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maidenofsophia · 4 months ago

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The Magdalene

Who is She?

This is a question I've been asking since I was a little girl. Despite going to a Christian primary school, I have few memories of being taught about her, other than her being a penitent prostitute and the first witness to the resurrection.

When I was ten I watched an animation movie called the Miracle Maker starring Ralph Phiens as Yeshua and Miranda Richardson as the Magdalene. In that movie she's portrayed as being a mentally ill woman tortured by hallucinations, is healed by Yeshua and becomes one of his closest disciples. I should also add the two are VERY touchy feely with each other in that movie, it's a beautifully chaste semi-romantic bond.

In 2003, when I was getting into Wicca, I met someone in a Pagan chat room who called himself a Gnostic Christian Witch. He said that the Magdalene was his goddess, that she was the Holy Mother Spirit (Sophia) incarnate in her Daughter form, just as the Father was with the Son; Yeshua. This....blew my mind. And led me down a rabbit hole of a bunch of Gnostic and heretical texts.

Then the Da Vinci Code came out and this whole belief about Magdalene being Jesus' wife came into the mainstream. But while everyone seemed to be obsessing over their romantic and sexual life and what children they might have had, none of this really phased me because it the first Gnostic Witch I met already held this belief - but he stressed that it came secondary to who Magdalene was as a spiritual leader in her own right.

Since then I have heard so many different versions of who the Magdalene "really" was that it's hard to list them all but I'll give it a go:

- She was originally from Egypt and trained as a priestess of Isis. Yeshua met her on his travels as he was studying before coming into his role as a teacher himself and they formed a strong bond, she anointed him in the name of God the Mother and he in turn helped to heal her chakras (seven demons), something which he had learned after having travelled to the East. It was at Yeshua and Magdalene's own wedding where he turned water into wine, they had a daughter called Sarah who Magdalene escaped to France with following Yeshua's death.

- Another Gnostic path I came across believed she had no human birth but was Sophia come down in human form, just as the Logos came down as Yeshua. While the Logos returned to the heavens, Sophia remained incarnate as the Magdalene with the promise to keep returning in woman form upon her death until the Second Coming.

- Another believed her to have been a priestess of Asharah, whose temple was sacked and she was subjected to horrific abuse, SA and being cast out and nearly stoned to death until being saved by Yeshua.

- the Ecclesia Pistis Sophia have an oral tradition which was written down into a book by Tau Malachi which said she was born into a wealthy Jewish family, had great spiritual gifts but was forced to suppress them, was forced into marriage by her wicked father and then was attacked and assaulted. These "Sophians" believe that she accepted the spirit of Lilith into herself in order to survive and upon meeting Yeshua he healed her and she became the 'fulness' of the divine feminine with Eve and Lilith becoming one in her. She became Yeshua's "Holy Bride" and they had a son called Michael, rather than a daughter. The same story of her travelling to France occurs.

- Kaia Ra, author of the Sophia Code, claims to have channeled the spirit of the Magdalene who revealed her upbringing to her. That she was the daughter of wealthy parents who, as opposed to her origins in the Ecclesia Pistis Sophia, decided to nurture their daughter's spiritual gifts, that she was given lessons at her home but also travelled with her father to various places and connected with many faces of the divine feminine. She meets a fellow priestess, Mother Mary, who becomes like a second mother to her. She meets Yeshua and joins him on his mission of revealing gnosis but she is not beneath him in any way, it is very much a co-equal journey they go on but in the patriarchal society he is the one who is elevated. She and Mother Mary travel to France after Yeshua's death.

There are probably more that I've forgotten and sadly most of the websites I used to come across in the 00's are now lost.

But all of these stories have shaped my relationship with the Magdalene in some way. Parts I've agreed with, others that don't sit right with me. I don't know if we'll ever know the full truth. Even the ancient texts can only tell us so much, being written decades if not over a hundred years after the Magdalene lived and not even in the language those who knew them would have spoken.

The "canonised" gospels tell us that the Magdalene was the first to see Yeshua after his death. For me that at least speaks of his importance to her. His wife? His best friend? His co-preacher and partner in ministry? Personally I don't think it matters, it speaks of the same thing. Love. He loved her. Whether that love was romantic or platonic or something else, it was love and respect and the deepest trust.

They also tell us that she supported him and the men by her means, implying she was very wealthy, and yet she is not mentioned in relation to any man, neither as daughter or wife of mother. She is simply the Magdalene, ie from Magdala, a fishing village. The name also means Tower, which gives an image of strength and earnest faith.

Luke and Mark both say that Yeshua healed Magdalene of seven demons. I find it interesting how this event takes place off page, as opposed to a lot of other miracles we see Yeshua perform. For me this implies it was a rather intimate healing session between the two of them rather than one the public or disciples witnessed. But this could have been either some sort of exorcism as depicted in the Miracle Maker, or a healing of her mental and spiritual health with something similar to chakra healing as was believed by my Gnostic friend.

Interestingly the gospels do not say that she was the woman who anointed Yeshua's feet and head, this seems to have been either Mary of Bethany or the unnamed 'sinful' woman and it doesn't really make sense why the writers would name Magdalene specifically later but not state it to be her here. But given there is contradictions on where this happened as well as who did it, I don't think it's a stretch for anyone to still believe the Magdalene did anoint him herself at some point.

And then you get to the Gnostic gospels and the apocryphal texts and these just elevate the Magdalene even further when she was clearly already an important figure before. The Gospel of Philip connects her to Sophia and says that Yeshua would kiss her often and the disciples were jealous that he "loved her more than them". The Gospel of Thomas has Yeshua refusing to heed Peter's request to send Mary away as "females are not worthy". In The Dialogue of the Savior, it is said that she "spoke this utterance as a woman who understood everything." In the Pistis Sophia, the Magdalene is constantly questioning and offering up her own visions to Yeshua who heaps tons of praise on her for her insight and says "You are more blessed than all women on earth, because you will be the fullness of fullness and the completion of completion." And again he becomes protective when Peter's sexism makes her afraid. And all of this culminates in her own Gospel, which very little remains but is so fascinating. In this text, it is the Magdalene who stands up and takes on Yeshua's role while the men weep in fear and loss of what to do. Peter voices that they all knew Yeshua loved her most among women and pleas for her to share her visions. Sadly most of what she shares with them is lost but what remains seems to be a vision of how the soul rose above the seven demons that struck her to its Higher Self. Peter and Andrew reject what she shares but Levi defends her.

What does all of this lead to for me in the end?

It leads me to see the Magdalene as any other goddess. As many have contracting legends and myths and origins, the same is true of Her. And to me she is a goddess, she is Zoe Sophia - the Divine Daughter - in a human form, an ascended master and high priestess. She is not the first or only instance of this, but she is the one I most connect with. Whatever the "true story" of who she was is irrelevant, at this point it's all these various beautiful legends that inspire the mind and spark the soul's ascension.

Many people focus on the Magdalene for her faith and devotion. Many focus on her "sacred marriage" to Jesus and see her as a figure of romantic and faithful love, as well as motherhood, as well as what intimate and potentially sexual spiritual experiences they may have had together.

For me, the Magdalene is a balance of dark and light. While many I see position her as just "Christ with a feminine face", or another form of Mother Mary as a loyal follower and caretaker, for me she has an energy and personality that is so unique to herself and separate from them. Though of course they are a huge part of her life and her story, I don't have either Yeshua or Mother Mary in my personal pantheon, and I don't believe it's necessary to in order to connect to the Magdalene. She was very much a powerful spiritual woman before she met either of them.

For me the Magdalene is passion, she is fire, she is strength and wisdom and courage. She is in no way passive, she is a constantly active eternal flame. She was not just a student receiving knowledge but also inspiring Yeshua and others around her, a seeker and dreamer, a spiritual shield maiden. I don't believe Jesus cast any demons out of her with a wave of his hand, I believe he taught her how to heal them herself. Because we all need help from time to time. I do believe she may have had traumatic experiences that impacted her mental health, this is something I very much connect with and feel her with me when I am at my lowest. She has met those demons and conquered them. And anyone who calls upon Her to protect them from demons, she will descend like a mother bear. The Magdalene is loyal but not submissive. Patient and caring but not meek and mild.

I do believe she loved Yeshua and was devoted to him, whether as a friend or lover it makes no difference, it was a powerful love. But while she called him Teacher out of respect, he revered her as a priestess just as much and they were fully equal. I do not believe as the Sophian Gnostics do that she subjugated herself before him. She was not his Holy Bride or Consort. Her relationship with Yeshua was her great love but not her only one. I believe she and Mother Mary loved each other as mother and daughter. I believe she had close and powerful friendships with female disciples such as Mary of Bethany and Salome. I also believe she had a daughter, Sarah, who may have been Yeshua's or not, but either way she would raise her as a single mother (with her community of friends). The Magdalene also loved God. In that, she is a goddess of divine love but in all its wonderful and various forms.

