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maverick-werewolf · 2 years

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Werewolf Fact #67 - The Lai of the Werewolf, “Bisclavret”

The time has come to discuss in depth my very favorite werewolf story! Yes, my favorite werewolf story doesn't come from modern pop culture. Instead, it comes from medieval literature.

So let's dive right into "Bisclavret," one of the best werewolf stories ever told.

Please note that this post will contain the entirety of “Bisclavret,” in direct quotes, with my discussions interspersed throughout. So if you’ve never read the story, you can find the whole thing here!

The Van Helsing werewolf never fails to bring in some attention, so here he is again in spite of irrelevance. But hey, he's a werewolf, so... it works! Right?

Moving right along--

For this in-depth look at "Bisclavret," I will be using A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture by Charlotte F. Otten, one of my very favorite werewolf sourcebooks. It's a wonderful collection of primary historical sources - and some stories that aren't folklore but were always considered fictional - and some very good introductions to and discussions of said works by Otten herself.

In fact, in her introduction to the section that includes "Bisclavret," Otten imparts some very wise words on werewolf legends as a whole...

On the moral level, the werewolf myth is a realistic assessment of the range of choices available to human beings. Humans who become werewolves in the myths and legends, or who cause others to become werewolves, are involved in moral metamorphosis: a process that recognizes the exhilaration that comes with engaging in degrading lycanthropic acts but also reveals the degradation that comes to those who deliberately choose to exhibit bestiality [bestial nature]. The werewolf myth, then, is a profound insight into human life. ... Regarded as a moral myth, the presence in the human spirit of werewolves can direct the culture, the society, the individual human being to sources of healing. If it does so, it is a myth not of despair but of hope. (Otten 223)

I would personally add, also in relation to “Bisclavret,” that it isn’t only those who become werewolves and behave as beasts or those who turn others into werewolves - it’s also extremely important in many werewolf myths how the werewolves themselves are treated by the human characters. How one treats a werewolf, with that person still being human but in the guise of a beast, is an important moral plot point in multiple werewolf legends, such as the werewolves of Ossory and - of course - Bisclavret. One is amoral if they assume a werewolf is evil solely because of their appearance, without judging their character first and appearance second. It’s not necessarily always a test of the werewolf character, it’s also a test of everyone around them. If the werewolf is virtuous and behaving like a human, isn’t it just as important to treat the werewolf like you would anyone else - even if it is a werewolf?

Now let's get to Bisclavret...

Written in the 12th century, “Bisclavret” is a bit of an enigma. Scholars kind of agree that it was likely written by Marie de France, or else a story she adapted from a much older tale, given there are different versions of this story - all very similar - floating around from similar time periods and cultures.

Marie de France herself says she translated this lai out of the Breton language, after having heard it elsewhere. I’m glad she did, as she preserved a fantastic werewolf story.

“Bisclavret” opens with some words from Marie de France...

Amongst the tales I will tell you once again, I would not forget the Lay of the Were-Wolf. Such beasts as he are known in every land. Bisclavaret he is named in Brittany, whilst the Norman calls him Garwal. (256)

I find her discussion of werewolf terminology interesting. She goes on to introduce the concept of werewolves themselves, which is, as she discusses it, a very commonly-known concept and found “in every land,” which she is absolutely right about (even if, of course, these legends weren’t always the same in nature, but werewolves certainly were everywhere).

It is a certain thing, and within the knowledge of all, that many a christened man has suffered this change, and ran wild in woods, as a Were-Wolf. The Were-Wolf is a fearsome beast. He lurks within the thick forest, mad and horrible to see. All the evil that he may, he does. He goeth to and fro, about the solitary place, seeking man, in order to devour him. Hearken, now, to the adventure of the Were-Wolf, that I have to tell. (256)

This doesn’t sound at all like Bisclavret, as you will discover. Marie de France seems to be describing a certain interpretation of the werewolf myth that didn’t even all that often apply but was steadily becoming a more accepted concept, especially in certain regions of Europe: that werewolves are “evil.” Or, at least - and most importantly - she states that werewolves are perceived as evil.

But are they really? Let’s read Bisclavret and find out. Because this opening displays the way the werewolf myth exists in the minds of many, but not necessarily the way werewolves really are, and I think that’s an important element of the story: Marie de France doesn’t open with “werewolves are all nice and cuddly,” because you need to read the story and determine the truth for yourself. But now you see the general perception, at least as this story presents it.

I love werewolves so much, you guys. I love this story, too. That’s something I have trouble conveying sometimes to my good readers: I love the concept of werewolves and I could talk about them until the sun dies. I love even the simplest presentations of “a werewolf is a man who suffers a change and runs wild in the darkest wood, horrible to behold, and devours men.” I just love it beyond words or reason. This is what I want. This is all I ask for. This but with more behind it than the simplicity of “evil,” just like Bisclavret presents.

Anyway!

So now we are introduced to our protagonist...

In Brittany there dwelt a baron who was marvellously esteemed of all his fellows. He was a stout knight, and a comely, and a man of office and repute. Right private was he to the mind of his lord, and dear to the counsel of his neighbours. This baron was wedded to a very worthy dame, right fair to see, and sweet of semblance. All his love was set on her, and all her love was given again to him. One only grief had this lady. For three whole days in every week her lord was absent from her side. She knew not where he went, nor on what errand. Neither did any of his house know the business which called him forth.

On a day when this lord was come again to his house, altogether joyous and content, the lady took him to task, right sweetly, in this fashion,

“Husband,” said she, “and fair, sweet friend, I have a certain thing to pray of you. Right willingly would I receive this gift, but I fear to anger you in the asking. It is better for me to have an empty hand, than to gain hard words.”

When the lord heard this matter, he took the lady in his arms, very tenderly, and kissed her.

“Wife,” he answered, “ask what you will. What would you have, for it is yours already?”

“By my faith,” said the lady, “soon shall I be whole. Husband, right long and wearisome are the days that you spend away from your home. I rise from my bed in the morning, sick at heart, I know not why. So fearful am I, lest you do aught to your loss, that I may not find any comfort. Very quickly shall I die for reason of my dread. Tell me now, where you go, and on what business! How may the knowledge of one who loves so closely, bring you to harm?”

This old tale is... very good at conveying someone manipulative and self-serving and even goes so far as to show her turn to other victims to use: this isn’t just a werewolf story, it’s a tale about manipulation*. Poor Bisclavret gets burned just for trusting the person who claims to love him so. It’s sad and relatable to see. A tale as old as time, and not the nice one that is “Beauty and the Beast.”

But being a werewolf is still a very bad thing, as established by the story’s opening! Naturally, he doesn’t want to tell.

“Wife,” made answer the lord, “nothing but evil can come if I tell you this secret. For the mercy of God do not require it of me. If you but knew, you would withdraw yourself from my love, and I should be lost indeed.”

When the lady heard this, she was persuaded that her baron sought to put her by with jesting words. Therefore she prayed and required him the more urgently, with tender looks and speech, till he was overborne, and told her all the story, hiding naught.

Now we’re back to that manipulation... anyway.

“Wife, I become Bisclaravet. I enter the forest, and live on prey and roots, within the thickest of the wood.”

This marks a difference with the opening already. The baron here claims he doesn’t eat human flesh! The opening clearly stated werewolves do evil and seek to devour men. Hmm, interesting.

After she had learned his secret, she prayed and entreated the more as to whether he ran in his raiment, or went spoiled of vesture.

“Wife,” said he, “I go naked as a beast.”

“Tell me, for hope of grace, what do you do with your clothing?”

“Fair wife, that I will never. If I should lose my raiment, or even be marked as I quit my vesture, then a Were-Wolf I must go for all the days of my life. Never again should I become man, save in that hour my clothing were given back to me. For this reason never will I show my lair.”

“Husband,” replied the lady to him, “I love you better than all the world. The less cause have you for doubting my faith, or hiding any tittle from me. What savour is here of friendship? How have I made forfeit of your love, for what sin do you mistrust my honor? Open now your heart, and tell what is good to be known.”

So at the end, outwearied and overborne by her importunity, he could no longer refrain, but told her all.

“Wife,” said he, “within this wood, a little from the path, there is a hidden way, and at the end thereof an ancient chapel, where often-times I have bewailed my lot. Near by is a great hollow stone, concealed by a bush, and there is the secret place where I hide my raiment, till I would return to my own home.”

The baron says he “often-times ... bewail[s] his lot,” so he clearly doesn’t like being a werewolf. Just a small detail to point out. Truly the original classic werewolf hero.

On hearing this marvel the lady became sanguine of visage, because of her exceeding fear. She dared no longer to lie at his side, and turned over in her mind, this way and that, how best she could get her from him. Now there was a certain knight of those parts, who, for a great while, had sought and required this lady of her love. This knight had spend long years in her service, but little enough had he got thereby, not even fair words, or a promise. To him the dame wrote a letter, and meeting, made her purpose plain.

So not only did learning that the baron, her own husband, is a werewolf make this manipulative selfish woman turn on him instantly, but she also turned to a knight who is utterly failing his chivalric code and wanting love from this woman instead of courtly, chaste love from afar. And he’s probably too love-struck to realize she’s just going to use him until he is no longer beneficial to her in her own eyes, like she just did with the baron. We have a very bad combination.

“Fair friend,” said she, “be happy. That which you have coveted so long a time, I will grant without delay. Never again will I deny your suit. My heart, and all I have to give, are yours, so take me now as love and dame.”

Right sweetly the knight thanked her for her grace, and pledged her faith and fealty. When she had confirmed him by an oath, then she told him of his business of her lord--why he went, and what he became, and of his ravening within the wood. So she showed him of the chapel, and of the hollow stone, and of how to spoil the Were-Wolf of his vesture. Thus, by the kiss of his wife, was Bisclavaret betrayed. Often enough had he ravished his prey in desolate places, but from this journey he never returned. His kinsfolk and acquaintance came together to ask of his tidings, when this absence was noised abroad. Many a man, on many a day, searched the woodland, but none might find him, nor learn where Bisclavaret was gone.

The lady was wedded to the knight who had cherished her for so long a space. More than a year had passed since Bisclavaret disappeared. Then it chanced that the King would hunt in the self-same wood where the Were-Wolf lurked. When the hounds were unleashed they ran this way and that, and swiftly came upon his scent. At the view the huntsman winded on his horn, and the whole pack were at his heels. They followed him from morn to eve, till he was torn and bleeding, and was all adread lest they should pull him down. Now the King was very close to the quarry, and when Bisclavaret looked upon his master, he ran to him for pity and for grace. He took the stirrup within his paws, and fawned upon the prince’s foot. The King was very fearful at this sight, but presently he called his courtiers to his aid.

This scene very clearly points out, yet again, that the baron Bisclavret takes the shape of a wolf when he assumes his werewolf form. This is not uncommon in werewolf legends.

“Lords,” cried he, “hasten hither, and see this marvellous thing. Here is a beast who has the sense of a man. He abases himself before his foe, and cries for mercy, although he cannot speak. Beat off the hounds, and let no man do him harm. We will hunt no more to-day, but return to our own place, with the wonderful quarry we have taken.”

The King turned him about, and rode to his hall, Bisclavaret following at his side. Very near to his master the Were-Wolf went, like any dog, and had no care to seek again the wood. When the King had brought him safely to his own castle, he rejoiced greatly, for the beast was fair and strong, no mightier had any man seen.

Another pause here to point out that, once again, a werewolf that turns into a wolf is never conveyed as being an ordinary wolf - they are always bigger, stronger, “mightier.” Indeed, they are always the most impressive thing people have witnessed.

Much pride had the King in his marvellous beast. He held him so dear, that he bade all those who wished for his live, to cross the Wolf in naught, neither to strike him with a rod, but ever to see that he was richly fed and kennelled warm. This commandment the Court observed willingly. So all day the wolf sported with the lords, and at night he lay within the chamber of the King. There was not a man who did not make much of the beast, so frank was he and debonair. None had reason to do him wrong, for ever was he about his master, and for his part did evil to none. Every day were these two companions together, and all perceived that the King loved him as his friend.

What a great section. Already friends before, now the baron and his King are friends again, even if he has taken the form of a beast and cannot speak. Even in werewolf form, he acts as a loyal knight and bodyguard, with the king giving him full trust of his life despite him being a beast. This speaks volumes about werewolf intelligence in folklore, as well, as he is clearly just as intelligent as he always was. I love the emphasis on Bisclavret’s courtly mannerisms and his culture, and even the emphasis that he does not do “evil,” also in direct contradiction to the assumptions the story’s opening would lead you to believe. But things are about to change...

Hearken now to that which chanced.

The King held a high Court, and bade his great vassals and barons, and all the lords of his venery to the feast. Never was there a goodlier feast, nor one set for with sweeter show and pomp. Amongst those who were bidden, came that same knight who had the wife of Bisclavaret for dame. He came to the castle, richly gowned, with a fair company, but little he deemed whom he would find so near. Bisclavaret marked his foe the moment he stood within the hall. He ran towards him, and seized him with his fangs, in the King’s very presence, and to the view of all. Doubtless he would have done him much mischief, had not the King called and chidden him, and threatened him with a rod. Once, and twice, again, the Wolf set upon the knight in the very light of day. All men marvelled at his malice, for sweet and serviceable was the beast, and to that hour had shown hatred of none. With one consent the household deemed that this deed was done with full reason, and that the Wolf had suffered at the knight’s hand some bitter wrong. Right wary of his foe was the knight until the feast had ended, and all the barons had taken farewell of their lord, and departed, each to his own house. Wit hthese, amongst the very first, wen that lord whom Bisclavaret so fiercely had assailed. Small was the wonder he was glad to go.

Bisclavret at last shows a werewolf’s rage - but only in a righteous way. He only attacks the one who wronged him. So what does the King make of his new beast of a friend behaving in such a way? Does he have him killed? Does he decide he’s a monster?

Not long while after this adventure it came to pass that the courteous King would hunt in that forest where Bisclavaret was found. With the prince came his wolf, and a fair company. Now at nightfall the King abode within a certain lodge of that country, and this was known of that dame who before was the wife of Bisclavaret. In the morning the lady clothed her in her most dainty apparel, and hastened to the lodge, since she desired to speak with the King, and to offer him a rich present.

Also typical manipulative behavior. You may think of medieval tales as simple, but they had a lot to say and to teach.

When the lady entered in the chamber, neither man no leash might restrain the fury of the Wolf. He became as a mad dog in his hatred and malice. Breaking from his bonds he sprang at the lady’s face, and bit the nose from her visage.

Please note that this is a medieval trope, as it were: the removal of the nose. It’s quite a lot to break down. But let’s maintain focus on the werewolf...

From every side men ran to the succour of the dame. They beat off the wolf from his prey, and for a little would have cut him to pieces with their swords. But a certain wise consellor said to the King,

“Sire, hearken now to me. This beast is always with you, and there is not one of us all who has not known him for long. He goes in and out amongst us, nor has molested any man, neither done wrong or felony to any, save only to this dame, one only time as we have seen. He has done evil to this lady, and to that knight, who is now the husband of the dame. Sire, she was once the wife of that lord who was so close and private to your heart, but who went, and none might find where he had gone. Now, therefore, put the dame in a sure place, and question her straitly, so that she may tell--if perchance she knows thereof-- for what reason this Beast holds her in such mortal hate. For many a strange deed has chanced, as well we know, in this marvellous land of Brittany.”

Smart man! This paragraph also serves to highlight that the King and the knight/baron Bisclavret were already friends before and - I’m sure - trusted companions, as kings and their knights generally tend to be, especially in stories. After all, there are tales very similar to Bisclavret as told in King Arthur stories about one of his knights of the Round Table, his most trusted brothers-in-arms. It is no different here, as Bisclavret was once a brother to this king, if also subservient to his lord in rank - which, in this time period and in such tales, generally served to make the bond of brotherhood and honorable oaths still stronger.

