#buddhist pagan

[the-spiderweb]

Friendly reminder that anything you do for holidays is valid! A lot of pagan holidays, and holidays in general, are coming up very fast and you may feel guilty for not participating as much as you'd hoped but it's fine! Any amount of prep or practice you do is enough! There is no one way to practice and sometimes, the best way to celebrate a holiday is to take a break

There's always a lot of talk about holidays and how people are going to celebrate on the day. Don't feel pressured to have your own plans.

[chelledoggo]

there's too much animosity towards queer people who want to practice their faith/spirituality, both within their respective religions and within the LGBTQIA+ community.

we need to protect and lift up our queer siblings of faith.

our queer Christians.

our queer Jews.

our queer Muslims.

our queer Hindus.

our queer Buddhists.

our queer Sikhs.

our queer Baháʼís.

our queer Wiccans/Pagans.

our queer Shintos.

our queer siblings of indigenous/folk faiths.

our queer SBNR siblings.

our queer siblings of whatever religion/spiritual systems they observe.

you're all beautiful and valid and loved and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 💖

[v-4-l-0-n]

Friendly reminder that if your feminism doesn’t include woc, queer women, trans women, disabled women, women of any religion, or sex workers then your “feminism” is shit <3

[troutfur]

This is probably more on-topic for my Buddhism-specific blog, but the Dharma sentiment expressed in this video is also a big part of what drives me to engage with the xenofiction genre, which is what this blog sometimes more broadly slips into being, so I thought pertinent to share:

[diaday333]

Hello everyone! So I’ve noticed a somewhat lack of safe spaces online for queer, religious people. So I wanted to fill that void! Here’s a server for queer religious people ! It’s for people of all kinds of faiths. Enjoy ❤️

[teenageascetic]

“Behold but One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray.” -Kabir

“That this insight into the nature of things and the origin of good and evil is not confined exclusively to the saint, but is recognized obscurely by every human being, is proved by the very structure of our language. For language, as Richard Trench pointed out long ago, is often "wiser, not merely than the vulgar, but even than the wisest of those who speak it. Sometimes it locks up truths which were once well known but have been forgotten. In other cases it holds the germs of truths which, though they were never plainly discerned, the genius of its framers caught a glimpse of in a happy moment of divination.” For example, how significant it is that in the Indo-European languages, such as Darmsteter has pointed out, the root meaning "two" should connote badness.

The Greek prefix dys- (as in dyspepsia) and the Latin dis-(as in dishonorable) are both derived from "duo." The cognate bis- gives a pejorative sense to such modern French words as bévue ("blunder," literally "two-sight"). Traces of that "second which leads you astray" can be found in "dubious," "doubt" and Zweifel-for to doubt is to be double-minded. Bunyan has his Mr. Facing-both-ways, and modern American slang its "two-timers." Obscurely and unconsciously wise, our language confirms the findings of the mystics and proclaims the essential badness of division—a word, incidentally, in which our old enemy "two" makes another decisive appearance.

Here it may be remarked that the cult of unity on the political level is only an idolatrous ersatz for the genuine religion of unity on the personal and spiritual levels. Totalitarian regimes justify their existence by means of a philosophy of political monism, according to which the state is God on earth, unification under the heel of the divine state is salvation, and all means to such unification, however intrinsically wicked, are right and may be used without scruple. This political monism leads in practice to excessive privilege and power for the few and oppression for the many, to discontent at home and war abroad. But excessive privilege and power are standing temptations to pride, greed, vanity and cruelty; oppression results in fear and envy; war breeds hatred, misery and despair. All such negative emotions are fatal to the spiritual life. Only the pure in heart and poor in spirit can come to the unitive knowledge of God. Hence, the attempt to impose more unity upon societies than their individual members are ready for makes it psychologically almost impossible for those individuals to realize their unity with the divine Ground and with one another.”

-Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy.

