#spiritual essay

[thehazeldruid]

Genius Loci

What is it? What does it mean? It can be translated as “spirit of place” and throughout history different cultures have perceived and connected to it in differing ways.

Every place, be it a park,a forest, a busy city street or your home has it’s own Genius Loci. But what really is it? It is the depth of that place, it’s personality, it’s history, the feel, smell, look, taste, and sound of the place. All of these things together create it’s spirit. It is the sense of calm you feel when you look over a lake at sunrise, the sense of mystery in the foggy woods you wander through, the sense of connection, sadness and respect you feel walking through a graveyard, the feeling of peace within your home. There are many ways to view it, to feel it, to connect to it, to let it fill you and so on.

How to connect to it?

There are many different ways to connect to the spirit of a place. But first you have to be aware of your own spirit and how it fits into the spirit of the place. When you look at a sunset and feel your soul stir, you are passively connecting to the spirit of it. The way I most often use to connect with the spirit of a place is to meditate.

Like any meditation, sit, get comfortable, and start by focusing on your breathing. Then, use your other senses to get a better ‘feel’ for the spirit of place.Listen to the place, breathe in rhythm with how the place sounds. With the breeze, with the animals, with the sound of the water moving (if there is any near). Let your own sounds, your heartbeat, your breathing, your own soul sync up with those sounds. (this can be difficult with people around, though a busy street or park has as much spirit and personality as an ant hill!) Feel the grass or the dirt, the trees or the water, the sand or the couch, the sidewalk… wherever you are. What does the place physically feel like? Is it rough or smooth? Soft or jagged? What do you feel like compared to the place? Do you leave footprints? Indentations? How does your physically being there change it, if at all? Smell the world around you, what scents do you smell? Is there a fresh garden nearby? Do you smell food? Trash? Salty air? Fresh water? Damp earth? Does your own scent stick out or does it match/ belong in the place as a part of it. Look around you! This might seem obvious, but it is probably the easiest way to get a general feel for the spirit of a place. Is it busy and bustling? Is it calm and serene? Are there old buildings or new? What is the history of the place that you can see outright? Is it run down or well kept? What do the things you see about the place make you feel? Taste (perhaps not literally, and definitely only if safe) this is not to say stick dirt or grass in your mouth and eat it…. that’s just silly. But smell and taste are linked, so simply opening your mouth wide and taking a deep breath can allow you to ‘taste’ the air. Is the breath you took clean? Or is it dirty? Was it refreshing, or not? This is the sense that can be most difficult if not impossible to use to get a sense of spirit of place.

Those senses simply give an idea of what the spirit of place is. For simply going out for a quick meditation and finding your place within that space, it can be a great exercise to do all of these and then journal about them. Continuously doing so in the same place can help you get a real sense of the spirit of the place.

Another way to get to know the spirit of a place is to research its history. What has happened in that place? Who lived there? Who died there? If it is a forest, was it always? Was it always a swamp or lake? Were battles fought there? Was it once farmland? Knowing these things about a place before you go out and explore or meditate there can help you protect yourself from lingering negative energies and emotions that still persist in a place.

On top of that even, would be learning weather patterns in the area. What seasons does it experience? What direction does the water flow (and what could that represent?)

Genius Loci In History

The Romans viewed genius loci as a protective spirit of a place, often giving the spirit of a place a physical embodiment. Spirits that walked the world in physical form to protect forests, rivers, mountains, swamps and so on. Fairys, elves, dryads, satyrs, unicorns and all manner of mythical creatures are representations of the spirit of a place. Other times, the spirit of a place (on a larger scale than a single spot next to a river) can be seen in the art style, furniture style, food and home style of an area and the people who live there. Animals, too, are often symbols of the spirit of a place.

Different native cultures around the world have all been highly concerned with the spirit of place. They held sacred rituals in the same locations, and gave offerings to spirits, ancestors and the land itself to bring about manifestations of good harvest, good fortune and the like.

