#but not due to my religion

[sag-dab-sar]

I've noticed this, upsetting, phenomenon pop up again: people using "Hellene," as a religious identity. Hellene is the word for a Greek person in the Greek language. You are not Greek because you practice Hellenic polytheism or Hellenic paganism. Yes, it is an open tradition but Hellenic Polytheist shouldn't be disrespecting Greek people, and they need to accept the fact that Greek culture, language, and nation are still alive and well. They aren't a relic of history.

I've had this in my drafts for awhile but a recent post about Hellene being an ethnically Greek person, as well as words like Hellenism, Hellenismos, and Hellenic referring to Greek people, community, and culture got some more traction recently... and xenophobia. So I thought I'd just post this draft instead.

For some direct comparisons identifying as "I'm Hellene" or "I'm Hellenic" because you practice Hellenic Polytheism/Paganism. Would be like saying:

"I'm Éireannach" the word for an Irish person in Irish Gaelic simply because you practice Celtic Polytheism/Paganism. Or even "I'm a Celt" since there are six Celtic nations.

"I'm Russkiye" the word for a Russian person in Russian simply because you practice Slavic Polytheism/Paganism. Or even "I'm a Slav" since there are many Slavic ethnicities. [Edit: Singular female "Ruskaya" Singular masculine "Russkoi"]

"I'm Svenskar" the word for Swedes in Swedish simply because you practice Norse Polytheism/paganism. Or even "I'm Nordic" since Nordic countries still exist.

None of those make sense. So neither does "I'm Hellene."

(These words could include either people who are ethnically in those groups or citizens of those countries thats dependent on the culture and I'm not going to speak for them. Also yes their are other Celtic, Slavic, and Germanic ethnicities I just chose one for each.) *I may have messed up some of the languages but I hope my general point is understood

Saying I'm a Hellenic Polytheist or Hellenic Pagan instead of Hellenic or Hellene, in order to respect another culture, is not that hard.

-not 100% audio proof read-

#hellenic paganism #hellenic polytheism #helpol #polytheism #paganism #this should not be discourse #ofthetheoi #technically i can say im a hellene #but not due to my religion #i should also break the habit of saying im sumerian even if it is a -dead- culture #disc horse

[junotter]

Part 2 of my modern avatar au, The Gaang (part 1)

#avatar aang #atla katara #atla toph #atla sokka #atla suki #atla #avatar the last airbender #modern avatar #atla modern au #my art #atla fanart #kataang #CAUSE THEY ARE IMPORTANT IN THIS AU #lots of inner debates on how to deal with aang's tattoos and if to make him say an actual buddhist #decided that he and monk gyatso (plus a handful of others) are/were part of a largely dying religion of a nomadic group #from the himalayan/tibetan plateau region that's a mix of buddhism hinduism and other religions (plus air nomad culture) #due to the politics of region aang and gyatso traveled around the world which is how he met katara and sokka #who were on a fieldtrip in the south (of canada) #they live in the Qikiqtaaluk Region originally in a smaller northern town but to continue their schooling they moved to iqaluit #Toph is from China and she met the gaang during the first big trip sokka katara and aang took together (at aangs begging) #meet her the summer before katara's first semester of college (so she was 18 aang 16 sokka 19 toph 16) #also by 16 aang is his own guardian cause of gyatso's death so he just does whatever p much #suki from okinawa and they meet briefly another summer of college when traveling to a bunch of islands in the pacific #suki specializes in and teaches ryukyuan martial arts (she's ryukyuan) #all reunite after sokka and katara's graduation (katara graduates a year early) during aang sokka and kataras celebration world tour #where they come into full actual contact with the fire nation crew #they are all in their twenties in these expect for monk aang who is a teen #hehe i cant wait to make more for this auuuu

[ariadne-mouse]

I imagine Essek had one or two record scratch moments in his youth

Such as, alternately,

#I'm on my meme bullshit again #it's shitpost o'clock #note as with my previous Barbie Essek content this is not to say Essek is Barbie unilaterally as there are significant divergences #Barbie wears pink for instance #(jk Essek has a pink umbrella) #but anyway do not flatten the analysis #this is about Essek feeling like the odd man out in his society due to not following the religion #op #essek thelyss #critical role

[enbysiriusblack]

Sirius was in the middle of taping a dung bomb underneath a desk in Flitwick's empty classroom when Peter spoke.