[moonfableflor]

School choirs shouldn't be allowed to force people to sing songs about Christianity, I've had to sing the Hallelujah Chorus, some stupid Mary and Jesus song medley, and now a song about Moses fighting for holiness or whatever – and the only non-christian songs we've had to sing that have to do with any culture whatsoever are African and Jewish. And the teacher hooked that he'd wear a menorah on his head while conducting the Mary-Jesus song medley. He's repeatedly said that you don't have to believe anything you're singing but only about the non-christian ones, the christian ones he'd always like 'yeah!! put some energy into it!! don't you just love this song?!!' I'm pretty sure that's not exactly fit for a school environment bestie

[buddhistmusings]

Why Buddhism?

Often, I am asked why I decided to convert to Buddhism. The answer to this question is, of course, complex and requires a degree of explanation.

I have always had an interest in religion and philosophy. I found that Christianity failed to answer most of the questions I had about the world around me - and growing up in conservative America, it was regarded as the default. Also, as a member of the LGBT community, I found myself alienated from Christianity. Though I never was a Christian, I knew and understood that it was not going to be a welcoming place for me to explore my beliefs.

I began to explore alternative spiritualities like witchcraft and Wicca, and felt quite welcome in those circles. They were Queer-positive and provided a meaningful alternative to the Christian-centric world I was growing up in. It was in this time that I cultivated an interest in the practice of meditation.

This interest would introduce me to the world of Asian philosophy. I familiarized myself first with Yoga and some Hindu perspectives, and from there began to learn about Buddhism.

I was enthralled by the teachings (Dhamma) of the Buddha. I found that his explanations and Buddhist practices suited my life perfectly. The Dhamma gave me the tools I needed to help soothe my mental illness, motivated me to act with more kindness and love, all while providing me with a satisfying lifelong intellectual pursuit. I wanted to create a blog to share my thoughts and feelings about these teachings and how they relate to the other religions and philosophies of the world. I hope that I garner an audience who enjoys reading my thoughts.

[hillbillyoracle]

Simple Celebrations for Holidays

Please pardon the autoimmune brain fog haze I'm writing from, but I wanted to pass along what I wish I could go back in time and tell myself about planning holidays. Especially for those holidays I skipped when I didn't have friends to celebrate it with because it's totally possible to have a fun meaningful holiday without anyone celebrating with you.

When I was younger, I think I felt like solo holidays didn't count and for the ones I didn't grow up with I always felt like I wasn't doing enough. But I realize now it's so much more about what is enough to you personally and lowering your enough bar to meet what you're reasonably able to do is where the magic happens.

I also think I thought that most of the holiday had to be based in tradition or spirituality - and I will say it's great when that's an option - but I realize now that even historically that only made up a portion of a given holiday to most lay folks, not the entire thing.

Why Celebrate Holidays

You definitely don't have to be any means. I spent many years barely celebrating most holidays and wasn't adversely impacted.

But I will say as I've gotten older and adult life itself isn't quite as exciting, novel, or interesting as it once was, holidays are really nice for differentiating the time. Especially when you do something a little different from year to year it really helps to mark out which era was which. If you're younger, that might sound silly to not be able to tell the years apart but they really do start to bleed together as you get older.

Historically, people still celebrated holidays even in terrible circumstances. It gave them something to do, a way back into the rhythm of their lives, a connection to the past, present, and future. In all the chaos we're living through right now, holidays offer us the same. A little way to take some control back and connect us even when we're apart.

Also, if you're anything like me, sometimes you need a reason to get up and treat yourself because it's not something you're great at otherwise.

Pick 1 or 2 things to Cook

Bonus points if these are variations you switch up each holiday. I've been fucking loving making bundt cakes for each occasion. Pick a seasonal ingredient to feature.

Low energy? Pick a convenience food or take out that contains the seasonal ingredient or seems appropriate in some way. Our go to Epiphany meal for many years has been take out from our favorite Indian place.

Pick 1 or 2 Spiritual Activities

My go to are tarot readings and feeding spirits. If the land is active, I try to feed the land spirits outside. If the land is dormant, I focus on house spirits and ancestors. For All Souls Day or the Octave of it, we've been going to a Catholic cemetery and saying a rosary for the souls in purgatory.

Prayers, votives and petitions, some types of spell work, casting astrological charts, local folk traditions for good luck and protection, and deity work are all things I've used at some point or another.

