#but I am ultimately subject to whatever the ADHD decides. I hope if I take a break from this that I do come back to finish my other pieces

[jackgoodfellow]

More WIPs from a project that was supposed to be a quick joke and is now A Whole Thing!

Here is a preliminary Hikari, and Samo's big brother! He has also escaped his genre, and he is not aware that most of the things he says sound incredibly threatening! Although only Hikari seems to notice anyway. (Luckily for Hikari, he really is a nice guy!)

@adamofingolstadt - a Hikari for you! 😊

[sleeplessvalley]

actually you know what. that post reminded me of something and uhhhh

buckle up it's time for me rambling about splat2n stuff (mostly oe) and a bit of something else as well though it won't be getting stated directly.

this has a whole lotta headcanons, and a lot of it is put down in a jumble bc I have adhd and am completely incapable of putting things down in a way that makes sense to everyone else and not just to me. aNYWAYS

I've seen a couple posts from a while ago about how the japanese and the english versions of tartar's dialogue imply different things? something about how like... in the japanese version he actually comes across as having legitimate reasons for wanting to destroy the world and start anew, something something I don't feel like finding the post tbh and it's actually been a bit since I've read it myself so I'm probably not 100% correct on it.

anyways if you've known me for long enough or have been following this blog for a while you'll know that I am OBSESSED with this bastard telephone. to the point that I have about 15 different versions of him and apparently am not showing any signs of stopping.

so, to recap very quickly:

Commander Tartar is an AI created by a human scientist referred to only as "the professor" 12,000 years before the events of Splatoon 2. Its purpose was to pass down all of humanity's knowledge to the next capable species. The professor's intention to do so was to prevent the next intelligent species from repeating the same mistakes that lead humanity to extinction. However, due to spending all those millennia isolated and alone, the AI's thought process ended up going in a different direction.

Commander Tartar initially saw hope in the Inklings and Octarians, but eventually became repulsed by their evolution, needless wars, and fashion obsession, ultimately concluding that they were unfit for its knowledge and reprogramming itself to create a new form of life that would be worthy of its patronage, while annihilating the existing lifeforms on Earth.

taken directly from the wiki, because I am also not in the mood to summarize myself (despite knowing all this very, very well)

honestly? I don't think tartar hated cephalokind.

I think he loved them too much.

think about it for a sec. this is a sentient AI that was created by a professor that didn't want the next lifeforms to become extinct just like humans did. assuming that the professor treated tartar exactly like a fellow human, he went on to spend the next 10,000 years alone. and he had so much time to think.

humans became extinct because of the rising water levels. what caused that? for the sake of sticking with the whole water thing we'll say global warming. what caused global warming? many things, one of the most notable being the burning of fossil fuels in the industry. why does that happen? one could amount it to the industrial revolution. and the industrial revolution also contributed to wars.

an AI that was created to pass on humanity's knowledge would probably also be able to access all these things- and more- whenever it wanted, and 10,000 years is a long time. tartar probably read over so many things so many times and eventually reached his own conclusions about what the best things to tell the next lifeforms NOT to do would be.

and then the mollusc era started. tartar, from wherever he was, was able to watch the mollusc era from the moment it began, was able to watch cephalokind grow and develop at a rate that was equal to how humans developed, was able to have hope for the first time in years.

that hope was gone once the Great Turf War started.

things had been going so well; despite the water levels rising some, cephalokind was flourishing. everyone got along (more or less. someday I might get into salmonid stuff more but that day isn't today) and technology was advancing in ways humanity wasn't able to achieve. and then it hit the point that there was a shortage of land, and war broke out.

tartar spend 12,000 years waiting; 10,000 were spent in complete isolation, 1,900 were spent watching cephalokind grow, and for this I'm going to say that the last 100 years were spent doing all that stuff that happens in the octo expansion (and by this I mean creating the metro, having all those test subjects, agent 8, right up until destruction). honestly if we take the date the og splatoon came out (may 28th, 2015) we can argue that the great turf war is meant to parallel our WWI, especially if the calendar was recreated during the mollusc era because then the dates are... actually eerily similar:

if we take may 28th, 2015 and take away 100 years that gives us may 28th, 1915

WWI started july 28th, 1914, and ended november 11th, 1918

may 28th, 1915 literally lands in the middle of our WWI

I mean COME ON. that's uncanny.

back to my main point: the industrial revolution contributed to wars and also to the burning of fossil fuels, which contributed to global warming, which contributed to rising water levels.

tartar is watching all this happen just like it did to humanity (except slightly out of order), and to make things worse, not only are inklings more concerned with fashion, once the great turf war is over inklings start playing turf war for fun. one could also say that the splatfests are actually worse than turf war, because it forces inklings to pick a side and then fight for it- everyone wins something if they participate, but the losing team also has to accept that the winning team's side is better according to... whatever splatfest law it is.

