#cultural catholicism

[a-tired-humanist]

Given the fact Catholic imagery, music and prayers are not going to leave my brain despite the fact I haven't gone to a full mass in almost a decade, I've decided to use my education for blasphemous and gay storytelling purposes.

[ranchelblah]

Pouring the cereal into the milk is Cultural Catholicism.

[carlaerosie]

small cultural & Colombia related details from Encanto 🇨🇴 (part 4)

Vélez Santander trajes típicos - the dress that Mirabel wears is a traditional dress from Vélez (town in the Santander department in Colombia)

men wearing the guayabera shirts

drinking coffee at young age

the village was inspired by Barichara - town in the Santander department in Colombia

the acordeones, tambora and the tiple - typical instruments for Colombian music, traditional in Colombia

Agustín saying ¡Miércoles! - the literal meaning is “Wednesday” but in Colombia we use it as a light version of “oh shit” jajajaja

cucharón - HUGE wooden spoon

our habits - eating meals together

the church, the cross, priest and praying - most of Colombians are religious and Catholicism plays a huge role in our culture and daily life

Bruno’s toc toc toc toc tocó madera - tocar madera (knocking on wood) something that we do when we don’t want bad things to happen

I know I’ve said the next part of it would be short but then I decided to rewatch Encanto (for the 182628th time) and wrote down all of the things I was be able to notice about Colombia and my culture and yeah it turned out there is so much more to say and I may do part 5

Once again I want to say that I know that some of those things can also appear in other cultures but please avoid comments like “it’s not Colombian thing it’s [here a country/ethnicity] thing” etc because now we are focusing on the Colombian aspects of the movie plus such comments make me uncomfortable

I would also be grateful if you could avoid commenting about Raya and how you are mad because Disney disrespected your culture and how they only cared about Colombia and not Southeast Asia. I understand you are mad and you have absolutely right to be but please don’t do it under my post

[blakelywintersfield]

I am absolutely begging y'all to realize that "celtic" and "gaelic" are not interchangeable terms

[hungry-hyena]

literally the first thing you learn abt being catholic is that you were born a sinner. nothing u can do can change this. but by following these rules and admitting to guilt regularly god may forgive you enough not to damn you to hell with the rest of humanity.

[pol-ski]

Easter Saturday in Poland ✝️🐣🐰🐏

The blessing of Easter baskets on Holy Saturday is a Polish Catholic tradition with roots dating back to the early history of Poland.

“In Poland, Easter provides the opportunity for a big feast following six weeks of Lenten fasting. Churches, homes and streets are usually decorated with displays of colorful flowers, palms and intricately painted eggs. On Easter Saturday, Poles prepare their baskets filling them with food that is blessed and eaten for Easter Sunday breakfast. The Polish Easter basket symbolizes God’s generosity, joy and abundance.” — Ren Behan, 'Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes'

[divinum-pacis]

March 31, 2022: Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Pope Francis has welcomed First Nations people seeking an apology for the Catholic Church’s role in running Canada’s notorious residential schools for indigenous children.

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

[st-george-and-the-dragon]

Just got back from Italy and I have a lot of thoughts that I will be processing for the rest of my life but one thing I want to highlight is just how easy it is to be Catholic. The churches are the biggest buildings in every town and usually adjacent to major pedestrian centers. The doors are open all day and Adoration chapels are constantly active. The Blessed Mother and various Saints can be found on walls and in shrines everywhere, reminding you to pray.

At the masses I went to, I saw immigrants from non-Catholic native countries (India, the Middle East, etc) worshipping right alongside the Italians who had been doing it for two thousand years.

At the end of one mass, the priest called all the children forward to talk with them and teach them. A couple of young nuns helped. They were excited and engaged to an extent I've never seen before. And the religious vocations were real to them.

The benefit of community and culture to aiding spiritual life cannot be understated. For once, it was easy for me to be Catholic.

The question is: how do I make it easier for others?

[beautiful-basque-country]

About the word akelarre

Akelarre is one of those Basque words that have entered the Spanish language. It means coven, even though in Basque is just “the billy-goat’s field”. The word appears for the first time in the documents of the Zugarramurdi witch trials (1609-10), where it’s stated that akelarre was just a field outside town known by peasants by that name.

However, there are some documents dating back to 1370, regarding a civil process against some citizens of Ilharre (Nafarroa Beherea), where we can find some confessions - obtained after torture - about metamorphosing into animals, child murders, as well as giving away poisoned apples, making unguents with toads and ferns, and the most important thing: the oldest reference to akelarre.

