#golden bough

[dilfaeneas]

Who else but Aeneas. In all he can't controll in his life, its nice he gets to have this moment, to choose to muscle through it so that he can see his father one more time

[minnesotadruids]

Is there any proof that Crowley had anything to do with the druid orders? Did he influence any teaching of druids?

Ross Nichols who created the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) knew Aleister Crowley personally, but I don't know as to whether or not Nichols adopted any of Crowley's teachings for OBOD.

His teachings were certainly not a factor in the foundation of Reformed Druidism either. Reformed Druidism was also created entirely without the knowledge of the existence of Wicca, Thelema, Golden Dawn, Ordo Templi Orientis, or other pagan or occult practices.

The inspiration for Reformed Druidism was largely that of:

Victorian Era writings such as Frazer's Golden Bough

Freemasonry and Masonic hierarchies

Episcopalian ritual progression

Sufism, Taoism, Zen, and Vedic mysticism

Professor John Messenger who came to the Reformed Druids from Queen's University Belfast's Institute of Irish Studies and served as their advisor

Even in the later years of Reformed Druidism as the practices evolved slightly, the original influences still persist, and the methods of Crowley continue to be ignored.

[nicklloydnow]

Preservation Of Soul by Pratik Risbud

“As the savage commonly explains the processes of inanimate nature by supposing that they are produced by living beings working in or behind the phenomena, so he explains the phenomena of life itself. If an animal lives and moves, it can only be, he thinks, because there is a little animal inside which moves it: if a man lives and moves, it can only be because he has a little man or animal inside who moves him. The animal inside the animal, the man inside the man, is the soul. And as the activity of an animal or man is explained by the presence of the soul, so the repose of sleep or death is explained by its absence; sleep or trance being the temporary, death being the permanent absence of the soul. Hence if death be the permanent absence of the soul, the way to guard against it is either to prevent the soul from leaving the body, or, if it does depart, to ensure that it shall return. The precautions adopted by savages to secure one or other of these ends take the form of certain prohibitions or taboos, which are nothing but rules intended to ensure either the continued presence or the return of the soul. In short, they are life-preservers or life-guards.” - James George Frazer, ‘The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion’ (1890)

[dysphoresque]

[thebrandondowning]

THE GOLDEN BOUGH (2022), 12" x 16 ½"

[thoodleoo]

going into an airport can count as a trip to the underworld i think

[violetmoondaughter]

In neopaganism the horned god is seen with two different faces representing the duality of nature and the changing of seasonal cycle. The theory of these two aspects of the god was debated by Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough and by Robert Graves in The White Goddess.  

According to these theories old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship and periodic sacrifice of a sacred king. Frazer based his thesis on the pre-Roman priest-king Rex Nemorensis who was ritually murdered by his successor. The king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth. He died at the harvest and was reincarnated in the spring. This legend of rebirth is central to almost all of the world's mythologies. Some examples of this archetypical figure are the gods Dionysus, Osiris, Tammuz, Dumuzi, Adonis, Janus, Attis. 

 The two aspects of this figure take the names of Holly and Oak king. 

The Holly King is seen as an old version of the green man, ruler of winter, death and darkness. He starts his kingdom at summer solstice when, after the longest day, ruled by his opposite king the oak king, the days start to get darker and shorter entering in the dark half of the year. The holly king is so called referring to the plant that is fruitful during the winter season.  The holly king is also referred to as a black knight and is also connected with the dark aspects of many pagan gods. 

Counterpart of the Holly King is the Oak King that is usually seen as a young green man, ruler of summer, life and light. He starts his kingdom at the winter solstice, when after the darkest night a new light is reborn, signing the beginning of the light half of the year. The oak king is called over the name of the plant that is fruitful during the hot season. Opposite to the Holly King, the Oak King, relates to the light aspect of many pagan gods and its sometimes referred to as a white knight. 

According to the theory these two kings may be seen as two brothers fighting for the throne or as a father and son passing the kingdom to each other in a perpetual cycle of death and rebirth. This cycle of life and death represents the seasonal cycle of death and rebirth of the sunlight and vegetative world.

[mango-dolphin]

playing a game with myself called "inventing a man and scaring myself with it"

Note: Not all of these predictions are meant to be taken literally, more figuratively/metaphorically/so on. You get it. Note 2: lighter the text, the more likely i think it is to be (in part or in full) true

ALSO. thank you @maxknightleyunofficial for the yuri box.

bingo transcribed below [with additional Author's notes!]:

Limbus Company Predictions

Row 1:

Sinner Number correlates to recruitment order. (Which, yes, would imply Dante joined LCB before Sinclair, Outis, and Gregor. No points)

Another character based on a poet (or philosopher) is introduced. HM: Ovid SWEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meursault's source material is his backstory: he works for the LCB because they saved him from the death penalty

The E.G.O gear the Sinners are attuned to all corrode because the gear or their attunements are imperfect. As in: your LC nuggets got that good shit [because the LCB doesn't have Cogito & can't manufacture E.G.O gear: the Sinners have to "connect" to the Abnormality instead, however that works] / are better [than the LCB Sinners]

The psychosis warning is for multiple Cantos and/or side stories, but one of the Cantos needing that warning is Meursault's.

