#Church of Lesser Saints

[fathersonholygore]

Servant—SERIES FINALE: "Fallen"

Servant 4×10: “Fallen” Directed by Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz Written by Laura Marks * For a recap & review of the penultimate episode, click here. Leanne has presented Dorothy with a choice to have everything and anything she wants, including Jericho back on a permanent basis. And it’s not a clear choice for Dorothy. She requests a moment alone, asking Julian and Sean to go wait in the car.…

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Heinrich Hofmann (German, 1824-1911) Christ at 33, 1889 Full painting called "Christ and the young rich ruler" Riverside Church Baptism of the dead is referred to by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:20. The text requires careful reading in the context of the whole of Chapter 15 concerning the resurrection of the dead. The Corinthians seem to have had a custom that if a catechumen (someone under instruction but not yet baptized) died without baptism, a member of the community would receive baptism in his name. This was not sacramental nor did it affect the dead person but simply celebrated his intention to be baptized and the saving effect of his grace-supported intention. (God saves all who sincerely wish to be saved.) This custom was born of a belief in the resurrection. When Paul came to speak of the resurrection, therefore, and to calm the fears of those who were beginning to doubt it, one of his lesser arguments amounted to this: How can you express belief in the resurrection through baptizing the dead and at the same time not believe in it? All he is doing is pointing to an inconsistency in their thinking. He passes no judgement on their harmless custom. As time went on, certain heretics like the Montanists taught that baptism of the dead was sacramental and effective in saving the dead. This was condemned by the Church as heretical. Faith: Quest & Answers Father John V. McGuire, C.Ss.R, General Editor: Father Juan-Diego Brunetta, O.P. The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council

[thatswhywelovegermany]

German customs and superstitions in the Holy Week and at Easter

Apart from having days off work, eating chocolate bunnies and hunting easter eggs with the family, there are some lesser known traditions in Germany around the Holy Week, mixing Christian and pagan traditions. The first mention was in a letter from 751 by missionary Saint Boniface to Pope Zachary, asking him how to deal with this pagan tradition. Meanwhile, it has been incorporated into the liturgy of the Catholic church, when at the beginning of the Easter Night, a small fire is lit from which the presbyter lights a candle, which is brought into the church in a procession of the congregation.

First and foremost, there is the tradition of the Easter Fire. Depending on the region, there are different manifestations of this tradition. In the north, villagers or neighborhoods set up a huge bonfire from tree and shrub cuttings at a place that is visible from far away. It is lit and burned down on the evening of Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday, depending on the region.

In some places, the figure of a witch is set up on top of the bonfire. The youth keeps a watch during the nights before to make sure that no one from the surrounding villages sets it prematurely on fire. The villagers or neighbours gather with drinks to watch the fire. In some places, a betting game is held on the time when the central tree trunk will collapse, the earnings being donated to the local voluntary fire department.

In Bavaria, the fires are small and used to light candles and incense. In some places, arm-thick birch branches are set on fire and burned half-way before they are taken out of the fire, extinguished by dipping them in water, and stored in the attic in order to prevent fire in the house.

Good Friday is a silent holiday, which means that loud music, dancing and comedic events are forbidden. This leads to yearly protest by the party folks. Some religious people try not to speak the entire day. In some regions, children are sent out on the early morning of Easter Sunday to fetch Easter Water from nearby rivers or creeks, which they must bring home without talking a word. Otherwise the water turns into useless "Babble Water".

Some people don't wash any clothes during the Holy Week. There is a superstition that anyone who wears a piece of clothing washed during the Holy Week will inevitably fall ill and die. The same will happen when they will cook peas, sew clothes, chop wood, or slaughter an animal.

Another taboo is digging in the garden and breaking up the soil during the Holy Week. It is said that this will disturb the rest in death not only in the surrounding graveyards, but in particular that of Jesus Christ.

[beebopboom]

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter

Yep! That’s right we are diving back into season 1, specifically with the last true witch, Agnes Nutter

This first part is mainly going to deal with what is in her book and is largely just a reference point. This will cover all the prophecies we know about and the images included in her book that I could find

Further analysis and theories will start in part two

-> which you can click here to read if you’d like

But other than that let’s just dive in

Prophecies 

Most of these we know and we see play out but there are a few stragglers- (which I’m not going to go into in this series just for the sole reason my very ill brain cannot handle them right now, maybe in the future)

Prophecy 1111: "An the Great Hound Sharl come and the Two Powers sharl watch in... Goeth where is its Master, Where the... Notte, and he shall name it, True to... and Hell shall flee it."

Prophecy 2214: "In December 1980, an Apple will arise no man can eat. Invest thy money in Master Jobbes's machine, and good fortune will tend thy days."

Prophecy 2213: "I tell ye this, and I charge ye with my wordes. Four shall ride, and three shall ride the sky as two, and one shall ride in flames, and there shall be no stopping them. Not fish, nor rain, neither devil or angel. And ye shall be there also, Anathema."

Prophecy 2315: "Sum say It cometh in London Town, or New Yorke, butte they be Wronge, for the place is Taddes Fild, Stronge inne hys powr, he cometh like a knight innne the fief, he divideth the Worlde into 4 partes, he bringeth the storme.

Prophecy 3001: "Behind the Eagle's Neste, a great Ash hath fallen.

Prophecy 3007: "Prayers and hope ... / Brings forth sorrow and serpents reign / For the devil lucks in plain sight / Under an arc of pale moonlight."

Prophecy 3008: "When that the angel readeth these words of mine, in his shoppe of other menne's books, then the final days are certes upon us. Open thine eyes to understand. Open thine eyes and rede, I do say, foolish principalitee, for thy cocoa doth grow cold."

Prophecy 3009: "Seven who hold the Scepter shall be killed...of them shall become a saint."

Prophecy 3011: "The exer... and churches be laid open to ... oppressed shall prevail, and oppose the cruelty of foreigners. For a Boar of Cornwall shall give his assistance, and trample their necks under his feet."

Prophecy 3012: "A shower of blood shall rain, and a raging famine shall afflict mankind. When these things happen, the Red Dragon shall grieve, but when his fatigue is over he shall recover his strength. Then shall misfortunes hasten upon the White Dragon, and the buildings of his gardens be pulled down."

Prophecy 3017: "I see Four Riding, bringing the Ende and the Angells of Hell ride with them, And three shall Rise. And Four and Four Together be Four and the Dark Angel sharl Own Defeat, Yette the Manne sharl claim his Own."

Prophecy 3477: Lette the wheel of Fate turne, let harts en-join, there are othere fyres than mine; when the wynd blowethe the blos-soms, reach oute one to anothere, for the calm cometh when Redde and Whyte and Blacke and Pale approche to Peas is Our Professioune.

Prophecy 3817: "The Number of the Beast is in the Revelayting of Sainte John, call hym in Taddesfield. And ye will know hym by this sign, that when ye do call hym, the Lesser Beaste will walk upon his hind legs like unto a Dancing Bear."

Prophecy 3819: "When Orient's chariot inverted be, four wheles in the skye, a man with bruises be upon Youre Bedde, aching his hedd for willow fine, a manne who testeth with a pyn yette his hart be.

Prophecy 3988: "Whene menne of crocus come frome the Earth and green manne frome the Sky, yette ken not why, and Pluto's barres quitte the Light-ning castels, and sunken lands riseth, and Levia-than runneth free, and Brazil is vert, then Three cometh together and Four arise, upon iron horses ride; I tell you the ende draweth nigh."

Prophecy 3989: "He is not what he says he is."