"You going home for the holidays?"

Sirius easily slid out from under the desk, folding his arms on the top as he glanced over to Peter, "Nah. I'll probably go to James' instead. See how long it takes them to come drag me back themselves instead of sending that wretched Kreature."

Peter nodded, "I might come join you, Mum's place is always packed during winter."

Sirius grinned, "Brilliant", he climbed over the table and jumped off it, "We can spend Yule together."

Peter smiled back, "Yeah. The Potter's made you your own guest room right?"

"Oh, I forgot you haven't seen it! It's much cooler than my room at Grimmauld Place."

"Oh, no naked women?"

Sirius laughed, "Absolutely not. Maybe I want my mother to have a fit, but definitely not Mia. But Monty got me these proper band posters and there's this huge Queen one over my bed, and last summer when I flooed to the Potter's, me and James stole this traffic cone so that's in there. Oh, and Mia met me in Camden as well and she got me all these muggle clothes and Marlene built me a cupboard to put it all in."

"It sounds nice, can't wait to see it."

Sirius grabbed Peter's hand to drag him to the next classroom, "Merlin, neither can I. And you can borrow any of it, of course. I actually got a guitar for when you come over."

"You got a guitar? What kind?"

Sirius shrugged, "Fender Strat, I think. You'll play it right? I love hearing you play."

Peter beamed, "Course, I will."

Sirius tousled Peter's hair before glancing at his bag of dung bombs, "Only got a few left", he sighed.

Peter held his hand out, "Pass them here, I was thinking if we put them on the doors instead and leave them open then the smell would reach to a further distance."

Sirius instantly perked up, grabbing Peter's face and quickly giving him a kiss before turning to the windows, "Make sure all the windows are shut as well!"

Peter, cheeks still bright red, walked over to shut the remaining open windows.

#me and my friend were talking before about how it makes no sense that the wizarding world celebrates Christmas #so after some silly discussions about merlinmas/the merlin holidays #we decided that some people in the wizarding world do have muggle religions (ie. my marlene as catholic and remus as jewish) #but its slightly different to incorporate their different lifestyle as wizards #due to muggleborns/halfbloods bringing in their religions into the wizarding world #but the largest religion is a sort of paganism (celebrated by most pureblood families like sirius and james) #so they don't celebrated christmas. they celebrate the winter solstice/yule #anyway #padtail #sirius black #peter pettigrew #my writing #marauders era #marauders

[treasureplcnet]

you think i can't keep talking about karl and esther you are so wrong btw episode four timestamp 34:40 he hesitates before rubbing her back, comforting her the way a parent or guardian might. the whole tube scene is karl finally deciding he has to do this ("i'm here, and i'm not going anywhere, i promise") he still HESITATES because he knows he's probably not the right man for the job. he's the man that got her stuck in this problem in the first place. but they've only got each other and he has to try. does it hurt that the moment he finally builds this resolve and determination to leave it all behind and to actually fight for something that matters to him and admit that, even though he hasn't known her for long, he cares about this girl like she's family, esther is murdered and it totally consumes him? does it hurt that he's then framed for her death even though he just spent the last 24 hours killing and taking revenge in her name? not only because he knows he's a dead man, but also because he's out of options to do something that matters, and what else can he do with his grief other than inflict it onto others? yeah it hurts a lot actually

#FUCK YOU NETFLIX FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!! IM FIXATED ON THE 8 EP MINISERIES!!!!!!! #excuse me everyone i am midway thru my second real rewatch #bodies netflix #karl weissman #sorry that this crypost is very similar to the previous one i wrote but it gets me #next up probably: meta about the lamp in the synagogue cause im still obsessed with how he glares at it #i think i should do a bit of light reading because i know nothing about any religion. so whatever i believe about this #(karl being at his lowest and bringing polly to kill her in a synagogue like a big 'witness this' to god) #might be slightly off. its ok. ill come back with slightly less than coherent rambling #dearheartdont who rbed that last massive wall of text left a tag on the other post: #'‘Karl seems to take a lot of negative actions against him as his due’ ‘but when it’s Esther it’s so so different’' #which actually i think sent me into some kind of spiral