The accused Countess de Beheythie confirmed «being in boquelane at least three times» and that she «used to go to boquelane on Sunday». The document is written in Gascon - administrative language of Nafarroa Beherea in the 14th century - where boque / boc means billy-goat, and lan[d]e, field or prairie. In standard Gascon it should have been lande de boc - the Countess may have been declaring in Basque, hence the inversion - which means EXACTLY the same as akelarre: the billy-goat’s field. 

So this means that maybe akelarre isn’t a term created by Catholic outsiders that took the toponym of a field in Zugarramurdi and, by extension, used it to call a witches coven, but it could have been a pagan, native Basque celebration - or sacred place - that ended up linked to witchcraft and the devil by the Spanish and French clerics. 

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament … There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien    

[writingwithcolor]

I’m writing a novel in which angels play an important role. Aside from the archangels, I basically created my own version of angels as entities in the world, loosely based on Christian angelology. But after doing some research I realized some of the angels and the roles I came up with are actual angels within Jewish texts only (ex. I made an Angel of Secrets only to find out Raziel is the actual Jewish angel of secrets). ask 1/2

I’m wondering if it would be inappropriate to use the names given in the Jewish texts, considering that the angels look and act nothing like how they’re portrayed in traditional texts, Christian and Jewish. Would I just be better off making up my own names? Also fantasy!Catholicism plays some role in the story, and while some angels overlap between Catholicism and Judaism, I’m unsure where to draw the line of what to take, if anything at all. (2/2)

Jewish & Christian-based Angels & Names in Fantasy

I would definitely prefer that Jewish names for malachim (angels) be left out. It's not at all uncommon for media to use Hebrew names for these beings, and then have entirely Christian conceptions of them, and my feelings when consuming that media, or being exposed to it unintentionally, runs the gamut from eye-rolling to furious. I don't at all get this impression from your question but: many authors use Hebrew, whether in names or just the language itself, to lend a sense of the exotic, and hint at the ancient, as a shortcut to faux-authenticity. This is typically done with little to no research on our actual beliefs, traditions, folklore etc., and the result is that our names, and our words, are often used for things that are at best nonsensical from a Jewish theological standpoint, and at worst wildly offensive. 

Make your awesome novel, and feel free to use the concepts you come up with independently, but I advise avoiding Hebrew angel names, and Hebrew words generally, in order to distance your angel creations from our malachim. Be cautious with Hebrew derived names with the common "-el" ending, or names intentionally meant to “sound” Hebrew, especially with the -el ending too. Not everything that falls into these categories will be an issue, but a bit of care and deliberation is warranted. 

-- Dierdra

[equalseleventhirds]

said i was gonna make the post, i'm gonna make the post. sure i have only like 3 followers who listen to skyjacks, that is not relevant, this post is for ME bcos i love to overanalyze worldbullding implications on a wider cultural level particularly in regards to religion,

also important to note that while i am caught up on skyjacks main and have started courier's call, i have not listened to everything on patreon, or read the zine(s?), or backread all the official twitter posts or w/e, so if i am mistaken and this HAS been relevant in the worldbuilding then oh yes PLEASE link me i would dearly love to see!!! i am very much good faith abt this bcos skyjacks aims to be anti-colonialist and does deliver in so so many ways.

anyway. so. skyjacks, speir, the sovereign (+the luminaries a bit), and the unintentional implications when your fantasy catholicism stand-in is like, provably correct about some aspects of their god??? (subtitled: and why it's not as bad as it could be, really, and the world does leave plenty of room for this to be easily fixed and here's how)

thanks for joining me nice to have u here etc etc i write long essays deep-diving into media for funsies are u ready for a ride

so firstly, the catholic church in the real world is.... historically tied to a lot of colonialism. so much. SO much. like, i'm filipino, ok? so much. often in the supposed name of, y'know, god and missionary work or w/e.

and to his credit, james d'amato put a lot of thought into making the church of the slain god, his fantasy analogy for the catholic church, a Bad Institution and tied into colonialism (and other stuff) and a bad bad thing which the players go up against. also some cool stuff done in nordia wrt the church as an institution vs individuals in the church living their lives, etc, altho that is less of the point here.

additionally, prior to the beginning of the campaign itself, in one of the tales from speir, it is set up as just one of many churches, one which happened to gain notoriety and power. the concept of a single god is mentioned pointedly, as though other churches had more gods. it's even explained to the listener, as though it is not ubiquitous among speir's citizens, as though one might hear a priest preaching about the slain god but not really know about it at all. furthermore, the narrator notes that even if he was religious, he wouldn't worship that god; the slain god is presented as an option, a belief, but not a fact.

of course, over the course of the campaign, things develop as they do. currently in canon, we know that the sovereign was real; that he really was pretty close to all-powerful; that he did die; that his death did cause the calamity that befell speir and made it what it is now; that his angels (those that did not fall) do direct the current church, in some way or another.