---

(kind of off-track, but this also kind of parallels something in the great turf war as stated in the sunken scrolls, which I've pulled the summary of from the wiki as well:

[...] and the Inklings' victory over the Octarians was most likely due to their superior number of limbs.

there was another bit to this, but I can't find it. I remember some stuff about this being stated to be propaganda though.)

---

assuming tartar loved humanity, he also grew to love cephalokind for the same reasons (something like how a mother will get attached to the baby growing inside her even if that child is going to get adopted for some reason or other). and he didn't want to see another species go extinct just like humans did. so what does he do? he decides to destroy the world, and start over by finding capable cephalopods and unifying them (the primordial ooze from which the ultimate lifeform will emerge. I think that's how the line went, anyway.) so that it won't have to happen like that

everyone can just... not have to worry about failing to live a long life. everyone can be happy, and have their place in the world, and love one another.

if you think about it all at once? it seems sort of extreme. but also: we're human. if we have a friend going down the wrong path/in trouble or a family member or pet or- I don't know, some material object- we tend to go to extremes to help sometimes. and if you're raised by a human, even if you're different, you might do the same thing

[rubberduckyrye]

Sorry that it took me a while to get to these; I’ve been very low energy and am still low energy so apologies for that!

As for Marie, her real name is Olivia (her stage name is Marie Annette) and yes, it’s a pun, because she is the Ultimate Marionettist. You can ask more about her @aroseandapen since she is L’s muse.

However, Marie’s plot wasn’t created so she could run away from the consequences of her actions--in actuality, they’re much more sinister. You see, the basic idea we have right now is that a certain someone knew about the chapter 3 blackened before they murdered the second victim, but was being blackmailed into silence--because they had a secret they would rather die for than let get loose. However, this lead to Marie’s friend/lover/family/whatever idk we haven’t decided that part yet, get killed as the second victim. After learning about that person’s involvement, Marie gets furious and blames them, but everyone pretty much forgives them once they understand. All but Jaden, who while he does understand their motives, also understands that Marie is still hurt by them and it did cause the death of someone else, and at least had mixed feelings about it and made the mistake of expressing this to Marie.

That was a huge mistake, because Marie then decided that everyone but Jaden should live, and then she was presented with the opportunity to force Jaden into a blackened role. She then makes sure he couldn’t communicate the fact that he was he blackened (as he tried to leave evidence in the form of his glasses at the crime scene, but Marie figured him out quickly and ordered him not to be sneaky about it and not let anyone know) and yeah. Marie basically made Jaden into a blackened not to escape from punishment, but to punish everyone (including herself) and let Jaden go free.

This, of course, backfires, but that’s probably why Marie had Jaden kill that specific classmate. Because at least that person would be dead if her plan failed.

The worst part is that Marie is a pretty good person before this, too, which makes the betrayal so much more impactful.

I can give you a little backstory on Adrian, Jaden, and Irene if you like! I have those written out, so;

Adrian Blanc, the Ultimate Dilettante;

Adrian’s life was pretty mundane and average. They grew up in the middle class, had a normal life with their normal family and normal friends. There was nothing extra ordinary about them, nothing to report. The only thing that caught anyone’s attention, in fact, was how intelligent and sharp Adrian was.

Adrian has the Ultimate Analysis ability, and with their ADHD, tend to hyperfixate on different subjects of all kinds (I.E. Art, music, writing, math, science, mechanics, you name it)  but before they could master any skill, Adrian would always give up, claiming that they had grown too bored of the trade to continue. Adrian became known in their little town as “the renaissance child” or “the jack of all trades,” and would often take on small jobs and favors from neighbors to complete a mundane task. However, they were never talented enough to get a stable job from professionals of the craft, being told that their mediocre skills weren’t enough to qualify for anything.

One day, Adrian’s popularity in their hometown got out to the bigger name cities, and they were asked to star on a talk show and display their many mediocre talents.

Impressed by their wide array of skills, the American Ultimate Initiative contacted Adrian to ask them if they wanted to attend the American Hope’s Peak Academy as “The Ultimate Dilettante.” Hesitantly, Adrian agreed, though is uncomfortable with their title.

Adrian is insecure over their lack of mastering any single talent, and feels as if their “Ultimate Title” can feel like someone was mocking them for it. After all, in the modern professional world, a “Jack of all trades” was pretty useless.

