apilgrimpassingby

[apilgrimpassingby]

Gosh.

Must be rough for them.

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TEN COURSES OF SUSHI FOR THE ROBOT!

I took my little brother (autistic, mostly non verbal) out and he was using his voice keyboard to tell me something, and this little boy (maybe 4 or 5?) heard him and asked me "Is he a robot??" I tried to explain to him that no, he isn't a robot, he just communicates differently, but my darling brother was in the background max volume "I am robot I am robot I am robot I am robot"

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dude such a cool blog!! I wanna ask though, do you have a theology of creation and care for it? and if so do you have a go-to way of explaining it in politically diverse christian spaces?

I don't have a properly developed theology of creation; however, I do have various thoughts disconnected from each other.

Here's my post about how Genesis 1:28 (the "fill the earth and subdue it") actually tells us to take care of the environment.

I remember Fr. Stephen DeYoung on The Whole Counsel of God podcast (I don't remember which episode, though) talking about how saints and animals are typically very comfortable with each other, because humanity was meant to live in harmony with nature and the saints are the firstborn of restored humanity.

This is particularly relevant because I want English Orthodoxy to be restored, and animal-related miracles are particularly common with British saints - for example, St. Cuthbert (the greatest ethnically English Orthodox saint) would do penance by standing in the sea, and when he was done otters would come and dry him off.

Maybe this isn't strictly relevant, but this discussion makes me think of this quote from Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (emphasis added): "It is often claimed that the symbols and objects used in traditional Christian worship and the style of beauty which it displays have become outdated and irrelevant in the contemporary world. These symbols, it is argued, are drawn from an agricultural way of life, and are in many instances no longer appropriate to an urban and industrial environment. Why should we worship God with a candle or a censer in our hand, and not with a stethoscope or pneumatic drill? Are we not restricting our worship to one particular type of person and excluding the rest? To this the Orthodox would reply that the acts and symbols which we employ in worship possess a universal significance … The Orthodox Church in her prayer makes use of the primary realities of human existence, such as bread and water, light and fire. If people in an urban and technological environment no longer find these primary realities meaningful, then is this not a disturbing indictment of the artificiality and unreality of contemporary civilisation?"

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Theory: Tumblr's politics are not fundamentally leftist but rather fundamentally identarian.

See, for example, the ratio of queer issues to environmental issues in the average Tumblrina's discourse to the ratio in a non-Tumblr leftist's or the number of people with neopronouns on the Zionism bandwagon.

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In my experience, the most common objection conservative Christians have to progressive Christianity is the sense that it's "I support the Current Thing" with Bible verses daffed on top. That is, they aren't so much objecting to them because they disagree with the arguments (although they do), but because they see the arguments as a disingenuous cover for actual motives rooted in secular politics.

Progressive Christians, your opinions? Tagging @idylls-of-the-divine-romance, @gayleviticus and @episcopalianorthodox

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Urgent Eviction Help

So, I just got out of the hospital for pancreatitis. Had to take time off for that. And then something else goes wrong and the doctors aren’t sure what yet. I have no hand/arm strength. I can’t pick things up, I can’t carry heavy things. My muscles aren’t working properly and I can’t work because of it.

The court date for eviction is on the 23rd. After late fees and everything this is where I’m sitting right now with rent. I really need help. I don’t know what to do.

Kofi | Cashapp | Venmo | PayPal

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And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth; my first sound was a cry, as is true of all. I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths. For no king has had a different beginning of existence; there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out.

Wisdom of Solomon 7:3-6

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Tagging @allbutterfliesknow (who reblogged this post previously) and @idylls-of-the-divine-romance (who'll like this stuff):

I recently realised an important bit of Eastern liturgical evidence for the identification of the Wisdom of God with Christ.

The Pre-Communion Prayer of St. Simeon Metaphrastes, which is the eighth prayer of the Service of Preparation for Holy Communion, opens with: "Jesus Christ, Wisdom of God, peace and power, only pure and spotless Lord, moved by the ineffable pity in Thy love toward all mankind, Thou took upon Thyself our whole frame from the chaste and virgin blood of her who wondrously conceived Thee..."

