#priestess of the highest order

[babythegod]

[punkpandapatrixk]

🧝🏻‍♀️Mystical Glow-Up Secrets ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

Your mystical glow-up is literally divinely ordained, no cap HAHAH I’ve got this vibe from the deck-bottom but let me start with this quote:

'A Humanity that thinks materialistically will produce frightful beings in the future, and a Humanity that thinks spiritual thoughts, will work upon and transform the future organism so that beautiful Human bodies will proceed from it.' – Rudolf Steiner

Oh, gosh.

We are in an era of spiritual consciousness. This is an era where we learn to reflect outwardly what it means to be a 5D-Consciousness Being. Living in a 5D consciousness, people naturally feel lighter, freer, younger, prettier, healthier, more fit, more stress-free, more energetic; all because people's whole vibrations are 'triggered' by a more spiritual ae-nergy.

ae is known as chi or prana or orgone in other languages; by synchronizing with your ae, ever so organically your body learns to derive vital energy from a purer source of consciousness—a high vibration of aetheric authenticity—that reflects in the physical world as a glow-up of the highest divine order~♥︎

As your Mind comes into alignment with the ae of your Spirit, so your Body becomes attuned to that Order. The significance of ae will only grow as more people come into a spiritual kind of liberation from the chains of insecurity propagated by the monsters in the media and politics.

No matter what the propaganda of the moment may say and try to do, you could always be the conscious individual that distils information and derives from this process only the essence of what is good for you on a personal level. If you’re happy, satisfied, confident and proud with your intelligent conscious choices, that spark of contentment is what truly makes a person glow from the inside out~★

education: Body Care and Grooming (1948)

technomagy: Facial Symmetry with Muscle Toning (Energetic Programmed Audio) by Sapien Medicine

deck-bottom: XX Judgement Rx, Silver Historian (Polydore Vergil), Priestess of Beauty

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Pile 1 – As You Mend Your Heart, Babe, All of You Gets Beautiful Again

assistance: what is coming is 100000x better than what is gone by doyouflow

what’s been taken from you? – 9 of Wands

Although this is a 9 of Wands card, I see that the entirety of your Pile is water-based. You’re someone whose heart is very pure and kind, and you’ve sacrificed a lot of yourself for being there for others. I’m hearing: ‘for a pessimist I was pretty optimistic, and I got nothing—NOTHING—but betrayal and abandonment, and I am exhausted.’ Being charitable around the wrong fucker can surely drain our spiritual aenergy!

You’ve been through multiple cycles of ‘exhausting’ friendships with people who couldn’t appreciate you for the delicate human that you are. They only saw you as this fiery, strong, charismatic capable individual who always managed to whip up a positive attitude in any circumstances. It never occurred to them—not that they’d care to wonder anyway—that maybe this time around you’re the one needing a hug.

Nobody cared; and even the ones who pretended to care, only wanted to know what your gloominess was all about. And they went on to talk shit behind your back and had a good laugh about it. ‘MU HA HA HA, turns out Y/N ain’t even that shit! Y/N is pretty pathetic/loser/crazy BU HA HA HA HA!!!’ Funny thing is, you always knew about their shit one way or another and the whole revelation broke your heart to pieces. Multiple times with different people… tsk tsk…

recalling fragments of your beauty – 9 of Cups

Well, now, I can see you’ve lost a lot of these ‘friends’ and worked on yourself to create new neural pathways towards a truer sense of spiritual abundance. I’m sure right now your Life is pretty OK in areas like finance and material security; your job or creative project is going swimmingly; you have a pretty good work-life balance; and for the most part you’re really enjoying the peacefulness of your solitary Life.

But if there’s one thing, I think you haven’t had a really good conversation with someone interesting in a pretty long time. I see that your eyes have not twinkled from being complimented by someone genuinely kind in a really long while. You’ve lost a lot of your affection for people and you’ve lost faith in being energetic and social. People always disappoint in the end because their hearts are ugly and they’re mean to each other. This deep-seated belief has caused your eyes to look dead and droopy.

Have you perhaps noticed that you’ve developed a set of sanpaku eyes? The minimalistic science behind it states that people could develop sanpaku eyes after going through a lot—like a FUCKTON—of heartache and disappointments. I think your case could be dealing with some kind of a ‘betrayal trauma’ or some variety of ‘injustice trauma’. Look ‘em up, babe~ ♥︎

sealing the deal with the Divine Feminine – Knight of Cups

If some years have passed now since the last time you were around your fake friends, or even frenemies, I want you to know that your beauty has not been lost to time or ageing. Nope. Not at all. That’s bullshit. I can see that you’re the type of person who ages very UNNATURALLY. If your natal chart has a lot of Water aenergies or you have strong placements in Water Houses, you’re defo the type of bitch that can TRANSFORM your physical appearance by sheer mood ;D At this point, you can’t even age coz that skin barrier is strong AF LMAO

THAT’S WHY! Your true mystical glow-up secret lies in your mending your pretty Heart~ You’ve never had an ugly Heart, obviously, and still now it’s not ugly or anything; but it’s the way you think about how deserving you are of a friendship or relationship that honours your complex sensitivity that needs to be acknowledged and RECLAIMED. Doesn’t matter how, doesn’t matter when or who’s coming next, I just want you to know that if this reading has popped in to your Life… Your Soulmates are coming to get you, bitch. Pack up and play in the sea! XD

The good times that you’re going to be having with your Soulmates, Soul Tribes, Soul Fam—however you may resonate—are going to refill the stars in your Heart, automatically reflected in your eyes~ ★_★v Hahah I promise you that you’re going to reunite with Souls who are very, very old friends with you. You’re going to live a very happy, passionate Life doing things you like with people you Love… How the hell do you think that’s not gonna heal all of you and make everything about you beautiful again?😉

Originally, you’re a beautiful bitch. And if you’ve also got some Capricorn/Saturn/10th House placements, it’s very likely you’re ageing backwards! What the hell even is that?? \`★_★`/

GODDESS OF BEAUTY🔻💙

beauty on the inside – Green Physician (Paracelsus)

beauty on the outside – Priestess of Inspiration

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Pile 2 – It’s the Passion in Your Heart That Reflects Outwardly Your True Inner Beauty

assistance: I TRUST things aren’t falling apart they are FALLING INTO PLACE by doyouflow

~wah, girl, you really gotta check out the bonus content for this one XP~

what’s been taken from you? – 5 of Cups Rx

Out of all the Piles, you’re the baddest bitch of them all, do you realise that? You’ve got the most unhinged aenergy about you XD You’re a psycho, you know that? You’re generally thought of as either unpredictable or uncontrollable, but you could also be both, unprovoked LMAO People think you’re a problem child, because you’re so gutsy. I’m literally not getting ANYTHING about what’s been taken from you ^_^; Are you sure you still need this PAC? XD

First of all, you literally exist in your own dimension. That’s why people can’t control you. They can’t tame you. You’re a weirdo, a maniac even, who does things your way, plans things according to your vision, and yours alone, for the most part. People think you’re rather selfish but it’s because you’re a girl, right? If you were a man they’d say you’re DRIVEN. And yes! DRIVE that Bentley, bitch! No, DRIVE that Tesla into OUTER SPACE, bitch! You don’t appreciate people telling you what you CAN’T do!

And you don’t like it when people gaslight you about your confidence just because they’re a little bitch. You love being a Supreme Bitch—you’re a girl on a mission; ain’t nobody got the aenergy to listen to nobody’s guilt-tripping. And in that sense, your spirit and psychology have never really been hit by society. Society has never been able to take away anything from you ♡

recalling fragments of your beauty – XIV Temperance Rx

I see that your Beauty has stayed intact for the majority of your Life. It’s not like you’d resonate with having lost fragments of your beauty to years of depression, malnutrition or anything of the sort? Your mindset has remained strong for the majority of your adult Life. You have a strong mentality and this is reflected well in your physical body. A glow-up is easy, as long as you want it. And for the most part, your glow-up is tightly bound to your sense of purpose.

You’ve always known you’re meant for great things. And from a very young age you already worked on your mentality. You REFUSED to be normal, you refused mediocrity. It wasn’t a walk in the park until you reached your conviction though. Your childhood was rather constrictive, either due to societal expectations…or familial expectations. The adults around you thought you didn’t notice but you saw all of these fences put around you, and they pissed you off. Even your peers couldn’t understand what you wanted to make out of yourself.

So you rebelled from a very young age. You were, yes, THEE problem child, only because the small-minded people around you were a problem to your goals! Such hindrance. And now you’re glowing up and grabbing all the money bags and they jealous? Are you even fucking kidding my butt? Your path towards a total glow-up of your mindset and real life was not always perfect, but what’s perfection? All of the struggles play into creating your lore👑

sealing the deal with the Divine Feminine – 2 of Cups

If you’ve never heard anybody tell you this, allow me to be the first. Your drive, your determination, your ambition and motivation, although these qualities may make you appear like a selfish bitch on the outside, I, ME, MYSELF, understand that you want these things not only for yourself. There are people in this world you want to protect and provide for. Maybe it’s your mother who was abused or left by her deadbeat husband, idk. Maybe it’s a sibling or a pet you want to give the best Life for, idk.

Maybe, you want to achieve success and fame and be seen by the world, because you want to save the world from the malady of its own crazy, idk~ You want to be an example, a healing presence, a voice of reason, a voice for the voiceless, idk? You may look a certain bitchy, scary way on the outside, but your heart is good; it’s PURE GOLD. You live for the betterment of someone else and if that’s not LOVE, what is?

What most people don’t understand about you is how your sparkle of beauty literally comes from this desire to protect and provide for someone other than yourself. You have a lot of Love in your heart, even if you don’t always admit it to yourself. Your entire Life, your glow-up has come from your being DRIVEN. Vroom vroom, MOTHERFUCKER .・°☆~ You leave a trail of stardust for your aenemies ♥︎

GODDESS OF BEAUTY🔻💛

beauty on the inside – Green Alchemist (Nicolas Flamel)

beauty on the outside – Priestess of Patience

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Pile 3 – When Your Existence is Useful to the Healing of Others, Their Love/Gratitude Nurtures You Back to Health

assistance: you get to be universes favorite by doyouflow

what’s been taken from you? – Page of Cups Rx

See, it’s crazy that literally a few mins before starting on you, Pile 3, I came across a quote that says this:

‘Some of us are such advanced Souls that we did not come here to be supported, but we came to be the support system for many. If you’ve had a challenging Life and feel you never had proper support or Love, that is because YOU are the Love and Support.’