The counsellor also points out about “many a strange deed” and is apparently talking about werewolves. This is the first time someone suggests that the Wolf may actually be a man.

The King listened to these words, and deemed the counsel good. He laid hands upon the knight, and put the dame in surety in another place. He caused them to be questioned right straitly, so that their torment was very grevious. At the end, partly because of her distress, and partly by reason of her exceeding fear, the lady’s lips were loosed, and she told her tale. She showed them of the betrayal of her lord, and how his raiment was stolen from the hollow stone. Since then she knew not where he went, nor what had befallen him, for he had never come again to his own land. Only, in her heart, well she deemed and was persuaded, that Bisclavaret was he.

Straightaway the King demanded the vesture of his baron, whether this were to the wish of the lady, or whether it were against her wish. When the raiment was brought to him, he caused it to be spread before Bisclavaret, but the Wolf made as though he had not seen. Then that cunning and crafty counsellor took the King apart, that he might give him a fresh rede.

Well, obviously, Bisclavret isn’t too keen on turning back into a human right in front of everyone. I appreciate this aspect. Returning to the shape of a man is no small and simple feat, and it’s a shameful and degrading process both to do it and to have the truth of his nature known - not to mention it might be difficult, especially after being in the form of a beast for so long. This is then highlighted by the counsellor...

“Sire,” said he [the counsellor], “you do not wisely, nor well, to set this raiment before Bisclavaret, in the sight of all. In shame and much tribulation must he lay aside the beast, and again become man. Carry our wolf within your most secret chamber, and put his vestment therein. Then close the door upon him, and leave him alone for a space. So we shall see presently whether the ravening beast may indeed return to human shape.”

The King carried the Wolf to his chamber, and shut the doors upon him fast. He delayed for a brief while, and taking two lords of his fellowship with him, came again to the room.

I guess the king was a little worried about what he might find! Can’t really blame him.

Entering therein, all three, softly together, they found the knight sleeping in the King’s bed, like a little child. The King ran swiftly to the bed and taking his friend in his arms, embraced and kissed him fondly, above a hundred times.

The king is clearly a big fan of la bise, and since he hasn’t seen the knight for so long, he has to make up for all those lost greetings. It’d be a great scene for a cartoon, honestly. Kissing meant a wider variety of things in this time period than it often does today: a kiss could be greeting, respect, forgiveness, or even a sign of peace, rather than some simple blanket gesture of romantic love, as it is thought of today. The king does a lot of talking when he greets the knight in such a way, telling him that he is welcomed back and that he’s happy to see him and all is forgiven. So... no punishment for being a werewolf!

When man’s speech returned once more [to the knight/Bisclavret], he told him [the King] of his adventure. Then the King restored his friend the fief that was stolen from him, and gave such rich gifts, moreover, as I cannot tell. As for the wife who had betrayed Bisclavaret, he bade her avoid his country, and chased her from the realm. So she went forth, she and her second lord together, to seek a more abiding city, and were no more seen.

The adventure that you have heard is no vain fable. Verily and indeed it chanced as I have said. The Lay of the Were-Wolf, truly, was written that it should ever be borne in mind.

No “the evil werewolf must die,” no mention of his curse or passing it on to others - the werewolf is a hero and is accepted as one in spite of his bestial transformation. Truly an interesting specimen among werewolf tales.

*: Yes, this aspect of the story is indeed often interpreted as negative against women, but that isn’t something I will get into with this post. I will instead be viewing it as a werewolf legend and not criticizing other aspects. It’s true that women were often viewed and treated unfairly in this time period and generally made out to be evil manipulative creatures in many medieval tales (though not all, and not all the female characters always were), as that was often the mindset of this time period, but that’s an issue for another time and another blog, as this blog is about werewolves. I did, however, want to acknowledge that issue, because I’m quite aware of it (especially as a woman in medieval studies), instead of ignoring it altogether. I personally do not think it lessens the story or makes the moral any less powerful, especially if we recognize the biases of the time period - and that a woman chose, herself, to retell this story in the first place, as I too am a woman choosing to retell it now.

I do so deeply enjoy “Bisclavret” and the truly classical tale of deepest fealty and trust to one’s King, the humanity displayed by the “wolf” (werewolf), and even how the King is thankful to have the faithful baron returned to human form - with no question or horror to learn that he was a werewolf to begin with.

The relationship between lord and knight is something not often conveyed in modern culture, as it’s not really something we have anymore, so it’s always fun to read about in such a fantastical sense. And many medieval stories are about courtly love, but not so with this one. Don’t get me wrong, I love courtly love, but it’s fun to see a platonic story as well.

So there we have it, the tale of “Bisclavret”! It’s one of my favorite werewolf stories. It’s classic, it’s simple, and it’s about a good and chivalrous, courtly knight werewolf. As we all know... I do love the idea of a werewolf knight.

Until next time!

(If you like my werewolf blog, be sure to follow me here and check out my other stuff! Please consider supporting me on Patreon or donating on Ko-fi if you’d like to see me continue my works. Every little bit helps so much.

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covenofom · 1 year

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From Facebook Satanas Vobiscum

A long, long time ago, Hebrews claimed to see goat-like spirits inhabiting the wilderness and scaring people, which they called Se'irim. They came to identify a leader of these spirits. They called him Azazel. As time wore on, Azazel's backstory was fleshed out. He became a leader of fallen angels.

Once the full-blown concept of JHVH's enemy, THE Devil, developed, Azazel was naturally identified as one of his earliest names. The early Church Fathers attest to this identification. Indeed, in Judaism itself, Azazel was already being identified with the serpent in Eden by the time of Jesus. So it's not any mystery at all why "Azazil" became the name of Iblis/Shaitan before his fall in Islam: Azazel was a name for Satan that Mohamed would have easily heard from 6th century Jews and Christians.

And then, from there, Azazel becomes a positive figure of sorts in the fringes of Sufism, seen as being loyal to God in refusing to bow before Adam, because he had previously been commanded to bow before God alone. And along come the Yezidis, and they do the Sufis one better, and straight reinstate Azazel as not only the highest Angel, but they worship him as essentially one of the Persons of the Godhead.

What's extra neat about Azazel's mythological evolution from vague, spooky, goat spirit into the winged Logos and Demiurge (in the positive sense) of all creation . . . . . . is it's actually mirrored in the mythological evolution of Pan.

Pan started as a minor rustic deity who led goat-spirits called Satyrs, which, importantly, is the word Greek speaking Jews in the ancient world used to translate their own term for goat-spirits, "se'irim." They recognized the identity.

And to make a long story short, once we get to the final death-throes of paganism in the Hellenic world, we come to figures like Damascius, "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists," who identified Pan with Phanes-Protogonus, the "First-Born," the winged, serpent-crowned entity that functions essentially like . . . . . the Logos part of the Godhead.

It's important to note that these two situations of a spooky-minor-goat-god-of-the-wilderness slowly evolving into a shining, winged Demiurge-figure both happened independently of each other. And that makes it all the more interesting that the explicit "Satan is Pan" symbolism happened big-time in pop-culture at a later date. Although it took a long time for the IMAGE of Satan to be fully exchanged with Pan's in art, it's not REALLY something that is wholly shallow nor inappropriate.

As much as it seems to fly in the face of conventional occulture understandings of history, it's arguable that Satan began as a Hebrew Pan-type figure of sorts. Perhaps it could even be suggested that these parallel stories, instead of being merely curious developments of a myth, are in reality an example of "progressive revelation."

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liquidstar · 2 years

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i don't know what you wrote in greek in the tags of that mythology post but i just know ur right. go off

lol its actually not anything i havent said before so i just said it in greek so i could complain but if youre curious ill give you the translation:

"literally -_- i've said it over and over but i really can't find the right words. not because it's something difficult to understand, but because it's so simple and yet people still dont get it! what else is there to say? it's a matter of culture, don't you understand how important stories can be? and it's not that I have an issue with their use thematically or for inspiration (i think the game hades is nice too) but with the way they are used in a shallow way without anything essentially greek most of the time... what else can i say, it annoys me! i know there are bigger problems in the world, in general and in greece itself (with the fires. the economy. turkey threatening to repeat what happened 100 years ago) but it still bothers me that the only image that comes to people's minds around the world when they think of greece is something that isn't greek, just retellings of western pop culture ideas. so is annoying. the end."

those were basically my tags lol and at the end of the day i dont think the fadomization of greek myth really is a huge huge issue but it is one i personally find annoying so call it a pet peeve i guess

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koraki-grimoire · 3 years

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Witchcraft in Hellenismos

Disclaimer: This post is non-exhaustive, and though I'll try to equally spread my focus, it will inevitably lean towards the kinds of magik I personally practice.

Often, in modern pagan circles, people are under the impression that Ancient Hellenismos either didn't have or despised witchcraft. This is largely from three causes. The first is simply misreading, or failing to come across witchcraft in the Hellenism they research. Second is only reading about or adhering to branches that didn't like witchcraft (usually due to it being perceived as hubristic) and therefore assuming that's the most popular opinion. Finally, sometimes people apply their assumptions based on Christian and Germanic culture to Hellenismos, and assume it carries the same attitudes.

In actuality, the view of witchcraft was historically more neutral. Witches weren't typically seen as hags, but maidens, respectable men, priests, and more. It should also be noted that, frankly, "witch" is a slightly tonally incorrect translation usually applied to the word "pharmakis."

For historical attitudes towards witches, we can read works surrounding mainly Medea and Kirke, as well as Hekate if we go past pharmakeia.

But pharmakeia and nekromankia (necromancy) are far from the only forms of witchcraft or magik--which in Ancient Greek would be "mageia" or "goeteia" depending on time and place, but will simply be called "magik" here.

So, with that very long introduction, let's get into types of magik.

Pharmakeia - Herbal Sorcery, Witchcraft

Pharmakeia is perhaps the most recognizable form of magik in historical Hellenismos. As mentioned, it was associated with the heroine Medea, as well as the goddess/nymph/hero (it's complicated) Kirke. This was magik performed using the aid of herbs, and both historically and now blends magik and science. It includes brewing poisons, casting curses, potionmaking, transmutation, and more. Kirke, famously, used pharmakeia to transform men into swine, whereas Medea tended towards poisoning, but both had variety in their craft.

Generally, when pharmakeia is translated, it's done very broadly compared to other kinds of magik. For example, pharmakeia is usually translated, especially in the Odyssey, to "witchcraft" or "sorcery." Pharmakis--the word for a practitioner of pharmakeia--is usually translated to "witch." This often leads to misconceptions of witchcraft in Hellenismos being specifically oriented around herbs and transmutation, when that's only a small piece of the picture.

Nekromankia/Nekromanteia - Necromancy

Nekromankia is far more famous now in its Anglicized pop-culture form, but it was most certainly present in Hellenismos. It's important to clarify that in Ancient Hellas, nekromankia was magik pertaining to the dead, not things such as zombies and raising the dead. In Hellenismos, the maintenance of good relationships between the dead and the living is of great importance. There were plenty of festivals devoted to placating and celebrating the dead--not to mention the monthly Attic holiday Hekate's Deipnon, devoted to honoring Hekate, goddess of nekromankia. So, unsurprisingly, there were witches who gravitated towards this as a craft.

Multiple Hellenic deities were associated with nekromankia, the most notable of which being Hekate, but also Persephone. Though, of course, any khthonic deity--especially khthonic theoi who also had non-khthonic aspects--were relevant, such as Haides or Hermes. A practitioner of nekromankia would be referred to as a nekromanteías.

Manteia - Divination, Oracles

It should be noted that manteia is heavily contested as being a form of witchcraft or even magik in Hellenismos, but it certainly meets the qualifications. The main reason this debate exists is controversy around magik in Hellenismos in general, since as most Hellenists know manteia is so central to so much of our religion, and those who dislike magik are insulted by it being considered that. Additionally, the definition of magik is constantly in flux--it's debated in modern magik circles, and it's even harder to apply a definition we can hardly agree on to an ancient culture with its own independent definitions.

Manteia is, most simply, the power to give prophecies, divination, and the use of oracles. It's the power of the Pythia (Delphic Oracle), it's in the Olympian Alphabet Oracle, it's every single seer and prophecy and divinatory method known to us.

Someone who practices manteia is called a mantis (usually translated as "soothsayer" or "diviner") or a khresmologos ("oracle"), depending on station.

Heliomanteia - Solar Magik

Heliomanteia is hard to find detailed historical information on, but most simply, it's magikal invocation of the sun. This is generally done by attempting to harness the power of the sun, or by requesting the aid of solar deities (namely, Helios).

Interestingly, Helios had many associations with witchcraft and warding off evil. It could be assumed that, due to the qualities attributed to Helios, heliomanteia would be best used to reveal truth, ward off evil, harness the power of fire, promote life, and similar.

Presumably, a practitioner of heliomanteia is a heliomantis.

Goeteia - Magik, Charms

Goeteia (in modern times "goetia") is a term for magik that fell out of style for general magik around the 5th century BC in favor of mageia. It, additionally, was shoehorned into a dichotomy of theurgy (divine, "professional," and virtuous magik) and goeteia (low, malicious, and fraudulent magik). This was largely due to political and social overhaul. The name became associated with fraudulent and harmful magik, and talk of goeteia in Ancient Hellas is a major source most anti-witch Hellenists use.

The goes (practitioner of goetia) was maligned, seen as hubristic and either trying to go against the power of the gods or intending to scam others. Plato famously portrayed them as malicious frauds, and he was not alone. Since the term "goes" is generally translated as "witch," it's not a leap to figure out why this lead to a lot of anti-witch Hellenists.

However, before this (and technically after), "goeteia" simply meant magic, charms, and similar. As a unique practice, and not simply an umbrella term for witchcraft, it can be considered channeling, a relative of nekromankia, or baneful magik, depending how much one leans into the later definition.

Theourgía - Deity Work, Divine Magik

Theourgia (in modern times "theurgy") quite literally translates to "deity work" or "god(s) working." It is ritual, sometimes magik, done with the intent of invoking one or more of the theoi. This was the ritual magik often performed by priests. In fact, it could be considered the mainstream magik of Ancient Hellas--assuming, of course, that one considers it magik.

It's not only historic magik that was central to the religion, but sets historical precedent for the controversial phrase "deity work." The existence of theurgy as the "higher form" of magik in Ancient Hellas is singlehandedly enough evidence to prove the phrase is not and would not be considered inherently hubristic. It should be noted that this form isn't inherently superior, but if you asked Plato, he would disagree.

There are certainly more forms of mageia in Ancient Hellas--For example, I skipped over amulets (periapta), which were almost incontestably the most common magik in a lot of Ancient Hellas, since they could technically fit under some other crafts and because they're the easiest to research on your own. It's a similar case with potions, too.

One important takeaway is the hard line between magik, religion, and science is a fairly recent invention. Pharmakeia could act as medicine, not just sorcery. Many potions were also medication. Frankly, the more women were involved, the more practical it tended to be, with 'spells' often being genuine aids to childbirth and/or birth control. This didn't make them any less magikal, and the magik doesn't make it less real.

And I hope I made it very, very clear, but witchcraft has always been in Hellenismos, and isn't inherently hubristic. That is a myth, and is rooted often in historical (and modern) classism, misogyny, xenophobia, or similar. Always consider your source's incentive to stigmatize before discounting all Hellenic witches.

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itsmoonpeaches · 3 years

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Raya and the Last Dragon: The Importance of Water in Southeast Asia

Disclaimer: The following is from the perspective of a Filipino SEA. Please feel free to add or edit from other perspectives. There are *spoilers* below.

Though Raya and the Last Dragon has its flaws, what it did well, it did really well. Out of every cultural reference that I spotted in this film, the one that stood out the most was the portrayal of water.

In the end credits song, Lead the Way, originally sung in English by Jhené Aiko, there is one lyric that stands out as a nod to this culture of water:

There's an energy in the water There is magic deep in our heart There's a legacy that we honor When we bring the light to the dark Whatever brings us together Can nevеr tear us apart We becomе stronger than ever

There are beautiful views of bodies of water in the movie, and scenes that deliberately look over them. But, it’s much more than that.

