#embodied spirituality

[dowsingfordivinity]

The Feast of Dionysus

I’m having so much fun trolling people who found the Feast of Dionysus at the Olympics “shocking”. Like, what is wrong with people? If you look at photos of the event, it’s quite clearly Dionysus and the other Greek gods of Olympus, unless you’re completely ignorant of Greek mythology, or you assume that absolutely everything is related to your religion because you’re so incredibly ignorant of…

[biblebloodhound]

Both Body and Soul (1 John 4:1-6)

Sometimes, it’s not what in someone says, but in what they don’t say.

Dear friends, don’t believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world, and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body. But when someone doesn’t say this about Jesus, you know this person has a spirit that doesn’t come from…

[joycrispy]

I'm seeing some confusion out and about over the title A Companion to Owls (generally along the lines of 'what have owls got to do with it???'), so I'd like to offer my interpretation (with a general disclaimer that the Bible and particularly the Old Testament are damn complicated and I'm not able to address every nuance in a fandom tumblr post, okay? Okay):

It's a phrase taken from the Book of Job. Here's the quote in full (King James version):

When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. --(Job 30:29)

Job is describing the depths of his grief, but also, with that last line, his position in the web of providence.

Throughout the Old Testament, owls are a recurring symbol of spiritual devastation. Deuteronomy 4:17 - Isaiah 34:11 - Psalm 102: 3 - Jeremiah 50: 39...just to name a few (there's more). The general shape of the metaphor is this: owls are solitary, night-stalking creatures, that let out either mournful cries or terrible shrieks, that inhabit the desolate places of the world...and (this is important) they are unclean.

They represent a despair that is to be shunned, not pitied, because their condition is self-inflicted. You defied God (so the owl signifies), and your punishment is...separation. From God, from others, from the world itself. To call and call and never, ever receive an answer.

Your punishment is terrible, tormenting loneliness.

(and that exact phrase, "tormenting loneliness," doesn't come from me...I'm pulling it from actual debate/academia on this exact topic. The owls, and what they are an omen for. Oof.)

To call yourself a 'companion to owls,' then, is to count yourself alongside perhaps the most tragic of the damned --not the ones who defy God out of wickedness or ignorance, and in exile take up diabolical ends readily enough...but the ones who know enough to mourn what they have lost.

So, that's how the title relates to Job: directly. Of course, all that is just context. The titular "companion to owls," in this case, isn't Job at all.

Because this story is about Aziraphale.

The thing is that Job never actually defied God at all, but Aziraphale does, and he does so fully believing that he will fall.

He does so fully believing that he's giving in to a temptation.

He's wrong about that, but still...he's realized something terrifying. Which is that doing God's will and doing what's right are sometimes mutually exclusive. Even more terrifying: it turns out that, given the choice between the two...he chooses what's right.

And he's seemingly the only angel who does. He's seemingly the only angel who can even see what's wrong.

Fallen or not, that's the kind of knowledge that...separates you.

(Whoooo-eeeeee, tormenting loneliness!!!)

Aziraphale is the companion.

...I don't think I need to wax poetic about Aziraphale's loneliness and grappling with devotion --I think we all, like, get it, and other people have likely said it better anyway. So, one last thing before I stop rambling:

Check out Crowley's glasses.

(screenshots from @seedsofwinter)

Crowley is the owl.

Crowley is the goddamn owl.

[phoenix----rising]

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔....

[vullcanica]

Characters baring a mouth full of sharp fangs as show of aggression is top tier but can we talk about how sinister a flash of smooth square omnivore teeth can be. The implications therein? The difference between facing a carnivore vs a member of the terrifyingly, aptly named 'opportunistic eaters'? The fear of being on one's menu, the knowledge that you are on the other's - no matter what you are. The inherent danger of a threat display where there are set rules to avoiding harm turning into a hunt on a dime.

Anyway, thinking about Nikodemus and how beautifully all of this translates into his supernatural setting...

[yourdreamsaredreamingyouback]

★ Today, I choose to embody love. How can you show love and compassion to yourself and others throughout your day? What does love feel like, look like, and say in your actions?

★ Today, I choose to embody success. How can you demonstrate confidence and determination in your actions throughout the day? What does success feel like, look like, and say in your daily routines?

★ Today, I choose to embody wealth. How can you cultivate a mindset of abundance and prosperity in your thoughts and actions? What does wealth feel like, look like, and say in your everyday life?