Well, my heart broke, but…hey, there’s clarity and validation there😊

All of these cards are in reverse, telling me there’s a lot that’s been taken from you. Your heart, compassion, resources, money, hobby items, OMG, the list is endless! So much has been taken away from you. Either by people borrowing stuff without remembering to return or people getting a favour without returning it to you. At least, even when it seemed like they did return some favour to you…the return was either lacklustre or just…it didn’t feel right?

You’ve felt gaslit too much your entire Life. An incessant feeling of being unseen, unappreciated, unloved, could’ve eaten away at your self-worth. You’ve often been the miracle in someone else’s Life, but when it comes to you needing a transformation in your Life, where’s MY miracle…? I think you could have Chiron in 12th House or Pisces? That kind of placement is one where an individual constantly feels like they’ve been forsaken by God, or the positive forces of the Universe…

recalling fragments of your beauty – 3 of Pentacles Rx

The truth of the matter is, you’ve not been forsaken by your Spirit Guides. See, this message is gonna be especially resonant for you who do have Chiron or Saturn in the 8th or 12th House—that the Universe, your Higher Self and Spirit Guides have given you so little guidance and support, because you’re meant to learn how it feels like to be in the shoes of Humans. See, it’s not to say these Humans do not have support—babe, they CAN’T access the support because they’re BLIND and DEAF AS FUCK.

Humans are so embarrassingly divorced from their own intuition. Even the most religious folks are blind and deaf to actual angelic whispers. In many cases, because their false religions have taught them to worship wrongly and be obedient to evil authority and not question any injustice and wrongdoings. The more blindly religious a person is, the more separated they are from their own Humanity, because now their ears are deaf to empathy.

You came into this world to understand the twists and turns of how it feels like to navigate this crazy Matrix with so little guidance, so that one day, when you’re propelled into your main mission, you can remind and even teach people how to re-connect with Love—the true source of all compassion and Divinity in Human Form. When you remind people of their Humanity, you regain, and grow exponentially in Beauty ♥︎

sealing the deal with the Divine Feminine – 6 of Pentacles Rx

So, as you can see, you have a very important spiritual mission in this incarnation. I do not give a goddamn dime what you think you look like; whether or not you‘re conventionally attractive; whether or not you fit some bullshit beauty standards; YOU ARE FUCKING BEAUTIFUL when you’re seen sharing your healing gifts with the world! You do remember that a lot of historians say Cleopatra wasn’t perceived as necessarily that conventionally beautiful by most people, right? But that everybody was charmed by her intelligence and charisma when talking about politics?

Yeah, you give me that vibe, bitch <3 That the essence of what you do to alleviate sorrow in the world, when seen by others, when people listen to what you say, when what you do or write changes people’s lives for the better, when people feel motivated by your sheer aenergy to improve themselves—it’s that kinda shit what will help you regain your natural beauty, or manifest a glow-up ☆

When you engage in your Life’s main mission, it’s people’s Love for what you do and the Gratitude they feel for what it’s done in their lives what will aenergetically nurture you back to health. In a nutshell, people’s appreciation for your Life’s Work IS your support system in this world—later on in Life maybe if you haven’t started. It is your Purpose to be useful to the healing of others~ You’re defo gonna have an audience \^_^v Namaste, bitches~★ I honour all that you’ve been through and all that you’re going to do for this world~ You’re so LOVED!!! <3

GODDESS OF BEAUTY🔻🧡

beauty on the inside – Gold Historian (Raphael Holinshed)

beauty on the outside – Priestess of Love

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[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Astarion Very Happy Ending

So full disclosure, my Tav was a Selunite, and I can't stop thinking well if Bhaal can have a mortal chosen one, why can't Selune?

Also, spoiler warning, stop reading here if you don't want, but like damn girl I freaking turn a Shar priestess away from her god back to you, free a man from his devil's contact, high-key save the world, kill bhaals chocen, convince my vampiric lover to not sacrifice thousands of people, stop an entire goblin army from murdering Tieflings and druids alike, and literally free your daughter. A reward is in order!

This is that reward:

Astarion was slowly getting used to living in the shadows again, as loathe as he was to admit it. It was quite the transition, despite the fact that his time in the sun had amounted to less than a year. But what a lovely year it was. Nearly a perfect one in comparison to the rest of his life. And the promise of more of the same was a suitable balm to being cursed back into the darkness.

It was difficult, but with the love of his life by his side it was more than tolerable. Borderline beautiful in fact, to be able to live his life so freely despite the infuriating complications.

The money also certainly helped.

That was one thing Astarion always had over his brothers and sisters, his fantasies of a better life had always surrounded around Cazador's murder. Not his approval. He may have been completely unaware of the horrifying dungeon beneath their feet, but he did know where the deed to his estate and other properties were kept. And now had enough connections with the higher up's of Baldur's gate for some frankly exquisite forgeries. It had been a particularly satisfying feeling to sell all of his former master's possessions off, even more so when it came to the land. Almost like he was tearing apart his legacy and handing it off to the highest bitter, piece by piece.

Though, being there with you to find and settle in your own little corner of paradise was an even better feeling. Maybe it didn't quite reach his past dreams of grandeur, but it turned out settling in a quaint and poorly lit townhouse in the upper city was more than enough for him to be satisfied.

It was a good charming life, one that Astarion was sure he didn't deserve. But that certainly wasn't going to stop him from enjoying it. Though as much as he adored where he ended up, he'd be lying if he said it was perfect.

No, perfect would have been finding a way for him to ascend without becoming a monster, living in a world where he could be with you fully, completely, out in the sun like the kind of lover you deserved. It made him feel... startlingly inadequate. Everything you did had to be in accordance to his schedule. His lack of capabilities. And just because you always insisted it didn't matter didn't fix the feeling of inadequacy. He hated it, hated the fact that there were so many hours of the day that you couldn't share. He didn't regret his choice, not for a moment, but that didn't mean he was fully satisfied with the consequences.

But in his own defense, he did make up for it in other ways. Mildly frustrating and draining ways, if not a bit rewarding. It had been his own fault, falling so utterly and completely for such a goody two-shoes. A zealot to Selune, as fierce as she was compassionate, always trying to do what was fair and just. Always dragging Astarion on for the ride of her cleric duties.

But he couldn't blame you for all of his new do-gooder ways. Not when he was nearly the leader of a bizarre cult of repentant vampire spawn.

It was just the slightest bit exhausting to so often be playing the part of their heroic leader, fighting all of his murderous instincts to work for a better future for himself and the brethren he had personally damned. Though he'd be lying if he said he didn't get any satisfaction from it. It felt... good to teach them new ways to live. To give them the chance at the beautiful life he had managed to secure for himself.

He wouldn't do it forever, just until he was confident enough to be sure that his departure wouldn't lead to a massacre on either side. Then the two of you would be off to explore the lands, working to do your goddesses work with just a touch of hedonistic activities on the way.

Astarion was looking forward to it. He hadn't done all that work to be selfless forever. No, he was going to be forced to insist on a few years of having you all to himself, with only the occasional bits of volunteer work for the temple as interruption. Then the two of you could go back to galivanting about the lands being local heroes. But he had earned an extended vacation.

One that, luckily, he hadn't had to fight you on too much. That was just one other thing he loved about you, your complete understanding that Astarion would always be a little selfish, especially when it came to you. The one person who had ever really been his, who loved him, who understood him, who believed in him. Could he be blamed for wanting to have you all to himself?

And admittedly, he did have you more often then not. Even if on occasion he did have to share with your beloved goddess.

Astarion sighed as he watched you pray in the moonlight, completely absorbed in your quiet, mystical chants. Despite his distaste for the length of your prayer sessions, Astarion did like seeing your more ritualistic side. Just... maybe not for the morally correct reasons.

He was well aware that being so involved with a vampire was clearly against your religious doctrine. But it didn't matter. You still choose him, despite how the knowledge nearly made you an outcast amongst your own kind. But he mattered more than your reputation, more than the lessons you had been taught your entire life regarding love and evil.

You still had your faith, but you never let it shake the faith you had in him, something that he valued more than he could ever express. It was perhaps a sick thought, but it also made him feel exceedingly powerful, to know the true extent of your feelings. Even more connected. It was almost... like he was defiling you, corrupting a beautiful flower to turn away from the sun to something even brighter. A love that Astarion doubted most could ever hope to feel.

Perhaps that was not the best outlook on your religion, but oh well. He'd keep those thoughts to himself. What you didn't know wouldn't kill you. Besides... if anyone had been corrupted it was him, plagued with a new sense of loyalty and gods, justice. All from the beautifully strange woman kneeling in the moonlight.

Though, you sure were taking awhile tonight. Nearly twice as long as your usual nightly prayer. He hated to interrupt your worship but this was starting to cut into his time a bit here.

"My dear," Astarion called out, swinging his legs over your shared bed to stand, "Don't you think that you've been kneeling there for a touch too long?"

But you didn't respond, still muttering under your breath, even faster than before.

Astarion narrowed his eyes as he walked closer towards you, confused by your lack of response, "Darling-Tav?"

Astarion stopped, eyes wide as he got a solid look at your first. Your eyes were wide open, body rim rod straight as your irises glowed a vibrant blue light.

What in the nine hells was happening? Astarion kneeled next to you, his heart in his throat as he shook your shoulders, "Tav, love, can you hear me? What is this?"

You didn't answer, you didn't even acknowledge his presence. But you did start floating in the god damn air. Astarion stared, helpless as he watched you levitate, words that he didn't understand spilling from your lips.

Then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. You fell unceremoniously to the floor. Astarion scrambled towards you, his heart in his throat as you started to come to. He settled your head in his lap, his hands shaking as he touched your face, lost on what he should be doing.

You blinked your eyes open slowly, that angelic glow still radiating from your irises. But you didn't look frightened, more... excited.

You grinned up at him, your voice slightly cracking when you murmured, "We've been blessed."

Astarion stared at you, brow furrowed. He was happy you were alive and speaking but...

