#when you find a scholar who’s well versed in your language

[onlyhams]

i like to imagine that people are open books, yet some are written in an arcane language known only to a few dedicated scholars. and they alone see beauty in the understanding of that language.

[cleverstudentcheesecake]

Since I either consider Shen Yuan to be reincarnated Shen Jiu or Shen Jiu's brother/twin/son, I hate it when people describe him to be awkward, spineless, dumb, poor, broke or unattractive in the modern world. In the SVSSS world, in fannon he is often characterised to be too easy, trusting, damsel-in-distress who is easy to manipulate.

Let me tell you, a reincarnated Shen Jiu or Shen Jiu's close kin would never be any of the above. Even if we consider him to have absolutely no relation with Shen Jiu, he can never be any of the above.

Now let's be realistic why.

Poor, broke and unattractive?

Shen Yuan is clearly stated to be a 'Second-generation rich kid'.

This is the definition of 'Second-generation rich kid' given in the extra notes of book 1:

SECOND-GENERATION RICH KID: A child of a wealthy family who grows up with a large inheritance. “Second-generation” in this case refers to them being the younger generation (as opposed to their parents, who are the first generation) rather than immigrant status.

Have you ever seen rich Chinese kids or heard about the term 'Crazy Rich Asians'?

Do you know what their lifestyle, fashion senses, academic profiles and extracurriculars are like?

Iykyk...

According to me Shen Yuan in modern world used to be that absolutely breath taking, elegant, overachieving kid who grew up reading the hardest of litetary works and then proceeded to burn himself out in University.

He must have known how to play atleast 2 musical instruments and have been well versed in multiple languages. He was also a chess genius as well as a great networker with his silver tongue and natural knack for flattery. He had been privately tutored for everything above.

If you ever found Shen Yuan outside his house, you would find his spine to be pin straight, without a hair out of place and effortlessly dressed to kill.

I believe when he was reading PIDW he was taking a break after both his mental and physical conditions declined due to social, academic and familial pressures.

He was good at everything but never as good as his elder brothers. He used to be a prime example of 'Jack of all trade, Master of none'.

He had no ambition of his own after being overshadowed by his brothers who were also physically more fit than him, all his life. He was existing until one day it all came breaking in.

Why did the length of the break even matter when he would still have a huge trust fund even if he achieves nothing in life? He just had to make sure to not do anything shameful that could have possibly harmed his family's reputation. The trust funds were sufficient to sustain his introverted ass for a lifetime.

So, he became a shut in.

He was always a closet otaku but now he could completely indulge himself in his otaku tendencies.

He went and read every trashy web novel that ever existed until he found his 'The Read'.

From the comfort of his home and behind the screen he could be his true gremlin self (someone who could completely tear down your confidence down with his verbal attacks without a huff).

He no longer needed his silver tongue to appease people, he could laze around all day aimlessly and shit talk essays on the web novels' comment sections.

The rest is history...

Why do you think he was inherently adept to pretending in the SVSSS world? Why was it so effortless for him to pretend to be an extraordinary immortal scholar? — because all his life he had been pretending.

If he was awkward he wouldn't have been able to collect potential suitors like pokemons.

He is polite, endearing and a flatterer but never awkward.

Excuse me if he was easy to manipulate and too trusting, he would have never escaped Zhuzhi Lang.

Spineless you say?

Prove it that he won't castrate a person then and there if they even try to look the wrong way at his disciples?

Assure me that if had gone through the same circumstances as Shen Jiu, he wouldn't have turned out exactly like Shen Jiu?

Tell me that Shen Yuan isn't capable of pulling a Nie Huaisang if his Jiu-ge is skillfully murdered in front of him?

A damsel-in-distress, tell me he isn't capable of fighting and standing up for himself.

How can he ever be dumb?

His aimlessness and laziness doesn't account for his lack of intelligence. I agree that he may not be much emotionally adept but he is book smart and quick on his feet.

Sometimes, his obvious denial of affection makes me feel that they don't actually stem from being in a Villain's body or obliviousness, but rather from his own self-doubt and hatred.

He purposefully denies what is right in front of him which makes him biased and an unreliable narrator. He sees himself as an unkind person throughout the story but we all know the truth.

He also considers himself old and unlovable but we know he is a pretty bitch who everyone has a crush on.

Believe me Tsundere Shen Yuan needed a Yandere Binghe in his life so he could realise that there exists someone who loves, trusts and believes him unconditionally. All his life he had lived feeling useless, he needed someone who wants him desperately and also makes him feel wanted.

We say Shen Yuan helped Binghe, trust me Binghe did the same for Shen Yuan. Binghe fixed something in Shen Yuan that he never realised was broken. They are co-dependent freaks who absolutely deserve each other.

[johaerys-writes]

Would you be interested in sharing some of your fav books/scholars/academics/papers on The Iliad?

Hello! And thank you for this ask!! Basically, my research on Homer focuses a lot on Achilles and his relationship with Patroclus; I sometimes read works that are about the Iliad in general, but most of it is with Patroclus and Achilles in mind. But I do often come across interesting works on the Iliad as a whole, so I'll list some of them here. I have a lot of stuff to share, I'll keep it as brief as I can because I don't want to overwhelm anyone lol.

Books

As far as books go, I have several different translations of the Iliad, and most of the time each translation has its own introduction, sometimes by another classicist. Those are a great place to start. My favourites are Caroline Alexander's Iliad translation, and the introduction she wrote herself. I like Caroline Alexander's work in general, including her book on the Iliad The War That Killed Achilles (which my pal Baejax sent me bc I couldn't find it anywhere here <3 <3), because her writing is clear, straightforward and informative. Her translation is my go to translation at the moment because I like how faithful it is to the original Greek, it's the one I keep next to my bedside and which is full of bookmarks and notes LOL.

Another favourite is Robert Fagles' translation, with an introduction by Bernard Knox (who also wrote an excellent introduction to Robert Fagles' translation of the Aeneid). Even though Robert Fagles' translation isn't as close to the original as others, I love it because it is just so beautiful. It is definitely the one with the most staying power if you ask me, some passages are just chef's kiss. Bernard Knox's intro is also super informative (although he doesn't really go into Patroclus' and Achilles' relationship), and when he supplements his analysis with Fagles' gorgeous text it's just a wonderful experience.

Another translation that I recommend to anyone who can read modern Greek is the one by N. Kazantzakis & G. Kakridis, I think it's THE iconic Greek translation if you ask me. It has a lot of idiomatic language and expressions and it might not be as easy to get into as other Greek translations are, but it's truly beautiful and lyrical and it is entirely written in 17-syllable lines in iambic metre, adapting Homer's dactylic hexameter to modern Greek. Verse translations aren't really a thing for most English translations, which is a shame if you ask me. I think it's pretty much the only translation I've read so far that really invites you to read it out loud, as the original work was intended.

I do have Emily Wilson's translation as well but I haven't read it yet (I KNOW, SHAME ON ME), I really want to give it my full attention and I just haven't had the time yet. But I've read bits of the introduction and also parts of the translation and so far I love them. I hope to be back with a more informed opinion once I've actually read it LOL

Scholars

I have to admit that I don't follow any specific scholar religiously. I tend to read whatever catches my interest. That being said, I do love Emily Wilson's work and I've read several of her articles and papers, I think they're really informative and well-written. When she was doing the promotion for her Iliad translation on Twitter I read a lot of the stuff she posted and they were all great. My favourite was her interview with Madeline Miller which you can read here. I also liked this review of her Iliad translation that I read recently, written by Stephanie Mc Carter. Basically, I follow her on Twitter and read the articles she posts, and some are very interesting. I also went to see her in person when she gave a lecture in Athens in October, it was really good but unfortunately it isn't online anymore so I can't link it :(

I also really like watching Madeline Miller interviews on Youtube, I think I've watched every single one that's out there and even though some of them are brief or repetitive because interviewers usually ask her the same questions, I do think she always has something interesting to says both related to her books/writing but also the Iliad and the Odyssey that have inspired her. There are two interviews in particular that I like, this one which is more about TSOA and the Iliad, and this one which is more about Circe and the Odyssey. I genuinely enjoy listening to her a lot, I find it very calming.

My friend @darlingpoppet recently introduced me to the work of Celsiana Warwick, and I've really enjoyed reading her stuff!! Particularly this one which is about conjugal bonds and the homoerotic subtext of the Iliad, and this one which is about gender and kleos in the Iliad. Good stuff, and I look forward to reading more!

Papers

There are a few papers about Achilles and Patroclus that I really like and that I go back to from time to time. I have far too many in my jstor account and can't go through all of them right now, but these spring to mind:

Achilles and Patroclus in Love by W.M. Clarke, it's a very informative analysis of the homoerotic subtext of the Iliad and tries to "prove" in a way that Achilles and Patroclus are in a romantic/erotic relationship. Super interesting!

The Relationship between Achilles and Patroclus according to Chariton of Aphrodisias and Was the Relationship between Achilles and Patroclus Homoerotic? The View of Apollonius Rhodius by Gabriel Laguna-Mariscal and Manuel Sanz-Morales are two very interesting analyses of Achilles and Patroclus' relationship in relation to other ancient works, they're not too long and I found them very fun to read.

Euphorbus and the Death of Achilles by Roberto Nickel is super interesting and has some really cool takes on the deaths of Hector, Achilles and Patroclus and how they are all related.

Some more stuff

Some more videos I've watched and find rather interesting are The Contemporary Relevance of the Iliad by Erwin Cook, Why Homer Matters which is a talk between Adam Nicholson and Paul Cartledge (whose work and lectures on ancient greek history are always super informative!! I love watching his stuff even if they're not directly Iliad-related) I don't vibe with everything that's said in this video honestly nor do I agree with a lot of Nicholson's takes but they did make some interesting points about Homer's relevance and the emphasis on honour/glory in a world without justice and in a war without good leadership, so it might be worth a watch. Lastly, another series of video lectures that I really like is Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, it's five lectures in total and a great introduction to the Homeric works which also goes into the historical context a little bit, very informative even for someone who is well versed in Homer.

I hope this helped! I can't think of any more off the top of my head now, and I really should get ready to leave for work lmao, but if I do think of anything else, I'll add it here :D Also, if you're reading this and have something to add feel free to do so!

[keikaru]

Boundary Line - Honkai Star Rail (Bronya x Seele)

“Even if my memories of the Underground are faint, fingerprints of the past linger in my heart,” Bronya murmurs softly, her eyes roaming over the oil-black lampposts illuminating the brick-paved streets of Boulder Town below. Her eyes flicker to Seele when she resumes. “If I can build a better tomorrow for both the Underground and Overworld citizens, would you honor me with your strength to reclaim that future?”

“Fancy words for saying you need me, Bronya.” Seele grins at the future heir and shakes her head. “When you say it like that, it makes me want to protect that future with you. So yes, if you’ll have me, I want to help you build that future.”

From the staircase landing, the girls stand side-by-side with their arms nearly brushing against each other, as if the space between their worlds, the boundary between the Underground and Overworld, is thin. Boundaries exist to divide the land, but not the heart of the people. Bronya knows this, but the wind only enflames her face when she glances at Seele.

Our hearts beat for a single cause.

“Thank you, Seele. For your trust and faith in me.”

And yet, why am I not at peace until she looks at me?

Seele fixes her gaze to something far beyond Bronya’s eyes, and Bronya wants the latter to look at her, to give her her full attention. But Seele speaks to her in a light, teasing tone, unaware of Bronya's thoughts.

“You’re welcome, Bronya. I know you carry a heavy burden, but you don’t have to do it alone. So let me support you. After all, I’m not good at politics and diplomacy—so I’ll leave that part to you. I’ll resolve conflicts in a language I know well.”

“Oh?” the teasing lilt in Bronya's word makes Seele finally look at her. The corners of her mouth twitch into a knowing smile, one that conceals her true thoughts. “Perhaps I need lessons from a scholar well versed in brawls.”

“Well, you’re the one who said you needed my strength, didn’t you?” Seele rests her elbows on the railings, and she tips her head in Bronya’s direction with a pout. The warm, amber glow of the city gleams in her eyes, and for a moment, Bronya wants Seele to be closer to her. “I’ll come to your rescue if you ever need me.”

"Then I'll wait for you."

Her heart pounds in her ears when she utters those words, and the heir of the Supreme Guardian hesitates. She wants to reach out to Seele, to reassure her that her presence strengthens her resolve.

Seele smiles at her. And for a breath of a moment, she reaches out and places a hand on top of hers.

And just like that, the moment passes, and the girls sweep their gaze across the bustling square below.

Customers negotiate with shopkeepers for a lower price while errand runners haul newspapers to a street corner to sell. The ambience rippling across the marketplace is peaceful, and commerce continues despite hardships. Enduring through hardship, Broyna thinks, as she observes a young girl rifling through the bins for scraps to sell, is proof of resilience. However, we need to usher in changes and reforms to create equity for all. How can people find their forward if they don’t have the resources to make that happen?

Hardships follow the people no matter no matter where their home is. It is her duty to listen to the people and make changes across her home. It’ll be a difficult task, but with Seele by her side, it feels as if she can overcome anything.

“The boundary that separates us is but an invisible line,” Bronya speaks calmly. “The lifeline of this world are the hearts and will of the people. Let’s see to it that the future will be a kinder one.”

Update: read the rest on AO3!

[dailyaudiobible]

12/18/2022 DAB Transcript

Habakkuk 1:1-3:19, Revelation 9:1-21, Psalms 137:1-9, Proverbs 30:10

Today is the 18th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we gather around our roaring Global Campfire and get all snuggled up and get warm and find our space and take the next step forward together. It is a brand-new shiny sparkly week, and this is the fourth Sunday in the season of Advent. One week from today is Christmas day. Wow! But here we are and that moving through the season of Advent, where we have allowed our hearts to consider the arrival of the Savior in the world and consider our longing for His return. And, so, Advent we talked about it, like all along the way, has Iike calendars and Advent wreaths with candles in them. And, so, you may be lighting the fourth Advent candle this week at church or maybe you have an Advent wreath at home that you light each Sunday and just focus your heart and remind yourself what's going on. This is the love candle that we’ll be lighting today, the fourth candle, allowing us to focus this week as we move right to Christmas. Love, the profound, unspeakable, unknowable, and I mean we can't know God's love, but His love is vastly beyond what we can comprehend. We focus our hearts of the love that it took, the love that was displayed for us as God became flesh and dwelt among us. And, so, this is where we find ourselves in the season of Advent. And in our journey through the Scriptures this year we have come to yet another book. We will read it in its entirety today. It is the eighth of 12 minor prophets and it is called Habakkuk.

