#Wife of Jehovah

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Hyung Jin Moon omits completely ‘the wife of Jehovah’

Hyung Jin Moon exhorts his disciples to be honest about Sun Myung Moon's  pikareum sex rites and the Six Marys. It was Sun Myung Moon’s mission to spread his divine seed all over the world. He had to kill Satan’s bloodline and found God’s new bloodline on earth by having sex with as many women as possible and impregnate them with his divine seed. But Hyung Jin Moon forgets to mention one very important fact: Sun Myung Moon himself got his divine blood lineage from the “Wife of Jehovah”, Ms. Pak Wol-yong in Pyongyang in June 1946. Ms. Pak Wol-yong had sex with God and became one body with him. She was the Mother Goddess incarnate, God’s wife in flesh. Sun Myung Moon became her disciple and had sex with her and got a new divine blood lineage from her.

Sun Myung Moon himself and now his children and Unification Church members try to forget this unpleasant fact and and conceal it from history records.

reposted from: http://whatisonthemoon.tumblr.com/post/170834900742/hyung-jin-moon-omits-completely-the-wife-of

_______________________________

Where Sun Myung Moon got his theology

The Korean background of Sun Myung Moon’s church

Ritual Sex in the Unification Church – Kirsti L. Nevalainen

Hwang Gook-joo and his orgies

Chong Deuk-eun – Great Holy Mother who also did pikareum

Hong Soon-ae, the mother of Hak Ja Han

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

That awkward feeling when a PIMI childhood friend sends you an invite to a party in the summer; but you know you’re going to be out of the cult and shunned by then.

What do I even say? Do I lie and say I’ll be there? Do I just not respond?

[lordgodjehovahsway]

Judges 15: Samson's Wife Is Given Away, Which Starts A War With The Philistines

1 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in.

2 “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

3 Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 

4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 

5 lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

6 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.”

So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 

7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 

8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.

9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 

10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 

14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 

15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

16 Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone     I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone     I have killed a thousand men.”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 

19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

[abelver]

REVELATION CHAPTER 4 : VISION OF GOD'S THRONE IN HEAVEN

[roadimusprime]

There's a good chance that I will have off on my birthday next month. So the question is: Do I do anything?

[balrams-world]

[houseofevanbuckley]

Give me Tommy and Buck who just moved in in a new house

Buck is on the second floor emptying boxes while Tommy takes care of the living room when the door rings

Tommy who thinks it’s the neighbors coming to say high or one of the numerous deliveries they’re waiting on open the door and meet two Jehovah witnesses

He’s too nice to close the door back tho and listen to their sermon for a few minutes until they ask if he’s married which he says yes to even tho he hasn’t proposed yet

He smiles happy that he’ll soon be free of them and just calls out “Babe”

To which Buck answers by running down the stairs and join them at the door

“Yeah?”

Tommy enjoys the way their faces fall way too much before he says “these people wanted to talk to my wife, why don’t you chat with them a bit uh?”

He leaves them to it, feeling almost sorry for the Jehovah Witness when he hears the voice of Buck rising

[raz-b-rose]

Prayer request for a Coworker.

His wife is currently pregnant with their third child and yesterday she received news that she will not only need a C-section but blood transfusions during delivery, and because she is a jehovah witness she won't take blood transfusions.

Prayer for her and the baby, they say her survival rate isn't good without the transfusions. 🙏🏻

[techramonic]

Speak, Hear, and See No Evil; Embody it.

An Essay Analysis on Religious Trauma and its connection to Nihilism through the Case Study of Vladislav Roslyakov

There is a profound intersection in faith and mentality. To uncover one’s whole being, the aspect of spirituality is well within the equation. While many use their faith as a symbol of fortitude, a steadfast hope that guides their way of living – creating practically a coherent path in a world so inconsistent and unpredictable, others see it as the pinpoint of their internal turmoil. Faith is not for all of us. If one rejects the idea of seeking solace in an institute of collective belief, then they do not believe in such a concept as “being saved”. To them, there is no redemption, only pain. 