"That's lovely?" Astarion tried, "But severely lacking in terms of an explanation. Are you okay?"

You nodded eagerly, suddenly sitting up with an unexpected amount of energy, "I'll explain later, we don't have much time."

What was it that compelled you religious types to be so cryptic? But you didn't give him anytime to question. Instead you wrapping your arms around his neck and smashing your lips together, kissing him hard enough to take his breath away.

He wrapped strong arms around your back, pulling you in closer, always helpless but to return your affection. But something about this was different. He could feel it, holy magic spreading through him through your lips, down throughout his veins, changing something inside of him. It wasn't unpleasant per say, but it certainly was startling. Startling enough for him to almost push you away, if it wasn't for the fact that he trusted you with everything inside of himself.

Neither of you pulled away until the blue fire in your eyes had died out, and Astarion was left with the intense sensation that something had changed, irrevocably inside of him.

You stared at each other, Astarion in confusion while you looked nothing short of gleeful, "Do you feel it?"

He felt... strange. A warmth still spreading through him that was settling. Astarion raised a brow at you, exceedingly impatient when he asked, "First, how about you explain to me what in the hells that was?"

But you didn't answer. Instead you stood with an adorable hop, lending a hand out to help him up, "Do you trust me?"

Astarion almost rolled his eyes as he took your hand, annoyed that he fell for someone that had just as much of a flair for the dramatic as he did, "You know I do."

You helped him to his feet before you started to mumble again, a startlingly familiar incantation seeping from your lips. It was the spell for daylight, the very same that you had used to help defeat Cazador. The kind that could now kill Astarion in mere moments.

He was too shocked at your audacity to even protest, believing for a split, terrifying second that he was about to die a fiery death. Sunlight suddenly filled the room, bright enough for Astarion to tightly shut his eyes.

Then...nothing. No burning, no pain, nothing but the sounds of you both breathing.

That didn't-how was he-what did you just do?

Astarion stared at you, absolutely flabbergasted with his mouth hanging open, staring at the borrowed daylight like a simpleton, "But how?"

You were still grinning ear to ear, looking happier than Astarion had ever seen you before. You grasped his hands in yours, your smile gentle as you explained, "I told you. We were blessed. Our Lady of Silver gave me one gift, and this is what I choose."

If sunlight wasn't already staring him in the face, Astarion would never believe it. But here he was, alive and standing under it's warmth. A gift from a goddess, spent on him of all creatures.

"It can't fix everything," You clarified with the slightest frown, "But it can fix this."

He could feel the truth in your words. He was still... wrong. A creature born of something awful, doomed to eternity and a life of bloodlust. But part of that wrongness had been culled, curling up and dying from Selune's holy magic, from your enduring love.

It was a dream he never thought possible. One that he had accepted never having. But here he was, here you were, continuing to give him the impossible.

It was enough to bring tears to his eyes. Astarion reached up, cupping your face before confessing the truth he couldn't quell.

"I don't deserve you," He whispered, voice hoarse, "I'll never deserve you. Words can't express my thanks. You have given me everything, while I have nothing but myself to give in return. But it's always yours. Everything inside of me."

He meant every word, he always would. Until his last breath.

You shook your head, gentling cooing at him, "This is a time for celebration my love, not for doubt. You've earned this."

He hadn't. And he doubted you'd ever be able to convince him he had. But he'd still take it. Gladly.

"I love you," Astarion murmured, helpless to say anything else. He pressed his lips against yours, the gravity of his new life just starting to settle in his mind.

He was free, as free as he could ever hope for. You had achieved what Cazador could not, all without a hint of malice or horrifying sacrifice. But through kindness, love, and perseverance. You had already freed him once from his own mental shackles, his last remaining ties to the tyrant that made him.

And now you've done it again, saving him from at least a portion of the taint on his soul.

It was beautiful, wonderful, and Astarion would never waste a moment of it.

[rache1auren]

I will always defend the sisters over the inner court. The Inner Court are rulers within their court, they are 500+ years old. They have a higher duty to take care in their words an actions. They cannot be compared to early 20 year olds who have had a lesser education as well as far less life experience.

I’m tired of people holding Nesta/Feyre/Elain to the same standard as these people, and especially tired of the reverse. The IC is made up of a High Lord, 15,000+ year old alien fae, court coordinator/stand in ruler for the night court/Velaris, commanding general of the army, and Spymaster. They are of the highest command within their respective territory. They literally have a higher duty to act rationally and morally.

Yet at EVERY TURN they are expected to be given the benefit of the doubt. That even though they are fae, that they have committed atrocities FAR worse than the sisters could ever dream of, they are held to the same standard or even a LOWER standard than the sisters.

Compare that to human girls who have known nothing but abuse, neglect, trauma, death. And then are expected to deal with it better than 500 year old fae.

Fae who when they were dealing with trauma and anger destroyed an ENTIRE city block, slaughtered a whole village in revenge. Did such unspeakable things that their friend can hardly bare to think of it. Who have fucked around for 500 years, drinking their pain away. Fae who have made far worse mistakes than setting up a court to fall, far worse than letting your sister go hunt at 14, far worse than being mean, far worse than drinking and fucking in order to cope with this power thrust upon you—to cope with the trauma of being violated and tortured, of having to witness your father die JUST as he finally showed up for them.

Or that they KEEP lying to someone they are supposed to love and respect. But they don’t believe in her enough or respect her enough to give her dominion over her own body and medical situation. Because they DONT think she’s mentally capable of hearing the news of her potential demise. Despite her having faced her own death before time and time again. Feyre has proven she could handle the news (and she DID handle it well), but it was Rhys who didn’t handle it, who flew off the rails and needed to beat up his friend in order to keep his calm, who wanted to kill his mates sister, his best friends Mate because she told a secret he didn’t want out.

How is telling a secret (regardless of intent or approach) in any way deserving of death?

So when I tell you I hate the IC, it is because of how they treat these young females with such little empathy. That they leave them locked in a house with little to no help or company, wasting away because their sister and High Lady is off doing something else. That they AGAIN lock away Nesta because she is embarrassing them and they need to show they can control her. Because if it really was just about helping her, they wouldn’t have given her free reign.l of their money (they went from paying for her rent by check, to her having full access). They would have tried to get her to talk to a counselor (because YES, they have counselors for the priestess’). That maybe the 500 year old Mor who touts herself as a savior and advocate for women, would extend her empathy to two traumatized previously human girls. Because they never help any of them unless it means something for them in return.

TL;DR fuck the IC for how they treat the sisters.

[yuesya]

‘Kibutsuji Muzan.’

This was the name of the King of Demons, a heinous monster and unrepentant murderer responsible for untold numbers of atrocities through the ages. Both by his own actions, and by proxy through existing as the progenitor of demonkind–

And most shamefully, one who had been born of the Ubuyashiki bloodline.

The birth of a demon brought down a curse upon the bloodline that gave birth to such a monster; all children born of Ubuyashiki blood are cursed to fall ill and die young, and Ubuyashiki Kagaya is no different. His own father had died young as well, and Kagaya had been trained from an early age to succeed his father’s role as the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. And so his own children followed in his very same footsteps as well. It was cruel to place such burdens on the shoulders of children, but…

There was no other choice.

Thus, Ubuyashiki fastidiously, meticulously carries out his duties and responsibilities as the oyakata-sama.

It was not an easy task that he had inherited from his forebears. The records showed multiple events throughout the Demon Slayer Corps’ history in which the organization itself had been pushed to the brink of total annihilation.

But there is also something to be said for the resilience of humanity, even when faced against the preternatural strength and regeneration of demons that far outstrips anything of human ability. Time and again, the Demon Slayer Corps has held on tooth and nail to overcome adversity and continue moving forward, in hopes of realizing their ultimate goal:

The death of Kibutsuji Muzan, Father of Demons.

Slowly, the pieces were finally falling into place.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya is certain that the current generation of pillars ranks among the highest in terms of their strength in the history of the organization. Then the appearance of young Kamado Tanjiro, and his sister Kamado Nezuko…

And now, the emergence of another new variable.

An unnamed demon slayer. One who had shown herself to be capable of fighting and killing Upper Moon Three.

A girl who had fought and slain Upper Moon Three in the dead of night, without use of a nichirin blade.

It boggled the mind, really –and Ubuyashiki Kagaya dearly hoped to be able to meet the child. To speak with her, and learn of how she had accomplished such a thing, in order that they might be able to use the knowledge against Muzan. To ask the child to lend her strength to the Demon Slayer Corps, for she was most certainly not one of the swordsmen they’d trained.

She did not use any breathing style, Kyojuro had said. Then, what technique had she used, to become capable of fighting on par with a demon?

According to Kyojuro and the young demon slayers who’d been with him that night, the girl had long white hair. As white as the color borne by priestesses of the Himorogi clan, as his dear wife Amane hailed from. But priestesses were not trained to fight, and Amane had confirmed that, of the Himorogi children in this generation, none possessed deep blue eyes.

Who was this child, then? Who was this child who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and slain one of the most powerful demons without even wielding the strength of a sun-blessed blade?

Ubuyashiki Kagaya does not know the answer. But if they can find her again, and enlist her strength, then there is no doubt that they will be one step closer towards ending the horrific terror of Kibutsuji Muzan, once and for all.