I feel like Catholics and other Christians tend to hold up the Holy Family as the ideal role model of a nuclear family; but Mary was pregnant outside of wedlock, and Joseph was not Jesus's bio dad. The Holy Spirit (the One Who conceived Jesus) is referred to with feminine language in the original text of the Scripture. According to the Church, Mary and Joseph never consummated their relationship; instead adopting more kids. At Jesus' request, John the Beloved took in Mary as his own Mother--that's chosen family.

None of these things exactly fits the ideals of a nuclear marriage and family which Christians espouse--in fact, it would be considered scandalous. But they were a Holy Family nonetheless. It's almost like family can be complicated and not fit into lines or boxes, and still be built on love and honoring to God

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As you may know, I like designing historical-fashion-inspired female monster clothes. My latest idea is something based on jungle horror; however, I'm a little short of images to include, so I want your thoughts. So far I've got:

All fabrics must be some shade of green (although non-green prints are allowed)

Bones, particularly skulls

Shrunken heads

Ruins

Creepy fungi

Machetes

Feathers

Butterflies

Tribal jewellery

Moss

Snakes

Rivers

Spiders

Eyes looking out of the undergrowth

Venus flytraps

Vines

What ideas do you have?

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Since @zombinafonfrankenstein tagged me yesterday with an illustrated book of Slavic folklore, I'm returning the favour by sharing something I should have thought she might like long ago - a set of ballgowns (and accessories) based on classic monsters (vampires, werewolves, ghosts, etc.). It's below the cut, due to being very long.

Fish(wo)man

The dress is made of dark blue brocade with wave patterning on the bodice. The skirt is floor-length, has three layers and a silver train of ruffles, and is supported by a bustle; the bottom has a picture of a swarm of sharks and silver fringing, the middle has a picture of a large churning wave and is fringed with human toe bones, and the back is without a picture and is fringed with gold coins from shipwrecks. Around the waist is a black girdle studded with onyx and sapphires and with a gold medallion in the centre. The bodice is decorated with silver ruffles around the edges and between the bosom and stomach, with gold thread woven into them. The top half is fastened at the back, and the sleeves are off-the-shoulder and consist of dark blue puffs of fabric with a puff at the top and a pleat at the bottom and golden studs on the hems. Around the neck is a black silk choker.  The accessories are a golden tiara formed in the shape of interlocking crabs with an emerald-eyed octopus with outstretched limbs in the centre sitting atop an image of a pile of gold and seaweed patterns made of green enamel around the edges of the circlet, a gold chain necklace culminating in a bronze pendant in the shape of a shipwreck with ivory sails and gold on the bottom, earrings made of crab claws on a golden hook, turquoise leather low-heeled single strap shoes with gold buckles in the shape of fish joined together and seaweed-like tulle around the edges and embroidery of a shark on the sides, wrist-length dark blue lace gloves with webbing to accommodate webbed fingers, and a dark blue paper fan with twelve sections and an image of a shark on it.

Frankenstein's Monster

The dress is made of medium red brocade with dark red anatomically accurate heart patterning on it. The skirt is floor-length, has one layer and does not use skirt supports; the hem is fringed with silver and bronze embroidery in the shape of wiring and around the skirt is a winding pattern of white ruffles with dark red stains. The top is fastened at the back and is decorated with a large embroidered image of a heart with wires and pins in it (the patterning is not on this section). There are no sleeves, and the dress stops just above the breasts; the upper hemline is decorated with white lace. The accessories are a bronze tiara formed in the shape of a zigzag pattern of severed arms and legs with an image of a lightning cloud (made of onyx and mother-of-pearl on a bronze background) with silver aerials on either side of it in the centre with bloodshot eyes made of glass in the space between the limbs, a necklace made of bronze severed hands culminating in an heptagonal emerald in bronze fittings, severed arm with bloody stump pendant earrings made of bronze and ruby, medium green leather low-heeled single-strap shoes with silver buckles in the shape of scalpels put together, bicep-length white leather gloves with faux bloodstains on the hands and a black paper fan with twelve sections and an image of a white lightning bolt diagonally across it.