I felt compelled to write all this out for my own benefit as I've come to embracing the Magdalene back in path and my pantheon. Having tried my hardest to search around, most of those who claim to be Magdalene Priestesses all have their own beliefs about her and charge a fortune just to interact with someone looking for Her. In the end I felt called to save my time and money by trusting my own intuition and experience with her. I love having her back on my altar, only this time it's Cernunnos who sits opposite as the divine masculine. I respect Yeshua but he is not part of my faith and the Magdalene has told me that's okay.

Hail, Lady Magdalene. Blessed art thou.

#mary magdalene #long post is long #unverified personal gnosis #gnostic christian #filianism #goddess #mother goddess #holy daughter #divine feminine #déanism #lady sophia #christopaganism #zoe sophia

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kittenfangirl20 · 5 months ago

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Angel Dust: So, I have been meaning to ask, have you ever met Jesus in Heaven?

Adam: Yeah, though he prefers being called by his Hebrew name Yeshua.

Angel Dust: So what is he like.

Adam: Of course he is powerful since he is God’s son created from God himself before he was sent down to Earth to experience human life. He is usually pretty chill guy and easy to get along with. He holds a lot of love toward humanity and even loves Sinners too. Though he does hate how he had been used to promote hatred of certain groups of people. He also can’t stand how up until recently he was portrayed as a white man since he was never a white man. He was one of the few people up in Heaven who didn’t judge me for how I looked, dressed, or the type of music I liked.

Angel Dust: Honestly, the guy you are talking about sounds a lot cooler than the version of the guy I had to learn about in the Catholic Church. I always wondered if he would find me disgusting.

Adam: He wouldn’t, in fact he would want to be friends with you and would proud of the fact that you are working to redeem yourself. I mean he forgave Judas and everyone knows what that guy did. In fact I know he approves of the hotel since the guy is all about redemption.

*Angel Dust couldn’t help but smile at those encouraging words*

(I would like to think that if Jesus/Yeshua was ever brought into Hazbin Hotel he would be portrayed as a pretty chill guy who would approve of Charlie’s hotel)

#hazbin hotel #adam #hazbin hotel adam #angel dust #hazbin hotel angel dust #jesus christ #jesus #yeshua #how i like to imagine hazbin hotel jesus being like #jesus is not white

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thebindingofpillo · 2 months ago

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Some character development questions:

Eden gets to fight one person from any era, peice of media, or other work of fiction. Do they take the opportunity? If so who do they choose to fight and why?

How did Az meet Mary Magdelene (the first iteration)? Was he in goat form at the time or did he choose that form later? If so why did he choose that form?

Also, in reference to Maggy's flashback dream, did Yeshua specifically reference Az as the good hands he was leaving her in?

Of your characters which is most likely to cheat at card games and who figures out the cheater first? (My guess is Eden and Cain fill both roles and end up quietly reenacting the spiderman pointing meme with their body language and facial expressions)

What was Edith like pre salt lick incident? (if you have any lore on that)

Finally: what makes each member of the au happiest?

Omg these are a lot of questions so this will be suuuuuper long lmao hope you don’t mind! But I know you wouldn’t lol. Anyway.

Eden is mostly a pacifist (or calls themselves one anyway) so I don’t think they’d try to fight anyone except maybe Azazel if he got on their nerves too much. And even then, they would mostly try to intimidate him into submission. As for any historical/fictional figure…. Uuuuuh probably nobody? Their main thing is just standing in the background watching. They didn’t lift a finger to help Azazel when the Nephilim were killed so I doubt they’d take action against anyone really. They did intervene in Eve and Adam’s first life, but only to help with their farm and after that they still blended in the background. They could have helped Eve in all her various lives where she was ostracized for being a demon but they never did more than offer her shelter and sometimes drive away a couple of people.

Azazel met Magdalene when he was in goat form yes!!! I actually want to go over his backstory in the second arc of the story (and it’s also the one I’m most excited about hehehe) BUT briefly: when he got out of hell he was hella traumatised, both from his years underground at the mercy of his abusive partner and because he never really processed what happened to the Nephilim (throw in also the guilt about abandoning his daughter in hell, this man has SUFFERED) so his plan was mostly to survive amongst humans and not much else. He was also really scared about forming new connections, since every time he tried something went horribly wrong, so he chose to stay in animal form and blend into the background. Minima risk of making new friends! Life was mostly okay, until he ended up in Judas’ flock (he was a shepherd in his first life) and that’s how he started actually caring about these people. So yeah, he first met Magdalene (and Judas) in animal form BUT his first “official” introduction to Maggy happened when Judas was already dead. I actually want to showcase this in the comic sometime, or even an event if anybody asks in depth about it, but basically, after those three days, Maggy went to retrieve Judas’ body from the tree and Azazel went with her (he was basically her pet at that point? She didn’t know he was sentient) but seeing her so distraught at the sight of her beloved made him choose to reveal himself. She was so sad and desperate that she didn’t really react that much, and so he held her until she calmed down a bit. They buried Judas and after a while they fled Jerusalem together and started new life somewhere else.

And YES Yeshua was definitely referencing him!! He already knew Azazel was no ordinary goat. I think Yeshua was Azazel’s first human friend after getting out of hell, but he still asked him to keep his secret because he was afraid of causing too much trouble. Try to explain to twelve men why the son of God is friends with what looks like a demon.

As for the characters most likely to cheat at cards: Cain. Definitely Cain. Lazarus too since he’s a little shit, but he wouldn’t really notice if someone was cheating right away. Cain is the master cheater, with millennia of experience to booth. Azazel might know how to cheat at cards, but he probably only knows very old games that aren’t in use anymore. As for Eden, they don’t really have an interest in cards so they usually don’t play, but I guess they could know how to cheat if they put their mind to it? But they’d never notice anyone cheating at cards with them. Eden is, first and foremost, dumb as a rock. They might love humans, but they do not understand them. Body language, facial expressions, tone, it’s all lost on them. Just look how they handled Judas, you can’t tell me that dude has ever had a coherent thought in their whole life. If they had any money you could easily scam them out of it and they’d be none the wiser.

And now Edith time… I must admit I didn’t really think much about her, but since Lot and his family were the only ones spared from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah… I guess she was an okay woman? Her marriage to Lot was most definitely arranged (as was the custom) but not an entirely bad one, she probably loved her daughters enough to teach them about sin and protect them, she might have had friends in Sodom and that’s why she turned around… Maybe she wanted to see her city one last time? She probably had family there too if you think about it, it made sense she would turn around even if God told her not to. Mythology is full of people who turn around when they shouldn’t.

And now the big one, which I’m going to divide into a list because I want to be neat

Isaac: I guess he’s the happiest when a good client commissions him and allows him to live his dream a little bit longer. He’s a struggling artist kinda like me lol and while he loves what he does he fears it won’t be enough to support him in the long run. He tries to not think about it. Luckily some new supernatural shenanigans are on the way to get his mind off of things!

Magdalene: learning new things and spending time with her loved ones make her happiest. They have the ability to make her feel like the best woman on earth even when she feels like a failure. And they’re always the first to hype her up. Her family is also very much up there with things that make her happy.

Judas: his lovers make him the most happy. It’s nice to be reminded you’re loved and cared for even if you feel like a failure of a human being. And while he hisses and spits like a cat at the mere thought of affection, he cherishes every moment with them always. They got him through a lot of rough times and helped him hang on just a little longer every time.

Azazel: not being in hell anymore makes him the happiest. Sure, life on Earth isn’t nice all the time, he still has to see his loved ones die over and over before him, and he needs to find them at every new iteration, but it’s still a million times better than being in hell. He’s carved himself a little place to exist on Earth and he couldn’t be happier about it.

Apollyon: Being on Earth makes him happy. He’s never seen it before and every day is a new wonder for him. And the fact that he gets to experience it with the people he loves the most is a very nice bonus.

Cain: he hasn’t felt happiness in a long time. The most he can go for is numbness, and it’s usually found at the bottom of a bottle.

Eve: she loves being an artist and her work. I think her happiest is when she gets to tattoo someone who loves her work. It feels like leaving a little piece of her with them.

Lilith: a lot of things make her happy, hanging out with her friends, the children she teaches at her kindergarten, a good meal, playing with Fwendy… she’s learned to appreciate the little things in life. I guess the “boring” times are the one where she’s the most happy, everyone is fed and there’s nothing to worry about, what’s not to love? Cain will also find a way to make her even happier but it’s a bit too early for that hehe.

Eden: Eve makes them happiest but they don’t know that yet.

Samson: he’s the happiest when he doesn’t have to think about his mother and when he’s out of the house. It’s not like he’s unhappy with her, but he’s always immensely stressed.

Lazarus: this is a tricky one, but I guess seeing his little sister growing up to be a great woman is what makes him happiest. Deep down he kinda feels like damaged goods since he’s been plagued by horrible luck since the day he was born and can’t keep a job to save his life. So he’ll do everything in his power to make Bethany happy and keep her safe, even if it means lying to her sometimes. He’s also convinced having Samson all for himself will make him happy but that’s not really what will happen.

Bethany: as of right now, her faith in God and His plan is what keeps her going, so I guess she’s happiest when she’s praying. It’s almost like meditation for her, a couple of minutes where the only things existing are her and God. It’s a nice little break from the stress of her life and leaves all charged up to face a new day.