[a-d-nox]

web of wyrd: best months for weddings and potential issues that could arise

ever wonder why may is such a popular month for marriage? why you rarely see people who marry in september staying together? the date you select for your special day matters according to the matrix! in honor of my best friend getting engaged, i will be a little more focused on love and romance posts than you typically would see from me. reminder the post is focused on the WEDDING EVENT MONTH (this is the highest outcome - but the energy can be out of balance which is why i am including negatives (which usually are part of the karmic tail)). in order to see future dates, use gollov's site and the "personal" calculator!

january (1 - the magician)

positive: couple is capable of making the life you really desire together come to fruition.

negative: might be an elopement that goes south (shotgun wedding or an annulment is needed). getting stood up at the altar vibes.

february (2 - the high priestess)

positive: having a very deep connection long term - that goes way beyond topical concepts.

negative: a big secret comes out and ruins the day and/or a scandal occurs.

march (3 - the empress)

positive: a very fruitful relationship, a loving partnership, likely to create a large family when the union occurs.

negative: MOB or MOG makes the wedding all about her and is overbearing about the event.

april (4 - the emperor)

positive: a very stable relationship where both partners are protective of one another

negative: FOB or FOG might be a buzz kill or has a tangible dislike of someone in their new married family.

may (5 - the hierophant)

positive: makes for a committed and traditional relationship.

negative: there are likely a few guests who are all on their own and/or there might be a few people how have known beef with one another. maybe the bride doesn't like one of the groomsmen or the groom doesn't like one of his bride's guests...

june (6 - the lover)

positive: having a marriage full of love and partnership; makes a soulmate tie.

negative: someone could interrupt the ceremony by opposing the officiant because they can't "forever hold their peace". otherwise, there might be doubt or drama surrounding the coupling.

july (7 - the chariot)

positive: might have had a lot of relationships obstacles to get to the point of marriage, but the determination to be together and stay together makes for a lasting/enduring relationship

negative: there could be a car accident or break down that slows down or ruins the day

august (8 - strength)

positive: resilience is what holds the coupling together along with understanding and compassion for one another

negative: a physical fight may occur among the wedding party or the guests.

september (9 - the hermit)

positive: this is likely to be a small/private ceremony. the couple is on a spiritual journey with one another and they know it.

negative: cold feet might occur regarding marriage - could be left at the altar. there is also a greater likelihood of divorce with this energy as the hermit is on a SOLO journey.

october (10 - the wheel of fortune)

positive: marriage is part of this couple's destiny, but so are the inevitable ups and downs within the relationship.

negative: something unpredictable is likely to occur/happen that can ruin the event itself.

november (11 - justice)

positive: there is likely a prenuptial agreement in place or this might be organized and arranged by the parents of the couple which speaks for the relationship long term...

negative: another high stakes month in terms of staying together - legal matters are part of this marriage (divorce is likely). or someone may have a legitimate reason to object the marriage.

december (12 - the hanged man)

positive: the couple is prepared to let go of the past and enter a life long marriage with an open mind.

negative: someone in the partnership is likely to feel trapped in the relationship - growing to resent one another is pretty common with this month given the theme.

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[lyss-sketchbox]

My thoughts on Inazuma vs Natlan so far. Is that Inazuma dropped the ball. There's no questioning that. It was rushed and the resolution lacked weight, and it almost definitely needed a lot more space to breathe and probably would've benefited from the 5 act structure instead of speedrunning with 3 acts (such as needing actual time spent with the Watatsumi Resistance rather than spending like 30 minutes tops).

HOWEVER. I feel like the initial Act I-II of Inazuma did a great job established the STAKES. It showed us the very real damage being caused by the various unjust decrees and why people are fighting. Natlan I kinda felt like did a lot of telling instead of showing, and any potential stakes feel kinda... Unserious? Because no one's really seriously hurt and even if they're saying Natlan will explode soon, I'm not really feeling like it's as dire as they're trying to sell it.

BUT IVE BEEN INFORMED YOU CAN DO NATLAN OUT OF ORDER??? Like you could in theory do Natlan BEFORE Inazuma thru Fontaine (with the quick-start function) which is why Natlan is more 'self-contained' which is absolutely insane to me?? Like HELLO???

Overall, I feel like the concepts and plot presented in Natlan is fine. But they didn't do a good enough job of selling to me these things. Like the whole child soldiers stuff kjadf like we actually dwelled on it for longer than a millisecond, we'd probably realize that's super fucked up!! But instead we gloss over it, making the whole quest seem fairly light-hearted despite everything.

Rubs my hands together ok anon lets talk cuz yeah i have thoughts

About inazuma

I definitely agree with you that Act 1-2 (especially 1) of inazuma did well setting up and showing how much negative impact the shogun's rule has impacted the people:

Vision holders literally losing a chunk of themselves (or worst, their lives) from their vision being confiscated.

Non-vision holders risking their lives for helping said vision holders (the resistance)

International traders being stuck in the nation, repressed by local government, and scammed by local traders just to keep business alive.

Local government bloating the price of everything!!! (And being able to get discounts only if you have connections)

Corruption even in the highest positions (gestures at the Kujou clan)

Fatui meddling that lead to the deaths of many for profit

The shogun literally programmed her robot to be that heartless because she herself dont give a shit about any of these issues. As long as her eternity stays.

Fr after venti and zhongli, getting an archon that acts as a proper ruler of a nation AND an antagonist sounds COOL AS FUCK. The booba sword scene while yeah, boobs wooo, also was a wonderful show of her authority over her nation.

After that they tripped and fell in Watatsumi. While i appreciate the environmental story telling of Watatsumi's and Shogunate's bases during the war, we barely get enough time to do... ANYTHING of substance. If i remember correctly, we became team captain, then do a bunch of training and defeating vagrants (on our own because friendly npc fighters didnt exist yet) and thats it. Where is the plotting? Wheres the planning? It was all just an anime training montage we barely get to see or feel. I genuinely feel like we couldve just replaced the entire Watatsumi arc with 'the fatui is selling delusions to people with confiscated visions to help them cope with the lost so traveller go to the delusion factory' and NOTHING wouldve changed. Hell it wouldve made ALOT more sense why yae came to save us at the end if the whole thing happened in Narukami.

Also after all that SHOWING they did alot more TELLING about wooo how smart kokomi is she is so smart and cool and the savior of the resistance. Like girl the fatui had their grip on your soldiers to the point they almost didnt want to surrender their delusions what are you on about. While you can argue she was only a priestess before the war and had no war intellegence skills, the people prop her up as such, kujou sara took her seriously. So she has to have some merit. Well im not seeing any (fight me on this i dont fully remember what happens in watatsumi)

Also at the end we fight the literal dictator of the nation with the power of friendship then everyone and i mean EVERYONE forgave said dictator...... cool. They would definitely benefit from an extra act so that watatsumi adds to the idea that this civil war and the shoguns current decree is causing damage.

About AR

The thing is that the requirements for you to start Natlan AQ is to be AR 28 and finish Liyue AQ (which requires AR 29 for the entire thing). While starting Inazuma requires AR 30, Sumeru needs AR 35, and Fontaine needs AR 40 (highest AR requirement by far).

Id argue that each nation is supposed to be a self-contained story. Even so, based on AR requirements theyve been chronologically in order because you NEED to complete the previous AQ to start the next. EXCEPT for Natlan.

While this is obviously to be more open to new and returning players, it really.... decreases the stakes, like you would assume the more we progress the tougher challenges we will have to face. But Natlan? Nawww you can go to Natlan without fighting the dictator 👍

About Natlan

I AM ADDRESSING THE CHILD SOLDIER THING FIRST BECAUSE YES. THEY DEFINITELY DID ALOT MORE TELLING THAN SHOWING HOW THIS CHILD APPARENTLY CAN BE SENT TO WAR WITH A REAL CHANCE OF DYING!!!!! I talked about this before because they ironically did alot more showing how child like Kachina is which adds more to the FUCKING CHILD SOLDIER THING.

HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE OKAY WITH THIS??? Oh its our nations culture, its just the culture shock, OKAY YEAH BUT THE TRAVELLER AND PAIMON ARENT NATLAN NATIVES AND THEY DONT FEEL ANYTHING ABOUT THIS????? Wow yey cheer for the child to go to war! BRO SHE DIED AND WE WENT JACOOZIING WHILE WE WAIT FOR HER TO RETURN FROM WAR...............

ITS VERY OBVIOUS INFANTILIZATION BECAUSE IANSAN DIDNT FUCKING GET THE SAME TREATMENT. You know, the other small girl character there, nah she went to war just like Kachina, lived, and stood by the Archon and WAS READY TO THROW HANDS WITH A HARBINGER IF THE ARCHON DIDNT FUCKING FIGHT HIM HERSELF.

Everything just feels so.... chill? So relaxed with no stakes at all. I mean yeah the Abyss is creeping into the nation's roots but instead of sending armies we make it a tournament. Yeah people die in these excursions but we can revive them so we can ignore the horrors of experiencing death. Yeah the flames are dying so the archon has to give up some of her power to keep it lit but its okay! The harbinger is a gentleman that wont take this opportunity to do some scheming. We need the power of the chosen one of each tribes to save natlan but hey cant rush it! We got a year after all teehee.

Man. Head in hands. What the fuck.

Not even gonna go into the whole the archon is human but mavuika is the one that got reincarnated to retake the role just in time to solve a national crisis thing. Because i dont even know if THAT is accurate.

If they somehow trip and fall worse than inazuma id actually be amazed because the bar is very very low.

[tylermileslockett]

Herakles #3: A Fit of Rage

Now a young man, Herakles embarks on heroic adventures, hunting the lion of Cithaeron for King Thespius, and sleeping with his fifty princess daughters over fifty nights, before capturing the lion and wearing the hide and scalp as a helmet. Returning home, Herakles finds himself defending Thebes against the warring Minyans. Victorious, King Creon’s daughter Megara is given in marriage as a reward for his valor. By her they have three sons.

But Hera still plots vengeance against the descendent of Zeus. She curses Herakles with a fit of violent rage, and, thinking those around him are enemies, he brutally fells his own wife and children with bow and arrows. When he finally awakens from his madness, and realizes what he has done, he is inconsolable.

He exiles himself and finds refuge and purification with his ally, King Thespius, then journeys on to Delphi to consult the Pythia priestess of Apollo, who orders him to atone for his atrocity by serving his cousin, king Eurysthius for twelve years. If successful, he will attain immortality.

According to Apollodorus, the war between Thebes and the Minyans is a grim affair, with Herakles treating his enemies with cruelty when he “cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks” Apollodorus also mentions Herakles receiving divine weapons here: a sword from Hermes, Bow and arrows from Apollo, A golden breastplate from Hephaestus, and a cape from Athena.

When Herakles kills his family, he shatters his own Oikos (paternal line/household), a crucial building block for ancient Greek society. There are two major reasons Herakles is ordered to serve his cousin; first, to atone for the murders of his wife and sons, and thus attain redemption and second, to prove his worth and attain great Kleos (glory/renown), and achieve his highest Arete (potential for human excellence)

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[freyjas-musings]

Hi! I sent in an ask a while ago on how I think Gwyn might be a descendant of Oleanna, and came up with the headcanon of Oleanna visiting Gwyn in her dreams like Elena did with Aelin!

