever see anything in us but what is good and deserving of love. From this it follows, that even the happiness which comes to the blessed from creatures is permanent  —  eternal.

In heaven, that awful death shall be no more. We have the word of the Living God for it, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away." In very deed, "the former things have passed away"  —  all these things have passed away, never more to return. The children of God have entered into the enjoyment of their inheritance, which shall never be torn from them because "death shall be no more." Never shall they see the dawn of a day when father and mother must bid farewell  —  to their heart-broken children, because "death shall be no more."

This is the joyful song of triumph which ever resounds through the vaults of heaven, as "The just shall live forevermore and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord."

In conclusion Christian soul, meditate often and seriously on the happiness of heaven. Such meditations, besides deepening our knowledge of God, and of the things He has prepared for them that love Him, have a wonderful power of detaching our hearts from the world. They moreover, create in our soul an unquenchable thirst for the vision and possession of God, while they infuse into us a new courage to battle manfully against all the obstacles which beset our path in the practice of virtue.

Such meditations fill us with a laudable and noble ambition of reaching a high degree of union with God. This was the ambition of the saints, and it should be ours also. It was this desire of a most intimate union with God, that caused them to deny themselves even the most innocent pleasures of this world and to undergo sufferings, the bare recital of which makes our nature shudder. They knew that "our present tribulation, which is momentary and light, works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." Their meditations on eternal truths had convinced them "that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us."

"Be faithful until death," says our Lord Jesus Christ, "and I will give you the Crown of Life."

The Beatific Vision

In the Beatific Vision our will is also to be glorified, and then we shall be happy in loving and being loved. We shall now see that in the Beatific Vision, our will or moral nature is elevated, ennobled, and made like God by a participation of His sanctity, beatitude, and love.

Then shall we find ourselves joyfully willing to do what God wills as He wills it, and because He so wills it. His divine will and ours shall become so totally one, that we shall seem to have no will of our own so completely, and at the same time so sweetly, shall it be identified with the will and good pleasure of God.

In a word, as our intellect is elevated by the light of glory, and filled with the purest knowledge in the Beatific Vision, so also our will is purified, sanctified, and made like God's will, in rectitude and perfect sanctity. Not only shall our will become holy and conformed to God's will, we shall also love God above all things, purely, ardently, and for His own blessed sake, and in that love shall we at last find perfect happiness.

It is in heaven and only in heaven, that all the conditions of love can be fulfilled, and hence it is there only that love will produce pure and perfect happiness, unmingled with the disappointments and insufficiency of human love. First of all, the love of heaven is essentially mutual. The vision of God not only reveals to the soul His divine beauty, goodness, wisdom, and numberless other perfections, which captivate her and set her on fire with a seraphic love, but it also reveals the intense and mysterious love of God for her. The sight of that divine love produces in her the happiness which the heart of man cannot conceive.

These are all secrets of heaven. They are simply unspeakable because they are beyond our present powers of comprehension. Eye has not seen them, ear has not heard them, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive them. We shall therefore, make no further attempt to express what no human tongue can utter. We may say that, as a pure and mutual love produces the greatest happiness we know of in this world, so also the mutual love which exists between the soul and God, is the source of the most perfect happiness possible.

For the soul not only sees that He who loved her from eternity will continue to do so everlastingly, she not only sees God as He is, but she also sees everything else as it is. However beautiful therefore creatures may be in heaven, she always sees in God a beauty and perfection vastly, infinitely superior, that it is impossible for her to be captivated by creatures as she was in this world. She loves all the companions of her bliss, it is true, but she loves them all in God and for God. She loves them because they are His and because He loves them. She loves them because they are holy, beautiful, and much like God, and therefore deserving of her love.

However her chiefest, her absorbing love is centred in God, and remains centred there forever. She sees the dawn of a glorious day when her happiness will be increased, perfected, and completed in the resurrection of the body  —  a day when other joys and pleasures will be added to those she now enjoys in the Beatific Vision.

The Beauty and Glory of the Risen Body

We have seen in the foregoing chapters that in the Beatific Vision, the human soul sees, loves, and enjoys God, and that her essential happiness consists in that unfailing, blessed vision. Although the blessedness she now enjoys is far greater than words can express, it is not yet integral or complete, and never will be, except when she is again clothed in her own body, beautified and glorified after the likeness of her Saviour's body.

