#involves: religion

[chongoblog]

Been an interesting few weeks. I came out to my parents first of all, which is a whole can of worms to get into, but it's led me to think a lot about faith and religion and how that all is affected by this whole transition thing. And I figured I've been sharing a lot about my Jenny Journey, so I might as well include this.

I was raised Christian, like a lot of Straight White Male Babies with conservative parents likely were. Through my early years, we went to various Methodist churches until I reached middle school and we moved over to a non-denominational megachurch. Like....THE Megachurch. Anyone who knows that I live in Georgia and knows the area well enough can probably guess the exact church I went to.

From there, I grew more in my faith and even spent my time helping those younger than me on their journeys of faith. In elementary school, I took part in skits for church. In high school, I helped lead a small group of middle schoolers. Hell, in college, I even spent a lot of my summers as a camp counselor at a Christian Day Camp.

But that was over ten years ago, though. Where am I in my faith now?

This might come as a shock, but discovering myself as trans threw a wrench in things. I'm still navigating through it all, but it seems like it's going to survive, and possibly even flourish.

One of the hardest parts about it all comes from the current state of the world. There's no use mincing words: We're living under fascism now. That fascism despises LGBTQ people and is using the bible and cross to push its hatred. As someone who was raised Christian and was taught how to be kind and to love in part by my faith, I know I've mentioned over and over and over on here how much it infuriates me. But one thing that helped me throughout my youth was to build a connection to God Himself rather than a connection to the concept of Christianity that's been tainted by the world around me.

Honestly, God's been with me through this whole journey. A lot of the time, you get the Bible Thumpers saying stuff like "God said MAN AND WOMAN" as if the text didn't also say that God said DAY AND NIGHT and THE LAND AND SEA and yet I've adored so many sunsets on the beach. You get the Bible Thumpers saying "DO YOU THINK GOD MADE A MISTAKE IN HIS CREATION???" and....no? I don't believe that anyone was made how they are by mistake, and in the same way, I don't think that my transitioning is rebelling against God's Plan. To think that it is would be insanely arrogant, since it would imply that I know God's Plan, and it's wildly arrogant of the Bible Thumpers for the same reason (but we know they don't believe that for the sake of God as much as for their own prejudices). But I've seen an incredibly flattering number of people already tell me how I've been able to help them in their journeys of self-discovery. Maybe that's a part of it. We'll have to see how it all ends. All in all, He's been here with me through this, helping me find myself in ways I couldn't have imagined.

I was tempted not to post this, at least not at first. Like I said earlier, we are living under fascism that carries the label of Christianity, so I can imagine the last thing a lot of people want to hear is an embracing of a faith by that name. But I dunno. I can imagine that I'm not the only one who's had these kinds of struggles. If you ended up moving away from the faith all the way, I honestly can't blame you at all! More power to you! But if anyone still feels they want to hold onto it, but finds difficulty in these times, hopefully this post helps. The Christianity I was raised on was one that preached love and compassion. One that stressed how Jesus helped the lepers and whores while chastising the hoarders of wealth. Feeding the hungry not as a display of power, but as a showing of grace. I don't see the crosses worn around the necks of demons as a display of faith as much as a display of manipulation.

[chemicalarospec]

Scary Christmas

okay scary christmas. i wanna get on this early because I'll be disappointed if Scary Christmas happens but it's just Christmas But Make It Children's Horror Game and/or The Nightmare Before Christmas. Warning: I'm literally making up all of this as I go along.

I respect the scary but as a scaredy-cat, I would rather not go full horror. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, we're throwing the Christmas part out the door. Vintage goth might be a good starting place for the aesthetic? Blood accents encouraged. Potential Scary Christmas colors:

idk i'm not an artist...

I'm imaging making old-web style "happy scary christmas" glitter graphics...

Scary Christmas iconography: spiderwebs are a good place to start. But more cobweb-y than spider-y. A line with a moon on top and a sun on the bottom, to represent the respective seasons of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The painting The Scream. Snowflakes? (Sorry Southern Hemisphere) My first concept art looks too much like Halloween.