To me, Gwyn and Azriel have religious imagery/symbolism. I know that you have a theory on Gwyn & Azriel being the reincarnations of Oleanna & Enyalius (which is also interesting to me), so I just wanted to share some things that I discovered after doing some research!

This post https://www.tumblr.com/mystical-blaise/663854476621479936/berdara-meaning stood out to me.

The name Gwyn mean fair, white, blessed, and holy. The name Gwyneth means happiness.

Gwynedd means white, fair, blessed, pure.

Apparently Gwyneth also refers to Virgin. Her full name can translate to bleeding virgin.

The name Gwenivere is derived from the Welsh words gwen and hwyfar, which mean “white or fair” and “ghost or phantom” respectively. The name therefore means “white ghost” or “white phantom”.

In Malay, Berdarah means bleeding, bloodied, bled, bloody. Berdara in Malay is also virgin.

Sangrava (Sangravah) means used to bleed in Portuguese.

@yazthebookish posted on her Instagram story how it’s interesting that Gwyn wanted to name her sword Silver Majesty and the sword Gwydion kind of ties in both and it could maybe be an easter egg. “Silver: it’s dark blade emits what was described as a holy, savior’s light and that also connects Gwyn’s holy status as a priestess and the light emits when singing. Majesty: it belonged to a High King whose name is also the Irish equivalent to Gwyn (= Fionn). Gwydion: in Celtic mythology is a trickster/magician from the Kingdom of Gwynedd, which the name Gwyneth is derived from.”

Gwynriel’s have come up with theories about Gwyn and Gwydion after ACOSF, and how she might wield the sword. I’ve also seen theories on how she might be the one to find Narben.

In Medieval Christian theology places seraphim in the highest choir of the angelic hierarchy. They are the caretakers of God's throne, continuously singing "holy, holy, holy".

In the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying “holy, holy, holy”.

In the Bible in Luke 2:13-21 it says: “Suddenly a great army of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!’”

I wonder, have some people ever stopped to think that maybe the reason why Gwyn glows when she’s singing is because it’s something holy and pure, not because she’s “evil”? Even if Gwyn does turn out to be a lightsinger, SJM will not make her a villain, and it would make her an equal to Azriel (she already is). It would be another parallel between her and Azriel, which they already have multiple parallels.

The name Azriel means God is my help.

In Islamic and Christian traditions, Azrael is the name of the angel of death, one of the four archangels; the angel of death who separates souls from their bodies. Apparently he proved to be the only angel brave enough to go down to Earth and face the hordes of Iblīs, the devil, in order to bring God the materials needed to make man. Fun fact: Azrael’s attributes are wings and a cloak. (Azriel wrapped Gwyn in his cloak when saving her.)

Ramiel means thunder of God. We know that Ramiel is important, it is Illyria’s sacred mountain, it is regarded as the holy mountain of the Night Court. Where the warriors are when the Blood Rite ends sorts them into one of the three echelons of warrior, name after their holy stars. One of the seven archangels listed in the Book of Enoch, Ramiel is considered to be the angel of hope, guiding faithful souls to heaven and watching over those who will be resurrected. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is associated with mountains. Mountains are mentioned more than 500 times in the Bible. The Garden of Eden was believed to have been on a mountain. Mountains have a logical religious symbolism for Jewish and Christian cultures since they are “closer to God” who dwells in the heavens (as in the sky). As a result, God often reveals himself on a mountaintop in the text. In the Old Testament, the mountains of Sinai and Zion are most significant.

The name Oleanna means light. Didn’t Oleanna, a high priestess, create Gwydion and gave it its powers when she dipped it into the Cauldron?

In Greek mythology Enyalius is generally the son of Ares by Enyo. Enyalius is often seen as the God of soldiers and warriors from Ares cult.

All of this just seemed really interesting to me. SJM minored in religious studies, so it’s possible she is well aware of some of this or has done some research. There is a lot of religious symbolism and imagery when it comes to Gwyn. No one is “stealing” the religious aesthetic from E/riel’s. Gwyn and Azriel as characters themselves have religious imagery. Gwynriel as a ship has religious symbolism. It wouldn’t surprise me if SJM played into this and I really hope she does. The saint and the sinner. I’ve thought for a while now about making edits of Gwyn and Gwynriel that are religious themed, but I’m scared of E/riel’s saying that I’m stealing their aesthetic, since they’ve accused Gwynriel’s of stealing the light and dark aesthetic. But Gwynriel does actually have a light and dark aesthetic, and E/riel’s use the Hades & Persephone thing despite it being Feysand’s.

Hi Anon,

Everything you have written is interesting and I would love to take my time and explore every single point you made ...

Its all very interesting and I could see Oleanna and Gwyn having a connection similar Enalius and Az ....

Illyrians were made and the leathery wings indicate they were an experiments with creatures from the hel realm ....Now cut to Gwyn who was conceived by a priestess on the holy night of the great rite... it will almost be poetic if Az wields a weapon made from dark power and Gwyn ends up weilding a weapon made from holy power the warrior mates who are also Carynthians.

So Gwyn and Az have the whole holy unholy aesthetic going for them .... saint and the sinner .... carynthian warriors ... and yes Light and dark too.

Light and dark is such a common aesthetic.... it is also a Feysand aesthetic, Ruhn Lidia aesthetic ✨️... you cant gatekeep such a generic aesthetic.

Their book my friend will win hearts and be an absolute masterpiece .

I am very curious as to what Gwyns power is .... being Azriel's mate it would need to be something equally unique and powerful and yes I do believe her power will be something Holy ... she already has the invoking stone that she channels the mother's power from but even apart from that I believe her glow could be something holy ✨️

[eljeebee]

Gertrude the Wise

A princess, now forgotten, from a faraway kingdom that Andres Aurum had kidnapped, turned, and married to produce four powerful vampires.

Gertrude was gifted, a powerful sorceress, using the gift of magic – which was a gift from the Watcher at that time – and was the reason why Andres chose her as his bride.

A devout to the Watcher, the princess frequents the Church, and became an honorary priestess in their kingdom. She worked in their church, healing and helping the people. Oftentimes, she would listen to their problems, and would give them advice. With that, she was given the nickname of Gertrude the Wise.

Her suffering started when a rumor circulated that the Circle of the Church (the highest governing body of the Church, which could be compared as the equivalent of the Sages in modern times) were taking powerful magic users for an experiment. Her family hid her far away from their kingdom, in a tower.

Andres Aurum found her at the start of vampire civilization. Gertrude’s mistake was to attack him with her magic, revealing her impeccable power. He deemed her fitting as his bride. Gertrude tried to flee and return home, but Andres had revealed to her that her family, along with their kingdom, had died. Gertrude tried to end her life but was stopped by Andres. He took her with him.

Andres and Gertrude bore four children, three of which are sons – Archibald, Ansel, and Abel – and a daughter – Amelia. Trying to make herself feel better, she tried to bond with her daughter, giving her attention, love, and care, but Andres pulled her away from their daughter.

Even when turned, her faith in the Watcher never wavered, and would seek the nearest Church, praying to Her – the last thing that keeps her sane. The Church she last prayed in is believed to be gone, but some believe that she hid it with her magic because when her husband found out, he put her under a spell, making her complacent to her husband’s whims and orders.

[babythegod]

[punkpandapatrixk]

⛩Lion’s Gate Portal to Xxx ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

Happy Lion’s Gate Portal to Xxx…! From X (infinite possibilities) to hyperspecific manifestation of things, events and people that are meant to inspire, excite and serve your Highest Intended Good! What collective do you belong to? What timeline of Humanity are you on?

Laced with the aenergy of the last Full Buck Moon in Capricorn/Aquarius (21 July), this Lion’s Gate Portal is ushering in a general sense of excitement like you’ve just graduated an important chapter of spiritual education~\`★_★`/

From here, you’re in a brand-new Reality offering brand-new sensations, experiences and opportunities. There is a mega-influx of high-vibe money, non-slavery work opportunities, spiritually-inclined connections and mutually-beneficial friendships for those who have taken it upon themselves to transcend above silly ego-driven drama default to this Matrix of misery. From here, Integrity is your Key to creating a perfect existence.

Enter the Neo Reality. Let the day begin!

SONG: Let the Day Begin by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

DOCUPUNK: Punk: Attitude | Full Documentary | Qwest TV

deck-bottom: 5 of Swords, Gold Astrologer (Simon Forman), Priestess of Integrity

[PAC Masterlist] [Patreon] [Paid Readings] [buymeaboba]

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 1 – Opened a Whole Portal to a Perfect Existence!

‘Listen. I’ve got this dream. I never told anyone and it acquired dust. But I can’t ignore it anymore. I’ve decided not to look away from the innocence that is myself!’ – Get No Satisfaction! by Sakamoto Maaya

chapter of triumph – Page of Wands

Of all the Piles, I feel the most ‘orderly’ aenergy from you. In spite of passion and motivation, there’s a strong sense of ‘control’ and order in the way you’re creating your new Reality. This sense of order and control isn’t of the egoic control-freak variety; rather, it is a result of your having complete trust in the flow of Divine Timing.

You’ve entered this Reality where everything you’re able to perceive is nothing but a possibility. So yes, as long as you want it, it can be possible for you. You’re now in a flow state of choosing only those possibilities that serve your highest good whilst contributing something meaningful to your immediate surrounding. In essence, I think you’ve become a true spiritual master!

From this chapter onwards, your stories and events and rendezvous will serve as a mirror to reflect back how much you’ve grown as a spiritual being in a Human body. You will be serving your purpose more closely to your original Blueprint. Many of you will find yourself being a teacher, healer or guide of some sort in many of your daily interactions.

cells full of Light – Knight of Pentacles

And yet, here you are teaching and guiding others, but you’re also gaining even more new perspectives from the people you’re helping. So you’re both nourishing and inspiring and amplifying each other. The people you’re guiding and helping are truthfully also on their own way of learning how to teach and guide others beyond your scope.

So this is the kind of Neo Reality you’ve stepped into. An almost immaculate circle of good souls empowering and teaching each other. You’re actively building a more positively-oriented Reality that on a spiritual level goes far beyond what can be seen on the physical plane. This is your Soul Work, in essence.