[caffeinatedopossum]

I kind of hate how just because I don't subscribe to any religion or believe in any specific god, people assume that means that I *disbelieve* in god(s)

I simply don't have much reason to think about whether or not there's a god, besides when I just want to enjoy some good old philosophical/hypothetical thinking or conversations.

Like people will hear I'm not Christian and go "how come you don't believe in god?" like no, no you misunderstand me. I don't NOT believe in god, I just don't believe in *your* god. And if your god is real, then it changes nothing about how I'm going to live my life. The Christian god is an ass and not someone I'm going to worship. I'm just gonna spend my life trying to do good, and if your god doesn't like that, then he's not a very good god, is he?

#anyways talking about religion is not something i normally do #but ive just been thinking about this today #im always hesitant to talk about Christianity because i dont want people to start some sort of war against me #accusing me of hating christians or something #the truth is Ive been severly traumatized by my experience with the Christian church #and because of that i cant really talk to or be friends with Christians anymore due to it being too triggering #but theres A LOT of variations in Christianity. some Christians arent half bad #and id like to encourage those good Christians to keep practicing their religion in a way that #benefits them without harming others :3 #i was raised to believe that i had to trust gods moral compass above my own. and yknow what fuck that #thats one belief i wont subscribe to anymore #if god disagrees with my morals thats kinda a fundamental issue for me lol

[eviiiiiiii]

religious trauma lifesteal!zam essay //lifesteal spoilers

call it projecting but like imagine the amount of religious trauma lifesteal!princezam has (presuming theres some sort of connection of the characters between seasons) like bro has had like 80% of his teamates become gods and watched them loose their sense of self in one way or another he himself started exploiting at one point then goes on to ban himself in season five theres something to be said their having reached the heart cap and having so much power after hours and hours of constant labour to achieve what he got handed to him by a divine like entity like just to ban himself something something sacirficing your life to a higher entity . something also about watching all of his loved ones betray him die or him having to betray them for his own self of moral justice which is very lackluster to his constantly changing beliefs and morality he will never find something that he can cling to (like religion) so. yeah.

#lifesteal princezam #princezam #character analysis(?) #princezam religious trauma. #ALSO uhmmm... something something veryqueercodedpurpletriohewasapartofinseasonfour #watching both of them become a more divine entity via exploits and watching both of them hide from him #just for him to betray them and then join back with what he first left eclipse fedeartion for...? #ya #i hope this helps Understand why people hc him with reliigous trauma or Whatevs. maybe thats justm.e l. no actually ive seen a lot of peopl #do this . also him telling jumper that shes just like him in earlier seasons DOES kinda apply that theres someee theme of the same person #throughout seasons but like whatever it can also just be my own personal headcannon i am More then okay with that. #i h ave so much to say #the facct that hes literally apart of devotion duo.. devoting yourself to another person to the point where you will betray your own #mortality for them can be Pretty Traumatizing #this is also just my silly little rambles and why i think of him w some form of religious trauma sometimes <3 <3 <3 <3 #btw when i say religious trauma i mean trauma formed by somethihng resembling religion. and in lifesteals case i think what most closely #would be akin to a religion is to devote yourself to something much more powerful then you (exploiters #which are just the equivelant of gods in my opinion due to practicaly endless levels compared to others (like dupeing #just having.everything. already places yourself in something which is Above a human or in this case players.