The geography of SEA is already so rooted with water. The lands that make up the region are either located on a peninsula and cut through with rivers, or made up of hundreds of islands in the middle of the ocean.

So, let’s talk about water in SEA and in this movie. Below is an in-depth analysis of the cultural significance of water whether it is rain, rivers, oceans, or mythological aspects alluded to in the film.

Nagas and other myths

Let’s start with mythology because this is the basis of much of Raya and the Last Dragon. I want to first point out that this is not an opinion post, so I will not be touching much on my opinions on how the dragons looked like. (TLDR: Disney could’ve done better.)

So many myths in SEA are connected to water besides the dragons, but let’s focus on those.

I did mention briefly about naga and water dragons in my long analysis post on the final international trailer. However, I will go in a little deeper here.

Naga The dragons in this movie are based on the SEA version of a dragon. More specifically a sea serpent or a water serpent. They don’t breathe fire. In fact, they have nothing to do with fire. Their powers all influence water (and sometimes create earthquakes). Their powers include typical influence over water, creating rain, causing winds, and shape-shifting. They are incredibly powerful and revered. Sometimes they are even seen as deities like the Bakunawa in the Philippines. In RATLD, these nagas have a long horn at the front most prominent in Thai and Laotian versions of nagas. They are scaly and might have a kind of crown on their head, or gold jewelry around them. In most portions of SEA, nagas don’t have legs. It looks like the dragons here were partially inspired by an East Asian dragon or maybe the Vietnamese dragon. Other depictions can have them with multiple heads. Nagas also appear in South Asian culture. Here’s a quote from my initial long analysis post to add to this:

Naga are so important within SEA cultures that we have multiple places (and a river) named after them all over SEA and particularly a few times in the Philippines.

What I can tell you is mostly the Philippine version, but a naga is a serpentine creature that lives deep in the ocean, and are often associated with water. Sometimes they are depicted as having the upper half of a woman.

...

In the southern islands of the Philippines, depictions of naga are seen carved throughout buildings, particularly on roofs. A typical dance movement where you keep your hands curved and your fingers bent toward yourself is called “naga hands” and is supposed to be reminiscent of a naga’s graceful claws.

Bakunawa Just to highlight why nagas are so revered, I’m going further into the myth of Bakunawa. Specifically, the Bakunawa story comes from around the Visayas and Bicol regions of the Philippines which is south of the main island of Luzon. Bakunawa is said to be a giant sea dragon with a mouth as large as a lake. It lives deep in the ocean and has influence over the sea and earthquakes, in the depths of the underworld. There are a few versions of the story including that the Bakunawa is a naga that was enthralled by the beauty of the 7 moons and ate them until there was only 1 left. In some versions the god Bathala stopped Bakunawa from devouring the last moon. In other versions, the people down below made loud noises with pots and pans to scare Bakunawa from eating it. There are also another version in which the Bakunawa was once a beautiful goddess. It is also known as a man-eater in other tales. There are similar versions of a giant serpent or dragon-like bird causing eclipses (whether lunar or solar) in other parts of the Philippines.

Rain

I can’t tell you how important rain is in SEA. It’s not that it never rains, but that it rains a lot. Much of SEA is rainforests, which is an attribute that contributes so the rich biodiversity.

In RATLD, rain is depicted as a positive event...because it is. Raya and her friends are shown happy and laughing when Sisu makes rain. Sure, rain can be bad. Too much of it comes with typhoons and floods, but rain means a lot more than the bad things.

But enough rain means that the rivers aren’t dried out. Take the desert region of Kumandra for example. Raya goes there to the end of a dried up river. At the end when the dragons all come back, rain falls and the river is alive again. The people in that region can prosper again.

Rain symbolizes new life Now, this story I’m about to tell you is completely from oral tradition and was passed down to me by a culture bearer from from the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. This person said that when they were young, they did not have to worry about buying food because it was always available around them. If it rained, that was a good thing because it meant that the next day when the grass was damp, there would be mushrooms sprouting that they could pick. (There is an umbrella dance coming from this region that depicts mushrooms popping up after a storm.) If it was windy from the rain, it meant that there were fruit that would shake out of the trees. Rain also means food will grow. Staples like rice need a lot of water. Rice paddies need to be to be constantly flooded so that they can grow, and water means food whether it is in the form of rain, rivers, or the ocean. It means fresh drinking water and abundance.

Nagas and rain Remember how above I said that nagas can influence rainfall? Well, Sisu does just that in this movie. She says that one of her siblings originally had this power, and Sisu gained it because she came into contact with a piece of the dragon gem. This adds to the positivity of rain because nagas are already so revered because of the magic they can do in the movie (and in mythology), that the people that witness it are in absolute awe.

Rivers

Besides the ocean, rivers are the heart of SEA. From the Mekong River that runs through 5 SEA countries including Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, to the UNESCO site of the underground river in Palawan, Philippines...rivers are just part of the lay of the land.

They are shown to be all of those things in RATLD. There are streams and tributaries that flow into mountains and underground where the dragon gem was originally hidden in Heart. Additionally, there is the incredibly long river that separates the land in the shape of a dragon that flows through all the regions of Kumandra, reminiscent of the Mekong. Rivers are so important that there is even a region in the Philippines called Pampanga that is named after the Tagalog translation of the word “river” seen in the first part of the region’s name, “pampang.” They are the people of the river.

There are whole fishing villages throughout SEA that are built on a river. In fact, there’s one in RATLD.

Rivers are a source of many things, including food and drinking water. When there is a flood during wet season, the land will be full of silt, making the land prime for planting.

I don’t have to tell you how important a water dragon is at this point, but the fact that the movie chose to have that be the shape of the river is significant because nagas live in rivers too.

Transportation This should be a no-brainer, but in case you forgot, rivers mean boats. Boats mean people will want to get around and trade. And, boat culture is so important in SEA. There are all kinds of boats in the region from the huge deep-water kind, to the fishing boats, to thin canoe-like ones, to coracles. You can see them especially showcased in the river town in Tail in Kumandra.

Oceans

Honestly, there wasn’t much about the sea in RATLD, but it’s important to note because nagas in and of themselves have origins in the ocean as well.

The sea is another very important core of SEA culture. Its waters are more unforgiving than rivers, and more unpredictable. Magical, mythological sea creatures tend to be more violent here, and will only be kind to those who are kind first.

In island nations like the Philippines and Indonesia, the people rely on the ocean for so many things. Especially if they live right on the water, some can be fantastic swimmers and can dive and fish for their own food. The ocean is respected, and it is feared.

Though there is no explicit ocean in RATLD, there are elements from port cities and towns that exist including the deep-water boats. In the movie and in SEA, seafood is important.

There’s a scene where Raya and Sisu meet Boun and he offers them shrimp congee. Shrimp is a popular food in SEA, and can be seen in many dishes besides congee or any rice-based dishes.

In the river town, we also see elements of passing fish baskets through the water after a day of fishing, and eating and buying fresh foods to cook later in a water-side market.

Irrigation

It’s pretty obvious that water is needed for irrigation, but just think about how earlier I pointed out how deeply water is utilized. Much of the food in SEA needs water to survive, a lot more than in landlocked countries.

Rice terraces Remember rice? It needs a heck ton of irrigation in order to survive. This means a lot of rain and a lot of soil cultivating. If you take a look at the rice terraces that surround Fang, and even the picture of more overgrown terraces next to the river in the transportation section of this analysis, you can see that rice paddies are supposed to be flooded. Rice terraces are all over Asia, but there are so many of them in SEA that are ancient and still work including the Tagalalang rice terraces in Bali, Indonesia and the Banaue rice terraces in Banaue, Philippines. Honestly I could talk about the importance of rice and water for ages. Sure, rice is a staple in all of Asia, not just in SEA, but in East Asia as well. However, I would argue that it is even more of a staple in SEA. Sure, there are noodle dishes, and bread, but rice is so ridiculously important that in the Philippines, it’s not considered a real meal if there is no rice. There is even a word for food eaten with rice, “ulam.” In fact, in the entire movie, I don’t think I can recall one eating scene in which the characters are not also eating rice with their food. Unless of course, it’s just a snack like fruit. (Maybe there was a stew only scene?) There is a scene towards the beginning of the movie when Raya asks Namaari, “Stew or rice?” when asking which she would prefer. Namaari never answers the question, but she says that it is her first time eating rice in a while. Though it’s never explicitly said, it could be implied that it is because they did not have as much rainwater for irrigation at the time.

Protection

I’ve talked about rivers and the ocean, but I haven’t talked about water as a barrier. Though water as a barrier isn’t an infallible one, it is still important to note.

Protecting from intruders SEA is separated by water. It is also a region that had wars within their own countries in pre-colonial times, and of course, when they were colonized. (Though shout out to Thailand for being lucky in that regard. It remains the only country in SEA not colonized by Europeans.) There were wars between chiefs in the Philippines, and often they had to traverse the ocean or cross bodies of waters to get to the lands they needed to fight on. It ended up becoming a process with a lot of planning. Though SEAs are people of the water, they obviously can’t breathe under it. Nagas here are also important because in RATLD they are seen as powerful, respected protectors. And of course, they are borne of the water.

If you take a look at the picture above, it shows that part of the movie when the water starts disappearing because Sisu disappears. As the last water dragon, her connection to the water was keeping the land alive. With Sisu gone, so was the water, and therefore the protection for the people. The Druun spirit came in with no more hindrances because there was no water to stop them.

The power of the water and the magical energy of the water dragon really showcased itself here.

Interconnectedness

SEA used to be an interconnected region that traded with each other. Of course, not that SEA countries don’t trade now, but it isn’t at the same level as before. The borders now were created after centuries of colonialization.

Water is what connected all the countries of SEA.

Just take a look at the map of SEA above (in red). There is no other region of the world that’s quite like this, except maybe Oceania and around the Mediterranean. It’s relatively easy for these countries and people to trade and share cultures and traditions with one another. Manila, Philippines and the Tondo region was once one of the most frequented ports in SEA. Trade was done with China, India, Africa, and the Middle East. The same kind of trade occurred in other SEA countries as well.

Because of the history of trade over water that is rich in its pre-colonial past, SEA shares many similar cultural aspects and even similar words in languages. Though of course, though there are similarities, there are a lot of differences as well. SEA is not a monolith.

If you want to think of it this way...that Korea, China, and Japan share so many things with each other including having a history of being able to share Chinese characters (the different names including hanzi, kanji, hanja), but that each country and culture is very different...that is what SEA is too.

This aspect of interconnectedness, yet with differences is emulated in RATLD. In the lore for Kumandra, the movie notes that all the regions were once one, but were separated after something broke them (that something being the malice of the Druun spirit). Yet, if they worked together they could become Kumandra once again.

It is shown in RATLD that the best way to make the spicy stew that is pops up multiple times, is to add all the spices and ingredients from all the regions of the land that was once Kumandra. This showcases that just like SEA, Kumandra was once a land of incredible interconnected communication and trade.

Kumandra wasn’t colonized, but it was separated by 500 years of land. The people didn’t use the water the same way. SEA was colonized (and actually, 500 years to the date on March 15, 1521 to March 15, 2021—the Philippines was “discovered” by the Spaniards so I wonder if that was a conscious choice on Disney’s part), and broken apart. I’m sure that without European colonialization, SEA could’ve been one huge interconnected country. Or bigger countries with different dialects.

Spirituality

Lastly, let’s talk about the spirituality of water. In RATLD, there are no other spirits besides the Druun which is made of discord and malice created from human malcontent. Yet, the Druun cannot go near water. I don’t know the exact reason for why it can’t or if it was inspired by a piece of mythology from an SEA country, but that is significant. (If you do know the reasoning behind this, please feel free to add onto this.)

SEA is full to the brim with myths and legends of nature spirits. From spirits that live in trees, to spirits that live in the water. And yes, they are spirits. They can be spirits of ancestors too. The way Chief Benja pours a bowl of water on Raya’s head as beads of it float into the air...it is a great touch to highlight the energy that water just inherently has in any SEA tradition.

Though it’s probably a little reaching to point this out, the fact that Sisu was said to be washed to the end of a river is so interesting when Raya is looking for her. This is because in some SEA myths the river takes your spirit to the underworld. Raya finds Sisu at the end of a river and she is made of stone, her spirit stolen until her power is unleashed again with the dragon gem.

Floating flowers Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the movie and as it relates to water is the fact that the animators made a conscious choice to show so much imagery of characters making flowers float upon water. And of course, to use floating flowers as decoration. Characters like Raya, Boun, and Sisu float flowers that look like orchids or jasmine flowers to remember their lost loved ones. The choice of flowers is significant too. These are flowers that are native to SEA. There are flowers everywhere and that is so pretty and so accurate. To have them used as decoration floating in pools is also so nice too, because it is something that is done in households and not just in a palace. You can float a gardenia flower in a bowl of water to make the scent spread in a room, and it makes the flower last longer.

End

I’m sure there is a lot more I missed or things I got wrong. If you see anything you want to add or fix, please feel free to write it in any future reblogs!

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samwisethewitch · 4 years

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Little Acts of Everyday Magic

Many witches, regardless of skill level, struggle to feel magical in their everyday lives. If you’re only engaging with magic during your monthly full moon rituals, it can be hard to feel like a powerful witch on the other 30ish days of the month. The trick is to find small, everyday acts to make life more magical.

Here are a few things you can do to bring some magic into your everyday life:

Keep a magical journal. This can be a Book of Shadows where you record your spells and other information relevant to your craft, a tarot journal where you record readings, or a tool for manifestation. And if you’re not a writer, why not try keeping a sketchbook journal or a collage journal? You may even want to try creating Pinterest boards for your different magical interests — you can also use Pinterest boards for manifestations. You can do some pretty powerful magic with just a pen and paper, so don’t underestimate the power of a journaling practice!

Bring some witchin’ into your kitchen. Kitchen magic is one of the easiest ways to incorporate witchcraft into your daily life, because we all have to eat. You can use magic in the kitchen by looking up the correspondences of different ingredients and blending them based on intention, by charging your food with sigils and other sacred symbols, and by speaking incantations while you mix ingredients. Lots of the most commonly used magical herbs are edible, so a lot of spells are easy to translate to food. For example, a pumpkin pie contains all the ingredients for a powerful money spell — all it needs is your intention!

Get into mixing your own magical tea and coffee blends. One of the easiest forms of kitchen witchcraft is coffee and tea spells. Buying herbs to mix your own tea blends can be a really fun (and tasty) way to practice magic. You can also find pre-made blends that can be used for magic at the supermarket — use a sleepy time blend in spells for peace, or an energizing blend in spells for motivation, etc.

Choose your outfits with intention. Use the magic of color to pick clothes that match your intentions — green to attract wealth, pink to attract love, etc. Wear jewelry that has magical properties, or charm a piece of jewelry you already own. You can also write sigils, runes, or other magical symbols on your clothes’ tags to imbue them with magical energy.

Wear magical oils as perfume. I know I’ve talked about this before, but oils are like pre-mixed spells in a bottle, which makes them extremely convenient for the witch on the go. Don’t have time for a full ritual before your job interview/first date/other important event? No problem! Apply an appropriate oil to your wrists and behind your ears, whisper a few words of intention, and go forth and slay. My personal go-to combination is a protection oil paired with a success oil for general good vibes. You can buy pre-made magical oil blends from witch-owned businesses, or make your own by blending essential oils in a carrier oil and charging it with your intention.

Grow magical houseplants. As far as I’m concerned, caring for a plant or animal (see below) is an act of pure magic. Lots of magic herbs can be grown inside pretty easily, and lots of common houseplants also have magical associations. Choose the plants that you feel intuitively drawn to, and make caring for them part of your daily ritual practice. And if you end up using any part of the plant in a spell down the line, it will be extra potent because of its personal connection to you.