Some people need a rather tangible and physical form of revelation for an adherence of recognition. It is the ideology: when you look up at the sky and do not see anyone looking back at you, that is when you know it’s not for you. You do not believe in such a thing as self-sacrifice, for you only see the world in a lens of self-slaughter. Often, this strained relationship with faith becomes Religious Trauma. 

Psychotherapist Dr. Alyson M. Stone acknowledges a positive link between religion and mental health but notes a lack of studies on spirituality's impact. According to Stone, “Religious trauma is more prevalent than the research suggests and often is a contributing factor to many of the problems that bring people to therapy, including depression, anxiety, and relationship difficulties. For this reason, religious trauma deserves careful attention” (Stone 2013, p. 324). Furthermore, Marlene Winell (2012) coined "religious trauma syndrome" (RTS) to describe the distress from "toxic theology." This refers to authoritarian religious doctrines demanding strict adherence, often equating disobedience to damnation.

In the case of Vlad, his mother was a Jehovah's Witness. This religious sect is banned under Russian law despite an estimated 175,000 followers in the country. In 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court found the organization guilty of inciting religious hatred by "propagating the exclusivity and supremacy" of their beliefs. Subsequent to  Russian anti-extremism laws extending to non-violent groups in 2007, placing it into the same category as neo-Nazis and members of al Qaeda.

To understand this, we must first look into Vladik’s childhood leading up to this point. Vlad’s father, a former Russian soldier who served in Afghanistan for several years, sustained brain damage from an assault, making him aggressive toward his family, leading to frequent physical abuse over his wife, parents, and even his son. He was also an alcoholic, where his violence would worsen when intoxicated. By the age of 10, his parents had filed for a divorce and he lived under the custody of his mother in a rundown apartment with poor conditions because they could not afford amenities.

Following this, his mother had renowned her faith. Neighbors described her as a devout follower who spent a lot of time in prayer. They recounted that she had barely any concern for Vlad due to being too focused on her faith, but there were many instances of her controlling nature towards her son’s life. According to Vlad’s profile background, his mother would frequently punish him for disobeying rules of her faith. Although he accompanies her in services, he does not recognize himself as a follower. He publicly expressed his contempt on Jehovah’s Witnesses as, “some kind of fools who dance and sing.” A friend of his had also expressed that the two would often make fun of the community. Despite these differences, Vlad still appeared to care for his  mother and understood that she had no other means of coping and did not have a community to interact with since she had no friends or relatives close by. With this, he made sure to spend time with her, yet we can discern that these regulatory rules are merely pushed unto him.

Vlad was not allowed to engage in hobby classes, amateur activities, or even watch movies as the faith forbids these activities. According to his VK chats with Liza Panchenko, his favorite movies were Stand by Me, Pulp-Fiction, and Lost Highway. However, he stated, “I didn’t watch any good movies after 2005”. Though this may be a speculation, one of the possible reasons for this is because he was forbidden by his mother. However, despite her warnings, it is clear that he still would go against her.

Vlad became sports-obsessed and developed an interest in weaponry, violence, neo-nazism, war, and killers. Despite occasionally picking up fights and being placed on the “chair of shame” by his college director, Vlad was reserved and withdrawn from others. His friends had described him as a loner, who was quiet and avoided making friends, rather talking about topics of violence, especially about Columbine. He had no intimate relationships or sense of future and practically only attended school because he was forced by his parents. He did not see any future and saw no escape other than death. Even with an interest in violence and guns himself, he expresses a disdain towards joining occupations like the armed forces.

Moving forward, it is crucial to recognize that the psychological distress caused by religious trauma can manifest into Nihilistic ideology. According to Alfred Alder, a psychoanalyst who founded individual psychology, human behavior is motivated by our unique experiences and the perceptions we garner off of these. To him, humans are driven by goals and we aim for superiority by striving for these goals which are molded by our values and aspirations. These in turn develop into a lifestyle that affects us in different aspects of our behavior.

Furthermore, Alder speculated that psychological development occurs when people pursue meaningful goals, though factors can disrupt this process. Exchanging the feeling of self-superiority with inferiority and emptiness. When one lacks any meaningful goal, they are devoid of any means to stay motivated because they have no inherent cause that may allow them to “live”. 