Pick 1 or 2 Fun Seasonal Activities

I think getting outside in some way is one of the most straight forward ways to celebrate this one. There's something about just going on a long walk and seeing what the land is doing that really sets the tone. Leaf collecting and pressing is a fun one to do in fall. Flower pressing is fun in spring. Taking pictures of what you see is a treat too.

Games are a good one for this. There's a lot of affordable and fun solo table top games so even if you're celebrating alone there are options. And of course, me being me, I like seasonal solo RPGs when I'm able to decide on one; they're especially fun for the winter holidays when it's harder to get outside. I like to get off of screens but some videos games are thematically appropriate or may even have holiday events - Animal Crossing is one.

Low energy? A book, show, or movie that reflects the season or holiday meaning is a great option. I've been collecting and doing puzzles with seasonal images on them. It doesn't take a lot of brain power for me to do them. Small ones are quick to do and relatively cheap to pick up.

Bonus: If you're able, donate or volunteer.

This could be to a relevant org or just an individual who needs it. Consider writing and sending a letter for a program like Letters Against Isolation or the World Needs More Love Letters.

Bonus: Decorations

I like to bring cuttings and things I've collected on my long walks inside when I can. Origami decorations are pretty accessible and fun to make. I've decorated with handwriting my favorite seasonal poems and putting them up. 7 day candles are fairly cheap to pick up (our Dollar Tree has them) and easy to decorate and serve as a focal point.

Other Tips

Especially if you're celebrating solo, take pictures. It can be tough for holidays to feel like proper occasions when there's not other people to celebrate with but creating memories and reflecting on them afterwards is one of the main joys when I've celebrated solo. Even if you don't share the pictures, having them to look back on really solidify the memories for me. I also like journaling throughout the day for the same reason.

Small splurges add up. Back when I lived in places that actually had bathtubs (I don't know what my family has against bath tubs but there basically are none in this house) - I made a point to take a nice long bath on holidays. Even If just did that, had a nice meal, pulled some cards, and watched themed movie, it really would feel like something special after the fact since I rarely do all of those things together.

Doing something better than doing nothing. Whatever you choose to do counts. Start small and build traditions up year to year.

Example: Lughnasadh

My current plan for Lughnasadh is:

Cook: Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Cook: A dish involving corn, the only local grain-ish I can eat

Spiritual: Tarot Readings

Spiritual: Feed the land spirits (preferably at dusk)

Fun: Long walk

Fun: Board games - specifically some of the ones I have with dice

Fun: (low energy alt) rewatch Tangled and do a puzzle

Donate: Child's Play Charity

Decoration: Cuttings from herbs that have flowered, maybe corn husk dolls or the like.

Conclusion

This is obviously pretty simple on the whole, but you could easily scale up form here - and I have over the years. But this is what I had to start with in order to be able to add in new traditions that I both liked and were manageable.

Hope this gives some folks some ideas. You deserve a nice little holiday even if you're celebrating all alone.

[the-spiderweb]

Ancestor Work

Ancestor work is all about connecting with yourself and your culture! Thus, a good start into it is the food. Food has always brought people together and is a huge signifier of someone’s culture since there are so many varieties of food spanning so many cultures. Personally, I have been doing this by looking at old family recipes that have been passed from ancestors into the modern age. It is the easiest and fastest way to make sure your culture stays alive in some way. If you don’t have old family recipes to look at, you can find recipes online from those that share your culture. It’s not quite the same but it’s a step in the right direction

The next step I would personally take is familiarizing yourself with any mythology or folklore of the culture. Looking into what impacted the culture, why and how they ended up the way they did, their cultural boogeyman, anything about the primary religion(s), holidays, anything you can think of that links to the folklore. For me, this meant familiarizing myself with the history of important holidays, figuring out how Catholicism impacted how they addressed certain happenings, any stories commonly told to kids. I was lucky enough to have my culture survive through to me, although some of the same culture didn’t have that, so I don’t have to dig too hard to find this.