From here, I see that money and other ‘types of abundance’ that will make Life easier on a material level will naturally trickle down your Reality in tandem with how you’re redefining your ‘sense of place’ in this new world. This new world where most of us are wired towards healing and becoming a much more joyful, psychologically-liberated versions of ourselves~

shifting straight into Xxx – 7 of Cups

There’s a sense of needing to choose your Reality. I should say, a sense of needing to choose certain elements and aspects of your Reality. At this point, you don’t have to worry about choosing wrongly. There’s practically nothing you could choose wrongly. Everything is a possibility, of which purpose is to be manifested and experienced.

Whatever happens, that’s for your highest enjoyment in this theatre of a Human Life~ Many of you will soon or probably has realised that quite nothing in this Universe is as serious as it seems. It’s all a play. This world is an illusion just like movies aren’t real. Just like video games aren’t real. We’re playing in it just for our Soul’s pure enjoyment.

The moment you become crystal clear about this is the moment you become absolutely clear about your manifesting abilities. And from there, you’re Doraemon. You can literally call forth any kind of experience or a sense of adventure by reaching into the pocket of your subconscious mind~

What’s contained in the subconscious often comes through in daydreams and fantasies, right? ;) Those are all your possibilities. You can entertain whichever you want and it’s yours!

DESIRED REALITY🔻🧡

collective dharma – Red Magus (Edward Kelly)

unmatched charisma – Priestess of Fertility

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☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 2 – Held on for Dear Life, Now, You Can be Happy, Shorty~

‘I want to have more faith in myself. Someday, just like a flower… I want to offer a prayer to my future self. May you be happy.’ – Remedy by Sakamoto Maaya

chapter of triumph – King of Swords Rx

This collective is one that has had to learn to tackle the shackles of their logical minds hahah Too much logic means little to no magic! You got it? I’m reminded of this idea that ‘you can’t plan around Luck’. Luck comes to your aid when you have complete faith in your endeavour. Lady Luck loves those who are confident and courageous.

That’s been one of your biggest life lessons in terms of your spiritual evolution. At the present time, I’m getting that you’ve pretty much managed to let your logic take a backseat. Of course, it’s still there and it’s very necessary for rational reasoning! But your logic is an observer who tends to counsel you when you need to be realistic about your next steps.

At this present time, I see that you’ve managed to let your higher heart—your intuition—take the wheel of your physical fortunes. You may be seeing a lot of angel numbers and other signs of SYNK. You’re in sync with your Higher Self and team of Spirit Guides. Your faith in them—and in where you’re going—is actively opening many pockets of Luck in your current timeline!

cells full of Light – 6 of Wands Rx

Part of why you clung to so much logic before was that you lived amongst super judgemental bitches. Basically, society. Society for the most part comprises of very small minded, jealous fucks who don’t get happy when someone they know is met with fortune, right? That’s why society has a tendency to mock or underestimate those they deem ‘lucky’.

Society hates ‘lucky’ people; they instead LOVE those who struggle and suffer. I think in many ways you’ve had to deal with so much difficulty because you either let those types of mindsets affect your flow of manifestation, or, you yourself wholeheartedly believed that your manifestations and visions and goals could only be worthwhile if you crawled and worked under immense duress to get them.

That’s all in the past now. You’ve let all of that silly mindset become part of a dying paradigm. You ain’t playin’ like dat no mo. And those who can’t understand your level of chill can also die in that old paradigm. You aren’t the least bit concerned about what’s ‘normal’ anymore. From here, your Life is magick! And those who can understand you, will only find you inspirational, if not aspirational😉

shifting straight into Xxx – 7 of Wands

So there’s a sense of having ‘worked so hard’, but you understand that this is mainly your having worked so hard on shifting your internal paradigm. You held on for dear Life! Now, you’re in a completely different bandwidth of Reality. Upon finding this PAC, you may still be dealing with a feeling of always being ‘close’ to your goal. Just about there… Or, not enough effort yet… Not quite there yet…

But literally, this is just an echo of how you used to think about when and how your manifestations should come to your doorstep. Sooner than later, you’ll find yourself not caring anymore about the when or the how things are going to be presented to you. You’ll simply have the faith—the knowing—that what’s meant to be yours will never miss you.

Right now, if this is your main pile, you’re being advised to take it easy and plan little by little. Take as much time as possible to recover first from the stress of survival before you push yourself towards your goal again. From here, it’s not a warzone. It’s no longer you vs the world. From here, it’s Animal Crossing’s flower gardens LMAO Enjoy where you are. Enjoy this Reality you’ve worked hard to arrive at!

DESIRED REALITY🔻💜

collective dharma – Gold Astronomer (John Dee)

unmatched charisma – Priestess of Luck

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Pile 3 – Stepping Out into the Open Sky, It’s A Brand-New World of Comfort

‘Blessings flowing over me, glowing, rolling over and over. Never want to go back to the way it was before. I hear someone whisper into my ear. I turn around but find nothing there. Until I look up and see colors of love raining down on me.’ – Colors by Sakamoto Maaya

chapter of triumph – King of Cups Rx

This is the Pile that previously dealt with an insane amount of psychological drama, karma, and trauma. It’s possible that you’ve indeed been given so much trauma by this world—this disappointing, disappointing world—but the main thing I’m getting is how you’ve triumphed over so many different streams of crazy in your head. I hope that illustration makes sense to you ^^

You’ve calmed down a lot. You’re no longer slave to your intense emotions that had often caused crippling anxiety. You had a lot of fears. You were possessed by so many demons. None was your fault tho. The world had given you so many reasons to be doubtful, and that made you incredibly fearful about some certain things that people take for granted.

But dang, you’ve simplified, haven’t you? You’ve learnt to do less. You’ve learnt to expect not so crazily—from yourself and others and even the Universe. You’ve truly learnt spiritual detachment, or soon to master it. You’ve realised now that you’re only responsible for how peacefully you can live your day to day every day~♪

cells full of Light – 6 of Swords

I see that you’ve left a lot of things, people, situations and places in the past. Do you feel somewhat lonely? It’s only normal but just so you know, you’re sailing above calmer waters, and by the end of this sailing, on some new land you will be meeting your Soul Tribe, and possibly even your romantic Destined Person ^^ So this is really only temporary no matter how long you feel you’ve been sailing in this ‘isolation’ mode.

‘Feel the world around you. Feel the world surround you,’ I think my music is saying that XD (I think it’s Ciggies After Sex) Truly a lot of things have changed and that you’ve become much stronger both in faith and your conviction. You jumped a fucking timeline and you’re not even existing in the same bandwidth of frequency as those things and people that used to scare you so much.

Just like The Fool in major arcana, you’re crashing and falling into this stream leading you towards true spiritual happiness and abundance~ There is nothing from the past that can follow you because the frequencies are simply different. And when you look up you’ll see the colours of Love raining down on you ^^ All is a shower of blessings from your Higher Self, Spirit Guides, Ancestors and Soul Tribes, as well as your Destined Person ♥︎

shifting straight into Xxx – Queen of Pentacles

For all of the spiritual work that you’ve done on yourself—which really echoes throughout the ages back and forth, affecting the past and the future positively—material abundance is yours to access. Some people who don’t truly understand ‘spirituality’ may think it’s funny how spiritual work is rewarded with money and other material possessions, but I’m sure you know better that we live in a material world XD

Having an abundance of munny, of currency, is proof that you’re living peacefully in the currents of chi. There is not so much resistance now between you and the whole of the abundance of Gaia. Best you do is maintain balance so you don’t fall out of the currents, right? Yes, as long as you maintain balance, in everything that you do and think, this material abundance is always going to be yours. Just…don’t go insane like those overnight millionaires who’ve ended up bankrupt in just 2 years. YKWIM?

I’m sure you already know how to strike a sane and sensible spiritual-material balance now and that’s the reason you’ve shifted into this prosperous paradigm. I see that you’re now able to afford whatever whenever you want. Keep reminding yourself of this: ‘My money bags refill faster than I can spend.’ Being financially abundant is such a beautiful thing because when you have more, you have more to share as well ^o^/

DESIRED REALITY🔻💗

collective dharma – Gold Historian (Raphael Holinshed)

unmatched charisma – Priestess of Enchantment

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[scribblelark]

The Sparrow

Every day the Sparrow comes to the old man, perches on his window ledge, and eats the small pieces of food which the old man has saved for it.

It listens attentively as the man talks in a rough, shaky voice, explaining that he doesn't deserve the kindness of the Sparrow, doesn't deserve to hear the cheerful song of a creature with few cares in the world.

The old man talks of the many horrors he perpetuated as the Tyrant King: the people he killed in order to reach a throne that wasn't his by birth, and the people who were  killed on his orders to ensure that he remained on the throne he had usurped.

Often the Sparrow's feathers are wetted by tears as the old man expresses his remorse and shame, sitting locked away in a prison cell at the top of the highest tower, known as the Tower of Infamy, in the jail complex.

“You're my only friend,” the old man tells the Sparrow one morning, “and an undeserved friend at that.”

No one deserves their friends, a voice in his mind informs him.

He wonders what the voice means. It doesn’t occur to him to wonder where it came from as he often hears voices in his head. At least this one isn’t screaming in agony or begging for mercy.

Before he can ask, the voice continues, Friendship is the gift of the giver, it isn’t deserved by the recipient. Friendships happen regardless of whether we deserve them or not.

“I’m not very good at friendship,” the old man says. “I used people, rather than befriending them.”

So long as you’re not in the grave it’s never too late to learn something new, the voice tells him. There’s a cheerful insouciance to it that makes him smile despite the fresh tears on his cheeks.

The next moment he stiffens when he hears the scrape of the iron key in the old wooden door behind him. A door three inches thick and banded with iron. A door meant to impose dread on any prisoner who sees it. Of course, he hadn’t seen it when he arrived here: he’d been blinded in the last battle before he was deposed, but he knew what the door looked like because he’d visited prisoners in this cell back when he’d been the Tyrant King.

Feathers brush against his fingers and the dread that had slithered down his spine at the door’s opening eases. His jailers only rarely enter his cell: three times a day food on a tray is pushed through a hatch in the bottom of the door, and once a week a priestess comes to hear his confession and say prayers with him, but today is not a day for the priestess to come. The remainder of the time he’s left alone with his thoughts and that suits him, for all that they’re rarely happy thoughts. Then again, he no longer deserves happiness.