From a nihilistic perspective, the absence of inherent meaning in existence can lead individuals to view life as a mere distraction. You exist, yet you do not truly live—merely passing time because life feels more like an obligation than a will. This allows you to fade into a concept and lose touch with your humanity. You become a mere entity in this world so vast that it cannot accompany the hatred you bear for it because you are insignificant. You see yourself as nothing, born out of your lack of purpose, therefore you are nothing.

To tie this into the conversation, trauma and abuse can disrupt the process of finding and garnering purpose, hindering the creation of goals and instead, promoting nihilistic attitudes. This includes religion, which can either be an antidote or a poison. 

Religious trauma can be a  catalyst for promoting nihilistic thinking. Taking Vlad as an example, when individuals are subjected to oppressive religious doctrines that instill shame, fear, and guilt – it can lead to an inflated sense of despair. This dread of being trapped in a system that dictates your worth and purpose fuels the tendencies to lean into nihilistic ideologies. You are cornered with no escape despite religion itself being a form of solace and escapism made for believers to feel less in despair. Vlad's strict upbringing in a religious environment and controlling mother contributed to his growing resentment towards religion and humanity itself. This lack of free will over his beliefs and choices only amplified this sense of dread over being powerless. Further alienating him from others because he believes that no one will truly help him, not even God.

If God is not there to help and save him and there are no means of a divine intervention in his life, then he will be the intervention himself. He is the destruction the world has insistently brought upon his life in the form of unforeseen circumstances. He is the “judgment” that he has been taught to fear. He is the delusion that he has created because of his fixation over power. He is hatred. He shall not speak of evil, nor hear it, or see it. So, in turn, he is the embodiment of the evil he is taught to not be. 

Hatred, just like anger, does not come from evil but mistreatment. Though in this case, it is amplified to a point it becomes visceral. Vlad's constant exposure to religious extremism and the trauma he endured further deepened his nihilistic perspective and in turn, developed his trauma into a projection of an image of hatred over things he cannot control: his life and the people around him. Moreover, the trauma from his father's abuse and his mother’s overbearing nature only developed a deep-rooted cynicism towards conventional structures. In his belief, if he is controlled by anything but himself, it is evil.

To conclude, religion has a profound impact on an individual's psyche. It has the ability to either heal a person or destroy them completely. Vlad’s life is a perfect example of how one’s religious trauma can manifest into a distortion of their worldview, ultimately leading to them seeing no other escape in this miserable existence other than death.

[quirky-ex-cultist]

What’s your favorite bible stories of god being really shit to people for no good reason? Obviously Job is THE “wait, is god the asshole” story, but personally I’ll never get over god just, y’know, TURNING LOT’S WIFE INTO A PILLAR OF SALT. Taking away what the story is supposed to be telling us symbolically, god did NOT have any good reason to do that. She did what, GLANCE BACK? Jehovah I promise you bro it is not that serious 😭

[softpine]

Gez Louise I'm glad you changed up the story! My boy Finn has hurt enough! It's sweet that in most of the lives we've seen he finds love. I just thought of something Asa and Finn are soul mates right? For the most part they always find eachother? Does the Griffin we saw that's married with a wife and kid does he ever feel like something is missing? Wait a minute! If there's alt Finns there has to be alt Asas right? Do they fall in love in their universe too?

in my mind they're as close to soulmates as anyone can be... the timing is almost never right, and in some universes their lives never even cross paths, but somehow they keep finding their way towards each other under the most impossible circumstances 🥺 and i think baby finn actually answered your question about whether the other griffins feel like they're missing something:

"I get the feeling that my life is missing something. Maybe when I was born, God carved something out of my chest. Maybe he hid it in some corner of the universe and I'm supposed to find it somehow." // "I started thinking maybe God likes to laugh at me. Maybe he hid my missing piece at the bottom of Atlantis, on another planet, or somewhere else I'll never find it. I got the message - I'll stop looking."