Row 2:

Sinclair goes tree mode. I will not explain any further.

Limbus Company wants to be the new L Corp, or at least be continually influencial to whoever takes the spot.

The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; [it will be] a constant theme. Dante cannot "eat" (the apple), and thus is not "doomed to die" like the Sinners.** **The Sinners are named thus because they "partook" in the fruit: these moments, from blissful yet tormentous naivete to a sudden sinful upheaval, are highlighted in their Cantos. Gregor's was cutting the apple (crossing the boundary from child to war machine); Rodion's was killing the tax collector (her desire to be a hero completely upended by her actions leading to the deaths of all her neighbors); Sinclair's was following Kromer / letting her into his life (specifically allowing Kromer into his basement and witnessing The Horrors)... **This could imply LCB as the serpent in the garden, but more than anything, Dante is Eve. [Iori could also be the serpent she's got the range. swagever. It'd be funny.] HM: Or even worse, the opposite is true.

Sinners will get upgraded versions of their base E.G.Os; These versions have relation to the shadows cast in their E.G.O portrait.

Ishmael's white whale is a Library of Ruina character.

Row 3:

Faust's Faustian Bargain is classically straightforward: she "sold her soul" for knowledge. HM: The Devil in this exchange is the LCB.

Outis is in the middle of her years-long Odyssey as we speak. HM: It's why she's one of the last Sinners

Purgatorio & Paradiso

Outis, Don Quixote, and Hong Lu are using fake names

Dante (prior to the events of the game) has been on the Outskirts of the City, or even left City limits. HM: They're from outside the city

Row 4:

Gregor is an abnormality / abnormality-like; Hermann's "gift" to him is that. [Honestly he'd be one in the same way Tomerry is, but further than that? He's more than just a genetically modified soldier is what I'm trying to get at.]

Iori

^ HM: Lion, Panther, and Wolf were sent to Dante as a test. [Idk what kind of test it'd be. Trust me.]

At least one Sinner will Distort, and possibly multiple Likely Hong Lu, Ryoshu, Rodion, Heathcliff, Faust, or Meursault. Don seems obvious.* *Colors are likelihoods, not pairs. Though I don't see it likely that they all will distort UNLESS SOMETHING FUCKING HAPPENS *ADDITIONAL hard mode (so hard it's mode): Meursault Distorted before joining Limbus

the golden boughs are the remnants of Carmen's body or essence / the byproduct of the Seed of Light. [That's NERVOUS SYSTEM, baybee!]

Dante goes to Paradiso alone / with only Vergilius (I forgot how it went :( idr if Dante Dante's Inferno went up there alone)

Row 5:

Something bad happened to Gregor's sister :( HM: She's still alive. This is a bad thing. [Leaving my wording vague here on purpose.]

Marie (L'Étranger) is in the Blue Team (with Demian); Gretchen (Faust) is in the Red Team (with Hermann). Gretchen switches teams? [Honestly likely Faust hasn't encountered Gretchen either!]

There is yuri moments and maybe even yaoi moments (not Yuri) SINCLAIR. Yi Sang, Outis, Ishmael, Meursault, Outis again, Hong Lu, HM: Outis Wife Penelope

Angela.

Dante knew Carmen

[outism-had-a-purpose]

*crawls out of an air vent*

Hey. Hey stop screaming. What if the golden bough in Outis' canto is found connected to her and Penelope's olive tree bed. What then. waht tthene wil uoy do.

[markadoo]

If only students would study the little black and white books of men less and the great rainbow-tinted book of nature more; if they would more frequently exchange the heavy air and the dim light of libraries for the freshness and the sunshine of the open sky; if they would oftener unbend their minds by rural walks between fields of waving corn, beside rivers rippling by under grey willows, or down green lanes, where the hedges are white with the hawthorn bloom or red with wild roses, they might sometimes learn more about primitive religion than can be gathered from many dusty volumes, in which wire-drawn theories are set forth with all the tedious parade of learning.

This is a great thing to put over 2000 pages, about halfway, into your 12-volume opus on primitive religion.