Get a magical pet, or learn what magic your pets already possess. Cats (black or otherwise) are the classic witchy pet, but all animals have inherent symbolism and power associated with them. Whether you have a cat, a dog, a bunny, a snake, fish, or some other creature living in your home, do research into the mythology, folklore, and magic associated with that animal — you might be surprised what you find! Make acts of caring for your pet — like feeding them, brushing their fur, or cleaning their cage — into rituals. Allow your pet to participate in your spiritual practice if it’s safe for them to do so. My dog loves to be around me when I’m doing Reiki, and will ask me to give her some energy while I’m channeling. Animals are sensitive to energy, so you might be surprised by how much they’re capable of understanding and participating in your rituals.

Develop a meditation practice. This is going way back to one of the first parts of this series, but a daily meditation practice is one of the most effective ways to develop your ability to sense and interact with energy. It also has a ton of proven health benefits and can help you maintain a peaceful mental/emotional state. Meditation does not have to be time consuming — even five minutes a day will make a huge difference. I’ve recently gotten very into mindfulness meditation, and it’s lead to a lot of positive changes in my life and my spiritual practice. If you don’t already have a meditation practice, I strongly encourage you to start one.

Read mythology, scripture, or poetry — or write your own! Whether you believe that the gods and heroes of myth are real spiritual beings or simply represent archetypes within the collective consciousness, there is power in the old stories. Read the stories and poems that speak to you, and see what inspiration you can draw from them. If no myths or legends catch your fancy, try writing your own! If you were to create your own pantheon of gods, what would they be like? What would they do? Write it down! Pop culture pantheons are also becoming increasingly popular with modern witches — this is where, instead of working with a mythological pantheon, you choose fictional characters as your representations of universal archetypes. If you want to work with Superman as a representation of the Paragon archetype or Maleficent as a representation of the Dark Mother, there’s no rule saying you can’t. Storytelling takes many, many forms, and all of those forms can be sources of power for a witch.

Make a playlist of songs that make you feel like a powerful witch. Right now, my go-to witchy music is In This Moment’s “Mother” album, but some other bands/musicians that make me feel good and witchy are Fleetwood Mac (of course), Florence + the Machine, Hozier, and the Crane Wives. Make a playlist of songs that make you feel powerful and magical, and listen to it any time you need a pick me up. If you choose to work with deities and/or archetypes, you can make devotional playlists to help you connect with their energy. You can also build playlists for specific intentions like love, wealth, or healing. Spotify can be a powerful manifestation tool if you get creative with it.

These are just a few ideas, but there are countless ways to bring magic into your daily life. What do you guys like to do to make life more magical?

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binwoo-knock-24 · 3 years

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A.C.E Favourite Boys (도깨비) K-pop theory

Album: HZJM: The Butterfly Fantasy

This took really long so please enjoy. I'm attempting to write one for higher because I think there two definitely have a clear link.

Mythological Background

The Korean title for Favourite Boys (I use British English and spell favourite with ou) is Dokkaebi {도깨비}, which roughly translates to Goblin. Korean folklore states that a Dokkaebi is an old spirit that takes form after possessing an inanimate object that has been previously stained with blood. Dokkaebi have always been portrayed as fear-inducing and powerful beings. They are the defenders against evil spirits and are capable of helping but some could also be the cause of the evil.

Symbolism in the concept photos

Junhee and Yuchan are underwater for their unit concept photos. They are connected by a red string of fate so it seems that they are meant to have met or a destined to be together (not in the romantic relationship sense). And that's why they are the only ones underwater and that has a meaning behind it that I will explain later on. The red string doesn't only appear in the concept photos but also the music video and I've also seen something resembling it in some stages. Junhee is wearing a blue hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and Yuchan is wearing a red one. In the Korean dynasty blue was typically the colour used in maidens clothes and palace vessels. A brides dress and the thread decorations hind during marriages were also red and blue in colour.

Analysis of symbols

This comeback is, as I mentioned, heavily inspired by Korean folklore from the red string to the myth of Habaek and Haemosu (expanded on later). Butterflies (what's the album name again?) Have been used in a.c.es MVs very often and their meaning is leading a long life full of luck. They could be expressing their with to lead such a life or wishing us choices such a life. Each member also has symbolism in this mv.

Kim Byeongkwan

Byeongkwan is seen to be wearing two outfits in the mv. One is white in colour, associated with good mostly, and one in red, associated mostly with evil. Those two colours could be a reference to the duality of the Dokkaebi He is made to seem to have shape-shifting abilities which can be seen from the hair accessory behind his ear making it look like his ear was changing into a wing shape when the scene with his face starting to glow happens.

Lee Donghun

Rivers in folklore are viewed as a border between life and death, reflecting human perceptions of the divide between the human world and the world of the gods. Donghun seems to be sitting and walking around in front of the prop that looks like the flowing river.

He also seems to take on the role of a grim reaper, Jeoseung saja {저승 사자} in Korean. Grim reapers are most often portrayed as a person wearing black clothing and a traditional gat hat. This could also link to the belief about the river. Since grim reapers are known as the ones that takes souls to the afterlife, the Donghun that was sat in front of the river looking prop was a human that was waiting to get a visit from the grim reaper.

Kim Sehyoon

Sehyoon takes on the role of a shaman, which is given away by the prayer beads that he has. Shamans use trance inducing using techniques and an altered state of mind, kind of like hypnosis, to interact with the spirit world. Both of his outfits for his solo shots seem to be modernised versions of traditional shaman clothing. Laid back in a chair and shrouded in smoke, he gives off the impression of being in an altered state of mind. In my opinion, he could be trying to communicate with the now dead Donghun.

Kang Yuchan

I have two theories for Chan and Jin so we will go through them separately. In the music video we see a beautiful picture that depicts the Ilwol Obongdo, which is the traditional symbol of couriers kings. It is made up of the sun, the moon, 5 mountains, pine trees and waterfalls. When the king sat in front of it the positioning of the components showed that he was in the centre of it all. Yuchan wear's something that resembles a gonryongpo which is a Korean kings everyday outfit. Red is a colour that is reserved for the king while his first son, the crown prints, wore blue. Hear Chan depicts a king.

Park Junhee

Junhee and Yuchan have a much more important role in the second theory then being a king (Chan) and the crown prince (Junhee) which I will go through in the minute. Since Junhee is dressed in blue in the underwater concept photos, it makes me think that he is king Yuchans first son, making him the crown prince. Now this was a bit vague because I don't see how it would fit in the music video exactly but it's a theory. Now on to the second more interesting theory.

Habaek and Haemosu

After reading a ton of Korean myths and tales, I came to the conclusion that a large part of the music video is a retelling of the tale of Habaek and Haemosu. Habaek is the Korean river god while Haemosu is the Korean sun god. The tale states that Haemosu fell in love with one of Habaeks daughters and wanted to marry her. In order for Habaek to approve, Haemosu had to go through 3 trials against Habaek himself. The trials included shapeshifting into water common land and air creatures to prove himself worthy of Habaeks daughters hand.

BYEONGKWAN as the air creature

Before I moved to the main two characters, let me go through how the other three members also seem to fit in with the theory. Byeongkwan, I believe, is the embodiment of the air creature trial. When his ear changes shape it seems to resemble something like a wing as I mentioned before.

DONGHUN as the water creature

Because a lot of Donghun scenes are centred around The River, I think that he is the embodiment of the water creature trial.

SEHYOON as the land creature

Because in a few of his soloshot he is surrounded by trees and stuff that resemble land, I believe that he is the embodiment of the land creature trial. Also the general shrouded in mist concept of his solo shots just gives off land vibes.

YUCHAN as Haemosu

Yuchan seems to embody Haemosu, the Korean sun god. Haemosu is usually depicted as wearing a giant head dress made out of crows feathers. According to folktales a giant chrome managed to steal the sun so you had to kill it and bring it back. The whole vibe that Yuchan chosen this music video is very goodly and the red colour could be associated with the son. He has a few solo scenes and which he seems to be showing his skills as he would in the battle. And that could link to the three trials.

JUNHEE as Habaek

It would only make sense for Jun to embody the river god. The colour of his concept photo dressing. The proper behind him on his solo shoots also seems to depict a Riverside. His concert photos are taken under water full stop and in the concept photos it can be seen that Chan is closer to the surface of the water which could mean that he went to ask the river god for his daughter's hand in marriage. In the music video in his solo scenes, Junhee also seems to be showing of his abilities like in the battle which also could link to the three trials.

The last chorus scene

The background of the last chorus dancing shows a thunderstorm going on behind the members. And many old mates from many cultures, thunderstorms are a sign of god's wrath and anger. This could be linked to the battle that the two gods were undergoing. The lyrics of the song as well as multiple choreography movement also portrayed fighting as a theme.

A/N: god this took so long to write up. I had it all in note for on paper and hd to make sense of the notes and all. Also I didn't want to post this before but I believe that the new comeback could be linked to Goblin in the way that because of all the water concept photos and now underwater concepts and the whole siren theme, it could be that they are showing the water trial that Habaek and Haemosu took part in.

#a.c.e kpop #kpop theories #this took me longer than i'd like to admit #a.c.e jun #a.c.e #a.c.e: siren dawn #a.c.e byeongkwan #a.c.e sehyoon #a.c.e wow #a.c.e donghun #a.c.e chan #aa.c.e goblin #a.c.e favorite boys #a.c.e concept theory

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cosmosrival · 4 years

Text

there it is! kama interlude analysis by a kama fan!

WELL. LIKE IT SAYS IN THE TITLE: this is just my own thoughts!! youre free to think whatever u want !! i am just putting my own knowledge into words because i genuinely love kama, and i would like for kama’s depth to be understood by the NA fandom a little more!! i try to stay as close as possible to their character in everything i do because i believe that the more in character they are, the funnier/more interesting content ppl will produce.

and hopefully i understood them well ???!!!! HOPEFULLY ?!

i will be screenshotting the translated reddit post under this read more and stop whenever something i find interesting to develop pops up ! or else it’ll get way too long lol if you wanna read the interlude for yourself heres the link!

with that said, let’s go!!

kama’s interlude begins with guda passing the hell out because of exhaustion and then waking up in a dream sequence where kama treats them to some relaxing adventures, stuff to take their mind off heavy things!! first dream sequence is kama roleplaying a highschool setting where they’re dating.

i like this because they openly admit that its an illusion, breaking the immersion but as long as youre okay with roleplaying, they’ll continue it LOL at some point, caesar mentions the student council president and arjuna appears behind him

since this is an illusion that kama made, i’ve been wondering about the fact that the way servants conduct eachother in this interlude is mostly because that’s how kama envisions they would act in a highschool setting, in an amusement park and finally with eachother (mostly for confirmed couples such as siegbryn, consort yu and her hubby etc...). suzuka and sei being gyarus is obvious, but arjuna as the student council president... is so cute???!!! i MEAN IT FITS ?! THATS A GREAT IDEA KAMA!!!! ANYWAY

this is kama’s first monologue and since they’re primarily the god of lust, all of the more vanilla stuff they mentions such as sharing a pair of headphones embarrasses them since its so tame. ITS CUTE !!! kama expects you to be horny in class !! what are you doing thinking about hand holding !!! medusa saves u from that tho with a direct reference to her relationship with kama’s vessel

this is interesting !! and reassuring !!! i think that kama as a character has a lot of depth and just reducing them to “sakura” would be a waste and this interlude shows how different they are from her. but they’re also similar! sakura went through a lot just like medusa says and kama does have trauma related to shiva. its not the same circumstances but the same kind of suffering which explains the nuance here. and what i like about chaldea is that there’s been multiple instances where its been proven that servants can grow thanks to their relationships with guda (most common example: leveling up your bonds) BUT ALSO, saint graph evolution (alts). and as a kama fan i’d like to see them happy someday and this interlude as a whole is proof of their healing/coping because of the time they spent in chaldea and how they interact with others. more on that later ! here, they don’t recognize medusa which is normal since they’re not sakura (someone else entierly), but...

they care about her ! because of sakura’s influence being a part of the servant called Kama(assassin). the difference here is important !! but i’ll come back on this in a bit. quick mention to the greek cupid <3 kamadusa nation we were fed (i clap by myself because im the only one who has 57575757557 kama rarepairs-----)

kama is a delinquent whos horny in class but still takes a few notes, enough to do well on their tests! and thats tea<3 smart horny lazyass !! theyre a gift

SO ARJUNA WAS OUT FOR BLOOD ????? ANYWAY, this is right after the actual fight against weirdo terrorists, and im happy to know that kama DOES enjoy a good fight (as proven in their voicelines as well) but theyre not a farming unit because it’d be too much work (single target NP..)...!!!!!!! lavish god of love....

FINALLYYYYYYYYYYY THE REAL DEAL !!!!!!!!!!!! “it feels wonderful to be your girlfriend” christ, kamadeva was so used to being a husband and a good lover, it reflected in their servant version.... but ree what do u mean by servant version???

I MEAN THE OBVIOUS !! kama explains it very well in the screenie just above !

“You know very well how servants work.”

KAMA ASSASSIN (the servant in your chaldea) is neither KAMADEVA or SAKURA MATOU or MARA. they’re a MIX OF PARTS OF THE THREE. creating an entierly new person(in this case, servant) !!!! it might sound like i’m repeating myself, but this is important!!!!!!!!! i will say this multiple times so people remember it !!! and if u already had this figured out: GOOD JOB I LOVE U !!!

Kamadeva (the god) has many stories, ones where he was born from concepts (dharma and shraddha), one where his parents are brahma and sarasvati, one where his parents are vishnu and lakshmi, stories about his reincarnation after his death where his parents are krishna and rukmini, his love with Rati and so on. We all know Sakura’s backstory since this is nasuverse. And Mara is a demon, an entity that tried to corrupt Buddha and prevent him from reaching enlightenment/stray from the path. Kama assassin has parts from all of these entities which explains why they have a vague longing for Rati, why they have a soft spot for Medusa and why they have an affinity with Kiara(and also like talking about corrupting u !).

they then mention how a japanese highschool setting is fun and all i have to say is: i’m gonna make an indo fam delinquent vs student council au out of this one folks !!!!!!!! i gotta !!!

OK next

TIME FOR THE SECOND DREAM SEQUENCE WHICH I WAS VERY VERY VERRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYY AFRAID OF BEFORE THE TRANSLATION CAME OUT.

THE PART WHERE KAMA ACTS LIKE YOUR CHILD.

well with their stage 1 it was expected but without the translation i have to say that i was scared shitless! because people hate thinking! and even if kama clearly tells you that it’s a charade, u know a JOKE. A DREAM SEQUENCE. DONT BE A CREEP. KAMA INTENDED FOR IT TO BE WHOLESOME. i know some ppl wont use their brains. but u know its fgo and degenerates are everywhere.

anyways. family bonding time ensues until another monologue appears!!

exactly like before, kama mentions myths that belonged to kamadeva. Meaning that the Kama in our chaldea isn’t the Kamadeva we know and is not Pradyumna either but the fact that the writers chose to have kama acknowledge it is very reassuring !!! Because it means that they’ve chosen to make it a part of their (complicated) history. Kama says that Pradyumna is the myth about themself they know the least, once again proving us that the Kama in our Chaldea (Assassin) is a different entity and that they were summoned to the throne upon their death, the moment they were burned by Shiva’s flames and became Ananga, in any case they’re still familiar with all of their own myths. it allows us to keep heroic spirits separate from their original myths. Obviously! And in the case of pseudo-servants, it allows us to keep them separate from their vessels. Cuz this is a fanservice japanese game. Andddd the fandom likes forgetting this fact quite a lot i’ve noticed. As a person who loves thinking about tons and tons of headcanons for fun, this allows us a lot of space ! Because this is fate/grand order at its base. Nasuverse.