Scary Christmas concept art:

Scary Christmas greetings: "Happy Scary Christmas!" "We're almost through January!" "May you face February unafraid." just "Face February unafraid!" in the cadence of an NPC. "Boo!"

Scary Christmas activities:

watching horror movies (with friends)

but if, like me, you are afraid of horror movies, then watching comedic kid's Halloween movies (The Nightmare Before Christmas included! I just want this to be MORE than that) or black and white films, particularly Alfred Hitchcock films, are encouraged substitutes.

gather around and sing SCARY songs or recite SCARY chants

or the Dune litany against fear

set a goal of doing something that makes you scared.

almost all holidays have traditional food so uh... okay apparently January is National Soup Month?? idk for which nation but soup it is. tumblr users love soup.

if there is no soup, there still should be a main dish in a bowl.

Scary Christmas goals are often (sorry my brain thinks it'd be really fun to write this like it's real but I don't want to confuse people) to live more authentically. Traditional Scary Christmas stories remind the listener that as scary as opening up as your true self is, the joy it brings is worth it. (transition. Scary Christmas is pro-trans.)

The meaning of Scary Christmas: Scary Christmas is a holiday that recognizes how scary life is. It is a day to acknowledge fear so we don't let it control the rest of our year. Celebrants are encouraged to share their seemingly-silly fears and realize they're not alone in them.

Scary Christmas recognizes that facing our fears helps us grow. On Scary Christmas, everyone is encouraged to take one step out of their comfort zone, whether it's trying a scary new food, watching a scary movie, or talking to a person (scary) -- but no one is forced to, because the Scary Christmas ideology also acknowledges that growth best happens under support.

Scary Christmas celebrates uniqueness and deviance. Catchphrase: stay scary, not scared!

Looking forward to celebrating Scary Christmas with you all on January 25th!

[serpentface]

A few birds of prey found in (and beyond) Imperial Wardi claimed land: the crow kite, dove eagle, and golden eagle.

---

The crow kite is a small, nimble hunter. This particular species is found exclusively west of the Blackmane mountain range and east of the Mouth seaway, though has close relatives elsewhere. They're mostly found in grasslands, where they can be seen hovering in midair while scanning for prey below. They primarily prey upon insects caught in flight, though will also regularly take rodents and lizards and can grapple with prey almost as large as themselves. Most of their diet consists of live prey, though they will opportunistically scavenge.

They are threatened by larger birds of prey, though are notably aggressive and proficient at mobbing most threats.

The crow kite has a particular partnership association with the (broadly unnoticed to be Sapient by humans) 'talking crows' who live here. Mutualistic and/or stealthily parasitic interactions with other animals characterize many crow cultures, and kites represent the only raptors that crows in this region partner with (largely due to posing no threat to themselves/their young).

Both (mostly) benefit from the overall relationship- the kite is slightly larger and notably more powerful than a single crow, while the crows are highly social and can keep more effective watch for predators as large groups. When foraging in association, they are highly effective at warning each other of threats and teaming up to drive them away. Crows will take on predators they wouldn't even dare approach as a large group with kites on their sides (notably the dove eagle, which is rarely outright mobbed by smaller birds due to their tremendous agility and capability of turning the tables on pursuers), and the two species are known to drive away substantially larger mammalian predators (occasionally even humans) from carcasses and resources. Kites also have beaks better equipped for tearing than crows, and can open some carcasses that crows cannot.