Jacob: Esau and Lazarus makes him the happiest. They’re the two most important people in his life and he loves hanging out with them. In his ideal world, they’d all live in the same house and have wacky sitcom adventures. Samson can come along too I guess.

Esau: he’s the happiest when he’s away from Jacob and able to listen to his own thoughts. He strives for independence and has been trying to distance himself from Jacob for years at this point, to the point of going behind his brother’s back to go and live alone. He’s currently planning on moving away from Jacob, he’s already found an apartment. It’s not like he doesn’t love his brother, far from it, it’s just that he feels stunted with always having to care for him, and he thinks Jacob should do some growing on his own. They’re both 30, and as much as they love eachother, it’s time for them to become men.

Edith: she doesn’t really feel anything as her soul is sleeping inside the salt, but I guess finally going to heaven and seeing all her family there will make her very happy.

WHEW that was a lot of text lmaooooo. I hope it’s clear enough, i love answering questions haha

#I wonder if people actually read these lmao #I try my best to plant little seeds here and there to get people wondering but nobody ever seem to notice #ask tag #lore post #reincarnation au (working title)#tboi reincarnation #tboi au

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fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic · 1 year ago

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Good Omens Fic Rec: the last test and proof

Crowley folded his newspaper and accepted, with grim resignation, that he would have to try and save the world. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to do it again; the first time had been bad enough and he’d needed an eleven-year-old to do the hard bit. He didn’t feel any kind of great love towards all living things at the moment, or have any heroic feelings. He simply knew that nobody else would do it. And Aziraphale, who had stumbled his way into the centre of it all, would be trying desperately not to let it happen and failing, because Heaven wouldn’t let him succeed. One more time, and he resolved that it would be the very last time, Crowley would have to fix things for him. Crowley goes on a road trip across America to delay the Second Coming. Aziraphale tries to teach angels about humanity. In between, they talk.

Length: 36,062 words

AO3 Rating: Explicit / Spice Level 🔥

Best for: Safe in Public, Post Season 2

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by lagaudiere

*Minor Spoilers* I feel like every story I post I say is my new favorite, but I do believe this is one of the best post season two imaginings I've read so far. This is honestly riveting and so fulfilling! I was fully immersed and engaged in this plot, and it's excellently paced. Gets into the plot quickly, but lets us linger when we need to. The characterization is flawless, dialogue natural, and it's funny as often as it's insightful. The Adam/Yeshua plot I could 100% see happening in Season 3. The way this author handles Christ is so unique and surprising! He's surprisingly much more like Gabriel and the other angels than the kind and forgiving figure we're used to seeing. I do think a big part of my Good Omens obsession comes from being angry with The Church and God. This story delves into that quite a bit, and is part of why I enjoyed it so much. It really understands the themes of Good Omens outside of Crowley/Aziraphale. How humans deserve more than to be judged by black and white standards of morality. It also really knows Crowley and Aziraphale, what their issues truly are and why they have been misunderstanding each other. The hotel scene was just everything to me.

I could go on and on and on about this one, but I want to go back to reading fics. This is a must read for me. Safe in public, but I read this one largely at work and it was painful. All I wanted to do is pay full attention and I kept having to stop. So if you can read uninterrupted at home, that's the best way to experience this. Also shout out to the Marv Bagman scene, just bravo

Read it here, fic by lagaudiere

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diogenescynic2288 · 7 months ago

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Sunday Sermon 2: On Laws

Happy Sunday to all again. I am once again writing to you as Pope Orion Orangutan Omnibenevolence Kosmos Yes or POOKY.

So, the last sermon I delivered might have seemed to offer instruction, advice, or command in regards to chilling and maybe being nice. That was not my intent. It was at most, a suggestion. I am not an Enlightened One. I'm not more in touch with the Divine than anyone else.

While I'm writing these, I do invoke my Discordian Pope title. That does not make me an authority. I took the expensive route to Discordian Papacy: I bought a ten dollar used copy of the Steve Jackson Games printing of the Principia Discordia and then made a fifteen cent photocopy at FedEx Kinkos of the page with the Be Your Own Pope card. That does not elevate me above anyone else. All who decide to join the Golden Apple Corps of Eris are equally in the Discordian Papacy.

I'll own up to a thing: back when I was in late high school or my year of college, I came to identify with the label of anarchism or libertarianism coming to it from left-leaning reasons. For instance, at that time, gay marriage was a controversial issue and not yet legal across the United States of America, and I had a simple stupid solution: marriage is no longer a legal status for anyone straight or gay, the government just doesn't do marriage anymore. Marriage equality achieved.

Anyway, as a budding anarchist, attempting to have a consistent moral philosophy of life, I started thinking about Christianity, particularly the church my parents had been raising me in. If top down authority and distinctions of station are evils when talking about the world of human politics, are they any less so when applied to religion? Long story short, maybe God exists, but he's a tyrant and All Clergy Are Bastards.

Today's reading is from The Gospel of Mary Magdalene I'm drawing my wording from The Essential Gnostic Gospels translated by Alan Jacobs published by Watkins 2009:

Then Jesus greeted them saying, “Peace be with you all.

Take my peace into your Selves; be watchful so nobody leads

you astray claiming “Look there, look here for the son of man.”

I tell you that the son of man is within you all!

Seek him inside; those who search diligently

and earnestly shall surely find him.

Then leave and preach the truth of the Kingdom

to those with ears to hear;

don't invent rules beyond those I've given.

Don't make laws like law-makers do

or else you'll be held back.”

After he had said this he left.

[I'm skipping a bit to get to the next part I want to quote]

Mary answered, “What's concealed from you I'll tell;

I saw him in a vision and I told him.

He said, “Blessed are you that your strength

wasn't shaken by my appearance,

for where the heart is lies buried treasure.”

[another skip still Mary talking]

When my soul had conquered ignorance it rose up

and saw the fourth power, which assumes seven forms.

The first is darkness, the second desire, then ignorance,

fear of death, power of the flesh, foolish reason,

and self-righteous pedantry.

These are the powers of anger and doubt; they ask,

“From where did you come, killer of men;

where are you heading, slayer of space?”

My soul replied, “What bound me is dead,

what enveloped me has been vanquished;

my desires are over and ignorance is no more.

In this life I was freed from the world

and the chains of forgetfulness.

From now on I will rest in the eternal now;

for this age, this aeon, and in stillness.”

So today's lesson from POOKY is: Yeshua and Miriam also say no laws, free yourself from ignorance and pedantry.

Good Day of the Sun unto you all.

#Gnostic Christianity #anarchism #Discordianism #Pope Orion Orangutan Omnibenevolence Kosmos Yes #POOKY

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hiswordsarekisses · 1 year ago

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Posted by Sebastian Shakes:

“The reasons why the Bible tells us that Jesus was no longer recognizable as a human being."

Most of the images of Jesus hanging on the cross are pretty clean. It looks like he stepped out of a shower, climbed up on the cross, and had some nails driven through his hands and feet…which hardly bled at all.

However, I think it is important for us to understand the physical suffering of Jesus as it shows us how much we are loved and what He Had to go through for us.

The cross was made of two parts the upright post the "Stipes" which was permanently fixed in the ground at the site of execution and the "Patibulum" it is the part the victim was made to carry, it weight around 110 pounds. Even carrying the patibulum proved to be too much for some men, especially after all the beating which many of them have received.

If the authorities wanted someone to die quickly, they would generally drive nails into the hands and feet of the victim. The nails were not driven into the palms of the hands as most pictures show. Rather, they were driven through the wrist near the hands. If the spikes were driven through the hands, the weight of the person would cause the nail to rip through the hands and the victim would fall off the cross. But when driven through the wrist, the set of bones which attach the wrist to the hand keep the hands from ripping free.

The crucified victim rarely died from blood loss. Most often, they died from asphyxiation, that is, the inability to breathe. Before the nail was driven through the victim’s feet, the legs were bent at the knee so that the bottom of one foot was flat against the vertical beam. One foot was placed on top of the other, and one long nail was driven through both feet. When the cross was erected, the weight of the body caused the victim to slump, putting all the weight of the body on the nails through the wrists, which caused a huge compression on the lungs. And that kept the victim from inhaling. As long as he was slumped down, he could not take in breath.

To take a breath, the victim would have to stand up on the nail through his feet, causing excruciating pain in the feet, but enabling him to take a breathe. But when that became too painful, he would slump back down, putting all his weight on his wrists, and also returning to the condition of not being able to breathe. Eventually, the victim would become weak and tired and could no longer lift themselves up on their feet to take a breath, and they would die from asphyxiation.

The first physical trauma for YeShua was inflicted with a soldier striking Him across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. Then He was blind folded and taunted asking Him to identify them as they were beating Him. They spit on Him, struck Him on the face repeatedly and pulled the hair out of His beard. Spitting on someone was the lowest form of disgrace to a person in that time and still is.