However, although her happiness is not yet complete, you must not therefore imagine that the least shadow of sadness or unhappiness hangs over her. For as we have seen, her will is now totally conformed to God's will. She wills the resurrection of her body as God wills it, and her body is absolutely necessary to complete her human nature, which essentially consists of both soul and body.

We shall begin our meditations on the resurrection of the body by first contemplating the beauty and splendor of the glorified body. This word glory is one of great and manifold meanings in Holy Scripture. In this particular place and connection it means excellence and beauty, accompanied with a shining splendor.

Wherefore our bodies rising in glory, means first that they shall rise perfect in beauty and symmetry of form. This perfect beauty of form is evidently involved in the promise of rising conformable to the glorious body of our Blessed Saviour, "who will reform the body of our lowness, made like the body of His glory, according to the operation whereby He is also able to subdue all things unto Himself."

The human body was created perfect in the beginning. It was the masterpiece of God's power and wisdom in this world.

What consolation there is in all these glorious promises! To be forever young and vigorous, forever blessed with perfect health of mind and body, to be forever beyond the reach of time, to be clothed with a body that shall forever be a stranger to suffering. These are some of the joys in store for the children of God in the resurrection of the body.

However rising in glory means something more than rising in mere beauty of form, bloom of youth, and the complete perfection of human nature. It also implies a radiant brilliancy wherewith the just will shine on the resurrection day. This is one of the meanings of glory in the language of Scripture.

When Jesus was glorified in His transfiguration, "His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow." Moreover as a general rule, when celestial inhabitants appeared in this world, they were surrounded with a halo of brilliant light, as we read of the angels who appeared at the birth of Christ, and of those who appeared to the holy women that were going to embalm the body of Jesus. Hence it is that in the paintings of Christian art, the head or the whole body of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of the saints, is always surrounded by this halo of light.

This is the light, the brilliancy which is promised to the saints by our Blessed Lord Himself, when He says, "Then shall the just shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Thus shall the soul that is now united to God in the Beatific Vision, and already a partaker of the divine nature, communicate her own splendor to the body and surround it with an aureola of glory, which will form a portion of her blessedness for evermore.

Although all the just must rise in glory and in the perfection of human nature, you must not therefore infer that all shall rise in the same degree of beauty and splendor of form. For as the resurrection is a reward to the just, it follows that each one shall have a body glorified in proportion to his own individual merits.

You would maintain that if the resurrection is a reward to the just, the beauty of their bodies should bear some proportion to their merits. You would certainly be right in maintaining this, for it is the very doctrine taught by St Paul when he says, "One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory, so also in the resurrection of the dead." Each one therefore shall rise in that particular degree of glory which he has deserved by the more or less holy life he has led in this world.

Perfect personal beauty, accompanied with a heavenly splendor, being one of the rewards in store for the children of God, will then denote sanctity in the just. The more holy they have been in this life, the more beautiful and conformable to the glorious body of Jesus they shall be.

Lead a holy life, a life of purity and perfect charity. Endeavor to reproduce in yourself the virtues which Jesus taught and practiced, and when the angel's trumpet calls the dead to life, your body which must first be sown in dishonor, shall rise in that degree of beauty which you have deserved by the holiness of your life.

Social Joys of Heaven

The life of heaven is one of pure social joys.

Social interaction with our fellow beings affords us some of our purest joys in this world, yet they are not and never can be perfect. How often does it not happen that we go into society with a light heart, and return home sad and heavy?

In a word, if interaction with our fellow creatures is often the source of pure joys, it is not infrequently the occasion of our keenest sufferings.

Let us now raise our eyes to our heavenly home, and there contemplate a life of the purest and most perfect social pleasures. Putting aside for a moment, all the imperfections that mar our social joys in this world, let us look at their bright side and see what it is that makes our social interaction with others a pleasure. This will be as a mirror wherein we shall behold some faint reflections of social joys as they exist in heaven. What are the personal attributes or qualities in others that make our social interaction with them a pleasure?

These are virtue, learning, beauty, refinement, mutual love, and the ties of kindred.

Virtue is the attribute which gives us our highest similitude to God, and it is this also which imparts to us some of the purest social pleasures we enjoy on earth.

When we meet with one who is evidently a man of God, one whose every word is instinct with the spirit of God, whose whole exterior betokens the intimate union of his soul with God, in whose very countenance the beauty of angelical purity shines forth, we deem it a happiness to spend a few moments in his society. The pleasures enjoyed in his company are not only exquisite  —  they are also sanctifying. If that is so in this world where all holiness is imperfect, what shall we say of the pleasures of heavenly society?