Prophecy 4009: "Where the Hogg's back ends the young beast will take the world and Adam's line will end in fire and darkness."

Prophecy 4019: "When Orient's Chariot Inverted be a man with bruises up thy bed, aching his head for willow fine."

Prophecy 4020: "Let the wheel of fate turne, let harts enjoin, there are othere fyres than mine; when the whirl wynd whirls, reach oute one to another."

Prophecy 5001: "When the skies are crimson seen, then ye both must stand between the world of life and the world of war, where the iron bird lands no more."

Prophecy 5004: "When alle is sayed and all is done, ye must choose your faces wisely, for soon enouff, ye will be playing with fyre."

and that’s all of them I believe so let’s hop into the images I could find

Artworks

Starting out on the very first page we have this

Now I could not find an exact reference to this (I know starting out strong just stay with me) but between the examples I could find plus the four wings surrounding the head I would say this is depicting a Cherubim

This next one is from the actual book itself,

This is the piece, Saint John Devouring the Book by Albrecht Dürer (1498) which was published alongside 15 other woodcut illustrations in his book, Apocalypse, all covering events in Revelations

Now we are moving into pieces that we see in the little montage moments so the images are a little less clear

This piece, Saint Michael Slaying the Dragon, is by Martin Schongauger done sometime between 1480-1490

The next piece was actually a two for one which made my job a little easier and let this post only be one part *curse you image limit*

Chariot Vision, which is by Matthäus Merian depicting Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 1:5 (I couldn’t find when it was made -and now that I’m really looking at it the wheels are a little different but I’m confident enough to say it’s from the same story so the point will still stands)

and finally we have this one

With help from @gallup24 and some image manipulation finally found this piece, The Minde bould hare a fixed Eye On Objects, that are plac’d on High.

I believe to be published first along side other emblems by Gabrielis Rollenhagii in 1613 it was reprinted in 1635 with added hymns by George Wither in his emblem book

the hymn reads

A Heart, which bore the figure of an Eye

Wide open to the Sunne; by fome, was us’d,

When in an Emblem, they would fignifie

A Minde, which on Celeftiall Matters mus’d :

Implying, by this fame, that there is nought

Which in this lower Orbe, our Eyes can fee,

So fit an Object for manly thought,

As thofe things, which in Heav’n above us be.

God, gave Mankinde (above all other Creatures)

A lovely Forme, and upward-looking Eye,

(Among the reft of his peculiar Featares)

That he might lift his Countenance on high:

And (having view'd the Beauty, which appeares

Within the outward Sights circumference)

That he might elevate above the Sphares,

The piercing Eye, of his tatelligence,

Then, higher, and fill higher ftrive to raife

His Contemplations Eyes, till they alcend

To gaine a glimple of thofe eternall Rayes,

To which all undepraved Spirits rend.

For, 'tis the proper nature of the Minde

(Till fehly Thoughts corrupt it) to delpile

Thole Lufts whereto the Rody ftands inclin'd ;

And labour alwayes, upmard to arife.

Some, theretore, thought thofe Goblins which appeare

To haunt old Graves and Tombes, are Soules of fuch,

Who to thefe loathfome places doomed were,

Becaule, they doted on the Fleh too much.

But, ture weare, well-minded Men thall god

To live above, when others bide below.

(also if you want a really good breakdown of the publishers of, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, check out the one @i-only-ever-asked-questions posted one here)

————————————————————————

so yeah that’s all I could find and like I said this is mainly just a reference post

and yes I am aware that one very obvious piece is missing that seems to be made just for this book. I ran out of images so i’ll post it in a rb

[gemsofgreece]

TIL from a podcast featuring historian and Byzantine archaeologist Yannis Theoharis:

Athens was one of the most religiously conservative cities of the Byzantine Empire. It adhered to the ancient Greek religion for longer than most other areas. Contrary to popular belief, its eventual conversion to Christianity did not happen violently. Christianity was getting more and more ground amongst the believers progressively. Meanwhile, the ancient temples and shrines were progressively emptying but as long as there were believers they were functioning properly and had guards and went through restoration works and all, as stated by Neoplatonic philosopher Proklos (with the exception of nude sculptures which had been destroyed already by proto-Christians). The historian also claims the conversion of the temples to churches happened later than what was previously believed, around the 7th-9th centuries. As the vast majority of the population had eventually converted to Christianity, the temples were left abandoned. The empire ordered their conversion to churches so that funding their preservation could be justified. Furthermore, there wasn’t as much of violent banning of ancient schools as it was thought. Justinian did not ban the function of the Neoplatonic school in Athens but ceased the state funding unless the school accepted to add Christian theology to its curriculum. The Neoplatonic school refused but it was not banned. It kept functioning using its own private funds until this wasn’t enough and the school had to close. Evidence for this is that it is documented that the school functioned for several decades or more than a century (don’t remember exactly) after Justinian’s imperial command, which was previously viewed as an immediate or violent shutdown. Meanwhile, the Neoplatonic school in Alexandria (in Egypt) agreed to add Christian theology to its curriculum and it kept functioning undisturbed until the 7th century and the Arab conquest.

Also, he has more insight into the similarities observed between Eastern / Greek and even all Orthodoxy and the Ancient Greek religion, such as idol / icon worship, lesser deity / saint worship, virgin female deity / super saint worship, patron gods / saints etc He says there was an interesting cycle of Christianised Hellenism followed by Hellenized Christianity. Some of these elements of Christian Orthodoxy were emphasized more than in the early years of Proto-Christianity or even exaggerated by the Byzantine Greek Christians in order to attract the pagan Greeks and make them understand more easily the philosophy of the new religion and find common ground between them. It worked.

Lastly, he disputed the dated assumptions that the Visigoth king Alaric I was assisted by monks to destroy Athens during his invasion in 396. This was falsely concluded because in documents it was found that Alaric was accompanied by men clad in black. Theoharis says these were actually Thracian soldiers (Alaric indeed fared long in Thrace and the Thracians were by large mercenaries) and supports it is very unlikely based on historical evidence of the time that Athenian or Greek Christians would collaborate with a Visigoth invader to help him destroy historical areas of Athens, even if they were pagan.

These are the most important bits from memory, I am linking the podcast here, it is in Greek.

[devilmen-collector]

Solomon/MC - the Pope of Hell

C/W: religious theme, spoilers of the main story up to chapter 5 of the main story.

Note: calling Solomon "Pope of Hell" doesn't mean his dynamic and relationship with the devils are exactly the same with the relationship between the Pope and other Catholics. The same applies in the case of MC, who is Solomon's successor.

To begin, after reading the main story, I started to notice some interesting similarities between the Pope and Solomon, enough to make me write this post from the sentiment of my religious heart.

I. The Keys

Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter, fresco, Pietro Perugino, 1481-82.

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19 DRB

So we have Christ giving Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. From this very Scripture verses comes the well-known symbol of the Papacy, two crossed keys, one gold and another silver, under the triple tiara. The silver key symbolizes the power "to bind and loose" on earth, while the golden key symbolizes the power "to bind and loose" on Heaven.

Now returning to the lore we are given in the game. It's mentioned that Solomon had 2 "Keys". One Lesser Key he left in Hell, and one Greater Key crafted by God.

Chapter 4, Stage 29 - the Holy Grail of God that Betrayed God

So I began to make a connection between the two images. The Lesser Key with St. Peter's silver key, which symbolizes papal power and authority on earth, which is lesser than Heaven; and the Greater Key with the golden key, which symbolizes papal power and authority on Heaven, which is the greater of the two.