Although we do not know exactly how many guards participated, however we do know from history that the palace guard consisted of 900-1200 soldiers, so even if only ten percent participated, in this "Heinous" criminal act we see that Jesus endured a lot of beating, full fisted blows, shame, disgrace, and much devastation to His physical appearance at the hands of these soldiers.

They bared and stretched Jesus tight, at that time a Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum "sometimes it is called a flagellum or cat-of-nine-tails" in his hand. It is a short whip consisting of nine heavy leather thongs, each with small lead balls, embedded with bits of glass, stone, or bone attached near the ends.

In the beginning the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissue, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles, to the point where

eventually, the skin on the back hangs in long ribbons, and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn bleeding tissue.

As the flagging continues and the flagellum is quickly pulled back, violently ripping and tearing the flesh off the body, in the process, a victim may have several ribs broken. Then they took a small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns woven into the shape of a crown and pressed into His scalp. Since head wounds always bleed a lot, the blood runs down His face and into His eyes.

Then they handed him a "scepter” beating and mocking Him, making a big joke out of it. They then struck Him on the head with the scepter causing to bleeding perfusely from His Head. The soldiers then take a heavy patibulum, and tied it roughly to Jesus’ shoulders. The procession leads down the Via Dolerosa. With Jesus are the two thieves who will be crucified with Him, and the execution detail of Roman soldiers.

Friends, Jesus Had gone through this pain, suffering, and humiliation to offer us redemption, and eternal life with the complete confidence of a full pardon to Our sins.

He offer us reconciliation and a free and complete accommodations at a beautiful resort In Heaven called Paradise, that He Has prepared for us with His own Hands in its appropriate time.

Amen.

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handgiven · 3 months ago

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emmanuel & yeshua, a timeline.

i. yeshua is born a carpenter's son. nobody knows him yet. few know of his coming. emmanuel leaves a wool blanket outside the door to keep the child warm at night.

ii. the child grows. not unlike other children. still, emmanuel keeps him in sight because he knows what is to become of his story, his role, and something about it doesn't quite sit right. just a child, he thinks. like any other. (the child calls to him one day, invites him to play. emmanuel approaches. he doesn't speak a word, but he does heed the game.)

iii. the child grows into a smart young man. good with his hands, better with his words. knowledgable not from books but from observation. not through his mind but through his heart. calling out injustice where he sees it, getting in trouble for it. emmanuel always comes when he calls, though yeshua never asks for anything besides company. emmanuel mostly stays quiet, while yeshua speaks. many-a-night in holding cells are spent with yeshua's quiet voice relying wisdoms of the world and jokes alike.

iv. more come to listen. not the great many that hang over yeshua's head that emmanuel knows of, but a few. disciples. some older, some younger. human. closer to him. still yeshua never forgets his oldest friends. still does he turn to him when he makes his punchline, still does he catch his smile before anyone else does. he was the one who taught him to smile, after all.

v. it's the end. emmanuel knows it before yeshua does, and though he knows it to be imminent, he for once wishes he could interject. he doesn't, though he does tell him the truth under the whispering trees of the garden. whispering, holding his face. for the first time, yeshua is quiet. emmanuel holds him when he cries. emmanuel kisses his temple, emmanuel holds his hand for as long as he may before yeshua sends him away.

vi. the rest emmanuel follows at a distance. company is all his friend asked for and he wants to be sure that if yeshua's eyes move to the crowd, there will always be at least a pair of eyes looking back with love. he weeps that day. the man who taught him to smile, to laugh, taught him to cry as well.

vii. he is the one to hold his soul in the palm of his head, pouring it in the great well of eternity. there's peace to it, but there's also pain. it's right about there where emmanuel, for the first time, truly understands what it is to be human. where it starts and where it ends. and how does it feel to be left behind from it all.

#▻ 𝐸𝑀𝑀𝐴𝑁𝑈𝐸𝐿 、headcanons ⁽ ˢᵐᵃˡˡ ᵗʳᵘᵗʰˢ ⁾#▻ 𝐺𝐸𝑁𝐸𝑅𝐴𝐿 、stories ⁽ ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵘˢᵉˢ ᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᵗᵒ ˡᶦᶠᵉ ⁾#imma write it longer for sure but this is the main structure the story will follow.#what's important to me is the fact that once upon a time emmanuel gained human likeness #because he wanted to save a little girl. but he only looked human. didn't really comprehend it.#it was only through yeshua that he learned to actually be among them. yeshua gave him his voice.#and what's most important for this story is that it doesn't matter whether yeshua was god's son or not #the more important part is actually the fact that he was human. human and still willing to have such open mind & open heart for the world #for emmanuel too !!!! lots of feelings about this ok

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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 11 months ago

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Breaking down the comics: BEMIS. Part 3

READING THINGS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO!

Part one is here.

Part two is here.

Part 2: Phases. (Issues 194-200) Published: August 29, 2018

Written by Max Bemis.

Art by Jacen Burrows, Paul Davidson, and Ty Templeton

Editor: Jeff Youngquist

“Moon Knight couldn’t be in better hands”???? Excuse me comicbook.com? I don’t know who wrote that but… I’d like to have some words with them.

Also, I’d like to note that at the end of a few issues, they have Kight Mail. This is something that was started way back in Moench’s run. Fans would write in and they got posted at the end of comics! It showed what they thought of current issues, what they wanted to see, and sometimes they even posted criticism of changes. It was a way to connect to fans and for the writers to feel appreciated or to ask what they wanted to see.

Looking through the fan mail of Bemis’ work in vol one was interesting. All HIGH praises and excitement to see them make Moon Knight dark and gritty. I can’t help but wonder about the demographics of the people writing in at this time. Many of them said they had been long time fans of Bemis’ band “Say Anything”. Which makes me raise an eyebrow.

Now, looking at the first issue of Vol 2.

Still written by BEMIS.

I want to rewind a bit and touch on something that’s going to be VERY important in this next upcoming issue.

Remember how I mentioned that Bemis self identifies as "A Jew who is also a Christian"? Not a lot of people know what that means. It’s also been known as “Jews for Jesus” and Messianic Jewish religious movement.

Messianic Jews are a branch off of Evangelical Protestants.

"They adhere to conventional Christian Beliefs, including the concept of salvation through faith in Jesus (who they refer to as Yeshua by the Hebrew name) as the Jewish Messiah and savior from sin."

I'm not going to get into religious politics or a lot of history here (I'd be here all day)... But if you have even the SMALLEST knowledge about Judaism, you'll feel a creeping sensation along your spine.

The word moshiach (messiah) at its roots meant a leader to the people, not a savior deity. Not a god. It meant that a great king would arise or someone that could lead the people in peace.

So when the Torah mentions the moshiach (messiah), it is referring to a human being that would come to the Jewish people and became a leader, politically usually, who would help Jews and all people thrive in peace.

The "Jews for Jesus" movement is a way to convert Jewish people to Christianity under the guise of still being Jewish. But the problem is that you are either Jewish or you aren't. If you convert to any other religion, you are no longer Jewish. It is a movement meant to recruit more power to the Evangelical Christianity side of things while also removing Jews away from Judaism.

You see, Judaism is a people first and foremost. These people have been killed over and over and over again by so many different countries, religious sects, and political followings. A lot of the major movements (see Spanish Inquisition for more history on that) were not just genocidal, but culturally genocidal with forced conversions. Numerous times, the traditions and culture was almost completely wiped out.

Because of this, there are a lot of VERY strict rules in place to try to save the culture and Jewish religion. One of those rules is that if you convert, you are no longer considered of the Jewish people. You are no longer considered able to speak on their behalf. This may seem confusing and harsh to some Christians or other people that are not Jewish. Perhaps I’m not the one to best explain that to you, but if someone repeatedly tried to kill you and wipe your memory and existence off the face of the planet, then a buddy decided to go join them, would you want that buddy to be able to say “Oh yeah, I know all about how it works. Let me speak for them.”?

They tend to target new converts to Judaism, lonely jews, depressed jews, or at risk Jewish people. They invite them in saying that they want to be friends and to help them celebrate holidays and so on. Then they work on convincing them to convert.

It's scarily like how a cult works.

A "Jew for Jesus" is not a Jew. I don't care what their background growing up is, they no longer have the right to claim to understand the Jewish people or any of that.

So having BEMIS come into Marvel and saying “I can write a Jewish system! I’m Jewish, after all! Representation!” is the biggest load of crap and honestly, it’s almost a hate crime. ….And after reading Vol 2, it WILL be a hate crime. You’ll see.

Aside from the return of Bemis, there is a new artist named Ty Templeton. Templeton only draws for this next issue, which covers the creation of Moon Knight as a child. Then we head back to Burrows.

And Cover artist Becky Cloonan.

I feel bad because this was Becky Cloonan's first time as a cover artist.

Despite the story, that is some AMAZING art.

Issue #194

That’s nice. Looking at that kinda makes you excited right? A story about young Marc! Last time we got young Marc was a few flashbacks in Lemire and I adored those. I’d kill for more of that.

Alright... Opening up, we have the title page that gives you the "previously" blerb.