this is actually provable bcos of the way canon and our knowledge of things has developed. (vitally to my respect towards & enjoyment of skyjacks, the details show that the worship of the slain god, as practiced by the church as a whole, is incorrect in its methodology and morality; and, furthermore, although the sovereign existed, we are led to believe that he was not necessarily a just god. not necessarily a good god. and that there are options besides following a god just because he exists. killing him, for instance.)

further, we know that even amongst people who are not part of the church, knowledge of the sovereign and of the whole 'the sovereign's death caused the apocalypse' thing is common. common enough that when people (hildred, the crew of the uhuru) who are demonstrably not part of the church learn that gable killed god, there is. a bit of a Reaction there. it is widely known.

now, the only other gods really mentioned or worshiped so far (in all the places we have been!) are the luminaries (ok yes fine i believe they are defined as 'not quite gods', but, semantics; they function as a pantheon of deities, albeit not in the style of the sovereign), so let's talk about the luminaries.

it is, perhaps, plausible that the luminaries might be the other gods of (one or more of) the other churches which the narrator of tales from speir obliquely refers to. but let's take a moment and examine how they function and interact with both the common people of speir and the church of the slain god.

first the common people: altho the luminaries may demand sacrifices, altho there are shrines around to them, there doesn't seem to be any sort of organized worship of them? folk-magic invoking them, certainly; widespread belief in them, certainly. other churches dedicated to the luminaries and excluding the sovereign? ehhhhhhh.

as for the church: no one in the church seems to regard the luminaries as competition, as heresy, or as belonging to another organization at all. people who believe in the sovereign seem totes cool with invoking the luminaries as well. perhaps to them they function as lesser spirits who serve(d) the sovereign in some way; it's not really addressed at all.

additionally, the sovereign himself is mentioned as interacting with the luminaries (altho, uh, obvs not currently). notably, the moon belongs to the forest queen (who refers to humans as 'children of the sovereign' i think?) but the stars belong to the sovereign. there is sharing there! bargaining even perhaps?? definite mutual acknowledgement; regardless of levels of power, it would appear that the sovereign and the luminaries (at least the forest queen) are part of the same large pantheon.

the luminaries are also, once again, gods (or 'gods') that are provable. they and their power definitely exist. they are also ubiquitious; universally, at least among the various locations and cultures we have experienced so far, the luminaries are both known and invoked (if not worshiped in quite the same way as the sovereign).

if, as i posited, the luminaries and the sovereign are part of the same pantheon, this means that there is one universal (apparently) pantheon in speir. (occasionally we'll have bits of folk magic where ppl are sorta kinda almost worshiping an element, like fire or wind or trees; this is cool, but not made clear as a religion separate from the sovereign/luminaries at all. also still no other gods. tales from speir narrator tell us abt the other churches with other gods PLEASE.)

taking a step away from skyjacks in particular, it's important to note that this is a common enough occurrence in a lot of high fantasy. you make some gods; those gods have actual impact on the world and the story; of course they are the only gods around. if there were other gods around, they'd just be. y'know. part of the same pantheon.

this is fine for simpler fantasy worlds, where a universal, provable religion is not even the biggest issue of cultural same-y-ness in the worldbuilding. not ideal, but also not a big deal, comparatively.

however! speir is intentionally built to be a wide variety of cultures, with inspiration drawn from many real-world cultures (and many of those locations worldbuilt by incredibly cool freelancers often pulling on their own lived experiences). and part of cultural variety is religious variety.

yes, the sovereign and the luminaries provably exist in speir. but if worship/knowledge of them is universal across speir; if they are the only gods ever encountered in all these various cultures; if they are the only gods that do exist and hold power; then like. oof. bcos you've got, on the one hand, fantasy catholicism; and on the other hand, folk-magic-gods which, let's face it, are based around songs made by the decemberists, who altho they do cool music are also... p much white americans drawing mostly (altho not entirely, shoutout to the crane wife) from western history/stories (and lbr does tell even the crane wife through a white western lens, but also i am not here to analyze the decemberists)

and the implications of that being our canonical true real only universal pantheon sure are implications!! like god yeah i love that gable killed god, i love the luminaries (hit me with capricious deities!!), but also i am metaphorically throwing rocks at james d'amato's window to point out stuff abt history and religious variety and cultural stuff. u kno.

but algie, i hear some of you saying (especially those of you who have followed me for a bit and Seen Some Stuff), why would you do this to yourself? why would you willingly deep-dive into this particular flavor of analysis when it has burned you so badly before with other media that you love? have you not learned from tma and fear soup and robert fucking smirke? why would you once more do the thing where you point out that a white man has accidentally incurred some weird colonial implications in an unthinking moment of fairly standard worldbuilding??