Introduction to the book of Habakkuk:

We don't know practically anything about who Habakkuk was, maybe…maybe less than any other biblical writer, but we don't know much about Habakkuk. There are some traditions. There’s a Hebrew tradition...tradition that speaks of Habakkuk being the Shunamite woman's son, the little boy was resurrected through the prophet Elisha. And we found that story in the book of second Kings. There is another tradition found in the...the apocryphal book, Bell and the Dragon, and that displays Habakkuk ministering to Daniel while he’s in the lion's den. But these are traditions. When you don’t know anything else you look to the traditions. And, so, these are some of the traditions. Most scholars, especially with the Bell and the Dragon and Habakkuk being with Daniel in the lion's den believe, you know, that's how legends are made. But those are some of the traditions around who Habakkuk was. There are many verses in the book of Habakkuk that will sound familiar. There's one in particular, “but the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.” That should sound familiar, because that's something that the apostle Paul said a lot. And we find this in the book of Hebrews as well because “the righteous will live by faith”, that's like…it's like a core Christian doctrine. So, we see where Paul and some of the other writers are referring back to Habakkuk for the language. Because the language is poetic, maybe lyrical, even especially the very very end of Habakkuk seems like it's a hymn of a song to be sung, there are scholars who have observed this and wonder if Habakkuk might have actually been a temple musician. But again, we don’t know with certainty, but what we’ll see is Habakkuk having a conversation with God that moves from doubt to worship. Habakkuk will begin by saying out loud what is happening in the world and it will sound familiar, and he wants to understand why God is indifferent, like why he seems to allow any evil a human being can come up with and allow it to happen like God wasn't even paying attention. And God responds that he's gonna use the Babylonians to punish his own people, which wasn't like the response he's looking for and it’s confusing. Like, why would you use a less righteous group of people to be an object of judgment on a more righteous group of people? And God explains that He's not indifferent, that He's not unaware, that He is sovereign and that he knows what He's doing, which leads Habakkuk into worship. And, so, with that we’ll read Habakkuk, which contains three chapters, in its entirety. We’ll read from the Common English Bible this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We love You, Lord. Thank You for Your kindness, Your patience, Your graciousness to us. And on this, the final Sunday in the season of Advent as we are moving directly into Christmas week, we just recognize where we are. And we recognize the busyness all around us and the preparation all around us and the excitement and the goodwill and good cheer all around us. We also recognize how much pulls us away from what this is all about, what we’re even jumping up and down and celebrating over, what we’re giving gifts to commemorate and that is Your arrival, Your arrival to rescue us and we are grateful. And, so, as we contemplate the depths of love that You have extended toward us, even while we were sinners, even while we where Your enemies we are grateful. And may we share Your love out into the world. May it filter through us and pour out of us to those that we come into contact with. May we be known by our love for one another we pray. In the name of Jesus, our Savior, we ask. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello family it's Jackie in Vancouver BC and I'm crying because God is great. I listen to all of you and I pray every day and I always tell myself I have faith. Sometimes it's as little as a mustard seed. And I've been struggling with business and the sales have been low and this December month has been low, this November was low, and I was thinking, oh God I need your help. And just today somebody came in and surprised me with a grant of $5000. God really is good, and He answers all our prayers. And, so, these are tears of joy because God is great, and He sees me, and He hears me. And I think He sees you and hears you. And, so, I pray that all of your prayers will come true. And this is a praise. I know I'm crying but this is a praise. I’m praising God for His goodness for his mercy. So, family please praise God with me. And for everything you're going through I'm joining my faith with yours and praying and thanking God for answering our prayers, for hearing us. And it feels great to feel seen, to feel known, to feel like I'm God's child. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, the DAB. Thank you all the family that calls every day and the ones that call to pray...

Hi this is Willow tree. I used to be weeping Willow but now I'm more like the tree planted by the water. Being fed by the word of God every day is making me full of joy and I'm very grateful. I'm grateful to the Hardin family too for the music that they’ve blessed us with and I would really encourage you if you haven't listened to the Rest album by Brian with headphones on to go and do that. It's amazing how we made the sounds just swirl around you. And it's just beautiful. It's kind of like I just close my eyes and listen to it. It's kind of like I’m on a holodeck. It's really cool to just be in that place that he's created for us. And, so, I would encourage you to listen to it with headphones. I love you all and I’m so happy to be a part of this family.

This is a prayer of encouragement I wanted to send out to I believe People on the Water. You called in December 2nd from Indiana. Bother I just wanted to reflect back to you what I heard because I'm not trying to minimize the anguish that you're going through and the struggle and how hard it is but what I hear on the other end of the line is not somebody that is not confident because your voice to me sounded very strong in your confidence of not knowing what's going on and not knowing what you're doing. And to me at 19 years of age that exhibits real strength to be able to declare into a community of other brothers and sisters to make a public declaration that you have no idea what to do is…takes strength and courage and humility. And I just wanted to…to commend you for that and to give you praise, like to praise you for that because that is a real…that's a real thing that not a lot of people will admit at this age. So, I just wanted to encourage you to don't…don't try to rise above your situation, you know, find God in the struggle. I know that's maybe easier said than done but that's something that was coming to me to maybe help you look into it a little more and realize that He’s…He’s working where you are exactly for a reason and trust that.

[singing begins] We wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you a Merry Christmas we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. [sing continues in French] __. This is Francois from New Jersey. Merry Christmas. Merry Noel __.

Deep dive into the book of Revelation:

Part 5

Okay. So, we read from the ninth chapter of Revelation today. And, so, let's just remember we started Revelation with this image of Jesus, seven golden lampstands it represented seven churches. Seven letters were written one to each of these churches and then a scroll was revealed that no one could open and it had seven seals on it. And the lamb steps forward, and He is the only one. Jesus is the only one that can open the seals. So, He breaks the seals and what is held by those seals is then revealed. Then we have seven angels before the throne of God who are given trumpets and their each now blowing their trumpets. And we went to the first four trumpets yesterday and the fifth and sixth angels blow their trumpets today. And, so, we begin, “when the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky and the star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.” Okay. So, we have to kind of go back into the different ways that this can be read. So, you can read this literally because we've seen a bunch of stuff falling from the sky. And, so, a star falls from the sky and that. And then the star, the rock, the star somehow is given a key and opens up a shaft that’s on earth, but it's a bottomless pit. So, you can see how like from a literal perspective it would be hard for a star to hold a key and turn a key lock. It would be hard to find something bottomless on earth. Like, if we started digging now, right, if it was even possible to go through the center of the earth and out the other side and that would then end up in space on the other side of the world. It…how could that be bottomless? So, a completely literal reading of the book of Revelation would be…I mean…it would be very challenging. The star falling from the sky has been interpreted a number of ways, mostly dealing with that the star is actually an angel. But then the question becomes, is this a good angel or is this a bad angel? And it's been noted by scholars that the star falling from the sky imagery usually refers to a judgment of some kind and that there is no other…there is no other reference in the Scriptures to a like a good…a godly angel falling from the sky like a star. That only happens when an angel is judged and cast down. So, for example, in the gospel of Luke, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like a star from the heavens.” So, many commentators, not all, but many commentators would say this has to be the judgment of…of an angel that is being cast down. This may be Satan himself being cast down to do this task because he is under the sovereignty of God or…or one of his minions. So, this entity is given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. It opens the bottomless pit. And of course, the bottomless pit is probably a metaphor for the realm of the judged. And when this pit is opened smoke comes out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace and the smoke darkens the sun and the air. So, there's a number of interpretations around this. I mean, if…so, if you're reading literally than its smoke. Like there’s a lot of smoke, enough to darken the sun and the air. So, a serious amount of pollution. If we’re looking a little more allegorically then darkness is usually a metaphor for like a spiritual darkness, a blindness. And, so, this comes pouring out of the bottomless pit and darkens the world. And immediately following the smoke and the darkness locusts come flying out of the bottomless pit out of the smoke onto the earth and…and they’re given power like that of the scorpion. And they’re not allowed to harm nature, like the grass or green plants or the trees. They can only torment the people. And they can only bring this judgment on those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. So, obviously from a literal perspective we’re talking about insect-like creatures that look like locusts but have stingers like scorpions and they plague the earth. If you’re looking allegorically, then I mean, when you look at some allegorically you can interpret it however you interpret it, which is why there's such diversity and interpretations that are everything from, you know, rational to far-fetched, and many in conflict with each other because you don't know exactly what the symbolism means. But if we’re taking a pragmatic scholarship perspective, trying to draw comparisons with similar visions that happen in other places in the Bible, then these locusts can represent those beings that have been held in the bottomless pit. And a good many scholars would say that that's associated with the fallen angels, demonic forces that have been held there and they’re loosed upon the earth. But they can't hurt the earth's nature and they can't hurt those who have been sealed with the seal of God on their foreheads. And, so, God allows the trumpet blast to happen. This star, this angel falls and is is it sent down to earth a key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. It's opened and all kinds of things come spilling out on the earth, things that can't harm those with God's seal on their foreheads. But those who don't they're definitely receiving judgment. And that judgment will either harden their hearts and lead them toward their ultimate destruction or soften their hearts and they turn to God. And for a lot of scholars this…this whole picture, this whole scene reveals that the judgment that was formerly limited to those demonic forces who are in this pit is now extending all across the earthly realm. Because of Christ's victory through His death and resurrection judgment has begun, not only in the bottomless pit, but also upon the earth. And that is happening through the darkness coming out of the pit. People are being blind…blinded in the darkness and tormented and oppressed, but this isn't happening to those who have been sealed by God. And there’s a little bit of a parallel here in Jesus words from the Gospel of Luke. “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall harm you. Your names are recorded in heaven.” So, if this parallel is correct, then those sealed by God have authority over these things that are coming up out of the abyss. They have authority over them, and can be harmed by them which would lead us to believe that this is allegorical. The imagery is symbolic. And then the sixth angel blows his trumpet, and the six angel is instructed to release the four angels were held at the great Euphrates River. Some would say these are like dark ark angels, so like very very powerful demonic forces. Some draw parallels with the four angels that were the four corners of the earth with the four winds, but most translators and commentators say these are evil. They’re being held against their will for a specific time for a specific task and their loosed. And whereas in the fifth trumpet everything coming up out of the abyss wasn't allowed to kill anyone, wasn’t allowed to harm nature, wasn’t allowed to touch anyone with the seal of God on their forehead and wasn't allowed to kill anybody, it was just tormenting and oppressing people. Whereas in the sixth trumpet when these four angels are loosed their loosed to kill one third of humanity. And John says that the number of those forces were 20,000×10,000, so that's 200 million. So. if you're reading literally then four actual angels have been being held at the great Euphrates River for a time period that we don't have any way of knowing, but they've been held for a specific hour and day and month and year, and they're released and there's 200 million soldiers on horses that are loosed to do this task of killing one third of humanity. If we’re looking at this a little more allegorically, let's remember, if we’re looking at things allegorically then everything can have a meaning. So, if we’re looking at this allegorically, but with a pragmatic view, then powerful dark forces are released. They have been held for an indefinite period of time but held for this time, this time of judgment that we’re reading about. And there's a vast horde involved, and they unleashed three plagues - fire, smoke and sulfur - and these come out of their mouths. And, so, allegorically what's coming out of their mouths is bringing darkness, blindness, the inability to see clear. The power of these forces is in their mouths and in their tails. So, like in their words and in their deeds. They are bringing us such spiritual darkness and chaos and torment and depression that the result is death, and this affects 1/3 of the earth's population. Or if we’re not taking that number literally, a lot of people are affected by this darkness and death that spreads because of this. And then as we end our reading for today with the sixth trumpet there's kind of an aside, kind of God's commentary here. “The people who survived these plagues still did not turn to me and changed the way they were thinking and acting. If they had they would've stopped worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. They did not turn away from committing murder, practicing witchcraft, sinning sexually, or stealing. So, using the formula that the Bible gives us for judgment, that it can have a refining and perfecting and purifying outcome or it can have a hardening outcome that leads a person who rejects it to their own destruction, we can see that, in spite of all that is going on, there are still those who are…who have…who have not died but who are still rejecting God.

Prayer:

Father...Father, we don't want any part of that. We don't want any part of rejecting you. And yet we confess that we have done exactly that in our thoughts, words and deeds by what we've done and by what we've left undone. And, so, we invite your Holy Spirit to continue to refine and purify us. And we reframe the suffering that we've endured in this world. We hate it. We don't want to go through it. We want you to take it away. These are so much of the content of our prayers. And although we will continue to ask you for your counsel on how to navigate through things that are very difficult and unexpected we choose to also look at what you are doing in these things, that you've got us and these things refine and purify us. And truly we want to be pure before you, true before you. We want to be sealed in you for all of eternity. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[destinyimage]

Your Heavenly Bank Account: Accessing God’s Currency for Answered Prayers

In Genesis 14:14-23, there is a powerful dialogue between God and Abram right after Abram took trained servants of his household and rescued Lot, his brother’s son, from ten kings who had raided Sodom and had taken his nephew captive.

Melchizedek was the king of Salem and who most scholars tell us was actually a temporary, pre-Christ incarnation of God known as a Theophany or a Christophany. Melchizedek meets Abram with bread and wine which are great symbols for the Word and Spirit.

It’s exciting to see all the Trinity represented here in this Scripture passage, as not only agreeing in Heaven but also giving agreement on earth (see 1 John 5:7-8). The agreement of the Three on earth is related to us allowing the Three on earth—Word, Spirit, blood—to work through us and with us. As you will discover further into this book, these Three on earth finding agreement with those of faith on earth causes a response from the Three in Heaven. Knowing how to apply the agreement on earth causes action on earth.

Hebrews 7:15 makes the connection between Jesus and Melchizedek as a priesthood without beginning or ending and as the king of Salem. This leads me to conclude that the same blessing that was conferred by Melchizedek carries over into the New Covenant of today and becomes part of the blessing passed on to us. Melchizedek blesses Abram by saying, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:19 NKJV). Notice the language used, “Abram of God,” not God of Abram. This is confirming to us this is God declaring the blessing. The declaration of possessor of Heaven and earth makes way for Abram to have authority not only on his earthen territory but has gained access into the heavenly realm as well.

On top of that, Melchizedek gives a tithe to Abram. Tithe, or tenth, is the number of testing. There is an unusual sharing of authority by confirming it with testing of a tithe. The tithe was the sacred portion; not just any tenth, it was the first of the harvest. Prophetically God is confirming His will to Abram through giving the sacred, ratifying His promise of throne room access. In Genesis 15:1, the blessing continues by admonishing Abram that God would be his shield and great reward. Not only is God confirming his wealth and influence, He would also protect what God had given Abram.

He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5 NIV).