"Marc Spector recently fought through a gauntlet of enemies old and new as the Sun King joined with Bushman and the Truth to attempt to destroy Moon Knight and everything he held dear, including the daughter he never knew he had. Spector overcame the odds and defeated the Sun King, but now faces an even greater challenge: Fatherhood."

Hmm. Sure. Okay. It's not terrible. Maybe....Maybe this issue will be okay. It’s a false sense of security. A little beam of hope.

We see Marc and Frenchie at a table having drinks and chatting.

I do deeply enjoy the idea of Frenchie coming back as a friend. Not as a loyal devoted pilot, but as a much needed actual friend to Marc. Marc has only ever just had Frenchie.

They're chatting it up. Frenchie asked him if he could have had any job in the world, what would he have liked to have done if he wasn't a mercenary.

Marc says he wanted to be creative. Aww.

Frenchie tells him he'd have made a handsome actor.

But Marc say sno, he wanted to be something creative. "There's a lot going on up here." He points to his head. "Stuff I could express without, you know...Beating people half to death. I'd be fat ad happy and soft."

I mean, that's a pretty good Marc sentiment. And looking back at Lemire's childhood depiction of Marc, it fits. He wanted to do so many things...

This is starting out as a pretty good issue. I like the art more (still a little flat, but it’s a coloristic style). Not nearly as bad as-

Ah.

Okay, so... I... I'm gonna take a very long breath here because we are about to go down a rabbit hole of SEVERE antisemitism.

This is your only trigger warning. Same warnings as in Vol 1. I’m also going to cut a LOT of art out and just describe it to you. It is going to get disgusting.

We are getting the story from Marc's narration as he talks to Frenchie about why he thinks being Jewish is the reason behind all his trauma.

That's now what he said, but it is what is being heavily implied.

Bemis just straight up said "Being Jewish is traumatizing and life would be better if I wasn't."

And coming from a "Jew for Jesus", you know he full on believes this and follows it.

And this is going to get VERY uncomfortable.

MOON KNIGHT HISTORY LESSON REFRESHER:

Moench didn't intentionally write Moon Knight as Jewish.

He picked a name and found out it was of Jewish origins and he thought "Yeah. That sounds good." and rather than ignore it, he went with it full heartedly.

He outright said "Marc is Jewish. The system is Jewish. Moon Knight is a Jewish Comic."

He touched on a lot of heavy themes that in one way or another tended to cycle back around to Jewish issues at the time (1980s.) Moench tended to write about what he was seeing in the world around him and it is done with such care and grace that we can still feel those movements and issues when we re-read it today. His message is never lost.

It wasn't until Zelenetz took over the run that we really got any of Marc's backstory, though.

Zelentz, a man from a Jewish background who taught in a Jewish school, made Marc's father a Jewish Orthodox Rabbi from Czech who fled the Holocaust and Nazi invasion.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE was it ever implied that this or any of that upbringing had anything to do with his DID.

In later issues, deep into the 90s and far away from Moech and Zelentz, mostly when talking about his brother, he mentions that his father was very strict and had a lot of rules.

Some writers even hint at some abuse from his father, especially towards Randall Spector. But this conflicts with Zelentz, who stressed that Marc's biggest issue with his father was that he was too passive.

In Lemire, we see another reimagining of Marc's father and see him as a bit more modern day and very concerned about his son's mental health and what others might think of him.

We still don't see the trauma that happened and it doesn't even pretend to hint at it.

I'll cover Marc's trauma in a completely different post much later, but not knowing Marc's trauma and past is a good thing.

But people are curious and they wanted to know. They wanted to know what caused the DID and where Moon Knight came from.

So Bemis thought "I used to be Jewish. Who better to answer this question than me?"

(Anyone. The answer is anyone is better than you, Bemis.)

So we see a bunch of stereotypically Jewish men sitting around a table. They are enjoying some wine after a meal and there are a LOT of books behind them. I'm going to assume they are in a Synagogue and this is a temple gathering.

The artist here CLEARLY tried to copy and feed off of Smallwood. Perhaps in an effort to establish to the reader that we are looking at the same people and this is how the characters now look in cannon.

I can appreciate that.

So we recognize little Marc Spector and Elias Spector.

We know Elias is a Rabbi and Rabbi like to gather with other Rabbi to discuss things and share knowledge.

So I'm going to take a wild stab here that this is a group of Rabbi or other learned men in close proximity to the Rabbi.

"Let me explain. I'd have to start with Rabbi Yitz Perlman, the funniest guy I've ever met in my life.

You know when you're a kid and a grown-up is making grown-up jokes you don't really understand, but they're still so funny you almost Pee?"

We see Rabbi Yitz making a joke that cracks everyone up.

I had to look this one up because the joke flew over my head. Apparently it's an old joke and Bemis did NOT tell it right.

Here is how the joke is really supposed to go:

A Jewish father was troubled by the way his son turned out, and went to see his Rabbi about it. "I brought him up in the faith, gave him a very expensive bar mitzvah, cost me a fortune to educate him. Then he tells me last week he has decided to be a Christian! Rabbi, where did I go wrong?" "Funny you should come to me," said the Rabbi. "Like you, I brought *my* boy up in the faith, put him through University, cost me a fortune, then one day he, too, tells me he has decided to become a Christian." "What did you do?" asked the father. "I turned to God for the answer," replied the Rabbi. "And what did he say?" pressed the father. "God said, 'Funny you should come to me...' "

It’s actually pretty funny when told right. It also says that you should take responsibility to actually raise your kid. But it’s also a Jesus joke in a way. I’ll let you decide if it’s funny or not.

Marc continues:

"There was something exotic about the language he used, the rich, almost mealy-mouthed yiddish inflections he peppered into his monologues, but most importantly... Yitz had the best Jewish jokes of anyone I've met to this day."

Marc… You were RAISED by a rabbi. There should be nothing ‘exotic’. YOU SPEAK YIDDISH.

"Now, let me back up for a second and establish something you've probably caught on to, Frenchie. There's nothing Jews find funnier than making fun of ourselves. As a guy who gave up on organized religion, I sometimes think of it as a weird byproduct of our pride in being "God's Chosen People" (Or at least according to the old testament). Like we can afford to take the piss out of ourselves because, in the end, we're going to be the one's ruling the roost."

I…I have to take a minute to break down why this WHOLE PARAGRAPH is wrong. GAH.

True, Jewish people love to poke fun at themselves. It’s a survival tactic. I once had it explained to me that it was laugh or cry and the Jewish people chose to laugh.

I don’t see Marc as having ‘given up on organized religion’. This is a very common misconception when it comes to Moon Knight. If anything, Marc Spector epitomizes the essence of being Jewish. He very much still is aware of the culture, costumes, and often still shows that he understands. Time and time again in Moench and Zelentz he spoke Yiddish, he saved Jewish people, he stopped antisemitism, he rescued a Rabbi and Torah, he punched out Nazi scum. In MacKay, we see that Marc still knows Hebrew. He still knows the prayers. Jake speaks Yiddish! What’s happened is that Marc observes in his own way and while this doesn’t come across as being overtly religious, that’s the beauty of Judaism. You don’t have to go to a temple or synagogue. You can be at home and follow your own path.

The term Organized Religion in itself is not a Jewish term! It’s Christian! There is no overall ruling power or singular organizer that keeps the rules or how things are done!

Here’s the biggest issue! There is NO pride in being “chosen people”. That’s NOT WHAT THAT MEANS BEMIS AND YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

So, in Judaism, "chosen people" means that Jews are "chosen" to have extra responsibilities than other peoples. In terms of the covenants with G-d (basically, it's referring to circumcision, keeping kosher, etc). It means that the people have been chosen to make the world better. They can’t rely on anyone else. It is their responsibility to do their part! BUT Evangelical Christians interpret "chosen people" to mean "Special." Because Evangelicals believe that Jews are necessary for resurrecting Jesus. Which is where the “we’re going to be the one’s ruling the roost” phrase comes from. THAT IS NOT A JEWISH BELIEF.

He says “Old testament.” There is NO Old testament in Judaism. Because there is no NEW TESTAMENT. That’s a Christian belief and teaching! It’s the Torah! And they aren't even organized the same way!

They can afford to take the piss out of themselves because they have to! They humble themselves. They joke and make light of their situation. They say what they feel and think then laugh it off because they have to!

And...While Marc is explaining this, we see young Marc watching a Seinfeld episode.

Specifically it's the one where Dr. Whatley is suspected of wanting to convert to Judaism because he wants to make Jewish jokes.

It's implying that converts aren't converting for good cause, but with a hidden agenda.

We also see Moon Knight in certain Jewish and biblical settings as he explains things.

"After all I've been through at the hands of one faith or another, I confess sometimes that makes me angry. But then I realize I'm caught up in the cycle itself just by having these thoughts. Inflation of ego, anger, shame...Just a cycle. One that runs on hatred.

But at that point i didn't know anything about that. Jewish humor was just pithy and jolly, and I was proud to be in on the joke. "

AGAIN. These are NOT Jewish ideals. Not Jewish teachings or beliefs!

We see Marc expressing anger about being traumatized by religion and falling into a sort of cycle of inflated ego because he believed he was chosen!

