#syrian gods

[tsalmu]

Phoenician Bowl with encircling Serpent Bernardini Tomb (Palestrina, Italy) c. 700 BCE The National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia Rome, Italy

[dramoor]

"The Church is not the assembly of saints, it is the mass of sinners who repent, who, sinners though they are, have turned towards God and are oriented towards Him." ~St. Ephraim the Syrian

[nc-vb]

if it’s gotten to the fucking point that the Ministry of Education has to announce that “the school year is cancelled” for part of Gaza because all its students have been murdered, humanity has failed, failed at everything— flat out, point blank, and unequivocally failed.

[apollos-olives]

i hate going to the masjid because it's fr crazy how ignorant other arabs and muslims are about palestine. like their political beliefs are so unbelievably stupid it's as if they don't even give a fuck about palestine (and they don't). arabs cannot give a fuck about countries other than theirs and it shows. today i literally had to sit there and listen to a syrian tell me how joe biden can't do anything and it's not his fault. like wow. you are the disease.

[orthodoxadventure]

Make peace with yourself, and both heaven and earth will make peace with you.

Saint Isaac the Syrian

[momentsbeforemass]

Why did Jesus have to die?

Today’s Gospel is John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It’s beautiful. But it also begs a question, one that I struggle with. Why did Jesus have to die?

When you ask why Jesus had to die, once you get past the basics (“Christ was killed for us, His death washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself.” – C.S. Lewis), the usual responses get into theories about how salvation works. Things like atonement, forgiveness, suffering, sin, reconciliation, etc.

Important stuff, to be sure. But it really doesn’t answer the question.

Why did Jesus have to die?

That is, if God is God, then God can do anything (that’s part of what it means to be God). So, couldn’t God have done it some other way?

The answer is an unqualified yes.

Then why didn’t God do it some other way?

The best answer that I have found (by “best,” I mean most unsettling, most disruptive to the preconceived notions and limits that I am way too comfortable putting on God’s love) comes from St. Isaac of Syrian.

“Not that God was unable to save us in another way, but in this way it was possible to show us His abundant love abundantly, namely, by bringing us near to Him by the death of His Son.

If God had anything more dear to Him, He would have given it to us.”

That last sentence is everything.

Through the greatest example possible (the way of salvation for all of humanity). One which is at the same moment the most personal example possible (because God would have done exactly the same thing if you or I were the only ones who needed to be saved). God shows us what love truly means.

Love is not an exchange. If it’s a transaction, it’s not love.

Love is not measured. If it’s limited, it’s not love.

To truly love, as God loves (the One whose very nature is love), means not counting the cost.

This is how you and I are called to love.

Because this is the love that God has for you.

Today’s Readings

[discoveringorthodoxy]

"…the Lord does not seek the monk or the layperson, the scholar or the simpleton, the rich man or the pauper, but only the heart that thirsts for God, full of a sincere desire to be true to Him and His commandments!"

-Venerable Ephraim the Syrian-

Excerpt from: Everyday Saints and Other Stories p.328

[cornerful]

I am greatly amused by the continuing string of people who's job it is to ferry the Hobbits from one location to the next. We've got Gildor and co, Farmer Maggot, Tom, and now Strider, I wonder who will be next 😁

[oceanmoss]

what's with moms and traditional guys becoming obsessed with me all of a sudden . will this be my arranged marriage arc or.

[unicornswilleatyourboobies]

okay racism bad obviously but it is very funny when someone lets something kind of racist slip and very suddenly starts desperately backtracking

[tsalmu]

Divine Couple of Adad & Ishtar (Attar)? From the palace of Aramean King Kapara Aleppo, Syria c. 800 BCE Housed in Syria-Aleppo Museum

[dramoor]

“His face is set all the time towards forgiveness.”

~St. Isaac the Syrian

[justana0kguy]

2023 SEPTEMBER 28 Thursday

"Rather than a garment of honor and outward splendor, [may we] adorn [ourselves] with [the Lord's] humility."

~ Isaac the Syrian, Spiritual discourses, 1st series, no. 20

[cerealmonster15]

Oughhhhh the spasm pain is like right in the spot that hurts if I try to sleep in my normal sleeping position 😔

[orthodoxadventure]

In proportion to your humility you are given patience in your woes; in proportion to your patience you will find consolation; in proportion to your consolation, your love of God increases & in proportion to your love your joy in the Holy Spirit is magnified.

Saint Isaac the Syrian

[a-safe-and-quiet-place]

𝕾𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖓

The Russian Sirins ( All linked to each of my DeviantArt works respectively)

The mountains and forests of Japan have long been the domain of the legendary Tengu, one of the most famous and ubiquitous creatures in Japanese folklore. The Tengu was a shape-shifting bird-like creature of the sky and trees, and they were seen as a protector of the mountains. The spirits Alkonost, Gamayun and Sirin are a mythical Tengu like creature with halve bird bodies in Russian Folktales. Similar to their neighboring Japanese folktales, these winged spirits possess a great deal of power when provoked.

Sirin

Sirin is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head and chest of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl). According to myth, the Sirins lived "in Indian lands" near around the Euphrates River.

These half-women half-birds are directly based on the Greek myths and later folklore about sirens. They were usually portrayed wearing a crown or with a nimbus. Sirins sang beautiful songs to the saints, foretelling future joys. For mortals, however, the birds were dangerous. Men who heard them would forget everything on earth, follow them, and ultimately die. People would attempt to save themselves from Sirins by shooting cannons, ringing bells and making other loud noises to scare the bird off. Later (17-18th century), the image of Sirins changed and they started to symbolize world harmony (as they live near paradise). People in those times believed only really happy people could hear a Sirin, while only very few could see one because she is as fast and difficult to catch as human happiness. She symbolizes eternal joy and heavenly happiness.

The legend of Sirin might have been introduced to Kievan Rus by Persian merchants in the 8th-9th century. In the cities of Chersonesos and Kiev they are often found on pottery, golden pendants, even on the borders of Gospel books of tenth-twelfth centuries. Pomors often depicted Sirins on the illustrations in the Book of Genesis as birds sitting in paradise trees.

Sometimes Sirins are seen as a metaphor for God's word going into the soul of a man. Sometimes they are seen as a metaphor of heretics tempting the weak. Sometimes Sirins were considered equivalent to the Polish Wila. In Russian folklore, Sirin was mixed with the revered religious writer Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Thus, peasant lyrists such as Nikolay Klyuev often used Sirins as a synonym for poet.

PS: Btw it really sucks that tumblr doesn’t let people upload gifs with less than 10mb, makes us optimize our gifs and even then it optimizes them even further in theyr servers to 3mb i believe