[theangrypomeranian]

"you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me" feels like something an ex Christian would say to someone who didn't grow up in any kind of religion

#pom ponders #taylor swift #the tortured poets department #who's afraid of little old me? #ex christian #ex fundie #ex fundamentalist #growing up in any Christian religion can be a special kind of hell #you have so much hate ingrained in your brain that can take years to unlearn #so when people who didn't grow up that way judge you for things you may have said or done in your past due to that influence #and they say well i never did/thought/said that!! #good for you but unfortunately i did #yes I'm relistening to this song again because it's literally been me for the last two months and I'm so tired #i was torn down to my lowest and for fucking what? #just because you couldn't relate to me doesn't mean i was a bad person #i didn't do anything wrong i am not a liar i am not a manipulator and how DARE you make me question my goodness

[importantdestinydefendor]

An update about Maaren lore

Currently working on expanding on general Maaren lore and their gods are currently being put through the wringers (and also adding fortresses, named after georgian gods/myhtology).

Why, oh why, does Georgian Mythology have so many gods that basically stand for the same thing?? I have seen at least three different gods who stand for some kind of fertility and two who stand for agruculture! Two others for cattle! Cattle!

I have atleast fused two gods with the same spirit now. There are gods and goddesses with no description at all!

Argh! This is so frustrating! I'm dying, send help!

#important writing defender #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #maaren au #firelight au #look Gerogia is a beautiful country with a lot of history #and there are probably not many records of their pagans religions due to chrisitanity and greek mythology taking over at different times #AND there are the regional differences to take into consideration #but OH MY GOD! #decide you guys please! #it's so hard to decide which god/goddess to include in the Maaren pantheon myself #don't make it harder for me #anyway: how are you guys #having a pleasant day hopefully #I sure am having one haha *laughs in insane*

[box-dwelling]

As someone who went to Germany and spent like 70% of the time in churches, Von karma sibling growing up Christian head canons is so fucking personal to me

#ace attorney #von karma siblings #miles edgeworth #franziska von karma #if anyone is curious the reason was i was on a choral music tour with my schools chapel choir #a series of words that i know require so much explaining but take it #german church architecture is fucking bomb though just saying #absolutely stunning #i may dislike almost everything about Christianity in practice but they did go hard with the aesthetic #mvk would be Christian. he just would. he has that christan religious flair #i bet he like talked all the time about how laws come from religion #he like said one prayer about Gregory and thought he was fogiven and in no eay in the wrong #and Miles spent every fucking waking second there thinking he could never be forgiven for murdering his father #he probably becomes an atheist after he moves back to America because he needs that rational explanation for everything #but probably still thought he was damned because the only thing thay can over come Edgeworth's insistance on logic is his self hatred #fran probably had such a fucking complex about being a perfect Christian but it probably gets deconstructed eventually as she recovers #honestly i think its gone by 2-1 probably due to her father being a perfect christian but also a murderer #because she is really chill with channeling #it's probably something she loses when MVK dies

[jocu1atrix]

I remember being stopped by morality police in Iran while I was still a minor. At the time, I was shocked and laughed it off because my aunts reassured me they had no real power.

It's been 7 years since, and I've seen so many whatsapp videos as of late, of violence from these thugs against women. And its always about hijab, not zakaat, not prayer, nothing actually mandatory in the religion. And now there's been an active victim of Irans morality police, Mahsa Amini, who was also vacationing from abroad with her family. She was brutally beaten by the morality police and died while in police custody. Authorities are lying about her having a prior medical condition that led to her alleged heart attack (her family is speaking out against this lie).

Please don't forget about Mahsa. Protests have begun but knowing the government, a media blackout can follow and people will be met with violence until they obey again.

#my intention is not to speak over Iranians actually enduring these draconian laws #as i know that saying 'its not the religion' isnt helpful and is frankly not true #iran is becoming increasingly radicalised due to its pariah status #but forced hijab and religion is morally abhorrent and i say this as a hijabi #Mahsa Amini #Violence against women #misogyny #Iran #Iranian protests #my grammars messed up but oh well

[arson-09]

woke up to type this. if the “religion” or whatever of the acotar world is matriarchal (the mother, maid crone) why would the magic itself supposedly always choose men. is this just another flawed aspect of sjms writing? i mean ive seen other authors with similar issues, trying to have a feminist theme but they make the main faith women based then misogyny exists. doesn’t really make sense