at that point, he'd never met or heard of asa, but somehow he still missed him :( so i think the same can be said for any iteration of finn/griffin. we've seen that they're still capable of living their lives and even finding love, but there's always going to be this piece of them that feels just a little too hollow. any version of griffin that marries a woman is a little different because well. finn is gay. and although his sexuality never changes, his circumstances vary widely, which changes everything about how he acts on that.

for example, in the 90s verse, where we see newlyweds griffin and jules and their soon to be daughter, we find out that after griffin nearly died as a child, his parents became evangelical christians and were much more heavily involved in griffin's life. they had to support him physically and emotionally after his attack and even after he became an adult, he chose not to move far away from them, so they had a much stronger influence on him. although he loudly disagrees with their views, he still shows up to church every weekend when his mom tells him to. to me, jules is the most interesting part of this because we find out later (from our finn) that she was one of his neighbors, her family were strict jehovah's witnesses, and that she grew up even more rough than he did. so even though in this universe griffin is married to someone he's not exactly attracted to, who he probably wouldn't have married if it weren't for his parents' watchful eyes, it's clear that they do have a deep connection and they've both been through similar struggles. i wanted to make sure i portrayed jules in a positive light, as she's not an obstacle in the way of griffin's true wishes, she's a person who cares about him and who he cares about. still, that doesn't change the fact that he does feel like he's missing something and he always will. i think jules knew that too on some level...

i can't really say what happens to them after asa leaves them. it feels like it's not even for me to know. but i do know they're both proud of the family they've built, especially since they were both dealt a bad hand in life, and i hope they'd continue to be a safe space for their kids to land, no matter where their personal relationship ends up!

and..... you're right, if there are alt finns, it follows that there should be alt asas :D :D :D that's all i can say about that for now fjksjds

[tastethebloodofmeatthawsmoth]

breakdown of Mormon mythology:

Everyone who has ever lived or will ever live began as the literal spirit children of heavenly parents - God the Father ("Heavenly Father" in Mormon parlance) and his wife or wives. The essential "intelligence" of these spirits, like matter, is uncreated and eternal, but the spirits are created by marital union between the heavenly parents. These spirit children were happy, but in order to advance to the next level of power and start families of their own, they had to pass through a probationary period in order to receive physical bodies.

In order to do this, a meeting was called in Heaven in order to plan out the world we currently live in. Two plans were presented for this new world, one by the pre-mortal Jesus, then known as Jehovah, the eldest of Heavenly Father's spirit children, and his brother, Lucifer. Lucifer suggested taking away humanity's freedom of choice and making himself the savior of this new world. Jesus suggested giving humanity "agency" (a major term in the Mormon lexicon), as on other worlds. The ensuing conflict caused a war to break out in Heaven, in which Lucifer convinced 1/3rd of the spirits destined for Earth to join him. Thus Lucifer became the devil, and his followers the demons, forever denied bodies of flesh and bone. Heavenly Father, alias Elohim, then created the world with the assistance of Jehovah and the archangel Michael, the pre-mortal Adam. Adam and Eve started the human race, as most of you know, and everyone who has ever lived since then was someone who made the choice to come to earth to receive a physical body and hopefully return to Heavenly Father, achieve the highest level of power, and eventually start their own universe after this probationary period. Mormons are a bit cagey about this, but Mormonism is a polytheistic religion - there are thousands, millions, maybe even billions of gods out there. Gods in Mormon mythology are sort of like dads. Dads are everywhere, you may eventually become a dad yourself, but you only have one. The cycle will continue forever. Mormons believe that Jesus was the first-born of God's spirit children, but also have their own gross take on the virgin birth. They believe God literally traveled to Earth and physically impregnated Mary; hence Jesus is referred to as "first begotten in the spirit and only begotten in the flesh." Mormon theology says that Jesus atoned for humanity's sins, not only on the cross, but in the garden of Gethsemane. After his death and resurrection, Jesus traveled to the Americas to preach to the American Indians, who Mormons believe are actually the descendants of ancient Israelites, and established his church in the Americas as he did in Palestine. Eventually all of the righteous, white Nephites were exterminated by the dark-skinned Lamanites, but not before they recorded their history on gold plates that were buried by the last living Nephite, Moroni, in what is today upstate New York. Many years later, Moroni, as an angel, visited the young prophet Joseph Smith and revealed the location of these plates, which would eventually become the Book of Mormon. And that's why we're here today. If any current or former Latter-day Saints, or anyone who simply knows more about this than me has any comments or corrections, I'd like to hear them. This is practice for me writing my book about Mormonism.