Yes, the devils did mention a "third Key". However, they were only making a hypothesis on Solomon's disappearance. And given the likely reality that Solomon is physical deceased after his disappearance, the third Key probably doesn't exist and there are only two Keys. The fact that there are two key currencies in-game solidifies this theory, at least for now.

Story 4-29

II. The Power to Crown the Emperor

In the game, we know that at the end, MC has to choose one devil among the Seven Deadly Sins and 72 nobles and makes him the "Emperor of Hell", "the king of kings", "the Final Temptation" who will rule all of Hell.

"With your own hands" make me thing MC has to literally put a crown on the head of the devil whom they chose. But that's just my personal theory.

Chapter 1, Story 45 - the Contract is Broken

Now return to history, in the Medieval Age, kings were crowned by a bishop/archbishop of a prominent see in his country on their Coronation Day. However, there's one monarch who has to be crowned by the Pope. That's the Holy Roman Emperor.

Before being crowned by the Pope, the Emperor could not style himself as "Emperor", but only a "king", the exact title being "King of the Romans". Only after the Pope put the imperial crown on their head did the Emperor call himself "Holy Roman Emperor". This remained the case until 1508 when Pope Julius II permitted Maximilian I to use the title "Emperor Elect" with coronation by the hands of the Pope. Before that, like his predecessors before coronation, Maximilian I was only styled "King of the Romans". Even Napoleon knew that and had to get the Pope to officiate his coronation as the Emperor of the French, even though he raised the crown on his head himself.

The difference lies in the fact that unlike the Emperor of Hell, who will rule all the 7 nations of Hell, the Holy Roman Emperor in real life didn't have the power to rule other independent kingdoms in Europe, like France or England. However, being the Emperor, he was the most prominent Catholic monarch across Europe. Still, I believe I have proved the similarity here: Pope crowned an Emperor, MC will also crown one.

III. Tongue

The third similarity I see lies in the traditional way of how Catholics received Holy Communion (or the Eucharist), which is receiving on the tongue. And to do that in a correct way, Catholics need to kneel down and stick the tongue out a little bit.

Maybe it's just me but when I saw the CGs where MC break the contracts with the devils. I immediately thought of this image because I saw some similarities.

To have their contracts broken, the devils also kneel down and stick their tongues out. And if they stick their tongues out to break the contracts, could it be possible that when they first made contracts with Solomon, they also knelt down and stuck their tongues out to receive the pattern, just similar to how Catholics receive the Eucharist in the traditional way?

IV. Relationships with two powerful sides

In the fourth century, the Roman Empire converted to Christianity and gradually abandoning paganism. The Byzantine Empire was the successor of this great empire. The Byzantine Empire was Christian throughout its history. However, on more than one occasions, this empire showed disrespect and even violence to the Pope, the Head of the Christian Church, whom they were supposed to protect and honor. One Pope, St. Silverius was even murdered by the Byzantine conspiracy. Slowly, the Pope knew he couldn't trust or rely on the Byzantine anymore, so he sought help from the Frankish, whose king was Charlemagne, and Charlemagne's successor was the Holy Roman Emperor.

In a similar way, we have the powerful angels hating Solomon for gaining God's favor. They even tried to kill all of his descendants, including MC. As God's messengers and servants, they should have been the ones to protect Solomon and his descendants, but they did the contrary. Now to survive, MC has to rely on the other powerful faction, the devils.

So,

Solomon and MC mirror St. Peter/the Pope/Papacy

Angels mirrors the unfaithful Byzantine Empire

Devils mirror the Frankish/Holy Roman Empire and other Western European kingdoms, by allusion

Another point is that just like the historical relationship between the Pope with the Holy Roman Empire and other Western kingdoms, the relationship between MC and the devils is not always smooth and well. Mammon once thought he was MC's owner at first, just like how kings and Emperors of the West thought they could keep the Papacy under their control, or Leviathan and his Hades nobles kidnapping and trying to kill MC, just like how the Pope was a prisoner and had his life endangered by a particular Western kingdom for a long time and on more than one occasions.

Well, that's all to my ramble (possibly being delulu like Sitri) but thank you for reading it all to the end :3

[zarya-zaryanitsa]

Gothic wooden Church of Saint Philip and James in Sękowa, Lesser Poland Voivodeship (source, source)

[justadram]

How did cultures of the mediveal people view aging? Were their ageism

Actually, there was a whole thread in historiography dedicated to the argument that the medieval era was like the golden age for being elderly. And I’d probably guess it was less ageist than modern youth oriented consumerist culture, but probably not as great as some historians claimed either.

Old age started around age 60, and there were plenty of elderly people kicking around. It’s high infant mortality rates that skew the average to like 30 very misleadingly! So, the elderly weren’t like a freak population. About 15% of the population would have been over the age of 60 in the late medieval period.

The elderly often were considered wise and more pious, which was admired. There are lots of saints lives about elderly saints who were not just spiritual warriors but also physically powerful. Lots of grey haired warriors in the epic poems, and old wise kings too.

In the Middle Ages, it’s all about the Community rather than the Individual, and there are good and bad parts to that. The elderly were still very much a part of the Community and as important as the other members. They didn’t exist as their own lesser category. They were considered capable of work, for example.

And if they were infirm and could no longer contribute, there were community institutions in place to protect them. Most people were cared for by their families. Others entered religious houses to retire. Some paid for a retirement setup within another household. But the church preached care for the infirm, so that was considered the right thing to do.

The law also protected the elderly. People who abused the elderly or took advantage of them were prosecuted.

But they also recognized ‘drawbacks’ to aging. There was some obsession over facets of aging we’d recognize, such as advice about changing dietary needs or brews and potions to regrow hair. And they did have some funny notions like some writers proposed the elderly weren’t capable of sex. But the writers tended to be male churchmen and they had all sorts of weird ideas about sex.

[willowthewiisp]

Another series of thoughts and ramblings that keep me up at night.

Can someone explain the meaning of the greatjar description because to ME this implies the shamans were practicing the jarring already but the hornsent saw it and went you son of a bitch I'm in ESPECIALLY if you look at Marika through the lens of her being a successful jar saint (which I don't subscribe to but I digress) or that she was an inspiration to shamans because she was an empyrean who became a god.

The hornsent clearly absorb other cultures of the past similar to the melting pot idea of the tower of Babel their entire tower is based on. So it could just be a practice that had holy religious meaning to the shamans taken and ramped up to mass production to redeem sinners and bastards in hornsent culture.

This also just comes off as a forced reluctance on the part of SOME of the potentates, and the cookbooks also support this, in addition to the caterpillar mask.

If they enjoyed this they wouldn't be haunted, they wouldn't need to wear a grotesque mask to hide doubt and temptation and other emotions that might make them stop doing their jobs. This just reeks that once again higher ups are forcing the lesser to do horrible things to people while they don't get their hands dirty.

This is also a direct callback to the omenkillers who instead of doing their grisly work out of religious act, they do it because they're bloodthirsty murderers, rollo even numbed himself to the horrors similar to how the caterpillar mask numbs the potentates.

Also, I have to stress, not once is Marika EVER referred to as a shaman, not once. She was from the village yes but she wasn't like them was she. Yes you could say she was shaman but she's only ever called an empyrean or numen. She has more ties to the eternal cities and the nox than shamans when it comes to in game texts but this is just more of a continuity nitpick than anything, because idk why she wouldn't be referred to as one unless it was some lowly title to associate queen Marika the eternal to or it's to hide the fact shamans even existed in the first place which is bizarre too. Why hide your heritage. Why hide your people. Unless you were guilty of doing something to them that you wanted to hide and keep secret ...