The most dramatic form of this association is the 'adoption' of kite chicks by some crow families. Kites rear clutches of 3-5 eggs, and the crows will occasionally steal an unguarded chick and raise it to maturity in order to fully monopolize the benefits of this partnership. Kite chicks adopted by crows do not heavily compete for resources (as the crows have a significantly more generalist diet) and serve as permanent attack dogs/can openers for their adoptive families while out foraging. This is not Particularly beneficial to the kite, who (having imprinted on their crow parents) will not readily mate with their own species, and will often be allowed to do most of the work of mobbing predators (when deemed too risky/too much effort for the crows themselves). An adopted kite's propensity to form one-sided pair bonds with their adoptive species is also utilized to assist in the labor of rearing chicks, where it can be coaxed into bringing kills for a nesting crow 'partner'. The crows generally do bond with their 'adoptees' (though not as fellow crows) and don't tend to perceive this relationship as wholly exploitative.

This association in of itself is widely noted by human observers, hence the kite's common name. Most peoples in this region have largely negative outlooks on crows (ranging from being despised scavengers to respected but frightful animals, and in all cases are considered potentially bad omens), which is extended to the crow kite. Crow kites are often regarded as omens of death and misfortune, sometimes even more intensely than crows. One of the most widespread beliefs (across several cultural groups) is that seeing a crow kite and crow perch together on top of a home indicates the impending demise of a mother and infant during childbirth.

---

The dove eagle is a mid-sized specialist predator of smaller birds, found widely across the temperate and subtropical eastern continental mass. It is most associated with the killing of doves (hence its name), though the majority of its prey is passerine birds and it is occasionally known to take small mammals and reptiles. It is a very powerful predator and exceptionally agile in flight. It also has notably long legs, and can occasionally be seen pursuing prey on foot. It is most abundant in savanna and wooded regions, as well as mountainous areas with high cliffs, as it usually hunts in short bursts from high perches. It can be somewhat of a pest in human settlements, where it poses a threat to poultry.

While often an irritant to people for its predation of avian livestock, it tends to be regarded for its beauty, with its bluish-hued feathers, sleek profile, and elegant flight. Its light blue-gray eyes are notably distinctive among predatory birds here. Light eye colors commonly have sinister and/or apotropaic associations among peoples south of the Viper seaway, which carries into folklore surrounding dove eagles. They are often ascribed the power to paralyze prey with their stare, to be capable of inflicting curses, and/or to be able to frighten off evil spirits with their glare. They are often left unharmed where other threats to livestock would be killed out of fear of receiving a curse.

The dove eagle has the most extensive significance in the Hill Tribes cultural sphere. This bird is one of many avian forms ancestors can take when visiting the world of the living, and the vast majority of its birdsign-omens are wholly positive. The dove eagle tends to be a signal of impending success and good luck in economic ventures, and its presence/gaze chases away bad luck and evil spirits (perhaps at the cost of some poultry here and there, which sometimes may be a message of ancestral disapproval as well as just a general bummer). Its feathers are considered lucky and utilized in magical practice (bundles are waved to banish malicious spirits from homes and objects, single feathers are sometimes worn as good luck charms), though feathers must be retrieved from around nests or by chance, as killing predatory birds is taboo.

---

The golden eagle is a very large, bulky predator. This particular subspecies (distinguishable by its dark, mostly solid colored wings) is very widespread and can be found throughout much of the northeastern hemisphere, adapting to a considerable variety of habitats and climates. It is occasionally a threat to livestock, being wholly capable of killing the tiny offspring of horses, and sometimes even a threat to newborn cattle (they are known to kill very young calves by knocking them off cliffs when the opportunity presents itself). They are noted for their dramatic courtship displays, wherein coupling pairs lock talons and spin towards the ground in freefall.

They tend to be highly regarded animals in most of this region. They tend to garner associations of regality, power and (usually masculine) strength. They are frequently used as symbols of monogamous romantic love and devotion, notably mating for life (most partnered pairs at least rear chicks together for life, though extra-pair copulation is fairly common and often goes unnoticed by observers). Their mating death-spiral makes frequent appearances in Wardi poetry as a romantic allegory, sometimes as a simple representation of foolhardy love and sometimes representative of the often challenging nature of first-time marriages (very commonly arranged, and often between strangers in the upper-class contexts that mainstream poetry tends to focus on).