Through myth and tale, the stories of the spirits of these sacred places have been preserved and passed down. Even though times have changed and humanity as a whole continues to change the phsyical face of the world we live in, the spirit of the place persists and often changes with us. Those old spirits still feel, and their pain at the changes we have made can be strongly felt at times. Other times, in gardens or wild places, we can feel their happiness and joy or even rage that we are trespassing in sacred places.

Spirit of Place in the home

In your own home and at work there is a spirit of place. And at home it is especially prudent to keep the spirit of that place ‘appeased’ and protective. It does your spirit no good to be at home and not feel safe or at peace. The general feel of your home is the spirit of place. Do you enjoy a cozy and cluttered atmosphere? Or a minimalist and clean or organized space? Is your home warm and welcoming to others? Or do you more prefer to keep to yourself?

Within your home, the spirit of place (at least I believe) is a very good reflection of your own personal spirit. It is the place your spirit should feel as if it belongs and where it should be able to go to recharge. If your spirit feels out of place there, like a puzzle piece in the wrong spot, then you should try and arrange that space to better refelct you.

For me, my home is warm, welcoming, and my door is always open to friends and family. I’ve always got a teapot on the stove, ready to make a cup for anyone who comes over, candles lit to give light and warmth, a puppy who fills my home and my own spirit with joy and boundless energy, a bookshelf, organized and never covered in dust, my altar where i go to do my spiritual recharging, and a general sense of peace and calm (I feel) permeates my apartment. My table is always set for more than myself, though I most often eat alone, and my spare bed is always open to any friend who needs a place to sleep.

I’d like to think that what I feel in the spirit of place of my home is the same welcoming and warm feeling others get when they arrive. It all boils down to you, here, and what kind of spirit of place you bring to your home.

~If you’re still reading at this point, I thank you, and if you’d like me to ever add to this post, please feel free to message me with info, links, or ideas~

/l\

M.G.

TheBasilDruid

[kitchen-light]

Nothing I write could do him justice or communicate how great of a teacher, friend, poet, and activist he was. He was very strong and very stubborn. I always believed that people like him never die . . .they somehow transcend death and pain and come back to us as a source of hope, strength, and belief. In a way, we already see how far-reaching his words are now. His poem “If I Must Die” has being translated into more than two hundred and fifty languages, and his verses are chanted at protests all around the world. As we navigate the waves of sorrow at losing him, it is important for us to remember that he was targeted because of his words and his message and that it is our duty to carry it and amplify it. After all, he told us: “If I must die,/ You must live,/ to tell my story.”

Nadya Siyam, from "Remembering Dr. Refaat Alareer", published in Words Without Borders, January 29, 2024.

[that-one-girls-blog-posts]

Nothing worse than getting into a new subject and having no one to discuss it with

[heroictoonz]

I wanna talk about how Kai is the most self sacrificial yet still most selfish person in Ninjago because it’s so fucking important to me

[nihilitystar]

🌻𝓈𝓊𝓃𝒻𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈🌻

saw a theory on how brassius might be based off of van gogh and i couldn't stop thinking about the connections, so i made this piece between three days of grind

enjoy

[oneadhdwitch]

Good Witch, Bad Witch

I recently got a book that had a page in it that has a section called 'What Makes You a Witch' and I wanted to speak on what makes a good witch and a bad witch.

The truth is there is no rules to witchcraft, however it is vastly agreed upon that as long as you don't harm those who don't deserve it you may do as you please.

The piece I read said that a witch is not proud or selfish; but I disagree. You're allowed to be proud and selfish so long as it doesn't harm anyone. There are individuals who do hold bigoted beliefs and cause harm to those who have done nothing wrong, but they are usually chastised by the broader community.

You do not need to surround yourself with others who claim the title of 'witch'. The most important thing is to be kind to the world you live in.

Actions have consequences, if you were to throw a pebble in a pond the ripples would go on for a long while. It is best to think before you act, but do what you must to protect yourself and mother nature.

[talks-with-the-void]

Werewolf Diarys part 1: When spirituality becomes toxic.