I’m glad that the interlude explains it so clearly, it’s very good !! Because the majority of myths from every culture are confusing, family trees are confusing, names are confusing, powers and attributes are confusing... its a mess !!!! the fgo characters we know are just cut from their own respective timelines/historial figures so the writers can organize themselves more easily. Like cutting halves from a big cake. Kama (Assassin) is the Kama that died from Shiva’s flames and became the universe ONLY. In Nasuverse, Arthur Pendragon is a woman. Anastasia Romanov NEVER had a demon familiar named Viy in real life despite the creature being part of russian folklore. u know ! im russian i can testify dude !!

hopefully everyone got this bc i wont be explaining this any further dude, its exhausting !!!!!! bangs my hands on the table !!!!!

ANYWAYS kama mentions “eternal pain that turns [them] into ash” being their key element. Their trauma is at the center of their heroic spirit self, what they are as a servant. This suffering is tied to everything they do, why they’re so lazy, why they’re so lax, why they’re so detached from their job. But they’re not detached from their role. And “job” and “role” have different connotations here. They refuse to work as a cupid because of obvious reasons. BUT. They’re not detached from their role as the God of Love, as the God of Passion. The embodiment of those feelings. This whole interlude is proof ! They’re giving u free therapy because they Love you. Passion. They feel your love. Passion. They acknowledge how much fun you’re having. How passionate you are about certain things. They might seem extremely detached and hateful, but they aren’t. They’re one of the most empathetic servants there is. And their ability to love everything, even the things they hate is what makes them so miserable. Because it’s a part of them. Because the concept of Kama in hinduism is linked to them. Be it lust or simply the passion born from anything you do where you’re enjoying yourself. (quote: “ the term also refers to any sensory enjoyment, emotional attraction and aesthetic pleasure such as from arts, dance, music, painting, sculpture and nature “. R. Prasad (2008), History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization )

... I’d like to say that this contrast with Mara is interesting. And that i’m glad the writers chose to add in Mara to the kama assassin Beast mix.

Because the anger Mara feels can become a drivepoint for Kama. I’ve always believed that anger and sadness are two sides of the same coin, it’d explain how layered Kama is and how valid their emotions are. Constantly torn between love and hate. An eternal grudge (i don’t deserve to be hurt like this) and an eternal misery(maybe i do deserve to be hurt like this).

i wish they were my roommate <3 oh fuck ree got emotional wait where were we.

OH YEAH

i think kama saying that they dislike being involved with other indian servants because theyre linked to shiva is a feeble attempt at trying to keep up a strong front because they still love them in the end. cuz that’s how kama is ! after a while they’ll get bored of bullying ganesha and ashwatthama. they’ll get interested in rama because their respective mythos are linked even if their servant selves have no connection. hell, at the end of the interlude they talk about parvati and how they themself changed and realized things. BUT OH WELL, THATS STUFF FOR ANOTHER POST HEHE thats just ree wanting kama to b happy yall move along !!

.....THIS ISNT A COLLEGE STUDENTS ROLEPLAY BUT ITS A CUTE JAPANESE COMPANY BOSS/UNDERLING SETTING AND ITS CUTE SO I THINK KAMA WEARING A PENCIL SKIRT AND POURING U ALCOHOL IS CUTE. CUTE.

further proof of kama’s overflowing affection and what i detailed above!! hopefully u all knew this one simply from reading this interlude/their profile page and dont need me to write it down for u. HOPEFULLY !!!!!

(I START BEATBOXING VERY RAPIDLY AND RUNNING TOWARDS YOU) KAMA IS A SADIST AT THEIR CORE AND I WILL NEVER STOP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they’re easy to fluster because theyre not used to being so vanilla, but whats underneath is how they truly are !! a beast turned servant, the sweetest sadist !! theyre very mature and this interlude is so well written (wipes my teears

this is directly linked to what i explained above, by burning you away, you’ll melt into nothingness just like they did. When they were the universe, they felt both everything and nothing.

But was it really relief ... ?

... IT WASNT.

AND PARVATI SAVES THE DAY !!!!!!! phew!! thank u paru, it’d still like to be able to touch kama’s huge titties and i cant do that if i turn into ashes (falls down the stairs

ok she summoned lovey dovey canon couples to annoy kama since they’re exhausted of seein them!!

...............(I TAKE OUT A KNIFE) TAKE THAT BACK. DONT TALK TO THEM LIKE THAT. TAKE THAT BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohhhhhh im obsessed i love when theyre angry<3 i love when theyre fighty <3 i think they should beat the living shit out of a boxing bag DAILY to let out some of this steam. they’d be a monster on the ring... aaa kama in training boot y shorts aa a .. .uughg hg ouu... (you all shove me into a locker)

ok this is interesting !! i think that the interlude showing us that parvati feels a semblance of guilt is character dev. proof for what i mentioned before!! in ookuu parvati felt quite ..unsympathetic to me, even if kama is a beast who wants to annihilate humanity, when u think about it, at their core their grudge is because of her and shiva’s betrayal. and here, she properly apologizes for making kama so upset. this is heartwarming to me since i dislike thinking that members of the indo fam hate eachother :( same goes for arjuna and karna, at some point i’d like for them to act like bros normally and finally be comfy. but anyways !!

u wake up from the dreams and da vinci, mashu and paru are here to tell u whats going on. But its fine bc u remember everything and u have to go thank someone for helping u out!!!

CUTE !!!!!!! THEY CARE ABOUT U !!!!!! but whether it be because of their role or because theres a deeper meaning is entierly up to your own interpretation because...

of what they say here.

and here !!

ohhhhhhhhh this is so important !!!!!!

this is actual proof of kama’s growth as a servant and how servants evolve in chaldea !! chaldea is not the same as a grail war, its a special, cut-off place and thats what makes it even more relaxing to think about. Everytime u summon a servant in ur chaldea u give them a chance to have fun with you, to have fun with other servants, to make amends, to start from scratch, to discover things they would’ve never known in their time (movies, video games, tons of different foods etc...), u give them a chance to relax. to grow !! this is the headcanon that im most attached to and im glad to see it be confirmed in the interlude of a character i love tbqh i had to stop and talk about that.

everyone say thank u kama !! can we roleplay a college roommate coffee shop slowburn au next time <3

ANYWAYS if you’ve read it this far: thank you !!! im sorry if you expected something very serious, im not that type of person hehe im jus here to have fun and look at things i like, and the interlude itself was quite lighthearted and refreshing. By talking about the myths and all of kamadeva’s stories, the writers basically gave lore nerds a huge thumbs up like... “its ok now !! u can go ape now !! go be insane<3 love u<3″ and all of this kama characterization GENUINELY makes me so happy because i think they really needed that. kama assassin... (i blow a kiss to the sky) is a little mess of a servant... a god, human crumbs and a demon... a total mess... im in love with them...

..............tho now the wait for a summer alt where they interact with the entire indo fam begins (im sitting in a chair unmoving)(i have a gun in case minase begins acting gross

#ree's fgo hcs #kama #WONT TAG THIS ONE AS A WHOLE BC IM... A LIL SHY TO BE HONEST #its just a kama fan rambling bro....... jus a kama fan liking the interlude man.....#like i said at the beginning of the post its just my thoughts<3

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scroll-of-thought · 3 years

Note

Yo the post you reblogged and mentioned the norse mythology and times, Jonathan Crawford, is amazing. I've always wanted to learn something more about runes and general norse stuff and mythology. Do you know of any decent sources or books or something else for learning about Norse... anything? I just want to learn something.

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is I can’t help with runes. In fact, no one can. The truth, historically speaking, is we don’t know anything mystical about the runes. We speculate that some people cast them for divination, but the accounts are iffy at best, and we have no idea what they meant. We’re not even 100% sure the names of all the runes, and our best guess comes from an old Finnish nursery rhyme and linguistic reconstructions of what those names might have sounded like several hundred years prior. Whenever you see rune concordance charts, just take them with a heavy pinch of salt and know that they’re probably heavily speculative, totally modern, and someone’s personal interpretation based on who knows what. That’s generally the way of it when it comes to all Norse mysticism, so be extra careful of anyone who says they know runes or Norse magic.

Good news, I can totally help with the other Norse knowledge.

There are generally 2 main books historically. The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda. Both are compilations of Norse stories with a lot of overlap, but the Prose Edda was written by Snorri Sturluson around 1220 and his some... interesting bits added in. And you can easily see the Christian and classical influences that worked their way into Snorri’s book, so I tend to stick to The Poetic Edda, but reading both isn’t a bad idea just to see the differences and get your head around the stories.

The Edda’s don’t cover EVERY Norse myth, but they are a major source, and The Poetic Edda has about three dozen poems in it. I would obviously recommend Dr. Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda. He put a lot of care and attention into making it an easy to read modern translation while maintaining the imagery and feel of the original Norse version.

The next type of story to look into would be Sagas. Sagas are typically stories about Norse heroes and kings. You might have heard of a couple from pop culture without knowing they’re originally sagas. Like the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, which gets used in a lot of Viking shows and movies. Sagas are similar to Greek stories of heroes in terms of importance to mythology, and there are some really interesting ones.

I’m not super knowledgeable on sagas. I’ve only read a few in full and I don’t know how credible the translations were. I did get The Saga of the Volsungs translated by Dr. Crawford for Christmas from my inlaws, but I haven’t had time to read it in full yet. Still, it’s the same quality I expect from him.

Another good book that isn’t source material, but was really well researched would be Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Yeah, that Neil Gaiman! I guess while he was doing research for American Gods he probably dove pretty deep into the research. Or maybe he’s just had an interest in Norse stories. Either way, an interesting take on a lot of the classic stories that’s easy to digest.

Anyhow, as is tradition, that’s a wall of text. I hope it’s a helpful wall of text, and if you have any questions or anything, just let me know :)

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moon-in-daylight · 4 years

Text

Odi et amo / Dhawan!Master x reader

Summary: You already knew The Master wasn’t the easiest person to put up with when you started travelling with him, but sometimes his temper makes you wonder why you even try

Words: 2383

Note: I was going through my old Latin notes and when I found this poem I felt the need of writing this idea. My history geek side was strong while writing this, so I apologize for that. 😬

Traveling with The Master could be a little too much sometimes.

Not that you didn’t enjoy it, or that you weren’t grateful for the chance you were given to explore both time and space. You would always be grateful for everything he had done for you. For showing you the stars, and for taking you to places not even books could properly describe.

It was the most amazing experience you could have ever imagined, but sometimes his reckless behavior made things incredibly hard for you.

That time he had taken you to one of the time periods that had always aroused your curiosity, the final decades of the Roman Republic. He didn’t usually consulted you on when or where to go, he would simply set the controls on some random alien planet and let hell break lose wherever he went, but maybe hearing you talk about history with such passion as you did, had gotten him to take you there. Not that he would admit he had took you there on purpose. According to what he said when his TARDIS landed in the middle of the Forum, his ship had just casually landed there, in a completely random way.

You didn’t care what he said, though. You were simply ecstatic to be in the middle of the golden century of the Roman culture, it didn’t matter if it had been due a typo with the coordinates or whatever other excuse he tried to come up with. Only thinking about all the legendary pieces of art that were being written in the century you were visiting amazed you: Virgil’s Aeneid, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and, of course, all of Cicero’s speeches.

For all of your student life you had heard about the myths, the battles, and everything related with the years prior the Roman Empire. But you could have never imagined you would be able to see how astonishing Rome had been in its golden century with your very own eyes.

It was simply unbelievable to think about all those historians trying to study every word written about Rome in libraries and museums when you got the chance to actually stand there. To witness the last years of one of the most important periods in western history. A period that was soon to be over, maybe even sooner than you had expected.

It had only been a few hours since the TARDIS had landed, but, as usual, it hadn’t taken long for The Master to start messing around with important historical events.

You should have probably expected it, it was always like that with The Master. He was reckless, chaotic, and he didn’t care who he killed or what he destroyed. You shouldn’t have been surprised when he used his tissue compression eliminator on one the most important historical figures of all time.

You barely had time to realize what had happened before the entirety of the Roman army started to chase you.

“You, me. TARDIS. Now!” You rushed The Master angrily. He rolled his eyes as he teleported you both back to his ship, making you disappear in front of a bunch of confused Roman soldiers. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” You asked in frustration at him. He ignored you, walking towards the console.

“He was going to die soon anyway.” The Master uninterested voice said, not paying attention to you.

“Julius Caesar wasn’t supposed to die until 44 B.C!” You reprimanded him.

The Master kept ignoring you as he moved things around the console, causing you to get angrier. Why did he had to be like that? Was it so much to ask that he didn’t kill anyone for just once? All you wanted was to spend a few hours there, maybe meet some of the authors you had read about all your life and even get the chance to talk to them. But thanks to his volatile temper all you had achieved was to become a public enemy to the Roman Republic.

“You just erased the last 10 years of his life and it may have changed the whole course of history!” Thinking about the impact of his actions, you added.

“So?” He turned to you, as if nothing happened. “He was a moron.”

“That’s not the point!” You cut him off, frustrated by how little he cared. “You can’t go around killing whoever you want!”

The Master looked at you in a threatening way, his deadly cold stare making you look away for a moment. It wasn’t the first time the two of you got into an argument like this one and you knew that he wasn’t amused by your impertinence. You had seen him destroy planets and civilizations in the blink of an eye, tear apart galaxies in a matter of hours. You knew upsetting him wasn’t the smart thing to do, but sometimes he could be so infuriating that you just couldn’t help yourself from rebelling to him.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breathe in an attempt to calm down his temper he walked towards you. You looked at him in awe, swallowing the lump in your throat as you did your best to hold his gaze.

“I think you’re forgetting who you’re travelling with.” He harshly said, his eyes piercing right throw you. “You’re my pet, you don’t get to tell me what to do. If you don’t like it, leave.”

You held his stare for a few more seconds before finally giving up and leaving the TARDIS. It was completely impossible to reason with him, and you weren’t sure why you even tried anymore. It always had to be his chaotic, destructive way. You loved him, but he truly was infuriating.

Sometimes you just wished he could be a bit more relaxed, more empathic. But that wasn’t the way he was. He would never be.

You walked through Rome’s crowded streets without looking back, focused only on the anger that you were feeling. In times like these, you seriously considered the possibility of just leaving his TARDIS and going back home. You didn’t want to, but his temper was too much to bear at times. There was no need or use on killing randomly whenever he felt like it, so why couldn’t he control himself? At times like this you couldn’t help but second guess why you put up with him, why you stayed by his side in despite of all the evil things he did.

You still needed him though. He had shown you the most amazing things, taken you to places in the universe you could have never imagined could exist. And you also needed him if you wanted to go back home. Retracing your steps, you found that his TARDIS was now gone. Honestly, you weren’t surprised.

Now you were stuck in the 1st century BC. Not exactly the adventure you were looking forward to.

Resigned, you walked away from the place where the time machine had been just a few moments ago and wandered again through the metropolis. You didn’t know how long you were going to be there, or if you would ever be able to go back home again. You thought you might as well get to know the place a bit, always being careful not to bump into one of the soldiers that had seen you with The Master before, of course. The last thing you needed right now was some soldier recognizing you as one of Caesar’s murderers.

Trying to be discrete, you decided to get inside the first library you found in hopes you could hide yourself there.

You were so upset that you barely could enjoy all the knowledge that surrounded you. Normally, you would have rushed through all the shelves, picking up as many books as you could and reading as much as you could from them, The Master following you close behind as he watched you with an amused expression. But The Master wasn’t there, and you didn’t feel like doing anything other than sitting in a corner and watch the hours go by.

Just a few moments ago, you would have punched the Time Lord in the face if you had seen him, and now all you could do was think of how much you would like him to be there with you. Not only because you were trapped there without him, but because things got too quiet when he was not around. You didn’t usually admitted, but his chaotic self wasn’t always that bad. Sometimes it was fun to just watch him as he got the both of you into the most absolutely twisted situations. Now that he wasn’t there, you only wished he came back.