Hang on; right when you thought it couldn’t get any better, God brings Abram outside in verse 15:5 (NIV) and says to him, “Look up at the sky and count the stars.” Note the emphasis on counting. Stars usually represent family and legacy, and God said, “If you can number the stars, that’s how numerous your descendants will be.” God is expanding more than Abram could imagine since he had no children at the time. It is worth noting that God took Abram outside of where he was seeing and said, “Look up.” The point being we become narrow in scope and thinking when we can only see what has always been familiar to us. God was multiplying Abram not only on earth, but also multiplying his influence in Heaven. Please don’t miss this nuance in this verse.

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Melchizedek said to Abram that he is a possessor of Heaven before referring to earth. This is of great importance because we can have no significant influence unless we first take hold of Heaven. Jesus gave His disciples a very specific prayer in Matthew 6:10 (NKJV) by praying, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Earth is to follow the direction and leadership of Heaven. It is important to understanding what Heaven is looking for on earth, to partner with earthen vessels. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV).

In Genesis 15:6 is the knot that ties all this together. Abram believed in the Lord and He, God, accounted it to him for righteousness. God used the term of accounting. The apostle Paul picks up on the same rev- elation in Galatians 3:5-6. The Greek usage of the word accounting is made up of two words logizomai, meaning to count and do inventory (Strong’s #3049). Inventory is very important from a business perspective. Your inventory is what you use to multiply and increase influence. Your inventory is what you plant to grow more inventory or seed.

From a military perspective, inventory is the assets and weapons you want to keep track of before going to war. God is showing Abram that He has made a deposit into His account in Heaven to be used to bring Heaven to earth. His influence on earth is connected to his deposits in Heaven. As a person sows, so will that person reap (2 Corinthians 9:6). Sowing into the Heaven releases fruit on earth.

We must understand that we have an account in Heaven—not just rewards given to us at the end of the age—assets we can acquire for use now on earth for the war we fight daily. To be spiritually bankrupt in Heaven leaves us vulnerable to the principalities that have dominion over certain regions of the earth.

Jesus gives us an example of various levels of authority in Mark 9:17-29. There was a man whose son was demon possessed with a mute spirit. The father cried out to Jesus for help saying that he brought his son to Him and spoke to His disciples, but they could not cast out the demon. As soon as the father brought his son to Jesus, the demons began to make the son convulse. Jesus rebuked the demon, and the spirit that afflicted the boy came out. Later Jesus was asked by His disciples why they could not cast the demon out of the boy. The disciples had been sent out by Jesus before this time with authority to cast our spirits and heal the sick so they must have had some success previously. So, they were perplexed as to why they could not free the young boy.

Jesus said to them, “This kind [or level of authority] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29 NKJV). Fasting is a discipline that we all should use to keep our flesh submitted to God. Demons are not afraid of us fasting, nor is God impressed by our discipline of fasting. But, fasting weakens the flesh so the Holy Spirit has greater influence over us.

My sense is that the disciples had yet to gain enough in their spiritual accounts to drive out a demon of such spiritual authority. The disciples had yet to gain the bandwidth to tackle one that been enrooted for years since the boy’s childhood. The disciples would prove later to carry greater faith and authority as they overcame other obstacles. In times past kings would rule their dynasties with military might and power, and the more they conquered other kingdoms, the more powerful they became. When a king conquered the domain of another kingdom, he would take the crown from the destroyed king and place it on his own head and ride through the streets declaring a new king was now in control. Each victory would increase the influence and dominion of his kingdom.

We gain authority through what we overcome, not what we undergo. Abram had a name change after his encounter with God—from Abram meaning father, to Abraham meaning a father of many. Many believers have a position of authority, but they have not increased their accounts to the level needed to deal with principalities of this age.

Cornelius’ Heavenly Account

Acts 10 tells us the story of Cornelius, and sets my point even deeper relating to having a depository in Heaven. Cornelius was part of the Roman occupation of the Jews. He was a centurion who showed his rank was worthy of commanding at least a hundred soldiers. The Bible describes Cornelius as a devout man, one who feared God. He also was known for directing his household with the same principles. He had the reputation of giving to the poor. Cornelius had an encounter with an angel of the Lord. When Cornelius inquired of the Lord, the angel said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God” (Acts 10:4 NIV). Memorial in the Greek is very specific: mnémosunon, meaning to mark for remembrance (Strong’s #3422).

The three things mentioned in connection with Cornelius was for more than a passing moment. God wanted him to know there was a marked receipt in Heaven with his name on the account. The next day an angel was sent to Peter who was known to have prejudice against the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). While Peter was on the rooftop waiting for dinner, he had a vision of animals coming down that he knew were not kosher or permitted to be eaten by Jews. Each time the Lord said to him, “Kill and eat” (Acts 10:13-16 NIV).

Each time Peter responded as any Jew would do, by saying, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The Lord responded in this vision saying, “Do not call anything impure that God as made clean” (Acts 10:15 NIV). The vision occurred three times. By this time, the men Cornelius sent to find Peter were at Peter’s house telling him he should come to Cornelius. This interaction between the angel and Cornelius drew out of his memorial or account in Heaven and brought God’s response to change Peter’s mindset about Gentiles—which opened the door for the Gospel to be preached among the Gentiles. It was Cornelius’ account that was enlarged by his obedience to the angel of the Lord and his giving to the poor.

Many of us pray large prayers that are good, but then offer the Lord teacups to put the answers in. Perhaps the reason we don’t see answers is because we have yet to enlarge our capacity to receive what we are asking for. So for many of us, the answer has yet to come until we have grown into the stature to steward that level of authority.

I hope we can see that our actions and responses to God’s Word are being passed through the accounting of Heaven. The Lord keeps better books than we can. The simplest of obedience may result in greater deposits in Heaven than what we can even imagine. Just know you are known in Heaven, and you are wealthier than what you realize.

Acts 19:11-20 (NIV) is the account of some unusual miracles per- formed by the apostle Paul, including how his handkerchiefs or aprons healed the sick, diseases were cured, and evil spirits were expelled. There were some itinerant exorcists who took it upon themselves to call on the name of the Lord Jesus for people who had evil spirits, saying, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” The seven sons of a chief priest named Sceva also tried to drive out an evil spirit. But the evil spirit said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding” (Acts 19:15-16 NIV). Obviously, the sons of Sceva and others were bankrupt when it came to exercising the heavenly currency. Heaven knows those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and only those who know Him can use His name with power and authority. It takes more than attending a deliverance seminar and getting a certificate to see the release of God’s power.

The account you have in Heaven is directly connected to knowing Him intimately, not just knowing about Him. Does Jesus know you? Because the demons certainly know Him and those who are covered with His name. John 20:22 (NKJV) says, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” This was certainly before the baptism of the Holy Spirit, yet there was a sort of commissioning of them when Jesus says, “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you” (John 20:21 NKJV). Even today some take this as Jesus giving them the name of His Father by breathing on them or transferring the name of the Father into them. It would be similar to an ambassador sent from his or her country to represent the will and messaging of their government to another country.

Soon after this, the disciples not only received the authority to be sent, but with the Acts 2 encounter with the Holy Spirit baptism, they were empowered. The sons of Sceva went to cast out demons, but they were representing their own interests, not the Kingdom of God. The baptism of the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the power to do what they were being sent to do. Along with this new baptism was the boldness and confidence to do the work of the Kingdom of God.

We can see the transformation from authority to power in Acts 3:2-7 when Peter and John were going to the temple to pray. A lame man was at the gate called Beautiful. Interesting to note is that Beautiful is translated as the “Gate of right timing.” No doubt this lame man was there regularly at his personal spot to beg for money and food. There is a good probability that this was not Peter’s first time to see the infirmed man. But since receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, everything had changed. The apostles no longer saw the poor man as an impossibility or just felt empathy for him. They now saw him through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. With great boldness Peter commanded him to rise and walk. He was now so convinced of the power of the Holy Spirit that Peter took the man by the hand and lifted him up.

Those who were baptized with the Holy Spirit were no longer willing to just wait and see what would happen if they tried out some new teaching. No. Now they were carriers of the name Jesus imparted to them with the authority power to carry out their mission. The apostles began to draw on the currency that had been deposited for them to serve on earth as it was in Heaven. Acts 4:33 (NKJV) says, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” The baptism of the Holy Spirt gave them access to the currency deposited on their behalf.

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[lesfeldickbiblestudy]

  Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 71 ANTI-CHRIST: THE BEAST, THE WICKED ONE - 1 Daniel 9:27 – Revelation 19:11 Okay, it’s good to see everybody in again this afternoon. As you know, we make four programs each taping, and this is the first of the afternoon. We just want to let you know how much we appreciate your letters and your phone calls.  My, since we started over in Genesis, we can’t believe the response. We have to remember we’ve got new people coming in all the time and they have never heard our teachings in Genesis before.  So we really do appreciate your phone calls, letters, and your financial help.   And the prayers!  My, how we love it when people write and say, “We pray for you every day.”  That’s what has made the program go. All right, now for those of you here in the studio, you’ve probably already turned back to the reference on the board. We’re going to continue on with what we started four or maybe eight programs ago on “The Day of the LORD.”  Those final seven years of Tribulation as we now call it. Today, for the most part, I’m going to be dealing with the personality, the individual, who will be heading up the world’s government and control during those seven years. We’re going to start getting a handle on that in Daniel chapter 9 verses 25 and 26. By the way, we’ve still got a lot of copies of the one and only book that our ministry has published. It is eighty-eight questions with the answers taken from our program material. Again, it is so well received that we want as many of these to go out as possible.  It will be the best $11 you’ll ever spend. Okay, turn to Daniel chapter 9, and we’re going to find out as much as we can today about what most people realize is the anti-Christ.  We’re going to chase all the Scriptures that we can find regarding this individual—Daniel chapter 9.  I’ll have it here in a second. We’ll just drop in and read verses 26 and 27. Now remember, this whole series began back there in verse 24, where we have 490 years of a prophecy directed to the Nation of Israel.  Now we know, from the breakdown and history and church history and biblical history that the 483 years culminated with the crucifixion. Then verses 26 and 27 introduce us to the final seven years and this man anti-Christ.  All right, beginning at verse 26 of Daniel 9: Daniel 9:26a “And after threescore and two weeks (Now, that threescore is 60 and 2, so after sixty two weeks, or 483 years) shall Messiah be cut off, (That’s the reference to the crucifixion.) but not for himself:…”  He didn’t die because of anything He deserved, we all know that.  Now here comes the clue. Daniel 9:26b “…and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;…” Now, that’s where you’ve got to stop and think a minute.  The people of the prince – now what does that mean? The Empire from which this coming prince will be citizen.  Now, I hope you all get that.  It’s kind of in veiled language.  But the “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple),” which we know the Romans did in A.D. 70.  So, this tells us that this coming prince will come out of a revived Roman Empire. Now, I’m going to take this slow today, because I know that since the rise of Islam these last 10-15 years, a lot of people are beginning to get kind of queasy on the fact that the anti-Christ is going to come out of the Roman Empire rather than out of the Muslim world.  It’s a historical fact that when the Greek Empire disintegrated after Alexander’s death, the Syrian general who ended up in control of Jerusalem was a fellow by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes. This was back around 300 B.C.  He had such a hatred for the Jews and their religion, that he purposely went into the Temple and just to infuriate the Jews sacrificed a hog in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Some Bible scholars take that as a preview in type of the real anti-Christ, and there is a certain degree of believability in that.

  But that doesn’t mean that he has to come from Syria.  It doesn’t mean that he has to be Assyrian. There are other elements of all this that indicate, I think, that he has be at least part Jew.  In other words, the people of Israel would never accept a pure Syrian, I don’t think.  I don’t think they would accept a Muslim as their Messiah.  But we’re going to be looking at all this as we go through the afternoon. So right now, in this verse, we understand that this coming prince—we’ve got the names on the board of what he is also called in other areas.  He is called all of these and maybe some more.  But these are the ones that I could just knock off the top of my head.  He is the prince that’s coming here in Daniel.  He is also referred to in I John as the anti-Christ.  Paul refers to him in II Thessalonians as the Son of Perdition, that Wicked One.  What else have we got?  Oh, and then the beast, he’s referred to as the beast throughout Scripture because of his bestiality in his ruling the world. So, all of these terms are indicative of the same individual who is going to actually become the worldwide dictator for these final seven years. All right, so now we’ll come back to this verse, this “prince that shall come,” a reference to the anti-Christ who is going to come out of the environs of the Ancient Roman Empire, which we are already seeing being revived with the European Community. Daniel 9:26c “…destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, (in other words, devastation) and unto the end (of that period of time, the seven years that are left) wars and desolations are determined.”  All right, now verse 27. Daniel 9:27a “And he (this coming prince, this coming world ruler out of the environs of a revived Roman Empire) shall confirm (or make a covenant or a treaty) with many for one week:…”  Now of course, we’ve looked at this verse hundreds of times over the last 15-16 years.  The many, I think now, will have to involve the whole Arab world as well as Israel. And it’s going to be a supernatural thing, because as we’ve witnessed, I guess since at least 1990, how many great men have tried to make peace between Israel and the Arabs?  They can get ever so close and it falls apart.  Well, it will never happen until God intervenes. It’s going to be a supernaturally done peace treaty.  It would never happen without the providential intervention. This man is going to be the instrument.  He is going to bring about a peace treaty between Israel and, not just the Palestinians, but it will include the whole, anti-Jewish Muslim area of the Middle East.  Now that includes Jordan and Egypt and probably North Africa.  It includes Lebanon and Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and some of those other Muslim countries. They’re all going to come together with this peace treaty with Israel.  Today that’s unbelievable.  It just can’t be understood in the secular world that the Arabs will ever condescend to make peace with the Jews.  But they’re going to when this thing takes place. Daniel 9:27a “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (or for that final seven years of this 490 year prophecy.  All right, then it says--) and in the middle of the week (or at the end of 3 ½ years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,…”  Or stop.  Again I have to stop and get everybody in my listening area to just be logical.  Look at it with common sense. We know Israel hasn’t had a temple since A.D. 70.  But now all of a sudden there’s going to be temple worship.  That’s what “oblation and sacrifice” indicate, that they’re going, as a result of this peace treaty, to be able to rebuild a temple. You know the Jew will never have a temple that’s not on the Temple Mount.  This is unbelievable today that the Arab Muslim world will agree to the Jews building a temple on the Temple Mount.  Yes, they’re going to.  That’s the supernatural aspect of this treaty. So, with the Temple rebuilt and the peace treaty that is bringing about that kind of a scenario, now again, use your imagination.