Jaden Holland, the Ultimate Digital Artist;

The Holland family is a black, progressive family that consists of Jaden’s mother (Agatha), Jaden’s elder sister (Jayleen), Jaden’s elder brother (Glenn) and Jaden himself, and a small dog named Juniper. (You can ask L more about Jayleen and Glenn)

Jaden’s father left their family when Jaden was just born, so his mother and his elder sister were the ones who mostly raised Glenn and Jaden. With Agatha working in the police force and their overall family ideals being liberal, Jaden grew up more socially aware and expressive early on. However, when he was a young child, Jaden was attacked by a large mixed breed stray dog, which left grotesque scars on his neck and unable to use his vocal chords. Ever since, he has been wearing high-collared shirts and turtle necks to hide them, embarrassed and ashamed of the scars. He also found that whispering could be painful at times, so he and his family learned sign language.

Aside from that traumatic event, Jaden lived a relatively calm life, and he took interest in digital art soon after the attack. He begged his mother for a pen tablet, and kick started his talent in the digital arts. Jaden has posted over one-thousand pieces of art under the user “Silenced-Arts.” He became quite a popular artist over time, and soon, he was written about in newspapers and online articles as “the boy who can paint a photo,” which was a reference to Jaden’s typical art style being hyper-realistic paintings of surreal scenes that people often would often mistake as photos or edited photos. This caused a bit of controversy until Jaden learned how to use Hypercam and other screen-recording software, and posted various drawing videos that immediately made him an even more popular artist on youtube and all over the web.

Jaden expanded his skills to different forms of digital art, such as 3D modeling and 2D/3D animation. However, he is most comfortable and skilled with painting and drawing.

His skills and talent grew until finally, just before his second year of high school, Jaden was scouted by the American Hopes Peak Academy as the Ultimate Digital Artist for a student film that was all animated but was 100% painted and hyper realistic.

Jaden has a special pair of gloves made by “A friend of a friend” (hint: It Miu) that has special sensors that can translate his signing to American English, and has a speaker that projects a voice resting in his breast pocket. This idea is loosely based off of this amazing keyboard “glove” where each unique hand gesture represents a unique letter. It relies on the same principle, except using ASL gestures and a blue tooth “text to speech” speaker. The speaker sounds as fluid and human as K1-B0’s voice, and the gloves have sensors to change the “tone” of his voice and mimic the emotion he wants to convey. (Jaden has the bonus of being able to manually select an emotion with gestures that are unique but do not mean anything in ASL, such as double tapping your thumb and index finger together... well unless that is a thing in sign language, I’m not sure.)

Jaden’s older brother, Glenn, is a member of D.I.C.E. as a fire dancer.

Irene Foster, the Ultimate Street Fighter;

Irene was a runaway orphan, originally born into a wealthy family. Her parents were always busy with work, so Irene was typically left to her own devices or kept busy with random lessons that varied from piano lessons to fencing. However, her parents were assassinated due to her father’s business company making enemies in the wrong places. The assassin didn’t kill Irene, only because of the guilt that he pretty much just made this girl into an orphan. (He wasn’t very good at being an assassin.)

Irene then ran away from Britain to New York City by stowing away on an airplane, and ran away from foster homes that took her in until she started getting into fights. Eventually, underground criminal rings for street fighting took an interest in her, and this earned her access to an underground street fighting ring. She was a natural fighter (though often feeling like she was fighting for her very life) and quickly earned a living off of her matches.

Eventually, she came across a house just outside of the city that had caught on fire. Among the flames was a little girl named Erin Rider, holding a teddy bear in one hand and a lighter in the other. After a little prying, Irene learned that Erin was a victim of constant abuse from her parents, and she thought she could burn the house down and run away. Erin is unaware that she killed her parents in the house fire and assumes they thought she died and never looked for her. Irene never had the heart to tell Erin that she killed her own parents, and instead, decided to take care of the little girl as her own sister. She decided it would be a secret she took with her to her grave.

With another mouth to feed, however, Irene had to take on more challenges to earn money enough for both her and Erin to eat, and eventually, Irene became known in the underground ring as “The Girl of Iron.” This caught the attention of the American Ultimate Initiative, and Irene earned her title as the “Ultimate Street Fighter.”