[I am very much taking suggestions for a better title instead of "werewolf Diarys btw if someone has any... also mentioning some people who showed interest in my writing, I hope you don't mind! :3 @solacesins @wolfislost @a-dragons-journal ]

Spirituality is and always was a huge part of the alterhuman community. When I, back in 2016, came in contact with this whole phenomenon for the first time, it was everywhere - kinfolk talking about past lifes, others who practised witchcraft or other magick, soulshards, godshards, parallel lifes, all of it. And while, in my perception of things, psychological otherkin are nowadays a lot more present, I would say the majority of alterhumans is still heavily spiritual.

Now, don't get me wrong - I don't think of that as a bad thing. Not in general. And I have exactly zero problems with folk believing in and practicing spirituality - I may not personally share their beliefs, but I think this is one of the areas where individual truths very much exist. Actually, my own opinion on anything is not really relevant here, I want to talk about something much more broad. A structural community-issue, I would dare to say and surprisingly something I've never seen anyone talk about.

Spirituality is a powerful tool and if used in the right way, a great source of comfort and stability for someone. That is great! I absolutely support that. A problem, however, may occur if a young person without established beliefs newly discovers their alterhumanity, joins the community and sees spiritual representation everywhere, but far far less resources for psychological alterhumanity. If you are constantly confronted with people who find happiness in a spirituality, chances are high you feel drawn towards that. Again - this is not an anti-spirituality post in disguise. You will soon understand what my point here is. So, you might start to - subconsciously or knowingly - try to fit in, to find the happiness they have. It happened to me in that exact way: I knew basically nothing about myself or my alterhumanity and I never had the chance before to explore what I might or might not belief in. Then I saw everyone talking about past lifes and simple as that, more or less decided my alterhumanity was rooted in a past life too. Because I wanted to belong. This alone would not be too much of an issue - in the normal way of things, if someone - me in this case - subconsciously or knowlingly forced themselves to belief in something they actually don't, after a few months or years they'd realize that and find their own way. Being wrong about something and trying to fit in is not inherently bad! It's a completely normal thing for (human or at least humanly socialized) brains to do.

But what happens if the person in question ends up in toxic spiritual spaces? That, too, happned to me. I had the unfortunate experience of being a deeply unstable young being with untreated BPD, depression, anxiety and various other issues who so desperately wanted to fit in. I met some people who I greatly looked up to, who followed spiritual paths - and I wanted to impress them, to be like them and most importantly not being left by them. Very very unfortunately... they had a lot of black and white thinking going on. Every little doubt about their belief was taken as a personal attack, every suggestion that something might not be a result of manifestation but maybe just a coincidence was met with anger. Don't get me wrong, if someone constantly disrespects your beliefs and tells you they're wrong, it's absolutely okay to be angry about that! But this was not the case here. I was literally afraid to say that I experienced, for example, energetic cleansing differently than they did because it would have been taken as a personal attack. But still, I wanted to fit in and was so scared of loosing the small community I built with those people that I didn't realize they were the reason I felt more and more miserable.

For those people, anything and everything was something spiritual and saying something like "oh, just yesterday I thought about song XY and today I've heard it on the radio 5 times! That's so funny, it's not even in the charts at the moment!" was instantly met with "you manifested the song!". I was talked over and told my own experiences were wrong because they didn't align with their beliefs. Lucky for me, at some point a lot of internal changes (we're a median system) happened and I/we realized what was going on and quickly cut all ties with those people. We rapidly got better and accepted that we just don't hold spiritual beliefs and that's okay. But this time did leave scars.

As a side note, aside from my personal experiences, chalking everything up to spirituality can be downright dangerous. I can lead to not checking in with the doctor because the shadow people you're seeing? Oh, it's just spirits! While I'm not saying it absolutely must be something medical, it could be hallucinations, caused by whatever. The strong headaches you get? Oh well, just caused by a blocked chakra (or, maybe not?). You might be right. It might be caused by metaphysical things, i am not telling you you're wrong. But it might as well be something health related. The circles I was in really danced on the line of being like this. Or, they crossed it, I think - several people there claimed to be able to perform physical healings over the internet. For me, they never worked.