Most proto-Wardi groups appear to have held the eagle as a high status sacred animal in ancient history, and very old outsider recordings of these earlier practices describe these birds as highly venerated in association with a non-personified but semi-deified sun and/or sky. Proto-Finnic groups that migrated here appear to have had associations with golden eagles in a funerary context (these migrants most likely practiced sky burials early in their history here) and to have adopted the golden eagle's semi-deified status from proto-Wardi groups they interacted with/absorbed/were absorbed by.

The centrality of the golden eagle has largely been lost in contemporary practices, but remnants of its status are still obvious. Cholemdinae folklore describes the golden eagle as one of God (who is the sun)'s most devoted creations, who tried to stop the theft of fire that would destroy the first world. Surviving 'heathen' North Wardi practices that similarly venerate the sky as a central deity describe the golden eagle as its messengers, also capable of traveling to and from the land of the dead. The King of Eagles, the first golden eagle (and first bird in general), father of dragons and the winds, is lightly venerated as a deity-spirit throughout most of the Hill Tribes religious sphere, and the spirits of dead ancestors are considered to frequently take the form of these birds. Contemporary Imperial Wardi animal-folktales also tend to cast the golden eagle as a king of birds, commanding and served by lesser flying creatures. While not outright sacred animals in the Faith of the Seven Faced God, they have noted solar associations. They are sometimes used as sacrifices to the Face Inyamache, and their feathers are given as offerings and worn by priests to this deity-aspect.

[so-tethered]

"we have no good candidates for pope!"

The humble benítez:

I am playing and having fun and doing arts and crafts

[larix-laricina]

sorry for saying jayvik is steampunk cecilos. deep down you know im right.

[snookimook]

Alex Forbes (Eddie Redmayne) doodle

.

.

Spot Nigel in the windows reflection. Symbolism perchance …perchance not

[daisydisciple]

Ok thought not fully formed yet but I think everything would make a lot more sense if we thought of "sin" as more along the lines of "something that weakens your connection with God" and less "a morally bad action in the secular philosophical sense."

In modern secular philosophy, usually we only think of an action as "bad" if it causes measurable harm to society/the environment/another person etc. No victim = no crime. This makes perfect sense when we're thinking about regulating behavior with laws, rules, and, to an extent, social norms. The goal of this kind of thinking/regulating is to create a harmonious, free, and safe society in our mortal/temporal/earthly condition.

In contrast, Sin as a religious (Christian) concept is more concerned with the state of an individual soul and that soul's relationship with God. It is possible for something to be a sin and yet be a "victimless crime." (Arguably the "victim" here is actually the "perpetrator" but you know what I mean.) The goal of this kind of thinking is to help the individual be in harmony with God.

I think the problem here is when we conflate the two uncritically. Yes, there is a lot of overlap (murder, for example, would draw you further from God and also is harmful to the murder victim/their family/society.) But the two concepts are not one and the same. Just because a behavior is sinful doesn't mean it can and should be forbidden by law, rule, or even social norm. Likewise, just because enforcing or encouraging a certain behavior is beneficial to society doesn't mean that behavior is or isn't a sin.

I think this conflation is a source of miscommunication and misunderstanding. Lots of people seem to interpret calling a behavior sinful to mean "if you do this you are an bad person who is actively harming society."

I also think that's why people get so turned off by the concept of all sin being equal in the eyes of God. That isn't the same thing as all morally bad actions having equal weight or consequences in society. The point is that all sin separates us from God, and what His plan requires for us is for there to be zero separation. (That's where Jesus comes in). The point of saying all sin is the same in the eyes of God isn't to say that murder and not praying are equivalent in secular morality. The point is that someone "guilty" of not praying needs Jesus just as much as a murderer. (Because! We all need Jesus completely and equally.)

So anyway I guess my point is that Christians need to recognize that just because something is sinful (separates a soul from God) doesn't mean that that thing should be illegal or against the rules or even socially shamed.