You’re wrong, says that voice in his mind. It’s warm and friendly and gives him hope in spite of himself.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to deserve it,” begins the jailer as he steps into the cell, “but you’re to be taken to speak with the Queen.”

Immediately the old man’s thoughts are in turmoil. Why would the Queen send for him? Has she finally decided that it would be better to execute him instead of keeping him in solitary confinement all these long years?

Rest easy, friend, says that warm, friendly voice in his mind. You will not be executed.

He doesn’t ask how the owner of the voice knows that, but he does take some deep breaths to calm himself back down, staving off the incipient panic attack. He knows, of course, that he deserves to die for what he did, but even though he’s old and his joints creak, he’s not quite ready for death yet.

He feels a feathery, fluttering movement by his face, then tiny claws grip onto the thin fabric of his robes covering his shoulder and he knows, even without seeing, that the Sparrow is riding on his shoulder. He can’t see it when his jailer looks at him askance, of course, but he can sense something simmering in the young man, something that is transmitted through his jailer’s grip on his arm.

“I don’t know how that thing can bear to be near you,” the jailer says in a low voice that’s seething with hatred.

“Neither do I,” the old man says.

That causes a grunt of surprise, but no further commentary, and the old man is glad.

They reach the bottom of the Tower of Infamy, and two more jailers join the old man, leading him into a horse-drawn vehicle of some sort, a carriage he suspects from how closed off the sounds of the surrounding streets become.

“What’s with the bird?” asks one of the other jailers.

“Damned if I know,” says the young one who’d fetched the old man from his cell. “It was eating crumbs on his window ledge when I entered the cell, then flew onto his shoulder before we left.”

“Huh.”

The old man knows no one will try to dislodge it, of course. Sparrows are considered sacred in the religion of the Triskans, and no one would dream of harming one lest the wrath of the Goddess Tisa is visited upon them.

After a bumpy ride over the cobblestoned roads leading from the jail, they arrive at  the Palace of Queen Adhar, the true Queen of Triskan. She had survived the old man’s purges of the Royal bloodline as a consequence of being out of the country and also a small child at the time he had usurped the Triskan throne. He hadn’t considered her enough of a threat to send anyone after her, so she had survived and thrived, and grown up to become the Triskan Queen. In the decade and a half since the Tyrant King had been overthrown she’s settled very well into her role and is a beloved leader of the Triskans. It isn’t just the contrast between herself and the old man, it’s also the fact that she is wise, generous, courageous, and capable.

At the bottom of the long flight of steps leading up to the Palace’s entrance the old man’s jailers hand him off to a squad of the Palace Guard.

“Come on, old man, there’s no time to waste.”

The old man wonders what the hurry is and if the guardsman knows why he’s been brought to the Palace, but he doesn’t waste his breath in asking, he simply climbs the steps at a steady pace, doing his best to ignore the creaking of his knees and ankles.

He is led down long hallways that no longer echo to their footsteps: the Queen’s had the hallways carpeted he can tell, not just from the softer thuds of the Guards’ footsteps, but also from the sensation of carpet fibres brushing against his toes and heels. He wears simple sandals now, a far cry from the expensive, highly polished leather boots he’d worn as the Tyrant King.

He knows when they approach the doors to the antechamber behind the throne room because of the way the guardsmen’s demeanour changes: he can sense them stiffening every sinew, almost as if they expect a sightless old man to attack the Queen.

Of course, he knows better than to try to reassure them; he doubts they’d accept such reassurances from a man who was a Tyrant King for fifteen years.

“You’d better not try anything, old man,” murmurs one guardsman in his ear as they pause before the doors that led from the antechamber into the throne room.

The old man simply shakes his head, suddenly too overwhelmed by the thought of being face to face with the Queen shortly, not to mention the experience of being out of his cell after fifteen years of incarceration, to say anything.

After a moment, the brush of feathers against his left cheek steadies him and he manages, “I intend nothing,” he says.

“Good.”

Soon the old man hears the doors in front of them open, hears the scrape of wood over the thick carpet fibres, then senses the vaster space of the throne room opening in front of him.

He takes a deep breath before they lead him over the threshold and down the length of the throne room to stand before the Queen, the guardsmen’s boots clattering over the wooden floor.

“Bow before your Queen,” says the guardsman who’d told him not to try anything.

The old man bows low, then moves to kneel down instead, his forehead touching the floor.

“Zulama.” The Queen’s voice is warm and velvety.

“My honoured Queen,” the old man murmurs, almost overwhelmed by the sound of his name. None of his jailers use it, they simply call him ‘old man’, a good way to depersonalise a prisoner, as he should know.

“You may stand, Zulama.”

The old man gets to his feet carefully, his joints creaking so loudly he’s sure they must be audible to everyone present. As soon as he’s fully upright again the Sparrow lands back on his shoulder.

“You have a friend,” Queen Adhar observes.

“Yes, your Majesty. I am unworthy of such friendship, but I am grateful for the Sparrow’s loyalty and companionship.”

“I have had a visitation,” the Queen says, and the old man feels the guardsmen around him startle, as well they might. A visitation means that the Goddess Tisa has appeared in person to the Queen. A rare occurrence for anyone, even a Queen.

“Your Majesty?”

“The Goddess has impressed upon me that your contrition over your actions while you were the Tyrant King is genuine and has continued unabated since your incarceration in the Tower of Infamy. The Priestess Maar had already informed me of this. She is, of course, the most likely person to be able to speak to your spiritual disposition.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“The Goddess has a mind to take you into her service in consequence of your contrition,” the Queen tells him.

“Me, your Majesty?” he asks, thoroughly startled. How can a mere man, and a former Tyrant King, serve such as the Goddess Tisa, he wonders. There are no priests, only priestesses, in service to the Goddess.

“Yes, Zulama, you.”

The old man straightens up as much as he can, doing his best to stiffen his spine. “I’d be honoured to serve the Goddess in whatever capacity she chooses,” he tells her.

“Good. In that case, Zulama, I commute your sentence of lifelong incarceration to one of lifelong service to the Goddess Tisa. You are free to go.”

Zulama feels dazed and bewildered by this astonishing turn of events, but he doesn’t miss the murmurs of outrage that run around the throne room at Queen Adhar’s words.

“Your Majesty is this wise?” asks a voice.

“Do you presume to know better than a Goddess, Captain Vafādārī?” asks the Queen, a steely tone in her voice.

Zulama hears the Captain swallow, the room is so silent. “N-no, your Majesty,” he says with only a slight stutter. “But he is the former Tyrant King.”

“Formerly, he was,” the Queen agrees. “Latterly, he is not. If the Goddess Tisa wants him for her servant, neither you nor indeed I can have any objection. She chooses whom she wills, as everyone knows.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Zulama can hear the reluctance in Captain Vafādārī’s voice. He doesn’t blame the man, of course.

He shuffles a little on the spot, wanting to speak, but not wanting to speak out of turn.

“Yes, Zulama?” The Queen’s tone is kindly, he notices.

“I just wanted to assure you, your Majesty, that I will do whatever work is required of me by Goddess Tisa. I will not threaten your own Majesty, nor your reign, nor the people of Triskan, in any fashion.”

“I am glad to hear it.”

Zulama hears footsteps approaching, then a hand touches his elbow. “Come, son,” says the warm, familiar voice of the Priestess Maar. “Enter into the service of the Goddess.”

Zulama nods, then bows towards the Queen. “Thank you, your Majesty.”

“Don’t thank me, Zulama,” answers the Queen with a smile in her voice. “Thank the Goddess Tisa.”

“I fully intend to, your Majesty. But thank you, anyway.”

Priestess Maar’s hand tightens a little on his arm and he starts to turn, only to stop again as a sudden, blindingly bright light envelops the space about him, a light so bright that even he can see it. He hardly hears the gasp of astonishment that fills the throne room, but he does catch the rhythmic prayers of thanksgiving which Maar is suddenly murmuring almost in his ear.

“Open your eyes, Zulama,” says a voice on his other side. It’s the voice he’d heard in his cell, but spoken into the air, not merely in his mind, he realises with a start.

He opens his eyes, which water fiercely against the brightness of the light surrounding him and Maar and a tall, incandescently beautiful woman at whom he casts one surprised glance, before falling to his knees in gratitude, repeating Maar’s prayers of thanksgiving.

Because he can see again. And that glance had been enough to tell him that woman who had stood beside him was none other than the Goddess Tisa.

“You may stand, Zulama,” the Goddess says.

He obeys, but keeps his head bowed, feeling that it is not his place to look in the face of the Goddess Tisa.

“Look at me, Zulama.”

Well, if she orders it, how can he disobey? He looks at her, grateful that her incandescence has eased somewhat in the interval. He swallows, then asks, “How best may I serve your Holiness?”

She smiles at him in obvious delight. “You shall be a gardener at my chief Temple,” she tells him. “Your care of my Sparrow has shown me that you will be good at this task.”

Zulama nods, then opens his mouth, before closing it again.

“You have a question?”

“It’s just that there is something of a difference between feeding a Sparrow and growing plants. The former is easy and does not require any special knowledge, while the latter is the opposite.”

She smiles at him again. “You can learn,” she says simply. “It will be a highly instructive experience for you.”

“Yes, your Holiness.”

She beckons and he swallows nervously, but steps forward as close as he dares, which is about an arm’s length away. “Have faith in your teachers, if not in yourself, Zulama.” Then she brushes the pad of her thumb against the centre of his forehead. He shudders at the touch, feeling as if she has applied a burning brand, though it is a touch as light as the Sparrow’s feathers.

“Go, my child, and show the world how changed a man you are.”

“Thank you, your Holiness,” he whispers. He steps back and as he does so the Goddess vanishes in a swirl of brilliant pale blue, pink, and white light that leaves stars sparkling in his restored vision.

When the light’s faded, he hears a gasp and looks over at Queen Adhar. She beckons him forward and he obeys.

“Priestess Maar,” she says. “Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

The priestess touches his arm, and he turns towards her. She doesn’t gasp, but she does look surprised. “No, your Majesty, I have not.”

Zulama looks from Priestess Maar to Queen Adhar, feeling equal parts bemused and curious. “What is it?” he asks the priestess.