The "structural problem" I mentioned earlier is simply how present spirituality is in this community and how that, naturally, leads to young folk blindly taking on those beliefs. That's not the fault of people who talk about their spiritual experiences and I'm not saying you should stop talking about it. Not at all! That would not be the solution.

So, what do I want to happen instead? We need to do two things: one, encourage critical thinking. And I don't mean the old-school "grilling" and having folk "prove" their identities. I mean we have to encourage folk, especially young folk, to not blindly follow beliefs they see everywhere around them but rather to look at themselves from different angles and find their own truth. If that truth ends up matching with the more common ones, great! Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But Alterhumanity and identity in general is about discovering yourself and who you are and that simply doesn't work if you try to follow someone else's individual truth. In the worst case, it might lead people into groups like the one I described above and I for one, don't want that to happen. The other thing is, the psychological side of this community needs to be more present. We need more voices speaking about psychological experiences, we need to represent ourselves more. It is so, so important for new folk in our community to be exposed to all sides of it, not just to a few.

Spirituality in itself is not bad or dangerous, but some people make it dangerous. I know that 99% of spiritual alterhumans are totally chill and cool and all of you have my deepest respect, but like it is with all things in life, toxic people also exist. And because of how prominent spirituality is in this community, i think it is our respnsibility as a community to try and protect newbies from those rare but existing toxic spaces.

I know I might step on some paws with this post and I apologize for that. But I honestly have never seen anyone talk about this issue, although I am sure I'm not the only one who experienced something like this. I'm totally open to discussion and questions, just please stay civil and respectful and grant me the benefit of the doubt - if you read this post anf thought "wow, that's such a mean thing to say", please assume it was just bad wording. English is not my native language after all.

Thank you for reading!

[artekai]

Ok this is the last Tess x Lis meme I promise 🙏 For now

(alt without the holo filter under the cut)

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

art professor: okay for this assignment you’ve got to pick a song of your choice and pick the colors that you feel while listening to the song and make an abstract piece showing what shapes & colors come to mind when you listen-

me already pulling the amazing devil the FUCK up:

[hail-omadius]

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

[brontelenoir-alarie]

What the story of The Fall means to me, and how I relate to it.

One of my favorite tumblr creators I've stumbled upon has these really awesome journaling prompts and I thought to share some of my writing on this post of zeirs in particular. Faces of Lucifer #2 talks about Lucifer being the Fallen Angel. Where some may think Lucifer is prone to evil and dispassion, there is no other that can understand the need for tender benevolence, protection and a shoulder to lean on when you are hurt, betrayed and drown trodden.

Zey provide a few prompts and other information. I highly recommend searching zeir page and enjoying their writing prompts! (Credits at end of Journal)

Since a good amount of my time in the Luciferian faith is spent scrutinizing over Christ worshiping scripture, I want to start by dissecting A scripture from Ezekiel, and two statements pulled from a Christ worshiping minister.

First I’ll start with the scripture:

“You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings” (Ezekiel 28:12–17 NIV).”

I can’t help but feel bitter when I read this. From the mouth of the Christ God, he agrees, stating that Lucifer was the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect beauty. The Christ God anointed him as a protector, The Christ God had given Lucifer a place in Eden. Lucifer was loved, and given love before jealousy and feelings of inadequacy took everything from him.

“Since Lucifer had been the model of perfection, what sort of sin led to his fall? His heart became proud because of his incredible beauty. Lucifer allowed his perfection to be the cause of his corruption.”

Lucifer’s great “evil”, is Pride. Pride in himself, in what the Christ God had indeed created knowingly... Lucifer also had ‘corrupted his wisdom with splendor’ which sounds a lot like “You were being too creative with your resources; we are feeling pretty wasteful and incompetent in comparison so….we can’t have that..”

I also don’t think Lucifer LET these things be the cause of his corruption… If you can really call any of this corrupt. I feel like there was no reason to fight against these accusations. Lucifer has and always will be the light bringer, a Harold of truth. Lucifer had no reason to fight his own authenticity.