He talks about how it caused hatred and ego! BULL SHIT. It's humbling! When you take it into context, these teachings are MEANT TO BE HUMBLING!

"Yitz was the Rabbi who taught my dad how to be one himself, so he was very much an uncle to me. I loved sitting in the corner of his office and listening to Yitz, Dad, and their friends rant about endless Jewish minutiae and debate its moral significance."

No nonononononononono.

Absolutely not.

"Being, unsurprisingly, a bit of a loner, I'd often go on adventures by myself through the bowels of our Synagogue, staving off dust allergies so I could pretend to be Indiana Jones. As if I'd, like, unearth some lost tablet that held the answers to all of life's questions and get rich. What I found, mostly, were obese mice.

I was a prepubescent kid who was more comfortable with a couple of Old Jewish Guys than I was with a single soul in my homeroom class."

In these depictions, Marc is already an older kid. Judging from how he’s drawn here and in Lemire/Smallwood’s run, they look to be about the same age.

We know that DID has to happen at a very young age from REPEATED horrible trauma. In Lemire’s run, we see Marc already HAS DID at this point, though it isn’t very obvious to him or his parents yet. They are already concerned about his behavior and he is already showing signs of being more than one person, even before we see him be introduced to Steven Grant. We also do know that Marc was a lonely child growing up. He played alone, didn’t have friends, and showed signs of behaving differently from the other children.

How old do you think Marc is here? Cause he looks at least 8-10. And with the way he speaks and behaves, he has to be somewhere in that range, maybe closer to 10.

Marc asks what the Shoah is and his father tells him that he’s too young to know. THen likens it to “The Sex Talk”.

Not only that, but he doesn’t want to tell Marc about it.

Elias says that his father was in a war, and that’s where he met Yitz.

“The Shoah was part of a war. A big war. The biggest war. They called it a ‘world war’ Lots of people died. My dad died there. And my Mom had to move to America to get away from all the fighting, and that’s why we live here and not in Czechoslovakia…Not that I’m complaining.”

NO. NO NO NO. That is NOT how you explain that. You do not casual World War 2. You do not casually explain the HOLOCAUST. ESPECIALLY not as a Rabbi talking to your own sun AT THAT AGE. He should already know about WW2. He should already know about the Shoah. He didn’t even explain it right.

I’m sitting here sobbing. As a history buff that ESPECIALLY focuses in on this time period, I’m dying inside. I’m seething.

He is downplaying the Holocaust. I can’t believe this. LOOK. OKAY. I get that this is a comic. It’s a comic that is rated T. I can understand (BITTERLY) if Marvel does not want to cover something as deep as- ….NO. ACTUALLY. NO I CAN’T.

GO READ MAGNETO. GO READ CAPTAIN AMERICA. Magneto did a beautiful job of covering the Holocaust YEARS AGO. There is no right or reason to have to down play it like this. Bemis is just being a bigoted idiot that is trying to show his father as uncaring, Marc as being ‘special’ and unwell, and Jews in general as being cold!

X-Men: Testament. Magneto

By Greg Pak and illustrated by Carmine Ci Giandomenico.

Published in 2009.

THIS is how you cover the Holocaust while still trying to be a comic set in the Marvel Universe. It is heartbreakingly beautiful and as honest as a comic can get coming from Marvel. GO READ IT IF YOU CAN.

THIS… THIS IS NOT HOW YOU COVER THE HOLOCAUST.

No. Elias doesn’t get to look at him like that. It was a SHIT way to explain it. It was a shit thing that he just did there. He put Marc in that position and failed to teach him about his ancestors, his culture, his history, and the world in general.

It’s not like there is a literal holiday set aside “DAY OF REMEMBRANCE” or that there is a literal prayer SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN for all those who died in the Shoah. And it isn’t like every Passover includes a paragraph ABOUT THE SHOAH. There is NO REASON Marc should not have an idea what the Shoah is. I’m so mad. I’m so mad right now.

Oh! And then we immediately follow that up with a Greedy Jew Joke.

Great. Fantastic. Why is Marc studying in the Rabbi office?

He goofs off a bit more and they have fun. Marc asks Yitz if he can come by and study there again tomorrow while his dad finishes his work at home.

Yitz tells him to come after seven.

"I don't want to convey that I liked Yitz more than my dad. My dad was great. It's just that...Sometimes he wasn't all there. He would zone out sometimes and just...Disappear. Which is...Whatever. But when he got too deep into it, you'd see a flash of something. Something he knew. Something he felt... You'd get the suspicion something was upsetting him. Something he didn't want to discuss. He... Had a lot going on up there."

NOPE. You do not get to play this off like Elias was also mentally ill.

While there IS a very small amount of research that may show that DID can be contributed to by a chemical imbalance in the brain that is hereditary and predisposes them a bit more towards becoming DID if traumatized... There is no proof and studies have not been conclusive or done enough!

Or, perhaps, Bemis is implying that Elias knew about what was coming. WHICH IS EVEN WORSE.

In Lemire’s run, Elias was caring. He wanted to help his son, though he went about it the wrong way. It was what was expected for that time and age.

"I knew Yitz said to come by after Seven, and I was kind of embarrassed to show him how eager I was to hang out...Gotta play the cool kid... But I figured he'd be excited to see me, so it wouldn't matter."

He finds Yitz's office locked so he decides to head down to the basement again to wait.

He finds a trap door in the basement and of course he opens it up and falls inside.

There, he finds Yitz in the dark.

"Oh, Marc. I said to meet me after seven, didn't I?"

If we follow the logic (logic. HA) that Marc doesn’t know what WWII is, what the Shoah is, or what happened, we can also follow that to mean that Marc doesn’t know what a Nazi is. He doesn’t know about antisemitism and he doesn’t know how to avoid danger or dangerous people.

That is a large room. To be hidden under a basement in a synagogue. And no one else knows it’s there? Bullshit.

Also? Marc said that Yitz was a Rabbi that knew his grandfather and who also trained Marc’s father in how to be a Rabbi. This means he’s been a Rabbi for a LONG time. And not everyone just gets to be a Rabbi. It’s a PROCESS. A long process!

I’m not posting the next pages. They are disturbing.

"You must have so many questions. Most importantly, 'what is uncle Ernst doing with that dead boy hanging from the ceiling?' First... He's not dead. Though I was hoping to get that done before our meeting. Truthfully, you're a good sort and you've never been in any danger from knowing me. Until now, that is. Because you have learned. I'm not Uncle Yitz, but Uncle Ernst. Would you like to know how I knew your Grandfather, really?"

He's torturing the hanging man during this speech.

He babbles on for a while. Here's a summary:

When the Nazi invaded, Marc's Grandfather tried to offer up information to the Nazi in an attempt to get his family out and to America. Apparently Ernst was the Nazi that Marc's grandfather pleaded with. Ernst saw that things were not going well in the war and that Hitler's end was coming. So he helped get the family out. In return, he asked to escape with the family.

He disguised himself as "his long-lost Rabbi friend".

Along the way, Ernst killed Marc's Grandfather so no one would learn the truth.

Then he starts talking about how he was part of the Cabal (the people that made the Red Skull). They gave him enhancements too.

"My Enhancement is more simple, more elegant. I discovered a method to elongate my life, so long as I sufficiently stimulate the dark, primordial pleasure center of my brain on a regular basis. And you see... What I enjoy most is killing Jews."

Yeah so... We have a Nazi jew killer from Hitler run Germany who pretended to be a Rabbi????!

This is propaganda. There are literally conspiracy theorists out there that believe that the Jewish people are hiding the Nazi. That they made it all up to hide the Nazi.

Again, it takes SO MUCH to be a Rabbi. He had to study. He had to know All five books of Moses AND the Talmud and the history and teachings and language! There is NO WAY someone just stumbles their way through that.

So this guy goes up to Little Marc and tells him about "what we accomplished together as a nation, less than a century ago. I will tell you of your 'Shoah'."

Hmmmmnn…

And he tells Marc what his FATHER should have told him years before.

About the Holocaust. It's a cliff note version of it.

All of this is told over images of Marc enjoying his life with Marlene and Diatrice.

It's told very matter of fact.

About the trains, ghettos, camps, gas chambers, or of course Dr. Mengele (who, while famouse was not the worst of them).

"It's the same world now that let it happen back then, Marc. It isn't crazy enough that it's impossible. People like me... We'll always be out there waiting to come back for you."

SEE. THIS IS WHY HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS BEFORE. He could have gotten the proper introduction. The history. THe proper order of things. The places, the Nazi propoganda war machine, and the Final Solution. It is important to know history so it doesn't happen again. NEVER AGAIN is what they are taught.

But it also teaches them that there are Nazi and people like that out there in the world. It teaches them how to avoid these things. These people. Teaches them about the dangers of people out there that want them dead.

This should not have traumatized him. This was fact. This was what he should have already learned about and dealth with.

So, Little Marc gets pissed off and attacks the man, biting him, punching him, and scratching him.

Marc gets away, but Ernst yells that if he tells anyone he'll come back for him.