But! Non-Christians should also understand that the concept of sin is distinct from secular morality. If I say that something is a sin, don't take it as me saying "anyone who does this is evil and depraved and deserves to be executed by firing squad." girl I sin. we all sin.

[unnamedcorvid]

Was relistening to Part 11 and it got me thinking about Arthur’s background. His childhood and how he was brought up. We know he was raised religious, he had to know the names of the saints and such. He lived in a religious orphanage, Daniel’s highly religious, he was surrounded by it his whole life. Thinking about how a big facet of religion is higher powers controlling the people like pawns, predestination and predetermined events and happenings, everything all being controlled or done by the higher power—the god.

Thinking about Arthur’s strong viceral reaction to “god has a plan”, knowing how many times he must have heard that phrase when Bella and Faroe died, his parents died, every death and tragedy that’s surrounded him his whole life. Just hearing this unknown, unseen, all powerful higher power has a plan, that this is all to fit the will of some distant god. that this god is controlling everything going on and it’s all happening to fit that plan this god has set. Wondering how small that made him feel—especially as a child asking about why his parents are gone. how insignificant and helpless he might feel in the face of an omnipotent, omniscient god who does whatever he wants and has set this all into motion to fit his whims and wills.

Thinking about how that paper, with all his choices and decisions and the path that brought him here all written down like a story. just showing all he’s done and will do all spelled out on a sheet of paper. Wondering how he felt in that moment, after living with these ideas and beliefs surrounding him for so long, that everything he does is all predetermined and all to plan, how helpless and meaningless he must have felt. When hearing his past and future choices written out, despite them having no immediate results, he chooses to follow the paper. Stay the path. When given the option to go against the grain, not follow the cult’s choices, he chooses to go along with what is written. Wondering how much background and years of shaping and conditioning to teach him to obey the plans of some higher power brought him to this decision. He says he believes they have free will in this, and he sounds relatively confident in that belief. But how much does he believe it? Later, in Season 5, he talks about feeling helpless, meaningless. How he feels so small, so powerless, in the face of such a bigger power, one that he’s actually heard and felt this time. How after knowing of all the universes, all the other Arthurs and Johns, how hard it is to see a reason to go on, to find meaning in any of this.

Thinking about how Arthur’s favorite poem is Invictus. “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” Despite all odds, all punishments and greater powers and things saying otherwise, all terror and cruelty, you are your own. You make your own light. You carve your own path. You find your own meaning.

[joons]

dying at the theological implications of jesus christ superstar, which tells the story on the most raw, human level it can, with none of the miracles, and the whole time, every character and the audience are like, "this doesn't make sense. i don't understand. why is he doing this? i thought he just wanted to help the poor, fight the romans, #bekind. what is the point?" the absence screams. the unspoken answer is too big for any character to face. they can make sense of loving jesus but cannot understand him loving them back, not in the midst of all this brutality and betrayal that he says is inevitable. "if he said he loved me, i'd be lost, i'd be frightened, i couldn't cope, just couldn't cope." it's so huge that it would demand change beyond what we are prepared to see. i usually find "could we start again please?" the most skippable song, but on a recent live viewing, i was just like "wow wow wow." to go back to the start, fresh, the blood on your hands wiped away. if only there was some way that could happen ... but often we stop "before it gets too frightening."

[isbergillustration]

Experiencing my annual baffled and disappointed discovery that people outside Norway do not understand that easter is a holiday exclusively about skiing and crime. Sometimes combined. The robot is mostly incidental. Or the murderer. Or detective.

[torums]

HELLO. I JUST NEEDED TO THANK YOU FOR FEEDING THE ZEROSOUL FANS. THANK YOU.

Also I do agree that Zero is so sunshine coded.. or more like sun coded. Probably one of the symbols of hope before the Fall of Dawn but also capable of so much destruction and fated to turn into a black dwarf after extinguishing the lives it previously protected ....