After all why spend time squabbling over what is true and righteous? He must have known all along that this would happen eventually and he would just live for himself, un-apologetically, to be his highest and more perfect self.

Other angels fell with him...

“Scripture tells us that he took one-third of the angels (see Revelation 12:4)”

If my math is right, Revelation 5:11 says the angelic host was 10,000 x 10,000, which would equal 100,000,000 angels in the heavens and 33,333,333(.33) left when Lucifer was cast from heaven.

Whether or not these numbers are true, as they are stated by the bible, it seems as if Lucifer was not the only being that was affected by the unfairly contradictory nature of the Christ God.

The story of The Fall is only more proof of the nature between Lucifer and the Christ God for me. There is nothing that can convince me that the true nature of the Christ God is an ugly mess. Lucifer has and always will be the Truth.

I have had to think for a little bit on how I relate to this and how I would like to talk present those thoughts, I don’t like digging up old bones, but if there is something I have learned from Luciferianism is that there will usually always have to be hurt before we heal. It can be scary, but I am not alone in the process.

I have been a “Zero contact” family member for a long while. This is for several reasons, one of which is being un-apologetically myself. I spoke many truths into my home growing up, all of them fell on deaf ears, these truths had to do with lots of abuse and things that didn’t make sense. I needed explanations, I needed love, I needed honesty.

I stood by my truths, and I found closure in different ways, but these truths and independence led to some of my first fall-outs in my family.

At first, I remember feeling nothing but anger. Of course, this anger was veiled hurt, betrayal and abandonment. How can the same people tell me that they love me so much, so unconditionally and then turn around and tell me they hate the way I feel? Hate the way I think? Hate me?

Slowly but surely over the years all contact has been severed.

I still feel the loneliness, and jealousy of others that have not been forgotten and left behind by the people that are supposed to cherish them. However, I can find comfort and love from those that choose to be in my life, including the love of Lucifer, which I feel like I was truly meant for and those like myself. The warmth of his light can usually make my darkest days just a little more bearable. I know I can be understood, and I know he is always there for those that need him.

I did not know cosmic love until I found Luciferianism. What an absolute gift it is.

Gustave Doré, Paradise Lost, Book I (1866): “Him the Almighty Power / Hurled headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky.” (I.44-45) . Sigil of Lucifer divider by: @peculiar-666 Journal Prompts by: @czortofbaldmountain "Faces of Lucifer #2"

[troythecatfish]

[kitchen-light]

Poets help us make our prayers heard.

Anna Badkhen, from her essay “How to Read the Air”, published in The Paris Review, November 3, 2020

[revolutionarysuicide]

tbh video games are a weird exception for me where i can't stand other forms of media having reactionary politics, like i can't look past it to try enjoy it despite the politics, it just ruins the experience for me, but for video games idgaf lol as long as the gameplay is fun i'm good. i mean i did write like 10k words criticising the reactionary politics of life is strange but that's different cause lis is a telltale game and basically just an interactive movie like there's not much gameplay to compensate for the writing and the politics of the writers. normal games are mostly gameplay and you can kinda ignore the writing if you don't like it. not that gameplay is apolitical, obviously the way the gameplay is designed is political too, but ig it's easier for me to ignore it if i can be distracted by the fun-ness of the gameplay? idk. but generally i'll play games with whatever strategy is most successful for the objectives of the game, like if the goal of the game is to make the most profit possible i'll play as a capitalist, if the goal of the game is to conquer all the land i'll play as a coloniser, if the goal of the game is to overthrow the bourgeoisie i'll play as a communist lol. anyway my main source of income in my rimworld games is harvesting and selling prisoners' organs

[agirlnamedbone]

Jason Kyle Howard, "If God Had a Name," (on Joan Osborne's "One of Us") in Oxford American (2020)

[izzythehutt]

It's been a year since I first watched BrBa...a year...and I'm feeling it again...

The urge to write 12 paragraph meta on esoteric topics that will get 3 notes....