Now just for you, I’ll go ahead and type out Leah’s back story to the best of my ability because why not:

Leah Welsh, the Ultimate Hunter/Huntress;

Leah was disowned by her parents at the age of 13, once she finally confessed to them that their son, Orlando, didn’t exist anymore and wanted to be a girl named Leah. The transphobic backlash from her parents came as a genuine, horrifying shock to Leah, and she immediately ran away to her grandfather Orrin’s house to explain what happened. Being a far more open minded man and far more liberal, he disowned his own child and took Leah in as his own, and decided to move from Ireland to the United States to further distance them from the horrible people that were Leah’s parents.

Orrin was a skilled hunter, and not being able to leave a young Leah by herself, he decided to take her with him. Leah took an interest in hunting, and Orrin started teaching her--and much to his surprise, Leah took the lessons extremely well, and within just a few years, was a master hunter that surpassed even his own skills. They even traveled to Australia and Africa for some legal hunting.

However, Orrin was old, and he eventually passed away from old age when Leah was sixteen. Saddened but not discouraged, Leah started hunting game to make a profit as a survival tactic.

Eventually, Leah was called by a secret service of the government and taken into custody to be given an offer. A huge sum of money for using her hunting skills for an assassination--a very corrupt man who dealt with human trafficking, terrorism, and other criminal activities that made him too dangerous. However, every previous assassination attempt lead to failure due to the men and woman being official government figures and there being a rat in the government. They needed someone who could pull off the assassination who was unsuspecting and didn’t have a face int he underground criminal ring. Leah hesitantly accepted the offer.

She was sent to Australia for her target, since he was on a vacation there with his family. It was a very simple job, in actuality, and she used a sniper rifle in the wilderness to kill her target when he was having a picnic break with his family after stalking him for several nights. Unfortunately, Leah may have mentally prepared for his death and telling herself he deserved it for being such a monster, but she didn’t mentally prepare herself for the family’s reaction to his assassination. Leah went home that very same night with the screams still ringing in her ears.

A few months later, Leah learned that the wife of the corrupted man had killed her two children and then herself. As much as Leah tried, she couldn’t get the incident out of her head, and she decided to hunt some deer to distract herself from it, only to shoot a deer and it’s cry immediately triggering her. Immediately after the incident with the deer, Leah realized all at once that she was ending lives, killing creatures with families and futures that she stole away, and in her grief and trauma, Leah became completely vegan and vouched to never hunt again, nor kill any living, breathing creature.

A month later, Leah received an invitation from the American Hope’s Peak to be “The Ultimate Hunter”. With no job or any way to make money, Leah had no choice but to accept, but the title was more like a huge slap in the face than an honor to have.

[hopestretchandreiki]

Hope in Meditation

We’ve found ourselves, yet again, in lockdown, when most of us are only just beginning to breathe again after the first.

We find ourselves, once again, subject to burn out, stressors and mental overload.  

And, once again, most of us will be confused as to how to deal with this stress and emotion, and how we are supposed to move through it. 

Drs Emily and Amelia Nagoski stated recently on Brene Brown's' podcast ‘Unlocking Us’, that not fully moving through the process or ‘tunnel’ of emotional exhaustion can lead to burnout and breakdown. But most of the time we are not even aware that we are holding on to emotions, or not moving through them, because we do not take the time to sit in them and confront them. We often store the emotion for later, resulting in not completing the emotional ‘cycle.’  

And when do we sit in our bodies and just ‘do nothing’?In meditation.

It is actually an incredibly important place to be, because it forces us to speak to ourselves and listen to our bodies, tuning in to our intuition and understanding what we need as humans; rather than reaching for distractions that block us from speaking intuitively to ourselves and learning to understand our needs better.  

Different tools work for different humans, but a tool I have flirted with for the last few years has been meditation. A tool that is widely misunderstood and misinterpreted. As someone who really struggles to maintain a meditation practice myself, 

I decided to sit down with my sister Laura Hopes, who is a yoga and meditation teacher, over a Zoom chat, to better understand why so many of us struggle to meditate or find a sustainable practice.  I find It fascinating that we are mostly all aware of the proven benefits of meditation, either from experience or from those who have found solace there; but still so many of us do not stick with it, or even try it.

Why would we not lean in to something that we know will make us feel better?

Laura resides in Sydney Australia; she co-founded Lotus Recruitment Agency in Sydney and her own Recruitment Training Company- Hopes Consult, also in Sydney. Laura found herself balancing her love of teaching yoga with her passion for Recruitment and ultimately found over the years that she was looking for more balance and calm, amongst the frenetic world of business. So what better person to speak to? 

Laura has always been my go to human for all things yoga, meditation and finding a sense of calm and balance in my life. 