And if we go off of the E-Soul PV I'm pretty sure he had gravity manipulation powers. Like. Zero gravity. So he probably not only flied but made you fly (to your death, sometimes) too 😁

OH MAN. After watching E-Soul arc I immediately started thinking about like. Which character could potentially have an interesting dynamic with Og E-Soul. And there isn’t much of a choice ahaha the guy literally doesn’t speak to anyone except his shitty manager. But then I remembered that OH RIGHT. The guy E-Soul had to fucking destroy in the past. The hero who then turned villain and I’m pretty sure lost his mind in the process. Wouldn’t that be so absolutely TRAGIC. Wouldn’t it be so interesting if they knew each other? And then E-Soul had to personally see the person he cared about slipping into madness.

So yeah. I’m going off of pure vibes here. But the vibes are looking great>:D

Also gravity based abilities would be cool AS FUCK. I’m not sure if the powers that cursed-Zero has are similar to the ones he originally had. It would be logical if his powers just got dark themed and leveled up but I’m kind of scared to make assumptions because Zero has a lot of “Scary cult” aesthetic going on and I have a feeling his powers could be something much more complicated than controlling gravity and making explosions🤔

[serpentface]

Do you have any information on the root scholars that you can share? They’ve always been a cool cult/organization to me

Ok it’s a facet of the Eterhimhamdli religion, which is The most widespread single belief system east of the inner seaway (which isn't saying much in terms of scale but it's still pretty significant) and also one I've barely introduced so I'll go over it a bit here.

Eterhimhamdli has spread past its initial sphere of old (~500 years BP) southern Lowlands Yuroma kingdoms, has many folk practices, and has schismed a few times, so there's a good deal of cultural variation. But its basic tenants/tendencies are:

-Creator deities are wholly rejected, the universe is an interplay between non-personified dualistic forces of Body(evil)/Mind(good). In one schism, the interplay of these two forces is the Dream, in others dreaming is an aspect of Mind.

-Deities in general are not wholly at odds with Eterhimhamdli, but their importance is de-emphasized and worship is usually discouraged in favor of making them objects of contemplation and/or tutelary figures.

-The Mind of the universe exists as a collective soul from which human souls emanate

-every person has two souls: an egoistic soul that animates the body and an ethereal soul that animates the mind. The latter is conceptualized as a single drop from a greater sea of the collective soul.

-belief that true wisdom is derived through access to this collective soul.

-belief that the trappings of the the ego-soul and the body's demands inhibits access to said collective soul.

-belief in the concept of enlightened beings who gain full experiential knowledge of the collective soul while remaining in a body, thus becoming capable of directly communicating aspects of their wisdom to the masses.

the biggest schism in this religion is over whether enlightenment just means experiencing full knowledge of the collective before you die, or whether it means transcending the limits of the body entirely and functionally becoming an immortal, godlike being.

deities of older/other religions absorbed by Eterhimhamdli are often reframed as enlightened mortals.

-most sects believe that only sophont life (or sometimes Only humans) have a etherial-soul along with the ego-soul, while animals exclusively have the ego-soul. Plants and inanimate objects Usually aren't ascribed souls outsides of heavily syncretic folk practices.

-belief in a fundamental good-evil cosmic dualism, though in a fairly complex way (evil is a necessity for life that is to be tempered and grappled with, rather than outright vanquished from the world entirely). The notion of 'evil' here is most associated with bodily desires (this includes all bodily needs like hunger and thirst, necessary to support life but viewed dangerous in excess, and being the root of conflict and pain).

the evil nature of bodily desire is not About sex, but does translate to non-procreative sex being frowned upon to varying extents.

-belief that life is a state of internal warfare between the evil ego-soul and the good ethereal-soul, with the former being more powerful and influential. To lead a good life is to bring the ego-soul into equilibrium with the ethereal soul. To live a wise and venerable life is to fully tip the balance in the latter's favor (this is not an expectation for lay followers, as it is considered profoundly difficult and requires separation from worldly life).