Getting yourself lost in those thoughts, you eyed a papyrus placed in front of you. And letting curiosity take over you, you started to read it. Soon, you recognized some of the verses written in front of you. You had read those before. They were poems written by Catullus, addressed to his lover Lesbia. They had been written only a few years before the day you had landed in.

Doing your best to understand the poems, to translate them, you looked for a specific one. It had been some time since you had last studied Latin, but you still remembered the basics. Enough to understand most of the words.

Carefully looking through the verses, you found the one you were looking for:

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.

Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

It took you a bit of effort to remember those old verses, but there was a reason why those words had popped inside your head. You roughly translated the verses:

I hate and I love. You may wonder why I do so.

I don’t know, but I feel it that way and I am tormented.

You looked at the words written in front of you, immediately thinking of The Master.

It was almost as if those verses were talking about the two of you. You hated him at times. You hated his stubbornness, his annoying arrogance. But you had been with him long enough to know that there was so much more to him than that.

He was also one of the most important people in your life. Despite his bad temper, besides his irrational anger. You couldn’t imagine what your life would be without him. Without travelling the stars with him, without being around him as his companion. You loved him and you knew that the feeling was mutual, even though he would never admit it out loud.

It was probably irrational, but that’s how you felt. And you knew deep down that you wouldn’t change it for the world. You wanted him, even though you didn’t always agree with him and even though you got mad at him sometimes.

You probably were out of your mind to feel that way for The Master. But then again, maybe he wasn’t the only psychopath travelling inside that TARDIS.

Well, he was now, you supposed, since you were stuck in Ancient Rome.

You felt a tear running down your cheek when you thought about the possibility of never seeing him again. You couldn’t blame anyone but yourself, tough, you had been the one to voluntarily leave his TARDIS.

Looking up when you saw a silhouette, you quickly recognized him by the color of his coat. The Master couldn’t be any more surprised when you quickly got up and hugged him. He had to admit that that gesture of yours caught him a bit out of guard.

“I thought you had left forever.” You told him, your head buried in the crook of his neck. He slowly put his arms around you, not knowing well how to react. Showing affection wasn’t something he dealt well with, it was easier to just argue with you.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” He admitted, letting his pride aside for barely a second.

He wasn’t going to admit it, but when he hadn’t found you in the first minutes after coming back for you, he had started to get worried sick that something had happened to you. He wouldn’t have forgiven himself if that had been the case, but he wasn’t planning on telling you any of it.

The both of you were too proud to form a proper apology, but this was the closest you would get to it. It was enough for you, and you hoped it would be for him too.

“Don’t ever run off like that again.” The Master said, letting go of you as he put back that front of his again. It was surprising to see how even him had that soft spot too.

Silently, he guided you back to the TARDIS. For the whole way back, you were still consumed by your thoughts, your mind remembering that poem every time you looked in his direction. You felt something strong for him, and you knew he felt it back. If it had been any other person, he would have never came back.

Once in the TARDIS, he walked back to the console, carefully looking at you from the corner of his eye so you wouldn’t notice. Since you hadn’t said a word in several minutes, he supposed you were still mad at him.

“I know this isn’t how you had pictured this adventure, but I-“ He started, but you quickly cut him off. You knew how hard it was for him to say those words.

“It’s okay.” You said, placing yourself beside him in the console. “Maybe I overreacted too. You were right about Caesar being a moron after all.” You laughed.

The Master turned to you with an amused gesture on his face. It wasn’t every day that either of you apologized to the other.

“You can keep him, if that's any consolation.” He searched for the miniaturized version of the Roman general in his pocket, offering it to you.

“I can’t believe you kept him.” You took him into your hands, analyzing it closely. You couldn’t help the smile from forming in your face. “You’re the absolute worst, I hate you!”

“No, you do not.” The Master smirked at you as he pulled a lever of his ship, taking you to your next adventure.

#Dhawan!Master x reader #Dhawan!Master x you #Dhawan!Master one shot #Dhawan!Master imagine #Dhawan Master x you #Dhawan Master x reader #Dhawan Master one shot #Doctor Who #Doctor Who fanfic #Master x reader #Master x you #Master one shot #Doctor who one shot #Dhawan Master imagine #Dhawan Master fanfic #Dhawan!Master fanfic

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opisasodomite · 3 years

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Can you recommend any non fiction books?

Oh, I’m a terrible person to ask for nonfiction recs because most of what I read are stupidly dense books about history. Like, it’s legitimately a chore to read level and makes me want to claw my eyes out. I haven’t included any of THOSE below, but there’s still a disproportionate amount of history here lol:

1. King Leopold’s Ghost, Adam Hochshild - a fairly popular history book about the history of the Belgian Congo and the atrocities committed there by the titular king in the pursuit of wealth and resources. It’s... bleak, but it’s well-written and, frankly, a fairly important subject IMO

2. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles Mann - This one’s one I read fairly recently, it’s an exploration of the ongoing research areas in the history of the Americas prior to European colonization. It’s also largely a takedown of many persistent myths and racist stereotypes about Native Americans and all around good information.

3. Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott - I have no idea if you’re interested in writing, or writing fiction in particular. But I’ll repeat the advice a friend of mine at the time who recommended this gave me: it doesn’t matter. This book is something else, and made me Feel. Which is, frankly an arduous task in The Year of Our Lord 2020. It’s a lot of personal anecdotes, stories the author heard from others, and advice that’s good for writing and way more than just writing. It’s good.

4. On Writing Well, William Zinsser - If you *are* (or anybody else is) interested in writing, this is the more technical of the two writing books I’ve read this year. It’s good tips and things to keep in mind when writing, mostly in a nonfiction, business, or professional setting. But it’s useful and easy to read, which is more than I can say about a lot of other writing advice books.

5. Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, Camilla Townsend - This is another new book, history, but it’s a really engaging read that’s gotten a lot of good press lately. It’s extremely rare for academic historians to write anything worth reading if you’re not a specialist IMO, but Townsend does it. She humanizes the stories of Aztec history in a way that washes away the caricatures that pop culture has drawn. I highly recommend if you’re even vaguely interested in precolombian history.

6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot - This is one I was supposed to read before my freshman year of college in 2013. Except it never actually came up and nobody ever asked about it. It was still worth reading and I’m glad I did. It studies the origins of a cellular culture used in tons of medical research through its donor, Henrietta Lacks, who was not informed that her cancer cells were taken and used and her family was unaware for decades as well. Explores the themes of racism in the American medical establishment and the family story of Lacks herself. It’s good!

7. Sunjata: A New Prose Version, translated by David Conrad - So when I was in college I focused (as a history major) on African history primarily. Hence why this is here. Sunjata was the legendary founder of the medieval Mali Empire in West Africa. The stories surrounding him have been told by Mande bards for nearly 700 years now, and are known collectively as the Epic of Sunjata today. Though there is no one definitive version, and this is half legend half history, I’m including it here anyway. Usually things like this tend to be a little dry to me, but I found this version to be engaging, interesting and funny all at the same time. If you’re interested in mythology it’ll read much the same way, except that it has a large kernel of truth beneath the surface.

8. The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic, Mike Duncan - Alright, this is the bro-iest book on this list. And I’m caveating it in that, while it’s interesting in its own right and very engaging, a strong undercurrent is the parallels between the late Roman Republic and the contemporary United States. If you’re not American that might not really be very interesting. If you are, it’s a very... timely book. In either case, if you’re interested in Roman history at all, it’s enjoyable on its own merits.

Anyways, sorry about the overabundance of history here. There’s a lot of books I’m planning to read soon that would probably have been better recommendations, but unfortunately I haven’t read them yet and so can’t really put the rubber stamp on them just yet.

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sledgefuweek · 4 years

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Hi everyone! As we mentioned a couple days ago, Lea and I thought it’d be helpful for everyone if we made an informational post about the prompts for Sledgefu Week, just in case people were either confused about the prompt itself or maybe looking for some inspo!

Here is the AU prompt list: I’ll pop it under a read-more just to save your dashboards, but do go ahead and check it out! And as always, any questions or comments you may have, our inbox is always open :~)

PIRATE AU

Pretty self-explanatory, and a really popular suggestion on the google form that came before the poll, so I’ll assume most of you have a pretty good idea of what makes a pirate AU! This is a fun prompt to pair up with other ‘ocean’ themed prompts, I’m thinking of sirens, mermaids, sea monsters, however many tentacles you want to introduce into this thing. I think Pirate AU can encompass all of those, plus all the various different degrees of piracy that can be had, ranging from the big bad Captain Hook style of piracy down to something a little more Treasure Planet... the AU doesn’t stipulate anywhere that it has to be on land/water after all ;~) My favourite childhood pirates were the sky pirates from the Edge Chronicles series! Really, the only limit with this prompt is your own imagination, feel free to push the envelope!

SOUTHERN GOTHIC

This is one that I’ve seen a few people be curious about, and honestly as was I! Maybe if you’re American you may have a better understanding of what makes a Southern Gothic story different from a conventional (European) Gothic novel, but I know a lot of people here aren’t American, including myself and Lea, so! I did a little research (but if any of this doesn’t quite ring true to what Southern Gothic is, don’t hesitate to correct me! There’s only so much the internet can tell me haha). It’s my understanding that where Euro Gothic is more heavily rooted in the fantastic, Southern Gothic tends towards magical realism instead. It’s more heavily entrenched into the culture of the South than Euro Gothic is necessarily about European culture. Its essentially preoccupied with examining the values of the American south, so it’s important to exercise some sensitivity and care with some of the themes which can come up when looking at the history of the south; namely racism, and slavery -- for obvious reasons. There are plenty other ways to approach Southern Gothic without making comment on these aspects of the genre if you aren’t appropriately knowledgeable about them... the genre stems from European Gothic after all, which means that although it is focused on the south, it is also characterised by explorations of madness, fear of the outside world, decay and despair, the impact of the past on the present, and events stemming from or relating to poverty, crime, alienation, or violence. It has an absolute wealth of generic characteristics that, once combined with the magical realism that is unique to Southern Gothic, can be really fun to play with. Think Wuthering Heights, you know?

VAMPIRE AU

Another pretty classic one, and an AU that I think warrants very little explanation. I think the fun in Vampire AUs is in making it new -- there are SO many various vampire stories out there, what do you want to do with yours? Draw from popular culture, draw from history, draw from your own imagination... just as with the pirate AU, there’s really no limit to where you can take this prompt. Imagine the impact of an all-vampire company in a canonverse story! Or how would a newly-turned vampire navigate his new condition in the modern world? Plus, the whole immortality thing really lends itself to some great slow burn opportunities here. Or, hey, Twilight AU?

PARANORMAL AU

Okay, so: I know now that this looks similar to our Supernatural AU from last year, at a glance. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like they’re two very distinct prompts! It’s always been my understanding that supernatural is monsters: werewolves, witches, etc. whereas paranormal means ghosts, and aliens? Either way, if you already have an idea planned for this that tends towards the werewolf rather than the ghost, don’t worry about it. However this is the time where the angst can come in... I feel like The Pacific is kind of a perfect piece of source material to base a ghostfic on -- not to be morbid but well, you know. And of course, it isn’t limited to one of the characters being a ghost -- as I said, my understanding of ‘paranormal’ always encompassed ghosts, but also aliens, and cryptozoology. Now, wouldn’t Eugene being so interested in birds translate nicely into cryptozoology? Wouldn’t Snafu, being the paranoid legend that he is, quite possibly be into weird internet forums about aliens? You can interpret the prompt as loosely or as closely as you like :~)

COFFEE SHOP AU

I feel like I don’t need to explain this. Do I? Are coffee shop AUs still as popular as they used to be? The real challenge of a coffee shop AU is actually this: how will you make the employee of the coffee shop feel anything less than distain for the customer that is the would-be love interest? Fellow customer service workers know exactly what I mean. (But for real, this can be a fun prompt despite how oftentimes overworked it can seem, and that’s because it leaves a lot of room for creativity. Is your character a poet doing a reading at a local coffee house, catching the eye of the person in the audience? Are they a musician, a stressed-out student, a caffeine-hater who is gritting their teeth after every sip just for a chance to speak to the cute barista? There’s tons of options, and I’m excited to see where people go with it.)

GHIBLI AU

So this is quite simply an opportunity to write an AU for any Ghibli movie of your choice! It’s actually my prompt (I was super happy to see it make it up there in the polls!) so I can explain why it’s nice and vague :~) I didn’t like the thought of having to limit every single person who wanted to contribute to the ship week to a specific AU for a specific Ghibli movie: they have such a huge catalogue of movies, and everyone seems to have their own particular favourite! So basically, you have the freedom to pick from any movie made by Ghibli to turn into an AU here. And these AUs can be as close to the source or as far away from it as you like. Want to write Gene and Snaf as background characters ordering bread from Kiki? You got it. Want to have them fighting in the war that features in Howl’s Moving Castle? Your mind. It’s completely up to you! And if you’re not familiar with Ghibli movies, you’re gonna have a great time if you do decide to watch a couple :~) They’re all on Netflix in the UK, but can’t speak for other countries sadly.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS

A time-honoured classic. Who hasn’t read an enemies to lovers AU? If you haven’t, and you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s pretty self explanatory! It’s pretty much about two characters who have an oftentimes very long history of conflict with each other, (though the ‘long’ part doesn’t really matter much) that eventually resolves into, well, love! The enemy relationship gets swapped for a romantic relationship. I always associate this prompt with slow burn fic too -- it’s always so good if it’s a gradual descent into affection. Now, this is a very broad prompt, which means it can be applied really nicely on top of other AUs! Just glancing at the list here, you wanna write a centuries long Vampire AU where they start out enemies and become lovers? Go for it!! It’s easily one that can be made unique and really fun by applying it to other AUs if you want to. I always think of Spy AUs or things within that genre too!

MYTH AU

This is another pretty broad one that I think covers a lot of bases, simply because there are SO many myths out there lol. If your culture has specific myths, this’d be a really nice time to get creative with them and also let people learn a little more about myths they might not know! There’s also obviously a ton of myths centralised around the American south so that would be fitting for both characters, but don’t be afraid to branch out! Really, you can apply this to any kind of folklore you want, and it’d be perfect! Obviously Greek myths are super popular and always cool too -- imagine an Achilles/Patroclus AU! But I think what makes this prompt really nice is tha it leaves you some room to actually have a go at making your own mythic tale up. So fall back on the real myths that kinda build up our world, but if you’re feeling really creative, take a stab at crafting your own!

#sledgefu week

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ad-ciu · 5 years

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Celts in Pop-Culture: Extra Mythology, Part #1

So, in a likely feeble attempt to ward off the slowly crawling insanity and self-doubt fueled primordial terror of an Old Irish exam today, I have decided to spend this evening doing something I have been promising to do for months now: discuss the Extra Mythology video titled: ‘Celtic Myth: the Island of Destiny.’

Now, before I get into the specifics, I would like to preface this discussion with the fact that I did reach out to the people behind this project and let them know there were issues with the material and offered my assistance to revising or helping provide research for a corrections video if it was of interest to themselves. I was informed that they were drawing on the works of Peter Berresford Ellis, a journalist who is very notably not a trained Celticist, and were comfortable with their choice as it showed the variation in the stories, and that I would look forward to the corrections episode. As it has now been eleven months since the initial video’s publication and no correction video has arrived, I want to start my commentary on it.

Oh, and before we begin, thanks to Thrythlind for transcribing this video and the next one so I can comment on them more easily.

Now, the issue with the version of events presented by Extra Mythology, drawing on Ellis, is that it is primarily absolutely totally and factually made up. Which, you know, bad start. But, lets start in the big picture and then break it down. The events described in this text are a segment of Lebor Gabála Érenn, the ‘Book of the Taking of Ireland,’ (henceforth LGE) and Cath Maige Tuired, the ‘Battle of Mag Tuired.’ (henceforth CMT) These are two exceptionally interesting texts, and a great place to start when introducing someone to Irish saga material as Extra Mythology intended to do! However, there is a large problem: the version of events told by Extra Mythology is only loosely based in these texts.