  What else is this going to involve?  Well, just picture Israel for the last fifty years.  They have been taxed to the limit.  They have been taxed unmercifully.  For what reason?   To maintain their military. Now when you stop and think of how a little nation of less than five million, well, they’re about five million now.  Think of how they have been able to bring about, probably next to America, the greatest military machine in the world.  What does that take?  It takes money.  I know we have helped them, but they have paid their own dues.  They at one time were paying as much as 70% income tax.  Now that’s a burden.  My, we think it’s awful at 30 or 35%. When this peace treaty comes about that is great enough and influential enough between Israel and the Arab world so that Israel can put a temple on the Temple Mount, what else is going to happen?  It’s going to be an exploding financial restoration, to not only Israel but the whole Middle East. That’s why I’ve said for the thirty years I’ve been teaching, I do not look for a worldwide financial collapse like we had in the 30’s.  I just can’t see it prophetically.  Because as we’re going to see after a bit, this man is going to come in with flattery, which means he’s going to promise the moon.  In the world we’re living in today, so materialistically minded, what’s the first thing the average citizen of the world today thinks about?  Their bank account.  Their billfold.  That’s all that matters. My goodness, you even take our presidential elections. What is the primary reason for people to vote?  The economy.  And people are the same all over today.  The whole world is on a financial binge.  All right, so I think it’s going to continue right in past this peace treaty where this man is going to promise peace and prosperity, and it’s going to happen. All right, now in the midst of that financial euphoria, not only are they going to have the Temple, not only are they going to have financial security, but when you’re in that state of affairs, what do you do with your military?  Get rid of it!  Don’t need it.  So they’re going to dismantle that tremendous military machine faster than we did after World War II. Now, for those of you that are as old as I am, and that’s getting up there, how many people did we have in the military at the end of World War II?  Who wants to venture a guess?  Fourteen million.  See, Ike is well read.  We had fourteen million people in our military at the end of World War II.  How long did it take us to discharge them and send them all home?  A few months.  Just a few months.  All right, now I use that as an example.  Israel is going to do the same thing.  The moment this peace treaty is signed, Israel is going to just simply park their fighter aircraft.  They’re going to park their tents. They’re going to discharge their military people, and they’re going to get busy getting rich!  Enjoying life.  They’ve finally got the peace that they’d been looking for. All right, that in turn brings us back to Ezekiel 38.  Now, I’m just projecting.  I’m not guaranteeing that this is all right out of Scripture. But with Scripture as a background, I can make a projection that this is what could logically happen next.  All right, if Israel is going to dismantle their military, they’re going to wait upon the Western European Nations, and America will probably be involved.  They, too, are going to guarantee Israel’s peace and safety.  And they dismantle their military – now, what’s happened to their defense system?  It’s gone. All right, now back to Ezekiel 38, the chapter that we’ve looked at over and over, where we have the big northern invasion of Israel headed up by Russia.  Now, if you watch the news at all, what’s happening more and more between Russia and Iran?  They’re coming closer and closer together.  As much as we try to stop Iran from their nuclear activity, the Russians undermine us.  They’re just going to pour whatever the Iranians need in order to keep the thing going.

All right, in Ezekiel 38 it comes to a head.  I have taught, for as long as I’ve been teaching prophecy that this will be in the first year or so of the seven.  I’ll show you why. First, before we get into that part, let’s see how that this Russian confederation, which will include most of the Muslim world—the Lord says in verse 8. Ezekiel 38:8a “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years (This is at the end time.) thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword,” Well, that’s a reference to the little land of Israel. After all the wars that Israel has fought to maintain their nation’s statehood, and they have been having to fight for it almost constantly since they became a Nation, including just this past summer. Ezekiel 38:8b “…and is gathered out of many people, (Now we know that there are Jews in Israel from almost every nation under heaven today.) against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: (Because when Israel was out of the land, it became a desolation.)  but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.” Ezekiel 38:9-10 “Thou (this Russian coalition) shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 10. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:” Now, here’s my key verse, the next one. Ezekiel 38:11a “And thou shalt say,…” In other words, the military planners up there in the Kremlin are going to be looking at all the details, and they’re going to just be exuberant.  These Jewish people are sitting there with no military capability.  They’ve dismantled everything.  But that isn’t the language of about 600 B.C.  What’s the language?  Walled villages. Ezekiel 38:11 “And thou (the Russian leadership) shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages, (Now, in language of antiquity, that just simply means they had no defense.  They’re sitting there like ducks on a pond.) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, (My goodness, militarily I guess they’re at rest.  They’re too busy making money.  They’re too busy having a good time because of that peace treaty.) all of them dwelling without walls, (They’ve been guaranteed that no one will be able to hurt them.) and having neither bars nor gates,” To keep the enemy out.  Russia is going to say, we go— Ezekiel 38:12a “To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited,…”  Well, that’s Israel.  It was a total desolation until after World War II.  I’ve used it over and over where old Mark Twain was traveling over there in the 1860’s and he said he would never want to live here.  It’s a desolation.  Not even the weeds of the desert will grow here!  He saw no living thing.  Nothing!  Why?  It was totally desolate until the Jews started coming back after World War II. So, all of this indicates, then, if I can bring you back now to Daniel 9, that when this peace treaty is signed at the very opening days or hours of this final seven years, this humongous personality will start all of this. I have to think of my early years on the television program. In the early 90’s, we were on the big six-foot dish.  Where’s Gary?  Is he around here?  I’ll never forget when I was still taping over in the old studio and on the way out Gary said, “Les, come in here.”  He was office manager.  And he said, “World Harvest has just signed up for a satellite with those big six-foot dishes and we’ve got to get you on there!”  So we did.  We got on the big six-foot satellite fairly early. One of my first responders was a Jewish young man out in California who picked us up on that six-foot dish. Come to find out, he was a student in a yeshiva.  Now, if you know what yeshiva is, that’s where they teach young Jewish men.  And we had quite a few conversations there for a little while, but we had one that always stuck with me.

He said, “Now, Les, you’re talking about a Messiah that’s going to be Deity.”  And I said, “Well, yeah, it’s going to be the Son.”  He said, “No, that’s not what we think at all.”  I said, “Well, what do you think?” He said, “He’s just going to be a superman.  He’s going to be super intelligent.  He’s going to have super military capability.  He’s going to be a super economist.  He’s just going to be a superman, but he’s going to be a man.”  All right, who was he really thinking about?  The anti-Christ.  That’s what he’s going to be.  He’s going to be a superman. All right, now let’s finish Daniel 9 verse 27, again.  Then we’ll look at a few more verses here in Daniel. Daniel 9:27b “…in the middle of the week…” That will be at the end of the first three and a half years. After we’ve had all this euphoric activity in Israel, especially, rebuilding the Temple and reestablishing Temple worship.  Their economy is just roaring, and they are living life to the full. You know, I’ve got to give the Jews credit.  Do you know of any race or nationality of people that can enjoy life more than the Jews?  Huh-uh.  They have always had the capability of living life to the full, even when they were under persecution.  Well, can you imagine what it will be like when the Nation comes under the prosperity and the peace treaty that guarantees their safety?  Why, it’s going to be unbelievable! All right, so in the middle of the week, this super-man anti-Christ is going to go into that Temple and do much like Antiochus Epiphanes did three hundred years before Christ. He’s going to one way or another desecrate and defile Israel’s Temple.  It’s whatever you want to think, but it’s something that’s just reviling. It’s rotten to the core. It’s awful.  That’s what he’s going to do to the Temple. Daniel 9:27c “…in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, (He’s going to so completely defile it that a Jew wouldn’t even think of stepping inside ever again, and it’s going to stay that way.) even until the consummation, (or the ending of that last three and a half years, or the seven) and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” It will remain desolate until the seven years are completed. All that has been determined in prophecy as we’ve been looking at the last several programs, and we’ll look again this afternoon…all that has been determined will be poured upon the desolator,  This man anti-Christ and the wrath of God will one day be poured upon him. All right, now let’s just get a few more descriptions of this fellow here while we’re in Daniel. Turn up to Daniel chapter 11, if you will.  Daniel chapter 11 and come on over to verse 36.  Now again, Daniel, like most of the writers of prophecy, will skip periods of time and then leap clear to the end of time.  All right, now here in verse 11 we feel that he is referring to this man anti-Christ at the latter days, at the end of the seven years. Daniel 11:36a “And the king (Another reference to this man anti-Christ, he’s the world ruler.) shall do according to his will; (He won’t listen to a parliament or a congress. He’s going to be a total dictator.) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god,…” In other words, all the religions of the world that may have their particular object of worship, he’s going to put himself above them all.  And he’s going to do it with force. Daniel 11:36b “…and he shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, (In other words, the God of Scripture, the God of Israel) and he shall prosper (In other words, he’s going to succeed at everything he does. He’s a superman, remember?) until the indignation be accomplished: (Which is another word for the seven years, he’s going to get away with everything until those seven years come to an end.) for that which is determined shall be done.”   All the things in this seven years are going to come to pass, now verse 37.

Daniel 11:37a “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,…”  Now, this is another reason I feel he has to have some Jewish blood, because I cannot understand the Nation of Israel accepting this guy as a Messiah if he were not a Jew. Now, I haven’t got time now in this half-hour, but in the next half hour I’m going to show you why I think they’re going to accept this man as the true Messiah.  I’ll show you a verse of Scripture.  But for now, just take my word for it that they are recognizing this man as their God-sent Messiah even though he will not regard the God of Israel. Daniel 11:37 “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, (That about tells you what he is.) nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” What does that tell you?  The guy has all the earmarks of a total dictator.  He has nothing but pride for himself.

[srbachchan]

DAY 4655

Jalsa, Mumbai                   Nov 27,  2020                  Fri 11:04 PM

Work takes away most of the day and the words that need to be expressed on this special day remain in the solitude of the being .. they cannot be expressed or put into thought .. 

Yet , the most telling words came from the lady of the family ..

“ Family, let’s remember Dad today with gratitude for giving us this name & may we never forget it ..”

I called him Dad .. but when speaking of him, it shall always be ‘Babuji’

The tribute in Hindi has been very kindly given translation by the bearded recluse from the hills of the Uddhagamandalam ..

Most-venerable and most-revered Shri Amitabh Bachchan ji,

Heartfelt bowed greetings and salutations... charansparsh, 27 November 2020 ... Infinite respects to most-revered Babuji, Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan ji... for his 113th birth anniversary... On this special occasion, I dedicate a brief write-up, in my humble language, on the literary-poetic life of the great poet Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan...

The final truth of life is death... but there are some who are remembered for long due to their good deeds and good qualities... Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was one of them who gave lovers of literature the taste of exquisite poetry in simple easy words... It’s his birthday today... Once again, countless salutations to him...

While narrating his own life story, Dr. Bachchan has crafted such an intoxicating reality of ‘Madhushala’ that connoisseurs of the Hindi language will continue to find  oestrus inspiration forever...

Only in literature can one find unity and religious harmony in a drunken stagger which is normally cursed by people... Where else could it be found other than the magic of Dr. Bachchan’s pen... who presented the philosophy of life with such ease and straightforwardness, showing equal prowess in both prose and poetry…  

Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan --- A thoughtful scholar, true thinker, a strong essayist, auto-biographer, commenter, translator, and story-writer... who was at once natural, simple, sensitive, and thoughtful... He was as sensitive as thoughtful... compassionate as well as humorous... he wrote free verse as well as metered... expressive as well as ponderous... conscientious as well as patriotic... and a lover of the world at large...  

(His style of poetry was often called Cchaayaa vaadi - reflective)

Apart from advancing the reflective style of poetry, Dr. Bachchan had also appealed to literature in prose... Like a silver waterfall dropping down the Himalayas, his compositions had an uncommon insight into hearts and minds... his poems carry the natural expressions of human feelings that touch the heart... Dr. Bachchan’s works were very popular in the common walks of life... His prose in stories, memoirs, essays, radio-talks, commentaries, diaries, auto-biography etc. are not only among the most celebrated writings, but they remain a priceless treasure of Hindi literature…  

Dr. Bachchan;s inclination is that of a sensitive poetic thinker... his writings present observations on social subjects... He has written in his autobiography, “Perhaps it is in my nature to be expressive, which if let loose can become hyperbolic...”

Dr. Bachchan did not expect too much from the society or life... self-confidence, dedication, honesty and discipline... these were the mantra of his life... and his entire literary world seems to be bound by these principles... Probably this was the way that kept him from becoming weak... In the most difficult situations in life, he did not lose his inspirations, nor did his competence fail... he faced them, suffered them... did not compromise his beliefs, nor was faith shaken...

Dr. Bachchan, in his auto-biography, has served such an intoxicating mix of reality that connoisseurs of the Hindi language will always savour its pleasures... Dr. Bachchan, as a story-teller, historian, writer and as a critic, is at his peak... Hindi songs found a new direction in Dr. Bachchan’s verses... “Madhushala”, pushing away the divisions of faiths and differences, even if only as an experience of coherent joy, establishes a unity...  “Nisha-Nimantran” and “Ekaant Sangeet” are among his very popular anthologies... “Sat Rangini” and “Milan Yaamini” are anthologies filled with passion and flowing lyrics...

Dr. Bachchan writes, “I wish to write great poetry, not an epic!”... But, not only did he write great poetry, his autobiography is itself an epic... an epic poem in prose... epics have para-narratives... this one has his own story...

This can be said without hesitation that, not only in Hindi, Dr. Bachchan’s place is reserved among the most loved poets across India…

Sir ji, you are past the threshold of the 78th year today... Yet you complete all your tasks successfully with full devotion and enthusiasm... Without a doubt, there is the support of Babuji’s compositions which provide an inner strength... it is that mystery and relish which keeps your excitement and energy even today... ahead and victorious... May Babuji’s blessings always remain over you and your entire family...  

Sending you some amazing pictures of father and son herewith... Do give your love, Sir ji, which we always need...

With respect, affection, and abundant devotion Your devotee, Rajesh Shrivastav EF

In gratitude and in the generosity of all the Ef that have given their love and respect to him .. 

I present your greetings to him here in his room in Prateeksha .. where he breathed his last .. this room shall ever remain as is .. 

.. Babuji and Ma .. Ma in her wedding finery .. Babuji’s ‘Rachnavali’ his entire works, in bounded collection on the mantle .. on the left of in the safron cloth bound his Ramayan and his JanGeeta , which he read each day and asked me to do similar .. the smaller framed picture is of my Nana and Nani - Sardar Khazan Singh Suri and Amar Kaur Sodhi .. Ma ji’s parents .. the diya flamed keeps lit ever .. below the mantle are two stone sculptures that he had picked up, lying wasted on abandoned road sides .. a lady in one in female form and the other which cannot be seen in the picture is of a lion .. 

.. since he had done his PhD on WB Yeats , the great Irish poet, from Cambridge .. he referred to the two sculptures as the ‘the Lion and the Virgin’  .. it was either one of Yeats’ prominent works addressed thus or a reference that he had researched on during his dissertation ..

.. the flowers , fresh,  adorn the pictures each day ..

.. a desk, his reading glasses , his wrist watch and some memorabilia on it on the other side of the room where he sat and wrote ..

.. in devotion .. in memory .. in admiration .. in inspiration .. in his wisdom .. in his learning .. in his will .. in his ever presence .. in his being Babuji ..