Ghost

The dress is made of white satin with blue flame patterning. The skirt is floor-length, has two layers and is supported by a hoop skirt; the lower layer additionally has crossed bone patterning on it as well as lace on the hem, and the upper layer has dead rose heads around the hem (these are also on the waist). The top is fastened at the front with pale blue bows, with white ruffles around them, and the neck stops just above the breasts and is decorated with white lace. The sleeves stop at the elbow and are decorated with hanging flounces, ruffles around the hems and lace above them. The accessories are a silver tiara formed in the shape of tombstones with an aquamarine-eyed moonstone-toothed skull in the centre framed by wilted roses, with skulls and crossbones between the tombstones, a silver chain necklace culminating in a silver angel statuette carrying flowers, blue flame pendant earrings in a silver frame made of aquamarine, pale blue leather low-heeled single-strap shoes with silver buckles and embroidery of a cluster of burnt-out candles on the sides, wrist-length fingerless white lace gloves, and a white paper fan with ten sections; the top has images of blue flames on it and the bottom, has skulls with geometric arrangements of bones taking up the space between them.

Mummy

The dress is made of gold silk with eye of Horus patterning. The skirt is knee-length, has one layer, and does not have a skirt support; the hem is decorated with brown beadwork in the shape of sitting cats, and between the patterning are eyes of Horus made of brown beadwork, with brown beadwork cobras on the sides of the skirt. The top is not fastened, and on the chest is gold sequin work in a netting pattern overlapping with the patterning; on the side is gold sequin work in the shape of cobras, facing the ones below. There are no sleeves.  The accessories are a golden tiara formed in the shape of scarabs with a three-dimensional jackal’s head in the centre, with a cobra on one side and a falcon on the other around it, with hieroglyphs on the top and bottom sections, a necklace of golden falcon wings, culminating in a falcon of Horus pendant made of gold, ruby, turquoise and onyx, sitting falcon pendants made of tiger's eye with golden eyes, cream leather low-heeled single-strap shoes with golden buckles and ankhs embroidered on the toes, bicep-length gold leather gloves and a gold paper fan with eight sections, with every other one having the head and names of the canopic jar gods and an ankh in the centre.

Vampire

The dress is made of black satin without patterning. The skirt is ankle-length, has one layer and does not have a skirt support; the lower half of the skirt has dark red silk bands around it. Around the waist is a dark red silk ribbon with black beading on it to support the empire waist. The top does not require fastening, and the neckline terminates just above the breasts and is decorated with dark red bows. The sleeves stop at the shoulders, are slightly puffed and are decorated with dark red bows around the hems.  The accessories are a silver tiara formed in the shape of cobwebs with spiders in the centre of them, with an onyx sitting raven in the centre, framed by broadswords, with drops of blood (made of ruby) between the cobwebs, a necklace made of onyx sitting raven statuettes culminating in a larger onyx raven statuette with ruby eyes and spread wings, blood drop pendant earrings made of garnet, dark red leather low-heeled single-strap shoes with silver buckles and an embroidered picture of a raven with spread wings on either side, bicep-length dark red leather gloves and a medium red paper fan with ten panels; each has a picture of a raven on the top (in five pairs, facing each other) and the bottom section has geometric patterns of rose images.  