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #sarah j maas #arson yaps #sjm #sjm critical #i guess? #this always bothers me cause lots of the issues wirh misogyny/sexism in our time is due to religions and faith #typically if you have a faith that puts respect on women or is women led you dont get misogyny issues #anyway its 4 am dont get my ass if theres a misused word my point is very clear

[frogoru]

whenever i wear cross necklaces there's always a sense of worry in the back of my mind that someone's going to scold or judge me for wearing them while indulging in stuff that's seen as sinful. there was one event that's kind of significant in my mind where supporting homosexuality was mentioned as an automatic ticket to hell kinda thing (along with other stuff but that's the main topic i latched onto) and it wasn't even that bad of a lecture but i felt so called out and i was wearing a cross at the time so while i walked out it felt really wrong to me and that feeling kinda lingers whenever i put one on now but in a more subtle way

#looking at how much i worry abt this stuff is so embarrassing in my own little mind because like #the experiences i have with homophobia due to religion are truly not that bad and could be worse #but i internalize TF out of it and let it linger in my brain when i know none of this matters and that i'm okay as i am #i hate being sensitive!!!!!!

[tirsynni]

Okay, so thoughts on the Legend of Zelda and religion, inspired by gameplay and seeing how people incorporate the multiple goddesses and such into their fics.

Usual disclaimer applies: these are only my random thoughts, which are open to change, and Legend of Zelda canon is deliberately inconsistent and definitely apt to change. Everyone is free to interpret it however they want with whatever headcanons they want, as no one can ever be truly correct because no solid LoZ canon exists.

Now, onto really random thoughts, most occurring in the shower or before bedtime:

In some Zelda games, no gods are mentioned at all. Others, they're very vague. Others say some deities and then another provides a different deity and some others reference that this being was perhaps a deity but has fallen and this one might STILL be a deity so good luck.

I like to say that they're all fucking deities. Maybe some more powerful than others, but they're all deities. Some divine, some profane, some really interested in carrot soup, but all are deities.

Demise? A deity. Earth-based, unholy, so full of rage and spite that he's willing to guarantee an eternal foe as long as it means that foe is dragged into this mess with him, aka, the Cycle of Hatred. Strange affection for mortal Gerudo men, whether these guys like it or not.

The Triad: Farore, Nayru, and Din. They created Hyrule, created the Triforce, still have a Presence connected to their Creation as shown by the oracles and spirits and such which have popped up over the centuries. Definitely separate, though. Loves their Creation in a divine, untouched manner. Set up a lesser Goddess to protect their Creation and the Triforce they left behind, which leads us to...

Hylia. Before it was Hyrule, it was the Land of Hylia. Divine. A little too Divine. Needed mortal weapons and mortal Heroes to kill the Earth-based deity Demise. Here are my headcanons on her based on the ever-erratic canon and the Skyward Sword manga: she realized she couldn't win alone and needed a mortal Hero. Again, a little too heavenly to tackle an earth-based deity like Demise. I like imagining her falling for the original Hero, which was one of the factors which led her to having the Fallen Hero reincarnated as the Hero in Skyward Sword. They were supposed to live a mortal lifetime together, albeit one where Hylia used him to fight Demise for the Greater Good, as deities like to do, only for Demise to say "Fuck that, here's the Cycle of Hatred." From then on, she loses her Mortal Love, as the Cycle of Hatred says "the Spirit of the Hero and the Bloodline of the Goddess" (paraphrased). When SS!Zelda dies, Hylia returns to the Heavens, her bloodline continues to carry her blood, and she gets separated because the Spirit of the Hero is now trapped by the Curse. (I like angst, dammit, and that type of eternal separation, especially multiple carriers of the Hero's Spirit are unfamiliar with Hylia, is amazing.)

Other deities pop up in the games. I say they're all deities. These games literally occur over hundreds of thousands of years. Hyrule has risen and fallen and risen and fallen multiple times. It literally exists only due to divine intervention. Hyrule and its people have no idea of their own history and myths. The ones we see in the games are the ones popular in that current era.

There's also the fact that we tend to see everything through Link's perspective, and he seems far more interested in shiny objects and, I dunno, riding/taming/bargaining with the spirits than finding out their histories.