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 

10 pranaams .. 

... from his autobiographical title on one of the volumes ‘dashadwaar se sopaan tak’ .. from the room with dashdwaar , ten doors or openings , symbolic of the 10 openings in the human body , the room in our home in Allahabad , 17 Clive Road .. to Sopaan, our home in Delhi where he finished his writing of this autobiography as his last chapter ..

Amitabh Bachchan

[sanstropfremir]

the hotly anticipated kingdom episode 7 review is here!!

this episode was a lot less spectacle-y than the last one (the last episode with stages, i mean), and i think that was a good choice for all the groups on the whole to tone it down on the run up to the finale, because at the rate everyone was headed there would be no room to go any higher. i'm very glad that there was actually a collab stage and not just a song swap, especially because it gives a chance for the boys to work together and make friends when they otherwise arent going to be able to interact much. love love love to see them making friends and having fun doing these stages!

i'm not really sure why mnet didnt put the vocal stage this episode, because what on earth else are they going to put in the next episode with it??? i know it's a content stretch but still, it seems like a weird choice to me. anyways, there’s four stages for me to talk about this time and i'm going to try to not ramble out of control, but we’ll see. i did enjoy watching all of these, but we’ve all got favourites and i'm going to rank by which group i liked better out of the two for each stage, and then i put a few conclusions at the end. strap in folks this is another long one.

rap stages

skz + btob + atz

i was actually really surprised at how much i liked this stage. i would not classify myself as a rap fan and believe it or not i actually do not place a lot of importance on lyrics when enjoying music. although i have very high lyric retention and comprehension, i focus more on the sound than the literal words, so a fair amount of rap is swing-and-a-miss in my personal listening. plus when you add a language barrier on top of that, a lot of the nuance and technical skill of it just flies over my head. so i really dont have much to say about the sonic elements this time around, sorry. also.....i know i joked that nobody from the kingdom staff is reading my reviews.....but is someone from the kingdom staff reading my reviews????? i specifically mentioned that i think skz should do an art themed stage and then we got one????? i know i manifested the punk ateez stage but did i manifest this also??? am i just that powerful???

costume

obviously these are pretty basic rap/hiphop stage looks, but the white was a really good choice for visibility’s sake, and also thematically: it reflects the colours in the lighting really well.

i am DYING to know who the designer of minhyuks jacket is. if somebody knows please tell me i love it so much. it looks like some of the recent belted jackets that dior was putting out, but the drawing on the front armscythe piece reminds me of the superm/kim junggi collab for tiger inside. say whatever you want about superm, but you cannot deny that that is not some of the coolest merch on the kpop scene.

loved the traditional korean elements that came through in addition to the western references: the screens, hongjoong’s fan, minhyuk’s big fuckoff brush, the masks, and the sleeves on the dancers at minhyuk’s bit. those are a costume feature from a style of korean traditional masked dance called bongsan talchum. the masks themselves are versions of hahoetal masks, which are used in a very specific archetypal ritual dance in andong. i think these are imae masks, who is the servant/fool archetype that mocks the nobleman and the scholar. i suspect that was a deliberate choice, but i can only speculate.

another point about the masks which is not relevant but maybe a fun fact for people who don’t know. i actually thought at first that they were western theatre half masks, which are a very old style of mask that, like with hahoetal masks, represent a number of archetypes/stock characters. maskwork is a very common training practice in theatre schools, because it teaches body language and control, because half your face is covered and you cannot speak in your own voice (sometimes you cannot speak at all, this is one of the rules of full mask). the tradition of usings masks to portray emotion goes all the way back to the ancient greek chorus, but more commonly people in the west sometimes know it from the italian commedia dell’arte, of which you will have definitely seen some of the character archetypes before. i just find it neat that the same types of art pop up in different places seemingly independently of each other. humans are cool.

set

not much to say here, it's pretty bare with just some propwork. thought the screen use was fun and they used it smartly in a couple of transitions. 

thought changbin’s bit of ‘interrupting’ the artists was cute and fun. there’s obviously a picasso reference there, and the four technicolour paintings are a reference to andy warhol’s pop art silkscreen portraits, most famously of marilyn monroe, but he also did many other celebrities in the 70s and 80s.

lighting

i LOVED this lighting. super bright and fun, lots of use of colour, obviously. the projections were there to enhance the visuals and weren’t distracting in any way. i thought the transition to black and white/ink with minhyuk was smart and had good contrast, it gave a strong rhythm to build back up to for the climax.

sound

bang chan’s ‘spelling colour with a u’ bit had me SCREAMING with laughter. we spell colour with a u normally bang chan, the americans are the ones that are wrong. 

staging

i don’t really have a whole lot to say here, it was pretty straightforward and fun. like i’ve said in previous reviews, i wish they were more conscious of the steadicam direction and would stop showing extended bits of the production crew. at least everyone was wearing full blacks this time.

fun use of the upward angle combined with the groundwork/leg choreo during hongjoong’s verse, that was a highlight for me.

sf9 + tbz + ikon

nothing against this stage, the other one just hit harder for me. bobby is the best rapper on the show and he really carried this stage with his charisma. he’s a fun performer to watch and he knows how to command a space. i'm sure there’s technical notes that people have about the raps themselves, but i'm here looking at visuals as a priority, which i'm sure you’ve all grasped at this point.

costume

these were clearly extensions of these idol’s personal styles, with is a perfectly fine choice, especially for a rap stage where the emphasis is more on authorship. LOVED bobby’s 11yro girl at recess look.

amusing that both rap stages involved paint in some way? loved the backup dancers shooting supersoakers filled with paint at them, but i wish i knew the reason for it? i'm glad i saw this stage first because i would have been underwhelmed by the paint throwing if i had seen this after rainbow bonanza.

set

almost no set at all here, just a few props. i'm not judging as harshly on lack of set this round because these stages are meant to be more about skill than anything else. 

lighting

i loved the projections, i thought they were unobtrusive and i admit, i LOVE outer space themed anything.

i liked that they did more concert lighting and had no projections in the first half to put more focus on the performers, it really highlighted the fact that this stage was about them, and not about anything extraneous.

sound

it was indeed a song.

staging

i do wish there had been a bit more control of the space, because it did look very empty at some parts and they could have staved that off by keeping tighter camera shots. this stage is so fucking big, holy shit.

they really brought their onstage chemistry and they looked like they were having a blast, which FINALLY!! 

i actually really liked hwiyoung’s opening, i think there was a lot of potential there for some sharp contrast work that i wish had been played through a little more, especially with the cool white light overtop the black costumes. it actually reminded me a bit of the intro in the music video from a rapper i do actually listen to, bewhy’s gottasadae.

glad to see some more use of camera effects with the black and white, but why did they do it over the paint throwing? it just made the trajectory of the paint invisible because there was no colour contrast.

performance stages

sf9 + tbz + ikon

ok obviously im gonna have a lot more to say about the performance stages, nobody is surprised there. this one was the better constructed of the two and my personal pick for better stage, but i actually liked watching the both of them equally.

costume

king shit, literally. we love contemporary hanbok in this house. there was good colour and style distinction between the three of them without clashing. 

costume change was fun and neatly blocked, it's pretty common to see backup dancers and chorus hiding quickchanges but i liked how this was a more unusual formation.

taeyang rocking the organza skirt and the big purple eyeshadow, thank you for keeping it cunty as always.

i really liked juyeon’s underlayer look. finally we get a good tbz costume look thats thematically relevant!

set

like all the stages this round, pretty minimal. the setting was almost entirely established through the costumes and the projections, which is some really good designwork. it's pretty much just the litters (the lifted chairs they entered on), and some smaller props. they managed to not make the stage feel empty because there was a lot of projection visuals to compensate, which is difficult to do without being overbearing, but i think they mostly pulled it off.

i originally thought it was gonna be weird to try and mesh the traditional korean architectural aesthetic with the weird mnet deco, but i ended up not noticing it as much as i thought i would.

lighting

like i just said, projections very well done and do a fantastic job of conveying setting without being overly distracting. like with the atz/skz/btob rap stage there’s a really broad range of colour use here that they offset by brightening and properly fill lighting the faces so you can actually see what’s happening.

the use of the strobing lasers and more concert style lighting fit really well with the change in the music from traditional instrument sounds to electronica and the more hiphop/isolated movements.

sound

i liked it well enough! i think it had a good arc that we can see echoed through the rest of the piece, like previously stated in the lighting and movement style. 

staging

like i mentioned with the quickchange, there was some really interesting formations using the backup dancers here, especially as a lead toward/away from the camera

having the three of them enter on litters; again, literal king shit, love to see it.

this has a pretty clear narrative that doesnt really need an external explanation, which is good. i have to assume that the burning of the paper with 妃 (concubine) is intended to be a gesture of ‘burning’ the love out of their hearts, but that was the only thing i'm still confused on. this may very well turn out to be a reference to a specific story that i just have no idea what it is, but we’ll see once the subs are out!

i loved juyeons solo bit with the alcohol drinking and the table flip, that was the choreographic highlight for me. i just really wish he would use the other muscles in his face more often. we know youre pretty, you dont have to blue steel your way through all your performances!! take a page out of donghyuk’s book and make some ugly faces, it's good for you!!

i though taeyang’s swordwork was fine, but since i do actually have a decade of sword training i'm very judgemental. it's not bad, he obviously has practiced with the weapon and he knows how to control it, but he doesn’t have the same understanding as someone who has trained with a sword as a weapon and not just as a prop. if we hadn’t seen another stage with swordwork in it i probably wouldn’t have brought this up (that's a lie, i still would have brought it up, i have a third dan), but you can really see the difference between how minhyuk moves with his sword and how taeyang moves. a lot of this has to do with the proper weighting of the blade, which i mention briefly in my second episode review in btob’s section (and also this ask here, where i talk about properly weighted weapons in relation to the gun choreo in sf9’s and ateez’s previous stages); minhyuk is likely using a ‘real’ sword (it’s blunted but still made using proper methods and materials), and taeyang is using a cheaper-made replica (unless you’re doing full contact striking a LOT there’s no way a properly made blade breaks like that. also you would never tape it together hello??? respect the blade). if you know what you’re looking for, you can tell from the movements themselves when someone has training. minhyuk did a load of real training for a film where he was a swordsman, and you can tell; the sword is an extension of his arm, all the movements lead with the tip of the blade first, because that’s your first, your fastest, and your most dangerous point. you do 90% of your cutting with the first eight inches of blade, but it takes a lot of specific training to get your hands and arms to a place where that kind of movement is possible. taeyang’s movements are driven from his hands, which is unsurprising, because that’s where he’s used to his extensions stopping. the tip follows rather than leads. wow this got insanely sidetracked i hope you liked this crash course on swordwork.

this is pretty much what i expected to see from this unit. these three groups all have standout soloists, so i wasn’t surprised to see these three boys as the picks. juyeon and taeyang especially, theyre both from groups that are more likely to do experimental stages and choreography that highlights them as soloists and skilled dancers.

skz + btob + atz

this was a letdown from ateez’s last two stages, because they knocked those out of the park, but it's only fair that they have a bit of a fall. that being said, i did really enjoy watching this for its sheer ridiculousness; i’m forgiving the wolf concept this time because well, it’s wolf. you can't cover wolf and not do a wolf concept, that’s against the law. also, like i’ve said before, i'm all for dark concepts IF you give them thematic weight. is it on the nose? yes. is it thematically relevant? also yes. is it dumb? also also yes, but that’s never stopped a single kpop group in the history of ever.

costume

friendship restored with ateez stylists, rivalry started with skz stylists. the fur shoulder fluffs??? stupid and i love them. perfect in every way. however i keep seeing the same fucking costumes on the skz boys and i will come directly for the stylists at jype if they dont get their shit together. be! more! creative!!!

i really really wish they had gone more 2013 kpop with it, we need more of that ugly ridiculous styling. peniel was actually pretty close, with the overly long tunic and those yellow lenses. very vixx on and on (yes i know they were vampires from outer space, let me live)

i actually thought the wolf gloves were fun? the small bits of uv paint actually worked instead of looking out of place, and i'm glad they put them on wooyoung because the uglier an outfit, the better he pulls it off. 

set

same dice, just the long table and the camo net at the beginning, which i thought was unnecessary. the table was useful for levels though, so happy to see they utilized that.

lighting

there is so much happening all the time. lots of lasers. it's definitely aiming for camp territory, and i dont actually hate it as much as i did on my first watch. it actually wasn’t as dark as i thought either, because its mostly lit with blue and amber. but it doesn’t really have that great of an arc and its not really that good on the whole.

the projections are a bit much for me, but that’s only when i'm actually looking at them. true to form, i didn’t even notice the excess of red slashes until like my fourth rewatch because i was too busy watching the performers.

sound

rookie exo my beloved. the original wolf goes so hard for absolutely no reason, so i’m not knocking this stage for being ridiculous. in fact it should have been more ridiculous. i think they did a fine job updating the song for a.....less 2013 sound. 

i like that they didn’t bother to live sing the stage even though they recorded vocals for it, it gave them all a chance to actually focus on just the dance.

that being said, i am kind of missing all the adlibs from the original. but even though there’s some strong vocalists in this unit, they aren’t made of the same stuff as baekhyun, luhan, chen, AND d.o.

i literally just realized that peniel had already debuted when this song came out AND is technically exo’s senior because btob debuted like two weeks before exo officially did.....oh no

staging

choreographically this feels a lot more like the skz stages that we’ve seen rather than the ateez ones, so i'm curious as to who the choreographer was. 

the tricking was definitely more ridiculous in this one, but i can't really say any of it was there for no reason because it all had elements of fighting in it. the scale of the tricks was quite large though and not very well blended with the rest of the choreo, which ending up making them look awkward. i thought it was a nice detail that they shone a green toplight on the dancers that made up the cliff wooyoung climbed up so that it looked like there was grass on it. cute.

the blocking is lacking a lot of fluidity, and i think that’s partially the scale of the tricking and also the editing, because this editing is TERRIBLE. there’s so much cutting, why is there so much cutting!! haven’t we already learned that longtakes are the best for this???

there’s a lot of stuff here that had good potential but could have been pushed a little farther. i feel like i say this for every mediocre stage, but what can i say, i'm good at constructive criticism. 

they should have given more showcase to the tree and the scratching arms; it's the most iconic move!! i also wish they had kept some kind of iteration of the different unit ‘leaping’ in over the exiting one, i always thought that part of the original choreo was really fun and did a lot for establishing them as wolves. 

i LOVED peniel entering with all those backup dancers in chains, thats some fucking iconic shit. very ‘im the alpha wolf,’ which is valid because he’s like at LEAST five years older than everyone else on the stage. i wish that instead of being the backup dancers it was the actual members, because THAT would have been an image. theyre all wearing harnesses and collars anyways, just clip em in! he’d be like one of those dogwalkers!