(there's a whole ass tree sentinel and you gotta get through the shadow keep thats not exactly a warm welcome home)

I just always found it rather suspect a small village like that supplied the amount of jars needed for the greater potentates to make the jars, unless the shamans themselves were "mass produced" and I still maintain they are the very first successful attempt at artificial life by the numen who eventually became nox, (and the carians are apparently related to the nox and they made the dumpy second gen albinaurics) but instead of silver they were gold, and you can clearly see gold strands in the meatball items.

Marika still didn't attack the land of shadow until she was married to radagon and had miquella and malenia so she must not have been too bent out of shape over it but the black knife assassins sure did seem to have a level of hatred for her to agree to kill her most beloved son and we know they were numens too so....... whatever Marika did to ascend didn't offend the hornsent into attacking her after she became a god. In fact, the churches in the lands of shadow tell us she was worshipped there but curiously her braids are shorter but equal in length, meanwhile the first church of Marika has a significantly longer right braid and a shorter left braid, and supposedly these churches were built after the giants were slain. But the timeline is vague.

The timeline is weird here but she ascended and waged war, and sealed the flame of ruin and started the age of the erdtree... Meaning she must have returned to the shaman village and cut her braid then, and left. But she didn't kill the hornsent then, and she waited until after the age of plenty after the sap had dried up, after Godfrey was hounded away, after her and radagon married and after miquella and malenia were born, to send messmer to war. WHY.

Also if this statue is depicting messmer as a baby that must mean he was born sometime before she cut her braid but perhaps after the giants.

Her braid is almost nearly the same length as her post giant war braid length, (and you can't see it in this picture but her left braid is behind her elbow and it's the same length) So she had messmer BEFORE she cut her braid and left the village forever. Perhaps maybe her prayer and wish was for messmer, who was cursed. She still confessed to something though....

......

Again, this doesn't erase the fact the hornsent were just like every other society where there was good and bad, the same as the golden order, but I'm sick to death of hearing "the hornsent deserved it, Marika was a victim" because of the shamans, when you can clearly see it's not black and white, and it did NOT warrant a genocide of that magnitude and Marika is not so innocent in this. She still committed not one but two genocides, possibly even more, waged war against everyone that stood against her, treated her children like tools or vessels, threw two of her children in the sewers to rot, abandoned messmer, apparently used Melina for a singular purpose of being kindling and even sealing the power of the gloam eyed queen behind her eye like she did to the abyssal serpent in messmer. Like, Marika is a fascinating character but she is not innocent and she is NOT a good person. Maybe once she was but it's long long gone by the time she ascends.

[sgiandubh]

La passante de la Place des Vosges/ The Passerby of the Place des Vosges: in praise of Caitríona Balfe

I have recently discussed, in as much detail as possible without becoming completely boring, S's memoir Waypoints. It is, no doubt, an interesting strategic step, aiming to buy much needed time and respite from unwanted fan attention.

But if there is a memoir I would probably read in a very different, almost sentimental way, that would be hers, not his.

We have an enticing idea of the way she writes, with this lesser known essay published by the totemic NYT just a day shy of her birthday, in 2017: The First Time I Left Home (and Fell in Love), which you can read online right here - https://shorturl.at/uTX12. It is a short, dense piece with a deeply personal, even sentimental, view of Paris in autumn and spring. Something very unusual for the feisty, secretive, almost paranoid C we all know and love (admit it, you do: fair's fair). It immediately grabbed both my attention and highlighter.

Writing about Paris, especially from an Anglo-Saxon/American perspective, is a very tricky affair. So much has been said and done, from Janet Flanner's priceless Letters from Paris and Paris Journal, to Anais Nin, to Edmund White, to Hemingway, to Orwell - just to name the ones that immediately come to mind. In this particular case, we'd be dealing with a nice PR fine tuning detail, with a relatively short lifespan, aiming perhaps to reach a more sophisticated demographic than Twitter banter or a three minutes long Q&A about the current season's antics. But a wonderful detail, nevertheless.

The year is 1998. A young 19-year old Irish model wannabe just landed in the chaotic brouhaha of Roissy Airport and the first contact is brutal, language being a considerable barrier. But before that, we are treated to a masterful bistrot snapshot, with a cheeky, self-deprecating sense of humor. I mean how perfect is this?

Quite a contrast to the dream version back home:

Touché. All the moody young Frenchmen are named Pierre, C. All. Of. Them. As for watching far too many French films, there's always been something very Nouvelle Vague about you, Jeanne Moreau and Jules et Jim & all that, and I have to say this is what I found immediately endearing. I am not talking about Claire Fraser: it is you, emphatically you. The kind of impeccably dressed woman one can find pretending to read Le Monde at Le Café de Flore's terrace in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The kind of self-evident, celestial creature whose high heels are never heard on any pavement (what is your secret?). Late Jane Birkin didn't even come close, C., mark me. However, red lipstick stains look way better on the rim of a nervously half drunk cup of noisette coffee: but then, that is me.

It was not at all like that, of course, but then something happened just across the street from the Saint-Eustache church, at Quigley's Point, a long gone Irish pub I vaguely remember. Circa 1998, our own boisterous squad used to play darts and get plastered on cheap draft beer and that undignified, syrupy manzana Basque liqueur (idiots, I am telling you, but it was very cheap) at The Bombardier, on the Place du Panthéon, just across the Seine:

Thick brogue, a quick laugh, kind eyes and blonde hair. An interesting combo, for sure. No further comment except well, this is very personal, isn't it? You've said it yourself: sometimes (fun fact: always) the really important people have nothing to do with fantasies. But we know, C, we know.

And then, suddenly, it all falls into place: Stendhal would talk about a crystallization moment. It is that split-second when everything becomes very clear. A pact of sorts occurs and all barriers are lifted. For C, it happened in one of the perfect places of this planet, spare perhaps the Piazza del Campo, in Siena:

No doubt, by tomorrow evening at the latest, I will be crucified by Mordor, but this made me think of that - different setting and context, same type of seminal moment. Draw your own conclusions:

(SRH, Waypoints, Day Four: The Hard Road)

Important things happen, too, Place du Panthéon and this moved me to bits, even if this was not a happy ending. So shamelessly glad it wasn't, by the way:

For (and forgive me for ineptly tinkering with your words) "It’s true, you never forget your first love". And for that man on that random pavement in LA, that will always be you, passerby of the Place des Vosges. The wonder you are, despite anything else: it is perfectly irrelevant.

Jacques Brel says it best, in what is almost a prayer:

[fathersonholygore]

Servant 4x09: "Awake"

Servant 4×09: “Awake” Directed by M. Night Shyamalan Written by Ishana Shyamalan * For a recap & review of 4×08, click here. * For a recap & review of the series finale, click here. Dorothy’s trying to find out info on Sean and Julian, but due to the storm in the city there’s a lot of waiting for everybody. She’s stuck on hold looking for answers. She asks Leanne about what happened, and the…

[wickmitz]

was once again glancing at the lackadaisy reddit and i genuinely feel a little crazy about how people perceive the wick and mitzi arc from retinue to sneakthief? or, honestly, their arc in general. to act as though wick is some patron saint greatly amuses me when it’s implied by mitzi and the comic that wick had either proposed a business deal himself or had been very amendable to talk about it after their kiss and / or other intimate acts last night … mitzi didn’t pull this out of her ass! she did not put this upon wick randomly. it was something they mutually agreed to do, and given how hard wick tries to wiggle away from the conversation without outright saying no ( aka giving excuses to stall ) i would even guess he essentially already agreed to such a deal, in the throes of passion, only for him to not fully mean it later. this doesn’t mean it was right at all for her to then steal from wick! this isn’t me excusing that! but wick isn’t some poor meow meow either in this scenario, even if he is the ‘lesser’ evil overall.

and tbh i also think the conversation was doomed from the start : wick was horrifically exhausted and was still too shaken up by rocky’s ‘joke’ to fully engage with mitzi, as well as finally having church’s warning start to weigh on him … and then there’s mitzi, who wasn’t faring any better! what with viktor out of commission, asa turning on her, mordecai threatening her, and then having spent most of the afternoon hearing her dead husband’s name be thrown around. in order to hurt her and scare her into obedience, mind you. like, neither were in any state to discuss business or romance!! so it’s no surprise it went poorly. especially when both of them were equally sore and testy during their date.