[morbidology]

Natasha Cornett was a distinctive figure in Betsy Lane, Kentucky, as she fully embraced the goth subculture. At the age of 17, she expressed her individuality by wearing a black dress and a dog collar during her short-lived marriage. Seeking a new chapter in her life, Cornett embarked on a fateful journey that would forever alter her path.

Accompanied by five friends, Cornett and her companions found themselves in New Orleans. However, on April 6, 1997, their lives took a shocking turn. At a rest stop near Bailyton, Tennessee, they encountered a Jehovah's Witnesses family consisting of Vidar, a 34-year-old man, his wife Delfina, 28 years old, and their two children, 6-year-old Tabitha and 2-year-old Peter.

Tragically, the teenagers kidnapped the entire family, leading them to a desolate road where they shot them. The parents lost their lives on the spot, while Tabitha succumbed to her injuries the following day at the hospital. Peter survived the horrific ordeal but was left blind in one eye and permanently disabled due to a spinal cord injury. The teenagers then attempted to flee to Mexico, stealing the family's van in the process, but their escape was short-lived as they were apprehended and arrested.

During her trial, Cornett made unsettling claims, asserting that she was the "daughter of Satan" and that he would aid her in evading a severe punishment. However, her hopes were shattered when she, along with her accomplices, received three life sentences each, condemning them to spend their remaining days behind bars.

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

Types of People in a JW Congregation

The professionally-trained(?) opera singer; always extroverted, with a booming laugh, and is either a super nice person, or the most passive-aggressively hateful son of a bitch you’ve met in your life. If they’re a guy, he’s an elder; if they’re a lady, she’s an elder’s wife

”Promising” young brother (fourteen-year-old mic handler) who has such a suave voice, it sounds like he’s recording an audiobook any time he opens his mouth; probably can’t carry a conversation to save his life

Group of plump old ladies who always sit in the back and wear fancy suits with matching hats; they have arms like a hydraulic press and will crush you when they hug you

That one brother you swear is a closeted gay man because he wears loud suits, bow ties, and has all the stereotypical mannerisms; but then he gets up on the platform and says the most homophobic shit ever; usually really nice, not necessarily because he actually is, but you feel that way because you feel sorry for him

Five-year-old who gives disturbingly articulate comments and is probably hyperlexic (reads their parents’ words off a card and gets all the credit for it); householders think she’s adorable and she places literature without trying it it’s a me

Old crotchety elder (or group thereof) who likes to fuck with the mind of one specific guy for a prolonged period of time, to the point of giving said guy severe health problems; has driven at least five people out of the congregation and/or out of this mortal coil

Young People who present “The Truth” in such a new, hip, and cool way, it’s physically painful to listen to

Mother who nudges their kid to answer and whispers what she wants them to say in his ear, word-by-word; said kid always sounds like he was just awoken out of a dead sleep

The elder’s wife who smiles too much; probably bursting at the seams to gossip about you

Super Witness Wife and her unbaptized mate who you could have sworn was already a ministerial servant; they’re both really fun, actually

Middle-aged pioneer with seventeen studies who’s dying from stress; usually ends up having some kind of mental breakdown or health concern

The POMI who shows up once in a blue moon; visibly dissociated from reality

Keepers of the Bonfire Party (probably old and/or wealthy, with a forest for a backyard)

That One Sister with a questionable hairstyle who everyone lets slide because she’s a pioneer; has dyke energy

Quiet single person who never comments and always leaves immediately following the prayer; either everyone wants to talk to them, or no one seems to like them and ignores them, depending on how old, attractive, and visibly neurodivergent they are

Person who will talk both your ears clean OFF about Jehovah and how he “helped” them; seems happy but is severely depressed and you‘re very concerned about them