From there, you can look at the history and traditions of the peoples. Looking deeper into your roots can be very beneficial here, just seeing how far back you can track your lineage would be huge. It can show you a little more of where you come from and give you more clues as to what the lives of these ancestors were like. Again, I am incredibly lucky to have this already done for me, my grandparents took it upon themselves to trace back their lineage as far back as the possibly could. Through just birth records, I can see the passage my ancestors took to get to Louisiana, they had a baby born in Alabama and the next was in Eunice. I can see that my ancestors were very wealthy, they had a good amount of land and prospects in Nova Scotia and it came with them. My family actually owns about half of the land that Eunice currently stands on! Most of that land is neighborhood now but it is incredibly fascinating to learn about. 

Final step is to just follow any loose threads or vague references. Follow insticts and your ancestors will guide you on this journey. More personal experience, but while I was choosing names, I found myself trying to change my last name to an older family name. There were a lot to choose from and it ultimately came down to what I believed sounded the nicest with the rest of my name. 

Safe Travels and Blessed Be! Remember to look after yourself and feel free to add anything you feel is important or that I skipped!

[saryoak]

Naga Panchami

Today is Naga Panchami

This is a holiday celebrated by people of many faiths and paths, most notably Hindus Jains and Buddhists.  It’s a day marking the worship of snakes, which are associated with the mystical naga beings. A figure of a snake, naga or snake deity, usually made of silver wood or stone is given a milk bath, and asked for blessings for the welfare of the worshipper’s family.  Live snakes are also worshipped today, especially cobras, and are given milk as offerings, also sweets, flowers, lamps are lit etc.  Worshippers also fast today as that is believed to be helpful in ssurviving a snake bite, digging in the ground is also taboo because snakes should not be disturbed underground on this day.  This following mantra (roughly translated) is repeated to the snakes and the idols when being bathed  Let all be blessed by the snake goddess, let everyone obtain peace Let all live peacefully without any turbulence. I reverently invoke the nine principle Nag: Ananta, Vasuki, Shesha, Padmanabha, Kambala, Shankhapala, Dhritarashtra, Takshaka and Kaliya. If prayed to daily in the morning, these illustrious Nag will keep one protected from all evils and help one become victorious in life.

[fragmentsovenjoyment]

[lunamonroe]

Internal Illumination

Written by: Luna Monroe

O Lightbringer,

Illuminate the path with thine celestial glow,

Spread thine enlightenment to and fro,

Guiding souls through darkness' ebb and flow,

Thine light illuminates me whenever I shall go

In thine radiance, shadows cease to grow,

With thee I shall never feel low.

In thine presence, my spirit's colors glow.

Thine brilliance, a beacon, forever aglow

[monkemischief]

As an ordained priest, I have the authority to say;

God doesn't care if you're Gay, Trans, Ace, Aro, Straight, Cis, Questioning, or even just plain stupid. So long as you aren't a raging dickhead, God still loves you.

And if you don't believe in him, then the people around you hopefully do too. And if they don't, (how dare they,) I do. Have a nice evening, and if that's not possible, have a safe one.

[artsyaech]

happy international asexuality day to:

[PT: happy international asexuality day to:]

asexual men, y’all are so underrepresented

asexual women, you’re not “prudes”

genderqueer / non-binary asexuals, you exist

asexual trans men, you don’t deserve infantilization

asexual trans women, you’re not “just a f3tish”

asexual cis men, your existence isn’t “sad”

asexual cis women, you do NOT just exist to have babies (but if you want to have children, that’s just as valid)

asexuals who don’t experience any sexual attraction, you’re not a “stereotype”

asexuals who experience any amount sexual attraction, you’re not “faking it”

demisexuals

gray-asexuals

asexuals with a high libido

asexuals who don’t label themselves

asexuals who use many labels

asexuals who use microlabels

asexuals who are shy, you’re not a stereotype

asexuals who are outgoing, you’re not pretending

christian asexuals, you’re not “just celibate”

jewish asexuals, your existence is NOT inherently sexual

muslim asexuals, Allah loves you just as much as anyone else

hindu asexuals, your deities respect you

asexual buddhists, kindness will protect you

asexual pagans, (me!!) remember to cherish every moment

asexuals who are in the closet

out and proud asexuals

alloromantic asexuals

aromantic asexuals

aplatonic asexuals

acespecs who don’t identify with the term asexual

every asexual! y’all are so epic!!