[aldieb]

finished omg! you can get this kit from here if you also want 4 entertaining months of testing your dodgy fine motor skills to the limit. the only things i did custom were the wallpaper/side accents bc they’re white in the original—i had some pretty file folders that i cut up. it technically comes with a chandelier that has real electrical wiring but between you and me after like 5 hours i had to take the L

[humanblt]

day 5: ish gets trolled

[fishermcn]

"Come on, Sam. Go talk to Nepheli!"

@yellowfingcr // company kept with a crooked crow and his broken voice.

No, absolutely not. It rattles out from under his breath as a viper's hiss, quiet but potent. "Ain't doin' it, Heysel, ya--!"

Too little, too late. Not for the first time (and for fucking sure not the last) Sam wishes he'd gotten a bit more of his da's bulk as Heysel gives him a surprisingly firm push and a wink. He doesn't flail, no, but the rude little gesture does catch him unawares and unprepared as he stumbles into the opposing stonework with a wheeze and a black oath still stuck fast in his throat.

Then he's... not. Strong but careful hands catch hold of his thin shoulders, a wall of an entirely different kind steadying him before the perfumer can kiss one of Stormveil castle's battlements. Sam blinks once, twice, first at the grip still holding him still (blade-calloused, skin the color of a ground coffee, loves a good brew he does, kissed with scars of a life lived in battle--) and secondly once his neck's craned back enough to look his unexpected savior full in her face (expression solemn but not unkind, soft brown eyes gilted gold by the scant sunlight, ain't seen a shade like hers, features sculpted as though from the stone of legends--).

For a man of already a scant few words at best, Sam finds himself grasping utterly at straws. Throat's suddenly dryer than a sand dune, sweat clinging to the back of his neck, yet there isn't a cough in sight to spare him from the sudden tension of the moment. Doubly so when Nepheli Loux, Warrior cocks her head in that half-concerned, half-curious way whilst still locking stares with him.

"... thanks." It's a thing more quiet than a snowflake's fall, accompanied by him finally cutting flinty eyes to the ground before the flush crawling up his throat has a chance to seize his face beneath his cloth mask. His own soot-stained hands settle over hers, hesitating for a moment before giving them a featherlight squeeze. Still here, still fine, no worries, they seem to say. "Should get a move on, yeah?"

Gonna kill Heysel, he is. Even if Sam's still feeling the warmth of Nepheli's hands through the ragged sleeves of his robes long after they've parted.

[racefortheironthrone]

The Thenns and Garth the Green could indicate that, before the Andals, the First Men were organized under God-Kings/Priest-Kings. Do you think this is a valid theory? What exactly would be the functional differences between a standard feudal rule and a rule by a God-King/Priest-King?

Yes, I think that's a valid theory.

As to the functional differences, we're talking a wildly different ideological framework (this is a major reason why I think people who claim that there's been stagnation in Weasteros are wrong): in the feudal context, the right to rule is ultimately founded on reciprocal contracts - I give you land, you give me military service. In the context of a priest-king or god-king, the right to rule ultimately flows from the Divine itself, either through communion with the gods (in the case of the priest-king) or by being a god or god's descendant (in the case of the god-king king).

This has a pretty profound significance for the functioning of the state, because it means that the state takes on critical aspects of religious responsibility as well as authority. The priest-king/god-king is responsible for carrying out the rituals and ceremonies that propitiate the gods, that foretell good or bad fortune in the coming harvest, and that unites the polity as one community of believers.

If you believe the tradition of James George Frazier and Robert Graves, there is also a strong sacrificial element to so-called "sacred kingship." While the land prospers, the harvests are plentiful, and the people are content, the sacred king rules unquestioned, but when winter comes and the land is visited by disease or famine or drought, the harvests fail, and the people are riven with discontent, then the sacred king has to die (at the hands of the new king, who is also the old king, it gets very mystical) so that the land can be renewed.

So yeah, bit of a difference between Gilgamesh of Uruk and, say, Edward IV of York. One might even say there's been cultural change and development over time...

[catilinas]

like the fucking rex nemorensis????????????

[renaultphile]

Andrew is into anthropology?

In the 1959 edition, the reference to the Golden Bough is cut.

I feel like this must be a reference to “The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion”, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer, first published in 1890.

Looks like a pretty weighty tome, with a challenging premise.  Interesting that he just says 'it's like the Golden Bough' without elaborating. And notable that he is interested in anthropology, while Laurie loves fiction.

I wonder why she cut the line?  Anyone know this book or know more about it?

Personally I find that little exchange and Laurie’s embarrassed reaction to it rather delicious! And it reminds me that in the book we get the merest tip of the iceberg of their conversations. They spend a lot of time together and we see only tiny glimpses (something which is more or less reversed when we are re-introduced to a certain person later on 👀).