me last week: specifically talking about how krump is an uncommon style in kpop and it's very hard to get right kingdom, throwing the manifesting dodgeball at me for the third time: here would you like a KRUMP SOLO?

if you didnt believe me before that krump is hard to get right, i sure hope you do now. peniel did fine, but you can see how easily you can veer off into looking ridiculous.

some conclusions

i mentioned this really briefly in an ask i got earlier today, but i do think it's important to establish that the two performance units are doing two different types of performances. i can understand why people are underwhelmed by the atz/skz/btob stage and wanted it to be less of a traditional kpop dance stage and more like the experimental stages we’ve been seeing for the last few weeks. and i agree! i think they could have done more with it. but i also think that this kind of stage was a good choice for this particular subunit. unlike with the sf9/tbz/ikon unit, there are not really any standout technical soloists in ateez or skz. ateez has, in my opinion, the highest ratio of dancers with actual stage presence of any of the 4th gen groups ive seen. they’re at a solid 75% for any given performance, and occasionally they can bump that higher depending on the stage. that high of a stat is rare. it's extremely rare for a group to have all its members have good stage presence (i can think of like, maybe two or three?), and to get over 50% is pretty damn impressive. but ateez’s strength isn’t in how good they individually are as dancers, but it's in how well they work together. there’s a reason why they put FIVE of them in the performance unit. one of the first things i said about ateez to hanya is ‘i love wooyoung but he doesn’t stand out when he's not centre.’ which is for good reason!! he’s not supposed to! they all willingly give up centre and take it back when they need to, because they have that charisma. there’s a very cohesive push and pull to watching ateez that speaks to their strengths as performers. dancing in a group where you are all meant to be equal is a very different skill than just being a talented soloist. you have to understand what to prioritize in a different way. taemin dances differently with shinee that he does in his solo career, especially since they’ve been back. he understands when to step back; more often than not i find key to be the standout dancer in shinee choreo.

this is a very long winded way of saying that wolf was a good choice for them even though the stage didn’t turn out as well as it could have. also the fact that they made a cohesive performance at all, with a week of rehearsal and while working with essentially strangers is a feat and speaks to all of their skill at their job. performing in a group is a huge part of kpop, and they did call this the performance stage, and not the dance stage.

i'm not entirely sure on what the breakdown is on why each of the subunits were formed. i know the team sizes are extremely uneven, with sf9/tbz/ikon clocking in at 26 people and atz/skz/btob clocking in at 17 (i'm not counting changsub because he's not there and probably has a scheduling conflict), which is like, a whole extra group of difference. but atz/skz/btob utilizing their whole groups for each of the units (5/3/1 for performance, 1/3/1 for rap, and 1/1/1 for vocal, for 7/7/3 total), verses sf9/tbz/ikon only bringing out six people for these two stages and then six for the vocal stage is......weird? that's over half of their group number that’s not performing. i do think the groups brought out their standout performers and made smart choices with the stages but the balance still strikes me as odd. i do wish tbz had actually done some group choreo because they are very strong group performers and it would have been fun to watch.

ateez really played the long game here, good job boys. teaming up with the group who gets the highest fan votes AND the group with the strongest technical skills? i see you.

i think this is probably too wild of an assumption and is only based on circumstantial evidence but.....i think hongjoong might actually have a lot more creative sway than i previously thought. all the stages he’s been a part of have been very well designed, and i know he provided suggestions for the two ateez stages prior to this... i’m probably thinking too much. 

ok you know what i know there were some other points in my brain somewhere but this is already 4000 words so i’m going to stop. if i remember anything else its probably gonna end up in the answer to some of the asks i’m inevitably going to get because i think my opinions on these ones are a little bit more controversial, whoops!

not entirely sure if ill do an extensive review for next week’s stage, because i'm not really a ballad fan and i dont really do vocal reviews, but i could do a quick one. i guess it also depends on what else they put in the episode. we’ll see!!

[brother-hermes]

BAPTISM OF CHRIST

To understand the significance of the the Baptism of Christ we must first understand who John the Baptist is. When asked who he was John the Baptist replied “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.” While he’s obviously quoting Isaiah 40:3 there’s a bit more to it than that. His manner of dress and diet screams of an exhiled Essene and even scholars have come to grips with that. However, the connotation of the wilderness has a spiritual parallel amongst the Essenes, one that denotes how our spiritual energy is grounded within. This is why he baptized with water- a physical sign. Water carrying its own significance of the normal objective consciousness housed in our physical bodies. The one who comes after him, whose strap he isn’t worthy to untie, baptizes in Spirit- transforming our very souls.

John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

-John 1:32

There’s so much hidden here that’s hit a hardcore language barrier and been lost in translation it’s unreal. “I saw the Spirit.” Aomai has a dual meaning. It means ‘to see physically’ but it also means ‘to see clairvoyantly.’ Both Matthew and Mark use the verb for seeing normally whereas the Gospel of John denotes the mystical path in each and every line.

Rudolf Steiner literally picked this verse apart in several lectures and defined each word far beyond anything I could ever hope to surmise. Luckily, his lectures are public record these days and anyone can find them. His translation states simply:

“I clairvoyantly beheld the Spirit, from out of the Spirit (of Yeshuas own being) gradually taking on a dove like shape, and this remained, hovering above him.”

This is a much more in depth look than we find in Matthew 3:16. “And he saw the Spirit of God (Ru’ahh) descending like a dove and coming upon him.” Yeshua is the physical embodiment of the Word. Ruach Hakoddesh(Holy Spirit) rose up from within him and hovered above him forming a chalice for the divine that was seeking to fill him. We are witnessing the entirety of Gods power fully arising within Yeshua.

Diving completely in the deep end of the pool here I’d like to site a passage from the Emerald Tablet that speaks of such an event. “It climbs from the Earth and descends from the sky, and receives the force of things superior and inferior.” Remember, John was speaking in a way that would resonate with the Greek thinkers of the day. Hermetic philosophy was alive and well amidst the mystery schools of Ancient Greece so it would stand to reason that this is how they would interpret this inner journey of Christ’s.

No matter what angle you take in discerning the mystical path laid out in John the result is always the same. Yeshua housed the Divine in the flesh and served as the living embodiment of what we should all aspire to be.

While the Church doesn’t tend to play up what it actually means to be born again in Christ the Gospel of John gives a clear and concise path to follow. Christ arises within us and leads us through our journey of transformation baptizing our Spirits.

I wanted to lay the foundation of understanding down as solidly as possible before getting into the meat of the mysteries. It’s almost impossible to understand Wedding at Cana without understanding the symbolism of Christ’s baptism. This is high Christian mysticism and I have to be incredibly careful of how it’s presented as I don’t want to mislead anyone based on my own misunderstanding. This work requires loads of prayer and meditation to convey with accuracy. Thank you all for your patience and understanding b

[tawakkull]

ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 47

Walaya (Sainthood)

Literally meaning a person, a community, or a country that is under the direction and rule of another, walaya (sainthood) denotes annihilation with respect to carnal selfhood and egoism in favor of awareness of being under the dominion of the All-Living, Self-Subsistent One and of the need to acquire nearness to the Necessarily Existent Being. Travelers on the way to God who has attained this level, having given themselves up to the direction of God, are favored with self-possession, and live in nearness to God. The first step in sainthood is indicated in the verse (2:257): God is He Who loves, guards and directs those who believe; He has led them out of all kinds of (intellectual, spiritual, social, economic and political) darkness into the light, and keeps them firm therein; and also in Know well that the confidants (saintly servants) of God-there will be no reason for them to fear (both in this world and the next, for they shall always find My help and support with them), nor shall they grieve (10:62).

One who has been favored with sainthood is called a waliyy (saint). Waliyy is one of the Names of God Almighty. A saint on whom this Name is placed and who has become a polished mirror in which this Name is reflected is considered as having been favored with “self-annihilation in God” and “subsistence with Him.” Nevertheless, this favor can never make a saint indifferent to the master of the creatures, upon him be peace and the blessings of God. On the contrary, whatever rank a person has attained on the way to God, one of the most blessed and illuminating sources for the confidants of God, the Truth, is the person of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who is the sun of Prophethood and the pure source of truth; he is the one they should follow strictly. Moreover, he is the first among those sources that are the means of guidance attainment of sainthood for people. In several verses, the Qur'an stresses exactly this point, bringing our attention to that source of enlightenment and that mine of truth. For example (3:31): (O Messenger,) say (to them): “If you indeed love God, then follow me, so that God may love you and forgive you your sins.”

This truth is expressed in a colorful language in Gulshan al-Raz by Mahmud Shabstari:[1]

The Prophet is like the sun, and the saint is like the moon facing the sun, which says: “I have a special time with God.” A saint can only find a way to so that God may love you, which is the meeting room with Him, Through If you indeed love God, follow me.

As the moon receives its light entirely from the sun, so a saint is enlightened by following the Prophet, by becoming like him a polished mirror in which the Divine light is reflected. It can even be said that not only the saints that came after Prophet Muhammad, but also all the previous Prophets received their light from him, who is the sun of Prophethood, upon him be peace and blessings:

He is the sun of virtues and the others are the stars that diffuse light for people at night. All the miracles the blessed Messengers worked were because his light reached them. (Busiri)

The word waliyy (saint) is used as an agent or as a past participle. It denotes, in the first case, one who resists sins and regularly fulfills the duties of worship and obedience with patience, while in the second case, it denotes one who has been favored with God’s help and protection. Both of these meanings are in accord with the covenant made between God and His servants, which is mentioned in the following hadith qudsi:[2]

God Almighty declares: “Whoever shows hostility to My saintly servant, I will surely wage war on him. My servant cannot get near to Me with something more lovable to Me than fulfilling the things I have made incumbent on him. Then, My servant gets nearer and nearer to Me until I love him by fulfilling the supererogatory acts of worship. When I love him, I become his ears with which he hears, his eyes with which he sees, his hands with which he grasps, and his feet on which he walks. (His hearing, seeing, grasping, and walking take place in accordance with my will and commandments.) If he asks Me for something, I surely grant it to him, and if he seeks refuge from (something), I surely take him under My protection.[3]

The saintly scholars have always dwelt upon two important dimensions of sainthood and consider them as two parts of a single unit:

An initiate’s scrupulous observance of God’s commandments, and in return, God’s taking him/her under His special care and protection. Such care and protection manifest themselves as sinlessness in a Prophet, and protection against sins in a saint. Sinlessness and protection from sins are different from one another, but that is not our subject matter here.

A saint is surely a noble, blessed one, and can be favored with working of wonders.[4] However, the working of wonders is not a condition of sainthood. It is a disputed matter whether a saint knows or should know of being a saint. After all, a saint is surely an object or recipient of some special favors of God.

Ibrahim Adham[5] defines sainthood with its dimensions and the favors it receives as renunciation of the world (not in respect to earning a living, but rather with respect to loving it from the heart), turning to God with all one’s being, and continuously expecting His turning to oneself.

According to Yahya ibn Mu'adh,[6] sainthood is enduring every hardship and difficulty on the way to attaining friendship with God.

Sainthood, in the words of Bayazid al-Bistami, is not to allow any desire to be known by others, despite one’s deep and continuous worship and obedience to God and one’s extraordinary care in fulfilling other duties of servanthood. According to Abu Sa'id al-Kharraz, God opens the door slightly to one qualified for sainthood by enabling regular mention of Him and recitation of His Names. When the initiate begins to take pleasure in mentioning Him or in the recitation of His Names, the One Mentioned leads him or her by the hand to the summit of nearness to Him. Then, He clothes him or her in the bejeweled robe of His close friendship according to the degree of the person’s loyalty and faithfulness. In this position, the initiate feels Him only, thinks of Him only, keeps His company only, and holds back from everybody else other than Him, because of his or her duties to Him. Whomever God especially favors, they tremble with fear lest it lead to their perdition. While it is a requirement of a Prophet’s mission that he publicizes his Prophethood and the miracles associated with it as a manifestation of this special, sacred favor, it required among the courtesies of sainthood that a saint keeps both himself and God’s special favors towards him concealed. Concerning this, Muhy al-Din ibn al-‘Arabi[7] writes:

It is compulsory for God’s friends to conceal the wonders they work; So do not ridicule yourself, nor become disgraced, by publicizing them. However, the Messengers are obliged to publicize their miracles, For they are connected with the coming of the Revelation.

The wonders we mention are those that can be witnessed by others or worked through the agency of the external senses and organs, such as mind-reading, giving information about things that are hidden or invisible, and crossing great distances or achieving many things in a relatively short time. Far from desiring them, saints of great stature have felt seriously uncomfortable even with the wonders that have proceeded from them unintentionally.

There is another kind of wonder related to the religious life which is not visible. Comprehension of the spirit of religion, attainment of good morals, strict observance of both the rights of God and the rights of the creatures, practicing what one has learned of religion and being blessed with its consequences, certainty in knowledge of God, sincerity and purity of intention in religious deeds and services, reaching the degree of acting as if seeing God when worshipping God in daily life, and similar attainments are wonders of this kind. Such Divine favors, which the common people cannot see and therefore attach no value to are the greatest values of the things that the distinguished servants of God should always pursue. Even if we should avoid publicizing such actions, seeking them out is tantamount to seeking out the Truth. The heirs to the greater sainthood-the sainthood of the Prophet’s Companions, which is marked by meticulous observance of religion and self-dedication to serving it-have long been counted among the heroes of this attainment.

O God! Make us of those of Your servants who pursue sincerity, and whom You have favored with sincerity and purity of intention, and who have achieved piety and abstinence from all forbidden things big or small, and whom You have made near to You, and who love and are loved by You. Amen.

[1] Sa’d al-Din Mahmud Shabistari (1250-1320) is one of the most celebrated authors of Persian Sufism. Because of his gift for expressing the Sufi spiritual vision with extraordinary clarity, his Gulshan-i Raz (“Secret Rose Garden”) rapidly became one of the most popular works of Persian Sufi poetry. (Trans.) [2] A hadith qudsi is a saying of the Messenger, the meaning of which is inspired directly by God. (Trans.) [3] Al-Bukhari, “Riqaq,” 38. [4] Any extraordinary act or achievement with which a Prophet is favored outside the known “laws of nature” is called a miracle, while a wonder is an action performed by a saint. A saint’s wonder worked by following the Prophet can only be an imitation or copy of a Prophet’s miracle. (Trans.) [5] Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Adham, born in Balkh of pure Arab descent. He renounced his kingdom in Balkh and wandered westwards to live a life of complete asceticism, earning his bread in Syria by honest manual toil until his death in 782. (Trans.) [6] Abu Zakariya’ Yahya ibn Mu'adh al-Razi, a disciple of Ibn Karram, left his native town of Rayy and lived for a time in Balkh, afterwards proceeding to Nishapur where he died in 871. A certain number of poems are attributed to him. (Trans.) [7] Muhiy al-Din ibn al-‘Arabi (1165-1240): One of the great and most famous Sufi masters. His doctrine of the Transcendental Unity of Being, which most have mistaken for monism and pantheism, made him the target of unending polemics. He wrote many books, the most famous of which are Fusus al-Hikam and Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya. (Trans.)