★ Today, I choose to embody my dreams. How can you live as though your greatest desires are already reality? What do your dreams feel like, look

★ Today, I choose to embody beauty. How can you appreciate and express your inner and outer beauty throughout the day? What does beauty feel like, look like, and say in your actions and self-care rituals?

your dreams are dreaming you back

[alchemyofmaya]

This is the year of embodied enlightenment.

The year we shed the density of the past, make space in our body so we can embody our whole authentic Soul-Self. The year where your spirituality isn’t a label you use to describe yourself. It’s you coming into the deepest understanding, that this was the path of Spirit deepening its understanding of itself. This is the year that we walk with the ancient wisdom, that will help heal and create ripples of change for the future generations we birth.

This is the year we fully embrace our co-creator roles. No more hiding in isolation, no more wasting our precious time deep asleep in the social media trance. No more falling for the false narrative, losing ourselves to pointless trends, no more wasting our life force through leaky sexual energy and weak boundaries.

It’s the year we truly get in touch with ourselves, our vision.. our deep rooted desires and needs, and put in the work to align our dreams with the divine plan written in our Soul’s blueprint.

When you clear yourself of the distortions and density of lower energy and the memories of those past experiences — you make space within your heart for your Soul to speak, you’re grounded in your body so you can feel the signals of your intuition guiding your steps.

You are the path, you are the guide, and you are the destination. You’ve always been home, even when you felt like you were lost. The thing is.. you were looking for something outside of you to lead.. to guide you. You had to go down paths that made you distrust outside guidance, so you would have a reason to turn within, and ask yourself where it is you are deeply wanting to get to.

Only you know what you want to do with this life, with your time.. how you want to show up within your connections, for others.. and how you want to show up for yourself.

This is the year.. you keep telling yourself. But every year has brought you deeper into the embodiment of your whole authentic self. This is the year you finally show up into the world wearing your true face, without fear of rejecting and abandoning your own divine self.

[raventrigonsdaughter]

Back to Rosario talking about how Ezra and Ahsoka will have a deeper conection and relationship that will be important to the show, we can all agree that this is most likely a Daughter and Son of Mortis thing right? Everyone can agree on that right? Or at very least they will be parallels to Baylan and Shin

[hailomadius]

Me trying to explain to my vaguely religious mother that Dionysus and Jesus may actually be two aspects of the same diety

[dowsingfordivinity]

Anarchic Yule

Yule is a distinct festival, often overshadowed by its younger sibling, Christmas. If you’re a Pagan or have Pagan leanings, the chances are that everything you love about Christmas is actually because it’s a Yule thing. If you love the tree, the holly, the greenery being brought into the house, the feasting, and the reciprocity of thoughtful gift giving (as opposed to obligatory gift giving…

[mothgoddesss]

“Yes, I am your Elder, and your Karmic servant. But we’ve also reached beyond those at this point. As it was, as it is, and as it will be ... your Mother and I will guide you towards when you begin your own legacy beyond this existence - every step of the way.  I promise.

This year, I am filled with resolve to up my game as an artist and a person.  I want to experiment with different methods of rendering, create more background work, and just overall share more of my paracosm because there is still ... SO MUCH. that I have yet to share with everyone!

I wouldn’t have been filled with this much resolve if it weren’t for all of my followers and friends over on InstaSky, many of them being on here, too. Regardless if you come from InstaSky or have just now learned of my existence, thank you all so much for your love and support!!

[biblebloodhound]

Whole Person Love (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12)

"When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you'd like them to be." Leo Tolstoy

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to…

[tides-of-truth]

Extracts on Embodiment and Self-realisation (1)

- Advaita, Shamanism & Tantra

From: Sthaneshwar Timalsina Embodiment and Self-realisation: The Interface between Sankara’s Transcendentalism and Shamanic and Tantric Experiences

October 2012The Journal of Hindu Studies 5(3):258-272

[apenitentialprayer]

I will only repeat what I have said to you long ago: take a reasonable care of your health. You know by this time […] the lesson that troubles of the soul often depend on the state of our bodily health.

George Porter, S.J., the future Archbishop of Bombay, in a letter dated February 20th, 1880

[moe-broey]

Fuuuuuuuck when the persecution complex kicks in though............ 🧍

[adancewiththedivine]

Finally starting my coaching business!