Werewolf

The dress is made of dark green velvet with medium green ivy patterning on it. The skirt is floor-length, has three layers and is supported by a crinoline; the bottom one contains pictures of wolves hunting stags in a forest and is fringed with gold fringe and embroidery, the middle one images of oaks intertwined with each other and wolfmen walking among them and is fringed with gold fringe and embroidery, and the top images of wolfsbane, ivy, roses and yew in elaborate geometric arrangements. Around the waist is a medium brown girdle studded with emeralds and with a pair of boar tusks in the centre. The top is fastened at the front with brass buttons in the shape of boar and stag heads surrounded by bronze-coloured ruffles, and the top half (covering the breasts and shoulders) is covered in white lace, with wolfsbane flowers around the neck. The sleeves stop just below the shoulder and are fringed with wolfsbane petals. The accessories are a bronze tiara formed in the shape of ivy leaves with an amber circle in the centre framed by antlers with emeralds in-between the leaves, a necklace of alternating wolf teeth and ivory beads ending in a bone pendant in the shape of a howling sitting wolf, earrings made of wolf claws, medium brown leather low-heeled single-strap shoes with bronze buckles and an embroidered wolf’s head on each end and embroidery in the shape of ivy and yew twigs on the sides of each, bicep-length white leather gloves and a paper fan with eight sections, the top half showing the phases of the moon on a dark blue background, the bottom half showing dark green pine trees.

Witch

The dress is made of dark purple brocade with brimstone symbol patterning. The skirt is ankle-length, has one layer and lacks a skirt support; the hem is decorated with silver embroidery of alchemical symbols. Around the waist is a dark blue girdle with an image of the planetary symbol of Saturn in the centre and studded with sapphires and onyx. The top is fastened at the back and the top half is decorated with silver ruffles on the side and around the neck. The sleeves stop at the elbows, are decorated with dark purple bows around the hems and symbols of the sun and moon on the right and left shoulders respectively and are heavily puffed.  The accessories are a silver tiara formed in the shape of interlocking pentagrams made of amethyst with an onyx inverted pentagram at the centre surrounded by an ouroboros with amethyst eyes, with Hebrew and Greek letters between the pentagrams, a silver chain necklace ending in a silver pentagram with onyx tips and an amethyst centre, crossed wand stud earrings made of silver with amethyst tips, dark purple leather low-heeled single strap shoes with silver buckles and silver cauldrons embroidered on the sides, bicep-length black satin gloves and a dark purple paper fan with twelve sections, each showing a sign of the zodiac in silver, with every other one having a planetary symbol on the bottom, with the symbol of Saturn in the centre.

Any comments, anyone? In particular, which is your favourite and why?

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Mine would be "we have hellhounds and haunted houses!" or something along those lines.

“Come to England!!! We don’t have guns!!!!” is so hilarious and sad at the same time lmao

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@idylls-of-the-divine-romance

The Total Abolition of the Use of Death as a Weapon: The Song

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This is really interesting, thank you!

I suspect this explains a lot about Jumblr - they very much seem like people who see religion as an identity badge and don't particularly care about truth claims. Which also explains their Zionism; there's nothing inherently left-wing about identity politics (see, for example, tradwives, Trump's working-class base and most nationalist movements), and so of course Jumblr will choose identity politics over leftism when push comes to shove.

I didn't know Judaism was declining, although the reasons you give make sense - that's a big part of why Christianity has declined in the West. Just wondering, why did you convert to Christianity? I was under the impression that Jewish converts to Christianity were extremely rare and those that did were mostly to Messianic Judaism or for marriage. Am I correct, and if not, how am I wrong?

Watching the prince of Egypt and it'll give you the impression that the Israelites live happily ever after only to realize that most of the gruesome parts of the five books of Moses happen right after the Exodus

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Political Proposal

Each major tech company needs to have a board of sociologists, economists, philosophers and theologians who evaluate the ethics and social impact of proposed new technologies, and tech can only be commercially released if it gets a two-thirds majority approval from them.

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Theology Nerd Question

St. Paul sometimes refers to now-lost writings of his in his epistles - for example, the Epistle to the Laodiceans (Colossians 4:16) and a letter to the Corinthians before 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:9). So I want to know what you think about this issue:

My answer is no - as an Orthodox Christian I believe that whatever God deemed it important for us to know has been passed down in Holy Tradition, and so there's clearly nothing particularly important in these lost writings.

Please reblog explaining your reasoning!