Group of kids who all talk about watching Naruto and Marvel movies in the company of each other; they seem PIMO, but they’re so unafraid about their spiritistic tastes that you can’t tell

Witness family who thinks all modern-day media is demonic, and only watches, reads, and listens to old stuff; the whole family seems like they’re suicidal; there’s definitely more abuse going on than meets the eye

The ten-year-old unbaptized publisher who admits to staying up all night on their tablet because they can never get to sleep before 1:00 AM, but gets nervous when you ask what they were doing on said tablet; probably browses gore websites and reads about methods of torture to feel something and/or reading My Book of Bible Stories got them into it

[cleverclovers]

My older brother only ever used a straight razor to shave, because it got the cleanest shave with the least complications, and brothers in the Jehovah's Witnesses were, at the time, required to be clean shaven.

When he started having his mental health crisis, he stopped shaving, to prevent himself from making what he believed was a selfish decision. It led to him being ostracized at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, because the dress code is strict, and mental health isn't considered an excuse.

He took his life in October after more than three years of struggling with his mental health, with not just 'no support' from his religion, but active condemnation. He left behind a wife, two sons, a mother, a sister, three brothers, and a cousin. His birthday was December 15th, he would have been 44.

On that day the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses announced a dress code change. Beards were now allowed. To show it, a member of the Governing Body announced it, personally, on video, to be shown on the weekly broadcast. They said "there is no scriptural evidence that supports the previous ban on beards". The ban was made to set Witnesses apart from the "world", in a time where facial hair was becoming so popular it was the norm

This was not a change made from compassion, rather, a change made arbitrarily, because the elders were tired of shaving, I'm sure. I doubt the GB even knows who my brother was, or how many Kingdom Halls he helped build, that he installed the HVAC systems, and helped with welding and wiring. I have doubt they'd even care. Announcing it on his birthday was a coincidence, plain and simple. There is still no support available for Witnesses struggling with their mental health, or any other life struggle they may be facing. That doesn't stop the people in my family who are still among the witnesses seeing this as compassion for my brother. I can't convince them otherwise.

This dress code change was reiterated at the yearly Kingdom Hall convention this past weekend.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult, not a religion. They have no compassion for their members, and allow the mistreatment of those suffering mental health issues, including children. Avoid them at all costs, and if you have family among them and you're trying to get them to see reason? Good luck to you.

[jasper-pagan-witch]

As far as pcp goes, how would you go about creating and worshipping your own deity, if thats possible?

Hello hello!

As requested, I am tagging @alter-altars and @janhasnoplan in this answer. For convenience, I'm breaking this down into three headers - Don't Get Caught In A Cult, DIY Gods, and Religions From A Writing Perspective.

Don't Get Caught In A Cult

Cults are fucking terrible. And the worst part is, the more immune you THINK you are to them, the more likely you'll be to fall for their tricks.

The New Age to Alt-Right pipeline is a big example of this in metaphysical spaces, but many people have also drawn parallels between Jehovah's Witnesses, the Amish, or Mormons and cults - not because the model is wrong, but because groups that are cults often get away with it in many parts of the United States.

You may not be trying to start a cult for your DIY divinity, but it's important to be aware of the warning signs. People much smarter than I (or at least have the PhDs for it) have written many things about how to identify and escape cults, which brings us to:

Important Links

Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control on the Freedom Of Mind Resource Center

Mind Control - The BITE Model on the ex-cult Resource Center

The BITE Model of Cult Mind Control Explained by Joseph Sherwood on A Little Bit Human

How to Recognise a Cult; How to Avoid Cults That May Try to Convert You; and How to Leave a Cult on WikiHow

What To Do When You Realize You Accidentally Joined A Cult ​by Carrie Saum on Ravishly

How To Help A Loved One Who Joined A Cult by Stephanie Gomulka on Oxygen: True Crime

@pondering-the-kaiju's entire pinned post

DIY Gods

People have been making up gods for their needs for as long as we've had gods. Aradia (the creation of Charles Leland, fuck that dude) has one book as her source. Cernunnos appears on maybe one cauldron. People make up Greek gods all the time because there were just so many of those guys, what's one more? (Good examples of this are Mesperyian and, arguably, Makaria.) And, of course, we can't get through this without mentioning Robert Graves (fuck Robert Graves) creating the White Goddess as his wife's self-insert.