She was diagnosed with ADHD in 2019 and recently finally found a meditation practice for herself that became her bible, allowing her a better understanding of the ‘manic’ she finds her brain in and how to work alongside it, rather than against it. 

I find, more than ever, that it is important to have some sort of practice in our lives. You hear the term 'fight or flight' banded around a lot, but we do live our lives mostly in a form of heightened anxiety. The ways we normally use to switch ourselves off actually tend to heighten that anxiety- alcohol, smoking, phones, tv, social media etc.-rather than ease it. 

My sit down with Laura was actually a huge eye opener and taught me a lot about how to build a more sustainable practice and the real purpose of why we meditate. 

You can check her out at @laurahopes22 for yoga/ meditation and be sure to check out Josh Blau and Jonni Pollard if you're keen to get started!

Enjoy! x   

What introduced you to meditation and describe a little about your personal journey 

My yoga practice. It was like osmosis and became a natural progression – but it came much later in to my practice. Maybe a couple of years. Only the principles  of meditation had really been introduced during my Yoga Teacher Training– that was the beginning.It feels mad that it took this long, as it’s now my most prominent practice.  I feel like it should be incorporated more in yoga.

Most of the focus tends to be on the asana (the physical practice) and classes lean towards yoga as a form of exercise. There can be some pressure on teachers to make yoga that 'exercise experience' for their students and meditation features less. We tend not to focus on all the principles of yoga, maybe that’s why.

Having an ADHD brain for me has meant it’s harder for me to stick to it. My practice has been full on and then fully off- Every day for 2 weeks, then nothing.

 I got in to a good space of building it in to the work day, but then being busy always took priority, so I dipped in and out. I did my meditation teacher training a few years ago but didn’t resonate with the style and so it didn’t ultimately stick. 

Working with my current teacher, Josh Blau, in July this year finally helped me to start connecting with meditation as a practice in itself and now I haven’t missed a day in 4 months.  

They say it takes 60 days to build a habit – now I really notice the difference and wouldn’t be able to live without it.  

Josh’s style is simple- it’s based on the ‘Vedic’ mantra meditation by Jonni Pollard. Repeating ‘Aham’ ( ‘I am’) to yourself – that is all. The difference with working with Josh, was that it meant discipline and accountability, as it was one to one.

The style of using mantra meant bringing it back to word and I could actually drop in to meditation. Ego still gets involved and I still find it hard, but now it reminds me that that is exactly why I’m here. The longer you do it, you start to see the benefits and anything else would now be a disservice to myself.   

What do your surroundings have to be in order to meditate? 

Josh taught me not to be a ‘meditation tyrant.’ Otherwise, you get in to a habit of making excuses to not do it.  I usually sit with a pillow behind my back on the sofa and have a blanket on my lap. It’s okay if people are milling around, that way I cannot make excuses by having distractions.

Remove the excuses – stop waiting for the exact right set up. Make it a priority and give it weight. Otherwise you start to overcomplicate it.

Different things work for different people. When developing a practice, it’s okay to play around and for things not to work- always take some time to find what you need. It’s not something that only certain people can do, it’s completely open for everyone.  

What setbacks have you encountered through your meditation practice? 

We condition ourselves to receive rewards through instant gratification a lot of the time, rather than through long term work. We need to find a sustainable dopamine hit, but our ego wants to find the easiest route to happiness. 

 I now meditate because even when I feel like I don’t need it, or I am not in the mood, or I don’t think I have time, I know there will be a time when I am stressed, and the work I have put in leading to that point will be the reason I needed it; then I will be better equipped to deal with that situation, because I have a sustained meditation practice in place.   

What are you currently doing in this space to help others with their meditation journey? 

Combined with teaching again in itself, I now make sure I incorporate a short meditation in to the end of classes. I have started going back towards providing a more full experience. I have also started leaning towards the Jivamukti style of practice, which is a more traditional ‘whole’ practice. I also recently created a 4 week meditation course. 

Week 1 Starts by looking at stress and how we and the practice deal with stress. 

Week 2 Looks at how we find a comfortable seat when we meditate, which helps to set up for success. 

Week 3 Looks at techniques and mindfulness 

Week 4 Brings it all together.  

It’s accessible for everyone, but also for people who don’t know where to start or cannot currently sustain a practice. 

 What recommendations would you give to anyone looking to start exploring meditation? 

1. Download the 1 Giant Mind App – 10 day initial challenge

2. Less is more. Start small and then you can decide if you build a longer practice- it doesn’t have to be an hour, it can be just 2 minutes. 

3. Journal after – how did you feel? You will often find after a while that you make mini breakthroughs. It will always be doing something even though it might feel like some days it does nothing. 