As you can see here and here, there is not actually a tremendous amount of variation between the extant versions of these two stories. LGE has four medieval versions, each of which I have had the pleasure to read (and you can too! Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5!) and CMT has one medieval version which is one of my favorite texts. I highly suggest reading it, and you can find it here.

So, as we can see, right off the bat we are not dealing with a huge amount of variant texts with a bunch of differences. In fact, there are very few versions of LGE that are very consistent in this relevant section, and CMT has no variants. (There is a Early Modern version, but nobody has ever translated it... or really worked on it. Or done anything with it.) So, I would like to initially begin by pointing out that while Extra Mythology has explained to me that they chose this version of the text to show the different versions, there are none, and the version they used does in fact offer alternatives that are not authentic, not medieval, and made up by Ellis.

Now, to begin.

Void became form and form became Earth and out of the Earth sprang a tree. It was the mighty oak, watered by the river of Heaven, the Danu. And from that oak fell two acorns from which sprang the first of the gods: The Dagda and Brigid. They were the first children of the Danu. And over time the Children of the Danu grew and built four great cities on the banks of the sacred river.

Well, that’s all fictional. The ‘Creation of the World’ for Irish mythology is the Book of Genesis, these myths (if we can call them that, see: Ireland’s Immortals by Mark Williams) are set within a Christian world and a broader Christian cosmology. There is no tree, there is no ‘river of heaven’ named Danu since Danu is a person, in theory (as we never see her ‘on screen’ and might even be dead before the events of these stories), and there is certainly no gods coming out of acorns. And the Four Cities are on islands to the north of Ireland, they are not built along a sacred river.

Now! Where is this coming from? I presume this is Ellis trying to connect Danu, the ancestral figure of the Túatha Dé Danann with the Danube River in Germany which might have a linguistic connection, but no evidence to exists to suggest they were believed to be connected by the time of LGE.

Those cities flourished and in each of them was crafted a great artifact. In one was the Stone of Destiny which would shout with joy when a righteous ruler set his foot upon it. In another was Retaliator, the greatest sword ever forged. In the third could be found the Red Javelin which once thrown would find its mark no matter how its foes hid. And, finally, in the fourth city, lay the Cauldron of Plenty which could feed all the Children of the Danu and still never empty.

Now, this section is rather interesting as it is getting some things correct and then absolutely dropping the ball elsewhere. Let us compare this statement with the actual text of CMT where this description of the Four Treasures of the Túatha Dé Danann are named and described! (Using quotation marks to make it less confusing than if I used block-quotes for both the video and original texts)

“From Falias was brought the Stone of Fál which was located in Tara. It used to cry out beneath every king that would take Ireland. From Gorias was brought the spear which Lug had. No battle was ever sustained against it, or against the man who held it in his hand. From Findias was brought the sword of Núadu. No one ever escaped from it once it was drawn from its deadly sheath, and no one could resist it. From Murias was brought the Dagda's cauldron. No company ever went away from it unsatisfied.“

So, what is wrong here? Well, most of it. Lets go treasure by treasure.

The Stone: Extra Mythology claims that the stone would shout when ‘a righteous ruler set his foot upon it’ where as the actual text says it would make a noise when ‘beneath every king that would take Ireland.’ There is zero moral judgement here, the rock is just a prophecy stone that says when someone will be King of all Ireland. Very different.

The Spear: Extra Mythology calls this the ‘Red Javelin’ which is a name I have never heard before, and claims that the spear is unerring. In reality, the spear is just described as the spear that Lug had, and its function is far cooler in that battles cannot be won against the wielder. Pretty.... massive difference to tell the truth. (I think Extra Mythology via Ellis is talking about The Lúin, a colossal spear that distorts reality to always hit and always kill from an entirely different story)

The Sword: Extra Mythology claims the sword is named ‘Retaliator’ and it was simply the greatest sword forged. The reality describes this as the Sword of Núadu (who Extra Mythology will call Nuada) and that no one ever escaped from it, and no one could resist it when drawn. Vague, but way more detailed than what Ellis has informed Extra Mythology with. Furthermore, ‘Retaliator’ is a different sword, one named Fragarach (translated as Retaliator) which is Manannán mac Lir’s sword which can command the wind, cut through any armour, and will always kill someone it wounds. Super weird call there.

The Cauldron: Extra Mythology presents this as ‘The Cauldron of Plenty’ and that it can feed all of the Children of Danu. The reality just calls it The Dagda’s cauldron and that ‘no company ever went away from it unsatisfied’ which probably sounds very similar, but the difference is important. In a culture with such heavy emphasis on feeding and hosting as medieval Ireland, the importance I would put here is not just on the cauldron’s ability to feed everyone, but to satisfy everyone. There won’t be honour arguments over who got better food, there won’t be violence over issues of disparity, everyone will be satisfied and the host’s duty will be completed.

So, they got the treasures wrong. In fact, they just subbed out two of them for totally different magical items from different Irish sagas, and then sort of misrepresented the other two. Anyways, continuing.

But one day, The Dagda called the greatest of his children from all the cities and told them of their destiny. For it was not for them to remain by the sacred river Danu but to head to an island where the sun set. Before they went, though, Brigid offered them a warning. They would not be alone on this island. Others would try to make it theirs. With this warning, the Children of the Danu set out for their new home. Bringing with them their four great treasures for protection. Unsure of what they'd find on this Island of Destiny. Or so some say.

None of this happens,the only person who says this is Ellis I presume as it is not at all found in any of the medieval texts. We never get an explanation of why the Túatha Dé leave the Four Cities for Ireland, never gets explained.

Some say they came in a dark cloud from origins unknown and alighted on a mountaintop. Others still say they came from strange cities across the sea. Where they learned science and magical arts and when they arrived they burnt their ships behind them. Wagering all on the conquest of Ireland.

Oh, this is true! Our first factual bits of information here. So, yes, the variation here is actually mentioned in texts! That either the Túatha Dé arrived in ships of mist, or that this was just people misunderstanding that they had burned their ships when they arrived. Though, in both versions they still come from The Four Cities.

As they started to explore the misty plains of Inis Vale they encountered a curious people already living there: the Fir Bolg.

Also known as: relatives of the Túatha Dé Danann, and also the native people of Ireland at this time. So, the Túatha Dé have arrived, and found a bunch of native people living in the island they want, I am sure they will be very polite and get along well. Yeah? Well no, of course not, the Túatha Dé Danann are conquering colonizers, they’re not good people.

The Danu asked for half of Ireland to be theirs to settle and they could live in peace. But the Fir Bolg refused so battle was decided upon.

Firstly, ‘the Danu’? No. That would be like calling the Romans ‘The Romulus.’ Secondly, the Túatha Dé demanded half of Ireland from the Fir Bolg who, understandably, were not entirely okay with just giving up half of their land no questions asked to a foreign bunch of randoms who just rolled up and burned their ships.

LGE says, “They demanded battle or kingship of the Fir Bolg. A battle was fought between them, to wit the first battle of Mag Tuired” which if I am reading this correctly is consistant through the versions. So! The Túatha Dé rolled up, went ‘we demand either that we are in charge of you all [and your lands] or fight us about it.’ Very different.

But just to be clear, battle back then was a lot different to the way we think of it now. This was a matter of honor. The Children of the Danu made spears for the Fir Bolg to use. And the Fir Bolg crafted javelins for the Children of the Danu. They agreed on how many soldiers each side would bring. And where they would do battle. They even agreed on how many days they would fight for.

This is a weird misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the facts. Bres mac Elatha and Sreng meet each other and exchange the demands for Ireland, and then exchange spears with each other in a very homoerotic scene after handling and inspecting each other’s spears.

At this point we start getting into a long description of a battle which I’m going to pick specific things out of to discuss rather than going word for word.

Until the leaders of both sides, Nuada of the Children of the Danu and Sreng for the Fir Bolg, met in the center of the melee.

Sreng is the champion of the current high king of the Fir Bolg at the time, he isn’t the leader of the Fir Bolg. The Fir Bolg king at this time was Eochaid mac Erc.

Then, Sreng landed a titanic strike. His blade cleft through Nuada's shield and severed his right arm in one stroke. Nuada stumbled back, dazed. It looked as though the end had come. Then The Dagda himself intervened and spirited Nuada away.

Yes, Sreng cuts off Nuadu’s hand (or arm. Lám in Old Irish could mean either), but The Dagda isn’t even mentioned in this scene. That’s a super weird detail for Ellis (presumably it was him and not Extra Mythology) to make up.

They took him to Dian Cecht; God of Healing, Lord of Physicians; who crafted him a new arm of pure silver that moved like an arm of flesh and blood.

Also Creidne the smith. Everyone always forgets Creidne and I won’t stand for it.

Now you might think that the Children of the Danu would have quavered at the sight of their leader fallen in front of them. That they would break as their king was smote by the Fir Bolg champion. But, no, Bres, Warrior of the Danu, quick of mind and beautiful of form seized the king's right arm and raised it aloft. Angered by such a sight, the Children of the Danu swore vengeance. And plunged into the Fir Bolg ranks.

This is literally all fictional and I have no idea why Ellis would even make this up.

Finally, the Fir Bolg were all but defeated. 300 Fir Bolg warriors remained. Led by Sreng, their great champion. They took counsel and decided to fight to the last.

So this is sort of weird a) because we are glossing over the fact that in this version the Túatha Dé have essentially committed genocide here, and b) because other Fir Bolg escape this battle.

They quickly chose Bres as their leader for his valor and charm of mind.

So firstly, we don’t mention that now we are dealing with an entirely different text? Well, okay. And also sadly CMT is more misogynistic than this as CMT explains: “There was contention regarding the sovereignty of the men of Ireland between the Túatha Dé and their wives, since Núadu was not eligible for kingship after his hand had been cut off. They said that it would be appropriate for them to give the kingship to Bres the son of Elatha, to their own adopted son, and that giving him the kingship would knit the Fomorians' alliance with them, since his father Elatha mac Delbaith was king of the Fomoire.”

So, bit more complicated and has inter-tribal strife along gendered lines in reality.

But Bres was half Fomorian, a name we've not heard tell of yet in this tale. But we soon will. In his rule he acted more as a Fomorian than as one of the Danu. But, the reign of Bres and the war against the ancient and strange Fomorians is a story for next time.

Okay, again, still, ‘the Danu’ just catches my ear and confuses me every time. Bres has come up in this story before and is an entirely reasonable person, and like, most of the Túatha Dé big-names are part Fomorian. The Dagda, Nuadu, and Ogma are all Bres’ brothers and also sons of Elatha of the Fomori. And, ‘acted more as a Fomorian than as one of the Danu’ is just such a loaded statement. Yes, the Fomorians are raiding slavers who exploit less powerful tribal groups for personal wealth. The Túatha Dé are, shockingly, raiding slavers who exploit less powerful tribal groups and we have just seen them slaughter the indiginous population of Ireland and regulate them to a small portion of their original land. There is no moral connection here, the Fomorians and the Túatha Dé are just supernatural peoples hanging out in Ireland. One isn’t good and one isn’t bad.

Anyways, that’s the end of the first of two videos put out on this. Hopefully I shall do the next one this weekend.

In conclusion, what we see here is just a very strange misrepresentation of the events of LGE and a bit of CMT. Entire scenes are made up, ‘the Danu’ as a sacred river is... absolute nonsense. The idea of a world tree and gods born from acorns is fictional. So much of this is just fictional, an outright lie, or very misleadingly represented that I really cannot recommend this as an introduction to medieval Irish saga literature. I am disappointed that so little care or research was put into this by the Extra Mythology series, where when the original texts are available for free and in translation they instead chose a fictional version of the story made up by a journalist. It is incredibly irresponsible in the least, especially that when contacted the concerns on the accuracy and validity of the story they had told to their audience was brushed away.

Oh well, on to the second half of this story.

#extra mythology #irish mythology #celtic mythology #celtic myth #irish myth #celtic studies #mythology #túatha dé danann

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ayearinfaith · 4 years

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𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟮: 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻

Norse religion, also known as Norse mythology, Norse paganism, Heathenry, and other names, is the collection of mystic traditions, folklore, and other such cultural aspects of pre-Christian North Germanic people, the ancestral peoples of modern day Denmark (Faroe Islands included), Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀, 𝗦𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗼𝗻

Though Scandinavia was among the last parts of Europe to be Christianized, becoming fully Christian around the 12th Century CE, we have precious little direct evidence of the native traditions. The Old Norse people did have written language, the runic Futhark, but lacked the robust literary tradition of the Greeks and Romans, instead preserving their traditions primarily orally. The very earliest attestation of Germanic religion comes from the Roman historian Tacitus in his 1st century CE book, the 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢. This book was likely compiled based on secondhand information about West Germanic peoples, and as such is not a great source for true Norse religion (or even that of the West Germans). It does give us the Roman interpretations of the Germanic gods, the same interpretation upon which the days are named in all Germanic languages, and as such we do know that by this time Germanic people were already worshiping a distinct pantheon from their sun-worshipping Indo-European ancestors (the Romans, by contrast, still worshiped the sky god Jupiter). Between then and the 13th century the record is sparse, the occasional runic inscription or placename, and a few off topic mentions in 11th century history books. The majority of what we now know as Norse mythology come from two sources, both from 13th century Iceland: the Eddas. The “Poetic” Edda is a collection of poetry compiled from several sources, primarily the 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘹 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘶𝘴. Neither the Codex nor the additional poetry has a known author, though it is believed to be more or less authentic transcriptions of oral Icelandic folk (i.e. non-Christian) traditions. The “Prose” Edda is a composition by Snorri Sturluson, a prominent Icelandic lawspeaker, historian, poet, and very much a Christian. Snorri purpose in writing the 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘢 was not to preserve Norse faith but to preserve Icelandic poetic traditions. Snorri believed that without the record of these old fables that the poetic kennings, metaphors, and common sayings would become incomprehensible to future generations. It is Snorri’s Eddic version of Norse mythology that most of us in the modern world have grown up knowing, Snorri’s Thor and Loki that became re-imagined as comic book icons. We do not know how much of his work was authentic, Christianized, or simply made up to fit his fancy, but there is reason to believe a mix of all three. Both Edda’s, and in fact most of the sources listed here, would remain largely unknown and some almost lost until the era or European Romanticism and the “Viking Revival” in the 18th and 19th centuries. This was the culmination of several factors: advances in printing press technology made the spread of books much wider than in prior centuries, the translation of the Eddas into Latin (at the time still the most widespread language of literature in Europe), and a sudden surge of interest in pre-Christian Europe. While this enabled Norse myths to become the pop-culture fixture it is, it also means most “common knowledge” on the subject comes through the lens of enthusiastic but often inaccurate imaginings of what Norse religion was like.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲

Distinctive Germanic faith, at least the version we are familiar with today, probably emerged in the second half of the 1st millennium BCE. We know from linguistic evidence that the familiar figures of Odin, Thor, and others were prominent before the splintering of the Common Germanic language into Western, Northern, and Eastern varieties between the 1st and 3rd century CE. Norse people probably did not think of themselves as having a religion in the Western sense. Instead, they would have viewed their faith in a way quite similar to how many modern Japanese people do with Shinto: their rituals and tales weren’t so much a faith as simply a culture, a definitive feature of Norse-ness and not necessarily incompatible with or exclusionary to other beliefs. This is part of why we have little record; with no centralized houses of worship or canonic texts there was little pressing need for much else than the bardic oral tradition. We do know that Thor has always been popular, from Denmark to Iceland, as his name is a common element in places and personal names and the symbol of his hammer, Mjolnir, is common. Sacrifice was definitely practiced, both of animals and humans. Most attestations we have of ritual human sacrifice come from Christian origins with a clear political agenda, so the specifics can only be guessed at, but archaeological and linguistic evidence definitely supports that it happened. We know that goddesses and other female spirits were important in both North and Western Germanic faith, but the male written histories and male written 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘢 have largely doomed them to obscurity. The number 3, and by extension 9 (3 squared), were auspicious and came up often, for example gods are often depicted in 3’s and the cosmos was divided into 9 realms. A unique feature of the Norse tradition is the separation of the gods into two rival and eventually allied clans; the Æsir and Vanir. Some historians have theorized that this developed from an ancient memory of migration and conflict, a position that feeds into linguistic theories that Germanic languages were effected by a now extinct non-Indo-European language. The word “Æsir” has been shown to be related to the Hindi word “Asura”, an antagonistic class of gods often equated with Greek Titans. Another peculiarity of Norse religion is the position of Thor in the divine hierarchy. Thor has brothers across the Indo-European spectrum: the Greek Zeus, Roman Jupiter, Slavic Perun, and Hindu Indra. All these gods wield lightning and storms, are very popular in their traditional homelands, and fight with serpents or dragons. All of them, except Thor, are also kings among their kind. The Norse uniquely have demoted their storm god below a “new” king, the enigmatic Odin. Norse rituals typically were outdoor affairs and associated with certain features of the landscape. This may be the origin of the term “heathen” which is itself derived from “heath” meaning an open patch of land, though it may also have been coined to parallel the Latin derived “pagan”, which originally simply meant “rural”.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Starting with the aforementioned Romantic “Viking Revival” new traditions of faith in the gods of the Old Norse have risen and fallen. Many of these early movements did not start in Scandinavia but nearby Germany and England, where they were often hand in hand with unfortunate conceptions of Germanic racial supremacy. The Nazi’s, though very much Christian, were keen to adopt many Norse symbols that had been popularized by these movements, most of which collapsed with the Nazi regime. To this day the community of “Germanic Neopagans” are deeply divided on the issue of racism. The term “Heathenry” is more commonly used by non-racist organizations, as it contains no explicit relation to German-ness. Racist organizations are more likely to use such explicit language, and especially enjoy use of the word “folk” (either in English or another Germanic language) and terms similar to “Odinism”. The movements also often struggle with sexism and homophobia, an unfortunate side-effect of the perceive hypermasculinity that is more a result of male romantic idealism than actual Norse culture. One of the larger, less problematic, and more well-known organizations is the Ásatrú, originating in Iceland. The name is literally “Æsir-true”, in the sense of loyalty or allegiance to the Æsir, though the practitioners do venerate spirits and divinities outside of the Æsir as well. Few practitioners, even more organized ones like Ásatrú, have an established dogma or set of canon practices. Similar to the ancestors they emulate, they generally believe that learning, telling, and thinking about legends and taking part in rituals are sufficient guidelines for the practitioner to find their own spiritual and ethical path.

Image Credit: Viking Age (8th-11th century) Runestone G 181 from Gotland, Sweden

#A Year in Faith #Norse Religion #Norse Mythology #Religion #Mythology #day 22

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theoi-crow · 5 years

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Hello! Um, idk how to exactly explain what I want to say, but you seem like a really kind person so I think you will understand. So, I am a 14 year-old-girl that has been a Christian for as long as I rememember. The environment I live is quite religious as well. I didn't have a problem with it for, as you see, I was a kid and didn't think too much of religion in general. ~Um, apparently I reached the world limit so please wait to write the rest in an other ask XD *sorry* ~~

~~um, still me XD~~ But since last May or April, I became interested in the ancient greek culture. I actually DO live in Greece, so it was pretty easy to visit many of the gods' temples and other ancient places. I fell in love with them and, I should not lie, I felt like home around them. You have no idea, how much I wanted to touch the exhibits or walk into the temples. Tho, I didn't think too much of it. ~~ ugh, still have a lot to say. Sorry sorry!! :/ ~~

*again me*While I was on Naxos, the sacred island of Dionysus, I visited the temples of Demeter, Apollo and Dionysus. In the temple of Dionysus, I LOVED the aura around me. Even if it was the most plain in comparison to the other two, I had liked it more. Short after, Dionysus' name was popping on my head all the time, alongside Ariadne. Now, I understood the reason I liked Ariadne; I saw a lot of myself in her. But Dionysus? *oof I AM SORRY, i need an other one*

*I don't exactly remember how, but suddenly for some reason, he started feel more "real". To be short, judging from his followers' post on Tumblr, he was "calling me". "Who me?" I thought. I was not a witch. Nor a pagan. Why? And most importantly why me? You see, I was never the girl who partied a lot, the social, extroverted, confident girl. I was always the shy, introverted, sensitive and insecure girl who would much rather stay at home on Saturday night. *ok, AGAIN i am sorry ;-;*

*There was a time that my intuition told me he was present, in some way I did not understand, in my room. I felt he was talking inside my head. He was gentle I have to say, but I was terrified. TERRIFIED. I had read all the stories about his "madness", and while they seemed cool, being REAL had me spooked. I told him in my head to get out and I almost shakily said that I would never be able to work with him, for the reasons I said. I felt I was not worthy enough for someone like him. *oof, again*

*The last thing I heard him saying was "But you do have a flame of madness. And it is ok to be shy". But you see, those things clashed with my religious beliefs and I called him a demon. I didn't know what to do. I felt so young for all of this. Days after, I had to persuade myself that it was not real. I think that he was trying to reach me more slowly but, again, I was terrified. However, I could not refuse that everytime I thoughg of him I felt more confident and that my anxiety was dying. **

*To finish, even I had tried to sweep it off, even if I never had any other episodes, I kind of felt that some gods' like as Dionysus, Apollo and maybe Aphrodite were watching over me (in the good way). Today, I scrolled through your blog, and I read all the asks you had answered to people sharing simiral experiences and you saying "it is ok to feel scared". Something in your tone made me believe you. The gods didn't feel so scary suddenly. And more real.

-------------------------------------

Disclaimer: I am not Greek, have never been to or lived in Greece which is a completely different country than my own with different rules and history, so the only information I can draw from are the internet, articles, Wikipedia and intuitive nudges from my gods.

Please understand that the advice are all personal opinions and everyone is free to agree/disagree with it. I don't mean to offend anyone who is actually Greek or was raised in Greece. These are all viewpoints from an outsider who works with Greek gods in the USA. So keep that in mind as you continue...

Hello!

Thank you for calling me a kind person, my goal in life is to become a teacher and help as much as I can, so thank you for that. 🤗

There is no need to be afraid but I understand why you are nervous. The gods are reaching out to you and it's a new experience.

From what I've read, Greece seems to be going through a spiritual transition. We're talking about a place where having "Greek Orthodox" as a religion labeled on your I.D was mandatory until 2001: (LINK)

I also noticed that the separation of church and state has been a very aggressive issue and fought in Greece for the last 10 years. Just a couple of years ago the Hellenic Polytheist religion dubbed Hellenismos was officially recognized by Greece in 2017: (LINK)

Needless to say, things are happening in Greece (and all across Europe, the West and the world.)

This spiritual turmoil is intense. Your feelings are valid.

You are loved and the gods understand.

The reason why it took me so long to reply to this ask was because Apollo wanted me to tread lightly on how I would reply given that you live in Greece and are 14.

I have been told that Greece is a spiritually charged place. You can feel the gods there, but it's not a safe place to be out and about as a Hellenic Polytheist: (LINK)

But there's hope! More and more Greeks are beginning to worship the gods (especially younger Greeks like you): (LINK)

Because you posted a lot of information, I'm going to quote you and reply to that just so I can be sure to really answer any questions that could be bothering you or things you could be wondering about (I apologize if it gets very literal but I want to make sure to give you as much information as possible so you can make a more informed decision):

"since last May or April, I became interested in the ancient greek culture. I actually DO live in Greece, so it was pretty easy to visit many of the gods' temples and other ancient places."

Greece is a very spiritual place and the gods still live and visit their own temples because even though the majority of Greece is now Christian, I'm told they still have a very special place in the Greeks' heart and culture.

The gods know about the religious politics that no longer worship them in a religious setting but they stay with their Greek people through stories and customs.

My classical studies teacher says that although the majority of Greeks no longer worship the gods, they still value them and are defensive of them. She went to the Theater of Epidaurus by Asclepios' Temple. In the theater there is a special section traditionally reserved for the gods and seen as a kind of altar to them. When she was there, one of the actors stepped on it and got booed off of it by the Greek viewers who were deeply offended.

These reactions warm my heart because you can tell that even if they are no longer viewed as a worshipping option, they still care about the gods.

I sense the gods also go to their temples to hangout with, not only the locals, but curious tourists, Mythology fans, history buffs and Hellenic polytheist visitors.

A lot of pagans who worship them go to Greece on a pilgrimage to visit their gods (like me and my wife who will be visiting Athens this coming January.)

"I fell in love with them and, I should not lie, I felt like home around them. You have no idea, how much I wanted to touch the exhibits or walk into the temples."

I sense they have been watching you and as much as you wanted to touch the exhibits and walk in their temples, they wanted to further connect with you.

You are very important to them and feel like you are home because you are, you are connecting with gods who are older than Christianity. Gods who have been around for so long and have been worshipped by your ancestors. Ancestral connections can be very strong.

"While I was on Naxos, the sacred island of Dionysus, I visited the temples of Demeter, Apollo and Dionysus. In the temple of Dionysus, I LOVED the aura around me. Even if it was the most plain in comparison to the other two, I had liked it more."

I feel like Naxos is sacred to him, so it makes sense for him to be more present. A lot of Apollo followers who have visited Greece say they can feel Apollo the most in Delos.

"Short after, Dionysus' name was popping on my head all the time, alongside Ariadne. Now, I understood the reason I liked Ariadne; I saw a lot of myself in her........why me? You see, I was never the girl who partied a lot, the social, extroverted, confident girl. I was always the shy, introverted, sensitive and insecure girl who would much rather stay at home on Saturday night."

You said it yourself: "Now, I understood the reason I liked Ariadne; I saw a lot of myself in her" sometimes the gods like us because we remind them of those they love. For example, I know Aphrodite first began to love me because I reminded her of a tiny version of Ares. I was aggressive and when it came to fight or flight, I always chose to fight.

Sometimes the gods connect with us because we need them and they are trying to help us become a better version of ourselves. When I first met Aphrodite, you could mop the floor with my self esteem. Now, I am better about loving myself and teaching others to love themselves too.

Sometimes there's a previous connection. When I first met Ares he told me my ancestors knew him as Mars. My real last name is Roman and it literally translates to "Child of Mars." There is a lot of Roman and some ancient Greek in my ancestry (it's not necessary to have Greek in your ancestry to worship the gods but your ancestry can be the source of your connection).

Ask Dionysus directly and give him time to respond. You may be surprised with what he tells you.

"I don't exactly remember how, but suddenly for some reason, he started feel more "real". To me short, judging from his followers' post on Tumblr, he was "calling me"."

The gods are unique in the sense that they are portrayed as fictional characters because they are in timeless legends and myths, and so beloved that they have been readapted countless times like wheat that has gone through so many processing procedures, that it no longer looks like wheat.

It's easy to forget that these are gods that were once worshipped by Nations, empires and can be found in the Bible as the "false idols" of Kings who tried to get rid of Christ or oppress Jewish people.

The gods became nameless beings in cultural ceremonies you no longer understand but still do because they are now apart of your heritage, for example: in my culture we celebrate day of the Dead which was originally an Aztec tradition that didn't venerate the Dead but worshipped the queen of the underworld. Our own version of Persephone. The Spanish tried to erase her and put a Catholic spin when they couldn't get rid of the tradition and it worked but those who work with La Santa Muerte now, recognize it as her holiday because they know it originally was: (LINK)

So it's not that the gods were once fake but you are now beginning to recognize them in your own culture and traditions.

"There was a time that my intuition told me he was present, in some way I did not understand, in my room. I felt he was talking inside my head."

Those are Godphone moments. Feeling the gods, sensing them with your energy. Hearing them talk in your head. Those are all the methods I use to hear the gods. I sense the energy shift. He was definitely present. And he was definitely talking.

"He was gentle I have to say, but I was terrified. TERRIFIED. I had read all the stories about his "madness", and while they seemed cool, being REAL had me spooked."

The gods always know how to best approach their new or potential followers. Apollo is very gentle when he interacts with my wife because he knows they react best when he's gentle. He's very stern with me because he knows I work best under pressure.

The part about him having you spooked because of his "madness" reminds me of when I was 12 and I learned that my "imaginary friend" was actually the "blood thirsty" god of war, Ares. Him being real had me spooked. Even though he had been teaching me how to fight and survive since I was 5, I called him a demon and told him I didn't want to work with him because of this one dimensional idea I had read about him versus his actual personality as an amazing father and protector. He's playful and very lovable.

The myths can help us with gods but they are written by flawed humans who don't understand the complex nature of the gods. Everything you've learned about Dionysus is 4% of what survived history. And a lot of that 4% has been tainted and rewritten by the Romans and Christian monks trying to demonize the gods or make them look bad.

A lot of Apollo myths will have you believe he is a monster who likes to chase women and smite unfortunate beings who look at him but his actual followers know he's nothing like this. To me, he's cool and collected, loves reason and philosophy. The best way to learn about a god is by researching their information, epithets, followers and working with them.

Here is a list of Dionysus followers compiled by @thepastelpriestess : (LINK)

"I told him in my head to get out and I almost shakily said that I would never be able to work with him, for the reasons I said. I felt I was not worthy enough for someone like him......"

"Not worthy enough" is a problematic feeling a lot of followers have. I see this a lot amongst potential Aphrodite followers who are confused as to why the goddess of beauty would want to work with them when they feel they look ugly. The gods know what they are doing and they know you are worth so much more than you realize.

"The last thing I heard him saying was "But you do have a flame of madness. And it is ok to be shy".

He would! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh I love Dionysus!!! He's such an inspiring god! And he's right. There is something about you he loves and it is 100% okay to be shy.

"But you see, those things clashed with my religious beliefs and I called him a demon. I didn't know what to do. I felt so young for all of this."

He understands you were scared when you called him that. He knows because a lot of gods are portrayed as demons in the Bible. He knows you were scared and if you ever feel like contacting him and working with him, know he is available and will gladly do so.

I called Ares a demon when I was 12 and didn't talk to him for 15+ years. When I finally did, he immediately forgave me, said I was little and ask was forgiven because I was speaking out of fear and fear is confusion. You have every right to go about ignoring the gods and continuing your family's religion but if you change your mind, Dionysus and the gods will be there.

"Days after, I had to persuade myself that it was not real. I think that he was trying to reach me more slowly but, again, I was terrified."

Awww he knew you were scared so he was giving you time and reaching out to you occasionally.

"However, I could not refuse that everytime I thoughg of him I felt more confident and that my anxiety was dying."

Dionysus is AMAZING when it comes to fighting anxiety. In ancient Greece he helped people (especially women) overcome societal rules and follow him. Just like how he causes madness,he also helps others heal from it and since anxiety can be a type of madness caused by fear, he is definitely helping. And that may be why he wanted to work with you.

"To finish, even I had tried to sweep it off, even if I never had any other episodes, I kind of felt that some gods' like as Dionysus, Apollo and maybe Aphrodite were watching over me (in the good way)."

They are.

Apollo has been helping me answer this ask because he knows you are nervous and wants to let you know that whatever you choose it's okay. Even if you silently honer the gods in cultural settings with traditional events, they are and will continue to be with you.

They love you.

"Today, I scrolled through your blog, and I read all the asks you had answered to people sharing simiral experiences and you saying "it is ok to feel scared". Something in your tone made me believe you. The gods didn't feel so scary suddenly. And more real."

It is 100% okay to feel scared. And it is okay if you decide you'd rather not work with the gods at this time. They understand. They still love you, but they understand.

Just your curiosity was enough to make them come down and introduce themselves to you. You matter to them and no matter what you choose, they will be there for you.

I hope this helps.

May the gods remind you of your roots, remind you of your power and remind you of their love because they will always be with you.

#dionysus deity #Dionysus #Greek gods #hellenic deities #hellenic polytheism #rosegoldtunic asks #long post

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