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

So in Lycoris Radiata you’ve mention how all the divine warriors had religions dedicated to them so like ceremonies ? Sacrifices ? Or temples ? I mean we kind of witness one of the werewolf cubs being sacrificed to the destroyer. Also you’ve done a very excellent job so far on the details of the different religions.

Tysmm!!! I do try :)

TW/CW: more adult themes mentioned, cannibalism, orgies are referenced at the end, menstruation mention, purposeful burning of oneself or a loved one, fantasy racism, religion talk, specific references to Christianity, animal/human sacrifices, mass death.

if there's anything i missed, please let me know

Worship of individual divine has slowly dwindled over time, still present but not as prevalent. Most divine worship has The Matron as the head of the religion, and treats them as a pantheon as opposed to singular entities. If someone worships a divine, they typically worship The Matron most of all, with the other divine being situational worship. This doesn’t apply to everyone, there are those who worship specific divine, mostly travelling Merchants who worship The Wanderer or scholars that worship The Keeper. In the years prior to LR, it was especially hindered by the introduction of a very eager High Priest.

Worship of The Destroyer is not considered to be an aspect of Divine worship. He is separated from all celebration of the saints, by those who worship him and those who don’t.

they're in colour order because i did it by accident at first and just went 'Fuck it'.

I also didn't proofread after, so... if anything doesn't make sense, whoops.

The Admirer

The admirer is a lesser-worshipped divine, unless done in conjunction with his wife and lover, The Matron. He is often prayed to by star-crossed lovers, or those faced with unrequited affections, in hopes that his blessing would will the pair together. He's also a favourite of incels, due to a number of reasons. Gene's very fond.

His temples are often smaller, held in the gardens of the Matron’s own churches, and most often he is worshipped at hastily built shrines and the statues of him with his other half. His temples are usually white marble pavillions, decorated with red roses and candles.

The concept of worship of him varies from place to place, some areas believing that newlyweds should consummate their marriages upon his altars in order to ensure fertility, others believing that individuals must sacrifice to him their pain, to suffer for their love as he suffered for his own. A more common practice is the burning of a piece of paper with one's lover's (or attempted lover) name written on it, to send a message to the saints for what they desire.

Most newlyweds under the faith of the Matron will kneel upon small, sharp pebbles as their wedding is officiated, in an homage to the tales that The Matron and the Admirer eloped whilst kneeling in the ruins of Scaleswind in the midst of the War. The couple will often keep a bloodied stone and pass it along to their children, as a way for their descendants to boast the strength and longevity of their lineage. Those who keep multiple stones are thought of as overly ambitious, and is usually only done by those of noble or lordly lineage.

Much of his history as a warrior has been lost in favour of the ‘knight in shining armour’ stereotype as The Matron’s lover. Even the creation of the Jury is presented as a gift to The Matron, instead of what it truly was. Only one statue of him presented as a warrior remains in Brightport, beside a statue of The Protector, within the halls of their Guard Academy.

The Matron

The Matron’s worship is often done in churches and Cathedrals, very heavy handed with the comparisons to Christianity lmao. Her religion is the main religion, so all of her laws apply to everyone else, regardless of who they believe in, but most of all they apply under the roof of her churches. Crimes that are ignored elsewhere are punishable by death in the houses of the Matron. because she'd dramatic. Her largest cathedral is in O'Khasis, though many of her followers pilgrimage to the cathedral in Scaleswind, due to it containing the only statues of her that were carved during her life.

Her religion holds no sacrifices, for it is believed that you must sacrifice yourself to her, devote your entire being to her, and so on. Plus, animal/person worship is very... old god-worship coded for them so they avoid it. Or at least they do in larger churches and communities.

Ceremonies are pretty vague, they wanted worship of her to be very ‘accessible’ and so they tried to avoid anything specific, in case certain cultures were turned away from the religion due to it’s practices conflicting with tradition. Ceremonies worship the coming of spring, with bright colours and loud music, the first birth of the season with a community-wide festival and the ‘blessing’ of the newborn with a name ‘chosen by the Matron’. Major life events are worshipped with some kind of song and dance, and decorative garb, but death is strictly avoided. There are private blessings, that’s all. There is nothing to worship in death to them, though back in the ye old days, death was celebrated by her worshippers most of all.

One celebration that is kept by smaller communities but not by larger ones, due to how 'distasteful' it is, is celebrating a period. It's a remnant from older times, and whilst larger communities that worship the Matron looks upon periods as disturbing or a sign of an empty womb, in smaller communities it is viewed as a sign of health. Malnutrition can shorten or even entirely remove the presence of a period, so in communities where food is in short supply, for someone to be so well fed is a blessing. An individual's first period is often given a little ceremony, and a sacrifice is made to 'reunite the blood of the person with the blood of The Mother'. Maybe a little weird, but fuck you, religion is funky as fuck (/aff)

The Protector

The Protector is one of the most worshipped Divine, as he is the patron of the Guards (formerly joined by The Admirer). Statues of him are erected in most cities, and his symbol is worn by most guards and lords as a means of protection.

He has temples in most major cities, though they are less common in communities without heaps of expendable wealth, and they are often kept near rivers, lakes and oceans, due to multiple of his stories relating back to water one way or another.

As for sacrifices to him, they are most often items of protective value. Swords are thrown into the middle of lakes, armour tossed into oceans, shields left to drift down the lake, in hopes that each item would sink down to him, and show to him how little each item meant in comparison to the protection he could offer.

In some smaller communities, guards will smear blood over his altars after they successfully fended off bandits or raiders. Whether it is their own or that of the attacker, it depends. All bloodshed is thought to be a sacrifice for the Protector, if shed in the attempt to save oneself or another.

Obviously some ceremonies under the following of the protector involves coming of age (or, becoming old enough to be entrusted with the defence of your house), becoming a guard, and even your first scar. Scars are celebrated by those who worship the Protector, as it is thought that he himself weaves the scabs and scars over your injuries to keep you safe. That said, if you accidentally tear open a scar, or reagitate an injury, it's seen as a punishment from him for not being grateful enough for what help he had given.

Most of The Protector's ceremonies and celebrations are very low-key. He's not a particularly flashy guy (though his descendants very much are). Most of it includes submerging in water, or having running water spread over one's face/hands/injury. His followers also often wed whilst standing in shallow rivers and streams, so that he may be as much of their wedding as they are, and for this reason weddings also don't tend to be particularly fancy. Nothing worse than getting a super expensive dress all soggy.

The Keeper

The smart-man's saint, he who the scholars swear to when another does not quite grasp a subject quite as well as they should.