well, imaginary audience member standing in for the bit of me braced for horrible disappointment, listen. yes it's similar, but the situation is different. firstly bcos skyjacks, unlike certain other media, bills itself as anti-colonialist, and so this is important to the actual goals of the show. and secondly, bcos given other elements of the worldbuilding and the overarching narrative, it is both difficult and unlikely for the show to ever say no, actually, the sovereign and the luminaries are the sole and only deities (or deity-adjacent-beings) in the entire world of speir.

the world they've built for skyjacks is vast! and lost!! so vast and lost that it is entirely plausible that there are other religions and deities in other cultures, just as powerful and real and true, that the party just hasn't run into. maybe they are hidden from the rediscovered world; maybe they are part of the rediscovered world and just haven't made it into the characters' paths. it is so so easy to imagine that entire other pantheons exist, and are worshiped, and are real functioning gods... elsewhere in speir. and the story does not at all seem to be heading in the direction to blatantly and completely contradict this.

so that's why it's not as bad as it could have been. shall we discuss how it can be even better?

first, the thing i would not like to see: i am so utterly and entirely disinterested in some kinda 'oh other cultures worship the same pantheon but with different names/faces/whatever'. that's not religious variety of the type the real world has (and the type that colonialism tried to stamp out). none of this with fantasy catholicism still having the True God but y'know, other ppl might have a different name for him. that rubs me wrong in so so many ways. that is not cultural religious diversity at all.

(note: it's been mentioned that the luminaries, at least, may have different... relationships? vibes?? with different cultures. that's neat! i do like to see capricious gods showing different sides of themselves to different people!! as long as that's not all we get. i am cool & chill with the bandari people having a bargain with the forest queen or w/e it was that was brought up in that one worldbuilding ep abt the luminaries; i am even chill with the grand fire giving ppl stones that appear to correspond to the luminaries. clearly the bandari were part of the broad group of cultures falling under this pantheon. that's fine, as long as we aren't told that EVERY culture, without exception, aligns with this pantheon and no other.)

now for a thing i WOULD like to see: would love the players to actually encounter a culture where worship of (and perhaps even common knowledge of) the luminaries and the sovereign is in the minority. a culture with their own gods, gods that are worshiped in different ways to the sovereign and luminaries, but which demonstrably have power. (magic is in the story, this is canon; enough stories about other gods mean the other gods do exist. or vice versa.) maybe they have their own explanation of why the stars fell. maybe they don't have an explanation, but their gods have been doing their best in the meantime. (maybe they wave their hands dismissively; 'oh yes, our gods know about your sovereign. they foolishly did not intervene before things got bad, but they're making up for it now.' there are lots of ways people interact with their gods.)

if we are digging deep into colonialism and implications and drawing on history wrt the catholic church and colonialism: i would kind of like to see a place where religion developed under colonial rule in, say, the style of the philippines (yes yes yes i'm biased shhh). a place where the red feathers and the church came and took over (not by war, since that's not a thing in speir as it is now, but y'know... they've got ways), and the people there with their own gods already said, well, okay. sure, we follow and believe your religion; we just also have our own spirits and even minor gods and so on that don't quite follow your rules, because they are ours. and those spirits and minor gods have adjusted and changed to accommodate the ways the colonizers are making us live, because we must adapt; but still they are here and they are ours.

(in the latter, ofc, they would need a rly rly good freelance worldbuilder and probably another cultural consultant. these ties to real history and cultures and pain need to be treated with respect; eg i would hate for this to be a place that the main cast come in and free from the church, bcos outside saviors are not the needed thing. but y'know, it'd be an interesting culture to see represented and explored.)

ofc the big meta problem with introducing other pantheons with real power is: does this break the fucking game?? if there are other gods on par with the luminaries, can the players call on them for help? and the easiest answer (and lbr the culturally sensitive one) is: no, these are not their gods. they may witness their power. but they cannot use it. play continues the same for them.

but they know stuff now. it maybe won't drastically change their lives and how they live them. but no longer are the people who worship this pantheon the only right ones.

[lily-of-christ]

Eucharistic Christ icon, unknown author, XVI century, Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland.

[ante--meridiem]

Once in a while I'm smacked in the face by how American this website is, and this time it was people thinking only Protestantism is Christianity.

[armed-catholic]

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D E C A Y

[crippledanarchy]

It's wild to me how many young people are just cool with purity culture now. I grew up being indoctrinated into it on a daily basis and even most of us knew on some level that it was just another bullshit control method to keep us in line and in the church.

All these non practicing but culturally christian kids are recreating puritanical social structures and claiming they're the counter culture.

Like, my siblings in christ, you are literally doing exactly what your oppressors desire most