Holiness is an essential attribute of every inhabitant of heaven. They are all pure, for none else can see God.

They are all made partakers of the Divine Nature in a far higher degree than is attainable in this world, and consequently they are all clothed with the spotless purity of God himself. Not only are they all pure, but they are moreover, totally free from those natural defects of character, which in this world make many holy persons unamiable and even repulsive. As nature is not destroyed but perfected by glory, our natural character will not be destroyed by our union with God. Whatever is faulty in it or offensive to others will disappear, leaving it amiable and perfect in its own kind. Hence, our social interaction with the saints will ever be the source of the purest pleasures.

Learning, in those with whom we associate, is another source of pleasure.

We can sit for hours listening to the interesting conversation of a learned man. In such a man's society we drink in as it were torrents of pleasures, which are among the most rational we can enjoy in this world. If these pleasures are so exquisite here below, where after all the wisest knows so little, what shall we say of those same pleasures in heaven? There all are learned, all are filled with knowledge, though all do not possess it in the same degree. Nevertheless each one's knowledge will be a source of pleasure to others.

Personal beauty is also a source of pleasure in this world. It is in heaven and there only, that every one will possess the attribute of beauty in its fullest perfection.

For the soul is clothed with the beauty of God himself, which He communicates to her in the Beatific Vision, while the whole body is beautified and glorified after the likeness of Christ's glorious body. Every saint is therefore clothed with a loveliness far superior to anything we ever can see on earth. If then, it is so great a pleasure to associate with persons who possess the natural and perishable beauty of this world, what shall we say of the pleasures which must flow from our interaction with persons who are clothed with the beauty of God Himself.

Refinement is another attribute which makes our social intercourse with others pleasurable.

A cultivated intellect, refined feelings, and elegant manners are necessary to adorn personal beauty, and make it a source of pleasure to those who are attracted thereby. It is very certain that in heaven, where our whole nature is to be elevated and perfected, this refinement of mind and heart, as well as the elegance of personal bearing which flows from both, will exist in its highest perfection, and ever be the source of exquisite pleasures in our social interaction with the blessed.

Another source of social joys is mutual love.

The four personal attributes we have been considering make an amiable character, that is, one which we love spontaneously, and whose love we are certain to have in return for ours. It is this love which crowns and perfects a character of this kind, and produces a very large share of the pure pleasures we enjoy in the society of such persons. However pure human love may be, even when elevated by grace to the virtue of charity, it never can produce unalloyed social pleasures because it never reaches its full perfection in this world.

It is in heaven only that charity is perfect. There we shall love every one with a most tender charity, and see ourselves loved as tenderly and as purely in return. Our charity will be mutual, and therefore, our interaction with the blessed will produce joys and pleasures second only to the unspeakable happiness of the Beatific Vision. Meditate well Christian soul, on these exquisite delights. Think what an unspeakable pleasure that mutual and perfect charity must be to the inhabitants of heaven. That feature alone would almost change for any one of us this cold world into a heaven.

This is precisely the blessedness which awaits us in our heavenly home. There we shall love everyone with the most perfect charity, and everyone will return our love.

"God is charity" and as "we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is," it follows that we shall possess that divine charity, in a far higher degree than is attainable here below. Our social interaction with the blessed will therefore, ever be the source of the purest and sweetest joy.

Besides the things already enumerated, there is one more which is to be the source of still greater joy. And what may that be?

It is the meeting in heaven of them whom we loved so well here, because they were bound to us by the sacred ties of kindred or of true friendship. It is the meeting of parent and child, of husband and wife, of brother and sister, of relatives and friends  —  with whom we were united by the bonds of the purest love.

We shall enter heaven with the natural love we now have for our kindred and friends, but in us it will be purified from everything inordinate or imperfect. What a delight that meeting must be for the blessed! We can even now form some faint idea of that heavenly joy, by reflecting on what takes place when a beloved father returns home from a long and perilous voyage, or from some cruel war where he was daily exposed to captivity and death. What outbursts of gladness among the members of his family! How happy they are to see him and embrace him! If these joys are so great in this world, what must they be in heaven. Especially since there they are coupled with the thought that there is no more separation. No, no more separation. What delightful music there is in that short sentence. Death shall be no more, and therefore we shall never more be torn away from the society of our kindred and friends.

The Happiness of Heaven, 1871

Florentin Boudreaux