In one era, we don't see mention of the Triad? That generation lost sight of them, but they're reminded a couple generations down the line. Hylia isn't mentioned? She'll come up again soon enough. There's also no indication that any of these deities demand worship. They can be responsive to prayers, but the connection to the deities waver over time, too. Like, how does a human's connection compare to a Hylian's? Humans and Hylians are different species and can generally be recognized by the ears, with the ears of the Hylians supposedly shaped that way to better hear the deities.

Link can hear and respond to the deities, but it's arguable that it's connected to his role as Hero. They need mortal hands to get things done, and he is damned good at getting shit done and not likely to be distracted by, I dunno, a literal god asking him to do shit. Yes, yes, that deity gave him a request. He heard. He understood. It still needs to wait until he found all of these cuccos and returned them home.

More headcanon: it's known that the Royal Family has divine blood and rule by Divine Right. The meaning of this changes depending on the era. For some, it just means Princess Zelda is magical and wise. For others, she is a literal incarnation of the Goddess. The one most likely to speak with the deities and spirits -- Link -- is probably never going to clarify to anyone how it is. Hell, he's probably never going to care enough to ask.

Most eras have no idea about the Spirit of the Hero. Link's either a random hero who just popped up or a strange traveler. Sometimes he is a Prophesied Hero. Sometimes he is a Divine Weapon. Beyond his ability to be a fucking godslayer when necessary, I think it's easy for him to be dismissed. It's made easier when Link's like, "I'm out. I'll leave you guys to fix this rubble. Oh, what happened here? Hell if I know. Good luck." Connecting him to a Spirit which is literally older than Hyrule? Not happening. In OoT, he's recognized as Special and a Hero by a very rare few; otherwise, Link's just a traveler or that weird kid. In BotW, it's pretty clear that King Rhoam views him as just a holy weapon. In BotW, there's no indication that he even really speaks or looks at Link at all until he's a fucking ghost and unliving with regret. No elevation. Barely any notice. Just Link or Nameless Traveler.

In a land as old as Hyrule where deities like to traverse and poke, it's easy to imagine many deities calling it home at least for a period of time. Hell, maybe they don't even call it home but mess with the local deities at some point or another. Also considering how many apocalypses this land has experienced, it's easy to imagine that they can't have a consistent mythology or religion. It changes each era based on texts and art which survived the last round of destruction. Hell, even their major secret-keepers, the Sheikah, regularly struggle with attempted genocide. It's amazing anything survives with any sort of consistency, nonetheless knowledge about a war which existed before Hyrule itself did.

#legend of zelda #meta #showerthoughts #bedtime thoughts #i have a lot of feels about this okay? #and far more thoughts #than this post can show #i would like to one day #due a full meta on religion and loz #but i have to get my thoughts straight first #which is an epic accomplishment

[romanarose]

I'm fighting demons (working on papers I had months to start)

#romana personal posts #at least they are facinating #i feel like religous history is my area of expertise at this point #all three big research papers have been on religion. #The on i just finished was on the satanic panic #the one im doing rn thats due in like 12 hours lol its on Aimme Semple McPherson #a radio evangelist #and my class on history of islam was on how islamic-jewish relations compared to Jewish-christian relations prior ro 1900's #that was not a very well organized paper #but i found interesting stuff

[aheathen-conceivably]

If it makes you feel any better I got Gio's, love as a religion. "it is holy and golden. It is all-consuming, and all-faithful, loyal as the dog. You will never, ever bite back." Whoever made this quiz needs to be quiet god - LGL

LGL babbyyyy it’s the fact that you got the same one as your boy Gio that gets me…

But you know, hey, at least that means you’re the perfect (and potentially toxic, all consuming, and fatefully doomed) match for your girl Jo, otherwise known as “The Force of Nature” for which the religion of love finds its outlet 😌

#and also I LOVE the description for that result #the fire of religion burns both ways though baby 👀 #gif warning #more foreboding existential Heathen nonsense warning #do I maybe just like the descriptor for religion of love due to my self professed Heathen nature? #…perhaps 🙈