This is not what caused Marc's DID.

This is a poor rendition of "Jew Trauma" story telling.

This is a clear play down on the Shoah, a push to show a Nazi hiding as a Jew, and a cold responce to mental health and death.

I hate this. Good thing it gets worse. So...much...worse...

Anyways, Marc finishes his tory and Frenchie looks horrified.

He thanks Marc for telling him. He tells Marc that he needs to eventually find a way to "explain your condition, your world, the complexity of it all" to Diatrice eventually.

You see, Diatrice has been raised by Marlene. Marlene is NOT Jewish.

Even with "Uncle Jake" stopping by to help raise her, as implied in the last volume... It is very VERY doubtful that she is doing raised Jewish.

And we already know that Marc/Jake/Steven’s condition has been hidden from her.

I wish it ended there, though I dislike the use of telling her he's a kook.

But of course it doesn't end there.

"It's probably something that's been in my family for a long time. And I can't help it."

Again, no proof that this is a hereditary thing.

"And when I was little, I got scared very badly and, since my brain was wacky, it wound a wacky way to deal with being scared. I made friends like Uncle Jake and Uncle Steven to keep me company when I feel really lonely or upset."

It…Isn’t a TERRIBLE way to explain things to her, depend on her age…. It’s not exactly accurate to how it works, but it’s a start for a young kid.

But then we get Bemis doing a TERRIBLE call back. Because Marc didn’t do a bad job of explaining this! This was not world ending universe changing news! This was something she’d already run into and now had proper terminology for! She knew her dad was different! She knew about Uncle Jake and Steven! This isn’t the SHOAH.

I really…REALLY wish this was like an annual or something. That it was mentioned then never brought up again. I really REALLY wish they had dropped this story and gone and done something else… ESPECIALLY considering Issue 200 is coming up and it’s a big deal….

It isn’t. It. Keeps. Going.

In the afterward we got whoever being like "Wow! What an intense issue! What a gut punch at the end!"

I think it's the editor. Which is just... They thought this issue was deep and moving.

That should tell you a lot about where this volume is going.

This bread? It’s rotten. Send it back.

Issue #195

This one is drawn by Paul Davidson.

This...This issue? I hated it. I hated it so much. Not even the kind of loathing hate you saw in the last issue. This is just... I felt physically ill reading this one.

Oh. Right. Paul Davidson.

I...I hate this art. I hate it so much.

What I don't get is that his art doesn't always look like this.

Sometimes it's kinda nice and has a good flow with the story.

But it's like they gave him Moon Knight and he went, "Insane guy right? Caricatures it is!"

Okay so... I DO remember reading this issue. It immediately struck me as a hateful commentary on 'radical' thinkers, 'new age' people, and 'people trying to be socialites'.

This is why it's drawn like cruel Caricatures. They want you to hate these people and look down on them and think they snooty and bad.

It’s cropped like that because it just keeps going.

I’m going to save you the trouble of reading that drivel and give you a summary:

You see a leader telling them that The Collective is starting today.

He wants to assess each "former individual".

We have the artist. She name drops a famous artist then tells them she "collects real human skulls of deceased circus clowns". Uh huh.

Then we have the "Aggressive romantic nihilist". He has a collection of jeans that he doesn't wash after sexual conquest. Hmm.

There's the skeptic. She thinks everything needs doubt and states that she hates everyone so far. Cute.

There's the fanboy? He likes the whole group and apparently stalked them online before they even met and made paper-mache busts of them all? Right.

Then you have the leader who is conducting the experiment.

His idea is that he wants to "Fuse our very personalities in defiance of our skin shackles and actualize pure socialism."

WOW. So this is not just a cheap shot at mental health, DID in general, but it's ALSO a political shot at socialism.

Fantastic.

I'm so stoked for this disgusting journey we are about to go on.

I’m going to put a pin in this for a second for some personal commentary.

I’m Ace. I’m deeply uncomfortable when it comes to sexual depictions and situations. Especially in comics. There are comics out there that are sexual in nature and that’s fine! I don’t care. I know not to read those ones. I have nothing against the act, in people enjoying different things, different fetishes, and so on. In fact, I stand very firmly in the beliefs that as long as no one is getting hurt and everyone is consenting, you can enjoy whatever you want. That’s your right.

So when I opened up this issue and was faced repeatedly with deeply uncomfortable situations, implications, and art meant to make fun of these people… Not to mention that it felt like they were trying to make the very act of fetishes ‘funny’ or ‘wrong’... This isn’t good comic book content. It really isn’t.

I’m not going to show you all these pages because they really are disgusting and make my stomach sick. But I’m going to try to pick out a few that are not…the worst…

So now they're at a "secret A.I.M. Base."

They have some technology that the main guy is paying them for access.

Apparently his cousin works at the AIM facility as a member.

"I spent most of my life being spoiled by my parents, drowned in trophies, diplomas, accolades, and doctorates. Yet, as long as I can remember, I've woken up feeling empty and mundane. I'm as much as one man can be on his own. Together, we could be...something more."

Yeah... this is going to be a dunk on DID. I can feel it coming.

"This machine creates psychic bonds". The idea is that it's going to fuse them.

They all gather around the machine and it melts them into one horrible flesh thing.

They spot the AIM worker hiding in the corner and tell him he looks Lonely and "you should join us". And they absorb him too.

And just like that, we are back to NORMAL art. Proving that it was drawn like that originally on purpose to make us instantly feel disgusted and uncomfortable and hate it.

This art right here? I like this. I love the sharp lines. The shading. The dull colors. I like the shape of the faces. I like the noses (I'm a nose person. I love the shapes of faces and the different noses!)

....I'm not sure why they are all fishing and why Steven looks like he's in time out...

Got a good look? Good because the art style is about to change again and we don’t see this style again. I…I don’t get it. Why go back. Why give us ugly and disgusting? Moon Knight should be beautiful. It should make you stop and look at a page for hours just wondering about how he got the oil slick on the street to look like that (still pining for Bill. Always loving Bill.)

So we see the boys sitting on a rock above a boiling water in the mind scape and Marc is complaining that he's done with the meta human "freak market". He wants to take it back to street level with thugs and dirtbags.

Jake tells him "good job on the not-killing-him thing."

He's being sarcastic because he's pretty sure that Sun King is going to show up later to cause problems like they always do.

"It's all good. Bushman and I are really getting to know one another. We exchanged numbers. I think we might start a bowling league."

"Jake, you're by far the worst me."

Hm. Once again the conflict on Marc vs. Jake is just...Not fitting in with their character at all.

And Khonshu catches something on his fishing line.

It's marlene's head and she looks pissed. She yells at him and it snaps him out of his inner world state.

We see them at the movies with Diatrice and his phone is buzzing.

Apparently there's a "Super-Crime alert" app.

He checks it despite being in the theater, completely pissing off Marlene btw, and is more than a little disgruntled to find that it's not a normal problem.

He gets up and heads out "I said no more weirdos. I SAID no more weirdos..." And it is Moon Knighttime.

He arrives to find utter chaos.

He locates two cops and asks where the thing is.

I'm not pleased with this at all.

"All right, where is the guy?"

"It's against the law for me to tell you that."

"Jerry, don't mess with that guy. It's that crazy one. He cuts people's faces off."

OKAY. SO. Let me get into this a bit.

ONE TIME one of the writers had Moon Knight come up against Bushman. He cut his face off and kept it like a souvenir. Literally no one was around to witness this. Yet it's always been a running gag about how insane he is and that he cuts off faces.

Which... I hate that writer for doing it. It was funny at the time... But that was a long time ago and looking back at it, that run was just... It had problems.

I'm not mad at this art style some of the time. It's an interesting costume and I always enjoy seeing interpretations to his costume.

Then we see the thing.

It's pretty grosse. A giant writhing mass of blobby flesh with lots of faces and hands and eyes and teeth. why is it always teeth?

And it has noticed Moon Knight and wishes to absorb him too.

"I don't necessarily like that you know who I am." He is not thrilled about fighting this.

"We are now composed of...At least 32 New Yorkers. Several of which are familiar with your history."

"Would you, say, be willing to not be that?"

It smashes up any darts tossed at it.

It immediately turns to a security guard and sucks him in, absorbing him into the Collective.

Ready for this?

Yeah. I'm so uncomfortable right now.

Moon Knight pulls out two swords and slices and dices but it doesn't really do much.

It manages to tackle Moon Knight and rips off his mask and starts to absorb him.

I'm not showing you that picture.

things go black and then we find Marc, Jake, Steven, and Khonshu in a dank cave like place. They head towards a lighted room and find this thing that haunts my nightmares.

I'm going to show you this because it's really ALL I need to show you to hopefully make you understand WHY I hate this issue So. Very. Much.

Art makes or breaks a comic people. But so does the writer who tells the artist what to draw.

ALSO WHY IS THE ART STYLE SO INCONSISTENT?!

Nnnhhh…. This is not a Dr. Strange comic. There should not be psychedelic imagery. And even this is a bit much for Dr. Strange, because at least that knows how to make sense of the chaos.