“There is a perfectly etched feather on your forehead on the spot where the Goddess touched you,” she says simply. “You are clearly marked as hers now.”

He fights down his instant reaction: to disclaim such an honour, to say that he is unworthy. He cannot argue with the Goddess Tisa, after all.

“I will serve her to the very best of my ability,” he tells the priestess, glancing to the Queen.

“I am sure that you will,” Queen Adhar tells him. She waves at Captain Vafādārī, and he and his men escort Zulama and the priestess out of the throne room, then into the antechamber.

“You are free to go,” Vafādārī says. To do him credit, he sounds only the tiniest bit reluctant at this admission and Zulama can’t help giving the man a smile.

“I can promise you, Captain Vafādārī, that I will do nothing to cause anyone any alarm, except perhaps as a gardener, but I hope my mishaps there will be only minor ones.”

The Captain gives a curt nod. “You’re the Goddess Tisa’s now,” he says. “I have no doubt that she would punish you for any serious wrongdoing.”

“No doubt,” agrees Zulama. He gives the Captain a nod of farewell, then follows Priestess Maar out of the palace and back across the city to where the chief temple lies.

As they cross the city, people stop and stare, eyes widening in surprise at the sight of the former Tyrant King walking openly through the streets, but no one approaches, and though Zulama can hear whispers and murmurs following them, no one explicitly  heckles him.

“I thought at least one person would throw things,” he observes to the priestess in a low voice.

“They wouldn’t dare,” Priestess Maar replies. “You have been marked by the Goddess Tisa, which means you are hers and just as you answer to her, so must they if they attempt to hurt you.”

“Oh.” He isn’t sure what to make of this revelation, but he continues at her side as they make their way through the main thoroughfares until they reach the temple.

“Let us go to the refectory and have lunch,” the priestess says after they enter the gate. “Then I can tell the others why I have brought you with me. After that, we will find you a corner to lodge in, and you will meet Mālī, who is in charge of the gardens.”

Before Zulama can answer his stomach growls, startling them both. They smile at each other before he follows her through the temple to the refectory where a group of perhaps thirty priestesses and another twenty or so lay women are seated.

They all stand as Priestess Maar enters and Zulama feels a trifle nervous at his presence, the only man among them.

“Be seated, Sisters,” the priestess says. “This is Zulama, who has been freed from his incarceration by Queen Adhar and the Goddess Tisa to serve in the gardens.”

“But he’s a man,” objects a priestess who is around the same age as Maar.

"I am well aware of that, Ḍipaṭī,” answers Maar, “but Zulama has been touched by the Goddess and sent here. Are you about to argue that you know better than she?”

“No,” says Ḍipaṭī immediately.

“Good. Now, let us eat lunch, then Mālī will show Zulama the gardens.” She nods towards a grey-haired woman, who looks as if she’s at least a couple of decades older than Maar. The woman, whom Zulama guesses is Mālī, his new teacher, nods back, then Maar leads him to a table at the head of the room and insists that he sit beside her to eat.

*

At the end of his first week at the Temple of Tisa Zulama is summoned to see Maar. He has learned to find his way about the Temple buildings and grounds, only twice getting halfway lost before the Sparrow, who remains his constant companion, guides him into the right path again, and he finds his way to Maar’s quarters without difficulty.

“Sit down, Zulama,” she says and once he’s taken the stool on the other side of her desk, she smiles at him. “Are you feeling settled here?”

“Yes, thank you. Despite everyone’s initial surprise and occasional doubts, I’ve been made to feel welcome. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is the first time in my life where I’ve been made to feel welcome and a part of a community.” He sighs softly.

“You regret that such belonging hadn’t happened before,” Maar says.

He nods. “I could not help thinking that I would have become a different man if I’d had this as a child or even a youth.”

“You are probably right,” Maar says. “But what’s done is done. You have served the sentence for your crimes and have been chosen to pass into a new, different life. Try not to dwell too much on the past, not now.”

Zulama gives her a smile. “I do not dwell often,” he tells her. “I don’t have time.”

She laughs warmly at that. “Mālī is keeping you busy, is she not?”

“Very busy,” he agrees. “Between studying and working alongside her in the gardens, I don’t have much time to think about anything except ‘Can I dig this out or should it remain here?’ and ‘Is it time to sleep, yet?’ She doesn’t overwork me,” he adds hastily. “But old bones do tire easily some days.”

“I’m glad that you and she are working well together.” Maar gives him a thoughtful look. “What’s your favourite part of the garden?”

“Oh, the herb beds,” Zulama says easily. “All those plants with the power to ease people’s sicknesses. And many with the power to make food taste so much less bland.”

Maar smiles again. “Mālī did say that you seemed particularly taken with the herb garden. I’m sure that she would be delighted if you wanted to concentrate your attentions there as she finds herbs ‘finicky’.”

“I – I would like that very much,” Zulama says. “I was not sure if I should ask permission to do so.”

“Zulama, you can ask anything. We may not always say yes, but I’m sure that, for the most part, the answer to any reasonable request would be yes.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you have any other requests? Any worries or concerns?”

He shakes his head. “No, thank you Mother Priestess.”

“Then I shall see you again this time next week, unless anything arises beforehand.”

“Thank you, Mother Priestess.”

*

Days passed into weeks, and they passed into months and years, and as that time passed Zulama’s fame as an herb grower spread throughout the city. Maar and Mālī give Zulama permission to sell some of the herbs which he grows, and the money is then used to help the poor and needy. While Queen Adhar’s kingdom thrives, there are always a few people who fall on hard times, and they come to the Temple of Tisa for assistance. Zulama feels proud, in a modest and humble way, that he is able to do his part to assist them: it makes up, a little, for all his previous misdeeds.

When the Goddess Tisa eventually gathers Zulama to herself the legacy he leaves behind is quite a different one from the one he would have left had Queen Adhar executed him rather than sending him to the Temple to work; he is responsible, directly and indirectly, for saving many lives, particularly when a nasty and virulent sickness falls on the city: the medicines he compounds serve to abate the worst of the agues and subsequent weakness that the sickness causes in its victims and many more people are saved than anyone had imagined possible when the sickness first broke out.

A bronze relief of his head is cast and sits in pride of place in the Temple herb garden, with a small plaque explaining its significance. Sparrows often perch on the bronze head, and a family nests in a nearby bush year after year, reminding all who visit Zulama’s Herb Garden that a Sparrow always accompanied him wherever he went.

No one forgets the Tyrant King. But nor does anyone forget the man he became in old age all thanks to the friendship of one of the Goddess Tisa’s precious Sparrows.

[justlarkin]

I'm interested in how the hierarchy of Nirai Kanai works in comparison to it's influence. In Ryukyuan culture, the noros or priestesses were highly respected, usually even more than the king or government. It's believed that Kinmamon was able to possess noros in general, but it can also be specified to the highest ranking priestess or the kikoe-ōgimi, so Kinmamon should've been very important.

...But Teda only refers to them as just another priestess. In fact, the priestesses actually serve him, and presumably the rest of the Sun Kings. Which yeah, this would be normal on it's own, but I think it gets more interesting when you point out that Kinmamon does and gets away with things that a servant shouldn't. Teda even said that Kinmamon blatantly ignored him and refused to follow his orders more than once. Which she probably could've gotten away with due to Teda being a masochist and letting it happen, but they clearly weren't afraid of the possible repercussions when they did it in the first place.

The lack of disciplinary action paired with the fact that Kinmamon most likely had the ability to see the future based on their mythos and the subtle moment in Holy Night Gangstar, makes me wonder if Kinmamon was actually more of a babysitter there to use their ability to keep Teda safe.

[spiderwarden]

I imagine always when Minthara was growing up as she would report to her mother on her teachings and lessons from others who weren’t her. I imagine Sos’umtpu doing to her Lolth Priestly duties, silently, as Minthara spoke of her successes and failures. Mostly successes. Sometimes she would hmm, sometimes she would chuckle. People talk about how Sos’umtpu was not an outlandish person and this reflects a bit here I think, there’s an emotional distance between her and her daughter despite love being there.

However there was anger when she reported she had failed to get first place in the honorary graduation. When Lolth’s eyes are guaranteed to be on them, her who loved Lolth more than anything, and her daughter failed to get the highest rank in her name. Think an ear beating and throwing stuff around.

The praises were far and in between, even after Sos’umptu tries to kill Minthara.

Until the day came when Minthara killed her Vandree Priestess, both in the name of Lolth, and as a sacrifice, for the sin of loving her more than Lolth, and upon her mother’s order. That day she hugged her, touched the back of her head as she does and says, “my daughter, my first born, you are finally a woman.”

[tylermileslockett]

Herakles 3: A Fit of Rage

               Now a young man, Heracles embarks on heroic adventures, hunting the lion of Cithaeron for King Thespius, and sleeping with his fifty princess daughters over fifty nights, before capturing the lion and wearing the hide and scalp as a helmet. Returning home, Heracles finds himself defending Thebes against the warring Minyans. Victorious, King Creon’s daughter Megara is given in marriage as a reward for his valor. By her they have three sons.

         But Hera still plots vengeance against the descendent of Zeus. She curses Heracles with a fit of violent rage, and, thinking those around him are enemies,  he brutally fells  his own wife and children with bow and arrows. When he finally awakens from his madness, and realizes what he has done, he is inconsolable.

         He exiles himself and finds refuge and purification with his ally, King Thespius, then journeys on to Delphi to consult the Pythia priestess of Apollo, who orders him to atone for his atrocity by serving his cousin, king Eurysthius for twelve years. If successful, he will attain immortality.

         According to Apollodorus, the war between Thebes and the Minyans is a grim affair, with Heracles treating his enemies with cruelty when he “…cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks…” Apollodorus also mentions Heracles receiving divine weapons here: a sword from Hermes (which Hermes also did for Heracles great grandfather Perseus), Bow and arrows from Apollo, A golden breastplate from Hephaestus, and a cape from Athena.

When Heracles kills his family he shatters his own Oikos (paternal line/household), a crucial building block for ancient Greek society. There are two major reasons Heracles is ordered to serve his cousin; first, to atone for the murders of his wife and sons, and thus attain redemption and second, to prove his worth and attain great Kleos (glory/renown), and achieve his highest Arete (potential for human excellence) that the gods will allow him to join them on Olympus as an immortal.

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