[xiakha]

FFXIVWrite2021 Prompt #8 - Adroit

The Warrior of Light, Savior of Eorzea, Azure Dragoon, Van Baelsar's Downfall could not read Eorzean letters.

Though it was a thought that made the Literati of Aldenard tremble, should it not be expected? After all, it was naught six moons after she set foot in Limsa Lominsa that she laid waste to the Praetorium within Castrum Meridianum and destroyed the Ultima Weapon. There was hardly a moment for the Warrior of Light to sit down with phonics.

...Not that she could read other languages. She grew up with one of the Southern Seas Moonkeeper tongues that lacked an alphabet entirely.

...Not that she spoke Eorzean. Though one would never realize it through simple interaction with her, the Echo's ability to translate all languages for her meant that, unless she was consciously attempting to listen to the rolling babble that made up the Eorzean syllabary, she had spent the last six months, and year and a half before that whist privateering, understanding everything in the roil that made up her Moonkeeper dialect. Most people would describe her simply as stoic, the strong silent type. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

However, her chosen entourage were the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, which had a core of Sharlayan graduates and post-grads. And Minfilia and Yda.

Mayhap that was the key to why Xiao seemed to prefer their company by default. It was difficult to participate in the conversations and arguments about arcane marginalia when your only responses were an emphatic nod, a shrug, and an expression of careful consideration to mask cluelessness. But the Sharlayan scholars were not all indifferent to her struggles.

Y'sthola and Alphinaud had made it their mission to slowly have Xiao learn Eorzean. Y'shtola did it for the sake of wishing to have actual conversation and also wanting to hear Xiao express herself (What little she remembered of her own Miqo'te tongue was a tattered mess from childhood), and Alphinaud did it for the principle of the matter (But of course he did). Thus it was that Y'shtola had frustratingly plodding immersive conversations with Xiao, and Alphinaud lectured fruitlessly through a Sharlayan children's primer on phonetics.

But all of that came to an abrupt close when the Warrior of Light was accused of assassinating the Sultana. Beset on all sides with hardly the words to explain herself, what was she to do? No amount of nodding was going to help her there. Perhaps that was what Teledji Adeledji was banking for. Perhaps a cynic would say that, after so many moons of people assuming and showing good will, it was inevitable that someone would use the Warrior of Light's mute nature to their own advantage.

* * *

The three processed grief in very different ways.

Alphinaud sulked and brooded before landing himself in the library. Maybe if he read the right book for the situation he could take advantage of it all, or at least ease his sense of guilt.

Tataru had perhaps the healthiest coping mechanism. She threw herself into work, yes, but it was sociable work. It was surrounded by those that learned to care for her as they cared for the other inhabitants of Camp Dragonhead. It was acts of creation and crying on the willing shoulders of her growing network of friends and acquaintances.

Xiao Longbao destroyed.

Murder would have spoken some sort of intent to harm, a vendetta or motivation. Nay, she destroyed for the sake of destruction. Camp Dragonhead went through more training dummies in the first fortnight after the banquet than it had since the Umbral Calamity. They were all expertly dismantled with strength that rivaled Ralghr's despite the fact that she never used anything but the practice weapons one was supposed to use within the confines of the fortress. They were also running out of those as well.

As for the Dravanian incursions, House Fortemps soldiers would rally and charge the enemy to only find blood and limbs littering the mountainside, and if they were fortunate, a tired looking Miqo'te, her hair matted with blood, leaning on a spear, looking out towards Mor Dhona.

If they were unlucky, they'd find an axe wielding beast hacking apart an already dead ogre or Vodoriga.

Then, once the destruction was through, the Warrior of Light would imbibe enough to kill a horse. Perhaps it was normal for a former privateer, but it still gathered rumors and whispers when the supposed Savior was found slumped over in the mess hall deep in the cups almost every night. She would rise from this state in the morrow and repeat. Outward destruction by day, inward destruction by night. Alas, who would confront her? Camp Dragonhead enjoyed the first fortnight without an injury or casualty among her garrison for the first time in memory. It wasn't that they were ungrateful just, just... who had the words?

So the concern reached all the way to the top, and Lord Haurchefant, Commander of Camp Dragonhead, decided finally that it would no longer be improprietous for intervention. Oh, he had flirted and expressed his interest once upon a time, but as the debt his small dominion began to accrue in the Warrior of Light's ledger, never mind that she would never come around to collect, he distanced himself for he knew his place. He was not one to risk scandal for House Fortemps. But surely, surely now that Ishgard proper was indebted to the Warrior of Light, now that, begrudgingly, she was recognized as another Azure Dragoon by Estinien and even by Ishgard's vaunted Dragoon Corps, surely there could be no fuss to be made.

It was why he immediately received the trio, shivering and alone in the cold, without question and gave them rooms and the intercessory. But the embers he felt, he dared still not fan. Let them stay cooling coals, both he and the Warrior of Light had other fires to attend to. But now, but now, he would risk fanning the flame. After all, did they not work well together? Did they not admire one another?

So it was that, upon her return one bloody afternoon, Haurchefant greeted Xiao with a still steaming bucket of water.

"I had thought your hair ever a dashing violet. When did it become so faded and browned?" he said, wrinkling his nose, "Moreover, when was the last time you bathed?"

Xiao barely had the time to hiss at him when the water hit her. But whatever rage she felt was utterly wiped out by the shock of water, and the feeling of comfort it brought to her stiffening body, following by shivering as the warmth quickly passed.

Haurchefant looked down at the pooled gore that the first bucket knocked off her. With impunity he tossed at her a second bucket's worth, then a third.

"There is a bath of this very same water prepared for you," he said, "But I had been forewarned that you mayhap require a pre-emptive soaking. 'Tis unfitting of a lady to smell as if she has crawled into something that had died and wear it as a dress."

Xiao opened her mouth, her voice a hoarse growl from disuse, "Not lady, a weapon."

"Very well, but a weapon without maintenance and cleaning is liable to break, and the fortress ill needs a broken blade on the battlefield."

So it was that Haurchefant lead Xiao by the hand into the Manor, to his own private quarters, where a bath was drawn and waiting. Xiao did little to resist the careful hands with which he removed the plate amor that she had slept in and the caring and precise manner with which he undid the bindings of the leather she wore underneath. She sat as in a stupor on the stool as Haurchefant scrubbed her back and limbs with warmed rags, delicately dabbing at bruises and areas where her skin had chafed away without her realizing. She merely grunted at the stinging, her eyes still staring off thousands of yalms away. The bathroom floor was soon a muck of brown with the filth that was wiped off her, and the bathwater didn't quite change colors nearly as dramatically when Haurchefant finally settled her in.

She hadn't realized how weary she was. She hadn't realized how hard she pushed herself. She hadn't realized how disgusting her tail fur was. It was as if she were waking up again after a long, troubled dream.

But the pain returned. The anguish, the failure. Y'shtola...

Lost and adrift with thoughts that she had been avoiding, she didn't notice Haurchefant leave and return with a clean shirt and a book.

He began reading from it, and the lyrical timber of his voice was enough for Xiao to push away the Echo and ask, "What is this?"

"A book of poems, written in old Ishgardian tongue. They would bring me comfort in my youth as my mother read from them."

The rise and fall of his voice entrained her thoughts on it, despite not quite understanding the words, the skillful play of tones and syllables, the steady dah-dih-dah-dih-dah-dah of the verses.

Immersed in warmth and the beauty of Haurchefant's voice, Xiao drifted off peacefully for the first time in days.

[wisdomrays]

TAFAKKUR: Part 131

Metaphysics of Mental Health

Over time, the pressures that accumulate from our commitments and responsibilities can affect our mental health. Through prolonged periods of stress, cortisol and adrenaline poison our body, which can lead to anxiety disorders. To maintain our emotional and mental health, we must consider the state of our spirituality and be mindful of the metaphysical aura which is in continuous interaction with our physical body.

Our cardiovascular system meticulously delivers oxygen and nutrients to body tissues and in turn removes carbon dioxide and waste products. The average rate of contraction is 75 beats per minute, meaning that a human heart contracts 108,000 times a day, more than 39 million times in one year, and nearly 3 billion times during a 75-year lifespan. However, this magnificent center of our being is not only related to our physical, but also our spiritual, well-being. The blood that our heart pumps contains more than just oxygen and nutrients for the body. It acts as both a radiator of goodness from the spirit (ruh) and evil from our carnality (nafs). The Arabic language has eight different translations for the word “soul,” with each of them accounting for a different element of the soul, including the heart, reinforcing the link between the physical and metaphysical.

Basic cardiovascular physiology denotes that deoxygenated blood returns to the right ventricle, which pumps it into the pulmonary trunk and then to the lungs, where carbon dioxide is released and oxygen is absorbed. Oxygenated blood then travels back to the left side of the heart into the left atrium, then into the left ventricle from where it is pumped into the aorta and subsequently the arterial circulation.

Based on this circulatory system, one may speculate about an interaction between our heart and soul. The right ventricle, where our deoxygenated or “dirty blood” returns, might be the location point of our evil-commanding carnal soul or nafs-al ammara. In contrast, the left ventricle, which pumps clean, oxygenated blood, might be the locus of the presence of our spirit (ruh). Thus, one can think of the heart as a tool of the soul, and the soul as a mirror of the heart [1]. If the mirror is kept clean, one can see. If it is dirty, then we are blinded. In this way, the state of the heart affects the soul; the two are in a directly proportional relationship.

Long before the advancement of modern psychology, emotional and mental well-being were highlighted in the Qur’an. The verse “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein,” (50:16) is a perfect example of the spiritual psychology that is immanent throughout the Qur’an. Not only does it demonstrate the proximity of God to His servants at times of inner turmoil, but it also sheds light on the notion of delusion, or whisperings of the heart (waswasa), and that He is aware and understanding of moods of doubt.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also refers to the relationship between the heart and soul: “Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be sound, all the body is sound and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart” (Bukhari). This hadith refers to the close relationship between the bodily organs and the subtle psychic organs of the human soul; the spiritual heart is the center of human consciousness and is interrelated to the bodily, physical heart.

Our conscience, or mind, must acknowledge and make sense of all the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise. Muslim scholars describe possible sources for inner voices to be God, the angels, the devil, and the physiological body [2, 3]. With the appropriate depth of perception, self-regulation and spiritual expertise, one can distinguish between them. While waswasa has a negative connotation and usually refers to the whisperings from the devil and our nafs, we can also receive sources of inspiration from other metaphysical beings such as angels [4]. The mind’s ability to see the world through patterns and metaphors are the workings of the heart, and a gift from God to help us see the meaningful connections in life and to learn by reflecting upon experience. In this way, mindfulness provides an innovative approach to treat mental health issues. By having awareness and a clear comprehension, one can pay attention with patience and care to what happens and try to resolve it accordingly.

It is an understatement to say that we have an incredibly complex and dynamic aura, where the interaction of the metaphysical and physical matter that make up the human body are continually interacting. We’re constantly receiving input from other existing beings around us. There are mechanisms of action we can adopt to make a protective shield against these forces, some of which can have a negative impact on our soul.

The most obvious constituent of this shield is being immaculate in performing prescribed worships. These “must-do’s” are a reference point for us. If we slack off in our worship, our protective shield against waswasa is inevitably weakened. The ablutions we take throughout the day, even before we sleep, are another protective mechanism, while in the remembrance of God (dhikr), our hearts will “find tranquility and satisfaction” (13:28). However, even saints have lamented over periods of “dark nights” when the believer is tested by God who, for a short period, withholds from the devotee all delight in prayer and worship. Sufis describe this state of the soul as qabd, literally meaning being grasped by hand. This causes distress and makes one suffer from spiritual blockage. On the other hand, the soul can also reach a state of bast, or openness, expansion, development, or relief, when one is freed from spiritual blockage and develops inwardly. Thus, “God contracts and expands” (2:245) and believers must make both of these states fruitful by being thankful during openness and seeing contraction as an effective remedy for the sickness of the soul.

Trying to solve psychological problems solely with spiritual therapies is a mistake. Mainstream, pharmacological therapy can be necessary, just like in physiological disease. We rarely hesitate to see a doctor when we have an allergic reaction or the flu, but a psychological disease is assumed to be resolved through worship. While prayer is an incredibly powerful metaphysical tool that eases and lessens mental health problems, it might not be enough to completely cure a person of their condition. Psychological problems can be considered a cancer of the soul and should be treated with the appropriate therapy – that is, professionally. While prayer will undoubtedly have an anesthetic effect on the patient, going to see a psychologist would be the active prayer. Only then can you leave the outcome to God, after having done your part of fulfilling both verbal and active prayer.

As Imam al-Ghazali said, “Knowing the definition of these diseases, their causes and their cures, and remedies to fix them, is personally obligatory on every Muslim” (Al-Majmua). Thus, we are obliged to not only realize what is going on in our hearts and our conscious minds, but also to cure ourselves from any of the diseases that may have a negative impact on our mental or physical health.

[lifeofresulullah]

The Life of The Prophet Muhammad(pbuh): The Assignment of the Duty of the Prophethood and First Muslims

The State of Arabia: Part 2

Moral Situation

The moral situation in Arabia during the Age of Ignorance was in a completely miserable state. Wretched desires and deeds prevailed over the community; alcohol, gambling, fornication, lying, theft, cruelty, in short, all kinds of immoral acts were widespread all over Arabia.

The strong used the whip of cruelty against the weak. At the same time, the strong were always right and could have the weak and powerless do whatever they wanted. The amount of importance that was given to the life of a fly was not given to humanity. People who were taken as captives in raids were either killed under torture or were sold as slaves in markets like simple items.

Women were regarded as simple and cheap commodities that could be bought and sold. Young maids were encouraged and even forced to commit fornication so that money could be made through them. The Quran mentioned this behavior, which does not comply with human dignity, and prohibited them from committing this ugly action:

“…But force not your maids to prostitution when they desire chastity, in order that ye may make a gain in the goods of this life. But if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is God, Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to them)” 

A woman could live with more than one man at the same time. Such a woman would notify the public of her decision by planting a pole on the roof of her house.

A step-mother could inherit her step-son from her husband just like a household item.

The Tradition of Burying Girl Infants Alive

Some Arabs who lived in the desert considered having daughters to be shameful and a disaster. For that reason, cruel fathers would bury their daughters alive upon their birth or would throw them into wells, sometimes without even giving anyone a chance to see them.

They tried to prove this cruel tradition right by putting forward some imaginary reasons.