4. List mentally or physically 5 things you’re grateful for a day. 

5. Learn by doing, not by reading, you’re only delaying the process otherwise! 

What does your current practice look like? 

I usually do 20 minutes in the morning and 20 in the evening, less on weekends, but that feels okay because I have my practice in place during the week.   

What helps you to meditate when you’re not in the mood or struggling for time in your day?

Now I know that it is tried and tested, it is easier. I now do it for the days when I know I am going to need it. Tell yourself you’ll just do a couple minutes because it then feels doable, but inevitably it grows anyway. 

Normally, it’s a battle with my ego, but now I know it’s okay whatever the outcome- if you don’t associate it with a positive outcome then you won’t put pressure on yourself to feel great every time you do it, and there is less pressure placed upon it.  

What made you want to teach meditation? 

I want to celebrate yoga as traditionally as I can and bring it back to a more whole practice. I feel like it has come away from its source in modern day practice, so it’s nice to bring it back to that.  I want to share it with others, having now seen the effect it has had for me.  

Why do you think it is more important than ever to meditate in the current climate? 

At the moment there is a lot of fear and uncertainty and meditation is an anchor in support and guidance. Meditation has improved my intuition and my ability to listen to my gut instincts, which is more important than ever now. I feel like I operate from a place of being more in tune with what I need. 

My reactions are slower, in that I am less quick to react. It has almost created a space between receiving stimulus (or a ‘trigger’) and dealing with it- I am able to be an observer more often and time slows down. Therefore I make more informed choices.

Meditation makes it easier to compute things and acts more as a blanket which helps to self-soothe in times of loneliness. 

 My ADHD will always be there, but I can now come from a calmer place in to situations and I need my usual vices less often once I have meditated.   

If you had to give any small tips of advice to anyone who is entering in to meditation to aid with mental health right now, what would that advice be? 

It cannot cure mental health issues on its own, in my opinion. From my experience, there are better equipped services elsewhere- but what it might do is become a beacon of light within that. A Sanctuary in your own mind. It is important that you’re not going in to it expecting everything to be cured and relying solely on it, as more often than not it will bring up more stuff initially. It gets harder before any breakthrough.   

Who are your biggest influences in yoga and meditation?   

Josh blau – the only person who has managed to imbed that practice and discipline in me.

Jivamukti for celebrating the tradition of yoga in its most traditional form.   

Final word 

Ultimately it comes from yourself.Build a habit of being your own inspiration  A lot of people think yoga as the ‘asana’ is just a stretch. It is proven to increase strength and blood circulation and helps your organs to work better. You can increase flexibility and open up your body.But there is also so much more – connecting breath to body, opening up energy pathways, the ability to sit in contemplation. The rest of it is the prep work, but the ultimate goal is to be able to sit and connect with something that is a bit higher, become more in tune with our body, work with our meridians and our chakras and to use our intuition more effectively- what serves you? What makes you feel good and what doesn’t? Ultimately we should be spending more time being in our bodies and meditation and yoga in it’s full practice, allows for that.  

Laura’s Meditation Guide can be found

here

[galaxy-of-hair]

I was wondering if you could explain being a christian witch, the whole mixing of those ideologies is kind of weird to me and I don't understand.

i guess first i’d like to apologize that i took so long to answer your question; at first i didnt see it cause my mom was in town and i was off tumblr, and then when i finally did i wanted to take my time meditating on how to answer it. 

second i’d like to clarify that anything i say on this subject is only applicable to me and my practice and my beliefs, and my intention is not to speak for or over anyone. one of the wonderful things about being a witch, Christian or otherwise, is that it is a very personal, personalized path, and everyone has their own unique journey and set of beliefs and i would never presume to speak about anyone else’s deal. that is not and will never be my place. when i look to find my way in my practice and study, i can (and do) absolutely learn from other humans, but ultimately i am led by the Word and the Holy Spirit when it comes to choosing what i will or won’t integrate into my practice. God is my ultimate authority, not people (no offense to people lmao)

third, i’d like to say that i am severely ADHD and currently not on medication, so if i don’t explain things well or jump around from topic to topic or meander in a way that makes this difficult to follow i apologize in advance, i’m doing my best lol

fourth i’d like to say thank you for your question, you were very respectful in your wording and i appreciate that, i’m always open to questions, even though i may not be the best at answering them, and if you have any follow up questions after reading this novel i’m about to write, feel free to message me or send me another ask or comment or whatever