All libraries, places of study, academies or archives are his domain, and so it is only fitting that his temples are lined floor-to-ceiling with books and scrolls, and knowledge. The biggest one is far north, in the stretch between Ru'Aun and Yggdrasil, the field of the gods. It's a long-since abandoned area, but the temple stands proud and tall, a tower filled with every shred of knowledge from that time and all times before it. Scholars set out with the intent of finding it, and return broken men or not at all. The Field of the Gods was abandoned for a reason, after all.

keeping everything to Ru'aun, there's not much to say for Ru'auni Keeper ceremonies. There are obviously those which appoint scholars to their towers, but worship of the keeper is generalised to those places which can afford to care about knowledge. Smaller communities worship him little, knowing survival is more important than smarts, and so the only practices for him are the 'savoury' ones that the Church of The Matron support.

Anyone who claims to be truly devoted to him think of him less as a god to worship, and more of a model to follow. They ensure they say nothing but the truth, unless it is in the name of gaining knowledge, and they protect books and information with their very souls. That said, as many of these scholars are under the employ of the church, they will burn whichever books that Zane desires. The will of the Matron overpowers that of the Keeper.

The Wanderer

He is surprisingly well-followed. He is the patron of Travellers and Merchants, of orphans and the homeless. Anyone who finds themselves between places, or travelling for any period of time, they will have some form of worship for him.

He has no temples, temples are too permanent, but travellers will often erect small shrines for him along popular paths and cross-roads, so that, if in need of guidance, one of his followers may find him. Many will carve his symbols into trees to guide the way out of forests, or scribble his symbol onto their maps so that he may never let them get lost. Boats will have it painted on their masts, so that the wind may carry them where they are intended to go. Everywhere is a temple of the Wanderer, as long as it leads to someplace else.

Following the Wanderer is very much a... personal practice. Whatever gets you forward. And that's all he teaches, going forward, getting from a to b, and continuing on from there. Of course, there are generalised practices, but no set-in-stone ceremonies. Some sailors may consider drinking big and making a fool out of themselves to truly savour the success of a trip to be a ceremony to bless him, others may think that travelling in itself is all the ceremony he needs.

The most common practice is dedicating meals to him, when that meal is consumed in the midsts of a travel, or to continue one on forwards. The meal sustains their adventure, as their faith in him does, after all. However, some will go to uncomfortable lengths to ensure there is a meal to dedicate, fearing that their travels may end soon without his interference, one way or another.

The Fury

The Fury, whilst widely worshipped in Tu'La, is a saint with little following in Ru'Aun. The church of The Matron does not support the direct worship of her, due to O'Khasis' long and complicated history of beef with Tu'La, but there are those that worship her anyways.

Immigrants and refugees from Tu'La make up the bulk of her worshippers, and as thus most of her practices are Tu'Lan ones. There are no temples for her, but the statues of her with the other Divine, and the shrines that her few followers are able to put together. There are also some werewolf communities that follow her, due to many Meif'wa refugees being forced out of human cities out of fear that they're just like the werewolves, so they join their fellow misunderstood animal-esque brethren.

Those born into the faith often have to walk over hot coals/sand/etc until there is a visible burn on the soles of their feet, so that they might always be one with her, when they come of age (usually mid-to-late 20s, in Tu'Lan culture, though those in Ru'Auni communities usually bring this to about late teens/early 20s instead.). Those who convert into it often have it done during their conversion, though many like to differentiate between the born-into and the converted, so the burns are put on their hands instead.

There are many ceremonies lost due to it being a religion that relies on the word-of-mouth of refugees that aren't given many opportunities to learn Ru'Auni before they go to the continent, but those that remain are often fire-filled and beautiful. Tattoos are given to show the life events of an individual, scars are burned into their skin for their every holy deed, so they might show off to others just how much they do for their god.

They consider themselves merciful, though others don't. One of their ceremonies is a 'blessing' ceremony, where they tie all of their enemies and prisoners to an unlit pyre, and have their own most devoted soldier be set aflame and walk into it. They believe that she blesses people for a more holy realm after they pass through her flames. Obviously others just go 'ah shit gonna get burnd'

The Destroyer

The Destroyer, Judgement, The Ancient. He has as many names as he does different followers. His worshippers follow most closely to the worship of the old gods out of any Divine (Menphia is a close second), and whilst there may not be many compared to the Matron's followers, they are varied.

All of his temples in the overworld are long-since destroyed, every statue of him defaced or removed entirely from where they once stood. To the people, he never existed, but as a boogeyman to scare children with, but those with any semblance of power, or who live outside of the protective walls of the major cities and towns, know that he is present. always. The few temples he has are old churches of the Matron's, which were either abandoned or taken, and repurposed into a domain for the Destroyer. They hold no idols of him, but they do have an altar. Even if they need to make the altars out of broken tables, or the corpses of those they killed, there *will* be an altar.

Any death to brace Judgement's altars is a good one, whether it be of one of his own followers, a rabbit hunted for food, or even the corpse of something long-dead. Humans, especially those of power, are preferable however. considering, y'know. ommy nommy. They give him these deaths not to ask anything of him, but to give to him more power, so that he might rise again and become their one and true king. That is all they want, all they desire.

They hold celebrations for new births, for coming of age, for first kills and first scars. They worship death beyond what any other religion might, and they view the hunt as the natural intersection between life and death. How they celebrate varies, but it is always at night, to emulate the Abyss that their god is trapped within. They can be as small as gifting jewellery, or as big as huge cannibal-feast orgies. I would love to go into this religion more bc it's my most developed but this is a long ass post as is, i'm keeping this as short as i can lmao. i have other posts on stuff too so...

[scotianostra]

25th June the year 592 saw the death of Saint Moluag.

Commonly (also known as Moluoc, Moluag, Molua, Molloch, Lugaidh and under other forms), this man's real named was Lugaidn - pronounced Lua. The 'Mo' prefix is a term of endearment meaning "My Dear".

Moluag was an Irish missionary trained who travelled to Scotland in AD 562, becoming a friendly rival to St. Columba after both men tried to claim Lismore in the Inner Hebrides as their base. Tradition says that they had a race to the island in coracles. Moluag was about to lose, when he drew out his dagger, cut off his thumb and threw it ashore. "My flesh and blood have possessed the island first and I bless it in the name of the Lord," he cried. Allegedly Columba was furious and cursed,

"May the rocks grow with edgees uppermost and may you only have alder for fuel!"

Unmoved, Moluag is said to have replied,

"But the rocks will not hurt to walk upon and alder will burn like tinder." Even today, the up-ended strata on Lismore makes walking easy and the alder burns well.

Columba had to make do with settling on nearby lona from where he poked fun at the small "rath" surrounding Moluag's monastic community. But Lismore was an ideal centre from which to evangelise Scotland, and Moluag did good work across much of the North-West of the country, including the islands of the Outer Hebrides.

On the Black Isle, he founded a second community at Rosemarkie, with lesser houses in Banffshire at Mortlach and Clatt. Moluag died at Rosemarkie on on this day, 592. Near the spot, the Pictish Church later erected a traditional symbol stone as a memorial.

In the 13th century, St. Moluag's Church on Lismore was made the Cathedral of the Isles and the present parish church still incorporates part of its chancel. Moluag's blackthorn crozier known as the "Bachuil Mor" or "Bachuil Buidhe" has, for centuries, been preserved in the safe hands of the Livingstone Barons of Bachuil, on the Isle of Lismore; and an ancient iron bell from Lismore was discovered in the nineteenth century at Kilmichael Glassary.

Pics are, The Saints Window in Kilmoluag, Lismore depicting St Moluag and St Columba, an old pic of the Crozier, and a more recent one of it, if it is the Saint's Crozier it as about 15,000 years old! The final pic is St Moluag’s Cathedral.