So yes, creating your own god is possible and has precedent. You could even argue that every god was created by someone at some point, because that's just how humans work. We see an idea (often because we're introduced to it by someone else), we go "Oh, that's neat!", and then we take the bits that work for us and we add new stuff that helps flesh out the divine in question. It's how Aphrodite evolved from Astarte, it's how Dionysus got developed and changed over time, and it's how we have the two Wiccan divines.

I recommend studying other religions and how they came to be, because that will also help you learn about how the gods in question came to be. Who moved where? What gods got brought along and turned into other gods? I particularly recommend looking at the Romans and how they went "Wow, everyone worships our gods but with different names! Neat!"

Important Links

Literally anything by Overly Sarcastic Productions that goes into detail about the origin of various deities (which is mostly on Red's end) - namely these ones about Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hades and Persephone and Demeter, Hermes, and Loki

Anything broadly about deity work and religion, frankly, because in the course of developing your divine figure, you'll have to come up with their offerings and portfolio and what they may help you with

Wolf Of Antimony Occultism - aka @wolfofantimonyoccultism here on Tumblr, they're creating their own religion that's really cool to see

Religions From A Writing Perspective

At heart, I am a worldbuilder. I build worlds. That's what I DO. My Kephea project is a great example of this, though I have others as well. In particular, I love building magic systems and religions.

I will accept any chance to talk about my Kephea project, but this is about building a religion. Generally speaking, religions like to talk about the following three things:

How did the world come to be?

How should we act towards one another?

What happens when we die?

Not every religion (real-world or in media) talks about all of these. Hell, some don't touch on any of them. Here's a fictional example of a religion that has some things to say: the Church of Avacyn (the plane of Innistrad in Magic: The Gathering):

Doesn't discuss how the world came to be.

Says that humans should help and protect each other from the monsters of Innistrad, which include vampires, werewolves, zombies, geists, and even other humans. Later says that humans are inherently sinful during the height of Avacyn's madness and they should be slain to save them from themselves. One archangel and her flight took that second part personally and caused a schism in the church.

Promises a Blessed Sleep that won't be bothered by undeath in either zombie or geist form. This isn't going well now that the archangel and her flight who oversees it are destroyed.

It's important to sit and think about how your religion addresses or doesn't address these questions. Is it more of a henotheistic approach, where any number of gods exist but you only worship some? Is it a monotheistic approach, where there's only a single deity? Is it a polytheistic approach, where there are many deities with a strong connecting thread? Is it an entirely different approach, like archetypes (the Mother, the Child, the Himbo), natural forces (the sun and moon, the forest, the potty pond), or something else? That's up to you.

A lot of my links here will be about polytheistic religions, because those are the ones I build the most. Yes, I have a lot of these links, because this is one of my special interests.

Important Links

On Worldbuilding: Religions [ polytheistic l Avatar TLA l Game of Thrones l Cthulhu ] by Hello Future Me/Timothy Hickson on YouTube (a written version of this video is also Part 12 in his book, On Writing And Worldbuilding volume 1)

So You Want To / Create a Mythopoeia; Fantasy Pantheon; and Stock Gods on TV Tropes

Creating a Religion Guide part 1, part 2, and part 3 on Roll For Fantasy

Common Misconceptions About Old Mythologies & Religions; Basic Tips To Create More Believable Sci-Fi & Fantasy Religions & Belief Systems; How To Create Fictional Structured Religions; and Things That Show Up In Christianity-Inspired Fiction That Aren't In The Bible on Springhole

List of religious ideas in fantasy fiction on Wikipedia

8 Tips for Creating a Pantheon for Your Novel by Jill Williamson on Go Teen Writers

How to Create God Characters for Your Fantasy World by Kathy Edens on ProWritingAid

In Summary

I didn't actually give advice, did I? I just kind of dumped a lot of my resources here. Oh well, hopefully you all get something useful out of this!

~Jasper