my answer is under the cut cause it’s heckin long

((tl;dr - i’m not mixing ideologies and there’s a lot of other blogs that can answer your question better and probs more precisely sorry lol)) 

this hard for me because if i give any kind of detailed answer, i will by necessity have to discuss at length my Christianity, and that’s a very personal thing that i’m still trying to be more open about. when i say, “my Christianity” i mean that the way i practice Christianity (my belief system and my relationship w God) differs greatly from what people generally assume to know or understand about Christianity. what i mean to say is: when you say, “i’m Christian” people immediately assume all kinds of things about what you believe, based on their own personal experience with practitioners of the religion, and as there are numerous denominations, those assumptions can vary greatly and are almost always wrong. the reason i have a hard time being open about it is that i have been trying to talk with people about it my whole life, both with believers and non-believers and it’s almost always been a negative experience, so it can be hard for me to open up with regards to that.

so i guess the short answer is that witchcraft isn’t really an ideology. neither is it a religion. it’s a practice. it’s a way in which i exercise my God-given power. and that’s really the key for me, because even if i might do something like say, make a protection sachet, smoke cleanse my home, perform a binding spell, etc (which are the types of things that a secular witch might do or a wiccan or a pagan), when i perform them, i draw my power from God and the Word and the knowledge of the promises he made to me in the Covenant.

a lot of my beliefs are geared towards using Faith based power to alter things in both the spiritual and the physical. i’ve found in some of my most frustrating conversations about this topic that most people don’t have the same vocabulary definition of Faith as i do, so here’s some stuff about that to clarify what i mean.

here’s what Merriam-Webster says about faith:

Definition of faith 

1a :  allegiance to duty or a person :  loyalty lost faith in the company's presidentb (1) :  fidelity to one's promises (2) :  sincerity of intentions acted in good faith

2a (1) :  belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) :  belief in the traditional doctrines of a religionb (1) :  firm belief in something for which there is no proof clinging to the faith that her missing son would one day return (2) :  complete trust

3:  something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially :  a system of religious beliefs the Protestant faith

and i think that’s people generally think about when they hear people use the word “Faith.” they think of it as just a synonym for religion or belief in God, or as a blind belief in something for which there is no proof, i.e. “blind faith” or “just hanging on till Jesus comes” or clinging desperately to something unrealistic in a delusional manner. obviously some of these are more derogatory than others, but i’ve spoken to all sorts on this subject and come across all of these misunderstandings of the word “Faith” at one point or another. the cool thing about the Bible is that it will often offer its own definitions to the words used within. 

one of my favorite verses on the subject of what Faith is, is Hebrews 11:1. when this verse comes to mind i often think of the NKJV translation, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”[x] 

here is the same verse in The Amplified:

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].

so there’s a lot to unpack here. firstly, Faith is substantive. it isn’t the superficial placation of a worried mind or shallow platitudes void of meaning used to make oneself appear enlightened and righteous in the eyes of their earthly peers. it’s not shouting ineffectually into the void. it’s practical and effective. it’s power to change reality, not only in the spiritual but in the physical.

the stuff about “title deed, confirmation” and “divinely guaranteed” is in reference to the things promised to us by God in the Abrahamic Covenant, of which Jesus’s blood sacrifice was a fulfillment. i am included in this Covenant by virtue of the Blood of Jesus, even though i am not Jewish, i am included because i accept His sacrifice as a placeholder for me and have entered into Covenant with Him.

so Faith is the confirmation of things divinely guaranteed by the Covenant, the comprehension as fact things that cannot be experienced by the physical senses. Faith isn’t belief without evidence, it is the evidence. my belief of a thing (as long as it is in line with the Word and the Covenant) is enough to bring it into being. this is really cool when you start learning stuff about quantum physics (like i have the most basic of understandings on that subject, but the little i know about it is very exciting, the idea that science is finally starting to confirm what i’ve known to be true all along, check out the documentary, What the Bleep Do We Know) and how simply observing a thing can change the entire behavior or nature of the thing. so like, something promised to me by God in the Covenant both is realized and isn’t realized depending on whether or nor i observe it. once i observe it by having the knowledge of it, the understanding of it, and finally the belief in it, it comes to pass, or manifests into existence. there’s also scientific evidence that you can speak Life or Death into a thing. anyways i’m digressing.