Archaeologists from the Lismore Historical Society recently announced they had found ruins of the Monastic order founded by the Irishman. Fid out more at the link

More info on this early saint here http://www.bachuilcountryhouse.co.uk/StMoluag.htm

[han3532]

«The Great Innocence has never been portrayed with their beloved ones. Their teachers, benefactors and allies could stand next to them as a symbol of their supporting force, but Vicquemare decided that everyone should see his wife. She had always thought of herself as of a simple, ordinary-looking woman; her face, as she said, wasn't any of great beauty and through all her life she heard mockings much often rather than any words of pure admiration. This, though, hasn't stopped Vicquemare at all. Years changed her, yet she kept her touching, almost emotive softness of her youthful beauty in a stained glass of the Seventh Innocence. People of all Elysium from cold beaches of Katla and to the southern borders of protectionistic Seol saw it in their churches, newspapers and school books. Her gentle half-smile and grimace full of deep calmness found their places in people's hearts immediately. She was even remembered more often than her great husband's reforms. Sometimes Judit was called the Great Innocence herself, though no one knew that her contribution to Jean's reforms wasn't lesser than his own.»

an art for the stained glass of the saint Jean Vicquemare, his Seventh Innocence, and his wife, Judit Minot in my Innocence!Jean Vicquemare au

[magicaguajiro]

Caribbean Folk Saints and Mighty Dead: La Caridad del Cobre

Few symbols represent Cubanía or Folk Saints better than that of La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. For almost as long as Cuba has existed as a colonial country, Cachita has been its Patroness.

La Vida de La Caridad

La Virgen de Caridad del Cobre is the Patroness of Cuba, copper miners, Rivers and Storms, and of violent rebellion. She is a Spirit unique to this part of the world, worshipped as a Goddess, venerated as an Ancestor, worked with like a Witch. The lore and practice of her Folk-Cults have become so intertwined with ancient Indigenous and African Spirits that its almost impossible to separate them. The story of Cachita, as she is called, is where many of her perceived areas of influence come from. Here is a concise telling of her story, of which I will break down and explain the folkloric elements;

"In the 16th Century, three men from Barajagua were out at sea to collect sea salt. Indigenous brothers Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos and a young Black boy named Juan Moreno, "The Three Juans". A fierce storm came, so they turned to the young boy's Marian medallion in prayer. As soon as they finished their prayer, the skies cleared and up floated the physical statue, which stayed dry in the water. Attached to it was a sign that read "Yo Soy La Virgen de La Caridad".

The Virgin’s Vessel

These men brought it to an official and a church was erected, and all was well for a time. Until one day, when the priest went into her locked chapel to find the statue missing. He alerted authorities and a search ensued, only for her to reappear the following day. This happened three more times, so the people of Barajagua decided she must want to be moved to a different location. They took her to El Cobre, a copper mining town. The people here loved her, and rang bells and celebrated upon her arrival. The disappearances continued.

In 1801, a mestiza girl known as Jabba or Apolonia in the Sierra Maestras came upon the statue atop a mountain, and thus a church was built and the statue moved once again but not far. This is where her church was built once again. Eventually, she made her way to the colonial capitol of Santiago. This was seen by many as a power grab of influence by the government over the Indigenous and African Communities’ sovereignty.

There are many elements to this that represent her patronage. We have it starting with her being found by two Indigenous and one African men. Barajagua is still to this day an epicenter of culture preserved by Indigenous and Black communities of the Island, and in this time it was no different. This shows her patronage and reason for syncretization amongst these oppressed groups. Her power over weather has clear syncretic significance as well. Her being moved to the mining town of El Cobre shows her patronage of Copper and Miners. I will go into more detail, but the message is clear: La Caridad is more than just a Marian Apparition. She is a Spirit of her own, with pacts to act with authority in certain traditions.

The Cemí of Horizontal Waters

As with many aspects of Cuban culture, her roots in ATRs are clear and undeniable. What is lesser known are her ties to Indigenous practices within Cuba. I will mention that some refute these claims, but I recommend the in depth analyses by Olga Portuondo Zuniga and Maria Nelsa Trincado which is where I draw much of my information here apart from family and cultural history. I have spoken before about Atabey, and there is a wealth of information (and misinfo) on her all over the internet. She is the primary feminine Cemí, or ancestral spirit, of the Taíno groups in the Caribbean. She is called the Mother of Waters and is a primordial force of nature as well as an ancestor. She also has significant ties to La Caridad del Cobre, as well as other Cuban Madonnas venerated by the Indigenous Cubans.

Firstly, in her origin story, we see La Virgen has power to dispel storms. Later on, even as recent as COVID, we see dances and festivals held in her honor to bring rain or stop fire. This part has been attributed to come from Atabey, specifically to her destructive form known as Guabancex (Gwa-Ban-Sesh). She is the Cemí of natural destruction, called Cacique of storms and earthquakes with various sets of Twins at her aide. One set rules the wet and dry seasonal cycle of the Caribbean, known as Boinayel and Marohu respectively. Another set known as Guatauba, Cacique of Winds who would call all the Spirits of the Land with his Guamo (Conch Shell) and Coatrisque, Cacique of Torrential Waters who would gather and then release them unto the Land. One of her helpers, Jurakan, is where we get the word hurricane because he’s the cemí of Spiral Winds. Some even believe that this specific spirit was created to represent Atabey/Guabancex and baby Jesus to represent Yocahu/Jurakan. Cemí were also physical objects many times, carved or crafted to literally have the spirit inside of it.

These statues were considered alive, and could speak and move around according to colonial accounts. This is interesting because in her story we see how her statue moves around to various locations, often moving from indoors to somewhere in nature. This is strikingly similar to the accounts by Fray Ramon Pane on the behavior of a Cemí who “wished to be under the stars”. This Cemí statue would often get tired of the enclosed space he was in and would choose to run off to various locations. In this way, we see that La Caridad herself is a Cemí in a way. In analyzation of her physical vessel, they have also found her head is her original and is made of Corn fiber, meaning at this point in history it must have been made in the Americas. This further cements her Indigenous connections.

Something interesting to note is that almost immediately following first contact, my Indigenous ancestors welcomed the spiritual beliefs of the newcomers, but not in the way the colonizers wanted. Rather than turn away from ancestral faiths in favor of the Catholic Saints and Madonnas, they simply added these European statues to the same altars as the Cemi. While this was not the case for all Taino people, we do have one specific case in Cuba where a Cacique named Comendador and his people worked with a painted image of Mary, to whom they would petition for aide in War. While Caridad del Cobre is not this exact Mary, it is believed some of her traditions and virtues are sourced from this and other similar Spirits from the Island. I see her as merely one very specific face of Atabey, and there are many other Spirits and Saints who are others.

Afro-Cuban Liberation

You will often see La Caridad del Cobre syncretized, or associated, within Lúcúmí spaces with the Orisha Oshun, but she also has come to be used as a mask for many female spirits in other African Traditions, such as with Mama Chola Wengue in Palo. These religions and systems were often outlawed, so to continue them they had to be hidden. Its important to note that La Caridad is NOT an Orisha or mpungo or Lwa, she is a Saint who Afro-Cubans recognized as having similar domains of influence as their Ancestral Spirits. From these associations we see a rise in her popularity among practitioners in petitions for beautification and love, as well as for protecting mothers in childbirth once again.