There is a fine art to depicting chaos without overwhelming the audience. This isn’t it.

Also, it’s VERY clear that this is supposed to be taking a jab at the hippy collective socialist mentality.

And you 100% know that Bemis thought this up and went “They’re already a collective of DID! This is going to be super awesome to show them joining all these other minds and making sense of it and then getting rejected!”

F@*&%&$ you Bemis.

So that ends that issue.

Great. Next bread please. Get me out of this house of moldy bread.

Issue #196!

Still Davidson. (SIGH)

I hate this cover. I have this thing about depicting the brain so it looks like wormy spaghetti. It doesn't sit well with me. I hate it. You know what else I hate?

Yeah. Yeah… I’ll leave it alone for now. But I can’t stress how MUCH I hate this.

So... Butterfly man gives them a tour of the collective consciousness.

"And this is just the beginning. The human mind has an infinite capacity for diversification. Each new brain we add is another universe within us. So imagine that we keep adding infinity upon infinity every time we absorb someone..."

Jake calls it.

"That's a lot of personalities to deal with. What you've got here is an excess of personality. You realize it's taken my man Marc Spector 30 years to deal with a HANDFUL of identities? No wonder you're just attacking random people on the street. This place is out of control."

No. I mean yes but I also mean no.

A system is not always cool and collected. Sometimes there are disagreements, fights, and struggles for how things should run (and that's just the ones that are aware of themselves being a system).

MARC is not the one keeping their system going. We know this. We've seen it time and time again. Marc is the stubborn ass-hole that keeps them moving. That keeps them doing what they need to do. But he'd work them to death to do what he does.

Jake is the one that cools them off and helps build up their social life and handles the joy in life. Steven is the one that handles the self care, the management of the life that doesn't involve them breaking every bone in their body, and Steven is ALWAYS prepared to pull Marc to the back if things go too far.

They take care of one another. They have their roles.

Marc is NOT in charge.

Just because writers don't know what to do with Jake and Steven and always throw Marc to the front (1990s onward. Moench knew exactly what to do with them), doesn't mean Marc is the man in charge.

Well, Butterfly man says "That's where you come in, Mr. Spector. [....] I'm the de facto ruler of the collective, given that its idea was born of my thought process. But I'm just one man who never had much to say for himself outside of scientific ambition... Which is obviously adequately represented here. Someone needs to kick some butt around here to keep things in line."

So Khonshu and Steven reason that if someone takes charge on how to handle all the ‘personalities’ then the blob will stop going on a rampage.

IS THIS AN ALLEGORY FOR D.I.D.?! Is that what Bemis is trying to do? Oh I hate this.

Butterfly man points out that they are ‘the sum of all your thoughts and whims’ and this somehow manifests….

So.... We get a lot of different designs of Moon Knight. Skrulls and robots and more butterfly sorts and just... The thing Marvel does when it's trying to design a lot of weird designs.

I’m just not impressed. There could be better designs and in this art, they are all just kinda hovering there doing nothing.

And thus… "Moon Knights. Every you you've ever dreamed of. Now, what say we put them to work?"

And Moon Knight goes on a therapy mission to try to fix all the parts of the collective brain universe.

The Moon Knights resolve "the Oedipal complex, the Angst quotient, All suicidal and homicidal tendencies..."

(the fact that they placed suicidal and homicidal together in the same spectrum is down right insulting).

Also there's this...

I don’t even know where to start with this one. I’m going to skip the obvious low hanging fruit of “False masculinity” that should have been called “Toxic masculinity”... And hit the fact that you can feel that Bemis doesn’t like Steven. He writes him as a wimp. He writes him crying all the time and as vain and clinging to Khonshu. He CLEARLY views Steven as useless except as eye candy or worse.

(Not to mention we’ve seen Steven in a speedo before, Speeden as we lovingly call him, and Bill did a FAR better job.)

So they go back to butterfly man to see how things are going, since they resolved so many of the collective's issues.

They take a peak at the outside world and...

I swear to all that is holy in the Moon Knight world...

There's an image of the blob huge and destroying things and what not. Under neath that is a list of emotions the blob is feeling:

Rage 25%, Frustration 25%, Sexual Frustration 40%, inner peace 10%

They decide they need to figure out the core of all the bad emotions and Jake figures that it's the main control guy, the butterfly man.

"All this judgment and messiah complex nonsense--You're kind of a @$#%, huh?"

He denies it, saying "It's not the general sentiment around here" but some of the original collective pop in to tell him that they all think he is.

Butterfly man freaks out, yelling about how none of this would be possible without his genius and blah blah blah

"You think the work you've done is so great? If it weren't for me locking away that sentient virus that's trying to drive the collective insane, things would be way worse!"

And everyone stares at him and asks if that's true about the virus. He denies it.

They restrain him while they decide to open the locked door and deal with whatever problem is hidden behind it.

A bunch of weird goblin like Ork creatures come out in battle armor and tell them all to prepare to die or kneel before their leader.

"One man should never control an entire world, Maurice, and no crappy aspect of someone's personality should define them. Trust me. I would know."

Uh huh. It's ego. They're fighting ego.

So we get some trippy art of all the Moon Knights fighting the goblin things mixed with images of the blob fighting the army and avengers in New York.

UGH.

"All right. You're weird little reign is over" they defeat the goblins.

"It's Facism of the mind! Get Jungian with us and let go, Maurice!"

UGH. "Jungian analysis is a psychoanalysis method to access and experience and integrate unconscious material into awareness." It basically is looking for meaning behind behavior, feeling, and events. It's CARL F-ing Jung. A psychologist "The goal is to achieve psychological healing and wellness by aligning conscious and unconscious aspects of someone's personality".

There are a lot of opinions about Carl Jung out there and I'm not going to get into that. But a lot of this doesn't go well with D.I.D. It has a lot to do with integration of the alters when applied to DID. ...I'm not going to get into that either, because it's a HOT debate in the DID community and I have no business poking that bear with that stick.

So Butterfly man Maurice says "But...I just hate AND love myself so much!"

Jake takes things into his own hands.

"Steve, I don't really know the metaphysical implications of this, but given this guy seems to think he's what's holding this all together, I think it might help to just...Whack him in the face. Give him some perspective, ya know?"

(WHY IS HE CALLING HIM STEVE?!)

(Why did the art style change again? Why did their designs change again?)

The blob explodes in the real world. It's...it's disgusting.

It starts to vomit up all the people like No Face from Spirited away.

Marc sits there, covered in goo. "Well... That was a rough one."

Khonshu reflects. "I wonder if the effects of the change Maurice made to his body will ever come back around again? Can he be contained?"

The police hand cuff Maurice and put him in the cop car.

"It really goes to show how someone's hang-ups can govern everything about them." Marc reflects to Khonshu.

"Certainly a lesson well learned, Marc. For you, for me, for everyone."

"He may be a horrible guy, but I hope some of the work we Moon Knights put in within the collective's mind-state affected his worldview."

Oh thank you it’s over.

And I have reached my 30 image limit again so this is a great place to take a break and a breather before we head into the final countdown of BEMIS.

So this issue is a sort of filler. You see, it was a one off that has nothing to do with the over all arch. It’s designed to give us space between important plot issues so that we feel a sort of passing of time. We start with something that feels like it stands on it’s own. Then we get filler. Then we start what feels like a new plot but it always circles back around to that first issue.

Which means… Things are about to get really really bad.

This issue may feel kind of pointless and like a one off that had no meaning other than to play with the inner workings of MK’s mind… But it was done so badly.

We’ve seen a good rendition of how it’s done in MacKay. When people attack him mentally, his system does what it is supposed to do and acts as a protective force, often bringing great pain and downfall to the people that dare set foot in his mind.

We’re talking about a system that has worked HARD to build up such a force to fight these sorts of attacks that he’s practically immune to them.

Now THAT’S interesting. The idea of a collective hive mind trying to absorb his militarized mind is a fantastic story to tell! It’s exciting! Why? Because you should see HOW the system has learned to function together. How they protect one another. How much of a UNIT these guys are after all these years.

I also really hate that Bemis is trying to get psychological on us. Attempting to reference big names that honestly are so far out of date that he’s not even using them correctly anymore.

And seeing the way he writes, you get the feeling that he is pulling the “I know more than you” ego attitude and is prepared to fight/argue anyone that dares to try to disagree with his take.

Knowing how he has written things here, and seeing how he has handled Moon Knight’s D.I.D so far, this whole issue was just one big jab at their mental illness. It was supposed to be funny and action packed and get MEN (specifically men who read Chuck Palahniuk or who take the Punisher to be pro cops) to agree and get excited about the new edgy Moon Knight.

This isn’t where he’s supposed to be. The story isn’t supposed to go like this. The characters are all falling so short that I can’t wait to see them all leave again.

….We’re so close you guys. Just…Just a few more issues to go.

Part 4 HERE

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Analyzing the comics #BEMIS #Marc Spector #Jake Lockley #Steven Grant #I hated this with a burning passion #No one should have to read this #why is this a thing that happened to us #What did we do as fans to deserve Bemis?#Please... It's been torture

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