-lay followers practice forms of temperance to bring these forces into equilibrium, priests practice forms of asceticism to subdue the ego-soul and gain experiential wisdom in the process.

-The way you balance your life has consequences for the afterlife. An evil life causes an eternal death (this is usually posited as an underworld), a life in equilibrium causes one to be reborn into a new human body (a neutral fate), and a good life results in full return to the collective soul (this is a state of complete peace and contentedness and access to infinite wisdom).

-A selection of hallucinogenic plants are central to the monastic/priestly aspects of the religion, being seen as the key method through which the body can be transcended and the ego-soul can be quieted in order to tap into the collective. Lay followers do not participate in this facet on a regular basis.

-Priests also participate in self-flagellation, as the struggle with physical pain is a key microcosm of the broader internal war with the ego-soul, and can be a source of wisdom and contemplation. They are extensively tattooed for partly related purposes. Laymen are not expected to flagellate as a practice but rather to apply teachings to/learn from struggles with everyday pain.

-Very complicated relations with violence as a concept. Some strains of Eterhimhamdli philosophy see violence as an exclusive result of evil to be avoided whenever possible (usually more completely by priesthoods than the wider societies they live in), others see it as a neutral tool in of itself that Can be a force for good when used wisely. (Large scale 'wise usages of violence for the sake of good', shockingly, tend to favor the in-group's position in preexisting ethnic/religious/territorial conflicts).

-Most sects are proselytizing and see conversion as a necessity to create a better world, and have broadly unfavorable views of other religious practices.

This does not extend to seeing all societies that practice Eterhimhamdli or even The Same Schism Of Eterhimhamdli in a positive light (the birthplace of this religion is currently about 60 semi independent city-states organized into leagues that are frequently at war with each other)

-Highly favors education, literacy, rhetoric, debate, and the acquisition of material knowledge along with deeper spiritual wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are venerable traits and societies should be led by the learned, or at least by people under their guidance.

---

The Scholarly Order of the Root is one order of Lowlands Eterhimhamdli monastics, functioning as a closed cult/mystery religion. They’re based out of Suurota (one of the biggest Yuroma city-states and dominant member of its league). They're at the top of the league's hierarchy of monastics, very wealthy, and have some involvement in governance (being an advisory body to the magistrate).

The Scholars primarily interact with the general public by hosting many of the league's institutions of scholarship and philosophy, and some of the biggest libraries in this part of the world. Their institutions are used by laymen Suurota citizens and members of government for study, and they host monks and priests (uninitiated to the inner cult) in their halls.

Actual membership to the Scholars cult is limited, they neither expect nor want associates to participate in their rituals. Rather, they position themselves as teachers- revealing small aspects of their secret knowledge to laymen and the lesser monastics as a form of guidance, while keeping dangerous knowledge for only the trusted inner circle.

Their baseline belief system aligns with the general schema of Lowlands Eterhimhamdli (one of three major schisms of this belief system), but their closed cult practices revolve around fairly unique interpretations, understood to be the ultimate underlying truths of this worldview.

The Scholars focus on an extention the Mind-Body model of the universe where their synthesis is the Dream (this itself is not unique to this cult, but the depths of their focus is). Under this model, the world is the dream of the collective consciousness, and achieving enlightenment or even temporary lucidity can allow the dream to be shaped to one's will.

One of their most secretive practices is god-building, in which they utilize altered mental states to shape the fabric of the dream into entities they can use as personal teachers of secret knowledge (also as a type of magic in general, they use it to 'build' guardians and curses and the like).

The process involves using mild doses of Ur-Root brew (mostly derived from roots of the clonal Ur-Wood colony, whose bark has notable concentrations of dimethyltryptamine and also hosts milder fungal hallucinogens) while maintaining an object and concept as a focal point of concentration. The altered state provided by the Root allows the user some access to the wisdom of the collective soul, and they will experience secret knowledge and revelations about this object, how it can best be used (this will be supplemented by material knowledge about the subject). This process is repeated until the user experiences a sense of Presence in the object, which must be interacted with, given a name and a face. Through more repetition, the object is believed to be shaped into a sort of thoughtform god which has come into material existence via manipulation of the dream.