They used to say:

“They will grow and taint our honor one day, or they will become wretched. Moreover, they will become a burden on us because of their living expenses and we will not be able to meet their needs.” 

Sometimes a mother would have a hole dug up in the ground as the birth drew near. As the baby girl, who just came into the world, opened eyes for the first time, she would immediately be thrown into the hole and be covered with soil.

Other fathers would dress up their daughters in beautiful dresses when they reached the age of six as though they were taking them for a visit to their relatives, but would instead take them to the desert. Those poor children would be left in the graves that had been prepared for them and would be buried alive by having soil thrown over them.

Those who did not want to kill their daughters would have the latter dressed in thick, woolen gowns and isolate them from the society by sending them away to herd sheep or camels.

The Quran tells us of this barbaric tradition that the Arabs living in the desert practiced in the following verse:

“When news is brought to one of them, of (the birth of) a female (child), his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! With shame does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain it on (sufferance and) contempt, or bury it in the dust? Ah! What an evil (choice) they decide on!” 

Someone who practiced this barbaric tradition in the Age of Ignorance and later became a Muslim tearfully related the following to the Messenger (PBUH):

“O Messenger of Allah! We are a people who lived during the Era of Ignorance. We used to worship idols and kill our daughters. I used to have a daughter. She used to come to me in joy when I called her.

“One day I called her again. She came running and followed me to a well which was not so far from our house. I held her hand and threw her into the well.

“Her last words to me were:

“Daddy! Daddy!”

The Lord of the Universe (PBUH) could not help crying upon hearing this violent memory. He cried so much that his beard got wet with his tears. Then he said:

“Verily, Allah leaves what you did in the Era of Ignorance there, unless you do it again. He does not transfer it into the Era of Islam.” 

At that time, high virtues called compassion and mercy had been removed from spirits, hearts and consciences. Besides, in a heart where belief in the Sultan of the Universe does not exist, in a conscience where fear from that sultan does not exist, there will be no place for compassion, mercy and virtue.

Political System

Arabia did not have a proper political system and social system in the Era of Ignorance. The majority of the people were leading a nomadic life. They were separated into tribes.

A tribe is a community which determines its own social system.

These nomadic tribes were continuously in conflict with each other. They were ready to attack and dishonor someone else and steal his goods at any given moment. Incursion and plunder were their means of livelihood. They used to attack an enemy tribe of theirs and take away their camels and enslave their women and children.

There had not been a time in which there was peace. If a tribe wronged another tribe, that tribe would try to gain revenge by applying the philosophy of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Wars, fighting and incursion were so rooted in their souls and lives that they would fight each other if they could not find any hostile tribe to fight against. The poet Qutami intends to express this situation with these lines, “If we cannot find anyone else, we will attack Bakrs, who are our brothers.” 

They had been living as tribes and clans for a long time and never thought about uniting around a central government. For this reason, the Peninsula was deprived of civilized and social laws. Therefore, cruelty, conflicts, battles and fights continuously occurred. Anyone could do anything he wanted if he had enough power. The powerful and reputable would always get away with everything they did. 

Literary Situation

In addition to all of this, it is an unobjectionable fact that Arabs were at the zenith of talent in literature, rhetoric and eloquence at the time Islam emerged. There was no nation in the world that could challenge them on this matter.

Poetry and poets meant everything to them because poetry was the only trustworthy mirror that could reflect the social life, traditions, and beliefs of their ancestors.

Poets were esteemed and received much respect in society, so much that Arabs always preferred that a famous poet rise from their community as opposed to a strong hero. A poet was the only one who could spread their fame, which was the Arabs’ sole aim. They feared a poet’s satires as they feared snakes.

Poets were considered to be heroes by them. Tribes would wage war on one another over the single word of a poet. Likewise, wars that had persisted for years could be resolved by the single word of a poet.

In old times, poetry was called, “an Arab’s notebook.” The Arabs’ moral values, traditions, religion, and rules could only be known through poems that were passed from generation to generation.

There were many factors that supported and encouraged poetry during those times. A strong poet would elicit esteem for both his tribe and himself.

Moreover, fairs that had been organized at certain times played an important role in the development of poetry. Those fairs were a kind of literature exhibition. At those fairs, poetry and rhetoric competitions were organized in the presence of juries. Poets and rhetoricians came from various places to recite their poems and speeches and would do their best to beat one another. They took great pride in defeating their opponents.

At last, juries would choose the winner and the winning poem would be written with golden letters on a linen fabric and hung on the Kaaba’s wall.

Suq Uqaz, which was between Taif and Nahla, was the largest of all the festivals. Mostly, poetry competitions were organized there.

At the same time, these fairs used to serve as a sort of exhibition in which all tribes would come together for commercial, social, and political activities. People who wanted to save the slaves they knew by paying ransom, to settle their problems, to find their enemies, to read poems and to make speeches would go to those fairs.“Holding poetry in high esteem resulted in the deep scrutiny of language.”   In this way, literature, eloquence, and eloquence were at their peak in Arabia by the time Islam emerged. An invisible hand was preparing the minds and souls for the preternatural wording of the Miraculous Quran.

Because the Arabs had an eminent talent in literature, the Quran was sent down during the zenith of literature, rhetoric, and eloquence. It challenged Arabian poets and rhetoricians to compete with its miraculousness and conciseness. However, it was not long before that they understood that they had to quit and that it was impossible to compose a counterpart to this unique book.

The style of the Quran is so concise, so sweet, so clear and so fluent that Arabs who were experts in literature could not hide their surprise. One day, a scholar of literature who was from among the Bedouin Arabs, read the verse “Therefore expound openly what thou art commanded, and turn away from those who join false gods with God.”fell down in prostration.

This action infuriated the idolaters. They looked at him hatefully and shouted: “You became a Muslim too?”

“No”, said the litterateur. “I just prostrated before the eloquence and fluency of this verse.” 

Imru’l Qais was one of the poets of Muallaqa. One day, his sister heard the verse “Then the word went forth: "O earth! Swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!" and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong!” she went straight to the Kaaba and took down her brother’s poem, which was hung on the wall at the top of all the other poems and said: “Nobody has anything to say any more. Even my brother’s poem cannot stand before this eloquence.” When others saw that the most famous poem had been taken down, they took down the other poems down one by one as well. 

The oldest and most famous examples of poetry in the Age of Ignorance were without a doubt the “Muallaqat as-Sab’a” (Seven hangers). Those poems were recited by people and transferred from generation to generation, reaching many centuries ahead.According to a strong view, these poems were collected by Hammad ar-Rawiya.

The poets whose poems were hung on the walls of the Kaaba are as follows:

Imru’l Qais, Tarafa, Labid, Zukhair, Amr bin Kulthum, Antara (a.k.a. Nabigha), Haris bin Hiliza (a.k.a. A’sha).

The religious, moral, political, social, and literary state of Arabia was like this during the time in which our Holy Prophet (PBUH) was going to be given the duty of prophethood.

Of course, there was need for someone who could change this scene that disseminated violence and barbarism.  And that person was already decided by the command of pre-eternal Fate: Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).

He was going to change the world’s physical and spiritual condition with the Divine Light he brought with him… He was going to turn the faces of people from this world to the hereafter, from that which is fleeting to the Eternal Beloved One; by doing this, he was going to provide people with worldly and unworldly happiness.

This person, who was to be appointed as a prophet by Allah, was the person who would declare that man was not unattended, that everything in the universe, from atoms to the solar system, from stars to galaxies, rotated and traveled for a holy aim and that the universe served a lofty aim with all of its constituents.  

This person was going to save humanity from the swamp of immorality, in which they were about to be drowned, by teaching them the most beautiful lessons of morality.

This person was the person who would give the best answers to questions like, “Why was the universe created?”, “Where do people come from?”, “Where will they go?”

This person was going to inform people about Allah, who is the Owner of humanity, of what He wants from humans, what He likes and what He dislikes clearly.

This person was going to guide not only a specific tribe or a specific nation but also the whole of humanity with orders that he would take from Allah.

Like the whole world, the Arabian Peninsula, was also looking forward for that person to come in order to complete such significant duties.

[dravenxivuk]

Can you please tell those of us who don't know much about Lily a little about her? I've always been curious from seeing her in your games!

Enthuse at length about my Witcher OC? sure xD 

Race: Demon Gender: Female Immediate family: None Sexuality: Bisexual disaster Occupation:  Witcheress, explorer 

Lily is thought to be around 400 years old, but she doesn’t actually know, and stopped paying attention at least three centuries ago. She shows no physical signs of aging.

Demeanour: Laid back and cheerful most of the time, but mess with those she cares about and she will hurt you. Maybe not now, but one day she will come back to you because she has all the time in the world. Less concerned about slights to herself, probably won’t even notice them. Will tease those she likes, but will tone it down if they’re getting uncomfortable. Does have a soft side but you have to earn her trust before she’ll show it.

Likes: Shiny things (especially if they’re sharp and pointy), learning, travelling & exploring, dancing, reading, red wine, having her head scratched at the base of her horns (very few people know this).

Languages: Can read and speak most languages of the Northern Realms fluently, has reasonable knowledge of other languages from her travels.

Preternaturally Strong: Lily’s strength is on par with a higher vampire.

Regeneration: Lily regenerates incredibly quickly – as fast, if not faster than, a higher vampire.

Always sober: Can’t get drunk due to how fast she heals, but keeps trying anyway!

Soul-free: Doesn’t have a soul.

Long Witcher 3 verse background under the cut (basically her about from the sideblog where I RP her @simplly-lilly ).  She has other verses - modern, Nioh 2 based, a couple of ‘old’ verses set 50-ish years after Witcher 3, but this is her main one.

Lily ended up in the Northern Realms because she investigated an interesting shiny disc she found in her own world. She appeared in an intricately drawn circle in a mage’s lab which was very pretty but she was far more interested in the shiny baubles he had hanging around so wandered over for a closer look. Master Bertrand, the mage, got quite upset that she just ambled out of his summoning circle, he wasn’t aiming for a horned woman but as she’d shown up she should at least have the decency to follow the rules.

Bertrand wrote a work, Master Bertrand’s Treatise on Summoning & Containing Demonic Entities, based on his summoning of Lily that made him infamous among goetia magic users, mostly because none were ever able to replicate his work and summon their own demon. Lily maintains this is because he only summoned her by accident because she went to look at the shiny disc.

Nonetheless it is possible to summon her, something that has so far been managed accidentally by one scholar in Oxenfurt and a group of witchers messing about in Kaer Morhen. Being summoned is disconcerting and makes her hungry, as such her standard advice for anyone trying to summon a demon is to dispense with the theatrics and make sure you have snacks on hand for when they get there because they’ll be grumpy. If she trusts someone enough she’ll give them her sigil so they can call her whenever they want.

Master Bertrand periodically subjected Lily to horrific experiments and she is heavily scarred as a result, but most people never notice as she heals so quickly her scars are barely visible. Those who do look closely might notice that a lot of them look medical, almost vivisection-like as the mage wanted to find out if demons were the same on the inside as people, among other things. Lily doesn’t like to talk about it and as those who do notice the scarring tend to put it down to fighting she generally doesn’t have to.

Lily ended up staying with Master Bertrand for about a century. He taught her various languages of the Northern Realms and how to read, which he regretted doing as soon as she found the library and started disappearing for weeks at a time. Lily stayed with the Bertrand as long as she did despite the hideous experiments he conducted on her, because it never occurred to her that she could leave.

There were protective wards around the house, and strong magical barriers controlling where she could go. The Mage experimented with magical implants for a while as a way to track and control her, but her accelerated healing powers just pushed them out almost immediately. When he needed to restrain her for an experiment he would have to use massive amounts of magic that would leave him drained for days. As she’s concerned dimeritium is just another shiny metal, it is no more or less effective at restraining her than anything else, and she’s very fond of silver.

Master Bertrand had an ongoing contract with a Cat witcher who brought him interesting bits of monsters for potions and occasional live specimens if requested. For one set of experiments Bertrand hired Cat to spar with Lily, he wanted to see how her speed and strength compared to a witcher having already established she was stronger than humans. Cat won easily and told Bertrand that if he wanted accurate measurements she would need to be trained otherwise the results would always be skewed, so Bertrand hired Cat to do just that.

Cat not only taught Lily hand-to-hand combat and sword play but how to use a whole range of blades, and how to hide them to pass the most thorough searches. Her witcher training would be obvious to any witcher who sparred or fought her, probably down to which school. She can fight very well, although she’s not quite as fast as most witchers, but she can also get reckless because it’s only pain and she heals. She’s very protective of her friends and while most of them are fast healing witchers, she regenerates faster so will put herself between them and peril if the need arises.

Cat also taught Lily how to make witcher potions and an exciting array of poisons, much to Master Bertrand’s annoyance as Cat (and later Lily) refused to share this knowledge with him. Cat tried to teach her to use witcher signs but abandoned it after she blew up half the lab trying to igni a candle.

Cat and Lily were a couple for almost 70 years. Cat made her promise that when he died she’d return his medallion to his school, however he didn’t set a time limit on doing it so she now wears it as her own. Cat also made her promise to look after his blades and put them to good use, most of the blades secreted around her person used to belong to Cat and they have all seen a lot of use. She’ll talk about Cat if pushed, but won’t bring him up voluntarily.

Cat died after being betrayed by Bertrand. Until Cat died she respected the magical barriers around the house, but the pain and fury over his death tapped into her demon nature more fully than any experiment and the barriers came apart as she forced through them. The ensuing fight with Bertrand was when they both discovered how distorted and warped magic can really get around her when she goes full demon. It was the last thing he ever discovered as shortly afterwards she ripped his heart out.

She also destroyed a lot of the darker corners of his lab, but she left the library and house intact. Much as she hates the place it’s always handy to have somewhere to go back to if absolutely necessary. She has an interesting collection of magical knickknacks courtesy of inheriting Bertrand’s collection, most she keeps because they’re shiny but a couple are actually useful.

She likes witchers and vastly prefers their company to humans, mostly because they’ve travelled a lot and seen a lot of shit so always have an interesting story to tell. They also know what it’s like to mostly pass as human until people get up close. When very bored she has been known to put up a contract on herself. Occasionally it works.

She will break her horns off herself if she’s travel through somewhere sensitive (looking at you Novigrad) but she doesn’t like doing it because they itch when they grow back, particularly when they’re going through the velvet shedding phase. Her horns usually grow a bit quicker than her hair, but if she takes a massive amount of damage they’ll grow back more quickly as her body kicks into healing mode.

Lily is a firm believer in hugs, and gets particular joy from hugging tetchy witchers as she’s sure they’d enjoy hugs too with a little practice. She just ignores it when they’re a bit awkward as it’s often been a while since whichever witcher she’s tackle hugged this time last had any friendly contact.

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