La Caridad del Cobre also became associated with Oshun because of her connection to Copper, similar to that of Oshun’s Gold. Also, being found by an enslaved person and being housed in El Cobre, a town majorly built of enslaved Afro-Cuban Copper Miners. Similar to the Erzulies in Haiti, I have heard Oshun masked as Caridad inspired the miners to fight against the often fatal conditions they worked in. As a matter of fact, the edict which freed all the miners was read in front of the Statue of Cachita at her chapel in 1801. This further strengthened and showed how she was a Patron and Liberator of the oppressed, especially the Enslaved and their descendants.

There is also Cachita Tumbo. I include her here because she is from ATRs. She is a Lwa or Misterio venerated in Haitian and Cuban Vodou alike, as well as other practices. Sometimes mistaken for Anaisa Pye, another Indigenous-related spirit. It is important to note La Caridad also has connections as Ercilli in Cuban Vudu, but this is a syncretisation where as Cachita IS La Caridad herself. She is considered a New World or Indigenous or Creole/Mixed Spirit, connected to the River, sexuality, femininity, childbirth and the like. Her name Cachita is thought to come from the Taino language, and Tumbo an Afro-Cuban word meaning a dance involving thrusting the body. Think "La Negra Tiene Tumbao". This shows how she has roots as both Indigenous and African. She is a Spirit associated with La Virgen during the Slave Revolts, a connection strengthened in Cuba's Revolution against Spain. In this war La Caridad becomes known as La Virgen Mambisa, and it seems the War-Hungry Mary of Comendador is shining through once again. It is hard to find where Cachita ends and La Virgen Mambisa begins.

Traditional Catholic Practice

DISCLAIMER: Nothing I say here will include practices or knowledge that is closed, nor part of closed practices. Anything I share from this point on should be assumed to be UPG. DECOLONIZATION: This "saint" went unrecognized by the church for over three centuries. She was originally a Spirit venerated by Indigenous and African Cubans for resistance who was taken by the church and used to push Nationalist Ideals and Mestizaje. Know her history and preserve her ways that the Catholic Church has tried to erase.

Working within the Catholic Framework is the safest and most approachable way to work with any Saint, canon or not. I will say it is important to recognize that this particular saint went unrecognized by the church for over three centuries, most of her history up until relatively recently. She was originally a Spirit venerated by Indigenous and African Cubans who was taken by the church and used to This is because there is a set system and rules that can be followed. If I were approaching La Caridad the way Catholic Cubans would, it would be by either simply carrying her with me and visiting her holy sites or by setting up a space for her in my home. This would be a clean, bright space with a yellow candle, a depiction of her and any offerings I may choose to include, like Sunflowers or a glass of water. I would NOT include Orisha or Cemí imagery, as you should be wary to approach her as anything other than La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre unless you are under the direction of an elder. She does have a traditional feast day, which is September 8th. This day, devotees of all paths will visit her chapel, ‘ermitas’ that house replicas, or to the river to make offerings. Gold Milagros and prayers of healing, like those offered to San Lazaro, are a common Catholic charm used with La Caridad as well.

In Folk Practice

In my experience, La Caridad del Cobre is a spirit deeply tied to this part of the world I am in, the Caribbean (including Florida). She IS the Land in a way, a face of the Earthen Mother. I have spoken before on how I like to call her La Madre Mojada or the Wet Mother, the Mother of Swamps. Sometimes even Mother Gator depending on the situation. This is because she is the very Spirit of the pact between the Water and the Land that allows our wetlands to exist. Its important to remember she is not a historic figure who died and is venerated, she is a more of a Land Spirit given an image and name to facilitate her worship, so she often wears many faces. I also see her as a Witch Queen type figure, being the Creatrix and Immaculate Mother of God. I take this to mean shes the Mother of all the spirits of this Land as well.

Offerings that I have given that have been well received include various perfumes, gourds/pumpkins, gold and copper things but especially mirrors, sunflowers, oranges and local honey. As she is a bioregional spirit, I tend to bring her offerings to a River for her as this is one place she is often associated with in all traditions. I also try to source my offerings and workings for her as locally as possible. She also enjoys bells, which is attributed to the bells rung upon her arrival to El Cobre. She likes the number 5 and its multiples, and enjoys music and dancing. Yellow is classically associated with her, but also blue.

Much of my work with her is simply veneration, honoring and respecting her and my Ancestors through her. Seeing as she is barely Catholic in many ways, she has few qualms about lending her aid to witches and spiritual workers. She especially is a great ally to any marginalized people, and can help them to work or fight their way to a better position. She can be petitioned to for help in abusive relationships or in finding love or beauty. She is very ‘elevated’ even for a Saint, so while she does have certain domains, she can also be petitioned to for just about any situation for which you have no other recourse.

Baños de Caridad - Baths of Charity

There are many spiritual bath recipes associated with each of the previously mentioned spirits, but I’m gonna share a folk recipe associated specifically with La Caridad del Cobre so that anyone can use it. This recipe, literally called Baños de Caridad, is great for when you have had some rough luck and need a pick me up. Best made on a friday, this sweet bath is used often for finding employment, bettering health and attracting love. The process is as follows:

Light a yellow candle for La Caridad and dedicate it to her with a prayer. Light her some incense as an offering and to cleanse the space. Then place a large bowl of cool water in front of her. To this, add the sweet plants basil (albahaca) and boton de oro (gold medallion), working them into the water with your hands. Both of these plants are known for attracting money, improving health and clearing up the vibe overall. Then, add a drizzle of honey to increase sweetness and magnetism. Finish it off with two raw eggs, representing the divine twins and new life.

Charms of the Rainmaker

I’ve mentioned before the many connections between the many Mother of Waters figures in the Caribbean and her Divine Twins. This is seen in both Taíno and Seminole legends, as well as even within Lúkúmí with the Twins known as Ibeyi. There are also many charms in this area associated with the Weather, specifically protecting from storms and calling in rain.

One charm that is used in Taíno Indigenous Communities to this day to bring rain in times of drought is to take find stones, each representing one of the twin Cemí of weather. Tie them together and then find a tree brand to hang them in, preferably a Holy Tree like a Ceiba. Pray to the Wind, Rains, La Caridad del Cobre, whomever you are working with. Say that you will not untie the stones until it rains. Once the rain starts, and it will, quickly untie the stones and place them somewhere dry with offerings of flowers, water, fruit, tobacco or a song. You may choose to blow a Guamo when first petitioning, and then again when finishing the rite. This lends an extra power in calling the Spirits of water, harkens to Guatauba’s role.

Another charm I shared in my recent post on the Everglades the charm of tying a blade to part of your house in the direction of an coming storm to make it split and go around your dwelling. In the past a form of matari stones was used. These are basically Caribbean arrowheads, indigenous artifacts once used for their sharpness, now used in practices like Ochá and called ‘Thunder Stones’. You can also use any sharp outdoor tool, Seminole have an almost identical charm using an axe. The idea is the same in both cultures, you are splitting the Weather Twins apart and both have corresponding myths I talked about in that post.

A Note on Honey: Historically, there is a taboo associated with offering honey to La Caridad that you have not tasted yourself. This is a Lúcúmí belief stemming from practices related to Oshun, that transferred to popular zeitgeist. I include this not to recommend following it, but instead to say you may want to omit offering Honey to her altogether.

Fe, Amor, y Caridad

La Caridad is a complex and multifaceted spirit. She is now a recognized Saint, but she is definitely more than that. She has a deep relationship with this Land, and with the other Spirits that she was syncretized with. I hope this post helps adequately share what I’ve been lucky enough to learn and experience with Cachita and Elders who have spent their lives devoted to her.

Luz y Progreso 🌻