This is considered to take immense time and effort to come to completion, god-building projects can last for years and be the combined effort of multiple Scholars. In the end, you have shaped an entity to your will that can operate independently of you.

The Ur-Wood itself is the center of Scholar cult practice, as it is both the purveyor of their most important hallucinogen and believed to have been the first god ever shaped by this form of lucid dreaming (it's a pilgrimage site for Eterhimhamdli where thousands of followers have undergone Ur-Root trips over the past four centuries, using the woods as an object of contemplation). To them the Ur-Tree is the ultimate teacher of their cult, an extremely powerful built-god that has been involved in almost every journey to enlightenment and contains all these journeys within its substance.

They believe that communing with the tree via Ur-Root can grant access to all enlightened mortals- full trips (with a DMT breakthrough type experience) will often involve sensations of encountering entities, which they interpret to be these historical figures. Within their religious framework, they're kind of speedrunning enlightenment. Under most conventional frameworks, the teachings of wise and/or enlightened people are conveyed in writing or speech as things to Contemplate on one's own journey- you might be able to understand them Conceptually but true understanding is Experiential, a process that can take a lifetime. In their framework, they're both receiving these teachings directly AND embodying states in which they can experientially comprehend them.

That summarizes most of their secret practices, and the rest of their practice is pretty standard for devout Lowlands Eterhimhamdlist priests. They live a partly ascetic lifestyle, they bear extensive tattoos as a contemplation of pain and marker of their journeys, they flagellate, they use tutelary hallucinogens, they refine their non-experiential body of knowledge through debate and rhetoric, they work to accumulate both worldly and spiritual knowledge, they work as scribes, etc.

[queerprayers]

actually third base is saying the rosary in your partner's room while they shower

[therosehost]

I lied. Put your clothes back on. I wanna discuss dying and/or dead platonic relationships in the hanahaki au. I'm just really fascinated by the implications of this trope.

Has anyone considered what to do with children who don't feel loved ? With parents who are queerphobic or colorist or misogynistic? What does society do with a daughter whose vision goes dark because she knows her father hates gay people? A son who is suffocating on hydrangea petals because his mother keeps giving him bleaching creams as birthday presents? A non-binary kid who coughs up blood because their favorite brother is a red pill podcaster with millions of followers?

That barbed dread in the pit of their stomach when they look at their admired loved ones and realize, "if they knew i was different, they'd hurt me".

When there's demonstrable proof that you won't be safe or worthy unless you've physically/mentally mutilated yourself to your family's standards, how can you not just die inside? Does it not pain you to be so imperfect?

And the fact that these families mean well! That father doesn't want his daughter to go to hell! That mother doesn't want her son to be punished for his dark skin by this white supremacist society! That favorite brother truly believes adhering to strict gender roles will make the rich capitalists respect the common man!

When the pain you've caused your family is seen as merely an investment in a better future, how does it feel to know the only thing you've ensured for them is an early death?

That's kinda fucked actually.

[thehollowwriter]

Some atheists on here will be like "religion is a mental illness" or "Only uncivilised, uneducated, dumb people wouldn't be atheist. Religion should be eradicated" and then when they're told "Hey that's a pretty shitty thing to say especially if you've only been exposed to one or two religions and don't know much about others. Also that language is concerning" they throw a fit about evil white Christians or whatever being too sensitive or attacking them or something

[fallowyrm]

Experiencing weird feelings regarding someone identifying as a w******, it certainly isn't my place to assume they aren't native american but it still strikes an uncomfortable chord in me as they seem to be unaware of cultural attitudes towards the spirit. Have there been community discussions surrounding this topic before? I'd really be curious to hear them, and to especially hear from native alterhumans from whose cultures this spirit belongs.