my point is, if i were in a doctor’s office and i told them i believe i have the power to change my physical reality through words and belief, they might jot down that i have “Magical Thinking” and like, i guess being a witch i wouldn’t argue with them. it is essentially magic. when i had the rare pleasure of having a pleasant conversation with someone about my beliefs, it was almost always with a non-believer, and the best way i could think of to get them to understand is, “it looks a lot like witchcraft.” when i finally decided to start calling myself a Christian witch i was basically making the decision to stop fighting the direction that the Holy Spirit was obviously counseling me towards. i always felt lead to do things like smoke cleansing and other “magical” practices, but i was afraid that i’d be doing something wrong or unnecessary. here’s the thing: God has not given us a spirit of fear so i try to be critical of any decision made based in fear. since i started down this path in earnest i have experienced great joy and fulfillment, and better results in areas where i had previously struggled (more on this bit later). 

my attitude when talking to God is one of familiarity and assertiveness. He’s my Dad and my friend and my teacher, and we have a Blood Covenant. i talk to Him casually, and when i need to claim one of the benefits of my Covenant, i.e. healing/health, protection, a sound mind, i call it done and thank him for the result that i believe will manifest. when i go to exercise my Dominion over the physical, i.e. a bee in my space, the toilet threatening to overflow, a symptom of sickness, a person threatening me, i speak to it with the authority of someone who knows they have a Covenant with God and God-given Dominion over this world, and i use Jesus’s name. when He tells me to do something, i try to be obedient.

the reason i’ve been getting better results since i started using physical tools more often isn’t necessarily because i believe that there is inherent power in the use of them. sometimes i’ve done things in the physical because i felt lead to by the Holy Spirit, and i endeavor to be obedient even if i don’t understand the reason. there is power in obedience. 

sometimes i’ve done things in the physical because not everything set in motion in the spiritual world by Faith has instantaneous results (some things do, somethings don’t), some things take time. i struggle with memory problems and sometimes i’ll honestly forget that i already dealt with such and such issue and i’ll pray over the situation again and again, having no recollection of having done it and i feel as though this hurts my efficacy. it makes me feel disorganized in my practice. if i do a working or a ritual in the physical (like a binding or a protection sachet) to deal with the issue, i will be more likely to remember that it is done and dealt with, and every time i remember it going forward, instead of feeling the need to pray again, i will instead reaffirm my original working, strengthening it instead of weakening it.

sometimes i do things in the physical because we know about health benefits available from certain herbs, foods, oils, and even crystals. some people will say things like, “that’s relying on something other than God for healing” and they say the same thing about knowledge gleaned from the stars and planets, but like, HELLO, God made all that stuff. i don’t worship His creation, but i do celebrate it, and i am thankful for it, and i believe there is power to be found in it. some of that power we know about (i.e. medicinal herbs, essential oils) and some we either don’t know about or can’t conclusively prove with science yet.

that leads me to the other reason i do things in the physical to mirror my workings in the spiritual. there are certain practices and traditions that have been used for centuries in magic that don’t have any known, scientifically proven reason for being effective. but people keep using them, and they keep being effective. i know part of that is that belief is a powerful thing. we are beings made in God’s image. we are powerful creators, and if people believe a thing with enough conviction, it can come to pass. however, it could be that there are some very real effects that a physical substance could have in the spiritual realm. anything that alters the mind for instance (like mugwort being helpful in astral projection). my own personal example is this: i use commanding oil made from a base of licorice root and calamus root and mineral oil. i do this because it seems to be the agreed upon recipe for commanding oil and has a long tradition. i use it when assigning tasks to Angels. do i absolutely HAVE to do this? no probably not, but it helps me with making my marching orders official, like giving an assignment to troops with an official signature or seal.

basically it all comes down to this: Faith is like a muscle. you have to work on strengthening it. at least i do. so if these things help me out in the areas i have trouble with so i can “lift more weight,” i’m gonna utilize them. especially if i feel led to by the Holy Spirit. anytime i feel that i vibe with a witchcraft working, and want to add it to my practice, i look at it critically, i think about what the Word says, i ask the Holy Spirit, i think about why it might be helpful, and if it passes all my scrutiny, i go for it. if you still have trouble reconciling the ideas of Christianity and witchcraft coexisting, i’d recommend popping on over to the #christian witch tag, as there are a lot of good posts on that by people that are way more qualified than i am. 

i’m able to be a Christian witch the same way i’m able to be a Christian transgender pansexual man. not everything espoused by mainstream Christianity has a basis in the Word. it’s sad but a lot of the time people choose to parrot their pastors or follow tradition and modern, localized cultural norms instead of looking to see what the Bible actually says.

i hope i answered this question ok, and didn’t go off topic too much. if you (or anyone else reading this) have any questions i haven’t addressed, or maybe have new questions that arose from reading this post, feel free to ask. thanks again for your question and your respectful tone.